Talented Thursday and my Food Storage epiphanies

I should be writing an article that is due in a few days. But true to form I am procrastinating until the last minute.

My week has been so crazy. Monday started with a very fun trip to St. George for my niece's birthday. Elise is my Lia's same age, they are only a month apart. And Lia loves Elise. For two days after the birthday party and trip to Jumping Jacks I got a play by play of everything that happened from Lia. Tom and I left the festivities a little early to attend a Rick Springfield concert at Tuachahn theatre. I have to admit I had no idea what this guy sang. Although once I got there I recognized most of his songs. We got free tickets and I have to say that he was very entertaining and the crowd was hilarious. This is only the third concert I have ever attended. None of which have been one of my favorite performers. I think I may have to get Stephanie to take me with her to Rascal Flatts.

Isaac had his second baseball game this week and he did a little better but he is trying hard to improve his game. Friday is game #3.Gymnastics finished up until next September, so that is one thing off my schedule. But I know it will get filled with other things. Becca is so excited she passed off enough skills (and they have a lot) to move onto level 1.

I am busy trying to get ready for my sister and four kids who are going to visit me for six days and that includes cleaning out a section of the basement to make into a makeshift guest room.

OK enough updates.
What I really want to blog about today is my Food Storage epiphanies. Because I started my food blog pantry eats, I have been making a conscious effort to cook with my food storage and pantry staples more often. I used to think those year supply lists they gave out were ridiculous. Who really eats 5 pound of salt a year. I have to admit that I have taken these lists with a wink and a nod, until now. This week I ran out and stocked up on enough salt for at least three months. I have discovered that flour, wheat, honey, rice and all these other staples really are usable in a real diet and that I actually do need the major amounts listed on those handy year supply lists. It has been such an eye opener. I have also learned a lot about what additional items I want or need in my food storage. Seriously, I can't live without some chocolate, artichoke hearts and lots and lots of fruit. I am really grateful that I have started to cook outside my comfort zone. I feel like I could actually understand what it means to start being frugal and self sufficient. And that leads me to the Talented Thursday portion of my post.

Courtesy of my food storage stocking efforts, I now have a lot of tuna in my basement. In an effort to get creative I tried this beautiful and yummy recipe by one of my new favorite food bloggers, Sunscaper. She always has such creative recipes on her blog. Tonight I made her recipe for TMTs or Tuna Melt Tomatoes. My family actually ate them, including miss picky Becca. I am not going to post them on my food blog because they were from someone else's post but you can just go visit this great blogger for the recipe. My only suggestion is to add a little extra mayo. The melts were a little dry. And don't substitute dried bread crumbs for the authentic Panko (which will now become part of my food storage needs by the way) The Panko makes all the difference.

Random Saturday

It was a long busy week. It seems as if each week disappears more quickly than the next. I had a crazy schedule today that got blown out of the water by those sneaky migraines. I swear I have lost more time to migraines than anything else.

But I did have a few random higlights to share:
Isaac had his first baseball game today. They got tromped. But they are a brand new team, while most of the little league teams have already played together for awhile. Isaac was a little annoyed that he struck out. He kept jumping out of the way of the ball, so he thought it was the pitcher's fault. But even I could see that he was crowding the plate. It was a freezing windy cold day and the girls and I wimped out towards the end and waited out the last inning in the car. Two more games next week and I have high hopes it will be a better experience for all.

I can't believe my kids' 4th term of school is over next week. They get a break the first week in May and then their summer vacation starts June 30th. I just want to let any of you who have wondered about the school know how happy I am with the charter school. Yes, they are still working out a few bugs but every school has problems. I just love the way my children are encouraged to move on to the next level of learning once they have mastered a set of skills. Just in case any of you are curious about the school you can attend the open house next week.
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2009- GPA RUMMAGE/CRAFT FAIR, CARNIVAL AND OPEN HOUSE TOURS FROM 7:30 AM TILL 2:30 PM

And to end this post on a humorous note:
As soon as I felt my migraine slipping away today around 7 p.m. Lia came and told me the dishwasher was leaking soap. Sure enough, Isaac had put the Dawn hand dish washing soap instead of the actual dishwasher soap into the soap dispenser. We are still trying to get all the foam out of the dishwasher 2 hours later. Sometimes I wonder if that boy ever thinks before he does things. He knows which soap to use. Anyway it made me laugh. What child hasn't had an experience like this?

Oh Happy Hummingbird Day -- Write a Little Monday

Last night after weeks of waiting and listening I heard the familiar high pitched buzz that promised me Spring has finally arrived. Forget the calendar or the weatherman or even the green plants popping up through the wet earth, the hummingbird is the Hughes' official spring herald. I believe these busy little jewels know something the rest of us don't. They know when it's going to stay warm enough to build a nest and take up summer residence. Yes, we may have another snowstorm, but I believe the weekly blizzards are over. This morning I saw the green little gem perched on the hummingbird feeder I put out last night and I joyfully tripped off to the nursery.

A couple years ago when I was so sick I barely had energy to move I remember watching the flickers of hummingbirds wings in March and April. I also spent a great deal of time watching these winged friends with my daughter Rebecca, and it became a mutual obsession we share. They brought me hope then and they continue to bring me hope today. I wrote the following poem for her and I am currently working on a painting that will include some of the lines of this poem.

Hummingbird Watch
Frenzied, acrobats of flight,
we wait for you
in between the manic hours of days,
she and I.
Mysterious pygmy jewels of the sky
A daily ritual
in the storm of duties and meltdowns
there you shimmer.
We discuss species, colors, your last visit,
Our speedy mediators,
strange reflections of our frantic lives.
We steal hours
meant for washing, scrubbing, folding
to watch for you.
We discover friendship, beauty, communion.
I hope she remembers.

And just in case you want to feed the hummingbirds at your house you can make your own syrup with 1 part sugar to 4 parts warm water.

A Busy Week

I have basically been in hyperdrive since last Saturday. First Easter, then my parents arrived on April 15th and somewhere in all that craziness we got Tom back from the land of the walking dead taxmen. So instead of giving you a long update I thought it would just be fun to show you a slideshow of what we have been up to.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter.

Sometimes It's OK to Pitch A Fit

I actually had this really fun clever little piece I was going to do for my Writing Monday blog. But life took an unexpected turn today and I feel like I need to get on my soapbox and encourage you to be your own and your children's medical advocate. Warning: this is a long post.

I have spent a big portion of my life sick and now that I am the mother to three children I am dealing with 3 times the illnesses. One thing I have learned is that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself because honestly the nurses, the receptionists and every other frontman out there in the medical establishment is not really your advocate. Although if you work it right you can turn them into one. A receptionist and even the army of nurses at a doctor's office are really gate guards. Sometimes we have to bully our way past them to get the care we need.

Lia has had a sore throat for two to three months. I have lost track of the time because it has become such a chronic problem. After her initial week of sore throat complaining I took her into the doctor for the strep test. Nothing! Tey told me they couldn't see anything wrong with her. Two weeks later I was back in there with the same daily throat problem. Still no strep on their strep test and they told me it was possible she was having a little irritation from some minor nasal drip into her throat. They told me to try zyrtec and If I wanted I could start her on an antibiotic if that didn't help. The antibiotic was up to me.

#1 I have issues with giving an antibiotic to a three-year -old on the off chance that she might have some infection. It was an extremely iffy diagnosis. In hindsight maybe I should have tried the antibiotic, but it would not have helped her with the actual problem anyway. I tried the zyrtec for a week and it didn't even phase that poor girl's throat. I started to think she was faking it for the yummy tylenol and candy like cough drops.
Still nothing seemed to help her.

Finally, I decided to see an ear, nose and throat specialist in St. George. I am not really a fan of Cedar's choice. Another tip of being an advocate. Don't go to a doctor you don't trust.
I am glad I trusted my gut instinct to get a specialized opinion. The specialist did a throat and nose culture that he sent to the lab. He put her on antibiotic (just in case). Unfortunately, Lia has strep pnuemonia. The first "just in case" antibiotic was basically useless and I spent today spending an exorbitant amount of money on one of the few antibiotics not resistant to this more rare strain of strep which is not detectable with a doctor's office 10-minute strep test.

Now I feel terrible. Who knows how long she has had this strep, or how many people she has exposed to it. Fortunately, she has not contracted pneumonia or meningitis, both side effects of a rogue strep pneumonia. But here is where the real advocacy comes in.

I knew my daughter needed better advice and I got it. I also knew my other children needed to be treated immediately. Of course both my pediatrician's and my family doctor's staff told me they could not prescribe for my kids because Lia had not been diagnosed in their office. I had to come pay the office visit and the strep test fee (which would not have shown this particular strain, as I found out later) in order to get the prescriptions I needed. Let's just say I was mad. The pediatrician probably should have found the strep in the first place. If they had diagnosed Strep it is the pediatrician's policy to immediately treat the siblings. I had already been there twice with no results. I was not about to shell out $300 for office visits and tests, before I even got the needed prescriptions. This is when I started to advocate.

I knew my doctor would help if he knew the real situation. Lia had actually seen the other doctors in the office instead of my regular pediatrician.
Sometimes we have to stand up and say No to the explanations we are given. I demanded to speak with my pediatrician today and when the nurse explained the situation to him, he was happy and in fact insisted that my children get the treatment and prescriptions they needed immediately. But ladies I had to get a little snippy to get the nurse to go to the doctor. And that is not the first time I have had to demand better service or that I have a conversation with my doctor or even that I see my doctor instead of the Physicians Assistant. I occasionally will see a PA but I picked my doctor because I trust them and they know my history. I don't want to pay a PA for a visit I know requires a doctor. Like I said, there are some basic visits that I believe a PA is perfectly capable of handling but if you are getting passed off to the PA every time you make an appointment, just stand up and say No. Usually they will find a time to get you in.

One of my friends told me today that she needs to get better at standing up for herself at the doctors or for her children, when she feels like she is getting passed off or over. And I say yes, yes you do. A doctor is usually your advocate but his nurses and receptionists are his advocates, not yours. If you feel like your child needs better care, don't be afraid to find or demand better care or a second opinion. I should have gone to the specialist sooner. I am just grateful I finally did and I am grateful I pushed my way past the policy police in the doctor's front office. Just remember to thank those same policy police when they do go the extra mile and ask the doctor to take time out of his busy schedule to deal with you.

Favorite Finds Friday -- Kids Books and Mom blogs

I didn't blog much this week. This week really seemed to fly by and yet it was a pretty uneventful week. Although I did have some good moments with my Mother-in-law on a shopping trip to St. George and my sister-in-law Becky, as we sat and chatted and enjoyed a beautiful spring day.

However, I do have some favorite finds for you this week.

Three Cups of Tea, Young Reader's Edition
I am currently reading Three Cups of Tea. What an amazing uplifting and moving story that teaches hope, service, gratitude and the power of education. There are moments while reading this book that I have been literally choked up with joy. I discovered there is a young reader's edition and it is now on my son's and daughter's reading list for the summer. This is such a powerful story and I feel that it has a really powerful message for our children.

These are my kids chocolate creations made from the wonderful book Chocolates and Candies to Make by Usborne books. This book is also on my list of books to buy. Becca checked it out from the library and what a fun cooking book for kids. Each step includes a picture and the recipes are relatively easy. If you want the recipe to these fun little guys check out my post at Pantry Eats.

I have also found several blogs that are great for Mom's who have a blog or product they want listed. I love these sites because I like to check out Mom made products or sign up for the giveaways. Check out Mommadethat.com and themomblogs.com

Have a Wonderful Easter!

Write A Little Monday Too Much Writing

I am not going to give you any pithy words today. I finally finished my second article due this week and I am all out of creativity. I am also tired today of trying to be grammatically correct, so ignore any mistakes. However, I do have some writing topics to share.

My article "Women Go Virtual" is in the current Wasatch Woman mag. My cute sister-in-law, Libby is quoted in it. So if you want to see her quote, Salt Lake sisters, grab a copy. Libby I have a copy for you and I forgot to give it to you Sunday.

Also, next week I am starting an article I am submitting to Utah Mama website. I would love my dear friends' input. The article is going to be on How do we teach our daughters the true meaning of beauty and/or how do we teach them to be beautiful?
I want to hear your guys take on this so please share your thoughts, although beware some of them will probably appear in the article.

Favorite Finds Friday

I have not done a favorite finds post in so long I am actually excited to share a few finds with you.

1. Because I started my own food blog I am quickly becoming an extreme foodie. One of my new favorite blogs is realmomkitchen.blogspot.com. I love this lady's site because all her food is so family friendly. I have already made three of the 26 crockpot recipes she has listed and loved every one. If you have a weekly appointment with your crockpot and are looking for different recipes check out her site. Her crockpot orange chicken is mmm mmm good. I also love foodbuzz.com which is a foodie network.

2. My second find is the Royal Dutch garden catalog. As I was angrily staring outside at the snow storm today I decided to do a little flower shopping. Royal Dutch has unbelievable prices. I ordered 4 Hosta plants for the price one would cost me at Home Depot. $1.99 for a Hosta is unbelievable. I also got 2 new blueberry plants, 10 bulbs of some cool red flower and these beautiful unique columbines. All of the prices were unbelievable and they charged me a flat shipping rate for everything. Plus, I get a year's guarantee on the plants which is way better than any store or nursery around here and they threw in 2 free day lilies. You can check out their site here: Royal Dutch.

3. Did you know blogger has a spellchecker for your posts. I guess I am just a little slow. But I discovered that is what the little check mark in the post toolbar is for and I am so happy to have that little tool. I was finding way too many misspellings in my posts.

4. Last night I rediscovered one of the good perks of my Mom job. I know it's crazy but I love kissing my kids back to sleep after they have had a bad dream. Of course, it is not my favorite when they wake me up in the middle of the night, but hey if I am already awake, I will take this job anytime.