Up and at 'em...part 2

Note: This is a long post.

Friday:
Well, with McKenna having been back to normal. No fever, food was down, appetite was normal. Ella seemed fine and I felt fine. Why not go to Camp Shamineau? I asked Arthur his opinion and he agreed that she was definitely back to normal. I called Nate and said that I guess I could go if he felt it was okay. I think he was very relieved.

I had previously arranged for a sitter to come over to the house on Friday morning. She would take McKenna to preschool and then take Ella to her parent/child ECFE class. I would pack for the weekend and tidy up the house. I got a message from her stating that she was terribly sick and couldn't come. Yuk! Oh well, I could do it. I would just have to be quick and efficient with my packing after class. The morning went as normal-McKenna to preschool and Ella to ECFE (where I stay with her because it is a parent/child class). Afterwards, make a quick lunch then begin to pack.

We were finally off around 3: 30pm (a good 45mins. later than I wanted to leave). We had to stop at the grocery store because I had signed up to bring string cheese to the camp. When we got to the grocery store, down the street, it was pouring down rain. So, I turned around to get the umbrella at the house. Besides, I might need it over the weekend. On the return home to pick up the umbrella, I watched a cop hiding in the distance. I wasn't speeding, I verified that. We were buckled. Should be fine. He pulled out and followed me closely. I wasn't doing anything though (mind you that I am less than a mile from my home). Then he turned on his lights. I couldn't believe it. What law could I possibly be breaking!?

Quick note: I was borrowing my in laws van and had called them that morning to ask where the insurance and registration card were. They weren't sure but gave me 2 places I could check in the van. I never did that.

There was absolutely no shoulder on the road so I signaled that I would pull over but needed to proceed forward a bit to find a safe place. I guess I wasn't fast enough because the officer decided to turn on the siren, as well! Once pulled over, I was so nervous because I had no clue where the insurance card was. It turns out that my headlights weren't on (when the wipers were-remember it was pouring) even though I had them on auto. The light sensor hadn't kicked on, apparently. And, the insurance card and registration were in the console, where they should have been. No ticket, just a big upset and irritating of the nerves. Okay, went home and got the umbrella. Then got the string cheese-now we were really off @ 4:45pm. From what I had been told it was about a 2-3 hour drive. (We were going to Motley, MN-northwest of the Twin Cities.) With 1 police encounter, 1 grocery stop, 1 umbrella stop, 2 bathroom stops, 1 dinner stop, the rain, then the snow, the afternoon rush hour at 2 of the bigger cities...it was much more than 2-3 hours. We got there around 8pm. McKenna wanted to know each road/hwy we were on and what town we were in. She also asked "how much longer?" about every 20 mins. Ella was a perfect angel in the car. I was tired.

Got unloaded (everyone helped--it is so much easier when people pitch in), got unpacked, checked out the environment. By the way, there were about 6 inches of snow on the ground. Yes, snow at the end of April. I put the girls to bed around 9pm then did a group devotion until about 10:45pm or so. Chris (from Sunday school) was leading a devotion/discussion on making decisions. We talked about the 3 types of decisions (a decision of judgement, election, and sanctification). We read some passages from the Bible. Discussed this interference of sin. Shared and laughed. After the discussion lots of people stayed up and chatted or played games. Not me, I showered and then went to bed.

Saturday:
Woke up around 6:45 am--pretty normal. That is what time Ella wakes up on a regular basis. We went to the room across the hall form us, a meeting room of sorts. There were snacks (more than anyone could need in a weekend) and toys and movies, and so forth. We played in there a bit. McKenna woke up around 7:15am, got dressed. We had a devotion around 8:00am then headed to the dinning hall for breakfast-waffles, syrup, strawberries, whip cream, butter, cereal, milk) Ahh, church youth camp, the aroma still lingers.

My job for the day: the kids. There were 16 of them ranging in age from 12 months to 9 years old. I had adults rotating in to help me. I (along with a few others) had brought lots of stuff. We set up an art table, book/puzzle area, car/action figure area, etc. I brought a big, round, empty tub of cheese balls (thanks, Anna!) and some paint and paper and a golf ball for a project. Those who wanted to, one at a time, squeezed a few drops of paint onto the paper. Then dropped it into the tub with the golf ball. Put the lid on and roll away. The golf ball leaves neat impressions on the paper and the child has fun rolling the tub all over the room.

Watching the kids was probably one of the easier parts of the trip, honestly. It got a little rough right before lunch, but that's it. They were tired of being in the same room. With the snow, we were trapped inside.

Around lunch time, McKenna started acting a bit funny. We've been working on, um, regularity, in the bathroom. Well, with the hullabaloo of the weekend regularity went out the window. Thankfully, a friend had some fiber additive and that helped. Poor kid, I know her tummy was cramped up for a bit. But with each (and there were several) trip to the bathroom there were minor successes.

Ella was so relaxed, so go with the flow. She (as did McKenna) enjoyed herself every minute of the day. The adventure of 10 people piling into a car to go to the dining hall for a meal, the adventure of having your fiends run around with you all day and all night, the adventure of sleeping in a sleeping bag next to your mom, the adventure of taking a shower in a shower stall instead of a bath, the adventure of making sure you are in the girls restroom rather than the boys, it was so much fun for the girls. Ella was an angel. McKenna was well behaved too.
After dinner we played and relaxed. Then bed came early. Ella actually fell asleep on the bed while her friend Keira was watching a video right next to her. Also, I was in and out of the room along with other kids. They were climbing up the beds and playing super secret spy. Ella must have been pretty tired. Both girls were in bed by 8:15pm. The evening devotion started. The adults sat in circle and discussed decision making (lead by Chris). It went well. There was sharing, honesty, vulnerability, etc. After the discussion, there was snacking and playing games. I had made a cheese dip in the crock pot (salsa and Velveeta) and I enjoyed some yummy brownies. The ladies enjoyed a game of Skip-Bo (I won one round). Then I went to bed.

Sunday:
Around 1:30 am--yes I said am--while lying in my sleeping bag, being kicked by Ella, I began to feel nauseous. I repositioned myself thinking that would help. It didn't. I laid very still hoping the feeling would go away. Slowly it worked itself up to my throat. Yep, I was gonna throw up. I slowly and quietly walked down the hall and into the bathroom--hoping my girls wouldn't wake up in the process. If you've ever been to a church youth camp, you know that the walls are thin and there is a prevalent echo in the community bathrooms. I walked into the stall, and yes, threw up. Many times. While I was doing that, someone, of course, heard and came to check on me. I also found out that 2 others were feeling sick. After a few sips of water and washing my face, I returned to bed, dreading the next several hours. You see, when I throw up--I do it over and over and over again. It's just the nature of how my body reacts to a stomach bug. Ella, never throws up (doesn't mean she doesn't get sick--she just doesn't throw up). McKenna and Arthur are somewhere in between. Needless to say I revisited the bathrooms about every 45 minutes until about 6am, then it slowed down-didn't stop, just slowed down.

Then, Ella woke up with the same stomach bug manifested differently. She had frequent diarrhea. Poor baby! We went through several changes of clothes, even though each time we tried to get the toilet. We just weren't quick enough.

Sunday morning was supposed to be a group devotion and trip to the dining hall for a Sunday brunch. Well, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry! My friend Lisa had to put her foot down and make me rest (I didn't have the strength to argue with her.). She was a blessing! She packed up my suitcases. My other friends packed up the toys and kid activities that I brought. My friend Heidi handled McKenna. Ella and I just rested on the bed for a few hours. Well, we rested in between trips to the bathroom. Poor Ella! It's so hard to see your little ones not feeling well. The Kjelshus family is very familiar with the restrooms at Camp Shamineau!

Then, it was time to go home. How could I drive with nausea? And, with Ella visiting the bathroom about every 15-20 minutes? Thankfully, Lisa had that worked out too.
Chris, Lisa's husband, drove the girls and I all the way back to the cities. He stopped every so often for Ella (until she fell asleep). Gathered things in the van for me. What a sweetie! Chris and Lisa are dear friends! Arthur picked us up from Karin and Tom's house (Chris and Lisa's final destination). I went home and immediately went to bed. Didn't get up until the next morning.
I still feel weak and have no appetite but I am doing better. I did a few things around the house today. (Oh yes, I called in sick to Mom's Day Away!) I played with the girls some, though it was more reading of books and art rather than running around.

Did I have a good time? Yes, until 2 am Sunday morning
Will I go back? I don't know. This past experience is a piece of pivotal information when it comes to my decision making. Maybe I need to re frame the scenario, right Chris?
Did we bring the stomach bug with us to Shamineau? I hope not, but it is likely that we did. Really sorry guys!

Is anyone else feeling icky?

Up and at 'em...part 1

Note: This is part one of a 2 part posting! Including the events at Camp Shamineau.

Thursday, my birthday:

The day didn't start off well, to say the least. I had a Dr. appointment that required me to fast the night before and give about 5 tubes of blood the next morning. While in the waiting room, McKenna threw up. She complained about a tummy ache the day before. But, to my defense, she says that her tummy hurts when she needs to go to the bathroom. So, you see, I hear that on a very regular basis. Of course, guilt kicked in. I felt horrible for not taking her more seriously. Then, even more horrible for forcing her to go to the doctor with me.

McKenna was not her normal, full of energy, inquisitive, take charge self that day. She rested on the couch eating Apple Jacks and sipping water until about 1pm.

Meanwhile, I had called Nate, the guy in charge of our Sunday School class's Camp Shamineau trip. I told him that it appears as though McKenna might have a stomach virus. I asked him to come up with a backup plan for my role at Camp Shamineau. You'll remember that I was heading up childcare while the other adults, painted, repaired, moved, built, etc at the camp.

Around 1pm, McKenna decided that she was hungry. I made a her a piece of toast. She wanted more. I was hesitant, but let her eat 4 pieces of toast. It stayed down. Then she ate some grapes, they also, stayed down. She was beginning to bee-bop all over the house like normal. She even played outside and began to horse around with Arthur when he came home.

The day was starting to get better.

By the way, Arthur came home early from work to help me with Ella. He also brought me some beautiful pink roses. Ella wasn't understanding that McKenna needed to be left alone. She missed her playmate. I was pulled in many directions on Thursday trying to play with and entertain Ella and nurture and comfort McKenna. I let McKenna watch quite a bit of TV, something that doesn't happen in our house all that often. But, I didn't want Ella to sit and watch 5 hrs. of TV. It was hard and I am thankful that Arthur came home early. He took over for a bit and I was able to run out to the store all by myself!

In the evening, the girls gave me a present. It was a pair of hot pink crocs! I did want a pair for playing in the yard and wearing to the beach. Now each member of our family has a pair. And Arthur gave me the promise of a date night, planned by him, designed for me! I will have to keep you posted on that one!

So, the day had a good finish. Thanks to all for the calls and emails wishing me a happy birthday. It really means a lot to me!

I am working on a post about Camp Shamineau with pictures.

Snow, really?

Are you kiding me? Here's the forecast for where we are going! Scroll down a bit to see the 3 day forecast.

A weekend of ...

...art projects, stories, cheerios, goldfish, juice boxes, games, princess dress up, lego building is quickly approaching. My Sunday School class --the Cross Trainers of First Evangelical Free Church of Maplewood-- will be traveling a bit north this weekend to provide physical labor for a church camp. Incase you couldn't figure it out, my role--care for all the kids while the adults build, repair, paint, etc.

Am I crazy? Well, that depends on many factors as well as who is answering.

Teaching and caring for kids is a God given talent/gift. So, as long as I know you all are praying for me, it shouldn't be too bad!

I will post pics and notes when we get back!

Vocabulary and addition

By adding one new word per day to your vocabulary you get a very large lexicon! I recently added the Word of the Day to the blog. Have you seen it? You can click on the megaphone symbol to hear the word. Very cool!

McKenna's bedtime story...

...has been cracking me up, lately. I have copied and pasted info about it at the bottom of this post. The characters in the story are cleverly named! They are in bold print. It amuses me!

I have tried and tried to put a picture of the book on this post. I see it on other blogs all of the time. However, I was unsuccessful at accomplishing that. So, if you want to see what the book looks like-click here.

Things People Do
Author: A. Civardi
Ages: 4 years and up
Size of book: 9 1/8 x 12 inches
Pages: 40

Online Description (that I added to!):
This entertaining book is all about the work people do in different sorts of jobs. Set on an imaginary island called Banilla, it introduces a crowd of interesting people and shows some of the events that happen in their daily lives. There is Mayor Naze, the mayor of Banilla; Les Chatter, the school teacher; Linda Hand, the midwife; Nurse Payne; Charlie Tango, the pilot; Roger Tower, the flight engineer; Roland Shoot, the t.v. producer and his assistants: Fay Dowt and Stan Still; Cherry Bunn, the baker, Ivor Hose, the fire chief and Penny Sillin, the doctor, as well as Manuel Laber, the builder; Honor Toze, the ballet dancer; Phillipa Pale, the dairywoman and lots of others.

Stephen Cartwright's charming and humorous pictures will captivate children's imagination and encourage them to delve into the book again and again. Compiled with the help of experts, "Things People Do" is written in clear and simple language. It is packed with detailed illustrations and information which will delight and fascinate children of all ages. It may also give them some ideas about what they want to do when they grow up.

Tea Time

The girls have this adorable tea party set. It was a Christmas gift a few years ago from Mammy and Papa. They have been having tea parties on a regular basis ever since. The latest one included princess thrones and panda bears (Polly and Tiny).

Sometimes the party planning is so intense that they never actually get to the tea party. McKenna will design invitations and require the use of most of our art supplies. Together, the girls will "decorate" the room with bead necklaces and princess boas. The animals, of course, have to be dressed in their finest apparel. It's quite the fiasco.

Sand in her hair hair already?

We've a had a few warm days lately. One day, it actually got to 70 degrees! It was fantastic. The yard was horribly muddy and the dog had been busy over the winter leaving lots of "ickyness" for Arthur to clean up. So, playing in the backyard wasn't really an option for us. But, we did play at the park, in the front yard, and on the deck. On our deck we have a small green sandbox shaped like a turtle. The girls played in it for over 2 hours. It was glorious! You can also see their sidewalk art. McKenna drew 2 little girls and Ella drew...something that resembles the big dipper.

Piggy, Pig, Pig

Ella (holding a cute little stuffed pink pig she received from Uncle Dale): Mom this is a piggy because she is a pig and that's why her name is Piggy.

Playing at the Park

Yesterday Ella enjoyed some playtime with her friend Sophie. I had volunteered to work at McKenna's preschool "carnival" of sorts. I was the tattoo artist and face painter. Sophie's mom sent some pics via email of their time together.

I am thankful that I have friends who are willing to help me out in that manner!

So easy

This is an all-time favorite and there are many, many variations of this recipe. Serve with tortilla chips. Here's what I do:

Need
8 oz sour cream
can refried beans
black olives
salsa
1 brick cream cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
lettuce (finely shredded)
tomato (diced small)
shredded cheese

Blend together
cream cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning-mix high to thoroughly blend

In a 9x13 glass casserole dish, layer in this order
1. Spread refried beans evenly across bottom (sometimes I warm them for a few secs to make it easier to spread them.)
2. Sour cream/cream cheese mixture
3. thin layer of salsa-I use very little because it can make the dip soggy
4. thick layer of shredded cheese
5. lettuce
6. a few diced tomatoes
7. a few black olive

Note
I cut the veggies up very small because they are meant to go on bite size chips. I have also seen corn in the layer dip before.

Another good "guy friendly" easy taco meal that I took from my mom (who maybe collaborated with Aunt Leigh):

Taco Casserole

1 roll crecent dough
1lb hamburger-browned and seasoned
2 cups cheddar cheese
8 oz sour cream
Optional: corn, cooked onion or peppers, black olive

1. Unroll crescent dough to completely cover bottom of 9X13 pan.
2. Cook at 350 for about 5-7 minutes. Remove.
3. Combine sour cream with browned meat (and optional veggies) and pour over slightly cooked dough.
4. THICK layer of cheese, cover and bake for about 15 more minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted.

Serve with dollop of sour cream over tortilla chips or as is!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

This recipe is from my friend at church. She was gracious enough to let me share it here on the blog. It's unique and generally a hit at most shindigs!

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
Heat in saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add 1 tsp. vanilla. Set aside to cool.


Mix:
1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Add cooled butter mixture. Stir in 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Pour into serving bowl & refrigerate.


Serve with graham cracker sticks.

Do you ever...

visit older posts on this blog? Do you use the labels that I have listed on the side? Or, do you use the list of archived posts?

Here's why I ask:

I can work on posts here and there and save them as drafts. When I finally get to the point of posting them, they are automatically posted chronologically, according to the time I started the post. Currently, I do not save my posts as drafts for that specific reason. Maybe there is a way around that: I don't know

Anyways, if I began to do that, I am wondering if visitors would see all of the posts since they wouldn't always be at the top of the blog.

So, I am wondering what you all do.

Leave a comment.

St. Ambrose Teachers get an A+

McKenna attends preschool at St. Ambrose of Woodbury ECEC (Early Childhood Education Center). She is in the Frog Room with Ms. Barb and Ms. Jan. Here are a few random facts she has come home and shared:

1. Mom, the bottom of the forest is called the forest floor. There are rain forests and deciduous forests and coniferous forests.

2. St. Patrick got rid of all of the snakes in Ireland.

3. Mom, When it comes to the stages of a butterfly, I think a chrysalis and a pupa are pretty much the same thing.

4. I don't sit by *Olaf because he makes bad choices during circle time.

5. Stop, drop and roll is very important in case of a fire.

It isn't a statement-but she has also learned to sign the alphabet and a few random words. I recently asked her teachers if they had any photos of her during the day participating in activities. The teachers burned a CD for me! I have cropped out her classmates.

One other great thing about her teachers (last years' teachers, as well) is that they make it a point to connect with Ella. They know her by name and face and say hello to her and even exchange hugs with her periodically. This is great! Ella will be attending in the fall.

* Name change, of course!

are you sitting down?

...because I am ironing!

More to come on this and Proverbs 31!!

The Eagle's Nest

The girls and I went to an indoor climbing park last week. We met some friends and played and ate lunch. They had a blast. McKenna enjoyed "helping" her friend Sophie climb the tunnels and slide down the variety of slides. Ella enjoyed watching! She didn't feel ready for some of the climbing, strangely enough. Never fear, I forced the issue a bit and did get her to go down one slide and climb one area. She did, however, like playing in the big ball pit. At the end of the day they were tired--but didn't want to leave.

I...

...loath, despise, hate and abominate ironing!

(I am looking at the pile of clothes to be ironed, ironing board, and hangers that have been sitting on my floor for about 2-3 weeks. Have I touched them? I think not!)

Places to go, things to do, people to see

On Saturday afternoon the whole family went to The Home Depot, here in Woodbury. The first Saturday of the month is Kids Workshop Day. From 9am until 12 noon there are free activities and snacks for kids. For more information on this event and how to locate one near you click here.


This particular Saturday the girls made a garden box. They were given child-sized work aprons, goggles, hammers (real hammers, as they would say), wood glue, and a garden box kit.


Immediately both girls wanted to hammer the nearest, nonhuman thing. This was a bit of a challenge but they complied. After Arthur and I quickly read (okay-skimmed) the directions we were off and building.



I think they enjoyed the hammering most of all.














So, what's the last thing you built????

More places to go, more things to do, more people to see...

This past Friday the girls and I went to the MN Children's Museum and had lots of fun.

Ella was attracted to anything that had water. She played with soap, sinking and floating items, boats, dams, fish (plastic, of course), etc. She really liked getting bubbles/suds on her hands and then letting the hand dryer blow them all over.

McKenna enjoyed seeing herself on TV as the background changed. She played a guitar (again, not real) on stage and saw her self in the monitor. She also enjoyed the conveyor belts, clocks, levers and pulleys, and hard hats.

We visited the curiosity room and painted on the easel also. McKenna painted a blue bird (and wasn't pleased with his beak. She didn't think the paint brush was pointy enough to make a nice beak), as you can tell. Ella is mostly in the abstract phase of painting. Here are their masterpieces.

Both girls enjoyed the face painting kiosk. There were little mirrors, face paining crayons and baby wipes readily available to the children. They were set up at just the right height. By the end it looked more like smears and scribbles instead of actual pictures. I think the point was the process rather than the product!

What did you explore this weekend?

On again, off again...

That's the story of Spring right now! The last day off March brought a gigantic snowstorm/slushstorm. The weatherman said that Woodbury got about 5 inches, my measurements (from the deck railing) are a bit different. Nevertheless, the family got out a bit yesterday and enjoyed a snowball fight. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Lemon-Thyme Tea Bread

Okay, so it isn't my recipe. It's my friend Carey's recipe. Visit her blog if you want. Hers is "The Eigen Family" blog link from this blog. Anyhoo, this bread is uniquely grand. Try it!

Lemon-Thyme Tea Bread

3/4 cup milk
1 T minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 T lemon juice
1 T grated lemon peel

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T lemon juice

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine milk and thyme. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1-2 minutes or until bubbly; cover and let stand for 5 min. Cool to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with reserved milk mixture. Stir in lemon juice and lemon peel.

Pour into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 min. before removing from pan to a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth; drizzle over bread.
Yields 1 loaf.