OUCH

I know I've been M.I.A. for a while now...we've passed a little intestinal bug around. After three days of taking it easy, watching lots of movies, and napping, I was suspicious T was pulling my leg...and now I know he wasn't kidding. At all.

And I've been working on a big project. More on that later.

Let me tell you about my morning. I'll intersperse a few pics of little MC to keep you smiling, 'cause the story isn't so pretty.

When I was a junior in high school (that would be roughly eleven years ago) my dad dropped our dental insurance. Therefore, I ceased going. T and I married in college. He had his last dental check up just shy of meeting me at the altar.

For two kids "livin' on love," insurance is, well, not cheap. We didn't go to the dentist for a number of years. Like...eleven for me, seven for T. By the time we could afford insurance, I was terrified to go. I've brushed religiously since my junior year...at least twice a day, flossing every night, using mouthwash, and chewing trident...all in a terrified effort to avoid oral problems.

Well, last fall I bit the bullet and went. It wasn't bad at all and the hygienist and dentist actually complimented my brushing, etc. They found one new cavity and one old one that needed to be re-done due to some shifting??? Since I was early on in my pregnancy they opted to wait to fill and x-ray me until now.

So...I went this morning to have one of the two cavities filled, as well as x-rays taken. Um, post x-ray, they found SIX that needed filling and decided to fill four of them today. Two on the top and two on the bottom. The two on the bottom were supposedly quite small. Dr. asked if I'd be up for drilling without anesthesia, since it was "only in the enamel."

Now...this leads to another story.

When I was much younger on a bright Sunday morning at church, Mom sent me to the car to get $.50 so she could get a diet pepsi from the vending machine. Being a child and all, I accidentally locked the keys in the car. You know, kids do those kinds of things at times. Dad found it utterly unacceptable and informed me I would be paying the locksmith bill. Mr. Locksmith charged $50. How is a kid going to come up with that kind of money???

I had a cavity. According to our dentist, the cost of anesthesia was $50. I weighed my options and figured I could opt out of the anesthesia and tough it out for half an hour or slave away for months. I white knuckled the arm rests of the dental chair and had that sucker filled sans anesthesia, and settled the debt with my father.

So today when Dr. asked me if I wanted to try it without anesthesia, and since we aren't getting dental insurance until January, and we're saving for the garage project, I gave her the go-ahead. I DON'T KNOW HOW I DID THAT AS A KID. Must have been the grace of God. I remember it hurting, but I don't remember it hurting so bad I felt light headed. Seriously. Today I just about jumped out of that chair. It went past the enamel. So she numbed me up on the bottom and went to work on the top. She drilled some on the left side and suddenly I could feel it. Again, I got a little air in the chair. She apologized and gave me another shot in the top (that's#2 on that side). She went to work on the other side, up top. Finished it up and headed back to the left side. She got going once more and I jumped AGAIN. Still not numb. Another shot on the top left (#3) and down to the bottom. She got that one drilled and then decided she needed x-rays to make sure she'd gotten everything. We did the x-rays, I sat back down. The bottom was finished, so she went back to work on the top. STILL NOT NUMB. At this point I began to feel light headed. Shot #4. WHAT??? Evidently my body "metabolizes the anesthesia quickly." She finished drilling and by the time she was "drying" the tooth to fill it, I was feeling it again.

I am sore from clenching my fists and wrapping my legs around each other to deal with the pain. And to top it off, the entire left side of my face is numb. EVEN MY EYE AND EAR. I had to call T to come get me because I couldn't quit shaking and I felt so light headed I didn't dare drive. Oh, and the best part about it was the bill. $544.

Between the two of us, we've spent $1200 at the dentist this month. OUCH. Of course, if we divide that by a cumulative 18 years of not going, I guess it isn't too bad.

Kindergarten

The big day finally came and it was hard. MW cried Sunday afternoon, prior to "open house." She cried again Monday morning, claiming it was just that "har-mone sickness that makes you cry for no reason."

We pressed on.

We arrived and things were fairly quiet. Teacher met us at the door with a big smile and a tender hug. She took MW by the hand and helped her find her name in five different places in the room. And then it happened. The tears came. Not MW, ME! I got so choked up I couldn't talk. It's as if these five years have flashed by me and they are gone. Gone. I blinked.

I'm not sure what Teacher told MW. My mind was racing back to "open house" for 3-p and how the time has flown. I just stood there with this deer in the headlights look on my face (at least, I felt that way) and watched, fighting back the tears. My precious little girl, my first born, is in kindergarten!

Teacher managed to get her to smile for a picture (unfortunately, not the one I was taking, she doesn't like it when I take her pic) and then turned to greet another student. MW asked me to read to her, so we settled down on the carpet with a book. I pointed to all the books and commented on how fun and how she'd be reading by Christmas and she informed me she doesn't "really like any of those books."

Oh well.

We got home and she nearly burst into tears. She told me she just wanted to "stay home and play and do crafts and watch movies and just play and not have to learn anything." She told T the classroom "is different from last year and there aren't any centers."

Oh well.

She got to bed early last night.

This morning she came downstairs earlier than usual and found me at my sewing machine. She promptly informed me that I should not be sewing, but rather, "fixing me breakfast in bed."

We arrived to school on time.

While making our way towards the building, Pastor came out. He knelt down on MW's eye level and spoke to her. He complimented her on the flower on her shirt, calling it a "carnation." Then he leaned forward to smell the flower. That got a little smile from her.

As we entered the building, I clicked away, as if taking more pictures will stop, or even slow down the hands of time.

Teacher's Aide was there to greet us at the door. She's just precious. MW went right in, put her snack in the snack bucket, hung her bag on her hook, and sat right down in her spot. She cracked open a can of play-dough and used a cookie cutter to cut out the letter H, which she proceeded to hold up to her eyes and make believe it was binoculars. I snapped a few pics and half way wanted her to cling to me and beg me not to leave, but she didn't. She gave me a kiss and told me she did "not have a crush on that boy" and pointed to a kid behind her.

I made my way out, got in my car, stopped at the first red light and my heart got run over with a hundred questions...five years are gone. She's so big. Have I invested wisely? Have I invested my time, my energy, wisely? Has it been a good choice to work some from home? Should I have invested that time in her, instead? Have I planted gospel seeds in the soil of her life? Have I lived a Godly life before those all-seeing little eyes? Have I jaded my child? She has seen me sin. Has she seen me repent? Have I loved her with the love of Christ? Have I shown her how wonderful being her mommy is? Does she know, because of my actions, when she's been the only one to see, how much I love her daddy, love her, love her bro, and her sis? Have I been a good steward with this most wonderful life God has entrusted to me? Tears ran down my cheeks.

I've kept all my calendars since high school. For some reason I struggle to part with them. They are a record of my life. I think of that stack of books, pages loaded with little boxes representing days gone by. Have I invested those days in worthy things? Did I live each day in humble reliance on the Lord, or did I serve myself?

Oh it was an emotional day for me. (I'd like to blame the "har-mones.")

It was time to pick up MW. We'd just pulled into car-line when MC made it apparent she was ready to eat (technically she had another 20 or so minutes). I couldn't take the crying anymore. We were sitting in a secluded patch of car line (that would be the providence of God). I knew the lady in front of me (she has eight kids), so I pulled MC's carrier to the front and fed her. A few minutes into feeding, Little Man pipes up that he has GOT TO GO TEE TEE! He wasn't wearing a diaper... we've been potty training. So...I told him to hold it. After loading the girls, we zipped around beside a dumpster and I rushed Little Man out of his car seat and promptly stood him behind a pine tree. Relief. I just hope no one saw.

Here's to kindergarten and vowels and phonics. Here's to a wonderful year... to embracing where we are in life and living it well, to the glory of God.

The Culmination...

...of a wonderful summer!

On the way home from church today I asked MW what she wanted to do, since today was technically, sort of, her last day of summer. (We have orientation tomorrow and school begins Tuesday.)

"Feed the birds and play in the hose," she said.

And that we did.

T caught us at the tail end of playtime. As you can see, MC was just "chillin.'"



Rewind a bit...Yesterday MW asked me, "Do I really have a puppy, or am I just dreaming?"

Thinking she was playing a game with me, I assured her she was "just dreaming."

She smiled and replied, "Oh good! Now I don't really have to take care of a puppy!"

Later in the day she told me she "wouldn't be sad if Warrior died."

I gasped and asked, "why?"

"Well, then I wouldn't have to take care of him."

I think the honeymoon is over.



Last night I heard giggling. No. Make that roaring laughter and screams.

Guess what I found?

Bro and Sis sharing the pot.

I've been doing a little sewing...

Trimming burp cloths for starters. I did this for the other two and quite frankly, had no intention of making more. I thought I had a decent stash...however, MC has a touch of reflux and so we go through several burp cloths a day, so I tackled a stack of plain diapers and trimmed them up right.

Sticking with the subject of sewing, a few weeks ago I set out to make a soft, sweet gown for MC. After making a lot of mistakes and learning a lot of what to/not to do, and after weeks, now, of slipping gowns either over her head or up her tummy, I got this idea in my head and set to work...

Half way through, I worried the ruffles were too much and I almost took off what I'd put on. But then I decided since it looked good on paper (I sketched it out prior to any cutting or sewing), I'd see it through to completion.

I'm kind of tickled with the outcome. I think I'd make the ruffles smaller if I had it to do over.

PS: I am working on organizing the labels for my posts, working towards some consistency rather than just slathering something down there...I was trying to think of something "clever" to take the place of "daily life"...so I pulled up google and typed in, "doing something over and over," 'cause, you know, that's my "daily life" - doing the same things over and over. Do you know what came up?

INSANITY.

It Is Good.

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,

but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

~Proverbs 14:4

Our Top Three...

Favorite eats from the last few days! Hope they inspire. They were delicious!

Edamame Salad

Oh, it was sooo good. We ALL liked it! (Even MW who is becoming increasingly picky.)

To make, you'll need:

• shelled edamame
• cherry tomatoes
• purple onion
• parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

boil the edamame, slice the cherry tomatoes, dice about a quarter to half the purple onion (depending on your taste - I'm not a raw onion kinda girl, and I started with a quarter and after tasting it, added the other quarter), grate/chop parmesan cheese (I did a small handful), and salt and pepper to taste, stir together and wha-la...a beautiful, tasty, healthy, yummy salad!

* disclaimer: I read about a salad similar to this one recently, but couldn't put my hands on it, which inspired the making of this one. The one I'd read about used olive oil and vinegar, feta cheese, and I don't think there was a purple onion...any ideas where I might have seen that recipe? I'd kind of like to try it.

Next Up...

Grilled Pizza

Inspired by the Italians! (and our trip to Italy) and a Crisco ad...

You'll need:

• pizza dough or a pre-made crust
• olive oil
• garlic
• cheese
• veggies (we copied the Italians and had fresh: zucchini, purple onions, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, green beans {really - I had green beans on my pizza while in Italy!}, cucumbers...and whatever else I had sitting in my veggie drawer)

I'm not entirely sure of quantities here...I just mixed some olive oil with several spoonfuls of minced garlic (from the giant tub of minced garlic from Sams)... baste your dough/crust with it and place on grill on low heat (I sprayed our grill with Pam first)...cook a minute or so on each side (I used dough and gave it about two minutes), remove from grill, top with cheese and veggies, put back on grill until cheese melts/veggies are tender...um, I totally burned the bottom of the crust. We don't have a super duper nice grill... it died and T said he was finished buying $$ grills, so we got a lower end model (that also happened to fall OUT of his truck and onto the highway when he was bringing it home. Aside from the dents, some mega scratches, and the taped together handle, you'd never know.) ....and well, there isn't much of a difference in High, Medium, or Low...sooo....on low and even with foil, I still burned it, and it was still delicious!!!

Next Up...

Oh wait...wrong picture.

Oh, here we go.

Finally:

Rosemary Chicken Soup!!!

This soup is the best ever!!! (well, next to Mom's chicken soup.) A precious friend brought us some of this when I had a throw up bug. I hoarded the entire container. T never even got a bite. It was so soothing and delicious! She didn't have a "recipe" for it. She'd merely thrown together a little of this and a little of that based on what was available in her fridge. I, however, purchased the ingredients explicitly for this soup because it is that good. This is a variation of hers. It. Is. DELICIOUS!!!!! You MUST try it!

You'll need:

• one whole chicken
• frozen peas (I used half the Walmart "Great Value" size bag)
• 2 onions, quartered
• minced garlic (several spoonfuls)
• rosemary (5 sprigs, more if desired)
• black pepper, & lots of it
• pastina (pasta stars...you can get them at Walmart in the pasta section)
• all purpose seasoning (I used Natures Seasons Seasoning Blend)

Place chicken, along with onions, a few spoonfuls of minced garlic, and a few sprigs of rosemary in a stock pot. Top with water . Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is done. Remove chicken and place in separate dish, strain broth and return to pan over medium heat (I keep it at a low boil). "Pick the chicken." (pick off all the meat, dropping it into broth, chunk the carcass)

{Scout ALWAYS hangs out with me when I pick a chicken...so does little man.}

and season with pepper, more garlic, and seasoning salt,...eight minutes prior to serving, add pastina (I used half a box), peas, and more Rosemary (this time, picked off the stem). Continue cooking over medium heat (low boil) for 6-8 minutes, or until pasta is done and peas are cooked. Serve and ENJOY!

When my kids eat this soup, they insist it makes them "twinkle" (because of the star pasta), and constantly ask, "can you see the twinkle in my nose? Can you see the twinkle in my eyes?", etc.

You. Have. GOT. To. Try. This. Soup. It is good.

Hope you enjoy!

Hello, hello!

The kids and I have been having a blast in the mornings! With summer drawing to an end, I so want to enjoy the remaining days...so we've been doing art projects after breakfast. While the kids create, I've been reading to them from a Chick-fil-A kids' meal book about the Renaissance. We've been learning about Sandro Botticelli and I've cracked up listening to MW and T3 try to pronounce his name.

That would be a yawn. I suppose MC hasn't yet learned to appreciate the arts.

We've done a little painting (and might I add this was the best forty-four cents I've ever spent at Walmart...these were in the craft section and the kids had a BLAST painting them! I thought they'd be done in five minutes and wondered if it would be worth getting out the paint, etc. They spent more like thirty minutes painting them and then had a great time mixing paint colors and eventually painting coloring book pages. Not to mention they are quite proud of their works of art. Well worth the effort in my opinion!

I often set them up with play-dough in the evenings during that crazy time when I'm trying to prepare dinner and keep their little hands occupied. It gives them something to do that isn't too messy and keeps them in the kitchen with me. However, the play dough recently bit the dust. It was beyond keeping...all crumbly and loaded with grit...not to mention both containers of it were a disgusting green color...so I decided to try my hand at making our own play dough. I'd seen recipes before and figured it couldn't be too hard. It wasn't. And it was pretty cheap and quite convenient. I mixed up a batch, divided it in half, and again, another hour of a morning was filled with inquisitive hands building fortresses and making bowls and animals, along with lots of discussion about what colors they would paint their creations. So the backsplash of the oven is lined with their creations...and when they dry, we'll break out the paints once more.

Here's how we made ours:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

2 T cooking oil

Enjoy!

Laugh With Me...

Sunday:

4:30 pm MW gets sent to her bed until "Daddy comes home"

4:31 pm Warrior begins crying and pawing at the kennel door

4:45 pm I nurse MC

5:05 pm Little man has a blow out, requiring an immediate bath, as well as toilet seat sanitation (for the fourth time in 48 hours - he has a little bug)...Warrior's still crying

5:20 pm MC is screaming

5:21 pm Little Man "trusts a poot" and wha-la...a tub FULL of diarrhea

5:25 pm tub is drained, little man is told to stand still in the rear of the tub while I, uh-hum, wash out what didn't drain

5:26 pm Little Man disobeys, begins jumping, I tell him to stop, he disobeys and slips and hits his head

5:27 pm Little Man and MC are both screaming and the phone is ringing

finally I get everyone calmed down and baby put to bed...Little Man is running through the house naked and Warrior is STILL crying and pawing at his kennel door

fast forward...

Monday:

3 am Little Man is crying...I go to investigate...he's had a blow out and his little booty is raw (this happened the night before...about the same time). I carry him to the tub, bathe him, tell him stories about snakes in an effort to distract him from the sting...strip off soiled sheets, sanitize EVERYTHING (I am so thankful for lysol and clorox and dial bath soap!).

3:53 am back in bed

4:20-ish am Little Man's crying again...T settles him this time...he'd had a bad dream?

7:00 am Warrior is crying and pawing at his kennel door...MC wakes to nurse and MW comes down and has had an accident in her bed (she hasn't done this in over a year...what are the odds?)

7:20 am MC is content, MW is bathed, we go to get Warrior out to let him potty and eat...too late. He's pooped in his kennel and eaten most of it...disgusting

7:21 am MC is screaming. I haul the kennel outside and proceed to disassemble it, spray it out, sanitize the stew out of it, and bathe the dog

7:50 am I haul said kennel up to MW's room and run back downstairs to settle MC

8:15 am MC is down, I strip MW's bed and begin the first of at least three loads of soiled laundry...

Happy Monday!

Whitewashed Tombs, II

{taken by MW}

First off, I really appreciate your encouraging comments, emails, and even a few phone calls - one from my high school history teacher, regarding an earlier post, Whitewashed Tombs! Thank you! You are incredibly encouraging!

My intention in writing that post was to be open and honest. There's a great temptation for me to write our lives as a story book and to leave out some of the very things that shape and make us into who we are...the hard things that challenge us and force us to look our sin in the eye and call it what it is and do battle against it. Again, I don't think a blog is the place to air dirty laundry, but I am convinced there is a balance to be had. I'd like you to know that I asked T to read that post prior to posting, just as I've asked him to read this one. I wanted his blessing and he gladly gave it.

Off and on we've been reading Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. T and I take turns reading aloud...of course, we've been reading this book together for well over six months now... sometimes I pick it up and read a chapter solo. Recently I read chapter six, which has been particularly awesome. The title: The Cleansing of Marriage, How Marriage Exposes Our Sin. Thomas writes about marriage revealing just how small and unforgiving we can be.

"I discovered a hardness in me I had never experienced before....until I got married and discovered how passionately annoyed I can become at pulling out empty ice cube trays...Was I really so selfish that I was willing to let seven seconds' worth of inconvenience (to refill the ice cube trays) become a serious issue in my marriage? Was my capacity to show charity really that limited? Indeed it was."

Amen.

Thomas also includes a quote from Helen Rowland that T and I both got a kick out of:

"Marriage is the operation by which a woman's vanity and a man's egotism are extracted without anesthetic."

How very true. And how very painful.

My vanity is being extracted. Warrior is doing great. MW continues to amaze me with her diligence in caring for him. T was off Friday and tended to every aspect of the little guy. And my heart, my hard and angry heart, is softening a bit...little by little. Writing Whitewashed Tombs and then having T read it was theraputic for me. The reality is, we are two sinners saved by the grace of God alone. We are both incredibly hard headed and stubborn and we both think our way is the best way and we love one another a lot. When two sinners live under the same roof, conflict will occur. I've watched conflict unite one couple, while it divides another. I hope and pray that as we face our own sin and failures and take responsibility, that the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and make us tender and forgiving. And I hope that you are encouraged by me sharing this. I admit to a little fear as I hit "post" on that earlier entry. As Thomas writes, "My natural sin bent is to hide and erect a glittering image." He goes on to quote Dan Allender and Tremper Longman,

"Man was meant to be a bold creative artist who plunges into the unformed mystery of life and shapes it to a greater vision of beauty. At the Fall he became a cowardly, violent protector of nothing more than himself. Intimacy and openness were replaced by hiding and hatred."

We live in a fallen world and we are fallen creatures. And we like the erected, glittering image.

And so...here we are, flaws and all. I don't want to hide and pretend like we have it all together. We don't. And life is beautiful, even through the tears. God has worked through so much heartache in our marriage...heartache brought on through a hundred different disappointments and difficulties, some from outside and some from within. We are husband and wife, and we fail often, and we are committed, and by the grace of God, He is sanctifying us.

Praise be to God!