Don’t Fold Laundry

So, I was in the living room, folding laundry, when a surprise walked in…

Look! See! Pretty!

I tried not to lose my cool…but what the *#@!

Don't you like my surprise?

At this point, I just had to laugh. Or else the tears wouldn’t quit, you know?

Are the legs a bit much?

And then I wondered…where did he all color?

I'm so proud!

Thankfully, the only “artwork” I found was George. So, it quickly became bath time!

Oh no! I'm melting!

He kind of freaked out over the marker melting off…and I had to keep draining the tub and adding clean water.

Someone wasn't happy about losing his tats...perhaps he thought he was losing his street cred?

My lesson learned for the day? Don’t fold laundry. Now,  just to let my husband know that. 😉

Thankful Thursday – Zoo Days

Yesterday was a crazy day…really, really crazy. So today, I was looking back through some photos and remembered a trip I took with my boys to the zoo.

It wasn’t that long ago, and we took some of my nephews with. It was so much fun…and on days like today (when I feel lousy and exhausted), it’s a great chance to relive those moments.

So here we go:

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Monday at Mayo

Today was our first day here in Rochester for our fall checkup. We have met with the dietitian and got some really great new ideas for George’s diet.

For example, she gave me the idea of grilling a portabello mushroom (the great big cap) and topping it with a bit of salsa and a little bit of shredded cheese, to make it resemble a burger. What a GREAT idea! (I just hope George goes for it!)

We’re also going to be in contact with a chef that has a daughter that follows a low-protein diet…can’t wait to get some more ideas and recipes!

But I would like to give a big shout out to those people that have been so amazing and have made me feel like I was at Scooter’s coronation activity today. Scooter was named Little Mr. Ellendale last fall, and that meant that him and Little Miss Ellendale would be part of the high school Homecoming ceremony.

Unfortunately, this is Homecoming week…and I couldn’t reschedule this appointment again. So I missed it, but not really. Not one, not two, but at least THREE different people took photos for me. And truthfully, it probably went better than if I would have been there.

Scooter, escorting some beautiful women!

 

Little Miss and Little Mr. Ellendale - future Homecoming royalty???

 
 

The beautiful thing about living in a small town is that you can ask someone for help, and know that all is taken care of…and I can’t believe how lucky I am.

A Meal for a Crew – Steak Pizza

I’m linking up to a Latte’ with Ott, A’s September Iron Chef Challenge. And this month, the ingredient of choice is Red Star Yeast. I was looking through recipes, and thought I would do The Pioneer Woman’s Steakhouse Pizza, but didn’t have much of the ingredients (except yeast, flour and steak!)…so I decided to make my own recipe.

I was nervous if it would turn out, but since the pan was empty in less than 15 minutes, I’m assuming that meant it was edible.

Here we go!

Great ingredients make for a great meal!

 

Ingredients (crust):

  • 1 teaspoon Quick Rise Instant Dry Red Star Yeast
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Sprinkle yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Let stand a few minutes. Combine flour and salt. Drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. next, pour in yeast/water mixture and combine until dough comes together. Coat a separate mixing bowl with olive oil and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it. (Note: I made the dough the night before. It worked really well the next morning!)

Mixed dough

 

 

Dough - after being in fridge for 14 hours!

 

 

Pizza ingredients:

  • Dough (see above)
  • 14-15 oz. pizza sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons BBQ sauce
  • mushrooms (or toppings of choice)
  • steak (arm, ribeye, skirt, cut of choice)
  • 3 cups shredded cheese (pizza blend is what I use)

Ready to hit the oven!

 

Directions:

On a cookie sheet, spread out dough. Combine pizza sauce and BBQ sauce. Spread evenly over dough. Top with toppings of choice, end with cheese. Bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese it bubbly and crust is turning golden.

Cook your steak as desired!

 

 

While crust is baking, cook your steak to about medium-rare. Let it rest. When pizza is done, slice steak into very thin slices and place on top of the pizza. Stand back and watch it disappear!

Did I say, Mmmmmmm?!?

 

 

Yummy!

 

 

This is what was left, about 15 minutes after it came out of the oven!

 

 

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A Mother’s Love

I saw this on Facebook tonight…and couldn’t get it out of my head.

A Mother's Love

This was the caption under the photo:

This is a true story of Mother’s Sacrifice during the Japan Earthquake.
After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head.

With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman’s body. He was hoping that this woman could be still alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure.
He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reasons, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruin house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his had through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement,” A child! There is a child! “
The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3 months old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother’s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up.
The medical doctor came quickly to exam the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said,” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” This cell phone was passing around from one hand to another. Every body that read the message wept. ” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Such is the mother’s love for her child!!

Why did this strike a chord? Aside from just being a mother? (By the way, snopes clarifies that the picture and the story don’t go together…I’m fine with that, but whether or not the two go together, they both hit my heart.)

Well, to put it simply, I’m somewhat in the same position.

After researching and researching and researching some more…I’ve learned quite a bit about George’s OTC. And if he truly has OTC (which has been pretty well proven through testing and improvement with the diet), then we’re dealing with a disease that does a lot of taking.

For example…in OTC, males are hit harder than females. In fact, 50% of males born with OTC do not live 72 hours. And of the 50% surviving, another 50% will die by the age of 5.

Those are the facts.

So, on Sunday we head back to Rochester. And this time, the questions will be a little more pointed and a little more clear. I need to know exactly what the doctor is thinking, and what we need to do. I’ve read on some new research showing hopeful uses of gene therapy…something we may look into.

Whatever it is, we will do…I will stand over my son and let the roof crash on me, so that some day he can stand tall and read, “If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.”

Why I Do It

Just moments ago, I finished speaking at the #140conf Small Town in Hutchinson, KS. I was terrified, but so grateful that I did it!

Here’s the gist of what I said…

There is a story to be told, but it’s YOUR story. If you don’t know it, no one else can share it. So many times, we look at our lives and say, “I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time for that.”

Are you kidding me?

No one HAS time for anything. We must MAKE time. A minute here, a few minutes there…it’ll happen.

I just have to thank my good friend, Katie, for encouraging me to be here. I would like to thank all my rural friends and those that encourage my story…and I would ESPECIALLY like to thank all those that have made it possible for me to be here, by taking care of my family.

I’ll post more later, but I just had to make a shout out and thank some peeps!

Getting Connected

Right now, I’m sitting in a hotel room with my friend, Katie. I’m getting ready to speak at a #140 Small Town Conference in Hutchinson, Kansas. And I’m writing a blog post.

What’s the deal?

There’s a common thread here…and that’s my internet connection. You see, Katie lives just an hour west of me, in a small, rural North Dakota town…and contrary to public belief, just because you live in North Dakota does not mean that you know everyone else in North Dakota. Katie and I met through Twitter. That’s right, there’s more than one person from North Dakota that uses Twitter. Mind blowing, isn’t it?

I met Katie in real life about a year ago, thanks to the planning by another friend, Sarah. And thanks to a late-night Twitter conversation with Katie, I am presenting my views at a conference tomorrow. I keep pinching myself, but apparently I’m awake.

The internet has made some amazing connections for me. I’m able to update my friends and family about George’s health and progress, and I’m able to share my thoughts and concerns whenever I feel like it. All thanks to a little wire that runs to our house. It amazes me.

And now, I’d like to share my connection with another woman. Although I have never met Leontien face-to-face, we are connected. And right now, she needs as much support as possible. She’s fighting melanoma for the second time…and as you know, cancer sucks.

So, if you would, please head tap the button, head on over, and let her know that she has a friend in cyberspace that is thinking of her, praying for her and helping her kick cancer. Although she, alone, is fighting this cancer…she’s not alone in the fight.

Out of the Darkness

This weekend, a local community (like many others) will be hosting its first Out of the Darkness community walk in LaMoure on Saturday, September 18, starting with registration at the LaMoure American Legion from 1 to 2 p.m. So what’s the purpose? Does North Dakota really need to worry about this?

The answer is a resounding, “YES!” Did you know that North Dakota ranks 11th in the nation in suicide deaths per capita? Did you know that suicide is the leading cause of death due to injury in farmers in North Dakota? With the age range of 40-49 being the most affected?

And although farmers are not the sole issue here (really, every family that is touched by suicide is dramatically affected), farming is a stressful job. Your days and your schedules are not set by anyone, most of your livelihood is controlled by things that are out of your control. And a good year can be swiped away in a minute.

But there is help…for everyone. There are hotlines and websites and friends and family, all willing to help through the tough times. It seems the number one response to a suicide is, “Why?” And although it’s tough to swallow, many times the answer is never truly known.

So today, I ask that you take a look at your friends and family members, reach out to those that are struggling and lend a hand (or just an ear) to those that are in need. And if you’re in need, we’re here for you.

Plant your own seed of hope.

Plant a seed of hope...let others know you care.

Frosty Farm

We were really, really close to a frost this morning…and our farm isn’t ready for that! (Of course, Mother Nature never waits ’til you’re ready, though.)

So, what does frost mean for the farm?

Well…it means work.

Frost kills the plant, which in turn makes the fruit of the plant ripen sooner than planned. Unfortunately, when plants don’t ripen on their own, and a frost helps ripen them, they can all ripen at the same time. Which is stressful!

Today our high is supposed to be mid-50’s, tonight a low of upper-20’s, and then a slow warm up again. It’s hard to plan in the fall, because you never know what the day is going to bring. My boys leave for school in heavy jackets and come back without them. You start the day in long sleeves and end the day in shorts. It’s crazy, but it’s the same thing every fall.

Another sure sign of fall? I was up ’til almost 2 this morning, canning the vegetables that were ready to go, just in case frost did set in. I’m a tired prairie mama today!

Just some of the produce now prepared for winter!

 

Eating Dinosaur Eggs

Just thought I would throw out a quick blog update, so that you didn’t think that I had fallen off the face of the planet. Actually, harvest is upon us and things are getting busy around here. This week we:

  • need to clear an area for our new hay shed
  • need to freeze more corn
  • need to can more salsa and tomatoes
  • finishing my Dad’s siding project
  • county Farm Bureau annual meeting
  • attended a funeral
  • school functions/homework/etc.
  • prepare for corn chopping
  • get ready to wean cattle
  • prepare for my trip with Katie to the Small Town 140 Conference in Hutchinson, KS!!! (I’ll be a presenter there!)
  • prepare for a return trip to Rochester
  • get ready for a super-huge, ginormous rummage sale next weekend
  • get ready for Applefest
  • get some freezer meals ready for the rest of harvest

Sounds simple, right?

But this little story had me giggling this morning, so let me share with you…

EJ (4), asked if he could eat some oatmeal for lunch. I didn’t have a problem with that at all, I mean, a simple, fast meal that dirties one dish and can be made in a minute? Sure, count me in! I had picked up some special instant oatmeal packages the last time we were in Aberdeen, so he grabbed one of those and away we went.

EJ’s job was to open the package and put it in a bowl. I add the water, we push the buttons on the microwave together and voila! A meal is served. But he had a bit of a problem when he opened the package.

Dinosaur eggs in your oatmeal? Why not?

“Mom, what are those?”

“Hmmm….well, it says that those are dinosaur eggs.”

“Mom, I don’t think I’m hungry any more.”

“Don’t you want dinosaur eggs in your belly?”

“No, they might eat me.”

Well, being the nice mom that I am, I only tormented him for a little bit, then explained that they were actually just like little jelly beans. I would’ve kept the ruse going longer, but I didn’t want to have to make something else for lunch! 😉