An interesting time at McDonald's

Auntie A had the day off today. So we met her at the McDonald's with a Play Place. We rarely ever go, so the kids get pretty excited when we do. It started out like any other time. The kids dash into the play area and play while I place our food order.

The kids came down to eat... or half eat. Clark started to wander. I reminded him that these adults were having adult time while the kids played. One lady responded to him saying "Hi" and the conversation started. I went to remind Clark that we were here to play, but she shook her head and mouthed "It's ok". Soon she had 3 of the 6 kids talking to her. They discussed older Game Boys and Pokemon.  After a bit I told Clark to say goodbye and go back to playing, she insisted it was ok and that she was a teacher. I gave Clark and his siblings another minute and reminded them that it was time to play since we would leave soon. Sadly Clark's new teacher friend had to go. Clark decided to pretend to be some sort of Pokemon and go play with all the other kids.

I am not sure what triggered it, but Clark suddenly stopped. From across the room he started to tell me how he was glad that segregation was over and he as happy that he could play with his new friends. Oh no. Ok, I can handle this. I asked him to come closer and on his way he proceeded to retell me what he had just said.  I admit, I was a little embarrassed and horrified. I could see thisgoing one of two ways. One way would be that everyone understood he was trying to make a connection. The other involves being called a racist and some profanity (yes, we have had that one before).

I met Clark half way and told him that I would love to have this conversation with him, but maybe we should do so at our table. He happily agreed. Now, some will say that I need to teach him that there is a time and a place to speak of things like this. I agree and disagree. The middle of a Play Place is not the best spot to discuss a topic that could lead to a heated debate if others joined in that did not quite understand what he was trying to say. At the same time,hushing Clark would only teach him that we do not speak of these things. He may feel shamed. Children do not see the world as we do and do not take things the same way as adults do. Who knows what this could turn into in his mind. Clark has Autism. Clark was trying to make a meaningful connection with the people around him. He wanted to share something he had learned and he wanted them to know that just because he is Caucasian, he is not like those people in the past. To Clark, this makes perfect sense. We may find the drive to do that a little odd, but to Clark it isn't. He wasn't really doing anything wrong. He was just going about things in a way that most other people wouldn't.

We had our discussion and I thought he would go back to playing. Nope. Clark was still fixated on having a discussion with every adult there on segregation. *sighs*  I did not manage to stop Clark in time. The gentleman was kind and understanding. Come to find out,  he worked at a school and understood. Next Clark decided he would go talk to the African American couple who were seated in the back of the Play Place. The gentleman was on the phone and judging the body language of his wife, I am not quite sure this would play out very well. I told Clark that the gentleman was on the phone and it was rude to interrupt. Clark turned around and started to make a circle around the play area. He was not going to give up. He wanted to make that meaningful connection. Oh Clark... I did not think the wife looked very comfortable. Once again I reminded Clark that adults liked to have adult time, that the man was on the phone, and he wouldn't want to be rude, would he? Clark turned and I could see he was thinking of turning back again. "Clark, we are here to play." That worked.

Could I have handled it better? Maybe. Hindsight is funny like that. At the time, you do the best you can. Later you can always see things you missed and ways you could have handled it better. It's so easy to judge others on what they could have done better. Yet if we are in the same position, how many people could have actually have done better? Or would they simply have hushed the child?

Our camper: The Beginning

Our Teepee tent. 

Clara at 8 months camping

 We have tent camped for about 4 years now. It gets a little tricky and stressful during camp set up and take down since I am the only fully able bodied adult. Last year the older kids (then 8-6 years in age) tried to help me out several times, but it proved to be a better idea to just let me do it. Camp set up takes a bit and I just want to get it done so I can start dinner.

We don't stop camping if it rains.

 My only requirements for camping are that it is under $30 a night for our spot (tricky with a family of 8) and there needs to be water near by. We don't need electric. I am ok with port-a-potties and vault toilets.

My 6 plus my Bonus Child. 

 Last fall my best friend and neighbor brought home a pop up camper that she was trying to sell. I figured it would be much more than I could talk my husband into. To make the story short, I bought the popup for $600 with the understanding that it needed some work done to it, but not too bad. A few smaller holes in the canvas and the front end storage needed work.

We used this one all last year

My neighbors were kind enough to bring it over into my driveway, position it for me, and then teach me how to put it up and down.

What type of pop up is this? It's a 1994 Coleman Destiny Rio Grande. I am told that the front end storage is known to have leaking issues. Also the type or roof will sometimes get cracks in it as well, but you can refinish it and have no issues. So far we have no leaks in the roof. I do plan on refinishing the roof next year as well as painting the outside.

When we opened it up this spring, we discovered some mice had gotten into it over the winter and caused more damage to the canvas.

Good news: We can patch it and still use it this year.Bad news: Our camper will look a hair on the ugly side

I know many people would turn up their noses at this, but this is truly a blessing for our family.

 Please keep in mind, all these pictures were taken before any cleaning was done.

To the left is a large hole that had a wasp nest on both sides of the canvas.

On the right, you can see the damage the mice did to the curtains. There are also some small holes in the canvas.

 
The galley is fine. The water and stove top works. Although I plan on taking it out. I have no intentions of ever cooking inside the camper, even if it is raining. I have a camp kitchen that sits under an EZ up canopy. One year it rained all Memorial Day weekend. I cooked under my canopy and the kids played under it and we had a lot of fun! So for us, this is a pointless feature. Although, with 6 or 7 kids going camping with me, I do need space. So out it comes!

This camper also has a small heater in it. I have no intentions of using it either. The kids and I have been camping with weather down to 42* at night and no one got cold. It is all about being prepared.

The other bunk end

Yes, there are a few holes. We are not in a position to replace our canvas this year. Still, I would like to be able to use this pop up camper this year. I can set this up in 15 minutes all by myself. That is much faster than a tent. Also, I do not have to set up any camping cot for The Elder. His Cerebral Palsy makes it hard for him to sleep close to the ground. So we invested in a camping cot two years ago.

The holes in the canvas can be patched for this year. It will be on the ugly side, but usable and keep us dry. This fall we will be putting in an order for a new set of tenting for our pop up.

Now to clean this up and start making it uniquely ours!

Shirley's Open Heart Surgery

Edited in: Wow, So this unfinished post just kinda showed up and posted. This is from 2 years ago.


Shirley had open heart surgery February 3rd. Things were a bit trickier than they thought, but it all worked out in the end.

Day 4 starting to wake up. Peaking at mama. 

What I think about when I bowl...

For our anniversary, The Elder purchased a Boogie Board for me. They use them at his work to take notes with and he thought I may enjoy one. What do I do with it? This is what I did at bowling while waiting for my turn. If I plan it out, I don't have to think in the morning.

Menu for Week 5 of Taking the "100 Days of Real Food" Mini Pledge (14 weeks)

Once again we have to plan at being at the hospital most of next week. I used several of the meals I made for The Elder's lunches for work. Hopefully surgery won't be canceled this week like it was last week.

Week 5: Try two new whole foods – Try a minimum of two new whole foods that you’ve never had before

I have tried many things in my time. Without going to a specialty store, I don't think I could easily find a whole food that I've never had. So, I am opting to interpret this in a different way. I think we will eat 2 whole foods that AJ or the FAMILY has never eaten. Honestly, that will be a lot easier. Although we have already tried several new things since we have started.

What are the 2 new whole foods? Eggplant and turnips. Yes, I know they are both vegetables. We tried lentils for the first time last week. Quinoa was already introduced to our diet. I am not introducing any new grains at this time because they can be costly for a family our size.

Meal plan is:

Eggplant Parmesan using homemade breadcrumbs, Pasta with sauce, and Swiss Chard.

Quinoa and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole and  Apple Dumpling Cinnamon Rolls. I will use coconut oil in place of the canola oil.

Chicken Stew with Turnips and Mushrooms. I may serve this with some quinoa or brown rice because The Elder is never full with "just soup".

Chicken Stir Fry over Brown Rice


Loaded Baked Potatoes - Bacon, Cheese, Salsa, Sour Cream... The difference is, I use raw bacon and bake it with the potato. Works out well. Serve broccoli on the side.

Chicken, Vegetable, and Brown Rice soup. I will use whatever vegetables come with the CSA basket this week. I know there will be Turnups, carrots, and some type of green. Plus I will add in some peas, green beans, and any other veggies I find in the freezer.

Pasties - I notice that the CSA this week is also suppose to have Rutabagas in it. There we go! A 3rd new whole food this week!  I will use butter instead of lard. I may make some with chicken too and use them for lunches or to go into the freezer. Maybe add Parsnips?

They wear pjs on Sunday bowling nights.

For lunches, we will eat some Pasties and anything else I have time to make or space to pack. Otherwise we will eat in the hospital cafeteria. Where will we keep it? We will either keep it at my parents house (20-25 minutes away) or in a one of the hospitality houses the hospital has. One we can reserve a room and the other is first come, first served with special consideration tot hose who drive further than others. We are about an hour away in good traffic, so we are low priority. The other one has rooms more often and you can reserve them. It also costs a little more a night. With both, you can only stay 5 days unless you are a NICU parent (Shirley no longer is in there) or another long term situation.

The minions will remain with Julie and eat whatever is easiest for her. We have some boxed foods (I know, I know) as well as plenty of freezer meals (ones I made). She actually specifically requested the boxed items because she always forgot to grab a freezer meal the night before or early in the day last time. Is it the best thing for the minions to eat? No. Still, this poor woman is taking care of 5 kids who are 7 and under. One is Autistic. So if she wants that to make the weeks she has here easier, then we can do that for a week.

I will still make the full sized meals above. That way we have some to take and we will have several more freezer meals to add to our stash. Who knows, maybe Julie will want to try one.

How it's going - Week 4 of Taking the "100 Days of Real Food" Mini Pledge (14 weeks)

Tokyo on the "computer bag".

It's only Tuesday and it's already been a unique week. I have to admit that I ate fast food (Jimmy John's) yesterday for lunch. No chips. I had tea to drink. I have no clue what sandwich I ate. I know it had mustard and some sort of meat and veg.

The Elder holding a fussy Shirley.

 We took Shirley in for her pre op testing yesterday. We had her xray done, they took vitals, I let them know she had an on and off stuffy nose. The nurse looked at her and said it was fine. The then sent in one of the surgeons who will be working on her heart. He went through things and then asked about if she was sick, cough, runny nose, fever... I told him she had an on and off runny nose (not bad) and then a green bugger popped out of her nose. That is not what we had been seeing prior, but it was there. That green little booger is what stalled her surgery. Since the surgery can wait a little bit if needed, they felt it was better to wait. If Shirley was put on a ventilator and she had a cold, it could become much worse. Not something you need when recovering from open heart surgery. Especially when you are just shy of 2 months old. Surgery has been rescheduled for next week.

Colonel Sanders moved her chair into her brothers' room.

 Once again we were caught off guard. What are we going to do? It's not easy for us to find care for the minions. Luckily Julie was able to change out her vacation days for the days needed next week (now minus one day).

We put a plea out to our friends and family for some help with week 2 of Shirley's stay. If I don't have to, I don't want to have to come home every night, stay till I can get the boys to school and come back home when they get out of school. We have had some friends come to our aid. Right now we are trying to piece that all together since some people can only do a few hours, some can only take 2, some 1, some can do an over night for one night. The Elder and I are very grateful. We are shooting for a back up plan of staying in the hospitality house the second week of our stay. Only because they can house all 7 of us. The school has agreed to make an exception for missed school and send homework home if it comes down to it. That will be last resort.

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 I did get several meals made for the trip. My Easy Lunchboxes lunch bag kept everything cold and it was still frozen solid when we arrived home. So I put it all (4 meals) in the freezer for next week.

Keeping our fingers crossed that the sniffles go away. I am not sure Julie's boss will be so understanding and nice if they have to reschedule it again.

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 Since my food budget was already used this week, I didn't want to buy more food. At the same time, I didn't want to use what I had because a lot of thought went into kinda healthy (and some not) food for the minions while we were gone. Luckily I have my CSA and the freezer meals still. Yes, I like to cook (some day's its a chore) and even while "resting" I would cook a few meals a week. So that is what is saving us this week.

Tonight we had Chicken Parmesan and CSA Kale.

The other meals will be

 Lentil "Loaf", Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin.  and Spinach

My local chicken for the week is a Whole chicken. So I will bake it and have CSA Squash with Baked Apples.

Chicken, CSA Carrot, Parsnip, and Veggie Noodle Soup. I will use the chicken carcass to make the broth.

Stuffed Pork Rolls (freezer meal) with Mashed Potatoes, and Carrots and Parsnips (CSA)

White Lasagna with Broccoli

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I suppose I should start thinking about next week... Try 2 whole foods I haven't had before. Umm... This shall be interesting. Since joining the CSA I have had food I have not had before. Swiss Chard and Celery Root. I never had Rainbow Lentils before. I picked those up at Sam's Club 2 weeks back. Coconut Oil. And there are a few others.  Looks like I will need to be looking for something that's easy to travel with.

I will have to think about that. I will be shopping Friday this week. I expect I should have meals figured out by then. I will also post what is in the containers below for dinners at the hospital for next week... Hopefully.





Oh Miss Shirley, No more ucky nose!

Update and Week 4 of Taking the "100 Days of Real Food" Mini Pledge (14 weeks)

Week 4: No fast food or deep-fried foods – No fast food or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.

Normally this challenge would not be an issue, but this week it will be. The day this challenge starts (Mondays for me) we will be leaving for a 10 day stay at the hospital. 5 of those days we can stay on site at a hospitality house the hospital has. The rest will be spent either in limbo between home taking care of the minions, at the hospital (an hour from home), or sleeping at my parents' house (20 minutes past the hospital).

Ready to go to the cardiologist.

Wednesday was Shirley's cardiologist appt. They did a heart echo and noticed some changes as well as an obstruction in her heart. So we went from surgery being in another 4 months to being in 4-8 weeks. Shirley's cardiologist told us that he was going to review her case with the rest of the team and get back to us.

Later that night we received a call asking if we could come back into town to attend a surgical consult the next day.

Thursday afternoon for the surgical consult.

Thursday afternoon the surgeon came in and told us that things had progressed much quicker than anticipated. Shirley already took the medicine that helps with her valve. Her purple spells have become longer and harder to come out of and there were a few more things. The team felt that she was putting on weight well and they wanted to do the surgery soon. They felt it was in her best interests to not delay it. By soon they meant in 5 short days. The expected stay time is about 10 days.

Needless to say this was a bit unexpected. We went from shock to panic. The hospital Shirley will have her surgery at is an hour away by highway. What were we going to do with the other kids? This is pretty short notice. Luckily Julie was able to save the day again! She is able to cover 8 days of that time. We are extremely grateful. We don't have many options when it comes to people to care for the 5 other minions.


Back to the challenge:

With careful planning, we could meet this weeks challenge. Local meat (week 3) part would not come into play except for a meal, maybe 2. Although that was what we were doing anyway. I can still stay away form soda (week 2). I know The Elder won't. He likes his soda.

Another issue is storing things.  The hospitality house has a shared kitchen. I just don't want to be spending my normal amount of time in the kitchen when my daughter is in ICU (first few days) or then in her room. We can stay 5 days in the hospitality house. Then we can use my parents fridge to store meals for other days, but we will bring that days meals with us to the hospital.


Had I known sooner, I would have purchased some more Easy Lunchboxes. We have used them on car trips before and I know they stay closed and are sturdy. Although I think I will order some anyway and have them shipped to my parent house. I could use them for part 2 of our stay. In the mean time, we will use the few we have and pack larger containers with some food.



Now I need to figure out a meal plan that won't break the budget. I already hit budget with getting foods easier for my friend to prepare. My brain is drawing a blank. I figure I will use the salad bar in the cafeteria several times because it is an easy way to get fresh fruit and vegetables. I just don't want to often. We spent $50 a day eating while Shirley was in NICU when she was born. Not to bad, but it adds up. So does housing costs ($45 at the hospitality house, but we would rather pay it and be closer), and gas to and from my parents as well as home on days we need to go back to keep the kids covered near the end.

Tomorrow I hope to have a menu.