Monday, March 31, 2008

Sadness

I have a sense of sadness creeping into everything I am doing the past few days. I am not sad for myself, but for my friends, the Tolberts. They have sadness permeating every part of them right now.

They lost their baby girl, Norah Rose, at 21 weeks along.

At the first sign of the problem, she had called us to pray and hear of those around us who had experienced similar situations. I tried to offer as much hope as I could without being in denial about the gravity of the situation. I "worried" my prayers that day, praying for the Author of Life to sustain this precious life and Jehovah-Rapha to heal the problem.

I am always a bit offended by the argument that we should not be surprised when God answers our requests in prayer. Who are we to offer a nonchalant "Yeah, I knew he would,"? But what is our response to be when he doesn't?

I know God knows the plans he has for us. And I am very thankful that I DON'T! Praise to our LORD, the Everlasting Father!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Catching Up

Wow! It's good to be back! Sorry to those of you who are better about checking blogs than I am. I have been dying to blog for days, but we have had major computer malfunction in the Nelson household lately. I finally have my computer back, but the hard drive is scrubbed clean. The good news is I didn't lose anything too significant--a few nursery files that I will have to recreate, and a really good blog article that I had worked on (in Word) for quite some time but hadn't felt led to publish yet. I had planned on downloading the pictures from our camera (last summer thru current) while we were on our trip and I'm soooo glad now that I didn't!

So I have several blogs written in my head and hope to have a chance to get them on a screen sometime soon!

So here are a few random thoughts to catch you up!

Ryan is nearing completion of his Master's paper. He has submitted all the chapters, but now has to go back and wrestle with the professor's comments and correct as needed. He was hoping the end was nearer than it is at this point.

I have instituted a new "anti-scheduling schedule" to be more proactive about the piles (and I mean that literally) of work that I have to get through in the week. I will tell you more about that later. One thing to note, it puts blogging/writing in general as a regular part of my week, so maybe I will have more posts.

Reed is the proud papa of a fish named Willie, who happens to be the third fish he has picked out. Third time's the charm. More on this later too. Let's just say we celebrated the fact that Jesus has victory over death first thing Easter morning! And also Easter Monday (in Canada, I think).

Ashton is in her new room--the pink room. We were worried about the transition, but she has adapted quite well. We did have to remove one of the paintings that was hung in there from "my room" at my grandma's house. It seemed to be girlie enough and fit in the room well, but she did not agree. She cried and pointed to it one night after the lights were off and said, "Dat scare me!!" We have removed it to the hallway and all is well. She also has a "new" doll house that we brought back from Ryan's parent's garage that was the first one made but his Grandpa and Grandma Nelson. It is very cool (with retro decor) and both kids love playing with it. Right now we do not have but a few pieces of doll furniture, but they have found that shoes work well for beds! (I did not even make that suggestion!)

Tacoma is loving the warm weather and insists that the back door remain open so he can let himself in and out at will. He has gotten a new collar tag since he chewed up the last one and has been venturing out over the fence and into the neighborhood lately. He is very good to come back and scratch at the front door when he is done. Reed opened it for him one day and said he knew it was him because "a people would knock or ring the bell and not scratch!"

My naptime alarm is going off in the other room. No more peace and quiet for me. That reminds me: Reed asked the other day what peace and quiet was anyway. I told him I was sure I didn't know anymore.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Golden Chicken Nuggets--Recipe Request

So a few of you asked for the nugget recipe from Valentine's Day. This has been a family favorite since I was a girl. My mom made it special for birthday dinners. I guess the recipe came to her from my sister Judy.

Also, I am soooo tired of just heated veggies as a side dish for supper. If you have a great way to "spice up" (really, no pun intended) your vegetable side dishes, please share them with me.

Golden Chicken Nuggets

Cut Chicken breasts (1 per serving or less) in 1" pieces.

Mix:
1 egg
1/2 c water
3/4 t salt
1/2 c flour
2 T. sesame seeds (opt.)
dash of paprika

Heat 2 cups oil in large skillet.

Dip Chicken in batter and place in oil one layer at a time.

Cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. I usually turn mine, depending on the depth of the oil.

Drain on paper towel. Serve as immediately as possible.

Back to Normal

So we are home again. Back to normal. Everyone said towards the end of our trip, "I bet you can't wait to get home and get back to normal!" I have always loved to travel and always get a little sad when we turn homeward. Even with the craziness of being on the road with two small children, I love to travel.

But here we are back to normal. I have to decide what to make for supper again. I have to go grocery shopping again. I am completely in charge of caring for the kids all day by myself again. We came home to a fairly clean home and had it trashed again in less than 24 hours. We have nearly endless options of toys for our dumping delight. My bathroom really needs to be cleaned. The dog is barking in the middle of every wrestling match again.

I think normal is a bit overrated!

However, we do have our own space to spread out in again. We do have our own bedrooms again. We are getting back to normal discipline and routines again. I know normal is good.

Normal is what makes the abnormal so exciting! I sure can't wait for the next trip!