Walking through the Library of Congress is one of the most impressive things a citizen of the U.S. can do.  This place is beyond description.  The architecture, the richness of the elements used in this building, is like nothing that you or I have ever experienced. You can see some of this in the new movie release, National Treasures II, but even that will not even begin to capture the grandiose of this building.   Not even pictures can do justice.

The general public is not allowed to enter into the actual library part of this building.  You can only view it from windows and doors from the first and second floor.  But if you go to the James Madison Building across from the Capital (along Independce Street), you can get your own library card and then be allowed into the inner sanctuary. 

This is not your typical library – you can’t just browse and pick out any book you want to look at.  You have to know which book it is you want and request it by name. Then they will send for it from their miles of buildings that store the zillions of books they have. It can take a few hours or a few days for your requested book to be found.  Every book that is published has to be sent to this Library for copyright approval, so whatever book you are looking for can most likely be retrieved.  However, you can't check any books out - their not allowed to leave the library.  Get comfortable, find a spot, and read to your heart's content.

The next time we come to D.C., on Rachel’s list of things-to-do, is to get a library card from the Library of Congress.  I think I’ll get one, too!

I never knew that I could watch our money being printed on a press!  This was one of the most fascinating tours you will ever see.  Right down town Washington D.C. is a building called the Bureau of Engraving that you can enter and have a tour of the printing presses that made your dollar bill.  You get to watch all the different steps that go into printing our money from a second floor walkway that views down into the printing press rooms. 

The paper starts out very large – so big, that thirty-two, one dollar bills can be printed on it. To be loaded onto the press sat a huge pile of this large paper. Upon each stack would be printed 33 million dollars. They showed us what the paper looks like, up close, before the printing began (there is a faint hologram on it – a security bar). Then we watched as the paper made its way through the press, printing thirty-two, one dollar bills on each sheet. Next, came the cutting process; first, into sixteen (half); then into eight twos; and finally into singles. 

 The paper stock comes from a company in New England by the name of Crane.  I found it incredibly interesting that the dollar bill is not made from paper – it’s made of 75% cotton and 25 % linen.  Is that amazing, or what?  I never knew that! My mom said that now she finally understood why the laundry machine never ruined money that got left in the pockets. 

There is a computer scan on each section of the press and cutting process looking for defects.  In the gift shop I was able to purchase an inexpensive souvenir of some shredded money – money that did not pass the inspection of the computer presses that showed some irregularity.

This was a totally educational tour, even for us grown ones. I think that the only thing I didn’t like about this tour was that they didn’t give us any free samples...

 When planning this trip, it seemed as if the hardest decision would be where to stay.  Dh wanted to stay some place kind of close so that there wouldn’t be a need to rent a car.  He can be very fastidious when it comes to lodging destinations, so this was a monumental decision for me!  When I called Travelocity they highly recommended the Hyatt – they said that it had the highest service rating in the D.C. area.   I was skeptical that maybe they made a bigger commission and thus the high recommendation. 

It’s hard to pick a hotel, sight unseen.  When I finally had to choose, I picked the L’Enfant Hotel.  Some of my reasons were logical; some reasons were to fill the children’s wish list; and others, were rather shallow.

The Logical:

• ·         It is close to the center of things – I was told that you could see the Washington Monument from your hotel window.

• ·         There is a subway train in the basement of the hotel, and the train will take you anywhere in D.C.  (and since we weren’t going to rent a car, I figured this would be a good thing.) 

• ·         This was the only hotel I could find with two attached rooms to a living room (a suite). I wanted to be together as a family – that’s the fun of being on vacation – watching the kid’s excitement about all the little things.

For the kids:

• ·         A pool

The shallow:

• ·         It was French – “L’Enfant Hotel” and I love all things French (“Antoinette Lefaivre”…)

• ·         The hotel was named after a French developer – and that is the profession of my husband.

When we checked in, there was some confusion on our check-in date.  Whose fault was this?  Mine?  They had already given our room away.  D-i-s-a-p-p-o-i-n-t-m-e-n-t.    No connecting bedrooms. (However, by Wednesday afternoon, we were switched to the rooms that I had originally reserved.)

The rooms had some issues.  Matt and Kristi had to move to another room because of a black mold problem.  Several of our rooms had a window/door that wouldn’t close – on the eleventh floor, this wasn’t a small problem. 

I had a kitchen in our suite so we could eat in our room.  That’s a nice amenity for one with a large family such as ours.  But it turned out to not be so helpful as the refrig and the microwave didn’t work.

The restaurant in the hotel was excellent.  That was a good thing since we ended up eating there a lot. Everyone was very pleasant.

There was a Starbuck’s in the lobby – since several of us are Starbuck addicts, this, too, was a good thing.  The barista from Ethiopia serving us every day was exceptionally nice.

The best part of the hotel was the beds!  Down feathered pillows, comforter, and mattress pad made it the best sleep I’ve ever had away from home.  I’ve been to more hotels that I can count that I couldn’t sleep at. Sleep is a precious commodity and its value cannot be underestimated.

The pool turned out to be a bust.  They closed it for several days, and the other two days, it was rainy and cold.

We never did get that great view of the National Monument.  We directly faced the offices of HUD (Housing Urban Development).

 We did use the train in the basement several times. At first, it seemed kind of neat.  But after a few times of having difficulty getting tickets from the machine; and then a trip to another part of D.C. to eat where we encountered what seemed like D.C. thugs looking for trouble, we decided we’d rather walk. This was at times difficult for seven-month pregnant, Kristi, and Grandma.

I did find out something about the person that the hotel was named after.  L’Enfant was hired by George Washington himself to plan and develop the new capital of our nation.  Did you know that it was George Washington that planned our present day Washington D.C.?  We looked at the original plans that George had drawn out to scale for the new capital.  Amazingly, the city still holds true to this drawing.  In the end, though, L’Enfant was fired for not keeping deadlines.

I’m glad we stayed at the L’Enfant Plaza, even with its room deficiencies.  The convenience to the center of everything; the excellent restaurant (food and service); the comfortable beds; and the amicability of almost everyone in the hotel makes it a fine place to stay. 

We got up early to make sure that we weren’t late for our scheduled tour of the White House.  We were to be at the White House Visitor Center at 9:30 a.m.  This part of the tour was to become more interesting than the White House itself, believe it or not. There was lots of incidental information about the White House that I found intriguing. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman, a leg of his  daughter's piano  fell through the floor.  He then  had the entire house restructured, much like our own family recently did to our 150 year old home, by laying a new foundation, concrete walls, and support beams.   I enjoyed looking at the photos of different Presidents and their families living in this historic home.

However, the White House tour itself, was a disappointment.  There is a portion of the first floor that is designated for the tour, and this part looks like a museum, but not a very interesting one.  There is no warmth in it, or any evidence that the First Family ever uses this part of the house.   The furniture is not particularly attractive, and neither are the chosen paintings on the wall.

The weeks preceding this trip, we had read a book together called, “The White House,” and this told us 99% more about what it was like to live in the White House than this tour.

After reading the book, the kids mentioned that living in the White House was the closest thing to living like royalty in the U.S. as it gets.   

I found myself thinking about this tour long after I had left it.  “If I was First Lady….” What would I do differently with this part of the House?  And then my imagination took me to all kinds of ideas.  First of all, the décor would have to go.  I’d improve the colors. I’d find way better historical furniture.  And the paintings, they’d be the first to be replaced.  I’d get some pictures of First Families using these rooms and help people envision how they were used and the families that inhabited them.  I’d put more personal touches around the room – like family photos or favorite books of the presidents. 

Yes, “If I was First Lady,” there’s a lot I would do. But at course, the revamping of the White House tour area would have to wait until I got done attempting to revolutionize  the U.S. Educational System first…

Within the first five minutes of walking through the front door, I discovered the most interesting thing about this museum.   Did you know that the Smithsonian Museum is named after a person?  I didn’t.

James Smithson desired for his fortune, “to found, at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment…”   When he died in 1829 he left most of his fortune with his nephew.  He had one stipulation: If his nephew died without an heir, all of his wealth would go to the United States.  Since his nephew was only 22, that didn’t seem likely.  Amazingly, his nephew died at age 28 without having children. 

Here are some other things I discovered about this interesting story:

·         James Smithson wasn’t even a U.S. citizen.  In fact, he’d never even been here once in his life time!  Can you imagine bequeathing your fortune to a country you’d never even visited?

·         There were those in Congress that argued the money should be refused! (Now, I find that AMAZING!)

The beginning point of the Smithsonian is a large, old castle.  It is the information center and a starting point, but I personally found more interesting things in here than in any other part of the institution!  Everything in the museum has been donated, and as it has been said that, “Every gift has bequeathed another.”  The story behind each gift; who donated it; why they gave it; and what led them to give it intrigued me.

Going in a group of nine, and trying to all stick together, takes a lot of give and take of interests.  Matt wanted to spend time in the area of dinosaur bones (and there were a lot of them!)  I would have gladly skipped this part as it didn’t seem that terribly different than the Natural Museum in Chicago, Illinois, that I visited a seemingly hundred times when I was a kid (Chicago Public School field trips.) 

The room that was filled with gems and stones was a place I could have spent a few days.  I found it incredibly interesting that these gorgeous gems were formed by natural elements from the periodical table (something that has always held my fascination.)   Some of the stones and gems were made of the exact minerals and elements, in the same proportions, but yet were completely different colors.  

We went to an I-max movie that is 3-D.  This is the kind of film that they give you those silly looking glasses to wear while watching it.  If you have seen one like this, I am betting it was not in comparison to the one they show at the Smithsonian.  The film we seen was about dinosaurs, and the optical illusion made it as if there were dinosaur birds flying straight towards you.  Many times it felt as if you could reach out and touch it right before your eyes.  If you are a science fiction /Stargate/Atlantis lover, think; “Hologram”.  It is just like it.  It’s amazing.

Today we spent another day at the museum and this time we were at the Air and Space Museum. For a homeschooler mom that just finished encouraging a semester’s worth of studying the planets and solar system, this was a dream.  There was another 3-D movie about astronauts and the study of exploring the planets and solar system; and an Albert Einstein Planetarium that explained Black Holes in a way that I could have never come close with my available resources from home.

Tomorrow, it’s on the agenda to see the White House.  Stay tuned…

Tops on my husband’s list of things he wanted to do while in D.C. were to tour the White House and the Capital building where Congress meets.  Shortly after starting to plan this trip, I found out that we could only do that if our Congressman lined this up for us.  I emailed this information to my husband at work on a Monday morning.  On his way out of the office, running in a hurry to an appointment at the Mayor’s office, he grabbed my email.

Fifteen minutes later he entered the Mayor’s office, and guess who was there?  Our Congressman.    (Is that amazing, or what?!)  After being introduced, my husband told him that his family was going to D.C. within six weeks, and could he line up a tour of the Capital building and the White House?  Yes, he assured him, he could certainly do that.

Within a few weeks, we had a letter from the office of our Congressman, giving us a date and time of the tours we requested. Our family was awed! We’ve been looking forward to this ever since.

Today was the day we were to meet in the office of our Congressman for the tour.  We were told that an intern or someone like that would be meeting us and giving us this tour.  We were amazed when we were introduced on the steps of the Capital building, our Congressman.  Our family had a personal picture taken with him, and then,  we walked with him into the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives was in session, a swearing in ceremony of a new member.  Nancy Pulaski, Speaker of the House, was residing in her usual place behind the podium.  Just a few months ago we were watching the State of the Union speech, given by President George Bush. It seemed much grander and larger when we had watched it on TV.

Our Congressman explained a lot of things to us about how the House works and what life was like within the Capital building.  After a spoken vote that was rather loud and enthusiastic, he compared Congress to being in high school.  Cliques, committees, and conversation among them such as, “So what are you doing this summer?”

He took Ruthie, Jacob, and Joshua to the main floor (we were seated in the balcony) and let them cast a vote in the ballet box.  Then he gave them some “important” paper work to save as a memory token. 

Afterwards, an intern took us through the rest of the building.  This is an amazing building.  There are marble stairs, walls, and ceilings everywhere.  There are hand painted murals on every ceiling.  There is colorful mosaic tile art on some entire ceilings and walls.  It is its own art museum – in fact, I think I enjoyed this art more than I would have than at any art museum.  Every picture was historical in nature and told its own story.  There was a chandelier that had 14,000 crystals in it; a statue that weighed 6 tons; and a statue that was completely made out of bronze. Others were 100% of ivory, copper, or granite... Every statue and painting is representative of someone important in history and the creation itself has become history.

At one point in this tour, I came face to face with Speaker of the House, Nancy Pulaski.  I’m not sure of the circumstances that caused her to do this, but she actually lingered right there beside and in front of me for several minutes.

When our tour concluded, we were led to an underground subway in the Capital building itself.  I never knew that was there!   We took a train ride back to our Congressman’s office.  It was a very special day!

My husband is generally the one that is our vacation idea guy. And he’s really good at it!

It was his idea some months ago to take this trip to D.C., and part of this plan was to take the train to get there.  This is something none of us had ever done, or had we even known anyone that has.  The only thing we knew about taking a train is what we’ve seen in movies.

This part of the trip became a highlight in all of our anticipation and excitement.

I went online to get our Amtrak tickets but I decided it would be easier to do it by phone, given the amount of people in our group (nine).  We wanted a sleeper car as we’d be traveling 16 hours from Chicago to D.C.     I was impressed with how nice and patient everyone was when I would call to get prices and then make the reservations.  No matter what the question, or change in schedule, there was always this high level of patience (and niceness) with whoever I talked to.  I was appreciative of that.

We arrived at Union Station in Chicago around 5:30 p.m.  And again, no matter who it was that helped us – the baggage guys; the ticket person; or anyone in an Amtrak uniform, they were all exceptionally polite and accomodating.  This isn’t exactly a common characteristic in Chicago!

We have flown by air quite a few times and none of us enjoy the high security and checks of our shoes, purses, and clothing.  We were surprised of how opposite it was to travel by train.  No crowds (this was Saturday evening); no lines; no waiting.

After we got our tickets and checked our baggage (and all of this was done relatively quickly) we went to the waiting room for sleeper cars.  Wow, this was first class.  It was a very large room with comfortable seating; big flat screen tv’s; free cold beverages, coffee, and snacks.   I don’t remember a waiting place like this at the airport!  When our train arrived, the door opened and we walked out to the train.  It was fun to see the kid’s enjoyment of this – the big trains- the anticipation of getting on one.

The sleeper car rooms are small.  I was warned about this when I bought our tickets, but I forgot to mention it to some.  One of our rooms was a family room – it sleeps four comfortably, but we had five (and it was fine size-wise).  There are bunk beds for the kids with safety belt type of things that keep the kids from falling out. Rachel and Grandma had a room-et that sleeps two (another bunk bed);  Matt and Kristi had a room-et, too.

The only trains we had mental images from were formed from movies where there is a long hallway with beds that have curtains on them.  It’s not like that anymore – each room has its own door.  There were three bathrooms and one changing/shower room per car – to be shared among six rooms. 

When we had first starting planning this trip, I went online to see what other people thought and said about traveling by train. One wrote about how the restaurant was so good – it was fine dining – he had ordered rack of lamb – and said that it was very good.  So we had all looked forward to eating in the dining car.  The meals came with our tickets.

We ate around 9:00 p.m. and several ordered steak, and Grandma had a vegetarian entrée. The salads were fresh, the entrées were all excellent, and the desserts (lemon torte; crème Brule cheesecake; and a chocolate layered cake) were awesome.

It seemed as if we were eating all the time.  We got up in the morning to have breakfast (9:30 a.m. – the French toast is great); and then lunch at 11:45a.m. – I had one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever had.   I appreciated that they had “real” butter (it annoys me to no end when a restaurant only offers margarine); real cream (not that I wanted it, but again, it annoys me to see artificial anything); and real cheese on the hamburger (instead of processed American cheese that is totally not good for you. I’ve rarely seen real cheddar cheese offered on hamburgers anywhere.) Oh, and the coffee is the best I’ve had anywhere!

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It was totally cool to eat while watching the scenery as the train moved along.  I had my camera with me and must have taken hundreds of pictures during our meal.  When we were done eating, just one car away was the “viewing lounge”, a place you can sit very comfortably – legs stretched out, no one sitting elbow room next to you, and watch the landscape change as we drove through the different states – Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.  We were all surprised that there was not a crowd – plenty of room to find a seat, in fact, there was often a lot of empty seats in the viewing lounge (this was a Sunday). 

This was a great way to travel with young children – you could walk from car to car; to the dining room; or the viewing lounge (which was the best room for stretching out). 

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The beds were comfy enough; it’s just that there was a lot of excitement so not everyone slept well.  Jacob (7) was too excited to go to sleep for the longest time; Ruthie conked out right away and slept like a log; I didn’t sleep too well but I think it had to do with the great coffee I’d had at dinner.  Rachel said she loved sleeping in the train – she’d wake up periodically but loved the thrill of sleeping in a train.

As with Union Station, the train depot, every Amtrak employee was exceptionally nice.  Service is their specialty.  They were right there for us if we pushed the button for assistance.  Everyone was pleasant.  How unusual!  It was also clean – the bathrooms and the rooms.

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This train ride was as integral part of the anticipation of this trip as D.C.  itself, and we were not disappointed.  The good thing – it was half the cost of traveling by airplane.  It was also cheaper than if we had driven and had to stay at a hotel and paid for several meals (and remember, there was nine of us).  We’ve already begun to talk about taking our next trip to Seattle Washington on their Empire train – the premier train – it even serves homemade chocolate chip cookies.  I can’t wait!

The night before we left I felt a little bit like Dorothy from Kansas. I had declined to tag along with the family to go to the movie, Ironman, at the opening of the new theatre in town.  I thought I could use the extra minutes to unwind and maybe even get a few last minute things done.

But that didn’t happen.   A hurricane threatened with a foreboding sky, dangerous winds, and a siren blasting to notify us.  The movie theatre shut down and warned everyone within that a hurricane was coming and that no-one was to leave.  I moved the truck and car; haltered Major and got him into the pasture with the other horses; and put all the chickens into their coop.  Trying to beat the storm and save the animals wasn’t easy with a horse that didn’t want to be caught or chickens that scattered everywhere when I tried to catch them.

Getting ready on Saturday went relatively well. We’ve arrived in Washington D.C. but not without a few snags!

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Vacation Glitch #1 – The person that was supposed to get us to the train station in Chicago cancelled.  We did find a way to get there without having to drive our cars and park them, but there were a few hours of questioning of how we would do this.

Vacation Glitch #2 – This same person was supposed to help with the animals while we are gone, leaving us at the last moment to find someone else. 

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Vacation Glitch #3 – Upon arriving at our destination, the hotel that I had made reservations at, could not find us in their computer.  They did find us some rooms, but it wasn’t what I had reserved and had looked forward to.

But there are a lot of good things that have happened. It hasn’t been all glitches. We’ve had a lot of fun so far, and it’s already become a memorable vacation in just 24 hours.  Stay tuned and I will tell you all about it….

Time has flown this week. Being the one in charge of getting a family (there is nine of us going on this trip) on vacation is somewhat stressful. The train tickets; hotel reservations; packing; making sure everyone has the right clothes and shoes; and finding someone to watch over the animals while we are gone.  I will be so happy, peaceful, and content once I am sitting on the train knowing that it has all been done and now I can just relax.

Today our horse run-in arrived, as well as our new chicken coop.  Again, another notch of stress, making sure the truck driver placed these in just the perfect spot.  He moved a cabin for us as well.

The house got clean today although I am sure there are probably some unfinished areas. I will have some time in the morning to get to anything that has been left undone.  I have three bills to pay and put into the mail, also.

Thursday I finished up some shopping with Rachel, and when I got home, Becky was here with her three little ones.  She wanted to spend some time with us before we left.  We had dinner together – this was an unexpected company night – and I had planned cereal for supper, given the busy day this was.  But, fortunately, I still had one more homemade lasagna in our freezer.  It was wonderful eating at our big table with five of my children, three grandchildren, my son-in-law, my husband, and Grandma – I love to sit and just marvel at all the blessings God has given me.

Tomorrow we take an Amtrak train to Washington D.C. in a sleeper car. I hope to take lots of pictures and share them with you!  We will dine on the train four meals before arriving.

We have a scheduled tour of the Capital Building as well as the White House.  We plan on visiting the Supreme Court, Congress, and the Smithsonian.  Everyone is very excited. And I am especially praising Him that Grandma is going with us.

  I am so glad that Mary is back, aren't you? 

The Show and Tell that I want to share with everyone is not ready for this week.  My dear friends, Dan and Baghya, members of our church, have just returned from a four week gospel crusade in India, that our church sponsors. God blessed greatly and thousands attended.  Many people came to Jesus through the hearing of the gospel.  I have so many pictures that were sent to me that I want to share, but I haven't figured out how to transfer them into my photobucket, as they are in a different format than I have ever used.  When I get back from our upcoming trip to Washington D.C. I hope to share these with you.

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Although not "ready" with what I really wanted to show and tell, I didn't want to miss out - so I am going to share with you a soup recipe that I made this week that is very healthy. 

With my mom’s recent health crisis, leaving her weak and without strength, I wanted to nourish her back to health with small,  but often meals, packing them with as much nutrition as I possibly could.  Here is a broth/soup recipe that tastes good and is excellent for restoring one’s weakened body through sickness. 

• I start this soup/broth with a rich chicken base.  Secret:  I save chicken bones in my freezer for this.  In fact, and shhhhh, please don’t tell anyone, but I have a freezer almost full of chicken bones.  I have been saving them from every chicken meal our family has eaten in the past year, with really good intentions of making broth and then freezing it for my soup bases.  But this has been a busy year and I have not made any soup broths, (so thus the freezer full of chicken bones!)

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·         I fill a very large metal pan with water, put the bones in it, and begin to simmer it. 

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Now, I add the fun ingredients:

A half head of cabbage (I don’t cut it or anything, I just throw it in.)

A full onion

Lots of garlic cloves

A bunch of fresh parsley

A bag of organic carrots (rinse and dump in the water, whole)

One hot pepper (just to give it a spike.)  I would have put another one in, but thought I’d better just start with one).

A few fresh asparagus

A lot of potatoes – as many as I had on hand.

A few celery stalks

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·         For seasoning, I added sea salt and pepper.  Sea Salt is an important ingredient.  Table salt is Sodium and Chloride and it is not good for you. Plus,  Sea Salt has 40% less sodium than table salt.

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·         Now, for the secret ingredient that I think made this broth tasty- Bragg Liquid Aminos – an all purpose seasoning that is a soy protein.  There is a lot of protein in this seasoning and adds to the over-all health benefit of this broth.  (This seasoning is similar to Soy Sauce, but without the MSG (very harmful.)  

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I had thought I would serve this just as a broth to my mom, but then I thought, maybe she’d like it better as a soup with some substance.  So instead of draining all the veggies, I put some of the broth into a bowl, then added some of the potatoes, asparagus, carrots, and cabbage (now that it was cooked it took seconds to chop into small pieces for soup).  Before serving this, I added the Bragg Liquid Aminos.

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I separated this broth into small Pyrex dishes with fitted lids and stored in the refrigerator for an instant meal for my mom.  She liked the taste of it and even my 16 year old daughter liked it.

 If you have an elderly person that you are taking care of or taking care of anyone recovering from illness, this is a good soup/broth for them.

I am  praising God for answered prayer as my mom is doing terrific!  After making a decision very late Saturday night to drive to her home in Chicago, I laid awake all night just waiting for the sun to peek.  By 6:00 a.m., I was on my way, with a mission.  I had a plan that I thought would work to dissolve her kidney stone – 3 oz of lemon juice mixed with 3 oz of olive oil.   I had read a ton of testimonies of people that had drank this concoction and passed their stones a day or two later, and without pain.  When I arrived at her home, I started mixing doses of this stuff with the intentions of leaving her with instructions to drink this three times a day.     She looked so weak when I arrived.  The pain of the kidney stone had traumatized her body and left her very weak.  Not having understood everything the hospital had told her, she believed that she passed the stone that had caused her so much trauma, but that there was one still lingering within her kidney, leaving her fearful of another episode.

I gently offered to bring her back to my home (she never likes to come here on the weekend) and I was pleasantly surprised when she took me up on my offer.  I was so happy that I could bring her to my home and nurture her.  And nurture I have.  From what I have read, hydration is extremely important with treatment as well as the prevention of a kidney stone.  Lots of glasses of water have been served, and I continued my concoction of lemon juice and olive oil (much to my mother’s chagrin) throughout the day. 

There are several kinds of kidney stones, but the most common is one composed of calcium minerals. This can happen when one has a history of using antacids (Tums and the like – used for heartburn) and calcium supplements that are not balanced with magnesium in the proper proportion.  Being dehydrated (and many of us are but don’t realize it) contributes to this condition.  I opened up all my health book resources and was surprised to find that it is advised for one with a tendency towards kidney stones to not eat spinach because of  the large amounts of calcium that is not easily assimilated.  I am giving my mom a supplement of magnesium because this is also a preventive measure as well as the treatment of breaking up of an existing stone. 

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To restore her weakened state, I made a homemade broth (and I hope to post this recipe tomorrow) and served this to her often.  We moved Rachel out of her bedroom so that Grandma could have the big "organic" and comfortable bed, and it is also one of the more quiet of rooms.  She has slept well for several nights, taken some long naps, and all of this has contributed to her rejuvinated condition.

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When my husband came home from work Monday night, he expressed surprise and shock at how well my mom had recovered in such a short time.  She was up walking around, and looked terrific.  And after today - having just visited the beauty shop to have her hair colored, cut and styled; plus a manicure and pedicure, she is looking like a million bucks!

Tuesday morning, knowing I had an afternoon appointment, I had planned to make supper in the morning so that when I came home I would not have to cook.  I had  set 2 packages of boneless/skinless chicken breasts in the refrig the night before to dethaw.  Before starting home-school I began my dinner preparations.

• French's Original French Fried Onion - a large can of this - I  put the contents in a ziplog bag and crushed them with a rolling pin.
• I whisked a couple of eggs - (I was using two packages of chicken)
• I cut the chicken into small bite size pieces (like chicken fingers from McDonalds), and then
• I put all the chicken into the eggs and coated them.  From there they went straight to the crushed onion rings where they were thoroughly coated. 
• Because I had two packages of chicken, I had two full pyrex dishes of this. I put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  One dish I served with dinner, the other went straight to the freezer for a night that I don't want to cook. I buy the glass pyrex dishes that has fitted lids on them for this (from Walmart).
• I also threw a ton of potatoes into a pot of boiling water.  When they were done, I mashed them and put them in the refrig to be served with the chicken.

When I got home around 6:00 p.m. I warmed up the chicken and the mashed potatoes  in the microwave, I served with this broccoli; asparagus; carrots; and gravy (from a can)  for the  potatoes.

 Kids love this chicken.  It's one of those, You Can't Go Wrong recipes.

Tuesday night my brother called and told me that my mom was in the hospital.   Isn’t that the one thing we dread to hear?  She had excruciating pain and it has been decided that she had a kidney stone.  After a three day stay in the hospital, it has still not been removed, but the pain has subsided.  If there is anyone reading this that has a helpful suggestion for my mom, please leave me a comment.  I am reading everything I can, searching on the internet, calling people that might know something that I can help her with.  Is there a holistic measure that could be used that would dissolve the stone?  I know that she will need surgery, but until then, I do not want another horrific episode of pain.   

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It’s been a week of a lot of prayer.  I would wake all night long, sending out prayers to my Heavenly Father to watch over her and to comfort her.  She is hoping to come to our house on Monday, and I am so looking forward to that so that I can take care of her.  She lives two hours away and I feel rather helpless at this distance.

My two nieces gave us a surprise visit today.  They live four hours away, so this indeed was a wonderful surprise!  I hadn’t seen them since around Christmas time and they have grown taller. They were so sweet.  They told me they loved me multiple times and gave me great big hugs.  This was so special to me.  They both seemed so happy to be here. Amanda sat by me in the parlor and talked for several hours.  I kept reminding her to read her Bible and to pray – Jesus will help you through anything.

 Rachel and Joshua have gone on a weekend retreat. I am glad that they are having a lot of fun, but I’m not sure that I like the chores they have left behind – taking care of the chickens is an interesting task.  The thought of it was not appealing to me, but when I began to look after them Friday night, I kind of enjoyed it.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.  We’ve moved their small chicken coop off the porch to an area behind the kitchen – we put a tall wire mesh fence around an area so that they could get out of their coop and stretch.  They have grown so fast!  I know nothing about chickens – this is a totally new experience for me.

It's been an emotionally draining day.  Talking to my mom on the phone, perceiving her

frailness and fear of another painful attack, and the visit of my nieces that I rarely see

yet tug at my heartstrings. 

 On the agenda for this day was to find the paperwork for a horse run-in that is supposed to be delivered soon.  We had ordered this run-in last autumn for one of the pastures.  But then one snow storm after another hit, and we never could get the perfect timing for it to be delivered (coming from Shipshewana, several hours away).  Now, I want it to be delivered, but I can’t find the paperwork that I need.  Another loose link of mine – I’m terribly disorganized with any and all paperwork.  So, this is another 2008 goal of mine to greatly improve in.  If I live to be 99, I should have all my weaknesses, faults, and shortcomings all worked out.

The good thing is that I organized a lot of piles of paperwork looking for this item.  That’s a job I’ve been meaning to get to, but never make the time for.  But the bad thing is that it took almost the whole morning, and I still haven’t found my missing paperwork. 

I got a phone call.  “Can you come to the office ASAP?”  Were in the midst of the finishing touches on the commercial building our family company is constructing, and there were decisions to be made.  This was not on my agenda for this day, but, “O.k., I’ll be there,” was my reply. 

This took all afternoon. When I was finally done, I was tired and hungry, but needed to run to pick up the birthday presents and the last minute food items for the family birthday party tonight.  

When I got home, a few minutes late, I got the burgers ready to be grilled, and worked fast to get it all together for our celebration.  While we were all sitting at the table, eating dinner,  unwrapping gifts, and blowing out candles (two birthdays: dh and son-in-law), Ruthie announces with that  I-Just-Remembered look, “Oh, I forgot to tell you.  Jennifer called a long time ago and she is waiting to be picked up at the airport.”  That ended the party rather abruptly with a trip to pick her up at 9:30 p.m.

Maybe tomorrow will run more smoothly…..

The Goal for This Week:

To make progress in packing and getting ready for our upcoming D.C. trip

•        Get suitcases out – everyone’s
•        Start packing the clothes/shoes/p.j.’s/toiletries/misc
• .       Figure out what’s missing
•     Do we all have the right kind of shoes for walking?  Do they look nice?
•     Do we have enough clothes to wear for the week?  Do they look crisp?
•        What book do I want to bring along to read?
•        Go to an Amtrak train station and get their suitcase name tags to fill out.6.        

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Phone Calls/Appointments to Make This Week:

1.     Call Marty in Shipshewana to find out about chicken coop

2.    Make arrangements for horse run-in to be delivered this week, and maybe chicken coop, too.

3.    Cancel nail appointment for Grandma

4.    Order a birthday cake for Tuesday night party

5.    Call the vet – see if she can come earlier than what she planned in order to get the vaccinations up to date for the 4-H fair deadline.

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Appointments/Events on Calendar for This Week:

1.     Today (Monday);  Meet dh and son-in-law (& family) downtown.  Dh wants to pick out birthday gift for sil with him present (clothes).  This will be in late afternoon.

2.     Tuesday:

a.    Pick up birthday gifts for dh at store (clothes for work that were selected over the weekend and altered).

b.    Pick up birthday cake.   

c.    Party at 6:00 p.m. for dh (was supposed to be last week but plans changed) and son-in-law.

3.    Wednesday:

a.    Music lessons

b.    Errands (dry-cleaning; milk; groceries; truck wash)

c.    Youth group and children’s choir

 Thursday: Grandma’s and Ruthie’s hair appointment

5.    Friday: Possible delivery of horse run-in and chicken coop.

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Meals:

This is the hardest part of my schedule and one of my weakest links.  Planning out a menu (and sticking to it) just doesn’t come very natural to me.  This is one of my 2008 goals – to read books on how to become better.  Educate myself from those that are gifted or have learned the secrets to this area in life.  Then implement what I learn.

When I set out to plan my menu for the week, I always write out what I have going every day of the week.  Then, I can determine what amount of time I have to allot for the preparations of meals.

When I was first thinking about Monday’s dinner, early this morning, I thought I’d have plenty of time to make a good meal.  This is often the day I spend the most time on a family meal because I designate this day to be a Stay At Home Day.  However, my dh reminded me shortly thereafter, that I’m to meet him downtown this afternoon for birthday present/s-i-l.       With this in mind, I will have to make something for supper that is made this morning, and then just warm it up when I come home from our birthday shopping.  This is the perfect time for a crock pot meal, but I just haven’t come up with a lot of recipes that my family loves from the crock pot.  Another goal of mine….

Tuesday, I have my entire family coming over for a birthday party.  There will be fifteen people present.  Unless the weather changes dramatically, I am going to have a cook-out.  Hamburgers on the grill, potato salad, cake.

Wednesday is my busy/errand day.  I generally quit doing school around 2:00 p.m. and then I am on the run until 9:00 p.m.    This will be a good day for sloppy joes, something I can pre-make in the morning.

Thursday:  A good night to fix a family meal.  Yet, I’m not sure what….perhaps I’ll mull on this one and come up with a new recipe to try using chicken….

Friday is always easy.  It’s pizza night, a tradition.

School:

Every other Monday we have a Relaxed School Day.  This is a day we generally do limited (and sometimes none) individual school work, yet have a lot of all together class time.  We watch educational science videos; read the Bible together; recite ALL of our Bible memory verses and passages for the entire year; have a lot of extra history time reading together; clean our bedrooms; and have gym class.

1.     Bible Memorization: We have just finished memorizing the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, in its entirety.   Today, were going to start a new memory passage.

2.    Bible Class:  Were reading through the book of Proverbs

3.    History: Were going to read a book about Patrick Henry and another one about George Washington.  We have been studying U.S. history this semester in preparation for our upcoming D.C. trip.  We studied the Declaration of Independence, our government system, and this week we are going to study/read about our Constitution.

4.    I read one book a week that has a moral content to it (application of Biblical principles to our daily life).

5.    I have one-on-one time with the two younger ones for their own special Bible class.  Although they join us for our reading and discussion of Proverbs, I am reading through the Bible with them from a set of books called, “The Bible Story,” by Arthur S. Maxwell.

6.    The kids individual math

7.    Need to order new handwriting books as they all need a new one.

8.    Spelling

9.    Phonics (my mom does this as well as other subjects with the younger ones).

10.  Ruthie starts her new McGuffey book this week.

11.  Joshua and I are reading through a book together called, “The Light in the Woods.”  This is a highlight in my day; I enjoy this one-on-time with my 13 year old boy, reading a good historical novel.

12.  Rachel is studying Government from a high school text book published by Bob Jones Press. I pre-read the chapters and discuss them with her before and after she reads it. 

13.   

Housework:

Weak areas that need to be tended to:

1.     The giant doll house in den always has the tendency to become the place where people just set things.  Need to de-clutter this before it gets out of hand. 

2.    I still have boxes of kitchen stuff in the pole barn (from when we remodeled our kitchen) that needs to be brought over and done something with (throw out or store.)  Get a few boxes from there today (Monday).

3.    My bedroom

4.    The kids bedrooms – their doing this today (Monday)

5.    The upstairs hallway – there is a ‘Bombay’ chest at the stop of the stairs.  I love this piece – it’s a pretty green, and it’s functional (I store clothes in the three large drawers).  Yet, it also has the natural tendency to be used as a set-anything-you-don’t-know-what-to-do-with.  Right now, there is a large black plastic bag sitting on it, with a label that says, “Clean Clothes.”  It’s my mom’s handwriting, so I think she has set this here for me to put away.  Get rid of any other misc stuff on it.

6.    There’s a basket of clothes in the upstairs hallway – they look folded.  What is this?  I need to stop long enough, sort through it, and figure out whose it is. 

Laundry:

I do several loads a day, but try to do each family member on set individual days.  I used to throw everyone’s dirty laundry into one big pile in the laundry room; sort and wash according to darks and lights.  But, that means a lot of sorting when the clean clothes are to be delivered to their rooms.  It’s so much simpler to just do one person’s complete dirty laundry load at a time.  Then that family member can fold their own clothes and put them away.  It’s so much simpler. 

Exercise

If you have ready my posts in the past, t