“Mom, as long as I’m in the house you will never have dull knives again.”
David babysat one day last week and instead of money, he asked if he could order a knife sharpener of all things. He had studiously watched online reviews before his purchase and was excited to try it out on all the kitchen knives.
There are moments every day that make me pause and praise; “I’m so glad to be alive for this.” I know you have them, too.
As soon as I emerge from my room with the intention of having a quiet cup of coffee, I am greeted by the sight of least one small child and three teenagers. The teenagers are getting ready for school, popping bagels in the toaster, finding matching socks, half dressed, printing out homework, etc. The small ones see me and immediately start talking. This morning was “Mom, with the medicine that you give me will it hurt when they pull out my string?” and “Mom, I want a cream cheese bagel with butter and cream cheese. No, I want toast with butter. Two pieces.” Happy dances, sparkling eyes, mama in her red robe making toast……..
This morning Rich was still home when I came out of my room and we kissed all alone in the pantry finding coffee and he made it for me without me asking and I sat on the couch with a hot mug in my hands. Soon there were three, do you see Seth as he hides from the camera? The mug is hiding a double chin. Caleb is hugging me and Sarah had already eaten her two pieces of prepared-to-order toast. I contentedly watched Rich put his shirt on for work. We listened to David laughing about something he saw on youtube, we all laughed as he explained, but not because it was interesting but because he was interesting–funny and happy. Ethan was sitting at the counter, Grace walked through with her Mary Poppins shirt on, she has a math test this morning and we . She carried her bagel and tea with her onto the bus.
“Early in the morning, my song shall rise to thee”
This is what I look like after the shower and make up.
Good morning friends! I am feeling quite productive this morning. After getting the kids off to school I got into my car and drove poor poor Gentleman Gray to the vet. When he returns back home he will no longer be Gentleman Gray, he will be Gentle”man” Gray. LOL He yowled all the way to the vet but did seem soothed when he heard my voice saying, “It’s okay, kitty kitty kitty”…so I did that, a lot.
After leaving him, I went to the grocery store. It was 8:00 in the morning and the place was quiet and nice actually. I’m finally beginning to slow down, now that I am adjusting to life with no children during the day. So I slowly pushed my cart all over the store and slowly made decisions about what to purchase. It was great. I bought a cart full and then left, bought a medium coffee from McDonalds and ate a banana on the way home.
I brought in the groceries and put things away. Then, I made a quiche and some sausages for lunch whenever the two big boys downstairs decide to get up for the day (Jacob and Michael).
I scrubbed out the bathroom garbage can with bleach and soap water, and used Stainless Steel cleaning spray on my appliances and the trash can in the dining room. I walked down to the coop to let out the hens and give them treats, gathered two eggs and gave one to Parker (he gets one a day), said hello to Samantha cat who stretched up on my leg for some petting, clawing me in the process. It is already approaching 60 degrees which is wonderful for this part of the country, a fine beginning to a New England spring.
Since it’s been about a week since the last egg recipe, I thought I would share another that I made last night for the first time. It was well received by everyone in the family ages 10 and up. (Seth and Sarah did not like it as much). I found the recipe at the taste of home website and adjusted it according to my desires…..
This recipe uses 8 eggs.
H a m b u r g e r D i n n e r Q u i c h e
1 pound ground beef
1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
8 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt (omit for lower sodium diet)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
In a large skillet, cook the beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Meanwhile, line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes. Remove foil; bake for 5 minutes more. Set aside.
Drain beef; place in a large bowl. Add the eggs, sour cream, milk, onion, cornstarch, salt, pepper and 1 cup cheese. Pour into crust. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
If necessary, cover the edges of crust with foil to prevent overbrowning. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6-8 servings.
Serve with salsa and sour cream.
“this is good!”
“smells just like hamburger helper!”
PS, The quiche I made this morning was egg and cheese using another 8 eggs.
PSS, you are loved. don’t forget.
Can you feel the love? This is my favorite picture from Ethan’s 18th birthday party, he’s in a love sandwich between his girlfriend, sister, and cousin. And then there is Emily hugging a cat behind them, and Seth sitting on the couch, amused.
MORE PICS—all from my phone—
This is what Sarah, Seth, and Caleb have been doing all weekend…riding scooters. They are only 27 dollars on amazon and we just ordered a black one for David as well. I love them because it’s a fun activity that they can do outside and we let them ride them in the house, too. It’s the sweetest sound to hear their wheels running along the floor as they enjoy their scooters.
The dining room became a small wrestling gym on the day of Ethan’s party…..
Rich wrestled Jimmy, who actually showed some promise! He goes to our church and isn’t from our town so alas cannot join our team next year.
Getting pinned by Coach
Caleb (green shorts) was the ref.
I took pictures and periodically screamed be careful.
Ethan and Zak
soon everyone wanted to wrestle and I did a cartwheel.
There was loud music going on, too.
later on that night Caleb (G’s boyfriend) and Rich did a sit up contest that went on and on and on…..
They each did over 500 before Caleb cramped up and had to stop, Rich kept going for another 20 or 30 sit ups and then he stopped, too.
I discovered all these goofy selfies disrespectfully left on my phone so yeah…they’re going on the blog….**payback**
We watched movies, ate food, had pie and cheesecake as birthday cake, ice cream, and I went to bed at like 9:00 pm but Rich stayed up with them until 3. When I got up at 6:30 there were kids sleeping all over the place, I walked into each room to check on them with a smile on my face. Ethan woke up and made pancakes for all of us using his Grandma’s recipe. Then came a turn for everyone in the shower and a trip to church where several of them had a hard time staying awake because of their long but fun night.
This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no ficklenss, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
My darling Ethan Gregory made his appearance on a beautiful but cold March afternoon, making our little family all the better and giving Rich and I an amazing set of boys to watch grow up together. I can’t even believe that Jacob is 19 now, and Ethan is 18. It has been the joy of our lives to see these two brothers together throughout their childhood. Times, they are a- changin’, and the brothers will be going their separate ways within the next year, and indeed have already begun growing apart slightly as Jacob is in college now and working. They do not share a room anymore for the first time. David shares Ethan’s room and Jacob moved down to the basement with the little boys and sleeps on the couch. Such is the way of life, and it is all very good indeed. Whatever happens or where they go, I know our family will always be close and always be there for each other.
Ethan has plans to go into the service as a SERE specialist (he is in the first steps of making this happen so we can’t say definitely that he is accepted into the program yet) which he considers a dream career. Even if he isn’t accepted into this particular program, he will no doubt do something similar and he will be a great addition to any program or company. As for now, he is finishing up his senior year in High School, active in sports year round, has lots of friends and a sweet girl friend named Tessa, he is involved in church and loves Jesus, likes playing Clash of Clans and Skyrim, trying new recipes in the kitchen (especially pancakes), playing the guitar and singing, and watching Harry Potter movies. Ethan is the strong silent type and does NOT talk much, he enjoys dressing nice, but he does NOT enjoy cleaning his room.. He’s a great guy. Truly. He always has been, always will be. I’m very very proud of him, to say the least, and so is his Dad and the rest of our entire family including aunts and uncles. 🙂
We took some portraits this morning to mark the occasion of 18 years old. These young adults years are going to be great years for Ethan! He has so much adventure ahead of him and it will be fun to see what he does.
Happy Birthday once again to my son, someone I admire and love with all my heart. I rejoice in the day that God gave him to us.
“Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude”. ~Ralph Marston
I’ve thought this a thousand times since yesterday but I took Sarah to her second procedure by myself because Rich was on a business trip. I’ve thought it frequently…..not because I’m resentful of the fact but because I’m proud of it. If you only knew the way I was when I was first married, in my early twenties I was still having heart palpitations and driving with my hands whitely clutched to the steering wheel as I drove on the highway, for goodness sakes. In my mind, highway driving was a near death experience. Yes, if you only knew how I was from childhood. My mother told me that people didn’t think I could talk when I was so very small, because I couldn’t bring myself to answer their friendly questions. I would rather die than get up in front of a crowd and speak. If I’ve done anything extra brave, its because I was taken over by a power greater than I, namely, love –for music, producing solos, for babies, producing many doctor’s visits and going through child birth seven times, for God– in leading Bible study one year, for travel–in boarding an airplane, etc (that’s about all the brave stuff I have done). LOL Perhaps this affliction is more common then I believe (am I a freak?), but the truth remains– I have lived life nervously but I.have.lived.it.regardless! Amen. I would be a timid mouse in an underground hole if I didn’t have a family to bring me out into the world.
Sarah had robotic surgery in January to remove a bucket-load of kidney stones. At that time she was given an internal stent. So this next procedure was using a scope to look in the kidney to make sure everything was indeed cleaned out and to take the old stent out. It was scheduled to last about 2 hours. (last time was 8 hours)
So yesterday when the two of us left home we went to Barnes and Noble. Sarah didn’t have to be to the hospital until 11:30 so I wanted to pass some time doing something fun. She picked out a shopkins keychain and I bought two Harry Potter books (3 and 4). Then we went to the children’s play area in the mall so she could play. She soon became tired so we walked down the hall and back before getting back into the car. We made it back to the highway and into the city. I found the parking garage and got the car parked up on the 6th floor. It was freezing cold, as usual, and we shivered our way to the lobby to take the elevator down to ground level. We crossed the street into the hospital…Sarah, myself, and my big brown bag full of stuff we needed. We checked in and received our identification stickers and made our way to 4G for surgery registration.
A lady took us in her little office to check us in. Then, we waited for a few minutes in waiting room before another lady took us down a floor to triage where the patients get prepped for their surgery. Sarah used the bathroom before we put her adorable hospital pajamas on. I forgot to mention that she had a bath at home before we left and I combed her hair back and braided it. She looked small and sweet, like a squeaky clean piglet. Since we had surgical experience, we were not as nervous as the first time. She asked for an iPad and the nurse got her one that had an Elmo case on it. Sarah promptly found a Lego game to play and I read Harry Potter #2 and was interrupted many times by friendly nurses and doctors, asking many questions which I answered, calling Jacob one time so that I could get the exact name of the antibiotic that Sarah was taking daily. Jacob was all stressed out because he couldn’t find his special cord that he needed to print his paper. He wanted to tell me all about it which made me laugh because in his mind it was much more important than having a child in the O.R.? He didn’t think of it that way, I’m sure. I love him so much….and he was helpful to the extreme yesterday as he watched the kids after school (and he did get the paper printed so it all worked out).
One cute thing was that Sarah rated her hunger pains as a 6 on the pain scale (10 being the worse). Poor thing!
Well, after over an hour of waiting for surgery, it was finally time. The hospital has small motor cars for the kids to drive down the halls to the O.R. if they wish. But Sarah became sad and decided at the last moment NOT to drive. The two of us decided it would be nicer if Mama carried her so I did, wearing yellow scrubs, and brushed the little tears off her face. She was quietly upset…no shaking or talking…just silent tears. I took her in the room where there were about 7 or 8 people, I think there were two of everybody. Two doctors, two nurses, two anesthesiologists, etc. Sarah sat cross legged and facing me as they put the mask on her and encouraged her to breathe deeply and make the balloon close and open. There were numbers on the screen and they cheered her on to see if she could beat the previous record of that day which was in the 600’s. She promptly got 724 and started to melt in my arms. Down she went, gently onto the bed sound asleep. Meanwhile, I felt like I was suffocating with the surgical mask over my nose and mouth. I pulled it down and kissed her cheek and left. I was a little sad but felt mostly like “okay, lets get this over with”……plus I was starving.
The nice male nurse walked me back to my stuff and said that Sarah was exceptional because usually when kids get nervous and cry like that on their way to the room, they end up having a complete breakdown once they are in there and fight the mask and everything. Nothing wrong with that of course…and I did see the look of panic that flickered in Exceptional Sarah’s eyes as she made the choice to breath and not fight.
They put our coats and Sarah’s bag in storage and I took my purse to the cafeteria and got a bowl of salad and a package of fig newtons. I brought my food back to the waiting room and the quiet room section was free of people so I went right in there and set up my Kindle, put in ear buds, and watched two TV shows which I had downloaded at home that morning. I ate my salad, drank some coffee, and texted with Mom and Dad, Rich, Colleen, and Hannah. I updated FB and was cheered by all the instant encouragement there.
After a while, a hospital worker updated me that the Doctor was “removing stones”. This information caused me distress as I imagined that her kidney had more stones in it then we had previously believed. I braced myself for a long wait as Hannah encouraged me to replace every worry with a truth from God. I had just opened a magazine when in walked the doctor telling me they were through and that Sarah was doing great!
I was so surprised and grateful. I followed him to a small conference room and he went over all they had done. He said it took longer then they originally thought–not because of stones–but because he had put dye in her system to see how her urology system flowed and he believes he may have found the area that could be a partial blockage. She will need further tests but he had not not ever seen a child with as much stone burden as she had when he first saw her back in October so he tends to believe there must be some abnormality somewhere that CAN BE FIXED when and if we figure it out….there is even a chance she could outgrow the problem. In the meantime, her right kidney (which is the one causing all these problems) is swollen which to me has been the freakiest bit of information so I asked him several times if that was okay and would she be okay. To make a long story short, he said her kidney is like a stretched out balloon at this point and now that the stones are out it could and should heal. He said she should have further testing to see if her stone making condition is metabolic but I said she already did that (with another doctor) and there was nothing abnormal except citrate levels so he said that was very good. He said we should do another 24 hour urine collection test at some point. He said we are just letting her heal and recover now but there are tests to be done in the future to check for a blockage or a reflux abnormality. If they do find something she will need more surgery.
She goes back on Wednesday to get her stent pulled out, which is now attached to a long thread-like string taped to her leg. This is a blessing because if he had put in the other kind of stent she would have had to go to the O.R. again.
He walked me to Sarah in recovery and she was sitting up with two nurses leaning close to her. She was groggy, pale, shaking slightly, and crying. She had red circles under her poor little eyes and as I got close I smelled that smell of the gas (or whatever it is) that they use to put her to sleep. Ugh. They were giving her Morphine which helped settle her down and she dozed as I talked with the nice nurse and called the pharmacy to make sure they had the prescriptions I needed to fill.
We left after an hour. I went first to go get the car and they wheeled her out in a wheelchair. Off we went through rush hour traffic (white knuckles? not too bad). I finally made it to the entrance of the highway for the first time like ever, without making wrong turns and getting lost (even with the map on my phone, lol). CVS was crazy busy, Sarah peed her pants in the car but thankfully I had extra clothes and helped her change as I was in the line to the drive through pharmacy window. Sarah spent most of the trip home on my iPhone watching a movie. They said it would take a half hour for the medicine to be ready so we went to Wendy’s drive through. She wanted a chicken sandwich. I did have to carry her inside to use the bathroom again but she was able to slowly walk back herself, holding my hand.
After we got the medicine (18 dollars for bladder spasm medicine, pain meds, and antibiotic) we headed home. My head felt as if it was going to explode. It was about 7 or so when we arrived and all the other kids were home. Before I had even sat down, Rich pulled in the driveway. I was utterly relieved, boy did that hug feel good and Rich confirmed what I had been thinking—that I had done a great job taking care of Srarh.
Sarah screamed and moaned the first few times she went potty at home. Grace was upset and spent a bit of time with her and I gave her a good dose of the narcotic pain medicine they gave us which helped tremendously. I thought Sarah was amazing. While she was in the midst of pain she said, “I wish I was somebody else right now.” To articulate this was smart and completely understandable, I thought. She got through the night just fine without me, which amazed us as well. I saw her at 6 when she came in to ask if she could turn on a show.
She has a slight addiction to ginger ale at the moment. 🙂 She said it tastes just soooo good.
She’s cheerful today. She happily did a little painting with Jacob which was precious to see. She had the tape on her arm from the nurse bandaging her after pulling out the IV and she said it bothered her all night. I promptly took it off which she didn’t appreciate but at least it was gone, leaving behind just a small bruise from the needle and red tape burns. She still has the white circle chest stickers on and after what I did with the last bandage she won’t let me near them. She managed to get one off herself after a bath.
She hasn’t needed any pain medicine today!
That’s about it for kidney stone news. This has been quite an adventure. 🙂 But we aren’t complaining because we believe this is a childhood issue for her and won’t be something that will effect the quality of her entire life…so very thankful for that. Time will tell. We have today and it’s been a lovely one of relaxing and snuggles and also truffles with my girlie. Right now she’s bored and can’t wait for the boys to get home (mean mommy said no more TV). She loves her lamb from Dad, too.
Speaking of her Dad…Rich and I have got to get out tonight and get prepared for tomorrow, which is Ethan’s 18th birthday and he’s having a bunch of friends over.
at barnes and noble
play scape
in the bathroom…she was excited to see a picture of Snoopy!
playing the iPad provided by hospital
waiting
waiting
back home! Rich gave Sarah gifts–nail polish and a stuffed Lamb.
Sarah was busy eating Pringles.
we had a long day but we were glad to be home
she added a cardinal because we saw one out the window as she was painting
me and my little girl ❤
eggs contain the highest quality protein you can buy
egg yolks are one of the few foods that are a naturally good source of Vitamin D
I thought I would start a category here on the blog of recipes which use five or more eggs. This will make a good resource for anyone out there who has a flock of chickens and is trying to use up eggs. I’ve been keeping hens for years now and last spring I went a little overboard with ordering new chicks. We have a flock of 20+ hens which each industriously lay one egg a day. These fresh, beautiful eggs are like little treasures and I love to use them up in the kitchen. (I’m wanna be just like Bubba in Forrest Gump, only I’ll be spouting off egg facts and recipes instead of shrimp…..”goals”….) 🙂
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I made this cake last night for the first time and it was delicious. I like sheet cakes as they are thinner than a typical cake, and more like a soft bar cookie easy to eat “out of hand”.
This is a good recipe to use if you are going to a potluck, as it makes 30 servings.
Cream Cheese Sheet Cake
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2- 1/4 cup sugar
6 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cups cake flour
frosting:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour; stir until well blended.
Pour into a greased 15 in by 10 in by 1 inch baking pan. Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
For frosting, in a small sauce pan, combine sugar and milk; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and cook for 3 minutes (do not stir). Stir in butter and chocolate chips until melted. Remove from the heat; cool slightly. Stir, then frost the top of the cake.
This morning I got up at about 6:30 to find Ethan just about to make waffles, Jacob getting ready to go see Emily and take her to school, Grace and Dave ready & waiting for the bus, Michael’s rooster-crowing alarm going off so he could go jogging, and Sarah already awake and playing with toys.
I thought I had to take Gentleman Gray to the vet and got 10 minutes down the road before I got to thinking and realized his appointment was for the following week……sooooooo, I came back home, washed the syrup off Seth’s pants….as he told me it was “wear red and white to school” day, I hugged him because he was so dang cute, I got their snacks ready, waved to them as they rode away on the bus, then cleaned the kitchen and living room even though I didn’t want to. And now here I am on the couch ready to type up a blog post and then continue on with my day.
These are just some photos taken over the weekend. This one because I was walking around the (melted!) “long pond” and noticed I had one single friendly hen following me. All the rest of the flock was back at the coop where I had just stopped to give them treats and gather eggs.
We walked all the way around but didn’t see any signs of life in the pond, it was only wishful thinking.
See the dirt? she went barefoot!
Our other pond still has ice on it and Ethan was hitting golfballs. One of them landed on the ice and he went after it. The ice held but he stayed by the dock just in case.
I learned a new crochet pattern and made a dishcloth. Next one will be the basket weave, as suggested by my fabulous aunt.
David practiced shooting his bow.
I took the kids to church. Sarah said to me, “Don’t take a picture of my dress.” “Well, what should I take a picture of then?” “My shoes.”
She didn’t like wearing her dress, whenever she sat down it choked her so she would have to pull on the neck of it frantically to get herself breathing again. (slight exaggeration)
Rich was away with Caleb and Seth all day long for Caleb’s wrestling tournament. He ended up getting 6th place at States. Rich texted me the news with this picture. I was like, “awesome! when are you coming home?” 🙂
Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment and some errands to run and as I was putting on my make up in the bathroom I looked down to see I had company.
During these extremely busy years of being a housewife/mama to a large family, one of the ways I give myself a *small pick me up* is by buying jewelry at Tiffany’s every chance I get going to Goodwill and/or the Thrift stores to see what treasures I can find. You never know! (I’m always looking for fiestware but only find a piece .001 % of the time) Yesterday I bought three framed pieces. One is Lady-slippers, one is Trilliums, and one is Violets. Two of them are signed and numbered prints and the other is a painting on velvet. I loved them because they are wild flowers that grow in our woods. Last week I bought the “Thank you for Not Smoking” sign which NO ONE understands but I think is funny because no one in my life smokes or would smoke at my house~ LOL. I bought it because of it’s irony, but also because it’s handmade embroidery in colors that i like and, only 50 cents.
This picture is for my parents because they hadn’t seen this gift and asked for a photo. It is a little felted bird within a little felted egg that their church mailed to Sarah as a “get well soon, we are praying for you” gift. Isn’t it so sweet?
This morning Jacob practiced the electric guitar.
Ethan drove himself to his dentist appointment and to school, looking very handsome indeed. His 18th birthday is SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stand it.
nice clean eggs from my darlin’s
Isn’t it a wonder that God created birds that lay all different sizes, colors, and patterns of the humble egg? He loves variety! That’s why YOU need to be YOU!
View from the porch this morning.
(32 degrees)
lit candle, part of a hornet/bees nest I found on the ground in the woods, a Scarlet fiesta vase filled with branches of fragrant white flowers from Costco (which I keep sinking my face into and drinking in) and ………plain unromantic bananas. 🙂
And oh! I’ve had such a lovely walk in the May twilight; I stopped by the barrens and picked these Mayflowers; I came through Violet-Vale; it’s just a big bowlful of violets now — the dear, sky-tinted things. Smell them, Marilla — drink them in.”
Marilla sniffed obligingly, but she was more interested in Anne than in drinking violets.
~Anne of the Island
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ethan’s Waffle Recipe
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
In a large bowl beat the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Do not stir the batter between bakings. Makes 6 round waffles.
He doubled the recipe so we could freeze the leftovers. They can be popped in the toaster for a quick breakfast or after school snack. We eat them with butter and Grandpa’s homemade maple syrup.
Everything is flowing — going somewhere, animals and so-called lifeless rocks as well as water. Thus the snow flows fast or slow in grand beauty-making glaciers and avalanches; the air in majestic floods carrying minerals, plant leaves, seeds, spores, with streams of music and fragrance; water streams carrying rocks… While the stars go streaming through space pulsed on and on forever like blood…in Nature’s warm heart. John Muir
Hello, it was one of those weird weeks when things are sort of crappy but sort of unexpectedly nice, at the same time.
Rich was away for five days in a row and we dealt with the stomach bug while he was away. Sarah was supposed to go in for surgery on Thursday morning but as things would have it, I went to bed that night and NEVER SLEPT because my stomach was roiling. My stomach felt as if it contained a turbulent, oily sea. I was looking forward to vomiting. Sarah had been sick on Monday, then David, and then Ethan. They shared it with me! I called the hospital at 4 in the morning so I could stop thinking about it. They kindly rescheduled her surgery for this next coming Thursday. I was happy. I thought to myself, how nice, Rich will be back by then and I won’t have to go with Sarah alone after all. I thought this for about 24 hours before I found out that Rich will be in Baltimore on that day. I just have to laugh. At least he will be home that evening.
I spent Thursday on the couch, with Ethan on the other couch. It was the most relaxing sickness I think I have ever had. This was the unexpectedly nice part. The throwing up went away and I was left completely spent…..totally wiped out but with a smile on my face because I had no energy to even OVERTHINK…praise the Lord! 😉 I didn’t feel guilty in the least for not cooking dinner, not cleaning, drinking lots of sugar laden ginger ale, not tucking the boys into bed, watching too much tv, not showering, etc, I was just plain too tired to care! LOL (and so was E).
I fell asleep on the couch with Sarah at 6:30 pm Thursday, it was truly heart achingly sweet to be snuggled up with her. We woke up and went to bed at 8 (when the little boys got home from wrestling practice thank you Jess) and I slept until 10:30 Friday morning. It was awesome, and even better–Rich got home during that time. He got out of bed in the morning to get the kids on the bus and then came back to bed and we both slept in.
Today is Saturday and he took the kids out for a little while. Ethan broke his iPhone dropping it while playing basketball so they went to take care of that and to go shoot bow. He sent me a picture of them eating lunch at Buffalo Wild wings. He has David, Ethan, Tessa, Zak, Sarah, Seth, and Caleb with him. LOL -the more the merrier- Grace is at school helping out at a band retreat and Jacob is working today until three.
When they left I watched a little TV and then went outside for a walk. Yes, I’m feeling much better and it was wonderful to be outside. Cold, but wonderful. (34 degrees currently).
Dried Queen Anne’s Lace
I didn’t charge him a portrait fee. In fact I paid HIM for sitting so nice. I gave him a warm hen egg from my pocket. He loves them. (he eats them)
I try to point my nose to the ground AND up to the sky, so as not to miss much.
Granted, I’m a pretty loud walker (trying to scare away bears) so it’s a miracle if I can get a bird within 35 feet of me. Today I had a short lens but I cropped this pic….see the titmouse on the branch? There were several of them, including some chickadees, and they were being quite communicative. They were clearly mad that I was walking with a cat.
Sam had a great time running around, up and down trees and boulders, leaping over streams and such.
One of my favorite colors—dark brownish yellow–
Who knew the inside of acorn caps was such a pretty brown?
curling thin papery tree bark with veins of moss
moss under a sheet of ice (turns out we had two storms Thursday night…one in my tummy and one outside the window….tons of rain, thunder, lightening, and wind)…all that rain left puddles to freeze up again so prettily.
*prettily*
Someone has a very nice home.
I spoke to a cardinal. It seemed quite happy. As it flew after a female, I understood why.
Another type of moss (growing by a running stream).
Beautiful icy water
See the ice on either side of the photo?
I looked down and saw this:::
So then I looked up and saw this::
It’s my favorite picture of the day!
And then I came home and saw the first FLOWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very exciting.
Inside pics.
Cats giving each other baths. Candles lit.
Card from dear friend. Thank you Dawn.
An entirely gray cat.
FIRST GREEN EGG from this flock of chickens! Isn’t it lovely?
I repotted the string of pearls plant and put it in a red hanger.
flowers by the sink
lastly,
crocheting a dishcloth.
“Just to be alive is a grand thing.” Agatha Christie
(breakfast, Bible reading, journal)
“They were totally amazed, for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.” Mark 6:51, 52
“Jesus, according to your Word, keep my thoughts fixed on You, so that by your grace, my heart will be, not hard, but soft with the ability to take in your miracles, Your work in my life every day.”
Oh Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.
Psalm 40:5
*****
P L A N T N O T E B O O K
Christmas Cactus
purchased at Logee’s
reminded me of Great Grandma
plant needs partial shade, blooms during the short winter days and cooler temperatures
water thoroughly after soil looks dry
fertilize once every two weeks
String of Pearls or Bead Plant
Purchased at Logee’s
I bought it because I think it’s beautiful.
plant is an easy grower and needs fertilizing once every two months
blooms small white flowers that smell like cinnamon
Life Saver Plant
also from Logee’s
I purchased this one because I thought it was very cool. The flowers bloom to look just like life saver tubes.
full sun, little watering, fertilizer from spring to fall once a month.
perfect for windowsills
Aloe Vera
given to me by my Mom
Leaves contain juice that helps with the pain of a burns and scrapes.
needs full sun and well draining soil.
water deeply and let dry to a depth of 2 inches before next watering.
Plant produces babies that may be repotted (as gifts for friends and/or daughters).
my pinterest board to inspire houseplants galore
Good to be Home 
