Teacher's Mason Jar gift

So every year I try to think of something clever to give my son's teachers. I took to Pinterest and found some good gift ideas. I took a couple and made my own. I had most of these items on hand but the pins and those paint colors.

 

What you will need:

• Glue gun
• 2 paper plates
• scissors
• paint brush
• mason jar (your preferred size)
• Magnet pins (Walmart in the office area)
• Acrylic Paint Red, Green, and Brow (not shown)
• Green foam paper
• Black sharpie (not shown)

 

I first took the lip off the jar and turned it upside down. I painted the body red. You will need to put at least 2-3 coats. Make sure the first coat is completely dry before putting on another or the paint will just come off. 

 

I painted the lid green because I thought it would be too much red. As you can see it was the first coat and I had to add 2 more or the writing would show.

 

 

I kept the ring red like the body of the jar. Again use at least 2-3 coats.

 

 

Since the pins are magnets I placed them on a can so I could paint them without getting the paint on my hands. I originally was going to paint it green but decided brown would look better.  

 

While the paint dried in between coats I cut out the leafs. I did not measure because leafs are never perfect. I used the black sharpie for the lines.

 

I would paint another coat then hot glued the leafs together in a V shape. As soon as all the paint was dried I placed a couple of hot glue drops on the inside of the rim and placed the lid on the rim so it would stay together when opening the jar. I screwed on the lid so the lid would stay. I then placed the hot glue on the bottom of the brown magnet pin and placed it on the middle of the lid. I placed some more hot glue on the bottom of the V the leafs made and placed it next to the magnet. (see pictures below)

 

Since I know my son can be a handful but still is a sweet little boy I came up with this saying. My son has an amazing teacher that understands the struggles he has to deal with. I placed peanut M&Ms in the jar to go with the saying.

 

 

 

Let me know if there are any homemade gifts you have given you child's teachers. I love new ideas for any holiday.

 

 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

My family loves this soup. My son and husband are very picky eaters but love this soup. My son really likes Broccoli Cheddar Soup and orders it all the time at restaurants. I can't complain because he's actually eating a good amount of broccoli. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

·      2 tablespoons butter

·      1 medium onion diced

·      6 cups water

·      6 teaspoons beef bouillon (or 6 beef bouillon cubes)

·      1/2 cup butter

·      1/2 cup flour

·      3 cups fat free half & half (or regular)

·      6 cups chopped broccoli florets

·      1 teaspoon salt (I started out with this amount then added to taste)

·      1  teaspoon white pepper

·      4 cups mild cheddar cheese

 

Instructions

In your pot sauté 2 tablespoons butter and onions over medium heat until onions are translucent (I use the pot I am going to use for the soup and put the onions on a paper plate to save dishes). Remove from heat and set aside. In a sauce pan bring water to a boil, add beef bouillon and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and set aside. In your pot melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Slowly whisk in flour until mixture

1.   clumps up or forms a "ball". Add beef bouillon/water mixture and stir to combine. Slowly whisk in half & half and continue to stir until smooth. (If large lumps remain, mash them out with a rubber spatula)

2.   Add broccoli florets and onions and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes or until broccoli is tender and easily pierced with a fork. Stir in salt, white pepper, and cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Serve hot and top with additional cheese if desired.

Notes

I prefer my soup smoother so before I add the cheese I put the soup in the blender then put it back in the pot and added the cheese.

 

 

 

 

Hospitals Part 2

Make sure to read Hospitals Part 1 first.

So I do as the nurses told me and I go home, take Tylenol, and use a heating pad. I wake up the next morning in even more pain. I called my doctor and he tells me to get to the Roswell labor and delivery as soon as possible.

I have to drive myself the 80 miles while in pain because my husband had to go to work. I get to labor and delivery and of course the first thing they have me do is pee and hook me up to the monitors. By then my contractions had stopped but my heart rate would not go under 135. They placed an order to get labs done and my urine comes back with blood and protein right away plus I have a 100.4 degree temperature. I was lucky my doctor was on call and in there at the time because he was doing a delivery. After the delivery he came and checked on me and started me on an IV and antibiotics right away. My blood work comes back and confirms I have a UTI. He explains this is why my back is in such constant pain. He said blood in your urine is very painful. Just like if you have cysts on your ovaries that bust, it isn't the cysts or the burst that hurts but the blood that comes out. It can also cause preterm labor and that is why I was having the contractions.

Baby was doing fine the whole time. The staff were extremely nice and never made comments or complained even when I had to go pee every 45 min and they had to help me. They were so busy that I was in the triage room with 2 other girls, one whom had her baby that morning, but never did they try to rush me to leave and they still constantly checked on me. The nurse even searched the hospital for a fan because I was so hot. My fever was already down but my face stayed red. Around 3 in the afternoon my husband got to the hospital because he left work early since I was in so much pain. The whole time I was in the hospital the baby was doing great but my heart rate wouldn't go under 135 and would spike several times at 265 and I was just laying in bed not moving. They believe this was the cause of me being so hot and red. At the end of the day around 6:30 my doctor came and I let him know I was still in extreme pain. He said he figured so and because it was pretty bad he wanted to keep me over night. As soon as a room opened around 7pm it was time to move me but the nurse let me know they were able to give me something for the pain. They had given me Demerol and Phenergan. I was on cloud 9 right away. I felt good, maybe a little high but so good. I couldn't feel the pain.

I finally got to the room and my husband was able to get us something to eat but I still wasn't too hungry. I also was falling asleep this whole time because I didn't really sleep the night before or that day. For once I was comfortable even though they had to come in throughout the night to check vitals and change medicines. I got such a good nights sleep and felt so much better the next morning. They did more blood work and found my iron was really low. I didn't get released until about 5 pm that next night but they took really good care of me.

All of this could have been prevented at the first hospital I went to if they just would have gave me antibiotics at Carlsbad Medical Center and did blood work but they refused to treat me because I wasn't seeing their doctors.  No wonder people here spend the extra time and money to go to see hospitals and doctors out of town. 

Hospitals Part 1

I live in a small town, called Carlsbad, right by the hospital.  When I first moved here three and a half years ago I had heard nothing but horror stories about this hospital. Every person my husband and I had talked to had a very bad experience with delivering here. Now, I'm not just talking about rude staff but life and death stories. Everyone keeps telling me to just make the 80 mile drive to see the doctor in Roswell. This isn't too bad for us because when I had my son 6 years ago the hospital was just over 60 miles away in Southern California with really bad traffic. My luck had me go into labor when everyone was getting off work and it took us probably 2 hours to get to the hospital.

Anyway, I think it is standard  here that when you become pregnant the doctors do not want to see you until you are 12 weeks. My first bad experience with the doctors in Carlsbad was when I was, what I thought, 8 weeks pregnant and started bleeding. I go in to my appointment and they did an ultrasound and found out I was only 6 weeks, not 8 weeks, and it was implantation bleeding. So I finally see the doctor and the first question he asked me was how big was your son when you gave birth. I let him know he was 9.8 lbs and 22 inches. Before he even examined me he said, "Oh, well you will have to have a C-section or be induced, you cannot have babies that big." How does he know what I can do? He hadn't even examined me and when I had my son he was sunny side up and I pushed him out with no issues what so ever. Mind you, my OBGYN that delivered my son also was my mom's OBGYN for all 3 of her kids and delivered me. He knows big babies run in my family and my mom and I have the same type of body and know we can handle it. I was told by multiple people the doctors in this town will give any reason or excuse to do a C-section.

So, I chose to pick a different doctor in Roswell because many people have recommended him to me. I love my doctor because he reminds me of my original OBGYN. He isn't concerned at all about me delivering a big baby. He says we will see when the time comes. The only difficulty I have is it is 80 miles away and 2 weekends ago I was having severe back pain and my heart was racing. I called the doctor on call in Roswell and she was concerned and didn't want me driving all that way if I was in early labor (31 weeks). Her advice to me was to go to labor and delivery in Carlsbad and she would have my medical records ready to send over as soon as I got there, all I had to do was just sign a release form that the hospital in Carlsbad would have to give me.

I got to the hospital and asked the nurse right away for a release form to sign and that the doctor in Roswell was waiting for me to sign the release so they could send over my records. She tells me, "That isn't necessary lets find out what is wrong with you first." She has me pee in a cup and she puts the baby monitor on me and says right away oh you are having contractions. While she is hooking me up I get 20 questions about why am I seeing a doctor in Roswell and not in Carlsbad and she lectures me since I live right behind the hospital.  She says, "I will keep you monitored for 15 min." She leaves and another nurse comes in 15 min later and tells me she is my new nurse and grabs my pee to test it and leaves. She comes back 20 min later to check on me and says. "Well it doesn't look like you are dehydrated but drink this large glass of ice water, maybe it will stop your contractions. Your pee was off a little but you probably didn't use the wipes we gave you to clean yourself good enough." Mind you, I used all three wipes and this isn't my first time peeing in a cup. I told her about my records and she also said it wasn't necessary. She checks me and I am at 1cm but said that is normal. She leaves and comes back and says, "The doctor said I can give you medicine to stop the contractions but let me check your blood pressure and heart rate." I have already been there for over an hour and my blood pressure was perfect but my heart rate was 122. She said she can't give me the medicine unless my heart rate drops because they want your heart rate to be between 60-100 beats per minute and the medicine makes your heart rate rise and they don't want it to go past 130. So they continue to monitor me and about an hour later she tells me my pains are just pregnancy related and I am contracting because my uterus is irritated because the baby is growing. I've been there for about 3 hours now and a new nurse starts to come in and check on me. By this time they shut off the monitors even though I am still contracting. They leave the finger monitor on for my heart but she keeps having to come and shut it off because the heart rate alarm keeps going off. She finally tells me, "There is nothing we can do since we do not have your medical records and you are not seeing one of our doctors. You are having normal pregnancy pains. Go home take Tylenol and use a heating pad and call YOUR doctor tomorrow morning." I told her she could have got my medical records but you guys refused to let me sign the papers. She said, "It doesn't matter there is nothing we can do for you."

To Be Continued......

Crockpot Not so refried beans

I apologize ahead of time because I do not have exact measurements. I just threw things in the crockpot and my husband loved it. Now, my husband doesn't like the traditional ham and beans for dinner. I tried to mix it up because we were tight on money and I didn't want to go to the grocery store.

 

2 lbs dried pinto beans

1 onion diced

2-4 Jalapenos (your preference)

1 package of bacon cut in bite sizes.

Salt to taste

Pinto bean seasoning to taste

Water to the top of crockpot

 

I put all this in the crockpot the night before, around 6, and cook it on low. Check the water the next morning and stir. It starts to get thicker. When it is almost dinner time stir again. The beans will eventually be more consistent with refried beans. I make them to put with my burritos or in a bowl with some cheese on top. So good.


Here is the beans I made for tonight's dinner. I added a tad too much water but I like it like that. My husband likes it a little thicker.



30 Weeks

As of Friday I am 30 weeks pregnant. I have a feeling these are going to go by so slowly. I had a big doctors appointment where I had to take my glucose test and I passed just in time for Thanksgiving. I also had to take the darn Rhogam shot. The shot itself didn't really hurt it was afterwards that did. It was so sore for a couple of days because the serum is so thick. They also did an ultrasound and he's still a boy and measures on the larger side, as expected, but my doctor doesn't seem too concerned.

I think he looks like his brother.

 

On a not so good note, in the beginning of the pregnancy I got the PUPPS rash on my back really bad but they never itched. Now I am getting them back with a vengeance and, even though they are little, they are everywhere and itch so bad.

 

They don't look like much but don't let them fool you. I have them on my belly, arms, back, butt, legs, and I even had one on my face. The itching is worse than bug bites or even chicken pox.

 

I want to leave you on a good note so I will leave you with this picture of my yummy ice cream from last night.