Counting my Blessings

Eeeeek! It has been almost two weeks since I last wrote a blog post. Sorry about that, but as you may have guessed my life has gotten a tad bit crazy. Unfortunately, it is not all the good kind of crazy that we here at Shenanigans Inc. thrive on, and I am sad to say that Baby Girl's colitis has reared its ugly head once again and is giving her fifteen year old life a major whomping . . . again. Grrrrrrr! I probably should not share this, but the other day, after I had to pick her up from school for the third time that week because she was too weak to carry on, I texted Mr. Level-Headed the following message:

I really wish colitis was a person rather than a disease because then I could kick its  f*%$#^@   a%6!

Sorry for my profanity, and yes I did have a good long chat with Heavenly Father about my terrible lack of self restraint when it comes my use of the f-word when I am angry, and He assured me (perhaps not in the spoken word) that although He was disappointed, He completely understood. I really love that Guy!

Anyhoo . . .

So, since last week, we pulled Zoe out of school, ramped up her medications according to her doctor's orders, visited a Naturopath for the first time, started her on a dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free diet (which surprisingly has not been very difficult to institute), and have watched a whole lot of the Voice and America's Top Model on the computer. 

Then because colitis is not enough of a trial for our family anymore (I said I was sorry for saying the F-word, Heavenly Father. Really I am!), we all came down with a nasty head cold on Monday. On top of her other unpleasant symptoms, this cold has absolutely sucked the life right of poor Baby Girl and has left me bed-ridden for a couple of days. So, while I was laying in bed on Monday with the laundry and dirty dishes quickly piling up around me, listening to my already-very-sick-Baby Girl cough and sniffle, tallying up the additional costs of Baby Girl's medicines and Naturpath appointments to our already-very-tight-budget,and knowing that my boys had already exceeded an entire year's worth of screen time in just one day, I became discouraged, and I began to cry.

Really, how much more can we take?

Even writing this, I am embarrassed because in the grand scheme of things and compared to the trials of those I love and care about, my trials are small potatoes. I should be ashamed that I allowed myself to get down, but I did. We all have a breaking point and Monday was mine. Then after one awesomely refreshing ugly cry and a warm bath, I put my big girl panties back on . . . quite literally . . . tee hee! I didn't even see that one coming . . . awesome! And I started counting my blessings. Sure the past two weeks have been challenging and at times utterly frustrating, but there has been a whole lot of good going on right now too, and so I am going to share with you my blessings list.

1. Thing 4 . . . duh! Seriously, the fact that I have been blessed with a Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, and now a Thing 4 plus a handsome stud-muffin of a husband, with whom I get to make all these adorable Things with, is one ginormous blessing, and in all honesty, surpasses any and all nastiness that life can throw my way. 

Oh, and here is where I should post an adorable picture of my 32 week baby bump, but due to the fact that I have not gotten out of pyjamas in a couple of days, you will have to wait for it.

2. The boys and I are having the best homeschooling year ever. Until Monday, we went for four weeks straight without missing a day or even a lesson, and even though we are sick, the boys and I have curled up in bed to read our history lessons and do some fun art projects to go along with them. Today we read about the Terracotta Army in Ancient China. The cool thing is that we have seen a replica of this archaeological treasure at Disney's Epcot, and the boys are fascinated by it. 

3. The boys and I have joined another homeschooling group, which means we have not one but two awesome groups of families to share this homeschooling experience with. Last week, we went on a fun photography scavenger hunt at the zoo with our new group and the boys were thrilled to learn that there are a ton of boys their age in this group. Also, we recently found out that friends of ours, who belong to the same group, attended the field trip with us and who live right here on the Peninsula, are also homeschooling this year. Seriously, I think we are going to have one phenomenal year! 

Next week, we are going on a field trip just five minutes from our house where the kids are going to trek through the woods with a guide and learn how to identify the different types of trees, leaves, and animal tracks. Then, they are going to learn how to build a fire (Really, Krista? Perhaps I should think this one through . . . tee hee!) and roast hotdogs and marshmallows on the fires they start. How cool is that? My boys are in boy heaven right now just thinking about it!

Avery mimicking one of the Great Auk statues at the Zoo (a scavenger hunt requirement)

4. And finally, I have done it. I have achieved my goal for 2013 and have found the ultimate poutine, but first, a back story: 

On Friday afternoon, my friend BJ and I drove four girls from our church to PEI to participate in what we Mormons like to call Super Saturday. These are monthly activities set up for our youth, typically from ages 14-18, and they involve long drives . . . tee hee!, a much anticipated and always enjoyed dance for the youth, followed up the next day with Sunday-school-like-lessons, and then a big culminating activity. This month, the kids put on their yellow Mormon Helping Hands pinnies and went on a food drive for a food bank in Montague, PEI. Thankfully, Baby Girl was feeling up to going and she had a blast dancing with all the cute Mormon boys (Mormons make some handsome boys . . . just look at the three I have in my life). Seriously, though, they are a great group of kids, and it touched this mama's heart to watch a group of about twenty of them (there were probably 60 in total for the whole weekend) playing frisbee on the front lawn of the chapel, laughing and enjoying themselves. Baby Girl was feeling pretty worn out by this time, but a couple of her friends sat with her and they were all laughing together in the sunshine. It took all of my will power to walk away and to not stand  hovering over soaking up this moment. Most of them know about her struggles with this disease and they are always so supportive of her. I wish all teenagers had more Super Saturday-like experiences in their lives. Then when it was time to depart, the youth were all hugging, snapping photos and carrying on as if they would never see each other again and as if that they wouldn't be texting one another within minutes of getting into their cars . . . tee hee!

Anyhoo . . .

Yikes! I totally went off on a tangent there. Poutine . . . so the winner of my 2013 Atlantic Canada poutine challenge is the BOOM BURGER in Charlottetown, PEI. You have to check it out! The food is made from all local products and the poutine is to die for. Thankfully, they mixed up my order and gave me a large rather than a regular like I had asked for because I didn't want to stop eating it. In fact, I was so full that each bite was starting to hurt, but I couldn't stop. My mouth waters just thinking about it, and the best thing about their poutine is you can order it with grilled mushrooms, my other, less talked about, pregnancy craving. I was in heaven!

Look at this sucker! It is huge!

Mmmmm . . . and the cheese curds are made by Cows Ice Cream . . .  yummy!





Yep, life has been ridiculous around here, and there have been a few tears shed and a few curse words said, but all in all, it's still been pretty fantabulous and I really have nothing to complain about.


Happy Wednesday!

Oh, and please keep Baby Girl in your prayers. We could really use them. :)