A little bronchial pneumonia anyone?

Yup- for three weeks now I have been under the plague of bronchial pneumonia, and as of now, there is no let up in site.  As luck would have it, they cut off our insurance for my husband and myself this month, so heading in for an appointment is a pretty daunting financial burden.  I did manage to take the boys into their doctor and have him prescribe me something as well, but I have been off of the Z-Pack for 5 days now and am actually getting worse.  I have a hard time breathing and have been coughing so hard that I have pretty much completely thrown out my upper back.  Fun.  Something is going to have to give here soon though, I'm not sure I can make it through the weekend.

On a happier and probably more interesting note, however, there are some big changes happening over at my boys blogs!  Lion Cub is moving on up to join his big brother on the same blog, which has now been renamed The World According to Them.  I am really excited about this change (which is still in process as I get links changed, layouts adjusted, buttons made and so forth), and think it will make posting much more feasible since I won't be trying to keep up with both their blogs!

Also, on that same note- I am changing R-Man's online name (which I have never really fallen in love with- it's kind of... well... lame).  In light of his new drum set and his long-time passion for dance, music and banging on just about everything with just about anything, he shall hence forth be known as (drumroll please!  Haha- get it!?  Oh, I crack myself up!)...

Rhythm!  

Fitting, don't ya think?!

Unexpected Lessons in Hospitality

This evening, as we were preparing a later than normal dinner, a single friend of my husband's unexpectedly showed up at our door. 

My first reaction- surprise mixed with a tinge of annoyance. 

My house was far from tidy. 

Then, my shock mounted as my generous 4-year-old proceeded to invite our guest for dinner!  "Come on in Jeff!  Would you like to have dinner with us?  Mom, clear your computer off that side of table- he can sit right there!  Dad, we need another hotdog!  Jeff, do you like corn?"

I further swallowed my pride.

Dinner was a combination of left-overs and Hebrew National franks.

We only had three ears of corn, but now there were five of us (Lion Cub was just going to have a little of mine).

I took a step back and a deep breath.

How could I really be mad?  If anything I should be greatly humbled and exceedingly proud!  My four-year-old was instantly more hospitable than I ever thought to be.  When my thoughts would have jumped to how I could cleverly, but kindly, hint that we were about to eat dinner and our surprise guest should make his exit, R-Man quickly showed me just how easy my plans were to alter and that we did, indeed, have enough to share. 

More than that, it was simply the right and hospitable thing to do.  This man is not a believer and lives alone- the cliche stands, What Would Jesus Do?  He would do what my four-year-old did.  He would do more than speak to Him about the Lord- He would invite him in and serve Him a meal.

In the end, R-Man did manage to completely talk our guest's ears off (so he actually may have regretted accepting the invitation!  haha!), but his enthusiasm and joy really only seemed to bring a smile to Jeff's face.

Oh the lessons I learn from my four-year-old!

I Like to Think of them as Wildflowers!

Our backyard has been low on the priority lists for the last few years... ok, since we moved in (my husband moved in 7 years ago while we were dating).  We made an attempt last year to till it all up and put in a garden, but I quickly found that being 40+ weeks pregnant and then coping with a newborn and recovery was not all that conducive to gardening or yard work.  And so, it fell by the wayside once again.

Although we do hope to begin "official" work on landscaping soon, in the mean time I have chosen to view our weed infested ground with a new perspective.  Why not embrace the potential beauty instead of focusing on the fact that the weeds are so high that my four-year-old is literally nearly lost in the jungle when he steps out our back door?  Yes, I do believe that I shall refer to those weeds as wildflowers, henceforth!

I can't entirely take the credit for this fresh perspective, however!  it was tremendously helpful to open the door the other day and have R-Man gasp and quietly utter, "Oh Mom!  Look at all those beautiful flowers!  I just want to go pick some of those beautiful yellow flowers for you!"

And really, who could not think that they are exceedingly beautiful when the most handsome little guy on the block pics you a bouquet?!

Now these "wildflowers" most absolutely adorn the shelf above my sink, and sing to me each day about finding beauty in unexpected places... and seeing the world through the eyes of a sweet child.

Getting it together

I hate that the majority of posts I have been writing over the past couple of months have included lines such as, "Man, it has been so long since I have posted!"  And yet here I am again!  Honestly, the sickness we have been dealing with has been insane (did I mention that I finally went in and found out that I had a raging sinus and ear infection that should have been treated a lot sooner) AND my hubby was working out of town for two weeks solid.  Needless to say, I have been exhausted and have had too much on my plate!  However, I do finally feel that I am maybe starting to make some progress and get a grip on things- more of that to come.

So what has been happening otherwise?  Well, last Friday R-Man turned 4!!  4- I can't believe it! It doesn't seem possible!  He had such a fun birthday weekend and I will be posting more about it on his blog- The World According to R-Man!

 I have tons of blog catching up to do, but seriously hope (and plan) to get back on track this week, and as long as Lion Cub decides to sleep this week (he has a cold again), then I will be getting up earlier and re-entering this glorious blog-land which I dearly miss!

A little snippit from my other blogs!

I know that many of my readers only frequent this blog of mine, but lately my boys have just had some of the most precious pictures that I, of course, just have to share them with all of you!

Okay, I know I have a little bias, but they are just too cute, right?!  And the blue eyes?!  Killer!

If you want to hear more about our homeschooling adventures you can visit R-Man's blog at The World According to R-Man and for more on Lion Cub's life you can visit The Lion Cub!

I can't believe I won!!

I have won a few things I have entered in bloggy contests but for the most part it is a big zilcho!  This weekend, however, I was shocked and elated to find out that I won an ENTIRE YEAR of Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum from Homeschool Creations!  EEEEEEEK!!!!  I am sooooo stinkin' excited!!!!

Check out Jolanthe's Blog (she just won a Homeschool Blogging award!  And yes, I voted for her!):



And of course I will be blogging about my win on R-Man's blog as we begin to use the curriculum in January! 

Thanks again Jolanthe- such a huge blessing for a mama who can't afford much of anything right now!

Introducing my newest Blog!

After some thought about the direction that Mama Kenz Studio is heading in, I have decided to write a new blog, The World According to R-Man... life through the Eyes of a 3-Year-Old!, devoted just to our little 3-year-old man, who we will now be referring to as "R-Man!" We chose the name "R-Man" because not only is he "Our Little Man," but there are many "R" words that describe him so well, including his amazing Rhythm and the fact that he Runs everywhere!

This new blog will be all about everything R-Man related, including his latest musings and insights, activities, tot-school and even pictures he takes with our camera! I want to write his new blog as an account of his life and as a gift to him, as I will include letters and notes I write specifically to him along with all the things about him.

My plan is to use R-Man's new blog as a sort of scrapbook for him and eventually publish it into a book, as sites such as The Cutest Blog on the Block will soon be doing. At this point in my life "actual" scrapbooking is just far too time consuming and I feel that I can give better commentary and keep much more up-to-date by simply creating a blog!

So, if you get a chance you will have to jump over there and see what you think! I would love to hear you input on my newest project! Also, I will mostly likely be creating a blog devoted to our newest little addition as well, as soon as he or she arrives, and Mama Kenz Studio will be more focused on my life as a mama (including lots on breastfeeding, cloth diapering, babywearing and so forth), homemaker, doula and knitter! Stay Tuned!