SingerMamaMelody

A Tale of Two Doggies...

2011-07-04T22:26:00.006-05:00

This is Bailey!

Bug LOVES Bailey! They get along so well.

This is Oscar. Read his story and the story of Bailey below...

It all began on a cool, March day. A mama was really pining for a pet lovey of some kind, as Rainbow the Betta Fish just wasn't cutting it for snuggle time and the mama missed having a dog and wished for the proximity of one in her own home. The papa thought she was kind of out on a limb for considering getting a dog when the house was already bustling with much activity, since there are two little ones underfoot at all times. But the mama kept looking online at pictures of adorable pups who needed homes and adoptive families. Finally one day, the mama and the papa found a sweet looking little pup named Oscar on the website for the local shelter. The papa said that the mama could go and meet Oscar, so she got excited and decided to go check him out! The next day, the mama and her two little kiddos drove over to the shelter following a morning of preschool and met Mr. Oscar. He was beautiful, sweet, full of love and snuggles, and he was half yellow Lab and half Basset Hound. He is pictured above. They brought him home the next day and loved him so.

Oscar was really a great dog, 90% of the time. But there was a small percentage of him that could not be trusted. Sadly, Oscar bit Buzz on the face one day. The one year old fence jumping adorable dog that the family loved so dearly in the short five weeks that they had him hurt their son. It was awful. This mama knew deep in her soul that the dog could no longer be trusted, but she and papa had a very difficult time surrendering him back to the shelter where he was originally adopted by them just a few weeks prior. It was one of the hardest days of their lives. Sadly too, Oscar had to be put down because he was a liability for the shelter, and would've been a liability for any future family. The odds of him biting again were too high. It was incredibly heart wrenching and the mama and papa still feel sad about it. But they had a lot of peace knowing that he could never hurt anybody again. They could've lost their son to a dog. He could've taken his eye out or bitten harder and deeper. Thankfully Buzz was okay. He still has a slight scar, but he's doing much better. And he is not afraid of dogs. The mama and papa wish he had a slight bit of fear, and they're trying to teach him that some dogs are not friendly and he needs to always ask before he can touch someone else's dog.

One week after Oscar...the mama just couldn't stop thinking about getting another dog. It was really hard to have the company of a dog in the home and then to suddenly have it taken away. The companionship that an animal provides is really quite special and unique and comforting. Mama kept looking online at the shelter website and found a lovely yellow lab mix, potentially mixed with a Husky or Weimeraner. She had the most beautiful golden eyes, and at 9.5 months was full of adorable puppy love. The mama told the papa that she wanted to go meet this adorable puppy. And the following day, the mama took her auntie and uncle and the two kidlets and headed to the shelter to meet dogs. There were many cute ones, but Bailey was so incredibly friendly and excited to meet the family! The next morning, the papa said that he wanted to meet Bailey and the family headed out again to the shelter. Of course, there's no way you can walk into the shelter and NOT walk out with a puppy!!!

The mama and papa have had Bailey for almost 2 months. She's almost a year old and is a HANDFUL! She is a chewer who eats EVERYTHING she can get her mouth onto. But she is incredibly loving and lets the children hug her and snuggle her. The family is enjoying having a furry friend in their lives once again, and they hope that she will be able to stay with them for a long while!

Happy Summer!

2011-07-04T22:04:00.005-05:00

Once again it has been way too long since I last posted and so much has happened in the meantime. Last time I wrote in November, we had just experienced our first miscarriage. There was another in January. Much loss. Through the loss, we've experienced incredible grace and peace. The Lord has supplied our every need. And he's brought us much joy through the two beautiful kids that He has allowed us to have here on this earth. My appreciation for them has increased in this past year and I see them in a new way. My love for my babies has deepened. Here are some recent pictures of them. Bug just turned five years old in May and Anders just turned 3 in June. We can hardly believe how quickly they're changing and growing, right before our tired eyes! The pictures you see are Bug & Buzz with their latest dress-up additions - old wigs from Auntie Dar! They have had so much fun with those wigs. But then, silly Bailey, our yellow lab mix puppy that you see in one of the pics chewed up half of one of the wigs. We didn't know if she'd make it or not, but she was fine! It's amazing what animals can consume and then live afterwards. Needless to say, we've had to move the wigs out of her reach. The picture of my sweet Erik and our Bug was when she had her preschool graduation in May. It's hard to believe that she's done with that chapter of her life already! Auntie Dar is in the background of that picture.

More pictures to come soon...Happy 4th of July!

Loss, Hope and Thankfulness

2010-11-24T23:23:00.004-06:00

Dear Friends and Family,

My abandonment of this blog is due to my love for my sweet little family and the busyness of our lives. Simply put, most days I'd rather just be with them and do life than spend time typing something up for the blog. But alas, today I feel the need to write something to document the things that have been happening in our lives.

Loss and Hope...

A few weeks ago we were so excited to find out that we were to be expecting our third little baby. What a gift. After praying and yearning for another child for a long time, God blessed us with this little one. However, after just over a week of officially knowing that we were pregnant, we lost our little baby. It has been a tough but good week. Our friends and family members have rallied around us and have been so encouraging. We are so grateful. My dear man has been incredibly loving and sweet and that has meant so much to me. We have felt uplifted in prayer and have truly known an immense amount of peace. Praise be to our God and Father. One of my very dear friends who has been through similar loss said to me, "nothing anybody said really helped me, but the one thing that got me through was knowing that my little babies were safe in the arms of Jesus." Amen to that. I've thought of that so much this week. Thank you, sweet friend, for sharing that with me. And not to be pessimistic, but I just have to say that I really felt that I might lose this child. It was as though God had been preparing me for YEARS for this to happen. I have heard so many stories of miscarriage, infant and child loss and have always wondered not if but when would it be my turn to experience that. And here we are. Again, I have so much amazing peace. And I am okay. And I know that God is absolutely in control of this situation, just as He has been in control of every other situation in my life. And I also have great HOPE that perhaps He will bless us with another child in the future, if He should so choose. For now, we rest knowing that He knows the plans He has for us.

Thankfulness...

This Thanks_giving time, I am so filled with thankfulness for my family and my friends. God has blessed me with such a dear bunch of people in my world. To my husband and our sweet Bug and Buzz, thank you for being connected to me. Thank you for loving me even when I'm kind of out there. Thank you for sticking by my side through thick and thin. This has been a seemingly interesting year of that. But HE will be praised, and we will glorify HIM together through this.

I am thankful for the family I was born into. Thank you Mom, Dad, and brothers for being there for me and for sharing life with me. This Thanks_giving, we are all so filled with gratitude to have my brother Joel here with us after his very challenging and difficult year of cancer and surgeries and trials. If you have been following his story, right now is another interesting turning point for him. Please please pray for Joel and for his family. And may the Lord be glorified through Joel's life and through this entire situation.

What are you thankful for this week? May the Lord bless you this Thanksgiving. May He clearly show you His presence in your life and His truth.

Much Love from the frozen, beautiful, snowy north land...

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

2010-09-20T11:40:00.004-05:00

I've been making this DELECTABLE chocolate zucchini bread for a few years now, recipe courtesy of my friend from MO_PS, "AP." Thank you AP for this deliciousness!!! I typically change only a few things which I will note. ENJOY!!!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla (I always double vanilla, so 4 teaspoons)
2 1/2 cups flour (I sometimes use just whole wheat pastry flour and other times a combo of white and whole wheat, or white and whole wheat pastry flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I usually double this as well, 2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup dark cocoa (I think last time I made this, I added a little bit more cocoa because I love it - probably more like 3/4 cup cocoa)
1/2 cup milk (I add a bit more milk if the mixture seems to "dry" - it should be pretty "wet")
2 cups zucchini, shredded (I probably added more last time - perhaps more like 2.5 cups)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients (through cocoa) and then add to egg mixture. Add milk and fold in zucchini.
3. Pour into 2 greased 9 x 5 inch baking pans.
4. Bake for about 50 minutes.

AP's cooking tip: instead of 3/4 cup oil, you can substitute 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup. You can also use four smaller loaf pans and bake for only 30 minutes. Or you could make one large loaf pan and the rest as muffins/cupcakes. Any way you bake it, it freezes well.

*I did the muffins/cupcakes and frosted them with vanilla buttercream and they were SO good! I was also thinking that cream cheese frosting would be delicious.

Hope you love this as much as we do!!!!

Banana Cracker Recipe!

2010-08-30T17:01:00.004-05:00

Hi Friends!

Today I was feeling very "homey" and decided to bake some banana crackers with the bananas that were VERY dark and mushy on my counter. They are the best for breads or in this case, crackers, when they are mushy and the skins are spotted brown! I found this recipe a few years back on a kids product website and just now tried it - VERY yummy and healthy too! Bug helped me make the crackers and she thought that was great fun. The kids LOVED the crackers and kept wanting more, and so did I!

Here's the recipe plus a few notes from me:

Banana Crackers (Yum!) (from Little Jo_ey Sn_ackin Pack)

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 t. honey
1 banana, thoroughly mashed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 and grease a 12x15 inch cookie sheet.
Using your hands or a pastry blender, mix butter, flour and 1/8 teaspoons salt together until crumbly.
Using a fork, stir in honey and banana.
On a floured surface, knead mixture (adding additional flour, if necessary, to form a firm dough - I ended up adding a LOT of flour - the recipe did not call for enough...just keep adding it until it is more stable).
Divide dough in half, and roll out one half at a time on a floured surface.
The dough should be thin enough to cover the cookie sheet.
Place dough on cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon (optional).
Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut the dough into 1" squares.
Bake 5-8 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Remove crackers with a spatula and place on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy!

*These taste great with honey drizzled on top! Or they would also be good dipped in something...maybe a peanut butter dip?

Cabbage Rolls and Stuffed Peppers!

2010-08-26T16:28:00.004-05:00

I love cooking and also preparing meals for future use in the freezer. My mom has taught me much of what I know about cooking, and today I had the pleasure of working with her in her kitchen, preparing LOTS of cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers! To start off, mom and I had purchased the peppers and cabbage from the farmers market, and they all looked so beautiful. Mom grew up eating cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers and she has continued making them for our family. I have many wonderful meal memories of eating these things.

Here's the recipe, along with how we changed or altered things:

Haluptsie (pigs in the blanket, or cabbage rolls) (From Mom's German cookbook) (serves 6-8 adults)

Mix the following ingredients together:
2 lbs hamburger (I like Lau_ra's Lean Beef, 4% fat - no antibiotics or hormones)
1 large onion chopped fine (I think I used 2)
1.5 cups precooked rice (we used brown rice, and we used 6 cups)
salt, pepper, garlic powder - season to taste (you can't taste it though as the meat is raw, so season moderately but well - I estimated about 2 teaspoons or more of pepper, same with the garlic powder, and probably 1 teaspoon celery salt & Lawry's seasoned salt combined)
*We also added a jar of spaghetti sauce to the mixture! I like Ra_gu 7 herb. And after you've dumped out the jar, put some water in it and shake it up and then add that to the mix also.

Blanch 1 head of cabbage by removing heart and placing leaves in boiling water until limp. (We just cut out the "heart" and then put the whole head in the pot, covered it up, and checked it in several minutes. Then the leaves start pulling off as they cook...you kind of have to do it in stages as they're ready to come off.) The put the leaves in a bowl until ready to use.

Place a heaping tablespoon (or more - really, I think we did probably 1/2 cup or more) of the meat mixture on each leaf and roll up.

Place in heavy kettle or roaster.

Pour the following mixture over the cabbage rolls: 1 can tomato soup and 2 cup tomato juice.
(OR, you can use 2 cans of tomato soup)
(OR, how I like it is with some diced tomatoes and spaghetti sauce from the jar)
(OR, Mom said you could use some stewed tomatoes over the top)

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1.5-2 hours or until cabbage is soft and meat is done.

STUFFED PEPPERS!!! (serves 6-8 adults)

*Make sure to parboil the peppers for about 3-4 minutes after you've cut them, or leave them whole.

Use the same meat mixture as for the above cabbage rolls EXCEPT fill the cavities of whole green peppers, or cut peppers in half length wise and fill. (or you can take the peppers and cut them in half width wise, just trimming off a bit of the stem but leaving it on mostly until after you cook and serve - then whoever is eating it can cut off the stem)

Pour tomato juice and tomato soup or spaghetti sauce over all and bake at 350 degrees until peppers are soft and meat is all done. (approx. 1.5 hours)

You can also add shredded cheese over the top and place back in oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is golden once the peppers are all cooked.

Freezing Instructions:
If you decide you would like to freeze some or all of your cabbage rolls or stuffed peppers, you would place them on a cookie sheet or in a pan (lightly grease the pan if you want things to come out easily) and place them into the freezer for an hour or so until frozen. Once frozen, you can remove them and place them into a Zip_loc freezer bag or into a lightly greased pan and cover with tin foil and place inside of a freezer bag. Also, you would leave the sauce over the top until you actually cook the rolls or peppers - do not freeze with the sauce over the top.

**This recipe made TONS! We had about 12 peppers that we halved, so 24 stuffed peppers - they were HUGE peppers. Then we had enough mix left over to make about 20 cabbage rolls.

July Park Pics

2010-07-27T15:51:00.005-05:00

Bug is now four years old as of May 19 and Buzz turned two on June 22nd! I can't believe how much they have grown and changed in such a short time. About a week ago, I decided on a whim after church one day that we needed to go to the local park arboretum to take pictures, as it was a perfectly overcast day for doing so! We stopped at home for a change of clothes for the Bug, and unfortunately all her frilly dresses were NOT ironed...SO, we opted for this cute casual one that she has and it worked out just fine. She and Buzz loved the little park we were at, as there are lots of gorgeous flowers and plants and also a water fountain there! Of course, you can imagine that after awhile, they just had to put their hands in the streams of water in the fountain...and little Buzz was soaking wet from that adventure, but he was laughing and having the best time. It was hard to keep them sitting still, so my dear man and I took turns taking pics of them playing. It was a lot of fun! I need to do this more often.

Everyday Cassoulet

2010-07-16T22:41:00.004-05:00

I'm SO excited to be subbing for a cooking group through my church this coming week! We each prepare 12 meals, and bring 11 to swap with the other 11 members of the group. I can't wait to see what we'll be eating in the coming months! It will be fun to have my freezer fully of yummy meals.

The meal that I prepared is one of my favorites and has been a great company meal here in our home.

Here it is!

Everyday Cassoulet by Melody (& Bet_ty Cro_cker Cook_book)
651-695-1252 if you have questions!

1 lb. Po_lish or smoked sausage (1 giant link…or add 1.5-2 for more meat – I did 1.5 for the group), cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
(*I always use smoked turkey sausage – Tar_get has a generic one that I used for the group, and there’s a natural version at health stores.…)
1 can (15-16 oz.) great northern beans (or cannelini), rinsed & drained
1 can (15-16 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 can (15-16 oz.) black beans, rinsed & drained
(*For the group, I cooked up 3 bags of each type of bean and that almost covered it, cost MUCH less, and then there is no added salt from the beans…I did end up using just q couple of cans)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce (or the 29 oz. can if you double it)
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced (1.5 cups)
(*I ALWAYS add more – I think I did 5-6 carrots per meal for the group)
2 small yellow onions or 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced & separated into rings (or diced)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or put through the garlic press…and can add another clove if you like garlic)
½ cup dry red wine or beef broth (I put about 1 cup of beef broth per meal)
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar (you can also use pure maple syrup if you would rather not use sugar)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1.5 teaspoons dried thyme leaves (I did generous tablespoons of the fresh thyme…and have tried dry and it does work fine, but doesn’t have quite the same yummy flavor as the fresh)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Then pour into an ungreased casserole/lasagna pan (I prefer my lasagna pan because the sides are taller and this casserole is really bubbly) & cover with lid or foil. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes OR until mixture is hot & bubbly & carrots are tender. (I usually end up baking it for about 1.5 hours, and I usually place the pan on top of a baking sheet since it sometimes bubbles over the sides.
I like to serve this dinner with a crusty loaf of bread and a dark, leafy green salad topped with fruit. It’s VERY hearty and people usually love it even if they don’t like beans! ENJOY!!!

Yummy Power Bars!!!

2010-07-02T13:44:00.003-05:00

Hello gang!

Sorry I haven't been on here now for TWO whole months. I cannot believe how much has happened since I last wrote! We celebrated our sixth anniversary and our birthdays with a great long weekend getaway to Ro_cky Mou_ntain Nat_ional Pa_rk and did lots of hiking and enjoying God's creation. It was amazing! Then we had a big birthday party for both kids and that was a lot of fun. And now, June is all over! Wowsers. I will try to post some pics sometime, but in the meantime, I'm getting ready to go sai_ling with my sweet man and some friends. It should be a good time!

SO, I'll leave you with this...the neatest recipe that I've used in a long time! My friend KN from MO_PS put this recipe in our coo_kbo_ok that we put out a few years ago, and it is AMAZING!!!

Ultimate Power Bar

Ingredients:

3.5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
2/3 cup raw sunflower seeds (I had salted ones because my store didn't have raw)
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds (I didn't have sesame, so I added more sunflower)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup oat bran
3 tablespoons flax seeds (you need to grind them up in order to get the benefit of the oils inside...and you can use flax seed meal/purchased ground flax seeds if you don't have the whole seeds - that's what I used and it worked really well)
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt (or you could omit this if you have salted sunflower seeds)
1 cup shredded coconut (optional...but SO delish)
1.5 cups peanut butter (I used Ski_ppy natural smooth)
1 cup honey (I used a local honey)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, combine first ten ingredients (through coconut). Stir in peanut butter, honey & melted butter. Press firmly into foil-lined or sprayed 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven & sprinkle chocolate chips over bars. Return to oven until chocolate is softened (about 2-4 minutes). Spread chocolate evenly over bars. (mine didn't spread very well for some reason, fyi...but still tasted delish). Cool on rack then cut into bars. Refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours) then remove from pan and wrap bars individually and store in refrigerator or freezer for a healthy energy-packed snack. (I used plastic wrap for the individual bars and then placed them into quart-sized freezer zipper bags.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

Sewing Frenzy!!!

2010-05-08T21:27:00.004-05:00

A couple of months ago, I decided that I wanted to start sewing again! I hadn't used a sewing machine since high school, so it seemed a completely overwhelming task. My sweet Grammie wanted me to have her sewing machine - the one that she used to sew MANY quilts! When she passed away I was only eight years old, and the machine that she had willed to me eventually made it back to my parents' home many years later. For many years I thought about taking out the machine to use it, and this is the year that both time and inspiration have come together to make it possible. Because I felt like I needed to have a refresher in how to sew, I decided to take some classes through our local fabric store. First I took an introductory class, and it was helpful to re-learn the basics. Then today I took a HUGE leap and went to part one of a box cushion making class. Whoa...it was really challenging! But the wonderful teacher for the class is really helpful and willing to stay late to help us students. My project that I'm making is not a simple box cushion but rather a trapezoid shaped window seat pillow for our music room area. When I'm all finished with it, I'll have to post some pictures.

Also today, we had the privilege of seeing some friends from college who were in town. Love you J & R! It's always wonderful to catch up with friends that I haven't seen in a long time.

And alas, it has been yet another long stretch since I last wrote. I just find that I'm better at using Fa_ceb_ook than doing the blog. Perhaps I can get on a blogging stretch now! :)

Blessings to you all.

Yeah Spring!

2010-03-05T12:54:00.003-06:00

I'm SO excited that it is starting to get "springy" outside. YIPPEE!!! When it hits the 40's in this land, I just want to put on my shorts and t-shirts and run around outside for hours. Well, or at least not wear a jacket, which I've been doing a lot lately. It's glorious. Everyone seems happier, and that's a lovely thing.

While I type, my kids are running around with Ea_ster eggs and Mr. Po_tato He_ad parts, chasing each other. It's good to see them playing together.

This post is very random so far, so why not continue the randomness, eh?

My mom just found out that her yearly (or bi-annual?) scans for cancer came back FREE once again! We're so excited! This means it has been 9 years since she was declared cancer-free. Hallelujah! Praise to God alone. We're thrilled. On the flipside, my brother J is still dealing with his cancer and the chemo. treatments. He has a lot of pain after his chemo. and then starts to feel better right before he gets hit up with the treatment again. I guess that's just how it goes. But I don't remember it being quite as painful for my mom when she went through it. I suppose it is hard to compare one's pain to another, as we all respond differently and tolerate pain in different ways. And they have/had very different cancers that manifested differently, so that is part of it as well. Cancer is so interesting. I'm reminded again of the phrase "cancer is not limited." J certainly hasn't let it limit him. He went outside a few days ago to prune trees, even with pain. I'm so glad he could do that. I'm sure it helped get his mind off of everything.

I'm waiting to see if I will be featured in a commercial for a local news station here as well as on the web for the clinic I went to for my colo_nos_copy. I volunteered to be interviewed for the clinic. I haven't heard yet, but I might also get asked to do a news interview in addition to the other interview. That would be neat. I'm so over the privacy of the situation, that I had the procedure done and that a polyp was found. I'm just incredibly greatful for this preventative medicine and hope things like this don't become limited or unavailable if our country decides to change he_alth_ca_re too much. But this is something I don't want to sit and worry about, so I'll try not to do that.

On another note, my honey and I are enjoying lots of time reading and talking together lately. It has been such a good bonding experience. We're learning and growing in our marriage, and I'm grateful for it.

Well, must log off...tis nappy time...hope to post pics soon.

Neglected Blog, Busy Life

2010-01-30T22:37:00.002-06:00

I haven't written on this blog for a month or so...life has been so busy and full lately. I find that Face_book is so much easier for regular communication and quick notes of thought from my mind. But alas, here I am on this Saturday evening, typing away! It's hard to believe that January has come and gone so quickly. I LOVE getting through the month of January, because it means that February is right there and Valen_tines D_ay is nearing closer. VDay is a holiday that I really enjoy, since I am such a romantic at heart. Honey man doesn't necessarily love it due to the hype it receives, but we usually find some ways to make it special. Last year I think he was gone for the big day, so we didn't get to celebrate it together. And this year, he has a broomball game on that day! Goodness...what are those guys thinking? Taking away our romantic, sappy holiday? Hopefully we can plan something for the weekend of VDay and then we don't have to worry if it happens right on the day or not.

In other news, I had a test done recently that came back with mixed results, but the news is that I'm fine for now. And I'm learning to trust that God knows my days...His word says that my days are numbered aright. I will trust that. At least today I trust that! And on the days when I don't want to trust that, I will CHOOSE to trust that. I'm grateful for early intervention and preventative tests, and hope that we will always be able to have such measures in our health care.

And on my heart so much lately is the country of Hai_ti which recently experienced a terrible earthquake. Such devastation for such a poor country. I have felt such heaviness for them lately. But I'm so encouraged to hear all the neat stories coming away...of the rescues, the massive adoptions going on, and all the medical teams and other rescue workers going to do whatever they can to help people on the ground. May God rescue that nation and help them in their time of need and beyond. I have always had a passion for adoption, and my man and I have talked about it a lot. We are not sure if it is something for us or not, but we do think about it and like to encourage it in whatever ways we can. I've seen all those babies from H and wanted to take one in...there are so many kids there that need homes.

Well, this is a scattered post, but just wanted to share what was on my mind. Blessings.

Bird Treats

2009-12-07T09:26:00.002-06:00

The other day, Bug and I stirred up some bird seed treats for our bird friends in our yard! I wanted to post the recipe on here for ya'all...very easy and fun...just some ingredients that we don't normally have at home that I had to go out and get, and you could probably substitute a few things but I didn't think of it at the time. My dad gave me a few suet feeders for our birds, ones that he didn't need anymore! So that was very sweet and I'm excited to see the birds gobble up their new fun food! THANKS DAD!!!

Here's the recipe, taken from a neat book that I received as a gift awhile back, "Company's Coming: Gifts From The Kitchen" by Jean Pare. (I don't know how to underline book titles or add accents on letters in this format yet!) It's a great book that has many homemade food and other gifts. I am always inspired to create something when I look at it!

Bird Feed Treats

(*Note at top of recipe says "save the mesh bags from onions, lemons, limes, [oranges], or tomatoes-on-the-vine to fill with this bird treat).

dry bread crumbs 2 cups
commercial birdseed 1 cup
chopped unsalted peanuts 1 cup (I couldn't find unsalted, so I had to use "lightly salted")
chopped raisins 1 cup
whole wheat flour 1/2 cup
yellow cornmeal 1/4 cup
cream of wheat cereal (not instant) 1/4 cup

chunky peanut butter (no salt, no sugar) 1 cup
suet (or vegetable shortening) 1 cup
bacon drippings 2 tbsp.

mesh bags (or a suet feeder!)
butchers string or jute twine

Directions:
Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl.

Heat peanut butter, suet and bacon drippings in small saucepan on medium, stirring occasionally until melted. Gradually stir into birdseed mixture until moistened. Pack mixture into ice cube trays. Chill well or freeze.

Fill mesh bags (or suet feeder) with up to 10 cubes. Close. Tie with string. Hang from sturdy branch or shepherds hook. Makes about 4 dozen cubes.

Note: You could also just place a few cubes on your deck, fence rail or a bird feeder platform.

Christmas Cookie Exchange!!!

2009-12-03T12:59:00.004-06:00

Well, yesterday for our MO_PS group at church, we had our annual Christmas cookie exchange! I love this day and look forward to it with great anticipation...and have been planning for WEEKS now, trying to find the right recipe, the right cookie boxes...way too much detail, I know, but sometimes I obsess about things like that. That's the perfectionist in me.

SO, all that to say, I found a great recipe in an old cookie magazine from La_nd O' La_kes that I purchased many years ago. I tried it out on my family and they liked it, so I made some more! Here it is - ENJOY! Oh, and this is a basic chocolate cookie recipe, but there are many variations that I listed below...and I chose to do the chips & mint one, retitling the cookies, "Hint of Mint White Chocolate Chip Cookies."

Chocolate Drop Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour (or, you could do a blend of white flour and whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Variations

Chips & Mac Nuts
1 cup semi-sweet real chocolate chips or vanilla milk chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Fruit & Cinnamon
2 cups chopped dried fruit mix (or whatever dried fruit you like...cranberries, anyone?)
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Chips & Mint (***This is the one I made!)
2 cups vanilla milk chips (aka, white chocolate chips)
1/2 teaspoon mint extract

Toffee & Chips
1 cup toffee pieces
1 cup semi-sweet real chocolate chips

Peanut Butter
1 (10 oz.) package (2 cups) peanut-butter flavored chips

Cherry
1 cup chopped maraschino cherries, well drained

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixer bowl combine butter, sugar & brown sugar. Beat at medium peed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Add eggs & vanilla; continue beating until well mixed (1 minute). Reduce speed to low; add flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt. Beat until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).

2. Stir in ingredients from one of the variations.

3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 1 inch apart onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until set. Let stand 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet. Enjoy!

It says it makes approx. 3 dozen cookies.

New Pictures

2009-11-29T11:01:00.002-06:00

These pics are from the recital that I performed at North_western Coll_ege on October 12th this year. Our program had works by Sib_elius, St_raus, Sch_ubert, Mil_haud, Ba_ch and perhaps one more that I'm forgetting...and included a few chamber works that were a blast to perform.

Here I am with Matt Wilson on horn and Jan Scovill on piano.

Left to right: Jan Scholl, clarinet; Melody, soprano; Matt Wilson, horn; Jan Scovill, piano

Me & my honey, Erik.

It was so much fun to do a recital again as I hadn't done one since my 2nd masters recital at Ri_ce, Fall of 2004. Recitals are SO much work, but so rewarding and enjoyable to perform. I just wish we could perform our program again sometime! I'm hoping to continue taking lessons from my friend and colleague here in town, Doreen. Then perhaps I could gear up for some more music making!

Almost Christmas!

2009-11-29T10:49:00.004-06:00

WOW, I cannot believe that it has been several months since I last posted anything. Of course, life will always be busy with small adorable children under foot, but seriously, I think it has gotten BUSIER than I could've imagined! :) I'm so glad to have these wee ones under foot though. Buzz is now 17 months - where has the time gone? He started walking at 15. 5 months and running about 3 weeks later. Little Man is VERY busy and has a hard time sitting still for long - kind of like his sweet Daddy! And Big Bug is my very chatty, busy and mostly happy three and a half year old. She has been singing a LOT lately, which is really sweet. In fact, about a month ago, Bug sang a little duet with me at church when we joined my parents in their program for the senior citizens. It was so sweet that I could barely sing with her - the tears were massively hanging out in my eyes as my little girl was singing "into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart Lord Jesus." I have fallen in love with that piece since I heard it on the new Se_lah album, which in case I haven't mentioned before is one of my favorite groups. I love their renditions of hymns and new songs as well.

In other news, I'm busily getting ready to make gingerbread houses with my kids and my dear friend C and her kids this week. That will be so much fun, I can hardly wait! My grandiose plans of creating the gingerbread myself went to pot last night as I realized that I really don't have the time to make gingerbread this week...and that's okay. SO, we're going to do the easier route of using graham crackers, and they'll be really cute and work well!

This past week was Thanksgiving, and I must say I'm very thankful for my family and friends. I'm especially thankful that my brother Joel could be with us for the holiday along with his darling family. Joel was recently diagnosed with colon cancer, had surgery to remove a large mass, has a colostomy now and has begun his chemotherapy treatment at a sister hospital to a very major medical center here in MN. The whole ordeal has completely shaken me and I'm still trying to process it. It was nine years ago that my mom was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and in the same year was HEALED of that wild cancer that had ravaged her body. We are so grateful to have her here. And we are praying for healing for my brother Joel. I'm learning once again to trust in the Lord through this time and to ask for His peace upon my brother and his family. Lord, be near to them.

May you have a lovely few weeks leading up to Christmas. I'll hopefully write more soon and add some pics of my family. Blessings be upon you.

Busy Summer

2009-08-14T16:05:00.003-05:00

Hey all!

I cannot believe that it has been almost TWO months since I last posted on my blog. But I can tell you that life has been very busy since I last wrote. :) Why is it that at the beginning of every single summer I have such grandiose plans of relaxation, projects, and get-togethers and that every single summer I come to about this point in August and realize that I haven't gotten through many of my plans? Perhaps others face this same issue. And really, if that's my biggest worry of the day, I'm doing okay. I love summer! I love being outside with my family, enjoying fresh air and sunshine while trying to avoid the bees who seem to seek me out since I'm allergic to them. (Note: I finally got an E_pi- P_en this past year after knowing for 13 years that I was allergic to bees...so at least I have it on my person at all times in case of emergency!) We enjoy taking walks every night after supper in our neighborhood where we have nice trails and parks. It is really a blessing to have green grass and playgrounds to play on. There are so many places in the world that do not have this luxury, and we are grateful. I also love grilling in the summer. Now, this summer we haven't done very much grilling...not sure why, but it just hasn't happened a whole lot. So, intend to change that up this weekend with grilling some chicken and having salad along with it! Sounds yummy to me. And in our house, every day after lunch is a HUGE event for Bug who likes to go out and meet "Miss Mary," our mail delivery lady. We just met Miss Mary a few months ago when we happened to be outside one day as she brought our mail to the box. As we started visiting with her, she offered Bug a sucker from a little box she keeps in the mail truck. So of course, now Bug has to go out and meet Miss Mary every day to get her sucker. There are many days that we don't connect out there, but when we do, it's fun. I told Bug that we need to be nice to Miss Mary and just be her friend too, and that we shouldn't always expect to receive a sucker from her.

(This post is really random...just lots on my mind today...)

We took a LOVELY one week vacation in Do_or Cou_nty, W_is_consin at the end of July, and it was such a nice reprieve. I was sick for most of our vacation, but still was able to enjoy a good time with my family! We stayed in the town of Si_ster B_ay, and loved the condo that we rented. Some of our highlights included going swimming at the Nic_olet B_ay B_each in Pen-insula St_ate Pa_rk, hearing live concerts in the local towns at night (including one by a girl I grew up with), eating cherry pie, walking through a cherry orchard, attending the fish boil at the Vi_king G_rill, playing at different playgrounds and going for walks with the kids around the little towns, and watching the skunks roaming about underneath and around the deck at our condo. Yes, that's right, we had SKUNKS living under our deck!!!!! Crazy! There was a family of nine skunks and thankfully, a man brought some live traps and captured the skunks. This went on for several days, so the guy had to keep coming back to get the captured skunks and set up the trap for the next victim...yes, he had to euth_anize them because of state law, in case they were rabid. It was kind of sad, but apparently skunks are the highest carriers of rabies. Ew. Poor, cute skunkies. They really were cute. Bug and Buzz really loved seeing the skunks roaming about, through the window. Truly, it was a nice vacation, and we had such a good time together as a family. I'm so grateful that we could go away for awhile. It was refreshing for my soul. Erik and I had a good time visiting at night when the kids would go to sleep, and catching up on cable tv since we don't have that at home! We played cards one night too, and watched movies, and read books. It was great.

I'll try to post some pics soon...and tell more summer stories...

More pics...

2009-06-17T16:41:00.003-05:00

Feel the Love!

Come on Buzz, let's tackle!

I LOVE my new hobby of climbing stairs!

Betcha can't catch me!

New Pictures of Kids!

2009-06-17T16:30:00.003-05:00

Hey Ya'all! Here's some more recent pics of my two little darlins...Bug Girl has turned THREE!!! Her birthday was May 19. I'm hoping to post some pics of her fun Do_ra the Ex_plorer birthday parties. Buzz turns ONE next week, June 22nd! I can't believe how quickly they're growing. We're really enjoying being outside more lately. Buzz likes to ride in his little push car and Bug likes to draw on the sidewalk with chalk, as well as blow bubbles. And if I let him, Buzz will eat ANYTHING he finds on the ground. GROSS! The other night he was so sick from eating leaves and such that he threw up right before I put him to sleep. Poor kid! I hope he learns soon not to eat extraneous junk. Bug is really patient for the most part, and today she sat in the office with me while I was working on paper work and making appointments. She was working with stickers and pom poms and gluing them all to paper. Fun times!

I'm off to go make some dinner and wake up my kids...well, Bug never did nap today. Little stinker! But Buzz is sound asleep. He's such a good napper for me! Knock on wood, right? I hope he stays that way!

April Rose

2009-06-11T21:58:00.002-05:00

Well, I was following a story about a little baby named April Rose and her mommy "B," only to find out a few days ago that the story was fake. Disappointing. Here's the news article about the girl who wrote the story on her blog. It's so sad, really. I'm praying for B and hoping that the Lord will heal her spirit and help her to move forward.

Singermama is back!

2009-06-08T14:51:00.002-05:00

Blogging has not been a priority for me lately - did ya notice? Honestly I haven't missed it all that much. I've been much more into Face_book, reading other people's blogs, and just life itself to take the time to blog on my own blog. But ya'all, I'm back! :) Here are my random thoughts...

I'm practicing voice again as I'm preparing to do a recital in October with a colleague of mine who plays French horn. I think it will be a ton of fun! Recitals are such incredible experiences...they take TONS of work and dedication to prepare for, but they are so rewarding to do! My plan is to resurrect some music that I've done in the past so that I don't have to learn everything from scratch. And the fact that I get to share the program with my friend will help a LOT! Much less work for me.

Recently, I reopened my Be_th Mo_ore online Bible study through Life_way.com. They have online Bible studies!!! SO fun! And they're great for busy mamas, because let's face it, we rarely have moments to ourselves. So the fact that I can do my study in segments that only last about 10 minutes at a time is VERY convenient! Hooray! The one I'm doing is titled "Liv_ing Beyond Your_self." I'm very inspired so far. When I was in grad. school in Texas, I had the privilege of attending Be_th Mo_ore's Sunday school class at Ho_uston's Fi_rst Ba_ptist Ch_urch. That was an incredible year and a half of my life, being at that church and in that class. The Lord used that time to help me grow and learn much about Him. When I moved back to MN, I greatly missed being at that church and in Beth's class, but I also felt like it was a good season in my life that I would always be grateful for. And since then, I've been able to listen to some cd's from the class and read some of her books, and that has been nice to. And I've been reminded that it is good to learn from other teachers too! The Lord has blessed MANY teachers of His Word out there, and I'm thankful that we can learn from them. Every now and then though, it is nice to have me some Beth time. :) She not only makes me laugh hysterically with her southern ways, but she also has incredible insights into the Lord's Word, and I feel like God has gifted her immensely.

On another note, we've been very busy around this house lately. Three of the four of us have had our birthdays in the last few weeks - Erik turned 40, I turned 32, Bug Girl turned 3, and then in two weeks my Buzzy Boy will turn 1! And Erik and I had our five year wedding anniversary. Hallelujah! We made it through five years! I'm looking forward to so many more with my love.

Bug's birthday was fun. She had two parties - one with family and one with little friends, but both had the D_ora the Ex_plorer theme. VERY fun! Bug loves D_ora, and often requests D_ora videos. We had Enchilada Casserole as our main dish and everyone loved it. There were two pinatas - one for each day, and the kids went nuts and had so much fun!

Erik was supposed to have a surprise party for his birthday, but due to a few different reasons, it ended up not being a surprise. In the end, that was okay though, because I really needed his help getting ready for the party. There were approximately 80 people there and it was a ton of tun! We held the party up at the park near our home, and people from all areas of Erik's life were there - family, college, and of course, BSF. He spent MANY years in BSF, both as an attendee and as a leader, so it was much fun for him to reconnect with his "peops."

We've had a lot of illness in our home the last several months...colds, pneumonia, flu...and I think we're finally over it. At least I hope so! I'm really glad that we can have a reprieve from the illness. People who deal with chronic illness or disease of any sort must have a hard time without reprieve...I cannot imagine.

I must go and rest while kiddos are napping...chicken, wild rice, carrots, cream of mushroom soup and homemade chicken broth are brewing away in the cr_ock pot for dinner. I can't wait!

Kayleigh...

2009-05-12T14:54:00.002-05:00

I've been praying for a family with a sweet baby girl named Kayleigh. Baby Kayleigh went to be with Jesus today, and my heart aches for her family. Here's the link to her blog.

Postpartum Depression

2009-05-11T20:47:00.003-05:00

Incredible blog that I JUST now learned about! I have struggled with postpartum depression, and I just wish that I had known about this blog when I was going through some very dark days. It was especially difficult for me following the birth of my daughter three years ago. I definitely went through it again with the second birth, ten months ago when my son was born, but I feel that I got better much more quickly. For me, exercise and having enough help were KEY KEY KEY aspects of getting well again quickly. If you or someone you know is struggling with PPD, PLEASE get help...and know that you're not alone!

Here's the link to the awesome blog about PPD.

Newer Pictures

2009-05-01T22:00:00.003-05:00

This was one of our last snowy days in April. I bundled up the kids and got them outside when we were having "cabin fever."

My Buzz Bear loves his swing in the back yard!

Bug thinks making snowballs is tons of fun! And Buzz loved being pulled around in the sled.

Bug was trying to pat Buzzy's head...not quite sure why...

This hat was made by my friend Amy, and I think it looks very cute on Buzzy's head. Also, I found the bib that says, "Drool if You're Norwegian" at Engebretson's store in Minneapolis. Love that place!

Potty Training Today!!!

2009-05-01T21:51:00.002-05:00

Well folks, today was our big potty training party day! And I have to say that I think it went fairly well. Honey and I were up until 1AM decorating our house in a Tin_kerbell theme and getting everything all ready - the drinks, the miniature snack cups, the big girl underwear, the dolly who wets and pees (and who also happens to look like that scary horror movie doll "Chu_ckie" - didn't think of that until AFTER I bought the doll), and other presents to entertain and reward throughout the day. We followed the model in the book about potty training your child in one day and it worked great. All morning we worked on potty training "Dolly." Every time Dolly would pee or poop in her potty chair, then we'd race to the bathroom and empty out her potty chair receptacle and put stickers up on the progress chart for telling us that she had to go, then sitting on the chair, and then actually going. My dear Bug who LOVES stickers thought this was fabulous. Then after putting stickers on the chart, Bug got to choose a yummy snack that I had placed in miniature snack cups - those little candy cups from the baking section in the craft store. Very fun! And true to form, my girl most often chose the dried fruit over the cookies or chocolates or cheese puffs. I love that she loves her fruit! Then in the afternoon, we presented her with her new underwear and she proudly donned them and promptly went pee on the potty without much prodding at all! We did this a lot during the day, and only had a couple of accidents. Tonight we had a special homeade pizza dinner with Grammie & Grump, my parents, and then some special key lime pie cupcakes for dessert! YUM! All in all, it was a great day of celebrating the success that our little girl is now a BIG girl, and that she peed in the potty! No poop yet...

Obeying Jesus...

2009-04-27T12:45:00.003-05:00

Bug Girl : "Mommy, sometimes it's not a good idea to obey Jesus when people are laughing at you."

Mama: "Bug, there will always be people who will laugh at us and make fun of us for obeying Jesus, but when we choose to obey Him, He will bless us and reward us."

Wow, I couldn't believe my girl who will be three in a few weeks just came up with that one. I think that she must have been trying to relate to Jesus, as we've been reading the Easter story qutie a bit in the last many weeks before and after Easter. There's so much going on in the minds of babes.

Pneumonia

2009-04-24T21:11:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone,

My Bug girl has pneumonia. Yuck. We found out the official diagnosis yesterday after about a week of intermittent fevers and cold symptoms, including a pretty "chesty" cough. I'm so thankful that the dr. had her get a lung x-ray, although Bug hated that part. She screamed while the x-ray was being taken. Poor kiddo. But alas, the dr. showed me on the x-ray how part of her right lung had some fluid in it, and he could tell by the pattern that it was bacterial pnuemonia. Amazing all the things that dr's have to learn and know. Then he gave Bug an RX for ammox_icillin, so hopefully that along with some good 'ol TLC from Mama & Daddy will help rid my darling of her illness. She was at her worst yesterday, with a fever of 104 late last night...and then, PRAISE THE LORD, the fever BROKE and my dear girl was a completely sweaty mess. I was so grateful and kind of in shock that it had finally broken. I hate to think how high that fever could've gotten if it weren't for some Ty_lenol helping to keep it at bay. I've never seen my daughter so ill. The only other time that she had something so serious was when she had croup last winter and we took her to the er.

Now, I have to get Bug to drink! She's not doing so well with that part of her healing plan, but today was slightly better for fluids than yesterday. And I'm doing my part to try to pester her to take sips all the time. I remember that when I was sick, my mom was always trying to get me to drink. And it works, people! The body needs that fluid to rid itself of the illness.

If you think of it, I'd appreciate your prayers for complete healing for Bug. And I have my seasonal allergy/sinus gunk kicking in. Good times! But, I'm really happy to say that with the help of my sinus rinsing pot and some Ty_lenol to reduce swelling, I'm able to keep the symtoms under control and hopefully won't have to take any other meds. I haven't taken antibiotics for a sinus infection in quite some time due to this lovely method! It's some awe, I tell you. ("some awe" is something I learned from pastor/speaker/writer/teacher Louie Gi_glio. He says that nothing is awesome except for God, and that we should really think of everything else as "some awe" instead of the much overused "awesome." Great thought, really. I have a lot of respect for that guy.)

On another note, check out this very cool website with cards made by a darling girl named Reese whose daddy died just a few weeks ago from ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). If you purchase a pack of cards, your proceeds go to helping this family in their time of need.

http://www.cardsbyreese.com

Blessings,
Melody

Stellan made it through!

2009-04-21T21:41:00.002-05:00

Praise the Lord - little Stellan made it through his surgery today. There will be a piece about him on our local KSTP news tonight at 10PM.

STELLAN NEEDS PRAYERS

2009-04-21T10:31:00.002-05:00

Friends, please please be praying for dear baby Stellan as he is currently either still in heart ablation surgery or perhaps has already completed it. You can follow his mommy's blog if you wish. She was a classmate of mine from college.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net

Time Bandits

2009-04-21T10:19:00.002-05:00

A few months ago at my MOPS group, we watched a video by Andy_Stanley of North_Point_Church in Georgia. The message was all about how we need to be really careful with our time. The main points were:

#1 - "There is a cumulative value in investing small amounts of time in certain activities over a long period."
#2 - "Neglect has a cumulative effect as well."
#3 - "There are rarely immediate consequences for neglecting single installments of time in any particular arena of life."
#4 - "There is no cumulative value in the urgent things we allow to interfere with what's most important."
#5 - "In the critical arenas of life you cannot make up for lost time."

Much of what Pastor Andy was referring to in regard to time was how we relate or choose to not relate to our families, and specifically husbands and wives. It was such a good reminder to me of the importance of focusing much of my time and energy towards my family during, especially during this phase of life. Small children require much time and attention, but I feel that they along with my dear husband need to be some of my top priorities right now.

Pastor Andy listed four areas of our lives and made the challenge to us to find something within those four areas that we could try to change. Mine were:

1. Physical - workout more often
2. Relational - be kind daily
3. Professional - practice my singing more often
4. Spiritual - read my Bible with more regularity

The reason I'm posting all of this is that I'm working on cleaning off our office desk which is currently HIDEOUS and in much need of attention after I have NEGLECTED it for way too long. I'm such a procrastinator, and trying to get better at taking care of things as I see them rather than waiting for them to mysteriously take care of themselves. Anyone else relate to that?

SO, back to cleaning my desk...and be challenged to not neglect the small things in life. It is those that will pile up and become large things if you don't tend to them.

Blessings.

Spring has Sprung

2009-04-14T08:51:00.003-05:00

Hello! Alas, I write a blog entry after such a hiatus...but you know, it has been a good hiatus. I have taken some time away from writing on this blog because this along with other things like face_book and even reading other people's blogs have ended up taking TOO much of my time away from doing things that I need to do around my home. I am such a procrastinator and sometimes find myself spending too much time online. But lately, I haven't been online much at all! And I feel like I'm not missing much, to be completely honest with you.

I'm SO happy that it is now spring time in these northern hinter lands! I love looking outside to see the new formed buds on the tree branches, the grass beginning to perk up into its greenish state, and the birds and bunnies roaming about in the yard and making their sweet sounds. A lovely time it is, indeed. Spring is one of my favorite times of year, second only to fall.

Well, my little Buzz boy is crying for me, so I must go for now...but I hope to be blogging a bit more again!

Blessings,
Melody

Keep Praying for Stellan

2009-03-26T22:38:00.003-05:00

Friends, please please please keep in prayer for baby Stellan. He is still having such a hard time with his heart rate all over the map. And please pray for his family as well. Remember, you can click on the "praying for Stellan" box on the side of my blog if you want to read more.

Thank you.

A day of rest

2009-03-25T10:26:00.003-05:00

We've been going and going a lot lately, and I'm really grateful to just have a day at home to rest with the kids. There are things to be done, like laundry and throwing away papers from my paper piles, cutting coupons, and just playing with my two darling children.

Last night after reading as many updates as I could on baby Stellan, I felt the urge to go and hug my kids and to hold them close. The reality that I am faced with many days is that we have NO idea when we could go to meet Jesus. It really could be any moment. Therefore, I need to make the most of every moment that I have here on this earth. And believe me, I'm not always the best at doing that. Sometimes I am very determined and I accomplish a whole lot of tasks/projects in a day, but some days I do NOT get much of anything done! Of course, I'm also trying to balance the need to accomplish those tasks with the need to spend time with my children, to cherish them and embrace them and to remind them that they are indeed loved. I have often told my Bug that I and her daddy love her SO much, but that God loves her more than we could ever possibly love her. She has now begun repeating that when Erik and I tell her that we love her, and can be heard saying, "but you know what Mama? God loves me more than you!" To which I reply, "Yes Honey, He does! That's right!" Amen to that my friends. Amen. I'm so glad that we serve a God who loves us more than we deserve...more than we could ever fully understand. What a gift.

Keep Praying For Stellan

2009-03-25T10:22:00.002-05:00

Little Stellan is still struggling in the hospital. I just added the button for him on the right side of my page. If you click on it, it should take you directly to his mama's page. I really wish that there was something that I could do to help this baby. Of course, the best thing to do is to pray. Sometimes in such dire circumstances, I feel like saying to God, "really Lord? Is prayer really one of the best things to do for this situation?" And He usually calms my spirit and reassures me that it is indeed one of the only things that we can humanly do. There is also a care calendar that just started for Stellan's family. I'm going to have to check that out.

Pray for Stellan

2009-03-23T19:55:00.003-05:00

I'm asking you, dear friends, to please pray for baby Stellan. He is in the hospital again with some heart problems. I ache for my friend from college who is Stellan's mama, and for this darling boy...so sorry that they are going through such trials with this little one. Lord, please heal sweet Stellan.

Click here read more about it. Thanks for your prayers for Stellan.

$15 meal...or two or three or four!!!

2009-02-28T22:10:00.004-06:00

I just threw together a good old-fashioned Sunday beef pot roast in the slow cooker, and am SO excited to turn it on in the morning and come home to YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS!!!!!!!! The roast that I bought was a nicer cut, and cost around $11.50. But you see, it has MUCH less fat on it. I know that the marble fat is what makes the meat taste delicious, but I'm trying to be healthy here people! So, I browned the hunk o' meat in some evoo (that's extra-virgin olive oil, in case you haven't ever heard a famous cook with the initials RR throw that term around) and also some yellow onions. I much prefer yellow onions to white, and hardly ever buy white unless it is the only thing there. I seasoned the meat with garlic powder, low sodium salt and pepper on all the sides, and made sure that each side was browned before setting the meat in an olive oil covered crock. Then I washed up some little red potatoes, carrots and mushrooms and placed them on and around the meat. Note: I don't really like mushrooms, but my sweet Erik LOVES them, so every now and again I have to incorporate them into a meal so that his tummy is happy! Not much I love more than to make my man happy with a good meal! SO, in the morgen, I will add a few inches of water in the crock and set it on low and hopefully it will be done when we come home from church! When it is all done, I will make some gravy out of the juices. My mom taught me how to do gravy...just take the juices from the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil in another pan, or the original pan if you have removed the meat and veggies from that original pan...and then, you take some flour and cold water and mix up in the blender - I think it is about a half to one ratio...so, 1/2 cup flour to 1 cup cold water...I usually end up with several cups of water and a few cups of flour to make sure I have PLENTY of gravy. I like to have leftover gravy so that I can make pot pies and freeze them for later! The gravy really is a season to taste adventure. Once you mix in the flour and water mixture, making sure to only use as much as you need to for a good gravy consistency (I love thick gravy, so I have to add more of the flour), then you bring that to a boil. And then season with more garlic powder, salt and pepper. It's YUMMY!!! And I'm sure it's NOT healthy.

Onto the pot pies...cut up the leftover beef and mix with your favorite frozen veggies, or fresh veggies that you have chopped and cooked until tender - for example, I sometimes do a mixture of carrots, peas and potatoes...but you could do broccoli if you like that I suppose! Mix meat and veggies with leftover gravy, making sure that there isn't TOO much gravy, but just enough to keep things really moist. Place in glass or porcelain baking dishes, and cover with a pre-made store-bought pastry, such as a pie shell. That's what I usually use and I make it fit the pan by stretching and prodding it, and it works! If you want a real pie, you can put a pastry on the bottom of the pan as well...but if you're trying to cut a couple of calories out of an already calorie laden dish, then just use the pastry on the top. If you're lucky, you may have enough meat and gravy left over for several pies! I usually end up with two or three! And they freeze wonderfully, so you can pull them out for dinner some night when you don't want to cook. Bake at 350 degrees for around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Make SURE that you keep the crust edges covered with pieces of foil if you don't want burned crust! And you can even start the pie out for the first 30-45 minutes with foil covering the entire thing if you want to. I often do that, and then it helps to ensure that it doesn't burn.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Erik is home from Asia!!!

2009-02-28T20:34:00.004-06:00

Erik just returned home today from a two week Asia trip for work. I'm SO glad to have him home! I miss him a ton when he is gone, and the kids do too. It was just precious to see them interacting with their daddy today. And I always find it amazing that our Little Buzz, even at 8 months old, is VERY able to recognize and know his daddy, even after two weeks apart. So cool. Big Sister got to go with me to the airport, and she said something about how we were going to go and "catch" Daddy at the airport, which I thought was funny!

Just now, Erik told me that when reading the story of David and Jonathan in the Bible, Big Sister said that Little Buzz was her best friend, just like David and Jonathan were best friends. Awww - that warms my heart like NOTHING else! Children are precious, that's for sure.

I'm looking forward to singing at church in two weeks! I haven't sung in church for MONTHS now, and I really miss it. I need to figure out what I'll be singing within the next few days for the blended service...blended means more traditional than contemporary at our church. The emphasis for the Sunday I'm singing is prayer. Anyone have suggestions? I'm going to sit down and start to work through it all either tonight or tomorrow. The scripture that will be used that Sunday is Matthew 6:5-8.

Hope ya'all are doing well!

Cute

2009-02-25T00:29:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, my sweet Bug girl said something quite funny as she observed the neighbor dog, a golden retriever, standing on her deck...

Bug: "I think Berkeley should climb up a tree or something like that."

Mama: "But dogs can't climb trees, usually."

Bug: "Yes they can, it's important!"

So folks, there you have it....from the mouth of a 33 month old girl...dogs climb trees! We learn things every day, don't we?

Just thought this might make you smile and laugh! :)

New Style!!!

2009-02-17T21:28:00.003-06:00

I have been SO impressed by how adorable the backgrounds are from thecutestblogontheblock.com, and I just had to check it out. If you are looking for some fun new duds for your block, go to this site! It's FREE and it is really cool, I think. Hope you like this new look. I love the colors, except I'm wondering if the green background is sort of distracting and makes it harder to read...let me know your thoughts if you want to!

Amazing story of life

2009-02-17T20:04:00.002-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVf_o1C2nI&NR=1

I just watched this clip of a_bortion survivor G_ianna J_essen, whom I remember reading about when I was a girl. (by the way, all the underscores are so that people cannot find my blog with an online search by typing in this topic) She is the same age as me, and survived a s_aline a_bortion! Apparently the a_bortion dr. wasn't in the room when she was delivered at just 2 lbs, 7.5 months gestation...otherwise he would've had to strangle her or suffocate her so that she wouldn't be alive. TERRIBLE!!!!!!!! BUT, praise the LORD...the nurse was able to SAVE HER LIFE by sending her in an ambulance to a hospital where they took care of her in an incubator, and some precious believers adopted her. And NOW she has an AMAZING story to share and a ministry. I don't like how one of the news anchors in this interview is so short and attacking with her, but she stands up for the truth. AMEN GIRL!

When my Bug was just several weeks old, a girl came to my door who was pro-ch_oice and she was raising funds for some group in our city. She was very nice, but I remember her looking at my little girl after she told me why she was there, and then looking at me and asking me if I was pro-c_hoice, and I said, "no, in fact now I'm VERY pro-l_ife, especially after having this baby." I could tell that she was somewhat taken aback, but very respectful of my stance. She actually seemed to be touched by it. Ever since then, I've wondered about that girl and what happened to her. I have prayed for her several times and for the pro-l_ife movement, that God would be glorified, and that He would help people to see how awful a_bortion is. I know SOOOO many people who would be very happy to adopt the many babies whose lives are being taken from them.

Also, I remember in college having a pro-l_ife week where we had special speakers in chapel. One of the speakers was a woman who had two a_bortions herself and later realized her terrible mistake. She ended up getting married to a neat pastor after she became a C_hristian, and then she and her husband had four children together. She said that every year, her family has a special commemoration for those two babies that she lost. They light candles and remember them, and they talk about reuniting with them in Heaven one day. I remember her saying that one time they were on a beach vacation, and she looked out to see her four children playing in the sand and water, and realized that there should've been two more...that really struck me.

Another speaker that week in chapel was a former a_bortion dr. She shared how cold hearted she had been and how insensitive she had been to the lives that she had taken. God changed her heart, and she became a C_hristian. Now she is very pro-l_ife, and goes around telling people about her story...about what really happens in an a_bortion clinic...

All this to say, I believe that the Lord blesses those who preserve the lives of babies...and that all children are blessings, regardless of how they were conceived. However, honestly, I have no idea how I would react if I was raped or the victim of incest and then became pregnant with a child. No idea. But I believe that those babies are blessings too, and that God can make good come out of evil. And again, there are just so many people who are ready to adopt babies - so many many loving homes available.

If you're reading this, and you've had an a_bortion, please know that I am not condemning you. We all have our stories, don't we? Believe me, I am far far far from being perfect...learning things every day about how imperfect I really am. But I am saved by the blood of Jesus, and He has given me a mind to think and to learn, and I'm trying to be wise. I want to live by His grace alone.

If you are needing help or someone to pray with about this matter or any other, please let me know and I would be glad to pray for you.

May God bless your week.

Valentines Day

2009-02-12T20:25:00.003-06:00

We had our Valentines Day celebration tonight at our house! I set the table with a new heart patterned vinyl tablecloth that I found at my favorite huge store that starts with a giant T, and we lit some candles, and put out the red "you are special today" plates, along with cloth napkins and our fancier silverware. I spent some time today preparing for this big meal, and made homemade lasagna! It was so delicious. We had yummy spinach salad, garlic french bread and then for dessert...dun dun dun...presenting CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES!!!!!!! YUM! I have wanted to make those things for a very long time, so it was fun to have them tonight! We all enjoyed them, along with strawberries and whipped cream. All day, my Bug was talking about our fancy dinner coming up, and she waited and waited for her Daddy to come home from work! It was a special time. I just wanted my family to know how much I love them and care for them, and every ounce of effort to create a special meal was WELL worth it! :)

Bug and I have been creating LOTS of valentines lately, and she has enjoyed it so much. I am a sucker for the valentine stickers, lacy heart doilies, valentine papers...you name it, I want to get it to create the coolest valentines around. I think we'll still have several more days of making valentines. It's just too much fun to put away! Also, I'm hoping to still have a cookie making/decorating time for my Bug. She really loves to make cookies.

Also, the Lord led me to look up many verses on love today, as I prepared a bunch of valentines for my sweetheart. It was such a good reminder to me that HE is love...and HIS love is much stronger than any human love. Amen to that!

Pray for Kari...

2009-01-24T20:34:00.003-06:00

Please pray for my fellow MOPS mom, Kari. She has cancer. If you click on her name, it should link you to her website. I just found out at our MOPS meeting the other day about Kari. She's my age...it really hits home when someone you know who is your age is dealing with something so serious...

and whenever I hear of someone who has cancer, I immediately have a radar that goes off and my attention is drawn to that person because my mom had cancer 8 years ago. She had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Large B Cell Type. And God miraculously healed her body! It truly was a miracle, and we do not take it for granted. She was immediately diagnosed stage four and the cancer had spread throughout her body, with tumors in various places and with her lymphoma it was throughout her lymphatic system...so the prognosis for her was not good. She had chemotherapy, and after just a few sessions she had some tests done to see if the cancer was still in her body or if it was gone...and it was GONE!!! The Dr. said that he still wanted to treat her as though the cancer was there, just in case it was still there...and in a few more months when they checked again it was STILL GONE! And every time she has been checked since then, it has remained absent from her body. PRAISE THE LORD! My mom has had many opportunities to share her faith with people through this experience, and so have I been able to share my faith with people I don't even know...on airplanes, buses, random other places...

Thank you Lord for sparing my mom of her cancer. We praise you that she is here with us still. And now we bring before you Kari, and we ask for you to heal her body Lord! Please please heal this dear, young mama of three. Please remove her cancer from her body. And please encourage her and her husband and children through this time. May they know your peace and your presence in such an incredible way...as that is something that no human can ever provide on their own. Thank you Lord, Amen.

I need a vacation!

2009-01-24T20:00:00.002-06:00

Whenever it gets cold in Minnesota, we Minnesotans get a little antsy in our pantsy and we feel the need to take vacations to WARMER PLACES!!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Minnesota...it is a wonderful place to live. And I actually really enjoy winter, most of the time. Erik and I really like to get out and enjoy winter sports - broomball, hockey, ice skating, sledding, skiing, etc...but with two little kids in the house, we don't always get to do all that stuff. I think that next winter will be a little bit better when my Little Buzz is walking around and probably interested in going outside. Then Big Sister Bug and Little Buzz can both be out there. That will be great fun! We did find a really nice plastic rain/snow cover for our double jogging stroller, and we tried that out on a "warmer" kind of day. (25 degrees or so) Our kids loved being out in the stroller even though it was cold. Oh, so back to the vacation idea...I would love to take a warm weather vacation, but I don't know that we'll be doing that this year. With the economy being the way it is, we're really trying to scrimp and save. So, we're trying to come up with fun things to do around the area that are either free or cheap! Tonight Erik has Big Bug at an indoor water park! I'm SO excited and also jealous. :) I look forward to being there with both kids sometime. I'm hoping to go to some of the art museums and childrens museum in the area sometime too. Do you have any fun ideas? Feel free to share! One more thing that I've been trying to do is to keep a bunch of fun activities around for my little girl. I have a whole bunch of craft items for doing projects, and coloring books, and STICKERS!!!!! My daughter loves loves loves her stickers, so I'm always getting those for her. She's not lacking for fun things to do, that's for sure. And one other thing that she loves to do is to help me cook and bake! She likes to put in the spices and stir things. And she always tells me, "garlic is my favorite spice!" Crazy girl! I like garlic too, but I'm surprised that a two year old would think it so fine.

This is my random collection of thoughts for the day...hope your day is blessed!

Going Green

2009-01-16T11:41:00.002-06:00

One way that I have just decided to go "green" is to "opt out" of receiving the yellow and white pages here in our home. I just read about this through a really neat organizing newsletter that I receive. Here's the link if you want to opt out...

http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/

Note: After I told my honey that we were not going to be receiving phone books at home, he told me that he really wanted to still have them as they are handy to have at times. :) So, I guess we'll probably still get them.

Unbelievable - the CPSC!!!!!!

2009-01-14T12:49:00.003-06:00

**Okay, I just re-read the information that I have linked here, and saw that the CPSC has actually said that resale shops and thrift stores will still be able to sell used childrens things...but there is still a problem - no garage sales, no online used product sales...***

I think that I have heard quite possibly the most UNBELIEVABLE thing ever...that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has come out with a ridiculous law that will ban anyone from selling used children's clothing and gear. I can hardly believe what I'm writing. Socialism, here we come. I mean, come on, this is just crazy!!!!! Yes, we all know that there are high amounts of lead in many children's toys, but if parents are really worried about it, then it is THEIR responsibility to not let their kids play with those toys. Our landfills are going to get even more full if this new law continues. And it is supposed to go into effect on February 10th of this year! I can't believe it. I'm furious. Probably at LEAST half of the clothing and gear that we have is used - some of it given to us, and some of it purchased through a resale shop. And it is perfectly fine and good! How on earth is everyone going to be able to afford brand new things for their children? I know people who exclusively shop at resale stores or through an online used source, and this will now not be an option if our government continues to push their way through with this ridiculous law. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help this law to not go through!!!!! Please call your representatives and write letters and sign this petition! Here are some links for you:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

http://www.rallycongress.com/make-second-hand-kids-clothes-legal-/1471/save-kid-s-clothing-resale-consignment-thrift-stores-from-closing/

Classic Two Year Old Moment...

2009-01-12T22:51:00.002-06:00

He fell for it...Daddy fell for the classic two year old line..."Daddy, I'm SO hungry!" Mind you, this is being said at 10:50 PM!!!!!!!!! And, please note that we fed her a GOOD bedtime snack at 7:50 PM - yogurt, crackers and orange. I put her to bed at 8:50 PM. At 9:15 PM she came and sat on the stairs. When asked what she was doing, she says in a whisper, "I'm sitting very quietly! I just can't sleep." Then I put her back to bed. At 9:45 PM I go in to nurse Baby Brudder and I hear her talking in the next room. I figure she'll fall asleep for SURE by the time I'm done nursing...NOT SO! At 10:15 PM when I'm done nursing, she is jabbering away...so I go in and cover her up again, and kiss her goodnight for the THIRD time. Then, just a few minutes later, her daddy comes home from his broomball game...and surely, she heard him coming...and you have to understand when I say that they are TIGHT! :) The girl and her daddy are so close. And as the saying goes, she has him wrapped around her finger. So, she knows that she can get just about anything to come true if she asks daddy...and sure enough, she pleads the hunger cry and WINS!!!!!!! For crying out loud people! I say to him, "Honey, she's totally pulling the two year old hunger card. You can't fall for it. You just have to put her to bed!" He says, "Haven't you ever had night hunger? Come on, let's just give her a snack. " (giggling as I type...) Oh, he's just so nice ya'all...

It's January!!!

2009-01-06T13:04:00.004-06:00

"Mommy, it's January! How exciting!" This was just stated by my 2.5 year old girl. :) I'm glad that somebody likes January and it's way below freezing MN cold temperatures! We had been talking about how Christmas was over and then I told her that it was January now. Well, soon it will be Valentines Day, so I guess that is something fun to look forward to!

Prayers Answered :)

2008-12-30T23:45:00.003-06:00

Thank you to all who have been praying for my Uncle Ron. His recovery is slow but coming along. He is still in the hospital and will probably be there for some time yet, but we're not sure how long.

On Christmas Day, I had all the family members who were present participate in creating a box of notes, letters, pictures, stories, verses and more for Uncle Ron. I brought my scrapbooking stuff and set it out on my parents' kitchen table and people got to work writing out their thoughts and memories. My niece especially got into it and made several items for the box. I think she's hooked now on scrapbooking, so hopefully she and I can do that together in the future. The box was one that I found at a discount store, but it was big and blue with silver designs on it, and I think it said "joy" as well. I wanted Uncle to have some joy brought into his world, and I think he did. Later that night, I went with my Auntie Dar to the hospital to visit Uncle and bring him the box. He was very touched. My brother and his wife were there as well, and they were crying as well as me and Auntie Dar.

Another little guy that I'd like for you to pray for is baby Stellan. His mama has a blog, and I don't know how to make a link to it through a highlighted word...can anyone help me with that? Her blog is mycharmingkids.net if you want to check it out. We've prayed for Stellan before, but he is in the hospital now at a few months old, and has RSV. He seems to be responding well to the treatment and help he is getting, but he is not out of the woods. Please pray for Baby Stellan. He is the youngest of four kids, and I went to college with his mama.

Thank you!

Dream Feeding Victory!!!

2008-12-30T23:16:00.004-06:00

Our Little Buzzy Bear has been sleeping in his crib at night now for a few weeks, which is a HUGE deal! He had been previously sleeping in his bassinet next to our bed as well as with us in our bed. Now mind you, he still comes into our bed at some point during the night...usually somewhere around 4-5 AM, but the fact that he is going to bed regularly at 7PM and sleeping until 4-5 AM with only a "dream feed" around 11pm-12am is FANTASTIC! I have been giving him a bottle of my mama milk for that dream feed, usually, and that is working so well. I was telling Erik the other night that I feel like a better mommy now that I'm getting some more time to myself in evenings. Buzzy is also taking his morning nap in his crib, unless we're out and about and then he sleeps in his car seat. Altogether, he is getting much better about sleeping on his own and we're so glad. Perhaps it is because he is now six months old and getting three solid food meals a day, but I don't know for sure. So far he has had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, homemade pureed cooked sweet potatoes and prunes. The latter item was much needed after too much rice cereal!

That is the update from Lake Wobegon.

Organizing!

2008-12-21T00:05:00.002-06:00

Tonight, we finally got to dig into our basement junk collection after the kids went to sleep. I'm SO excited and proud of myself for starting to get some more organization done. There is still a whole lot of stuff that just hasn't found a home since we moved in. Amazing too all the treasures I came across as we were digging...like a lovely pitcher that was a wedding gift, my wedding crinolin underskirt thing, the decorative shoe collection that I inherited from my Auntie Dar who inherited it from our Great Aunt Olive, lots of picture frames that we received as wedding gifts that have never had pictures put in them (gotta remedy that soon!), and a whole lot of dust and small, dead critters as well as many many other goodies. Fun. I also worked on organizing our pantry shelves. I like to keep a small stock of extra canned goods, zipper storage bags and containers, and paper goods. It has come in very handy. We are enjoying our crawl space storage area in the basement. It is so helpful to have a place to stash the items that won't get looked at very often.

We have TONS of snow right now! It will most definitely be a white Christmas after all, and that is great. Today the snow was blowing a lot, and after debating if we should try to head out for a bit, we decided it wouldn't be a good idea.

Blessings.

Pictures!!!

2008-12-17T23:32:00.002-06:00

The pictures here are of our Little Buzz and Big Bug as well as me and hubby on Thanksgiving Day...and then the one with Little Buzz in his cow outfit was one of his 5 month shots that I did.

Vaccinations

2008-12-17T23:30:00.000-06:00

The latest thing on my mind is vaccinations. We have been vaccinating our children according to schedule, but recently I'm learning more and more about it...and questioning if we should continue vaccinating, if we should just spread out the vaccinations more, or if we should eliminate some but not all of them...anyway, a lot on my mind. I sent out an email paneling approximately 150 different friends because I want their thoughts. If you are reading this and you didn't get that email and you'd like to weigh in with your thoughts, please feel free. I'm trying, along with my hubby, to be an educated parent in this matter.

Thank you!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T17:18:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is one of my very favorite holidays - THANKSGIVING!!! As a child, and even a college and grad. school student, and now too, I have grown up watching the big Macy's parade every year! When I lived at home, I would watch it with my dad while we peeled the potatoes for mashed goodness. Dad is the one who got me into the parade, as he is still a little wide-eyed boy inside who loves seeing parades. I have such good memories of watching the parade with Dad. And now that I have my own family, Dad and I usually touch base on the morning of Thanksgiving and he asks me if I'm watching the parade, and usually I am! Now I can get my Little Bug into the parade this year, and hopefully she'll enjoy watching the big balloons and floats and hearing the musicians just as much as I do! My dear Erik gets to watch it too, because of us, but he might think I go overboard in my excitement over it! :) Last night I happened to catch a glimpse of the Peanuts Thanksgiving special and that too brought back good memories.

Tonight I will begin my preparation for Thanksgiving. We will spend tomorrow with Erik's family and Friday with my family. On Friday I will be bringing the stuffing that my Auntie D makes, and also the cranberry cherry relish that I make every year. It is a recipe that I found one year and then it has kind of morphed into my own, with a few slight changes. I'll try to share it later if I get a chance.

May you and yours have a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday this year. And may God's richest blessings be upon you in the coming year!

More Prayers Please

2008-11-18T15:57:00.002-06:00

Hello there! I feel like most of my blog posts lately have been in the form of prayer requests, but you know what? We SHOULD be praying! Prayer is so worthwhile and so beneficial...I know from my own life experiences. God has answered many many prayers that I have brought to Him through the years, and He hasn't always answered in the way I had hoped, but yet He has answered.

I wrote a few times ago about my Uncle Ron. He is still in the hospital and has now been sick for over a month. He has had several surgeries that have been successful, and hopefully is now on the mend...however, his condition is quite critical. Please continue to pray for him. I really truly appreciate those prayers, and I know that Uncle Ron and Auntie Dar do as well.

Sarah is another person for whom I've been praying - a former voice student of mine. She is still in a coma after about a month and a half, and has had some issues related to that. Her family is so amazing and they have stayed by her side through all of her ordeal. Please be praying for Sarah and for her family.

There is a woman from church who is in our Sunday School class named Ruth who has cancer and needs our prayers for healing. Please also pray for Ruth's husband Mark and for their two daughters. My mom was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma eight years ago and has been cancer free for almost eight years, so I know just a bit of the road that Ruth and her family are traveling now. It is a hard road. But when the body of Christ comes around families in crisis, there is such a difference...so I'm praying for that also for Ruth and for the other requests in my entry.

Thanks for your prayers.

The Musician's Prayer

2008-11-08T22:52:00.002-06:00

My mom gave me this prayer many years ago in the form of a wall hanging, written by B.J. Hoff...I just came across it while going through some office boxes that have gone unpacked for almost a whole year since we moved into our house! I hope it blesses you today.

You've given me the words,
Lord, and the music,
a song of life that's new and unrehearsed...
You've given me the joy
that makes my heart sing,
even though at times the tears come first...
You've taken all my yesterdays of discord,
a clash of cymbals,
meaningless and vain,
transposing all the noise into a love song,
that floods my very soul with its refrain...
You've taken all the gifts
I once thought mine, Lord,
and changed the composition of their worth;
reclaiming what was Yours
from the beginning,
returning them, transfigured by rebirth...
You've given me the theme for my existence,
and I will sing Your glory all my days;
For now, Lord...and forever...
be my Music,
and make my life a symphony of praise.

Prayers for Uncle Ron

2008-11-05T11:09:00.002-06:00

If you are reading this, please pray for my dear Uncle Ron. He has been hospitalized now for a week and a half with a really bad infection. He has already had two surgeries and will be having another tomorrow. I visited him last night, and he seemed really glad to see me. He asked me to pray with him before I left, and that was so sweet...so I did. I'm really glad that we could have a few minutes to visit. The doctor said that the infection is Gangreen, so that is very serious and life-threatening. They are keeping close tabs on him and doing a great job at his hospital.

Thanks for your prayers for Uncle Ron. I know he appreciates all the prayer he can get.

Crying it out!

2008-11-05T11:02:00.002-06:00

Well, my Little Buzz is now four and a half months old. I can hardly believe it! He weighed in at 15 lbs. 12 oz. for his four month appointment, and I think that put him a 67% for weight. He was around 30 inches for height, so at 78% or so for that, and then his head was in the 95%, just like Mama! Maybe he'll be a singer and then he can resonate all day in his head...

So, a few days ago I decided that my child needs to learn how to take naps regularly. It has been much harder to institute that with an older child around, so he just doesn't get a nap regularly. Today I'm letting him cry, and then every five minutes I go and pick him up and comfort him and then put him back in his crib. It's awful. I hate hate hate hearing him cry like that. He's wailing right now as I type and it stinks. BUT, I know that he needs to sleep, and I have to help him figure that out. I hope that he can learn to sleep on his own soon. He just hasn't been a super good sleeper yet, and maybe he never will be. A night owl, perhaps, like me.

And Big Bug woke up with a cold this morning, so I wasn't able to go to my MOPS group. I really try to abide by the rules to not bring children with colds, although I think my kiddo must have picked up something at church this past weekend when we were there. There's just always bugs going around, and as one friend told me, "kids are like petri dishes." So, in the midst of not going to MOPS, I'm trying to accomplish other things like dishes and laundry. And that is a good thing!

Tears...

2008-10-30T23:47:00.001-05:00

My friend Korissa wrote an incredible true story about sharing Christ's love with her neighbors...read it here...

http://www.crispycross.com/

MckMuffin was born!

2008-10-30T23:34:00.002-05:00

My bloggy friend and former college classmate, MckMama, has had her fourth baby boy - Stellan! He was born today and is just adorable. All children are such miracles from God, but this little guy was really having a hard time in the womb and there was talk of him not making it...but God had OTHER GLORIOUS PLANS!!! PRAISE TO HIM ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you want to read more about MckMama and her sweet family, her blog is http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Tonight's Dinner on the Cheap!

2008-10-25T16:04:00.003-05:00

Hey there! I'm excited to share with you what we're having for dinner tonight, and it was quite reasonable to put together! Baked chicken and rice with onions and peppers! A few weeks ago I used some coupons from our local grocer for the "buy one get one" whole chickens cut up. SO, I bought 4 of them total, each then costing me only $3.50. Isn't that great? I put them in the freezer and today thawed one out. Now it is cooking in my electric skillet along with some onions & green peppers chopped up, and seasoned with some salt-free Greek seasoning that I like. Then after it is browned, I'm going to combine it with some fast-cooking brown rice that I'm pre-cooking right now, and I'll also put in some "healthy" cream of chicken soup. Mix it all up and bake it probably for an hour or so...YUM!!!!!!! And so reasonable! I think that along with it I'm going to make some carrot-orange juice, and maybe another side vegetable...

Nap time, sweet nap time...

2008-10-20T15:46:00.002-05:00

Ah, this time is SO great! Both kiddos are down sleeping and I finally have enough energy to be up while they're asleep, which means that I can do whatever I want or need to do! HALLELUIAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, I realized that Little Bug has consistently been calling her baby brother "Little Buzz" for quite awhile. I think that it is sticking, and I think it is adorable. She's got me into calling him that now too! So, I have a Bug and a Buzz - too cute. I'm so grateful for these two kids.

After finally getting out the door at 11:15 am this morning, we headed off to Target for a bit of shopping. Bug got a free kids cookie from the bakery (love that!) and enjoyed most of it thoroughly as she sat in the multiple child seat attached to the shopping cart. (I finally get to claim one of those fun carts now since I have my multiple kids.) That cart is really helpful, by the way. I can pile all kinds of things in and around the extra muliple kid spot on the front, and Bug helps them to stay put. Then, Buzz can sit in his carseat inside the main cart and get lulled to sleep by the rattling of the cart on the sticky store floor. About halfway through our grocery shopping there was great panic - "Mommy, my cookie!" Oh oh, the cookie had fallen to it's great demise, right there on the store floor...and Bug's face was so saddened! I explained, "It's okay honey, that's just what happens when we drop food on the floor. We can't eat it anymore because the floor is dirty, so we'll have to throw it away." Oh well! Such is life, right?

I'm really getting into blogging again, and it's fun. :)

Gday, ya'all.

Organizing Movies

2008-10-19T23:39:00.004-05:00

Well, tonight I finally hit the wall and decided that it was HIGH time to organize our movie collection! The movies were somewhat organized before in some nice white boxes that I bought from IKEA, but they were sort of scattered...and the shelves that they were on were really really dusty from MONTHS of neglect. These shelves are ones that I stare at every day when I'm sitting in our family room nursing the baby, and every day I have thought about how much I wanted to get things organized and cleaned in there. See, I really do like to be organized and I always am plotting out ways to organize and things I could organize...it's just that I often have a hard time following through on doing the projects or else I just plain don't have time with a two year old and a four month old. Tonight when we went for a walk in the lovely fall air, I made a resolution that I will try to attack one room or area each day that needs help and work to get it taken care of. So, I feel I succeeded tonight! Also, it was really fun looking through the videos we have to see things that I had forgotten about. Now I'm looking forward to going through my nice and neat boxes next time I want to watch a video, or I'm looking for one for my Little Bug.

Juicing and Leaf Preservation!

2008-10-18T21:38:00.003-05:00

Well, tonight we finally tried out our juicer and it was SO wonderful! The juice is delicious and it was simple to make it. We made a carrot and orange juice for our first go round and the votes came in very positive. Little Bug loved it and so did Mama & Daddy! Of course it was kind of a mess to clean up, but really, I think it is so worth the health benefits.

We all have the crud. Daddy was gone today helping some friends to move, so Mama and the kiddos hung out at home. We were able to go for a walk this afternoon, and it was lovely! Little Bug and I chose a bunch of gorgeous leaves to bring home. Then I remembered a fun project from my YMCA day camp counselor days, and I found the directions for it in a kids craft book that I have...and we preserved the leaves by placing them in between wax paper and ironing them. If you do this, you have to first put a layer of newspaper on the ironing board, then a layer of wax paper, then the leaves, another layer of wax paper, and another layer of newspaper. Iron away for 30 seconds on each leaf, and then when you're all done you just pull the wax paper away from the leaves, and voila - you have preserved leaves! I have no idea how long they are preserved for, but I'm excited to find out!

Invasion of the...

2008-10-16T23:13:00.003-05:00

BOX ELDER BUGS!!!!!!! People, they're back, and they're getting in our home through every possible crevice. I remember last fall when we found this home and we visited several times before we bought it, I saw GIZILLIONS of box elder bugs everywhere. Needless to say, they kind of creep me out and I have this tendency to want to squish them and get rid of them. They're perfectly harmless, and just happen to enjoy hanging out with us, but I don't like their presence one bit. We have four box elder trees in our backyard, so I think that is one huge reason why there are so many bugs. The trees look kind of pretty though, so perhaps we'll keep them around...even though my original plan was to cut them down and replant with something else.

On another note, we're hanging in there in our house, except that three of us are sick. Yup, me and the kiddos are sick. My illness just crept in today, so I'm trying to get rid of it using my SinuCleanse pot, taking vitamins, and not eating so much sugar! I gotta stop the sugar. It just doesn't help things in general. Also, I'm really excited to try my new Jack LaLanne Power Juicer! I've actually had it sitting in our kitchen for the last several weeks. It was a fun purchase while hubby man was gone in Asia, and now I am looking forward to using it and seeing if it might help me overcome this yucky buggy inside of me!

Despite being ill, two kiddos are surprisingly happy much of the time. Green snot runs down their faces and they keep smiling at me - precious. And to top it off, we had a chance to take some outdoor photos today when Daddy came home from work. We were jumping in the leaves and it was fun and colorful!

That's all for now! Gotta go feed the littlest bug...

Pray for Sarah

2008-10-07T22:08:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but life has been so busy here. Erik was gone on a 3 week business trip to Asia, and I just didn't have time!

Please pray for a former voice student of mine who was in a terrible car accident two days ago...her name is Sarah. Her Caring Bridge site is http://caringbridge.org/cb/viewHome.do and if that doesn't work, then go to caringbridge.org and type in Sarah Lee. There were four teenagers in the car, and Sarah sustained the worst of the injuries, and is currently in a coma which is partially drug induced. They are trying to keep the swelling down on her brain. Sarah is an incredibly sweet girl, and I had her in my home on a regular basis for a few years. She even babysat for my Kristi a few times. I'm very stunned by all of this, and I'm asking God for healing.

Thanks for your prayers.

New Pictures :)

2008-09-11T13:11:00.002-05:00

If I had a hammer...

2008-09-11T12:14:00.004-05:00

I'd bonk brudder's head with it! This is what I found the other day when I had turned my back for just a minute...big sister had bonked baby brudder with a toy hammer that she has. Geepers! Where do kids get these ideas thinking that bonking other people is okay? She's two - I just have to remember that she's two and she's learning what is right and what is wrong. And that it is good and okay for me to remind her of what is right and what is wrong! I have always said that I wanted to be the parent who keeps her kids in line...but it is REEEEEEEEEEEALLLYYYYYY hard some times! I'm learning the delicate balance in this area. I want her to still enjoy being a child and I NEVER want to crush her spirit.

Well, I must go now...kids to tend to!

Johnny's funeral

2008-09-02T22:05:00.004-05:00

It was really special to sing for Johnny's funeral last Friday. I'm so thankful that I could be a part of what was really one of the most beautiful funeral services I've ever seen. Johnny's mommy & daddy really poured their hearts into his service, and it was incredibly honoring to him. Thank you to everyone who was praying for the family and for me. I barely made it through without crying while I sang. But God allowed me to cry in between all the music, and to then get back up and sing and have enough strength to make it through. One of the neatest elements of the service was that there were over one hundred candles up on the stage, representing each day of little Johnny's life. The candles were on a table, in different votive holders, and they were interspersed with flowers and greens...it was breathtaking. It was also really precious to hear Johnny's daddy speak. He really poured out his heart and it helped me to feel like I knew little Johnny even more. And one of the most heart wrenching and beautiful things that happened at the end of the service was that Johnny's mommy and daddy went out and brought his big sister (who is two) back into the sanctuary, and she placed a lovely white rose on top of Johnny's little casket...and then the rose was covered partially with a sweet blue baby blanket. It was so symbolic. Big sister saying goodbye to her baby brother and covering him with a blankie. I lost it then, and I'm crying again as I type this. Having children with similar ages and genders as these two little ones, I am feeling that much more with Johnny's mommy and daddy.

Oh Lord, please continue to comfort Johnny's mommy, daddy & big sister. Give them your strength and your peace and surround them with your amazing presence.

Singing...

2008-08-27T18:21:00.002-05:00

I'm singing this Friday for a funeral at our church. It is the funeral of this sweet little four month old boy, Johnny. I know it will probably be some of the most difficult singing I've ever had to do, but I also know that God will get me through it. I will be singing some lullabies that Johnny's mommy sang to him, and also helping to lead congregational singing. If you read this and you think of it, please pray for this family...and please pray that I can make it through without crying during the funeral, or at least while I'm singing. Thank you so much!

2 months old

2008-08-26T00:19:00.004-05:00

I can hardly believe that our Anders is already two months old. He had his two month appointment today, and already weighs in at 12.8 pounds. This seems so remarkable to me because our little Kristiana was such a tiny squirt and didn't weigh that much for probably another month or two. We're thankful for the health that Anders has experienced after his rough start with a hospital stay, and we thank God and attribute it solely to Him. Praise be to our God who heals. I'll try to put up a picture soon...

Baby Johnny...

2008-08-25T14:10:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

Please be in prayer for a family from our church who has just lost their four month old baby boy, Johnny. My heart aches for this dear family.

http://dandlkids.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your prayers...

New Challenges

2008-08-15T23:58:00.003-05:00

Wow, it has been two weeks since I last posted. Needless to say, life with these two kiddos is definitely keeping us busy here! And it is a good kind of busy. We're slowly learning how to juggle things and trying to keep our patience all at the same time. That has certainly been one of my challenges this past week - having patience. Erik was out of town for work this week and I faced for the first time nights without my helper man! For all of you single parents or parents whose spouses are gone a lot, I am so amazed at what you do on a day to day basis. Kudos, and may God give you strength.

Out of the blue, our sweet Kristi girl started to stutter this week. And it is getting more frustrating for her every day. Now she knows that something is wrong and it is hitting her hard. Tonight, we were driving in the car and she was trying to tell me something as I was sitting near her in the backseat. She kept saying, "I I I I I I..." and then said, "Mommy, can you talk to me?" I think she was trying to say, "Mommy, can you speak for me?" It absolutely broke my heart and I started crying. Her big, beautiful, steely-blue eyes were pleading with me to understand what was going on in her world. I did a bit of reading this week, and also have heard from a few other people, but have learned that stuttering is very common for small children. There is so much information in their minds and they cannot process all of it quick enough for their tongues to speak. Our Kristi has such a strong linguistic ability, that I think she is just having a hard time keeping up with that. And it makes sense that it is hitting right now because she is dealing with the transition of being a big sister, and also was having a difficult time with Daddy being gone this week and Mommy not having enough time to devote to her like I used to be able to do.

We're praying that God will help Kristi through this time. Maybe this is her thorn in the flesh...and hopefully, it will go away and just be a phase.

Pray for Stellan...

2008-08-01T13:57:00.003-05:00

Please pray for my friend MCKMama and her baby, Stellan. He is inside of her womb and too early to be born, but having heart problems.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Thank you.

My Two Lovelies

2008-07-25T20:29:00.001-05:00

TGIF

2008-07-25T20:23:00.003-05:00

I always love and appreciate Fridays because Fridays mean that Erik is home for the weekend! And with two children now, I REALLY look forward to Fridays and knowing that I have my honey here to not only help out but just to be with. One thing we love to do as a family is to take walks. Tonight we took a walk to our neighborhood park and let me tell ya, it was a much needed walk for me. A relief walk, really. When I don't exercise, I kind of start to go crazy. Today was just a busy day, and even though I'm really exhausted and even though I had a mini-meltdown after supper, I knew that I had to get a walk. Once we got Kristi situated at the playground, I spent a little time with her playing and Erik walked Anders around the perimeter of the park. Then we switched off and I walked Anders while Erik played with our big Buggy Girl. While I was walking, I could feel my endorphins kicking in and allowing my tension to release. I prayed and thanked God for the lovely surroundings that I get to see when I'm walking...green grass & trees & flowers, the sounds of the birds singing and children playing, and I thanked Him for being Lord of all the Earth, omnitient, omnipotent, and omnipresent...I usually feel His presence more it seems when I'm outside enjoying nature, and tonight was one of those nights. So, THANK YOU GOD for giving us the outdoors.

Anders seems to be healing up well from his circumcision. We're so glad for that.

Blessings...

Circumcision Day

2008-07-22T14:12:00.003-05:00

Today Anders was circumcised. I think it was more painful for me than for him. Anders is such a trooper, and he loved the sugar water that they gave him during the procedure. Thankfully Erik was able to be there, so I didn't have to stay in the room.

Now, hopefully that is the last we'll have to be in the dr's office until the 2 month checkup!

Today, Anders is one month old! I can't believe it! This month has gone by so quickly. Kristiana is really trying to be such a good helper, and I'm proud of her.

We're slowly figuring out how to balance two kids...they're such blessings.

Hooray!!!!!

2008-07-16T21:16:00.002-05:00

Two wonderful things were found out today...

1. The results of Anders' ultrasound were completely normal! Ergo, he does not have Spina Bifida! We are SO thankful and praising God for this answer! THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!!

2. I weighed our Little Buddy at the clinic tonight, and he weighed in at 8 lbs! That means that he has gained a pound in just over a week! We are so happy about this positive weight gain. I knew he was gaining, but I didn't know how much. Yeah!

Thank you for praying for our Anders and for us. We so appreciate it. Hopefully we are on the right track now and can avoid going to the hospital for a long while!

**Tonight we went to Erik's parents home on the lake, and Kristi had fun playing in the water with Daddy! I had fun watching them through the window while I took care of Anders. We're trying to help Kristi get over her fear of being in the water. I have no idea where that came from, as we've always encouraged her to enjoy it...must just be an innate fear.

Had an ultrasound

2008-07-15T20:23:00.002-05:00

Anders had his ultrasound today on his spine and he was such a trouper! As I thought might happen, the rad. tech. person didn't let on any information at all both verbally and facially, so we won't know anything until we hear from the dr. hopefully tomorrow. I'll write more then. In the meantime, I'm glad that the test is done. Erik & I were able to have lunch together at the hospital after the test, and that was a nice treat.

Ultrasound

2008-07-14T15:23:00.003-05:00

Wowsers! I just saw that I haven't written a post in a week, and I cannot believe how quickly that time has flown! Thank you for the encouraging comments and for your prayers. Anders is doing pretty well it seems, and he likes to eat a lot. We've worked out a system of giving him bottles during the nighttime feedings, and then I try to nurse him more during the day. Erik is then able to help me out with one of those feedings, bless his sweet heart! He seems to be enjoying the daddy & son time when he gets to help feed his boy.

Tomorrow morning Anders has an ultrasound on his spine at 10:30 am. I truly have such peace and know that God is in control. I really haven't been worrying about things, and I know it is because people are praying and that God has alleviated this worry from me. I'll try to let you know as soon as I know any results. I'm not sure how that will work, if I will get results right away or if it will have to be read by a dr. and then we won't know for a few days or a week or something to that effect.

Gotta go feed my little monkey man before big sister wakes up...

Good Appointments!

2008-07-07T16:50:00.004-05:00

We had two good appointments today...the first with a lactation consultant at the hospital. She helped me a LOT to get some feeding issues straightened out for Anders. I'm so thankful and hopeful! And another good thing was that the nurse weighed Anders at the start of the appointment and he weighed 6 lbs 13 oz, so he gained 11 oz. since I weighed him last Thursday! I was SO excited about that! Hooray for formula supplementation. Our little guy has had so much more energy the last few days and when he is alert his eyes are so beautiful! They're really a lovely shade of blue grey, just like his big sister.

This afternoon, we had our 2 week pediatrician appointment. Our dr. cracks me up and likes to refer to our kids as "cute (& or skinny) little rat(s)" and "cute monkey(s)." We had been concerned that Anders might perhaps have Spina Bifida, and I was so curious to see what his dr. would say. The dr. confirmed the little dimple in Anders' back, but said that it didn't really look like the kind that could be problematic. However, he assured me that we could schedule a spinal ultrasound to determine more accurately if there is anything wrong with the spine. I am relieved that we can do the ultrasound, and I think it will give me a lot more peace of mind to know one way or the other if there is something wrong.

I'm very tired today as I think I only have had about 2 hours of sleep in the last day, so I'm looking forward to having a relaxing evening at home and perhaps more sleep tonight??? Ha, we'll see. :) But ah, these are the joys of the early days of parenting a newborn. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I treasure the moments I have cradling my new son, and I thank God for his precious life. He is such a sweet baby and a true gift.

Off to happy feeding land...

more pictures

2008-07-06T18:31:00.004-05:00

Pictures...

2008-07-06T18:12:00.003-05:00

Losing weight...

2008-07-03T23:36:00.002-05:00

Today I was noticing that once again Anders wasn't having enough wet diapers, even though I've been trying to nurse him a lot. So, I called the clinic and was able to talk with my dear long time family doctor who happened to be on call. He suggested that I take my little guy in to the clinic to weigh him and then think about giving him some formula if need be in addition to nursing. I weighed Anders and he had lost nearly 9 oz. since his Monday appt. NOT GOOD!!!!!!! I just started sobbing because I felt so bad that he was not thriving yet again. I went out to Target and picked up some formula and we did our first formula feeding tonight after I tried to nurse Anders. We're going to supplement with the formula as much as we need to and I'm going to try to keep nursing and see how it goes. I'm hoping to go to a lactation consultant this coming week to get some help and tips.

Gotta run...baby crying...please pray that our little guy can gain weight...

Anders Per!

2008-07-02T23:45:00.002-05:00

**I just sent this as an email and thought I'd put it into the blog...***

Dear Friends & Family,

I'm sorry that we haven't been able to give you this news sooner, but if you read on you'll understand why. We had our baby boy Anders Per on Sunday, June 22nd at 1:18 AM. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 3/4 oz, and was 19.5 inches long. Labor and delivery went fairly well and quite quick. We stayed in the hospital for less than 48 hours and went home. Anders (on-durrs) means Andrew in Swedish, but originally the name Andrew is Greek and it means "manly." Per (like "pear") means Peter in Swedish, and in Greek it is "rock". We were excited to be able to combine our Scandinavian heritage with Biblical names as well.

A few days after coming home, I was noticing that Anders just wasn't as lively as he should be and he was not eating and going to the bathroom enough. His temperature reached a low of 95.6 on Thursday, the day that we took him into the ER at Childrens Hospital in St. Paul. Immediately, Anders was wrapped in very warm blankets and began a bunch of tests, including three spinal taps. Because of the dehydration, it was very hard to get enough spinal fluid on the first try, so that's why it took three tries. The same thing was true for taking blood and inserting iv's. It took several tries for that as well. Even though he was so sick, our little man put up quite a fight and cried really hard during all of these experiences, which was difficult for us to see and hear but also reassuring.

All the tests that have been done on Anders have come back negative, which is good news. The conclusion is that he probably had a really bad virus that caused him to be so sleepy and not able to eat and thus become dehydrated. We stayed in the hospital with him for three nights while he was getting re-hydrated with saline and also receiving antibiotics and anti-viral drugs intravenously. After one night of fluids, our Anders started to be himself again and had enough energy to eat.

We're home again, as of Sunday afternoon. It feels so good to be here, instead of at the hospital listening to beeps and having our sleep interrupted. We're grateful that Anders seems to be feeling better. Because of his infection, we're going to have to be more careful with him these first few months as far as not exposing him to illness and large groups. So, please do not be offended if we need to say no to having you all hold him and touch him, or if we ask for you to wash your hands. I already was a germ freak, and I'm even more of one now after this experience.

Another thing that we're going to have to investigate more is that I noticed a small dimple/divit on Anders' lower back, along his spinal column. I asked the Dr. about it the other day at a follow up appointment and she said that it might actually be an indication of Spina Bifida, a condition in which the neural tube does not close completely during pregnancy. I'm baffled by this possibility as I have faithfully taken my prenatal vitamins, containing folic acid which is supposed to help prevent neural tube defects. However, after reading some information on Spina Bifida, I learned that not only is it an environmentally caused condition but also a hereditary one...another thing that we're not sure of as there isn't anyone we can think of who has had something like this in our families. There are several varying degrees of Spina Bifida, and the mildest form is sometimes completely undetected and people can live completely normal lives. The more serious forms usually cause paralysis and muscle and joint problems, among other things. My mind has been wandering off worrying about whether or not Anders may have this condition, but the fact is, nothing has been formally diagnosed yet. We are going back for another follow up appointment with Anders' regular pediatrician who has been out of town and hasn't met our little guy yet, and that appt. will be on Monday. If you think of it, we would greatly appreciate your prayers for Anders. He might be completely fine and the little dimple might just be something unique on his body and not harmful at all. From what I know, he will have to have an ultrasound to detect any mishaps in his spinal column. I'm also hoping that we can take a closer look at the x-rays that were taken on his entire body when we were at the hospital. Maybe that will give us some more clarity.

In the meantime, Anders seems to be doing okay. I'm just trying to be very careful to watch him and feed him as much as he wants to eat and then some.

Thank you to all who have been praying for us and encouraging us. We so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. This has been a really dramatic week here and I know that it is God who is upholding us.

If you are in the area, we would love to see you for a short visit or chat with you on the phone.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

2008-06-20T20:59:00.003-05:00

To the hospital, to the hospital to have a sweet babe, only home again home again jiggety jag.

Yup, we went into the hospital last night around 3 am because my contractions were continuous all night long and became very strong around 2 am. I was monitored and checked all day and after two hour long walks around the hospital to try and get things moving and the dr. actually trying to rupture my water and it not working, we came home early this afternoon. At first I was so discouraged that our baby didn't get to come, but now I truly have a remarkable sense of peace. God greatly changed my perspective during our hospital stay, and most of that took place at the end when I was eating a meal in the cafeteria. While in there, I saw a few cancer patients with no hair...one of whom was only probably 10 or 11 years old. My heart sank for that young boy, and God reminded me that I am healthy and that the fact that I'm having this baby is remarkable in itself...that He would allow me even to experience this pregnancy is such a gift...and that I need to be thankful. When my mom was going through her chemo. treatments for her cancer seven and a half years ago, I saw a lot of children in the oncology clinic, and I always cried when I saw them because I felt sad that the were having to go through such a struggle in their young life. It just didn't make sense, and still doesn't make sense, and probably never will make sense to me. Lord, please comfort those two people that I saw today in the cafeteria...give them your peace and your strength.

So, all of that to say, thank you God for giving me good health. Thank you for keeping this baby safe. (he did really well on the monitoring today) Thank you for helping me to avoid Preeclampsia thus far in this pregnancy. Thank you for showing me some grace today and for reminding me that you are in control...that I need to trust you...that I need to have patience...and that you know the plan for me and for this sweet boy that is very active inside of me. Thank you God for my dear husband who has been so encouraging and helpful and kind through all of this - bless him! Thank you God for dear friends and family who are upholding us in prayer.

Thank you God.

P.S. My contractions continue on, FYI! I still feel pretty strongly that this child will be coming within the next few days, but we'll see!

More & More...

2008-06-19T22:42:00.002-05:00

So, all day long I've had contractions...this is probably the most contractions in a day that I've had so far. Tonight, quite consistently for the last 5 hours or so I have had at least 4 if not 5 contractions in an hour...but they're not that close together and they're not exceedingly all strong. Who knows...God does, that's for sure! He is all over this child and his birth, and I'm trying to find peace in that...although tonight once again I'm feeling so impatient. It really felt good to get out and go for a walk to the park with Erik & Kristi. I'm glad that we could do that together, and I'm glad that at least I'm in good enough condition to be able to walk. That is a blessing.

Gotta go finish getting a stain out of a shirt before throwing in another load of laundry!

Night night!

Not here yet :)

2008-06-19T15:02:00.002-05:00

Hey Friends & Family :)

We're still waiting for our boy. My body continues to feel really weird and contractions are more present throughout the entire day, but not yet super close together. At least I know that something is going on and obviously it is inevitable that our kid will come sometime! Today I have had a much more positive outlook than I did yesterday when I was just bummed that this child hadn't made his debut yet. My dear mom has come over the last few days to help me out with things around the house, and that has meant so much to me. I whipped up a great chicken & pasta salad with oranges and dried cherries in it, and we had that for our lunch. Yum! I really have a thing for pasta salads, especially in the summer.

I must remember that God is in control. One verse I was reminded of today was, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." I think that is in one of Kristi's little Bible song books that we've been reading and singing lately, so I guess it is in my head. A good one indeed.

Hope you have a nice day!

On the way?

2008-06-18T10:08:00.002-05:00

Hey Ya'all!

I think that Baby Boy is on the way as things seem to be progressing a lot in the last 20 hours or so...we'll see what happens in the next day or two! I thought for sure last night was the night as I had TWO HOURS of strong contractions, but then they stopped and they weren't super close together...I really wanted to go to the hospital, but somehow I felt like it wasn't right and I should just lay down again. Sure enough, the contractions stopped and I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours. Poor Erik! He's so tired too, with all the disruptions in his sleep. What a good sport!

Well, must go as my Little Bug is sitting on my lap...

Tired today...

2008-06-14T11:11:00.003-05:00

I woke up feeling so exhausted this morning, so I'm glad to have a little time to myself right now. Erik took Kristi over to his parents home so that they could go out in the rowboat on the lake! She absolutely loves going in the boat, even though she is a little afraid of it. She asks about it all the time! I have yet to see her in the boat. It kind of freaks me out to have my little two year old in a boat already, but she wears her lifejacket and her daddy is a trained lifeguard and expert sailer...so I'm sure she'll be okay. They always stick close to the shore of the lake anyway, so that's good.

Last night we watched a very gruesome movie and I had a hard time falling asleep. It was "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Bleeker Street," which in case you don't know about is a Broadway musical that was set to film just recently. Johnny Depp stars and he is such a talented actor and also has a great voice! The music, written by Steven Sondheim, is brilliant and I enjoyed some of the lovely melodies. In fact, I have sung a few pieces from the show for fun, but really never understood their context prior to seeing the film. The story itself is really violent and there is a lot of blood shed. Erik and I had to look away during all the bloody scenes. After viewing this movie, I am shocked in retrospect to know of a local high school where one of my voice students attends that just this spring performed this production. My student was involved in the pit orchestra and had a good experience playing, but it just shocks me that a high school would even venture into this kind of territory with such a bloody tale. Honestly, I feel that it would be extremely inappropriate material for high schoolers. Then again, my high school also has also done some shows which I felt were very inappropriate for high schoolers and their family audiences. It's all up to the director usually. Whatever the director wants, the director often gets to do. I wish that some directors had more discretion when choosing pieces for their high school (or junior high or college age) students. There are so many good, classy plays and musicals out there that are much more appropriate for high schoolers & college aged & junior highers. I'm glad that I had a chance to be involved in some such shows..."You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "South Pacific," "Godspell," "Meet Me In St. Louis," "The Pirates of Penzance," "Cinderella..." Those are the ones that I did during high school and college and had GREAT experiences with each show!

Well, today is a fresh start. I'm glad to have some time at home to rest and relax. Last night I also had a hard time falling asleep because I was again having cramps and contractions. I've been wondering just how much of that will happen before I have true labor. Some of my friends have experienced a lot of those types of cramps and contractions before true labor and it has taken weeks for them to deliver. I'm learning that I must must must learn to have some patience. It is a virtue, after all!!!

Carousel, Como, Careening Butterflies and Big 80's Hair

2008-06-12T20:44:00.005-05:00

This morning I knew that I just had to get out of the house when I saw how lovely of a day it was going to be! The sun was shining brightly and the weather was looking to be just perfect for an outing, so Kristi and I made our way to our wonderful little Como Zoo. We have been there a few other times in the last couple of months, and every time we go it is a lot of fun. Kristi seems to notice different things each time and absolutely loves to take in not just the animals but all the different people! I think that the zoo and the state fair offer some of the best people watching experiences in town. :)

One of the coolest things about today at the zoo was that there is a new exhibit on butterflies and we were able to go through it! There were butterflies zooming around us and occasionally they would land on me. Strict instructions from the zoo people were to not touch the butterflies, so I just got to enjoy their tickling on my toes and neck when they would land there. In the exhibit were many beautiful flowers and butterflies of many varieties, some of which I had never seen...giant blue butterflies, red, orange, yellow, black, brown, white, and of course the traditional Monarch butterflies that we see a lot of here in Minnesota. If you are in the area this summer, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the butterfly exhibit. I imagine it will be a much visited exhibit during its time, so perhaps it would be best to arrive earlier in the day to avoid the daycamp and daycare crowds. We were there around 10:15 am, and it wasn't too crowded yet.

The lions were crazy today! I think that they might be mating or something, because the female lion was hiding behind a tree and then creeping up on the male and pouncing on him! It was the funniest thing I think I've ever seen those lions do. They were tackling each other and roaring quite a bit. Many children were scared by the loud roars of the lions, including my little one! But it was nonetheless a very fun experience to witness. Usually when I have seen the lions they are just sleeping.

As we were leaving the zoo, I decided that we should go ahead and ride the old fashioned carousel. Kristi was thrilled with that choice, and we had a ton of fun. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest option for a 37 week preggie lady to do, but at this point I'm all about helping this child to come out! A nice volunteer at the carousel ride helped to hoist Kristi up to the horse so that we could ride the horse together. He stood nearby during the ride as if trying to help protect me in case something should happen! It was so sweet.

We walked up to the park tonight. It has been so neat to have Kristi walk by herself instead of pushing her in the stroller. She is loving the freedom! While we were at the park, there was a lady there who couldn't have been all that much older than me and she was sporting this really huge puffy hairdo that reminded me so much of an 80's girl rock band look! I got a good giggle out of that. It just isn't that often that I see hair like that anymore, unless I'm down in Texas visiting. It seems that a lot of women in Texas still like big hair. No offense ya'all! I love you dearly! :) Everything in Texas is bigger, right?

Must go help put the kiddo to bed...and I'm kind of giggling at myself for saying that I wouldn't be writing much since our computer is sick. I've been more diligent about writing this week than I have been for awhile! I'm just enjoying it I guess.

Blessings.

Ramen Noodle Craving!!!

2008-06-11T22:30:00.002-05:00

I am currently in the process of nuking some ramen noodles for myself! I can hardly wait to stir in the chicken flavor and eat me up some good 'ol sodium laden, bad preservative filled ramen! :) (there's the southern talk sneaking in) What a goofy craving. I have had this craving only a few times in my pregnancy, and it just happened to hit again tonight. I think I shall pair the ramen up with some chunks of watermelon which are shouting out to me from the frig. I LOVE watermelon, and that is another of my cravings in the last several weeks. Every time I go to the grocery store I have to buy some watermelon. Ahhh...the microwave just beeped and my noodles are ready for consumption!

Oh, and I thought I was going into labor a few minutes ago...but now I think it is done for the time being. :) Good times. 37 weeks today!

Nothing New

2008-06-10T20:57:00.003-05:00

I went in for my dr. appt. today fulling thinking that perhaps my body might be progressing for the arrival of this baby, but nope, nothing new there! I was kind of disappointed, but the more I think about it, it is better for this baby to stay inside as long as he needs to. The dr. did seem to think that Baby is staying on the small side which is GREAT with me! She thought that perhaps Baby is still shy of 6 lbs, and for 37 weeks tomorrow, that's great. I am hoping that we'll still have this child a little bit early. Now I don't have to worry about him coming early as we're past the danger zone, and I can go about my daily life as much as I'm able to. I am excited to be able to go for more walks as I've been missing that lately!

We went out to dinner tonight near where we used to live, and it was such a fun time. One of Erik's colleagues from Asia joined us, and we had fun visiting with her. Kristi was very chatty and goofy at dinner time. At the restaurant where we went, they had an ice cream sunday bar where you could add all kinds of goodies to your ice cream! I'm talking gummy worms (how fun is that???), crushed oreo cookies, crushed heath bar, crushed m & m's, and a whole bunch of other things. It was so much fun. We hardly ever give Kristi anything candy-like, but she was able to experience her first gummy worm tonight and LOVED it! She kept reaching over to my plate trying to steal more gummy worms, as I had taken three or four.

Well, off to help Little Bug get to sleep finally. I know, it is after 9PM and she's still up. We've been in a bad habit with that lately! I think the summer sunlight staying out later is partly to blame. :)

Blessings to ya'all.

36 & 5

2008-06-09T22:55:00.003-05:00

Today marks the day of gestation on which I gave birth to our dear Kristiana Joy...36 weeks and 5 days! So, naturally I keep thinking, "come on little buddy! You can come out now! It's time!" But of course, it is obviously NOT time and that's alright, and I must accept that and move on!

As you can probably tell by reading this, I am at times anxious and agitated to be waiting for la bebe still, but then I also have peace and I must rest in the knowledge that God is completely in charge of this baby and his arrival timing!!! And, I'm so thankful to not be puffed up like a balloon during this pregnancy like I was with Kristi. At this point with her, I was weighing 20 lbs. more and feeling extremely uncomfortable and in pain...THANK YOU GOD for sparing me Preeclampsia to this point in my pregnancy with our little boy! AMEN!!!

Blessings...

Quick Note...

2008-06-08T21:01:00.003-05:00

Hey friends & family :)

Just wanted to say that our computer is "sick" and will be sent in for service tomorrow...SO, I don't know how much I'll be able to blog in the next several weeks as we wait for the return of the computer. Thankfully we'll have Erik's computer at home in the evenings, and I'll try to use it for updates and blogging when I can!

Still waiting for this Scandinavian baby to pop out...I keep waking up every morning thinking that today is the day, and then of course it hasn't been the day yet! And that's alright. Wednesday of this new week will be 37 weeks, so if our little one can make it to that point, then that will be even better for his development. Meanwhile, I still have crazy contractions sometimes. At least I know things are getting all set to go and it is very inevitable that this child has to be born sometime soon!!!

Blessings to you all,
Melody

Kristi's Birthday!

2008-06-05T18:37:00.003-05:00

May 19 was Kristiana Joy's birthday, and she turned 2 years old! We had a big party with both of our families two days before the birthday, and Kristi had tons of fun eating her ladybug cupcakes. I went gonzo with a ladybug theme and it was a blast putting everything together!

Enjoy some pics...

36 weeks and 1 day...

2008-06-05T18:30:00.002-05:00

SO, I'm now at 36 weeks and 1 day. I wasn't sure that Baby & I would get this far, but we have, and that's a good thing! However, now I'm getting antsy and wanting him to come soon. Today I was doing some major nesting activity...folding clothes, washing out his dresser and organizing things, etc...and then I started cramping again and decided I better lay down. So, I guess I still need to not push myself too hard but I just see so many things to take care of before our little guy joins us in this home!

This past Monday was my birthday and yesterday was Erik's birthday. It was fun to go out for lunch with my mom and Kristi on Monday, and then out for dinner with Erik that night. Although, we ate WAY too much food for our birthday dinner and we felt like we were going to explode for an entire day! It was an amazing meal!

Now onto more nesting...I think this kid is coming soon...

Still Home & Okay

2008-05-28T15:39:00.003-05:00

I went to the Dr. yesterday for my regular checkup and had a good report. Things are still looking the way they should at this point in the pregnancy. I'm now 35 weeks along, as of today! Only 5 more weeks to go...or less, if this little guy starts acting up again! :) I haven't had as many contractions as the two earlier episodes, but there is still definitely something going on. My Dr. said that if I can just get to 36 weeks then she will be fine with the baby coming anytime after that...so, hear this little buddy, you better stay in there a tiny bit longer, okay? Actually, when our boy didn't come onto the scene this past week like I thought he might, I was almost disappointed because I'm really looking forward to meeting him! But then of course my common sense kicked in and I realized that every day he can stay in there is good for him. There's a reason that God made the entire gestational period to be forty weeks! He has it so perfectly planned.

In the meantime, we had a great weekend with a visit from our dear friends Kim & James! It was so much fun to have them here with us for two nights. Thanks for coming you two! Erik was even able to take them out sailing on Monday so that was neat.

And if you have heard about crazy tornadoes coming through our area, they were just about 15-20 minutes north of where we live. We didn't have any peripheral hail damage here at our home, but we know some people who did have some severe hail damage...don't know anyone who lost a home, but there were many of those. Please pray for these families who have been impacted by the storm.

The Waiting Game

2008-05-25T16:04:00.004-05:00

Hey friends. Two nights ago, I had another crazy night of contractions...but ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours eventually and decided not to go in to the hospital to be checked. Since then, I've been fairly okay and have so far had two somewhat "normal" days, which has been nice. Little Man is moving around still quite a bit inside of me and that is reassuring. If some more crazy things happen with preterm labor prior to my Tuesday regular OB appointment, I think I will most likely go and get checked.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. We so appreciate them!

We have company coming for a few days and I'm SOOOOO excited! I must go and get some final picking up and cleaning done before our dear friends arrive!!!!!!

Blessings to you all...

And if you feel led, I encourage you to go and read the most recent post on this incredible blog that has been blessing my life recently...the post is about being broken before our Lord and how He pieces us back together...Amen for that.

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

Pray for the Chapmans

2008-05-23T16:24:00.003-05:00

I just found out yesterday that Steven Curtis Chapman (a famous contemporary Christian musician, in case you don't know of him) and his family are mourning the tragic loss of their precious little five year old girl, Maria. She was in the driveway of their home and was accidentally hit with an SUV driven by her brother who was coming home for a party with the family. Little Maria was one of three girls adopted from China by the Chapmans.

Please pray for this family during their time of loss...

Preterm Labor on Break...

2008-05-23T16:21:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone. In case you didn't already know this, I was experiencing some preterm labor yesterday and almost went into the hospital to be monitored. I had contractions all day long off and on, and some were more intense than others...but alas, I'm still at home and today haven't had contractions much at all! I feel more normal and that's good. Since I'm at 34 weeks gestation, I'm so glad that our little man would probably be alright if he needed to come early.

All that said, I have a zillion and one things to try to accomplish on my nesting list, and I don't think I'll get all of it done before our boy comes. And now I'm really coming to terms with that, and realizing that life will most likely go on, even if I don't get all this stuff done.

I would appreciate your prayers for our little boy and for me as we await his arrival!

Thank you!