~MY FAVORITE DADDY~

 ~VALENTINE POEMS by MY FATHER~

When I first started my blog in 2009 I wrote about a

visit to my father 

on Valentine's Day of that year.  I never dreamed then that three years later he would still be with us.  I count it a privilege that for the most part my father still knows who I am.  Dementia in any form, albeit Alzheimer's or any of the other mind-robbing diseases out there, can be nothing less than devastating to a family.  It's a long, long, sad good-bye and speaking personally here, if I'm not careful with my emotions the brain monster that lives inside my father's head has the potential to steal away more than just my father's memories...

~MY BEAUTIFUL FATHER~

Preacher Man and Poet

SPRING 2003

Yesterday morning as I walked down the corridor that led to my father's tiny room I stopped for a moment to look at some of the red and pink hearts that lined the walls.  Instantly I was taken back to the days of my childhood when each year my then tiny fingers would fashion a homemade Valentine for the man I've always called daddy.  On the 14th of February I would cut a huge pink heart out of construction paper and inside would carefully trace around my right hand.  Across my palm I would write this simple sentiment....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

To: My Favorite Daddy

From: With Love,

Becky Sue (age 6, 7, 8, etc.)

 ~TATTERED HEARTS~

Not too long ago I came across one of my handmade Valentines and I believe it's the only one that still exists.  Thanks to my mother's foresight it was tucked away years ago for safe keeping.  My father, ever the sentimentalist, inscribed in his own handwriting onto the backside of my tiny paper heart the following words:

"This Valentine was given to me by my little daughter,

Becky Sue, February 14, 1968.

One day she will find out I am

not just her favorite daddy, but I'm 

HER ONLY DADDY!"

~~*~~

You were right, daddy!

You will always be my

ONE and ONLY

(forever and forever)

FAVORITE DADDY!

~~*~~

(Gosh~how I miss him...)

~~*~~

Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

Love to you...

~THE DAY AFTER...Sweet Valentine Memories~

 ~VALENTINE'S DAY 2011~

I'm hoping your Valentine's Day was wonderful and that you all were able to celebrate LIFE and LOVING with family, friends and those you hold most dear!

My Mr. AGPMan and I got all "spiffied up" for a night out on the town and dined at a fabulous Oklahoma City Restaurant.  Given the fact my husby pulled JURY DUTY for the day (hahahha!) I wasn't even sure he'd make it home in time to keep our reservation.  After sitting in the Jury Waiting Room for about half the day his name was called and so he had to return to the Courthouse again today!  Over the past ten years or so I've been summoned for Jury Duty FOUR or FIVE TIMES, but my guy's name has never come up even once!  ERRRRRRRRRRR!   So...you can imagine I was very excited when the summons came and this time HIS NAME was on the envelope!  HAR HAR HAR :)

~HAVING FUN WITH MY BELOVED~

I might have taken the ribbing jury-thing about bit too far because for a moment there I thought he might KILL ME! :)  EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!

Truthfully...we try to always have at least ONE funny photograph taken of us doing something stupid each year.  This was the shot for 2011!  Our daughter, Adrienne, loves staging silly pictures and they honestly make for some fun scrapbook pages!

~MY DADDY and ME~

Again...hope your Valentine's Day was fabulous.  I'm paying for my over-indulgence in NON-WEIGHT WATCHERS dining...but I'm sure I'll be OK.  Maybe in a day or two...or three...or four...  :)

Blessings for a lovely day.

Love to you~

~NEVER MY LOVE~

You ask me if there'll come a time
When I grow tired of you

Never my love
Never my love

You wonder if this heart of mine
Will lose its desire for you

  Never my love
Never my love

What makes you think love will end

 

When you know that my whole life depends

On you (on you)

 Never my love
Never my love

You say you fear I'll change my mind
And I won't require you

Never my love
Never my love

How can you think love will end
When I've asked you to spend your whole life
With me (with me, with me)

 NEVER MY LOVE!

NEVER MY LOVE!

September 8, 1978 until death...

FOREVER and EVER MY LOVE!

~~*~~

Blessings to you all this Valentine's Day.  Don't forget...your heart is not judged by how much it loves...but, by how much it is loved by others....

Love to you~

~~~~~~~~~~ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE~~~~~~~~~~ And a Little Chocolate

 

ALL I REALLY NEED IS LOVE,

BUT A LITTLE CHOCOLATE NOW AND THEN

DOESN'T HURT!"

~Lucy Van Pelt, PEANUTS

 SIMPLY CHOCOLATE

It's sweet.  It's decadent.  It's simply one of the most delicious and romantic gifts you can give.  Move it on over diamonds, chocolate is a girl's best friend (and surely our guys don't mind it either!)  Doesn't matter what you like most...milk, white, bittersweet, or dark, there's no denying that a hefty dose of chocolate makes us all feel loved.

Struggling with what to do for your Honey this Valentine's Day?  How about make the tradition of giving chocolates truly something special by spoiling your sweetie with a batch of homemade truffles.  Pack them inside a heart shaped tin with lots of tissue shreds and tie it all up with silky pink bow (OK...RED if your not a PINK lover!).

 

Here's a fabulous recipe I've used for years!  It's foolproof and I promise you'll love it!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

(What You'll Need)

12 ounces of Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1/3 Cup Heavy Cream

1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter

3 Egg Yolks

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (for dusting)

1 Cup Powdered Sugar (for dusting)

1.  Combine chocolate chips, cream, and butter in small saucepan.

Heat on low, stirring constantly, until smooth.  Remove from heat.

2.  In a small bowl, lightly whisk egg yolks, then add a small amount

of the heated mixture and whisk.  Add this to the saucepan.

3.  Add vanilla and stir well.

4.  Pour mixture into small bowl and refrigerate until firm (3-4 hours).

5.  Form teaspoonfuls into balls and roll in cocoa that has been

combined with the powdered sugar.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 36 Chocolate Truffles

~~*~~

Blessings as you count your way down to a Valentine's Day filled with love and joy.

Love to you~

~~~CHOCOLATE DIPPED OREO COOKIES~~~ Romantic Valentine Treats~

~CHOCOLATE DIPPED OREOS~

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about Valentine's Day is that it's a lovely excuse for all you non-pink-lovin'-gals to embrace my favorite color...:) :) :)

I simply LOVE making dainty Valentine Treats!  Ever since elementary school and my beautiful Mother was my die-hard Room Mother (year after year after year), I've been in love with jazzing-up pre-made goodies easily found at local markets.  When I was in 4th grade my Mom frosted Scooter Pies (Moon Pies) and then decorated them with the names of the kids in my class (complete with pink roses and all).  To this day her talent (and ideas!) amaze me and I will forever believe I learned from the best.

(Thank you, Mom!  You are my hero!)

  ~REGULAR OREO COOKIES~

Anyway...this year my Miss K and I decided to dip regular Oreo Cookies in white chocolate and then decorate them up all fancy-like!

~EASILY DIPPED COOKIES~

(We like fancy around here!)

~MICROWAVEABLE CANDY WAFERS~

The Oreo Cookies were coated in white chocolate (one half at a time) and allowed to cool.  We then decided to grate a bar of white chocolate and sprinkle some of the shavings on the top of each cookie.

 

 ~ SHAVED WHITE CHOCOLATE~

~TOTALLY SWEET and YUMMY~

Tiny silver candy balls  (nonpareils) are a must!

~TOTALLY DIVINE!~ 

The tops were decorated with pink roses and minty green leaves made with Royal Icing and then sweetly cello-bagged in pairs! 

~TWO BY TWO~

Hope you enjoyed a little peek into the latest project with my Miss K!  It was soo much fun and absolutely NO BAKING!

Hope you are having an awesome day!

Love to you...

~I KNOW YOU BY HEART~

I've loved Valentine's Day for as long as I can remember. It's such a happy little holiday and one that comes packed full of the SWEETEST things.

I love all the icy pink decorations and the cards that are filled with over the top sentiments. I love the lace and the ribbons, the 2die4 chocolates and those little Conversation Hearts that always seem to make me smile.

I love the romance and the flowers (the palest pink roses, please!) and an evening that always brings with it a special dinner out with my hubby.

Here's wishing you a weekend filled up and overflowing with all the things that make you feel happy, loved, valued and secure.

Blessing to you from my very grateful PINK-LOVIN'-HEART >>>~~<3

~VINTAGE PINK HEARTS and Hand Painted Cottage Roses~

~VINTAGE HANGING HEART~

I've never been one to make resolutions when a new year arrives, but this year I did PROMISE MYSELF (is that a resolution?) to complete the gazillion half-finished projects languishing in my studio. For several years now I've loved painting up these charming old Heart Kitchen Molds!

~HANGING HEART~
How Sweet It Is

But~ I get easily sidetracked doing other things if I'm not careful. Since the Hearts were already base painted with my favorite sugary pink paint, I opted to finish all I have over the weekend. I don't plan on purchasing any more of these sweet aging beauties... They are getting really difficult to find~ Besides, vintage kitchen trinkets and treasures just seem to just fly off those estate sale shelves faster than I can grab them up!

~SUGARED with GROUND GLASS~

With Valentine's Day just a few weeks ago I thought this would be the perfect time offer them up for your enjoyment. I 've listed a few on eBay and later today I plan on listing a few on Etsy as well. Each Heart hangs from silky rayon ribbon and comes graced with a single hand painted rose on the front and a little pink rosebud on the inside!

~Sooo ROMANTIC~

The Heart is individually wrapped in a cello bag and is tied up with a frothy pink ribbon. Tied onto the side is a charming little To:/From: Hang Tag. Don't you love the sugaring on the outside? It's real German Glass Glitter...LOVE IT!

~Gotta Love The HANG TAG~

~SERVED UP IN STYLE~

I just love all the sugary pink sweetness, don't you?

Blessings to you as you share special little keepsakes with those you love...Rebecca

CHERRY CHOCOLATE VALENTINES

~HAPPY TIMES 2006~

When I was a little child my father always bought me chocolates for Valentine’s Day. Not the expensive stuff…on a part-time preacher’s salary (which was truly close to NOTHIN’) he couldn’t afford much. Still, every year he managed to give me and my three siblings something special.  I looked forward to my father's tiny-sized offerings of love... generally a four piece box of Whitman's Chocolates accompanied with a Valentine of my very own.

As I got older I easily grew accustomed to his meager gifts and as the years passed I even took them for granted. A lot for granted.
 And, then one day, they just stopped coming.
I’m not sure exactly when it was…probably 2002…maybe 2003…maybe it was 2001...

It’s hard to remember something you try on purpose to forget…

My father has what my family calls “A MONSTER IN HIS BRAIN”. He has a devastating form of Alzheimer’s (gosh…is there ANY OTHER KIND?) that has slowly and methodically stolen away his memories. And sadly, I am all too aware that if this mind-robbing demon remains unchallenged, unchanged, it will contribute to the ending of his life…

I visited with my father today at the Nursing Home where he lives…a well-meaning facility that cares for the aging and the afflicted. I know he will never leave this place. Today I found myself grateful he doesn’t understand all that has been taken from him…
all that has been ripped from his life.

It's the one mercy of the disease, I suppose.

We sat quietly for a few minutes when my father must have sensed my growing sadness. He gently patted the back of my hand and then softly said something I hadn’t heard him say in several years…

“Daddy is here, Becky Sue. Daddy is here!”

It was then I pulled out from it’s hiding place a tiny box of Cherry Chocolates and a little heart shaped Valentine and placed them in my father’s aging hands.

Suddenly it didn’t matter if he remembered the past.

I did.

And for today that was enough…

"For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones."   Isaiah 49:13

Blessings to you as you remember those you love and those who love you…

Rebecca