An Excellent Reminder

Let me point you to a post that really hit home this morning:

Sunday Refocus @ Top of the Page

An excellent reminder to Christian Mamas everywhere,

Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Here's a great activity for a sunshiny day - sidewalk chalk paint!

And the best part?

You can make it in minutes with 3 simple ingredients!

Cornstarch, water and food coloring...

And voila!

Hours of fun!

Although I did a 50/50 mixture of the water and cornstarch, I found the colors with more cornstarch than water were the ones that showed up best on the the sidewalk. Also, certain colours worked better - blue, red and green.

But overall, homemade sidewalk chalk paint was a BIG hit with these girlies!

Especially, this one. :)

Happy Birthday Sabra!

What a fun evening we had last night celebrating one of my dearest friend’s birthday.  A group of friends met at our house, opened presents, ate dinner at Antlers in Moscow and then headed back to our house for cupcakes & conversation.  

We started planning for the celebration Thursday evening.  When I picked up Keeler I told him that we were going to have Sabra a party and asked him what we should do for her.  His reply, “Let’s make her a s’mores cake with kids on it!”  My first thought, really you and I that NEVER bake are going to try to bake for my friend that bakes professionally?  But I was so impressed with his response....  it was so thoughtful of him.  This summer we have spent quite a bit of time with Sabra and her husband soaking up the heat at barbeques and have enjoyed them so much.  Keeler had really personalized a cake idea for her.  He thought about good memories (making s’mores for the first time with Sabra) and what she likes - Kids (she’s a kindergarten teacher, she is great with kids and LOVEs Keeler).  I told him I didn’t have a recipe for a s’mores cake but I could look on the computer.  As soon as we got home, he helped me look through pictures and recipes and we agreed on Betty Crocker™ S’mores Cupcakes with Teddy Grahams™ on them.  They seemed pretty amateur and really weren’t that hard to make.  It was a simple cake mix with grated chocolate bars and crushed graham crackers in the batter.  The icing was the tricky part – made from marshmallow cream and powdered sugar.  Everyone seemed to like them and was pretty impressed that the non-Bakers had accomplished such a task, even Sabra!  

Poor Keeler was so pooped from the dinner that he didn’t get to enjoy a cupcake with the group last night.  As soon as he woke up this morning he was asking for one.  So, naturally we had a cupcake for breakfast.  Hey, it’s Sabra’s birthday!  Today is a simple Saturday at home and we call it “Mommy/ Keeler Day.” We plan on going to library, renting a movie and washing sheets.  Keeler just asked if the Smurfs can go with us, my response: “of course, as long as they are quiet in the library.” 

Have a blessed weekend! 

    

“There has never been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.” (Author: Unknown)

A New To-Do List

Last Saturday, it poured here. The girls and I were stuck at home without a car and little to do. I was up for house cleaning but the girls, as usual, grew tired of that quite quickly. When it started to rain heavily I decided we needed a new to-do list....

1. Dance in the rain.

2. Test the neighbors water spout and make sure it is functioning correctly.

3. Double check with your foot just to be sure.

4. Fill pots with water.

5. And water the neighbor's plants.

6. Go for a walk arm-in-arm with your best friend down the flooded street.

7. Find the biggest puddle on the block.

8. If you feel so inclined, sit in it.

9. Find something slimy and gross in the mud puddle.

10. Make your own sunshine.

11. Drink hot chocolate til its dripping from your chin and streaming into your belly button.

Welcome to my blog!

         This is something that I have wanted to do for quite some time but have not made it a priority.  So, today is the day.  I mainly started the blog because I wanted one place to keep track of my little cowboy(s) and share funny life stories.  With a little cowboy that is already three, I learn day by day how apparent it is that they grow up too fast and I don’t want to forget a minute of it.  You hear all your life that kids grow up too fast but I don’t think that one can fully understand until they have kids themselves. 

         Today marks the 31^st week – 8th month of my pregnancy and I kid you not, this pregnancy has flown by.  This scares me because I can predict that it will seem that Kallahan will pass through the baby stages into toddlerhood even faster than Keeler did.  Can you believe it?  In less than 8 weeks we will get to meet Kallahan Troy.  I can’t wait but I can for the fact that there are still so many things I hope to get accomplished before his arrival.  Starting with this weekend, I am plan on packing my hospital bag – just to be ready. 

         I am so blessed with such a darling family and I want everyone to share in our world, just “3 cowboys and a mommy” enjoying every minute!  Thanks for reading!!  

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Good In The Bad

For the past 5 days I have been sick.

Well, technically, I was only really sick on Sunday.

Every half an hour.

For 24 hours.

Blech.

So the past 4 days have been slow, agonizing recovery.

Surviving on eggs and toast and flat ginger ale.

Fetal position on the couch.

I can't even remember the last time I washed my hair.

Yep.

Pretty bad.

But tonight, I am hungry!

Which is immensely exciting.

Its annoying to be forced to eat food when there is no appeal.

But tonight I've had my first actual meal in days and am still devouring everything in sight.

I think I am finally on the mend!

And as crappy as illness is and as painstakingly slow as recoveries are, I'm reminded so obviously of all I have to be thankful for....

A body that has the resources to sustain me despite days without food and thats capable of recovery all while protecting and nourishing the little babe inside of me.

A hubby who is amazingly good at juggling a demanding work week, parenting 2 very energetic little girls and nursing me back to health.

A mom who folds my mountains of laundry, sweeps the dirt from under the couch and reminds me that I'm tough.

A dad who drives that mom to my place even though he is plagued with the same awfulness I am.

A mother-in-law who jumps right in to help and leaves a fridge full of groceries in her wake.

Sweet girlies who play together ever so well around (sometimes on) their sick ol' Ma and clean up when I ask them to.

Grace to see all the good in the bad.

Random thoughts and videos...

This will be a pretty random post, because I have a few things to write about and they are all kind of unrelated.  But I haven't blogged "just because" in a while, so I figured it's overdue.  Even though it is 11:00 at night and it would really behoove me (my nursing instructor will be so proud) to get some sleep- since that hasn't been happening too often.  O well, I figure one day I'll be able to sleep.  It's overrated, anyway. 

So, I know it's still far away, but I've been trying to come up with some ideas of what I can do for EB Awareness Week.  It's not until the end of October (the 25th-31st)- but I want to do something special.  Something that really brings attention to these babies who endure so much pain every minute of their lives.  I was staring at my little man today (like I do most every day) and just thinking about HOW much pain he is really in.  It's unfathomable.  And not just the pain- but that fact that he has lost his eyesight, he can't speak, can't eat, has 20 teeth that he can't brush, etc, etc, etc... I could go on and on.  

I'll say it again- these children deserve a voice.  And just because this disease is SO rare, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be well-known.  I honestly think it's the most cruel disease that I've ever heard of. 

So, as always, I want your input, thoughts, ideas, suggestions on what I should do for this week.  That way I'll have plenty of time to work up a great week of "EB Awareness."  It's going to be all about what YOU guys want to know and learn- so please, if you have any ideas, leave them in a comment or e-mail!

So I want to give credit where credit is due, and I can tell you that my sweet "saint of a Momma" doesn't get enough credit.  She has completely picked up the slack and has been by my side, helping me to raise my son 24/7.  She has never complained once about her life being flipped upside down.  It is very safe to say that neither Tripp nor myself would have survived these past 2 years if it weren't for my mom.  The main words that I hear daily from her mouth are "what can I do to help you?"  And yes, I realize that she would not have it any other way than me to be here where I have the help that I need... but it's still a sacrifice for her.  She's already raised her children- I'm sure she didn't plan on raising mine, too.  And also for my sweet Daddy who never complains when I steal his wife day and night, or when nothing is cooked for dinner, or his clothes didn't make it to the washer because we were washing 100 batches of Tripp's blankets...  I just feel like these sacrifices that my parents have made for Tripp and me might sometimes get overlooked, especially by me.  So I want to acknowledge them.  And I'll probably get a "why in the world did you put that in your blog?" from both of them... but I don't care.  They deserve for everyone to know what they are doing for us.  I hope they both know that I think they are the best parents in the enitre world :)

On to the next... There has been a good number of people asking me if I know about the bone marrow transplants going on in Minnesota.  I definitely do.  I have followed many of the children's stories who have gone through the transplant.  I know this is a difficult thing to understand if you aren't familiar with EB.  Most of the transplants that are being done are on the children with Dystrophic EB.  Tripp has Junctional EB.  The majority of the children that do well with the transplant are usually older children.  The children that I have watched through the transplants were under the age of 2, and the risks far outweigh the outcome. Tripp is not at a point where he would even be healthy enough to go through with the transplant.  It is a very brutal process.  I know that the brilliant and amazing doctors there in Minnesota are working hard to perfect these transplants and to help these kids.  And maybe one day this will be in our future.  But it's not today.  

And last but not least, I was looking through the videos on my phone and found some that I had taken within the past few months, but had never posted.  They are pretty short, but made me smile.  I hope they make you smile, too!  

I never realized how much I loved watching him stand to play until now that he doesn't play anymore :(

Love,