Post(card) from the Edge~~

Over a month since the girl was diagnosed with HSP and though the rash is soooo much better, but she is now experiencing the stomach pains that are a typical symptom but two weeks of getting no sleep because the pains are waking her up? Puuuulllleeeaaassseeee! So Sunday night I take her to ER at 3 am. If you have ever had a sick child in the middle of the night, you know how mentally draining it can be. "Is she sick enough to take to ER? ... If we just wait a bit will she be okay? ... Maybe if I rub her tummy, she'll be okay ... and so on and so on."

The doctor put her on a antibiotic because her urine showed she may have an in fection some where so one side of me is thinking great. Medicine to help her instead of the 'it's just part of her rash and there's nothing you can do but maybe give her Tylenol to see if that works'... BUT the other side of me is thinking damn. The girl does not take medicine well. She doesn't swallow pills and has a gag reflex that is the speed of light with the liquid medicines.

You should see this medicine. Pink tar. So I get home and try to open our front door with the my electronic work key and it takes me a bit to figure out why the door isn't opening. (Note to self: You're losing it) Then I'm praying this medicine will be to her liking or we're sunk. For 30 minutes I'm working her through this medicine. She's crying...on the floor...head in the toilet...sitting on the edge of the tub...crying some more...breathing deep to try and steady herself...head in the toilet again.

So I wake up my husband. (Please note my husband works nights. He had just got home and just fallen asleep when I had to get him up.) I tell him it's his turn and I can't get her to take her medicine and she NEEDS this medicine. So he goes into the bathroom and I cover my ears and do the humming thing so I can't hear her carry on because after all, she's sick. She's my little baby girl and I hate to see her suffering.

Minutes later and I mean minutes later she struts in smiling and cheery. Says I, "Did you already take it" and she nods her head yes. Says I, "Why didn't you do that for me?" and she just shrugs her shoulders. Says I, "What did dad tell you?" and she says 'he'd spank me if I didn't take this medicine'. So Jesse comes in and I ask HIM what he said and he said 'that she could do it the hard way or the easy way. She could take tiny sips and draw it out or she could do it one big gulp and be done with it but either way she was taking this medicine.' Say I, "that's it?" He says Yep.

I look at her like she has 5 heads . No longer my little baby girl but the evil girl child that had me in the hospital for 3 weeks before she was born and sick from the moment of conception and says I, "I'm going to work. I need some rest."

I Heart Crafting~~

Here's "Queenie" for a Valentine paper doll swap. Made 4 of the same and will receive 3 different ones back. I'm excited to see what I'll get back.

Also been demolishing the downstairs as we are building a master suite. Sooo excited. All the dry wall is down to the studs, ceiling tile thingy's (official name I'm sure) are down to the studs, bathroom vanity is out and this weekend my brother will be over to advise on the next step. I'll have to take pictures.

Me as an M&M

I think I look better as an M&M. Make your own: http://www.becomeanmm.com/

Recycling~~

Before I moved to Oregon, I'd visit my brother and admire his trash and recycling bins. My brother and his wife are tidy individuals and their recycling bins were full of clean containers and the paper bags were folded and stacked neatly in a brown bag. California was not into recycling and I thought if I ever moved here, I'd recycle.

We practice recycling in our house and for a family of 5, we only have a small trash can which I contribute to recycling. I like cleaning out the containers and neatly folding down the boxes and washing out the milk cartons then smashing them. I heart recycling. But I still had lessons to learn.

My friend Elaine.... now she recycles. She has been going to as-is since she was in high school and hardly ever buys much new. As-is is kind of like the outlet store of Goodwill and even though there's some 'why would anyone buy this' stuff, there is still lots of stuff that is new or in like-new condition. It is sold by the pound and glass is .25 a pound. You can get glass stuff there really, really cheap.

I've known her for a couple of years and I'm still learning from her. This month she sent me two fun things in the mail. First was a template for making an envelope (inside an envelope she had made from a Raggedy Ann 2006 calendar), To: and From: labels (guarantee they were a find from as-is) and instructions on how I can make my own envelopes and pass on the idea to others. A great way to recycle last years calendars. Didn't I say she recycled?

The second fun thing was a great 'Happy New Year' tag with a fun dangly made from Shrinky Dinks. If you are not familiar with Shrinky Dinks, it is plastic that comes with a design that you can color or clear so you can make your own designs. You bake it for a minute or two and they shrink up really small. Again, I guarantee these supplies came from as-is. I love to get mail from Elaine. It's always original and satisfies my crafting spirit.

She enclosed a letter on 'paying it forward' so I made a cute little dangly thing to attach to a Happy Birthday tag I made and sent the remaining plastic with the birthday present knowing my friend will also appreciate the opportunity to create and pass it on. Elaine has also taught me the art of shopping at as-is. The first time my husband took me there, I couldn't stay long because I was so overwhelmed but one time with Elaine and a lesson on what to look for... I was hooked.

I've asked her to start taking pictures of her as-is purchases because the woman is 'gifted' in her shopping experiences there and comes away with the most amazing items and at little cost. She recently bought a nice digital camera, a laptop and a new printer with her as-is purchases that she sold on e-bay. Her house has a cottage charm to it and is furnished with lots of as-is items that she put together to create a decor worthy of newspaper coverage.

I've so much more to learn but this is one area that I look forward to the lessons. :)

Snow Day~~~

Well I spent two hours on the road this am trying to get to work. Kept calling in to see if we didn't have to come in but no such luck so off I went. I was two blocks from home and saw a car in front of me spin out two times...

...road blocked by policeman...passed a fender bender...stopped to put on my chains...came to a street that was blocked by stand still traffic...turned around and was stuck on a bridge for 25 minutes...passed a van and school bus trying to put on chains... took a frontage road but turned around when I saw the traffic at a stand still...passed a car spinning its tires trying to get up a hill...passed a city bus on my side of the road facing the wrong direction- waved as I went by...

...made one last attempt at a back road and came to another street with stand still traffic...called work to say I'd made enough efforts to get there and I was heading home...on my way home had a car go by going backwards-hmmm...went for a walk with the family...took some pictures and now I'm cozy inside and enjoying the pretty white every where. Co-workers called to say they did close work after all. Too bad the decision hadn't been made earlier but since it's non-profit, closing is a hard decision. Have a great day.

Relaxing~~~

Just relaxing and hanging out this long weekend. How I love an extra day. I kept forgetting then I'd be all excited again every time I'd remember. Wasn't able to get to this wreath before Christmas but the color can carry me thru Valentines. Loved seeing them and wanted to make one like this or any of them really. Glad I did. This sort of thing is very relaxing to me.

Finished a book bag that I felted out of a wool sweather I bought at as-is. I'll get a picture soon. Made a couple of pins out of felt that I'll be mailing out as gifts and I'll try to get those pictured too. I love crafting. I don't feel I'm an artist because I'm terrible at thinking up my own original ideas but I love to attempt other peoples ideas so I consider that crafting and not being an artist. I've loved it since I was a kid. Lots of crafts at Girls Club and Girl Scouts. Crocheting, macrame, sewing, beads...anything really.

I'd love to be able to focus on one thing. Tried to find one passion so I don't feel so scattered wanting to do so much but try as I might, it hasn't worked. Still love doing a little of this and a little of that. Currently crocheting a poncho for a little girl who just turned one, making Valentine paper dolls for a swap I joined, sewing headbands I saw on another blog, making two cards- one for a bday and the other just because-, have an envelope I want to make out of old calendar pages and have two shirts I've started working on for stenciling. Too bad I can't craft all day long. But would I really get everything finshed? There'd just be more projects in process. :)

Community~~~

com·mu·ni·ty (kə-myōō'nĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key n. pl. com·mu·ni·ties

*Sharing, participation, and fellowship.

When looked up, there are many definitions of community but I identify with this one so much. This last year we've been studying community at our church and the biblical views of community. How as a body of believers, we impact our community around us. As individuals committed to Christ how we impact our community at work, stores, schools our kids attend, family, neighbors and how we impact each other within our church body. God has a way of putting his Word into action.

Maya has been diagnosed with HSP-Henoch-Schönlein purpura (say: hen-awk shern-line purr-purr-ah). First she had a rash so I took her to the doctor and she tested positive for strep. Well the next day, when we were in Bend for my nieces wedding, I called the advise nurse because her rash was so much worse and she said go to urgent care. Urgent care said possible allergic reaction to penicillin and possibly Scarlet Fever. So new medicine, tons of topical remedies to help with the rash then back to her PCP on Tuesday. That's when she was diagnosed with HSP.
Definition:
Causes blood vessels to get inflamed (irritated and swollen). This inflammation is called vasculitis. It usually affects the small blood vessels in the skin (capillaries). It can also affect blood vessels in the bowel and the kidneys. When the blood vessels get inflamed, they can bleed into the skin, causing a rash that is called purpura. The intestines and the kidneys may also bleed.

Praise God it is not contagious and while it is not a pretty sight, Ibuprofen has been very effective with the symptoms and she is sick but not sick. How can you praise God, you ask? I am like any other mother who doesn't want her child to be hurting or suffering in any way but this really have been a blessing to our family. The out pouring of concern demonstrated to our family and directly to Maya has been such a comfort. This HSP is not life threatening and even though while she has it her condition can worsen, she is the best case scenario for HSP. She doesn't have any signs of kidney problems, extreme joint inflamation requiring cortizone shots or intensine problems.

Friends & family are calling, approaching us at church, praying and basically going out of their way to see if they can stay home with Maya, bring us anything or if we need anything. Now that's community in action. They are 'sharing' our experience, 'participating' in the process with keeping informed & obtaining knowledge on what it is she has and being in 'fellowship' with our family. We are blessed. Maya and I have had wonderful conversations about praising God for answered prayers, friends, comfort and peace only God can give and how blessed we are to have God to turn to and not have to go through this without Him. We don't have to be scared or worry about the outcome because God is bigger than anything she has or situation we may go through.

She is encouraged to go to school as long as she's up to it. Her school mates have been fine with her rash as well as the kids at church and that was my biggest concern. Kids can be brutally honest and she's such a sweet person I didn't want her to be hurt. (that mom thing again) But again Praise God, the kids are treating her with love and sympathy. This rash will last about a month and she has a 40% chance of it coming back. She is not always comfortable because her body aches and pains migrate day to day & even with in a day but we are good. We have nothing to complain about because we have received so much more than what this rash is doing to her. She is in great spirits and even laughs at her situation. (If I tell her no to something, she tries to lick me and tells me she's going to give me her rash even though she knows it's not contagious) Did I mention she's funny too?

She's a sweet, wonderful person and she is a wonderful blessing to our family and all who know her. Please pray for her continued recovery and healing. We would appreciate your prayers!

Reasons for a Meltdown...

...according to Ben:
1. The taco filling fell out of the taco shell and made a mess on the floor. (because I wasn't holding my food over the place and now I know I'm busted)
2. Because I have to read my allotted 15 minutes a day when I'd rather be playing.
3. Because I have to go to bed when I haven't read my allotted 15 minutes a day so I'm trying to stall.
4. When my friend isn't home when I go next door to play and mom & dad can't make him be home when I want him to be there.
5. When I can't make a Transformer body part bend the way I want it to and mom can't figure out what way is up or front much less how to bend a part. Sheesh.
6. When I have to take a shower before my sister. "I always have to go first".

7. When my hot dog falls out of my hot dog bun.

8. I have to turn off the computer when I'm called to dinner and "this is the first time I've ever gotten so far on this level."

9. When I don't get a homework answer correct the first time.

10. EVERY time my sister puts her seat belt on first when we get in to the car.

This boy has high entertainment value. He's a keeper~~~

Great Swap for Kids~~~

My kids are going to love this when I tell them about it. What a great idea to encourage generosity and creativity.

Trees, Trees, Trees~~~

Picture of the trees I'd been wanting to make but didn't get a chance before Christmas. Jesse wants me to make enough to take up the whole mantel. Different materials, sizes... fat skinny, tall, short. He doesn't ever comment much on my crafts but he really liked these so since he's interested how can I say no? Blog hoppin found this wonderful site and these adorable trees. Site belongs to Stephanie and she made a Flickr group just for all the trees that have been created from her idea. Such talented people out there!!! Ben (7) made the small one with the star. He cut out the pattern & material, sewed up the seam and stuffed it once I put the bottom on. He takes it to his room every night to be in his room while he sleeps. He's very proud of his accomplishment.

Wedding Weekend~~

My niece was married on Saturday. Intimate night wedding..red & cream..candle lit..simple and lovely. Maya was sick but a trooper as she greeted guests, handed out a "Thank you for sharing our day with us" message & asked guests to sign a frame mat.

Ben was handsome and a sweet usher who had practiced how to ask which side of the wedding party guests were with and showed them to their seats.
All my love and Gods blessings go out to Mandy and her future with her new husband.