Praying Through Chaos

More Babies

2011-08-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

We decided to let our last two babies stay with the other finches. This has worked out very well and the five of them are very happy together. Today I discovered Mama Finch stubbornly sitting in a nest. She didn't move when I went to change their food and water or anything else. She finally shifted slightly when I put a small dish of treats right near the nest she was sitting in. Mama is so

Review: Too Blessed To Be Stressed

2011-08-25T08:14:00.001-04:00

I absolutely loved this book. Debora M. Coty wrote about so many important little parts of the stresses that build in a woman's life. However, she did it with great humor. One of the things she said in the book was that women need to laugh more because laughter is a great way to help relieve stress. I laughed my way through most of the chapters in this book, and it did make things seem easier.

Mental Blank

2011-08-22T14:28:00.000-04:00

It's been harder than I expected to start blogging about anything again. After the surgery things were just so crazy that I never had a chance to write things. It was more important for me to focus on my family and recovery at that point. Now, it's been over 6 months since the surgery. I'm more or less back to my normal life. School has started again for the kids. Their gymnastics classes and

Winder and Swift

2011-08-09T07:27:00.000-04:00

I've recently started working on a few projects that have yarn that needs to be made into center-pull balls so it will be nice and easy to work with. These projects have a fair amount of yarn, and making a ball by hand takes a lot of time that I don't have. I can hardly wait. I recently ordered a yarn ball winder and a yarn swift to make this process easier. The winder arrives tomorrow and I

Ready For School?

2011-08-03T11:04:00.000-04:00

J starts kindergarten and Princesa starts first grade in less than two weeks. Their books are organized. They seem excited. Things are more or less ready to go. However, I am not sure that I am ready. I am nervous about having two children to teach and making sure Squish is happy and busy. I figure I should have things figured out by the time the school year ends, right?

J is 5!

2011-07-20T19:42:00.018-04:00

5 years ago J was born. I was in labor for about 20 hours with him. I hardly slept during the night. The hospital staff was a nightmare. I bled more than I care to think about due to a low lying placenta. I had cramps that made me want to vomit. J didn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time until he was well past 6 months old. I don't think I had more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night during

Twins!

2011-06-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

Twin finches that is. We've had three adorable finches for a few months now, and to our surprise we now have babies. Some research showed that females will lay eggs even if there is no male. When I found eggs I figured I would probably just be removing them in about 3 weeks after we were sure they wouldn't hatch. There were 3 eggs in one nest, and we've found 1 egg in another nest. Finch eggs

Review: Spring for Susannah

2011-06-27T19:27:00.003-04:00

I read this book in just a couple of days. I was so curious about what was going to happen that it was hard for me to put down. I don't want to say too much because I'm certain I would give away parts of the book. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this book just to find out what happens next. This book definitely left me curious about the future of the characters. About Spring for Susannah:

Tomato Theft

2011-06-16T07:53:00.000-04:00

I still don't know for sure what's doing it. We've set traps. We've used chili powder. Something is still stealing our tomatoes. The most confusing part is that it isn't stealing ripe tomatoes. It's taking them when they are still very, very green. They don't even have a hint of changing color yet when they vanish in the middle of the night. Hubby and I are both very frustrated because we've

The End of Kindergarten

2011-06-03T10:32:00.000-04:00

Princesa officially finished kindergarten this week. The last week and a half was just doing a little math every day, but it's finally done. The last couple of weeks was hard. We were all ready for the year to be over with. Summer break is a welcome thing in this house. The only problem with summer break, it's hot. It's hot, humid, and generally just yuck. The other thing this summer is

Mother of Pearl: Day 8 by Lucinda Secrest McDowell

2011-05-08T08:33:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series. The series is week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Megan Alexander, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beth Engelman, Holley Gerth, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day. AND ...

Mother of Pearl: Day 7 by Suzanne Woods Fisher

2011-05-07T08:32:00.001-04:00

Mother of Pearl: Day 6 by Holley Gerth

2011-05-06T08:31:00.000-04:00

Mother of Pearl: Day 5 by Shellie Tomlinson

2011-05-05T08:30:00.002-04:00

Mother of Pearl: Day 4 by Tricia Goyer

2011-05-04T08:29:00.001-04:00

3 Month Post-Op

2011-05-03T19:22:00.000-04:00

I did it! I made it three months and am allowed out of the brace completely. I no longer need to wear it for stabilization of the fusion, however, Dr. Spine does think it's a good idea for me to still use it when I start to feel the muscles getting really tired and so on. He's put in the referral for physical therapy, but also gave me some stuff to do at home for the time being. Dr. Spine has

Mother of Pearl: Day 3 by Megan Alexander

2011-05-03T08:28:00.001-04:00

Mother of Pearl: Day 2 by Beth Engelman

2011-05-02T08:27:00.004-04:00

Mother of Pearl: Day 1 by Margaret McSweeney

2011-05-01T08:24:00.008-04:00

Another Update

2011-04-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

It's been a little over 2 months since the surgery. I'm moving away from the back brace. At the last appointment Dr. Spine saw clear signs of fusion on the x-rays and said it was time to start weaning off the brace. I still wear it whenever I am out, but try to wear it as little as possible at home. He also has said some light core work would be fine as long as I don't twist or bend much during

Review: CSN Store and product

2011-03-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

We recently purchased a Back to Basics - BPE3BR - Blender Express in Brushed Chrome from CSN Stores. The blender is awesome. It comes with 2 different blender bottoms that attached to 4 containers. 2 of the containers can be used for mixing smoothies, milkshakes or any other type of drink. The other 2 can be used for chopping onions, nuts chocolate or even any vegetable for making a salsa. We

Baked Apple Chips

2011-03-14T12:26:00.006-04:00

I love apple chips and recently began making my own. I haven't taken pictures of the process. If I get around to doing that I'll consider reposting the recipe with photos. Baked Apple Chips Ingredients: Apples (doesn't matter what type) Lemon Juice Sugar Cinnamon Directions:Preheat oven to 250F. Cut of the top and bottom ends of the apple and carefully remove any little bits from the stem

1 Month Post-Op

2011-03-10T23:15:00.000-05:00

Last week I had my 1 month check-up with Dr. Spine. He is happy with everything, and that makes me happy. Here is a quick rundown of my progress:My stitches have all absorbed or fallen off just like they were supposed to. The scars don't look as bad as I expected. There is no sign of fusion yet, but Dr. Spine doesn't expect to see any fusion on the x-ray until 2 or 3 months after the surgery. The

25 Years Old

2011-02-23T18:49:00.000-05:00

It's my birthday. I'm a quarter of a century old. 25 years old, and I had 3 amazing children to celebrate with and in 2 short months will be celebrating my 7th wedding anniversary. Thinking about my age and the rest of my life reminds me of just how unusual my situation is. Getting married and starting a family at 18 isn't a common thing, and often seems to be socially unacceptable. However,

First Post-Op Appointment

2011-02-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning was the first post-op appointment with Dr. Spine. It was a short visit so there isn't too much to tell. The incision sites are all healing nicely. He has suggested that I leave them uncovered as much as possible, but since they itch has said leaving them very loosely covered is alright. I only need to use one or two pieces of medical tape to hold the gauze in place to give a