Just Sick and Carsick...but not Seasick!

Hey readers! I have been so sick lately ("still?" you ask, yes, STILL) and I have been away from my computer till today. I finally went to the doctor (aren't us moms hypocrits? I would've been rushing my girls to the MD had they been sick for 2 full weeks but, nooo, I kept thinking I was getting better and it would be over soon...) After seeing said MD and getting a boatload of medication for Asthmatic Bronchitis I am home today nursing myself like a good girl. I got up and made breakfast for Bug and then realized we had no bread for her lunch so I asked her to buy lunch. Me to Bug, "honey, buy lunch today, it's spaghetti, how bad can they mess up spaghetti?" (she hates the cafeteria food) Bug to me, "aw, Mom, do I have to? I will throw up." Me to her, "please, we are out of bread, I guess you could take something else..." Her to me, "no, it's ok, Mom, I know you're feeling icky, I'll buy". What a kid! Understanding as can be!

But, when we hear her say, "I'm gonna throw up"... we all run for cover cause she will be sick very soon! I have a funny story about Bug and her tummy troubles!

We had taken a cruise with our family (when I say family I mean the whole bloomin' lot of them!) to New England in the fall (I know, I know, yes, I was dying a thousand deaths to be there at that time of year ;) Good gravy, I was pleased as punch!) So, we had made it through the entire cruise in 18 feet swells mind you, without myself or Hubby or Bug being sea sick thanks to Mama being paranoid about it and keeping non-drowsy meds in our systems. I'm tellin' you, I used everything from ginger candy to Bonine to accupressure bracelets on our wrists and I was successful!

After the cruise we stayed about 6 days with my in-laws in their 1800's farmhouse (yes, they even have a barn and a stream on their property... ooh, ahh) in Pennsylvania and took day trips to NYC and Washington DC. Now, on our day trip to DC we had a good 3 hour drive to get there. We were all stuffed into 2 large SUVs following my father-in-law. Once into the city, we needed to head over to the National Mall. Driving became stop and go, turn here, turn there, quick stop, quick go. You get the idea. We made it to the mall area just in time to hear Bug say, "I don't feel good, I feel sick"... then, yep she throws up all over me, herself and my dad in front of us. Poor baby! I just sort of sat there in shock, covered, not knowing what to do first, knowing we are in the middle of DC with vomit all over! But, of course once she's sick she feels great!!! As for me and her Daddy and my Daddy, not so much! We stop our caravan and quick pull into a driveway right by the Washington monument (with a sign that says, Warning, No Parking, Violators Will Be Prosecuted) to clean up. Naturally, a DC cop pulls in behind us to, I'm sure, arrest us for planning some terrorist activity. These are the times I am glad Hubby is in law-enforcement and travels with his badge! He explains who he is and what happened and the nice DC cop lets us have the time we need to clean up and even asks if Bug needs anything and if she's ok. Whew.

Now, God, in His great plan knew this would happen all along and gave me the foresight to grab jammies for Bug for the long ride home that night so she slipped into those. Also, Hubby and I had just spent about a week or so the year prior in DC for an award ceremony he was asked to attend. We stayed all of 3 miles from the national mall in Crystal City and of course, me being me found a Target close by and did some shopping. Sooo... we knew right where the closest Target was and where we could get clothes for Bug to wear that day, Febreeze for the car and baby wipes for mine and my dad's clothes which weren't bad at all! I ran in, grabbed it all, ran out and we were back sightseeing with the family in, literally, fifteen minutes!!!! Problem solved, God is GOOD!!!!

Moral of the story, when they say, "Uh, I don't feel well," duck...

Sooo Sick...But Grateful

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been away for a while, I've been soo soo sick! I got a cold/flu? last Friday and it just knocked me on my rear! All I've been able to do is barely care for my kiddos (Hubby is on his own right now) and do NOOO housework! Ugh!!!! My house looked like a level four tornado went through followed by an earthquake that was an eight on the richter scale. That is, until my wonderful mom came on her day off to help and clean! God bless you, Mom! I still have stuff I need to do to catch up but at least things are under control!

So, I have no great recipes to share (cooking consisted of mac 'n cheese and chicken nuggets), no great pictures of what I did to redecorate my house (yeah, you don't want to see pics of my house right now) and no great fall adventures we took the girls to this week (we were lucky to get to school) but life will get back to normal soon. Church today is a step in the right direction and then on to a normal week... Club Mom at church, bible study, Bug's school spelling bee, Missionettes for Bug at church, and cooking and cleaning... finally! Our regular lives can sometimes feel so mundane, so boring even but when you can't perform your normal duties and you see how your family suffers for it, it makes you grateful for even boring. Don't take it for granted, remember there are people in hospital beds who would love to be doing their boring routines, there are people right now who would love to be complaining about a cold/flu as the reason why they don't feel well instead of the chemo coursing through their veins, wives who would love to be once again picking up her husband's socks and putting the toilet seat down but can't because he's been in heaven for a few months now. Remember all of this as you do yet another load of laundry, wash another dish, change another diaper, drive another carpool. We can all be grateful for the little blessings in our lives. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a cough drop and to blow my nose...

Black Creates Drama!!!

Oh, how I love all these great blogs I've discovered! I spent the late afternoon/early evening spraypainting candlesticks matte black and setting medium sized pumpkins on top of them. Then I spray painted a large metal vase I had in a bathroom the same black. Next I took some dry tree limbs from around our yard and sprayed those black too. Then I sprayed the frame of a mirror I acquired from buying our house the same black. What then??? Well, it all went up onto the mantle in our family room and talk about drama! I will take a picture and post it soon. I will need to change the pumpkins as the seasons change but other than that I think I can leave it. My friend Jessica and I made a banner that says Harvest that is hanging on my mantle too. It was easy and fun and turned out sooo sweet!

If you have a chance, get to some of those blogs I've listed... they've got my juices flowing!!!

Silent War

A funny thing is happening in our home right now. Hubby and I are having a silent war over the bathroom window. I get up in the mornings and the first thing I do is open my blinds... I want to see the world and let the natural light in! I even open a small bathroom window's blind in our downstair's 3rd bathroom. It's small and the room is small but I love that natural light. It faces our next door neighbor's house and our side yard. Hubby is afraid our neighbors can see into our bathroom (ok, not the room I'd like them to be able to see in, I agree with that) so I put a plant on the window sill and only open the blinds a bit for light. Every time I go in there I find the plant on the counter by the sink and the blinds closed shut! So... what do I do? That's right, I place the plant up again and open the blinds, a bit. Some time can go by and back in I go to, you know it, find the blinds closed up and plant on the counter. This continues all day! Even when he's been at work he comes home and does it!

So, not one of us has said a thing about it but we just keep undoing each other's work! I really don't think our neighbors can see in there with the plant in the way but you know Hubby, always extra cautious! Girls, I need to strategize my next move, any ideas? I can hear my mother going, "oh, you shouldn't do that to each other, communicate" but I have a feeling one of Hubby's three sisters may have an idea or his brother? In any case let me know!

PS... if there's anyone out there who thinks this is a cruel thing to do to each other well, you don't know Hubby and I, this is our sense of humor and how we relate to each other! Don't criticize, just give me ideas!!!!

Chicken Rice Soup with Pumpkin Bread

Quick post... Chicken and Rice soup and Pumpkin Bread:

Take one Fall day, overcast and cool out, high of maybe 63;

Sunday, so Hubby and kids are home; burn some Fall scented candles and

make SOUP!

Chicken Rice Soup:

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I used creminis)

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 32 ounce carton of chicken broth, more to taste if needed

2 12.5 oz cans of chopped chicken, no need to drain

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped green beans (I used frozen)

1 package long grain wild rice mix with seasoning packet (I used Uncle Ben's)

1 tbls. poultry seasoning

1 tbls. garlic salt

Saute onion and mushrooms in oil till tender. Mix in other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat covered for 20 minutes.

Enjoy with pumpkin bread, either homemade or cheat for goodness sakes and make it from a box, I use Pillsbury Quick bread and it's our favorite!

Did I mention I love Fall?

Apples and um, Liquor?

Oh what a day!!!! We decided to go to our local small town apple orchards called Oak Glen. I say 'local' very loosely... it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We were going to meet my parents and my grandmother there for a day of apple pickin', fresh, cooler air, changing leaves and maybe a shop or two. We met them there, went and ate lunch and took the girls to a petting zoo and then Bug and I ran into a big red barn and bought four pumpkins, a bag of winesap variety of apples, apple butter and apple cider mulling spices. Everything is 'appley' up there. Buglette never took a nap so on the ride home she cried and fussed, fussed and cried until she fell asleep, five miles from home! She was so filthy dirty from her adventures in apples that she needed a bath right away!

The other night I was headin' home from picking up a few things from Walmart. Buglette was with me and was ready for bed. We got stuck in traffic though going through a DUI checkpoint. We sat and sat and sat some more and my baby who had, up to that point been in a good mood, went south really fast. By the time we made it up to Mr. Police Officer Buglette had worked herself into a full blown fit and was screaming at the top of her lungs. I rolled down the window to speak to said officer and he got an earfull of how displeased my 16 month-old was. With a straight face and ignoring the screams he asked me if I had been drinking that night (probably the 200th time he had to ask that in about 2 hours) and I returned his question with a straight face answer, "No, but I should be after listening to her for 15 minutes. If you're offering, I'll buy". I know, I know. What was I thinking? Well, being a cop's wife (and daughter) I was never 'afraid' of authority. I have a healthy respect but no fear. Anyway, I could tell he needed a good laugh, I could just tell. I needed to laugh at my 'predicament' too. We did! (Laugh, that is, not go get a drink).

No Time Because He Answered All Those Prayers!

Sometimes finding the time to sit down and write is very difficult! This has been one of those weeks! Bug has needed more help with her studies, Buglette commands a lot of my time just by being herself and Hubby, well, he is understanding but it takes work to make a relationship well, work! So, sometimes the last thing on my list is this blog even though it's the second in my heart after God of course.

We have a weekend coming up and I've been thinking about to do with it. I am taking suggestions! Just a day trip somewhere to do something fun as a family would be nice. Maybe apple picking or getting our pumpkins. Maybe off to a Harvest Festival. Who knows. I'll let you know once we decide.

Buglette has been funny lately. She has been trying to say 'pumpkin' but it comes out funny. She tries to ride her sister's old red and white tricycle. She climbs and climbs all over it and rocks back and forth to get it to move. We went to church last night and at the nursery she cries when we go and stops just as soon as we're gone! She did the same thing at bible study with me this morning... at least she stops! I always hold my breath when I pick her up... was she naughty? A handfull? Clingy? Into everything? Noooo, she researves those behaviors for mom. I guess I can't complain, I'd rather her be good with others.

On our way to school we listened to our Christian radio program as usual and today it was about infertility and adoption, two subjects very close to home for us. We struggled with infertility for four years before I miraculously got pregnant with Bug. Boy were we beside ourselves with joy over that child (still are). Then, after eight years and one miscarriage later we get a phone call from family that a baby girl will be born soon and needing a home. We had never even considered adoption before! Never. But God has a way of showing us His plan and we just knew that this was our baby girl. Well, Buglette is ours (mine, Hubby's and God's that is) and we can't imagine life without her. I never mentioned she was adopted because it's not what defines her. It's like saying, "this is Bug, our girl who likes blue"; being adopted is just a matter of how she got here, not who she is. But this morning I heard something that so fit my life over the last ten years and I want to share it. "In regards to my children, God let me hunger so I would know when I was fed." He answered those prayers for our children and filled them in ways we could never imagine. Are you open to how God will answer your prayers even if it's not how you asked Him to?