Into the Land of Glasses!

Whew, I didn't intend to take a 2 week break from the blog, it just sort of happened!  Life has been full and busy, with so many areas needing every bit of my attention that the blog had to take a backseat.

But, I'll try to catch you up on some happenings around here in the coming blog posts (however erratically they may be spaced).

A little over a month ago, our family journeyed somewhere none of the 6 of us have ever been before --- into the land of GLASSES!

My 7 year old son got reading glasses.  It only took about 4 months of picking him up from school with him complaining of having a headache nearly every day before I finally scheduled a visit to the eye doctor.  Seriously, Mom of the Year candidate here!

But, I really didn't think he had a vision problem, they do a quick screen at the pediatrician, the school nurse screens each kid every year, and he reads above his grade level.  It turns out he can see fine, but he does have a condition called esophoria where his eyes have a tendency to turn inwards when he is focusing on something close-up and all day long his eye muscles were having to compensate to focus correctly, causing eye strain and headaches.  Not everyone who has esophoria needs glasses but since my son was having the headaches the eye doctor recommended we try reading glasses which would ease the strain of focusing when reading or doing school work and see if it helped the headaches.  I'm so thankful the glasses did stop the headaches!  And I'm so proud of my little guy for remembering to wear the glasses and remembering to pack them in his backpack each morning for school since he uses them to read before bed, not to mention how brave he was to start wearing his glasses to school half-way through the school year when all the other kids would notice the change!  

He might outgrow the condition, but for now, just look how cute he is with glasses (but DON'T call him "cute" because he really doesn't like being called "cute")!

When Ebola Comes to Dallas, Texas

I took an infectious diseases class in college where I actually did a term paper on Ebola, that is one of many reasons I've been closely following the heartbreaking outbreak in West Africa.  But, also because Africa has a big piece of my heart.  Ethiopia is on the other side of the continent from the Ebola outbreak; Ethiopia is in East Africa but, still, the healthcare system is extremely lacking.  I've seen the devastation that is inadequate healthcare.

The healthcare problems in Africa are both simple and extremely complex at the same time.  Quite simply, there are not enough doctors.  There are currently more doctors working in Chicago than in all of Ethiopia!  And the complex issues, things like many do attend medical school in Ethiopia but are lured away by job offers from developed nations upon graduation and healthcare is vastly harder where there is improper sanitation and limited access to clean water and electricity.

The health system is so vastly different than what we have access to here in America.  One statistic that dramatically highlights the differences:  just 6% of births in Ethiopia are attended by a skilled health worker while in America 98.75% of births are in a hospital!  So, in Ethiopia large numbers of women and babies still die in childbirth.

I feel like we in America have said for too long, "It's not our problem" regarding flailing healthcare in African countries.  But the reality is that we are not as isolated as our arrogance might suggest, only a plane ride or two away as the Ebola case in Dallas, Texas reveals.  

If anything good can come out of the devastation of this Ebola outbreak, let it be that nations who have so much give a bigger hand up to those that have so little.

Two people in the picture below, my husband and me, happened to be born in a nation of plenty, and the 100 or so others in the picture, mostly children, happened to be born in a country of great poverty where so many struggle for basics like food, water, and medical care.  We were all created in the very image of God.

Running with My Daughter

The third week of the school year, I attended parent night and sat in my 4th grade daughter's desk as her teacher shared about what to expect for the year.  Glancing at her desktop I saw the large nameplate that each child had made for themselves, in the middle was the child's name and in each corner was some piece of information about the child.  The top right corner had the child's goal for the year.  I smiled when I read my daughter's goal.  It didn't surprise me because it's something she's talked about before, but still, the fact that this was what she listed struck me that it was more important to her than I realized.  Her goal:  Run 3 miles.

My daughter and I have been running together off and on for the past year or so and the place where we run has a 3 mile track.  When I run by myself I do the entire 3 mile loop, and with my daughter we just run part of it, but I'd told her that someday she'll be able to run the entire 3 miles.

Sitting in her desk that evening and seeing her goal there in writing on the desktop she stares at each day convinced me I needed to be more intentional about helping my daughter achieve her goal.

So, we've been running together every weekend, a little longer each time.  And at this rate, she is on track to achieve her 3 mile goal before Christmas!

I'm so proud of my girl!  She did 18 minutes without stopping this past Sunday and she runs at a good pace!  I don't have to slow down to run with her, she can keep up with the rate I'd normally run by myself!

Then we sprint the last little bit of the run and she leaves me in the dust every time!  My view as she races past me (grainy iPhone pictures while running):

I'm fully aware that these runs with my 9 year old daughter are the good stuff of life.  And getting to tackle this goal with my girl, high-fiving her along the way?  Well, I get choked up thinking about the privilege of it!

Giving My Children Omega 3 Fish Oil

Let me start off by saying I am not a medical doctor.  I am just a mom of 4 kids.  I happen to hold a degree in biomedical science so I think I drive my kids' doctors a little nuts with my extra-detailed questions and independent research I do regarding a medical issue one of my children may be having.  But, please do not take what I am about to say as a prescription for your particular child, only you and your child's doctor should decide what is best for your child, I am just sharing what works for us and what makes sense to me as a scientist and a mom.

I give my 4 children ranging in ages from 11 years old to 5 years old, omega 3 fish oil pills.  The reasons for this are varied.

It started a few years back when I began suffering with multiple basal cell skin cancers.  I asked my dermatologist if there was anything I could do to help or if my fate just rested on too much sun exposure as a teenager and I was doomed to having skin cancers cut off for the rest of my life.  She told me I needed to boost my immune system to be able to fight off these cancers and taking daily fish oil pills is one of things she recommended.  Then she told me she even gives her children fish oil pills, just a children's version, because it is so good to help kids ward off colds.

I had also read about fish oil during our adoption training in the book The Connected Child: Bring hope and healing to your adoptive family.  It highlights research that suggests omega-3 supplements can reduce symptoms of anxiety, impulsivity, inattention, cognitive problems, and learning problems in children. And that kids on the supplements in the studies were less emotionally volatile.  I figured we needed all the help we could get with those issues and started our little girl adopted from Ethiopia on fish oil supplements as soon as we got her home.

It has been 3 years now that I have been taking fish oil pills (an adult version) and my children have been taking fish oil.  I truly believe it has helped my allergies.  I have to take Zyrtec a whole lot less than I used to.  Also, my older daughter used to have to use her inhaler pretty frequently for wheezing but since starting on fish oil, she nearly never needs her inhaler.  When I discussed my theory with the allergist, he said there have been some studies indicating that fish oil may be beneficial for allergies, but nothing has been definitively proven.  He did encourage me to continue the supplements, though!

I also feel like fish oil supplements can help with ADD symptoms and would certainly rather my kids be on a supplement like omega 3 rather than ADD medications!

Beware because not all Fish Oil pills are created equal.  There is a wide range of DHA and EPA that are actually present in the supplement, so read your labels carefully!

This is the supplement I give my kids: 


 The DHA content is 100mg which is so much better than most of the rest of the kid omega-3s.  Also, I've tried some that have a taste my kids complain about, but they really like these.  They are easily chewed up so no drama if you have kids that can't swallow pills.  And, there is no fishy odor!

Anyone else tried giving your kids omega 3 fish oil supplements?  What kind do you use?  Have you noticed results?
 
***Disclaimer: I am an Amzaon.com affiliate and will earn a small portion of the sale if you use a link within my blog to purchase a product, however I only recommend things we truly use in my home and would recommend to friends!***

Moments to Remember

As I walked Little Girl out of her last day of preschool (my last day of preschool) on Friday, we got literally about 20 seconds out of the gate and were on the sidewalk in front of her school when Little Girl exclaimed, "Awwwww, I miss my people!"

I reminded her that she'd see one of those school friends that very night at a function at our church!

Her Socialness leaving preschool forever:

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My girls had dance recital pictures on Saturday morning and I was very nearly in tears over the stress of getting TWO girls into hair and makeup and costume with a time deadline.  Two girls with totally opposite hair, I might add!  My bathroom was declared a disaster in the aftermath of it all, but we GOT IT DONE!  And other moms even complimented my girls on their hair and makeup -- amazing when I felt so inadequate doing it!!

This picture is called, "Big Sister Trying To Get Little Sister to Be Still so I Could Snap a Picture Before the Real Pictures!"

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I had to have an outpatient surgical procedure today, nothing serious, just a crazy situation with a stone in my salivary gland.  I know!  Who knew you could get stones there?!!  Well, me, I knew because I've had it since college when a spot under my chin suddenly began swelling up huge when I ate.  My roommate insisted it was the strangest thing she'd ever since and I had to got to the doctor.  That is where I first learned about salivary gland stones.  He told me a few things I could try to get it to go down and if it didn't I'd need surgery.  He said it was nothing serious.  The issue disappeared within a few days and all was normal after I ate.

This pattern of my salivary gland doing it's swelling thing for a few days and then returning to normal came and went once or twice a year for the next 17 years of my life.  But it was never a big enough issue to worry much over.

Until a few months ago, when it swelled up larger than ever and wouldn't go down!  My tongue got all tingly and I worried it would begin restricting my airway.  I Googled (because that is my first source for all things medical) the problem and doctors to see about it and found there was one doctor in my area who was doing a new procedure of removing the stones without removing the whole salivary gland which has been the only option for years.  That doctor was able to prescribe medicine to get the swelling to go down, he did CT scans confirming what we already knew and he warned I needed the surgery or the problem would just keep recurring and probably get worse as I got older.

Today I had the procedure, and the stone was in fact removed, all 4 mm of it, which was an impressive size to my doctor who has done this many times before.  Well, "Go big or go home, right?!!"

Hold on because I really am approaching the point of the story.  I had to have general anesthesia and various other loveliness but was out of the hospital before lunchtime and it seems I will be able to return to normal activities tomorrow or the next day.  But, my husband had complete kid duty today.  By himself!  Packing lunches (I had to be at the hospital super early), getting them to school, swim practice (even manning the day at swim practice where the swim shop came to sell team swim suits and all 4 of our kids needed a new suit!), dinner, baths, and bedtime (conveniently I was told at the hospital not to go up or down stairs for the rest of the day)!

But the classic part came when we were having dinner, my husband was lamenting that he forgot to bring home his work computer on Friday and there was something key he couldn't work on today,  the 11 year old replied with, "But you probably didn't have time anyway since you were replacing Mommy today."

Without missing a beat, my 7 year old son said very matter-of-factly, "Mommy can't be replaced."

And thus he secured his spot as my favorite child.  Kidding but in all seriousness my husband really put forth an amazing effort today!  He even signed the 3rd grader's agenda which I've been mostly forgetting to do for the better part of the last 4 weeks.  But, I'm still putting it down in the books as a comment to remember forever, "Mommy can't be replaced."

Important Health Information for Parents of Ethiopian Children

I know there are several people who follow this blog who have adopted children from Ethiopia or are in the process, so I want to pass on this link to an article from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the dangers of codeine use in children following surgery to remove tonsils or adenoids, particularly Ethiopian children.  Certain ethnic groups are more likely to have DNA variations that cause the body to have dangerous reactions to codeine.

There is a table in the article that shows the Ethiopian population is at greatest risk with 29% of Ethiopian children having a genetic issue that can cause life-threatening side-effects with use of codeine for pain relief.

This is compared to 1.2% of the Asian population and 3.6% of the Caucasian population.

Here's a link to the article: FDA Drug Safety Communication: Codeine use in certain children after tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy may lead to rare, but life-threatening adverse events or death

I consider the FDA a very reliable source and was particularly thankful to have found this information recently, as our Little Girl, adopted from Ethiopia, has some symptoms we are currently seeing an ENT for and she may need her adenoids removed in the future.  I printed the article to show her doctor.

If this doesn't make any sense, I blame the steroids.

My 5 year old daughter has an awesome solution for the puppy-getting-on-the-couch-and-curling-up-like-she's-the-comfiest-she's-ever-been-in-her-entire-life problem.

Recently my daughter declared, "I know! We could just get a new couch and let her have this one."

I told you it was awesome.

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Speaking of the puppy how is it that in only 5 weeks we've had her she has grown into this:


My 8 year old son can barely hold her!

I'm kinda worried that even though the breeder said she'd be 35lbs max. we might have a Clifford on our hands. You know, like having to build her, her own house out back when she grows too big for ours!

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On a positive training note, Madeline the puppy now not only toilet papers the house but she can take the roll completely off the spindle, so there's hope that with just a bit more training there could possibly be someone else in this house besides me that changes the toilet paper roll when it's empty!

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On another positive progress front, my 3 year old son has the job of putting napkins on the table every night before dinner, and we were consistently getting either 3 napkins or 7 napkins for our family of 5 people, but now his counting is getting better and nearly every night there are 5 napkins!

His method cracks me up though. We use cloth napkins (less for the environment than for my desire to eliminate items from my shopping list, but the environment is a plus too, and yeah-yeah I know, I waste water washing them but I can assure you my washing machine runs daily with or without cloth napkins thrown in!) and the napkin drawer looks like this:
Now if you or I were going to set the table, we would most likely grab 5 of the same color/style napkins, but not my 3 year old, I watch him do it and he just wildly grabs, like he's thinking, "One of these, one of these, two of these, aaaaaand one of these -- Done!" It totally reminds me of the argument I used to have with my firstborn son about why a navy shirt should not be worn with navy shorts. He was all, "It's navy and navy. It matches!" At least my 3 year old is my 3rd child and now I'm too tired for silly debates, I'm just like, "Five napkins! Great job, Buddy!" See, being the 3rd child is not all bad!

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Tomorrow brings the beginning of Spring Break for us, so I'm not going to be blogging much new stuff next week, maybe some re-runs, maybe not, we'll see. I'm thinking of kicking off the Spring Break fun with these, but I've been fighting this bronchitis/sinusitis dynamic duo for weeks and weeks now (just began my 2nd course of antibiotics and steroids, hopefully this time it gets knocked out) so I have not been doing the Shred workout much lately (but really with the steroids on board I ought to be doing the Shred I might could even show Jillian a thing or two!), and what are the chances I could make Oreo brownies for the kids and not eat any myself?

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For everyone waiting to bring a child home from Ethiopia, this post from Babe of My Heart is wonderful! It is kinda long if you don't have time (or are on steroids and now have the attention span of your 3 year old) you may want to scroll towards the end to the part about faith and Lazarus. Such good truth!
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And everybody should go watch the video at the end of this post at Good to Be Crazy. Seriously it will MAKE your day!
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Happy Friday!

Find more Finer Things Friday and Friday Fragments.

Not the abundance I had in mind!

So, apparently God wanted to me to write last night's post, in preparation for the day I'd have today.

Abundance.

Abundance of bodily fluids.

The day began with my 3 year old taking off his nighttime diaper which was not seemingly a problem, I saw him doing it and continued packing lunches for my older two kids. The 3 year old only wears a diaper at night, and has not gone #2 in it in months. Only last night he did. And then proceeded to make a bigger mess taking off his own diaper before he or I realized it was a dirty diaper. Mess cleaned up (while fending off the dog who really wanted to help clean up the mess -- gross, gross!) and the little guy got an impromptu morning bath, which he loved, swam around in my jacuzzi tub while I got ready for the day.

Shortly after lunch I got a call from the elementary school, my 8 year old son was in the nurse's office, he'd thrown up at school. I woke the 3 year old up from his nap, raced to pick up the sick child, got him home, settled him in a bed with a trash can nearby, scrubbed my hands about 5 times, put the 3 year old back down for his nap, dug out the Lysol and latex gloves, cleaned up a few rounds of throw-up.

Since the 3 year old's nap was interrupted, he took forever to go back to sleep and once he did he really fell into a deep sleep and I hadn't taken him to the potty since the beginning of his original nap, pre-unanticipated school run for sick child. So, you guessed it, he woke up from his nap completely soaked in urine. All his bedding, all his clothes, and his large stuffed bulldog security object Big Duke had to go in the washer and the 3 year old got his 2nd bath of the day!

While bathing the 3 year old and hollering at the 5 year old to please not go in the room with the sick 8 year old, the puppy wrapped the bathroom in toilet paper!

Dressed 3 year old, cleaned up t.p. mess in bathroom and then sick 8 year old was bored, wanted to come out of bed. I really wanted to keep him quarantined from the other two well children, but we don't watch much TV and when we do it's always in our family room, we only have one other really old TV upstairs in the playroom where the kids play video games. So, I hooked up the playroom TV to the DVD player after much trouble I got it to play a movie for the sick child and moved the couch over, covered it in a sheet and put trashcan next to it, so he could be entertained and kept away from the rest of us as much as possible.

While setting up the sick bay in the playroom, puppy goes pee on the playroom carpet -- awesome!

Shoo well children away from sick child again, get Petzyme to clean up doggie urine, and deem it the day of abundant bodily fluids!

Thankfully the vomiting was short-lived, praying nobody else gets it and for tomorrow's abundance to be more pleasant!

Find more Finer Things Friday and Friday Fragments.

I'll try not to step on your shadow.

I was walking out to the car through a parking lot with my 3 year old one day this week, holding his hand, when he said, "M-ahhh-m" (in this drawing out the word kind of way that he has of saying "Mom" like a 16 year old would, but he only uses this when I have done or said something he just really can't believe I would do or say; otherwise I get a pleasant "Mommy".). I couldn't imagine what his tone was about, I hadn't said anything that could have possibly offended him.

But then he said, "Stop stepping on my shadow!"

The nerve of me!

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My 7 year old is going through a phase where he loves putting on little magic shows for us (he recently saw a magician perform at our preschool's bookfair). But, his skills are a little lacking. Tonight, for example, he held up a blanket with his little sister behind it, turned to my husband and I (the audience), said, "I'm going to make her disappear!", and then turned to the held up blanket and whispered very loudly to his sister, "Now, run!"

Not exactly the master of illusion, but hilarious to watch, none the less!

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My 5 year old daughter is really bummed that she's likely going to be too sick to go to school tomorrow, too, she loves it so much! But wow, I'd forgotten how great it is to have her home! She totally entertains my 3 year old, who has been very cranky this week as he recovers from an upper respiratory infection and ear infection. Now, my daughter, who has Strep throat along with a cough and a full-body rash? Her mood is mostly lovely. You wouldn't even know she was sick aside from the initial fever, positive Strep test, very apparent rash, and coughing. Funny how the gender stereotypes of men/boys being terrible patients seems to apply even to my young kids. When my boys are sick or hurt, and often for days afterward, everyone knows! They complain, they whine, they're cranky, they are demanding, and generally hard to deal with.

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I don't know how teachers deal. I was emailing my daughter's kindergarten teacher this week about her sickness and expected days out of school and she replied that many kids were absent, several with confirmed Strep, and of the kids that were in class she said, "EVERYBODY is complaining about something -- head, throat, tummy." Now that times a classroom of kids would be hard to put up with all day! Hurray for the cooler weather but boo for all the sickness of this time of year!

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Speaking of sickness, can I just get a "Praise God!" right now for pediatricians that prescribe parents medicine, too. I love this about our family pediatrician! When I took my 3 year old in on Monday for his fever, I knew I wasn't feeling too great, and likely had caught his same sickness, but I wasn't about to mention it. But, our pediatrician has 5 children around my age, and grandchildren similar ages to my kids, and treats us like family. He heard me cough once and said, "That sounds bad; I'm giving you something, too." No arguments, no negotiation, that's just the way it was. And good thing, too, because there's certainly no time for me to get in with my own doctor!

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But we're surviving, I finally made it to the grocery today and stocked up on some yogurt probiotic drinks, even found some my kids like, and chocolate ice cream to make chocolate shakes. I served my daughter a shake for a snack today and she wondered as she drank it, "Why can't I have regular ice cream, too?" She's not demanding, she just likes chocolate ice cream a lot. And she had a point, I mean if you have Strep Throat why not chase a chocolate shake with a bowl of chocolate ice cream? So, that's what I let her do!

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I just recently came across this, and was really happy to see a positive news article on adoptions from Ethiopia. The article points out that Ethiopia wants to work with countries like the U.S. because they want to do their adoptions the right way. And even goes so far as to say, "Other countries should look at what Ethiopia is trying to do."

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Happy Friday!

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I'm washing my hands every 4 minutes!

We are only 2 weeks into the school year and I already need a frequent visitor card for our pediatrician.

When I picked up my 7 year old from school on Tuesday I noticed he looked really upset, I asked what was wrong and he broke down, "I feel really bad!" One hand to his forehead told me he definitely had fever.

I gave him some Tylenol and it came down a bit, but he still had chills and felt miserable. I knew we'd likely be at the doctor the next morning.

He started throwing up in the middle of the night and the next morning his fever was nearly 103 degrees. We went straight to the pediatrician (remind me to one day write a post about how much I love our pediatrician; they always see us right away!). While at the doctor I noticed a rash starting on the back of my son's neck. He tested positive for Strep., but the doctor also did a CBC because my son was so sick. The blood test showed that the bacteria causing the Strep throat had gone into his blood stream, causing the more extreme symptoms of vomiting and rash. The doctor gave my 7 year old 2 shots of antibiotic, prescribed oral antibiotics, told me to call and update him on my son's condition that evening, bring him in for a re-check in 2 days, and keep him out of school for the rest of the week. "Wow, this is serious!" I thought.

Little did I know the doctor was actually sugar-coating the whole thing for me with the description of "Strep that has gone into the blood stream".

The name for that is Scarlet Fever!

This morning when the fever was gone but the rash was still there, now covering much of his body, I did a little Internet searching to see how long I could expect a Strep rash to last. And guess what? Every site I looked at said Strep with a rash is Scarlet Fever.

I know the pediatrician was trying to protect me from that scary term because um, don't people DIE of that? Wasn't it Scarlet Fever that made Mary go BLIND on Little House and the Prairie?!!!

Clearly he knew, I couldn't handle the truth.

But, while the internet may be an alarmist, it did set me straight with the statistic that yes, before antibiotics 20% of people did die of Scarlet Fever, but since the advent of antibiotics the mortality rate is less than 1%.

The good news is, just like the doctor said he would, my son felt a whole lot better just a few hours after getting the antibiotic shots, and now is just rashy but feeling mostly fine.

The bad news is, we learned that when the kid who sleeps on the top bunk starts throwing up in the middle of the night, it is not pretty! And you really don't want to be the kid on the bottom bunk!

To wrap up this very long-winded story, today I salute the finer things of my carpet cleaning machine, antibiotics, and our pediatrician!

Find more Finer Things Friday here.

Batman's Surgery and the Bulldog Surgeon

Last Friday my 3 year old had his adenoids removed. It was outpatient surgery. My son wore his batman jammies complete with an attached black cape to the surgical center. He was a hit with the doctors and nurses and got a lot of extra attention, things like, "I've never operated on Batman before!" Needless to say my toddler did not want to change into the medical issued Bugs Bunny hospital gown, but no worries the nurse was quick to let us know that was fine and the hospital gown was not mandatory. Big Duke, my son's beloved large stuffed bulldog was allowed to go back with him to surgery.

He was in surgery for about 45 minutes, which included the time to get him under anesthesia, and when I got to go to him in recovery Big Duke looked like this:
Someone had fun putting a surgeon's mask on the stuffed bulldog!

My 3 year old did great! The recovery room nurse said he wished his adult patients were as good. I said, "Well, that's one perk of being a 3rd child, you're pretty tough!"

Anyway, we got to go home quickly and the real challenge was keeping my toddler from crazy physical activity. He did not want to rest on the couch, he wanted to play and he was still coming out of the anesthesia. He took off running at one point and nearly collided with the wall; I saved him just in time! And I suddenly had to be vigilant about the stairs again after not worrying much about him climbing up or down for the last couple years!

The next day he ran a little fever, but I was told to expect that due to inflammation from the surgery and that I didn't need to worry unless it got over 102 degrees. His throat was hurting him the next day, too. It was really sad, but a little funny, too, when my 3 year old began fussing, "When they gonna put my adenoids back in!"

Anyway, he's on the mend now. The fever lasted about 3 days, and it took about 5 days for his appetite to seem like it was getting back to normal. Now he's still a little more cranky than usual, I think the antibiotic he's taking to prevent infection post-surgery is upsetting his tummy a little. It's still too early to tell if removing his adenoids will decrease his drooling because there is inflammation at the site where the adenoids were removed, hopefully in the next week or two we'll notice a difference.

Rotten Eggs, Your Nose on TV, and a Dog Bath

I recently made some hard-boiled eggs. My 3 year old loves them, but for some reason calls them "rotten eggs". I have no idea why, but it plays out in him cheering, "Yay! We get rotten eggs for lunch!"

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I took all 3 of my kids to an ENT doctor appointment where my daughter needed her ears checked after one year without tubes and my 3 year old was getting checked for potentially enlarged adenoids. At his 3 year old check-up the pediatrician was worried about the fact that my toddler still drools quite a bit. Apparently age 3 is when drooling becomes rather abnormal. Anyway, the ENT decided he needed to use his flexible camera tube to look inside my son's nose to determine if his adenoids were enlarged and potentially causing him to breathe more through his mouth therefore causing his mouth to always be opened thus the drooling. So, he looks at my toddler and says, "Let's go into the room next door and see your nose on TV!"

Well, my 4 year old daughter and 7 year old son needed to hear no more. They were delighted with the idea of seeing their little brother's nose on TV and quickly became worked up into a frenzy that should never grace the inside of a doctor's office. As we walked through the hall to the next room my daughter's gleeful shouts to her little brother of, "COME ON! LET'S GO SEE YOUR NOSE ON TV!!!!!" could be heard for miles!

The answer to the adenoids question was yes, they are larger than normal, so we'll likely have them removed in the next month or so. Thankfully it is a very minor out-patient surgery with minimal recovery time and we are very comfortable/familiar with the doctor doing the surgery as he put tubes in my daughter's ears twice. And my pediatrician said if the adenoids are enlarged it can cause sleep apnea and may be causing my 3 year old to not sleep well at night, not that he wakes us up at night (because to us it seems like he sleeps well) but he wakes his body up enough all night long that he may never get really restful sleep, causing the crankiness/impatience we often see in the mornings. Anyway, the pediatrician told me after the surgery, I'd have a new child! And I felt a little guilty for thinking it, but man, I was a bit excited about the idea of getting a new child in the place of my 3 year old! Not that he doesn't have tons of wonderful, love-able qualities -- I definitely don't want those to go away, but I will give up some of his less desirable quirks!

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As a rainy morning activity today my kids and I decided to bathe the dog in the bathtub. She really needed it and the kids were truly excited about helping. My oldest even volunteered to stand in the bathtub with her so he could really scrub!

But, in reality, their "help" consisted of eagerly gathering in the bathroom as I ran the water and got the dog in the tub, but then as she got wet and sudsy and began to shake off, they ran squealing out of the bathroom. Then it became a game, they'd come in until the next shake off and then run giggling out of the bathroom, leaving me, a wet, soapy, dog-haired covered mess, to tend to all the actual work of bathing.

So now I've got 1 clean dog
and 3 children who cannot be trusted!

Happy Friday y'all!

Find more Friday Fragments, Finer Things Friday, and Friday Funnies at Homesteader's Heart.

I may need to borrow some mountain climbing gear.

Last week brought some hard news. My mom, who has been struggling with short-term memory issues for well over a year now, received a diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies.

I had never heard of the disease, but apparently it is not rare and is the 2nd leading cause of dementia behind Alzheimer's. Lewy body dementia (LBD) is like a combination of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's with progressive degradation of cognitive and motor abilities. There is no cure.

My mom is fairly young for such a disease at age 60. Currently her symptoms are mostly mild (although she has been unable to work for a year due to them), and we hope that the disease will progress slowly for her, but there is no way to know. The average survival rate is 5 to 7 years after symptoms develop with most patients being unable to care for themselves in the last few years.

I spent the first hours after hearing her diagnosis grieving over what may become of my mom's mind and body, grieving over what she has already lost, and fearing the day she will be unable to care for herself.

After the grief came the "I don't want to." And that's basically what I told God. "You know God I'm hearing that you want to lead me down this path with my mom's diagnosis, but I don't want to go!" Throughout my childhood and early adulthood, my mom struggled off and on with manic depression which led her to bouts of alcoholism and prescription drug abuse, so I told God, "You know I think I've paid my dues caring for my mom." "And I have young kids, Lord. I don't want to be a part of the 'Sandwich Generation' caring for both a parent and kids."

But then something else began to wash over me. God allowed me to remember a Beth Moore Bible study I'd done ages ago (Believing God, maybe, sorry I did several of her studies during a 3 year period and am not sure which it came from). She talked about Matthew 17:20, where Jesus says, "if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you." Beth Moore's message was that when God gives you mountains in life sometimes you say "move" and He does, but sometimes He doesn't move it and He wants you to climb that mountain and see Jesus transfigured (as the disciples did in Matt 17:1-21) on top of it!

When I was diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma) nearly 6 years ago, I definitely went through the "I don't want to" phase and began referring to it as my "reluctant journey" with cancer. But during all the tests and waiting on results and then waiting to repeat the tests over 3 months to see just how bad it was, I got to a peace, a place with God where I could honestly say, "Okay, God, if you want me to climb this mountain, I will, but I am anticipating that I will see you transfigured on the top of it."

As it turned out, God moved that mountain before I even began treatment! He moved it so far off the horizon, in fact, that I don't even have to go in for check-ups with the hematologist.

I am well aware that God can move this Lewy Body Dementia so far from my mom that she, her husband, my brother, and I never have to deal with its ugliness.

But, I also know He may want us to climb that mountain instead, so He can reveal Himself in a huge new way.
Either way I'm trusting Him.

This post is part of the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.
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I'm loving my shorter grocery list!

Over the past year I've made it a goal to live more simply and basically, especially getting away from processed foods when possible.

I knew it would save money and be a healthier option for my family, but some benefits I didn't anticipate are shorter grocery lists and easier shopping trips. When I'm just buying basics like flour, eggs, and milk there are several aisles I can skip all together! Also, I love that my pantry is less cluttered without all the mixes and prepackaged stuff!

13 things I no longer buy:

1. Paper napkins - switched to cloth, I do laundry nearly every day anyway, so it's no trouble to throw them in with a load. I'm using white ones we already had and bleach them every now and the then.
2. Sandwich bread - making my own bread now, like this recipe and this one
   
3. Pop tarts - the kids always asked for them at breakfast but ate less than half most days, I just quit buying them and after a couple days nobody even missed them! I usually have homemade muffins, hard-boiled eggs, bagels etc. if they want something to go with their cereal.
4. Hamburger buns - if you try this recipe you'll never be able to go back to the store bought!
5. Hot chocolate - so easy to make your own mix
6. Cake mix, brownie mix, muffin mix - cheaper and not much harder to make from scratch
7. Icing/frosting in a tub - so easy and yummy to make your own!
8. Microwave popcorn - Did you know it takes the same amount of time to make it from the kernels on the stove?
9. Pre-sweetened adult yogurt (I haven't yet weaned the kids off their squeeze yogurt) - I buy the large tub of plain organic yogurt and sweeten it at home with this recipe.
10. Pre-made pizza crust - Love this recipe to make it from scratch, but substitute wheat flour for half the white flour.
11. Hummus - it is so expensive to buy this pre-made; use this recipe
12. Wheat crackers - gotta love a 5 ingredient recipe (and 1 of those ingredients is water!)
13. Shredded cheddar cheese - it tastes much better and is usually cheaper to buy the block and shred it yourself!
    

Find more Thankful Thursday & Thursday Thirteen & Works for Me Wednesday.

God Speaks

This past Sunday I taught a 4 year old Sunday School class the story of 1 Samuel 3. That's the story where God talks to Samuel as a little boy while he is sleeping -- you know the one where he keeps running to Eli thinking Eli called him, until Eli finally tells Samuel God must be trying to talk to him.

The kids loved watching me pull on a pajama shirt over my clothes, lay down on the floor with my pillow and blanket and pretend snore, while they shouted out, "Samuel! Samuel!" And I pray they left having internalized the concept of listening to God and obeying Him.

But seriously, the whole concept of God speaking is hard for adults to grasp!

Actually the topic is one I've thought a lot about over the last few years. As a Christian you hear people often say, "God told me. . ." or "God showed me. . ."

But, really, how does that happen? Do you believe it does? Does God speak to people in this day and age like he did many people in the Bible?

I believe yes. I don't think God has ever audibly spoken to me as He did to Samuel. But His message is so loudly spoken, even so.

In Genesis ch. 9, God gave Noah and his family and their descendants (that's all of us) the rainbow in the sky as a sign of the promise that He will never again destroy the whole earth with flood waters.

As I was thinking about God speaking to us through nature 2 weeks ago, I reread that Genesis ch. 9 account of God putting the rainbow in the sky. And, I was thankful that God still gives us that beautiful display of His promise and reminder that He keeps His promises.

Then just a couple hours later, my 4 year old daughter suddenly started running a high fever that came on with no warning. With the Swine Flu going around like crazy, I immediately called the pediatrician, who said we could come right in.

I hauled my 3 kids through the rain to his office. At 4PM they took my daughter's temp., it was even higher -- 104.2!

The doctor was pretty sure she had flu and did the rapid test. As I waited the 5 minutes for the results. I began to feel a little panicked.

I mean with all the headlines of kids dying of H1N1, it is scary!

But before I could hyperventilate in the pediatrician's office, I looked out the window and guess what I saw?

A rainbow!

A beautiful, vivid rainbow across the entire sky!

I pointed my 3 kids to the window and as they all gazed in amazement, I thought, "That rainbow being there right now, only 3 hours after I read and reflected on the rainbow given in Noah's time, is no coincidence. It is supposed to remind me that God keeps His promises. And He is in control of this situation. I am just to trust Him.

My daughter tested negative for flu, but apparently that rapid test only catches about 50 % of the cases. The doctor treated her with Tamiflu anyway, in addition to antibiotics, and steroids for her cough (that also came on super suddenly). She didn't run any more fever after that day. I kept her home for a week as a precaution.

I found out 2 days later that a boy in my daughter's preschool class had tested positive for H1N1, and several kids were out sick, so likely she did have the Swine Flu.

My 2 year old started with the cough and fever 4 days later and by then, very thankfully, the pediatrician treated the rest of our family with Tamiflu!

I'm thankful for a pediatrician that always sees my kids right away when I call, thankful the H1N1 was fairly mild in our household.

And thankful for a God who speaks!

This post is part of the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.

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Homemade Bagels are Not so Hard!

I've made it a goal to make more things from scratch, buying less processed food. My new made-from-scratch success is homemade bagels.

So yummy!

And all very basic ingredients you probably already have on hand.


Click on this link for the recipe I used.

My 6 year old has a history of not eating the lunches I so thoughtfully pack and send off to school with him, but one of these bagels with some cream cheese? All last week it never returned home uneaten!

And I am so grateful because opening that lunch box at 3:15 PM to find all the same stuff I put in it at 7:15 AM in exactly the same state, only 8 hours older? Doesn't really give me that warm, fuzzy my-work-matters-and-is-appreciated feeling!

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A Healthier Family We Will Be!

I try to be a healthy person and provide a healthy lifestyle for my family. I've homemade the baby food for my 3 kids, breastfed them as babies for the 1st year, and then served them organic milk for the years beyond. I cook at home nearly every night, fast food is a very rare thing, usually only reserved for meals during car trips. I shop at the Farmer's Market for a lot of our fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. We have eaten several times from our garden the past few months. I was a swimmer in high school, swimming twice a day for 3 years, and even ran a marathon a few months before I got pregnant with my 1st child.

But still, in recent days I've come to believe the healthiness around our household needs to be kicked up a notch or two. My husband and I need to get on a regular exercise routine (Not 30 Days on, 30 Days off!) and we as a family need to eat less processed food.

I'm not worrying about us losing weight, just eating things that are better for us. For example, I made homemade ice cream in my ice cream maker last Sunday and I felt good about us eating it. Was it high in fat and calories? Yes, but the ingredients were all so basic -- milk, an egg, cocoa powder, cream, sugar, & vanilla -- and I mixed it up in my own home with my children helping. That is not the kind of food I'm working to eliminate, but the more unwholesome things.

Here are 7 things that are helping me think healthier:

1.

I was already pondering these things, and then Robynn started her 30 Day Throw Down on making healthy changes one month at a time and it got me thinking even more!

2.

This article on exercise beating surgery for some heart patients is really eye-opening!

3.

This list of superfoods has given me a lot of ideas of foods I should incorporate more into our diet.

4.

In that superfoods list you'll see that plain yogurt is a superfood, and while I eat yogurt everyday, I have realized I've been buying the wrong kind. The Yoplait Strawberry is very high in sugar, 32 grams in one cup, and considering 40 grams is the recommended amount of sugar for a 2,000 calorie diet, that is a lot! So, this week I bought plain, organic yogurt and then used this recipe from MckMama and it is so yummy I'm never going back to the store-bought strawberry yogurt! For some reason, when I blended it all the consistency was pretty thin, so I just drink it through a straw like a smoothie, rather than eating it with a spoon, but it seems more like a treat than health-food like that anyway! I know it has sugar from the added fruit and honey, but again, that is wholesome, from nature sugar, rather than added at a factory!

5.

Also on the list is lentils and because I bought a big bag at the farmer's market a few months ago, I found this recipe to use them and I love it, could eat it several times each week! I have decreased the chicken broth amount a bit and made it less soup-like and more side dish-like.

6.

I have also fallen in love with hummus and chickpeas in general. This recipe is a bit different than regular hummus, but it is really good and so easy to make! No cooking at all, just measuring, mixing, and mashing!

7.

Cooking from scratch sometimes takes a little more time, but I am enjoying simpler grocery trips and fewer things to clutter up the pantry/fridge without all the cake mixes, canned rolls, rice mixes, boxed mac n' cheese, Pop Tarts, and snack packs around! It is a finer thing to go to the store and only have things like wheat flour, sugar, plain yogurt, bananas, blueberries, milk, eggs, broccoli, red peppers, and olive oil on the list!

Anyone else hooked on a healthier lifestyle?

Find more Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life, Hooked on Fridays at Hooked on Houses, 7 Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary.

Allergies, Allergies Go Away

7 or maybe 8 Quick Takes (I'm too worn out to count)

• I spent a good portion of the day at the allergist for my 4 year old daughter with my 2 year old in tow. What I thought would be a 30 minute check-up turned into a 3 hour tour through fire ant allergy testing.

• We knew my daughter was allergic to peanuts, eggs, and cats. The allergies scare me, especially the peanut one which most kids do not outgrow. But people are very aware of peanut allergies these days, not serving kids snacks with peanut products (this is a Finer Thing), so we haven't had much trouble avoiding them. Also, her allergy is not so severe that she cannot be around peanuts, she just can't eat them. So, I guess I've made my peace with the fact that she has that allergy (even though I breastfed her until she was a year, isn't that suppose to help kids not have allergy issues?).
  

• So during the routine follow-up, EpiPen prescription refill visit to the allergist today, I mentioned to the doctor a reaction my daughter had to some fire ant bites she got recently. She got a rash on her chest, her eyes were watery for a while after, her nose got runny, and she got a slight wheeze. I gave her Benadryl and a few hours later she was fine. The allergist was really worried that her reaction involved more than just a skin reaction and said we needed to test her for a fire ant allergy. "What's your schedule like for the rest of the day?" he asks me at 10:45 this morning!
  

• I've been down the allergy skin test road before, but it only takes 20 minutes, they do it in her back, and it is not that bad, but the fire ant test is done a little differently. It is injected under the skin on the arm with a needle rather than the regular prick skin testing, and they do it in very low quantities and gradually increase the amount, waiting 15 minutes between each stick until there is a reaction or they get to a high enough dose to decide you are not allergic. So while your child is crying that the control (straight histamine) is itchy, and indeed it is a large swollen, inflamed bump, and she asks you if she has to get any more needles, you can only say, "I don't know."
  

• She did test positive for an allergy to fire ants, a potentially anaphylactic allergy based on her previous reaction. Apparently I should have used my EpiPen at the first sign of wheezing. Even though I already carry an EpiPen everywhere, the thought of actually using it scares me, but the allergist assured me it won't hurt her to use it and it is better to use it when it was not needed than not use it when it was needed! The good news on the fire ant allergy is there are shots that are around 97% effective at preventing a severe reaction to fire ants (anyone else hooked on amazing feats of modern medicine?). The bad news is she has to get the shots twice a week for a while, then once a week, then once a month for five years!

• I would like to give a huge shout out to the nurse who provided the Dora DVD to distract and entertain my daughter during the process. You were a gift straight from heaven! And when it was all over and you came back to the room with a Dora sticker and plastic bracelet as prizes for my little girl being so brave, well, I just could have hugged you right then (I'm sure you're glad I restrained myself and just profusely thanked you)!

• To the allergist, you are a great doctor with excellent bedside manner with my kids, but there is a limit to how many times you can use the phrase, "potentially life or death" when talking to a mother about her child before that mother will start to hyperventilate. Four times may be one time too many!
  

• And now excuse me while I go construct a bubble around my little girl, because we live in Texas and fire ants are everywhere. Just after the allergist, my kids had swim lessons and I unloaded them from the car and right before I sent them scurrying across the grass into the place where they have lessons, I realized the danger that could be lurking in that grass and scooped up my 4 year old, carrying her into and out of the lessons. Yes, the fire ants have made me a little neurotic or maybe it was the back to back to back episodes of Dora!

Find more Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life, Hooked on Fridays at Hooked on Houses, 7 Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary.

His Comfort

God is a God of all comfort. His comfort sustained me after my diagnosis with lymphoma 5 years ago.

1Cor 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort.” V. 5 goes on to say, “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

After I had surgery to remove 2 enlarged lymph nodes from under my arm and on my side, the pathology reports strongly indicated cancer. My husband and I were quickly ushered into the staging phase where doctors would perform tests to determine the extent of cancer before deciding on the best course of treatment.

The weeks that followed were a blur of unpleasant tests, waiting on results, and doctor visits. It was truly a difficult time as we tried to digest the news while I was still recovering from surgery, but it was not a time of devastation as it could have been because we were so comforted by God and amazed at all the detailed ways we felt His presence during this time.

One of the early details God took care of was my claustrophobia. The first round of tests entailed a PET scan where I’d be enclosed in a scanner for up to an hour. My husband was incredulous that this test frightened me more than the bone marrow biopsy, which even the doctor described as very painful. As senseless as it sounds, pain didn’t worry me, entrapment did.

I remember thinking God had some sense of humor to choose someone with claustrophobia to be a cancer patient! During my quiet time that same day, God led me to, Ps. 118:5, I laughed when I saw it! This verse says, “From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.”

I memorized the verse knowing I’d need that large place in a few days when I was inside the scanner. As the nurse injected me with the radio-active tracer die the test would use, she assured me I’d be fine in the machine because, “It is really pretty open”.

I did not find this to be the case, when they slid me in the machine with my elbows out and I was touching the sides! I had only about 6 inches of space all around my body and could not see the opening! I began to panic and wondered how I’d ever make it through the next 30-60 minutes, but when I closed my eyes and remembered the verse, the Lord did set me in a large place and the scan passed in what seemed like only a few moments, although the clock said I was in the scanner for 40 minutes!

Another way Jesus lavished comfort on me was by allowing me to see good come of my situation. A few days after my diagnosis I prayed specifically for God to reveal to me how he was using the situation for His glory. Within hours of that prayer, my dad called, who has been a Christian in title most of his life but who had never really seemed to allow Jesus in his everyday life. My brother and I have prayed for him for years and had conversations with him without any visible results. During this phone call from my dad, he commented that he was very glad for the strong faith my brother and I had and wished he had the same for his own life. It was a huge breakthrough!

Then a few days later a friend told me she’d brought up my cancer situation during a lunch with co-workers and a girl who was not a Christian began asking questions like, “How are she and her husband dealing with something like that being so young?” and my friend was able to share with her that we had a faith in God and were leaning on Him. It comforted to me to see God using my situation to turn hearts to him!

I am not going to lie and say that every moment of my journey with cancer was easy and that I was able to stay focused on God without fail. Each day presented a battle with human nature and Satan, both wanted me to feel sorry for myself and focus on the worst-case scenarios.

When I’d begin to get down or consumed with worry, I’d also feel tremendous guilt, because I knew that God was in control and was going to take care of me and of my family but at those moments it was so hard to really believe it. During those times I was too overwhelmed to pray.

But by God’s perfect plan, just 2 months before my diagnosis I’d started going through a Bible study that ended up relating so perfectly to everything I’d go through with cancer. One of the lessons was on the power of the name “Jesus” and how just saying it aloud can bring His presence and mercy into any situation in your life. So during those dark times, I’d come to my senses enough to call out, “Jesus!” that was all the prayer I could manage, but without exception, each time, one of two things would happen, either I’d immediately feel a consuming sense of peace or there would be a heaven-sent distraction – a friend would call or my son would need me and my self-pity would be forgotten.

I am so thankful for the healing God has given me from cancer. But the greatest gift has been the comfort not the healing. The healing may be only temporary, with one swollen lymph node, I could be right back in the thick of cancer. We are not promised a trouble-free life on earth, but God’s promises of comfort are everlasting.

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If There Was No Rain, We'd Miss the Rainbows

My husband and I captured this picture of a rainbow during our 10th anniversary trip to Maui this past May. We drove to the IO valley and as soon as we parked it began to rain. "Rats!" we though, "that storm will put a damper on our hiking plans."

But as the rain fell, we got out of the car and hiked up to a viewing point anyway. And we were thrilled to see this magnificent rainbow!

If there had not been the rain that day, we would not have seen the rainbow. We would have missed the blessing of standing in the rain absolutely in awe of the beauty and wonder of God's creation. That magical moment would not be forever emblazoned upon our memories of that trip.

I love how you can still see the dark storm clouds in the top of the picture. Because that is just how life often is. The storm comes, we complain about the storm, we step out and begin to walk through it, soaking wet we finally look up, and that is when we see the rainbow.

"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud," Genesis 9:11-14

I shared yesterday a little about our lymphoma storm a few years ago, and I can honestly tell you, as tough as that storm was, the rainbows we saw as a result changed our lives for the better.

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