Details

I took this photo last weekend and didn't realize until I was looking through them that I got a bug... three actually. Ha! Surprising what details you can see when you stop and really look. :)

I hope you enjoy your 3 day weekend!

Mug Scrambled Eggs

When I found out my daughter was allergic to eggs and cheese around the age of one I went through a pretty long phase of not eating omelets, scrambled eggs and such even though I like them. I guess I just didn't want to go to the work of making them just for me to eat. Kinda crazy I know... they aren't that complicated. After I got back into eating them my husband saw a quick way to make scrambled eggs using a mug. This has to be the quickest, easiest way to make a single serving of scrambled eggs. This is probably old news, but just in case you haven't heard it's worth a try. :)

We are lucky to get fresh farm eggs from a guy my husband works with. (But all eggs turn out the same.) Start by cracking two in a large mug.

Put about one to 2 tablespoons of milk in with the eggs and mix really good with a fork. (I really don't measure the milk I just pour a little in.)

Then microwave 45 seconds, take out and stir and put back in for 30 seconds. (If you use too small of a mug it might overflow... just warning you.) Use a new fork and mix in cheese and your favorite seasonings. I like to use oregano, basil and cilantro.

That's it! Eat and enjoy. So simple, right!?

Sensitivity to those dealing with infertility

Lilies of the valley... so pretty and delicate. Delicate like our feelings.
Infertility has been on my mind a lot. I often pray for those dealing with primary infertility and secondary infertility. I didn't even know secondary infertility existed until 2 years ago. I was fully aware of primary infertility as I have seen relatives dealing with it first hand. So when I was lucky to have one child never did it enter my mind that having another may not be possible.
I've gone back and fourth about writing this post but decided I needed to share awareness about this issue. It is extremely painful for those dealing with it. Many keep their pain to themselves. But I want to offer support and help family and friends of loved ones who are struggling with infertility to not say the wrong things that cause more pain to the situation.
If you know a friend or loved one that is struggling to have a baby please read these posts:
Infertility Etiquette from Resolve
Infertility by Awestruck Wonder
Some good information on secondary infertility by Maggie O'Farrell

Everyone dealing with infertility will have a little different story, with how they are dealing with it, what treatments they choose to do, if adoption is an option. What will be the same for everyone is they will have a roller coaster of emotions over and over again. Hope to heartbreak time and time again. People will say hurtful things. Unless you have personally experienced infertility you just won't understand the emotional pain that is involved.

A lot of people don't understand secondary infertility. They say "You're lucky to have one." From personal experience, yes, you feel blessed every day and thank God for the one you have. But everyday you also watch the one you have grow and get to an age where they ask for a sibling, they go to the park and try to join other kids who are playing with their siblings, only to be rejected... they don't want to play with your kid. Your heart breaks time and time again. You know the complete joy and miracle it was to have one and you may not get to experience it again no matter how much you would like to. You really want to give your child a sibling but at what cost can you make it happen? Yes their are options, but they are expensive! That is part of the hurt secondary infertility parents feel.

How you can help?
When someone shares their fertility issues with you it is a BIG deal. It is an issue that is difficult to even talk about. No one wants to admit something is wrong with them. Be a good listener. Be careful what you say. (Read the above links.) If you don't know what to say, just let them know you care and that you will support them and listen any time. Pray for them... but only say it if you mean it!

I want to add one HUGE don't to the list that wasn't on the links and that is if you know a couple who has been having fertility problems DO NOT say you aren't in a rush to have a/another baby or anything remotely close to this scenario when in fact you are trying or will be very soon! One thing it is a lie and no one deserves to be lied to in my opinion, and that has to be the worst stab in the heart you can imagine to an infertile couple that hears you are expecting soon after you said you were in no rush! Be open and honest with them. If they have been open to you be open back and tell them that you are trying for a baby so they know the news could be coming soon, otherwise you may lose their trust for good.

My husband and I have been on the secondary infertility roller coaster for over 2 and a half years. It is all me, so yes that adds more guilt and stress on me but it has taught me so much! One of the biggest lessons is to be very considerate of other's feelings. You don't know what some people may be dealing with. In my case it was Graves Disease that messed up my body. What was supposed to be an easy 6 month radioactive iodine treatment 2 yrs ago ended up being anything but easy. It literally felt like my body was shutting down on the inside. After seeing 5 doctors I've found one that actually listens and is getting me back to feeling "normal". I pray often for good health and giving my daughter a sibling... all in HIS time.

Rain

We've had quite a bit of rain lately. I still have some planting to do including a couple begonia plants, ground cherries and tomatoes I recently picked up at the greenhouse. Kaelyn sure enjoyed that trip. Kind of hard to keep her from touching everything though. Ha! The plants have been liking the rain (as you can see above) but K was getting a little sick of it over the weekend and drew a rainy day picture. :)

Love the sun peeking out. In other news, Kaelyn sees an allergy specialist this Friday. I'm praying it goes smoothly and that she gets a good, kid friendly doctor.

Be Still & Let God {mixed media painting}

Standing back from the piece and seeing if I need to tweak some more, but it is almost finished. Need to put a glaze on once I know for sure I don't want to change anything else.

Sweet Robin from My Creative Peace interviewed me on her beautiful blog today! You can read it HERE.

Linking up with Studio JRU. You can check out what other creative souls are working on HERE!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Green

Today I am participating in color your world challenge. The color is green. The first word to come to mind when I think of this color is growth.

{Now We Have Everything Art Print in Green}

Our love grows.

{Grow with Me Green Bedtime Prayer}

Our faith grows.

Every living thing around us grows.

Read more about the color challenge HERE and join in the fun!

The Race!

A few pics of my hubby during the Brookings triathlon this last Saturday...

As you can see from the photos, it was another yucky day for this triathlon. Wet and cold. You can tell from K's pants that she was puddle jumping, hee, hee. My husband rocks in nasty weather though! He placed first in his age group and second over all! He's amazing!
Kaelyn ran the last part of the race by daddy. I think she got as many cheers as the racers. :) She can't wait until she can participate... yep, she's just like her daddy.

Girl Time

I'm back! The weather has been gorgeous again the last couple of days. The above photos were taken today in our back yard. Anyway, thanks to my mom and hubby who watched K so I could get in some girl time in Sioux Falls. The mini-getaway was great! Tried Peachwave for the first time. I had never heard of it before... yeah, I don't get out much. :) It was so fun trying so many different flavors of yogurt. Then the next day four of us girls did lots of rummaging. I had actually hit a few by myself the day before. I don't know about you but I find it hard paying full price for kid toys and clothes. They grow out of them way too fast, so being able to get awesome deals on barely used stuff is awesome! Kaelyn was certainly excited with the toys I had picked up for her. I found 2 fun learning games, one is days of the week by Eric Carle's hungry caterpillar, and another is a money game with real looking plastic coins. She insisted we play them as soon as I showed her and they were a hit. Here are some of the other finds I couldn't pass up...

The sleeping bag she is on and the Lets Dress Up book with felt dolls and dress up clothes that looked like it had only been played with once. It reminds me of the paper dolls I used to play with only there's a book with different stage setups. Very cute!
Then onto the bigger toy I couldn't resist since she likes being in the shop with daddy...

Her own little work shop. It will probably be going in the actual shop soon but right now she is loving it in the entry. I'm pretty sure this keeps her busier then her play kitchen!

How about you... do you thrift and/or rummage? What have been some of your favorite finds?

Bubbles and Stuff

Here is what part of our Saturday looked like...

{K snuggling with her indoor kitty}

{Cheering on daddy and blowing bubbles while he trains for a triathlon coming up this next Saturday.}

Having bubbles blow around you is almost like being in a fantasy world. The different colors they show is beautiful. After hubby got done training for the day we had some fun family time... good coffee, food and meandering around. It was a good day. ♥

How was your weekend?

Puddles

Thank you to all those that called and commented about Kaelyn's allergic reaction earlier this week. It really means a lot to me. I'm finally a bit calmer about having to carry an Epipen (shot) everywhere I go. If you know me I hate shots (like so much I even had a natural birth, ha!) and thinking about having to give one pretty much terrifies me. I don't even know how I could hold her down long enough to give her one... but I'm not going to think about it. I'll just pray that never happens!
Here is an old picture I came across of K jumping in puddles. It's been rainy and pretty cold here all week. Going from 80 to freezing was too much of a shock to me. I miss the warm days. Good thing is they should be returning soon. :)

A rough start to our week

Life is interesting. From a distance one may think another's journey looks so perfect and beautiful but if you were to experience their ride you would more then likely want off at some point. Kind of like this carousel ride. When I road it with my daughter a couple years ago, it looked beautiful and I thought it would be so much fun but after spinning around and around I was ready to get off before she was. :) Must be an age thing. Ha!

Anyway, our week got off to a crazy and scary start. We hit another one of those "bumps" in our path. After eating breakfast Kaelyn started crying and wheezing and saying she was sick. She's had a couple wheezing attacks before from outside allergies but never from food, just rashes from food. And when she had the outdoor wheezing episodes we were able to calm her down pretty quickly. Well this time nothing was calming her down and breathing was becoming more of a struggle. Luckily the clinic in town was open. (They aren't open everyday and the closest is a half hour away.) They took us right away and gave her a couple benadryl shots which were a bit traumatic for her. We had to sit there for 2 hours for her heart rate and breathing to normalize and be monitored. Thankfully we were released and she has been doing fine since. But no more peanut butter for this girl. Nuetella put her over the edge. Sad, because she loves peanut butter and jelly and if she could have her way she would eat it for almost every meal. :(

K has always kept feeding time interesting. It was a struggle to get her to eat when she was a baby. It would take her 2 hours to get a little bottle down. Then we found out she had egg and milk product allergies and now it's peanut butter. It could be much worse, so we are thankful and very glad when things go smoothly.

Pop of Color

{Be Still & Let God ~ mixed media in progress}

The pops of color are being added! Yay! I really hope to finish this piece up over the weekend. We'll see.

Linking up with other creative souls at Studio JRU!

Rewind

I can't believe this week is about over! Before this next weekend arrives I thought I should share a glimpse of our Easter weekend. Saturday we celebrated with hubby's side of the family. Kaelyn stayed at the decorating table longer than anyone else. :)

{me and my girl getting some stickers to put on}

{K and her daddy}

K had to be like her cousin and play an instrument too!

Then on to Sunday, church service then to my aunt's house where there is always
an egg hunt for Kaelyn. She loves it!

{the kitties are hiding eggs}

My aunt had a very clever idea to put a coin in the eggs and then fill the piggy bank.

My cousins did fill some with candy for her though too. :)

We had a wonderful weekend with family,

had lots of great food and K was one spoiled little girl!

She is still asking why Easter has to be over!

Be Still & Let God {mixed media in progress}

{Be Still & Let God ~ mixed media in progress}

Finally, a new piece in progress! I am so excited about this one. It has been on my mind for months! Every part of it has a special meaning... I could almost write a book about it! Ha! I won't bore you with the details but I'll just say it comes from a lot of things that have been on my heart lately and this was the creative vision I had from it.

I have always loved drawing portraits. Making them come alive through their eyes is so much fun! Really the eyes are the only thing that is actually done on this piece. Lots of layering left on the rest of it. And I can't wait to add a pop of color to a few places. That will take some time!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a preview. Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Handmade Toys Part 1

Being a work from home mom is even more challenging when you have kid(s) at home. Keeping them entertained while you are working can be quite a job on its own. In our household we aren't big on TV shows/video games. We do not have cable... one because it is an unnecessary cost and two we keep plenty busy with other jobs that we don't have time for it. We also like to have our daughter use her imagination as much as possible with creative play. I must admit, some days it is easier to let her sit in front of PBS watching kid shows or pop in a movie. But I've noticed the more TV she watches the worse her attitude is which equals an unhappy mama. So I sometimes have to be creative on keeping her busy with other toys and crafts. Luckily my mom kept a few of my favorite toys I had when I was a small child and passed them on to me when I had my daughter. Here is one...

Meet the bunny family. Made out of felt, fabric and thread. My aunt/godmother Colleen made this set for me some 30+ years ago and it is still in great condition! I loved playing with it and now K gets to enjoy it as well. Such a treasure!
The details are amazing! To get an idea for size, the mama bunny measures 6 inches from the tip of her hear to the bottom of her foot. The small twin babies are 2.5 inches tall. So not very big. The dresses on the mom and daughter can be taken off.

The bunny family has plenty of room to live in the carrot which makes for easy travel. Great for car rides and in church.

I hope this handmade treasure will last for several more decades to come! :)

I would love to hear what your favorite childhood toy was.