2/20/14 FORMING FAMILIES - CARD KIT (FUNDRAISER)

Seth and Natalie are a couple that we know from church who are waiting to bring their son home from Korea.  His name is Caden and you can read about his adoption process at A Mighty Hope. Some ladies, including a friend of mine, are selling the Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit from Stampin' Up to help raise money to put toward adoption expenses and you have an opportunity to buy some! Here's a picture of all the items in the kit, but you can click the kit link above to see pictures of completed cards.

WHO: Kelli (my friend who is selling card kits) and you

WHAT: Everything you need to make 20 cards for $20, with all proceeds going toward bringing Caden home.

WHEN: You can purchase kits anytime between now and 3/3/14.  (I know the post on the adoption blog about this fundraiser has a different date, but the 3/3/14 deadline is the most current information.)

WHERE: You can purchase card kits from the comfort of your own home and whatever screen you're viewing the internet from.

WHY: Every child should be part of a family.  Sometimes we get to be the family, other times we get to support the family.  

If you love making cards or want to give a kit to someone who does, enjoy financially supporting adoptions, or were just sitting around wondering how you could spend $20, then please leave a comment and I will put you in touch with Kelli.  I don't want to post her contact info for the general public to access, but I will connect you with her quickly.  

2/20/14 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for a working washing machine in my own home, a luxury that keeps me from hauling quarters and clothes to laundromats or scrubbing all of our dirty clothes by hand.

What's something that you're thankful for?

MENU: 2/20/14 - 2/26/14

One new recipe and a one week menu, with links to the recipes in green.

* spinach salad with almond butter dressing - Asian flavor, crunchy almonds, and lots of leafy greens.  Yum!

BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings 
     - with cottage cheese and fruit x2
     - with yogurt and fruit smoothies x1
* scrambled eggs (ours are always made with a ton of chopped spinach, sometimes some chopped tomatoes, a bit of pepper, and always a sprinkling of some type of cheese)/toast x2
* egg & shrimp scramble/toast

SCHOOL DAY LUNCHES
* meat & cheese sandwiches/pea pods/grapes
* peanut butter/apples/cukes/apple buttermilk bran muffins (from the freezer) 
* crockpot beans/rice/sour cream & salsa/pea pods/carrots
* tuna/crackers/pea pods/carrots/pistachios
* oat & almond bars/applesauce/cheddar/red bell pepper

DINNERS

* leftovers

* tacos (meat and crockpot beans from the freezer) 

* Swiss ham wreath (with rice instead of crescent rolls)/apple & cranberry green salad
* veggie pizza on focaccia
* honey lime chicken enchiladas/crockpot beans/carrot sticks/Leslie's salad
* salmon chowder (from the freezer)/cracked wheat & honey bread
* grilled ham & cheese on sourdough/tomato slices/balsamic roasted brussels sprouts

SNACKS & DESSERTS

* produce

* hummus for veggies

* nuts - pistachios & dry roasted almonds

* popcorn (kernels from the Winco bulk department & a West Bend Stir Crazy to pop them in)
* homemade Twix bars
* sugar, banana spice, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for a bake sale fundraiser  

BITTERSWEET

Sonja.  We met when I was 19 and she was 18.  We've been friends for half of our lives. She moved over 2000 miles away the month before Naomi was born and the amount of time I've seen her since then is small enough to be counted in hours.

She's getting married right this very minute.  It's a small ceremony, one that our family was invited to. Not near her home across the country, but three hours away from me.

We weren't able to go.

In the scheme of life, today is a blip on the radar.  In the last several months, and especially today, it's really, really, really hard for me.

I'm not meeting her new husband.  I'm not seeing the winter wedding she's dreamed and talked about the whole time I've known her.  I'm not watching her walk down the aisle.

I'm missing out on something that is so very important to me. I've anticipated missing this day for several months and thought I'd shed as many tears as I possibly could over it.  I was wrong.  I'm been crying for two days straight.

I'm so happy for her. I'm so sad for me.

MENU: 2/15/14 - 2/19/14

I have used two week menus for as long as I can remember, but I'm going to experiment with weekly ones for a while.  I don't know if it will be a permanent change or not, but our menus are going to run from Thursday through Wednesday for now.  This menu is shorter, as I already had a menu in place for the first half of the month.

Here are links to a few new recipes I've liked, then we'll look at the current menu.

* zesty pork stir fry - I wouldn't describe this as zesty, but it's good!

* simple bread, cracked wheat & honey bread, simple focaccia -I talked about all of these in my post about learning how to bake bread.

BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings 
     - with cottage cheese and fruit x1
     - with yogurt and fruit smoothies x1
* scrambled eggs (ours are always made with a ton of chopped spinach, sometimes some chopped tomatoes, a bit of pepper, and always a sprinkling of some type of cheese)/toast 
* waffles (Tim's cooking, not sure what recipe he'll use)

SCHOOL DAY LUNCHES  

* meat & cheese wraps/apples/red bell peppers

* oatmeal pancakes/applesauce/cheddar/dry roasted almonds

DINNERS

* tacos (meat and crockpot beans from the freezer) 

* creamy shells with broccoli & ham/balsamic roasted brussels sprouts
* Lebanese-style red lentil soup/lemon Greek salad

* lemon garlic tilapia/rice/spinach salad with almond butter dressing
* black bean & couscous salad (using quinoa instead of couscous & taking to home group)

SNACKS & DESSERTS

* produce

* hummus for veggies

* nuts - pistachios & dry roasted almonds

* popcorn (kernels from the Winco bulk department & a West Bend Stir Crazy to pop them in)

* pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (I've been asked to take some to a meeting, but we'll also keep some for our family)

2/13/14 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for a stack of movies from the library that will entertain and educate some little Ws today.

What is one thing that you're thankful for?

A TEETER TOTTER MET MY DAUGHTER

Eleven days ago I asked a random question of my Facebook friends.  What do you call the piece of playground equipment where two people sit at opposite ends of a board that moves them up and down? Teeter totter or seesaw?

This evening someone asked me how to spell teeter totter.  That person was the FNP at a local urgent care clinic who was typing up the chart notes for the little W whose head they just put three staples in after the little W injured themselves falling off a teeter totter.  

I guess I better be careful what kind of things I ask about on Facebook.  

Kidding.  The timing was funny, though.

Naomi is not the first little W to need pieces of their head put back together, but she is the first one to have staples.  Her hair was still bloody from the injury, greasy from various meds, and all tangled up, but here's a picture of her newest accessories.

Tonight I'm thankful for two of Devon's classmates, girls who were with Naomi when she got hurt, brought her to me, and got ice for her before any of us knew there was anything more than a possible bump under all that hair.  I'm thankful that the ladies I was working with at the time were understanding when I had to bail in the middle of a big project.  I'm thankful I had already asked Tim to come pick up the little Ws when he was done subbing so that I could keep working uninterrupted, which meant he walked in the door right after Naomi got hurt and was able to take the boys home while I took her to urgent care.  I'm thankful that the injury wasn't worse than a little gash.  I'm thankful that she was numbed with a topical ointment, rather than a shot.  I'm thankful that the staff were so nice and the ordeal so low-key that Naomi was able to relax to the point of almost falling asleep while she waited for her skin to get numb, especially after being pretty distraught at the idea of needing stitches.  I'm thankful we walked out of urgent care in time to ride to Bible study with the guys. I'm thankful cleaning up her head was an uneventful process tonight. I'm thankful that she doesn't sleep on the side of her head that got stapled. I'm thankful for Tylenol.