One Solution = Another Problem

An email I received this morning from some women's health magazine was titled "7 foods that make you gassy." After a brief chuckle my finger went to hit the delete button but instead I opened the email. Call it an accident, call it what you will.....but what I realized upon further inspection is this:

There is a reason my stomach has been bloated for the last 18 months!

I eat everything on that list!

Seriously!

All 7 foods! And the funny thing is (well it's not really funny for those that live with me) is that I eat most all 7 items everyday!

Does that not sound like my sort of luck, or what?!



Here are the seven foods: (cause I know you're wondering)

1. Vegetables (I'm practically a vegetarian)
2. Fruits, especially apples, peaches and pears. (Fruit has become, except in rare occasions, my dessert...and I have a huge sweet tooth, so you can imagine how much fruit I eat.)
3. Starchy foods (I'm a carb addict..whole grains of course, which makes it worse)
4. Milk and Dairy Products (I drink milk in my coffee, have milk in my starchy, fiber ridden cereal and eat cheese all the time...the low fat version, but by now, who cares?)
5. Oats (This is ridiculous...I eat whole grain oats every morning)
6. Beans (we all know how the song goes....bean, beans, the magical fruit.....)
7. Sodas (I love a good diet coke from time to time)

So in my attempt to eat healthier, this is what I get.



Way too much information, huh?

The 'Pox' Lives On....

Last week it was Justice.

This week, Brooklyn.

Next week, I'm predicting Faith since she feels like Brooklyn did last week....run down, head ache, low grade fever and sore throat.

Motherhood....I tell you what......it's been a while since I've had a Mama Fit!

Chicken Pox

A spot. A spot. Another spot.
Uh - oh! Chicken pox!
Under my shirt. Under my socks.
Itchy, itchy chicken pox.
Don't rub - don't scratch.
Oh - no! Another batch!
On my tummy. Between my toes.
Down my back. On my nose!
Lotion on. Itching is gone - just for now.
It comes back - Owe!
One and two and three and four.
Five and six and more and more.
Daddy counted my itchy spots.
Lots and lots of chicken pox.
Itchy, itchy
I feel twitchy!
I rest, I read, I eat, I play.
I feel better every day.
And then . . .
No new spots. Hooray!
I'm okay!

Author Unknown

I've not been able to attend a church service in 2 weeks. And I won't be going for another week now that I have another one that requires Mom's love here at home. Pray for us all please. We have a busy weekend planned with activities at the church and Michael will be preaching for a fellow missionary on Sunday. I hate that he will go alone, or at least without me. It's never the same he says, when I'm not there. I guess you pastor's wives understand what I'm talking about.

Brooklyn has had the varivax vaccination that's supposed to keep her from getting Chicken Pox. Any of you had kids that still got them after the vaccine?

Ichingly Yours,

Young & Beautiful

I wonder if I had skin this beautiful when I was three.....




...or five?


because I surely don't have it now.

Even when I take drastic measures.....like this...



These people should be sued for false advertisement. Along with the pimple reducers, cellulite removers and teeth whitener people.

They all lie.

I think I'll be the first in forming a huge class action law suit. Any one care to join me?


Nina

There's Something About Candy Corn

That I adore.





But.....


There's no Candy Corn where I live....sniff...sniff.

There's not even a store near me that has one Fall decoration on it's shelf.

The nursery down the road didn't even have one pot of mums today when I stopped by.

And to make matters worse, my seven year old referred to my scarecrow I pulled out of storage as "the little hay man".

I guess she doesn't remember when I would decorate our home with scarecrows and pumpkins, or the trips we made to the pumpkin patch. I have always had more fall decorations than Christmas ones. I hated taking down those scarecrows to put up a tree. Can she really not know what a scarecrow is? Maybe she knows the Portuguese word for it instead....yeah, I'm sure that's it.

Sooooo many things were left in America when we came here. Who knows, under the influence of temporary insanity, all my decorations may have been sold in one huge box for a buck-fifty at one of our many yard sales.

That makes my head hurt.....and my heart.



So today I mourn.


So goes the life of a missionary wife.

Mama Fit

I really want to have a fit today, but I lack both the energy and will power.

Just looking at this picture makes me tired....



Today's Saturday. The day when I wash about 673 loads (okay maybe it's only 8-10 loads) of clothes because electricity is cheaper. It's when I utilize my 4 clothes lines that run the entire length of the house. When I can hang out 6 loads at a time and by the time the 7th is ready to be hung out, loads 1, 2 and 3 are dry and can be taken down. I have this system, you see and it works well for me. I actually like washing clothes.....except when it's raining, like it is today.

We, unlike the average Portuguese family, own a clothes dryer. However, the length of time it takes to dry a load of clothes is so frustratingly slow, I can hang out a load on a pretty day, take them down, fold them and put them away in less time. Not to mention the astronomical amounts of energy it uses.

So where does that leave me on days like today?

With about 5 loads of wet clothes sitting in baskets lined up next to the dryer waiting for their time to tumble. The other 5 loads are on lying on drying racks in an already too humid room. If it continues to rain, they'll take about 3-4 days to dry completely.

Do you see my dilemma? It could be days before we get clean underwear in this house!

Would you please have a fit for me....I just don't have it in me.

Mama Fit

What in the world is a Twitter?

I can't figure it out.

I'm slow......I know.



It's rained almost constantly for the last 3 weeks. This is that wonderful time of year....rain, moisture, mildew, constant cough....the 'rainy' season we call it. Not my favorite season, but I'm hangin' in there.

Today after church, my terrible-two-year-old son went out the back door and played in the muddy yard while I got lunch ready. He came in sloshing water and mud all over the floors I mopped yesterday. Lovely...

We cleaned him up...new clothes, dry socks..and with in the hour we couldn't find him...we called...we called him some more...finally I saw him outside, in the rain, peeking in a window. He was soaking wet and took off running when our eyes met......again....new clothes, dry socks...and a really nice spanking.

Maybe I need to invest in some rain boots and just let him go....poor guy. My bread lady told me that's what I needed. She said that Justice can never make it to her bread truck each day without splashing in every puddle along the way. And with three weeks of rain...we have plenty of those.


Ministry Update:
All is well! Michael's still teaching and preaching. I'm still smiling and hugging....one day I'll be able to communicate the way I want to.....I'm such a slow learner.....At least I admit it....after all I have no idea what Twitter is......Sounds like a good name for a canary.

Mama Fit

I spent all day Monday making Christmas ornaments with 7 children. I'm still cleaning paint off of the table, floor and clothing. We put so much effort into them and as you can tell we were very proud of them as I've posted several pictures already on this blog. Yesterday the kids finished putting string through them all and hung them proudly on the tree.

Today, while three were in school and the other two sleeping soundly in their beds, I crept to the tree to do some re-arranging. I was afraid the tree may fall forward from all the salt-dough put on only three choice branches and besides they shook the tree so much the beautiful red star on top was leaning heavily to the left.

As I grabbed the first one, I instantly recoiled as if the ornament had bitten me. I had paint all over my hands and I had crushed the ornament. The second one I touched fell apart in my hands leaving only the string on the branch. Now, I was getting wise to the problem. I had read somewhere online that salt-dough wouldn't hold up well in environments with a lot of moisture.

Our house is made of cinder block. It's a beautiful home, but cinder block nonetheless. Frequently there is water running down the inside walls especially the bathrooms. Without any means of 'drying' out the rooms, we just live with this nuisance and it looks like our precious ornaments will have to go in the trash as a result.

We had fun making them and we have the pictures to remind us but I feel like having a mama fit.

Mama Fits

"What's a strike?" were the first words out of Liberty's mouth as she lugged her much to large backpack up the hill to meet me at the gate. It was already dark outside. 5:30 is a little late to be getting out of school but who are we to complain? As she drew nearer I saw the half sheet of paper in her hand glowing white against the fading sunlight. Her expression was one of sincere questioning. She really wanted to know...."what was a strike"?

I did what my husband hates. I answered her question with a question. "Why, who's on a strike?" I responded, as if she never asked me a thing. She quickly said, "My teacher may be tomorrow. We may not have school."

We loaded all three girls and all three overly large backpacks into our tiny car correctly dubbed "The Olive". During the less than two minute drive home I was bombarded with questions again from Liberty as well as the other two. Finally I responded like this..."A strike is when adults pitch fits."

Liberty then said, "You mean like a mama fit?"

Lets rewind about a week to a night when things didn't seem to be going my way. While washing dishes I pouted out loud to my deserving husband, who decides to tell everyone in the room that I was "pitching a fit.....a mama fit." He proceeded to fill all our kids in on what he defined as a "mama fit". Basically it's what mothers do when they don't get their way.

So the girls got an extra day off from school last week due to the teachers' "mama fits" and it looks like they may get another one this next Tuesday as they're already planning on throwing another fit then. (Can you do that...plan a fit? Strategy....maybe that's what it is?? I need to remember this.) Which just so happens to follow a Monday that is a holiday. (Something sort of suspicious about that......long weekend, maybe?)

If the teachers can plan mama fits, then I can too. Stay tuned. You just may get an ear full.