Typos ;-)

Have you noticed that I have a typo in pretty much every post I write?

It's true, 


I do.

I know it.

And, 

it used to bother me...

BUT,

it doesn't anymore...

I'm not a good typer

 and

 I'm a busy Momma. 

Together the equal= 

TYPOS! 

Many, 

many

 typos!

Soooo, if your lookin for perfection, and your on my blog...

You are lookin in the wrong place!

Please just read right over them or fill in the blank yourself!

No time for perfection here-

 just time for lovin Jesus

and

lovin the children!


No one has complained about my typos- 
I figured I just let ya'll know that it's just part of the blog!

FYI... and sometimes I pretend I'm a Minnesotan from the south and use words like ya'll and lovin and lookin...

Just go with it!

Okay!

Good!

Good! 

Thanks!


And here are some pics from last week for your viewing pleasure!

Karate is only a block away from T*rget and the weather was so nice we walked over while Sarah and Ellie were doing Karate.

I had to make sure I didn't buy too much or anything too heavy for my helpers!

They just love to help!
AND I love it when they help!

Luke has two bags of chocolate chips(for baking) in his bag!


and yes, I did run ahead of them and take pictures as they were walking toward me!!


I just think they are so cute!!

48 hours Post Op!

48 hours post op and they are already talking to us about going home!

His chest tubes came out today and he is taking walks.

He eats, he poops, he pees, he walks and needs very little pain med.

They can't think of any reasons to keep him in the hospital.

Sunday will most likely be the day.

Maybe Monday?

Did you know you can't lift a child who has just had heart surgery under the arms?

Me neither.

I found out (cringe) after I did it (cringe again).

They need to be scooped up with one arm under their body and the other behind their shoulders. 

It makes sense. 

NOW,

 I just need to make sure that none of the children try to lift Luke (and another cringe), once he gets home.

Thanking God for this little boy!!

(And for HIS handi work in the OR!)

Thank you to my wonderful friends and their children that stayed at my house while I went to the hospital!!

24 hours post op!

Countless tubs have been removed from this cute little patient!

He was very very happy to have the catheter out!

He is awake, alert but takes occasional naps.

FYI- if you happen to stand in front of the TV he will let you know-

move, move, can't see!

oops! so sorry!

Of course the nurses LOVE him!

They have never seen such a mellow 3 year old boy!

He is eating and drinking today!

Tomorrow the chest tubes may come out.

Once they are out the children can get out of bed and move about.

It was so good to see him this afternoon!

He called out,

"Mommy, Mommy" and gave me a big hug!

He was not happy with me when I left.

The nurse said "Tell Mommy I love you"

He said "no"...

He has the cutest personality.

I know he loves me and I know he is right, 

a mommy should be with her baby when he is in the hospital.

But... Daddy is there and I need to hold down the fort at home.

It was so wonderful to be with him!

Can't wait to see him tomorrow!

The nurses said that sometimes when the chest tubes are removed the children don't feel quite as good.

It's all a balance of pain meds, rest, a little activity and lots of time to heal.

We are so thankful for each day of healing

AND

so thankful for your prayers!

PRAISE GOD!

Hubby and I are a tag team. We have limited babysitting this week since our sitter is on spring break.

I was able to get to the hospital for a few hours to see Luke. 

I was quite nervous. The surgery went well but but but...

well, you know-

 mothers tend to worry...

I prayed and prayed for our dear boy.

Thank you, thank you, for your prayers and we will gladly accept more for his recovery.

When I arrived he was on a ventilator and an external pacemaker.

As the younger children said when they saw the pics- wow, he's hooked up to a lotta stuff!

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Within on hour of me being there he woke up, he was taken off the vent and the NG tube.

Next the external pacemaker was turned off and Luke's sweet heart beat on it's own! Within a few minutes it was in a beautiful rhythm!

PRAISE GOD!!

He was shaking his head yes and no and being his wonderful mellow self!

He is resting most of the time.

But woke up and had a talk with Daddy/ hubby.

They said about 3:00am the children tend to "wake up".

Hubby has the night shift ;-)

Oh, my goodness do I love this little boy!!

AND I know that he is very very loved half way across the world!

His O2 sat is 99% and all other vitals are looking good!

Can we have another-

PRAISE GOD!!

I am at home now. 

Abby is starting her 2nd chelation at home. We are so thankful that we can do this at HOME!!

Have a mentioned

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Knock Off Pottery Barn Eagan Mirror

Way back I posted about my loooong dining room wall and how I added stripes to try to break up the space. But it was still a long wall of nothingness.

We have lots of artwork but I couldn't exactly hang up a whole row of frame across! What I needed was a large statement piece to anchor the wall.  Ever since I saw this mirror online, I loved the design and knew it would be perfect for that wall.

Unfortunately, with the $700 price tag, it was simply not happening! And then Layla came to my rescue. She gave an amazing tutorial how to recreate it - count me in! I am not going to document my process in detail because she does such an amazing job, but here are some photos showing what I did.

I used 1/2" plywood instead of MDF because I knew I was going to hang it (Layla has hers on her mantle) and it would have made it extra heavy. I also glued the mirrors and trim one row at a time.

You can see my oh-so-glamorous basement workshop in the background. The guy at HD who cut the original piece didn't do a perfect job so I waited to do the outer trim last and centered everything else. I ended up using outside corner moulding to go around the border because I wanted the exposed sides to have a clean look.

Here's a closeup of the rosette detail where the trim intersects. I love how it covers up the seams.

Voila! Here it is all pretty and hanging up. Ignore everything you see in the reflection because it's (hopefully) all going to change. I used two picture hanging anchors that hold up to 100 lbs each because, man, this thing is heavy! I know it's only about 30 lbs or so, but better safe than sorry!

I LOVE how it came out and I couldn't have done it without my amazing dad! In total I spent around $200 which is much more reasonable than PB's $700 and I got to make it the exact dimensions that I wanted to.

What kinds of things are you eyeing that you want to knock-off?
 

Linking Up Here:
DIY by Design  | House of Hepworths  | Remodelaholic | Serenity Now | It's Overflowing | Beneath My Heart | Thrifty Decor Chick | Pretty Handy Girl |

It Went Well!!

Praise God! 

The surgery is over and it went well!

Whew!

Can't wait to see him!

Good To Go!

He is healthy and good to go!

The pre op went smoothly.

Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am.

And yes, that is a semi fake smile for y'all!

He's no fool...

He knows what's goin on...

He and we would prefer this not be necessary...

And no amount of bribery is going to make this all better...

not even a freezy...

But, oh my isn't he just the cutest little guy in the world...

well, not counting your little guy... 

of course!

Please pray!

The Doctor said...

that after this surgery Luke will have a normal activity level and life span...

Can you believe it?

Only GOD!!

TRULY, ONLY GOD!

If you have followed him, you know his surgery in Israel was nothing short of a miracle!

Praise be to God!

I will update you tomorrow- Wednesday 3/28.

Yard Updates

When I last posted about the yard, things weren't looking all that great. We had a bunch of trees taken down and their stumps ground up, but there were still big piles of wood chips across the lawn. Our neighbor's cleaning lady wanted the mulch for her garden so we were happy to see her take everything that she could. Numerous posts on craigslist offering free mulch only brought a handful of people and there was A LOT!

This is what the yard looked like after everyone took what they wanted:

In other words, still not all that good looking! Here's a view looking out towards the street.

We decided to also have these two bushes removed (should've had it done when the tree guys were here, but we decided too late). A few different landscaping companies came out to gives us some estimates for smoothing out the yard, removing remaining mulch, filling holes, planting grass, etc.

I was pleasantly surprised when I came home from work one day and found the yard looking like this.

It may not look like much to you, but for us it is amazing! We have a clean slate for our yard and I'm looking forward to adding some color. The protective layer that's over the grass seed is supposed to turn brown and disintegrate so we just have to wait for that to happen. In the meantime, I'm turning my attention elsewhere.

Our front flower bed is looking pretty haggard. There are hydrangeas (my favorites!) on the outer parts and three azalea bushes in the center. What do you mean you can't tell?

Are the random daffodils and humongous weeds blocking your view? Yeah, tell me about it. I'm looking forward to spending some time out here weeding and probably putting on some more mulch. I just need the weather to cooperate. It's been rainy and cool the past few days so nothing's happening out here yet.

Directly to the right and back of this flower bed is the future home of our vegetable garden. It doesn't look like much now, but after Passover, the kids and I are looking forward to some big time gardening. I already got some seeds so I need to read when the best time to plant them is. I think it still might be a little early, but we can definitely start carving out some space.

Did you get any projects done over the weekend?

A Fun Weekend

Luke, Luke look at Momma...

Hellooooo, excuse me. 

Luke look over here!

Very funny, Luke...

Thank you Luke!

It was so nice to do something fun with the children! We went to the zoo last weekend!

Abby and Luke loved it- it was their first time!

There was quite a crowd looking at the bears but the children are good at making their way through the crowd and getting a front row view!

Oh my, I love them so much I think that even the backs of their heads are adorable!

Abby has forgotten how to smile and Sam keeps shutting his eyes- he's trying so hard not to that he ended up crossing his eyes!

Luke loves to be lifted up for a better view!

And yes that is a bruise on his check.

He got it right as his two black eyes were healing!

He tends to lead with his head  ;-)... as he falls...

Oh dear Lord - thank you for these blessings!

The zoo never seems to get old!

  

I love to look at the world from the eyes of a child!

Everything is so amazing! So full of wonder and excitement!

Yes, we will need to watch him like a hawk after his heart surgery. 

It will take 6 weeks for his chest to heal.

Wednesday(3/28) is the day of surgery and he is very healthy... right now... and hopefully will be then, too!

Ellie is doing so well. She is learning to read. 

It's slow go but she is making nice progress!

It was a beautiful and fun day!

Our little rule breaker and climber almost made it into the prairie dog cage!

The monkey bars are really hard and the children come home from China with no muscle development.

Ellie and Anna have worked hard in gymnastics to be able to do this!

Although I did not get a picture- Emma can do it too!

We are so proud of all of the children!

Once he is all healed up he will join in the family activities-

gymnastics, swimming and karate.

I am planning on putting Luke in preschool next fall. Just 2 afternoons a week.

I love homeschooling but I also love preschool and want him to have the experience.

YES, he fell and landed right on his forehead. And yes, that is a Dora bandaid he is sporting... it's the only bandaid I had ;-)

Once again, loving the zoo with the children!!

Highlights of my week

Hiking at Muir Beach

I owe you, faithful readers, an apology for not being very active on the blog recently. I'll give you an explanation and maybe at the same time a peek into my daily activities.


Last Thursday: The kids get interviewed by Scholastic News. Contrary to previous ones, they enthusiastically accepted to participate in the interview, as they are readers of the periodical at school (vs. People magazine, which they did not know existed).


Friday: I go to the dentist and my hygienist sparks up a discussion on dental alternatives. This woman is full of inventive ideas on how to floss without store-bought floss, and how to brush using twigs. She makes my cleaning a creative thinking delight! I'll have to try some of her ideas and maybe write about it here...

Me rolling

Saturday: We go to our neighbor's St. Patrick's Day potluck, and in front of the beautiful corned beef brisket, feel left out, having given up meat for Lent. I take my revenge on wine (which I gave up for Lent last year).


Sunday: Meat usually helps damper the effect of alcohol in my body... and without it I feel a bit of a hangover. But Scott and I take a hike on the coast and come back with a nice collection of mussels for dinner. Foraging my own protein makes me feel even better.


Monday: The whole family takes on its first "homemade tortilla" challenge, with no press and no rolling pin. As I write this I realize that I gave away my rolling pin a couple of years ago and had not needed it until then; a bottle did the job just fine (just like grandma used to do it). I rolled, Leo flipped, Max timed and Scott took pictures. They were delicious. Will do again!

Leo flippin'

Tuesday: I had a call with the programmers at FreeRange for our Bulk Finder App. It's coming along just great. I am not sure when it will be released yet, but I am so excited to share it with you! It will allow us to find bulk anywhere, even when we travel!


Yesterday: CNN came over for an interview and shoot, the weather was perfect and the kids are really getting used to having cameras around, they even seem aloof. If it airs, it will be the week of Earth Day, aka Superbowl day for The Zero Waste Home ;)


Today: I found out The View played a rerun of our segment... Welcome to you, new readers!

Max displaying the lack of veggies in his creation
-he focused on the flavor of the tortilla instead;)

Well these are the highlights that added interest to my week otherwise spent writing my book. The script is really where I spend most of my days lately. It's a lot of work and I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that I would like to convey, but I am excited about getting all I that I know out of me to share with the rest of the world.



What was the highlight of your week?