On the lighter side of "Life"!

We had a little mishap in our house!

Somehow someones knee found someones nose!

They both were injured and needed ice packs!

It happened while they were outside playing in the snow. 

Thank goodness they both recovered quickly!

Every time Katie's puppy Penny is at our house she is the center of attention!

We have been very busy wedding planning!

It will happen this summer and then they are off to Germany and stationed in Stuttgart.

Oh my, will we miss the three of them ;-(

(I included Penny, of course!)

FYI- I am already planning a week in Stuttgart!

Maybe Penny will be safer in Stuttgart?

When Penny stays at our house she sleeps with Sarah!

One time she slept with me, one time... it didn't go well...

One of us did not sleep well...

Guess which one!

Sarah can have her!

Luke is such a great eater! He likes anything!

(He's like Mikey on the old "life" cereal commercials and I am really dating myself by saying that!))

One hour later...

Except he can be a bit slow... especially if we have the TV on (it's educational TV, of course)!

Someone is having fun researching-

 wedding dresses,

bridesmaid dresses,

reception venues,

flowers, 

reception decor,

and

the list goes on!!

Easy Crispy Baked Chicken

Here's another great, simple recipe that will definitely be a crowd pleaser. It has the delicious crispy taste of fried chicken, but it's baked!
























Ingredients:
4 chicken bottoms (I use them cut into eighths)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Crispy Coating:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup corn flake crumbs
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
oil spray (I use Pam)

Egg Coating:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1. Preheat over to 350. Pour oil on the bottom of a 9x13 pan and set aside.

2. Combine all crispy coating ingredients in one bowl and the egg coating in another.

3. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then coat well with crispy coating and place in pan.

























4. Spray tops with oil spray.

























5. Bake uncovered for an hour and a half.

6. Enjoy!

(Tip: You can prepare it all in the morning and then spray right before baking.)

Let me know how yours comes out!

Linking up here:

         

Parastoo's story

Wow. This letter gave me goosebumps. A big thanks to Parastoo for sharing such a personal and powerful story with us!

Parastoo and her husband

“I was born in Iran and lived in Europe for seven years before immigrating to the United States, fourteen years ago.

When I moved here with my husband, the unlimited amount of stuff got to me. It all looked very exciting and the options to buy things felt unlimited... but we had just finished dental school, and could not spend much. So when we got our dental licenses, and finally started making a decent income, we got wild :) We moved into a 3700 square foot house and filled it up with all the stuff we could possibly buy and all the junk you can imagine.

We opened our own practice (huge loan), and we worked overtime to get it off the ground. But the guilt of leaving our one-year old daughter at the day care (sometimes 10 hours a day) was weighing on us. So everywhere we went, we came back with some toys for her. And since we worked so much and never had much time to spend in our huge house, we bought and bought... just to feel homey and feel like we were doing something for our home and family. But as years went by, we felt more and more unhappy.

In 2005, we expanded our office that had become too small for the amount of patients we now had (another loan), we bought a house in Arizona for my sister as an investment (another loan), and we refinanced our home three times to cover the expenses (another loan). And then when the economy changed and took its toll on our office, I opened another one 45 min away with the hope to build a plan B (another expense, another stress). It seemed that the more we worked (sometimes until 4 AM to finish paperwork), the poorer we became. We were drowning in debt and I was exhausted.

Two years later, we adopted our son and I reduced my work. It helped a lot, but having so much stuff drove me crazy. I cleaned all day and got nowhere. I tried to simplify and reduce, but the amount of stuff coming in was a problem.

A year ago, we tried to renegotiate our office’s loan with the bank and rent with the landlord. But both turned us down, and when our payments became late, they sued us. The stress was huge in our life and the economy had made us vulnerable. In February of 2011, with three lawsuits in hand and financial and emotional disaster, we filed for bankruptcy and soon closed our offices, moving it all into our home and three car garage.

February 2011 is also when I found your blog for the first time. I saw your story on Yahoo and fell in love with your blog. It was exactly what I needed. The best anti-depressant, the highlight of my day, every day. It gave me hope and a goal to strive for during the most hopeless, goal-less and difficult time of our life. Your whole lifestyle represented my perfect dream life. Along with zero waste, your de-cluttered and simple life appealed to me. Your tasteful and functional system was in perfect harmony with my perfectionist personality and your smart ideas made it doable. I started to follow your system and it changed my life (de-cluttering proved to be the hardest considering the amount of stuff we had).

We are moving more and more toward your lifestyle. It has reduced our expenses a lot, and as my house gets more and more organized, we are all happier. My husband got a job and I stay home with my kids, working on de-cluttering and zero waste, a little bit every day. I go on your blog daily to renew my energy. At this time, our home's payment is late and we will soon go into foreclosure. But we have never been so happy.  It even seems that the more we loose, the happier we get.

I am forever thankful and really appreciate you opening your home's door and exposing yourself and your family to make a difference.You might get comments about your white walls, or critics about your trip to France, but please never forget the huge positive impact you have had on my life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. “

Want to share your journey to Zero Waste with us too? Email us your story of 750 words or less, accompanied with a picture to: zerowastestory at gmail dot com.

The Playroom... the plan

After we finished painting the playroom, it was time to come up with a plan. Here is a mostly-to-scale floor plan of the room with my proposed set up. This was definitely not the first configuration, but it is the one that seemed to make the most sense. The right side of the room would be reserved for the hubby - his desk, bookcase and file cabinets. The rest of the room would be free reign for the kiddies.

Each of the bold lines you see represents a door - most of them open into a closet, the bottom left opens to a storage room that is under the porch, and the bottom right and bottom center both open up to different parts of the same room. It's where the sump pump, furnace, hot water tank, work area, and crawl space all live. That part of the space is unfinished, except for the peel and stick tile floor.

This is the design board I came up with - note that most things will be altered in some way and not appear in the final design as they do here.

























1. An no-longer-used mirror will now be in the dress up corner in the lower left of the room. It will be painted Behr's Tropical Breeze (our accent color for the room).

2. Play kitchen that we already own (got it as a gift) will be just across the door from the dress up area so all the imaginative play is near each other. There is also space there to park a shopping cart, stroller, and vacuum cleaner.

3. A row of hooks (not these exact ones) on the wall as a place to hang all the dress up clothes. I found an unfinished wood one with a little shelf that I will also paint Tropical Breeze.

4. & 5. Wooden shelf and brackets to hang over the arts and crafts table (not this exact one, but a close replica of our old kitchen table). The shelf will be painted and will be a storage place for all the coloring books and arts and crafts supplies.

6. Little Tykes play table which we already own. Perfect for doing a puzzle, playing restaurant, and much more.

7. Klippan couch from Ikea - its low profile (and low price), not to mention washable slipcover are perfect for a playroom.

8. Bookcase that we already own will also be painted. Besides for books, it will also hold puzzles.

9. Trofast system from Ikea for bulkier toys that don't fit neatly on a shelf.

10. Herman chair from Ikea - two of them for seating at the arts and crafts table.

I also set aside the closet next to the table for more toy storage. This will be for board games, playdoh, and other toys with lots of pieces that are contained in storage boxes (ex. lego, polly pocket, my little pony) I wanted to get a big rug for the middle of the floor, but the size I wanted was out of stock so I ended up getting two smaller ones to put next to each other (which actually ended covering up more space). I also got the Lekplats play mat for the little guy to drive his cars and trucks on. It will go right in front of the couch.

As you can see, this room is being done on a major budget - using mostly things we already own or budget-friendly items from Ikea. I know that as kids grow, so do their toys and therefore their storage needs so I don't want to spend too much on things that are liable to change in a few years.

Have any good playroom ideas? Please share!

Today is a New Day!

Today I woke feeling the power of all of your prayers. It was refreshing and a "full of hope feeling"- 

it. was. good!

Thank you, thank you for your prayers! 
They mean so much to us!

Somehow every thing always looks better in the morning! I know it's God! He is so all over this- HE is way ahead of me, way ahead of us, HE has her covered and we are so grateful to HIM!

Thank you for sharing our prayer requests. I completely believe that our Lord hears your pleas and petitions and that when many pray- HE hears us! 
HE is a mighty God and He can heal our sweet girl!

We are so thankful she is home with her forever family!

Yesterday was a tough day. I could barely speak and Abby would often look over at me wondering what was wrong with her Momma. 

She watched way to much TV as I processed all the new information.

But today was a NEW DAY and was full of HOPE!

She is tolerating the Chelation medication. Her urine is bright red from the iron leaving her body- Yay God!!


She will most likely feel pretty good up until we begin the bone marrow transplant and that is not for awhile.


She may have periods of extreme fatigue depending upon how frequently she has her transfusions. If my hemoglobin got as low as hers does I'd be lucky to get outta bed!


She is such a trooper and still seems to keep up with the other children.

She has a new puppy dog friend and we've worked on puzzles, play doh, baby einstein movies (to try to get her to start speaking english), taken many walks, played in the playroom, painted and even-

riden a tricycle down the hallways of the hospital!

It is currently parked in our room- I think she's laying claim to it while she's here!

Abby and Luke will be anointed after church on Sunday!

We also found out that Abby's MDS is not linked to a chromosomal abnormality. I don't really know the significance of this information and the Dr seemed as if it didn't really matter.


She did say that it is important to get as close a match as possible for the bone marrow transplant to take. This means that her donor has to be of the same ethnicity(Chinese) and have 7 other markers that match. Thank you to those that have offered to be a donor. You are so kind and your generosity is noticed and appreciated.

Hubby and I have switched places tonight- he has hospital duty and then they will come home tomorrow- Saturday! YAY!


It was hard to leave her but once all the other children cheered and told me how much they missed me I knew we did the right thing!
Abby was very excited to spend some time with Daddy and show him how she can pedal!


It is so good to see the children and hug them!
I sometimes don't feel worthy of so much love! These dear children are such a blessing!

We are looking forward to all being together on Saturday!!


Once again we are so thankful for your prayers and so grateful to our GOD!!! 

It is Cancer and We Need Prayer...

This is not a post I want to post. In fact I'm not really sure where to begin...


If it is not written perfectly please overlook the imperfections...


First, I will say that I firmly believe the GOD is in control. And that he reveals information or urges us to seek information as we are ready to deal with it- HIS timing is perfect timing!


When Hubby and I saw Abby's picture and we prayed about it and both came to each other with the exact same words- it was all GOD! He impressed upon our hearts that "she needs to come home".


HE was right! More than I really knew or understood.


When we got Abby's referral I did my homework. The Dr's at the adoption clinic carefully reviewed the file and I researched on the internet. All of that didn't really matter because HE knew all along she was our daughter and before we even knew it, he had chosen us for this journey.


I have been a bit cocky lately- you see the chances of Abby actually having MDS are 4 in one million. Most Drs concluded that she was misdiagnosed and that we would figure it out once she got home. (including the Dr's at the medical clinic in GZ) Because of the specific nature of the diagnosis MDS-RAS I wondered of maybe there weren't right. China doesn't like to be wrong and they certainly must have done many tests to come up with this unusual diagnosis. There was no medical information to back up their diagnosis, no test results, nothing- so I held out hope that they were wrong.


I also did not fear the diagnosis because GOD can move mountains and surely he can heal a child if he chooses... PLUS from what I had read... it wasn't cancer and we could hopefully get it before it turns into cancer.


My thinking was off, my research was flawed and I am humbled... big time...


We came into the Hematologist/ Oncologist office to start the chelation process and to be admitted to the hospital for the next 3 days. My Mommy barometer started to pick up different vibes- people were saying "I'm sorry", have you "met with" and "you need to meet with" the bone marrow transplant team asap, you need to hear what they want to do and what they foresee as the possible outcome. 


WHAT?


First of all why the I'm sorry's? Why words like survival rate, isn't this going to cure her? I already knew the plan- we get the iron out of the blood, we have a transplant and she is cured and we all live happily ever after. She gets to grow up and we get to be her Mommy and Daddy- right? RIGHT!


When I googled MDS- it said it used to be considered a pre leukemia but it is no longer considered that...
Pause... think... okay, that sounds pretty good. It is no longer considered a pre leukemia. What they neglected to say... It is no longer considered a pre leukemia because it is now considered a form of leukemia.


So today I asked is MDS cancer?


Yes, it is cancer.


My stomach is in knots, the tears flow, my heart is so heavy, I am in shock for our little girl. Today, I can't really think straight...


I shouldn't be surprised but I am...


Hubby seems peaceful, it is what he expected, it's not what I expected, although I knew it was a possibility...


We are still waiting for chromosomal and genetics test results. They will not be back for a month or so. I am guessing this will lead us towards some answers- I am just praying they are the answers we want to hear. 


At this point I have heard that there is a 60% survival rate. I am going to be honest- I wanted much better than that...


I am hoping to talk to the Dr. and gain more knowledge on all of this...


I am no longer going to sit back and let things happen...


It's time to mobilize the troops!


It's time to spread the word to every prayer warrior out there, to your church, to your prayer groups, to your bible studies, to everyone that believes in the power of Prayer!


Please spread the word! We need the prayers of many! Feel free to blog about it, and share the prayer request on facebook (right now I don't really do facebook but who knows maybe someday).


When I know more I will share it.


The tentative plan is to do the chelation 2 times a month for 2.5 days in the hospital each time. Then hopefully we she will have a bone marrow transplant in 6-9 months.


Please pray that the they are successful getting the iron out of Abby's body.


Please pray that they find a bone marrow match for Abby.


Please pray that they are able to do the bone marrow transplant before this turns into AMLeukemia.


Please pray that the bone marrow transplant is successful and that Abby is cured of her cancer.


Heavenly Father you are the King of Kings. You hold our daughter in the palm of your hand. We pray that you will heal her and allow her to live a long and blessed life.


Is anything to hard for the Lord?
Genesis 18:14


But with God anything is possible.
Matthew 19:26


You may ask for anything in my name and I will do it.
John 14:14

The Playroom... in the beginning

We live in a rancher and the basement is almost the full size of the main floor (minus the portion of the house that was added on about 30 years ago). It's pretty much one large room, but there are a bunch of closets/smaller rooms coming out from it. I guess it has its pros and cons, one of the cons being how it was finished.

It's technically a finished basement, but paneling hung directly over the cinder block (no insulation in between) and peel-and-stick tiles right over the cement foundation is not exactly cozy!

We had been using a smallish room off of the kitchen as a playroom, but as the kids got bigger so did their toys! The basement was used as a dumping ground and my hubby had his desk with all his paperwork and miscellaneous items that didn't have a good home.

While in the planning stages for converting this to a playroom, I was also planning a 30th surprise party for my hubby. I conned him into going through everything, cleaning and organizing so we could prep for painting, but the party came first! It was a great open space to have lots of friends and fun before it became playroom. Boy, was he surprised :-)

We started out by taping everything and protecting the floor. My uncle is a painter and he suggested using Zinsser primer that was made for all surfaces, including the faux paneling that we have.

 

I don't know if you noticed, but there are SIX doors leading off of this main room. That's a lot of doors! We decided to use that fact as a way to bring more color into the room. We chose Behr's Fall Straw as the main wall color and Tropical Breeze as the accent color. 

Hubby hates painting but he was sweet enough to humor me and help out. This is a big room to paint!

Here is the room all painted. The walls are showing a little brighter than it really is, but you get the idea.

Then comes the fun part of bringing all the toys downstairs and figuring out how to set up and organize everything!

Different Views of Homeschooling

In other words... what do those people do all day?

12 years ago I homeschooled Mark and Johnny for 2 years.

I loved it!

They liked it 

and then I needed to go back to work so they went off to school again.

I love schooling our little children AND I think they love it too!

Mark emailed me this pic-

I think it is so funny!

Hope you enjoy it, too!

Fabric for Dining Room Curtains

We are currently in search mode for some new fabric to make dining room curtains. The ones we have now are maroon and gold - very traditional and not at all my style. We got them a few years ago, I think I picked them out because I knew the hubby would like them. :-) His taste is much more conservative and formal than mine so I know this is going to be a challenge.

I would like something with color to brighten up the space, preferably with a geometric type print. He would like something rather plain and muted. We were both off this weekend so we went to a few fabric stores but there wasn't anything that we agreed on, or rather I should say, nothing we agreed on that was in our price range i.e. not $75 a yard!

So now I'm looking online at different swatches. Here are some I picked out at fabric.com:
(Sorry for the mis-aligned swatches, I can't seem to figure out why they are not lining up properly. Boo.)

Covington Windsor Mariner ($12.98/yard)

Premier Prints Twill Gotcha Girly Blue ($7.98/yard)

Dwell Studio Bella Porte Charcoal ($18.98/yard)

Waverly Ellis Turquoise ($9.98/yard)

Waverly Cross Section Charcoal ($13.98/yard)

Swavelle/Mill Creek  Felton River ($8.98/yard)

Swavelle/Mill Creek Oskar Sea ($8.98/yard)

Premier Prints Key West Village Blue/Natural ($7.48/yard)

These are more my hubby's style. The first one is actually not too bad. I would try to do something to pull the blue out of it, but the second one... definitely not going to make it past the first round of cuts!

P Kaufmann Vassar Paisley Horizon ($14.98/yard)

Waverly Synergy Jacquard Sienna ($22.98/yard)

So what to do?? How does one convince their more traditional spouse that something more contemporary is the way to go? I guess if we had a very large formal dining room that would be one thing... But our dining room is used very often for family and friends to get together. And I mean we use it every. single. week. And 3 out of 4 weekends a month we usually have company so I don't want to get anything too precious that will make me go crazy if some food gets on it.

What do you suggest? What are your fabric picks? Do you ever disagree with your hubby about design decisions?