Life as a Lewis

After driving an hour to Nashville for Rory's doctor's appointment, waiting an hour in the waiting room, finding out Rory is A-Okay, we decided to play hooky for the rest of the day. Because, let's face it: getting to school at 11:00 in kindergarten means all you get to do is take a nap. ;) We did some grocery shopping, hit up World Market, ate lunch at McDonalds (her choice, of course), then came home to do some cooking and cleaning. I have to say that it was a delightful day. When you're a stay-at-home mom, I think it's easy to take the days when the kiddos are little and home all day with you for granted. At least I did. And I'm not going to pretend that it's not easier to grocery shop and do all the day-to-day activities without little ones underfoot, but yesterday reminded of all the good things about having your kiddos around for the everyday activities. And because I had just listened to The Digi Show podcast on taking pictures of yourself, we s

Rory and I are headed back to the pediatrician's office this morning to do a pneumonia re-check for her. I'll be surprised if he clears us since she is still coughing her little head off, but here's hoping for good news. We're having friends over for a casual dinner tonight. I was planning to make vegetable beef soup and this monster cookie dough dip for dessert, but I still don't have a soup recipe. Everyone keeps telling me just throw it all together in a pot, but things do not generally end well for me in the kitchen when I just dump things together. Here's hoping I'll find a recipe between now and tonight. After-school pics. And Rory asked for "high pigtails because they make me happy, mama." They kind of make me happy too.

Changing it up a bit this morning. ;) Read this verse on Thanksgiving morning and the imagery of calling out the stars like an army struck me as so majestic. " Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing." Isaiah 40:26 Caught up on the (in)courage blog over the weekend, and I especially liked these two posts: God Uses You and Speak Louder Than the Nutella . Well, I certainly didn't need actual proof that my brain is way less sharp than it was before chemo, but at least professionals are now acknowledging chemo brain . Will you think less of me if I say that I read Psalm 34:17-20 Sunday night, and my first thought was, "that's not true!" I *know* that every word God spoke is true, but for some reason this struck me not as encouraging, but hard to read.  Angie Smith was

Apparently I slept a little too much last week and my body thinks it can get away with 3-4 hours a night. I thought you were supposed to sleep better in your own bed! It's only taken 2 kids and one niece before I finally figured out how to set up a pack-n-play on my own. Did I mention I get an extra week off chemo? So instead of going back Thursday, I don't go back until December 6. I'm trying to be thankful for the extra week, but I was soooooo counting on an extra week at Christmas instead. I made Pioneer Woman's homemade granola bars last night. I have been wanting to try them forever, but they just didn't turn out quite right. Not sure if I got the oats a little too brown or if it's the wheat germ taste I don't like, but they did not live up to the hype for me. The rest of my family, however, thinks they're the best ever so maybe it's not as bad as I thought. I somehow managed to forget not only the best picture, but the best stor

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving week has already passed by, but it has! We traveled to Illinois Tuesday night and came home Sunday - went by much too fast. It was a quieter Thanksgiving than normal; only my family and my brother Matt were able to be at my parent's house, but it was lots of good food, going to bed early/sleeping late kind of time. And cold Illinois weather, of course! Here are a few pictures (and I'm sure you'll notice right away that great photography was not the goal of the week. It was kind of nice to rely on phone pics and not bug the kids for photos.). Because we're totally mean (and we were taking advantage of the unseasonably warm day we had on Wednesday), we sent the kids out to start a fire. By rubbing sticks together. It was about as successful as you might imagine, which was why we felt comfortable telling a 6 and 9 year old to go out and start a fire. ;) It was fun, though! Decided to go against the normal an

Rory has been learning all about Indians and Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving at school. I remember when Camden learned this story and came home to talk about it. Rory's take on it was that the white people killed all the Indians. Interestingly enough, both kids pointed out that they weren't white so it wasn't their fault. ;)

Your regularly scheduled Tuesday Tidbits are interrupted to bring you news of a big event: Rory lost her first tooth. As in, it was loose and then popped right out in less than 12 hours. I might have cried. She is growing up WAY too fast. I am quite positive that there has never been a girl so excited to lose a tooth. She talked and talked and talked about it. And then talked some more. As soon as our company left last night, she rushed up to her room to change into p.j.'s, brushed her teeth and asked if she could go to bed. The tooth fairy made 4 attempts, but Rory kept waking up. Finally at 3:00 this morning (when I was still awake - ugh), the tooth fairy was successful. She must have been pretty sleep because she hasn't asked why I was in her room so often last night. ;) We're headed out of town to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Illinois. Wish us luck. We haven't unearthed the portable DVD players yet so we're traveling old sc

Well, let's just be honest this morning. I spent the weekend browsing Pinterest, drooling over home DIY blogs and painted furniture. All completely ironic because not only did we buy a house that doesn't need renovations, but PLEASE! As if I am crafty in any way. Here are just a few that I spent significant time reading over the weekend: Lil' Luna Tatortots and Jello Pewter+Sage I Heart Organizing Kayboo Creations (drooling over her painted furniture)  The Handmade Home - my personal favorite; LOVE her decorating style and the way she has a stamped M (for their last name) incorporated into all her rooms And speaking of decorating, my friend Kari dropped by this orange chevron pillow Friday, and I am in love. Just having this one little piece of orange immediately brightened the whole area up. I can't wait to keep adding color to my neutral room. So besides wasting my time away in front of Pinterest, I also took the kids for their annual f

I relied heavily on iPhone pics this month; hopefully I won't regret that!

I should have known when I woke up in the middle of the night with my ipad still in bed, earplugs in, cord wrapped around my neck that the day was going to be off to a rough start. My platelets were 108 (down from 358) last week so that probably explains my heavy sleeping. Proceeding to vomit when I did get up confirmed the rough start. I'm one of those wierdos who need food in my stomach in order to not vomit. I know; it's strange. And if you pop a pain pill on top of that? Well, then I better settle in to the couch for a solid 90 minutes while it takes effect, or it's going to come right back up if you know what I mean. We sat down to breakfast (homemade muffins so score for me on that topic anyway), and the kids very solemnly informed me that they'd decided Rory would like a baby sister and Camden would like a brother (but not necessarily a baby brother). It caught me off guard, and I dissolved into tears because while there were never any solid plans, adopt

Outside my window: a very bare tree - all the leaves have fallen since I took the picture of it on Sunday. I am thinking: that I could use a new pair of shoes, surprisingly enough! I am thankful for: the ability to travel home to Illinois for Thanksgiving next week. I am wearing: Express jeans, b/w flowy shirt with a Gap black cardigan. Last 3 purchases: this TooFaced eye shadow kit , groceries, a pair of "comfy" pants for Rory that don't fit. Dinner plans: Leftover Cheddar Chicken and Rice Soup Future plans I'm looking forward to: having a week off chemo, Thanksgiving - and how great that those two events coincide. ;) Kid funny: When the kids are fighting/arguing/being unkind to each other, I've been making them look at each other and call each other Beautiful Boy and Gorgeous Girl. Makes them laugh and get over their fight every time. I am reading:   How to Keep the Good in Your Boy and The Twelve In the kitchen: Pumpkin