I fly out early in the am tomorrow to be with my mom again for round 3 of chemo. I fly home very late Saturday night…just in time to be with my kiddos for Easter. This round of chemo, I am personally just absolutely exhausted. Literally exhausted. Cancer is a beast. A beast, that I would not wish on anyone. Please pray for us, during this round. Pray for strength. And encouragement. We need both…
Archive for » March, 2010 «
28
Mar 2010
I have heard lots of other bloggers talk about The Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook…heard the recipes were good…and decided to give one a try before I run off and buy the cookbook. So we made the Chicken Pot Pie tonight…and it was oh so good. A home run with all the kids and the honey! It was actually her Leftover Turkey Pot Pie, but I put chicken in it. I diced my chicken up and fried it in LOTS of butter! Once it was almost cooked I added the veggies and continued with the recipe as she has it. The pictures are from my Chicken Pot Pie, but if you want to hop on over to the Pioneer Woman…she has some pretty amazing pictures too!
Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
1 pie crust (1/2 of Perfect Pie Crust recipe)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 cups leftover turkey, light and dark, diced or shredded (or both!)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
splash of white wine (optional)
1 cup heavy cream
Frozen peas (optional)
Fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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| From 2010-03-28 |
Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
Add turkey and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
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| From 2010-03-28 |
Pour in chicken or turkey broth, stirring constantly. Splash in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. (May add frozen peas at this point if you’d like.)
Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes.
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| From 2010-03-28 |
Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.
Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.
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| From 2010-03-28 |
Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.
Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.
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| From 2010-03-28 |
Serve with a large spoon.
Category: My Kitchen, My Thoughts
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27
Mar 2010
Did anyone do anything fun outside today? It was so beautiful. We worked out in the yard, took the kids to see the movie How to train your dragon, ate pizza, got coffee, went to Home Depot to get grass to fill our empty spots! Busy day, but lots of fun. The kids had so much fun playing outside. They loved helping to plant flowers, and dig for worms!
This week has been pretty tiring for me. I was exhausted coming home from NM. It was a great trip, just tiring. So I did nothing pretty much all week. I was just too tired. Today I was feeling pretty motivated to get stuff done. And I am sure Tony appreciated that. 
My goal for this next few days is to get our house in tip top shape, before I fly out again on Thursday. Even though it stinks that my mom has to go through chemo….it has been fun to spend some one on one time with her and see my sisters every 2 weeks. And my nieces and nephews. They are so cute, and I love being an aunt. It is dangerous actually because I see all these cute baby things, that I think they need and want to buy them. How come they always come out with cuter things from when I had babies? So not fair! And if I were crazy I would have one more….but I am not crazy…5 will be just fine! And that is kind of crazy too! 5 kids. I love peoples expressions when we say we have 5 kids. Better yet, some of there remarks are pretty funny too!
Anyways, we are trying a new church…The Village! Tony really likes it. I like it too. It is just so different from Heartland. Can I tell you it is hard to find a good church. It is hard to get back in the swing of that, after being so deeply wounded from our friends at Heartland. But we have definitely learned what a good friendship is and isn’t. I heard this quote from my friend Jen: Friendship is like a highway it runs both ways, if it comes to a one way road it was never a friendship to begin with. Isn’t that the truth! That is a true test of true friendship! We would still love to sit down and talk with our friends to have some sort of reconciliation, but that most likely won’t happen at this point. And I have accepted that.
Anyways, Have a great church day tomorrow!
Category: My Thoughts
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23
Mar 2010
We are home from New Mexico…it was a long week. Mostly because I flew out of NM to go be with my mom on Wed…then flew back to NM late Sunday night…then got up the next day to drive all the way back to Dallas. Talk about a crazy schedule. Kind of makes my head spin. My mom’s 2nd round of chemo went well. She also had her surgery to have her port placed. Which went well, but she is very sore. We met so many neat families this round of chemo. So many hurting families that are battling the beast of cancer. I have new friendships there that I hope to keep in touch with from this point on.
The kids had a blast with the cousins and aunts, uncles, grandparents. And the grandparents wore my kids out! It is good for them to get super worn out! Now mean old mom, has them back on there schedule! Schedules for my kids…it works wonders! They all function so much better!
Okay, well maybe tomorrow if I get super motivated I will post pictures from our trip! For now…I am off to get some much needed zzzzzzzzz….
Category: My Thoughts
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14
Mar 2010
Well, I am finishing up packing, so we can head off to NM…to be with the in laws for a week…I will be driving out with all 5 kids…then I fly out Wed to be with my mom for her 2nd round of chemo…Then Tony flies in on Thursday night to be with the kids and his parents…then I fly back on Sunday night…then we all drive home together on Monday. Um did that make your head spin! It makes mine spin. We are So busy! How will I ever catch up on anything! I am thankful that we get to go, and that we are fortunate enough to travel when we want.
Okay, I have to get back to packing!
Category: My Thoughts
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11
Mar 2010
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| From 2010-03-11 |
Benjamin my middle son was born 6 years ago!
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| From 2010-03-11 |
He was born early and spent some time in the NICU!
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| From Petting Zoo |
He was absolutely the cutest baby ever!
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| From Petting Zoo |
And I still think he is pretty handsome!
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| From 2010-03-11 |
He is full of so much life!
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| From 2010-03-11 |
He is so sensitive! He always has been. He has a very tender heart!
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| From 2010-03-11 |
He brings so much joy to our lives! And I love him so much!
Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!
Category: My Thoughts
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10
Mar 2010
So I flew in on Sunday afternoon. And so far this week I have done Krystina’s 3 year check up…took Bryce to the dermatologist…Dentist appointments for Chandler and Bryce, grocery shopping…Oil Change…Packed for next week…Made cupcakes for Ben’s birthday at school…LOTS of laundry…mopped the floors…cleaned all the bathrooms…Made something for my sister’s baby…home schooled Bryce…sent out some important emails…and it is only Wed…and I AM EXHAUSTED. I am literally exhausted. I feel burned out actually. Trying to find a healthy balance to life with all that we have going on. And I am stinking at trying to find that balance. I feel the need to get everything done when I am home since I have been gone to much to be with my mom. The deal though is that, they are things that I DO need to get done. I think I need a maid! That would help and make it all better right? I feel the need to be a perfectionist in my home…because that seems to be the only sense of control that I have, since our worlds have been turned upside down with my mom’s cancer diagnosis. I know this probably makes no sense to anyone that reads it. It is to bad you could not be a fly in my brain! But even trying to be a perfectionist in our home has literally gone flying out the window because well…I am exhausted. So trying to find that balance. Where is it? What does it REALLY look like? What is realistic for right now in this season of our life? I have had to really let go of a lot, in order to keep my sanity. I can’t do everything. But I want to. It is a battle!
Category: My Thoughts
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06
Mar 2010
Well the chemo for this round is officially done. OH MAN, we were so excited! My mom was so excited to be off the chemo. Her side effects have been a heavy metal taste in the mouth, naseau, fatigue, tingly feelings in the feet and hands. And we get to do this again in 9 days!
I fly out tomorrow around 2. And my little sister is going to pick up my mom and take her back to MO. She will stay with her till her next treamtment, then I will fly back. It is going to be a long few months.
I hope it goes by fast!
Category: My Thoughts
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05
Mar 2010
Let’s just say it is 7 pm…and I am ready for bed. And probably will go to bed as soon as I am done writing. My mom is already asleep. Her test today went smoothly. They found a hiatus hernia, and ulcers in her esophogus, stomach, and duodendum. She will start being treated for those as well. I laughed in the pharmacy, because it seems we have our own pharmacy going on in our room. She has SOOOO many medicines to take. I need to buy a pill container to put them in. She is very naseated, very tired, weak, very sensitive to cold, her hands and feet are tingly. It has just been in general a LONG day. Tomorrow is a new day! The plan was to leave tomorrow, but since we got started late on the chemo, she will not end that till late tomorrow night. So they have changed my flight to leave on Sunday. Thank you for praying for us. I am praying for an easier night!
Category: Family, My Thoughts
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05
Mar 2010
Well I have been back in Tulsa since yesterday. We hit the ground running. Meetings with doctors. Chemo began a bit late for my mom. About 3. Her vein blew. Which caused a lot of pain in her arm, since the chemo drugs infiltrated her arm. They started a second IV, and it seems to be going well. We met with the surgeon to figure out the day to place her port. That will be on the 18th of this month. Chemo next round will be much easier, since they can just access that port. Last night was a long night! We were up about every hour. So today, we are both tired. I am drinking a lot of SPARK!
After they started her IV yesterday, we both began to cry. This is all so emotional. I kept thinking “why are WE the ones that have to be sitting here?” But we are. And so we roll with it. We are on new territory so to speak. It is hard. I know that God has good plans for us. I know that HE is already in my tomorrow. When I stop and think of it like that, I have peace. God does give us peace. He does give us the kind of peace that passes our understanding.
At 12:45 I have to wheel her down to have a EGD done. She has some uptake in her stomach during the petscan. So the GI doctor does not want to wait and wants to look at it right away. I should know something later this afternoon. Right now she is sleeping peacefully.
I have been able to massage her hands and feet. She really likes that. It is such a special time here with my mom. To be able to serve her like this…I would not have it any other way. I love my mom so much. She is such a special lady. She is such a giver. She ALWAYS gives above and beyond what she has too. She is the kindest lady you would ever meet. She is generous. Her eyes are beautiful. Her smile is contagious. She is full of wisdom. She is a great listener. Has great advice. And I cherish her.
I came across this song from another blog…Especially Heather. And I fell in love with it. So click on it and listen to the words.
In the quiet of my soul
In the stillness I hear Your voice call
And I am overwhelmed
And I am lost for words
To describe You
Jesus You’re more than a friend
Jesus You’re more than my heart
Could ever express
Your love and Your grace
Never fail me
Your merciful touch always heals me
You bring joy to my soul
My heart longs to worship You my King
And I long to bring You a pleasing offering
And I am overwhelmed
And I am lost for words
To describe You
Category: My Thoughts
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