Grow a row of Love

     I had mentioned in a post back about Grow a Row of Love. Steve and I have read up on it and we are thinking about doing it this year. It's based on the principle of helping out someone in need by growing love...via growing food. You designate one row of your garden or a certain thing you grow and it goes to either a food pantry, an elderly neighbor or a family/person in need. There are links where you can go to see what your local pantry needs, drop off times etc. Your local pantry can also enroll in different links so people will know the best drop off times to ensure freshness and so the pantry doesn't have to worry about refrigeration. If you have an elderly neighbor you simply share something out of your garden with them and in turn you are "growing love". If you know a family in need or a person down on their luck you share.
  We like the idea of it because we fully support gardening and farmer markets as well as we believe a child getting fresh food is getting a leg up.
  I wish that more food pantries and assistance places would encourage people with SNAP benefits to grow their own food. Live plants and seed plants can be purchased with food stamps and if a person was knowledgeable they could grow say all of their tomatoes for the summer and save on their food costs while giving vitamins to their family AND teaching their children where food comes from. I am very happy to see WIC in this area offer produce benefits that are usable at farmer's markets. I'd much rather see a Mom buy $20 worth of fresh homegrown produce than store pesticide sprayed food. I really think steps in this area could be made to encourage gardening. If you have a pot, some dirt and a plant..you can grow food!!
  The recommended items for most pantries are tomatoes, cauliflower,corn, broccoli, squash, potatoes and onions. Lettuce is harder simply because once cut..it wilts fast...but is a good basic donation item. Remember too that you may be familiar with a certain type of produce (such as heirloom tomatoes) but others may not be. I'm thinking though most pantries or the family you are donating to will be happy with whatever you give. If you don't garden buy extra when you go to the farmer's market and then donate it to your local pantry. Involve your kiddos in the process. Do a community garden at your church and use it to stock your church pantry or to give out to those in need. Much like plants...the ideas....and the love grows!! A good thing to keep in mind whether you donate garden items, donate farmer's market items or store bought items.....try and picture yourself as that parent having to go to the pantry. Yes, food is food. Saving your kid from starving or malnourished is what matters. But if I wouldn't feed my child a chemical laced, high fat, highly processed how do I morally say "hey they can feed their kid that and be happy." Any donation is awesome to a pantry but it would be nice to see some wholesome foods in there with the processed stuff. 
 In my idealistic mind lol I see a basket of fresh produce, some handmade recipe cards to assist in how to prepare a dish or even how to preserve (can) it. 
  I've seen the delight in my own child's eye when she gets the first fresh carrot out of the garden, when she twists off the season's first tomato. I have the pleasure to see her help me make stewed tomatoes to put up. To have her help me water the seed beds. I myself know how I HAVE to smile when I get to smell our tomato vines in the air, how satisfied I feel when my little rows start growing and the delightful sweetness of our strawberries.
  If you think about it many of us give 10% of our income to the church, 10% of our garden to the pastors, we give alot of our tax money to govt programs, we give alot of our energy to our job. Why not give a row of our garden to someone in need? It might spark that person to grow their own food or it might brighten someone's day. And for many...it may save their day if they have very little food.
  Some links:
http://www.ampleharvest.org/
http://eartheasy.com/blog/2012/02/how-to-grow-a-row-for-those-in-need/

Cake pops

  Thought I'd do a post on how we did our cake pops. I had never done them till this year and was surprised at how easy they really are. They say it's easier with the kit that makes them all a perfect same size but Kaya and I winged it and did our own...and between home and the girls at work the cake pops got a BIIIIG thumbs up :)
   Bake a cake of any type. We used red velvet since it was Valentine's Day. Follow the box directions and then let cool. So you'll need a cake mix, eggs, water and oil. I haven't tried it with any conversion recipes such as using applesauce etc so I can't say how well that kind of cake works. The cake seems to cool faster ;) if you have an adorable curly headed little girl "cooling" it with her purple crazy minions lol 

Once the cake is completely cooled cut the edging off (otherwise you'll have hard spots in your pops) then cut the cake into 4 equal squares. Put one square in each hand, rub together and it'll crumble right into the bowl. Repeat with last two squares. Make sure to crumble any crumbs (sounds funny but you know what I mean) that are not small enough. You will now add icing. Depending on the moistness of your cake slowly add icing till it mixes the crumbs together and sticks to the back of your spoon. I used cream cheese icing and barely used half a container. It's recommended you don't use homemade icing because the consistency is too thin to hold the cake together. 

Once your mix is sticking to your

Our finished product. Kaya LOVED doing it
and it was awesome tasting :) I'm thinking I'm
going to have to get creative for some
type for her bday lol 

spoon start rolling it into small balls and placing onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
I used a small scoop I had but you can also use a cookie dough scoop/dropper (I am thinking I'm going to invest in one soon) that you can find at any store. Once you have all the mix onto the cookie sheet put in the freezer for ten minutes. Once set remove from freezer and melt your dipping chocolate. I used Wilton red and pink due to the holiday. I melted it at one minute at a time, stirring till smooth. Dip the end of a cake pop stick (or in our case straws cut in half because I forgot I used up my sticks lol) into the chocolate, push gently into the cake ball and dip in the chocolate. Set onto the wax paper. Repeat till done. Once set re dip in next color. Add sprinkles or whatever you would like.

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First time in a long time...

 First time in over a year and a half that I have got out of bed with no pain what so ever in either foot! I guess I must have favored my left foot more than I realized because the ache I was having once in awhile in my right is gone as well (and I had nothing done to it!) First time in nearly 3 weeks I have not had to wiggle my toes during the day so they didn't feel funny, not stand on one foot by the end of my shift because my foot just ached. First time of no pain!!!
  End of shift at work and still feeling good. May sound silly but when you have a pain in your foot every single day just the relief of no pain is awesome! I'm on my feet 8 hrs a day at work and often do not sit down at home till late so no pain is great!! I'm also realistic that it may not last. That it may just be the initial big injection of cortisone calming that inflammation along with the ibuprofen but I'm enjoying it lol I have two weeks before my return apt and I hope the pain does stay at bay. I do have a lovely dark green bruise across the top of my foot and a bit of puffiness this evening.


UPDATE: Wellll come Friday evening my foot is more tender. But not hurting like it was. So we'll see how this goes. I don't ever put all my eggs into one basket so I'm not expecting miracle work but I also hope that the shot decreases inflammation and possibly shrinks somewhat the cyst and I don't have to have any other work done. I need to get new shoes as well and I think that will help too. I did rest my foot this evening while starting my new book :) while Kaya was taking a bath. So we'll see if that helps. My cousin got onto me when I said "I don't have time for any surgery" LOL but honestly...it won't be long till we are super busy, enjoying the outside and getting the ball rolling for school etc. Eek I need to stop worrying and relax...I've got 2 weeks before I have to worry lol 

Foot dr appt

     Dreaded day for my foot dr appt. lol To say I despise going to the dr is an understatement. Growing up drs were mainly used for school checkups, serious issues and very little else. Home remedies ruled and I just never have been a dr person. I go..but yeah lol Steve made a point of saying that I can't tell others to take care of themselves and go to the dr, or tell him to keep his appts if I don't go myself. (Can you hear me grumbling from here? lol)
  So decided to go to the dr that has a main office in the next town but also keeps an office here in town. I can say the office staff did a great job of getting me in quickly (my appt was for about a week after I called), they were courteous when I got there today, quickly got me into xray and I didn't have to sit and wait in the regular xray room. The dr was also very nice, very thorough and actually put me at ease.
  Xrays showed no breaks or fractures (my big worry). The dr pushed around on different spots..no pain. Then he hit the spot on the top of my foot that has been hurting and all I can say is I'm glad that I went to the bathroom before going to my appointment!!! He pushed around several times there and told me that he is almost certain I have a ganglion cyst near my tendon. When he bent my foot a certain angle I could see how swelled the spot was. He said it was probably pushing on that tendon and that was making it hurt to my toes. He decided to give me a cortisone shot. Oh man!! By halfway through it I was up on one elbow saying to myself "I birthed a 9 1/2 lb baby I can make it through this!!!" When it made a tear come out of my eye..and I have a HIGH pain tolerance..you know it hurt. Due to it being close to my tendon the cortisone irritated my tendon (to be expected). And because your foot has so many small blood vessels it broke a small vessel. By the time we were heading home I was in the passenger seat crying it hurt so bad.
 I have iced it every hour for 15 mins and tried to keep it elevated. It just..hurts. If I was irrational I'd drive over there and kick the dr in the family jewels simply because it HURTS!!! I've taken 800 mg of ibuprofen so we'll see how it goes. No restrictions and I've got work tomorrow. Yippee
  I can say that the conversation Steve and I had today meant alot to me. He asked why I was so hardheaded on dr appts for myself. I make sure Kaya has hers, I take her if we can't get a fever broke etc and I religiously put all his appts, MRI's etc on the calendar and work straight shifts to make it to them...but I don't do myself that justice. I told him..I try hard to hold onto our health insurance credits. My work insurance gives you $500 worth of health care credits...they are used for your appts till it's gone then you start on your deductible. Our family plan deductible is not tiny so I try hard to make sure that we hold onto some credits to offset dr appts. Well kid checkups, yearly appts for me and Steve are basically covered no matter what. But a dr visit cause Kaya is sick or a neuro appt costs. One MRI after insurance is normally 800 bucks, one neuro visit after insurance is 140 give or take. So I try hard to save credits for those things. Steve looked at me and said "You need to realize that me and Kaya love you more than anything. You know it doesn't matter how we use up the credits or that stupid deductible. You are important too and you have to put yourself first sometimes and take care of yourself too".
  Maybe it doesn't seem like much but anyone that knows my husband knows he doesn't write for Hallmark lol but he is a loyal, loving steadfast husband. He doesn't let his illness define him, make him selfish or think every focus has to be on him. Sometimes I need him telling me to STOP and put something I need to do on the list. I think sometimes I worry so much about what we need to do for him..that I sometimes overlook myself. And that drives him nuts lol
  So guess we'll see how this foot feels. Sure not feeling great this evening!!!! I go back in 2 weeks to see if it's shrunk etc.

Kaya feels puny

   Kaya started Sunday evening with a mild fever but nothing serious. No cough, no high spike in fever, good appetite and playful. But Monday night she was coughing horribly (but not her croup cough we have once every year), her fever was staying up but not super high and she was just not doing her normal activities. After work on Tuesday, which thankfully I got off at 3, she was running a rather high fever, coughing insanely, and complained she only wanted something to drink. When she wasn't sleeping. We had used the vaporizer, a breathing treatment during the day, fever medicine so we knew we better call the dr.
  With the merger of the peds offices it's not as easy to see our regular dr. We are not "Frequent callers" as Kaya isn't sick very much at all. (Matter of fact we saw the dr twice last year...once in June for her yearly checkup and once in Nov I think for the croup). We usually have one round of croup either in the fall or in Feb. We love her dr but to get an appt today we had to use the after care clinic and see the on duty dr. I'm thankful for the after care clinic because it's in the same office we use (so no odd scary place like the ER for Kaya to stress about) and most the time we can see our reg dr.  This time we had to see another dr (the after care clinic cost a bit more but still way less than an ER visit). Kaya wasn't too impressed with the dr. The dr was nice but rather stiff..not like Kaya's reg dr at all lol
  They swabbed her for the flu...which she doesn't have, asked about her not having a flu shot (our reg dr knows we don't do the flu shot because we can never get a reg one that doesn't contain swine flu..which we don't do the combo shot) and the final diagnosis was lower respitory infection. Two teaspoons of amoxicillin  daily for 10 days, breathing treatments every four hours and her inhaler if she needs it. Fever medicine we were giving her was fine.
  Tonight her fever has crept up to 102 and wavered very little. I hate when she is sick and puny. I'm very blessed to have a healthy bouncy energetic girl. Hopefully following the drs orders, lots of rest and fluids she'll be feeling like her old self soon :)

Valentines Day or week at the Hacienda lol

  Anyone that knows us and the Hacienda lol knows that life is never dull around here. It's always hopping, changing and full of fun and laughter but most importantly overloaded with LOVE. The best four letter word in the English language.
  We never do one day of any holiday lol and it normally spans a week or so. I'm thankful Kaya loves all holidays and is always up for some fun. This was the first year she was excited on Valentines Day.
  So into the oven went mini turkeys(Cornish hens) with cajun seasoning along with sides of mash potatoes and gravy. Kaya helped and together we made some awesome red velvet popcakes dipped in red and pink chocolate.
  Steve and I really don't do Valentines gifts...we didn't even do the holiday that much when we were dating. As a married couple we've come to realize that yes, however you choose to celebrate the holiday is great..for us it's just not a big event. We try to make every day "Valentines Day" and try our best to share life, love and joy. When Kaya came into the picture we decided to treat her with a special little gift.
  We also know that showing our love for each other, staying strong as a couple gives Kaya the best Valentines Day gift..it teaches her that she is valuable, that she deserves to be treated special each day and that showing that you love/care isn't reserved for one marketable holiday on the calendar. It also teaches her that she can't expect to give without getting...that giving someone else some love is one of the best gifts you can give :)
  

Find peace.....

Read an article about how people should try to see beauty in the small things, peace in the chaos and how their life might "flow" better. I 100% believe that. Sometimes when you crave something you just have to look right where you are! We have days where I'm just home from work, Steve needs to rest and Kaya is 100% wound for speed lol We could either let the chaos happen or we can find the peace in it. While Steve gets some down time to feel better later Kaya and I get "girl only time". I get to hear her report of the day and share a few giggles. I could either sit on the couch and stress out or I can bundle her up and put that energy to good use having fun outside.I can gripe about medical bills or I can just be thankful I have insurance, a way to pay them, a name to the disease and the chance to make it better. I can stress about the weather or I can realize it's just a few months out of the year and gives us down time from a huge work list we have in the spring/summer. I can see our projects, garden, canning all of that as "chores" or I can look at it as time spent with my little family, teaching Kaya useful things and being with my husband. I can work myself into oblivion or I can realize life needs togetherness, breaks, and our time spent fishing isn't going to send my home into cluttered grossness. I can focus on the big picture of life or I can notice the small little fingers grasping mine, the giggly I love you, and realize I am living the BIG DREAM!! She won't be small forever so I cherish her uniqueness. I could gripe that Steve does things differently than me or I can just be thankful he does the dishes after I cook supper. I could squawk I want fancy jewelry and expensive gifts or I can realize that I have two of the most wonderful gifts..actually two sets of them..Steve and Kaya's arms around me A person can spend their life in the valley sulking because they are handed a rough time..or they can see it as a learning process and start focusing on making it up the mountain! A person can live in a past, hold onto hurts and past emotions and stay bound to that time or they can let it go, find their happiness, make peace and live the life they want. A person can sit and judge others or they can take care of their own front porch and let others live their life.You can live repeating the mantra "I'm so busy, I'm so stressed" and your molehills will become mountains or you can realize life is life and start celebrating your joys instead of focusing on your unhappiness. I'm thankful for Steve, Kaya, and all my family and friends. They are my true blessings. Life is noisy, life is messy, life has many unplanned routes...but what a wonderful life it is!!

The month is flying by!!

   February is flying by. We've had lots of snow, lots of laughs and lots of fun. We did find out that sledding down the side hill with a coating of ice...makes for Kaya lots of giggles and Mommy some more white hair LOL
  Kaya is very interested in Valentines Day this year and wants us to have "mini turkey" for supper (Cornish hens) and give each other little gifts. We usually do something so that may be the game plan. Super easy to make and she thinks they are "very special" ;)
 Chickens are growing by leaps and bounds...faster than I think even Steve thought they would!! Getting the chicken house built is def on the to do list when the weather breaks. I'm also happy that when the weather gets better we'll get our chicken run built at Dad's and the rooster will go down there. I'm hoping the hens will start laying this spring/early summer. I'm thinking that Kaya will be super excited to see the eggs...they will be a dark purple brown! 
  I've decided to buy a canner this year that can pressure can and water can. That way I can put up more of our garden bounty and do jellies, broths and soups. I've always put up stuff but mainly by freezing and with Steve building my pantry shelving this spring I'll have plenty of room for canned items. I can do tomatoes, jellies, tomato sauces etc with water canning but have to have pressure canning for beans, soups etc. Should be fun. We are going to round out too our bounty with stuff from farmers market since our raspberry bushes won't be producing yet and it's hard to beat the deer at Dad's for his blackberries LOL
  We've also decided this year to do a Grow A Row, Grow A row of love. Will explain more in another blog.
  I've got to set up Kaya's apt for Kindergarten enrollment. Ugh. I'm excited for her but..it's not easy. For any of us. But it's another milestone in life and I know she can excel at anything!
  We are toying with buying either a goat or a pig (yes I'm one of those women...useful gifts over luxury lmbo) to raise at Dad's. The goat will keep weeds at bay and if it's a female give milk. If we go the pig route it's pork in the freezer. Not sure what we will do.
  Insurance is covering Steve's meds and had our first shipment for the year. Sad that it's a hit of 2400 an order but thankful for the copay program and that we get to keep his meds. We once again this last tax year hit our 5000 deduct, 500 healthcare credit and 10,000 out of pocket before the end of the year. But..blessings lay in the small print and that is how one has to live!
 Life is rolling along rather well.  How could it not with this goofy girl ? :)
  

Did I mention....

 Did I mention that we've had snow..and ice lol Can say it's made for lots of outside snow ball fights, sledding and the need for hot chocolate. Can't complain about that lol