I'M OKAY!!

For those of you who have not heard...

After our Pascha (Easter) feast at church I was loading up our van when another van backed up into me and pinned me against our van for about 5 seconds. It was all very scary, but, Glory to God, I am going to be okay. I was taken by ambulance to Providence Hospital in Everett where I got a CT scan and they ruled out any internal bleeding. I did have a subcutaneous hematoma that was activly bleeding, so I did have to stay overnight in the hospital. Right now I am so swollen, I look like I am 5 months pregnant!

My previous hospital stays have both been after I had my babies. The beautiful, immaculate, quiet rooms. A nurse constantly checking on you. Wonderful food. Bliss. Serenity. A beautiful baby at your breast...

Maybe it is the post-delivery highs, but those rooms were fantastic.

Let me tell you about my room at Providence. First of all, I had to share the room. I shared it with a sixty-something woman who coughed when she was awake and snored when she was asleep. She also kept her tv on ALL NIGHT. We also had to share a bathroom. So anytime she had to use the bathroom, she had to walk by me. Then I got to hear her do her business. I absolutley cannot stand hearing bathroom noises... I seriously am freaking out right now thinking about it!!

But not only did I have to share a bathroom with my roomie, but we also shared the same bathroom with the room adjacent to us. So I got to listen to THREE people pee!!! ACK!

Perhaps worse then the peeing, snoring and tv, was a man who was about three rooms down from me. All night, like clockwork, there was a man yelling, yes, yelling, "HEY, COME HERE!! HEY LADY!!!"

He wanted the nurses to sit with him all night. When they would not, he would yell for them. I asked the nurse what was going on... I got the biggest eye roll! Apparently they were sick of him too. Finally they gave him enough medication to sedate him.

What fun!

I have to say, I have an amazing family and church family. My kids were in the car and ready to go. Instantly somebody took care of my kids and brought them to the ER. Josh rode to the hospital in the ambulance with me. So many people from my church came to the emergency room to check on me. My priest stayed in the emergency room with me till almost 11 pm. My mother-in-law spent the night at our house and took Monday off from work to watch my kids. I have childcare and meals planned for me and my family for the entire week. I have gotten so many calls and emails from people wondering how I am doing and offering to help in any way. I am so blessed. I am so thankful and bewildered by all the love and support that instantly appeared. Thank you to everybody.

Cooking... Is it worth the trouble?

I really want my kids to eat healthy. However, we have a few issues.

Neither will eat vegetables. Claire will not eat fruit. Levi is ultra picky. Needless to say, this makes dinner difficult. Lunches are usually okay, as I can fix them what they want. Levi always wants a ham sandwich and Claire loves gardenburgers.

I have often stated that I will not make seperate dinners. I feel that my kids should learn to eat what is in front of them, to be thankful for their food, and, at the minimum, try one bite.

Well, I am sick of complaining. I am sick of Claire throwing food on the floor. I am tired of hearing Levi whine about onions, or peppers, or celery. I am tired of begging them to try a bite. I vowed to make a difference.

A while ago I bought "Deceptivley Delicious" by Jessica Seinfield. Tonight was my night. I went to Safeway and spend $75 on groceries; mostly veggetables to puree (beets, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, red peppers, and carrots). While the kids were sleeping I cooked and pureed the sweet potatoes and the red pepper. I made sticky rice with coconut milk and mangos. I browned the ground turkey. I cut up the onions, celery and carrots. I even made them really small. The kids were getting sloppy joes. Josh and I had Thai tofu and noodle salad. I cut up the garnishes: carrots, cucumber, water chesnuts and bean sprouts. I marinated the tofu. I was in the kitchen for two hours before dinner getting this all ready!

Everything looked great. And it tasted great too! But did my kids eat it? Did they try a bite without whinning? Was dinner finally not a battle?

I think we all know the answers to those questions: NO.

So, really, was it worth it? My kitchen is now a disgusting mess (thanks to no dishwasher), there is still food on the floor, and Levi was sent to his room about a zillion times because he could not contain the complaints. And there is TONS of food left over.

To top it off, my adorable neighbor Leslie, brought over some homemade muffins. They are whole wheat with obvious chunks of carrot and apple. Levi and Claire could not get enough of them.

AAGGHH

I wonder if I could pay Leslie to come over every night with dinner that "she made"???

Arts & Crafts

Below is a slideshow that I made with some of my recent projects. However, there are two projects that I cannot take credit for: the Finding Nemo wall mural was painted by Josh for Levi's nursery at our house in Everett, and the baptismal gown was made by my mother. She made that for Levi's baptism in April 2005. Since then, all four of her grandchildren have been baptised in it. Her fourth, Macrina, was baptised this morning at St. John church in Eagle River, AK.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa with Macrina.

Art Projects

Alaskans in Washington

Today, Lazarus Saturday, is a popular date when new members are brought into the Orthodox church; either by chrismation or baptism. At St. Paul's we had ten baptisms and two chrismations. One baby's baptism (Daniel) brought enough people for a mini St. John's (Eagle River, AK) church reunion. After the service we all were invited to a baptism party. There, we had a group picture of all the Alaskans.

(Fr. Michael, Melinda, Kh. Rita, Josh, Claire, Dan, Elisabeth, Dn. Lawrence, Erin, Daniel, Riley, Dna. Natalie, Elyse, Levi, Naomi)

Per Elisabeth's request:

Spinosaurus

Like most boys, Levi has discovered dinosaurs. He loves them! He has about a million play dinosaurs and he likes to pretend to be one also. (Since Levi does this, so does Claire. It is really cute to hear her roar!)

One of his favorites is a spinosaurus. Here is a picture of the one that he plays with often.

So at night, after Claire goes to bed, Levi likes to draw on his easel. Usually he writes his name or letters. Tonight he decided to draw a spinosaurs. I think that he did great for a three year old! You can clearly see the "sails" and the curve of the tail. He drew a t. rex too, but it was nowhere as good as the spinosaurus!