How to make S’mores, Man Cave style

william-smores-8-8-2014Manly Double Decker S’more Recipe:
1. Carefully remove entire rectangle of graham cracker from wrapper. Do NOT break into a square. You will need an entire rectangle for the bottom and another one for the top for these manly S’mores.
2. Place two peanut-butter cups, side by side, on the bottom graham cracker. Yes, I KNOW. GENIOUS.
3. Cover each peanut-butter cup with a slab of chocolate candy bar. Continue reading

A birthday in the Man Cave

William's first birthday (C) Bosch MediaMy youngest son turns a year older this week. I now have two adolescent boys firmly planted in the Man Cave.

Growing teenaged boys are so like one-year-old Labradors. All feet, lanky legs and not sure what to do with it all. They run away, independently… but just “so far…” Then they come back, give you that wide-eyed hopeful look that says, “You still love me, right?” Continue reading

A D-Day lesson on being a man

Ensley Maxwell LlewllynMy sons, here in the Man Cave, have an amazing example of what it means to be a Man, in their father. They’re blessed, also to have wonderful grandparents and uncles. I’ve also told them the story of another man. One who was at the beach in Normandy, France, 70-years-ago. General Llewellyn. Everyone in my neighborhood said his name as: “GENERAL Llewellyn.” Not Ensley, Mr. Llewellyn or grandpa (as he was an older man, at that time). But “General Llewellyn.”

It was when I – a child in grade school – was assigned a class on WWII, that I ‘interviewed’ him.

I learned he was one of the first to land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He was on the first jeep that rode into San Michelle, France, to crowds of newly liberated Frenchmen. He served in both the European theater and the South Pacific. BUT what I remember the most? He talked so proudly about starting the Stars and Stripes War Orphan Fund. Continue reading

Thank you, Maestro for bringing back the magic of music

Curtis High School orchestrat - May - 2014Music has always been part of the Man Cave. From lullabies for baby boys to piano lessons, guitar, violin and singing.

I brought music into the Man Cave because I was brought up with it. My love for music began in childhood but hit an early roadblock. A seemingly big, impenetrable roadblock in the form of a very negative orchestra teacher. I’ll spare you the details but our local junior high and high school orchestras dwindled from 40 members to 4 in less than a handful of years.

Enter Joel Westgaard.

Continue reading

The lady with the ‘blong’ hair

Pricilla-dec-1973-crop

Heather’s Mom, December 1973

When I was a wee girl of about six, my class was assigned to write something about our mothers. “My mother has ’blong’ hair,” I wrote. The teacher floated by my desk and said, “What’s that word?”
“Blong,” I said.
“Honey, that’s not a word. Do you mean long? Do you mean brown?”
“No BLONG,” I insisted. But she changed the words to “long brown hair,” which was not at ALL what I was trying to describe. Continue reading

The Mom nose knows

noseAccording to scientists, the human nose can detect one TRILLION different odors, far more than previously thought. As the Mom of the Man Cave, this comes as no surprise. Stay with me. Odors in a Man Cave aren’t necessarily BAD. There’s the scent that shows hubby has splurged for the lovely maple-y flavored bacon; the scent of fresh clean baby boy — my FAVORITE when the little men were very little; and the scent of freshly scrubbed home.

But being the Mom of the Man Cave means I have developed not only an extra set of eyes, but extra-sensitive nostrils. I would wager that women who live in Man Caves can detect a QUADRILLION different scents.

Continue reading

A little girl-power from the Man Cave

dancer making points by degasA friend of mine was feeling down and a bit picked on the other day, so I related the following story:

When I was a teen-ballerina, I had a friend named Molly. One day the guys in the dance studio were teasing her, teasing her . . .  teasing her. Suddenly this sweet lovely girl, who could have stepped out of a Degas painting, hauled off and told them, “F*** YOU. My MOTHER LOVES ME.” I laughed so hard I about fell on the floor. Continue reading