Halle's Spring Program

Our school spreads out the kids programs that they put on through the grades which is great. So Halle didn't have a Christmas program this year she had a Spring Program and it was last night.
It was only the 1st graders and they did different songs and Haiku poems about the different seasons. I am so impressed with our music teacher- he does a great job. He really gets the kids going and again they did a really good job.

Here she is coming into the auditorium when she spotted us- I just love that little grin!



She had a special part to say and if I do say so- she did a great job!


This was a song that he really got the kids moving- look at her dress go:


Here they were supposed to do some dance moves- she didn't disapoint!


This is classic Halle being Halle!

Good day for baking

Saturday it was blustery and snowing here and that always puts me in the mood to bake.
Arianna happened to be reading a Laura Ingalls Wilder book and at the end they had her recipe for gingerbread and Anna asked me if we could make it.
I thought it was a great idea so the baking started:





It was fun while baking this to think about the Ingalls family making this very
same recipe all those years ago.
Soon the smell filled our kitchen and the cake didn't dissapoint. Warm gingerbread with a topping of whipped cream- yum!




If you want to make it- here is the recipe:

1/2 c. brown sugar blended with 1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. molasses blended with
2 tsp. baking soda in 1 c. boiling water

To 3 cups of flour- add 1 tsp each of the following spices:
ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg, cloves and 1/2 tsp. salt.
Sift into cake mixture and mix well.
Lastly, add 2 well beaten eggs.
Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes
(note- I did 350 and I had to leave it in for about 10 extra minutes.

I am back!!!!!

I can't tell you how good it is to finally feel good again! Thanks for all your prayers! I am savoring every bite of food because I was really starting to wonder if I'd ever be able to eat something other than crackers!

I made a delicious soup for supper. Mark's work always does a soup cook off every year and this was the winner:
Taco Soup

2 pds hamburger
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
2 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch mix
2 T. chili powder
1 can tomato sauce
1 can corn, not drained
2 cans kidney beans, not drained
2 cans diced tomatoes, not drained- you can use whatever variety you like

1. In skillet, cook ground beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat till browned.
2. Place beef mixture in slow cooker add taco seasong, ranch mix, chili powder, tomato sauce, corn, beans and tomatoes. Mix
3. Cover and cook on low for at least 2 hours
4. Serve with optional garnishments- tortilla chips, chopped green onion, sour cream, grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Still MIA

Well I just wanted to update you. I just got back from the Dr and he says it's 50/50 on this being a horrible virus or food poisoning. He said this isn't necessarily fitting what he's been seeing and what he's been seeing hasn't lasted this long however it's not a classic case of food poisoning either.

Here's where I'm at. I had to get blood work done again because he's concerned about my potassium level. If that doesn't come up then I'm in trouble so hopefully that is rebounding.
He gave me a slip to get the test for food poisoning but we're going to wait 2 days to see if things start turning around. He can treat the food poisoning but it's better for your body to heal on it's own.
He is thinking whatever caused this may have ulcerated which is why my stomach is so painful after I eat. I have meds to help with that now. I'm quite sick of only eating crackers for seriously about 7 days off and on now because anything else causes me hours of pain. It's a good diet plan- I've lost 11 pds now- but I think I'd rather have the 11 pds back and feel normal again!!

Happy Valentines Day

Make a Smilebox greeting

update

Update:
I'm back from the urgent care. Good thing I went I guess- I was very dehydrated and my potassium was low so they had to do an EKG. That came back good so I'm on potassium and have to get that rechecked next week.
The fluids helped a lot- I felt better already when I left. Now I just need my GI tract to settle down enough that I can keep things in me- so far not good yet, but the Dr expects within the next couple doses of meds it will settle down.
Thanks so much for the prayers- I've never had a viral bug get me this bad before- old age I guess:)

MIA

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted but I've been sick since Tuesday.
Yup- it's been a fun 3 days now.
Flu plus a cold is not a good thing.
Halle had a touch of it too- I'm so hoping no one else gets this.

I actually called the Dr this morning because I was starting to wonder if I had eaten something with peanuts in it and had the salmonella poisoning since the flu usually doesn't last this long. They don't think so since I had a fever.
Thank goodness for good friends! Julie ran me over some gatorade and popsicles plus supper for the family tonight! I'm praying I can start keeping some liquids in me because they're giving me till 3:00 this afternoon to start keeping something in me or I have to go get an IV for dehydration and I so don't want to go do that right now.
Hopefully I'll be back soon back to normal!

You lookin at me?

A beautiful morning and a sad night

Did any of you see the sunrise Friday? It was so pretty when I went out to the bus stop I quick grabbed a picture of it.







Mark was gone this weekend. The guys from his work planned a weekend at a cabin up north. One of the guys owns this cabin and it's so nice. They were going to be snowmobiling, but that didn't happen because the weather warmed up so much the snow melted too much. They still had a great time shooting at targets and whatever else guys do for fun!
He left Friday afternoon and came home Sunday around noon. We all did fine until Saturday night. Halle is very much a daddy's girl and all of a sudden at bedtime she lost it. Mark is the one who tucks her in and says prayers with her (not my choice- that is who she wants to do it) so that was when the sadness hit.
She ended up coming out and crying in my arms until she fell asleep. I felt bad for her because I remember being a mommy's girl and not wanting her to leave me when she went to work either.
Anyway- these opportunities to snuggle happen less and less so I was happy to oblige her and get in a little snuggle time. Before I know it she'll be all grown up so I have to take it where I can get it.

We're not the only ones craving sunshine

And so it begins....

Arianna came home with this note today and she was all smiles and giggles about it.
She's 10- wish me luck for the next 10 years!!

What's happening in my house today

quick answer- not a whole lot! I guess I better break it down a bit to get a post made!

In the backyard: Halle pestered Nick long enough that he finally gave in and is outside playing in the snow with her and shoveling. I guess it's not genes but what kids live because Halle has certainly inherited Mark's love of shoveling. The funny thing is Nick- absolutely not (might be the age too :) )
Downstairs: Arianna is walking on the treadmill and watching cartoons waiting for supper.

In my kitchen: I'm smelling smoky link crescent wraps and homemade pizza cooking in the oven.

At my feet: I'm hearing Oscar whining because I'm not picking him up (spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!)

On my heart: I'm just plain sad. Nick's best friend's mom passed away very unexpectedly yesterday. They still don't know why. I feel so bad for this family. I think it hit me hard because of watching Nick trying to make sense of this and feeling so badly for his friend. Please keep the Rotman family in your prayers this week. They are Christians so they know they will see her again. I don't know how people get through times like this without having that faith.

Give your family an extra hug tonight. It just really hammered home to me again how quickly life can change and we can't take a moment for granted.

The decision has been made

We've been trying to figure out where if anywhere we would go for Spring Break this year. Thanks for all the ideas you guys sent in.
We were down to Branson Missouri and Gatlinberg Tennessee. We ended up deciding on Gatlinberg. We will be going with my sister Terri and her family. I found an absolutely gorgeous place to rent a 5 bedroom house so we will have plenty of room to have our own space too- the great news is that dividing the cost makes it very reasonable.
We wanted a house so we could cook our own food so we didn't have to pay for going out to eat as well.
We are so excited about this vacation, the kids want to see bears and apparently there's a good chance of that happening where we're staying!
We plan on going to the State Park- it's supposed to be beautiful, there is a really neat aquarium and there's a chinese Cirque De Solei type show that looks really neat.
We're going to just kind of play it by ear and see what we want to do exactly when we get there. The best part- it will be about 65 degrees there- perfect weather!!!!!


On a totally different note- can I just say how totally disgusted and dissapointed I am in Michael Phelps. He admitted this weekend that a picture taken of him last November is accurate and he was smoking pot. This is twice now that he has had "bad judgement" A couple years ago he had "bad judgement" when driving drunk.
It just kills me that so many kids look up to him and this is the behavior he exhibits!

Ok- off my soapbox. I hope everyone has a great Monday!