Meal Plan Monday (a little late!!)

I am trying to get back to better meal planning, so here goes....

Monday: Shrimp Alfredo
Tuesday: Refried Beans without the Refry, tortillas, Mexican rice
Wednesday: white bean soup (made with a ham bone) over rice & corn bread
Thursday: pork chops & cream of mushroom soup in the crock pot
Friday: Crock-pot Spaghetti & home-made bread (We have book club in the afternoon, and company for supper, so I need a crock pot meal!)
Saturday: barbecue chicken & baked potatoes (company)

Refried Beans without the Refry (from http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/)
1 onion, chopped
3 c. dried pinto beans
2 T. minced garlic (I use more and I do not mince them, they get blended at the end)
5 t. salt (I use a lot less)
1 3/4 t. pepper
1/8 t. cumin (I use a lot more)
9 c. water (I use half chicken broth)
Combine all ingredients in crockpot; stir. Cook on high for 8 hours. Strain, reserving liquid. Mash beans, adding reserved liquid to desired consistency. I use my food processer, and the garlic and onion gets mashed in with everything else.

Crock Pot Spaghetti (from my sweet friend Allison)
2 Lbs. hamburger meat, browned and drained
1 cup chopped onion (I use minced onion. I have an onion detector in our house!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans tomato sauce
6 cups tomato juice
1 package (16 oz) dry spaghetti
1 package Italian dressing, dry

Combine all ingredients except spaghetti in crock pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours (high 3-5 hours) Turn on high during the last hour and stir in dry spaghetti. Stir a couple of times to "unclump" noodles, especially just after you put them in.)

A Day in the Life of Eli (or why I am always tired!)

Our little caboose!

Pea gravel is so much fun!


Eli enjoys laundry much more than his mom!

Eli loves mealtime!

Eli is growing and changing everyday. He is such a cutie pie, and I wanted to write a little bit about the person he is today. As impossible as it seems today, I know that someday I will have a hard time remembering the details of this phase of our life. So, here is a day in the life of Eli...

I usually hear a little voice calling out to me around 6:00 in the morning. I am not sure what the words are that he is saying, but I totally understand the message -- "Come get me!" Either Mark or I usually goes and gets him and brings him back to our room for a little pre-breakfast bonding. I think this is one of his favorite times of the day. He gets both Mommy and Daddy's undivided attention, and he eats it up!

We then head to the kitchen for breakfast. He usually eats scrambled eggs, banana and either toast or cheerios. He eats with great gusto, and when he is finished, he lets me know! Extra food goes on the ground and the yelling begins.

Then he begins his day of getting into everything possible. He is really at a cute, but draining age. He recently learned to climb onto the couch, but he has not learned how not to fall off. He also loves climbing up the stairs, which keeps us on our toes. We just bought a six foot gate to try to keep him safely on the first floor! Some of his other favorite activities include: eating crayons and other treasures left on the floor, turning off the computer when Mommy is using it, sneaking into the bathroom or his sisters' room, throwing folded laundry out of the basket, and many other adventurous activities.

The other children are great with their little brother. They help me keep an eye on him, and yell if he is in trouble. He loves to follow them around, and it grieves him to no end if they leave without him. I think he has no choice but to be a people person!

Eli usually starts to fuss a couple of hours after he wakes up. I put him in his bed with toys for a few minutes. Sometimes he goes to sleep, but more often he just plays and talks. This little break lets me get school started off on the right foot, and Eli usually comes out of his bed in a better mood than when he went in! He takes a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and that gives me some cherished quiet time. The other children play in their rooms, and I relax.

Eli loves his daddy! He often throws quite a fit when Mark leaves for work in the morning and puts on a great big smile when he comes home. "Da" was the first word that he said consistently. He loves to spend time with Daddy in the evening.

Eli heads to bed around 7:00. He is a great sleeper. We rarely have to get up with him at night. The house is much quieter and calmer after he goes to bed!

Eli is a lot of work, but I could not imagine life without our little man!

Favorite Foods:

Eli loves scrambled eggs, cheese, green beans, bananas, spaghetti, anything sweet, apple juice, and anything that somebody else is eating!

Favorite Activities:

Getting into everything, riding in the car, taking off his pants, unloading cabinets and drawers, splashing in the tub, playing in the grass, dancing to music, chasing the neighbor's dogs (thankfully, they are smart enough to never let him catch them)

Eli Is 1!

Eli was amazed when I handed him the cake. He kept looking at me like, "Are you sure about this?" (My cake decorating skills could use some help!)
Yummy!

Eli turned one last month (I'm a little behind!). I know that it is a cliche, but they really do grow up so fast! We celebrated his birthday a few days late so that Nana and Grand-Bob could be there with us. He enjoyed eating his little cake all by himself. What a big boy!

Grandparents Are Wonderful!

We love Mamaw!

What a Grandpa! He even has two extra "babies" in his lap!

We love Nana!

We were thrilled to have my parents (Grand-Bob and Nana) and Mark's mom (Mamaw) this fall. Mamaw was traveling through with Mark's cousin Lisa, and they stopped by for the weekend. It was so nice to have them! My parents came a couple weeks later. We are looking forward to all of them visiting again in November. I am so thrilled that my children have such a great relationship with their grandparents despite the mileage between us. Grandparents are a blessing from the Lord!

Pumpkin Patch

We have gone to a pumpkin patch almost every year since Isaac was born (we may have missed one year). We have now gone to pumpkin patches in three different states! This year we went with several other homeschooling families and travelled to a farm about an hour away. I was quite impressed with this patch. The farmers had made an elaborate corn maze. It was almost too elaborate -- a couple of the mamas had to be rescued! They also had a playground and an area with various animals for the children to look at. The owners had picked pumpkins and laid them in a grassy area. They usually allow the children to go into the patch to pick them, but they had seen several snakes in the area. They decided not to risk one of the children getting bitten, a decision I appreciated! Our trips to the pumpkin patch are always fun for the children, but it is also a great photo opportunity for the mothers. In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself that we came for fun and not for the pictures! Happy Fall!

You Know You Live in the Country When...

You know you live in the country when you find two deer legs in the front yard! Lovely!

An Action Packed Three Weeks (Part 2)

After Eli's seizure, we were all worn out! We had a fall festival on Saturday and then church on Sunday. Mark kept Eli home for the weekend to give him time to recover. Mark moved the wrong way on Sunday, and his back went out. I took him to the doctor on Monday to get it checked out. The doctor diagnosed it as muscle spasms and prescribed some medication to help him function. Thankfully, he was feeling much better by Tuesday. He was able to put away his cane and head back to work.

He had a short business trip on Wednesday and Thursday (insert some grumbling and complaining on my part). We were able to get back to a "normal" routine for the weekend. On Sunday, we traveled to Jonesboro (AKA "The Big City") to take Mark out to eat for his birthday, which was the next day. Monday morning, Mark woke up early with chest pains. I woke up the children and drove Mark to the ER (I know we probably should have called an ambulance...). They ended up keeping him overnight for observation. Thankfully, all of the tests came back normal. I am so thankful that he is OK. What a way to spend his 40th birthday!


I am hoping and praying that we have patronized the local medical community enough for a while! I am thankful that everyone is doing well, and that none of our issues ended up being serious.

An Action Packed Three Weeks

We have had an "action packed" three weeks. It started a little over three weeks ago when Mark headed to Texas for some training for work. He left on Sunday, and was due to return on Friday afternoon. I have to admit that I hate it when Mark has to travel! We all miss him! It always gives me a renewed respect for single moms, because it is hard to parent alone! We had a pretty good week, and had made it to Thursday night. I put the children to bed, rejoiced that it was my last night of solo bedtime routine, and headed to bed early.

Around 11:00, I heard a blood curdling scream and was across the house before I was even awake. I realized it was Eli and grabbed him out of his bed. I thought that he was having a nightmare, so I tried to wake him up. He stopped screaming, and I realized that he had slipped into a seizure. I was terrified! Olivia had a febrile seizure several years ago, so I cognitively knew what was probably happening, but emotionally, I was a wreck. He had been congested for a few days, but he did not feel like he had a fever. I called Mark (who was nine hours away), and he calmed me down a bit. He called our neighbor, and then got in the car and started the long trip back in the middle of the night with no sleep! I called 911 and my friend Stacy. The first responders were there within about five minutes, and I gave Eli to them and got dressed. His seizure lasted almost fifteen minutes. He was starting to come out of it when the ambulance got there. Our neighbor arrived, and I got into the ambulance. As we were pulling out, I saw Stacy running barefoot across my muddy yard (It is a precious memory of a faithful friend). She had gotten to my house in record time.

We arrived at the emergency room and they put me in the waiting room. Another precious friend, Melissa, came to sit with me. I was so thankful that she was there! They came to get me to try to calm Eli down. He was exhausted and very upset. He had a 102 degree fever, and so they began looking for the source of the infection. They did blood work and a chest x-ray. It ended up that he had an ear infection. The doctor decided to keep Eli over night for observation, and we finally got into a room around 3:00. It took about four attempts to finally get an IV in, and then they started an IV antibiotic. We finally got to rest around 4:00.

Stacy stayed with my children through the night. They had no idea anything had happened until they woke up the next morning. Mark arrived around 9:00. I was so thankful that he made it home safely. He was exhausted! Eli and I were able to come home around 4:00. I put him down for a nap around 5:00 and he slept all night until 6:30 the next morning.

After the terror and exhaustion of the night faded away, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness. I was so thankful that our little man was ok. I was also incredibly thankful that we have only lived here seven months, and God has already given us people that we can call on when we need them. Over the next few days, we had several more people tell us to call them when we need help. I often wish that we could be close to our family, but that does not seem like a possibility right now. God has blessed us so richly with Christian brothers and sisters while we are away from our family. I am so thankful!