Holiday weekend

  I love 3 day weekends, especially when I'm off work :) This has been one busy weekend but it's been tons of fun. I'm very thankful for my two sweeties and how much fun we have no matter what.
   Saturday we hit some good yard sales, headed to our fave Mom and Pop diner for catfish, and then went to my cousin's graduation party. Cannot believe one of my "kids" has graduated. He should still be my little chubby baby. But I'm proud of the young man he's grown into and his future plans.
  

Around here when we do catfish..it's some serious catfish LOL Bigger than the bun and so good you don't need anything on it. Kaya always picks "Catfish and pie, no fries.And a Coke please" :) Her Daddy is just as bad :)

 Sunday meant a big cookout down at my family's farm. Good food, lots of laughs, lots of love and lots of cousin time made for a great event. Caught up on all the gossip while helping my Aunties fix lunch lol. LOVED when Kaya said "AWW MAN it can't be time to go". Dirty knees, wild hair and wore out from lots of fun. From there we headed to my Dad's place to check our garden size, visit and make sure our chickens are doing well. They are great layers and we are thinking of setting them soon for babies :) Kaya wants chicks BAD lol While out we visited the cemeteries for both sets of my grandparents (we visited Steve's last weekend). Hard to believe they are gone, sure miss them. Then home to play in the sprinkler, water the garden and relax.

Today has been..interesting lol We decided to load up the cooler, the poles and head out to go fishing. Kaya did great at first, getting lots of bites, listening well and then "I'm bored". She didn't want to look for bugs, was tired of looking for frogs. Steve got frustrated with his hands, he's been having a hard time with them with this relapse and tying hooks was not easy today. 

 So we fished for a few then headed home. I worked on my plants while Kaya hit the sprinkler and the trampoline for a few. I'm really pleased with how they came out :) Also got another bunch of tomato, hot pepper and pumpkin plants in our garden :)

Steve's follow up apt

  I wish I could write amazing things the dr said, amazing ways problems are going to be fixed but much like every other thing with MS..it's wait and see.
  Steve's steroids pushed back the relapse somewhat. The dr questioned his limp, which Steve explained is worse if he's more tired or it's hot out. She was glad to hear his speech was better, that his limp wasn't horrible, that his feet felt better. She's decided to leave him on his current shot for 6 mo and see. The sad thing is every single MS med has an 1/8 of a chance of a relapse. Steve has went 2 yrs then had one. We can't say the shots failed but we aren't sure if his body is going to keep using the shot correctly.
  Then he told her about his hands. He has been numb more or less in his hands since his relapse. He gets stiff, fingers lock up over night and some days he cannot even write his name decently. Some days he can't feel heat/cold other days he can some. Other than wearing out faster than normal his hands has been his big issue this time. She told him it could take up to 6 mo to see any change, if there is change. I wanted to hear "We can give you this" ..but I know that isn't how it works.
  So in 3 mo he goes back for a basic check up. 6 mo he goes for another 3 hr MRI and then he'll have a 6 mo checkup. From that MRI we'll know if he'll stay on his meds or be changed and how his brain looks from these lesions and if any more have appeared. He currently has 2 active lesions, one on the front left and one on the middle/back right side of his brain. The 3rd one that showed up on the MRI from the relapse is non active and just scar tissue.
  Steve stressed about another MRI in 6 mo. At $1300 a pop it's not easy on the budget. Figure in dr apt costs (our insurance only pays $18 each appt til we meet our deduct, we are liable for the rest of the bill for each apt), blood work costs, shot costs...we jokingly call this relapse our Tropical Vacation. We could have went somewhere warm and nice for the cost lol We have to laugh and go on, not much else you can do. We also for the first time have to juggle apts around Kaya's schooling. We took the 3 mo check up date that is on her first week of school, the 6 mo apt can hopefully be done when she's on fall break. Unless my Mom is home from work we have noone here to get Kaya from school etc. Sooo life is always fun and adjusting this and that.
  I sometimes wish I could film Steve so people could understand MS. If you don't have it, if you're not with someone that has it you don't really get it. I'm very thankful Steve is a tough man and keeps on keepin on. 

Who am I...who are you?

When I'm asked "Who are you?" different titles spring to mind. My name, wife, Mamma, employee, dr of skinned knees, chef of probably over used recipes lol, inspiring chef of new recipes when I'm feeling brave, daughter, sister, best friend, vet to our critters, at times my hubby's shoulder and at times worrier, stresser and failure in my own mind ...all titles that spring to mind.
  But sometimes I wonder do I truly fit the title given and do I fulfill the title enough? I think as Moms we all worry are we enough, do we do enough, do we do it right, do we do it wrong. Will our kid grow into a great adult, will we stunt them in some way. Seems like Moms question themselves enough without society forming what a "MOM" is.
   Who I am is not going to be like a tv star Mom who's life is splashed across the tabloids. I don't have a Nanny nor do I desire one. I can't imagine jetting all over the world and leaving my most prized possession, Kaya, at home. I can't imagine having maids, chefs.
  Who I am is not going to be a socialites definition, a rich woman's definition, a soccer Mom's take on motherhood, or even fit in my neighbors shoes of how a Mom is. 
  Who I am is not how my Mom was, how my grandma's were...even though I have parts of each of them in me and bits of how I do things. I am not the Mom my husband had or his grandmas.
 I am just me. Just like you are you. I am the only Mom in the world to one curly headed Kaya. I'm the only wife in the world (or I best be anyway lol) to a handsome man named Steve. I'm the only critter keeper to a sassy tortoise (yes I said sassy) named Sheldon, a crazy water turtle named Dipper, two less than wild crabs named Snuggles and Cuddles, to a spoiled wiener dog dubbed Bella and to a rotten cat named Pheart and now a foster critter keeper to a cat we've named Socks that never seems to leave lol
  I try every day to be the best ME that I can be. Some days are epic flops that end up with Kaya having an extra scoop of ice cream so I can finish what I need to do. Some days it's dr apts, meds refills and figuring out what I need to put in Steve's rx thing so he can remember to take it. Some days it all falls into place and I'm queen of the hill. Some days we get to have a sweet us only date and we feel like newlyweds all over again. Some days I have Kaya glued to me and I shuffle how I do things. Every day I'm thankful for my life, my kiddo and my husband.  But I've also learned in life that some days it will be messy, it will be chaotic and I will be me regardless. 

Mother's Day :)

 Can say today has been a wonderful Mother's Day. Steve said he'd do all the grilling for me, my Mom and his Mom for his gift to us, that we didn't have to have anything on the agenda. I knew too that he'd need an idea for sides so I fixed them Saturday evening. I love the man to pieces but he could easily have a meal of meat with a side of meat with a side of corn lol and I wanted something different. So night before I fixed cold pasta salad and cut strawberries up in put them in sugar. Super easy :)
   Mother's day I made several baked potatoes in the microwave then diced them up and put them on foil, salted the chunks, diced in bacon and onion, wrapped them and Steve grilled them. All we did when they were done was add some shredded cheese on top. Went over well.
   Kaya surprised me with a beautiful purple and green twisted pipe cleaner bracelet  "cause Purple is your favoritist color Mamma".  She also gifted me with a sea shell, a rock she had her Daddy spray paint to look like gold and a beautiful rock she found at the creek. It's a lot of love when Kaya shares rocks..she LOVES collecting them. I'm very blessed she shares them with me. She also made her own card for me....and of course I raved over it! She's very creative :)
  Steve fixed my Mom supper when she got off work and we had lunch with his Mom. It went really well, was a delicious meal and a great time together. I'm very lucky to have a husband that thinks of all the ladies in his life and how important they are :) My Mom thinks of him like her son and they have a great relationship. I think too it shows Kaya that you extend your heart to others and that love isn't defined on just one day or with one expensive gift is all you need to do.
   I'm pretty lucky because I have Mother's Day 365 days of the year because I'm called Mamma by the sweetest little girl ever :)

Some easy recipes

    Thought I'd share a couple of super easy recipes I've been using. Simple, fast and tasty. My kind of recipe and a must have when it's warm out. Between working full time, outside work and gardens etc we stay hopping.

7up Biscuits
   Super easy biscuit recipe that beats any biscuit I've had.
 1 cup of sour cream ( I use generic)      1 cup of 7up (again I use generic)
4 cups of all purpose baking mix (I have found generic works just as well as name brand)
1/2 cup butter melted and poured into your baking pan.
  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
 In a bowl mix together well the baking mix, pop and sour cream. Knead a few times. Pour dough onto a floured surface (I use those handy dandy plastic sheets they sell at the Dollar Tree...super easy to clean up after). Roll dough out flat and using a biscuit cutter dipped in flour cut out biscuits and place in pan that has melted butter in it. Repeat till pan is full. (If you have extra dough you can put it in a baggie to use within a day or so or freeze it up) Bake for 15 min at 425. When you pull biscuits from oven lightly spray the tops with spray butter and let set a minute. These are the tastiest biscuits. Steve and his brother ask for them all the time and they are a pitch in fave :)
**If you do not have a biscuit cutter simply flour the mouth of a REGULAR size cup and cut them out.

Easy Breakfast Bake
5 eggs     1/2 cup of milk              8oz shredded cheese (any type)           
1 cup or so of meat (you can use any...bacon pieces, sausage or ham...ham is far my fave for this recipe)               1 can jumbo biscuits (I use generic)
    Super easy recipe that bakes fast, is filling and something you can fix for breakfast or add a salad with and you have supper.
   Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl mix eggs, milk, cheese and meat together making sure eggs are well blended. Take can of biscuits and tear (you can also cut each biscuit into fours..me I tear them lol) them into pieces and drop into bowl. Stir to completely mixed. Pour into a prepared (I use spray canola oil) cake pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until center is done.  Very easy and good recipe. I've tried it with sausage but I think the ham is far better. I also add mushrooms to the top after I bake it (just one half of the pan..>Steve doesn't do store bought mushrooms lol) and sprinkle shredded cheese over top, put back in oven long enough to melt the cheese. EVERYONE likes this!!

Cold Pasta Veggie salad
 Excellent pasta salad that is tasty and quick to fix. I fixed this one with real mayo instead of Italian dressing or vinegar etc. Nice change of pace
  1 box of ast pasta shapes or rigatoni pasta (I use the ones that are all different colors made from mainly veggies...sneaky way to add in some veggies ;)
cucumbers sliced up (whatever amount you desire)    cherry tomatoes sliced in half (however many you like)
ast bell peppers diced up                     real mayo
   Prepare pasta by box directions, drain and let cool. Add in veggies (you can do whatever ones you like!) and stir in enough mayo to make moist. Refrigerate till ready to eat. Best if made night before so everything "sets". This makes a BIG bowl that I use for get togethers but you can downsize accordingly :)

  I don't make these items every meal lol but they are a nice treat to make and they are fast. I add in lots of fresh veggies to about any recipe I make simply because Kaya and I love them. Steve..not so much so if he "knows" they are there he won't eat it. 

Mushroom season

      Or "time to go shrooming" as many would say around here lol The picture below is some of the prized beauties we were so lovingly given by a fellow coworker :) 

 We absolutely love mushrooms (it's morels around here that is eaten) but we cannot find them to save our souls lol
Oh we can tell you the signs for them such as look for a ton of mayapples, look under rotting wood, look here look there. We know when the season comes in. Locally after winter you'll have your first warm up, then it will get cool and rain..then heat again. That is prime mushroom time!! The delicious little things pop out almost over night and they are selling for some rather good prices locally (anywhere from 35 to 50 dollars per pound).
 As for us, we are blessed with a coworker that can find them like crazy but could care less if she eats them and lovingly gives them away.
We soak them in salt water overnight. That loosens up any bugs hiding in them, any dirt and anything else!! We also cut them down the middle (I hadn't done that yet in this pic). After a good salt soak then we rinse them. Then you get grease (I use a deep fryer) hot. While it's heating up you take flour and add salt and pepper to it. Roll the mushroom in the mix then drop it into the oil when it's hot. As soon as they start turning that done shade of brown pop them out on a papertowel lined plate and enjoy. They are a house favorite. Kaya isn't quite into them yet and mainly loves to watch the bugs float out of them lol But we LOVE them. I wouldn't want them every single day or they'd lose that seasonal appeal.
  I can easily see how they go for up to 300 dollars a lb in California and places out west where they don't have them. They have this unique crunchy, greasy ...oh my flavor lol I'm trying to freeze a small mess this year just to see how it goes.
 Mushroom hunting is serious business and the old laugh is you know who your real friends are when they give you mushrooms lol People do NOT disclose their secret areas, how they find them or when. 

A new week almost done and welcoming a new month :)

Came home to a curly headed little girl all excited to show me the surprise she had made me :) A lovely bird made from paper, stickers and a paper towel roll. And of course it had

 

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Lovely heart shaped eyes because she "loves me so much" VERY nice surprise to come home to
This has been a much better week. Steroids have eased up Steve's feet and helped his speech but he has not had the energy he expected. We are chalking it up to the fact he is currently having active lesions. Maybe the last time he was in the end stage and had inactive lesions...so maybe his body using the extra steroid energy to push back the relapse. We don't know. Right now it's more mental frustration for Steve as he is just tired of being tired, tired of not feeling like himself etc. But we just have to stay positive. He goes back May 23rd for his follow up. As for now he's suppose to continue his weekly shot and we will sort through everything once we are at the dr.

Another good positive this week is our Auntie came through her mastectomy surgery well. She's been on our minds since her first diagnosis and we continue to not only keep her and her family in our thoughts but to keep sending positive thoughts that she'll be back to meanness in no time ;) and feeling great!!
 
We got our peppers and first bunch of tomatoes in the ground. Very happy to see them standing up pretty this morning. Weather has dropped cooler but not to freezing so we should be ok. Steve keeps saying when we "have spring number 4" LOL Crazy weather but thankful we did not get the tornadoes others have seen so far this spring!!
Kaya is still growing by leaps and bounds and we bought her a new bag of clothes this week. She actually loved it all and now just has to try it on and see how it fits. The child is outgrowing everything. I intend to hit some yardsales this summer for play clothes and maybe some good clothes. I also want to start back to school shopping just to get a head start.
 Medical bills are beginning to trickle in. Not so great lol but thankful for insurance. Just so tired of doing the cha cha. As soon as we get one close to done, MS rears up and we have to start again. But...in hindsight we've paid off a lot of medial bills since the original start of MS so we should be thankful for that.
Hoping to till up the garden this week at Dad's and get it going. Eager to get corn and goodies going down there. Have decided that most likely my pantry project may get pushed back till down in the fall or later. I just can't reason doing it right this second with everything else going on. It is what it is and I'm not going to croak if it's not done right this second lol
I think to close this blog post I'll say always be thankful for what you have. Steve lost a friend today that leaves behind a wife and four children, the youngest being only 4 mo old. They had been friends in school and growing up and stayed in contact via online for the last couple of years. His death was not expected, he hadn't been ill etc. Our thoughts go out to his wife and children and the long road ahead of them.  It also serves as a reminder that time isn't forever. That today isn't promised and tomorrow may not come so you should enjoy every minute you have, never go without telling those you love that you love them. Hug your children tight, love your spouse and try to make every minute, every day count. Enjoy the fun happy moments, cherish the love and try to see the light in the dark moments. Never say you wish for one minute you're spouse would just stop talking/being/doing....it may happen one day and that is the loudest silence a person will ever endure.