Sick...Again!

Well, there's nothing like families sharing things together...but I think we're taking it a little too far when we start sharing our germs! Last week, dad and Christy both had to see their doctors to get medicine to treat cold & sinus & flu junk. Well, this week it my turn! I actually started feeling puny on Thursday night and by Sunday night I was full-blown SICK! I was running a fever, stuffy nose, upset stomach and BAD sore throat. I fought through it all weekend and waited for the "countdown" of the doctor's office to open on Monday morning. I'd almost rather die than have to call a doctor over the weekend. So, I called this morning and got 2 different medicines called in. Hopefully I'll be up and running by the time we load up and leave for Florida on Friday.

So, there's not much news on my end today. I was in the bed pretty much all weekend. I missed the "pie in the face" contest at church. I'll have to find out who "won" that contest. I heard my brother Ryan was in the top ten and got "pie-ed", but his wife was merciful to him and just put a little pie on the end of his nose. Ah, the joy of still being a newlywed!

Well, I'm gonna run for now. I'll post more later when I actually have something worth writing about! :)

Dad, Blame It! - Gentry's Accident of the week!

Probably my ya-ya sisters will be the only one who "gets" this title. It goes WAY back to Christy and my teenage years when mom introduced us to a new Janette Oke series entitled "Love Comes Softly". As teenagers, Christy and I were enthralled in these books to the neglect, I'm sure, of ever-present homework and housework to be done.

But the phrase that "Marty", the main character in the books, used whenever something happened by accident that frustrated her she would always say, "Dad, blame it!".

Well, I had a "Dad, blame it" day yesterday when all of a sudden, I hear Gentry screaming from outside and saw him running toward the house.

Dale had been out mowing. Gentry HAD to be out there with him and when he turned off the mower Gentry went over there and touched his finger to the motor...where he had been told REPEATEDLY not to touch! GRRR.

But we've learned with Gentry that sometimes the lessons he remembers the most are the ones he learns the hard way.

He got a bad blister on the tip of his left index finger and I felt so sorry for him. He was yelling, saying, "Mommie, it burns, it burns," and tears were pouring down his face. I was saying all the things that momma's are supposed to say to try to make them feel better.

Luckily, my rusty nursing skills kicked into action and I ran it under cold water for a while, then dipped it into some aloe vera gel and wrapped it with a bandage. He said after a few hours that it was feeling better. You can see some of the pictures I took of him in hysterics when he first came in. They're quite funny, actually!

My mom thinks it's hysterical that in the midst of a chaotic crisis with him, I've always got a camera in his face to capture the moment. But hey, his mom's a relentless scrapbooker and I'm always thinking, "This will make a great story for a scrapbook page!"

I will run for now. Dale is gone for the day so Gentry and I are going to have the whole day to ourselves. Wonder what kind of trouble we can get into today! Have a great weekend and I'll see you soon again in blogland! :)

Love - Melanie

Thanks for checking in here with me. I know your lives are so busy and that you took the time to come to my blog and visit awhile means a lot to me. Be sure to comment and send me a note if you'd like.

Thankful Thursday

I'm "blogging-lifting" an idea from my sister-in-laws blog where she lists five things she's thankful for that week. I thought that would be a great idea to start this off.

1. I am thankful for MY FAMILY - immediate and extended. We just celebrated a family reunion on my mom's side of the family a few weeks ago and I was reminded again of how grateful I am to be a part of such a wonderful group of people. They are strong, loyal, of German descent (mostly), scattered from California to Florida, and LOTS of Type A personalities in the crowd. Me taking more after my dad's side of the family and being more introverted, I found myself sitting alone sometimes during the gathering, soaking it all in and reflecting on how each person I saw had personally impacted my life through the years. My grandparents were there who both turned 90 years old this year. To see them able to come, though feeble as they were, and to see the many generations succeeding them was a full circle experience. I am thankful that I was raised in a family that believes in the power of the cross, unshakable faith and infinite mercy and grace. I feel the mantle of responsibility rest heavy on my shoulders as I watched my little blonde headed angel toddling around without a care in the world. Knowing that God has entrusted to me a great responsibility to pass this heritage on to my son, is a privilege I don't take lightly and I pray for wisdom everyday to be able to impart something of eternal significance into his heart and life.

The rest of my "thankful fors" I'm sure you've read somewhere before, but they bear repeating. Our perspective on life is our reality of life and I want to be able to take the joys AND inconveniences of life and make MY perspective on all of it positive.

2. I am thankful for the sink of dirty dishes I had to wash last night after dinner...because it reminded me that I had enough money to buy groceries this week...it reminded me that I have family to share a dinnertime meal with...and it reminded me of the compliments I received from my little guy when he told me, "Mmm, mama, das good!"

3. I am thankful for the $3.76 per gallon of gas I had to pay for yesterday...because it means I have a vehicle to drive and I don't have to walk, take the bus or metro, or ride a bicycle to where I'm going.

4. I am thankful for the 6 loads of laundry I had to sit and fold on the couch last night...because it means that I am constantly surrounded by two guys that love me enough to want to live with me 24/7. And the pile of laundry is a small price to pay for the laughter and joy these two bring into my life everyday.

5. I am thankful for having to wash permanent Sharpie marker off Gentry's arms, hands, legs & face...because I know these days won't last forever and I'm going to miss these moments all too soon and wish them back when he's grown and gone. So no, I don't mind these crazy days of my life right now!

In other news, well, it's just an ordinary day. Dale and Gentry have gone down to Charles and Christy's place to "test" out their new black & tan coon hounds. Don't ask me how, why or what they do, but it's a passion of Dale's and something I'm sure he wants to pass on to Gentry. Gentry LOVES being around his poppa and it gives me a few quiet hours at the house to collect my thoughts as well.

I'm doing dinner at home tonight. Living out here on the farm, I've started doing home cooking A LOT more often now and am LOVING it. The menu for tonight is:

Grilled Flat Iron Steaks with feta crumbled cheese melted on top
Herb Roasted New Potatoes
Fresh Garden Green Beans
Squash Casserole
Homemade Bread
Fresh Peach Cobbler

We're are enjoying the bounty of the summer harvest right now and have been fortunate enough to be able to cook and bake things fresh from the garden or farmer's market. There truly is nothing like cooking with the freshest of ingredients. It DOES make a difference.

Well, I'm going to run for now. I hope I can keep up with the blogging thing. It will be fun to look back and read as a journal of sorts in months and years to come. Feel free to post comments or share my blog with your friends. I hope to be able to post lots of exciting news, recipes, pictures, interviews and whatever else inspires me on here.

Warmest Regards - Melanie

My Family...My treasure

Well, we've been having trouble with our "ya-ya" blog so I thought I would update on this one and keep trying to copy and paste on the old blog until we can get the kinks worked out of it.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to my family for having Sunday dinner with us this past Sunday. It's always such an honor, privilege and labor of love to cook dinner for you all. I guess "acts of service" is my love language and I feel fulfilled when I'm "doing" for other people...especially my family.

The food was good...so you said anyway! :) I made a chicken and rice casserole, homemade squash casserole straight from OUR OWN garden, baked corn OFF the cob that Dale made...he got the recipe from his mother, and oh my goodness was it ever good! Southern ladies just know how to cook! Then we had English peas & spoon rolls laden with butter, honey, or homemade fig preserves!!

For dessert I made turtle brownies, homemade cinnamon rolls, & banana pudding. YUM-O!

The food was fabulous, but the company was even better. The conversation was light and encouraging and of course lots of laughs sprinkled in.

We've only got less than two weeks now before we hit the road for vacation to Florida. We are going to be traveling buddies with Mom & Dad. They have leased a "condo" down in Orlando for a year and so we're going down there to help "pretty it up" so we all will have access to it throughout the year. Mom and dad have already been down there once and plan on taking full advantage of their getaway place during the cold winter months.

We plan to mix the right amount of relaxation with fun and attractions. Our plans at this point are to go to Medieval Times dinner theatre, Sea World, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and possibly Magic Kingdom if we don't wear ourselves out!

I'll be sure to post pictures of our trip when we get back.

Well, I'm going to wrap this up for now. I've got a doctor's appointment this afternoon and piano lessons this evening. Yes...I've started taking lessons again...and I'm LOVING it!

So, I better get to practicing for a bit and then make sure I have the stuff ready to go for dinner tonight.

Looks like my menu is going to be:

Fried Ocean Perch

Crab Fried Rice

Fresh Green Beans (from the garden! )

Asiago Cheese Toast

&.........Banana Pudding or Rice Krispy Treats for dinner!!

Mmmm....can't wait!

Blessings to you all -

Mel