Menu Plan Monday for 3/30 -4/5

I know it's been awhile since I have participated in menu planning, but things are finely starting to get back to normal around here. Well . . . as normal as they ever were (read chaos). I mentioned that I joined Weight Watchers last week, but look for a big change in our menus. The beauty of the plan is you can eat "normal" everyday food. All along I have been mostly fixing healthy dinners for the family. My issues are portion size, and snacking. Oh, and who knew that the Devil himself had opened his own fast food chain? They call it Sonic Drive - In down here, but we know better don't we?

Monday: Tortellini in marinara sauce w/ broccoli and baked potato

Tuesday: Crock pot brown sugar chicken w/ brown rice and asparagus

Wednesday: Bible study/dinner at church

Thursday: Grilled pork chops w/ mix vegetables and hollandaise sauce over whole wheat egg noodles

Friday: Crock pot sausage. bean and sauerkraut soup w/ corn bread

Saturday: Home made pizza w/ ginormous salad :)

Sunday: Leftover soup w/ baked chicken legs and bread machine dinner rolls

For more Menu Plan Monday visit www.orgjunkie.com

Whats for dinner at your house this week?

Blessings, Beth Ann

TGIF checking in . . .

Hi all, drippy wet Friday here. Good news, twin son is doing better. Bad news, twin daughter is now sick . Just have to laugh at the irony.

Tonight is middle DD dance routine for her spring break dance camp. Lots of butterflies here :) And tomorrow is her Princess ball at the Lion's club. Her dress still isn't back from getting it's alterations yet. So, once aging plenty of butterflies here! LOL

Not much else new and exciting here. I joined weight watchers this week. I had done it once before with great results, about 8-9 years ago. They have once again revamped their program, looks promising though. This was a gift to me with some of our tax money, and I view it as an investment in my health. I guess the medical scare with my son really made me sit down and take stock. The twins will be five this memorial day, and it's time I got a piece of my life back since they don't need me as much now. I need to make sure I am healthy enough to go full time RVing when I get the chance! LOL

That's all for now and I will try to have some pic's of DD B to post in the next couple of days.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats happening at our house this week . . .

Well I hate to bring up more sickness, but . . . Little twin son has been sick for three days now, running a fever and vomiting. Always fun. Oldest son went to the doc on Monday and got some new RX, for his migraines and anxiety. Results there are so-so. I am still feeling tired and now my sinus have become almost insufferable. Other than that . . . LOL

Middle DD took a dance boot camp this week, for spring break. So actually she is a bit soar too, but she is having a blast. We are looking into the possibility of her being able to continue dance after this. We will have to see how finances go. She is also going to the annual Lion's Princess Ball this coming Saturday. Grandpa D always takes her, but this year will be the last as they have sold their house and are moving to Vegas. So we went yesterday and picked out a special dress for this ball, a real princess gown. A lady at our church owns a consignment shop and does alterations, she helped us out. Hope to have pictures to post this week-end.

Today was the first day back to work for my oldest son. He has been out for almost two months due to his illness. He was a bit apprehensive, but all seems to have gone well. Since today was Wed. the clinic was only open until noon, as is the custom down south. Figured it was best to start with half a day. Next week the rabies vaccine clinics start, and he will be working week-ends too. Nice that a little bit of life is getting back to normal.

Well I didn't get to go to church/bible study because of sick twins, so I need to do the dinner thing myself tonight. I am thinking quick and simple eggs and home made toast. Will check back in soon.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Howards big day out

Yesterday was a long day for us all, even the dogs. I woke up feeling very weak and sick. My mono seems to have better days and bad days. Yesterday was a bad day. Oldest son, with mono and tonsil issues, had been sick most the week-end. Ended up call the home health care nurse, and he has doc appointment today. So we are all laying around, DH had to work and the other kids were . . . well, just being kids. Not only did I feel weak and tired, but my sinuses were acting up - thank you Bradford Pear trees. Every time I tried to lay down my head would plug up :( Point is, I ended up laying downstairs in the recliner. As soon as I moved downstairs all the kids ran into the house (of course) leaving my mini dachshund, Howard, outside. Howard has back issues and while he is doing better and has some use of his legs, he can't do stairs. So I heard him bark and asked dd to go get him. Not even ten minutes later I hear him again and ask dd again to go get him. This time she goes immediately, and he's gone!

We looked high and low for that little dog for over an hour. We even entertained he might have had and "accident", but we found no trace. So that left theft. That made me angry. Not much left to steal here after the Oct. incident, so lets take their crippled dog too? Grrrrrrr. To make a long story short (I know, to late), DS decided to look one more time after dinner. Two houses down from us there is a deranged plumber and his crazy common law wife, and they called DS over. They wanted to know if he knew who owned the skinny dog they found - yea, us! It gets even weirder. I guess Howard found his way out of the fence and was out in front of the house when the neighbors ( I use the term loosely) picked him up. They thought he was a stray and that he was starving . Ok, his hind legs are a bit withered from his lack of muscle tone, but he has a pretty broad chest. Anyway, they put him in their truck and took his collar and tags off - yea, I know - and went to the vet's. Guess what, the vet was closed at 5 p.m. on a Sunday. They told my son they didn't even know we had a dog - huh? We have lived here for 7 years, they have come to our garage sales. Guess they have missed our blue tick heeler too. Well later that night Howard blows up like a balloon! His circumference was three times his normal size. When my DH came home from work he took one look at the dog and went over to the deranged plumbers house and asked them what they fed our dog. She claimed her kids gave him bologna because he looked so skinny. Whatever, all I know is the do was miserable all night. He barfed in DD bedroom and seemed to feel well enough to sleep after that. By nine this morning he was back to himself. Thank goodness, thought I might have to take him to the doc after I took DS!

I am going to let this go , like my dog tags that they now can't seem to find, and just be glad he is back! Everyone was so upset. No one could eat dinner. It was like another crushing blow, first our house is robbed, then our son is extremely ill and now the dog is gone. Soooooooo relieved that there was a happy ending! They children were utterly laughing and crying when DS brought him home. Howard? He was like, "what?" LOL Such a big adventure for such a small dog.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats up Wendsday

Greetings all! It's been a while since I did a Whats up Wed. Today seemed like a good choice since I have many random pieces of news to share. I hope all had a great St. Patrick's day! That is always a popular holiday here, as we have Irish blood running through us. I always cook up a big pot of bubble & squeak (corned beef and cabbage) in my slow cooker. That is like every one's most favorite meal, ever - but alas we can only afford to eat it just once a year - awe :( Even the twins gobble it up! I also add some Irish soda bread and green cheese cake - yum! So basically I cook for like seven hours and it's all over in like 12 minutes - LOL

I have inserted a picture here of my most favorite coffee cup in the entire world because it recently met an untimely demise! Yes! For the second year in a row my mug has not made it through the year. Last year there was a dishwasher malfunction. This year a four year old was involved. I won't mention names but she lives here and has red hair! LOL My DH said that this year when we return to S.C. for our vacation he is going to buy like a dozen of these mugs. You know what that means right? Yea, I will never break another one if there are back ups!

Well the home health care nurse has been here 3 times now, and what a blessing. Z is doing better as of Monday than he was Friday, but he did have a scare on Sunday. Those nurses are great, and they talked me through getting him re-hydrated and his b/p back up. We took ds in for a check up yesterday and they put him on iron pills. Oh, and he has gained one pound of the sixteen he lost back! Still a long road to walk though. The mono is really making the healing go slow. Z told me he is so glad he is home schooled. He felt like he would never get caught up in public school and not get the rest he needs. His boss, Doc at the animal clinic, said that when he had his tonsils out he missed a whole semester of school. All I know is that I am tired of being tired!

Life has a way of always moving forward though. I am making plans to work at our church for VBS. The twins will be turning five in two months! Our middle dd is getting ready to take some more cheer/dance classes. Our oldest dd is coming for a visit in June and bringing the grand baby!!!!! There are flowers to be planted. A garden to be put in. A pool to open, and fellowship to enjoy. I know many people are apprehensive in these troubling economic times, but I urge all to remember that God is in charge and He will take care of you when you put your trust in Him, not the government! With these comforting thoughts our house looks forward to this coming year and hope you do too!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Blessings

I have crawled out of the big comfy recliner long enough to give everyone an update on all us sickys. OK, I had to get up because the home health nurse came to check on DS - LOL Z seems to be holding even, not great, but not worse. His b/p is still pretty low and drops remarkably when he stands. And due to the tonsillectomy he still has no appetite. DS lost sixteen pounds in the past four weeks, and he was "skinny" to start with. So we need to push fluids and try to get him to eat iron rich foods, wish me luck. Z went back to the ENT specialist yesterday for a recheck and this time they actually looked down his throat. They couldn't see any more bleeding in that area, again, pray for us. Z is just now starting to have brown poo again, never thought that would be exciting huh? LOL Z has another appointment on Wed. with our family doc and he will check his blood level then. Cross your fingers.

As for the rest of us . . . It seems as if all us girls are sick. With the mono I am just sooooooo tired. If I sit down - I fall asleep! Both girls are tired and crabby and eating mostly soup. As for the guys . . . DH thinks he is getting an ulcer over all this. Z is having anxiety attacks when it is bedtime and youngest son just has a cold. So, who wants to come to our house to visit? LOL LOL LOL

Seriously, our church family has been a life saver, they come over - yea! Such a blessing to have a few meals brought over and people to see if they can help with errands and what not. The home health care people come over too, another huge blessing! Our insurance isn't great, but we feel blessed we have it and that it covers a home nurse for our son. If we didn't haven insurance would we have gotten the care at the three hospital trips that we did? Scary question. And without the nurse coming (we have a co-pay on that, but still . . . ) I am not sure any of us would sleep and I would be taking Z's b/p myself every half hour or so. So while many potentially life threatening mishaps occurred during the past 4 weeks, we are trying to focus on the blessings. My friendship with a lady at church has cemented in a way I would never have imagined a year ago, heck even six months ago. Now I would not only trust her with my life but that of each and everyone of my kids. If I asked her for a kidney tonight, she would have it to me yesterday. I only hope I can be the friend to her that she has been to me. As a family we have also grown closer to our new pastor and his wife, a true blessing. We were unsure of this couple when they came to our church, but they have shown themselves to be warm, loving, caring and have made us feel as if we are a "real" family. Thank you God for bringing us to TN. and putting these people in our lives.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Back from the hospital - AGAIN!

Z was released this morning and if anything seems to be doing better than me - LOL I went right to bed and just got up. Thank goodness DH had the last two days off from work. I don't know if it is the sleep deprivation from being at the hospital(don't ever go there to rest) or the Mono that has kicked my butt, but I do feel the need to blog this ASAP for those friends and family members who are concerned about Z, both here and back in MI.

Guess it all started back at my last post, where he received a clean bill of health. That was Friday morning. Saturday Z woke up and yelled for me, he and his bed were covered in dried blood. Ok, looked like he blew a clot in the night. Did my best not to freak out, not as bad as last time. I looked the best I could down his throat and saw another smallish clot. He coughed that one up 20 minutes later. By noon Z was complaining of feeling tired. Mostly contibuted that to the Mono. I could tell by late afternoon DS was whipped, but we let his friend stay over anyway. Same kid as we talked about back at Christmas, kid needs some"home" life and we pretty much have adopted him. Anyway, around 6 p.m. Z was walking from the dinning room into the kitchen when he just sort of . . . faints. Okay, now I don't even try to not freak out. I saw the whole thing as I had been sitting in the living room talking to him as he walked by. He came to pretty quick and we got him some O.J. I am still pretty naive since I am blaming it on the 16lb. weight loss he has had over the last 4 weeks, due to the fact he couldn't eat and has been living on broth. Around 8 p.m. he vomited a vast amount of coagulated blood into my bathroom sink. Now we are starting to see the light. I voted right then and there to go to the hospital, but DS was pretty emthaic about not wanting to go back there. Next thing we know he passes stone cold out trying to get from the bathroom to his bed. He was whiter than white and his lips looked like they were covered in white chalk dust. While we quickly discuss weather to make the six minute drive ourselves or call 911 again, DS faints again. DH and son's Bff grab him up and head out the door. I stayed behind to get a babysitter for the other kids. By the time I got to the ER they already had him on a saline drip. Whe lab test came back with his H&H (red cell count) at 8, his last one when everything happed back on 2/16 was 16 - which was normal for a teenager with a viral infection. The doc (who recognized Z from the 2/16 office call - guess our doc called all the other clinic doc's to come look at his abscess - which I am told looked liked raw hamburger) said he figures DS lost about a quart of blood. He also wanted to know if the guy on Friday had even actually looded at my son or his throat since this amount is so large it couldn't have just happened literally over night. My son must have been already trickling it down the back of his throught by the time he saw the NET specialist Friday morning. Can we say Bart Durham? (local ambulance chaser)

Well son stayed 3 days in hospital and had a two unit blood transfusion. He also got his b/p back. By the time we got DS to the ER he had no blood pressure! Guess we know why he was passing out! On the up side he also got his apatite back! Yea! In the past two days the boy has had 7 servings of french fries, which he says is what he is craving. I know, he is spoiled. Unfortunately he also has acquired anxiety attacks. He was scared to come home, every time he comes home he seems to get worse and we go back, who can blame him? I have them too, I am now an official hovering mom. Poor kid, he goes to the bathroom and I start yelling "are you ok" after 3 minutes. I can't even sleep at night, I feel someone needs to be monerting him at all times. This is so unfair. We haven't seen any bills yet, but they let me know that we have ALMOST reached our out of pocket expenses and with the home health care they set up for him we should reach it. He only has the home visits for two weeks, but I feel better knowing someone is monorting his vitals and taking his blood cell count. When Z left today his count was up to 10!

Well my hands are shaking to much to type anymore, mono or nerves? Please keep praying for us and I will keep you posted.

Blessings, Beth Ann

waiting, waiting . . .

So what is the deal with doctors and appointments? Why do they give you an actual appointment time, say 2:30, but don't call you until closer to 3:30? That doesn't even include the time you wait once inside the examining room. What is the deal? Why do they feel the need to give you a sense of false hope? I just don't get it. I understand that emergencies come up or some patients take longer, so why don't they just tell you to come in around 9 a.m. and they will work you in before noon? There would only be a.m. and afternoon appointments, no specific times, no false hope, no waiting . . . I have spent sooooo much time in doctor offices in the past month I am about at my limit. I am hoping yesterday was the end, for a while. My oldest son had his post op check-up, which we waited 75 minutes for (same doc who is responsible for all the screw ups) and then the actual visit lasted 6 minuets! Grrrrrrrrrrr. Guess it wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't had all four kids with me and I wasn't in aggravating pain. I had fall in our front yard the night before and tore up my one shine and knee cap, and sprained my ankle on my other foot. It was my own fault, I can't see at night - period, and I have poor depth perception. My car was parked out front , which is very unusual, and so I ended up walking up the driveway and cutting across the lawn towards my car. Well there is a curb, I didn't see it and the rest as they say is history. All I can say is bless Kroger's for electric shopping carts!

Well son received a clean bill of health but was told it would take another 5-6 weeks to be 100% back to normal. Every time he yawns , he about cry. Which is what I guess happened last night. He woke up this morning a little panicked and started calling for me, which made me panic! I flashed back to the night he vomited blood. Well this wasn't quit so dramatic. He had some dried blood on his pillow, blankets and him self. Took us a few minutes to figure out that he must have had a clot and it came out in the night when he coughed. I checked him over and saw he had another good size clot in there waiting to be expelled, which happened shortly there after. There was no continual blood flow like before, so I relaxed. Then we spent the next half hour cleaning his room up. I am thinking I will pitch the sheets and just buy some new ones. I tried soaking them, but am not holding my breath. DS scrubbed the mattress as some had leaked all the way through, and he got it all out! Praise the LORD.

Oh and one last note on doctors. Remember how I thought I had mono but the doc said no way since I already had it. Well he did a mono spot anyway since I insisted (and he still remembered how I freaked out in the ER a week ago) and guess what . . . ? That's right, I have mono - again. My thyroid is perfectly fine, just mono, which is no fun either. So tired, all the time . . .

And I have a correction on the car front to add here. DH bought a 1973 Z-28 with T tops and functional things on the hood (sorry I don't share my DH love of cars). Can't wait for us all to ride to church together in that machine - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Doc's and dentist's

It seems like every day this week I have either been at the doctor's or the dentist. Well in middle dd case, orthodontist. You can distinguish between the two by the amount you write your check for! LOL Good news, only about 2 more months and her braces come off! I am so thrilled you would think I had been wearing them. The amount of time I spent hounding her in the use and care of them, I would have been less worn down if I HAD been the one wearing them!

Today the twins went in for their six month check up, they did great! They were perfect angles, why is that? At home they are little terrors, always into something. Take them out and, bingo - sweet as can be. Does this happen to anyone else? E looked so cool in her shades while waiting for the dentist I had to take this pic.

They treated E like a princess. She has sunglasses to protect her eyes and laytex gloves so she can help. Too cute :)

Tomorrow oldest ds goes for a post surgery check up with the NET specialist. I am sure he is doing great and will get a green light. My ds only cares if he can drink soda again or not. So typical. He has gone almost two weeks with no soda and he thinks it is the end of the world. I on the other hand keep pointing out to him how much better his acne looks. Am I mean or what?

Well I went to the doc yesterday and found out that if you have already had mono you can't get it again. He checked me over and couldn't say conclusively what the deal is. He is leaning towards a thyroid problem. So I had to go over to the lab and give them all my blood and half my urine. Then they said, don't call us, we'll call you. So that is where that stands.

Well it is sixty - five wonderful warm sunny degree's here and I am going to take the twins out to play in the yard and ride their bikes. The older kids are at a teen library meeting and DH went to pick up a used Camero he just bought. He sold his truck because he said it was ugly and needed work. Since the Camero also needs work I can only assume that it is NOT ugly. After all, it's not like the truck was a FAMILY vehicle or anything. Think we will be using the Camero to go to church Sunday?

Stay warm where ever you are and have a blessed day, Beth Ann

Here we go again

Well here we go again. I think I have mono too, again. The first time I had it I was sixteen. No fun, and since I am highly sensitive to drugs and allergic to 99% of all medican I usually opt for taking nothing. When I had my twins I took no meds after the surgery, although they offered plenty for pain and what not, even two that I am allergic to and is documented as so on my chart! Anyway, don't get me started on the hospital (thinking of calling Bart Durham - local ambulance chaser). I have had this pain in my abdomen for a few days and decided I better get a blood test to make sure it is mono and not my appendix. I will head in to the office today and see the same guy my son saw in the local emergency room, not the same hospital as the one we want to sue. I am also now concerned about my middle dd, she may have it too! I will see if the doc wants me to bring her in as well. My youngest dd is sick as well, but seems to be exhibiting more cold type symptoms - lets hope! I am starting to feel extremely overwhelmed and on top of my monumental fatigue (which I have had for about 12 days now) I just want to curl up and cry. Please pray for us and I will keep you posted.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Menu Plan Monday

Well March came in like a lion here in our neck of the woods, and many others I hear. Will it go out like a lamb then as the saying goes? Guess we will see . . . All I know is that the year ended poorly for us in 2008 and is not off to a great start in 2009, so nowhere but up to go right?

Do to my son being in the hospital last week I shopped a two week schedule and will not resume my weekly $75 menu/challenge until this Friday, which is when I shop. It is still plenty cold here and the kids were able to do a little sledding (the two who weren't sick) before noon, when it started to melt and became mud. No snow today, but still soup weather. Here is a look at out dinners this week:

Monday: Chili made from leftover (and frozen) roast w/ bread machine rolls and salad

Tuesday: Crock pot B.B.Q. wings w/orzo and green beans

Wednesday: Church bible study and dinner (mom's night off)

Thursday: Corn and shrimp chowder in slow cooker w/salad and rolls

Friday: Chicken and peppers stir-fry over rice

Saturday: Home made pizza w/ tossed salad

Sunday: Ham and scalloped potatoes w/ broccoli

What's for dinner at your home this week? For more menu plan Monday visit www.orgjunkie.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

You know you live in the south when . . .

. . . they close church on a Sunday, due to snow! This seems hysterical to me, a Yankee - I mean northerner. My family is from the tip of the mitt as MI people say. But to be fair, the roads here are dicey at best. Many dips, hills, hallows, mountains and not a shoulder to be seen. Black ice is like the number one killer here, oh and there is like only one snow plow in the county.

Nothing to do about it except make some oatmeal and have another cup of coffee.

Blessings, Beth Ann