There are so many little things that bring great joy, amazement, sorrow, and wonder. As we have been going through so many trials and tribulations lately, I’ve tried to appreciate the little things.

• Little purpley-blue flowers pop through the dry leaves in the early spring

• Giving flowers to someone in the hospital or nursing home really brightens the room up. But bringing the first flowers of spring from their garden brightens up the person
• 1,250,000 ng = 1.25 mg = 50,000 iu
• There is no greater joy than to see someone awake and alert when you didn’t expect to see them alive again
• You can become vitamin D deficient even when taking 1,000 iu/day supplement
• Watching your kids read the funny pages in the paper brings you back to the time you did that as a kid
• Living with your kids’ grandparents means that there are 3 people to share bedtime stories
• Sometimes prayers work for little things, like traffic jams, not just for big things, like helping someone be comforted and stay strong
• Even the feistiest person looks weak when they are in the hospital with tubes
• No one wants to be inside when you can see the buds on the forsythia
• Adding 1 or 2 kids to the 3 you have ends up being less work (but more food!)
• It’s not healthy to subsist on soda and snacks, but one or two days of it due to a family emergency won’t kill anyone.
• Trader Joe’s has delicious crunchy dried green beans and freeze dried mango. Healthy snacks!
• Sometimes you remember great things just after you need them. Like there’s pizza place with gluten-free pizza available in the town where my grandmothers live
• Brownies and chocolates heal.
• When you toss many things into a pot and it turns out delicious, make sure you write down what you did!
• Sometimes you get blessed with friends who go above and beyond the call of duty. And sometimes that is balanced with family who don’t want to help.
• Prayer and meditation can help calm adults and children under stress
• If you want to get kids’ attention, science projects with fire are awesome!
• Paying it forward or karma is good. If one person watches your kids for a couple days, watching other friends’ kids (for 4 days) is a good thing.
• Quiet schedules can become very busy unexpectedly!
• Life is good

What little things have you been noticing?

We had quite the visiting weekend! We were quite scared on Thursday, when we found out suddenly that my Nana had a few seizures and possibly a stroke. My mother, BG, and I rushed down to Connecticut to be with her, and spent some sitting with her, talking with doctors, crying, and praying. It was a very difficult night with a lot of hard decisions and coming to terms with things none of us wanted to contemplate. We drove home quite anxious, wishing we didn’t need to leave. We were thrilled to learn that she had regained consciousness on Friday, and was responsive. Each phone call had a bi more good news in it than the previous one!

On Saturday we (my folks, the girls, and I) made a less-rushed trip down to Connecticut, and were able to spend some quality time with Nana. She had a bit of confusion, but her personality was back! The girls were able to visit with Nana and Grandpa Bob, as well as with their Uncle and his girlfriend. My uncle and his wife were there too, so it was a great day for family togetherness! They did a great job of keeping busy in the waiting room and were really patient.

While we were visiting Nana at the hospital, we walked over to see my other Nana, who lives one block away. She was being visited by my father & stepmother, so the girls were able to see their Grampy & Mimi.

Visiting with my grandmothers can be very difficult and emotionally draining. One has a body that is falling apart, but her mind is still really sharp. The other has a body that is doing great, but she’s developed memory problems. Since my grandmothers are 86 and 91, I am grateful they are around, but it’s still hard to see them so frail, when I remember them running around with me and taking long walks.

The girls and I went with my step-father to visit his mother, who is recovering from a fall. After spending so much time in a hospital on Saturday, I expected some complaining from the girls, but they were great – and BG even pushed Gram’s wheelchair down the hall! I was really impressed with all three of them.

Finally, to round out the weekend, the girls spent Sunday evening with some of their cousins. They had some supervised visitation with their father at their cousin’s house, and it sounds like it all went well.

So, 4 great-grandparents, 4 grandparents, plus several assorted uncles, aunts, and cousins, all in 48 hours! I don’t know if we can top that any time soon. I didn’t bring my camera, though, so you’ll have to make do with these pics of the girls with Nana, and me with Nana from a visit in early February.

Over the past couple weeks, as part of studying Ancient Civilizations, we’ve studied the ancient Jewish people and specifically, Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors. It turned multi-media when we learned about the musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! In our Homeschool Coop, we even had a mom who knew the music! On Friday, we also had fun making individual coats of many colors using paper the movers left behind, then pieces of construction paper as fabric. They were really cool.

On Saturday, MG had a birthday party to attend, which meant we needed to make cupcakes! I futzed with an existing recipe, and ended up with the perfect chocolate cupcakes, which were fluffy, moist, and looked beautiful, too! In the spirit of many colors, I set up 5 ziplocs of frosting, each in a different color. Then I snipped the end off a corner of each ziploc, and the girls were able to decorate with many colors. It was so much fun! And much less messy than I was expecting! Plus, multi-colored cupcakes taste better than solid-color cupcakes!

We’re settling into our temporary home, and finding little joys like little bursts of color. We hope all our friends are also having brilliant days.

We are moved into our transitional home, living with my mom & step-dad. So far living here is much better than expected (and I’m not just saying that since my mom reads here). There have been some bumps along the road, for sure – moving costs at least twice what people think it will, and it’s exponentially more difficult.

We’re starting new routines and trying to settle in, making our spaces ours in small ways. We’ve also been more structured with the homeschooling, and I’m really proud of how the girls have responded! This past week we started a wonderful new spelling program which uses “rimes” (or rhymes) and sequential spelling – so learning thin, then thins, then thinned, then thinning, etc.

BG and MG are really proud of how well they are doing! So today they are holding a spelling bee – there are still tickets and there’s still space for more of an audience! It was originally scheduled for 12:30pm Eastern, but now we’re at 1:15-1:30pm Eastern. so you’ve still got time!

I’m feeling really overwhelmed with everything, but there have been a lot of wonderful things this week, and I am aiming for optimistic. My girls are definitely surrounded by love, and that’s a Good Thing!

Wish us luck! May we have very few things go wrong.

I feel like I’m living among boxes, to the point where I’m thinking they are developing personalities…

The girls are settling into my mother’s house, and I’ll be there tomorrow. It’s hard to be apart, but they didn’t need to see me wandering around the house trying to pack everything.

I’m overwhelmed and freaked out and worried and anxious and relieved and sad and achey and hopeful and a bunch of other mixed-up emotions. I’m so grateful for my wonderful friends who have stood by me and helped me every step of the way. Thank you all!

See you on the flip side…

Tonight the girls were so grateful for our wonderful day. They loved it so much, i thought I’d share our recipe – perhaps someone else’s family will also benefit from our plan for joy.

Take 3 parts girls, 1 part puppy, and 1 part Mama. Add to a van and mix for 3 hours.

Blend in a few hours worth of time with great-grandmother and great-grandfather (plus a chili & cornbread lunch!) and a visit with a K-friend (6/7 weeks with K-friends). Beat with extra vigor intermittently (aka run with Ra up and down the yard).

Mix in a surprise ingredient for extra fun (a wonderful box of treats from JadenKale). Ignore the “Best By” date, Halloween treats are still tasty in December.

Add a pinch of a visit with another great-grandmother, then let rest in the van for an hour.

Receive a blessing on the recipe by meeting some friends for a visit to a church activity, complete with Christmas music and over 150 nativities!

Add one more surprise ingredient (a trip to the golden arches for dinner), then bake in the van for 3 more hours.

End result will be delicious and sleep-inducing.

twas a fun jaunt. I love little adventures and side trips, and I’m so glad we were able to do this one – we had the van, gas prices are lower, and I am feeling better.

Our family game nights and family nights have been resurrected, and we are having so much fun! Last night we played Yahtzee and Frog Juice. Both are games loved by everyone in the family, and while Frog Juice says it is for 8 and up, we have found it’s great for 5+.

Most of the time playing games together is just wonderful. Except for the tantrums when people lose. Or the times when someone says “I’m losing, I’m going to quit!”. We just won’t talk about those times.

We ended the evening with some cuddling and scripture-reading together and individually. Watching my girls read to themselves before they go to sleep brings tears to my eyes. I love it when they can’t wait to see what happens next!

I loved watching this peacock wandering around the zoo yesterday, it reminded me of a park we frequented in Austin that had peacocks and peahens wandering around in it. We had some wonderful times there.

Today was a lovely day. It started with sleeping in a bit and some chocolate chip pecan pie for my breakfast. (The girls had healthy breakfasts) How can a day that starts with chocolate chip pecan pie be anything other than amazing?

BG, MG, and I were baptized this morning, which was a truly amazing experience. My heart felt so warm, and I felt such joy! The girls described it very similarly. LG is not old enough to be baptized (you need to be 8 ), but she watched happily. One of my step-brothers came to the baptism, as did my dear friend Nanny Ogg and some new friends from our church family. It was an experience I can’t describe well, because it was just so awesome.

My step-brother came back to visit with us at the house for a few minutes (and did some guy work of removing some proof that our cat is a huntress). After he left we had some lunch & desserts, and then Nanny Ogg arrived and agreed to eat some dessert. Then, of course, we went geocaching! We found 3 caches, and also found a path that led to another 3 caches, but figured 11 minutes until sunset wasn’t enough sunlight to to walk a half-mile and search for caches. We saved that path for next time. We figured that finding the cache from the place we were kicked out of last time was good enough.

LG spent all day asking to go to the grocery store and get chips, so after our geocaching, we went to the store to buy the 4 major food groups – soda, potato chips, bananas, and hot dogs. Those supplement the full pantry and freezer. Eggs would’ve been a smart idea too, but since we have the van!, we can get more Monday.

Finishing the day with some turkey noodle soup (with nummy turkey stock) and some experimental cinnamon-craisin bread was perfect. And more chocolate chip pecan pie, of course!

Today was a joyful day, and I am so grateful for the many blessings of family, friends, food, and our new church! May all of you have many days filled with joy!

My wonderful blogging friends have helped me so much this past year.  I feel so blessed, and wish many many blessings for all of you! May you have a day filled with friends, family, good food, and joy. May you also get great Black Friday Deals from the comfort of your own home.

We will be well fortified by our meal, and spiritually fortified by our guests at dessert. I will have a few recipes to post soon, too! This is our first Thanksgiving as a family of 4 rather than 5*, so I wanted to be special and still have our favorite foods.

We might have dietary restrictions with allergies and celiac disease, but we don’t let that stop us from eating well!

Dinner:

• Ginger Butternut Squash Soup
• Bread
• Stuffing
• Candied Yams
• Cranberry sauce
• Mashed Potatoes
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Gravy
• oh, and Turkey!

Desserts:

• Apple Crisp
• Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Bars
• Pumpkin Pie
• Peach Pie Cake Cobbler

I hope all of you have a wonderful feast!

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We were lucky enough to receive a wonderful hand me downs yesterday, and each girl got some things she loved from some friends we’ve known since before M was born – she is 2 days older than her friend. 

As we do some home reorganization, we needed to winnow down the numbers – you don’t need 14 long sleeve dresses.  And most people don’t need more than 2 weeks of tshirts, either.  Unless they are special.    So we put together at least one bag for donating, and that feels good.

We’ve packed up some outgrown clothes & boots for a little girl we know, and it feels so good to be giving things we loved to someone who will appreciate it!  Some of the girls’ clothes are just lovely, and I feel better giving the really nice clothes to someone we know.  We also started winnowing down some of our books, so we have a nice bag of paperbacks to donate, too.

When we are receiving gifts, it is such a blessing to have something we can give.  We have also made cakes or muffins for friends, and that helps me feel like I can give back something to the people who have helped us so much.

Our family is still living with struggles right now – emotional, financial, logistical, etc.  Our lives feel unsettled – we don’t know when help will arrive, so we live a bit on edge, not knowing what will come around the corner.  But when we give to others, we feel more secure, trusting that if we give, we will receive what we need.  Not necessarily what we want, but what we need.

Our faith is growing stronger each day, and that is not a struggle.  That is a path that looks like it has been lit from above. It is wonderful to have faith, knowing that we have help during our trials and tribulaltions.  We feel His love in our hearts, and know that we are on the right path through the darkness.

I’d still like to have a map so I can see what troubles will lie ahead, and when the current struggles will end!