Easy On Mama =)

Well yesterday was a pretty easy day for this overworked overstressed Mama. I really needed to just chill after all the recent nuttiness. I did get this weeks grocery shopping done with The Monkey & even that was easy on me cuz ALDI was closed for Memorial Day. Although I paid a little more than usual it was worth it, I still kept the bill under 85 bux & for a family of 6, I think that's pretty good =)
We had a good long day visiting with the in laws & as you can see the girlies had 2 tons of fun.

Today I have to catch up on my weeks cooking. I have really grown to like getting everything done I possibly can in one day. Yesterday I did bake a few loaves of bread in the bread machine but aside that not much was done. However, this week is gonna be super easy on me because I'm headed to the ICHE homeschool convention & all the vittles I would normally prepare won't be needed. YAY!!
Tonight, I'm frying up some chicken (can't premake that one)
And tomorrow is a baked ham. That will leave enough leftovers for Big Daddy to make some sammiches for himself & the girlies. And he opted for hot dogs for himself Friday evening, can I just say...WHOO-HOO!!
OK, so what does need to be made?

I'm gonna crank out some Mashed Taters
Fruit Salad
Chocolate Pudding Pie
Kool Aid Pie w/ sweetened condensed milk instead of the evaporated & sugar (TRY THIS!!!!)
Brownies
and maybe Amish Sugar Cookies

The downfall is I have lots of laundry that piled up over the crazy days & that has to get done before convention. Today will be 3-4 loads which means running up & down a gerjillion stairs.

I may look like this by the end of the day.

The Blessed Supermom

Seriously????

Well, things have been more than a wee bit interesting around here. We had the Wee Piglet's peanut butter incident, the PB assaulted her. Then there was Monkey's realization she couldn't fly & the subsequent ER visit. So you'd think things would mellow out a bit right?
Uh-uh nope, things just got more nutty!
Saturday The Hubby had a wonderful idea, he suggested we have a picnic in the back of the van & play some board games. We decided to go to the cemetery to hang with Isaac & Hannah, it was nice. It was raining just a bit so the van wasn't overheated, it was just the right temp. Everything started real nice, we were all laughing & munchin' our subways, listening to some music. Then The Bear said her tummy hurt a little, she giggled & unbuttoned her pants thinkin she ate too much. But a few minutes later she said she was really sick, she felt dinner was about to burst out of both her upper & lower regions. The problem was all the seats were removed & stacked up to give us room for our picnic. I told my baby all would be fine & decided to take her to the chapel (funeral home)
The Hubby gave me a concerned look because he knows I haven't stepped foot in there since Hannah's funeral & have no desire to. I assured him this was necessary & I would be fine. So off we went or better said we ran a mad dash, well Bear did & I desperately tried to keep up realizing that I am no youngin' anymore.
Unfortunately, when we got to the chapel it was locked. Of course, in my brilliance I decided to keep walking thinking the fresh air would do her some good. So we walked to a mechanic shop which was closed...UGH.
I called The Hubby admitting my defeat, there was no potty in sight. I figured we would start walking home, we live about a mile away from the cemetery & although The Hubby was quickly coming to save the day, I thought we should keep movin.
This actually turned out to be a good decision cuz we came across a little spa. We both were running now cuz I had no clue how much longer Bear could keep it together.
Well, you would think it was a relief to make it to the facilities right?
God forgive me, it was heinous. I've seen my share of my kids insides but this was just unbelievable. I'll spare you all the gory details but lets just say by the end of it we both lost our lunch ;(
We figure Bear had an allergic reaction to something, she was a real mess...vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, hives, headache, & chills.
Like I said...life got nuttier.
Funny thing is her Pediatrician & myself suspected she was allergic to something & I just picked up a referral for the lab earlier that day.
Weird huh?
She's feeling better but we were surprised to see she had a slight reaction from this morning's breakfast.
All of these things are foods she ate before so we're a little bewildered. However, I've heard allergies can develop over time & a friend of mine said it could of been food poisoning. Either way, we'll find out soon.
Again, I'm intimidated to find out how much more eating habits we'll have to change around here. I'm thinking next week we may eat nothing but fruit & homemade bread.
Seriously, I have no clue what to put in these kids tummies anymore. Honestly, God has put it on my heart to get serious about our eating habits so I suppose this just makes it easier to cut the fat.
Awww man...no more fat??

The Blessed Supermom

Bath + Earplugs + Poop = Failure

OK, did I mention in the last post we have one bathroom? 6 people, 1 bathroom...let me leave you with that to chew on for a second.
Well, here I was in my nice relaxing bath only to discover I'm about two feet too big for this thing, now mind you I'm not tall, in fact I'm the opposite...horizontally challenged. Anyway, there I am all crunched up & I figure no biggie, I've got my lavender oil goin & I'll download a book from kindle.
I've never done that so I checked out "free classics" & chose The Scarlett Letter. But then I got to thinking "are there naughty parts in here?"
I mean it is a book where the main character is an adulteress (sp) right? Somebody help me out here.
OK, scratch that...
Supermom is scrunched up in the tub with no book, what to do..what to do??
Ahhhh!! Pandora!
I'll listen to some music :) However, for some wickedly sarcastic reason Pandora isn't working :(
Ok, I'll give tune in radio a shot. Nope, sorry Mommy who is trying to relax tune in radio will not buffer (insert sinister laugh from android phone here)
Out of desperation I go to you tube to play some music & alas, it works!!
But Murphys Law will not give up so easily..OH NO!
This is when the Monkey has to pee, & ohhhh what a giggle it is for her to potty with Mama hiding behind the shower curtain. Finally after she is emptied, wiped, & washed she decides she wants to give me a hug. Isn't that sweet?
I declined -_-
Ahhh...time for me.
But now the water has turned cold & I'm shivering in my scrunched up tub. I still have an hour before The Hubby & I need to leave to meet some friends, but guess what??
The dryer stopped & the clothes are still damp & we're all out of quarters...I suppose they won't mind if I where jammies, grrrrr.....
OK, I'm gettin ticked off.
EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG!
goosfraba...goosfraba...goosfraba
Better now. Well the bath was a bust but at least I can doll myself up a bit :)
Got the hair dryer & I'll pop in my contacts, but again...no no no. Monkey has to pooh now, I have one contact in my hand, I can't see, my towel is fighting gravity, & she wants a poopy wipe...GRRRRR.
goosfra...oh whatever >{
So now the ONE BATHROOM does not smell like lavender & I'm grumpy. I think I'm gonna go pout & feel sorry for myself and have some cheesecake....that'll help.

The Blessed Supermom

A Warm Bath & Earplugs :)

I'm pampering myself a bit.
Yeup, I'm posting today from the tub :)
I think I deserve a little "me time" it's been a rough few weeks wouldn't you say? First we have the Peanut Butter Fiasco, then the Monkeys flying leap into the ER. Top it off with keeping the kids up 3 hours past bedtime to get the bunk beds taken apart, rearrange the furniture, & then put all the furniture back where it was.
So today The Hubby & kiddos are feasting on tuna fish sandwiches & I'm hiding in the tub with earplugs in :D
Hey, if I'm lucky I'll actually get to put some water in it before someone bangs down the door to go pee-pee!!

The Blessed Supermom

Scared

I tried to come up with some eye catching title right now, but I just don't care. The only words I can think of are scared, frightening, traumatic, terrifying, sick, crying, begging.
My sweet little girl took a flying leap off the bunk bed last night & landed on her head. We heard a loud thud & when we went in the room she was laying face down & not moving. When Hubby picked her up she was limp, she appeared unconscious to me but the Hubby says she wasn't. I went to call an ambulance but she began crying & Hubby said we would drive her to the ER. At this point we were all crying (except for the big tough guy of course) but My Bear was hysterical saying "it's all my fault" & no matter what I said she really believed that. My oldest initially froze, she was crying but not moving just staring & crying.
It was terrifying.
We raced to the ER trying to keep her awake, it was an hour past bedtime & she was naturally tired but we couldn't let her sleep. When we got there she was very upset & crying terribly saying she was scared. There was an ambulance with flashing lights & I think that's what put her over the top. We went straight into triage & after some questions it appeared the nurse who checked her out didn't see a major issue. Not that she was a bad nurse, I don't think that, but she was light about the situation & sent us to the waiting room.
That's when my daughter started vomiting, I harshly told Hubby to get a doctor & for her to be seen "RIGHT NOW"
Don't worry, I immediately apologized, but I knew vomiting could indicate one of several serious head injuries.
The nurse knew that as well & she was taken immediately for a cat scan. During the scan I was allowed to stay with her & prayed so she could here my voice. I kept repeating Psalm 121:1-4

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth ³ He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; ⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

It was the only scripture I could remember at the moment. Then Hubby held her as I went to registration, since she wasn't with me I could cry, just a little ya know? I didn't want her to see me & be frightened by my actions. I couldn't help but show her some fear when we prayed in the waiting room tho. I laid my hand on her praying & started crying. When you come before His throne pleading for mercy it's not the time to hide your heart.

We were taken to a room where she was put on a heart monitor & that was scary, I had no idea why should we need that. Your mind races & tries to take off in all sorts of directions that aren't good. But thankfully her cat scan came back normal, & after hearing that & being told she could sleep, I fell apart. Honestly, it's hard to write this post because I still feel so shaken by the whole experience. I can't describe how it felt to see her lying there not moving. It's a picture I keep asking God to remove from my memory because it makes me sick to my stomach. I haven't really been able to eat because I've been so queasy all day.
Maybe I should take one of her anti-nausea pills -_-

I'm more than thankful for the outpouring of support we received from family & friends. A prayer request was posted on FB & a text was sent, I feel blessed knowing so many people were praying for her. I ask for your continued prayers, as I said this was somewhat traumatic & my other daughter is convinced she caused this. I'm also asking for prayer because my daughter, "The Monkey" doesn't have that name by chance. She is a beautiful amazing girl who happens to also be quite the tomboy who isn't so good at internal boundaries.
That's how all this happened, she was swinging back & forth on the top bunk (holding onto the railing) while alternating hands. From what I gather she went "spinning thru the air"
So you can see why I need prayer =/
So, I'm gonna end this with a few more words that come to mind...

thankful, humbled, praising, grace, mercy, love, kindness.

My help comes from the maker of heaven & earth & He is good ALL THE TIME.
Friends of mine, please don't ever forget that.

The Blessed Supermom

Wordless Wednesday

The Wee Piglet enjoying her new "toy"
A.K.A. the diaper bag...

The Blessed Supermom

The Diagnosis

Well, yesterday I received the Wee Piglet's allergy results & you guessed it, she's allergic to everything!!
Nahhh, just kidding =D
She's allergic to peanuts & soy, so YAY!!
I was so worried she'd be allergic to all things food. Seriously, I was sure she was gonna make cooking very difficult but I can live without peanut butter...I think.
I mean what am I giving up? Not much right??
Just PB cookies & homemade PB cups...uh & PB brownies ;(
Hey! Wait a minute here! Stop the train...I don't want to go to a town where peanut butter can't come with me..boo-hoo.
And guess what I found out? Nestle Chocolate Chips have traces of peanut, soooo guess who's gonna be makin chocolate chips?
Yeah...
Anyway, we can definitely do without soy...yeck, blech, ach..
I use it from time to time but it isn't something major like PEANUT BUTTER!!!!
And now Princess Bear aka "quickly becoming talented in the arts of drama" is getting a blood test to check her gluten as well as milk/eggs & the like.
And let me tell ya, if Mrs. Thang can't have milk or eggs or BIG FAT UH-OH...no gluten
I'm throwin' in the towel!

Oh well, I'm gonna go eat a big gluten filled peanut butter cookie with a ton of chocolate chips!!

The Blessed Supermom