Sick momma

So maybe what Henry had was a stomach ache... A bad one... One that oscillated between bad cramps,nausea, and extreme hunger(only when you feed the hunger your stomach gets angrier)?

That's what this lady has had all day... And yesterday... Uhg. And yuck. And bleh for good measure.

On a higher note Hank seems to be feeling slightly better...


Yay.
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Sick Henry

Henry you have been sick. It's a mystery illness that's only symptoms include a fever, sleeplessness and discomfort. Unlike your older brother,who when sick becomes docile and contended with anything and everything, you are surly,needy, and whiny. You require near constant holding and attention. I think this be my "sick gene" sorry.
It's been a long, long three days... Here's hoping and of course praying for a better tomorrow.
His mercies are new every morning! Hallelujah!


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The questions I ask every day...

Directed at the big One



#1. Are you naked?
#2. Are you eating crayons?
#3. What noise is that? A gun or a Dino?


#4. Why are you sitting on your brother? Added on every time "he is not an animal...don't ride him"


Directed at the small one
#1. Did you poop? Again?!? Really?!


#2. Why are you screaming?



#3. Would you please take that suckle suckle (pacifier) out of your mouth so I can understand you?


#4. Are you sure you really want that book again... For the 23rd time... Really?!?
#5. Why are you sitting on your brother? "Don't RIDE each-other!
Your NOT animals..."


Well... they only act like it sometimes.


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Little Animals/ Halloween

We did the whole trick or treat thing again this year. Owen opted for being a lion again. Grampy Mark did his face paint(lucky boy)! And he was the best little lion in the whole neighborhood!


His little lion face is just too sweet












Hank was a dragon! He loved it...for the first 45 min anyway...and was walking up to houses saying "say hi" over and over... Then we made the massive judgment error in letting him have a sucker... Apparently Henry may be sensitive to red dye...(who knew? He has never had anything dyed before I guess). By the end he was breathing fire and raging like the dragon he was dressed up like... He also didn't sleep all night and had tummy trouble. Poor kid.


At least we have these shining memories-pre-red sucker.

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House sitting,dog sitting,gramps sitting...

It's been two and a half weeks at my moms house in Dallas OR...in the country. And I wish I would have documented life here a little more diligently. Needless to say there have been several things that have happened that are worth documenting.



Dogs pooping in the room where mg and I sleep at 5am, Henry breaking one of each type of wine glass(where does the kid even find the things? The dish washer.) gramps needing constant heat adjustments to the thermostat. And just needing things in not used to providing. Frogs being captured and held in the sink all day for "their safety". Chickens and egg collecting... Really the list goes on and on. And it's not all bad! It's fun and hard and challenging... But it's mostly just different. And I am ready for my sameness to return.



I do enjoy the country life... I just miss my house... and my only having two other living things to be responsible for.



I am happy to be able to give my folks the opportunity to travel tho. Having a family member with Alzheimer's living in your home isn't easy and they deserve a break even if its only once a year... And even if it means dog poop and pee and fleas and all that business for me for a week or 2.5



Besides its worth it for the moments like this. When all the pieces fit together and everyone is finding joy in the task at hand.

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Slap happy

So I made my first pies! One regular one for our electrician neighbor who just came and spend a huge amount of time hunting down a "lost neutral" in our house... For. Free. Amazing.
And one gluten free one for me!

I used a variation of the regular recipe my grams and mom have used forever for the gluten free version and it was really pretty great!

I did have to learn how to roll out dough for the neighbors pie then I realized I couldn't use this strategy with mine... Slapping the gluten free dough worked best... But after figuring that out? I had a great home made gluten free apple pie! It has been a great week of "pie for breakfast"

Here is the recipe in case you want to try for some slap happiness too!
Crust:
One cup sorghum flour
Two thirds cup tapioca starch
One third cup almond flour
(this blend gives a whole wheat texture but without the heaviness and it's super flaky!)
One cup spectrum organic vegetable shortening
One tsp salt
Four Tbsp cold water

Filling/Innards
Lots of pealed and super thinly sliced apples... Enough to mound up out of the pie plate in a heap!
One cup sugar
One-3 tsp cinnamon to taste
1/2 tsp cloves
Two heaping Tblsps cornstarch
Mix sugar&spice together with corn starch in one bowl and set aside for a bit


Mix flours and salt together
Add shortening: I used my hands until I had lots of little lumps
(You cans use one of those pastry mixy things too though)

Add cold water and mix until shortening is incorporated.

Cut dough ball in two parts

Flour a surface and slap out some of your dough from the first half. Add it to the bottom of your pan leaving some on the edges for crimping it up at the end.
Continue to slap out the bottom
Crust in sections until it is complete.

Add the pie innards/filling
Start by adding a layer of sugar and spice mix.
Then a layer of apples and more spice and sugar on top. Do this again until the last level on top and then put all the remaining sugar and spice on top. Then add the 5 pats of butter or oil to the top and begin the slapping process again for the top of the pie. Then crimp the edges together.
I'm not sure why the rolling didn't work out but slapping didn't take long and it was kinda fun. Not the prettiest thing... But tasty!


Oh and bake it for about an hour in a 400 oven!
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stream of conscious

Its been a rough season. Learning about grace and gratefulness while sighing and moaning through hard times...knowing its all for my good is all well and-well...good-but thats just knowledge or maybe its wisdom...could I even be wise?

A few weeks ago I sat on a park bench alone and looked up at the trees...my heart was breaking at the time. I was having a personal struggle. And my life just seemed hard.(little things like what type of shcooling to do for Owen and how to find the energy to clean and cook just all seemed to much.) As I lay on the bench and watched the trees I saw the leaves all start dancing in perfect unison. They were dappeled in sun light and rattling and adults moble song. This is a song I know...every time I allow myself to settel in for sit under a tree I become mezmorized. The leaves blowing and twisting are a gift to me...they queit my soul and still my heart. And I hear Him.

That day the leaves were dreanched in sun light and dancing and I was lost in the wonder of their beauty as they reflected His perfect Glory. I felt His voice say "you like the leaves on the trees can dance and worship bringing me praise wild and true... even as you groan with lifes pressures...the pressues I place there to refine you. Just as the leaves groan under the suns imense heat."
The leaves may have been bending beneath the heat of the sun but I would never have known. I could only see God...His perfect glory being reflected... Can I do that? Can I reflect him while I am groaning?
Can there be bloth? I know there can...its is all over the bible... people deligting in there suffering.

Mg sent me an article once about wine...it said that the best wine comes from the most infertile soil. that the sweetest grapes are grown in hard tough barren soil...how beautiful is that? That the Lord will use our rocky tough depressed patches to create glory for himself? That we can actually reflect His glory even in our most ugly spots...not that it wont be hard sometimes...but the fruit will be so much sweeter!
Beauty beyond our wildest dreams...