Author Archives: tracye1

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About tracye1

A wee bit about me, Tracy. Married to my high school sweetie for a looooong time. Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, now ADULTS!!!! This blog is a potpourri of posts. Some wax on about my Catholic faith, others family, some are just a “diary” of life updates. Life is a journey, taken one day at a time (sometimes one step at a time) and my blog is about my personal trek through life. Peace!

The way to their heart…..

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I love this hutch.  It’s not super fancy, but it holds some of my favorite things:  my cookbooks.  Of course, if you look closely, you’ll see my apron (which I don’t always remember to wear, but I absolutely ADORE…thanks Brite!), our nod to our beloved FSU ‘Noles, a jar of lifesavers for the “I’m hungry, mom…but dinner is 5 minutes away moments”, pie tins ready to make something delish, baskets to deliver with, bug spray and Benadryl (mosquitos love us!), and a left-over mustache from Halloween.

I have a lot of cookbooks and at some point I’ve used them all.  I think.  But it seems I have my “old standbys” that I always go back to.  And maybe I should just remove some and de-clutter a bit, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

These three are my most solidly used books.  The folder is a collection of friend’s and family recipes over the years.  I had a separate one for desserts and sadly one Christmas shopping trip to Publix it was left in the cart with no one turning it in.  BOY, did they SCORE!!  The green and white book is a smaller collection of F&F recipes from when I started putting them on cards and they became too overwhelmed by the volume, however, I add all the Publix Apron meals cards in there.  And my Tallahassee, Junior League“Thymes Remembered” has some standard recipes and family faves that I practically know by heart.

My apron.  Still has some dough from last week’s Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls.  Still have some in the freezer.  Yum!  Soon to be sporting some Peanut butter from our holiday tradition of making “Buckeyes“  for my friend’s Annual Cookie Exchange.

I may not have a cooking blog site, or show on Food Network, however, I love cooking.  I love cooking for my family and my friends.  It brings our family together at dinner most nights of the week so we can share our day and our “Hi’s and Lo’s”.  It might keep me fluffier than I prefer, but I absolutely love trying new things and filling their tummies with love.  Baking is the best, but sadly just not enough nutrition to fully sustain us, so I try my best to keep it to a minimum, but ‘TIS THE SEASON, BABY, so watch out!!

One of the way to their hearts is through their stomachs and I am happy to oblige and love on my family!

Galations 6:7  A man reaps what he sows.

I hope I am sowing a loving and happy family with full tummies!

Learning to let go of perfect…

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Edwin Bliss has said, “The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.”

This past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote.  In a busy world, with four active children, a husband and full-time jobs for both of us, we are blessed.  Like many of our friends, neighbors and acquaintances in this wildly busy life, we cram as much as we can pack down, shake a bit and pack some more into most days/weeks/months.  Unfortunately, we (hubby and I) both err a  little on the “perfectionist” side of things…one of us <ahem> more than the other, but we both want things done and we want them done well.  The danger in that is, that we (me) often lose sight of what is important.  I become more focused on doing it ALL and doing it ALL (seemingly) effortless and perfectly.  It’s exhausting.  (the kicker is, the end result is RARELY perfect)  And now I know why….I’ve lost focus on what in the heck I am doing.  I am more interested in executing perfection than finding gratification and excellence.  It IS frustrating and leads me to completing tasks “perfectly” and seldom gratified and often grumpy.

To change focus.  It’s going to take some practice to let go of “perfect” and settle for gratification.  I’m not sure if I can do that, but it’s got to be worth the effort.  Right?

The “Duggar-conversation” + 2 Middle school boys=interesting….

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Just in case you don’t follow the headlines, the Duggar family just announced they are expecting baby #20.  This is a show we enjoy watching as a family.  I think we are truly fascinated and inspired at how this family lives their lives with such a large brood.  Of course, I’m certain plenty of editing takes place, but for the most part they appear to be a well-rounded family, loving, kind, respectful and living out their faith in spite of what society believes to be the “right” number of children in a family.

Driving my middle-school boys to school the other day, we somehow got on the subject of the Duggar family.  Both boys adamantly believe 20 kids to be “crazy”.  Now, with 4 kiddos in our family, we are larger than average, however, we have several friends with 4 or MORE children and so to us, it’s normal.  It was an interesting conversation on imagining OUR lives to be that of such a large family, to which one boy said, “well, I wouldn’t be changing ANY diapers OR babysitting” and to which the other boy said, “Mom, is this your way of telling us you’re pregnant?”.  In which I respond, “not to my knowledge”…and they both heaved a huge sigh of relief.

I did let them know that if we ever DID (which I canNOT fathom), that YES of course, they would change diapers and babysit.  And they would love it.  And then they proceeded to tell me how THEY would raise that brother (because THEY can’t fathom any more sisters…) in the art of burping, wrestling, running, farting and so on……OH, Lord have mercy on me…..

Children ARE our refining fire…

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After a particularly stressful beginning to our Mass this morning, it occurred to me during Mass (as I prayed diligently for my head to NOT spin off) that it’s quite possible that children are our refining fire.  They are our opportunity to test our faith as we question “Why in the WORLD,Lord, did you ever think I was capable of dealing with all of this drama?”  And He answers:  “Because I made you and you are capable of far more than YOU realize.”

As I mull this over,  my 8 year old kisses my cheek, my 9 year old hugs my waist and my 12 and 14 year old have miraculously turned their hearts back toward us and are no longer complaining about RETURNING to church (yes, twice in one day, IMAGINE that!!!) later in the day.  The ups, the downs, the loopedy loos….ain’t parenting grand?!?

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes through it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It’s the end of the week as we know it….

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  • I’ve finally made some headway into writing the story of our family’s Faith walk through our years of incarceration.  For some reason, (I’m going with the Holy Spirit’s leading on this one), I haven’t been able to write.  Perhaps it’s nerves.  Either way it’s begun and to say it’s mind-blowing to look back on how firmly we were under the protection of the Lord, and still are, is truly amazing.  God IS good.  In the midst of it all, He is good, He is present and He loves.
  • We are going to attempt a photo shoot (complete with tripod) for our Christmas card this weekend.  I have a mental block on ANY Christmas shopping until our card is done, ordered and MAILED–shortly after Thanksgiving (I like to be one of the first–I’m weird like that!!).   I’d love to do a post on the pics that don’t make the cut.  You know the ones….”he’s touching me, I’m TIRED of smiling….this is boring….WHY do we do this EVERY year”…and so on and so on….at least they are a little older and tend to sit longer for pictures these days…mostly…
  • I have pinpointed my errors in lack of pre-planning for our week with the dueling football and softball schedules.  I now have a plan going forth.  Not surprisingly, it usually takes me a couple of weeks to “work out the kinks” when change is upon us!  There will be freezer meals a-cookin’ in the casa this weekend!!
  • The weather is changing, the air is fabulous and crisp.  Now to decide if we will be brave enough to go through with our scheduled stand up paddleboard trip on Saturday morning.  It’s supposed to be in the low 70’s and sunny….and I suppose if I stay OUT of the water it will be OK…
  • Had a great two days of exercise in early this week.  Mid-week…ummmm, let’s call that “recovery” and here’s to hoping the week finishes BIG with a fun and physical weekend–which of course, means I have to get off the laptop and walk this morning before work…
  • Successful purging of summer clothes into fall/winter clothes is complete with a VERY small list of “needs” for the girls (even smaller for the boys) AND I managed to make it to the Post office to send off some winter shoes I purged to a dear friend’s daughter.
  • I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since 9-11.  Wow.  There are no words.  Prayers for all the souls of the lost.  Prayers for the families who annually relive that day.  Prayers for peace in this world.
  • It’s the end of the week…the kids sweetly asked if I would have today off also for Veteran’s day, but alas….not so much.  Daddy is working from home to oversee activities and such, so for THAT I am heartily grateful!  And on that note, I think I will grab some sweatpants and go for a brisk walk and get this day started!!  Happy Weekend, y’all!!