She's Home!!

We thought Hannah would have to stay at the hospital overnight.  That was the case five years ago when she went for the same surgery.  I guess since she's older and with the miracle of modern medicine (*wink*) it was an outpatient surgery. 
 
Her arm is still quite numb and she just took her pain medicine so hopefully it will work well when her nerve block wears off.  She goes back down to Indy July 13th for a check up and further instructions with her external fixator (for now we have to keep it dry and bandaged).  She's quite tired and will be resting with her arm elevated for a few days.  Thank you all so much for your prayers!  Please continue to pray for healing in her arm and that the external fixator will do the trick!

She still has yet to give me her dinner request but I have a feeling it might include pizza in the living room and a movie with the fam. 

So glad to have her home!

Prayers for Hannah

Early in the morning my dear hubby and his mom will be taking our Hannah down to Indianapolis for surgery on her arm (surgery is scheduled for 9:15 a.m.).

She's had this surgery before (about5 years ago) to correct a bone that isn't growing properly.  It's not growing again and it's hindering the use of her wrist.  It's her left arm and she's left handed. 


She absolutely loves playing the piano but can't spread her fingers apart for certain notes and she has problems with some fine motor skills with that hand as well.  The doctor will put an external fixator in her arm to help the bone grow. We're hoping and praying this helps.  I am a bit sad and anxious since I can't be there.  I have little Samuel who is nursing and he can't stay overnight at the hospital with us (nor would I want him to with all the hospital germs floating around) so my MIL is going with hubby for support and to keep him company. 

Since Hannah won't be able to use both hands/arms for a while she had to finish her 4-H projects ahead of time (with the exception of her foods project...biscuits...not sure how that's going to work out). 

 So before our trip out east she finished her pillow for sewing. 

And today she finished her cake decorating project. (Can I just say that Royal Icing and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love that the cake can be decorated so many weeks ahead of time (it's a styrofoam cake dummy), but I hate that it is a pain to work with...super thick!

Anywho...she's so happy that it's done and wanted me to share her finished project with you.


Please pray for safe travels, steady hands for her surgeon, and patience and peace for all of us.  Thanks so much!

This-n-That, a Giveaway and a Shamless Plug

Hey ya'll!  We've been busy here around the homestead since we got back from our vacation.  Unpacking, laundry, and tidying the house have kept us pretty busy.

One of the funniest moments of our trip was when one of our kiddos (who shall remain nameless) stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and said "I thought he'd be taller!".  *snort*

I've also been busy filling orders from my etsy shop!  Folks are loving the subway art signs!  (Only $18 for this sweet piece of encouragement! I can do custom color combinations, too!)

Speaking of my etsy shop ... Sasha over at Lemonade Makin' Mama is giving away a bunch of fun goodies.  Some of which include my yummy goat milk soaps made here in the Old House Kitchen! So hurry on over and enter the giveaway!  Tell her I sent ya! 

photo credit

We are also busy sprucing up the house since we'll be having company next week and hosting our church's small group for a 4th of July (on the 1st!) cookout.  We want the house to be in tip top shape! 

 photo credit

All this month I was saving up my magazines that I got in the mail so that I had some good reading on the drive out to New Jersey, to Maryland, and back, but it was so hard not to open them up and take a peak!  I was thankful that my Country Living magazine comes in a plastic wrapper!  Makes it a bit easier to resist, you know?!  I often post pictures from Country Living (with proper credit, of course!) because I love their photography!  Love. It!!!!  So I was so happy to see in my latest issue that they are having a blog contest!   So..please...pretty please if you ever would be so kind as to hop on over their and nominate yours truly?  I'd love ya for it!  (Shoot, I'd love ya either way, but I would definitely be super thankful!)

So hop on over to  Country Living and fill out the nomination form HERE (it's super quick and easy...painless, too!).  Please and thank you!  *wink*

Out and About

Hey there!  We have been so busy this last week!  We are headed back to home Friday.  It's hotter than all can be outside so the kids are resting and watching a video so I thought I would share some of our adventures with you!

First we enjoyed a lovely wedding last weekend...my hubby's brother, Ryan to his lovely wife, Kathleen at an arboretum.

 Ryan, Kathleen, and hubby's parents.

 I got some pictures of the kiddos for our family albums.

One of the kiddos snapped a picture of hubby and myself.

Then we trekked down to Maryland (we used to live there) and stayed at a friend's house.  We visited our nation's capital...

Visited Baltimore's Inner Harbor....

 They were celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812...

they had a lot of old looking ships in harbor to celebrate!

Federal Hill

Enjoyed a visit to Annapolis and ate at a yummy restaurant called Buddy's (it's on the harbor...lovely place!)

 The capital building in Annapolis.

Our eldest daughter being goofy with a crab we were about to eat.  They were yummy!

Samuel wishing he could have some!

Tomorrow we are visiting a mall that has a Lego store...all the buzz about the house!  The kids are super excited to go!  I'll be back next week with some recipe posts and the Etsy shop will be open again Saturday!  I have a few sign orders to make so if you'd like to add that to the mix visit the shop!