Just a Few Words...

This is not going to be much of a post. I am having a bad day, and don't want to throw all my problems out here, so I have decided not to say much. I didn't want to miss a day, so I am writing. 

I do know that God is awesome, and He will make sure things work according to His plan. Of course, His plan may not be how I want it, I am sure. He has never let me down, and always made sure I had all my needs. I am praying for a few different situations in my life, and I am trying to have faith that He will take care of us, as He always has. 

Thanks for reading.

-Mel

Wordless Wednesday - Art by Gavin

God Bless America, land of the free!

Artwork by Gavin, age 7 (That's our family at the bottom, including Rosie the Wonder Pooch!

Duct Tape, Maybe?

My son is a very active seven year old boy. He is used to running to get where he wants to go, not walking. He does somersaults at random, and continuously is always finding something to climb or jump on....and he just had surgery, less than a week ago, and given a four week restriction...no climbing, running, bike riding, jumping, flips, playing around dirt, swimming, etc...

He doesn't seem to get how all that can affect the stitches in his eye, and tear them apart, causing big problems, that may include another trip to the hospital, making it even longer before he can do these things. He has been running around in the house, even after being told repeatedly not to. Also, somersaulting, hanging upside down on the couch, climbing on stuff...I am about to pull out my hair. All I can do is remind him, over and over if necessary, and pray. That is what I have been doing for the past few days. He seems to be even more active today, for some reason, and I have had to remind him several times. 

The next three weeks are going to be LONG...

He has several things to do here at the house, that don't require a lot of moving, thanks to some friends who gave him some card games, and some really cool building toys (Legos, and a set to build some other things), plus he has video games, and we have movies. He just is so active, and is having a hard time sitting still for very long. If you think about it, could you please pray for us? 

Thanks for reading!

-Mel

Another Random Monday

I am starting to wonder why I gave myself this challenge. I challenged myself to write every day until August 1, and I was looking at the stats today, and wondered if it was worth it. Well, I do believe it is worth it, for me. Like I said, I would write whether anyone read this or not. It is a great outlet, and great practice.

I know that I am not that interesting, but I am doing this for me, basically. I rarely get comments, although I can see a few people have read each of my posts. Sometimes I wonder if they just click on it, and then maybe not read through...lol. That's actually okay, too.

I baked today, for the first time in a long time. I made zucchini bread. It came out delicious. I really don't have anything else to write. Maybe tomorrow I will actually have a topic, and a real post. I'm sorry if you clicked on this, and were disappointed in my post. If you don't ever come back, I will understand. If you do, that would be great. I'd really like to be a better blogger, and hope one day to accomplish that goal. I think when I am done with my challenge, I will shoot for three posts a week...maybe in the days between I will have more stuff come up to write about. 

Thanks for reading.

-Mel

Day of Rest

We didn't do much today, and so this isn't going to be a very long post. I am still in the middle of my challenge to post something every day until August 1, so I wanted to write SOMETHING.

I began tracking my food again today, since it's July 1, and that's when I planned to start over again. I wanted to wait until we made it through Gavin's surgery, and since we would be away from home, I didn't want to stress my food log. I hope to get back to working out tomorrow, as well. It's way to hot to go for a walk in the park, so I will be doing something at home, probably using a DVD or a Wii Fit game.

Other than tracking my food, and going to church, it has been an uneventful day. We pretty much hung around the house, relaxing, preparing for the week ahead. It's been nice, resting. I don't get a chance to do this a lot, and after the weeks prior to this weekend, it was a nice change. 

Thanks for reading.

-Mel

Recipe Queen!

Anyone that knows me, knows I love to cook. I have always loved to cook, and when I was in high school, I seriously wanted to go to school to be able to cook professionally. Things didn't quite happen that way, and life went on, and I continued to cook. Sometimes I come up with my own creations, but I have found many recipes online throughout the years. Since I began eating differently, I began cooking a little differently, and researching healthier recipes. I have recipes printed out all over my apartment, bookmarked on my computer, and books of recipes in a tote sitting in my living room. I am always on the hunt for new things to try, that Gavin will also like. 

A few weeks ago, we started receiving our CSA produce. CSA stands for Community Shared Agriculture. That basically means that I paid ahead for a share of produce that I receive once a week, from a local farm. Since beginning to receive the boxes, I have been working on finding new and fun ways to use the veggies I receive each week. Today, I wanted to do something with the cabbage I had, to go along with the pork chops I was making. I also had some red potatoes, so I did a Google search, and found this recipe! I had all the ingredients, with the exception of the scallions, and didn't feel like going out in the heat (we've had temps staying above 100 degrees) for ONE thing, so I decided to just go ahead and make it, without the scallions. It turned out delicious! 

Another plan I have for this week is to make this zucchini bread and this squash bread. I had never heard of squash bread, but searched for it, and found this recipe, and read the reviews, so I was intrigued. We have tons of zucchini and yellow squash that I need to use, and so I am always looking to try new things. I have had a couple awesome squash casseroles, but am still looking for more ideas.

Each week, we never know what exact veggies we will get until we pick up our box, but I enjoy going through the box, and then trying to plan my week of meals around the produce that's inside it. I hope I can come up with some neat ideas!

Thanks for reading!

-Mel

I Am Gavin's Mom

I really enjoy being a mom. If you haven't been able to tell from my previous posts, I love my son with all my heart. He is the best gift I have ever been given, and I am blessed that he calls me mom. I never thought I would be a mom, and although he was unplanned, I can not imagine my life without him. He is far from a perfect child, and I am far from a perfect mom, but we somehow have made it work, in our own way, for the last 7 and a half years. 

I sometimes wish I was more like other women I see, and be great moms like them. You know the ones. Maybe you ARE one. The ones that feed their children the best food. The ones that always remain calm and loving, even when their children have done something wrong, and use nice sweet, calm voices to convey their messages. The ones that are crafty, and do all kinds of neat things with their kids, or for their kids. And, then there are the ones that always keep their houses clean, or that spend lots of time doing fun things with their kids. The cool moms. Some people I know possess all of the qualities I just mentioned, and some only possess one or two, but I share none of those qualities, really.

I feed my kid junk food or processed food on occasion. Not all the time, but sometimes. I cook several times a week, though, and try to include healthy foods, as well as healthy snacks in his daily meals. I am not always calm and loving. I get anxious, and yell sometimes, when Gavin "just ain't acting right." He knows I love him, and he gets me, though. I would never, ever hurt him or say anything to hurt him, though. I am FAR from crafty. Well, I can look up stuff online, and follow directions, when I need to, and we have done a few craft projects on our own, but most of the time, I am just not crafty. About the clean house, well, yeah...not me. I try, but I am just not a great housekeeper. He stays clean, all his clothes stay clean, and he eats using clean plates and utensils. I would never put him in danger by being unsanitary, or living in horrid conditions. We do try to do some fun things, though. That's one thing I try to do with Gavin, but I can't do as much as some. He has never been to Disney World, or on a boat, or done a lot of the most amazing things I have seen other people doing with their kids. Maybe someday...Oh yeah, and the cool moms...some moms just ooze "cool"...heck, I wish they were my mom sometimes! I am just a mom, that tries her best, with what she has.

I am what I am, though...I am Gavin's Mom. I still remember the first time I signed the papers for his Social Security card while I was in the hospital, and I had to write my relationship to him, and I wrote "Mother." That was when it really hit me that I was his mother, that I was now responsible for another human being for the first time in my life. Sometimes I wonder how God thought I was capable of raising this child, but God doesn't make mistakes, so I know it was the plan. I know I have made mistakes, and I know I will make more, but no matter what, this is what I was meant to do. And, this is what I will do for the rest of my life. I will be a mother. Gavin's mother. I will do whatever is necessary to meet the needs of my son, no matter what is going on in my life. I am truly blessed and grateful to be called mom.

Thanks for reading.

-Mel