All Fixed Up

Hey there!  Took a ride on the Reading, and took the kids to Sam's this morning...did I mention the right rear tire that kept running low on air?  Mmmm...yep, I had to get it fixed, before it fixed me (in one spot)!  I gotta have my wheels (and clean too!).  We were there almost two hours, and I couldn't even tell Ches (later) where the time disappeared to.  We looked at tons of books, made a bathroom run, ate lunch (pizza), and shopped a tiny bit.  I mean, I think Sam's time runs on a different clock than the rest of the world!  Time just evaporated-and I don't know how.  Hmm.
We came home, and I sat out while the kids played-it was a strange day of decent weather...sunny, hot, but breezy, and the clouds kept coming and going.  I was keeping the kids out of the pool (I thought they'd get cold with the wind) since it was threatening to rain (but didn't till after 5).  Anyway, I read a new Country French (or something like that) magazine (from Sam's!), and positioned my chair right by Ethan's swing, so I could push him, feel the breeze, and read-Perfect.  We stayed out for a couple hours, until Ethan went inside and left us.
So we went in to goof off.  Here's a closer pic of my sweet girl and her braces.  I still don't have a great one, but there's plenty of time for that!

I am in this cooking (baking!) mood lately..yes, I'm gaining weight, and know it, but I'm powerless.  Plus, it's good to occupy my time (while I shove my mouth, too).  Today I found a recipe for Lemon Bars, but my oven had baking potatoes already in at 400, and I didn't want to drop it to 375 for the bars (and I'm not skilled in mediating between temps).  So..since I bought lots of blueberries (and had some frozen ones too), I made Blueberry Crisp!  I put it in the oven as our potatoes came out, so it'd be ready after dinner.
If you've ever been here late (or listened to me rant), Ches gets to eat all he wants at night, and that includes ice cream with chocolate syrup EvErY night!  Anyway, he'd eaten all the ice cream, and I only had frozen Cool Whip (so not the same). So, he said he'd take the kids out to buy more ice cream, and I got all excited.  I know it doesn't sound good, but I really needed a break.  I went to the chapel for an hour last night (still fighting off the Lexapro withdrawal), and it helped.  But! Leave me alone in my house for an hour, and I'm positively giddy!  I had all that stuff from Pottery Barn that I still hadn't put out yet!  I just can't create with an audience I think.
So.  I changed my mantle in the hearth room from this:

to this!

More summery.  I know, not that much different, but I finally put up the chalkboard that I made, and I made a cool wreath (that I told you I'd work on!) with a burlap-y type bow, a starfish, and some jute string.  Fun.  Just lots of fun for me.  So, I got all brave, and put new holes in my wall!  I finally opened up all those picture frames I got, and hung them.  My plan was to put three on each side of the tv, but they were smaller than I planned.  So..I hung two and thought about it for two days..and tonight, I hung all six together.  Much better.  Makes the left side look a little light, but I'll work on that tomorrow.  So here are the six:

So then, I got to vacuum the kitchen/hearth room (which I secretly love to do!) (weird, I know), and it made everything better.  I also picked up a race track, some cars, took pictures down, packed a box of red stuff that I won't use till at least Christmas.

So, here's the now pix of the hearth room.  I have been trying to change it up, and I'm still just dying to get new white slipcovers, but for now-I shall be happy.

 

And then..they came home!  They came bearing not one box of ice cream, but four!  (they were on sale, so I'd have done the same thing!)

So, we had our yummy blueberry crisp, but with mint chocolate chip and cookies-with-cream ice cream!  We had vanilla, but when you have something else, why have plain vanilla?  Don't make fun of my camera-I tried to get a close-up picture:

Here's the professional picture:

Better, huh?

Yeah, mine doesn't look so amazing, but it was scrumptious!  It had oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter-all the good stuff.  I will definitely be making this one again.  I'd have to double it for company though-we ate 2/3's of the recipe!  I didn't use as many blueberries as it said, since I like lots of the crisp, heehee.

Maybe tomorrow I'll actually make the Lemon Bars. and stay home to clean the kids' rooms.  A girl's gotta have goals!

FYI- Blueberry Crisp:

 Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 6  cups  blueberries
• 2  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
• 2/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup  regular oats
• 3/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 4 1/2  tablespoons  chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
• 2  cups  vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; spoon into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon, and cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over the blueberry mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Top each serving with 1/4 cup frozen yogurt.

Note: Topping may also be made in the food processor. Place 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a food processor, and pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter; pulse 4 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Jones' Believe It or Not

I can only say I stand amazed at what my day brings. Every day (and night) is truly an adventure.
Last night, we were up from 2:30 till about 6, then back up at 7 with Ethan. He had a tummy ache ("tummy hurt"), watery poop that was burning his bottom, then he threw up this morning. Ick. I was SO worn out. We tried to take turns sleeping till about 9:30. He just wanted to be most of the day. He cuddle up with me and put his head into my neck. So precious.
I was supposed to help Jenifer at her house this morning, but I was so exhausted, and had a clingy one, it just didn't work out. I'll have to go over there Monday or Tuesday or something. Angie came down from Joplin, and got me Sprite on the way for Ethan, and brought the kids gifts! Clay was amazed and entertained (even till 9:20 tonight!) with his Smithsonian dinosaur excavation kit. Mary Claire got sweet little poodle stationery, and Ethan got a backhoe that makes noises-he's in heaven! : )
We finished getting around then when Ethan went down for a nap, we took the kids to National to look at furniture for Angie, then Mary Claire was extremely low (52), so I gave her some glucose tabs and we got ice cream at Braum's-a special treat! : ) We went by the mall to get Clay shoes for first communion and pants. We went into Gap so I could use some of my reward dollars. Then we (didn't know it, but) made a life altering decision. We debated on eating at the mall and letting the kids play a little before they had to go home, or we could go to Chick-Fil-A to eat and let the kids play. Well...wrong choice, I guess. We took off for CFA.
We were on the bypass home, and heard a loud noise. We took our exit to home, and heard a loud noise. We pulled over, and my right rear tire was dead flat-it was sitting on the rim. I called Ches to come help, and (since a similar incidence happened about a month ago) I got out the jack, and started to lift it up. We had trouble getting the lug nuts off-I mean they were Impossible. A nice man (not scary) stopped, got out his "four iron" (or something like that) and loosened up all the lug nuts about the time Ches got there. He put on the spare so we could go home and get Angie's car, and Ches took Clay to Sam's to get the tire replaced. We traded out cars at home, and met them at CFA in Rogers, since it was on Angie's way home. Well, the meal was not-so-eventful if you don't consider 7 people at a four person table. But. There was this meanie kid in the play area. The kids came running out a couple times saying this kid had hit them-and hard. We were keeping an eye on things, then it turned ugly. The kid hit Clay in the mouth/bottom lip at the bottom of the stair thingies, then went up into the "car", grabbed Ethan by the hair (which is long, I know), and began to shake/bang his head onto the side of the wall of the car. All I saw was Ches sprint up the step things like mad (with Anger on his face-he Very Rarely gets mad-really!-but when he does get worked up-watch out!) I freaked out, and ran in there. Clay was at the bottom crying, Mary Claire was crying watching Ethan scream and be shaken, and the Meanie Kid Dad finally sauntered in there, and we were telling him what his son was doing-and he really didn't care. He'd heard the kids come running out before, and did nothing. So, Ethan made it down the slide, crying, and holding his head. I was so worried, because the doctor had told me that it's not so bad to have one head injury, but if he injured his head again soon after it could cause more brain injury. So, I rushed him out to the eating area, while he was choking and coughing, and he promptly threw his entire dinner up on me and him. I was crying (remembering that when he fell back on the bar stool, they'd asked me repeatedly if he'd thrown up), I just took him outside to calm him down in the cooler air. Thankfully, I'd packed extra clothes, diapers, and wipes in my purse since Ches had his backpack in his car earlier. I stripped the throw-up clothes off him, put on the clean ones, and stripped my top shirt off (luckily I had tank on underneath). Then I stood up, and the cup in my purse spilled all down my arm and into my purse (next drama). Just gross. I kinda dried it out, and we loaded up to get home.
Angie brought me a towel from her car, and we made it home. Ethan got a bath and some calm-down time, and I washed off too. It took a long time to settle everyone down. The kids were very upset, and we had a talk about what to do next time. Don't mess with my kiddos! They know they can defend themselves, and each other! Scratch, poke, pull, etc. Poor kids need options. Clay asked if we could pray for Ethan, and we did. Nothing as powerful as a car full of prayer-or a family united! : ) Makes me proud of them for caring.

Now, we are all ready for some rest. Long day. Unbelievable events. I should rename it as Jones' Believe It or Not. It does defy reality. I'm amazed every day-and it's MY Life! : O

ps-I can report that Ethan is okay. He had a great bath, and some play time with Clay, and is sleeping. I think he's fine. After discussing, we think part of the throw up could have been his coughing and choking to catch his breath: he could have gagged himself.

Please, Lord, give me the ability to handle what comes our way. Let me pray continually and be thankful despite my situation.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18