Leaving A Legacy

When I was little my Grandma Genevieve had a small black date book in which she wrote very minimally, the goings-on of that particular day- I guess just what she thought was significant. She didn't do it for very long-a year maybe, but it inspired me to do it for Trinity.

I think a physical piece of paper is a nice alternative in this day of technology and cyberspace.

After 5 1/2 years of doing the same for Trinity, I have several little notebooks with thousands of days of goings-on . Some entries take up several pages, as there was a lot that happened that day, or a lot that I had to say about something that happened. I have not missed a day since I started when she was about 15 months old!

The entries contain things from the mundane,"we ran errands today and you took a long nap", to the silly, "you took a bath and pooped in the tub", and to the significant, "you had the flu and had to stay in the hospital overnight."
I like to also include the weather for the day. I'm weird that way ;)

My hope is that one day as she is older, she will have a firm grasp on who we her parents are, how we raised her, who she is, and how much we love her. She will be able to tell her kids about how it snowed 16 inches on Feb.6, 2008. Or how Grandpa stopped over and brought her some cookies.

I'm not sure how long I plan on doing this, but I think at least until she's 18. Yes, that's a lot of little notebooks!

Maybe when she's an adult, she can look back at the notebooks from her teenage years and be able to relate to her own teenager(s)!

It's funny how Bruce loves to check up on the day's entry to see if he made it in there....."I want her to know about all the stuff we did together after I die." Yes, Hon, you're a GREAT daddy.

"We can't all leave a prestigous background or lots of money to visit our children, but we can leave them a legacy of love." Naomi Rhodes.

So, while I'm sure I won't be able to leave her with lots of "things" when I die, I know she will have a strong character and knowledge of how much SHE brought into OUR lives, and how much we love her.

A GRANDfather

If it's not already playing, I suggest listening to song #4 on my playlist to the right..."MY WISH" by Rascall Flats. I believe this would be my dad's song to Trinity :)

My dad and my daughter....what a special pair these two are! It started about 5 and a half years ago when I was pregnant and my water broke. I was home alone, and I think my dad was the second person I called. I was pretty calm, yet excited about it. I remember him saying, "WELL! NOW WHAT DO WE DO?!" Ha ha ha ha!! "WE"!? He later told me that as he was on the phone with me, he was frantically walking around in circles in the middle of his living room. Silly Dad.
About 26 hours later Trinity Rose arrived into the world, and Bruce called my dad from the hospital to let him know. Bruce said, "Hey Pops, she's here!" I asked Bruce what he said, and I guess all he heard was some crying. Awwww....Dad!
Anyway, Here are some highlights from the past 5 years...

Taking advantage of the unexpected nice weather and playing TBall...


She has yet to actually go on a ride with him. By her age, I had been riding for over a year!
He's so proud of her!

This was a picture taken to make his Christmas present. Whenever she wants a treat, he makes her say, "Grandpa, you're so handsome." So, we took this picture and had a shirt made with those very words on it!

Silly reindeer noses.

Trinity wearing the infamous black boots!

This is from a trip we took to the ginormous Cabela's store in Richfield, WI. The place is more like a museum!

Enjoying some ice cream

I think this is one of my dad's favorite memories of Trinity. We put his birthday cake in front of him, and about .3 seconds after the candle was blown out she just dug in face first!

This was actually one of the first times he got to babysit. He was afraid to move!

I have so many more pictures of these two together, so be prepared for more special posts about these two!

GREAT WOLF '09

This week Bruce is on vacation, so we decided to spend the first part of the week at the Great Wolf Lodge and indoor waterpark in Wisconsin Dells. We've been there a couple times before, but never for 2 days in a row. We were so excited! We swam and jumped and floated on the lazy river.
We sat by the fireplace, went out to eat, and played in Wiley's Woods-the Great Wolf themed indoor "Chuck E Cheese" type playground.
Apparently just the thought of heading to the Great Wolf exhausted Trinity! This was on the way there...

This is the big bucket drop that Trinity and Bruce braved....most kids stand directly under the waterfall, but I think that would've knocked Trinity's little 40 pound butt right to the floor!

The day before Trinity was having so much fun jumping from bed to bed, so I decided to join in on the fun!

Here she is lookin' like a superhero, jumping back and forth from bed to bed.

These are Trinity's favorite slides, because she doesn't need a life jacket and can do them on her own.

I'm helping Trinity cross the logs to the other side. She's almost there! Daddy and Trinity are dodging the waves in the wave pool. When I was in there with her I'd hold onto her, and she'd say, "let me go....I need to save the day!" The superhero theme is consistent with her bed jumping!

This is nearing the end of day two....somebody is getting tired!

By the evening of day two, Bruce was in bed by 6:30 pm! I thought for sure he'd be up by 3 am. Nope, he slept a good 13 hours! Sheesh. I wonder what that's like.

On day 3 we packed up and headed home with our souvenirs, great pictures, and fun memories.

Adapting....

Here you find my very first gluten and egg free chocolate cupcake. Mmmmmmmmmm!

Last night as Bruce and I were watching "Celebrity Apprentice" and he was eating his delicious smelling fresh made pizza, I nearly started crying. The two teams had to make cupcakes. Oh man did they look good! I got such an intense craving for cupcakes that, with tears in my eyes, I resolved right then and there that I WOULD find a way to make an edible cupcake that someone with my food intolerance issues could enjoy.

Today my decision was solidified as my dad, so graciously gave us 4 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. None of which I can enjoy. The hits keep comin'!

Considering I am lactose intolerant, gluten/wheat intolerant, casein, and egg intolerant I knew the cupcakes would be a challenge, but I was up for it! So, today I gathered my ingredients and information and set out to make some chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting all from "scratch". I had everything I needed and was only a little apprehensive about the egg replacer. I had to use flavorless gelatin. Tricky, but it worked!

I have to admit, the frosting was better than store bought stuff. The real test, would Bruce eat one? He knew the flour was made from fava beans, sorghum, garbanzo beans, and potato starch. He knew there was no egg in the batter. This manly military man from Lousiana actually ate one!

So, I had my cupcake craving filled. And it was delicious!