Happy Mother's Day 2012!

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, but especially to MY mom!

My mom is pretty special.  She has been such an influence and guiding force in my life.  In an age where most women didn't work, my mom worked at our grammar school in the office.  It was fun to get to see her throughout the day whenever I had to go to the office (never cuz I was in trouble, I swear....) or if she came to my room to deliver something to the teacher, or just to see her in the halls.  Everyone at school knew who she was and loved her.  Whenever she was outside at recess she always had a crowd of kids around her.  I think she knew every kid by name.

I will tell you that mom was strict when we were growing up.  We had to help clean the house every Saturday.  We had to learn how to iron clothes, take care of the dog, learn how to cook, keep our rooms clean, make our beds and put away our toys.  And when mom told us to do something, well, she never had to tell us twice!

Mom was also my girl scout leader for awhile and those years are probably some of my best memories of her.  My favorite memory is of her teaching us how to make pancakes on a camping trip....  And going camping....  And driving up to Greenfield Village in Michigan, where she bought me a glass blown dachshund that I still have... .  And singing songs around the campfire.  Mom made girl scouts a lot of fun!

I think I appreciate my mom a lot more now that I'm an adult and have kids of my own.  I never realized how hard it is to raise good kids.  I probably never thought to thank mom for all the beautiful clothes that she hand made for me when I was a kid - she spent hours in her sewing room, bent over her machine, churning out dresses.  I never got to wear pants to school until I was in high school, so hand made dresses were treasured over store bought.  My favorite one was a floor length, granny skirt that she made me during my freshman year of high school.  Now, before you laugh, remember that this was 1970 and everything was very
hippy-ish back then !  I wish I had a picture of it.  I loved that skirt!  Or to thank her for snuggling next to me on the sofa and teaching me to read.   I can so clearly remember her holding the "Dick and Jane" books and running her fingers over the words.  I can still close my eyes and feel her gently running her fingertips across my forehead to help me fall back asleep after a bad dream.  And I remember her sadness as she hugged me when I cried that nobody at school liked me and I wasn't going back.   Thanks mom!

My mom has a real zest for life and I feel so fortunate that's she's able to participate in so many activities with us.  Like phooning.....

Geocaching......

Reaching new milestones....

Fishing........

Making ham noodles......

Taking trips with my dad.  Aren't they a cute couple?

I like to think that I got my sense of adventure from my mom.  I think she has a little bit of a restless soul in her like I do.

Happy Mother's Day Mom - I Love You!!

Mom's Ham Noodles

Mom makes really yummy ham noodles with the left over ham when we bake one.  Personally, I will make the ham just so we can have the ham noodles the next day.  If you'd like to give it a try, here's the recipe:

First, bake a ham - any size ham, just so you have some left overs!

Here Dad is chunking up some pieces and then throwing them into the food processor.  Grind it up until you have about 2 cups of ham.  It will look like this:

While you're grinding up the ham, boil a box of Creamette's small pasta shells and then rinse them with water and throw them in a large bowl.

Chop up a medium sized onion...

And then fry the onion in about 2 tablespoons of margerine until it starts to brown.  Add the chopped ham to the same frying pan, add about 4 tablespoons of margerine and fry until the ham starts to warm through and brown a little also.  

Toss the ham and onion mixture into the bowl with the pasta.

Then scramble 2 or 3 eggs in the frying pan.  I like lots of egg, so I always scramble 3 eggs, but 2 will do if you like.  Once the eggs are cooked through, toss them in with the ham and noodles, mix it up real good and this is what it will look like....

So there ya go - Mom's Famous Ham Noodles.  This makes quite a bit, but if you're anything like me, it won't last long.  Give them a try!