Weekend Review

Ok so who here would like reviews???  I love giving my idea on how something worked and I thought the weekend would be a good time....

So let me know if you think it is a good idea...

I'm gonna start with Kings Hawaiian

My hubby introduced me to these a while ago and they are amazing.  They are a sweet roll, but they have the most amazing flavor ever! 

So recently he went on a business trip and they just happen to  be one of his customers.  LUCKY him got to visit the plant and he hinted strongly at wanting to bring some home.

the Guy apologized that it was only a new product, the hot dog buns.  He was like hey a sweet roll is a sweet roll.  I'll take it!  So he brought two bags home.  And alas they lasted less than a day!!

 

These little things are ingenious too!  Instead of being puffy on the top and nothing on the bottom and cut so your hot dog can fall out, they cut them right down the center top.  How amazing is that?

 

SEE?

 

Ok I know I know one needs a life if hot dog buns excited them.  but hey it's the small things!!  Anyhow they are WELL worth your trip.

you will usually find them not in the bread section but in the bakery section.  Go try em!!

Have you had em before?  What did you think?

Am I back? I have a new name tho......

Phew!!!  Wow that is a long break isn't it?
Are any of you still there with me???

I fell, not off the face of this earth, but into the my life is too busy and no one cares conundrum.  Yes I admit it, I was feeling a tad tiny bit sorry for myself.

there I am done!

And I will start back off with our trip back to Salt Lake. 

I have received a new name, not only from my hubby but my mother in law, even my friend Lisa, my neighbor, really anyone who knows me....bet you're wondering what it is hu?  He calls me the black widow of travel.  Yep isnt' that nice?

Problem is it may be the teensy bit true.  But don't tell him!!  Ok so he reads this so there honey I admit it, ONCE in a while WE have bad luck....

So we were all ready to get back home after a weekend in WI with family.  Things went swimmingly from Madison to O'hare.  Then we landed....

Our flight was a speedy 35 minutes.  Our time on the runway, a torturing 45 minutes!  As the nice attendant was making the announcement for people who don't have close connections to stay in their seats so others could get off, well I guess the WHOLE plane had pressing times, because by the time we got off the runway, into our gate, and off the plane to check the board; it said, "CLOSED" meaning we weren't breaking onto that plane.

Hubby coolly walked over to the United customer service counter to file his complaint. 

See how deliriously happy he is about this?

 In the meantime KK was being such a good trooper, not a peep out of her!

 

  As he was discussing his options with them, they were saying we couldn't get home before afternoon, where he coolly informed them Delta had a flight and he will be on it!  After all that got worked out she tried to tell him he had to call the hotel himself.  Good thing I have a hubby who travels a lot cuz if it were me I woulda just been like oh ok. But he said uh, no that is your job.  So after assuring him three times that his tickets were good and Delta, he gave her and myself a smile and the poor Kbean was almost asleep by this time; we were on our way.

 

An expensive dinner with cheap vouchers later we were in our room and praying for sleep since we had to awake at 5.  We wondered, not really, if the airlines would pay us for our scramble to find overnight care for our daughters at home, also someone to ready them in the morning and get them to school, added onto the cost of the car in the lot over another night.

Sweet dreams!

We arrive the next morning at the Delta counter only to find that..here it is...something you won't hear me say often....MY HUBBY WAS RIGHT.  The tickets weren't released to Delta and we had to walk to another terminal to get them released and then back to Delta.



Finally on our new flight home, all was smooth until we arrived...and found to our NON utter shock, the car seat didnt' make it as safely.  It was still sitting lonely in the Ohare Airport.

Not to worry because Delta gave us a loaner and delivered it later that day.  But OY it is GOOD to be home!

And good to be back to blogging.  I missed you guys!  Hope you missed me too!

They take over!

Have you ever looked at where you keep your cookbooks?

I bet, you have at least a dozen recipe type things or books there and I bet you hardly look at any of them.  Am I right?

At least that is how it is with me.  I mean I have this family to feed.  I have fabolous sounding books too!  Freezer ones, baby food making, sneaking veggies in, slow cooker, chocolate only books, cake mix books.  And I love every single one of them.

However I. Am. Boring.

Yep there I admitted it.  Or is it more I. Am. a. Procrastinator.?

I guess it is a bit of both.  I really like my staple meals, some of which I shared here, hey I guess I am due to share another one too hu?  But I am learning.  Today now with Pinterest I dont use cookbooks very often.  However I love them.  They have such pretty pctures.  And I love paper.  I love touching it, turning the pages.  So someday I plan to sit down and make a list out of those cookbooks on things I want to try.

I also am starting to learn how to meal plan.  That would be to help the procrastinating part.  I tell ya, I tend to wait till 4 and then wonder why the heck I can't figure anything out when all the meat is in the freezer and even my crock pot can't save me!  I'll let you know how that goes.  But I figure that will hellp wtih the use of my stash.

Maybe I'll even share that I cleaned that cabinet someday, but don't get your hopes up.  Hahaha, if it is hidden, it is clean.  Right?

See???

Told you I loved em! The magazines too!  

How about you?  Do you have an evergrowing, unused stash of cookbooks?

Miscarriage ~ What you dont hear about...helpful advice for coping...

Hopefully.

I wrote a majority of this last week.....
The blue italics are what I wrote last week.  I also put a line below if you wanted to skip right to the advice and how I coped....

I'm not sure if I'm ready to write this...Nope don't believe I am...........................so I'll start and maybe I'll finish another day.

Loss.  Something everyone one of us has had to deal with one time or another. 

I had intended on writing this great post on marriage, and I will write it someday, but I feel like a cruel and unusual punishment is mine for the taking at the moment.

Most of you know, but  for those of you that don't, I suffered my first miscarriage last Monday.  So I now have an angel in heaven.

Logically I know there is nothing I did wrong, and nothing I could have done.  However trying to tell your heart that when it is breaking in a million pieces is a totally other story.

If I can impress one thing upon you it is, no matter what YOU think of someone else, when they are going through something, whether you think it is dumb or just blown out of proportion, please take their thoughts into consideration.  What they are feeling is REAL no matter how silly it may seem to you.

I have had three beautiful daughters, hence the name of the blog.  but that doesn't make the loss of my fourth baby any easier.  Even if he/she was only 6 weeks along.  God had already had them in his mind.  Many years ago at that.  The beginning of time in fact!  My baby was just that, a baby, his/her heart was going to start beating this week, the spine was forming, as were many other things. 

This was "Quatro" as my hubby lovingly called him/her.  We were excited to add another member to our amazing group of little ones.  We may get stressed from time to time, but we sure do adore being parents.

This weekend we needed a break away.  We were forgetting that we were more than just parents, so we went away, sans kids.  It was amazing and we had a great time, however, as we were heading home, I started to spot.  Nervous but not thinking the worst we went on our way.  Finished our day out. 

Unfortunately the night brought pain and more convincing evidence.  And by morning it was clear.  All day Monday I was in a daze, a daze loosing my fourth peanut.  A much anticipated peanut. 

The worst part of it all. the person I called my doctor, the one I put my health, trust, faith and emotions into, was nothing of the sort.  Not once did I get a sorry for your loss.  I actually even got accused for a moments time of lying about being pregnant, and i got jerked around for the better part of 36 hours.  That was the worst 36 hours of torture I could ever go through.  I can't even begin to describe to you the things this nurse told me, that were un-called for and inappropriate in this time I was going through.

But I CAN tell you something else I learned.  I learned that God truly does have our backs at all times.  Because as many of your know, from time to time I miss home, and I feel lonely and wonder if I left the only good thing I could find back there.  I left such a great network, that I just wondered so early in my new journey here if I would ever find the same thing.

I found it, but I found it triple fold.  My friends out here are AMAZING.  And THAT is an understatement!  I have had people bring me flowers, dinner, lunch, and offer to watch the kids.  I have had calls and texts, and countless well wishes and hugs.  I can't even begin to tell you what these people have meant to me.  To my body, to my baby, to my healing, to my faith.  You all are amazing and I will never be able to repay you for what you have given me.  I just hope that if you read this and you know who you are, that you have affected my life forever and I will never for get it and will always be grateful!!!

It is now a week and a half later, I am through the worst and ready to head back for the best.  I am ready to pick up and start again. That being said, I found there are some things that just aren't talked about, and I wanted to share, in the hopes that my loss can help someone else grieve.

One thing I found, that as early as I miscarried, we are left with the idea that maybe we shouldn't be as sad as we feel.  You will hear it is a chromosome thing, it is a genetic thing, the baby would have had many problems.  While all this is well and true, and I am thankful that he/she won't have to go through a painful life, it doesn't make the fact that you are loosing him/her any easier.  So we feel that we aren't supposed to be sad, for a day much less more than a week or more.  We feel like because there wasn't even a dr appointment we should just push the feelings away and focus on the positive.

While the positive is good, you need to focus on your pain.  If even for a moment.  I was told by a friend here, that even though my girls are here and yes I need to be here for them, don't let it take away from the fact that I do need time, to myself, to grieve my loss. 

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So I am here to tell you, whether far along, or not at all, please let yourself grieve how you need to.  You are NOT alone in this!  

I cried.  I still cry once in a while.  You don't hear of how the emotions will hit you.  You think you have had your good cry and then out of the blue you start bawling.  It is NORMAL.  Not only are you suffering a loss you are suffering crazy hormones.

Your body will go through amazing changes too, I had a hard time finding out if it was normal to all of a sudden bloat like I was 5 months pregnant.  But I did.  And it is normal, It will go away in about a week to a week and a half.  As will the physical pain.  One thing that has held on a bit longer but is tapering away is fatigue.  Your poor body has gone through so many changes.  You will find that each day it feels like you hit a brick wall.  You are SO tired.  Don't let others tell you that you are depressed (unless it is several weeks after and you can't get out of bed at all) because again your hormones and body have been totally shook up.  The tired is normal.  If you can, rest!  Let the kids watch TV if you have others, let them color, play and make a mess with out you.  You are NO less a mom!!  

Lastly I wanted to show you what I did, that really helped me.  For me I feel I need something tangible.  Something to hold and look at.  That is hard to do when your loss is so early.  But it can be done.  

Some people told me they have a memorial service.

I made a memorial tin.

I took a dollar store tin (or Altoids) and took some cute scrap booking paper.  I traced the tin on the paper and cut it out, then sprayed the paper with Elmer's spray glue.  I then put paper on top and bottom and found some ribbon to wrap around the side to make the color right.

I added a few stickers and a heart inside.  I also added a name, as hubby and I always make "fun" names for the baby while it is in my belly.  If you didn't.  You still can. It might help to have a name for him/her.

 

Then I added the test I had saved, and I had some pictures of the actual digital one.  I also had my first belly picture (yes I was super excited to start documenting growth) and a picture of hubby and I before I lost him/her.  I just put those in there, and am writing a letter to my baby and adding that. 

Now I have something that sits by my bed, and I can touch, look at, and hold it as often as I want.  and When I am ready it can go in a drawer by my nightstand.

 

Please if you want someone to talk to, have any questions, or just want a shoulder to cry with you.  PLEASE leave a message here, and I can email with you!   

I really hope someday somehow I can help someone through this pain.  I wish it on no one and no one should have to go through it alone!

A peek.....Whats to come....

Ok I am soooo excited, even giddy about my laundry room!

Lame?  Yes, I suppose, but as you might guess, having three princesses = a LOT of laundry!  So I spend a good portion of my EVERY day in there, and if I don't, it gets away from me and FAST!  Sooooooooooo

I finally decided to do something about my space...

Also the hubby might have been was getting annoyed at the entry way with the kids coats and backpacks, and everything in-between always piling up and falling across the whole hall way.

I went to a place someone back home recommended she heard about, Down East, and I found a little system for 100$, I decided to go for it!

So that being said.....I'm not done yet, cuz i am going all out!  

But...thought you might like to take a peek and guess the work I have done......soooo with out further adoo.....Here is my peek...............

 

And this is my project, my reason why you can't see it yet....I am going to attempt, all by myself, no tutorial, no help, to make a ruffle valence for here, to match everything.

Why it is at an odd angle, well you can't see what I have done yet!!  Hahaha and you thought you could trick me!  I think not!  :)

 

 There.  Are you as exited as me??  I hope so, cuz I tell ya, organization and a pretty laundry room REALLY DO make it easier to keep up with it.  I swear!  There is something about working in a bland place vs. working in a pretty place.....
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The Door

First time Shame on you, second time, AHHH you would have thought we learned our lesson!!!

So last holiday (Christmas) I had a bunch of moms and lil ones over and the little boys were playing with our doors and my bedroom door got locked and shut, fortunately no one was in there....

Fast forward to yesterday.  I get a call from Alia, "mama come in here, we were playing house and, well, uh, um, we put KK in there to go night night, and shut the door.  Thing is, now it won't open, its locked."

REALLY?  I have told them almost on a daily basis NOT to shut doors!! Their room was the only door left that had a LOCKING (key lock) door handle on it.  That no hole to poke....

The guilty party trying to fix it herself...

 

So, the story becomes more interesting when I realize, I was supposed to pick hubby up in a half hour because his car is DEAD.  Its not going another single inch.  Problem is HOW can I get hubby if my new found 2 year old is locked in the bedroom.

She did great for a little while....she was under the assumption that they were playing and she was to night night.

Then she started to say "open door Alia, open open."  So what do my two guilty little sweethearts do?  The only thing they can think of..... they go and get crackers and start feeding her them from under the crack of the door!

STINKERS!

Luckily Brandon was on the road with his boss anyhow, and his boss agreed to drop him off.

So, after hubby gets home, he now has at least some experience sawing off door handles.  Apparently this gets easier with practice.  This one didn't take near as long or create near as much damage as the one in December!

In a matter of about 10 minutes (of SCREAMING on KK's part, from the noise and being scared) he was able to saw the handle off and rescue the tiniest princess of the household.

 The Knight:

Note to self:  CHANGE ALL the door handles this weekend!!

A love story thats still gloing

Ok so most of you know, bot for those of you that don't, thought you might find it cute to learn just how I met and married my hubby.

It is kind of a cute story. 

We had to travel a thousand miles to meet, and we lived about an hour apart!!  We even figure we were at some same events!

Either which way, we were both in long (3+ year) relationships in 1999.  But we both had decided to take an internship with the World Campus Crusade for Christ headquarters.  (He was actually considering South East Asia but decided FL would be better) soooooo....we went.

And for the first month, besides knowing he was from WI I didn't know much about him, as he had a girlfriend so hardly talked to any females  :)

Then she did me a huge favor and broke up with him (mine broke ours off the week before I left) and that night he asked if he could go swing dancing with us....

And that whole night he was my partner, and my partner only.  Things moved a bit fast from there, as we were inseparable.  However when he asked to date me a week later I said yes, and then thought about it and took it back!  Decided I should pray about it....I did, diligently, and from that I learned that yes God had plans for us.

We had a blast in Orlando and our very first real date was at the, wait get this, the Worlds Largest McDonald's!

 (we went back years later to the same spot for pictures  :))

 

So many things that summer had me falling in love with him.  So many wonderful qualities.

I also fastly fell in love with his family and became pretty close to them.


Five months later, back at my apartment in River Falls (he in Madison) my best friend whom I lived with kept encouraging me to take a shower.  It was finals week and I wasn't really in the mood.  She hinted that I really needed to because "I didn't want to smell for my classes".  I thought she was off her rocker!

Anyhow, 2am that morning I see this egg head (hehe sorry honey you know that is what I thought, (he had just shaved his head which I hadn't seen before)) and he "breaks into" my room and kneels down and asks me to be his wife.  The only problem was I was so groggy I just asked him what he was doing here and rolled back over to go to sleep.

After a bit of prodding I got the picture.  This sweet man was asking me to marry him!  From then on I couldn't sleep. 

A year and 5 months after meeting Brandon, I married the sweetheart of my life.  In a beautiful sunny, 32 degree, snow and ice, lights twinkling perfect kind of day.

Marriage will never be perfect or easy.  There are times when it isn't all as sunny as young love thinks...but it is worth it.  It is amazing and sweet.  It is a life with someone you choose to be around.  Life to share with a friend, your best friend. 

Life will always be sweeter because he is in it.  I love you Brandon!  Happy Valentines Day!