Final Sick Man Report

Well, the sick man is doing much better! A very big thank you to all of you who I imagine were praying for him! And the mommy didn't catch it...so thanks for prayer in that regard as well!

Little Miss Clara seems like she may be getting noticeably active! I've felt feelings here and there, but haven't been too sure if it was the baby or what. Last night I felt quite a few! Maybe the little lady was practicing her volleyball skills??!!! :-)

I got the neat news on Saturday that a couple friends of mine, Jenny and Bob (they're brother and sister), both got engaged, a couple days apart over this last week! Congratulations you two, and a huge thank you for the godly example you were to me as we were growing up!

Sick Man Report II

Well, my dear man has been doing better some and is back to work today. Hopefully, it won't be too much for him but, Lord willing, he'll have the weekend to rest and keep getting better!

In other news, we have someone scheduled to come look at the car tonight. You could be praying that the Lord's will would be done.

I got the juicer out today and made some fresh juice for the first time in quite a while! Yum! Hopefully, it will help make up for all the sugar and other not-so-good stuff I've been feeding poor Clara!

I tried something new in the bread machine today and it came out very nicely! I like it when that happens! That machine has been a neat addition to our kitchen!

Sick Man Report

Well, my sick man is home again today. He currently has his head covered up and over a pot of steaming water that has Vicks vapor rub and bergamot oil in it. He does that for about ten minutes. He's feeling better some today. I don't know if he'll go to work tomorrow. We shall see. So far, it appears, I haven't caught it, which is a blessing!

At Home Sick

Well, I was hoping Stephen would decide to call in sick today...because I'm selfish and like to have him home! But being the good, faithful, diligent worker that he is, he got up and went off to work. However, about a half an hour ago he arrived back home...having been encouraged to do that by a couple co-workers. So, I get to have him here after all and get to play nurse some more! He may stay home tomorrow as well. We shall see. Poor guy, it's not too fun being sick, but it's a pretty nice deal for me to get to have him home!

Our First Christmas

We had a lovely first Christmas together. We opened up some gifts in the morning and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Later on we started baking pies...we each made one. I did pumpkin and Stephen did blueberry-banana (YES, that's blueberry-banana! and it turned out pretty well!). And I also did mashed potatoes and gravy. We loaded up and headed to the home of some friends. We were treated to a YUMMY Italian dinner. We were given delicious appetizers and at dinner we started with a pasta and bread course, before moving on to a more traditional course, which was ham, mashed potatoes and a great vegetable casserole! Yum yum! And of course there was dessert later. Stephen didn't have any pie because, at that point, he was feeling a bit like he would explode if he ate anymore! The adults present (five of us) had a "vicious" game of Uno. It was a very nice Christmas!

Do you suppose this could have anything to do with why the cold someone has got so bad???

Awwwwww.... :-)

The Whole Entire Family

It's Official!

It's official everyone! Our little girl's name is... Miss Clara Belle Madgwick!

Family Visit and One Sick Guy

We had a very nice visit from my family this last week! It was a special treat for me! They all arrived here on Tuesday evening and we got to have them here until Sunday - early afternoon. Wednesday, Stephen had to work and we hung around the house most of the day and also went to a place called Dreamy Draw and took a walk and snapped some neat pictures, some of which I'll include on here. Thursday we went to check out a spy store, the railroad park, and the Bass Pro Shop, and also saw a neat tree decoration display near here. Friday, everyone, with the exception of Mom and I, played Ultimate Frisbee. Some of the guys did the BIG job of hanging some curtains for us...and believe me it DID turn into a BIG job! That night, Mark, Randy, David and Josh played volleyball at a local club! Josh's team won in the final! Yay Josh! Saturday we went to Sedona and found a place in Oak Creek Canyon to have a fire and eat lunch in the snow! :-) Sunday, we all were at the chapel. This Sunday we a special Christmas service and Stephen and I had agreed to do an instrumental special. Well, the family was very nice and agreed to join us! Randy played piano and the rest of them sang two of the verses of "Angels From the Realms of Glory". Thanks again for coming family!

I have one sick guy on my hands. Poor thing, he was pretty miserable last night and this morning, but is a bit better now. He's got a pretty severe head cold. I've kind of had some fun getting to be his nurse though. Hopefully, he'll be all better soon...and not have a miserable Christmas! He seems to have a way of getting sick when he goes on vacation.

Ok, now for a few pictures: There is one of us nine siblings that was taken at Dreamy Draw, one of Mom and Dad at the same place, and one of Amy, Caleb and Melissa at the railroad park.

Cold Mornings

News from the man of the house- There are so many projects I would like to do and so little time. Every time I get a jump on one of them, it's like I pulled the bottom apple on the produce isle and the whole lot is coming at me! I got a chainsaw to make some firewood, but it broke last time I used it. Now why would it do that to me? I know some of you are asking if we are going to make our 1 yr deadline in regards to wedding thank you notes. Last time I checked, we still had about 87 to write. All I can say is that I work better under pressure. If it looks like I am not going to make it, I plan to file a 30 day extension with the San Luis Obispo County Recorder's Office.

Some of you might know that I am selling my car. Someone came and looked at it recently. We will see how it goes. I have been busy at work on an Embassy Suites remodel project that needs to get done before the Super Bowl. I have been learning how to tell people things that they don't want to hear like the need to drop their price $9000, and no, you won't get the $100,000 contract that you worked on for 3 days, and I need decisions from you, the interior designer, right now, today, not tomorrow, not in one hour, because the Super Bowl is coming. Now why do we make promises that we don't know how we can fulfill like getting a luxury remodel done before an annual sporting event? Why the Super Bowl? Why not Valentines Day? Why not Mother's Day? Because of money. Yup, approx. $15 Mil or there abouts. Because the other 220 rooms need to be remodeled after the Super Bowl. So you learn to do things that other people don't want to do in order to make clients and keep them. I will let you know if we make it or not.

I wanted to show you with the picture a beautiful phenomenon that I came across while cutting down a grapefruit tree in the dark. There is a branch that seperates and then after two feet of knotty angles and growth, it comes back together as one branch. I think that is a good picture of forgiveness. The odds were against against those branches for ever coming back together and they did. I can't explain it either except to show you. Perhaps the Creator will be able to one day tell the story.

More News

We have another nice fire this evening! We've had several the last few days! What a treat!

Stephen spent quite a while outside today chopping up some of the wood we brought home. It's actually kind of fun for him to do! What a nice deal for me!

We got a second sofa a few days ago. It's a new-to-us sofa that someone was selling and it was in quite nice condition. It's very comfortable and has a bed that pulls out, so that should be handy for company!

With my family coming for a visit we've had an extra push to work on our third bedroom, which has been our box / junk room. We did some work on it today, but there is still more to do. It's the room that we're planning to use as the baby's room.

Yippy!

My whole entire family is coming to visit us (Lord willing) next week!!! What fun that should be! Various ones of them have been at various times, but Dad, Mark and Josh have never been! What a special treat for me!

I'll be back to cooking for a big group! Hopefully, I can still remember it all! :-)

Stephen already has a home improvement project he wants the brothers to do...but don't tell them that! :-) We'll try not to give you guys TOO much to do!

Thanks for coming you all!

Stephen And Our First-Ever Fire!

In Other News...

Ok, time for some more news from around here. I got my other side of fillings done a few days ago. Some of it was not comfortable, but we got through it! And I am finally done with the dentist for quite a while now. After baby comes I get to face having all four wisdom teeth out! Fun, fun.

I made Ferguson Fruit Cake today, and it turned out pretty well. I need to check on this, but I think this "Ferguson" recipe may have been developed by my Dad, in which case, it today became a second generational Christmas treat!

A few days ago I tried out our $6.50 Goodwill bread machine...and the bread turned out the first time!!! Yay!!! Now I know some of you might be sitting out there saying "You bought a food related appliance at a thrift store???!!!! How disgusting!!!!!" I can understand that feeling, but if you think about it, how much different is it then buying bread at a store, or even eating at a restaurant? In each of those situations we are eating something that who-knows-who cooked, in who-knows-what, using who-knows-what! Once you've bought the machine, you at least know who's doing the cooking and what ingredients you're using! And you can clean the machine and, after all, what bad stuff can survive the heat??!!! And then to top it off, think of ALL the money you save instead of buying it new!!! Just a few thoughts, you can take them or leave them. :-)

Ok, now for a little Daddy news. Stephen spent a couple hours a few nights ago out in the cold and rain and fading light and then darkness, chopping down some trees for fire wood! What a tough guy I married! We're probably going to have our first ever fire in the fire place tonight! How cozy! Tonight he changed the headlight bulbs in our truck. Such a handy, hard working guy! I'm sure blessed!

It's a.....

Hello friends and family!

Yesterday we had an ultrasound! Stephen and I both
wanted to find out, if possible, whether we were
having a son or daughter. Thankfully, the lady doing
the ultrasound was able to tell, or we would have been
rather disappointed. So, the debate between whether
my Dad's granddaughter was on her way or my husband's
son was on his way was settled. And the result
was........ my Dad was indeed correct and his
granddaughter is developing and appears to be on
schedule for a May 7th due date. The lady running the
ultrasound (do you call them technicians?) did an
extensive check-up, looking at her brain, stomach,
kidneys, heart, etc., etc., etc. It sounded like,
from what she could tell, all approximately 9 oz of
baby looks good at this point. Little Miss Madgwick
even did some moving during the procedure and even
opened her little mouth. :-). We were sent home with
some pictures. One of my favorites is one of the ones
of her little feet! Cute! Come by some time and we
just might be persuaded to show off some of them! The
technician was very nice and talked to us a lot as she
worked, telling us what she was looking at and how
things looked to her. She explained certain things,
like she told us she could tell that there was liquid
in the baby's stomach, which means she is swallowing!
Daddy Stephen enjoyed it...maybe he'll write about the event on the blog sometime in the near future! :-)
And for the record, he is NOT disappointed that he is
having a daughter! :-)

You all have a very good day and please keep us in
your prayers as we prepare for little Miss Madgwick' s
arrival into the outside world!

Today is the Day!

Well, today is the day!!! Lord willing, we'll be finding out if we're having a son or daughter and settling this little "disagreement" between the new Grandpa and new Dad. :-) I hope we ARE able to find out today and they don't tell us to come back. Either way, expect to see the news published very soon!

Awwww...we went on Saturday night and picked out our first Christmas tree! It's a live one (at least, it was until they chopped it down and brought it to the Christmas tree lot:-)). We were planning to get a small one, but it didn't end up being THAT small. I think it's between five and six feet. And guess what! We outfitted it completely from Goodwill and stuff we already had! I did a burgundy, gold and white theme with white lights. Stephen also bought me a REAL wreath...you know, one of those ones that actually smell! :-) He spoils me too much! Our house is starting to look more like Christmas as our very first Christmas together as husband and wife rapidly approaches!!! Stephen also just got a chain saw so, Lord willing, he'll be going to get some firewood soon and we'll be putting our fire place into use for the first time. That will be so nice and cozy! It's become pretty chilly here!

Clean Teeth and a Christmas Party

Raining again here! And we can use it!

Well, I did end up going to the Christmas party last night and I had some fun. I crowded into a table with some of my friends from class and we chatted away. Up until last night there was only about one person in the class who I had told about the baby. Well I told my table last night and told them about the ultrasound coming up. I got some very positive responses and some of them said to bring pictures to class following the ultrasound...so Lord willing, I'll do that! I got to have a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner...turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans and some sort of pumpkin mouse pie for dessert.

I got my teeth cleaned earlier in the day. Man! Such poking and scraping and rough flossing! I think it may have hurt more to get them cleaned then to get those fillings the other day...with no numbing!!! Of course, the laser made the difference there!

Wow! Two posts in one day! Make sure you don't miss my last post with the "proof positive" that I married Mr. Wonderful! :-)

Ok, a report on the Apple Butter! It turned out yummy! Try making some! If you want a really easy recipe just let me know!

Today, Lord willing, I'm off to the dentist again! This time for a cleaning. All I do now is go to the dentist! I guess it's not that bad....

Then tonight, my plan is to go to a Christmas party that my art teacher is holding at a local restaurant. Should be fun. Wish my hubby was invited too!

Here's a concept that particularly got my attention as I was reading my Bible this morning.

"Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?"
Proverbs 6:6-9

I think sleeping a lot isn't as much of a temptation for me as it used to be, HOWEVER, I still have problems with wasting time, being lazy, or doing something that is more fun when there is something I don't feel like doing that is probably MORE important for me to be doing! I need to remember this passage and ask the Lord to help me do the projects, jobs, etc. that I don't feel like doing!

Told You I Married Mr. Wonderful!!!!!

I told you I married Mr. Wonderful!!!! If you missed that post, check out the October archive. Now, if perhaps some of you out there who don't know Stephen too well don't believe me, let me offer you some proof positive. I had the NERVE last night at around 9:45 to say something about a bacon cheeseburger, fries and ranch dressing, and you know what?! He marched off to Wendy's, got me some and was back in 15 minutes! After he got back he went to the kitchen and grabbed the ranch dressing (I like to dip my fries in it) and brought it to our room and we sat on the bed and had a picnic! :-) Now isn't that a down right cool husband???!!! How did I get soooo blessed???!!!

Fillings, Christmas Card, Apple Butter, a Hat for Baby, Verses

Hello everyone! It's a bright day here! We got a lot of rain on Friday and some on Saturday and it is now bright and sunny out!

I had one side of my head filled yesterday. :-) In other words, I got fillings on one side of my mouth, top and bottom. She used a new laser machine that enabled her to not have to give me any shots or whatever they do to make you numb! And with the type of stuff she was using for the fillings and the way it's done, I didn't have any rules about what I could and couldn't eat at first. I'm suppose to get a cleaning later this week and then the other side of fillings next week. This is becoming my go-to-the-dentist-month!

I had fun again at art class yesterday! We did Christmas cards and the one I worked on was a wintry, snowy, light house on the coast picture. I enjoyed it.

One of my projects today is trying my hand at apple butter...we'll see how it goes. I found a really easy slow cooker recipe. The biggest project is peeling and chopping the apples. You put them in the slow cooker, add sugar and spices and I think maybe salt...I should check on that, as I'm pretty sure I didn't put in any salt...and mix it. And pretty much the rest is just cooking and some mixing and being patient hour after hour.

We bought the first clothing item we've ever purchased for Junior the other day! It's a cute little hat that will be great for Phoenix summers...it's boy colors so it will be great provided he's the son his father thinks he is. :-)


Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:14
Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.