Monthly Archives: January 2011

Several Random Posts Put Together

Posted on January 14, 2011 | 3 comments

I didn’t have a chance to pop in Tuesday and show off my work getting an area organized, but I did do something 🙂 And shocked my hubby in the process by cleaning off the staircase up to our room. Putting stuff on the steps is a bad habit I developed growing up. It drove my dad nuts and now drives my husband nuts. Is that what “they” mean when “they” say girls look for someone like their daddy to marry?

Well regardless, here they are, our clean steps. (so be honest, how many of you just turned your head sideways to look at them?)

How is Body after Baby Morphed going? Pretty well. I have continued to do the 30 Day Shred and even ran one night too!!! I missed working out last night and am totally feeling it today…I gotta get down there and workout. Tomorrow I am going to move my workout OUTDOORS. I am going to try cross country skiing for the first time in roughly 20 years. I lost much of my balance when the Multiple Sclerosis got bad. With it went skiing. Now mind, I had not done a lot of it, just once or twice, but I had enjoyed it. For some reason it is something I really missed and am now feeling confident enough to try it again. One of our local parks, Independence Oaks, is offering a two hour ski lesson and ski rental for $10. And my wonderful hubby is going to keep the three kidlets while mama heads out. He doesn’t mind me heading out, but he sure is bummed he is not going to see my adventure.

What about 5 Question Friday? Okay, you asked for it, here it is.

1. What movie could you watch over and over again and not get tired of?

Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes, Back to the Future and Three Men and a Baby
Guess I don’t feel like narrowing things down today.

2. What’s your biggest pet peeve right now?

Hearing my child say “I don’t like that.” So now they have to say, “I don’t prefer that.” Same obnoxious thought when they are rejecting dinner, but it sounds cute when they say such big words.

3. If you had to describe your best friend in five words or less, what would you say?

Does my hubby count? A funny, sweet, strong, smart companion.

4. If you did not have to worry about money or go to school what would you do for a living?

Either a stay-at-home mom or a midwife.

5. What is your one “splurge” item, that you will always buy, no matter the cost?

Diet Coke! I considered giving it up last week. Then I woke up. The only time I ever gave it up was at the end of my pregnancy with Patrice when she kept going breech. I thought maybe the caffeine was making her too hyper. So I gave it up for about 2 weeks. We brought some with us to the birthing center so I could have one right after she was born!

And what would be a post without mentioning my wonderful midwife? I saw her yesterday and she was as always her wonderfully encouraging self. I am so thankful for her investment in our family.

Okay, I thing this post has been the epitome of randomness…now back to your regularly scheduled weekend…

After this cute picture:

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Posted in 30 day shred, 5 question Friday, baby 3, blog hops, body after baby, exercise, midwife, operation organization, random thoughts

A memory reborn with Try Something New Thursday

Posted on January 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

I remember doing a project in Sunday School eons ago, I was about Caitlyn’s age. We made edible play dough with peanut butter. I loved it. And all these years later I finally found the recipe over here.

And we had fun with it when Grandma and Grandpa “with 2 doggies” came to visit.

The recipe is:

18 ounces creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 cup dry milk

Mix, A LOT!

What have you tried lately?? What memories do you want to recreate with your family?

Making baby wipes Works For Me Wednesday

Posted on January 12, 2011 | 2 comments

I did the math one day when Caitlyn was a baby and each baby wipe I used, even when I bought them on sale was 2 cents EACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, I will admit, this was not for the cheapest ones. I had tried those and they smelled so bad I couldn’t stand using them. Horrible smell. But I hated the 2 cents each price. You can use a lot of those in just one diaper change. Then a friend told me how she made her own wipes, they smelled nice and were much cheaper. So we started making ours. Three kids later and we are still making them.

Our recipe is not exact science or measure but you will need:

1 roll (bounty works best) paper towel, cut in half so you have two short rolls

This mix makes enough for ONE of the short rolls, you’ll have to make the “juice” twice to make up both rolls.

2 cups water (a bit more is okay)

3 squirts of baby lotion
3 squirts of baby shampoo
2 long squirts of baby oil

Combine all in sauce pan, bring to a boil, stir often. Boil about 3 minutes until all ingredients are dissolved, you will have clumps of lotion if you don’t boil the mix long enough. Place paper towel roll in the pan, let some of the moisture soak in, then put the roll in your storage container (a tall canister shaped bowl with a lid works great), pour any remaining liquid over the roll. Put lid on tightly. The steam will finish getting the roll wet.

Now repeat with 2nd roll of paper towel.

Remove the paper towel cardboard center when the wipes cool enough to touch.
When you are all done you have wipes for a week or more.

Now head on over to We Are That Family to see what is working for others!

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Posted in blog hops, works for me wednesday

Multitude Monday A Little Dark 35-38

Posted on January 10, 2011 | 1 comment

As I have shared, depression is playing a huge roll in my life right now. It feels so isolating, but I am so thankful for

35. A supporting, loving husband
36. Friends and family who stand in the gap for me
37. Encouragement when it is needed, desperately.

38. Thank you Lord Jesus for walking through hell so I may be ultimately and truly free

Please give yourself the gift of going over to A Holy Experience to read the beautiful post of a child.

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Posted in depression, multitude mondays

Body after Baby Morphs

Posted on January 10, 2011 | 1 comment

A few weeks ago I started a blog hop called Body After Baby over at Mama Notes. It was an 8 week challenge. I saw no weight loss until this week. I lost 1 pound. I’ll take it.

The biggest thing I have found is the value of exercise to my overall life. That has been huge. But I would still like to lose some weight and get healthier. And I would like to find out if it is only running that makes me feel better or any good exertion exercise.

So, I am taking the plunge again. Samantha at Mama Notes has decided to do a 30 day challenge. And her readers chose the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. I happened to see this DVD at the store Friday and picked it up. Here goes nothing. I started it yesterday. It is HARD. I am SUPER sore today. I think the muscles that are killing me are called your pecs. I just call them ouch!!!!

Today got away from me and I really have to get to bed, so tomorrow will be my mulligan, my do over.

Are you interested in joining me on this 30 day adventure? Come join us and link up at Mama Notes.

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Posted in 30 day shred, blog hops, body after baby, exercise

My Girls New Workshop on Saturday Snapshots

Posted on January 8, 2011 | 3 comments

We had Christmas last night! Yup, round 2 and it was COOOOOOOOL. Grandma “with two doggies” and Grandpa came down and they brought PRESENTS!!!!!

It wouldn’t all fit in one picture

And one of the coolest had to be the workshop bench!

Grandma had to buy Big Bird on ebay, he came from Korea

Check out what fun others had this week over at An Ordinary Mom.

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Posted in Christmas, kidlets, Saturday Snapshots

Snapping…what are my kids snapping

Posted on January 8, 2011 | 1 comment

We got the girls kid cameras for Christmas. I think Caitlyn is in love. She is forever taking pictures and playing the games. I cannot believe how many pictures I have been in since she got it. But her favorite part is deleting pictures that do not turn out the way she wants them to. She is a little bit of a perfectionist. And she has been her whole 4 years. I think that is why she crawled “late”, walked on the “late” side of “normal.” She doesn’t try anything until she can do it easily.

I keep forgetting that such is the case, so I find myself worrying. I worried when she was not trying to pedal her bike. I worried when she was not picking out letters and naming them. It’s not until she is able to do something, and does it very well that I remember, ah yes, this is my child who must be able to do it just right before we will even see her try.

Once she figured out crawling, that same weekend she started pulling herself to a stand on the furniture. Two weeks after she took her first step she was running all over the birthing center, when she came to visit her new sister.

And yet, I still worrry. Does it do any good? No. Wait, I think Jesus said something about that. “You cannot add any time to your life.” Luke 12:25 and Peter said “Give all your worries to Him because He cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Now to remember that for all the years ahead of us. We have a lot of learning to do. There is much we will teach Caitlyn and even more she will teach us. Prepare us oh Lord. Keep our minds staid on you and not on charts or percentiles or expectations.

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Posted in Caitlyn, hope, kidlets, milestones

Made a Dress from a PDF pattern for Try Something New Thursday

Posted on January 6, 2011 | 3 comments

I have recently fallen in love with this blog. And I remember the night I read about their family adventure they were inviting all of us to join. And I kind of understood what Elizabeth experienced when she saw her cousin Mary “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the unborn baby inside her jumped and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,” Luke 1:41, New Century Version. Now I am not claiming Miss Patrice lept as I read the post, but I was expecting at the time and I did feel something in me leap and say, “let me help, let me help.”

I was a little hesitant to get involved with something I heard about on the internet, but that didn’t stop my heart from responding as they shared what the Lord was calling their family to do, and I knew the Lord was calling me to join in.

Next month I will begin asking you to join in with me. I have volunteered to be a point person to collect obstetric/birthing supplies for Mercy House. Please let me know if you have any contacts that could help with items such as Medical supplies-gauze, band ages, Latex gloves, Clamps for baby’s umbilical cord or string, Polythene draper –clean pads for delivery, vitamins, blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, tylenol, etc.

In the meantime, I made a tunic style dress. This will go to the home for one of the girls to wear during her pregnancy. You all have joined me in my sewing journey, so you know my skills are somewhat limited, but I try. And with each project I learn something. With this project I learned the fabric amount listed was about half of what was actually needed. Then, three times, I learned to rip out stitches in order to make the elastic lay flat in the collar. It kept getting twisted right at the end of pulling it through, ugggghhh. And I learned, the author of the pattern should get a proofreader. The patten is full of typos, but that is neither here nor there.

Here are some of the steps in my project:

What new things are you trying? Join my blog hop and let me know!

3 Comments

Posted in sewing, special projects, Try Something New

What Does NOT Work for Me–WFMW

Posted on January 5, 2011 | 1 comment

This week’s What Works for Me Wednesday is a bit different, the theme is What Does Not Work for Me!

Mornings do not always work for me. I don’t mind being up, but I do mind trying to find my kids clothes, socks and shoes. Shoes, how I loathe thee! But we have been very diligent so far, 3 days, with putting out clothes for the kids and I the night before. That helps a lot. Much less stress for the whole family. Also, making lunches in the morning does not work for me. It doesn’t work for my hubby either, so he has been making them the night before. My hubby makes an amazing sandwhich. I am not sure what the secret is, but they are so yummy.

Being clocked in the head by my daughter does not work for me either. Sue was pushing Caitlyn who for some reason was holding her camera above her head; before I had a chance to control that situation, Caitlyn wacked me on the head with her new camera. Ugghhh. Her rotten apology doesn’t work for me either. She yelled at me “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.” For the record, she did not sound sorry. So after I dealt with Sue’s behavior, Caitlyn and I had a chat about how we apologize for hurting someone, EVEN if it is an accident. For the record, my head still hurts, the pain has outlasted the kidlets consequences. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.

Going cold turkey off all candy is not working for me either. Hubby and I have started eating healthier this week and I am struggling with the junk cravings. I’m trying to keep them in check, but oh, the struggle!!!! And I refuse to give up my nightly chocolate milk. The baby needs me to get calcium, right?

I guess, right now, there are a few things that do not work for me!!! I hope you enjoyed these thoughts and will check out what is not working for others.

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Posted in blog hops, habits, random thoughts, works for me wednesday

Decluttering Week 2

Posted on January 4, 2011 | 4 comments

The difference may not seem huge, but I have to say, getting ready for a blog post was very motivating when it came to cleaning our junk drawer. It still has a fair amount in it (I think we are pen and pencil hoarders) but it is much better shape. Why? Because I said I was going to post about it on Tuesday!!! And well, it Tuesday!! Here she is…the cleaned up junk drawer…