Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Cloth Dipe Giveaway
Visit the GreeN MaM-a JaM-a blog for a giveaway of an ai2 dipe from Red Barn Cloth Diapers. Giveaway ends August 19th.
http://green-mama-jama.blogspot.com/2012/07/red-barn-cloth-diapers-ai2-review.html?spref=fb
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Wheat Thins
Yield about 60 crackers
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour1 1/2 Tbsp stevia
1/2 tsp salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/4 tsp paprika
4 Tbsp butter, cold
1/4 cup water (plus more, if necessary)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1. In bowl, mix together flour, stevia, salt, & paprika.
2. Using a regular cheese grater,grate butter into flour mixture (or cut in with pastry cutter).
3. Immediately toss butter in flour mixture to coat, breaking up pieces a bit more as you go.
4. Mix together water & vanilla. Pour over flour mixture & mix until evenly moistened & the dough comes together but is not sticky. (Add more water if necessary.)
5. Divide mixture in half & form into balls.
6. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough as thinly as possible (or desired).
7. Cut into squares & place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
8. Bake @ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes or until browned & crisp.
9. Cool completely & store in air-tight container or bag @ room temperature.
2. Using a regular cheese grater,grate butter into flour mixture (or cut in with pastry cutter).
3. Immediately toss butter in flour mixture to coat, breaking up pieces a bit more as you go.
4. Mix together water & vanilla. Pour over flour mixture & mix until evenly moistened & the dough comes together but is not sticky. (Add more water if necessary.)
5. Divide mixture in half & form into balls.
6. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough as thinly as possible (or desired).
7. Cut into squares & place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
8. Bake @ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes or until browned & crisp.
9. Cool completely & store in air-tight container or bag @ room temperature.
Lemon Cookies
Yield 3 dozen cookies
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup stevia
2 tsp lemon zest
12 Tbsp (1.5 sticks) butter, chilled & diced
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1. In blender, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, & stevia to blend.
2. Pulse in zest, & then cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Whisk together lemon juice, egg yolk, & vanilla. Then pour into flour mixture with motor running, just until dough forms.
4. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface & knead just until dough comes together. Shape into 9 or 10 inch log, wrap in plastic, & chill at least 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
6. Lightly oil baking sheet. Remove dough from plastic wrap & slice into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Place on prepared baking sheet & bake until slightly browned, about 12-14 minutes.
2. Pulse in zest, & then cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Whisk together lemon juice, egg yolk, & vanilla. Then pour into flour mixture with motor running, just until dough forms.
4. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface & knead just until dough comes together. Shape into 9 or 10 inch log, wrap in plastic, & chill at least 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
6. Lightly oil baking sheet. Remove dough from plastic wrap & slice into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Place on prepared baking sheet & bake until slightly browned, about 12-14 minutes.
Ginger Snaps
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 egg white
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp ginger
2 Tbsp stevia
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temp
1/2 cup stevia or raw sugar
3 Tbsp molasses
1/4 tsp cloves
1 egg white
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp ginger
2 Tbsp stevia
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temp
1/2 cup stevia or raw sugar
3 Tbsp molasses
1. Combine flour, 1/2 tsp ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, & salt in small mixing bowl. Stir until evenly mixed.
2. In medium bowl, use whisk to cream butter & stevia/sugar until light & fluffy. Stir in egg white, 1 Tbsp ginger & molasses.
3. Add flour mix to butter/sugar mix, using wooden spoon to just until all dry ingredients absorbed into dough. Chill dough @ least 1 hr (or overnight).
4. Preheat ovent to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease to baking sheets.
5. Roll dough (walnut sized pieces) in 2 Tbsp stevia. Bake 10 minutes.
2. In medium bowl, use whisk to cream butter & stevia/sugar until light & fluffy. Stir in egg white, 1 Tbsp ginger & molasses.
3. Add flour mix to butter/sugar mix, using wooden spoon to just until all dry ingredients absorbed into dough. Chill dough @ least 1 hr (or overnight).
4. Preheat ovent to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease to baking sheets.
5. Roll dough (walnut sized pieces) in 2 Tbsp stevia. Bake 10 minutes.
Whole Wheat Sugar-free Snickerdoodles
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup stevia
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
Roll cookies in 2 tsp cinnamon & 3 Tbsp stevia
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup stevia
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
Roll cookies in 2 tsp cinnamon & 3 Tbsp stevia
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Combine cinnamon & 3 Tbsp stevia in small bowl & set aside.
3. Sift together flour, bs, cream of tartar, & salt. Then set aside.
4. In large bowl, beat stevia with softened butter for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs & vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture until combined.
5. Roll into 1.5 inch balls & roll in cinnamon mixture.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool 2 minutes before removing from baking sheets.
2. Combine cinnamon & 3 Tbsp stevia in small bowl & set aside.
3. Sift together flour, bs, cream of tartar, & salt. Then set aside.
4. In large bowl, beat stevia with softened butter for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs & vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture until combined.
5. Roll into 1.5 inch balls & roll in cinnamon mixture.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool 2 minutes before removing from baking sheets.
Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Yield: About 2 dozen cookies
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon *
1/2 tsp nutmeg *
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 Tbsp molasses
1 egg (beaten with 1 Tbsp water)
1 tsp vanilla
Extras:
1 cup chocolate chips* or
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit) or
1/2 cup raisins & 1/2 cup walnuts
* When using chocolate chips, I omit the cinnamon and nutmeg. The first time I made this recipe, I decided to substitute chocolate chips for the raisins and still used the cinnamon and nutmeg. The flavors just didn't fit quite right together.
- In large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
- In medium bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. Hint: when measuring honey, spray measuring cup with oil or cooking spray. Honey won't stick. (For this recipe, I just measure the oil first since it is equal amounts of honey and oil. Then dab a bit of oil in the Tbsp before measuring the molasses.)
- Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Add "extra ingredients" and mix. If mix seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it isn't binding together, add an egg white.
- Cool the mix 20 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat oven to 335 degrees Fahrenheit. Drop by tsps on baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Eddie Chumney
It has been almost 3 weeks since our wonderful weekend full of digging into the Word led by a fantastic, Eddie Chumney, and fellowshipping with both old and new friends and I am just now finally getting this post finished...lol...I'm not too good at this blogging thing yet...lol.
The weekend started in chaos, but ended in peace and relaxation. Both teachers were awesome and the worship music was phenomenal.
For two weeks, I cooked, baked, and packed in preparation for this conference. It was the first conference we had ever put on, though event promotion is not a new experience for us. As former concert promoters, this was a task we had undertaken before. This was a bit of a larger scale, though, and was a little more involved. In the past, we had never had to do the "business side" of registration, lodging, food for attendees, etc. So that was a bit of a challenge, but went quite smoothly.
Friday (the 15th), the day the conference started, was a bit chaotic though. The kids and I got on the road 1/2 hr later than intended, but that tends to happen when traveling alone with four kids. :) By the time we got to my mother-in-law's house to get a few things we were borrowing for the weekend, it was lunch time and the three older kids all needed to go potty. By the time they were done in the bathroom, I had fed them, fed Chavah (who woke up while we were there), changed her, and had them go potty again, we had been there for over 1.5 hrs and it was already 1:30. I was supposed to be at the campground where we were holding the conference around 1. I didn't get there until about 3. Thankfully, I had some helpers there waiting for me.
The day was also made even more chaotic by the fact that Eddie's flight from Minneapolis to Cedar Rapids got delayed 2 hours. He was supposed to arrive at 11:15 and didn't end up arriving until 12:55. The delay was caused by the storms going through the midwest that weekend (which hit us overnight Friday and again Saturday afternoon). Justin and Eddie had about a 2 hour drive from the airport to the campground, but had to make a stop on the way. Eddie needed to do his research for his 5 minute update and was hoping to get it recorded (which anyone who knows Eddie will know can take a couple hours ;) ). He never did get it recorded that day, though, as he got sidetracked having a prophecy discussion with a good friend of ours as they stopped at her coffee shop to use the WIFI there. I think they finally arrived at the campground around 5 or 5:30 when we were supposed to be starting supper.
If it weren't for the help of Dina Carden, her wonderful kids, Juanita Noble, and her wonderful boys, supper never would have happened that night. Juanita's boys kept my littles busy, while Juanita, Dina, Michaela, and Jonas helped me in the kitchen. We were able to get everything cooked ahead for Shabbat and get the pasta, sauces, and everything else all together for dinner in just about 2 hours. Most things just needed to be reheated, as I had cooked most everything ahead at home and frozen it. Just had to reheat the pasta and sauce for supper, cook the 10lbs of hamburger for the tacos we were to eat the next night, cook some rice to stick in the walk-in cooler to be reheated to go with the tacos Saturday night, and put together the macaroni salad for lunch Saturday (for which, I had already cooked and frozen the macaroni ahead).
On top of all that confusion in the kitchen, we still had lodging to take care of. I had no idea who was supposed to be in which cabin since Justin had handled all of that, but he wasn't there yet. Thankfully the camp director was there and had a list based on the registration list Justin had sent him. While I finished up in the kitchen, Dina took it upon herself to get everyone checked in to their cabins and collect their lodging payments. I never could have gotten all that needed done accomplished if she and her teenagers weren't such faithful servants of Yah. They are truly Yah sent and I am so thankful for having them as my new friends.
Once the initial confusion and chaos was over, we were able to get started. :) Supper went really great. I was so afraid we wouldn't have enough food, but we actually had left overs at every meal. I made about 7 or 8 lbs of spaghetti for Friday night's supper and we had about half of it left. Everyone was so great about bringing food to share so there was plenty to go around. The conference was free (except for lodging, which is quite reasonable at the campground) so we asked that people bring side dishes/toppings/etc. to go with lunch and supper each day. We provided the main dish, some breakfast items, and some desserts. A couple other ladies helped out with breakfast foods and desserts. One large family that was registered to attended ended up not being able to attend because the mom broke her ankle and then her mom went to stay with them to help her out and broke her shoulder. At the end of the weekend, we sent a TON of the leftovers with another couple to give to her. We gave her 2lbs of spaghetti, a loaf of whole wheat bread, cookies, muffins, spaghetti sauce, and I don't even know what else. We just kept adding stuff to the box. It was so nice to be able to provide for them. :)
The only issue we had over the weekend, other than the initial confusion, was rain and lots of it. Friday night one family had to move their beds out of their tent and into the dining hall because their tent was too wet to sleep in. Our tent was a little wet too, but not too bad. Our tent got hit worse Saturday afternoon when a couple of our poles shifted so our roof filled with water pockets dumping it all into the tent and leaving LAKES in it. So we joined the Noble family in the dining hall Saturday night. :) The rain was a blessing, though, as it had been very dry before that.
Matt Dillon was our opening speaker. He is a local Believer and has been a good friend and mentor to Justin for years. Matt used to be Justin's youth pastor when he was in high school. He is also the one who "got us into" Hebrew Roots. Matt spoke on a few big issues he has seen in this movement that needed to be addressed. He spoke about how people nit-pick at each other too much about little things that don't matter so much in the grand scheme and all they are doing is causing division when we should be moving more toward unity as our time grows short.
Eddie was wonderful, as usual. He started out with a quick run through of his Yeshua: Genesis to Revelation teaching. I love this teaching. I always get something new out of this teaching. Yeshua created the heavens and the earth, walked through the pieces in the Covenant with Abraham, gave the Torah, was the cloud & fire, and many more things (and all these things can be proven with Scripture in both the Tanakh & the Brit Hadashah). It is fascinating. He also discussed current events and how they fit into end times prophecy and told us what to watch for next. He doesn't set dates, but did say that whenever we see Damascus destroyed, the economy crashed, and war breaking out throughout the world, we should be prepared to leave on the following Pesach. He says that with the current world dynamic, it is likely to be a Pesach real soon!
On Sunday, I again had lots of wonderful help from the Cardens and others. We worked together to get the kitchen all cleaned up, made sure everyone took home their dishes and any food they brought and wanted to keep. There was such an abundance of food that in addition to providing for the family of 12 whose mom broke her ankle, we were also able to leave quite a bit of food for the camp director and his staff who have been working hard all summer to improve the camp. :) It was really great to be able to serve them in such a manner.
Sunday afternoon, Eddie went home with Matt and went to watch the NBA Finals. I learned something new about Eddie that weekend. He is very much a fan of sports, especially basketball. In fact, he said at one point that had he been a little taller he probably could have gone pro in basketball. He played and, from the sound of it, did so quite well. Can you imagine Eddie Chumney as anything but a Bible scholar? I know I can't!
Since Eddie was off with Matt for the evening, we got everything but what we still needed to use all packed up and had a quiet evening as a family. We sat around the fire for a while, toured some of the cabins, and ate ice cream cake. :)
Eddie had to be at the airport by 3pm on Monday, so we had all morning to finish tearing down camp and relaxing. Learned a couple more things about Eddie on Monday that I never knew about him. He listens to Kenneth Copeland (not that it is bad; I like some of his teachings, as well). I just never expected that would be someone to whom he listens. The other thing I learned about him is that he is very good with kids. At breakfast and lunch on Monday, he was entertaining our kids. Our two year old loves him. :) The girls were having fun with him too, but the boy was just so amused by the games he played with them. Since we took two vehicles, he even gave the kids hugs and told them good-bye before we got all loaded up in the van and he left with Justin in the truck. :)
For pictures from the conference, take a look at the Photos page at www.scrolldove.org.
The weekend started in chaos, but ended in peace and relaxation. Both teachers were awesome and the worship music was phenomenal.
For two weeks, I cooked, baked, and packed in preparation for this conference. It was the first conference we had ever put on, though event promotion is not a new experience for us. As former concert promoters, this was a task we had undertaken before. This was a bit of a larger scale, though, and was a little more involved. In the past, we had never had to do the "business side" of registration, lodging, food for attendees, etc. So that was a bit of a challenge, but went quite smoothly.
Friday (the 15th), the day the conference started, was a bit chaotic though. The kids and I got on the road 1/2 hr later than intended, but that tends to happen when traveling alone with four kids. :) By the time we got to my mother-in-law's house to get a few things we were borrowing for the weekend, it was lunch time and the three older kids all needed to go potty. By the time they were done in the bathroom, I had fed them, fed Chavah (who woke up while we were there), changed her, and had them go potty again, we had been there for over 1.5 hrs and it was already 1:30. I was supposed to be at the campground where we were holding the conference around 1. I didn't get there until about 3. Thankfully, I had some helpers there waiting for me.
The day was also made even more chaotic by the fact that Eddie's flight from Minneapolis to Cedar Rapids got delayed 2 hours. He was supposed to arrive at 11:15 and didn't end up arriving until 12:55. The delay was caused by the storms going through the midwest that weekend (which hit us overnight Friday and again Saturday afternoon). Justin and Eddie had about a 2 hour drive from the airport to the campground, but had to make a stop on the way. Eddie needed to do his research for his 5 minute update and was hoping to get it recorded (which anyone who knows Eddie will know can take a couple hours ;) ). He never did get it recorded that day, though, as he got sidetracked having a prophecy discussion with a good friend of ours as they stopped at her coffee shop to use the WIFI there. I think they finally arrived at the campground around 5 or 5:30 when we were supposed to be starting supper.
If it weren't for the help of Dina Carden, her wonderful kids, Juanita Noble, and her wonderful boys, supper never would have happened that night. Juanita's boys kept my littles busy, while Juanita, Dina, Michaela, and Jonas helped me in the kitchen. We were able to get everything cooked ahead for Shabbat and get the pasta, sauces, and everything else all together for dinner in just about 2 hours. Most things just needed to be reheated, as I had cooked most everything ahead at home and frozen it. Just had to reheat the pasta and sauce for supper, cook the 10lbs of hamburger for the tacos we were to eat the next night, cook some rice to stick in the walk-in cooler to be reheated to go with the tacos Saturday night, and put together the macaroni salad for lunch Saturday (for which, I had already cooked and frozen the macaroni ahead).
On top of all that confusion in the kitchen, we still had lodging to take care of. I had no idea who was supposed to be in which cabin since Justin had handled all of that, but he wasn't there yet. Thankfully the camp director was there and had a list based on the registration list Justin had sent him. While I finished up in the kitchen, Dina took it upon herself to get everyone checked in to their cabins and collect their lodging payments. I never could have gotten all that needed done accomplished if she and her teenagers weren't such faithful servants of Yah. They are truly Yah sent and I am so thankful for having them as my new friends.
Once the initial confusion and chaos was over, we were able to get started. :) Supper went really great. I was so afraid we wouldn't have enough food, but we actually had left overs at every meal. I made about 7 or 8 lbs of spaghetti for Friday night's supper and we had about half of it left. Everyone was so great about bringing food to share so there was plenty to go around. The conference was free (except for lodging, which is quite reasonable at the campground) so we asked that people bring side dishes/toppings/etc. to go with lunch and supper each day. We provided the main dish, some breakfast items, and some desserts. A couple other ladies helped out with breakfast foods and desserts. One large family that was registered to attended ended up not being able to attend because the mom broke her ankle and then her mom went to stay with them to help her out and broke her shoulder. At the end of the weekend, we sent a TON of the leftovers with another couple to give to her. We gave her 2lbs of spaghetti, a loaf of whole wheat bread, cookies, muffins, spaghetti sauce, and I don't even know what else. We just kept adding stuff to the box. It was so nice to be able to provide for them. :)
The only issue we had over the weekend, other than the initial confusion, was rain and lots of it. Friday night one family had to move their beds out of their tent and into the dining hall because their tent was too wet to sleep in. Our tent was a little wet too, but not too bad. Our tent got hit worse Saturday afternoon when a couple of our poles shifted so our roof filled with water pockets dumping it all into the tent and leaving LAKES in it. So we joined the Noble family in the dining hall Saturday night. :) The rain was a blessing, though, as it had been very dry before that.
Matt Dillon was our opening speaker. He is a local Believer and has been a good friend and mentor to Justin for years. Matt used to be Justin's youth pastor when he was in high school. He is also the one who "got us into" Hebrew Roots. Matt spoke on a few big issues he has seen in this movement that needed to be addressed. He spoke about how people nit-pick at each other too much about little things that don't matter so much in the grand scheme and all they are doing is causing division when we should be moving more toward unity as our time grows short.
Eddie was wonderful, as usual. He started out with a quick run through of his Yeshua: Genesis to Revelation teaching. I love this teaching. I always get something new out of this teaching. Yeshua created the heavens and the earth, walked through the pieces in the Covenant with Abraham, gave the Torah, was the cloud & fire, and many more things (and all these things can be proven with Scripture in both the Tanakh & the Brit Hadashah). It is fascinating. He also discussed current events and how they fit into end times prophecy and told us what to watch for next. He doesn't set dates, but did say that whenever we see Damascus destroyed, the economy crashed, and war breaking out throughout the world, we should be prepared to leave on the following Pesach. He says that with the current world dynamic, it is likely to be a Pesach real soon!
On Sunday, I again had lots of wonderful help from the Cardens and others. We worked together to get the kitchen all cleaned up, made sure everyone took home their dishes and any food they brought and wanted to keep. There was such an abundance of food that in addition to providing for the family of 12 whose mom broke her ankle, we were also able to leave quite a bit of food for the camp director and his staff who have been working hard all summer to improve the camp. :) It was really great to be able to serve them in such a manner.
Sunday afternoon, Eddie went home with Matt and went to watch the NBA Finals. I learned something new about Eddie that weekend. He is very much a fan of sports, especially basketball. In fact, he said at one point that had he been a little taller he probably could have gone pro in basketball. He played and, from the sound of it, did so quite well. Can you imagine Eddie Chumney as anything but a Bible scholar? I know I can't!
Since Eddie was off with Matt for the evening, we got everything but what we still needed to use all packed up and had a quiet evening as a family. We sat around the fire for a while, toured some of the cabins, and ate ice cream cake. :)
Eddie had to be at the airport by 3pm on Monday, so we had all morning to finish tearing down camp and relaxing. Learned a couple more things about Eddie on Monday that I never knew about him. He listens to Kenneth Copeland (not that it is bad; I like some of his teachings, as well). I just never expected that would be someone to whom he listens. The other thing I learned about him is that he is very good with kids. At breakfast and lunch on Monday, he was entertaining our kids. Our two year old loves him. :) The girls were having fun with him too, but the boy was just so amused by the games he played with them. Since we took two vehicles, he even gave the kids hugs and told them good-bye before we got all loaded up in the van and he left with Justin in the truck. :)
For pictures from the conference, take a look at the Photos page at www.scrolldove.org.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Long, long day at the hospital...
At her hemoglobin check on Monday, Chavah's level had dropped down to 6.5. *sigh* I knew what that meant....at her last hematology appointment at the University Hospital, I was told by her hematologist that they would only transfuse again if her hemoglobin dropped below 7.0 or she exhibited signs of distress (very pale, sweating while nursing, disinterest in nursing, difficulty breathing).
Well, it was below 7.0 so I knew that once the clinic in Iowa City got the results, I would get a call saying they wanted to transfuse. I started making daycare and transportation arrangements right then. I couldn't finalize anything until I knew for sure but wanted to have things at least progressing in the right direction so it wouldn't be completely last minute.
Sure enough, I got the call I had been expecting. They wanted her transfused "in the next day or so." Then it was more of a waiting game, waiting on the doctor from the local hospital to call with when they could see her for her infusion. Instead of driving about 1.5 hrs to her hematologist to have the transfusions done, we have elected to use a hospital that we trust about 40 minutes from home.
I got the transfusion all set up with Dr. Neumann (the pediatrician we use for her transfusions at the local hospital) to have the infusion done by the pediatric nursing staff at 11am on Tuesday. This meant I needed to be at the hospital by about 10:30 to give me enough time to check in and register at the outpatient admissions desk and then get her intake done in pediatrics at 11. I was hoping by being early, the infusion would start about 12pm.
Anyway, got daycare set up for the older 3 starting at 9:30am. Our daycare lady could only keep them until 2pm, which was really a problem because Justin wasn't supposed to get off work until 3 and wouldn't be home until 3:30. Thankfully, Justin has a wonderful boss (and had worked a bunch of overtime) so he was able to get off early to get the kids.
I got to the hospital at 10:30 like planned. I was done registering and headed up to the pediatrics floor (having to pass through the sad hallway...why it is sad is for another post...) by 10:40. Her blood typing was done, IV set, and intake questions done all before noon. The lab called up to the floor at 12:30 to say her blood was ready so the nurse gave her the Benadryl (that I very strongly dislike her having to take because it is not Kosher....but her health is more important than that right now...) and Tylenol and went down to get her blood (A+).
When she came back up, she received a phone call from the pathologist and started answering a bunch of his questions. The room we were in was right next to the nurses' station so I could hear everything she was saying. She was explaining Chavah's blood disorder and it was the reason for her anemia and why she needed frequent transfusions. She was also mentioning that it wasn't because of any incompatibility between her blood and mine. He was concerned about incompatibility but it wasn't between her and me...he then asked her my blood type which is O+.
His concern with incompatibility between her blood and the donor blood. She is A+ and so was the donor blood, but she is still young enough that she could have some of my antibodies still which, because my blood type is different could, have reacted badly with the donor blood. Newborns still have their mother's antibodies in their blood for around 60 days and she was only 69 days old, so he was concerned with her reacting to the blood since she was right at that cut off. At her first 2 transfusions, she was given O- (universal) blood. Because of her age and my blood type being different, the pathologist wanted her to get O- blood once again instead of A+.
So instead of starting her infusion then (at about 12:40), the nurse had to take the blood back down to the hospital's blood bank. Then the search began for O- blood in the area. They got it within about an hour or so. But then they had to redo all the compatibility testing (thankfully without having to re-poke her because her typing was still good). By the time the infusion was started it was already 2:30pm.
The infusion is supposed to take 3 hrs, so as to not overload the body with too much fluid at once. Since her infusion started at 2:30, it should have been done at 5:30. However, there were some technical difficulties with the pump used to slowly give the blood over the 3 hrs. It is a machine much like an IV pump, only a syringe fits in a little slot on the side of it and it slowly pushes the back of the syringe at a steady rate to give the blood at the right speed. Every little bit, the the machine would beep and stop pumping, saying that the line was blocked.
At first the nurse thought it was just that machine, so she switched machines. It was still doing it, so she thought maybe Chavah was bending her hand too much where the IV was put in, so she taped everything down better (she had a splint on her arm to make it harder to move her hand). That worked for a little while, but then it started acting up again. When the nurse from the next shift came in, she programmed the pump differently (so instead of it just saying she got 18mL and set a timer for 1hr, she set it at a rate of 18mL/hr with a volume of whatever was remaining in the syringe). That worked for the rest of the 1st syringe and the whole 2nd syringe, but then it started acting up again on the 3rd syringe so she switched machines and then it worked just fine until the end. Chavah weighed 5.48 kilos (about 12lbs) so she was given 54mL of blood (3-18mL syringes) over 3 hrs (10mL per kilo). Her infusion was finally over at 6:30.
I was gone for over 10 hours from 9:30am to 7:45pm. It was a VERY long day at the hospital!
I heard a really good song on the radio on my way home though that really summed up how I was feeling. It was Today is the Day by Lincoln Brewster. The ending of the song is what really spoke to me:
I will stand upon your truth
I will stand upon your truth
And all my days I'll live for you
And all my days I'll live for you
I will stand upon your truth
I will stand upon your truth
And all my days I'll live for you
And all my days I'll live
Today is the day you have made and
I will rejoice and be glad in it
Today is the day you have made and
I will rejoice and be glad in it
and I won't worry about tomorrow
I'm giving you my fears and sorrows
Where you lead me I will follow
I'm trusting in what you say
Today is the day
Well, it was below 7.0 so I knew that once the clinic in Iowa City got the results, I would get a call saying they wanted to transfuse. I started making daycare and transportation arrangements right then. I couldn't finalize anything until I knew for sure but wanted to have things at least progressing in the right direction so it wouldn't be completely last minute.
Sure enough, I got the call I had been expecting. They wanted her transfused "in the next day or so." Then it was more of a waiting game, waiting on the doctor from the local hospital to call with when they could see her for her infusion. Instead of driving about 1.5 hrs to her hematologist to have the transfusions done, we have elected to use a hospital that we trust about 40 minutes from home.
I got the transfusion all set up with Dr. Neumann (the pediatrician we use for her transfusions at the local hospital) to have the infusion done by the pediatric nursing staff at 11am on Tuesday. This meant I needed to be at the hospital by about 10:30 to give me enough time to check in and register at the outpatient admissions desk and then get her intake done in pediatrics at 11. I was hoping by being early, the infusion would start about 12pm.
Anyway, got daycare set up for the older 3 starting at 9:30am. Our daycare lady could only keep them until 2pm, which was really a problem because Justin wasn't supposed to get off work until 3 and wouldn't be home until 3:30. Thankfully, Justin has a wonderful boss (and had worked a bunch of overtime) so he was able to get off early to get the kids.
I got to the hospital at 10:30 like planned. I was done registering and headed up to the pediatrics floor (having to pass through the sad hallway...why it is sad is for another post...) by 10:40. Her blood typing was done, IV set, and intake questions done all before noon. The lab called up to the floor at 12:30 to say her blood was ready so the nurse gave her the Benadryl (that I very strongly dislike her having to take because it is not Kosher....but her health is more important than that right now...) and Tylenol and went down to get her blood (A+).
When she came back up, she received a phone call from the pathologist and started answering a bunch of his questions. The room we were in was right next to the nurses' station so I could hear everything she was saying. She was explaining Chavah's blood disorder and it was the reason for her anemia and why she needed frequent transfusions. She was also mentioning that it wasn't because of any incompatibility between her blood and mine. He was concerned about incompatibility but it wasn't between her and me...he then asked her my blood type which is O+.
His concern with incompatibility between her blood and the donor blood. She is A+ and so was the donor blood, but she is still young enough that she could have some of my antibodies still which, because my blood type is different could, have reacted badly with the donor blood. Newborns still have their mother's antibodies in their blood for around 60 days and she was only 69 days old, so he was concerned with her reacting to the blood since she was right at that cut off. At her first 2 transfusions, she was given O- (universal) blood. Because of her age and my blood type being different, the pathologist wanted her to get O- blood once again instead of A+.
So instead of starting her infusion then (at about 12:40), the nurse had to take the blood back down to the hospital's blood bank. Then the search began for O- blood in the area. They got it within about an hour or so. But then they had to redo all the compatibility testing (thankfully without having to re-poke her because her typing was still good). By the time the infusion was started it was already 2:30pm.
The infusion is supposed to take 3 hrs, so as to not overload the body with too much fluid at once. Since her infusion started at 2:30, it should have been done at 5:30. However, there were some technical difficulties with the pump used to slowly give the blood over the 3 hrs. It is a machine much like an IV pump, only a syringe fits in a little slot on the side of it and it slowly pushes the back of the syringe at a steady rate to give the blood at the right speed. Every little bit, the the machine would beep and stop pumping, saying that the line was blocked.
At first the nurse thought it was just that machine, so she switched machines. It was still doing it, so she thought maybe Chavah was bending her hand too much where the IV was put in, so she taped everything down better (she had a splint on her arm to make it harder to move her hand). That worked for a little while, but then it started acting up again. When the nurse from the next shift came in, she programmed the pump differently (so instead of it just saying she got 18mL and set a timer for 1hr, she set it at a rate of 18mL/hr with a volume of whatever was remaining in the syringe). That worked for the rest of the 1st syringe and the whole 2nd syringe, but then it started acting up again on the 3rd syringe so she switched machines and then it worked just fine until the end. Chavah weighed 5.48 kilos (about 12lbs) so she was given 54mL of blood (3-18mL syringes) over 3 hrs (10mL per kilo). Her infusion was finally over at 6:30.
I was gone for over 10 hours from 9:30am to 7:45pm. It was a VERY long day at the hospital!
I heard a really good song on the radio on my way home though that really summed up how I was feeling. It was Today is the Day by Lincoln Brewster. The ending of the song is what really spoke to me:
I will stand upon your truth
And all my days I'll live for you
And all my days I'll live for you
I will stand upon your truth
I will stand upon your truth
And all my days I'll live for you
And all my days I'll live
Today is the day you have made and
I will rejoice and be glad in it
Today is the day you have made and
I will rejoice and be glad in it
and I won't worry about tomorrow
I'm giving you my fears and sorrows
Where you lead me I will follow
I'm trusting in what you say
Today is the day
Saturday, June 9, 2012
We Delight in Your Shabbat...
Enjoying a nice, quiet Shabbat at home this week! It has been a while since we had a Shabbat where we had nothing to do and no where to go and could just spend time at home as a family! I love the fellowship we attend, but am very thankful that we are currently meeting during the week and have Shabbat at home.
This is our second week meeting during the evening in the middle of the week. Last Shabbat, though, Justin took Mickala to visit his brother who is in prison for probation violations. I was home with the 3 younger kids so it wasn't too restful of a Shabbat for me. LOL.
We did get to watch VeggieTales: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush on Netflix. I was looking for something about Samson since the Haftarah last week was from Judges about Samson and Delilah because of the Torah portion section about the Nazarite vow. The VeggieTales story was the only thing about Samson in the kids part of Netflix instant.
I am especially thankful for this Shabbat at home because Justin is working overtime tomorrow. This is our only day all home as a family this weekend, so it is especially important that we have this day of rest at home today. :)
It is very fulfilling to join with my husband as he teaches on Shabbat mornings while we fellowship with like-minded believers, but doesn't necessarily make for a very restful Shabbat for this Mama. Summers are so busy that it is nice to have our Shabbats open with just family time. Meeting during the week is a blessing. We really only changed it because the location where we meet changed their open hours on Saturdays and didn't fit our needs anymore for that day so we decided to switch to meeting on a weekday evening in the same location.
We love to camp, so last month we camped three weekends in a row. The first two weekends, we camped nearby because we had fellowship to attend on Shabbat morning. It was exhausting to get up and go and come back. Meeting during the week will mean we aren't pulled in so many directions at once on Shabbats. The third weekend was very relaxing and fulfilling, as it was Shavuot weekend so we had a double Shabbat fellowshipping with wonderful people from another fellowship. It was still exhausting by the time we got home, because with camping three weekends in a row, we were going pretty much non-stop for 3 full weeks. Taking this weekend to just stay home and relax is very nice and very important.
We are gearing up for Eddie Chumney coming in next weekend, so it is nice to have a Shabbat at home with nothing this week. :) So excited to spend next Shabbat with our favorite teacher (Eddie), our long time mentor (Justin's old youth pastor, Matt Dillon), and many like-minded believers!! Including children, there will be about 55 people at the conference next Shabbat. My awesome husband has been doing a fantastic job putting everything together for bringing Eddie in! That is another reason why I delight in this Shabbat, as I have been cooking non-stop all week for the conference and will do more tomorrow. By the time I am done with cooking and packing the beginning of the week, I am sure I will be just as ready for next Shabbat as I was for today. This week I have cooked 4lbs of spaghetti, 1lb of macaroni, 5 dozen muffins, 6lbs of chicken, 2 loaves of banana bread, 1 loaf of ww bread, and 1 dozen cookies for the conference and pattied 10lbs of hamburger into 65 patties. Tomorrow I start with 65 hamburger buns, 36 hotdog buns, 5 more kinds of cookies, 2 more lbs of spaghetti, 2 pies, and a few dozen tortillas. Then the packing begins...whew, glad it is Shabbat so I don't have to do any of that today. ;)
Shabbat shalom!!
Isa 58:13-1 4"If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Yaʽaqoḇ your father. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken!"
This is our second week meeting during the evening in the middle of the week. Last Shabbat, though, Justin took Mickala to visit his brother who is in prison for probation violations. I was home with the 3 younger kids so it wasn't too restful of a Shabbat for me. LOL.
We did get to watch VeggieTales: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush on Netflix. I was looking for something about Samson since the Haftarah last week was from Judges about Samson and Delilah because of the Torah portion section about the Nazarite vow. The VeggieTales story was the only thing about Samson in the kids part of Netflix instant.
I am especially thankful for this Shabbat at home because Justin is working overtime tomorrow. This is our only day all home as a family this weekend, so it is especially important that we have this day of rest at home today. :)
It is very fulfilling to join with my husband as he teaches on Shabbat mornings while we fellowship with like-minded believers, but doesn't necessarily make for a very restful Shabbat for this Mama. Summers are so busy that it is nice to have our Shabbats open with just family time. Meeting during the week is a blessing. We really only changed it because the location where we meet changed their open hours on Saturdays and didn't fit our needs anymore for that day so we decided to switch to meeting on a weekday evening in the same location.
We love to camp, so last month we camped three weekends in a row. The first two weekends, we camped nearby because we had fellowship to attend on Shabbat morning. It was exhausting to get up and go and come back. Meeting during the week will mean we aren't pulled in so many directions at once on Shabbats. The third weekend was very relaxing and fulfilling, as it was Shavuot weekend so we had a double Shabbat fellowshipping with wonderful people from another fellowship. It was still exhausting by the time we got home, because with camping three weekends in a row, we were going pretty much non-stop for 3 full weeks. Taking this weekend to just stay home and relax is very nice and very important.
We are gearing up for Eddie Chumney coming in next weekend, so it is nice to have a Shabbat at home with nothing this week. :) So excited to spend next Shabbat with our favorite teacher (Eddie), our long time mentor (Justin's old youth pastor, Matt Dillon), and many like-minded believers!! Including children, there will be about 55 people at the conference next Shabbat. My awesome husband has been doing a fantastic job putting everything together for bringing Eddie in! That is another reason why I delight in this Shabbat, as I have been cooking non-stop all week for the conference and will do more tomorrow. By the time I am done with cooking and packing the beginning of the week, I am sure I will be just as ready for next Shabbat as I was for today. This week I have cooked 4lbs of spaghetti, 1lb of macaroni, 5 dozen muffins, 6lbs of chicken, 2 loaves of banana bread, 1 loaf of ww bread, and 1 dozen cookies for the conference and pattied 10lbs of hamburger into 65 patties. Tomorrow I start with 65 hamburger buns, 36 hotdog buns, 5 more kinds of cookies, 2 more lbs of spaghetti, 2 pies, and a few dozen tortillas. Then the packing begins...whew, glad it is Shabbat so I don't have to do any of that today. ;)
Shabbat shalom!!
Isa 58:13-1 4"If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Yaʽaqoḇ your father. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken!"
Friday, June 8, 2012
Well, I finally joined the blogging world...
I've done it! I finally jumped into the world of blogging. I never thought I would, but here I am. :)
I really just wanted a place where I could put all my birth stories and updates on Chavah all together. So I thought what could be a better location for all that than a blog. However, I decided that my blog should be about more than just that.
A lot has changed my life. My kids are part of this journey, but certainly not all of it.
One of my favorite songs is called Shane et Chayai. It is about life being changed by Yeshua. I chose to name my blog after this song because I will likely be writing mostly about things that have changed my life, especially in relation to my walk with Yeshua.
I'm really excited to see how this progresses as I go!
Shane et Chayai from the CD called Elav available at jerusalempraise.com
I really just wanted a place where I could put all my birth stories and updates on Chavah all together. So I thought what could be a better location for all that than a blog. However, I decided that my blog should be about more than just that.
A lot has changed my life. My kids are part of this journey, but certainly not all of it.
One of my favorite songs is called Shane et Chayai. It is about life being changed by Yeshua. I chose to name my blog after this song because I will likely be writing mostly about things that have changed my life, especially in relation to my walk with Yeshua.
I'm really excited to see how this progresses as I go!
Shane et Chayai from the CD called Elav available at jerusalempraise.com
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