Everything's Coming Up Daisies

Changing Fall To Christmas

2011-11-30T20:59:00.004-05:00

During the week of Thanksgiving we got our Christmas tree and Christmas decorations out and started trading out our fall decor. I usually leave everything decorated for fall and Thanksgiving on the first floor until the day after Thanksgiving, but I'll start on the tree or get it up, and it's on the second floor in the front window. So each floor is decorated for different seasons/holidays!

Everything took a little longer this year with me still in recovery mode and having doctor appointments to start radiation. I also didn't do much of the physical work and just supervised (i.e. bossed people around). I had Buddy put the tree together, Hubby and a couple of the kids fluffed out the limbs (which I can usually be so anal about), and then Hubby put on the lights as I followed him around holding them (920 lights!). These are all things I usually do because I'm such a control freak, but I just let it go and it was okay.

I also let the kids decorate the tree. Not that they don't usually, but I stayed away and let them put the ornaments where they wanted to. They weren't as happy about it as I thought they would be. They were impressed that I didn't move things around after they were done. Giving up control I tell you.

Honestly, the tree looks almost identical to last year's tree, except that it's a different one (because we have two and I had Buddy put up the one that is not pre-lit because it's such a bear and needs more than one person).

I switched out the fall artwork I found on Pinterest with Christmas artwork.

I put a few things on the mantle and coffee table, and I put the little evergreens in front of the fireplace. I also got my Christmas wreaths and the stockings (which we call socks) out. I still need to put the nativity together, but other than that, I'm done. Going simple this year.

And it's totally okay.

Printer Tray = Lego Men Storage

2011-11-09T18:13:00.002-05:00

Of course I picked up this idea on Pinterest.

I already had the printer tray in the garage waiting to be used. I bought two in Frankenmuth over a year ago when I only planned to buy one, but they were half price, therefore the reason for buying two.

I'm glad I did now.

I used a couple of hooks and picture hanging wire on the back to hang it on the wall. To help keep it stationary, I used a command picture hanging hook on each of the two bottom corners.

It's hanging on the half wall outside Caboose's room by the stairs. That way if the little men (or whatever they are) fall off, they won't get lost behind a piece of furniture.

A Koala Is More Sloth-like Than A Sloth

2011-11-07T17:26:00.004-05:00

Today Caboose was reading an older copy of a kids' Guinness record book we have.

According to it, Koalas sleep about 22 hours a day and sloths sleep about 20 hours a day (although wikipedia differs on both of these numbers, it does have Koalas sleeping more).

So all these years I've been telling my kids not to be lazy and sloth-like, I should have been telling them not to be lazy and koala-like.

Although Koalas are so much cuter than sloths!

Pincushions and Pink Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

2011-11-02T17:28:00.007-04:00

Today was my last chemotherapy treatment! Can I hear a big Woot, Woot, please?!

And although I still have a few shots to be given at home, our little container was overflowing. I filled up a quart-sized Ziploc, barely got it zipped up, and took it with me today. (I always have my blood drawn to make sure my numbers are high enough for the treatment. It's downstairs in the lab and I just pop upstairs where my doctor's office and chemotherapy administration takes place.) I asked my lab nurse if I could put these in their very large biomedical container. Of course she let me.

That seemingly little bag contains an awful lot of shots. No wonder I call myself a pincushion sometimes.

I also made some Pink Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies to put out on the snack counter for everyone to share. I thought it was appropriate in light of pink being the color for breast cancer awareness. I got this idea off of Pinterest too. Addicted I tell you.

photo from quick dish, since I forgot to take pictures of mine.

2011-10-31T16:08:00.001-04:00

I am seriously in love with it. Or maybe it would be addiction.

Free fall subway art. They have a few others too.

It was a great addition to my fall decorations.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies. Peanut butter. Brownies. Need I say more?

Individual Strawberry Cheesecakes. Mine weren't ready for serving and didn't have the strawberries on them yet.

Want an invite to Pinterest? Just let me know. Already on Pinterest? I've added the follow link on my sidebar, so just click it so I can follow your ideas too. :)

Chipmunk Cheeks

2011-10-30T18:50:00.003-04:00

This cute little chipmunk has been getting crumbs from under the bird feeders. He goes about two feet away and empties his cheeks (we can see the grass move but can't see him), and then he starts filling his cheeks again. He worked for well over an hour today.

There is a squirrel that's been digging under the feeders, and we're wondering if he'll find the chipmunk's stash. It might not have been such a good plan by the little chipmunk.

Side Effects

2011-10-27T13:22:00.001-04:00

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I was missing the hair in my nose, and then soon after that I started my twelve rounds of Taxol which also made me start having nose bleeds. Not the kind of nose bleeds you normally think of, but a constant drippy nose bleed. It's been quite the pain. It doesn't help that between my first and second rounds of Taxol I also started Coumadin because of my blood clot.

A couple of months ago the nails on my right hand (which are on the left side in the picture below) started looking a little dark under the nail bed. It was kind of a red/yellow color like a slight bruise. It started on the thumb primarily and then after a few weeks moved to the index and middle fingers. If I use my nails, they feel bruised now.

This week I also noticed that it had spread to the same nails on my left hand, which are on the right side in the picture below.

I didn't realize until I looked at the picture that it has also spread to my right pinky.

Anyway, I mentioned it to my oncologist at this week's appointment, and she said it was from the Taxol, but she also reduced my dose by 25 percent for the last two treatments (yesterday and next Wednesday). She said it was to prevent more serious side effects.

Which I later found out was my nails falling off.

I'm trying to be very careful not to use my nails for anything, not that it doesn't hurt anyway. I don't know that it would make a difference, but just in case...

Noses

2011-10-24T23:15:00.003-04:00

In my last post I asked you if you knew what was going on in that clay pot in my kitchen.

It was noses for my sock snowmen!

I took toothpicks and just dipped them straight into the little paint container, then I flipped them over and stuck them in the floral foam to dry. Super easy!

?

2011-10-22T12:00:00.005-04:00

These are currently taking up space in our kitchen.

Wanna guess what they are and what I'm working on?

Yarn Wreath

2011-10-20T14:10:00.002-04:00

So I might have a little bit of a wreath fetish.

I'm also addicted to Pinterest now. And I've just been messing around with it for like a week or something. That's where I got the idea for this wreath though.

I started with a styrofoam wreath and had Hubby spray it with spray adhesive. Then I took strips of batting and covered it. You could use tacky glue instead.

I followed that with white yarn, and where I started it I used a floral pin to hold it down. I looked for Bernat baby blanket yarn, but I couldn't find it. So I got some kind of fluffy-ish yarn (maybe baby bee, but I already threw the wrapper away). I got the yarn at Hobby Lobby. I have seen the baby blanket yarn online, but I wasn't willing to wait to make the wreath.

After I finished wrapping it I used another floral pin to lock down the yarn and then made a loop around the pin and tied a knot to have something to hang it from. Then I started making my felt flowers.

This is a great tutorial that was linked to from the wreath instructions, and I used the method where I didn't glue the strip together before I snipped it and rolled it up.

I just glued everything on with my hot glue gun.

I had to hang this from my glass back door. I'm having trouble finding enough places to hang wreaths in my house. I have to many ideas!

Retro

2011-10-19T00:54:00.002-04:00

We don't wear bell-bottoms at our house, but we do love some things from that era, namely lava lamps.

We've been finding them at garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales — whatever kind of sale we run upon. We also have one lamp that is cylindrical with glitter but heats up awfully fast and another one shaped like these that has probably been made more recently and is kind of flickery like an lcd light or something.

Somehow they found their way onto the tall kitchen counter and they seem to get turned on at least once a day to do their thing. I never had a lava lamp when I was growing up, so it's been kind of fun to enjoy them with my kids.

Creativity

2011-10-18T10:01:00.000-04:00

Caboose loves Legos. He especially got crazy about them once he watched Star Wars.

Caboose also loves chess. He learned how to play when he took a chess class last spring.

Last week Caboose created a chess board with Legos and Star Wars figures. I know he based it off of episodes 1-3 figures and he's got 'good guys' against 'bad guys'.

Although he loves to build the sets, occasionally he will come up with other ideas, and we're still using the pencil holder he made last year. If he had an endless supply of Legos it might help!

Long Live The Wreath

2011-10-16T18:44:00.000-04:00

When I made and posted about and hung my Easter wreath earlier this year, I had no idea I was going to be looking at it on the back of my front door for the next seven months.

You read that right. Seven months.

Easter was very late this year, the week after that I found the lump in my breast, and obviously our world turned upside down from there on out.

The wreath on the door somehow didn't matter.

At some point during the summer, like maybe August or so, it sort of became a little bit of a joke. It was really getting a little ridiculous at that point, and there was no way it could pull off the summer theme. Yet fall was just around the corner, especially for those of us who live in the north with cooler temperatures.

A couple of weeks ago I got the fall wreaths out, but I have nothing I can put on the back of that door. It has to be light enough not to drag the magnet hook down the door. I went off to Michael's in search of something I could make.

I ended up finding a feather wreath on a styrofoam form. I used my trusty Michael's coupon to make it "on sale." I bought a couple of fall picks to cut apart to add a little something different, and then I used a floral pin to attach a bird (hooked it through the clip since there wasn't anything to clip it on).

Voila!

It's different and I definitely like it!

Birthday Season

2011-10-14T19:56:00.003-04:00

Even though Hubby's birthday was yesterday, Buddy's birthday on September 24th marked the beginning of our family's birthday season. Less than four months and all six of us have birthdays, all amidst Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

Buddy turned 15 this year. He's at that stage that he doesn't like for me to take his picture. It makes me sad.

Our football has been sort of flat for a while, so he got a new one from our friends. I'm not really sure who decided it was a good idea to put a bow on his head.

Said friends are also huge Michigan fans. They asked permission to get him a Michigan shirt. We acquiesced. Buddy does tend to cheer for them when he watches them play.

Now if they ever play the Razorbacks, that will be an entirely different story.

You Know You're Old When...

2011-10-13T01:47:00.003-04:00

You know the signs they have up near the check-out registers of convenience stores, grocery stores, and really any store that sells cigarettes and tobacco products? Well, they say that you can't buy those products unless you were born before that day in 1993 now. I noticed one in the store the other day and it kind of jumped out at me. It is what it's said all year. It means you're 18 years old.

On December 3rd this year my girls will be 18. That sign applies to them by age even though it doesn't apply to them for making an actual purchase. Yes, feeling a little aged.

Hubby's birthday is today. In Michigan your driver's license expires on your birthday every so many years. You can mail in a form and pay your renewal fee and not go to the DMV. This year Hubby's license expires. Tricky part is that your wife has to do it for you and mail it in at least three weeks in advance per the notice. The three weeks in advance part per the notice, not the wife doing it. Well, with company for two weeks (my parents came to visit!), chemo, and then a cold to complicate matters, I kind of just forgot. So yesterday after my chemo, Hubby brought me home and then went to the DMV.

If we'd done the mail renewal he wouldn't have had to have a new picture made. But since he went in he gets an entirely new license. The beauty of that is that he can mail in the next renewal and not have to get a picture done again — until he's at least in his 50's!!! Yep, feeling old.

Hi!

2011-10-12T00:07:00.006-04:00

It's time for an update and then back to some regular blogging. What's sad is when the people in my own home are asking me when I'm going to do another blog post. It just seemed like all the blog posts were about my breast cancer, and on top of that I was feeling pretty crummy. So I'll give you kind of a run down in this post and then maybe we just won't have to talk about it for a while, okay? I know that it encompasses my life right now, but funny things do still go on around our house.

I had my four adriamycin/cytoxin treatments, each two weeks apart starting in June. I was violently ill after the first one and the oncologist changed my premedication after that (in case anyone is interested, it was changed from zofran/compazine to emend/aloxi/ativan). I received neulasta shots at home after each treatment for my bone marrow to produce more bone marrow, thus increasing my white counts. That caused some significant bone pain for anywhere from three to five days. I had lots of food aversions while I was on the a/c treatments.

Two weeks after the last a/c I received the first of 12 weekly taxol chemotherapy treatments. I also receive herceptin since I was HER2+. That weekend was when I had the blood clot and went to the emergency room. So between the first and second taxol treatments I had surgery to remove my port, which is how I received all my chemotherapy and IV work, but not blood draws. Now I'm receiving everything through IV only in my left arm since I had lymph nodes removed on the right side when they did the lumpectomy. Because of the threat of lymphedema I can no longer have blood pressure or blood work done on the right side. My veins are getting a little ratty and we are hoping they hold out or I will have to get a picc line in my arm. I really don't want to do that.

When I went for my second taxol treatment the day after my port removal surgery, my white counts were very low, but they were still high enough I could get chemo. I did have to get shots that week to get my counts up. Since there is only a week between treatments I have switched to neupogen, which is a series of three shots instead of only one shot. The oncologist told me that usually people don't need shots until around the eighth week or so. Of course I had to be different. I got the shots every other week a couple of times, but my counts would be so low on the off week that I could barely get my chemo, so now I get the shots every week. Hubby gives them to me at home.

I got a cold a couple of weeks ago and had to postpone week eight. I never had a fever, which was very good. I am having treatment number nine tomorrow and then only have three more to go after that.

I'm having regular hot flashes from the chemo-induced (temporary) menopause. I don't have food aversions anymore but in the last few weeks almost everything tastes like metal. I can count on one hand the things that don't. I still have a small smattering of eyelashes and eyebrows. I'm losing some of the hair on the sides of my head that I still had. I'm trying to decide if what little bit was left on the top is thinning too. Not like it really matters at this point.

I had a problem with a tooth in the middle of all of this. It ended up only being something that was the result of chemo and resolved on it's own, thank goodness! One of the side effects of taxol is bone pain, but I guess since I receive weekly doses the effect isn't as strong because I'm not having any from it. I do have about two solid days of significant pain from the neupogen shots and I'm very fatigued during that time, almost to the point of being narcoleptic. By the time I get the third shot of the week it's starting to dissipate a little. There has also been a nationwide shortage of taxol in the middle of my treatment, but since I'm part of a clinical trial I still get it.

Chemo takes about four hours each time now. I get aloxi (nausea), ativan (nausea), decadron (steroid, anti-inflammatory), benadryl (for possible allergic reaction), pepcid (for stomach irritation), taxol (chemo), and herceptin. I usually eat breakfast before I go and eat very light in the evening. I snack on pretzels while I'm there, and sometimes donut holes. Yep, donut holes. Whatever works.

That's kind of the nuts and bolts of what's been going on. If for any reason you have questions about anything, please feel free to ask me either in the comments or by email.

We've had a birthday at our house, are having another birthday this week at our house, I finally took down the Easter wreath, and I cleaned out the junk drawer, so I should be able to find something to blog about next. And without waiting almost two months this time!

Adventure

2011-08-15T17:00:00.004-04:00

Adventure I'd rather not have.

Lately I've been facing trouble with my port. If you're not familiar with them, it's kind of like a central line. I have a button under the skin in my chest and tubing that runs up and over my collar bone into my heart. I think that's the basics of it. They use it for my chemotherapy so they don't have to do so many needle sticks for IVs in my arm, plus the first four treatments of adriamycin are the more toxic chemo so they don't like putting it straight into the veins.

My last adriamycin three and a half weeks ago had to be put in through an IV. The nurse was having trouble getting a blood return from my port unless I turned my head. The IV wasn't dripping unless I turned my head. Basically she didn't want to put in a toxic chemo without being able to see it and know if it was going through or not. Adrimycin is given from a large syringe and pumped in separately instead of dripped in with the other IV bags.

Last night I looked at my neck in the mirror because it just hadn't felt quite right all day. It wasn't painful, just different. Well, the side of my neck that has the port was swollen enough to be visible. I ended up coming to the ER last night about 10:30, spending the night in the ER having a CT scan done and finding out I have a blood clot in my jugular vein in my neck. It's caused from my port (probably).

I've spent today in the hospital. I'm on shots to thin my blood since they can't give me coumadin until after I have surgery tomorrow to remove the port. They aren't putting another port in. They will just give the last 11 chemotherapy treatments through an IV. It's the less toxic of them so they are okay with it. I will be on blood thinner for three months until chemo is done.

Nothing has been ordinary!

On My Knees But Not In My Nose

2011-07-24T22:10:00.003-04:00

So most of my hair started falling out the day before my second chemotherapy treatment. Finally I had hubby shave it down to mere millimeters just to make the showering process less messy. I still actually have some stubble left all over my head — it's just not much. I'm wondering if I'll keep it or if the Taxol I start after this last round of Adriamycin/Cytoxin will make it fall out.

Along those same lines, I've been kind of holding out on shaving my legs and arms. I'm thinking I'll just lose that hair and not worry about it. I've definitely thinned out. I did give in and shave my underarms this last week, but I've never been a hairy leg girl, so I just let that go.

Tonight on the way to church (the first time I've been in two weeks) I had on a denim skirt. When I would sit down my knees would show, so on the way there hubby looked over and saw hairy knees. I hadn't really noticed until then. The good thing is that we usually sit towards the back and it's dark enough that no one would notice when we were in the pew.

I just find some irony that I have hair on my knees and none in my nose that also happens to be longer than what's on my head.

Nose Hairs and Other Random Things

2011-07-13T15:52:00.001-04:00

I take prescription antihistamines. Since I've started chemo, I've not been diligent about taking them in the morning and night both. When I was throwing up so violently after my first chemo, followed by four days of eating practically nothing, pills were not part of my thought pattern. Unless they were for nausea, of course.

For the last week or so my nose has been rather drippy, so I've been diligently taking my antihistamines morning and night. And I'm still pretty drippy. Which got me to thinking this morning.

Someone hubby works with mentioned that someone they knew lost their nose hairs along with all the other hairs that are unfortunately lost (although I won't mind not shaving my arms and legs, so that doesn't fall into the unfortunate category). And after their nose hairs fell out their nose ran all the time.

I checked in my mirror this morning. I don't know what I started with as far as nose hairs go. I can still see some, but I'm thinking that the nose hairs have significantly lessened enough in population that I am now in the 'nose run all the time' category, regardless of taking my antihistamine pills.

On another note, had you noticed that on my right sidebar I've put my upcoming treatment schedule? Betsy had that idea so people who wanted to specifically pray could find the dates without digging through old posts. You know, the ones about nose hairs and tongues and birds on pants.

I take a shot that helps my body produce more bone marrow the day following my chemotherapy. One potential side effect is bone pain. I didn't have any the first time, although I was already sicker than a dog. But after the second treatment two weeks ago and the shot, I did have some bone pain. It started in my ribs and then a couple of days later it hurt to take deep breaths. I had significant fatigue starting four days after chemo on Sunday which coincided with the bone pain. I had almost a full week of fatigue. We'll see what happens after the shot tomorrow (which we do at home and hubby gives me in the stomach!)

Switching gears, we lost a dear older friend at church a couple of weeks ago. This couple is part of the small group we host in our home. Bill was one of the most amazing Christian men I've ever met. Our kids love both he and his wife. After he passed away, Sparky said to her dad, "I think I'm going to quit being friends with old men. They keep dying on me." We had very special friends in Illinois, and Franklin died not too long after we moved to Virginia. We were family friends, but Sparky had a special relationship with him. He taught her how to use her natural artistic abilities to paint.

Chatty is away at horse camp as an assistant counselor for the next two weeks. It's harder for her to be away without one of us than for Sparky to just take off to other countries and continents. Our kids are all so different!

Sparky decided I needed to do an update on my 'Meet the Kids' posts since things have changed. I think I may take her up on it.

Oh, and in again totally unrelated but kind of big news, depending on which camp you're from, I'm on Facebook now. I was a serious hold-out, but I started to see some benefits and decided to take the plunge. Now I'm addicted to this Gardens of Time game. That wasn't the benefit I saw and probably won't ever be the benefit! If I know you from here and you want to friend me, just send me a request.

Signs Of Summer

2011-07-05T15:55:00.012-04:00

Bundling Skills

2011-07-01T17:25:00.005-04:00

We like to watch the TV show American Pickers at our house. If you've seen the show, Frank always likes to go for the bundle. Instead of paying one price for something, and one price for something else, he tries to bundle two or more things for a little lower price.

Those skills came in handy when Sparky went to the Dominican Republic in February. They had some good shopping close by, and she was able to buy lots of bracelets and necklaces for practically nothing to give to her friends. We even have a few left over.

The same man who made the jewelry also made wooden carvings. Sparky always tries to get Caboose some kind of carving if possible (and he loves turtles), and the Hispaniolan Woodpecker was a must for her dad. Not to mention her dad's love of birding, Sparky saw the Hispaniolan Woodpecker when she was in the DR.

The woodpecker was $10 and the turtle was $7. She looked around and didn't seem overly interested, and then asked if he would take $12 for both. He did.

She came home and told me all about her bundling skills! She did good.

On Always Being Behind In Electronics Purchases & Tongues & Scalps

2011-06-29T00:26:00.014-04:00

We (as in Hubby and I) have always been behind the electronics power curve. We'd just assume wait until the models get better and the prices go down.

Plus we're kind of electronics wimps.

We didn't get our first VCR until 1991. It seems like everyone we knew had them already.

Answering machine — we didn't get one of those until 1998-ish. I couldn't stand to leave messages on them, so I didn't want one.

Now, people make fun of me for the length of messages I leave. I have no one to stop me from talking!

Our camera — film. Until recently. We loved our film camera and had a couple of extra lenses for it. We had purchased the girls small digital cameras that have been the source of the majority of my blog photos for the last couple of years. I borrowed their cameras a lot.

Until now.

A few months ago (about one month before my breast cancer diagnosis) we purchased a very nice digital camera with an extra zoom lens. Hubby had been saving leftover money from his business trips to purchase it.

I've now become a heavy clicker. I take lots of pictures when I'm photographing the birds in our back yard to try and get the best ones. Because of course the beauty is that you can delete everything you don't want.

In being a heavy clicker, I've gotten some great, if not unusual, shots of some of the birds. Specifically, their tongues. Here is the male red-bellied woodpecker. The first two are tongue shots and the last two you can actually see spit.

These next two pictures are a female oriole the first day we saw her when she migrated in. She's licking her lips/beak in the first one. The second picture also has some orange hanging out.

These next two are the female red-bellied woodpecker. It's a little harder to see her tongue in the first one than it was of the male in the earlier pictures. Her tongue is dark. The second picture we got spit again.

The blue jays aren't really showing their tongues, but I thought they were some cool shots of the one bird feeding the other.

And just to mix things up, this molting cardinal is how I'm feeling about now. Or maybe I should say looking like.

How ironic that he just showed up.

Even Moms Say The Funniest Things

2011-06-22T14:11:00.003-04:00

My mom and stepdad are in Texarkana for my (deceased) grandpa's army reunion. It's a WWII group and there are fewer of them every year. My parents are honorary members and go every year.

So today my mom called to check on me and to see if I still had my hair (it's been one week since my treatment).

I told her I thought the inch I have would probably go today or tomorrow.

While we were on the phone, I asked her if she remembered it was my anniversary.

She said she didn't, but that if she was home with her calendar she would. Or at least she thought she had it written down and would.

She apologized and wished me a happy anniversary.

I asked her if she knew how many years I'd been married. She said, "Let me get my purse."

I told her to guess without getting it.

She said, "Forty...."

Me: "I'm only 45!"

My mom: "How many is it then?" (I'm wondering if she realizes that I'd have to be her age to be married that long...)

Me: "26 years."

My mom: "Would you believe me if I told you I was trying to be funny?" With a giggle.

Me: "No!"

A Bird On The Pants Must Be Worth Three In The Bush

2011-06-21T15:47:00.007-04:00

Early this afternoon the boys looked out the back door and saw a female downy woodpecker in the prone position in the grass. She was on her tummy, not her back, and we were on the phone with Hubby at the time.

Chaos nearly ensued.

As Hubby is googling to see exactly what we need to do, we notice that she slightly moved and was blinking. Her wings were close to her body and did not appear to be damaged.

Our instructions were to go outside, check the wings to make sure they were okay (our previous visual check was the most we did there!), make sure the eyes looked okay, and then see if the bird would perch on a limb. If it did, we were to let it recover on its own.

Buddy and I went outside, me finding a short stick and him to touch the bird. He scooped her up and, although shaky, she sat on the stick. I passed it off and ran inside to get the camera and a bowl of water, because the poor thing looked thirsty. And it was the perfect photo opportunity.

I poured a little water between her beak and she drank. Then when we decided to sit her and her limb in the box we took outside she ended up on Buddy.

Me: "Where'd the bird go?!"

Buddy: "It's on my pants!"

Of course we were being quiet, so I wasn't sure if he said 'in' or 'on' at first.

The bird did not want back on the stick. And thankfully it didn't peck. Although Caboose's play-by-play to Hubby apparently included, "It's pecking Buddy's crotch!" He has a little more imagination than some of us.

She was just very appreciative, I think.

We didn't want her to fall.

And then she flew off on her own.

Whew!

Quick Update

2011-06-18T16:33:00.003-04:00

My first treatment didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I've been rather sick and had to go back in the day after my treatment for a bag of fluids and some extra meds to fight off the throwing up. They plan to do my pre-medication a little different next time.

I've had five or six crackers, a tub and a half of those little Jello's, two bites of banana, and a little bit of leftover frozen smoothie. The smoothie is the only thing that goes down without me gagging. That's what I've had since Wednesday. Pretty pathetic pickings.

Ginger Ale is my new friend, too.

It's time for my kids to do something funny to tell you about!

Sweet Surprise!

2011-06-14T21:27:00.004-04:00

Today I got a sweet surprise in the mail. It was from Ria in Holland.

This little charm was so perfect! Ria wouldn't even know because I haven't posted about it yet, but I have a charm bracelet from my childhood, and I've been adding charms to it here and there. I just asked Hubby a couple of days ago if I could get a new charm to add to my bracelet for each treatment I receive.

Of course he said I could.

One of the charms I've been looking around for is a simple flower or daisy shape. And look what Ria sent! It's already on my bracelet. Thank you, Ria!

I'll take a picture of my bracelet soon and share it too.

To Remember...Because You Never Know

2011-06-08T16:22:00.003-04:00

Since my hair will fall out with my chemotherapy, we are having it cut off except for an inch or so next Tuesday prior to my first chemo treatment on Wednesday.

And even though you don't hear about people having curly hair grow back straight, just straight growing back curly, I've been told it could grow back in a different color or texture. There are just a lot of things we don't really know. Only God knows.

And since we haven't had a family picture taken for a few years, and so we have a picture before it's gone, we had a friend take some family (and couple) shots outside last night with our new camera we got a couple of months ago. I thought I'd share a few with you.

Something was funny. I don't know what, but at least I was laughing and not crying. I've done my fair share of that over the last month!

Hubby did this once spontaneously while we were taking the pictures, so Rebekah had him do it again for a picture.

There is always the requisite goofy shot. How ironic that without any planning all three girls would have their tongues stuck out!

This was one of my favorites.

Well, that one and maybe this one.

The kids will be thrilled I didn't show you the one where Rebekah had us kiss. ;)

I call it a "Tooth Island."

2011-06-04T15:23:00.002-04:00

Only our youngest would come up with that one. None of us had even heard this label until Hubby got home and Caboose was showing it to him.

Only our youngest would be clowning around most of the time while I was trying to take a picture of the "Tooth Island."

Brutal Honesty

2011-06-01T01:11:00.003-04:00

I've put off writing this post. Partly because I needed to get a handle on my emotions, and partly because I simply didn't want to do it. It's ugly.

Two weeks ago on May 18th I had surgery to remove the breast cancer and some lymph nodes. It was a long procedure by the time it was all done, but it was outpatient and I came home that day.

The surgeon successfully removed the cancer with clear margins, although we found out later the margins were very small. He also removed four sentinel nodes (lymph nodes they light up because of nuclear injection ahead of time to determine the drainage pattern and those most likely affected) and five other nodes. They all tested negative. We found out late on Friday the 20th and thought chemotherapy would not be necessary.

We met with the surgeon for a follow-up on Monday the 23rd. When I asked him specifically just to clarify my assumption on chemotherapy, he said there was a slight possibility and that he and the oncologist would be reviewing the slides from the surgery, etc. I had an appointment with her on Wednesday the 25th. Even though I still had a niggling worry, Hubby kept saying it was slight.

That appointment with the oncologist was something that I can't even put into words as far as my emotions go. We basically found out that the tumor was twice as large as they originally thought, so it was 2.2 cm. There was also an additional test that my original biopsy sample had been sent off to have performed. It's for HER2, and the first pathology test was inconclusive, showing it neither positive or negative and indicating the need for the FISH test. The FISH test results were back and showed that my breast cancer was also HER2 positive. This indicates an aggressive cancer.

So I was officially labeled Stage IIA (T2N0M0) with a 2.2 cm tumor, no node involvement, no metastasis, ER+, PR+, and HER2+. We still caught it early, but I'm getting ready to go through the ringer.

We go back to the oncologist today since I was a little too upset to agree to anything last week. Soon I will be getting a port put in surgically. Her plan is to leave it in for a year and a half. That will allow me to get six months of chemotherapy, four treatments three weeks apart followed by 12 weekly treatments. Then I will receive herceptin for the HER2 which is given once a month for a year. It has it's own nasty set of side effects. Somewhere in there I will start radiation. Tamoxifen for five years is still part of the plan for the ER+/PR+ aspect of the cancer.

So these are the medical facts. I can't even begin to put my emotions into words here right now.

At Random

2011-05-16T21:52:00.012-04:00

Last night we had the annual spring children's musical at our church. This year there were a few special effects like some fog and black lights. Caboose was a jellyfish, and partiality aside, they were the cutest part of the show.

The jellyfish were carrying umbrellas with some crinkly, clear white streamers hanging from them. This is how they looked in the special lighting. They would move them up and down slowly like jellyfish move. Too cute!

It's been cold here again. It was in the low 40's today. We had to turn the heater back on since the gas fireplace just wasn't enough. It was 65 degrees in the house this morning. The birds are even puffing up to keep warm.

I have my surgery on Wednesday morning. The doctor wanted to wait until this week to let the bruising from the biopsy go down. The surgeon's office is actually open this Saturday, so I'm hopeful that by that day I will have the results on whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

I've been walking and have made drastic changes to my diet. I'm trying to drink more water and less coffee (insert sad face here). I've pretty much cut out sugar. I've increased my fiber significantly including adding flax seeds to my smoothies. I've also switched from using vanilla yogurt in my smoothies to plain and then adding honey (from a local supply that I already had) and I couldn't tell the difference. When I read labels, I'm amazed how many things have sugar as the second or third ingredient in their list.

I think I've come up with a salad dressing I can live with and I've also been making myself sweet potato fries. I've been cutting up a sweet potato into small fry-sized strips, and then tossing them in a smidge of olive oil, salt, and Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning. I place them on a cookie sheet and bake them for 30 minutes, flipping once at 20 minutes. They're yummy!

Sparky is in Nicaragua this week. She left very early Saturday morning and will return very late this coming Saturday night. Unless something changes, this is the last trip she has planned until she returns to Togo next February.

Buddy is in the middle of baseball now. I think they've had four games. They had to play tonight when it was so cold. There's not much you can do about it when you live in Michigan.

Chatty spent the night with one of her best friends on Saturday night and then all day on Sunday after church. Her friend will be working at horse camp all summer (the one Chatty will go to for about three weeks). They wanted to spend some time together before she left.

Her friend got a new car, about a 2008, after she'd been saving for years. She has an older brother that is very jealous of it. Chatty was telling Hubby how nice it is and that, "It's an LS!" He asked her what kind of LS. She emphasized again that it was an LS. We all had a good laugh about that. She obviously doesn't pay any attention to cars!

We got a new camera a month or so ago. Hubby had been saving for it for over a year. We take tons of pictures of our backyard birds. I've shown you a few but I have tons to share that are just awesome. I just don't want to have every single post be about birds!

The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Worst, Most Terrible Post I've Had To Write (Yet)

2011-05-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

Last week our world as we know it was rocked.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

What I know right now:

It appears to have been caught early. April 29th I felt the lump and called my doctor who verified it and sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound. These were done on May 2nd and indicated the need for a biopsy (and was also done that day). The biopsy tested positive for in situ and invasive ductal breast cancer.

It appears to have been caught early because of the size of the tumor (11mm x 8mm x 6mm).

I am meeting with a surgeon on Monday morning, possibly as you read this, to find out the extent of surgery necessary. There will be lymph nodes removed to see if it has spread that far. Everyone has talked like I will have surgery this week.

I will be having a CAT scan on Tuesday.

I will be taking Tamoxifen for 5 years because the cancer tested estrogen and progesterone positive.

I am 45 years old.

Other things you might want to know and don't:

My mom had breast cancer at 54 and is a survivor. She is currently 66 years old.

She was also on Tamoxifen for 5 years.

My mom did not find her lump herself but it was found by mammogram. Hers was 2.5 cm at it's largest diameter.

I never imagined last year at Christmas when I got this necklace, one charm to honor my husband for his selfless act and one charm to honor my mother, that that charm would soon come to recognize me as well.

Cupcake Toppers — The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2011-05-08T19:18:00.006-04:00

This weekend at church our ladies' group was responsible for a baby shower. It's very rare these days (or so it seems) for the expectant couple not to find out whether they are having a boy or a girl, but these soon-to-be parents are not!

The shower theme was based off of the nursery theme, which is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Now since I am very computer illiterate, and since I am even worse at cutting and pasting and doing all things like that on a computer, but since I am very good at cutting with my scrapbooking supplies once someone gives me exactly what I ask for, I made cupcake toppers after one of the other ladies printed the images.

Hopefully one of these links will work (here or here), but if neither does, there are lots of images on bing if you want to do a similar thing.

Once we knew what images we wanted, I took my cutting templates so she knew how big to make them. I cut corresponding colored scrapbook paper and mounted each image.

I wanted white sticks and couldn't find flat ones, so I used the round Wilton sticks (I'll admit I didn't look that hard). I placed an image on the back and on the front, both mounted on scrapbook paper. Since they had to go around the stick, I had to use my hot glue gun to adhere them to each other around the stick. My scrapbooking adhesive wouldn't work and hold.

Since they had double images and lots of hot glue they were a little heavy. They were tall too, so I made the jumbo cupcakes.

We also had cake so I only made 24. These were as much decorative as they were to eat. They were a hit!

Spring In A Week

2011-05-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday I was out driving and saw the first daffodils.

Friday I saw more daffodils and some forsythia. Our grass started going from brown to green. I also took these pictures of the trees out in front of our house and our neighbor's house.

The leaves on our trees turn red before they turn green. I don't know what kind of trees they are.

I decided to check out the landscaping in front and see if there was anything happening. There was!

Spring literally 'sprung' last week at our house!

I know lots of the country is in full bloom, and some of it has been for a couple of months or more. It's May 1st, and this is the view of the trees out our back door.

Here are a male red-bellied woodpecker and a male downy woodpecker on side-by-side trees, which happen to still be barren.

But on the drive to church today there were hints of green in the tops of some of the early budding trees. Soon we will be in full bloom too.

And then in five months we'll be prepping for winter again.

The Bunny Chair And Hillbilly Pillow

2011-04-28T23:56:00.000-04:00

This morning the girls had a commitment at church and then went to lunch. I took that opportunity to work on my grandma's rocking chair that I've had since Caboose was born (over 11 years ago). It is still in the same condition as when I got it, which has lots of lovely mustard color from the 1970s. The wood is pretty scratched up from being old and from being moved at least four different times since we've had it. Once we even saw it taken off the moving truck out of a wooden crate, sitting upside down on top of our grill. There wasn't any packing material around anything in that entire crate. Needless to say it went down as one of our two worst moves.

I could have painted the wood and then sanded it, or I could have sanded it and evened it out, but I wanted this to be as simple as possible. I'd been motivated by the nester covering a footstool in fur with her glue gun, and the primary reason this chair hadn't been recovered yet was because I was intimidated by the upholstery. It wouldn't be like covering a chair seat and stapling underneath it.

I bought some white short fur half price at JoAnn's a few weeks ago. The base is a little thin, but I had some light-colored muslin I hot-glued on the chair first. I could have gotten away with not using it, but it looked better with it.

The girls walked in after lunch and I had the chair about 75 percent finished. The first thing Chatty said was, "It's a bunny chair."

I did vacuum it, but I'm curious to see if we can sit in it without having to use a lint roller. I vacuumed myself too. It was not a pretty sight. I thought I was part bunny by the time it was all over! Of course it didn't help that I was wearing black knit pants.

At Christmastime I purchased a set of two matching fabric napkins at Target. I used them to make a pillow. Since the napkins had finished edges there were a lot of options, but I have it finished off with a zipper.

The first thing Caboose said when he saw the pillow back then was, "It's a hillbilly pillow!" He still doesn't really like this pillow. I don't know why. I think I'm going to move it to my bed.

Lasagna

2011-04-26T23:56:00.000-04:00

I don't know of any recipe for lasagna that doesn't take a long time to cook, usually at least an hour. But this one is quick and easy to make because you don't have to cook the noodles first. I love that! And it still only takes an hour in the oven.

Quick Lasagna

Ribbed Lasagna, uncooked (12 pieces)
32 oz prepared spaghetti sauce (like Prego or Ragu)
15 oz drained cottage cheese
12 oz grated Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb ground beef

Brown ground beef. Mix in spaghetti sauce. If the jar is a little less than 32 oz, I usually add some water and sprinkle some Italian seasoning in to make up the difference.

Spray cooking spray in a 9x13 glass pan. Place a small amount of the spaghetti sauce mixture in the bottom. Place three strips of uncooked lasagna in the bottom and then one broken piece to fit and fill in across the short side.

(I usually put my cottage cheese in a colander while I'm browning my ground beef so if there is any excess liquid it will drain out.) Spread 1/3 of the cottage cheese and 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce mixture on top of the noodles. I plop it down and then mix the two together as I spread it out across the noodles. It looks like this:

Then sprinkle 1/3 of your Mozzarella cheese on top of that. I actually just buy two packages of the shredded cheese and end up with 16 oz and use all of it.

Repeat these layers two more times.

Top with shredded Parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking an additional 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

This recipe came from a lasagna noodle box or a Ragu jar or someplace like that. I've had it for so long that I don't remember where it came from.

I tried those flat noodles once instead of the ribbed and they worked the same.

Last Monday

2011-04-25T15:42:00.004-04:00

The 18th of April, we had three inches of snow. It was about 28 degrees outside.

It looks like even this American Tree Sparrow was looking up to figure out what was going on!

It's 50 right now. That seems almost like summer after last Monday.

Easter

2011-04-24T18:04:00.019-04:00

We colored eggs again with our Spin an Egg. I can't tell you enough how much we love them.

We got our first one from a specialty toy store in New Jersey when the oldest three kids were under five and Caboose wasn't born. We would pass it around and everyone would take a turn.

A few years ago I got a second one somewhere. It made things go faster so that two kids could each share one.

Now they sell them at Wal-Mart and places like that for $5 each. We bought two more last year so each child could have their own. I boil four dozen eggs and give each child a dozen to color the way they like.

I purchase the tie-dye coloring kits in the box each year (four of them, of course) because they have the right kind of egg color to use in the spinner. They come in little white packets like you see on our table in five different colors.

Each one of the kids comes up with their own favorite and unique way of coloring their eggs.

Chatty:

Sparky:

Buddy:

Caboose:

After church today we had our annual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt for the kids to find their baskets. This is where the egg was hidden with the first clue (we used to hand them the egg but started doing this last year).

Each of the kids picked an egg to start, but nobody found the clue the first time around.

Caboose finally found the first clue!

For the last clue, they had to find the golden egg in an egg hunt with about 30 other eggs in the rec room.

Success!

Scary

2011-04-24T00:11:00.003-04:00

Buddy's latest thing is to scare us. He likes to jump out at his siblings and say, "Boo!" or hide around the corner in a room, and when I come in he'll wait until I notice him and then kind of go, "Ah!"

He's smart enough to do it very quietly with me. I'm used to him and don't usually jump or scare.

About two weeks ago I sent Sparky to the basement for something. I heard her scream and she kind of ran back towards me. I got scared because I thought she saw a big spider.

Nope. Buddy put his life-sized stand-up Cal Ripken, Jr., on the fourth stair down. That was the first thing she saw when she opened the door.

See, about a week prior to this we had finished cleaning out the garage. Buddy has had Cal since Illinois, but he'd been living folded up in the garage since we got here. We had Buddy move him to the basement and we stood him up.

Next thing we know we're following Buddy down the stairs and he jumps back. He has put his "Big Cal" right around the corner so that when someone walked down the basement stairs and turned the corner to the right, they would see a big man. He scared himself twice. He decided that wasn't working so well and he was going to take a different approach. That's when Cal turned up on the stairs.

Next thing I knew Caboose had moved him into the powder room and had scared one of his sisters.

I'm just hoping he doesn't show up on small group night.

I Didn't Know Mascots Wore Cups

2011-04-22T21:36:00.003-04:00

Overall we are a sports family. Chatty would be the biggest exception.

Today around our house there was some discussion about Pablo Sandoval, nicknamed the Kung Fu Panda, getting hit by a baseball in an area that would be the least desirable place for a man. The clip was shown on ESPN's Not Top Ten or one of their similar lists and so talk was rampant. Except for Chatty. She wasn't around when we were all talking about it.

Hubby has been out of town for the week. Tonight at the dinner table Buddy asked him if he saw what happened to the Kung Fu Panda. Buddy told Hubby that he didn't think the Kung Fu Panda wore a cup because he actually acted like it was painful (Buddy plays catcher and of course wears a cup, has been hit sometimes by foul balls, and says as long as you have a cup it shouldn't hurt that bad).

Chatty chimes in, "I didn't know mascots wore cups." (She thought it was a random character, not an actual team mascot, like when the president characters ran out at Nationals' games, and he got hit by the ball. Although the Presidents are tied to the Nationals and aren't really random, but that's where her thought pattern was going.)

I think this one tops the bucks and points.

And yes, having a boy that has played baseball for so many years has led to cup being a common part of everyday vocabulary, other than one you drink from.

Psycho Bird And The Giggling Kids

2011-03-24T13:32:00.005-04:00

Earlier this morning I kept hearing a dull sound, kind of like hammering. It sounded like when the kids play in the basement and run into one of the poles. With a hockey stick or puck, not ususally a body.

Finally this afternoon I mentioned it to the kids. They said it was just the people next door working on the house (that is being built, but is pretty much finished). I told them there was no one there, since I'd just been to get milk and didn't see anyone.

So I sent Sparky down to the basement "just to check and see if there was anything weird going on down there."

She found a robin pecking on one of the two windows. The video is from a little digital camera into the light so the quality isn't the best, but you can definitely see and hear well enough.

Hubby said it sees itself and thinks it's another bird and is vying for supremacy.

Caboose thinks it sees the Christmas tree and wants in.

The cat is thrilled beyond comprehension and hopes it gets in!

Life In Michigan

2011-03-23T12:22:00.000-04:00

According to the Weather Channel, we got 4.2 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, which actually started late yesterday afternoon.

We are still supposed to get a wintry mix and up to another 1 inch of snow later today and tonight.

How can Memorial Day be just over two months away?

I know they are probably thinking the same thing.

(Two goldfinches and a dark-eyed junco)

Cake Balls

2011-03-22T21:02:00.004-04:00

Am I the only person who hasn't made these before?

Mine were lumpy. I didn't worry about making them all smooth, and I'm even a perfectionist. I guess I'm now a recovering perfectionist.

See, lumpy.

I had a leftover Valentine's Day funfetti cake mix without matching frosting. I baked it, sans sprinkles, in a 9x13 pan. When the cake was done I dumped it into a bowl and crumbled it up with two forks. Then I took a can of cream cheese frosting and mixed it in good. I used my Pampered Chef scoop to get the cake out and made them into lumpy balls. I put them on a waxed paper covered cookie sheet. I placed it in the freezer for an hour or so to let them cool and get a little hard. (I had 33-34 cake balls.)

I melted three cups of white chocolate chips with three tablespoons of shortening in the microwave. I put sticks in the balls and drizzled my melted white chocolate over them one at a time. I placed them back on the waxed paper covered cookie sheet to harden. I like them chilled, so I put them back in the refrigerator.

Hubby said they could cause a weight problem. Caboose thought they were one of the best things he'd ever eaten. They taste an awful lot like the $1.50 birthday cake version at Starbuck's, and yes, I paid $1.50 to try one. I was hoping they were big like the picture, maybe even cupcake sized. I was wrong.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

2011-03-15T16:27:00.007-04:00

I created this recipe today to try and replicate something similar I'd had in the past. Sparky and I taste-tested it after it had been in the refrigerator for a couple of hours for the flavors to blend, and I had a hard time convincing her she could wait until small group tonight to have more! It's good!

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel yellow corn, drained
1 can original Rotel
2 T lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
16 oz homemade salsa

Stir everything together in a large bowl and chill for a couple of hours for the flavors to peak. Serve with tortilla chips. Tostitos scoops work great!

The Cuteness Is Hurting My Eyes

2011-03-13T21:32:00.004-04:00

I had a couple of dedicated Valentine's Day wreaths, so I decided that one dedicated Easter wreath was in order.

I was fortunate enough to find a grapevine wreath at Hobby Lobby that was misshapen. It had and oval/egg shape. It was perfect for a starting point. I actually had no idea what my plans were.

I found the bright pastel colored garland and got two lengths of it, one package of sequined egg ornaments, one package of stemmed felt flowers, a stuffed bunny ornament, and a resin chick.

I put the white ribbon at the top first, then I wrapped the two strands of garland around the wreath. I just tucked the ends under some of the vines. I tucked the flowers in, and then I cut the ribbon hangers off the eggs and hot-glued them on. I also used hot glue to attach the bunny and the chick (lots for the chick since it's heavy).

That's it! Pure cuteness!

I'm linking up at Skip to my Lou.

Salad

2011-03-11T23:15:00.003-05:00

I like to have my lettuce in smaller pieces in my salads. It makes for easier and neater eating.

I also like to have a little stuff in my salad. Stuff like tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, hard-boiled eggs, and even sometimes some crumbled bacon, shredded meat, or shredded cheese.

The problem I find with having some of that stuff in my salad is that unless it's cut up pretty small, you don't get some with every bite. And I kind of like to have it with every bite where I can taste it.

I got creative last night. I got out my new food processor (thanks in part to CSN Stores which I'll tell you about later) and started working on my lettuce first. I wasn't sure what would happen, but it came out in small, shredded type pieces. (I put it through the chute and it passed one time through the large blade.) I used one bunch of regular organic green head lettuce and one bunch of organic romaine. Then I passed through a tomato that I'd cut up into about six wedges, some baby carrots, a cucumber I'd peeled and cut into wedges, and one head of broccoli.

Here is what one bowl of it looked like.

The other thing I like is croutons, but I never buy them. They get stale quickly and they are expensive. But since I'd just been reorganizing my pantry recently I thought about my bread crumbs. They are basically like croutons. I had a couple of different flavors, but I chose Parmesan. I sprinkled it on the top with some ranch dressing and stirred it all up (although I hadn't yet in this picture).

I loved it and a couple of the kids tried it with different dressing choices and liked it too. Hubby was already in bed when I put it all together last night, so I packed some up for his lunch today. He called after he'd eaten it and asked to have it every day. He likes salad, and he really liked the bread crumbs (although he couldn't quite figure out what they were). He also commented that because the lettuce was cut up like it was that a lot more fit in his container.

It was a hit all the way around. I can't wait too try it with a bunch of spinach leaves in it and some different lettuce blends. It would be easy to hide from picky kids that see the leaf and know what it is! I think it will also be great this summer with leftover grilled meats sliced up on top.

This whole post made me start thinking about the Seinfeld episode about "The Big Salad." I had to go find it and watch it tonight!

Projects

2011-03-07T21:10:00.004-05:00

I'm guilty! I have too many going right now.

Last week I decided that my bottom kitchen cabinets just weren't working. They'd been bugging me for a long time, so I pretty much pulled everything out and reorganized them. They are much better. In doing so, I have several old plastic cereal containers that I can take to Salvation Army.

But as is my usual pattern, starting one project usually involves getting another one going in some way or another. This time it was the skinny bottom cabinet that holds my cookbooks, binders with recipes, and a plastic shoebox with recipes, as well as a couple of binders with important type papers.

I've been wanting to go through my recipes for some time and type them all out, print them, and slide them in page protectors, just for ease. I currently have some written in lined notebooks, some on cards, some on scraps of paper — you get the idea. Plus I have ones I've torn from magazines or already printed from the internet in page protectors. (The OCD in me is typing those so they look the same!)

That project got me going on my other loose papers that have been piled and were waiting to be filed. Mainly ideas, things I've torn from magazines, printed from the internet, etc. I had a giant notebook where some were in page protectors, but I still had file folders with things that needed to be gone through to see if they were worth keeping and putting in the notebook or tossing. That giant notebook was also too big and one of the rings was off-center, so I got two smaller ones. I also put everything related to Christmas in its own binder.

And of course my pantry closet, which is shelving but not walk-in, can't seem to function just right for me. I still haven't gotten it right. And since I'd worked on the bottom kitchen cabinets, it made sense to work on it. It was a little chaotic anyway.

I also made some little felt hearts that I thought would make a cute garland for my fireplace mantle. But it was too cutesy and since we live in Michigan and are still using the fireplace, I was worried that hanging down it might get too hot. So I'll save it and use it on the Christmas tree next year. But I'll need more, because there are only eight hearts on this string.

That's a project that can wait!

Caramel Brownies

2011-03-01T23:22:00.000-05:00

I'm working on my recipes and there are so many that I've forgotten about. Tonight was small group at our house so I made these for our snack.

Caramel Brownies

1 pkg German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided
6 oz chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
50 caramels

Combine dry cake mix, butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Spread 1/2 of the mixture in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake 6 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over cake. (You know I didn't put those nuts on.) Melt caramel and 1/3 cup evaporated milk and drizzle over nuts and chips. Add remaining cake mixture and spread gently with a spatula. (Mine ended up kind of mushy with the caramel layer since the cake mixture is thicker. I couldn't figure out how to spread it without mushing them together.) Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. It won't look like regular brownies. It's going to be kind of gooey looking.

Cool before cutting.

Very yummy!

Fabric-Covered Magnetic Necklace Holder

2011-02-27T21:22:00.004-05:00

This project ended up being a little more time-consuming than I originally thought it would be. I thought I'd go to Michael's, find a steel magnetic board kind of like the dry erase boards, cover it in fabric, and be done.

Michael's doesn't sell those and doesn't know who, if anyone, does. Michael's is also in the same strip mall as Home Depot for me.

So I started out by purchasing a basic black 16x20 frame (40 percent off last week). It was the kind that already has double matting in it with spacers in between the mats. Even though you won't use the matting, this is important because you need room for your materials that you're putting in your frame. If you buy a basic frame, you might not be able to get the back on and the metal things slipped back in the slots, even with the glass out.

I went to Home Depot and bought two pieces of some kind of steel. I had a guy help me. I had to buy two pieces because singularly they weren't big enough. They had to be cut, and I was disillusioned to find out that Home Depot doesn't cut everything for a price. But the guy that was helping me used to work in metal and cut it for me. I had it cut 15 7/8" x 19 7/8" because I knew I'd be wrapping some fabric around the edges and I wanted it to go back in the frame. Good thing I did since it was a snug fit on one of the corners.

I bought the cement the guy recommended. It went on like rubber cement, and then I put the metal on a thin piece of board I bought and had cut to size.

I covered it with two layers of white muslin. I just pulled it taut and hot glued it down.

I could still see the line faintly through the muslin where the two pieces of metal met. If I'd used something darker or with a print it wouldn't have shown. I decided to hot glue a cute piece of ribbon across the middle where that line was.

I used my magnets I made in lots of different patterns. Since it's in my bedroom and my walls will be blue, I didn't want the background to compete with the wall and I wanted to use all my fun magnets.

I have a bracelet that I wanted to hang up but was too big for a magnet to hold. I hot glued two extra magnets to the back.

Now it's perfect!

I had half of these out on my dresser and the other half were hanging on my lamp from the little knob that you use to turn it on. This is so much better!

I'm linking up to Made by you Mondays at Skip to my Lou.

Puzzle Reorganization

2011-02-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Tonight I tackled our puzzles.

I'm in one of those moods where I need to reorganize everything. It just doesn't seem like things are working anymore.

I think part of it is that as the kids get older and life happens, things have to be tweaked.

I also think that I'm used to moving every few years having been a military family for 20 years, and now that I've been here about two and a half years my body clock is telling me it's time to move again.

Well, we aren't moving again, so I've been getting rid of things (which you haven't seen) and I'm reorganizing things in ways that work better for us.

This is the before picture:

It wasn't bad, but I felt like it could be better. Those puzzles are two deep on that bottom shelf also. It's very deceiving how many puzzles are in there.

This is what it looked like when I was finished.

I cut the top off the box and stored it in the ziploc with the puzzle. You've probably seen the idea before. I used to do that with the girls' puzzles about 13 years ago but then when Caboose started doing puzzles most of his were the Thomas puzzles that had three to a box. Those boxes were sturdier than most so I got out of the habit.

By the way, there are almost 50 puzzles in those baskets! See how deceptive that looks. We're obviously puzzle people.

I started another organizing/reorganizing project as soon as I was finished with the puzzles. I'm on a roll!

$1 Jeans

2011-02-24T12:03:00.000-05:00

This morning when Hubby left for work he asked me if I had a dollar bill because he was wearing jeans. I was still pretty much asleep so the oddity of the question didn't register.

I told him there was one on the kitchen table he could pick up on his way out.

Hubby leaves very early, and I don't always really wake up when he tells me bye. This morning about five minutes after he left, it registered what he'd said, but I knew it had snowed some overnight so I didn't want to call him while he was driving.

A couple hours later when I got up and called him, I asked him if he had to pay a dollar to wear jeans when it wasn't casual Friday.

It turns out that they have a fundraiser once a month and they can wear jeans on a day other than Friday and pay the dollar for the fundraiser.

Then it all made perfect sense.

Game Cabinet Reorganization

2011-02-19T18:52:00.003-05:00

Our game cabinet was originally a storage for my scrapbook albums and supplies when we lived in Illinois and then again when we moved to Virginia. Now I am fortunate to have an area where I get to spread out and I have room for all my scrapbooks and the mass of products that follow them.

So I used the storage armoire for our games. We have a lot! We like to play games!

So this is what the game cabinet looked like until about six months ago (which means for about two years).

About six months ago I was searching for a spot for Hubby to put his things. Books and papers and notebooks and stuff when he brought them in the house. I gave him a basket-type box, but it was out in the open and usually overflowing so it just wasn't working.

The kids and I went through the game cabinet, purged what we thought we could, and gave Hubby the middle shelf. (This is where I wish I had a before picture from this morning.)

Our games were just not fitting very well though. They were hard to get out, if we had a new one it wouldn't fit, etc. Then I remembered an idea I saw in a magazine several years ago.

They used expandable scrapbook organizers to score game pieces. In the idea they actually hung the game boards on the wall behind a sofa. I didn't go that far.

The expandable organizers I purchased are called memory keepers. They are polypropolene and will hold a 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper, if you so desire. They have an accordion fold on the bottom for expansion, and there are two snaps on the top flap depending on how full you fill the organizer. They come in packs of 10 or 12 at Michael's (and probably your other craft and scrapbook stores) and the weekly coupon would knock the price down. They were already on sale this week.

I was able to get rid of all these boxes. Many were bent and falling apart, or much too large for the game they were holding.

This is what they look like now:

Here's a dinosaur game we've had forever, and the board folds up into a square shape so it was able to go in the pocket as well.

Clue:

Dora Candy Land (all the boards that don't fit in the pockets are folded up on a shelf...I'm going to use my labelmaker and put a label on the outside of each one so you can tell which board is which without opening them all up):

Checkers:

Monopoly:

Even Connect Four and Trouble:

Here is what the game cabinet looks like now:

The pockets on the bottom shelf hold card games — Dutch Blitz, one holds several decks of Old Maid (each held together by a ponytail holder or silly band since we don't seem to own regular rubber bands) — you get the idea.

In reality, my labelmaker will probably get a workout because I think I might put a little label on the top corner of each pocket with the name of the game. And if I do one, I'll do them all, even if you can see what game is in the pocket. Because I'm weird that way.

I'm linking up with Thrifty Decor Chick's Organize It Linky Party and Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

MG Sparky — MT2

2011-02-18T11:00:00.001-05:00

I realized when I was linking up Sparky's previous trips, I never posted a follow-up to her Bolivia trip last October.

I know why I probably didn't. We were a little consumed with some doctor trips from a bacteria she brought back, which was intestinal. And since this was only a few weeks before Hubby's surgery, I was especially concerned. Actually I was a little freaked out. But Sparky was all clear just prior to Hubby's surgery and he was fine and it was all good.

And just in case you're curious and want to know, she contracted campylobacter, we have no idea how she contracted it, she did not drink any water, they take their own food, she did nothing different from anyone else on the trip (except she was around some children and a dog, but she did use the hand sanitizer properly), she wiped her lips after the shower with a clean cloth before she licked her lips, etc. Everyone is clueless and it will go down as a mystery.

Everything was a little more complicated when she was prescribed an antibiotic that the doctor hadn't prescribed for the last five years because it makes most people sick but was the one she needed. It made her sick. She couldn't quit throwing up. So we ended up in the ER and went home with a prescription for the second best medicine, hoping it would work. And IV meds wouldn't work because the medicine needed to be taken orally and processed through the system. Fun, fun.

I thought the best thing to do would be to show you a few pictures from her trip and then share a couple of pictures from her letter she sent out to people who contributed to her trip:

Thank you for your prayers and support for my trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia, that I took October 10-16, 2010. I had a great time and God really worked in my life on the trip. This was the first trip that I have taken where *** was building a church, and it was a new and different experience for me.

I worked in the kitchen helping cook the food, cleaning up afterwards, and doing the dishes. I liked experiencing the different culture of Bolivia. It was definitely not something that I had encountered before. The coolest thing about the trip was that after the dedication service the night before we left, a lady that had been sitting by me came to know Christ as her Savior as a result of the service. And since there were people there that spoke English they acted as translators for me when I had the opportunity to have conversations with people. That was another thing that I greatly enjoyed about this trip.

It was amazing to see how quickly the building got finished, and how it was already being used. Although after the trip, I still feel like Africa is my place to be when I go into the missions field full time, it doesn’t diminish the excitement of having gotten to go to Bolivia on this trip.

This is a picture she took from her window seat looking at the city sitting down in its valley in the Andes.

They drove by where they were building something, and Sparky was amazed that they were using what looked like bent and jerry-rigged wood pieces to hold it up. And that's actually what it looks like even though the quality of the picture is not the best.

The possible culprit of the campylobacter.

The bird she saw every day. We're all jealous!

Another possible, but much cuter, culprit of the campylobacter!

Sparky looks tall! Sparky looks tall! (If you don't know, she's 4'11" and done growing, and I can say that because I'm 5'1". I'm done growing too. I'm into shrinkage age. Someday I'll be as tall as her.)

Sparky took several pictures of statues that were in the intersections. They almost look like our traffic circles here in Michigan, but I can't see enough of them to tell. But the statues are large and varied in theme. This one was interesting...corn.

The group went to see what was the tallest statue of Jesus in the world, the Cristo de la Concordia, at 34.2 meters in height, on a pedestal 6.24 meters, bringing it's total height to 40.44 meters. It had been specifically built slightly taller than the more famous one, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, so that Cochabamba could boast the tallest statue. In November, 2010, Poland unveiled a much taller statue, so now it's not the tallest. But it was when Sparky was there.

Of course all of that is dependent on whether you count the mound and the crown, and then the one in Cochabamba is still tallest.

The holes are for air to go through. The group went up in the statue. They were in the armpit. It still feels wrong to say that.

This is the project they worked on and completed in three weeks.

I hope you enjoyed a small and varied taste of Cochabamba, Bolivia, South America. And a little trivia to boot!

Naïveté Is Bliss

2011-02-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

Sparky always has to fly to meet the rest of the group wherever they are leaving the country. The last two times have been from Miami.

Even though she could take two checked pieces of luggage on the international flight, she is only allowed one because the group may need her second one to take food or materials or tools. This time we had prior permission for her to take two so she could take all the items for the orphanage.

Her chaperone (who she flies out of Michigan with) suggested that they upgrade to business class so they didn't have to pay any domestic baggage fees. The cost was pretty much a wash.

Hubby and I were joking about the free beverage, and I said that it did say she'd get a free cocktail, and Sparky said, "You mean I get shrimp!?"

She's so sweet. We had a really good laugh about that one.

Her chaperone had some fun at her expense too. She made fun of her because the seats were bigger in business class and Sparky's feet didn't touch the ground.

Sparky's Newest Journey

2011-02-11T18:04:00.007-05:00

We were packing again at our house. This is a suitcase full of 100 stuffed animals, over 200 pencils, two Ziplocs of diecast cars, six dozen combs, and a few hundred ponytail holders. They are for an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

This is the last week of a four-week project where the group is building a church for local missionaries. Sparky is going to have some special opportunities to teach Bible stories during the week to both Dominican children and to the American missionary children. She is very excited!

She was able to fit all of her clothes and personal items into her carry-on and backpack, with the exception of a few packages of trail mix and an extra bag of cashews. The second hard suitcase has 30 more stuffed animals, dum dum lollipops, soft peppermints, and other goodies. It helped that she didn't have to take bedding, a pillow, or towels this trip.

Her suitcase is new to her (less than $5), but it's basic black. Somewhere behind the scenes she usually loses her luggage strap, so she needed to mark her bag to identify it on the luggage carousel easily. She opted for "MG" for Missionary Girl. It's lime green nail polish.

Her so-far always chaperone:

They will also be visiting a Haitian refugee village in the Dominican at the end of their week. They will purchase food at a grocer and distribute it to some of the families. Over the course of the project they will have fed every family in the village.

Togo, West Africa, last February.

Cochabamba, Bolivia, last October.

In May, she's going to Nicaragua.

Her passport is filling up!

Floating Isn't Floating Anymore

2011-02-09T17:04:00.005-05:00

We have floating shelves in our kids' rooms to display their collectibles. I don't know what it is about the floating shelf, but it makes me a little nervous. It's just hanging there. Floating.

We had floating shelves in our bathroom, but they weren't floating quite right. There was a gap at the top and they leaned forward. Bothered me every time I walked in the bathroom. I dealt with it for about one week.

Then I bought black iron brackets at Ikea and placed them as supports under the shelves. Actually Hubby and I did, and we didn't even attach them to the shelves. We just left the shelves attached to the walls as they were and attached the brackets to the wall for support of the shelves. Worked like a charm.

So when Sparky told me that 'Big Derek' almost hit her on the head the other night, and when she started placing things back up and they were sliding off, I knew we had a problem.

These are her hanging shelves right after we finished painting her room a couple of weeks ago.

You can tell the left one is slightly droopy. I had already taken the wall bracket down, redrilled holes, and put in new anchors. I think the bracket had bent a little and that was the problem. It started pulling away from the wall again. (I usually don't take the brackets down when I paint the walls. I just paint around them with the knowledge that if and when I take them down, I'll have to do some work on that area. I'd have holes to plug up anyway.)

I had four more of the black brackets from Ikea that I planned on using for another shelf in our mudroom area that I've never put up. Sparky and I decided that was the best option for her shelves, because she didn't want to lose those green shelves.

It works and it matches the black bed. If and when we ever take those down, there are a lot of holes in that wall, and they all have brackets in them!

Tax Time Tip: Charitable Donations

2011-02-07T12:30:00.003-05:00

If you itemize deductions on your tax return, tax deductible charitable donations can be another way to reduce your total taxes.

There are at least a couple of valuation tools on the internet that make calculating your donation so much easier. I remember trying to value donations in the mid '90s and it was always a guessing game.

First of all, if you use TurboTax (and even if you don't), there is ItsDeductible. You can put in the value of non-cash and cash donations, and then when you are preparing your taxes you can import the total straight into TurboTax.

Even if you don't use TurboTax, you can still use ItsDeductible, keep a printout for your tax records or tax preparer, and just put the total of your contributions in your tax return (or give it to your tax preparer).

The Salvation Army also has a valuation tool for charitable donations. It's not interactive but still useful.

One tip for using ItsDeductible, as you finish a page, click to add your items from that page even if you have more to add later. It will not remember them once you leave that page if you don't add them. I entered an entire contribution once and then thought I could just hit "add" and it would take everything I'd entered. I figured it out the hard way.

How Do You Feel About Your Dentist?

2011-02-03T13:23:00.007-05:00

I'm sure that question could garner a whole host of answers!

I first talked about our new Michigan dentist in October, 2009. I mentioned loving him, and his office. They have a monthly drawing for patient appreciation, and I'd won the adult drawing of two $50 restaurant gift cards. Very nice for our family that does not eat out so inexpensively anymore.

That same month, Buddy won the drawing for the kids, which was a $50 gift card to an entertainment chain store and was able to get a video game he'd been wanting for the wii. Nice, indeed. (Here's the link if you wanted to read the original post.)

Then last April Caboose won the kids' drawing. I had a theory on that one though.

While Hubby was recuperating from his surgery, one of the cards he received in the mail was from our dentist. Hubby had his teeth cleaned a few weeks before surgery and the office knew about it. They included a small gift card to Wendy's with the greeting card with a note to "give Kayren a break from waiting on you hand and foot."

Our orthodontist office is in the same building as our dentist, and Hubby went with me when we took Buddy for his visit on MLK day. He popped in to see the dentist office staff and say thanks in person and that he was recovering well.

Today we received an unexpected package on our front porch.

It's 24" long.

It's 13 1/2" wide.

It's 14 1/2" deep. It's a big box.

I opened it to reveal this:

It's called "Something for Everyone."

The card says, "Glad you're feeling better. Make sure you're brushing and flossing!" Then it has the names of all the dental office staff.

Unexpected kindness. That's just one of the reasons we love our dentist.

Pom Pom Heart Wreath

2011-01-30T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is the last wreath I'm going to post about. Promise.

At least until after Valentine's Day.

My other disclaimer is that I brightened this picture too much and the difference between the pom poms is not this stark. So just ignore the fact that they stand out from each other. Pretty please. I have a stinky camera.

I started out making pom poms with my largest pom pom maker. I used one strand of red and one strand of fuchsia yarn at the same time. It made it go faster plus gave it some variegation.

Then I ran out of yarn and only had 10 pom poms made. When I went to the store I couldn't find the same kind of yarn. I'm not sure they make it any more. So I bought a similar red and an already variegated pink. I used one strand of each and wrapped them at the same time. I made 10 pom poms like that.

I took a wire coat hanger and shaped it into a heart shape. I undid the top where it was twisted together so I could string (wire?) on the pom poms. I alternated them.

I twisted the top back together when I was done. Then I took the normal hanger loop and twisted it down low. I used it to hang the red strap. It's one of those velcro-closing straps that came around an inexpensive blanket.

This is Sparky's favorite wreath. It's hanging on the inside of our front door.

Felt Wreath

2011-01-28T12:24:00.005-05:00

I made this felt wreath before Christmas and added a blue glass ornament in the middle for a little bling.

I saw the original idea on Tip Junkie with a link back to the step-by-step tutorial on The Inspired Room.

I opted to go completely with white felt and not use any of the neutral colors. I also think that my squares might be slightly smaller.

I purchased the package of white felt sold at Michael's, maybe 36"x36". It took me a little less than two packages, and I cut the squares about 2 1/2" square. There are probably about 400 on there. I started out by cutting strips in the felt and then cutting squares off. I used dental floss (waxed) to string them together.

It was time to take it down or revamp it. I opted for revamping.

I love my new pom pom makers. I can't tell you how much I love them. I made three different sized pom poms in Valentine's colors and tied them together. Then I flipped the wreath over and tied the bundle to the back where the ornament had been.

I love it!

Valentine Heart Wreath

2011-01-27T23:40:00.008-05:00

I don't think I've ever had a wreath specifically suited for Valentine's Day.

Now I do.

I got the idea for this Ribbon Heart Wreath at Crafty Sisters. They have some great ideas!

I think mine looks a lot different, but I started with the exact same wreath that I found at Michael's. I used some curly ribbon from pre-made gift packaging in pinkish hues. I also got a small roll of silver holographic curly ribbon and cut and curled it myself. I tied the ribbon all around the wreath and on some of the loops. (I cut some of the pre-made gift packaging ribbon in half before I used it or it hung too long.)

I took two pieces of 12x12 scrapbook paper with different prints. I cut them in 1/2" strips and rolled them around a pencil. I looped them through the red pre-made loops of the wreath.

To hang it, I used a strap that came wrapped around one of those throw blankets. It has a velcro closure so I just slipped it through the loop on the back and closed it and hung it up.

Tour The Rooms — Buddy's Room

2011-01-25T23:58:00.005-05:00

We (as in Hubby and I) bred a sports lover. It's evident in his room.

When we refer to his room with other people, we say, "It's the one with the big men on the wall at the top of the stairs."

Buddy loves red. If we'd let him have his walls red, he would have. But with the red shelves it would be just too much.

So we picked a green that reminds us of the Green Monster at Fenway Park. It's by Behr and is called Vineyard.

This is the view when you walk in the room. The denim curtain panels I recycled from old bed skirts here.

You can see all the card collecting he does. He's been at it now for just over seven years. It's even how he learned to alphabetize.

Standing in front of the window looking back toward the door wall, this is the view:

I guess we should say, "Big men on the wall and tiny men on the shelves," when we are referring to his room.

And here is a better look at the bed wall:

I just got the duvet cover at Ikea last week. Buddy had been using his duvet with no cover on it for a year. We just hadn't been able to find anything we liked. Ikea finally had a few new patterns, and this one seemed to work.

The funny thing is that Hubby brought Buddy a new pair of Razorback pajama pants home from his trip last week. They are plaid and almost match the pattern and color perfectly. We told him when he wears them he'll be camouflaged and we won't be able to find him!

I guess it would work during a game of hide and seek!

The red wall shelves and shelving units are from Ikea.

Mouse In The House

2011-01-24T10:22:00.000-05:00

Since my humiliation obviously knows no bounds,

and since my husband said he'd hijack my blog in the middle of the night and post this anyway,

I'm sharing a short little video from Awana last night.

We have a short little Minute to Win It (there is some TV show like this or something?) during the opening each week, and once a month two of the leaders are selected. Guess who got selected this week?

Our game was called Mouse in the House. The name will be obvious.

That's Vaseline keeping it on. I still feel like it's oozing out my nasal pores today.

Airport Courtesy

2011-01-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

If you see a famous person at the airport,

and if you make eye contact with said famous person to the point that they realize you have recognized them,

does that mean you are friends?

Hubby said if it does, he's friends now with Mike Ditka.

That makes me wonder,

if you go up and shake their hand,

do you get to have holiday dinners with them?

If it does, we won't, because Hubby just made eye contact.

Tour The Rooms — Sparky's Room

2011-01-22T20:25:00.006-05:00

This is the color that I thought I would be painting either my living room or my bedroom. I happened to have the swatch card and it's the one that Sparky picked! I wouldn't let her do the glowing lime green like the bathroom.

She's very happy with it and thinks it brings out the green she has in the room nicely.

This is the view when you walk in her room out the front windows of the house. (None of our bedrooms are on the first floor.) Her room is slightly recessed from the doorway.

She painted the picture on the wall between the windows when she was eight years old. There was an older couple in Illinois from our church that were good friends of ours, and he taught her how to paint. She has some natural artistic ability.

This is the view to the left.

We (as in I) just hung that mirror after we got done painting. I found it for half price at Hobby Lobby about a month ago and knew it would be perfect for that spot. She has trouble getting to a mirror in the bathroom occasionally when everyone is getting ready at the same time. I couldn't hang it too high or she wouldn't be able to see in it.

This is the view to the right from the door.

She definitely has some green in here!

Her bed, nightstands, green shelves, and red dressers are all from Ikea.

Her paint color is Cloudy Day by Behr. I have a lighter color of blue for my room, but if I don't like it, I'm going with this one.

A Trip, Ikea, My Kitchen

2011-01-19T23:40:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Hubby took his first trip out of town since his surgery in November. I think it's like the first time I haven't driven him to the airport and still had time to drive the hour back home and get back in bed by 5:30 a.m. That alone makes this non-morning person happy.

Yesterday it was mid-morning, so Ikea was open, and if I do the loop different, it's on the way home. So of course I did the loop different and went. That makes me ecstatic.

(By the way, Hubby went to the doctor last Tuesday. They did a CAT scan of his liver and a side-by-side comparison from before the surgery. His liver is fully regenerated. He saw the original scan with the two lobes and the new one where the one lobe takes up the same space. I keep telling him to be careful carrying his suitcase even though he got cleared to do regular activities. I mean, he went out the next morning after he got cleared and decided to shovel a little snow. He's nuts! He also got in trouble with me.)

Betsy asked me what I got at Ikea in the comments yesterday. I looked at pulls and knobs for my kitchen cabinets when Mari and I were there last April, but they didn't have enough in stock. So I looked at those and they had plenty. I've started putting them up.

It's a chore! I've done five. I have lots to go.

I'm doing knobs on the drawers.

They are all a black matte finish, and some type of metal that reminds me of iron. Very substantial.

I also bought the nifty guide with holes to help you line up where to drill. At under $2.00, I consider it the best purchase of the day.

Fours

2011-01-18T19:47:00.004-05:00

Several months ago I took a picture of the odometer reading on our van. It's our only vehicle. I was short a four in the front, but I guess that's a good thing. That would be a lot of miles!

Today I found the four. I wish I'd realized ahead of time how close I was to the 150K milestone so I could catch it instead, but I guess catching the four on the end was second best.

The best part is that I was in the Ikea parking lot! I haven't been there since I met Mari in April.

Do You See The Irony?

2011-01-14T13:48:00.002-05:00

We're having Caboose's party later today. I guess you can tell what the theme is.

First and Last

2011-01-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

This week (as in two days from now) we have our first birthday of the new year.

This week (still as in two days from now) we have the last birthday of the family birthday bunch.

Buddy starts it off near the end of September, Hubby has his the middle of October, the girls share the beginning of December, I wrap up the end of December, and a mere two weeks later into the new year we finish up with Caboose.

Less than four full months and we cover all six birthdays and Christmas!

It's craziness, I tell you.

Modern or Not?

2011-01-10T23:43:00.005-05:00

When I think of modern furniture, I don't usually imagine that I have any in my house.

And then I pop over to CSN Stores and see this:

And it's almost the exact same light fixture we put in the glowing green bathroom. So apparently I'm a little modern too!

Last year I had the opportunity to team up with CSN and host two giveaways. This time I get to review a product myself. I'm excited, so watch for it in an upcoming post.

And in the meantime pop over to CSN and see what's modern, and even what's not! They have some really cute dishes that I wouldn't have called modern either.

So, is your decor modern?

Reality

2011-01-10T22:33:00.009-05:00

Growing up is hard.

Being a grown-up is hard too.

My cousin has a son that is about five weeks younger than the girls. This last fall someone he knew died after a couple of months in the hospital following a football injury. I remember wondering if any of my kids would ever go through the loss of a friend while they were younger.

Today that wonder became reality.

Two summers ago Sparky played on a local recreation league softball team. One of our neighbors happened to be her coach. Tonight Hubby saw the coach's wife in the grocery store.

There is a girl on the team that Sparky has been in touch with for the last year and a half through texting. They have had serious Biblical discussions, and Sparky has invited her to some church youth events. She just invited her to laser tag in December, but she was unable to come due to a work conflict. She promised she'd come to the next event, which was the upcoming dodge ball tournament.

Sparky texted her on Christmas and the day or so after. Hubby found out today that on December 28 this sweet, spunky girl was in a car accident through no fault of her own and never regained consciousness. She died on January 6.

Oddly enough, there is a family at church and one of the sons goes to school with her. She was mentioned last week in youth group and in prayer meeting as a prayer request. The thing is, when you play softball for a short time with someone you often just get familiar with their first name. Hubby and Sparky both thought her name sounded familiar, but they didn't realize who it was, until tonight.

Hubby had to come home and tell her as well as the rest of our family. It's been a rough evening, especially for Sparky. Three lives were saved because her kidneys and liver were given through the Gift of Life program, but Sparky is most concerned about her eternal life. She's just not sure if she was a believer, but God knows her heart.

Sparky did everything she could to reach out to her friend. But things like this always make us think about our lives here on earth and eternity, and what we are doing to reach others.

James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

The KJV says we are a vapor. Whether it's a mist or a vapor, they don't stay around long. Are we, as followers of Jesus, doing everything we can during that short time?

It makes us think hard.

*I have intentionally left out the name of Sparky's friend. I don't want people coming here because they have googled her name, and I don't want it to look like we are saying something just because we knew her.

Chicken 'Aghetti

2011-01-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

It's actually Chicken Spaghetti, but that's what our girls called it when they were little.

Chicken Spaghetti
from my cousin, Jennifer

1-16 oz box spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Rotel
1 can chicken broth
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken
2 cups shredded cheese (I used one of the 8 oz Kraft mixes plus some grated Parmesan)

While spaghetti noodles are cooking, mix other ingredients except cheese together in a large bowl. I usually add about 1/2 cup water because otherwise it seems a little thick. Drain spaghetti and mix it in with the other ingredients.

Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish. Cover with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges and hot in the middle.

The Rotel gives it a little kick and it's different than any other Chicken Spaghetti I've ever had. Yum!

Intentional Simplification (When Our Basement Threw Up)

2011-01-05T15:15:00.007-05:00

Into our garage.

There is a house being built on the lot next to ours now. When we open our garage door, the people working there can see in. I'm pretty sure they think we belong on the Hoarders show.

Do you also notice the lack of photos associated with this post?! Intentional.

The November weekend before Hubby had surgery, he emptied our unfinished basement onto the driveway. He was going to paint the basement floor to minimize the dust (concrete or drywall). Everything had pounds of dust all over it and it needed dusted off before it got put into the garage.

That Saturday while everything was on the driveway it started to sprinkle rain, so stuff quickly got placed in the garage. Stacked, crammed, and filled up. It wasn't pretty. (Guess who's been cleaning off the dust.)

That Sunday he used the shop vac to remove as much dust as possible from the basement before mopping the rest, then painting the floor.

Now comes the job of putting everything back in the basement.

Except we aren't.

I was so proud of myself when I went through memorabilia and reorganized it. But I had a revelation a few days ago and Hubby was on board. The trophies and plaques, why do they need to take up two Sterilite boxes and the space that needs? We are never going to display them. Why are we going to leave them for our kids to go through someday when we aren't here anymore? That's just silly.

So they are in the trash for next Monday.

We are also getting rid of stuff. Extra toys and things that are just taking up space. Ebay has been our friend as has Salvation Army.

I've seen several people picking a word for the year. I'm not sure I could pick one. But I've seen intentional and simplify.

I'm calling this intentional simplification.

I'll show pictures when I'm done, a vehicle fits in the garage properly, and the basement is properly organized.

I'm at least halfway there.

Pom Pom Garland

2011-01-02T23:58:00.001-05:00

I'm already getting ready for next Christmas.

I'm making pom poms. Like crazy.

In all different colors and four different sizes. I got pom pom makers for Christmas!

If you click on the picture it will take you to Amazon. (If you purchase them I will receive a small percentage from the sale.)

They didn't have the best directions, but decent enough pictures on the back that I could figure out what to do. Best of all, it was fast.

I have about four feet of pom pom garland right now. I strung the pom poms on plain embroidery thread. It's quite heavy.

I'm going to be making pom poms and garland to have them ready for next year. I'm going to make snowmen with the pom poms on skewers too. But I couldn't resist hanging the little bit of garland I had, even if it was just for a few days.

I can't wait to see lots of it on my big tree next year!

Undecorating

2011-01-01T23:48:00.004-05:00

I definitely don't like that word.

I had a nifty idea though on storing my ornament trees. I definitely did not want to have to reassemble them next year.

Take off the top glass ball and put a cork on the knitting needle. I bought corks today at the store when I was buying more plastic containers.

Decorating our tree is often a little more difficult than it should be, and we always have ornaments that we can't seem to locate that are in a box with un-like items, like maybe with stockings or the sit-around decorations. Then we have ornaments strewn all over the place because there are so many in one box, and tissue paper and bubble wrap, and chaos in general.

I knew there had to be a better way for us, and it was smaller containers. I also separated out most of the kids' ornaments into their own boxes. They will either still go on the big tree next year or on a tree in their own room. Either way, that's their box to put on that no one else touches.

I have one box that is just glass balls (special ones). It's the fabric-looking red box on the left. I purchased lots of glass balls on clearance this year that are still in boxes. I wanted them for crafting next year. They are in a couple of large plastic bins on the floor.

Our Hallmark ornaments were another issue for me. Every year we take them out and put them back in the boxes they came in. It's cumbersome. But some of them need to be there for protection. I decided that all of our Hallmark train ornaments could be kept out of the boxes and put in one small box together, simply bubble-wrapped. It will be so much faster. (I kept the boxes and put them in a larger container 'just in case.')

I labeled almost every box. I can see in them now, but next year when we get ready to put things away it will make it much simpler.

Every year when I get out the Buffalo Snow, Caboose gets out some animals and adds them in for decorating. I've taken down the ornament tree, but I'm not sure what the cat's going to do if I take away the rest. He's become rather accustomed to the comfy spot with extra heat from the fireplace. He doesn't have to wait on the vents to blow anymore.

I still have to take the lights off the tree and take it apart. And figure out what to do about the cat.

My Never-Ending 'To Be Read' Stack

2010-12-31T23:58:00.001-05:00

This will be updated as I finish books and get new ones. I'm also going to try and add a section at the bottom later for what I'm reading with my kids for school.

Non-fiction

90 Minutes in Heaven
Age of Opportunity
Before You Meet Prince Charming: A Guide to Radiant Purity
Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue
Instructing a Child's Heart
Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World
The Excellent Wife
The Mission of Motherhood
The Pursuit of Holiness

Fiction

Christmas Cookie Murder
The Cat Who Went Underground

What I've Read in 2010

2010-12-31T23:58:00.000-05:00

Turtles

2010-12-31T00:05:00.000-05:00

This was ashamedly the only thing I baked over the holidays, and I don't think it can qualify under the baking category because it was so simple.

You've probably seen them out there, but in case you haven't, I want to share the simple deliciousness of this treat with you.

Turtles
can't remember where I saw it first

mini pretzels, calls for twists, I used the square Snyder's
Rolos, unwrapped
pecan halves

Place the pretzels on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Place the Rolos on top.

Bake at 250 degrees for 3-5 minutes. You want the Rolos shiny, which means they are soft, but not melting and losing their shape on their own yet.

Press a pecan into the top of each Rolo. Place in the refrigerator to cool and set.

Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

Christmas Cranberry Salad

2010-12-29T00:05:00.004-05:00

But it's not just for Christmas!

Christmas Cranberry Salad
from my friend, Lori

1-6 oz pkg strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
1 large pkg frozen strawberries, thawed (I think mine was 16 oz)
1 large can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 can whole cranberry sauce

In a large bowl, dissolve jello in boiling water. When cool, add pineapple, cranberries, and strawberries. Place in refrigerator until firm. It's best made the day before.

Williamsburg Orange Cake

2010-12-27T17:48:00.000-05:00

I always try to make a cake for Christmas since we celebrate it first as Jesus' birthday. This was the one I made this year.

Williamsburg Orange Cake
from my friend, Marsha

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 T grated orange rind or 2 T orange juice
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Combine all the ingredients except the pecans, 30 seconds on low and then 3 minutes on high. Add pecans.

Pour evenly into 3 greased and floured 8-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

Frosting:
3/4 cup butter, softened
6 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 T grated orange rind
7 1/2 T orange juice

Mix in blender until it is spreading consistency. You can add little bits of orange juice if you need more liquid.

Store in refrigerator.

You must use butter in the cake. My grandma tried to make this years ago when she was still living after I had made it for her for her birthday. She used margarine. It didn't work.

For All You Wives Out There, This Is Priceless

2010-12-26T16:25:00.002-05:00

I saw the end of this clip on an ESPN top 100 show recently. I can't find just the end of the horse race, so watch the whole thing. I don't think you'll regret it.

We always knew, didn't we?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

From the girls in our house,

and the two boys willing to be photographed this morning,

Merry Christmas!

We had an atypical Christmas for us. It was only the second Christmas in my life that I haven't had the traditional homemade chicken pie. The other time was 1993 when the girls were in the hospital and we were staying at the local Ronald McDonald House.

After unexpectedly spending Thanksgiving Day in the hospital with Hubby this year and the kids spending it with special friends from church, I cooked our turkey on the evening of Black Friday. It was what has become known as the great turkey disaster.

I always cook my turkey in the large plastic bags and they always turn out fine. My problem is that I always want to cook them upside down. Hubby always has to tell me which way is up. Since he wasn't here, I couldn't ask.

And the year I decide to cook it opposite the way I think it should be is the year I'll have it right the first time.

Well, the meat thermometer said the turkey was done and I started cutting. Eventually I realized I'd cooked it upside down and most of the meat wasn't cooked. It was too late to remedy the situation. I also found a second bag of innards, which is my second turkey-cooking issue. I can never find them or there is a second bag I don't find.

So for Christmas we had turkey! Complete with a surprise bag of innards upon cutting it!

I can also cook a turkey right side up if I buy one with a pop-up timer.

Here are the kids with their beloved socks, which we open last.

This is our "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" cake. It's a Williamsburg Orange Cake with Williamsburg Butter Frosting. I'll share the recipe soon!

I pray that you all had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Ornament Tree

2010-12-22T11:38:00.002-05:00

We always had at least one of these around our house when I was growing up. Of course back then there weren't all the glittery ball choices available in the stores today.

And just so you know, the shatter-proof balls with unusual tops will not work. You have to have ornaments with the typical round hooks at the top like vintage glass balls. If you can find shatter-proof like that, go for it.

You'll need a knitting needle that is at least one foot long and skinny enough to go through the circular hole in the top of the ornaments.

Start at the bottom and place two balls on the knitting needle across from each other, and then place the two that criss-cross. They lie better that way. Sometimes you have to finagle them to make the bottom sit well. My mom doesn't, but I did. I just had to stretch the wire the tiniest bit on the top of the criss-crossed ornaments on the bottom row for it not to wiggle.

Alternate sizes as you go up the needle. You can do a couple of rows of each size, or more depending on how many different sizes you have. When you get to the top, take one of your smallest ornaments, pull the top off and sit it on the top of your needle.

I have five different sizes on this ornament tree. Two of my other trees (that I didn't show you here) only have three sizes. That's because I just got the two smaller sizes of ornaments yesterday and dismantled this third tree and re-did it.

The largest three sizes are actually shatter-proof balls with the correct type of top. The two smaller sizes are glass balls. They all look the same. If I drop it, they won't.

I love this new addition to my Christmas decorations this year!

I'm linking up over at Skip to my Lou.

Beef and Noodles

2010-12-20T20:00:00.000-05:00

Last week was beef week at our house. It was cold and time for some comfort food. We had Beef and Noodles, a recipe I got courtesy of my good blogging friend Betsy at My Five Men. We even found out we have in real life friends in common this last year.

Beef and Noodles
from my blog friend, Betsy

3 lbs beef stew meet, cut in 1" cubes
1 onion, chopped (or use some onion powder)
4 T butter
8 tsp Beef Soup Base
24 oz wide egg noodles
10 cups of water

Brown stew meat and onions in butter in a large stock pot. Cover with 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 1/2 hours.

Take out the meat and set aside. Add soup base and noodles. Cook until noodles are tender. Return meat to the pot with the noodles and check seasonings. Add salt and pepper if needed. Serve once the meat is reheated. It usually doesn't take long.

I've doubled Betsy's original recipe. I usually only have enough leftovers for one large serving even after having doubled it. If I served a lot of sides with it it would go farther, but we were really in the mood for some warm comfort food last week. It's been cold here!

Quick Fabric Gift Bags

2010-12-19T22:02:00.004-05:00

I needed to 'wrap' the gifts I had for my 2nd grade Sunday school class. Regular wrapping was not going to be conducive due to shape, and I didn't have any inexpensive Christmas lunch bag type gift bags. I also did not want to buy a gift bag for nine kids, even at the dollar store. That would have been another $9, plus tissue paper as filler.

I still had some Christmas flannel scraps from the Christmas stockings, which are actually Christmas bags, which we call socks, that I made for my four kids about eight years ago. I pulled those out and cut them down to size. I had just enough for nine bags.

I folded the top over and made about a 1/4" to 1/2" hem. Then I put the right sides together and sewed up the sides. I snipped the corners, flipped the bag right side out, and I had a bag.

I used the pillowcase scraps I had from making pillowcases that fit to make the ties. I just cut strips and then tied the bags shut. No hemming, no finishing, just cutting and tying.

I was finished in under an hour, and it was so much cuter than anything I could have purchased! It kind of reminded me of a mini-Santa bag.

I'm linking up at Tip Junkie:

Copycats

2010-12-17T19:59:00.001-05:00

My mom sent me an email to tell me about today's Family Circus cartoon that was in the paper.

Wonder if they got the idea from one of my kids?

♪ They Were 16 Going On 17... ♫

2010-12-17T00:32:00.006-05:00

Now they are 17!

They have been since December 3rd.

I keep hearing, "Have you done our birthday post?"

We saw the new Chronicles of Narnia movie (LOVE it) in the afternoon on the 10th and then had a sleepover. We had two decks of Dutch Blitz going so the boys could play too.

Dutch Blitz with eight people is fast and furious! I teamed up with Caboose part of the time to help him out.

We kept things small since Hubby is still recovering. We had a variety of ages over between 13 and 19. I love that about our kids and their friends. Age doesn't really matter, and they didn't have to become grown-ups to realize that. These girls all have strong Christian values and have great attitudes. They enjoy being together and playing games and not gossiping or talking about boys.

The first group of three girls went to sleep at 2:00 a.m. and the second group of three went to sleep just after 4:00 a.m. They decided they should get a little sleep.

The other night when we went out to eat, the waitress asked if we needed two kids menus. She was thinking of Caboose and Sparky. Hubby said pretty soon people are going to think they are twins! Sparky didn't think that was very funny.

By the way, they don't drive yet. We are going to enroll in driver's ed in the spring/summer when the roads aren't snowy and icy. You know, I wonder if they even do driver's ed in Michigan in the winter? Well, I just know Hubby and I do not have the constitution (especially me) to teach them to drive.

We'll warn you once they are on the road! :)

2010-12-17T00:00:00.001-05:00

♫ ♪ Later On ♫

2010-12-14T22:59:00.008-05:00

♪ ♫ we'll conspire... ♪ ♫

or in the case of at least one of my kids, we'll perspire.

That child, which shall remain unnamed, told me on Sunday that they (so I don't identify whether it's a he or a she) just figured out what the word was in the song. They'd always wondered, because they didn't think it was perspire, but that made sense since they were by a fire and all. So that had to be it.

We have a cat who is not conspiring or perspiring by the fire, just enjoying it as a source of heat.

This is the first winter we've used the fireplace since it had a noxious smell every other time we'd tried to turn it on. This fall, we opened all the windows and ran it for about 10-12 hours to burn off all the smell, which had something to do with the seal and I don't know what else. It worked.

So now the cat is no longer having to use the heater vents as a way to keep warm.

He seems to be totally okay with that.

2010 Christmas Tour Of Homes

2010-12-12T22:22:00.001-05:00

This year we put up the wrong tree.

See, we have a pre-lit tree that weighs as much as an elephant. We bought it around eight years ago. We haven't used it in at least four.

When we got to Michigan, we purchased the most beautiful artificial tree. It's the same height and fullness as the heavy monster. And no, we don't do real. I'm allergic.

Hubby thought for some reason that I wanted the pre-lit tree this year. I think he forgot about the other one. I'm not sure why. I think the packing tape that hadn't been touched should have indicated that the elephant hadn't been opened for many years, but by the time he'd gotten it to the second floor, it was the one getting put up this year.

On top of that I planned to put the colored lights on and already had them out. So you know what I did?

I mixed them! White pre-lit and multi-colored LED lights all on the same tree!

It makes for lots of lights, which we all love!

Here's the view coming down the stairs from Chatty's room.

And an early morning dark view with snow falling outside.

Here's a small mosaic of some ornaments. I did an ornament post talking about some of our special ones here.

This cross-stitch stays out year-round. I stitched it on navy fabric so it would stand out. I did it before kids in the early '90s.

This is on the top of our game cabinet. I added the garland of berries to the leaf garland from the fall.

I've had this little doo-dad since Hubby and I first got married. The Santa goes to the top of the wire and jiggles down. I took the picture fast, but he got halfway down in the second picture.

My greatest treasure from this year is my new Nativity. My maternal grandma passed away in May. She and my grandpa travelled to the Holy Lands in the summer of 1976. They purchased one of these Nativities for my mom, my aunt, and themselves. Since I am the oldest grandchild, my aunt and my mom decided that I should have the first choice as to whether or not I wanted it. I can't tell you the amazement I felt at that moment, and the pleasure I feel owning this treasure. I put it up the first week of November as soon as Hubby and Buddy brought it back from Arkansas.

Those are ornament ball trees on the side, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of them like my mom yet. As soon as I get them figured out where they look a little better, I'll do a separate post on them.

I'm linking up to the Christmas Tour Of Homes at The Nester's and also at Kelly's Korner.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

2010-12-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

There aren't too many people who can really sing this and it not be scandalous!

Ornaments

2010-12-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

Jolanthe at No Ordinary Moments is hosting a linky party for us to share our favorite ornaments.

Unfortunately it's impossible to share my entire tree full of ornaments with you and the story behind each one. That's literally what it would take! There are only a handful of ornaments on our tree that don't have a special story or some significance behind them, so I chose to share a few older ornaments, picked on a whim, and the new ornaments for each family member from this year.

This little painted Santa on a glass ball is small. It might be the diameter of a nickel. I picked it up in the late '80s in a little shop in Hermann, Missouri.

This ornament was a gift before kids (I think from my cousin). We had cats that were like our kids at the time. I giggle every time I hang this ornament. Down low, of course.

This ornament was actually not originally an ornament, but you may have figured that out. Both of the boys made these turkeys at Thanksgiving with a dear man from our church in Illinois who has since passed away. When they made them, they brought them home and stuck them in the tree branches. They've been ornaments ever since, much to the boys' chagrin!

Hubby and I love National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We don't let our kids watch it so whenever we have it on, Caboose says, "They're watching Cussy Christmas," because we've told them one of the reasons they can't watch it is for the language. So when this ornament that Hubby and I got last year came out of the box this year, Caboose and Buddy both said, "It's the Cussy Christmas ornament." The boys like to listen to the three (non-cussing) sayings, all courtesy of Cousin Eddie.

Sparky's new ornament this year, because she loves frogs.

Hubby's new ornament for the year, since he is retired from the U.S. Army.

Our new ornament for the year together, since we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this year.

Buddy's new ornament for the year. It reminds him of the squirrels that always got on our feeders in Virginia along with the birds. Plus he loves cardinals.

Chatty, our chocolate fiend's new ornament. You can also see the garland I made with the felt circles. Our tree is so big I definitely need a few, so I'm working on more circles.

Caboose's new ornament. He loves stuffed animals, stuffed birds, and this one has a 'squeeze me' feature and he chirps.

Always one of my favorites and the real reason for the season. It's only a couple of years old but it always has a prominent place in front.

Thanks for dropping by and cherishing some of our memories with me! Be sure to visit No Ordinary Moments to link up your favorite ornaments or visit some other bloggers.

It's Official

2010-12-06T20:08:00.000-05:00

We can't move.

There is too much painting happening around here!

Window Mistreatments That Aren't For Your Window

2010-12-04T23:24:00.008-05:00

I originally showed you my doorway covering in this post when it looked like this.

We have nine foot ceilings, so I purchased 54" wide fabric at JoAnn's in the clearance area. It's tone-on-tone in a neutral beige-ish color. I picked it before I picked our wall color, and the walls are not painted in these first pictures.

I bought 6 yards and cut the piece in half so I had two 3 yard pieces. I folded the top under twice and used the clip drapery hooks. I left the edges unfinished and tried to live with it for a while.

I couldn't do it. If I'd been the Nester I would have hot-glued my fringe on the edge, but it was easier and faster for me to just sew it down the sides. I had the fringe in my stash already. I'd purchased it on clearance over the summer and thought I might use it to make tassels or something. I purchased everything JoAnn's had since it was regular $15 a yard marked down to $3. I had enough to do both sides and still had some left.

Now we can close school off after we're done for the day, and we can also shut it out from the rest of the world when we have company.

Window treatments don't have to be for windows!

Home Again...

2010-11-29T21:10:00.005-05:00

Hubby came home from the hospital again on Saturday afternoon. He's been feeling much better this time around.

Could be that new recliner.

The first time Hubby was in the hospital and we would walk the halls, albeit slowly, as he got closer to his room he'd start looking in each one. I finally figured out why although I never said much. He told the kids when we got home and confirmed my suspicions.

The kids brought their dad this balloon when they came to visit on Tuesday the 16th. It was tied to the chair in Hubby's room, and when he was looking in the rooms he was looking for the balloon.

That's how he knew which room was his.

New & News

2010-11-26T22:48:00.003-05:00

News: Hubby is still in the hospital for another night. His transplant doctor happens to be on the floor for another complex case even though he's not on call for the holiday weekend. He pretty much gets to call the shots, and he told the other members of the transplant team that he wanted Hubby to stay for another night. I think he just wants to make sure his white count and liver numbers continue to go down (they were a little elevated when we were in the ER) and that his tummy really is okay and awake for good. It's no fun when they have to come back in again.

New: I mentioned Hubby wasn't sleeping good at home. Part of it was habit from waking up every couple of hours in the hospital for vitals to be checked. More of it was that he didn't have a recliner to sleep in a reclined position. Although our bed is fantastic, it's not possible to get it like a reclined hospital bed, and the couch is big and comfy but also not the same. We haven't had recliners since 2000. We gave our fantastic ones to my sister because we didn't have room for them in our house.

Today on the way home from the hospital I went to the furniture store and purchased a recliner. The boys and I went tonight and picked it up at the warehouse so it would be here when Hubby gets home, hopefully tomorrow.

It literally took me a minute to pick it out. After I did, I found out it was on sale as one of the Black Friday specials. Yay! Then I found out it was a Lazy Boy just like our old ones we loved. It looks almost just like them, maybe identical, just a different color. It felt just like sitting in our old chairs when I tested it. That must have been why I loved it so much!

So now Hubby can have a chair to rest and recline and sleep in when he comes home. He still has a long recovery ahead of him, and now he can be more comfortable.

News: Heather might go home tomorrow. Wouldn't that be funny if she and Hubby left on the same day, even if it was his second time!

Twists

2010-11-25T22:22:00.004-05:00

Hubby is back in the hospital. We spent about eight hours Wednesday night/Thursday morning in the emergency room. He finally got to a room around 8:00 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. His Thanksgiving meal consisted of beef broth, jello, and Italian ice.

I'll just go ahead and give you the entire scoop. If you get queasy, stop reading.

Wednesday night Hubby had a couple of violent episodes of projectile vomiting. After the second one we called the transplant number and they said we should come and have him checked. Hubby had blood drawn and an x-ray of his abdomen.

He was diagnosed with ileus. Basically, a portion of the intestine went back to sleep. This is completely typical following most abdominal surgeries, for the intestines to have to wake back up. What was unusual was that his were functioning normally and then a spot of them decided to go back to sleep. He did not have a blockage, but the food he was eating and digesting in his stomach could not pass that point in the intestines.

This morning in his room he was already starting to feel a little better. His stomach was not hard to the touch anymore and the doctor thought it might have resolved itself, which is what it needs to do. The alternatives aren't pretty, or comfortable. He had liquid lunch and dinner with a little solids for dinner too.

Hubby's white count was a little high when they checked his blood, so they'll be making sure it goes down tomorrow before they make a decision on whether he can come home. Hopefully it was just from the intestinal issue. He doesn't have fever or any other symptoms and is hardly taking any pain medication. He's really healing quite well. There has not been anything abnormal or unexpected happen along the way in his healing and recovery process.

He is having a flare-up of his gout though, so maybe that's making his white count high. It's tricky to walk the halls like you're supposed to when you feel like you have shards of glass in the big toe joint!

We had a friend come stay with the kids last night and then she took them to her parents' house today for Thanksgiving (Mr. Churchmember and his family from this story). I ate in the cafeteria while Hubby ate his broth.

As the kids said, "This is a Thanksgiving we'll always remember." We have a lot for which to be thankful!

Home

2010-11-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

Hubby came home in the middle of Saturday afternoon. This is one of the souvenirs we brought home with us.

Every morning I get to give him one shot for seven days. It's in the stomach kind of by the belly button and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Although we do have to make sure Caboose isn't around or someone is running block for us. If you don't know much about him, there's a little about him and needles here.

Hubby is getting around much better than we thought he would. He's having to be careful not to overdo it since he's restless. Every day has been a little better until yesterday. It was a little blah and icky, but today seems better already.

This is what's going on at our house right now:

He started getting hyper-sensitive to smells on Sunday night in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep. Unfortunately one of the things I'd made had onion in it. He could smell it when he walked into the bedroom because I'm a mouth-breather. Now that's hyper-sensitive!
He also started struggling with a little nausea at the same time. I think it went along with the whole smell thing.
ESPN, hunting, or nature shows have been on our tv practically 24/7.
The first couple of days Hubby struggled to stay warm. I'd see what he needed and then go to the second floor. I'm always cold if that gives you any indication of just how hot it was on the first floor. I thought I was entering menopause.
We're very thankful the cat hasn't jumped on his stomach.

He's moving a little slower than he'd like, but probably very well for how soon it is after surgery. Hubby realized that the ideal thing would be if he'd had a recliner. We don't have one and haven't for years. Sleeping has been a little tricky for him. It's amazing to think that one week ago he had such a major surgery.

Heather was expected to be in the hospital about a week longer than Hubby, so she's still there. They finally got room on his floor and she moved there the day before he was released. We went to see her on the way out on Saturday. Her mom might leave a comment with a more detailed update.

Thanks for praying!

Recovery

2010-11-17T08:13:00.004-05:00

I've been with Hubby since he got to his room Monday night. The transplant floor is sort of it's own special type of ICU but without one-on-one nursing care, although it is a better ratio than if he were on a typical floor. There are only private rooms and a pull-out chair, but the man at the front desk offered me a roll-away bed the first night. It's very nice and has a typical twin mattress on it.

Hubby asked me to stay again on Tuesday night, and Keith and Lori kept the kids another night. They've had them since Sunday night. Lori brought them up last night to see their dad for a little bit.

I know you're all probably curious how he is doing. You know how when you start a new brutal exercise program and the next day you feel bad and the day after that is even worse. It's kind of like that on a much grander scale. Hubby can have a tendency towards getting motion sickness, so some of the meds are making him feel dizzy and nauseous.

He's gotten very little real sleep. He has a central line that is very uncomfortable and he cannot wait to have removed, but they are providing TPN (liquid nutrition) through that line and cannot do that through a standard IV line. They have removed the other IVs and just have the central line in the neck now.

When you lose part of your liver, your own bilirubin goes up. He has a scratch on his eye from surgery. He'd love to take a shower. But he's not complaining and is trying to be agreeable. I told him he needs to get into that runner's mode now, the one I totally don't get, because running and me don't get along.

Even though we talked about what to expect to as much of a degree as possible based on the two C-sections I'd had, it still wasn't enough to prepare him for this. Yet even if he'd known, it wouldn't change his choice. This was a leading by God for both of us, and it really wasn't our choice at all. The glory all belongs to HIM.

Thanks for continuing to pray. I think Hubby would be happy with the six weeks recovery time now!

Today's The Day — Updated

2010-11-15T09:28:00.005-05:00

Hubby has gone in for surgery. I got a call and they made the incision at 8:20. I'll get updates about every two hours as long as he is in the operating room. Thank you for praying for his safety and recovery as well as Heather's.

Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie has been kind enough to offer to forward cards for anyone who would like to send one. You just need to send it to Robert, c/o Laurie, P.O. Box 443, Blytheville, AR 72316.

UPDATE:

At about 3:30 the doctor came in to talk to me following the surgery (Heather started after him and will finish after him). I should be able to see Hubby by 5:00. Everything went well with his surgery. Please pray specifically for a quick (four instead of six weeks) and complete recovery, good liver regeneration, and minimal pain. Hubby has never had major surgery.

Caboose's Newest Joke

2010-11-12T21:32:00.002-05:00

He thinks of them in the shower. He says that's where he does some of his best thinking.

I do some of my best thinking in the shower too, but it's certainly not jokes.

Question: "What do the toughest guys eat?"

Answer: "Macho Cheese!"