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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

That One

I feel like every family has one of those people. 

You know...the one who has all of the weird things happen to him/her.

When I was growing up, that person was my brother.  I didn't have an ear infection until I was 31 (which is strange), but my brother had them like every 5 minutes.  He had pneumonia, burned has hand really bad, etc.

That person in our family is one Gracie Kate.



She had that bump thing on the inside of her mouth removed, broke her leg (which I still plan to write about), and had to go to the ER because of a laceration on her head.

Naturally, weird health things happen to my girls on the weekend or when we are out of town and can't get to our normal doctor.

It shouldn't have come as a huge surprise, then, when at 5:10 on a Friday, she started seeming like she had a UTI.  Among other things, she was trying and trying to go potty and couldn't, even thought she had to go really badly.

There's a decent amount of drama around here, but this was one of those times that I didn't think was rooted in drama.

Poor Gracie was crying and crying and crying.  I couldn't get her to calm down, and mentioning that we were going to see the doctor certainly didn't help any.

But, as I was getting some things together to go to the ER, Leah and Maggie went into the bathroom and seriously talked her down like I couldn't.  They were praying for her with Aaron, too.

I'm not going to say she was excited to go to the ER, but she was calm and not crying.

Armed with Pink Blanket and Maggie's stuffed giraffe, Twigs, we made our way into the ER with zero waiting.  Totally a perk to living in a fairly small town.  

I'll admit that I didn't have real high hopes for the initial exam.

But, Gracie was a champ!  They put the finger monitor on her and, while she wasn't thrilled, she did great!  She stepped on the scale without a fuss and let them take her temperature like she does it every day!

Granted, getting her to pee into the bowl thing that they put in the toilet was easier said than done, but she didn't cry.

I think she was motivated by the popsicle that the nurse promised her when she peed, because that's what did it!

Gracie sat on my lap and enjoyed her popsicle...which was a doubler (you know, the kind that are like 2 attached skinny popsicles).  She was so sweet and wanted to save one for Leah.

She even whispered the entire time we were waiting for her test results :)

I said, "Gracie, you can talk in your regular voice.  It's okay; you don't have to whisper."

She replied, "Oh, so I can shout?"

This explains a whole lot about the talking volume at our house.

Needless to say, I was happy to let the whispering continue in lieu of the outside voice.

The doctor came in with the news that Gracie had a UTI and gave us some instructions and a prescription and we were done!

I dropped the prescription off at Walgreens and then went through the drive thru at McDonald's to get Gracie a happy meal as she requested. 

And because I would like to never eat McDonald's ever again, I went through the drive thru at Culver's for myself :)

As we were driving home, I asked Gracie what she wanted to listen to.  She requested the Christmas CD we still have in the minivan.  

The first song:  O Come All Ye Faithful.

I loved hearing her sweet voice sing us home, "Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing..."  

Friday, July 25, 2014

Project 365: #28 and #29

It's been a busy couple of weeks around these parts!  I actually just got a sweet email from my sister-in-law wondering if everything was okay because I hadn't blogged in so long!

But, I assure you, things are all okay around these parts.  The girls and I were at my parents' house the beginning of this week while Aaron was powering through some seminary.  

Plus, Aaron and I have a new show to watch at night.  I think we're late to the Sherlock bandwagon, but better late than never, because it's a nice, cozy, highly entertaining bandwagon to be on!

Aaaaaaaaanyway, here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks!


Day 192:


Checking out the Little Free Library!  Such a fun thing!


Day 193:  


After Leah's play, we went to a nature center with all of the grandparents, and Maggie and Papa enjoyed a book!


Day 194:


Aaron's parents stayed until Sunday, and the girls enjoyed some reading time with Grandma Linda.


Day 195:


We found some big white feathers and Leah asked if she could use it as a quill.  She did great!  Let's just say that it's an activity better suited to 8 year olds and not kids who are, say, 5 and 3 :)


Day 196:


You don't want to be surprised by the bowling ball coming up.  It's best to keep a close eye on such things...


Day 197:


Sweet sisters <3


Day 198:


Lookin' good in mommy's sunglasses!


Day 199:


They look so cute reading together!


Day 200:


Leah was making these chocolate chip bars by herself, as Gracie kept a close eye on things :)


Day 201:


Soooooo tired on the way home from the splash pad.  Leah may or may not be faking :)


Day 202:


Fajitas with my sister at Chili's!  


Day 203:


Sweet girl cousins being little ducks in a row!


Day 204:


There was a lot of crying on this day, so Leah typed me a nice little note on her fake laptop, "Mommy, you are the real MVP!"


Day 205:


I was pretty excited to find my favorite cereal and the scratch and dent grocery store!


Ahhhhhhh....all caught up! 

I hope you have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

My Mom's Rhubarb Crumble Pie

Mmmmmm...my mom's rhubarb crumble pie just tastes like summer to me!


I feel like I've mentioned before that we have a college student, Greg, staying with us this summer.  He and his fiancee, Nikki, have been such a blessing to us and the girls.  

And I'm not just saying that because they brought me some rhubarb from the farmers' market last week :)

They are kind and easy to be around and so sweet to the girls.

Nikki and I made this pie last week and it was as great as I remembered!

She even did all the chopping!


Here's what you need:

1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled (old fashioned, not instant) oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Blend the ingredients until crumbly.  Press half of the mixture into a pie plate.  Reserve the rest for the topping.

3 cups diced rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon butter

Arrange rhubarb over the bottom crust.  Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and sprinkle over the rhubarb.  Drizzle the water over that.  Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter, cut into small pieces.  Top the filling with reserved oat mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Now, in the cookbook my mom made for me, my sister, and sister-in-law, she says that you can serve it warm or cold with ice cream or whipped topping.  

Some might say that whipped topping is optional, but I beg to differ.  This needs cool whip or some other brand of whipped topping.  I tend towards real whipped cream myself, but not in the case of this rhubarb crumble pie. 

This certainly is excellent cold, but when it's warm with the cool whip slightly melting into the crispy top and tart sweetness of the rhubarb...ahhhhhhhhh, it just can't be beat!


Additionally, this makes a great breakfast.  You could even put some vanilla greek yogurt on top to make yourself feel better about having pie for breakfast...but, really, rhubarb looks like celery, so I think it's fine however you do it :)

Leah liked it.


Gracie liked it.


And Maggie...well, I just gave Maggie a little dish of cool whip, because I'm nice like that :)


So, grab some rhubarb the next time you're at the farmers' market.  I bet you have the rest of the ingredients already!

Oh, and if you have a TON of rhubarb, you can double this and put it in a 9x13 inch pan like my mom always did.  

It's a perfect taste of summer!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Leah's Debut

I feel like as a parent, there I things that I really enjoyed as a child that I would like the girls to enjoy.

But, I don't want to be that mom, so I don't push them into things, even if I think it's something they'd genuinely enjoy!

I was in plays when I was little, so that's kind of my thing and I didn't want to push her into something just because I liked it.

So, even though I've known that Leah would enjoy being in a play, I waited until she was sure she wanted to do it.  

She waffled back and forth and back and forth last summer, and ended up regretting not doing it.  I'm sure a little nudge wouldn't have scarred her or anything.

Leah was ready this summer, though, and had an amazing time with the Missoula Children's Theater!

It was the perfect way for her to dip her toe into the theater world.  They had group auditions on Monday, rehearsed in the mornings until Friday, and performed Friday evening and Saturday morning.  It was a whirlwind of fun!

Leah was a member of The Secret Garden in The Secret Garden.




It's kind of mind bending, but it was a very creative rendition of the book :)

She started out as a plant that was without life,



and ended up as a plant (of the grape variety) filled with life!



Ah, yes, you know me...I'm always a sucker for a good redemption story!


She loved every part of it!  It certainly didn't hurt that some of her friends were in it with her.



She loved getting flowers, too...can't blame a girl for that!



We loved watching her!



The look on Leah's face when she came into the lobby after her first show was priceless!  Joy and excitement and the best kind of pride all rolled into one.

It was her best possible debut :)

Friday, July 11, 2014

Project 365: #27

It's been a week full of fun and play rehearsals!  Leah is loving her first foray into the theater :)

Day 185:


A fun adventure hike on the 4th of July!  We went to a cook out and kept the girls up for fireworks, too!  While it was fun watching fireworks with the girls, I may have had a tiny bit of regret for keeping them up when there was a lot of crying the next day ;)


Day 186:


Sweet sisters <3


Day 187:


Puzzles with Daddy before church!


Day 188:


Leah learning about her audition for the Missoula Children's Theater!  She had a lot of fun!


Day 189:


I got the girls freezy pops at the pool and they were super excited, even though it was actually kind of cold out!


Day 190:


We found that Maggie is pretty good at carpet ball!


I love her cute dimple <3


Day 191:


Ahhhh...my sweet summer girl, enjoying her season.


I hope you have a great weekend!  We are excited to have all of the grandparents and my sister here to see Leah's play!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Things I Like

Here's a happy little list of things I've been liking these days!

I like it when Maggie and Gracie decide to deep clean their room!  I literally can't tell you the last time we could see the top of that dresser!



I'm not going to lie, sometimes I enjoy a trip down the rabbit hole on wikipedia.  I stumbled up on this List of People Who Disappeared Mysteriously.  I happened upon it while looking up information on Virginia Dare who was mentioned in a book that Leah read.  I could waste A.LOT. of time on those mysterious disappear-ers!


I got the girls a new brush called The Wet Brush.  It has literally cut combing/brushing hair time by 75%...and it's cut the drama even more!  You can imagine just how much I like that!



I've often said that our fear of the awkward keeps us from doing or being a part of some really worthwhile things, so I really liked this awesome blog post about the importance of pushing through the awkward in relationships.  


I liked this short video of Sir Nicholas Winton, a man who saved the lives of 669 Jewish Czechoslovakian children from nazi death camps.  Warning:  you might need a tissue, because he meets many of the children he saved.  Gulp! 


I liked these helpful reminders when it comes to parenting little ones.  Very timely and encouraging for me.  



While the girls were riding the horses at Piggly Wiggly, I liked paging through the current issue of Cooking Light.  There was a really fun feature called 1 Cooler, 1 Weekend Trip.  Even though I don't intend to go camping for a weekend, I liked the cooking plan and intend to use some of their recipes/tips/ideas.  I already made the Multipurpose Vinaigrette (I added more honey than it called for), and I liked it!  It is SO delicious!


You know how sometimes when you go to a Mexican restaurant, they have delicious chips with just a hint of lime flavor?  I LIKE that a whole lot!  I read about this really fun product called True Lime.  I ordered some and sprinkle it on "the good tortilla chips" that they make in the deli at the grocery store.  I've sprinkled it in water for a little hint of lime and I've put it in homemade salsa when I wanted more lime flavor without making it more watery.  



I also like that Leah is starting her week with the Missoula Children's Theater today!  I'm so excited for her and just know that she's going to have a great time!


So, what have you been liking these days?

Friday, July 4, 2014

Project 365: #26

We enjoyed some time out of town during this week!  We all slept in the same room, too, without a disaster!  Always a win in my book!

Day 178:



Pretty girl picking pretty flowers <3


Day 179:



Our next door neighbor gave us an obscene amount of salt water taffy!  In case you were wondering, I have zero self control in the salt water taffy department...soooooo good!


Day 180:



Just reading to the little girls before bed at the resort.  Leah is reading a Judy Moody book off camera :)


Day 181:



Isn't this just the coolest chair you've ever seen?  With the cutest girls, naturally :)


Day 182:



Gracie is eating a pop tart!  Kind of a big deal, because it's the first time I've ever bought them for the girls!  They were fans :)


Day 183:



These 2 love standing under the hand dryer and feeling the wind in their hair :)


Day 184:



We were doing some water color painting...step 1 in a pretty fun craft.  I was water coloring, too, and it was really relaxing!


I hope your long weekend gets off to a great start and that you have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Made for Summer

This girl of mine,


she was made for summer.

I feel like there's something in her spirit that resonates with the wonder of summer and all it entails.

In summer, you don't need to have inside voices.

You can run and jump and splash all you want.

You can go for long rambles in the woods,


exploring everything around you and finding little bits of treasure everywhere you look.

You can swing and sing at the top of your lungs.


Plus, it's good to be messy in summer.


There's something about summer that oozes freedom and happiness and joy...


...just like this girl of mine.