my little corner of the world

OK.

I'll admit it.

I am spoiled.

This morning's "breakfast" is a piece of pound cake 

drizzled in my yummy raspberry sauce

with a dollup of Cool Whip.

Eaten in front of the computer 

where I have been "pinning" like a crazy woman 

while the girls "play" school.

Essentially, Addie is teaching Gwen to read.

Thank you Hooked on Phonics

(and Addie).

Pinterest.

It's my new latest obsession.

As Sabrina described it......

"a glorious time waster."

Exactly.

Made me want to "pin" a few of my own

favorite corners of my world.

A homonym flashcard from a set I found at a garage sale

set in a $12 frame I found in the basement of our local antique store.

Hard to see.....

SEW

Mary can sew well.

SOW

The farmer will sow his seed.

LOVE it because my friend with the book deals Mary

CAN sew well

and we are surrounded my farmers sowing their seeds.

Until I can decide what I want to do with this lovely huge frame

it will provide a spot of color on our otherwise drab walls.

On top of our piano....

neat old books,

a recently completed silhouette of one of the girls

and a HUGE map of Duluth.

Though not entirely functional 

as it dims the light a tidge,

I used a bit of an old holy heirloom quilt

to top this super tall thrift store lamp.

Truly, my current favorite corner of the house. 

Color = Happiness.

Occupational BERRapY

Addie is improving, her appetite and energy level both increasing. 

She is still quite pale due to her low hemoglobin levels 

and is quite bruised from all the poking and pulling 

of last week's interventions.

But man, can that girl pick berries!

Her sisters have gotten bored with the hunting and gathering.

But Addie is loving it!

She rushes to tell me every time she finds a new great spot

or fills a bucket.

I love her enthusiasm.

And after being stuck in bed for two weeks
I am sure 

it is quite therapeutic.

all in a [few] day's work

I am still processing the events of the past couple weeks in which Addie's "kidney infection" turned out to be a very scary case of hemolytic uremic syndrome requiring an ambulance ride to Mayo, 2 platelet transfusions, one blood transfusion, and two sessions of dialysis over our 8 day stay in the hospital.

(detailed post to come)

 I have spent the last couple of days trying to manage my "post-traumatic" stress by scraping all the nasty linoleum and residue from the top of my latest find. As usual, in my excitement to transform something crusty into something beautiful, I failed to take a 'before' photo. You will have to take my word that it required HOURS of hand-cramping scraping with a screwdriver and a few coats of my new favorite turquoise paint to get this result.

I spent $20 on the furniture and just over $10 on paint and am quite pleased with the outcome. Plenty of shoe storage and lots of display potential. Originally I planned to cover the top in red gingham oilcloth, but I'm fine with the rustic look for now.

I made sure that hubby the kill-joy didn't even have to help carry my finished product from the pole barn to the house. You should have seen my four girlies and me heaving it up the deck stairs. I was so proud of them:) To be expected, Steve still insists it wasn't worth the $20 I paid.
Sigh.

I must show you some comparables to defend my decision making.

Sundance West Country Sideboard $1595

Wisteria Stacked Sideboard $499

A $32 turquoise sideboard. It's a good thing.

July heat.

Can it really be July already?
Am I getting a smidge predictable with my intros? 
Where has the time gone?
Where have I been the past two months?
Is summer really half over?


Maybe if I were to be more diligent in my blog writing I could spare you
the predictable laments over the passage of time
and cut to the chase.

As much as it saddens my heart,
it IS July.
And today's high is supposed to be 98!
NOT counting all the humidity!
Ew.

You can just see the heat and humidity in the air.

We now have another fruit bearing tree!

(It blossomed last year, but no fruit.)

Nothing makes me feel quite as rich as 

pears on a tree.

Evidence of Steve's latest "hobby."

Today I am incredibly thankful that we splurged on that pool
that fits perfectly on our old silo slab.
Sweet relief!

Addie has been suspiciously absent from recent photos 

as she is battling a kidney infection.

And possibly something else.

Poor kid hasn't been able to keep anything down since SUNDAY!

They put her on an IV yesterday and told us to come back today if she wasn't better.

So we are going in. again.

Praying for answers.......

more GweNIV translations

I tried to convince Addie to try out for a community theater production of

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

"Tried to convince" really means I bribed her with $100.

What can I say, I am an encourager.

I also tried to convince Steve to try out

(there are lots of male parts characters)

for the part of Pharoah, who sings like Elvis,

Steve's fave.

Gwen overheard me talking to him on the phone

as I told him the part had his "name all over it."

Once I had hung up, she asked,

"Does is say 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy' 

or 'Steve, Steve, Steve'?"

Gwen: Mommy, what's your favorite color?

Me: Oh, it depends on the day.

Gwen: What day is today?

Me: Saturday.

Gwen: What is your favorite color on Saturday?

Gwen about to cut off lots of her thick beautiful hair.

I just couldn't keep up.

*Sigh*

My baby girl will be five this week:(

my new little pills

I just discovered I have a hypothyroid. I will spare you the details, but the past couple of months I've had some pretty bizarre and unexplainable symptoms leading me to believe I had a blood clot in my leg, a brain tumor and/or I was about to have a stroke. This past week was the scariest, leading me to the ER where I was sure I was about to die and yet was unwilling to be admitted due to a high insurance deductible. I think that qualifies me as a "die hard penny pincher." Give me the choice of a gamble with extinction or $1500 out of pocket, I choose the crapshoot of death. Afraid and wanting to be in capable hands in the event that I did stroke out, I stayed in the ER waiting room with my poor scared girlies who had just been quizzed on emergency cell phone usage until Steve was able to pick me up and take me to an open Dr. appointment down the road.

Welp, after some testing that involved laying flat on my back with my naked "I nursed four babies" boobies hanging next to me (humiliation), peeing in a cup, and some blood work, the results were in. Phew! I am so relieved! At one point in the waiting room, one of the girls came over to hug me (I was in tears) and then another and then another and then another. It felt like a scene out of a tragic movie, and I was sure this was the last memory the girls would ever have of me. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. Then again, emotional instability can be a symptom of hypothyroidism.

There are many symptoms of a hypothyroid, making me confident that this little pill I now have to take every morning an hour before eating will change my life for the better. I thought I would share just a few of my expected results.

• I will effortlessly drop 30 pounds.
• I will remember to mail every bill and birthday/thank you card on time.
• I will stay awake for romantic comedies and Steve's late night ramblings about Bin Laden's death conspiracies.
• I will have a full head of thick shiny hair and will no longer need mousse or Drain-o.
• I will have the focus and energy to design and implement a weekly menu plan.
• I will have healthy regular bowel movements.
• I will have the mental clarity and discipline to become a fabulous guitarist.
• I will be a Fun Mommy.
• I will have the energy to coach Addie's softball team and dig up all the grass clumps still in our garden plot.
• I will catch up on laundry.
• I will post weekly blog entries that fall under the "witty" and "charming" categories.
• I will have the focus necessary to read and understand my camera manual.
• I will become a skilled hip-hop dancer.

So, that's it. I have an answer. And a little pill that is about to rock my world:)

on deadlines

I have always needed a deadline to be productive. Yes, I was the one who waited till the night before a term paper was due to pull an all-nighter. I need to know that company will be arriving in few hours before I manage to collect enough dust bunnies from the stairs to stuff a body pillow. And I need a friend to link to my blog calling it "witty" and "charming" before I can barely manage to pull myself out of my "much too long" Mother's Day nap stupor to post something non-whiney.

Witty and charming. Ready. Set. Go.

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Okay. That is too much pressure. Even for me.

It is supposed to get into the 90s today! BLECK! I can already feel the humidity induced blemishes surfacing on my chin. On the other hand, I am absolutely giddy about the garden we have planned this year. I have seeds started both at home and at the nursing home where I work and my beans are already a foot tall! I have to say, I feel like a little kid when it comes to things growing out of the dirt. God is a fabulous magician, and even though I know the outcome of seed + dirt + sun + water, I still stand flabbergasted on the mornings the first little shoots have managed to poke their little heads above the soil. Amazing.


And that's it folks. An incredible failed attempt at "witty" and "charming." And now I'll post a picture of my dream gardens so you forget how lame my blog is.

A post totally unrelated to Resurrection Sunday

It is Easter Sunday and I am still in my jammies. Home with a puking Gwen and, to be entirely honest, not too sad to be missing the day's festivities. Having picked up more hours at work, along with the home schooling (and bill paying, and laundry, and dishes etc.), I am feeling a smidge overwhelmed. I welcome this day to stay home and do nothing, even if it means emptying the occasional puke bucket. Though I DO hope she bounces back quickly.

Once again, behind on my blog writing, I find it difficult to know where to begin. Much has happened these past few weeks. Our beautiful old barn burned down. I am still mourning that loss and dreading all the clean-up that is involved, if we could only find more time. I plan to write a post all about our big old barn one of these days, to help me work through my grief.....if grief is an emotion one can experience over the loss of a building.

One of our cats just had kittens. On Addie's 10th birthday, no less. It is such a miracle! I am amazed that Twix, not quite a year old herself, is such an incredibly selfless mother, constantly nursing and cleaning and cuddling......and purring the entire time! I could learn a thing or two from Twix about being content in my mothering. But then again, Twix isn't dealing with dramatic girls unable or unwilling to find matching dress shoes for church, unwilling to comb their snarly hair before putting it in a ponytail, or disputes over wardrobes. Ah, to be a momma cat!

The girls searched and searched before finding Twix and her new kittens in a hollow log in the woods.
We have since moved them all to the warmth and safety of our basement.

Cheetoh, Dorito, Sprinkles, Neo(politan), and Frito

Now, to find me a Cadbury egg.....

Something about Mary

I have an amazing friend named Mary. In my world, all people with the name of Mary are amazing.......sweet, generous, thoughtful, and just plain good. This Mary is no exception. She is an excellent listener, sparkling conversationalist, thoughtful and generous, (several of my all time favorite gifts were from her!) and she has the heart......oh, her heart.......what animal has a huge heart? The heart of an elephant?!? Hmmmmm. She is always giving.......her time and money......to her church, her charities, her friends, and the beggars on the streets of Vegas. By comparison, this girl's heart makes me feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas......at the beginning of the story! She is amazing!

Mary and her hubby Troy
last week in Vegas!

Another little something about Mary is that she is incredibly creative, crafty, artistic and disciplined. She may have snagged not one, but two book deals, is about to teach some crafty community education classes, and quite recently has started BLOGGING! Ever humble, when I mentioned that I would like to send all 5 of my readers in her direction, she begged me to leave out the part about the book deals and instead wanted me to tell you that she is DESPERATE to gain followers of her blog. So go! Check out my amazing friend Mary! She blogs frequently and get this......it is all useful, how-to info you can use yourself! Go! Follow! I am so proud to call this gal my friend!

I fall. I trip. I am hooked on phonics.

We were lucky enough to spend the better part of last week vacationing with wonderful friends in Las Vegas. Without kids. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) I will spare you the details, but there was a big fall. Not even a second after this photo was taken. And there was tripping. I swear there was something sticky on the casino floors. And on some of the airport floors as well. Poor Steve. I fear I was a bit of an embarrassment. But now I am back at home in rural Iowa. Where I belong.

And our sweet little Ella just graduated to the 2nd grade Hooked on Phonics curriculum!