Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Menu 5/28- 6/8

Tonight (Tuesday) Scout night : Hotdogs, and chips
Spaghetti/Manicotti
 Baked Fish, Baked Potatoes, Spinach
 Burgers on the grill, sides to be determined
 Grilled Marinated Flank Steak, Rice, grilled veggies
End of Year Picnic for scouts
 Biscuits and gravy
 Brats, Italian Sausage grilled with french fries
 Breakfast for dinner Pancakes, and eggs, juice
 Potroast with potatoes and carrots
HM Pizza
Casserole To be Determined

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Stroke

Its a really scary word. Terrifying actually especially when you've seen it happen up close.

Mammaw had a stroke. Typing it out doesn't make it any easier, but it happened and now we have to figure out where to go from here.

Our Thursday started with a jolt. Normally I take the phone to bed with me ya know just in case.. Wednesday night I forgot and I awoke on Thursday morning to hearing the phone ring but I couldn't find it. Turns out I had left it in the livingroom. By the time I got to it, it had stopped ringing and quickly searching the caller id and saw that Mammaw had called 3 times. Why did it take me so long to hear the phone ringing and wake up?? I called her back and she said she couldn't breathe. She sounded like she was drowning and I told her we were on the way. I yelled at Mike to get his pants on and get over there. Thank God we only live a few houses away. I called 911 and gave them all the info and as soon as I hung up the phone I went to get my oldest up so he would be up if the youngers woke up and I got dressed as fast as I could and left for Mammaws house.

We beat the rescue squad there. And once they did whatever it is they do they loaded her up and took her to the ER. They told us that it was just a breathing issue and that she'd be fine.
 Mike came home and finished getting ready and left to follow the ambulance. I got the kids dressed and the boys off to school and tried to regain contol of our day. After all they told us it was a COPD flareup and they would get it under control and then release her.

Mike called a couple hours later to ask me to bring Mammaw some clothes that they were fixing to release her and they had brought her into the ER in her PJs and she needed shoes to walk out of there.

I arrange for Kara to stay with the neighbor and make my way to the hospital with Mammaw things. Once there Mike steps out so I can help her get out of the hospital gown and into her own clothes.

And that is when I noticed it.... Something was wrong. She looked horrible and I couldn't make out anything she was saying. I asked her if she felt well enought to be leaving and she attempted to tell me something but it just came out a slurred frothy garble. I asked the nurse to come and see and explain to me what was wrong. The nurse said that she didn't know that she was fine just a wee bit ago but she would call the dr in and have her recheck. I go out to the waiting room and get Mike and tell him what is going on and he too said she was just fine what happened.

While they had her flat on her back assessing and treating the COPD she was semi ok, the hospital, EMS, and even us attributed her not being able to speak well to her lack of oxygen when she said she wasn't able to breathe. But once I stood her up and tried to get her clothes on the blood and oxygen flow was restricted.
We waited to have CT and MRI scans and while we waited she seemed to get worse. Finally we got a diagnosis of Stroke and things went in a whirlwind from there. From the ER they moved her to ICU.

But there is good news, she's doing so well. The only and I mean ONLY indications of a stroke are her slurred speech and a slight facial droop but with the medication she's on that has improved GREATLY. She so far as we can tell has not lost any response in her limbs and her speech is improving every day. We were told yesterday that they moved her from ICU to STEPDOWN at 1am, STEPDOWN is not quite ICU but not out on the regular floor in a regular room either. Then we were told that they would be moving her from STEPDOWN to a regular room sometime last night and hopefully they will be letting her come home sometime on Monday.

So we are waiting to call this morning to see how she's doing and then dh will head up, we can't take the kids up there until she's in a regular room so I'm staying here for now and trading out with Dh when needed.

I'd be lieing if I said we were good, truth is, this has been such a roller coaster, fear, worry, panic, we've run the gambit but in all of this I'm glad I've got GOD on my side and I know that he is in control and I am so glad he is because these past few days I've felt like my world was spinning out of control.  My prayer is that she continues to get better. I don't think she'll ever be 100% but I'll take what I can get and we'll deal with whatever our new normal is as it comes.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

I did not give permission for this

Growing up that is. He just went and did it without even concidering how it would make me feel.
Truth is I'm not ready for it.
My oldest just left for his very first ever-all by hisself -without his dad along- Boy Scout Camping Trip. And I am as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. This is not a good feeling I can tell ya.

Sure he's been on lots of camping trips and I do mean lots, but Big Daddy has always been along as Scout Leader.

Big Daddy says that our boy has been asking to camp with the guys by hisself and he feels confident that its time to let him spread his wings of independance a little. Me on the other hand I just want to stomp the brakes and be "Hey no one asked if I was ready for this!!" And to make matters worse I'm not allowed to tell him I'm worried because that will only weigh on him and make it harder for him to break loose of always being under our thumb. So don't tell but I am worried!!!

Do I think he'll survive the night?? YES, wholeheartedly yes, but its the little things that worry me. Like will he get enough to eat, What if he gets sick, what if, what if, what if??

Truth is I trust the Scout Leader. I truly do. He's a great guy and infact I sit either right in front of him or right behind him every Sunday during service at our Church. He's great on a personal level too and he's a very well trained, well informed, well knowledged scout.

So I know things will be fine, I do but the mommy in me wants to keep him little much longer than I'm getting the option to.

Truth is I'll worry till he comes home and once he gets here he'll probably tell me what an awesome amazing time he had and I'll end up feeling foolish for worrying in the first place. And I'll put on my biggest smile and say Oh I knew you'd love it bud!!!  Ugh this being a momma is hard!!!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Wednesday 5/15/2013

Good morning!!

Just another day around the house for me today. But a busy one to be sure, really aren't they all :) Better to be busy than bored I guess!!!

Today so far I've gotten dh's lunch packed and he's off to work, the boys are buying lunch at school and they were on time for the bus this morning. I've painted Missy Prissy's fingernails and toenails. I've got the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded and going, the washer and dryer are both going. I would love to hang out clothes on the line but it's still really cloudy and grey out there so I'll hold off in case it rains. I've got hamburger thawing for dinner tonight.

I still need to:
work on finishing laundry today, hopefully catching it up completely today
Bake a batch of pepperoni rolls for the kid's lunches
Bake a pan of brownies also for lunches
Straighten the house
Work on Scout BBQ TICKET SALES paperwork to turn in tomorrow night
work on Kara's room or the boy's room either one they both need done AGAIN, grrrr
Sweep and hopefully mop the kitchen, livingroom and bathroom
Work on coupons and sales ads
Work on grocery list

BUSY BUSY BUSY but its all good. Its warming up steadily so I know soon I'll be in the garden full time, so while I'm not I'd better get everything else caught up. Infact with all the rain that we've gotten lately once I get the house back in shape and everything dries out, outside, I'm betting I'll be fighting the jungle that is now my yard and the weeds that are trying to take over the flower/veggie beds. Its war and I hope to win it!! lol

Dinner tonight is Unstuffed Peppers, Mashed potatoes, green beans and maybe rolls

Have a great day!!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Good Frosty Tuesday Morning to Ya!!

Frosty?? Yes Frosty!! I can't believe how unbelievably cold it is. Last night we were warned of temps of 32* and frost.  And with all the rains we've had lately I haven't been able to get into my garden at all. It just sits out there tilled and ready but with all the rain we've gotten recently I'm pretty sure its soggy and muddy too. I've got last falls green onions going to seed but I know I'll sink ankle deep the minute I go out there to get them, so...here I sit, cold and frustrated.

I brought all the seed starts in last night. The ones that had already sprouted are doing fine, the ones I restarted haven't sprouted yet at all. But again with the cold wind, rain and frost, I'm guessing it will be a late garden season if anything sprouts at all. I would hate to have to buy plants at the nursery, its not my first choice but like I mentioned to another blogger this morning, neither is starving, and with kids to feed I'm not above buying plants if I need to.

So now my very small house is also home to a kitchen table full of seed pots and seedlings and we're hoping for the best.

Since I can't get outside, my attention will be inside today. I've got laundry to catch up and regular housework. I really need to tear apart my kids rooms and sort clothes and toys and try to get a handle on that overwhelming mess!! All in due time I suppose. So that's my plan for today, stay inside (to stay warm, lol) and stay busy with laundry and various household chores!!!

Enjoy your day!!





Friday, May 3, 2013

Planting more seeds

So this year I decided to plant as much as I could for my garden from seed. I've had some good results and some not so good results. To be honest I think my not so good results are because I am impatient and rushed things a bit. But you live and learn right??

So I decided yesterday that it wouldn't hurt a thing if I planted more seeds for our garden. I replanted some of what didn't make the first go around and then I planted more of some that are doing well and with all the seeds I am hoping for the best.

I planted alot of seeds yesterday: 2 kinds of tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, asparagus seed, cucumbers, to name a few.

I know that if they all survive that I will have WAY MORE than we will use and I hope we do so that I can give some plants to a dear friend who lives close!!

Dh says he hopes to get into our garden this weekend and get it tilled up. I plan on using some advice/tips from Brandy by using my empty canning jars as mini greenhouses. Yes I know impatient but hey she's had great results so it can't hurt to try.

Dh and I have also talked about putting in an asparagus bed. We've discussed it before both of us thinking it was a good idea but we never got past the "thinking on it" stage. Now that we've started seeds, we've got the push to get something done. We know our seedlings won't produce for a couple of years but if we don't get something started we'll never have any asparagus.

Dh's talking about enlarging our garden, its not very big to begin with and it wouldn't hurt for it to be a bit bigger, especially since I got a little crazy with the seed planting, but I'm guessing we'll start in the fall and clear and till and amend for next years garden.

In the mean time any extra plants we end up with will be shared with friends and any extras we can't get rid of I'll plant in the flower beds, lol  I plant flowers in the vegetable garden ( marigolds between the tomatoes-helps with bugs) why not plant vegetables in the flower beds?? :)

Enjoy your day!!!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

A month since my last post..

I wish I could say I was off on some lavish vacation but reality I was just busy...with life... with my family...with my kids and my husband...Just busy. And thats ok!!

I'm sitting her this morning having already packed the bubs and the boys lunches and gotten them off to work and school, and I am waiting for the chill to leave the air just a bit before I take the laundry out to hang on the line.

I've got it figured that with nice weather I can hang out all of  our laundry except 1 load of socks, underwear and bras that I'll put in the dryer.  With 5 of us, plus towels and bed linens, hanging out all but one load has got to be saving me some money on the electric bill...I mean right?? I hope so anyway!!

We've also not had any heat or air on. Its not been really needed. There have been some cool nights and mornings but thats what blankets are for so we're managing.

I am also planning on making my own laundry soap again. It does save and with this new recipe I'm planning on using I'm sure the laundry will smell amazing!!

The kids are busy with scouts and doing well in school.

I've started some seeds and have had the normal ups and downs, infact the downs are being replanted today. I am hoping like each and every year to have more successes than failures. My family is growing and so are their appetites.  :) and I'm ok with that.  My oldest is darn near as tall as I am and he's only 11 and his little brother who is 7 isn't far behind him, Our little girl who is 3 everyone thinks she's 5 so yeah we grow'em big 'round here, lol   Besides homemade is just better all the way around. Cheaper, tastier, healthier. Yes its more work but its worth it.

28 days left of school and I think I am looking forward to it more than the kids are, lol

So I guess that makes us all caught up, well at least mostly!! Hope it won't be another month before I post again.