Shannon Yee

That’s what we’ve been doing for a very long while and apparently recently it takes up all my time and energy. That, along with all the other stuff related to living life to the fullest! (Hence, the lack of activity here.)

As previously mentioned, over the past year Eila, my beloved 7 year-old daughter, has been complaining almost daily of stomach aches that she describes as constant, extremely painful and unbearable (with a very whiny voice). We took her to the doctor who said she has no obvious problem that he could fix, but it could be anxiety or she could out grow it or he could run lots of test or refer us to some specialists to try to figure it out more. So, on his recommendation, we tried to eliminate gluten, which didn’t really help and then dairy, which also didn’t make any difference. We prayed and waited and then did a few more tests with some specialists and eventually decided to change her diet to exclude wheat and corn. Now, we have been very proactive in trying to treat the cause of her complaints rather than just alleviating the symptoms and the main tool that we rely on is prayer. I believe fully that God made Eila and He is able to heal her. I also know that His ways are not my ways, which is why we have prayed for wisdom and guidance in addition to requests for complete health for her. We have also asked others to pray for her and we have seen great improvement in her health. There have been a few complaints, but 1-2/month compared to 5-6/day is great. The fact that she is not 100% better leads the doctors to believe that there are likely other issues too and so we are still pursuing complete health and healing for Eila, who would really like to eat in a restaurant again or have a piece of candy one day.

NB:If you think you eat a lot of wheat, check again and see how much corn you ingest… It is everywhere! And we haven’t bought things with HFCS for years, but we do like to eat out. 🙂

After my little guy hit his head on the corner of the coffee table and got a few stitches on his forehead, we resumed our normal routine of life including some gymnastics. I never imagined that it would happen that he could get hurt at gymnastics. We spend A LOT of time at the gym and with all the mats and pads around, we’ve only ever had minor injuries and even those have been very rare. Of course, just a few minutes after arriving at the gym, the kids were playing two of them bumped heads. Thaddeus was one of them and the loud scream and blood were good signs that this was not a simple little bonk on the head. He hit his head exactly on his stitches and bust them all out. I just kept saying “What are the chances?”

Well, after we got the big kids to Grandma’s house, Thad and I returned to urgent care, where this time there was a decent wait and he did great except for a few fretful outbursts of “NO! No more stitches. No stitches!” When we saw the doctor, she was kind and patient and said several times that odds are this will happen again and that we’ll be back in there getting stitches again in a few days… So, his head is not just glued with some steri-strips over top and we have made it a whole 24 hours without a return to urgent care!

Sometimes I need some help to figure out just what is the right thing to do. So, I will generally try to talk to some people who might be knowledgable and consequently helpful to me. Or, I might read books or search online for some expert advice.

This week, I needed some help decided the best course of action. In this case it was pretty urgent and I didn’t have time to read any books, but I did have some time to call and seek insight from my friends and my doctor. But, after all the input from others, I still didn’t know what to do. It was then that I FINALLY realized that the One who has all the answers in my friend and I could and should pray about this! It seems so obvious now and I am ashamed that it took me over an hour to realize that while I had prayed about the situation, I hadn’t asked for wisdom from God.

Now, I needed wisdom to know where to take Thaddeus, my little guy with a gash in his head from a collision with the corner of our coffee table. The small hole in his head was not life threatening in any way, but seemed deep enough and thick enough that he could possibly need stitches to fix it up nicely or just some steri-strips. So, I hemmed and hawed about whether I should take him to our doctor that night (the earliest I could get an appt) or go to urgent care in the afternoon (more immediately). Finally, when I prayed I asked God to just tell me clearly, so I could know for sure what the best thing was for Thaddy. I said, “I wish I would just clearly hear a voice telling me ‘Take him to urgent care!’ or ‘Take him to the doctor!'” Generally this is not a method I would recommend for prayer, but in my desperation, I simply cried out to my best friend and the One who knows and controls everything.

Well, I prayed as I drove to pick Eila up from school and after I told Eila what was going on (not even 5 minutes later), she said very loudly and forcefully: “Take him to urgent care!” I mentioned at this point that I had just prayed for God to tell me clearly if I should do that and she said, “I told you: Take him to urgent care!!” Then, Josiah joined in and I would have to be a complete fool not to recognize God speaking through my children and answering my prayer loud and clear. I may have been foolish to not ask God sooner, but I am no fool, so I dropped Eila at the gym and headed to urgent care. Amazingly, there was not one other person at urgent care. We had a great doctor with no wait and great care. She decided that he definitely should get stitches since his cut was still bleeding lightly and was very patient with a nervous little boy while she fixed him up. We left with a very happy boy who said “I don’t like stitches, but I like stickers!”

Eila has been complaining on and off for several months about stomach aches at school. Mostly after lunch, but sometimes in the morning too. At first, we thought it was nerves. Then we wondered if it might be something else, so we took her to the doctor, who said she is fine and that lots of young kids complain and it’s usually anxiety. Well, we were wondering if she might be having some indigestion or maybe something she is eating is upsetting her stomach. Our doctor recommended trying to eliminate some common problem foods (first gluten, then milk, then both, then eggs, soy, etc.) and see how she feels.

So, I thought that making stir fry would be one of the meals that we ate that was already gluten-free, but then I realized that the oyster sauce and the hoisin sauce that I usually use in my sauce both contain wheat flour. This recipe that I made up turned out to be better anyway.

Easy Stir Fry Recipe
3 T. peanut or vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t. grated ginger root
1/2 small onion, diced
8 oz. firm tofu, cubed
2 packages frozen stir-fry veggies
1/2 c. chopped toasted cashews

sauce:
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. sherry
2 T. honey
3 T. soy sauce (gluten-free)
1 T. corn starch
pinch white pepper

1. Mix sauce together in measuring cup or small bowl; set aside.
2. Heat large pan or wok over high heat and add 1 T. oil, when hot add aromatics (garlic, ginger and onion) and quickly cook them until fragrant then remove from pan and add to sauce mixture.
3. Add 1 T. oil (if needed) to pan and heat until just smoking. Add tofu and fry until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside (on paper towel-lined plate).
4. Use final 1 T. oil in pan, reheating until smoking. Add vegetables and stir frequently until heated through.
5. Add sauce and tofu to veggies and simmer 3-5 minutes until thickened. Add cashews and serve over rice.

Sometimes I know we are doing too much and need to slow down. I know that we aren’t eating as well as we should and aren’t getting enough sleep and yet we just keep going and plod on as if all is fine. Until, we are forced to stop and stay home and relax. When all of us are struck together, we have no choice but to cuddle up, read lots of books, watch a few movies, take naps together and spend hours laying or sitting around playing, talking, singing, doing laundry. While relaxation is not bad, I would rather not be forced into anything and hope that I finally have learned to look at all the warning signs and take corrective action before it’s too late.

It seems like everywhere I look, people (and blogs and other blogs) are suggesting that listing what you’re thankful for is a really good idea. So, I think I will.

Here are some things I’m thankful for today:
-Naps all together in a warm bed on a cold afternoon
-Eila getting her stride circle: success after lots of hard work
-Brian being well last night and not complaining about the clean-up he did
-Boxes full of books to read and time to read some
-Quiet in the evening; time to myself

Sometimes there just aren’t words to describe how we feel.

Sometimes there just isn’t an adequate explanation for why.

Sometimes there just won’t be a way to make things better.

Always, there’s a choice of how we respond to the sometimes…

“This is the day the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

After a fabulous week in Los Angeles, visiting my sister, we are enjoying some serious home time. The overnight flights were great for us and the time in the sunshine was just what we needed to survive the rest of this winter, which apparently is still going strong as we got another inch or two of snow last night…

Well, we are back home. Thaddeus is still pretty sick with his second case of stomach flu in two weeks. We are in quarantine mode and it actually suits us just fine. Eila is still going to school, which gives the big ones a much needed break from each other every afternoon. I’ve re-discovered the wonders of the Ergo and am very much enjoying the cuddle time with my sick baby. I am trying out some new – and very delicious – bread recipes from a book that Brian got me for my bday. Now, I just have to order my grain mill and I’ll be in the real bread business.

I know you must be crazy with worry about what is going on in my head and in my life. Well, do not fret. No terrible calamity has befallen me. I’m simply maintaining the same routine as always which leaves me with very little to say at times…

We are sequestered at home as a bad cold/flu bug creeps through each family member. Plus, it is so cold and snowy that I don’t know why we haven’t relocated to someplace much, much closer to the equator. On a happier note, our home is pretty clean and we have plenty of food and are playing lots of fun games.

1. Family. I love them all. It’s just not right that there would have so many awesome people in one family and that I am apart of that family. I think I have something like 75 people in the extended family and they are all so much fun!
2. Faith. Who and where would I be without the saving grace that is constantly at work changing me and has given me life?
3. Friends. It boggles my mind to think of all the people that I have called friend and have returned that over the years. I am most thankful for those who still call me friend when I am not a friend.
4. Food. Honestly, I love to eat and create things with food. I cannot think of anything more fun that sharing a delicious meal with friends or family.
5. Games. Playing games is really fun and helps me to be at ease in a group of people when I wouldn’t normally.
6. Home. It’s where the heart is (and also the messy kids and hubby that I love so much!)
7. Computer. I really like to have all sorts of information available for me to learn and get organized, etc. It’s so convenient.
8. Health.
9. Books. So many to read, so little time.
10. Bed. I’m really tired and it’s so comfy…