Raising Hands

I turned to Steve over the weekend in a moment if reflection and remarked, "That one went quick". I feel like we just popped the bubbly to ring in 2013. We're all still here. Another year older. Perhaps a little wiser. Certainly in an unexpected place than what was planned.  Our desision to homeschool was by far the biggest news story of our year. My trials and tribulations and the unending saga that is my thyroid being another. Though I don't foresee the later to big a great topic for 2014.  We've settled into homeschooling. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to planning our 2014-2015 school year. I plan to start much earlier than we did for our current year. We didn't make the final decision until late Summer so I've felt like we've been playing catch up all year.  I have some plans next year. A new blog. Maybe just some changes to this one. I have some personal interests I'd like to begin to pursue. I'm currently wrestling the monsters

I love Thanksgiving and Advent and Christmas. I love cooking and baking. Going to church and quietly preparing for the celebration of our Lord's birth. Sometimes in the quiet sweet memories become bitter when my thoughts turn to loved ones I've lost. My grandmother in particular. This December 23 will mark the tenth anniversary of her passing.  This morning as I got a head start preparing our Thanksgiving meal I made a cranberry relish from her instructions and a Texas Sheet Cake that was her favorite. She's been on my mind all morning and I miss her just as much as ever.  Fair is fair Lauren. Here I am (at 13) in a blaze of bangs and braces glory.  I'd love to share the sheet cake recipe with you too:-) Texas Sheet Cake  2 cups unsifted flour 2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons butter 1 cup water 6 tablespoons cocoa  1/2 cup sour cream  2 eggs 1teaspoon vanilla  1 teaspoon baking soda Combine flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Heat but

In the car on the way home from the pool Jacob noticed we were headed North on the road. He commented that if we kept going we could go to the North Pole. I said that I didn't have enough gas to make the trip and it would take too long since we were expected at Mom Mom's house later this morning. William offered up a most sincere solution to our problem. "Mom, what you need is a sled and some reindeer. Then we could get there fast AND still go to Mom Mom's!"  Truth

On Wednesday I met my new endocrinologist. All I can say is what a difference good communication skills can make! The good news is that my old Endo had ordered the tests that I thought he had not. He just never communicated the results to me. My new doctor confirmed my Hoshimoto's diagnosis and took the time to explain what that diagnosis means for the rest of my life. I'm much more upbeat about my overall prognosis after hearing all the facts. He also took the time to listen and answer all of my questions about things I've been reading about this disease and Thyroid disorders in general. My biggest take away is that there is a lot of junk on the internet and having a trusted healthcare provider is crucial.  My last blood test showed that my tsh is down to 3. (Normal tsh is between 1-2 and high numbers are bad. Numbers lower than that are bad too but a different problem all together.) Considering my baseline (taking no hormone) is 14! I'm definitely on the right track.

We're back! We all survived. I didn't take any pictures!  The bride was flawless. Her sisters were beautiful. It was wonderful to see you all even for only a few hours. I had a ball meeting ladies that I feel like I've known for years via the interwebs. It made the small talk at dinner so much easier:-)  I did manage to have someone take  a picture of Stephen and me.  We clean up pretty well:-) 

We have left our kids for afternoons and quick overnights countless times. With grandparents in town who love to have little ones around we are blessed with opportunities to be child free for an hour or two every once in a while.  What I've not done is prepare to leave them for a whole week and travel eight states away from them. This post is not about how desperately I'll miss them (To be sure I'll miss them but let's face it. Mama needs a break) and how I can't stand to leave them. No, this is about the daunting task and unbelievable amount of preparation it takes to leave three children for a week.  Health care waivers for my in laws to seek treatment in case someone becomes ill. Return ALL the library books. Make lesson plans, and more lesson plans. Write notes for every contingency I can think of. Medicine dosage charts incase someone gets a fever. All things that I keep stored in my head that a Mom just knows.  I'm in the weeds here. Just 24 hours to go! T

Steve's Dad got stuck spending the end of the week in Allentown (commence humming a Billy Joel song now;-) He's still trying to wrap things up with his brother's estate (make a will folks! Your loved ones deserve it.) We're celebrating his birthday today (it was Thursday) and I'm bring the cake.  My Mother in law gave me a couple old (vintage?) recipe flyers from 1977. One was for Baker's chocolate. I shared them on IG.  A recipe for cream cheese chocolate frosting caught my eye and that's what I made. I'm also leaving in five days for a whole week! So I used a box yellow cake mix I had in my pantry (for shame!) I did sub coconut oil for vegetable oil to tszuj it up a bit. I also frosted it in the pan because I'm taking it to Mom and Dad's later. And because I'm never going to be the woman who makes three tier cakes for family birthdays.  It's a pretty pan though:-) Here's how to make the frosting.  Ingredients: 8oz semi sweet chocola

I've been having a big ole pity party for myself these last couple months since my Hoshimoto's diagnosis. I was recently snapped back to reality by a phone call that my latest blood worked showed my situation deteriorating. It's never good when your doctors nurse calls to have you come in first thing the very next morning:-/  The last time I left the doctors office I had more questions than answers and became very overwhelmed by a lot of information on the web (good and bad). I've had time to wade through it and went to my appointment armed with good questions. My doctor (who has a terrible reputation and now I know why) brushed me off and basically ignored me.  He is the only endocrinologist in a 60 mile radius and he knows it. He can do whatever he wants. He's a charlatan.  So, now I have a diagnosis and a doctor who refuses to treat me. Well, refusing to run a more specific set of tests to make sure I don't need additional hormone support. One thing I've

When you live in a resort community the days and weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day mean staying as far away from the beaches and outlet malls we love. There are super secret beaches where locals go to enjoy the Summer months but unless you're prepared to battle crowds and parking? We just stay away (Don't feel too sorry. We do brave the crowds. It is the beach after all.)  On the Tuesday after Labor Day the locals come crawling out of wherever they've been taking cover and take back the town. We picked up MomMom and PopPop and headed straight to our favorite pizza place followed by a stroll down the boardwalk.  We stopped to take a silly picture in front of a beachfront hotel which holds a bit of personal nostalgia. (Stephen had arranged a surprise engagement party for us after he proposed on the beach. With my parents as surprise guests.  I had left them in Indiana just the day before!)  We had a lovely afternoon and have already made a few more visits to walk the

We did it. We've drunk the Kool-Aid. We've crossed over. We're Homeschooling. We're having a ball. Of course it's all fun and games one week in. The process of getting here has been long. Six months ago I would have laughed in your face if you'd told me we'd be keeping Jacob home this year.  The realization that I actually could do it came while reading The Well Trained Mind . That, and some good talks with close friends. I've taken many curriculum suggestions from the book authors as well as my fellow homeschool moms. For phonics and reading we're using  The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading . We started a couple weeks ago and have hit our stride with it. For math we chose the Kindergarten curriculum from Saxon Math. I like how interactive it is so for. Jacob looks forward to it too. To round things out and make sure we didn't miss anything I bought the lot when it came to the Rod and Staff workbooks. I bought ten (A-

Hashimoto's Thyroditis  What? Yeah, me either.  At least not before two weeks ago when my new endocrinologist diagnosed me.  It's a big scary word that means my body is attacking itself. As a result my thyroid doesn't work properly. Then, for no reason whatsoever it will. With regular blood tests to regulate hormone levels I have the potential for a very good prognosis. Unfortunately, it can take the better part of a year to get all the levels where they need to be. There is no cure for Hashi's but with some diligence it's definitely manageable.  Please keep me in your prayers while we figure this all out.  Here's a link to the Mayo Clinic's info page on Hashimoto's  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hashimotos-disease/DS00567

I did it! I have broken up with Facebook! I hope to hear from you here and I'm still on IG.  I'm feeling a bit isolated this morning. I'm also feeling quite liberated:-)  Have a great week all:-)

I don't have a favorite Summer recipe to share but we cleaned up our grill last weekend and I've used it every night this week.   Tonight I grilled up some beautiful little boneless pork tenderloins (two at one lb each). I marinated them in some Lawry's Teriyaki marinade for about four hours and then grilled them for just over 20 minutes. Turning them every five minutes. During the last couple turns I basted the pork with additional marinade (reserved before I marinated the pork) I let the pork rest 10 minutes before slicing. We had a nice green salad and some potato salad. After dinner we made S'mores which were devoured before I could take pictures. A  pretty perfect Summer meal if you ask me. 

My Spring cleaning efforts have branched out from just disinfecting every surface. One thing leads to another and now there's talk about a garage sale. Taking up precious space on my pantry floor is a collection of vases I have picked up over the years. Two in particular have been packed up and relocated with us three times! They are not expensive or pretty but were decorations from our wedding. I don't even like them. So I have decided they need to go. I snapped a picture, cut the ribbons off, washed them up and put them in the yard sale box. I need to do more of this letting go. It feels good. I'm never going to be a minimalist. I kind of love knick knacks. But there's a feeling of weight being lifted when we get to a place where we can just let go.

Today's forecast calls for full sun and 75 degrees and not a moment too soon. The windows in this house will be opened and I intend to banish ALL THE GERMS! We have all recovered. I've gone through almost every room, cleaned it, then wiped everything down with a bleach solution (Yeah, I said bleach. Deal with it.) Nothing like a little Norovirus to get the Spring cleaning going:-) Have a great week!

I have entered week three of taking care of someone with stomach flu:-( I am sure that Jacob is our outbreak monkey and this virus is nasty. I thought it was over last week but Stephen succumbed after church on Sunday and William went down today, and Bella seems to be going through round two this afternoon (poor baby) I am the only one who remains healthy. I have recipes to share and other fun things I'd like to blog but I am buried under piles of laundry and my need to disinfect the house (again). Pray for us. That is all:-/ Edit: Friday, April 5. I spoke too soon. Mom down.........

We woke to the sound of our oldest crying very early Sunday morning. Jacob had the stomach flu. What followed you can guess and I won't elaborate. Needless to say 36 hours later I glad to move on. I had a beautiful meal planned in celebration of the Blessed St. Patrick. A Guinness Beef Stew served over mashed potatoes and a not so Irish wink and a nod to the Catholic Church, Italian Cream Cake (recipe courtesy of Lauren). With a fridge full of perishable ingredients I'm turning lemons into lemonade. What was a St. Paddy's Day feast will become an early birthday dinner. From me, to me:-) I made the stew this morning and put it in the fridge for reheating tomorrow. I think I may need to padlock it to keep Stephen out of it until tomorrow. My house smells heavenly right now. The link to the recipe is below. It couldn't be more simple. My favorite kind of recipe:-) *A Note: I've made this a few times now and can absolutely attest that made a day in advance and slo

It was suggested that I do one of these. I do enjoy seeing how my friends spend their days. Here is what we did on Tuesday. Our day usually begins around 7am The kids jump right into the play and Mom jumps right in too An hour later the kids are dressed and fed and I finally get a bite. There's a lunch to be made for my big preschool going boy and primping to be done by an oh so girly girl.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays Jacob attends Montessori Preschool in the afternoon. He absolutely loves to go to school The little kids and I head to MomMom's for a little lunch and spoiling My spoiling takes place here. Times to pick up Jacob and show off my updated locks Back to MomMom and PopPop's for some more playtime  before we head home Then it's home we go. Just enough time to toss a little Shepherd's Pie into the oven for our supper The next time I do this I'll have to remember to make sure William gets in more phot

Two weeks ago we travelled to Allentown to attend the funeral mass for Stephen's Uncle Fred (His father's brother). Uncle Fred died in December. Don't ask me why it took until January to perform a funeral mass. He was cremated (again, don't ask) so I suppose there was no hurry. At the luncheon following the service I was seated with Aunt Cathy's (Stephen's Aunt) sister Anna (It's a lot I know). Anna is a charming old lady from Northern New York (NOT UpState or so I was corrected). We made polite conversation. My children were being well behaved and Bella was the star of the whole restaurant. Once Anna ascertained that I was a pastors wife (well, I am sort of a pastor's wife. That will be changing soon. Stay tuned;-) she told me I just HAD to have this book. For all the entertaining I must do! I smiled politely and the afternoon came to an end and I thought I would never hear from her again. I was surprised to receive a package in today's mail con

When a recipe begins with, "Make sure you open windows or that your kitchen is well ventilated". You know you're in trouble. Today I blackened chicken. On purpose;-) I had to evacuate the children from the kitchen and dining room and make them finish their supper in the living room to do it. But I didn't burn the house down. Small victories people. This adventure began back in November when I had a chopped blackened chicken salad at a restaurant. It was delicious and spicy and I've been dreaming about it ever since. I Don't actually remember what was in it. Just that it was awesome. My version of the salad (for two) begins with a head of green lead lettuce. Romaine would be good too. 1/4 cup finely diced red onion 1/2 cup black beans (canned, drained and rinsed) 1/2cup canned corn (drained) 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 avocado (diced) A big handful of crushed tortilla chips Sliced blackened chicken breast Spicy Ranch Dressing To blacken