About Dying

I mentioned yesterday that I had stayed with my in-laws after Thanksgiving. It's true! The boys stayed with me but Gary had to go home to finish up the semester and go to work.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned it a few months ago, but my father-in-law has cancer. At this point he is on hospice and is only expected to live another day or two.

Jon is 75, but still young--or was 6 months ago. As late as last spring there was very little he couldn't do. We all expected another 10-15 good years out of him and are so disappointed to lose him so soon and so quickly.

Our real heartache though, is for Helen. She is losing her husband, her rock, her best friend, her partner. She is the one who has to keep on living. I know she will be ok eventually, but my heart hurts for her in the next few weeks and months.

I also have to admit, the timing is awful! The holidays can be hard after a loss, but to have the loss occur right between Thanksgiving and Christmas... I'm sure the next few years will be difficult.

We have hope though, in the resurrection and second coming. We know we will see Grandpa again. Jon has seen Jesus a time or two in the last couple of weeks. He has been comforted, has been told that Jesus will take care of Helen and is looking forward to the pain and disease being over.

My mom said something that has helped my perspective a lot. She said, "There are worse ways to die than at home surrounded by family, made as comfortable as possible, and regularly affirmed by those around you that you are loved and will be missed." 

Jon and Helen have been a wonderful witness of leaning on Jesus even when terrible things happen. This is not God's plan. He does not cause pain or suffering or early death due to disease. An enemy has done this.

Thank you for your prayers as our family goes through this difficult time.

Ellie's Closet {Fall 3-6}

Hi. It's been awhile. Again.

Oh well, such is life.

I missed a week before Thanksgiving because life is busy, then we went to see my in-laws for Thanksgiving and are still with them. I'll tell you more about it in my next post.

So. What has Ellie been wearing the last few weeks?

I created Week 3 when we were having a warm week. I left out sweaters and coats for several outfits. I also changed a couple items in Ellie's wardrobe at some point. I can't remember exactly what, so maybe you can spot it!

By Week 5, fall was really getting nippy! I added more jackets and coats and picked out warmer scarves for Ellie's outfits. I think the gray coat here was traded for a black one. They're both really versatile with her wardrobe, but the gray one is more flattering. I think the gray dress is new, traded for the black one that just wasn't working.

So there you go, 6 weeks of mix-and-match modest outfits that are still current, fun, and flattering. These outfits are appropriate for a stay-at-home mom, a teacher, or several other jobs, and I wish it was mine!

Next week, I'll be adding a few winter pieces, but I'm trying to limit Ellie's purchases as that's reality in my life right now.

Hope all is well!

Five Whole Foods Suppers

This whole foods thing is pretty cool. Since I last mentioned it, I've been pretty good about avoiding gluten and dairy, I've mostly not eaten eggs, and I completely haven't eaten corn, soy or peanuts. Sugar, on the other hand, is much harder to avoid, but I've done a lot better than I thought I would.

I actually did eat some gluten over the weekend, and you know what? By Sunday I felt terrible! I was so groggy and sleepy with a constant little headache. Weird, but I've read that can be what it's like for your body when you do eat gluten after avoiding it for awhile. It's back out of my diet and next time I'll remember the brain fog before choosing to eat a regular sandwich again!

I've been keeping tabs on which meals we really like and feel good after enjoying. Also which ones are easy, our kids like, and there might be leftovers for lunch the next day.

These Sesame Noodles with Wilted Garden Greens by Bev Cooks were surprisingly good! I didn't even have all of the ingredients, but I did have fresh Swiss chard from a neighbor and we enjoyed this recipe a lot! We used gluten-free noodles and will be making this again.

I found this recipe for Cauliflower Coconut Masala on the Roasted Root but it was actually created by Coffee & Quinoa, just so you know. It was easy and delicious! Our whole family loves Indian food, so it's nice to get it at home when you know exactly what goes into it and it costs a lot less.

I knew we liked cauliflower alfredo, but I wanted a vegan version as I'm avoiding dairy right now. Again, I didn't have all of the ingredients, but this Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo from Evolve Vegan was so very good! I left out the roasted onion and garlic as well as the rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes and just used some onion and garlic powder. This recipe is a keeper! I have to admit, I liked it better than the cauliflower alfredo with dairy milk and parmesan! Weird! We used half zucchini noodles and half gluten-free spaghetti.

This Burrito Bowl from A House in the Hills looks absolutely amazing. Ours were much more humble but even then, this is one of my all-time favorite foods. We used jasmine rice, black beans, salsa, non-dairy ranch dressing and a handful of corn chips on top for the boys. Yum!

We love lentils and tomato bruschetta, but until recently we'd never put them together. Again, the link to the Lentil Bruschetta Salad is what I based the recipe on, but mine was different. I made regular tomato bruschetta--roma tomatoes, minced garlic, basil and parsley (fresh is better but dried works), a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar and a shake of salt. Then I added a couple scoops of fresh cooked lentils and served it over--of all things--a baked potato. So good! In fact, we're having this for supper tonight.

Martha Stewart's team of elves usually gets things right, but sometimes they forget the humble home-maker doesn't have a team of elves to keep up with the kids and laundry and everything while she cooks all day. But this Roasted Pumpkin Soup recipe is seriously easy! It has only 7 ingredients including the pumpkin, salt and broth! And it's vegan! The hardest part is cutting up and roasting the pumpkin. Not that I've tried it, but we have a pumpkin who's days are numbered! I'll let you know how it goes.

So, now you know more of what we're eating. Have you found any great recipes lately?

Baby Malcolm Update

It's been a week or two since I updated you on my nephew, Malcolm. Since the last update, Malcolm has been eating and growing well. He is on some oxygen and is still in the NICCU. Part of that is to finish up a long round of antibiotics that he has to take, and partly because he sometimes has apnea episodes.

Today is one of those days, as was Thursday about 10 days ago. The episodes are unbelievably scary, and as of yet have not been connected to anything.

Our prayer for Malcolm is that the doctors find the cause of the apnea so they can treat it. Thank you for continuing to pray for Malcolm, his doctors, and his mommy and daddy.

Ellie's Closet {Fall 2}

Hi! How is every one? Did it snow where you are? We got a light dusting and my boys were thrilled but it seems awful early to me.

I think if Ellie lived in Nebraska, she'd need to add a coat and warmer shoes to a couple of her outfits this week. What can I say, it was still warm when I created this week's wardrobe.

I have to say, I'd love to have a few of these pieces in my own closet! That polka-dot dress would be so fun, and I love the red rain boots! What items do you like?

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Finale

It's still November, but Nebraska has snow on the ground. Not much, but it's there.

We've had a beautiful, mostly warm fall that has been so pretty!

Until the cold weather rolled in on Monday afternoon, we were enjoying being outdoors with just a light jacket, if any! I caught these pictures of my boys on Sunday when it was 60.

I hope you're warmer, wherever you are!

Ellie's Closet {Fall 1}

I sprung the news last week that I was going to start a series called Ellie's Closet. I'm taking a basic wardrobe that I created on Polyvore and mixing and matching the wardrobe into several week's worth of outfits. I'm trying not to repeat any outfits, but if you catch one, don't fire me! Please also remember that this is for fun. I'm not trying to make any fashion statements, just trying to inspire myself to mix and match my own wardrobe to keep my outfits more interesting. And to inspire myself to wear something other than yoga pants and a sweatshirt.

So, here's week 1!

Ellie is not me. I don't dress that nice all the time, and she's thinner than I am. She was also really insightful about building her wardrobe to include so many mix-and-match basics. While some of her outfits are super cute, they wouldn't be as practical for a stay-at-home-schooling mommy of little boys. White pants? Love the look but they wouldn't stay clean until breakfast time! Booties? Cute! But would I wear them if I had them? Not on most week days.

Having said that, we can use Ellie as an example to bump up our daily selections. For instance, I started wearing a lot of skirts this summer. I love the look and found them so simple and comfortable! I also LOVE scarves and usually throw one on.

Ok, looking forward to sharing the next set next week!