yakking & before & after

Let me introduce you to our office.  This is the closet in the office.  It is overstuffed, unorganized, under appreciated, & a bad use of space.

This is one view of one side of the room.  I had re purposed a dresser we got at an estate sale 11 years ago.  I first painted it white & put a changing pad on top and it was Isabellla & Jack's changing table before we had a changing table built.  Then  after it's life as a changing table we (and by "we" I mean Donovan) painted it black and it became a craft/gift wrapping area/catch all. But what I was really needing/wanting was a work space/table. 

The other side of the room.  Donovan's desk. 

And here's the after........We (o.k actually Donovan) painted the walls.  Not sure if you can tell that.  The room went from a light blue to a slate grey.  I love the rich tone it now has. 

We sold the old dresser, & found this beauty at Ikea a few weeks ago.  Donovan had drawn up plans to build a desk/storage work table....but when we found this in the scratch/dent section for less than 1/2 of what it would be to have Donovan build it.....It was sold!

Here's another view of the storage underneath the desk.  Love it!

Donovan's  desk got some clean up....and he built a shelf to hang above it.  He also added some indirect lighting I had picked up at a garage sale.  Some Ikea lights still new in box that attach to the underside of the shelf.  Thanks Chelsea! :)

The closet got an overhaul as well.  Cleaned up some on the shelves.  Did some de-crapp-ifying.  And painted the back wall.  The cool design is an idea I saw from another blog, and found a simular looking  stencil at Michael's.  With a 50% off coupon.  Boo-ya!  Also had hubbers build a shelf to have as a cutting table. 

Cutting as in a paper cutter.  See that cool little organizer underneath the shelf?  That holds 12 X 12 paper...a great find at another great garage sale. Thanks Kim!  So I have a place all set up to cut....and the scraps go where you ask?  In that nifty organizer sitting on the shelf.  Again, thanks Kim.  And yes, I keep them.  If I am making a small square gift tag I hate to throw the rest of the paper away.  Don't you?  

So there you have it.  Joy Joy Joy.  I can hardly keep myself from going in there and creating something.  However, it's been impossible this week.  Jack woke us up with throwing up Monday night, not realizing he had thrown up in his sleep Monday night.  He woke up & went to the bathroom to wipe his mouth, "because it tasted funny."  We heard him up, and when Donovan went to check on him saw that his back and neck were covered in vomit.  He never realized he had thrown up.  Poor thing.

 Donovan stripped his top bunk & went out back to the patio to hose off the throw up chunks.  Me?  Let's say I don't do well well with vomit.  I worked on a little nest on our bedroom floor, for Jack to sleep in.  We got all settled about midnight and Jack asks, "mom & dad, Can you keep talking??  I don't want to fall asleep."  What????  Are you kidding???  Welp.  He was worried he would throw up again in his sleep.  :(  About 3 a.m. he started yakking again.....thank Heavens he made IT in the bucket. 

 By morning he tried a little cream O' wheat....and that came up too.  So Tuesday's plans were cancelled.  And home we stayed.  By evening he seemed to do better.  But at the breakfast table this morning he neglected to bring his ice cream bucket to the table...and out came his hot tea.  All. Over. The table.  After it had been down in his tummy.  I might add that this morning started with William coming in saying he had thrown up in the sink.  Thank you dear son, for getting to the sink! 

 My glass 1/2 empty son said, "I bet he didn't really throw up.  He's just faking it to get to stay home like me."  And to be honest, I saw no evidence of yakking in the sink and had my doubts.  But he looked a little green, so on the couch he went.  Plans cancelled.  Called my boss to say I couldn't be on call today.  Which made me sad.  Sad to not get to go in and take care of little babies.  Sad that the boys were sick.  Sad to cancel plans to go into one of my children's classroom today.  Sad to be stuck at home.  Sad & sorry for myself pretty much sums it up.       

So about an hour after Suzy went to school, I had the boys get in the van with their buckets sitting on their laps, to take Isabella to school.  And if I had doubts earlier...there was no doubt in my mind as I started to put the van in reverse.  Here it came.  As we were running late.  I had William borrow Jack's bucket while I went to clean out the 3 separate deposits of puke William had in his bucket.  While sister bear yells, "WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!!"  Sorry little lady.  I can NOT smell that all the way to school. 

And that's been my day.  I've went through 1/2 of a bottle of bleach, working hard to clean cabinets, knobs, light switches, washing sheets, sweeping & moping floors, and an occasional story on the couch......reading to 2 boys that are improving with each passing hour.  We're going on 9 hours with no yakking.  And for that I am thankful. 



french kisses and other celebrating

 Over the weekend...we did some celebrating.  I unpacked my grandma Ida's china and I celebrated Rose.  A friend that turned 30 something.??  I love the feeling china gives you.  Something delicate and special.  I should use it more than every 10 years. 

 We also celebrated it being FRIDAY night with some friends.  Here is the kids table...our kids outnumber the adults...so we put them at the big table and we are at the smaller table.  Too bad we didn't get a picture of the mama's and the papa's. :(  So anyways after not being around their kids for several YeArS...I've been reminded of what great candidates they are for our own children's spouses.  Crystal and I are currently working up some paperwork to arrange them together in marriage.  The only problem is one will be left in the cold, since they have 3 children.  So looks like William hit the luck and can be our live in care taker in our old age.    

 Saturday we hit the sledding hills...and with the new dusting of snow...it was perfect.  Well except that Donovan and I do not have snow pants or snow boots.  That seemed to be kind of a problem.  But what we lack in snow gear we made up for in layers. 

 We met some friends over at the hill, and Jack enjoyed his BFF for a couple of hours. 

 LoVe HIM!

 Saturday night we celebrated our Anniversary with Jon & Arlene.  We did not know we were going to be celebrating...they had invited us over for dinner...but then went all out with beautiful table settings and adorable cup bling. Can you see the tissue paper flowers in the above picture??? We even got an inappropriate card that I love.  :) :)

 The main attraction that night though was the twins....

 And William did a little story time.  We had a super good time and delicious supper.  Thanks Jon & Arlene for a great evening.  

 Sunday morning greeted us early with a 5:30 a.m. throw up request.  Jack. Came all the way through the living room, kitchen, hallway and our room to tell us he had to throw up.  Hmmm...I need to remind him again, he can do that in the bathroom right next to his room.  So Donovan got up and took William to Sunday school while I kept the girls and Jack at home.  Or should I stay Donovan left Isabella home to take care of us??  While Jack and I were in bed, laying around being lazy, and talking....Isabella made cream of wheat, toast, and orange juice on a breakfast in bed tray and brought it in to us. 

 Jack true to form looking pathetic when he is sick.  Milking every ounce of opportunity for sympathy he can.  I YI YI YI.....Jack said he couldn't even set up...he was so sick.  Somehow when cartoons came on 30 minutes later, he managed just fine.  

Back to breakfast....do you see the 2 bowls of cream of wheat??  Do you see the 2 little snack cups?? One is brown sugar and the other white.  White for me, Brown for Jack.   :)  Also...you see plastic cups and the glass cup?  She knows I do not enjoy drinking out of plastic...I prefer glass to drink out of.  How she remembers all the details bless me tremendously.  Heart, heart that girl sure is special. 

Then Isabella and Suzy asked if they could bring in their bowls and eat with us.  In my mind I thought~this is disaster waiting to happen, but my heart said yes.  Here they are sitting on my legs.  Creating a one of a kind Sunday morning I will not soon forget.  Their smiles totally negate the throw up I cleaned out of the sink earlier.

quote of the day:

Jack" What is a Fench kiss again?"

Donovan: "Well....."

Jack: "Is it where you stick your tongue in someone else's mouth?"

licking my wounds

Today is just a day I'd rather just fast forward. All plans had to be cancelled due to William being sick and now here I sit. It's hard to get beyond shear disappointment. Hard to choose a better attitude. And it's not like I had the Academy awards or something to attend today. It's just the fact of having fun plans.

Our church has a "Coffee at my house" that if you sign up, you can choose to be a host or guest. I signed up to be a guest and then it's a surprise who else will be there at the host home. I did find out that Aunt Dot was going to be at the same house, so we planned to ride together. I went last year and had so much fun getting to know ladies in our church better.

And poor William. I do feel sympathy for him. Little 5 year old has had an ear infection in both ears since the end of December. I took him in yesterday because he still has pain in his one ear. The one ear is healed, but the other ear is infected in the middle ear and outer. Along with a hole in the ear drum. He also has a bonus fever~just for fun I suppose. So this will be the 3rd round of antibiotics for him. This ear is costing us an arm and a leg. And I know I should be thankful for health insurance...I am. I should be thankful that he's not down with something more severe.....I am. But today is just a day stuck inside playing nurse when I wanted to play something else.

I know insert pretend crying baby noises here.

let it snow....let it snow....let it snow......

Back in the saddle.....and goin' on a date. Last night Donovan's regional manager invited his sales reps and service reps to his house for appetizers and then we went downtown Kalamazoo for dinner here .

There were about 6 couples who went...here is 1/2 of the table. I'm not sure what was more exciting.....leaving the house- going on a date, getting to eat at a nice restaurant for free, or just being on my feet again. It felt so good to eat!!! My throat is making huge improvements every day and it's such a great feeling to be almost back to myself. What a journey! We rode to K-zoo with Travis and Kristin and of course our friends made it even more fun. Travis was his usual sarcastic self.

My sister came to our house and watched the kids for us....which was so nice to have them all tucked into bed when we got home! Thanks Holly!!

And today.....how fun to wake up to over a foot of snow!! Church is cancelled & we enjoyed being snowed in.

Donovan took the kids out and shoveled the drive and walks.....the kids had a blast!! With the exception of William who was sleeping inside because he woke up sick. Yes, Friends William started the day throwing up....about 6 times. Poor guy looked absolutely pitiful! He was so pale and just laid in the chair looking pathetic. We just can't seem to get everyone healthy at once!

Thankfully tonight William is looking better and playing....back to eating and keeping it down.

The girls on a sled ride.

Hope you are snug and warm and enjoying a nice evening being snowed in.

under the knife

Well from the looks of yesterdays post y' all have realized that I am feeling much better after this last round of strep....I finished my last portion of antibiotic on Sunday and can still feel the effects of it because I feel great. Thank goodness last weeks strep episode didn't hit me as hard as in November because that round of strep left me beggin' for mercy. I had never been that sick in my life.

So now I am a bakin' fool. There is nothing like a surgery to motivate one to kick it in to high gear and get r' done. I'm am so thankful to have finished my baking and shopping and from here on out it's recovering from the knife in my throat feeling. Trust me I'm not trying to brag about the shopping and baking being done. Just plain happy to have it ready to go. Because I'm thinking this may take a little while to recover from.

And I will report I've had 4 c-sections, 1 kidney stone removed, and 1 appendectomy. I've never been this apprehensive about surgery. The c-sections were easy for me for the fact I got a huge grand prize at the end. I always looked forward to meeting the baby and the baby was a welcome distraction from all the pain. And the kidney stone and appendectomy were emergency so I didn't have much time to agonize over the pain about to happen. And I realize I'm not the first person to under go this kind of surgery, I will probably be just fine. I just have the night before jitters.

And sweet Jack has been having sympathy pains for dear ol' mama as he has been running a fever, coughing, and has a sore throat for the last 3 days. Tonight it was up to 101.9! So he's been home from school, waiting to brake the fever. Most of the time he is up and around and playing some, but not eating much- unless of course there is chocolate.



And let me tell you there was ALOT of chocolate today! Mama Gingerich, sister-in-law Arlene and I got together again this year to make chocolates. A tradition 2nd year running. I managed to even get 4 cream cheese danishes made.

William who begged to take a picture, shot this one of dear sick brother dripping infectious fever germs on the chocolate covered peanut butter crackers.

And here is sicky pants holding Suzy in front of all the beautiful things Arlene did today. She is a fancy one I tell you. Double Chocolate Oreo Truffles....are in the front and let me tell you they are sinful. Just plain sinful. They have a perfect texture inside and are just out of this world.

So off to getting ready for the big day tomorrow. The surgery is at an outpatient surgery center in Goshen at 8:45. No eating from midnight on, no water or even gum in the morning--so I'm already feeling sorry for the Doctor for the fact that my breath will probably cause him to reconsider his "no gum" rule on surgery day.

unbelievable

Unbelievable! I have strep again. Yes, That is 3 times in the last 6 weeks. Evidently I am becoming immune to the antibiotics, because they are not working. I just finished the last pill on Sunday, a stronger antibiotic that the previous and for 10 days. And now I started with sore throat last night, accompanied by ear pain, fever and just for fun the chills. And might I add a Urinary Tract Infection, (AGAIN) just so you understand that both ends burn. Soooo....to the Dr. again this morning, swabbed the throat again. choke. gag. Shock, it's positive again. Pee in a cup....Shock, again positive. Is this becoming humorous? How one gets sick so often? I'm sure that is what everyone is thinking. It's embarrassing actually. And depressing.

So due to the strep friend I have, that will not leave me alone....I am going for an appointment at an ENT (ears, nose, throat) specialist hopefully tomorrow. The appointment is set for Monday but I'm hoping and praying for a cancellation so that I can be seen earlier and schedule a surgery to have my tonsils removed. AS. SOON. AS. POSSIBLE. The Dr. seems to think that will help with the recurring strep.

So a big thank you to Krista, for taking the younger 2 kids today. A big thank you to Aunt Ruby for bringing over the Shaklee. And a bigger thank you in advance to all of you that will help me pray for a quick recovery, an appointment tomorrow, and a live-in nanny. And now I will be going so that I can spray Lysol on the computer keys.

P.S. Will someone turn off that Christmas music? It's making me mad to think of missing the Gingerich Christmas this Sunday.