Filed under: Holidays, Illness and Injury, Kiddos, Life, in general, Mi familia | Tags: Blogging, flu, Life
I miss the old days – when words just floated through my fingers into the keyboard and extreme fatigue or nausea didn’t place a block in my head. But I have to re-start somewhere as I’m not about to give up. I’m getting a netbook soon and I’m planning great things with it – like spending one evening a week catching up on my writing – so I’m not going to quit blogging just yet.
Anyway, here is a recap of this past week (post-birthday entry).
Jenny got over her infection quickly, thank heavens, but all the kids are still a bit runny nosed. Erik was in the ER on Friday night because his breathing was so wheezy and I didn’t really feel like leaving it alone was in his best interest. He just now finished up a four day course of prednisone. He’s still coughing up a storm and I’m a little bit concerned that he might need antibiotics to get rid of it.
Friday after the hospital, I went to watch Mike play hockey with his dad. I don’t know who won. I spent the majority of the time taking Elias to the bathroom. I’m seriously thinking that he likes the bathrooms in the new arena so much that he’s peeing his pants just so we have to go there. The third time I took him, we stayed there for nearly fifteen minutes, drying his pants and underwear under the automatic dryers. Jenny kept saying she had to go again while we were there - I think this is because she really likes the sink and wanted an excuse to wash her hands one more time . My kids are so weird sometimes. The big perk to Friday night and that ER visit is that Mike set it up for the kids to spend the night at his parents’ house, since he was playing hockey and we didn’t know whether I would be going home or not. They left the game a bit early and I just had Erik for the rest of the night.
We had a lazy start on Saturday, mostly because of our late night on Friday and the fact that this was the first Saturday that Mike has had off for about a month. I honestly cannot remember much about the day, except that it was fairly surreal having only one child to deal with. We headed over to Mike’s parents’ house around eleven and played games and napped for most of the afternoon (read: Mike played games, I napped). We had a nice Mennonite meal for supper – corn, Farmer’s Sausage (don’t ask – I have no idea what to compare it to because I’ve never eaten it…it smells good cooking, anyway), homemade noodles and tilapia. Okay, so the tilapia was mostly for me and not really Mennonite at all. In fact, being blackened cajun tilapia, it was pretty much the total opposite of Mennonite food. Mike had yet another game on Saturday night, this time with his rec. team and I decided to go because we were already out anyway. Once again, I don’t know who won. I spent most of that game telling my children not to play with the caution tape strung all over the arena and feeling frustrated that one woman there was letting her grandson do whatever he wanted with it. And also, talking to my sister-in-law and her sister-in-law. I haven’t had much time to talk to Marcy lately and it was a real treat. She has the baby bug pretty bad so she’s enjoying our kids and my pregnancy and hoping to have a few more next year.
Sunday came too early as we had decided to go to the early service. We did this because our Thanksgiving meal was set for 3:30 that afternoon. Second service gets out after noon most weeks, which would give us about forty-five minutes to go shopping for salad fixings (since that was my offering to the meal), have lunch and get the kids home and to bed for a nap. We decided that although we would inevitably be very tired in the morning, we would force ourselves to get up and get to church by 9:15. Church was over by 10:30 and we headed out to get everything done. The great thing is that the kids were down, I had the salad more or less ready to go and we were able to have a nap, too.
Thanksgiving dinner went very well and we celebrated my birthday afterward. Again, I can’t remember much except that my sister-in-law is making me a nice crocheted toque (a hat, Americans 
) and Mike’s parents gave me a nice bit of money to add to my computer fund. We left in time to get home and put the kids to bed in a hurry before Mike went to yet another hockey game – this time a church game. Three hockey games with three different teams in three days - yes, that’s my life. This time I stayed home (obviously, since I didn’t feel that leaving the kids home alone was a good idea) and was determined to be productive. I sat at the computer for at least forty-five minutes and suddenly started feeling sick to my stomach. It got worse over the next hour and I wondered whether I should stick to the plan or avoid any work. I finally decided that I would feel sick whether I folded laundry or swept the floor or laid on the couch reading. I swept under the table (I think my kids think we have a dog – they leave plenty to eat for him under there…come to think of it, having a dog would make my job easier at times). I noticed while I was sweeping that the walls were coloured on, spilled on, and scuffed up and decided that while I was at it, I should wash them. So, totally against my nature, I grabbed a bucket and some towels and started scrubbing. With the aid of a Magic Eraser (I love those things!), I got it looking much better. They are still in sore need of a coat of paint, but at least now if I feel like painting, the walls will be clean.
I finished up the evening by folding about four loads of laundry and getting another two or three going. In between the cleaning, I threw up a few times. It never did make me feel better.
On Monday we managed to sleep in until nine and then Mike got up with the kids and fed them and entertained them until after eleven, when I finally got up. The strangest thing is that with how sick I was on Sunday night, I expected to feel bad when I woke up. I felt totally normal on Monday morning – go figure! When we finally were up and dressed and fed, we went back to Mike’s parents’. My sister-in-law from out of town had wanted to play a particular game all weekend and Mike and his dad finally played it with her that afternoon, just before she and her husband had to head home. I played another game with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law while the kids napped (or rather, while they messed around and got into trouble about six times for not napping).
After more food, more dessert and a few more games, we went home and had supper. I talked to my brother after not talking to him for a few months and Mike slept a bit while the kids were watching a movie. This was also when Elias decided to somehow get the disk drive stuck open. We really can’t figure it out and will probably be taking it somewhere to get it fixed. Mike rented a movie that we didn’t like very much and we stayed up later than we should have. Nothing new there, anyway.
This morning at around seven, I woke up to hear Jenny yelling, “Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, my!” I ran in and she said something about her “breathe” and that she was going to throw up. I rushed her into the bathroom and..nothing. I figured taking her back to my room would be smarter than sending her back to bed, just in case the puking really did happen at some point. It turned out to be a very good decision – although my sheets are now in the wash and my garbage can has vomit in it. After throwing up, we both went back to sleep and slept until after nine when the boys woke up. I’m now assuming that whatever was wrong with me on Sunday night is what was wrong with Jenny this morning, as she seems just fine now. I guess it’s just a really short-lived bug.
Anyway, I should probably be having a nap right now, but like I said, you have to start somewhere and now seemed like a good time for it. And anyway, I can always go to bed early tonight. Oh, right, Mike has another hockey game. Sigh.
Yesterday was my twenty-sixth birthday. I had a pancake in the morning, lasagna for lunch and a really wonderful meal for supper. My husband bought me a jigsaw for my birthday. Yeah, a saw, not a puzzle. I’ve been saying I want one for awhile now – he’s becoming a better listener all the time. I had a long nap in the afternoon and went to bed before midnight.
My meal in the evening was too good to not write about. We went to The Uptown Grill, which is our “never bring the kids” date restaurant. They use local products at least some of the time, seasonal produce all of the time and have a changing menu for each season. They also have a different theme each day – Mexican Mondays, Thai Tuesdays, Indian Wednesdays, Caribbean Thursdays and Surf and Turf Fridays. Those menus have one item per course – an appetizer, soup and entree as well as a drink special.
I started with sweet potato fries with chipotle aioli from the fall menu – I cannot resist trying sweet potato fries (or yam fries, as most of them actually are) whenever they are new on a menu. They were good – crisp with a thin batter on them, but the aioli was not as good or spicy as I’ve had before. I ordered soup with my meal and again chose from the fall menu. It was wild mushroom and leek soup, and while it had the fatty feel of mushroom soup, the leeks gave it a very nice flavour that mushroom soup doesn’t usually have. It was so satisfying that I wished later I had just had the soup to start and skipped the fries. I was pretty satisfied after the soup but still had an entree to at least start on. I ordered the black bean and corn enchiladas, which I have had before and which are not really anything like authentic enchiladas. They are amazing, though – made with corn tortillas, cilantro cream cheese filling and black bean and corn throughout, topped with lettuce, tomato and pickled red onions. I think I managed about four bites of that and decided I’d better quit. But then Mike asked whether they did anything for birthdays. They do the traditional free dessert and I couldn’t resist. I went with the Italian tartufo – espresso ice cream rolled in nuts and toffee bits, served with chocolate and caramel sauce and whipped cream. Ahhh, what a dessert. I didn’t get even close to finishing it, but it sure was good while it lasted. My pregnant stomach manages to fit a bit more than normal, but there’s always a point when one must stop, no matter how good it tastes. The sad thing is that I was hungry again within an hour and a half. I had a few cookies and some milk at home before bed.
It was a good birthday and I’ll still get to celebrate a bit more this weekend with the family. I did wake up yesterday morning with a nasty head cold, but thankfully, it didn’t manage to drag me down much.
On Monday night I took Jenny to emergency because she had been breathing fast all afternoon and evening – she has a chest infection and needs antibiotics and an inhaler – but they let us go home and she’s better already. I was thinking then that I just couldn’t handle it if they made us stay overnight or something. We had a late night, but at least got to sleep in our own beds.
Anyway, there is another year gone, and time just seems to keep going faster. At the moment, I wish it would speed up a little bit so I can get past the stomach issues of early pregnancy, but thankfully things seem to be getting better.
Filed under: Holidays | Tags: cruise, Norwegian Cruise lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise lines
This year, Mike and I decided that a kid-free vacation was a good idea. Erik is weaned and walking, we have no set use for our tax refund and we haven’t managed a kid-free vacation since Jenny was born.
We were talking about going to Nova Scotia and driving into nearby provinces and possibly even Maine, but with recent stresses, I decided that if I could do anything for a vacation, I would take a cruise. Stress-free, work-free and abundant in food sounds great to me. Mike was not totally sold on a cruise at first unless we could go to the South Pacific, as it is a bit more out of the ordinary. A tiny bit of research proved that South Pacific cruises are way out of our price range and a little bit of sweet talking got Mike to agree that a Caribbean cruise for less than half the price and flights totally covered by air miles would be worth it, even if it was something that lots of other people do.
Nothing is set in stone, but Mike’s parents told us last night that if we waited and went in January (rather than November or December), they could help us out more with the kids. We figured it would be good to go first thing in the new year, but low season airmiles flights don’t start until the eighth of January. The first cruise after that is leaving on the tenth of the month, which gives us a day to travel and an extra day just in case something goes wrong. We’ll make sure to get the insurance so that if we don’t make it, we’ll get credit or money back for the cruise, but otherwise, we’ll just hope that nothing goes wrong.
The big decision now is whether to go with a Norwegian cruise out of Miami like Mike’s parents have advised, which will cost us more airmiles and money, or go with a Royal Carribean cruise leaving from Texas that is cheaper and actually has better reviews, but not as many ports of call. I think I’d almost go with the latter just to see how different it is from the experience on Norwegian that my in-laws had.
Anyone been on a cruise and have opinions?? I didn’t expect we’d ever be doing this so early in life, but it’s just as affordable (or more so) as flying somewhere and staying in a hotel for a week.
Or was it eight..? Anyway, I committed myself to staying off the computer for one week, focusing instead on getting my house in good order and getting some projects done. I let people know where I needed to last Monday and shut the computer down. And about an hour later, Mike called to tell me that he was being sent four hours north of here for work, probably for five days or so. Had it been two or three days, we may have stayed home, except that Mike’s sister and her husband live there and we had been promising a visit. Mike would be staying there anyway because his work there was in their garage (the house is company owned, he works for the same company as our brother-in-law..yada, yada). So we packed up and left Tuesday afternoon for a town a good deal smaller than ours, to a house with two Great Danes and no children. And stairs.
Six days later we came back, worn out and so glad to be home after a rough week. Erik fell down the stairs twice, I found myself in tears at least three times, we were perpetually covered in dog hair and constantly telling the kids to not do this or not do that. As far as good things? Jenny learned to swim by herself..with water wings. Previous to this trip, she wouldn’t even let us let her go at all, and in two trips to the pool, she was all over the place by herself. We did try taking the water wings, but the thing that worked best was just giving her a pool noodle to put under her arms. Elias, on the other hand, spent his time in the pool clinging to us in total fear. Erik sat in his little baby float with his face smushed into the front of it, looking completely relaxed and rather unamused by anything. We walked to the pool twice out of three times and took lots of walks – in fact, I determined that I had some form of exercise every day we were there. It helped my mood, but certainly didn’t prevent the inevitable clashing between families.
Anyway, it is wonderful to be home and yet my children insist on being a pain in the neck even though they are back in their own space. I’ll be glad for the long weekend coming up and a bit of a break from being on my own.
Filed under: Holidays, Illness and Injury, Life, in general | Tags: Father's Day, surgery, wisdom teeth
Well, it could be worse and I’m certain that my tonsillectomy will be worse. At the moment, it’s mostly the pain in my jaw and cheeks that’s bothering me - I’m assuming from all the stretching, pulling, etc. that they had to do to take my teeth out. Yesterday my lower lip and chin were numb for nearly seven hours and I was starting to worry that they had hit my nerve and damaged it. It was back by bedtime, though, so I went to bed pretty relieved. I also had three nosebleeds yesterday, which are apparently a by-product of the surgery. I’m still icing my face twenty minutes at a time because I’m a bit puffy. I really don’t like it when my face is puffy – like…at the end of pregnancy, but it’s a bit more centralized around my jowls…I don’t really like the idea of having jowls. I have all sorts of lovely instructions for the next few days, like brushing my teeth without going too far back, swishing with nasty prescription mouthwash for a few days, then nasty salt water for another few days. I’m just hoping that I’ll be done with all those things by the 29th.
Good news about the 29th is that everything seems to be falling into place for childcare and rides to the hospital – I still have to arrange for someone to pick me up from the hospital, but it may be late enough in the day to have MIke come for me.
Today is Father’s Day and it does suck to not be able to really give Mike a nice Father’s Day. We’ve always had a deal that on Mother’s Day, I get to do pretty much whatever I want while still fitting in time with his family, and vice versa on Father’s Day. I will still have to rest as much as possible today, especially with my next surgery looming eight days ahead of me. I already gave Mike his gift and just have to write in a card for him. I realized with a bit of dread that I didn’t send my dad a card, so I will just have to call him and maybe send an e-card. I vow that I will not forget to do one of those things today (as I once forgot to call him on his birthday…and didn’t even know it was his birthday until three days later!).
There is a Father’s Day fundraising brunch this morning at church to raise money for a team going to Zambia in September. We’re up earlier than normal and going to be heading out in less than an hour, so I suppose I’d better have a shower or get dressed..or something, since I’m sitting here writing in my pjs.
For a reminder of what I am doing this month, read this post.
Ephesians 2:4-5
…But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…
I hope all of you had a relaxing and refreshing Easter holiday – we spent most of our at my in-laws, playing games and eating way too much. More on that later…
I like the descriptive nature of this verse. It does not just tell us what God did for us, but tells us why – because of the great love with which He loves us. His love is not a shallow, self-serving love (although this kind of love can hardly be called love at all), but a GREAT love. How blessed we are that even if we are utterly alone in the world, our Creator loves us greatly. Not only does He love us, but while we were still full of sin – dead in our trespasses – He made a way for us to live with Christ. Wouldn’t it be something if everyone could know the feeling of real life that He provides for us with salvation?
I had intended to relate these verses to my life as a housewife, but many of them in the last week have been more broad – relating to salvation. I am thankful that I am saved, and it should be something that permeates even my life at home. It was interesting trying to explain to Jenny yesterday why we celebrate Easter. I don’t think she understands the concept of sin, salvation or even God entirely yet. She knows how to pray, and does so often before meals or when she wants to remind God about that sister she doesn’t have yet. I just don’t think she gets it yet. I’m okay with that, and will just keep telling her about God’s great love and His sacrifice until she is old enough to understand.
The Duggars are expecting a grandchild – if you haven’t heard about them, here’s their story. I watched an interview with the family today and at the end, Meredith Veira asked Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar what parenting advice they would give their son and his wife and their first response was to bring up your children teaching them to love God with all their hearts. I was so impressed that they spoke so boldly for Christ and that they stressed the importance of this one thing in parenting. No matter what we do wrong with our kids, if we teach them this one thing, it will have been worth it to see them grow up knowing that God loves them and they ought to love Him as well with all they have.
As I said before, we had a great Easter weekend – we ate meals at Mike’s parents Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I’d be amazed if I didn’t put on a pound or two from all the good stuff we ate. We had our fair share of issues over there, as it’s not quite as kid friendly as our house and Elias doesn’t seem to get that he can’t touch certain things. But all in all, it was fun and relaxing (the hot tub doesn’t hurt in that department). I’m going to have a bit of trouble getting back in the swing of things at home, particularly having to cook meals again after getting a three day break. Speaking of which, I should probably start planning for supper tonight before I break down and go out to eat.
This verse of the day comes from VOTD.
Christ the Lord is risen today! He is no longer in the grave and for that we can rejoice, no matter our position in life.
Nothing but the Blood
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Words & Music: Robert Lowry, in Gospel Music, by William Doane and Robert Lowry (New York: Biglow & Main, 1876) (MIDI, score).
As today was a day off for Mike and became a very busy day for us, I chose to include it in the weekend and not post a verse of the day today. I hope your weekend is full of joy,blessing and remembrance of the reason we celebrate this time of year.
Happy Easter!
For a reminder of what I am doing this month, read this post.
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
This post will more than likely show up as occurring on the tenth of April, but I assure you – I didn’t really skip a day, I’m just getting to this very late in the day – past midnight.
When I first saw the verse of the day this morning, I actually worried that I wouldn’t have anything new to say – it seems so many of the verses lately have been focusing on Christ’s sacrifice – and rightfully so, as we approach Easter. However, when re-reading it now, I realize that there is another message in this passage – one about the long-suffering nature of Christ. He was treated so terribly and never complained, He was nailed to a cross and humiliated and those around Him shouted and cursed, and yet the only words He spoke to those nearby were of encouragement (see Luke 23:43, John 19:26,27) and quiet request (John 19:28). How many of us could come close to this nature if put in the same position as Him? How many of us when faced with simple everyday trials, complain to anyone who will listen. I know I do. I’ve been guilty of this very thing in my writing. If we take a page from His book, we can learn how to see the outcome while still in the middle of the storm, and therefore endure quietly through the trials and tribulations set before us. In James, we are told to “consider it an opportunity for joy” when we are faced with trouble (James 1:2, NLT). We may not be able to see the future and know exactly what will come of these times, but we can know that God has the best plan for us and it is a plan for us to prosper and not to come to harm. Particularly when these trials come as a result of our faith, we ought to pray that we will stand strong through them and come out stronger on the other side.
We are also an example to non-believers in our lives, whether they be family members, friends or total strangers who happen to see the fish sticker on the back of our vehicles (no, I don’t have one). If we are ridiculed, questioned, persecuted, we would do best to take these things with grace and have faith that God will see us through.
Dealing with physical pain is obviously not something I do well. I have had a number of illnesses this year and am, quite frankly, sick of being sick. However, when I have been in labour with my precious kids, I knew the pain was worth something. I knew the outcome – a beautiful new baby. The pain I have felt in labour is the worst I’ve ever had, and yet it was the easiest to get through because I could look ahead and see what was coming from it. If we looked on trials as a “labour” of sorts, perhaps we would find it easier to cope with them and move on in them without complaint.
Jesus is the best example we can have of this long-suffering nature, but there are modern martyrs that show us this as well. Years ago, I read the Jesus Freaks book put out by DC Talk, and it was amazing. It is truly eye-opening to see that not only do we have so much history of this kind of faith, but that things like this are still going on in parts of the world where Christianity is not accepted or allowed.
As we enter Good Friday, the anniversary of Christ’s death, let us remember not only what His sacrifice did for us, but how He behaved when He was still on this earth and in the middle of that trial.
This verse of the day comes from Air1.
My parents separated when I was seven, so after that year, I remember Christmases the same way – Christmas Eve opening gifts with my dad’s family, a trip to my mom’s late at night, waking up to open gifts at her house in the morning and then going to spend the rest of the day with her family. We seldom deviated from this routine, and so when I married Mike, it was not a strange idea at all to open gifts on Christmas Eve. We always opened gifts from my dad before we went to his sister’s house, and opened our stockings from him when we came back from my mom’s. Mike’s family had a tradition of doing everything on Christmas Eve – stockings included. Because I’m all for immediate gratification, celebrating Christmas the day before it actually comes doesn’t bother me one bit. We open gifts and stockings on Christmas Eve at Mike’s parents house and Christmas morning we get to sleep in and then go back to their house for breakfast. The last few years, we’ve left the kids to spend the night (when they weren’t nursing anymore) and spent the night alone at our house. Since I don’t have much space for Christmas decorations, it is nice to spend most of the holiday at my in-laws, where it feels warm and cozy and is well-decorated.
The other part of Christmas Eve tradition is all the food we eat. There is a nice spread of appetizer type foods – smoked salmon, chicken wings, spanikopita, chips, crackers, cheese, dips, and lots of cookies and other desserts. Usually accompanied by eggnog and wine (not mixed together, don’t worry), this is a food lovers dream. So, tonight, I will eat myself to oblivion – or at least get as close as I can without vomiting. And we’ll open gifts, sing carols and take lots of pictures.
Do you have Christmas traditions that are unique to your family? Leave comments and tell me about them! Merry Christmas!!
