Christmas on the road

Well I just found out today that Sam and Sarah will be seeing their doctor in NY the week of Christmas.  To be honest, we should have scheduled Sam before now but everytime I went to plan it, something would come up.  It's been over a year since he has seen Dr A. 

Going back to NY is very hard for me emotionally.  We've been going to Rochester NY for Sam, at least yearly since he was three years old in 2007 when he had the corneal implants.  At that time we stayed for three weeks, as the surgeries had to be spaced out.  Of course we always stay at the World's Best Ronald McDonald House:)  I've always associated Rochester with the very best of memories.  How many people can say they've seen their almost completely blind son regain sight?   (here is a story- used to have a video there but it seems to be gone  http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=17159)
 We became friends over the years with the Eye hospital staff and the dear staff at the RMH. Also we have two sets of college friends who live in the Rochester area so we felt very close to the folks up there.  But then in August 2012, when the accident happened.....my memories of Rochester are now forever linked with tragedy.  I still love all the folks and during the five months Selah was in the hospital, we became even closer to everyone but there are now so many emotions connected with Rochester for me. 

So some of the dearest memories  mixed with some of the saddest memories make up Rochester NY now to me.  It's such an odd place to be in emotionally.

So the kids have appointments on Monday, December 22 in the office.  Sam has an EUA (exam under anesthesia) on the 23rd and usually a follow up appointment the next day on the 24th.   I want Sarah to be seen by Dr A just to check her eye.  Unfortunately we know we can't do anything medically for her but I just want to make sure things are stable.  Sarah at times, pokes her eye and it gets so red.  Blind kids do that to stimulate the eye to give them the funny little squiggly things we see when our eyes are closed. 

Blindness is in degrees. None of my kids are what is called "black blind" where they only see darkness. Shad is black blind in his bad eye but 20/20 in his good eye.  (his blindness is due to some sort of accident after he was born non repairable)  Sam is black blind in his left eye but sees in his right eye to some degree.  Since he is non verbal, it's really hard to tell what he sees, we just have to observe his behavior to figure out how far away he can see.  Sarah was only born with one poorly developed eye, she sees light for sure and seems to always be able to find me!   But her vision is very limited and probably as she ages, she will go black blind.  Selah had some sort of issue before the accident.  We were told by Ukraine that she was blind.  Well she wasn't blind, but there were some problems with her eyes maybe something called "cortical blindness" where the eye is formed normally but it is unable to  transmit the images to the brain, due to brain damage.  We think now she certainly has some cortical blindness after the accident, so it maybe worse than it was before. 

Steve is the strange on in our family he has 20/15 vision in both eyes, our doctor was quite amazed when he tested Steve. 

Sorry about the blindness lecture.....LOL  People know Sam and Sarah are blind and they are often shocked when one of the kids grab something and then I have to explain to them the degrees of blindness.....


So....we plan to be on the road home on Christmas Eve.  I can truly say we have never done anything like this but it's ok.  We'll all be together and Selah with be with her nurses who love & care for her.  I'm a bit freaked by the timing but just last night I woke up around 3 am to go to the bathroom (TMI) and I laid there worrying about their doctor's appointment.  I thought it would be scheduled earlier in the month and was stressing about leaving Shad and Steve here to go to school.  It's not that I don't trust Steve, I do 110% but I hated the thought of them having the older van to drive (our newer one has all the safety gadgets) and I knew it would be a bit hard for Steve to get Shad to school and himself to college on time every day.  Then I thought about flying but A.  I HATE to fly B it would be hard for me to take both kids by myself and if Jon came to, that would be so expensive.   So I really just prayed and asked God to work it out along with my extra anxiety about going, not to mention the finances.  Then I got the email this morning and realized it solves our problem about leaving the boys, we can take them now.  Of course there are some other problems it creates but I think all of them are workable. 

Well that's our big news for today!  Just taking it all in.  I try my best to think of life as an adventure and a journey, so that's how I'm looking at this.  At least I don't have to do a Christmas Tree!!!   Holidays seem to overwhelm me now.

Observing Vetern's Day & Other Stuff

My thoughts on Veteran's Day...
It's interesting to me that in 2014 we observed the 100 year anniversary of the start of WWI, 70 years since D-Day, & 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell.... All world events that our military were a part of... I'm thankful for our military & what they have done for America & the whole world. God be with them at this time in history where world events are once again swirling around us....

I love the history of the last 100 years, starting around WWI and then seeing how the Flu Epidemic and the Great Depression changed the world.  It's interested studying how Hitler made his way across Europe and the start of WWII.   All of WWII is interesting to me.  The end of the war and the 50's-70's with all the changes that came during those years, both politically and socially are very captivating times to read about.  Then the 80's and all the changes to the world with the fall of the Berlin Wall, a change that affected my life personally.  Now we are at another juncture of history, who knows what will happen?  The will of the American people does not seem as strong as it has been in days past but that could change.  I'm thankful for our veterans who served and still serve our country.

Well everyone around here had the day off except for Selah, she had to go and have some bloodwork done.  Afterwards, Selah, her nurse and I went by the new house to see the progress.  Here are some pictures.  Last time we were there, Shad helped me sneak into the fence, today the fence was pulled tight and locked LOL!  I could have gone through the gate but couldn't get the locks to cooperate:)

 

So the south wall is now up along with the beginning of the roof of the carport!

 

 

 

 

we love to see the changes!

 

 

 

this is from last night

I made oatmeal & also sugar cookies!

I use Pampered Chef's stones for all my baking, they cook so even.

 

 

For supper last night I fixed the famous "Duggar Tater Tot casserole"

Somewhere I had gotten the recipe for it. It was ok, probably won't be making it again anytime soon tho!

 

 basically I took 2 packets of ground meat (1 grass fed beef and 1 ground chicken)

add a can of cream of chicken soup

put a bag of tater tots on top

add another can of cream of chicken soup and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Everyone else liked it- it was ok but not something I cared for but boy was it easy to make

I use the brand "Alexis" for any frozen potato product.  That brand is usually a bit more healthy 



 

 



After that meal, a whole lot of sleeping was going on!

 

I finally got everyone to watch "The Waltons" with me last night.  It's one of my favorite tv shows from the past! 

 

Hope you all are having a good day!

 

 

Sunday Pictures

 

We attempted a family picture today after church.  

if you didn't notice we all have on black/grey/white:)  It just "happened" while i was getting everyone's clothes together and I asked the nurse to dress Selah in the same colors.  

After lunch I went to Beal's.  I had some store bucks and I bought this shirt and shorts for Sarah for JUST 22 cents!!!!!!  The shirt was originally $17 and the shorts $16.  I would have NEVER spent that much on either of them but I'm very happy with the $32. 78 savings I got :)  

 

 

 

 

Well it is a dreary  day here in the Sunshine State.  We got some rain and the temps are going down to at least the 50's  LOL    Yesterday I did get a square foot garden planted with lettuce before the rains came.  There is nothing like a good soft rain to help seeds grow.  

New Kitty Cat

 

Last weekend our black & white kitty died unexpectedly.  It had not been sick, didn't have any visible wounds on its body or unusual signs like foaming at the mouth.  Jon saw it that morning lying under the canoe, but didn't think anything of it until we hadn't seen it all day.  The only thing we can think is that is had some disease or genetic problem. She had had all her vaccines and been fixed but was always tiny & thin yet she ate often.  Anyhow it was a shocker since it was a young cat.

 

The very next day we see a snow white cat outside.  At first the cat ran from us, but Shad was able to pet it this week....and now it is moved in LOL  She is a really sweet cat.  We all like her and for now her name is Gabby. 

 

Look what Shad found in the garden today

Two Snails!



I've made it my goal for our family not to eat out this week!  And we've made it!

 

I've also really worked hard on making meals for Sarah.  I had been really excited about some new baby food I'd found for her until I opened one and found white and green growth on it!  UGH!  So NO more store bought baby food!!!!

 

Here is a picture of 14 servings for her.  I have homemade chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, Taco chili, and beef stew.  What I do is cook the meal and then puree' at least a couple of containers to freeze for her for those days we have something for supper that doesn't really puree good like sandwiches, salad or pizza.   I'm quite proud of my "Sarah stash"!  And it makes it very easy for anyone to feed her, just defrost for 10 minutes and she has a good meal that doesn't even require pureeing!   

Today I cooked the Taco Chili that I posted about a few days ago.  Even my most pickiest kid, Steve, liked it enough to eat four bowls:)  I doubled the recipe so that I'd have plenty to freeze for Sarah. 

 

 

 

When I was younger I never "got" the need as a wife or a mom to feed people.  My family was obsessed with cooking!  Food has always been on the backburner for me LOL.  I can go all day without eating if I get busy or am having fun.  My husband has to have breakfast as soon as he gets up which annoyed the heck out of me.  THEN my kids all are the same way!  Of course with Sam, he has so many real issues with Hypoglycemia that he has to eat but the other ones just bother me!  My stomach doesn't wake up till about 11 am at the earliest.  

 

But as I've gotten older and gotten more kids, I've really started to appreciate cooking more.  First it was just "easy" cooking,.  Then we started eating organically mostly for Sam's sake.  Around the same time, I started gardening in earnest.  All  of that led me to cook more.  Of course as our family grew, I had to cook more to save money. 

 

Now I actually enjoy cooking for my family.  I like planning meals and making them for our family.  I like to know the foods they eat are healthy (for the most part)  I really like to cook to make Sarah happy:)  She loves her food!!!!

 

We are expecting some rain and cooler temps here in Florida.  Looking forward to supper with the family and a movie.   Hope you all have a good weekend!

 

 



 

Doctor Aquavella & Clearing the Garden

A reader sent me this link to a short video about Dr Aquavella, our son's eye  doctor in Rochester.  It is a tribute to him and his life work and what his future plans are.....   There are not words to express our gratitude to him for what he has done for our son.  Not only is Dr A a world class doctor, he is a gentleman.  There is just no one like him.....  He is planning now for when he retires (he is in his 80's) he wants to have someone in place who will take over his life's work.  He worked on the corneal implant since the 60's!  When  I was a little girl playing with dolls, he was working on ideas on how to help kids see better....MY kid!   That just blows my mind!  

http://campaign.rochester.edu/videos/campaign-video-heal    please take a moment to watch this.


Well I have some wonderful boys out cleaning my garden and yard today!  This year I really let my garden grow up with weeds.  In spite of the weeds we found a lot of sweet potatoes.  I'll be cooking Sarah some sweet potato pie today.  The guys are getting Pizza and a movie this afternoon to express my thanks!  Having three extra guys made things go so much smoother and everyone worked together so well, with good natured joking.  It was a lot easier than me working with Shad and Steve LOL!!!!!  

 

 

 

this is the end result!!!!

 

 

 

Look at all the sweet potatoes that were under the weeds!

 

 

Hope you all are having a great weekend! 

 

 

 



Another Wall is Up!

Ok more work done on the house!!!!!  We went by after school and the north wall is up!  This wall is for Selah's room and the living room I took the first picture from the carport looking in towards the house.  The door will be the door to the living room 

 

 

Shad man on a pile of dirt in the back yard.  That was his fav place

 

 

 

the view from the back porch!



 

Here you can see the slab of the house, the north wall then the carport and the storage room is already up

 

I'm standing in my room!!!!  I love the view:)

 

 

Shad standing in his room

 

 



 

 

Looking from our room

 

 

the back porch!  Love the view!!!

 

 

 

Remember if you want to help out contact me theclanton5@aol.com and I'll put you in contact with the contractor/scheduler. 

 

Also if you'd like to give to the construction cost of the house.....it would be a blessing!

https://www.mymissio.com/missio/the-clanton-family-habitat-home

 

 

As I was recently going through paperwork, I found a list of needs I had written down last year.  I spelled out what we needed/wanted in a home.  Some of the things I wrote down, like a front and back porch were just dreams that I could not believe would happen, in fact I thought I was being way too extravagant in listing them!  No one saw that list, but I guess God did!  Everything, even to the storage room is being built for our family.  It is mind blowing!!!

 

Please don't get mad at what I wrote if you are struggling in some area with a need.  Sometimes I've heard others share what God was doing for them at a particular time and wondered where my blessing was!   I can remember back in bible college, I was working at times THREE jobs and friends would share how they went to their mailbox and pulled out a check to pay off their college bill.  OH that would make me MAD & envious, to be quite honest!!!   But I was not walking their journey.  Some would goon to go through some deep waters and hard times later in life, maybe God was using those checks & blessings as something that person could look back on and remember how God had come through for them in the past.   

 

Now being the recipient of some much is humbling.  I'd rather be giving to someone else than to be in need, above what we can personally do for our family.  But I am grateful , very grateful and I look at it all as coming from God's hands through others.  It makes me want to do more for others. 

 

Now if you are wondering, we will have a mortgage, quite a large one due to the size of the house.  But it will be lower than anything we could have ever tried to do as so much is work done by volunteers-that are not paid.  Some materials are donated so that is a big help also.  Those are things we do not have to pay back.  The wonderful thing about the mortgage is it is interest free which will save us thousands of dollars over the next 30 years.   We personally could not afford to have a handicapped accessible house built.  We had looked at some homes and everything we could afford was no bigger than the home we have now and not handicapped accessible either.   So we look at this Habitat Home as a blessing in many different ways. 

 

If you are struggling with your finances, all I can tell you is to live open handedly.  What I mean by that is, let things go, be generous to others and don't focus on your finances or what you do not have.  There have been times when we didn't have enough money to even pay a full bill, but we still tithed- we gave money to the work of the Lord.  And somehow GOD would bless us. 

 

Y'all know I'm not some prosperity preacher but I believe in giving to good works, to things that honor God and I believe the by product will be you are blessed.  I don't give to get....I LOVE to give.  Recently I just set up some automatic deductions for Orphans' care and for another ministry from our checking account and it just made me HAPPY to do it!  I'm excited about giving to ministries and humanitarian efforts that help others even while others are helping us.  I think that is how we should be.  I might not be able to give as much as some can, but I can give something. 

 

I've learned a lot about giving over the years.  The most important thing I've learned is to be open handed and not to grasp onto things or money too tightly.  We can't take anything with us when we leave this world so let's do good while we can!

 

Materialism is dangerous to our souls.  Even with this new home, I want to remember that OUR home is wherever we are all together...whether it is a big new comfy house OR a small Ronald McDonald House room.  Daily I cultivate a thankful heart, reminding myself of the blessings I have.  That keeps my heart content and not seeking for more & more.....  KNOWING that I have more than many in this world.  I have a roof over my head, a clean bed, running water, electricity even air conditioning & heat!  I am blessed and probably so are you!!!!  There are millions in this old world who do not have that, and I am quite aware of that sobering fact. 

 

You may not believe it but there is a part of me that is very sad about moving out of our little parsonage.   We've been there for nine years, have had many many special happy days there.  We redesigned it and it was remodeled before we moved in so I got to chose the colors, the floors, cabinets.  It's small but welcoming and it holds almost a decade of family memories.  I've worked the yards, grown a garden, planted trees, grapevines, pineapple plants, orange, lemon and tangerine trees..... A honeysuckle bush that is tremendous and a huge jasmine vine.    Yes, I'll be able to plant things when we move, but it takes awhile to grow everything. 

 

You see, I learned to be content where God had me.  Even when I worried about the future and how we could continue to take care of Selah, I was content in the moment and I knew somehow God would provide.  And He has.....

Park, Slab and Recipe

Well the election is over and I'm happy happy happy!  For the very first time in my life, everything & everyone  I voted for, WON!  Or in the case of Amendment 2...."medical" marijuana LOST!  Watching the results come in last night was pretty amazing.  My "hope' has been restored for this country!

My hope is not so much in the politician as it is in the voters themselves.  They realized that something needed to be done...and they did it

Now it is up to the newly elected leaders to do the job they promised to do!

So this morning I got up in a good mood!  For the past week, I've had pain in my left food/ankle so I've not been walking but it felt better so I tried a flat walk at the park.  I only made it through a mile and have been paying for it all day long.  In the past year, I've had pains like this in various other parts like in my hand....then it goes away!  I'm hoping for this to go away soon!

What a nice morning!

How do they do that???



Sometimes I feel like this little fellow looks....LOL

 



This particular area reminds me of Ukraine



 

 

I knew the slab was going in at the house so I had to go and see it!

 



Woohoo!

 

 

Doesn't it look good!  Can't wait till it is finished but it is very interesting to see a house go up.  I've never really been involved in anything like this and I'm learning a lot!  Probably driving the guys' crazy, with all the questions, but it is really interesting. 

 

I did solve a mystery about the dogs...EVERYONE is feeding them!  Today me and one of the builders confessed we had dog food in our vehicles for them!  A few days ago, I met one of our first neighbors, the dogs were lying in his yard till they saw me.  The neighbors are also feeding them!   We have all decided the male is not a pit but rather a boxer mix-maybe a little pit.  He has become my best friend in the last few days.  So they are getting plenty of food and love:)  They still need a home, our Lab would be quite upset with us over them.  She is old and will fight them and hurt herself so we can't keep them.

 

Let me share one recipe that I just picked up at our grocery store.  It is the BOMB!

 

TACO CHILI

 

11/2 pound ground beef ( I used chicken)

2-10oz cans of diced tomatoes (used Ro-tel)

1-16 oz can of chili beans in sauce ( used two)

1-16oz can of red kidney beans (used two)

1-16oz Southwest corn with peppers drained

1-15 oz can of Hominy drained

1-10oz can of enchilada sauce

1 packet of Taco seasoning

 

Brown meat

add everything to a crockpot PLUS about 3 cups of water ( I added that in)

cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours

This is SO GOOD!!!!!

 

 

 

Let me tell you that was so good. Next time I am doubling the whole recipe.  I pureed it for Sarah and she just loved it but I could only save one extra serving for her before it was gone  I like to make and freeze her food so it is handy.