Life as a Lewis

If you have a tonsil/adenoid removal scheduled in 24 hours, don't read this blog post . Just FYI. I am sufficiently terrified. Okay, on to the proof part. Camden has a thing for red these days. In particular, this one red striped school shirt. Last week, he wore it on Tuesday. Then he came down in it again on Thursday, and because I'm super on top of this kind of thing (ha!), I thought it looked familiar but when he told me he hadn't worn it yet that week I believed him. I mean, he wears it every week as soon as it's washed, not to mention the other 2 similar red shirts that he also wears every week so it's not like it totally stood out to me. UNTIL I uploaded pictures from my camera and found the pictures below (from Tuesday) and the hot chocolate pictures . . . from Thursday. And since I do laundry on Mondays and I know what my boy does with his clothes when he takes them off, this means that on Thursday he wore a shirt that had spent the last 48 ...

Actually, we're having lots of hot chocolate kind of days recently, but this was the only one in which the camera made an appearance. I like this one because he looks like a kid here. Not so much in this one. Don't let this excitement fool you. She doesn't actually like hot chocolate. But she pretends to because Camden likes it so much. And while I usually make homemade hot chocolate (you won't find Swiss Miss in this pantry), I like to stock up on Trader Joe's versions during the holidays.

Anyone else watching American Idol? After 13 years, I happen to be hopelessly addicted to AI, and this year's judging panel is really fun. Brian says he has a man-crush on Harry Connick, Jr. I have never heard Brian use the term "man-crush" before. He also decided he has one on Buddy from Cake Boss. Who is this guy and where did my husband go? I know all of you receiving buckets of snow think I'm crazy, but I'd really like just one good snow. My kids would too. Go ahead and add Brian to that list (although he did end up with a "snow" day today for cold weather). Rory wanted wavy/curly hair like our friends Kinsley and Kylah so I braided her hair in tiny little braids before bed the other night. She was thrilled with those braids . . . because she thought they  made her look like Tre in the new(ish) Karate Kid movie. As I anticipate my surgery Friday, I have been a little overly aware of  every little thing happening in my body. I thi...

Life has felt very good this last week. Quiet time mixed with family time mixed with lunches with friends, basketball games, company in our home, church, work, etc. Friday I ran errands, grocery shopped, and met my friend for lunch. Bibimbop! Friday night we went to to a basketball game at the kid's school. Addison and Rory cheering. Saturday was spent cleaning, then I attended a craft night at a local church. I might have nearly burned my fingerprints off with the glue gun many times over, but I managed to make all of these. Sunday we had 22 people for dinner. Yes, 22 people in my little living room and kitchen. There's a large group of local college students who attend and help out and they came over Sunday afternoon. I made sloppy joes for the first time in my life, and if the number of sandwiches eaten is any indication, they were a hit. I might have crashed about 4:30 yesterday after the last student was gone and house back in shape. ...

Outside my window: sunshine! Of course, it was 2 degrees out when my kids left for school, but the sunshine makes it alot cheerier! I am thinking: of everything I want to get done before my tonsil surgery next week. I am thankful for: lunch with friends 2 days in a row. It's the life of leisure, I tell ya. Last 3 purchases: photo book (on its way to you, Aunt Linda), these boots (although I did not pay this much), a new iPhone case.     Dinner plans: leftover broccoli/potato/cheese soup.   Future plans I'm looking forward to: craft night at church this weekend. Oh, and scrapping. After starting 2014 off strong, I have fallen off the wagon big time. And it's only January 24. Kid funny: I had this whole list in my head and now I can't think of anything. Sounds about right. I am reading: Jesus, the One and Only by Beth Moore and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. I never did pick up Unbroken again, although I think I may hav...

So I might have accidentally taken Nyquil this morning at 7:00 instead of Dayquil. And even though Nyquil does nothing for me at night, apparently it can knock me out if taken during the day. So I've dozed off and on all morning and now at 11:30 am finally awake for the day. How nice is it that I have time for such a lazy morning! I combined a few soup recipes and made my own version of Broccoli/Potato/Cheese soup this week and thought I'd share my concoction. It was GOOD. 1 onion (finely diced) 1 cup carrots (finely diced) 3 garlic cloves (finely diced) 2 TBS flour 1 TBS butter 3 medium potatoes (diced small) 4 heaping cups broccoli florets  4 cups chicken/vegetable broth 2 cups milk 2 TBS parmesan cheese (the good stuff, not that powder junk) 1-1/2 to 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese salt/pepper to taste I used my ninja to chop all the onion, carrots, and garlic then sauteed it in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the flour, stir, cook for a...

I'm just going to put this out there - having Martin Luther King Day off from school might have come a little too soon after a 20-day Christmas break. I had some women from church over for coffee and coffeecake this morning. Please tell me I am not the only one who gets way too nervous when people visit. And I had no reason to worry because it was a lovely time. Kids attended a super hero birthday party this weekend. Super cute! Friday night Camden escorted Kinsley (our friend and pastor's daughter) for Homecoming. Do they look sweet or what. Kinsley looked beautiful! Mr. Chad was in charge of the boutonniere Thanks again, MaryLeigh, for letting us borrow the bowtie! This one cracks me up with Rory peeking in there (I had no room to back up!) Kinsley was very worried Camden would forget to hug her and leave her hanging, but he remembered. I snapped this picture in the bathroom at Vanderbilt last Tuesday before I saw the doc...

My phone rang last night about 6:30, just as we were sitting down to supper, and when I picked it up, I recognized the number as the cancer clinic. When it was Dr. C's voice greeting me, I moved to the bedroom and took a deep breath. But she said she had good news, and I could hear the happy mixed with surprise in her voice. The scans showed some of those little spots are gone and many of the rest have significantly decreased in size. I said, "oh my stars" and she chuckled. I came back to the kitchen to give Brian and the kids the good news, and while Brian hugged me, the kids yelled, "Woohoo, can we have some ice cream?" I have taught them well. I group text my mom and sisters asking if we could conference call, knowing full well that they would be worried when I mention that I've just heard from Dr. C. But I haven't had much opportunity for announcing truly good news so I feel justified in making their hearts race. When we're all toget...

Tuesday when we got home from my doctor's appointment, I knew I didn't want to just be waiting around for the phone call with my CA125 results so I grabbed my camera, changed into different shoes and headed back to Rotary Park to walk the trail. It was slightly more muddy than I had anticipated, but was a good way to spend 30 minutes. And I got to snap a few pictures of the kids dressed up for Super Hero Day at school. Clearly Rory was a little more into posing than Camden. ;) She apparently thinks Super Girl uses her fists alot. Brian's idea Me and Rory

I've been waiting to give an update from my appointment with my oncologist yesterday until I had a few more answers, and while I'm still waiting for the big picture, I do have an update. My CA125 is up slightly; Dr. C is concerned that my recent bouts with the stomach bug are cancer related and not stomach bugs at all - which completely took me by surprised. Also concerned with something she felt during my exam. I have a scan and x-ray tomorrow afternoon. As I write it out here, I realize that it's very possible I have nothing to worry about. As we ran errands, ate lunch, picked up the kids, and continued with our day, I remembered what a strange, strange feeling it is to receive possibly devastating news and feel so numb. You continue smiling and chatting with cashiers, interacting with the kids, fix supper . . . while the voice in your head is screaming "how is this happening" over and over. And then there's the still small voice that reminds you ...

First of all, let me just tell you that I'm blogging this morning from my fully recovered and fully functioning PC. Almost 3 months without this baby was torture, and I'm so glad that it was an easy (and inexpensive fix). Now if I could only forget all the habits I've picked up on Brian's laptop over the last couple of months - all the shortcuts are different on my desktop. This weekend was a mixed bag. Brian had responsibilities (as well as a guy's night out Saturday at a Predator's game) so it was just me and the kids for the most part. Camden and I settled in to watch hours worth of figure skating coverage. I'm fairly certain the last time I watched figure skating was for the last winter Olympics. I thought Rory would be all over the outfits, glitz, dancing, etc., but she could not have been more uninterested. Camden, on the other hand, thought that it was all kinds of fun. The rest of our weekend wasn't quite as much fun or relaxed. I'm ...

To clarify my Project Life because I've gotten a couple of questions. Yes, I will do the majority of my weeks digitally. I bought the paper products (and split them with Becky) because it's fun to sometimes mix it up and just print pictures and then slide them into the protectors with cute journaling cards. As far as the binder, it is not available at Amazon for some reason, but if you google Sunshine Project Life Binder, there are several places to purchase it. I bought mine at Two Peas. This has been a strange week. My sister reminded me earlier that January is always a tough month, so this is not unusual. After the busyness and excitement of December, the anticipation of a big family visit, etc., January is a big letdown. Life goes from moving 100 miles an hour to grinding to a screeching halt. It's gray outside. There's nothing especially exciting to look forward to. No spring break or summer plans have been made so the rest of the school year seems to stre...

This year's cover page Week 1 I chose the cloth Sunshine binder by Elsie and Emma of A Beautiful Mess , and Becky and I decided to split the Sunshine core kit . A genius move if I do say so myself because neither of us could resist all the pretty paper goodies, but will never in a hundred years use all those journaling cards! Breaking news (Becky!). Just found this set of washi tape that is made to coordinate with the Sunshine kit. Finding this pretty hard to resist! I finished out 2013 strong. Well, I actually have yet to fit all the Christmas pics into a spread, but other than that I'm calling it done. Weeks 40ish - 47ish were pretty rough, but I'm happy with the memories that are documented and am continuing it for 2014. I've also decided if it's not making me happy, then I don't have to do it. Scrapping should be fun, not stressful.