Upon closer inspection–Floyd saw not just the one new bottom tooth coming in but a molar in the back popping through the gum, and yet another molar trying to make its way through.  No wonder why Drakey boy has been so miserable!  He’s got a beautiful smile though, made brighter by more teeth!

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Drake got his two bottom teeth together at about 6 months old, then around 8-9 months got his top four teeth all together.  I remember how much he ached with those top four.  He didn’t sleep well at night, got a little feverish, and was just a crab apple.  Nothing seemed to help him be NOT cranky!  Amazing how quickly you forget what that’s like!  This weekend, Drake was just intermittently REALLY cranky.  We went to the antiques show at the UNI Dome with Floyd’s mom and aunt who were in town visiting, and Drake threw a massive tantrum.  The only thing that ended up calming him down was Floyd walking up and down the steps with him over and over.  I couldn’t figure out what the heck was wrong with our child.  He had eaten, sipped juice, diaper changed..then I started thinking, “You know it’s been a while since he cut a tooth…”  Lo and behold I look at his gums, and a little white peak was poking out of the bottom!  I gave him some Motrin when we got home and 20 minutes later it was like we had a whole new child.  He was back to his playful, happy self.  That screaming, arching his back nonsense is for the birds!  I’m just glad as adults we have no recollection of having that teething trouble when we were kids.  It’s no fun at all!

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The Bible study small group I lead each week is going through a book right now called “The Tangible Kingdom”.  It’s all about ways that we can do a better job of interacting  with and being a positive influence for people right in our own communities:  from our neighborhoods, to work communities, social groups, etc.  I admit there are some areas of this I do well at, and others where I flat out fail.  But together, our group is learning how we can do a better job across the board.  I do firmly believe the way you treat and interact with people makes a huge difference in so many ways, and you just never know the impact a small gesture or kind words can have.  In our group discussion this past week, the text questions involved things others in our group didn’t know about us.  It was so funny that many of us have known each other for a year or more, and yet there were still small things we all didn’t know about each other.  It challenges us to think about things we don’t even know about the people we live next door to, or who sit in the cubicle across the way.  It’s motivation to extend a hand and learn things about our communities, things we already share in common with these people, helping us to be a positive influence on their lives for the greater good of the kingdom.

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I absolutely love pretty much any kind of Mexican food.  So when I came across this recipe, I was stoked.  It’s super easy and can be served as either an appetizer, snack, or meal!  (I made it a dinner!)

Chicken Fajita Bites (a modification of a Pampered Chef recipe)

4 medium bell peppers, any color

3 green onions

1/4 cup fresh style salsa (with cilantro, chunky tomato, onion–pico de gallo style)

1/2 cup part-skim shredded cheese (any kind really)

Approx. 2 cups finely diced cooked chicken breast

1/3 cup  fat-free mayonnaise

2 tbsp chipotle or chili lime seasoning 

Fat-free sour cream for topping

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Cut off tops of peppers and scoop out seeds.  Wedge peppers into slices and arrange them on a baking tray or dish. Cut up and mix all the rest of yoru ingredients, minus the sour cream, in a bowl together.  Use a spoon and scoop this filling into your pepper wedges.  Bake 5–7 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream when you serve.

These are awesome and just 50 tiny calories per wedge!  I served with black bean mexi corn and some fruit.  We really liked them!

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I love the changing of seasons–especially when it’s from winter to spring!  But it never seems to come quite soon enough.  Snow lingers with cold air and breezes chilling me to the bone.  But before you know it we’ll blink and the sun will come out and we’ll all be sweltering in summer heat! 

The not-so-fun part of this time of year is this whole “spring forward” time change business.  I love the days getting longer and the promise of green grasses and sunshine, but that change just really seems to throw me off whack.  I think it was a double dose this go around because I changed to east coast time for a couple days while I was in West Virginia, came home to Midwest time for a day, then sprang forward an hour for daylight savings time.  I’ve just felt kind of sluggish and a little off whack since then.  I feel like I could curl up and nap all day!  Soon enough, I know I’ll adjust–and that can’t come soon enough!  I’ve had zero motivation to exercise because of how tired I feel.  So cheers to better nights of rest ahead and my body adjusting so I can get back on my game!

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I am settling back into the saddle at work today after a nice weekend in West Virginia.  Even the 50 degree temperatures out there felt like a heat wave compared to the deep freeze we’ve been in here in Iowa for so long!  But today, I’m back to the grind on a wet, yucky day!  Sometimes you just need a little break in the action, but my trip there was such a whirlwind.  I was really busy the whole time, and then came home and was telling Floyd all about the trip. 

Then last night, I got a call about a troubling situation in my family.  Without going into too many details, a relative of mine is struggling with a serious case of alcoholism.  This person had been sober for more than a decade and just somehow slipped back into bad habits within the past two years.  I don’t understand how that happens, but I do know while I am very upset and disappointed, I am also hopeful that rock bottom’s been hit and this individual will finally take seriously the problem at hand and go about getting the help that is so desperately needed.  If this individual doesn’t, it will just end badly–no doubt about it…from health to personal consequences.  I got to talk with them last night and said I was done being angry and expressing my disappointment about the situation, now it’s just time to say, “Get help and I’m praying–the best thing I know how to do right now.”

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Just this weekend, I interviewed the parents of Justin Bradfield.  At age 11, Justin was hit and killed by his school bus in Janesville, Halloween night 2011.  Justin’s parents, Kim & Ryan, are truly wonderful people.  We were standing in Justin’s room looking at photos of him, and I was just struck by how much this family has been through and how they’ve had to stay so strong for their other two children.  They’ve kept Justin’s room just the same as it was the day he passed away.  It was chilling to be there after covering the fatal accident.  I have never cried during a news story, but my eyes welled up with some tears standing there in that bedroom.  When I left their company, I just couldn’t help but think how incredibly difficult it has to be to lose a child.  Then the wind chimes on their porch started to blow gently.  The family told me these chimes don’t sound often because of the wind’s direction at their home.  So they say every time they move, it’s Justin’s spirit with them.  There came the goosebumps again.  I found myself praying for them that night, and thanking God for the beautiful son Floyd & I share in Drake, and asking to be reminded of how precious a gift life is.

Then comes yesterday.  While I was working at my desk, Floyd called me late afternoon.  That’s not unusual, but when I answered and we exchanged our common “How are you?” greetings, he said, “Have you heard what happened in Elsberry?”  I had not.  (Elsberry is my home town in Missouri.)  He’d read online in several places that a young lady named Jillian Young had been killed in a car accident.  Jillian’s grandfather and my grandfather worked closely together for years at Forrest Keeling Nursery in my hometown, which my grandfather founded.  After my family members reached retirement age (my dad and uncle), they sold the nursery to Jillian’s mother and grandfather and family.  Our two families have been good friends, colleagues for years.  I remember when Jillian was just a little baby, having my picture taken with her at the town Halloween contest.  She’d grown up into a beautiful young lady, involved in school, and at 17 years old, had a bright future ahead, no doubt.  My heart just breaks for her mom, Kim, her brother Bo and their entire family.  I prayed my heart out last night for comfort and peace.  Such a tragedy shatters your whole world and just shakes you to your core no doubt.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have a fairly minimal scope of loss compared to a lot of people I’ve known over the years (some of you readers included.).  But one thing I have come to affirm strongly through the past few years in particular is how no loss, no problem, nothing– is too big to take to God.  He knows just the right thing to say, the right scripture to bring to heart, and the best ways to comfort each of us in our time of need.  I will continue to pray for the Lovelace-Young family.  Their hearts will never fully heal, but some new understanding and need for the Lord will hopefully break through the darkest of days and provide some solace.  God rest your soul, Jillian.

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Yes, I know I live in Iowa.  This is my third winter here, and my 7th winter as a television reporter.  And yes, covering snow storm after snow storm definitely gets old–especially when the calendar says March and you’re just desperate for some good sunshine and the only sentences with snow to also include the word MELT!  I have a short getaway out east planned later this week and 50 degrees or so will feel just glorious on my skin–especially after the next dose of snow that’s supposed to start falling here in Iowa any time now.  I just hope this is the last round of snow for the winter.  A wet spring will do much more to help the state’s farmers with the drought conditions than heaps and heaps of snow (as it takes almost a foot of snow to equal just one inch of good rain).  I just remember getting spring fever my last year in Kansas and what happened?  A massive blizzard on March 21–the first day of spring.  That’s just no fun.  I am ready for winter to be OVER!  I know Shelley Russell and I are also “over” standing outside doing snow reports!

So here’s my request.  Let’s just get through this next little episode of the white stuff and be done for the season, okay Mother Nature?  Love, Kera

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When Drake was just about four months old, Floyd & I had him dedicated to the Lord at our church.  While it’s a symbolic commitment for the child, it’s a big commitment as parents to raise up our kid(s) to love God.  As part of the program, each child was given a kid’s Bible.  I started the tradition not long after that of reading a story or two from this colorful Bible to Drake when he was in the tub.  I know he doesn’t understand it yet– but when you set the tone and routine for something you want to do–for anything–you’re more likely to stick with it.  So I wanted to get in the habit early so that when he’s old enough to understand, we will already be going through the Bible together on a regular basis.  It’s been kind of fun for me, too, to look back through those old familiar stories I learned about as a kid in Sunday school, keeping my own heart and mind set on the right things.  I hope whether its bath time, or bed time, or whenever, Drake & I can keep enjoying Bible stories together for years to come.

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The past week has kind of been a whirlwind!  I’ve had a lot in the cooker, so to speak, at work–trying to finish up an investigative piece I’ve been working on for about four months now.  (Shameless plug…tune in Wednesday at 10pm for my piece “Synthetic High”.)  I find myself having whacky dreams replaying parts of the story in my head and just wanting to make sure every detail turns out right.  I’ll come into work the next day and think of tweaks we could make that I dreamed of the night before.  (Needless to say–I’m ready to put this story to bed!)  On top of all of that, I’ve had some other work-related things happening that have just put my mind in overdrive lately! 

So Saturday, Floyd and I were planning to play in a trivia night at St. Pat’s but our team started falling apart last minute, so since we had a babysitter already lined up, we decided to still have a night out:  date night!  It was really terrific.  We had a nice dinner at Tokyo and went to see “Silver Linings Playbook”.  We realized we hadn’t been to watch a movie in the theatre since the night before Drake was born!  Wowzers!  It was good to get out and be together.  Our babysitter was also watching her nephews that night and Drake had a ball with them.  He was thrilled to see us when we went to pick him up, but at the same time I don’t think he wanted to leave.

All in all–I’m at a good place and am ready to take a nice deep breath after Wednesday!

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