Stuff

Life has certainly been keeping me busy!

My kids went to a birthday party this past Saturday and I noticed after being there for about an hour or so that my youngest son started swelling in his face and lips. This happened once before, this past summer (ironically after a birthday party?!). We were told then to just give him Benadryl and watch him closely (they didn't need to see him since he wasn't having any trouble breathing). They did tell us that if it happens again, then we should take him in because a 2nd allergic reaction could be far worse.

So we went home, gave him some Benadryl (which I now carry with me lol) After about 2 hours he didn't look much different so off to Children's Hospital we went.

The Doctor there wanted to look at his stomach and legs to see if he had a rash. It was when she looked at his legs that I realized something else was wrong. She said, "wow, it looks like he has a charlie horse!" Then she noticed his other one looked the same and started asking me questions. I let her know that he has always had some trouble with walking, running, jumping...but we had it checked out when he was almost 2 and the doctor at that time didn't seem concerned....just said that his 5 older siblings needed to stop carrying him around all the time. He didn't crawl until about a year old, walked at 21 months, ran (his way of running) about 3 or 4 and learned how to jump with both feet off the ground this past spring. He is 5 1/2 years old.

The resident doctor rounded up some other doctors and did a few tests on him, such as getting up from a sitting position-he can do it, but he "walks up himself with his hands" instead of just getting up. So basically, with his large calf muscles, difficulty in climbing stairs, "climbing up himself", they have strongly encourages us to see a neurologist. They think our son has Muscular Dystrophy.

Whew! We were shocked. We now have an appointment with the neurologist, and an allergist (the reason we went to the ER anyway). I have done some research on my own and what I am seeing does not look good. But I also know that he has NOT been diagnosed yet. From what I am reading, there are at least 9 different dystrophies: and they range WIDELY in severity. Sadly, the most common one, Duchene's, is also the most severe.

Only by God's grace am I going to be able to deal with this. I called a family meeting with the children and explained that we will likely be experiencing a new kind of normal. We will still being doing school, many church activities of a pastor's family, and living life as normally as possible, with the addition of new doctor's apointments etc...

We are at the point (most of the time!) that we will just accept whatever the Lord has for him and for us. Not always easy. But His grace is sufficient for me.

My Birthday Boy

My "baby" is 5 years old today :o) He has been such a blessing in our lives!

Happy Birthday Ben!

The Winner is...

Johnny! He won the coloring contest at the Wonder Bread store. He is a very careful colorer (is that a word?). We thought it looked like a winner, but we are his parents. Look at all the sweets we brought home. I'll have to stretch it out for a while...

Birthday cake!

Have you ever priced birthday cakes?! If not, let me tell you, they are a bit pricey.

Having 6 children, with only one income, it could break the bank! Well, not really, but I would much rather spend that money on a gift or something else.

I have been making birthday cakes for all of our children since our first was born. I have done all kinds and they are quite fun!

For this particular birthday, however, we had severe time constraints with out of town friends coming for a visit, getting ready to host a singing family for Sunday Evening service, etc... SO here is what I came up with, a simple, easy, yummy, frugal birthday cake!

Basic yellow cake mix: $.75 at Aldi, homemade butter cream chocolate frosting (recipe below): $.20-I got to use one of my 20 cent bags of powdered sugar!, a bit of caramel ice cream topping, and a favorite (extra clean, sanitized) toy to sit on top.

Butter Cream Chocolate Frosting*

6 tbsp. softened butter, 1/2 Cup baking cocoa, 2 2/3 Cup powdered sugar, 1/3 Cup milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

In small mixing bowl, cream butter. Add cocoa and powdered sugar alternately with milk. Beat to spreading consistancy (additional milk may be needed). Blend in vanilla.

*Recipe from the back of Aldi brand of baking cocoa.

Cinnamon Rolls

Today is my son's 4th birthday! We have developed a tradition of making meals according to the birthday persons' request. This year, I just surprised everyone with homemade cinnamon rolls. These are a special treat; I do not make a habit of giving 6 children that much sugar on a regular basis!! I got the recipe from Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy (an excellent resource on frugality! See link on the sidebar for more information).


Cinnamon Rolls

1 T. dry yeast
1 C warm milk
1/3 C white sugar
1/2 C melted butter
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 C flour


Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the rest of ingredients and mix well. Knead into a ball. Let rise until double in size. When ready, roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Spread with filling as described below. NOTE: I used my dough setting on my bread machine and it makes it so easy! Just put all the ingredients in (with the milk/yeast last) and set on dough setting!

For the filling...

1/4 C softened butter
1 C brown sugar & 3 T. cinnamon

Spread the butter evenly on the rolled out dough. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle onto the buttered dough. It should look something like this:

Next, roll it up! Slice into 1 inch sliced. Place on a greased cookie pan and let rise again until doubled. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes (due to my older oven, 49 years old (!), I have to cup the temp to 325 and really watch them to not burn on the outside and be doughy on the inside).

ready to go into the oven

Icing...

1/2 C butter, softened, 1 1/2 C powdered sugar, 1 oz. cream cheese, 2 T. Whipping cream (I just use regular milk!), 1 Tsp. vanilla extract, pinch of saltBeat until fluffy. Spread on rolls right out of the oven. YUM!

NOTE! These are time consuming. Plan ahead! I started these this morning at 6:45 and we ate at almost 10:00. It is rise time that make it take so long. If you want, you can make them the night before and skip the final rise (as they can rise in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, bake.

Mission accomplished, a happy boy on his birthday!

Cookin' with the Boys!

My boys are always feeling a bit left out when it comes to baking or making special treats for the family. They always see their older sisters and want to help but I always say NO! Sad to say, I am quite selfish :o( I have prayed about this, me saying "no" all the time-really for no reason other than not wanting a mess, etc...

The Lord really has worked on me in this area over the last few years (yes, years! very gradual).

Yesterday, when I asked my boys, "would you like to make some no-bake cookies?", they were SOOOO excited!! It was something so easy and they had a GREAT time making a special treat for the family!

Willing workers!

Hard at work...

Our finished product!

oops!

They had so much fun! (and I did too)