School was out, and summer was just beginning. We had a new camper we couldn’t wait to enjoy, a newly built outdoor kitchen pavilion area we had just finished at our river lot, and our two-week vacation at the river was just around the corner. Life was good. No more getting up at 5:45 a.m. each morning. We could sleep in a bit, and boy, did that feel good.

A few days after school let out, Kenzy was complaining of a bellyache. The night before, we had gone to the Trail Inn for Monday night wing night. We love it there, especially on wing night. Kenzy had wings for dinner with some ranch soft pretzels, but then her brother took her to McDonald’s when they left and bought her a vanilla milkshake. So obviously I’m thinking the wings and milkshake mixture probably had her belly upset when she woke me up at 1:30 a.m. that morning. I made her a bed on our recliner next to our bed just in case she needed me.

She slept all through the night and seemed to feel better, so she went to work like I always do on Tuesdays. I soon left work, and my cell phone rang.

“Mommy, I’m not feeling good again.”

I didn’t know what to do. I had already left for work.

“OK baby, well, do you feel like you could be sick?”

She wasn’t sure. I told her I would call her dad and that we would be on standby.

(Calls Chris.)

“Hey babe, Kenzy seemed good last night. She never woke up once last night after she came upstairs and felt better when I left for work. She didn’t have a fever or anything. But a few minutes after I left for work, she called and now doesn’t feel good again. Can you be on standby if she needs one of us to get home?’

Without any hesitation, my husband said absolutely.

At 9:45 a.m., my phone rings again.

“Mommy, I got sick.”

Ugh, I felt so bad. I immediately hung up and called my husband. He was much closer, and he had plenty of sick time, so he took the day off.

Listen, I have the coolest bosses in the world. I wouldn’t even have to ask to leave. If they knew I needed to get home in a hurry, they would tell me to go. I work for the kind of people who, if the roads are bad, tell me not to come in. If I’m sick, they understand. If my kids are sick in the middle of the night and I have to stay home during the day with them, they understand. No questions asked. I’d literally fight someone if they said their boss was better than mine. LOL. That’s how amazing this family is. But when your hubby doesn’t take off much and has the time, why leave if I didn’t need to?

I got home around 3 p.m. that day, and Kenz looked so much better. I no sooner walked through the door, and this is what she said, “I’m feeling so much better, Momma! Can you please make me some toast?”

So right away I went into the kitchen and whipped up some of my famous toast. Bread. Butter.

Enter *chefs kiss* here. When you’re good, you’re good.

“Only one piece?” I asked when I sat down next to her with hot tea.

“OK, how about we eat this and see how it settles in your belly, then I will happily make you more.”

30 minutes later, she still seemed to be feeling great, so I made her a second piece of toast.

That evening I was taking dinner to my mom and stepdad. I don’t quite remember why, but all I remember was it was my son Ty, his girlfriend Irylenn, and me. Chris had things he wanted to get done around his garage, so he stayed home with Kenzy. We didn’t think it was a good idea to take her even though she was bummed and really wanted to go.

“Honey, I’m just going to take over this food, eat, and I’ll be right back home, and we can snuggle on the couch, OK?”

All snuggled on the couch in a cozy blanket, she smiled, nodded, and pulled the blankets up under her chin. I kissed her on the forehead and said I would be back soon.

When I arrived back home, I walked in to find her looking the total opposite of what she did when I left. Her eyes looked horrible, and she looked so run down. I felt her forehead.

“Honey, what is going on? Talk to me.”

She said her belly was hurting off and on. It would come and go.

OK, so no fever, got sick once, and getting belly aches off and on.

As I snuggled on the couch with her, I noticed every time she would laugh, she would say “ow.”

I looked over at my husband and said that I think she needs to go to the ER. It was going on 9 p.m., but I couldn’t bear for her to go through this all night. In just an hour’s time, it grew progressively worse. I got out of my mumu into at least comfy clothes because I knew that there was a good chance this could be a long night. I told my husband to just stay home, and I would keep him updated. There was no point in both of us not getting rest. This isn’t my first rodeo at the ER; I know how this can play out.

I was very surprised how quickly they got her in. There was not a soul in the waiting room. Thank you, Jesus! They got her a bed, ran a bunch of tests, and we were waiting on answers. I had a hunch of what I thought it was, and I believe the doctor did too. But before we could know for sure, I didn’t say a word to Kenz.

There we lay in her bed watching Netflix on my laptop. She snuggled in so close to me and kept rubbing my arm.

By 11:30 that night, we had answers, and it was exactly my fear.

Appendix.

I knew it was going to be a long night, but little did I know it was also going to be a long summer. To be continued…

Baco Cheeseburger Soup
(Pair this with the cheesy bread from last week!)

Ingredients:
•1 lb. ground beef
• 6 slices of cooked bacon chunks (optional)
• 3/4 cup Carrots (sliced thin)
• 3/4 cup Celery, diced
• 3/4 cup Onion, diced
• 1 tsp Parsley flakes, dried
• 4 cups Potatoes, cubed
• 3 cups Chicken broth
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 4 TBS Butter
• 1 1/2 cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups Velveeta processed cheese

Directions:

Brown the ground beef. Drain any fat, and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 T butter and add onion, carrots, parsley flakes, and celery. Sauté until tender. Add the broth slowly. Then add potatoes and beef and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

In a small skillet, melt remaining butter (3 T) and add the flour. Cook and stir a few minutes until bubbly. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until the cheese melts. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and bacon.