And So It Begins

When our first born arrived on earth (not so cooperatively) she looked a bit... different than we were expecting. She had a large birthmark covering her entire back and a bunch of 'spots' everywhere else. We loved her just the way God made her and thanked Him for her. When faced with the option that many Nevus families take to have surgery for removal of giant birthmarks we thought, God made her this way, we will leave her that way unless something goes wrong and if she wants to remove it when she's old enough to decide to, we will support that too. At 6 months old a little lump appeared in her giant Nevus. It was biopsied, found to be benign and left alone until it grew too big to hide and was removed at 15 months old. That was 5 years ago. She has been fine and has made friends with her rare condition. 3 months ago she came home from school with a blood soaked shirt. Her skin had just ripped on it's own after she bumped gently into a doorway. No biggie, got it checked by the ped. derm. and went on with life. Last week it happened again. She fell off something in gym and another tear, more blood. When we had our regular derm. checkup she found a spot that concerned her.... probably scar tissue from the first injury but also looks a bit like Melanoma so a biopsy was ordered. Met with the plastic surgeon today to discuss the biopsy. We also discussed placing a skin expander in the front of the left shoulder, of which the back of is the area tearing. The surgeon agreed to do the biopsy and place the expander. So the family that said it would never get on the expander and removal train appears to be on it now. And the Bug is not the least bit scared! She is excited that it will mean taking away the area that keeps bleeding. It will be a long process. it may at times be a painful process. She may have moments that scare her. And there is the risk of things going wrong. It may get infected. It may rip through her skin causing a big mess and stopping the process. It may go perfectly smoothly and result in better than expected results. Our prayers are for her best interest and a smooth process. And we are so thankful to our friends that feel like family over at www.nevus.org that we can turn to for support during the whole process.

Boys will be boys...

I am getting used to the fact that The Boy who is 19 months old has a constant bruise SOMEWHERE on his body. Usually the face but not always. Tonight is the first time he has split his forehead open though.... blood, yes, purple bruise surrounding said gash, instant, screaming, loud. And 'tis the season for family photos, won't that little piece of white medical tape holding his skin together look festive! Sigh. At least I was home for this one to fix it properly using all the medical supplies left over form the surgeries and Nevus related injuries The Bug has had. Last time a forehead was split open I had to hear it happen on the phone when I was a 4 hour flight way :-(
Life goes on, but this being a Mommy stuff is sometimes so heart wrenching it hurts.

ReArranging

We decided to move Daddy's office out of the main floor den and turn that room into a playroom for the kids. It has been a lot of work and is still in progress but I hope it will help. Gives them somewhere to be that is not to far away (like the basement was) but can stay contained. We are more frustrated with the poor layout of this house every day. Also still waiting to hear back from the prospective employer that talked with the Hubby two weeks ago.... wish they would tell us something... silence is deafening! Feel like the kids and the house have way more control over every day of my life than I do which is depressing. Sigh. I guess this is what I signed up for when I became a mom.... The Boy is sick too, so no Gymboree tomorrow which I think I will miss more than him! And it is just so hard to see your kids sick! Now the Bug and me both have sore throats 'starting' and I really don't want to be sick right now! On a positive note, since the craft room was one of those rearranged, I managed to complete 3 little projects that have been sitting in the drawer today! So many more to do, but it felt good to have a start. Will try to work on more things tomorrow, finding starting with the little jobs (repairs mostly) encouraging but also can't wait to complete a big project and show it off =)

Music for the soul

The radio seems to know what I need to hear lately... in the last month or so all these songs have really touched me, said what I needed to say when I didn't even know I needed to say it.

Dancing In The Minefields
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmWc4BZ8e-U
Faith is Living
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1d6ejJ1ULQ
God Gave Me You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI2JJ1OCz8U
Here Goes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S97O9395rgc
Lead Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAKBXBXz1fo

Maybe one will lift your spirits or say what you need to, too =)
Have a wonderful day!

Overwhelmed

I feel like I have so many things I want to accomplish, and so many things that need doing!
This week we are starting a Life Group which is a small study group of couples who want to build their marriages while building relationships with other couples.
I have a big order of Snugs items for Made By Moms to get made and shipped, a private order form a neighbor who saw my stuff at a yard sale, the craft room to finish organizing in order to make the orders easier to fill. I've also been asked to blog about dealing with food allergies for Made By Moms website. And of course, looking to set up a Snugs website still. Phew!
My girls are busy this week too.... The Bug (oldest) had a Sparks thing the whole family had to go to tonight, and she has Thursday and Friday off school this week, The Goob and The Bug both have the dentist tomorrow and the life group starts tomorrow and the Goob has Gymnastics on Thursday. Poor baby boy gets dragged everywhere!
I know most of this stuff is weekly but somehow this week I feel like there is more to do than there is week to do it in.... but, you eat an elephant one bite at a time so here we go >>>>>>

Back on Track

Pretty sure no one reads this, but here I am. I figure with all I'm trying to figure out with My oldest daughter's GCN and food allergies, the little one doing an elimination diet and looking wheat allergic or gluten intolerant at this point and the one in the middle looking at speech therapy I have stuff to get off my chest. And then there is trying to really root a WAHM business.
If anyone ever needs a baby gift, please let me know... I craft lovely cuddly fleece things perfect for the whole family to snuggle.
The to-do list is LOOOONG this week. And the little sewing projects that are in the Que still sit due to the disorganized craft room. But I'm working on it. And it WILL get done. And everyone will get what they ordered. I promise. So many of the things are for my kids and I hate making them wait, but paying customers have to come first.... it's hard, but I WANT to do this. AND to succeed.
I guess this is it for now..... see you next time!

A late Birthday

Getting organized for the Goober's 6th birthday party tomorrow. Will ice the (cup)cake(s) tomorrow morning. Doing something different, and way easier this year... going to a mini-golf course in the city. Only about a 15-20 min. drive, they have a cooler for the cake but no pre-booking or extra fees to do a party. I just have to pay for each kid playing and if it's busy we have to wait our turn to get started. No set-up/clean-up, no kids invading my house.... and way cheaper than renting the pool or something, makes me feel like a genius. Anyway... I'll post how it goes tomorrow or Friday. Might go camping this weekend to test out the new trailer... not sure we can get a site with it being the long weekend.

Recipes

Okay, so with my oldest goober having major food allergies I've had to seek out yummy treats that have no milk, eggs or butter in them. When I tell people the treats are vegan, they think I'm crazy, but it just means animal free, and when it comes to dessert, we've found some good ones! A few moms have asked for my recipes for their own families, so here it goes:

Wacky Cake (chocolate cake great for Birthdays!)
Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 9x13 pan.

Measure into medium/large bowl:

3 cups Flour

2 cups Sugar

½ cup Cocoa

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

Mix to combine. Make a well in centre and Add:

¾ cup Oil

2 tsp. Vinegar

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups Water

Mix well and pour into pan. Bake approximately 35 minutes.

Bake 24 cupcakes (in papers) for 25 minutes.

Banana Quick Bread - Vegan

3 Bananas, mashed

¼ cup Oil

½ cup Brown Sugar, packed

¼ cup Granulated Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

¼ tsp. Salt

1 cup All Purpose Flour

½ cup Whole Wheat Flour

½ cup Chocolate Chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 370*F.

Mash the bananas well & combine with oil & sugars to cream. Add salt, powder & soda to combine. Stir in each of the flours, mixing until just moistened. Bake in a greased and floured (or parchment lined) loaf pan for 35-40 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. Let rest a few min. before removing from pan to wire rack to cool.

[okay, so this one isn't dessert but it's delicious!]

Vegan Apple Spice Cake

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Oil

1 1/4 Cups Apple Sauce

1/4 Cup Apple Juice (scant)

Mix ingredients and Bake at 375*F for 30 minutes in a greased 8 inch round or square pan.

I hope these help someone out... I know I had a hard time finding some of them (I altered a plain to create the Apple Spice) =)

Busy Week

Well, it's only Wednesday but I'm exhausted! Monday was my (Carrie's) birthday and I was scheduled as class parent for kindergarten.... it was fun, made me miss being in the classroom. While I was there a beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived!!! My sweet hubby surprised me! Monday night we were going to go out for dinner but the 2 little ones were kinda cranky so they went to bed and we ordered in. Ended up just being a regular crazy late dinner night around here..... oh well, guess that IS my life now! Tuesday is normally not a super stressful day for us but Nalie got to go on a combined field trip with the other ECS class from her school so we had to rush her to school by 8:20 so they could head to Drumheller for the Tyrell Museum. Then quick home to get Grace to preschool where they ended up heading outside early due to fire alarm testing ---- poor girl was bawling from the scary sound when I got there =( Afternoon was spent at Gymnastics with Grace and then rushing to get Nalie from the bus.

Now, it's Wednesday, Nalie is at school, it's pouring outside with a winter storm warning in our near future (on April28!) and the babe is hanging in the highchair while the middle child watches TV, sigh.
Just another mommy day at home..... I hope you all are having a good week!
C~

Anybody still check this?

Wow, it says my last post was July 2007. Oops. Guess I'm not as bloggy as I thought I'd be. Maybe if I do it more, in smaller amounts with less or no pictures I'll do it more. It'd be nice to have somewhere to express myself.
Make sure to comment that you came so I know whether to bother continuing =)