Step Confirmed

This morning I called the doctor and got Emily a 10:45 appt. If you looked at Emily, you couldn't really tell she was sick.

She was very chatty with the doctor. I explained all that had happened to Emily since she came home from school on Friday complaining of a sore throat. I did tell her (it wasn't her normal physician) that both kids have a high pain tolerance when it comes to earaches, colds, etc. One look at her throat and she said that that told a whole different story. She let me look - it was very red. The doctor took the culture in order to do the in-office strep test and said she would be shocked if it came back negative. Sure enough 5 minutes later the nurse came in with a script. Emily's biggest disappointment at that time was when she found out she couldn't return to school until she had the antibiotic in her for 24 hours. This meant that no school tomorrow on valentines day.

I should have know things were going to go down hill when she was okay with me telling her she could just take her valentine cards and gifts to school on Wednesday. At the pharmacy, I asked her if she wanted a Slurpee to cool her throat, she said "no lets just go home". I did give her a dose of the medicine as soon as we got in the car. Of course, I made a quick coffee stop and by the time we got home she had gotten quiet. It was the quiet before the storm.

She ate a little yogurt and I made her some soup. Just a few bites in she complained about a pain in her chest. When I say she became hysterical, I am not kidding. Then it went to her belly.....then it came out of her belly!!!

She felt better after getting everything out but then came my moment to panic. My original plan was to have Emily just come in the car when I got Matt from school but now what? I texted my friend Debbie knowing some of my closer options just wouldn't work. She became my rescuer. Debbie was able to come over and stay with Emily while I got Matt and it was a good thing because Emily was sleeping at the time I had to pick him up.

Right now, she seems to be feeling a little better - still no fever and she has been able to keep some yogurt and fruit pops down.

The ironic thing about this is that next week the kids have the whole week off for winter break. Hmmm, I have to talk to my kids about the importance of timing. :)

Poor Emily!!

Friday morning I got a call from the school nurse advising me that Emily had come to her office with a sore throat. The night before Emily was up at 2am saying she needed a nose strip and that her throat was sore.....I assumed the sore throat was from breathing through her mouth and not her nose. The nurse told me she didn't have a fever but her throat was red. We decided to have her go back to class and see if she came back complaining again.

Mind you now Friday night Emily's grade along with the 4th and the 5th grade had a scheduled dance. Emily was very excited about going and she knew that if she came home she wouldn't be allowed to go.

Sure enough around 1 the nurse called again....Emily was back. I spoke with Emily and she said it really hurt but what about the dance. I told her more than likely there will be another dance and as soon as I said that she said she wanted to come home.

Around 2 am Saturday morning, Emily woke me up needing medicine.....at this point she had a temp of 100. Thankfully she was able to go back to sleep. She spent most of yesterday laying on the couch. Her temp never rising above 100 but going to normal when having medicine. She ate something at 2 pm and about an hour later came out demanding Pepto because her stomach hurt so badly......her words were "please daddy I need it bad". I think it was just 15 minutes later she threw up, something she hasn't done in years. After that episode, she took a nap but woke up miserable again. Still complaining about that sore throat.

She made it through the night and we kept her home from church but the temp keeps doing the same thing.....never going above 100 but leaving once medicine is taken. Lunch brought on the complaint of swallowing.

A short time ago I got a call from a friend. Her daughter who is in the same school went to the doctor today on emergency visit and sure enough she has strep throat. The doctor told her it is going around. So, it looks like I will be heading to the doctor tomorrow with Emily. I need to know for sure as she has a dentist appt. on Thursday and if I have to cancel I must do it 24 hours before.

Now the note below is what I found in Matthew's room. In the midst of her sickness, he took some time yesterday to try and "care" for Emily. I love his note "Dr. Matthew helps people get well". The question remains what do the numbers mean? Maybe that is his bill!

More New, Good Food!!!

I've been trying new recipes since we are eating at home regularly. This is another one I found on Pinterest. It is "Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes" and it was very yummy. Emily loved the pork and the potatoes. Matt said he didn't like the pork or potatoes but boy did he shovel in the pork. Sadly, he doesn't like potatoes not even with gravy on them. Of course, the last opinion came from Dave after he tried it once he came home from work. We got three thumbs up and one mid way. With these results, the recipe made its way into the menu planner and meal rotation. I love that I am finally being able to cook "real" food.

We also made another new recipe this week "Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo". It was a big hit too. Next week, I will try two more new recipes......I try and do 1 or 2 new recipes a week flanked by the old time favorites.

Can You Feel the Love?

Thursday night is the kid's shower/bath night at our house (along with Tuesday and Saturday we don't have them bath just one night a week). Since Dave is back at work, I've made it part of the schedule that after dinner and devotions they start on bath time. Both kids usually want the other to go first so we've opted to flipping a coin. On this particular night Emily chose heads and Matthew tails. Of course prior to the flip, I said that neither one can be upset with what the coin says. Well, it was heads so that meant Matt would go first. Of course, he was still upset, just pouting as we finished up dinner. Emily then said, "Matt I'll go first". I reconfirmed with her that she was going to shower first and she said "yes". This was the result of that proclamation - a giant love fest from her brother. The funny thing is when Emily sat down she asked "mom, is that being generous?" I told her yes that it was and that I was proud of her generosity.

What makes me most happy about this whole "episode" is that I am seeing how Emily is learning to express those unseen beautiful attributes like generosity, compassion and giving. The other thing is just the love my kids have for each other and how Matt thinks Emily is "the best big sister ever."

It All Starts with an Idea

A new bulletin board is up at Bible Baptist Church and I have to say it is one of my favorites. In some ways, it is getting harder as each board sets the expectations higher for the next.

I have been asked how do you come up with these ideas and I usually just say they come and evolve.

On this particular board, the original idea was to use the verse John 3:16 and line it up where letters of the words spells "valentine". This was not an "original" idea. I saw it on Pinterest.

One afternoon, I was sitting in the church office with my good friend Debbie. She is my co-collaborator on these creative efforts.......my sounding board where things just go to another level. As we were talking about this board I said "wouldn't it be cool if we could do it like Words with Friends?" If you do not know what Words with Friends is it is a Scrabble "like" word game you can play on Facebook. Well, the ideas and thought started churning and in the end we decide it would be cool to do.

Last Friday I headed out to Blick, an art supply store, to get a large sheet of foam board and to Michaels for some cardstock. I spent the time the kids were in school mocking up the board. It took up my entire dining room table. I let it set for Saturday and Sunday as it is hard to work on anything like this with kids around and I was suffering from an on again off again migraine those days.

Work started again on Monday. I finished the game board and at the last minute decide to make the logo Words with GOD. Tuesday I headed to church and put up the board.

The response has been amazing. People love this board I think mainly because the image is so relevant to today. So many people who normally do not say anything about the boards were telling me how much they love this one - most of those people play Words with Friends.

I have to say I have found my niche..... the next two boards have already been discussed and now just have to be brought to life when they are scheduled. Hopefully they will rival this one.