Camping!

Our always busy week is quickly coming to a culmination! Tomorrow afternoon the girls & I head out to Utopia. Wouldn't you like to be heading to Utopia? Oh, did I mention that is Utopia, TEXAS? Yes, the Girl Scout Camp we are attending is near a town called Utopia. Which is somewhat close to Uvalde, which is where Natalie was born. Now aren't you glad you know that?

I am tagging along as a special needs mom. I'll also be accompanying the few junior girl scouts who are old enough to be part of a canoing badge event. They'll be canoing in a pool! I hope it's a big pool! I'll be there for moral support, not actually getting in & out of a canoe. I don't think my knees would let me get in & out of a canoe, actually. Apart from that our troop is doing our very own camp trooping with lots of fun activities planned, I hear! I'm just excited that I don't have to walk a mile to the bathroom during the night. This camp has indoor plumbing in the grown-up cabin! Woo-hoo! Funny how priorities change as you age!

Tonight I had the opportunity to help a 4H club use Pampered Chef tools to make 3 different recipes. I found recipes for 3 different age groups & had some of the moms help me work with the different groups. The littlest ones cut up fruit for a fruit pizza. The middle schoolers made an apple crisp. The high school students created paninis. Boy, did everything sound & look yummy! And it all had gluten in it! When we get back from camp, I am going to have to convert the apple crisp to gluten free.

I'll be back in a few days with news of our trip!

I'm a nut!

Some people would say I'm a nut. I put that, though, because I'm nutty for waiting til today to let people know my kids are selling Girl Scout NUTS this week. The orders are due on Tuesday & I JUST sent the note out to those I thought of without Girl Scouts who might want to order. If I missed you & you live in the San Antonio area & you want to see what kinds they have, here you go:

Gorp Trail Mix - $10 – has peanuts, raisins, chocolate chips, and candy-coated chocolate pieces (30 oz)

Peanut Brittle - $8 – snowman tin filled with brittle brimming with peanuts (8 oz)

Whole Cashews - $6 – gourmet cashews delicately roasted and lightly salted to perfection (8 oz)

Honey Roasted Peanuts - $4 – honey roasted peanuts (9 oz)

Mint Trefoils - $8 – Help celebrate the 95^th anniversary of Girl Scouts with this collector’s tin containing milk chocolate filled with creamy mint centers in the shape of the Girl Scout Trefoil (6 oz)

Chocolate Covered Almonds - $6 – Roasted almonds smothered in a rich creamy chocolate – (10 oz)

Spicy Cajun Mix - $4 – A spicy kick of barbecued peanuts, hot Cajun sesame sticks, barbecued corn sticks, mini sesame chips, and taco sesame sticks (7 oz)

Sugar Free Chocolate Toffee Bits – Delicious crunchy bite sized sugar free toffee bits smothered in a rich and creamy sugar free chocolate. An excellent treat for a low carb lifestyle (10 oz)

Cranberry Trail Mix - $6 – A unique blend of cranberries, raisins, almonds, cashews, English walnuts and banana chips.

Peanut Squares - $4 – Peanuts, sugar, corn syrup and salt are combined to make a deliciously crunchy snack (9oz)

Payment isn't due til they come in, the first week of November. Hmmm, is it okay to tell people about this on the Internet? Well, I just did. What can I say? I'm a nut!

And to my allergic friends, of course these have nuts. I've not seen a list of ingredients yet, which is making me a bit antsy about ordering myself.

Good night!

Blog Candy

Some of you are familiar with the term Blog Candy. Sometimes Stampers give away cool stuff they've made, or products they sell, from their blogs. I was asked if I would have blog candy on my blog. I started thinking & here are the choices: Flat tire or a day with my kids! Swings and Roof included. Simply leave a comment & you're in the drawing! Bwahahahahaha!!!!!

Ever had one of those lives?

You know how some people ask, "Ever had one of those days?" Well, it seems perennial around here (and I am shocked that spell check says I spelled perennial correctly!). For us "one of those days" means nothing catastrophic happens, we all live happily, and all is well with the world. I remember once when the girls were quite young, after month after month of feeling like I'd never be able to do anything but watch them constantly, that we had a REALLY good day. I was able to do a craft for my mom, while watching my darlings play nicely. I STILL remember thinking, "At last, I have a glimpse of hope for the future. There IS a light at the end of this tunnel." Come to find out that old saying was right. It was the headlight of the oncoming train!

So, today's adventure. I worked to get lots of paperwork stuff ready to mail out, but didn't quite finish. Then, I took Natalie shopping while Phil & Bethany stayed here, then later left to drive to a town about an hour or so away (I think) named Comfort. When Phil was riding his motorcycle he stumbled upon a bat cave where they have seats you can pay to sit in & watch the bats fly out. I am a bargain hunter & it takes me SO long to shop because I am comparing prices. Not because I'm super cheap or thrifty or really good at saving money, but because we no longer own credit cards & I absolutely HAVE to be careful! Thus, it took us nearly 2 hrs. to shop 2 stores. Bethany would have been bonkers by then. We pulled out of the Target parking lot & drove down a bit, then I stopped at Party City, on a whim. Not really a total whim, but kind of a surprise to Natalie. I wanted to see if they had a certain kind of kid's wig that she could use as a costume. Good thing she didn't really like them because I THEN looked at the price: $20! I can buy a can of hair coloring spray for less than that & save us big bucks! She decided she'd just wear a poodle skirt we already had & just needed a white shirt that fit. Phew. $4.00 at Wal-Mart is way better! This is for a costume party they are going to tomorrow.

On the way to Party City (which is very close to Target), it sounded like I had a low tire. I knew the passenger side rear tire had a slow leak, so I went to look, but no, it didn't look THAT low. I'd felt this a tiny bit yesterday, too, but decided I just needed to air up the tire & hadn't had time to do that. So, I pulled out of that parking lot & headed to a nearby restaurant. I could tell something was really wrong, and was driving very slowly. Another driver started pointing to me to let me know something was wrong with my tired. I waved & pulled into the restaurant. I looked again & that back tire wasn't flat. Then I looked at the FRONT! It was FLAT! TOTALLY FLAT!

I haven't changed a tire since I was 17 years old. (Don't ask, the math isn't worth it). As God would have it, this restaurant was right next to a National Tire & Battery store! We prefer Discount Tire Store, but beggars can't be choosers! I called Phil while we ate to ask for advice. Oh, if you haven't heard, he won't let the girls ride in the van on a daily basis. They trashed it out with their food & toys, so he said we have to use the old car. Yeah, go figure. So HE drives the big van with just one person in it, while we use the Buick, which is 12 years old. After this incident, I am about to have a custody battle over cars! Phil said to see if we had a can of fix a flat in the trunk & if not, to see if NTB would fill it for us. We finished eating in record time, then crept down the hill to the store next door. I got in about 15 minutes before closing. The guy said he'd see what they could do. I watched them take the tire off & look. They said the side part (is that firewall? I'm getting confused with computer lingo!) was worn out & couldn't be fixed. So, Natalie & I sat down in the waiting area while they put on a new tire.

The benefit to this was that there was a TV with a remote & I found Food Network! Paula's Party was on (Paula Dean who has those handsome sons---LOL!) & she was making Fair Food. She made apples dipped in chocolate! Oh, yum! Natalie & I decided right then at our next stop, we'd pick up apples & chocolate!

We did get to Wal-Mart where we found a $4 shirt & paid far too much for groceries (I hate grocery shopping at W-M except that they are good about having gluten-free on labels & that I like). We made it home with the car only dying once on the way home. Oh, didn't I mention it does that? It starts right back up.

Other than the flat tire incident, and the fact that I ate bad eggs today, it was a pretty normal day. HA! HA! If you made it this far, you must be crazier than I am! Gotta love my friends who put up with my ramblings!

My turn?

With all the oopsies and illness in this house and in my friends, I've managed to avoid it. For me, that is very unusual. I am usually the first one sick. Often I am the only one sick. My immune system is pretty well a shambles, or has been. The Celiac Disease is auto-immune, meaning the body starts 'attacking' itself. On the gluten free diet, my intestines have been able to heal up so my immune system should kick into gear at some point, I would think. The fibromyalgia is sort of related to autoimmune diseases. Allergies & asthma are autoimmune. Aren't I special that I have all of those? (this is where I would insert a goofy smiley if I had any clue how to do that in Blogger!)

Today my throat started hurting & my head aches. Sigh. I do NOT have to get up early tomorrow. We don't need to be anywhere until 3:00 pm. Hmmm, if Phil is home in time & I feel icky, he could take the girls to their appointment! I hope to get a good night's sleep. I do have 2 girls in my bed. It's a "Girls' Night Out" and we have sleepovers in my bed when Daddy is gone!

This morning we went to the Symphony for kids. It was very interesting. They related it all really well to kids. Natalie however, was super fidgety, and kept saying, "This is boring!" Then, once she was sitting by a friend, she pretended to sing opera while they played. It was quite humorous to see her with mouth fully open (no sound) and great expressions. Bethany thought it would be boring, but seemed to be paying attention. She loves to play instruments (well, play at them, she only plays piano for real), so I thought it would be fascinating to her. They both said, "I didn't really like it" to me. Then we talked to Phil & they said, "It was okay." The conductor told us that the symphony will be showing Wizard of Oz on a large screen & the symphony will be performing the music live at the Majestic Theater later in October! Here's a link to the theater: http://www.majesticempire.com/ This theater is incredible. I can't even describe it, so you'll have to do the virtual tour if you've never seen it. I've been to some concerts, a couple of musicals (back in my single days), and most recently (about 5 years ago) to see Dora the Explorer Live. Dora didn't really match the scenery, other than the fact that she is Hispanic & the building makes you feel like you're in Mexico! Dora just isn't quite the glamor girl for the theater. I'll have to check on pricing for that performance.

Now that it is very late, I must get to bed & try to get well! Have a wonderful day!

Update on my Father-in-Law

My father-in-law was diagnosed with Stage 4 bladder cancer this past May. He went from "a little pain" in February, and 3 different prescriptions for anti-biotics for his "infection" to Stage 4 cancer. He's been taking Chemo since June, when his blood count is high enough. He's had to skip a few times, but has bounced back & gone for more. He's had 9 treatments so far. He's not lost any hair (he is taking a chemo that can cause this). He's stopped losing weight (he dropped 10 lbs. in just a couple of months earlier) and even put on a couple of pounds at one point. He's not had the nausea we thought he might have.

Today the doctor did some scans and has determined that the cancer cells have not grown at all, or spread. In fact, he thinks some may be shrinking. It was too hard to tell for sure today. Bill (my father-in-law, or FIL) will take a couple more rounds of chemo, then go back for a check again at the end of the month.

We attribute his success so far to the grace of God! So many people are praying and God is answering with a resounding YES to this. I know there are times when God chooses not to heal physically, but we are rejoicing that this time He is saying yes. Please continue to keep Bill & Ruth (FIL and MIL) in your prayers.

Phil (my husband) went to be with them at the appointment today. He's staying overnight at their house & is taking a few days off this week. Hopefully on Friday we'll get to do something fun as a family!

God provides in interesting ways

The day started out bad. Natalie was pitching fits from the moment I woke up. She didn't want to eat what we were having for lunch at co-op. She didn't have the right clothes to wear. blah, blah, blah. I was about to take her in pj's & told her if she didn't like the choices, she could go without lunch, too. Mind you, the choices were foods she likes. She just didn't WANT them TODAY.

We finally got into the car. I had to stop at the store for a few items for class. Then, down the road, I realized I'd left something at home & had to stop at yet another store for items.

We breezed into co-op with a few minutes to spare. I was setting up for the first class and my precious friend Kathy came in to help me. I'm the helper in that class, but the teacher was gone today, so I was the teacher. No sooner had we had all the kids wash hands (it's a cooking class) than Natalie threw up all over the floor. That explained why she'd been so cranky!

Now let me tell you that I HATE throw up. I hate doing it, I hate smelling it, I just HATE IT! I gag when anyone else throws up. But kids throw up. Here is the cool way God provides. I can think of ONE time in the past 11 years of being a mom that I have been alone with a child when she threw up. Every other time, someone else, who doesn't gag, has cleaned it up for me! Phil, my parents, once at a friend's house sleeping over, and today Kathy. She didn't even blink an eyelash. She said, "You do apples, I'll do this." And, she was more than a helper I was feeling quite unsure of what to do. She stepped in when I was lost for words or actions. She was a GREAT teacher! I love my friend Kathy! And I love my friend Linda who cleaned up Bethany's throw up once when I wasn't even there. And I love my parents who've cleaned up the girls' throw up more than once. And I love Phil who not only cleans up the girls' throw up, but cleans up MINE!

If you ever doubt God's provision, just come throw up & we'll see whom He sends to clean it up! LOL!