Faith's Mom's Blog

It seems we have been having a bit of our own March madness with so much happening this past week. Last week Faith and I were both struggling with colds and sore throats which caused me to miss work and her to miss school. I was hoping she would be up to trying wheelchair soccer this past weekend over at her school but she just wasn't up to it. As for myself, I wasn't sure if I would be up going to a Christian concert in Dickinson, but I went anyway. Me and my friend Sandy had front row seats and I even got autographs from the artistis themselves - Big Daddy Weave, MikesChair and Kerrie Roberts! I also saw another friend at the concert who recently moved to Killdeer - it was so cool to see her there! While I went road-tripping to Dickinson, Faith spent the whole evening with her dad. I didn't get home until 1:00 a.m. and by 10:30 a.m. the next day, Faith really wanted her mom. I was sleeping in the bedroom with the door closed and all the sudden I heard Faith knocking

This past week, Faith did something for the first time ever at school - she ate lunch. She tried everything on her tray, which included a turkey sandwich, glazed carrots (which she ate the most of), strawberries and a few bites of a breadstick. Because Faith still needs help eating solids, her occupational therapist had Faith and a few other girls eat lunch together in a separate room. Faith has made the comment when we feed her that "that's for babies" meaning she knows that this is how babies eat - being spoon-fed by someone else. Since we know she is sensitive to this, we decided not to have her join her classroom at lunch for the time-being. But the fact that she actually got to have her lunch replace one of her tube feedings at school was very exciting. The next day she got to eat one of her favorite foods - mashed potatoes and gravy. Each day the kids at school get a choice between a chef salad, ham or turkey sandwich and a hot meal. Each of them comes with diff

As a way to keep things cool during the hot summer months, there are ways I like to cook without using an oven. Five of these methods include grilling, using an electric skillet, microwaving, cooking with a convection oven and using a slow cooker. To read more click here.

Yesterday evening we went over to my brother and his wife's house for a barbecue. The weather was perfect, unlike today which has been filled with sporadic rain, thunder and lightning. We had a great time visiting and meeting some of those whom Todd and Barbara went to Argentina with on a missions trip. And I must say, even though I have never seen my brother cook before, he is a pro on the grill. The food was fantastic! Todd grilling up some corn on the cob. Relaxing Nicole and Barbara Sorry Chatzi - no food for you! Faith and her new friend, Alex Thanks for the food and fun!

Despite all the great food we had over our nice, relaxing Thanksgiving, Faith and I felt the need today to bake a cake. And since we didn't have any store-bought frosting, I decided it would be so much fun to make our own homemade frosting. I looked on the Internet for a simple recipe and found the perfect one, or so I thought. After Faith and I popped our cake into the oven, we prepared to make the frosting. I asked her what color the frosting should be. "BLUE!" The cream cheese frosting recipe called for three cups of  sugar. The problems began when I tried to mix the sugar with the cream cheese, water and vanilla extract the recipe had also called for. No matter how much stirring or mixing I did, it didn't turn creamy like it was supposed to. Instead, it looked like a big lump of mashed potatoes with lots and lots of sugar. My very first attempt at homemade frosting Faith soon got bored and decided she would like to do something else. I ran to the Interne

Despite mine and Faith's major lack of sleep this past couple of days due to her bad cold, which became progressively worse on Wednesday night, we are relieved and happy because of the good news we recently received. In my last blog, I asked for prayers for Faith as she was going to be getting her hip x-rays taken. Just a day later we received a phone call saying that there has been "no significant change" in her left hip. Her last x-ray had been taken in May so in six months the hip has not come any further out of its socket. Thank You Lord, for answering our prayers! Faith has stayed home these past couple of days due to her cold which I think is turning into a sinus infection so we picked up some antibiotics today. Hopefully she'll recover 100% by Monday so she can make it to school all three days next week. I haven't minded staying indoors as the temperature has gotten steadily colder. I don't think it even hit 20 degrees today. With the onset of winte

One of Faith's favorite things to do is bake cookies. She really likes to surprise her dad with a plateful of cookies when he is home working in the office, which is exactly what we had fun doing yesterday. Faith mixes up the batter while wearing her new, colorful apron. Who can resist licking the spoon? Yummy cookies! Let's have one then bring them back to daddy!

Faith loves chocolate cake! What a crazy week this has been. We have had many appointments and meetings this week but I'm only going to mention a few of the more important ones. We had Faith's IEP Meeting (Individual Education Plan) which is a huge meeting involving all who work with Faith at school to ensure we are setting up proper goals for her and working with her to attain those goals. If I count correctly, there were a dozen people seated around the conference table - all who thankfully have Faith's best interests in mind. Rob could only be there on his lunch break so I was a little nervous at first when he wasn't there because I was worried I was going to say the wrong thing or answer a question wrong or something. But thankfully when Rob showed up, my nerves settled. They all talked about standardized testing and how that really wouldn't be fair to Faith considering her physical limitations. In the end we as a team decided to for-go any type of testi

Faith loves to bake. And as she informed her respite care provider the other day, "I'm really good at mixing!" She likes to watch all of the ingredients go into the bowl, and then I help her stir it all together. She watches intently as I put the baked goods - usually muffins or cookies - into the oven. I turn on the timer and she knows our creation is ready when the bell goes, "DING!" I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not that I don't really bake all that much. Probably better for weight control but those baked goods sure are yummy with a cup of coffee. Faith still gets her baking time in though as all of her respite care providers have baked with her at one time or another. One of her providers even bought her the cutest little apron. Yesterday, while Kimberly was watching Faith, she informed Kimberly that she wanted to make something in the kitchen. So she and Kimberly searched in the pantry for something they could make. Aha! A little bo

Starbucks vs. McCafe - Whose Coffee Drinks are Better? We women love our specialty coffee drinks. That's why I thought it would be interesting to get the scoop on those delicious coffee drinks served at our local Starbucks and McDonald's McCafe (which I think are just in the U.S. for now). I hope this helps you make a more informed decision about where to get your favorite coffee drink and which ones you might want to reconsider making a habit of drinking because of the calorie content.

Over the weekend, we decided to go to one of our favorite pizza places. No, it's not Pizza Hut, A&B Pizza or even the pizza buffet place, Pizza Ranch. It's a place called Bruno's Pizza and it is the best pizza in town. I know, this is sounding like a commercial for Bruno's pizza but those who love it want to see their business pick up because we're afraid they're going to leave town. And that would be a near-tragedy. So late Saturday afternoon, Rob, Faith and I braved the elements and made our way to Bruno's. Faith can't really eat pizza - she can take little tiny bite-sized pieces but she told us she wanted ice cream instead. And wouldn't you know it, their one and only dessert consisted of two warm chocolate chip cookies topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream complete with whip cream and a cherry on top. Faith loves ice cream and cookies so she was able to have the best of both worlds! Rob and I tried their Pesto Garlic Chicken pizza,