Here are the 10 most popular posts of 2015.  Y’all picked some great posts to visit!

 

 

 

Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt for Teenagers – so much fun!

 

 

Gluten Free Banana Bread – a yummy treat for gluten free eaters

 

 

Cinnamon Apple Banana Bread – This bread is so moist and good

 

 

Crocheted Prayer Shawl 

 

 

How to Prepare for a Large Cookout – tips for having a cookout for a crowd

 

 

Chops in the Crock Recipe

 

 

Dave Ramsey Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool Review

 

Our Homeschool Curriculum 2013 –

 

 

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore – this is so easy and delicious!

 

 

Easy Lasagna Noodles – a great tip for saving time when making lasagna

 

 

Thanks for a great 2015!

I look forward to sharing many more great posts with you in 2016!

 

 

*This 5 Tips Staying in the Hospital with Loved One post contains affiliate links

Having a loved one in the hospital is hard! I was in and out of the hospital with my son for over three years when he was receiving treatments for leukemia. My mother has now been in the hospital for 3 weeks, with at least another four weeks to go.

Traveling back and forth to the hospital visiting, or staying in the hospital day and night with your loved one, doesn’t leave much time for taking care of yourself.

The first step in taking care of our loved ones in the hospital is taking care of ourselves. There is a reason why the airlines tell you to put the oxygen mask on your self first, and then your kids. You can’t take care of them if you don’t take care of yourself first.

5 Tips for Staying in the Hospital with a Loved One

1. Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. I know soda machines are rampant in hospitals, but soda does nothing good for you. Search out the machines with water, find a water fountain, bring a refillable water bottle with a built in filter that you can fill from the water fountain, or carry in bottled water you purchased at the store.

2. Eat the healthiest food you can find in the cafeteria. You need to fuel your body with good food so you have the strength to take care of your loved one. Most hospital cafeterias offer healthy options now. Plenty of cooked vegetables, and salad bars. Choose your protein carefully. Try not to get something fried and battered. Go first for the uncoated chicken and fish. Having a burger off the cafeteria grill once in a while will be ok, but try skipping the fries.  Try a side salad with your burger instead. If you travel back and forth to the hospital instead of staying there, be sure to eat before you leave home. If you are going to be at the hospital all day, carry in your own food.  Most nurses won’t complain about you bringing in food.  Be careful to clean up after your self. If your loved one, or their room  mate are unable to eat, be considerate and don’t eat in front of them. Eat while they are napping, take your food to the waiting room, or find a bench or table outside to eat at. That will also have the added benefit of getting you some fresh air while you are eating.

3. Try to get enough sleep. I know that’s hard. If you are staying overnight in the hospital with your loved one, the nurses will wake you up repeatedly when they come in. Mornings also start very early at hospitals. You often have to be up by 6 if you want to talk to the doctors when they make their rounds. So try to go to sleep earlier at night. If your loved one takes naps during the day, try to grab a nap for yourself as well. While the hospital will give you a pillow and a blanket, bringing a small pillow from home that is comfortable for you will make sleeping in the hospital a lot more comfortable.

4. Bring something to do. That’s easy now a days with smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Bring books – to read, puzzle books, or adult coloring books. All of those can be used by your self, or your loved one. If you crochet or knit, those are good projects to help pass the time. Try reading out loud to your loved one. Even if it’s just the newspaper. They might enjoy it, and it will give you both a nice break from watching tv. Bringing music to listen to can be soothing to the patient, as well.

5. Give your self a break! Take a break from the hospital room every couple of hours. Even if it’s just walking down the hall to the restroom. Your mind will get a little break, and your body needs the exercise after sitting all that time. You also need to give your self a break while you are trying to balance taking care of your loved one in the hospital, work & other family obligations. If you have kids at home, you might feel guilty for not being with them as much as you would like. And when you are home with them, you might feel guilty about not being at the hospital. Those feelings are all normal. It can be hard to balance family at home and family in the hospital. Try not to be too hard on yourself. Your mental and emotional heath is important, too. Realize that you are doing the best that you can do to balance every ones needs.

Having loved ones in the hospital is never easy.  It is very hard to balance everything in our lives with staying in the hospital with our loved ones. These tips have helped me, and I hope they will help you as well.

*This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

 

 

When I was in the second grade my favorite toy was the Clackers. Do you remember those? You held the ring in your hand and moved your hand up and down to make the clackers go in & out and hit each other.  They looked like this. Only mine were red. A pretty see through red.

 

 

 

 

I absolutely loved my clackers. I played with them all the time. I even took them to school. I only played with them at recess, of course.

 

Until that one fateful day in the late 1960’s. Or maybe 1970. I was in 2nd grade, and had taken my clackers to school that day. I was standing in line with my class to go back inside after recess. I had my clackers in hand. Probably had them in action. The principal walked by, saw my clackers, and took them! Yes, the principal stole my beloved childhood toy. I remember he told me that they were dangerous and we couldn’t have them at school. Clearly, that was the first time I had heard that, or I wouldn’t have brought my beloved clackers to school. While stole may be a strong word to describe what happened, I still feel like he stole them!

 

I remember going home after school that day and telling my mother what happened. I guess I expected her to run to the school and make the principal give me back my toy. That’s not what happened, though. She said that if he took them, they must be dangerous, so I couldn’t have them back. I don’t remember if I cried, but I still remember how sad I was to have my favorite toy taken from me.

 

Turns out, the Clackers were banned in 1985 for being dangerous. They were made of glass and after use, glass chips would break off and go flying. I guess that made the principal right, albeit almost twenty years later.

 

I don’t remember what started the conversation, but I was telling some of my kids about this the other day. They were amused by the fact that I was unhappy about having my beloved favorite toy taken away from me.

 

Apparently, I’m still not over it.

 

 

 

 

 

We took our three youngest kids to Cumberland Falls. Cumberland Falls State Park is in Kentucky, and is a beautiful park to visit. I remembered to bring my camera. But I left the memory card in the computer at home. So I took all these pictures with my cell phone. I used no filters for these pictures, and the only editing I did was for size, and to put my name on them.

 

Before you get to the park, there is an overlook on the side of the road. It is a very nice area with several different levels. It also has picnic tables. This is my husband and our three youngest kids, 15, 17, and 19. They were standing on a lower level than I was. Yes, my 17 year old daughter is standing on the wall. I chose not to look at, or think about, the drop below the wall into the woods.

 

 

My daughter was trying to rock climb up this wall by the road. She didn’t make it very far. She climbed the stairs to the upper level where the top of the wall was railing height. She wanted her picture taken up there so it looked like she climbed the wall. lol Her brother thought that was weird. lol

 

 

We then walked across the road to take pictures of this view. Beautiful, right?

 

 

We stopped at the picnic area by the river to eat our lunch. It was nice and relaxing sitting by the river. We made sure to take all out trash out with us!

 

 

Here’s a better picture of our picnic view.

 

These rocks were by the picnic area. You can see rocks like this on many of the roads in Kentucky.

 

Cumberland Falls State Park

 

As you walk from the parking lot to the falls area, there are several places that you can go down on the river rocks. The signs say no swimming, and no wading, but you are allowed to walk on the rocks. That’s my husband and our youngest daughter out on the rock.

 

 

Before you get to the falls, you come through the entrance with a restaurant, a gift shop, seating areas, a big green area with picnic tables, and this tree. This tree has been here ever since I can remember, and I’ve been coming here since I was little. We always take pictures in the tree. And we are not the only ones! We have pictures of our kids when they were little in it. My husband and I have pictures here from before we were married. This is my husband in the tree. He’s about 5′ 7″, so you can tell how big the tree is. You can see the river on the other side of the fence.

 

 

There are many cool places where you can climb under rocks, and on top of rocks. Of course, my kids always love to do just that. lol

 

When you are up at the top of the falls, looking down at the river, you can often see a rainbow in the falls mist. I was blessed to see a double rainbow on this day!

 

 

Cumberland Falls is unique in that you can also see a moonbow there when there is a full moon. A Moonbow is a phenomenon not found anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. I have not been there to see one myself, but people come from all over the world to see it.

 

Ok, so finally, here you go, a picture of Cumberland Falls…….

 

 

And my husband and our three youngest kids in front of the falls.

 

 

Cumberland Falls is also handicap accessible. This overlook they are standing on can only be reached by stairs, but there are other overlooks that can be reached by a paved path.

 

If you are ever in Kentucky, be sure to stop by Cumberland Falls. It truly is beautiful. And admission is free!