Week 28: Ricotta Cheese Cookies

This week I chose to bake ricotta cheese cookies.  The name doesn't sound appealing but these cookies turned out really good.  My choice was easy this week as I had some extra ricotta cheese that I needed to use.  So I searched the internet for a cookie recipe that contained ricotta, and I settled on this one.  It makes a ton of cookies, but according to the recipe the baked cookies freeze well. These cookies are actually very similar to the cookie recipe that I featured back in week 12 (Aunt Rose's Italian Cookies).  They are much closer in taste and texture to the cookies that I loved so much as a kid.  I think that when I baked my Aunt Rose's cookies in week 12, I made a mistake by substituting whole wheat flour for all purpose flour.  This time around I only used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 3 cups of all purpose flour.  It made a big difference in the resulting texture and taste of the cookies, and I like these much better than the cookies from week 12. Here is a link to the recipe that I used:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ricotta-Cheese-Cookies/Detail.aspx


Last week was really busy for us. On Wednesday evening we attended the "5th grade farewell" at the elementary.  My sweet Victoria is moving on to the middle school in the fall and I am so not ready!  The farewell ceremony was pretty cute.  The kids walk across a bridge that is set up on the stage to symbolize the move to the middle school.  On one side of the stage is the Principal from the elementary, and on the other side is the Principal from the middle. It was really cute and Victoria loved it. 

Then Thursday was the official last day of school.  Armada has another really great tradition that is observed on the last day every year.  They have this bell that all new students ring on the first day of school.  Then on the last day, they have all the outgoing 5th graders line up and close the day by ringing the bell.  (See photo on the left)  I was prepared  for this ceremony, but I have to admit that when it was Victoria's turn to ring the bell I got choked up.  My sentimentality started earlier that morning.  As I walked my kids into school, (see picture below on the left) I was struck by the fact that my kids won't be on the same schedule again until Ryan is in 6th grade.  The elementary and the middle and high are on a staggered start and stop times to accommodate all the bus runs for the district.  So not until Ryan is in 6th grade and Victoria is in 10th grade will they be on the same schedule.  Further, never again will both my babies be in the same building.  I took comfort in the fact that my kids were just down the hall or around the corner from one another.  They used to see each other in the hallway almost every day.  Now they won't see each other at all until school is over for the day.  I realize that this doesn't change much, but in my mind it is HUGE. So as I walked to my car I reflected on all of this.  Then I got into my car, sat in the parking lot and cried.

Victoria is going to middle school...middle school...that's "official big kid." I cannot pretend any longer that my sweet Victoria is still a little girl.  She is now a young lady, and there is no going back.  I swear I don't know how this happened.  It doesn't seem like it's been almost 11 years since she was born.  It cannot be possible that she has completed kindergarten let alone grades 1 through 5.  No way is she old enough to have braces.  It's not humanly possible that she is only a few inches shorter than me.  And no way in hell is she going to middle school!  Besides, I am too young to have a middle schooler...right?!?! ☺ 

When I am busy with the day to day routine of running this household, and shuttling the kids back and forth, it's easy to disregard the swift passage of time.  I am just "in the mode" and I do what I need to do.  It's when I take a step back and look at the path that we've already traveled that I start to panic.  I cannot believe how much of it is already over. Admittedly it is an extremely cliche sentiment, but time goes way too fast. I make a concerted effort to slow down and "take it all in" and it is still going too fast.  Someday, sooner than I'd like, I am going to wake up and see adults where my babies used to be.  I am dreading that day with all of my heart.  I love love love that my kids are growing and accomplishing so many wonderful things, but it's just going way too fast.

So here I am, standing at the very beginning of summer vacation, and I'm vowing to take it even slower than I already do.  I am going to "suck up" every minute I can with them.  I am going to hug them a little longer.  I am going to walk with them a little slower.  I am going to be silly with them a few minutes more. 
In short, I am going to remind myself to treasure every moment.  
Happy summer vacation everyone. ♥

Victoria on her first day of kindergarten



Victoria on her last day of 5th grade