Poor Woman's Valentine's

Thank you all for your well wishes. Sorry I have been gone all weekend but when your sick it's hard to be creative. Joe surprised and TOTALLY FLOORED me when he announced Sunday that he had taken the day off for me to get better. And I slept pretty much the whole day. I am doing much better today. I even had the DRIVE to sanitize my house! And that is what I did. Swiffered floors, scrubbed and cleansed bathrooms, wiped down walls with Clorox wipes and did all bedding and sprayed them with Lysol. And I hate the smell of Lysol... but desperate times call for DESPERATE measures! Hopefully with all the antibiotics and disinfectant we will be better for all the birthday's coming up. Valentines and 4 b-days in one week! Wheew.

After spending 5 hours wiping down my house I was in the mood for some creativity and since our funds are small this year I decided to make crafts with the kids.

We used construction paper, glitter, glue and pens.

Then we used tape and thread and hung some of the hearts from the ceiling. We made a 'Hallway of Love'....

We had tons of fun and talked and laughed.... It should be interesting to see Joe's face when he gets home from work!

(Addition- Joe thought it was cute and that we did a good job.)

And I just have to share this with you too....

I found out where the new Star Wars Rebel base is today.....

Happy Monday!

Fun Friday

Needless to say, still being sick and dealing with a sick child, I am not feeling the "fun" vibe today. So I thought that I would 'catch-up' with awards and /or challenges that I have been sirking from other sites/people.

Jenjen at Tatertots and Jello gave me this the other day....

The award states: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Still being new to blogging I don't really have 8 but I will try...

Amanda at Keeping up with the Jones

Sarah at Clover Lane
Carrie at Carrie's Little World

Jen at Adventure's in Mommyland

Crissy at Come Ye Ladds and Lasses

This is a game:

Picture Fun-

1. I choose the 4th folder where I store my pictures on the computer. 2. Select the 4th picture in the folder. 3. Explain the picture. 4. Tag 4 people to do the same. 5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

This was taken in California at an event called "The Pumpkin Walk". This was during set-up but I have no idea why I took it. OOOOooooo really exciting I know. Now for the 4 people to tag...

Chrissy at Come Ye Ladds and Lasses

Amy at The Jensen Trio

Amanda at Keepin' Up with the Jones

Sarah at Clover Lane

To Share a Laugh:

Joe and I were watching a rerun of AFV and Joe got this idea for kid torture. Put whipcream on the kids belly and let the dog lick it off. The only trusting child we have left is Keriana. ... Who found it hillarious. ...... And Myschief liked it too!

Have a great Friday! I am going to do a giveaway soon so check back!

-Jamie

Thoughtful Thrusday

The Play Area...
BEFORE










AFTER:



I went to Target and bought these bins to go in the shelves. And on them I painted likenesses to the toys they had the most of and then their names for any toys that didn't go with the other bin names. Hopefully this will help with the organization issues.




After all this cleaning up of my house, it has really started me thinking about "things". And why we have so much or think we have to have so much. I got rid of so much stuff! But why was I so attached to some of it that I couldn't get rid of it before? And why am I still holding on to baby clothes that the kids will never wear again? I tell my self it's for memories. But who's going to remember? Who's going to care about my report card from 4th grade with all my A's or my dog's baby teeth (yes I have their baby teeth! Who doesn't save baby teeth?) The tooth fairy has left me all my kids baby teeth, why not keep the dogs too? Their my kids!
How many shoes do we really need? OK so this is not my soft spot but I know it is for some...
Who's going to care that I went to see Raider's of the Lost Arc in the Movie theater? Yes, I did actually part with this and other ticket stubs. Some I actually wrote who I went to see the movie with...
I finally parted with my "Slam Books" from my middle school years. HELLOOOO!!! I paid to MOVE those suckers. And why? ??? I have no idea. Do you remember "Slam Books"?

What are you keeping that doesn't make sense to anyone else??

P.S. My Daughters class has started a program on feelings. They are bring home papers called "Putting a drop in someone's Bucket". They write about something they like about another person. I decided that we all need more of that! Whether it's getting or giving. So I had added - on my side bar- "Putting a BEE in someone's Blog". As I am searching the blogging world for new friends and fun things I will share with you what I find. And I hope you will stop in and visit them! Let's make this world a smaller, friendlier, happier place!

I Didn't mean to JINX myself...

When I wrote my post on Saturday defining my day's, I honestly didn't want anymore things to write about for my Wellness Wednesdays! I was just going to cover the topics we already had! HUH.
Tristin developed a dry cough and clear runny nose last week and - with the warm weather - I just figured that it was allergy's. Over the weekend the running nose turned the yummy green color and the cough increased and got "thick". His energy levels plummeted a little. Joe came home early on Saturday and stayed home Sunday because he was sick. He even fell asleep during the Superbowl so I KNOW he was sick. Sunday night Tristin could hardly sleep because of his cough and I kept him home from school on Monday. OH! Was he off the HOOK on Monday. But his nose eased up and went back clear. And by Monday afternoon I felt like crap and was nauseated and everything else pleasant. So keeping up with Tristin and him terrorizing his sisters... well my patience was just not happening. Anyway, he had another rough night and by Tuesday morning I was ready for some non-Tristin time. When Joe found out that I was going to send Tristin to school he just about ate my head for breakfast. And informed me that I needed to call the Doctor. Excuse me? Who's the mom here? Who knows best?? Well he ended up being right. (GASP! Oh the HORROR!)
I took Tristin to the Dr. and he has "Almost Pneumonia". Was I really so sick and out of it that I couldn't see the need my son had? And what the heck is "Almost Pneumonia"? And if I am that out of it, why isn't someone taking care of me? Oh that's right, I'm the MOM and no one takes care of me when I am sick. AND it doesn't matter that I am sick because there are things to be done around the house, meals to be made and no one else knows where things are and how to do them. Humph. LIKEOHMYGOSH! Unfair!
Anyway, Tristin is on antibiotics for 5 days but CAN go back to school tomorrow. YEA! However, Keriana has picked up the sickness and she seems more worse off than any of us. But the Dr. wont give her an antibiotic until she's had the cough for at least 7 days. We're on day 3. I am worried because I can't get her to eat or drink much and she is asking for medicine every 3 hours or so. She has very little energy and is pretty pale. But we're limping through as best we can. We're both fighting temperatures and aches. I am just grateful I DON'T have the cough and runny nose.
So today I thought I would do a post on PNEUMONIA.... just for the heck of it since I was looking it all up anyway.

WHAT IS PNEUMONIA?
Pneumonia is a serious infection and/or inflammation of your lungs. The air sacs in the lungs fill with pus and other liquid. Oxygen has trouble reaching your blood. If there is too little oxygen in your blood, your body cells can't work properly. Because of this and spreading infection through the body pneumonia can cause death.

CAUSES OF PNEUMONIA
Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can have over 30 different causes. There are five main causes of pneumonia:
Bacteria
Viruses
Mycoplasmas
Other infectious agents, such as fungi - including pneumocystis

VIRAL PNEUMONIA (This is the one Tristin was diagnosed as having)
Symptoms: The initial symptoms of viral pneumonia are the same as influenza symptoms: fever, a dry cough, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Within 12 to 36 hours, there is increasing breathlessness; the cough becomes worse and produces a small amount of mucus. There is a high fever and there may be blueness of the lips.

BACTERIAL PNEUMONIA
Symptoms: The onset of bacterial pneumonia can vary from gradual to sudden. In the most severe cases, the patient may experience shaking chills, chattering teeth, severe chest pain, and a cough that produces rust-colored or greenish mucus. A persons temperature may rise to as much as 105*F

MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIA
Symptoms: The most prominent symptom of mycoplasma pneumonia is a cough that tends to come in violent attacks, but produces only sparse whitish mucus. Chills and fever are early symptoms, and some patients experience nausea or vomiting. Patients may experience profound weakness that lasts for a long time.

To read further information and to find out about the other kinds of pneumonia you can go to The American Lung Association.

Hope you are all feeling better than we are!
JM

Ravioli Lasagna

Family-Friendly Recipes by Smith's

Ravioli Lasagna - serves 6

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
15 oz carton ricotta cheese, divided
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 jar spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce
1 pkg (25 oz) frozen cheese ravioli

Preheat oven to 400*F. Combine spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ricotta cheese, Italian seasoning, egg and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Spread marinara sauce on bottom of 9 inch baking pan. Arrange frozen ravioli in single layer on top. Top with cheese mixture, then ravioli again. Finally top with additional marinara. Top with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand about 15 minutes to cool and set up. Refigerate any leftovers.

I found this in "My Magazine" sent out by Smith's food and drug and thought it sounded so delious I had to share it. Let me know what you think and if you make it- how it turned out!

Memory Monday

I remember when I was young tearing out of my house to go play with my friend Emily. It was a warm summer day and I was barefoot - as always. Half way across the lawn I stumbled a bit but kept going. When I was two houses down I realized that my big toe really hurt. I looked down to find my toe nail almost completely ripped off! It was starting to sting really bad but I couldn't figure out what to do. Do I run down to my friends house to get help - I WAS half way there... or do I turn around and go home? I remember actually wondering who would give me the most sympathy? Emily was the middle child of 8 kids. It was only me and my brother at my house.... I don't remember how long I stood there trying to figure out which way to go, but in the end I decided on my house. And I did get lots of sympathy....

When I was 10 My brother went on a mission to Finland. I really missed him and had a hard time. One day I was home from school sick and both my parents were at work. The phone rang and when I answered it, it was Jeff! I remember how excited I was. He had found a pay phone that only charged 25 cents for him to call anywhere. We talked for about 5 minutes. And then we were cut off. But I was so happy to have been home to talk to him. After the phone call ended I remember crying and crying because I missed him so much. I called mom at work and she thought something was really wrong because I could hardly talk I was crying so much.... but when I got it out she told me she was glad I was there to take the call.

Tristin was born at 32 1/2 weeks and spent 10 days in the NICU. I spent most of the time at the hospital but would come home at least once a day to shower, change and pump. After day 4 time ran together and I remember being so exhausted. But I had to keep going. My baby needed me! Anyway, this particular day I came home mid-afternoon. I took my shower and then sat down on the bed to pump. I had one of the electric pumps. I was so tired I decided to lay back on the bed. Next thing I remember was Joe walking in and waking me up. He said "Jamie honey you need to get up!" I looked at the clock and I had fallen asleep for about 45 min. With the pump still pumping away! I was soaked, the bedding was soaked and the mattress was soaked from the top to about midway down on the bed to almost the center of the bed. I started to cry thinking about what a mess I'd made, the milk that Tristin needed that was a waste and now I had to waste more time at home doing the laundry so that Joe could sleep on the bed that night. Joe tried so hard to not laugh - it really didn't work.

Walking with GOD

Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”
Mary Stevenson, 1936

I thought I would start this off with my most favorite poem. There are actually 3 different versions of this poem with 3 different authors claiming to be the 'original author'. This version was the earliest so I went with it.

There are many days and times that my challenges get so "heavy" that I constantly question if my GOD is really with me. I wonder if I really will make it past this challenge and what it is that I am supposed to be learning. This poem brings me peace. You'll find it in many different places around my home.

We didn't get the opportunity to go to church today because of illnesses, so I don't have any quotes from there to share with you. But I did sit down and do some scripture study on GOD'S LOVE. Here are three scriptures that I found most comforting today. I hope you find peace in them as well.

D&C 76:62 These shall dwell in the presence of GOD and his CHRIST forever and ever.

Genesis 21:22 ... GOD is with thee in all that thou doest.

Exodus 33:14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give the rest.

Aren't those scriptures awesome? Just to be reminded that GOD is with us in all we do - rather all good that we do. That HE is sitting next to us in the car on those stormy days... that HE is 'carrying us' thru our trials in which our legs would give out. I just wish I could feel HIM - more physically than I do most days. But I just have to remember that HE is there... and that I have to lean on HIM though I am not able to see HIM right now.

May HIS peace and love surround you this week...

Please tell me - How do you remember HIM?