Pink For October – 2011

 family, health, issues, life  No Responses »
Oct 022011
 

Once again, I’ve made my blog these pink-based for October to bring attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

As you probably know, this is still a personal thing for me, and I want to show our support for all those struggling with this impediment in their lives.

Please support the efforts of the Komen Foundation to help make a brighter future for all those who have to deal with breast cancer in their lives.

Thank you.

A Father’s Day Prayer

 church, family, holiday  No Responses »
Jun 192011
 

I got this from my uncle today, and it was published in their parish bulletin this morning, and I liked it enough that I thought I’d share…

 

A Father’s Day Prayer

 

Holy Father,

 

You are the one who knows how absolutely special fathers are.

You made them that way.

 

How else can a man work so hard, give so much, and love unconditionally,

without your strength?

 

So first, Lord, thank You for fathers, for daddies.

For big, strong men with tender hearts,

with hands that are callused and rough,

yet so soft and gentle when hearts need mending.

 

Lord, help children to delight this day in being with their dads,

even if it must only be by phone.

 

May the precious memories flow, and bring laughter,

and new love and appreciation.

 

Lord, please take care of our dads.

Though they are brave and protective,

they must also be frightened sometimes,

when money runs low, when we need things, when we’re hurt or sick.

 

Lord, when their hearts break because they can’t do it all,

please help us to let them know how much we love them.

 

And how much You love them.

 

Lord, forgive the men who know they are not good fathers,

and help them to know when and if they can make things better,

with Your help.

 

And Oh, Lord, for those dads who keep trying and keep loving after

messing up so many times,

help their children to love them even more in return.

 

Lord, for that dad who has lost a child, please let him know that You are there,

right beside him,

for nothing else can heal a heart so torn.

 

For the father who is parenting alone, strengthen him with your love.

 

For those whose father is already with You,

 

Give him a hug Lord,

 

And tell him it’s from his children.

 

And you too, Lord.

 

Happy Father’s Day!

 

In Jesus’ name,

 

Amen.

 

Karisa’s Birthday: The Scratch Cake

 cooking, family, food  No Responses »
May 202010
 

Ok, last cake post for a little while, as I’m all caught up and there aren’t any more family birthdays for a few more months…

So, with my sister’s birthday being just a few days ago, I decided to try my hand at making a cake from scratch.  All my life I’d made cake from a box, and it’s just not very satisfying to spend the time decorating knowing that there’s box cake underneath (maybe it’s just me, I dunno).  Anyway, I went with just a plain white cake for my first attempt, and it went pretty well.  It smelled great when baking and after coming out of the oven, but it was a bit dry (IMHO).  I’ll likely be tweaking that recipe in the future to make it moister in the future, but for a first attempt, I was very happy.

As far as the decorations go, I decided not to go too crazy, but to do something nice and spring-like.  I couldn’t make up my mind what colors I wanted to use until I sat down to decorate, but I came up with the following:

The yellow/green/pink combination really screamed “SPRING”, and then I tried to harness the letters to make them stems with little flowers.  I also made my first attempt at combing the side of the cake, which turned out ok, but would have been a lot easier with a turn-able stand.  Oh, well, it still turned out nicely!

As a bonus picture, so you can get a better shot of the combing, here is a shot of my son helping his aunt blow out her candles!

The Creme de Menthe Cake

 cooking, family, food  No Responses »
May 192010
 
Ok, so I’m working on catching up on some of the cake creations I’ve made over the last few months, and as you can see in the title, I’ve been getting a little creative.  And this time it was for my little brother, Russell’s, birthday.

For some background, Russell used to love eating Creme de Menthe cookies around the holidays.  Besides the great chocolate-mint combination, when he found out that a liqueur was used to make the mint layer he used to love telling people he could feel himself getting drunk from eating the cookies.

Years later, those memories were harnessed and turned into the Creme de Menthe cake:

As you may or may not be able to see, that’s two packages of brownies, with a layer of Creme de Menthe cookie filling in between, all topped by an improvised chocolate ganache and a little more Creme de Menthe filling for decoration and lettering.

Now, this was not a cake for the faint-hearted.  It was DENSE, but extremely tasty.  Unfortunately, after you had a slice, you were probably set on chocolate for the next few weeks.  However, it was a very good slice that was a lot of fun to make!

Graem’s First Birthday Cake(s)

 family, food  No Responses »
May 152010
 

Ok, so it’s been almost three months since I made them, but I just realized I never posted pictures of Graem’s First Birthday cakes!  And yes, I made two so there were plenty for all our guests.

Here they are:

Not too bad if I do say so myself!

Things I'm Not Good At: Number 257: Blogging One Handed

 family, life  No Responses »
Mar 202009
 

Unfortunately, it's been a rough week when it comes to updating the ol' blog.  Baby Graem appears to have hit a growth spurt and is constantly eating, burping and soiling himself.  It's definitely been a handful.  Occasionally I've been able to sit at the computer with one hand free, but it's not exactly conducive to writing.  It's worth it all, but that doesn't mean it's easy!

In addition, Monday my brother and his fiancée successfully completed their trek from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, and we got together for a nice meal on Tuesday.  Nothing fancy, but it's nice to see them and have them around now, and blogging was far from my mind.

Eventually, though, I'll get a chance to get my thoughts together and into the blog for your enjoyment.  ;-D

Thoughts on Being a New Dad

 family, life  No Responses »
Mar 012009
 

On February 26th, 2009, my wife gave birth to our first son, Graem Scott Nilsen.  He was a 8lb. 12oz., 22 inch long wonder and is already bringing all sorts of joy to our lives.

Me and My Son

Two days later as we await discharge from the hospital, I have to admit this experience was nothing like I expected.  Despite all the videos and classes that we spent time with, there's just a lot that is left out:

  • They tell you labor will be long, but they don't tell you that mom may be pushing for hours.  All in all, I think my wife spent 4 and a half hours pushing (over two sessions) before the little guy made his debut.
  • If you go to a group OB practice, even if you've met everyone in the practice, don't expect them to be the only ones involved in the birthing process.
  • One of the most nerve-wrecking feelings is waiting for they baby to cry for the first time.  It probably wasn't any more than 30 seconds, but it felt like hours.  I had tears of joy when I finally heard it.
  • You don't realize that you're going to spend most of your time with one nurse, but then suddenly have over a dozen people in the room when the time comes.  They leave almost as quickly.
  • No matter how much a birth is planned, you have to make a lot of quick decisions that may not always coincide with your original thoughts.  However, the most important thing is that momma and baby both turn out healthy.

And now that all that is behind us, I'm excited for all the things that will, and already have begun to, come from being a dad:

  • Being able to sooth the cries of a newborn.
  • Being able to see the curiosity in the eyes and funny expressions that only a baby can have.
  • Reading to my son to get his education off on the right foot.
  • At least being able to watch, if not coach, my son playing sports.
  • Making my son play an instrument, even if he doesn't like it (like I didn't like playing the French Horn), so he can at least come to appreciate the effort and dedication that it does take to succeed at the arts.  Even rock stars have spent countless hours perfecting their trade (not sure I can say the same for pop stars though).
  • Taking my son to science museums, so he can begin to see the wonders that surround us in the world.
  • Taking my son to church, so he learns that there is more to the world than science can ever hope to prove.
  • Disciplining my son, as hard as it may be on me, to make sure he learns that he is not the one in charge and learns to respect his parents.  I know he'll appreciate it someday.
  • Seeing my son become his own man, because he is and needs to know that he is free to chose his own way in life.

There are so many more I could list, but this is starting to get a bit long.  I'm just so happy and excited to finally be a father, and I can only hope to be as good a one as my dad was for me!

First Thanksgiving, Then Christmas

 family, food, holiday  No Responses »
Nov 182008
 

Well, even though our retailers have jumped straight from Halloween to Christmas, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on one of the most American of holidays that is coming up next week: Thanksgiving.

I've always enjoyed Thanksgiving as a day of gathering with family around some great food that we usually only make once a year, and be a little more carefree and thankful for all that we have.

There are a lot of great things about this oft overlooked holiday, and I wanted to see what your favorite part was.  Please take a second to vote in the poll below and let us know what you're looking forward to next week.

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