I've Been Tagged

Cheryl and Jessica "tagged" us and I have finally had time to sit down and blog this week. The challenge was to find the fourth picture in your fourth album and post it. Jason is 7 years old watching cartoons while visiting grandma. I am 6 and have just woken up Christmas morning (note the great morning hair).

Our Sunday

Last night I decided not to take the antihistamine and see what would happen with the hives. This morning was the start to many hives today. I don't think I will do that again! Here a smaller hive to the right of my wrist.

Jason is such a sweet guy! He has been so helpful today, which he always is. After church the weather was gorgeous. I asked Jason to help me finally turn over my summer garden and help me make it into a compost.

Then, I needed to change the bedding in the guest bedroom from summer to winter bedding. So, Jason started with the bed skirt (which really requires 2 people...but I am pregnant, so he did it). He flipped the mattress against the wall. While he was maneuvering the skirt to the top of the bed, the mattress fell on top of him! I was on the other side of the house puttering, and heard a faint flailing noise. I thought it was one of the kitties outside. But, upon further investigation this was what I found!

I am almost 9 weeks pregnant and have occasional waves of nausea, so in between the waves I made this yummy dinner of Lemon Garlic Chicken with Rice. However, a wave hit me and I had chicken noodle soup for dinner instead.

Happily Discomforted

I realized I haven't posted in a while, but for a good reason. As soon as we found out I was pregnant I came down with Strep Throat and was really sick for about a week. At the same time I was coming down with awful hives. My lips swelled to 4x's their original size, my eyes swelled shut, my throat almost swelled shut, and hives under my skin appeared all over. We thought maybe they were food induced or environmental. Lots of factors were eliminated, but the hives still appeared all over my face, every other day, only at night, and when I slept. I was beginning to wonder if I was allergic to myself. Any body part I touched or accidentally brushed would swell up with these awful hives. Jason wanted to post a picture of my misery, but I was worried it would scare people away! After being to 3 different doctors, my allergist finally had some answers. The hives are basically pregnancy induced. They took a lot of blood work today to run some tests today. I feel very relieved, and happy that there is a solution and some closure, AND I can start eating real food again!

Strange Morning Routines of An Elementary Teacher

WARNING: If you have students in either of our classes, please do not share this information with them until AFTER school tomorrow, as they will soon find out! So, I had all the signs and symptoms of pregnancy but negative results until this morning at 5:00 am! I woke up in some discomfort and had to go potty. I thought, on a whim, that I would take one last test. To my surprise it was positive, and Jason started his day waking up to my screams! I told Jason and them called my parents early too! Needless to say it has been a long day. I went to the doctor for some more tests and they found that I am 5 weeks pregnant and have a due date of June 24th! We are so excited and thrilled and wanted to share it with you, our faithful blogging friends!

BOO!

This is how I feel at the end of the day after being with 28 little ones.....just kidding! On Saturday my mom and I canned 50 lbs (69 1/2 pints) of pickled beets. A lot of people don't like pickled beets, but our family loves them (except for Jason). My hands were discolored for days. I tired scrubbing them with a fingernail brush, to no avail. On Sunday I was on the worship team and a couple of guys teased me, asking what I had just killed. However, the canning season is over. It is kinda funny because I have never canned this much. It was hard enjoyable work and now my cupboards are filled with all kinds of yummies for when the frost is on the pumpkin!

A few things....

This last weekend we canned applesauce...it was yummy and we got 50 pints of applesauce and 6 quarts of apple juice. We borrowed this strange contraption from a lady at church. It saves us hours of time.

Kristina is seasoning the applesauce. The post was so big that she needed a stool for proper stirring leverage (hee-hee). You have to check out Cheryl's post of Alyssa on her blog ( Lookin' Good). It is hilarious. I have watched the footage at least 5 times tonight....it is SO funny.

Tomatoes and Apples

Here are some delicious tomatoes being cooked down to can.

Kristina, my mom, and I were pretty rummy when it came time to make the apple pie filling. We each ended up with a burned finger, arm, or hand by the end of our endeavors. Here I was putting the apple pie filling ingredients together and Kristina was stirring. However, on two occasions, I forgot to turn on the burner for her and so she was stirring and stirring for quite some time before she realized nothing was happening! We all got a good laugh.
Jason and Brandon even got in on the action of peeling apples (with a potato peeler..it was all we had!)
Ahhh.....the signs of a hard days work! We made 50 quarts of tomatoes and 50 quarts of apple pie filling.