Plans are coming together for our 2009 vacation. Once again we've been blessed with free airfare, via Uncle Weve's numerous trips between Baton Rouge and Buffalo. At the end of May we'll be jetting off to Orange County, CA. We'll be checking out the California version of Mickey Mouse and friends for several days. We'll be doing some other things not associated with Disneyland, yet to be decided. If you have any ideas for 'not to be missed' fun for us, please leave it in the comments.
I'm glad I have this trip to look forward to because the Oklahoma weather is about to drive me crazy! Yesterday was gorgeous, high of 70 and low of 60...perfect weather in my book. This morning I awoke to my laptop informing me it was 26 outside. It hasn't gotten above 40 and the wind is freezing! This winter has seemed to last forever! Darn groundhog and his stinkin' shadow!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A strawberry cake mystery
I made a strawberry cake before I left for work on Tuesday morning. When I came home for lunch, it looked like this:
Alyssa and Nathan were the only ones home and neither of them had touched the cake. Which only leaves Belle as a suspect. But, you would think if the dog helped herself to cake on the counter that she would have eaten the whole thing or at least left a crumb or two on the floor but there was not a trace of one anywhere. Just Belle laying on the floor, looking guilty and hicupping.
The funniest part of this mystery though is that no one seemed to remember to inform Kevin and Zac of the mysteriously disappearing cake and they both had a piece!
Alyssa and Nathan were the only ones home and neither of them had touched the cake. Which only leaves Belle as a suspect. But, you would think if the dog helped herself to cake on the counter that she would have eaten the whole thing or at least left a crumb or two on the floor but there was not a trace of one anywhere. Just Belle laying on the floor, looking guilty and hicupping.
The funniest part of this mystery though is that no one seemed to remember to inform Kevin and Zac of the mysteriously disappearing cake and they both had a piece!
My budding cartoonist
I never know what's going to be on the white board when I go upstairs in the morning for the start of school. There was the whole Tail incident. Then last week, I found this:
...courtesy of Zac.
Just in case you can't read it: The muffin on the left says 'Weew, it's hot in here.' The muffin on the right says 'Ahhh! A talking muffin!'
...courtesy of Zac.
Just in case you can't read it: The muffin on the left says 'Weew, it's hot in here.' The muffin on the right says 'Ahhh! A talking muffin!'
Grow, Nathan, Grow!
Most of you know we've been praying for Nathan to grow. For several years this has been a concern. He didn't grow at all between 2 1/2 and 5 or between 6 1/2 and 8. So we were really hoping for some progress at his 6 month check last week. My prayer was that he would grow enough that we wouldn't be forced to make a decision on whether or not to give him growth hormones. When you give kids HGH, it's not a one time shot, but a 2 to 4 year commitment of usually 2 shots a day. Not something we wanted him to have to go through.
A big Praise: Nate grew 2.5cm and gained 2 pounds. Not huge numbers but when you've been looking at no progress for a while, this was huge for him. And it was enough, that the endocrinologist didn't even want to discuss HGH shots! Woo hoo! Don't stop praying for him though. He'll have another check in 6 months and we want to see some big numbers on that scale!
p.s. I've taken the 'Pray for Harper' button off the sidebar since she's home and doing well. If you want to keep up with her progress, I addded her mommy's blog 'Kelly's Korner' in the links under 'Blogs I read'.
A big Praise: Nate grew 2.5cm and gained 2 pounds. Not huge numbers but when you've been looking at no progress for a while, this was huge for him. And it was enough, that the endocrinologist didn't even want to discuss HGH shots! Woo hoo! Don't stop praying for him though. He'll have another check in 6 months and we want to see some big numbers on that scale!
p.s. I've taken the 'Pray for Harper' button off the sidebar since she's home and doing well. If you want to keep up with her progress, I addded her mommy's blog 'Kelly's Korner' in the links under 'Blogs I read'.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Got Endust?
Honestly, I do dust my house at least once a week. "I" meaning either I or one of the kids does it but somehow the hood on our fireplace got missed a few times. Katie decided to leave her mark in the dust. I promise you it's clean now. So here's your challenge for today: go dust all the weird stuff you usually don't, like picture frames, ceiling fans, fireplaces, etc....
You'll have an amazing sense of accomplishment when you're done and maybe a case of the sneezes.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Upward Basketball
Nathan's playing his second season of Upward at our church. He's on the 3rd/4th grade team this year. Translation: As a short 3rd grader, he's pretty much the shortest kid in the league but he makes up for it in his agression on the court. He hears the whistle blown at him for fouling quite often. He scored 3 goals at last week's game!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Week in Review
After housing 16 7th grade boys plus 2 college counselors last weekend, I needed a week to recover from the lack of sleep, but I have about 20 things to blog about so you might just find a post a day for the next couple of weeks!
Katie has finished her 2nd week of school yet still hasn't mastered her locker. It's opened a few times for her but they have yet to make nice and cooperate. Overall, she's doing great and has even gotten up on time except for two mornings when major bribing with a can of Dr. Pepper was required to get her up.
My van is in the shop again. We took it in in Jan. because one of the sliding doors wouldn't close, then got stuck shut. They kept it for a week and it still wasn't fixed right. So we took it back today, Kevin waited for 4 hours, they said they fixed it, but during their proud demonstration it broke again. So I have a Jeep Cherokee in my driveway that only seats 5. Guess we won't be taking any neighborhood kids to church this week!
Katie has finished her 2nd week of school yet still hasn't mastered her locker. It's opened a few times for her but they have yet to make nice and cooperate. Overall, she's doing great and has even gotten up on time except for two mornings when major bribing with a can of Dr. Pepper was required to get her up.
My van is in the shop again. We took it in in Jan. because one of the sliding doors wouldn't close, then got stuck shut. They kept it for a week and it still wasn't fixed right. So we took it back today, Kevin waited for 4 hours, they said they fixed it, but during their proud demonstration it broke again. So I have a Jeep Cherokee in my driveway that only seats 5. Guess we won't be taking any neighborhood kids to church this week!
Friday, February 13, 2009
My new word: Blogilaxin
I just made up that word. I was thinking about how much I enjoy blogging, even if no one ever read it, but I'm glad you do. Now if I could convince you all to start commenting, I'd be in blog heaven!
In a few minutes, I'm going to head to the church to pick up 15 7th grade boys who are staying at my house until Sunday morning for Disciple Now, a youth retreat weekend. My dining room floor is covered with duffles and sleeping bags and pillows. And the dining room table is covered with tons of food that will probably be inhaled in 15 minutes or less.
See? This is why I needed to blogilax, even if just for a moment.
In a few minutes, I'm going to head to the church to pick up 15 7th grade boys who are staying at my house until Sunday morning for Disciple Now, a youth retreat weekend. My dining room floor is covered with duffles and sleeping bags and pillows. And the dining room table is covered with tons of food that will probably be inhaled in 15 minutes or less.
See? This is why I needed to blogilax, even if just for a moment.
Monday, February 9, 2009
My apology to the Chick Fil A Cow
I bought a cow, actually a fourth of a cow. A family in our church raises cattle and I jumped at the opportunity to buy some. We were spoiled several years ago with half a yearling from a cattle rancher in our church in Arkansas. The taste is sooo much better than what you get at the grocery store, not to mention no added food coloring, no hormones or antibiotics, and just better quality, all for less than what I'd pay per pound at the store. I told Nathan at breakfast we were getting the cow I bought that day and it was going to be his job to feed it. Priceless look on his face. Then I confessed it was meat for the freezer. He said, 'I don't think I want to know how that happens.' I probably don't either, but I'm a little too excited over the fact that my freezer is full of fresh beef and I hope I don't have to buy any at the grocery store for at least 6 months!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Get cookin': Sausage Soup
This soup is quick and easy, a one pot wonder that can be on the table in 30 minutes.
These amounts will feed my family of 6, but with no leftovers, so I usually double it.
1 16oz. package of kielbasa or smoked sausage, sliced
1 small onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cabbage, chopped (Don't worry..the kids won't notice it if you make the pieces really small!)
Garlic, sea salt, and pepper to taste.
Saute sausage, onion and 2 tablespoons oil in a stock pot till onions are tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, till cabbage is tender.
Options:
If you like spicy foods, you could substitute a can of rotel for the diced tomatoes.
You could easily add other veggies like carrots and/or mushrooms.
These amounts will feed my family of 6, but with no leftovers, so I usually double it.
1 16oz. package of kielbasa or smoked sausage, sliced
1 small onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cabbage, chopped (Don't worry..the kids won't notice it if you make the pieces really small!)
Garlic, sea salt, and pepper to taste.
Saute sausage, onion and 2 tablespoons oil in a stock pot till onions are tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, till cabbage is tender.
Options:
If you like spicy foods, you could substitute a can of rotel for the diced tomatoes.
You could easily add other veggies like carrots and/or mushrooms.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Odds and Ends
I couldn't think of any one topic worthy of it's own post today but here's some bits of news for you.
*Kevin and Alyssa drove to Dallas today to go to Ikea to get Katie's new bed. She wanted a full size loft but I couldn't find any here in town that were less than $1000. Ikea's was $250 but they wanted $300 to ship it. Alyssa desperately needs some driving hours so she can get her license so we decided to spend $40 in gas and 9 hours of time going to pick up the bed.
*Nathan has been playing upward basketball at church. He has 4 more games and I promise to get some pictures posted soon. No goals yet but he's gotten lots of personal fouls--he's very aggressive on defense!
*Katie had a good first day at school as best I can tell. Thanks for your prayers for her. God blessed her with a friend she knew from church in her first class. I don't know why I'm always amazed when He answers our prayers with such care and sovereignty even in the littlest details. When she shared this with me in the car on the way home, I almost cried.
*Zac starts track the end of this month which means he'll have practice every day after school at the south intermediate high school. I live in the far north, hence the need for Alyssa's license as soon as possible!
*Check back tomorrow...I'll have another quick and easy recipe for you!
*Kevin and Alyssa drove to Dallas today to go to Ikea to get Katie's new bed. She wanted a full size loft but I couldn't find any here in town that were less than $1000. Ikea's was $250 but they wanted $300 to ship it. Alyssa desperately needs some driving hours so she can get her license so we decided to spend $40 in gas and 9 hours of time going to pick up the bed.
*Nathan has been playing upward basketball at church. He has 4 more games and I promise to get some pictures posted soon. No goals yet but he's gotten lots of personal fouls--he's very aggressive on defense!
*Katie had a good first day at school as best I can tell. Thanks for your prayers for her. God blessed her with a friend she knew from church in her first class. I don't know why I'm always amazed when He answers our prayers with such care and sovereignty even in the littlest details. When she shared this with me in the car on the way home, I almost cried.
*Zac starts track the end of this month which means he'll have practice every day after school at the south intermediate high school. I live in the far north, hence the need for Alyssa's license as soon as possible!
*Check back tomorrow...I'll have another quick and easy recipe for you!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Big Changes
Tomorrow will be Katie's first day of school....ever. She has been homeschooled since the beginning. She didn't even go to preschool like Alyssa and Zachary did. We went today to walk through her schedule and find all of her classes and her locker.
You're probably wondering why she's starting over halfway through the school year, and I'll give you the quick answer to that question: It became very apparent in the beginning of this school year that I was no longer able to meet Katie's needs in the education dept. of her life. In October I began the process of talking with the school and starting the endless paperwork to get her evaluated without having to actually enroll her. I wanted to know what the plan of action would be before I committed to giving them my child every day. It took till December to get the evaluation completed, January for the first meeting, and the second meeting was supposed to be last week but it iced. We finally had our IEP mtg. bright and early this morning and she starts tomorrow.
Please pray for her as she transitions to this new world that she would be comfortable in her classes, understand the requirements/expectations, and that she would make some sweet friends quickly. Katie tends to be a night owl so also pray for her as she adjusts to getting up at 6:30 when she's used to waking up at 8.
You're probably wondering why she's starting over halfway through the school year, and I'll give you the quick answer to that question: It became very apparent in the beginning of this school year that I was no longer able to meet Katie's needs in the education dept. of her life. In October I began the process of talking with the school and starting the endless paperwork to get her evaluated without having to actually enroll her. I wanted to know what the plan of action would be before I committed to giving them my child every day. It took till December to get the evaluation completed, January for the first meeting, and the second meeting was supposed to be last week but it iced. We finally had our IEP mtg. bright and early this morning and she starts tomorrow.
Please pray for her as she transitions to this new world that she would be comfortable in her classes, understand the requirements/expectations, and that she would make some sweet friends quickly. Katie tends to be a night owl so also pray for her as she adjusts to getting up at 6:30 when she's used to waking up at 8.
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