My menu plan is a bit late this week, as we had a kind of scary adventure this weekend. We went to a nearby city to do some shopping with Christmas gift cards, do some exchanging of Christmas gifts, and get some more extensive grocery shopping done. While we were at the Cash and Carry, Rich and I headed into the refrigerator case to look for a few things, so we handed Nejat to Alexander. Shortly after, he opened the door and told us something was wrong with her. She had begun what looked like a seizure. Since Amira had a seizure resulting from choking and hypoxia which followed, we knew what it looked like. Nejat was still breathing and had her eyes open, though, and we didn't know what could have brought it on, as it didn't appear she had choked on anything. Rich took her from Alexander and I called 911. We tried back blows, in case she had choked, but there was nothing to dislodge. We held her and talked to her until the EMTs and paramedics came, when I got to ride in the ambulance with her, as nobody knew what brought on her seizure and her muscle control and heart rate didn't normalize in the amount of time they liked to see. Rich followed with the rest of our children. At the ER, they were relieved that she had a high fever, as it indicated a febrile seizure, rather than diabetic shock or epilepsy. They gave ibuprofen to help reduce her fever, and we stripped her down to her diaper to help cool her off. We are all still pretty shaken up by this, and since she has had such an episode, it doubles or triples her chance of having one again, though that is still only .2 - .3% of a chance. And she doesn't get fevers that often, let alone ones that come as suddenly as this one did. The odd thing is that not one of us was sick or had been recently, and even she didn't show signs of being sick, except for having little appetite that morning. She had been playing and singing and cheerful just seconds before it began. She is doing fine now, and we have her sleeping in our room again to keep an eye on her, but we are all still a bit tense, and she isn't sleeping well at night, which keeps Rich and me awake, too. We would appreciate your prayers for her health, for our peace and rest.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: French Toast, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Leftovers
• Monday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Italian Sausage and Potato Bake, Bread, Apple, Mango, and Pomegranate Salad
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Beef and Butternut Squash Stew, Buttered Noodles, Christmas Pineapple
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Toast with Cottage Cheese, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Layered Mexican Casserole with Kale, Poblanos and Black Beans, Minneolas
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Slow Cooker Rice Pudding with Coconut and Craisins, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Creamy Butternut, Sage and Turkey Pasta, Roasted Zucchini Slices
• Friday
  Breakfast: Granola Bars, Cinnamon Apple Sauce, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Nutball Soup*, Fried Tortilla Strips, Fruit
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins, Hard Boiled Eggs, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pepperoni, Pepper, Onion, Olive and Pineapple Pizzas, Fruit Plate

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen