When Life Hands You Puke....

I shared this on my FaceBook page this evening and I thought it might bless some of you as well.  Have a wonderful evening!

Today has been a rough day. The kids are tired from puking all night. Mommy's tired from the kids puking all night There's puke on blankets and pillows. The washer is broken. My head is pounding from lack of sleep. Someone fell asleep on my bed and peed on it. Did I mention the washer is broken? But then I think of my friend whose tiny 1 pound baby is fighting for his life. A local house fire. A friend whose husband has cancer. A local woman and children who lost their daddy last week. And then I think....Puke? I can do puke. I can do a broken washer. A headache is at the very least a minor annoyance. Habukuk 3:17-18 says "Even though I'm broke and my kids are sick and my shirt smells like baby puke...I WILL STILL PRAISE YOU." (Heather version) I praise God for living children. I praise God for waterproof mattress covers. I praise God for good friends with washers. I praise God for soup stock I put in the freezer months ago. I praise God for older children to help when I need a nap. Perspective. Can't you find something to praise God for today?

Whatever you do....

I just finished these two precious dolls as a donation to an online auction to benefit the Musser family. If you would like one or even a different item to help the Musser family bring Tommy home you can help through this online auction....http://itstommystime.blogspot.com/

The Mussers have already rescued Katie from a love-less existence and now they're going back for Tommy.  You can read all about Katie and Tommy (and the rest of the Musser family) at http://theblessingofverity.com/.

We can't yet adopt our own child from that awful life but the Bible says in Mathew 25:40 that whatever we do for the the least of these, we do for Jesus. This is my "whatever". Could you do "whatever" too?

Please feel free to copy this picture to your own FB page or blog or whatever with a link to the auction site. Or, link back to this post.  Please help me get the word out!!

The girl doll is made out of cotton fabric with a muslin head and the boy is made from flannel with a muslin head.  Both dolls measure approximately 9 inches from head to toe. (Not including their little blankets)

Home Made Laundry Soap

So here's the deal.  It's not really a secret.  Are you ready?  

We make a lot of laundry!  

Big surprise, right?  The problem is that it is INSANELY expensive to buy laundry soap in Valdez for a family my size.  Most of the time I remember to grab some at SAM'S, but sometimes I forget or push the limits a little too long and I have to buy local.

I've been looking at all these blogs and people who make their own laundry soap.  It all looks well and good.  Until you get to the grating soap part....Or the boiling soap part....Or the part where my friend who makes her own has dingy looking clothes...Or...And here's the kicker.....THE PART WHERE IT DOESN'T SMELL LIKE LAUNDRY SOAP!  I know, I'm shallow.  But, I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE the smell of clean laundry. 

I finally found a laundry soap recipe that doesn't call for grating  soap or boiling it down so I thought I would try it.  It still wouldn't SMELL like laundry soap but I consoled myself with the knowledge that I would still have my beloved dryer sheets....And then, there it was....right there in the laundry aisle!

 Angels sang from Heaven.  Not even kidding.  Do you mean to tell me that for $6.99 my laundry can smell MORE like laundry?  Whoever made this stuff deserves a Nobel Prize! I thought, "Surely I can add this stuff to a home made laundry soap recipe, right?"  Granted, it makes the financial purpose of making ones own laundry soap a little bit less of a savings but.......Ah, who cares!

So, I gathered my supplies. For Valdez people who are wondering where I got the Washing Soda from...Fred Meyer.  That's also where I got the Downy Unstopables.  They may have washing soda at Eagle, but I doubt it.  I didn't look.  Anyway, supplies.......

 So here's what you do.  You mix 3T washing soda, 3T Borax, 2T dawn dish soap, and 2 Capfulls Unstopables in a gallon sized container.  I'm using a jar because I wanted to be able to see through it for pictures.  I should stop right here and say....People have suggested using different "scents" of Dawn.  In my research, it has been commented several times that the other colors do not work as well as the "Original Blue Dawn" so, take my advice and just stick with the blue stuff.

 Next, you're going to add 4 cups of boiling water and stir it up until everything is all mixed together. I recommend moving your laptop out of the way to keep it safe from dribbles.  *Ahem*

 Here's the part where I started to get a tad worried that my Unstopables idea wouldn't work.  Do you see that it's separating?

 I left it sitting on the counter.  I used a wire wisk to give it a good stir every now and then.  You're supposed to wait until it's completely cool before doing the next step but...well...patience has never been my personal virtue and my mother taught me never to pray for it....So I went ahead and filled the rest of the container with cold water as soon as I was convinced everything was well dissolved.

Don't worry, all those suds disappear after just a bit.  Just go ahead and let them run over the side of the container while you're adding the water.

So, now I'm into my 3rd load of wash using the soap.  I'm using 3/4 a cup in each load.  I have a toploader that uses INSANE amounts of water BUT it gets my cloth diapers cleaner than my front loader ever dreamed of getting them.  In fact, I never cared for my front loader and sold it to go back to the "old fashioned" top loader, but that's a post for another day.  The most expensive part was the Unstopables which is a completely unnecessary ingredient.  I'm finding that it works just as well as my "Name Brand" soap and....Are you ready....IT SMELLS AMAZING! 

 I know someone is going to want to know if this is HE safe and the answer is YES.  The cloth diaper community has been stripping their dipes in HE washers with Dawn dish soap forever with absolutely no problems!

In My Spare Time

People are always asking what I do in my spare time....As if I have any....But on the occasions I MAKE time to go do something just for fun this is my all time, #1 favorite thing to do.  The crowd isn't usually this big but this one happened to be at the Valdez Quilt Festival so the crowd was rather large.  Quilters from all over the state came to learn and socialize.  The halls leading to the classroom were lined with yummy fabrics just waiting to be caressed....and purchased.  I have to admit to buying Hannah some Lorax fabric.  She came with me as my official "baby holder" so I could sew hands-free.  It was her payment.

OK, so, on to what I was actually doing.  I signed up for the Mystery Quilt.  I love Mystery Quilts and I hate them all in the same breath!  I love them because of the Mystery.  I hate them because of the Mystery.  Ha!  It's a catch 22!

Once you sign up you receive your fabric requirements and cutting instructions for step #1.  Here's where the mystery comes in....YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FINISHED PRODUCT WILL LOOK LIKE!  The directions are somewhat vague...."You need X yards of light fabric", You need X yards of medium fabric", and so on.  They are kind enough to tell you when a directional (meaning striped or something where you want the heads to be upright, that sort of thing) fabric is a dumb idea but that's about it.  You complete step #1 at home.  I always sign up at the last minute so I always end up doing step #1 at the "class".

Here I am just quilting away.  This time I went "shopping" in my own stash so I could use up some stuff that had been  hanging around for a while.

Once I got to step #4 I realized they were going to be throwing a twist at us.  The blocks NEVER look this complete on the 4th out of 8 steps.  My guess was that we were going to be cutting them up and sewing them back together in a different way.....

I was right.  The next step revealed the cutting.

We then used some strips we had made earlier, but didn't know what we would be doing with them, to piece the cut up triangles back into a block and these are what I ended up with....

I left class with 4 out of 12 finished blocks.  It will literally only take me about 10 minutes each to do the remaining blocks.  I should get on that....In my spare time. ;)

Squishy Baby-ness!

I would like to apologize to my wonderful readers for the obvious lack of posts the past few weeks.  I'm afraid my midnight ramblings have been replaced by midnight feedings and, boy howdy, typing with one hand sure is slow!

Samara Truth was born on Saturday, August 11.  She weighed a mere 9 pounds 3 ounces and has lots of dark hair.  Not the kind that falls out either!  Want to see a picture?

We have wanted to name a baby Sam, after my grandfather, for quite sometime but Husband isn't a fan of gender neutral names so "just plain Sam" wasn't gonna make it on his list for a girl.  I have spent years searching for a girl's name that included Sam and wasn't Samantha.  I heard Samara on a forum I belong to and, while I wasn't crazy about it at first, once I looked up the  meaning I was sold.  I guess you probably want to know what it means?  Samara is Hebrew for Guardian so her name is translated as "Guardian of Truth".  What was that?  Another picture?  Certainly!  Here's one in the cloth diaper I made for her.

Things are a little bit different when you have your 10th child and there's still lots of little guys in the house.  For instance...How many of you lock YOUR baby in your room while she sleeps?  I use the term "lock" loosely meaning that the door is shut securely and I make sure the latch has engaged.  Why?  Because Miss Liberty is smitten with her new little baby and is more than delighted to "hold" her for me whether I am in the room or not.  It's for Samara's safety!  I promise!  I daresay I would find Samara on the floor and Liberty in Samara's bed if I were to leave the two alone!  Look, I have proof!  (No, Samara wasn't on the floor, she was laying on my bed.)

As a true Alaskan, Sam has already been on her first camping trip!  Here she is all bundled up to go out by the fire.  She's VERY excited....she's yawning.  LOL  I should mention that by "camping" I mean we packed up the motorhome and went off grid.  No more tents for this mama!  (Though I still make the Bigs sleep in them.)

And, here's a picture from just a bit ago.  Do I sound like a proud mommy?  I am!  I can promise you, a girl isn't any less in love with the 10th one than she was with the 1st.  (Only now, I have mad skill.  Then, I was playing by ear!)

I suppose I should stop bragging now and hit the sack!  Sam could care less if I stayed up too late blogging and will most likely not accept my excuses when I try to explain to her that Mommy needs sleep.  Goodnight all.  I hope to be back to my regular blogging soon but you'll probably just get more pictures of this gorgeous baby! LOL

Quilt for sale!

I've finally done it!  The quilt is completed and ready to be put on the market.  This isn't just a quilt though, it's a whole set!  Ready to "see" it?

The quilt measures 48X52 inches.  It is a generously sized toddler quilt.  It would also look lovely in a crib but would not lay flat as the sides are meant to hang down.  It is pieced with fabrics from Moda's "Ruby" collection.  Moda is well known for their heirloom quality fabrics and you can expect to pass this set on for generations!  Also included is a decorative ruched pillow made from the same quality fabrics, a re-purposed decorative bird cage, and a three piece wall hanging set crafted with coordinating fabrics.  The flowers in the corner of the quilt are made to fray at the edges giving this quilt a unique three dimensional appearance and, since I personally designed this quilt, it is truly one of a kind!

The quilt will come pre-washed in hypo-allergenic detergent, ready for your princess to snuggle into!  We are a smoke free, MOSTLY pet free home.  We do have dogs, but they aren't in the habit of sleeping on quilts!  ;)

I am asking $400 for this heirloom set.  I accept paypal, local checks, and, of course, cold, hard cash.  I am happy to ship for the actual cost of shipping.  Thanks for looking!

Homeschooling

A couple nights ago I got the school room all ready for its first students this year.  We're having to do things a little differently.  The older children are pretty much self led at this point.  They are using an online school this year that does all the grading and record keeping for me.  Sydney is finishing up some odds and ends and will be graduating sooner than later.  This leaves me with 9th, 8th, and 6th for the Bigs.  They are using Monarch for history,  science, grammar, bible, and Spanish and health for Hannah.  We are using writeathome.com for writing and Teaching Textbooks for math. 

Since the Bigs are all able to do their own thing I'm  left with what to do with the Littles?  I mean, some of them have to learn, right?  ;)  I am currently teaching 2nd grade to both Luke and Joslyn, and kindergarten to James Michael.  This leaves me with a pre-schooler, a toddler, and a newborn to do who knows what with during school hours.

I knew I would need a plan.  I've never had so many Littles while trying to school before.  I needed some way to contain the potential disaster of not having my eyes on them EVERY.SINGLE.SECOND.  But how?  We've always just done school at the dining room table.  That way, I can cook and clean and be centrally located but, let's face it.....With a kindergartner and a struggling learner there's no way I'm going to have the chance to multi-task this year.  Add in a nursing baby.............Yeah, you're starting to get it, aren't you?

So, here's what I've done..........

I chose to have a school room right next to the Little Boys' room.  There's a TV in there (with educational videos, don't have a heart attack) and the toys are limited so the mess is rather containable.  I installed a baby gate from the wall to the banister to keep the Littles in this corner of the house.  Now, while I'm teaching, I know Liberty and Israel are limited to the safety of space I have chosen.  Truth be told, they both sat with us at the table in the school room today anyway.  But, ya know, if they ever WANT to escape....they can't!  BWAHAHAHA!

I used a piece of quilt batting to make a flannel graph board outside the bedroom door.  Right now, all I have are these dinosaurs but I plan to steal permanently borrow some bible characters from some of our outdated Sunday school materials at church.  Don't tell the head of the program....oh, wait.....that's me.

Right outside the boys' and school room door there's a computer station with an old desk top so they can play educational games if they finish their work and have "free time".

Here's looking in the door at our shelves and table.  See how nicely organized they are?  Yeah, give it a week! LOL  On the other side of those shelves is my quilting area.  I won't take a picture of that.  It's scary!

Looking to the left of the door you can see Luke and Joslyn's shelves of materials.  Games with lots of pieces and puzzles are kept up high so a certain little nephew of mine who just ADORES dumping everything out at his Auntie's can not reach them!  See those blue boxes?  Took me three hours to sort the cards after his last visit! LOL  (I wasn't laughing then!  I was watching Law and Order Criminal Intent. I wonder if there's a correlation?)

To the right of the door are James Michael's school books, children's picture and board books, and mom approved art supplies.  Read between the lines:  No glitter or beads!

The view, just to make you drool.

The shelves that separate the school room from the quilting room.  The less mom approved art supplies are kept here along with bigger kid games, science kits, chapter books, and easy readers.  Remember that scene in the Wizard of Oz where Toto pulls back the curtain and the old man is back there pretending to be the wizard and saying "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"?  Yes?  Good.  Pay no attention to the mess in the left of the picture! ;)

We started off our first day of school with cupcakes.  I had to get them in the room somehow, right?  Liberty sleeps 'till 11-12 or so, so she missed out.

I read to them and we discussed fantasy and realism and how authors often combine the two to make a story more interesting.  We also predicted story outcomes by using cues from the illustrations. Even Israel was happy to "help" with this part!

James Michael practices the letter "Cc"!

Liberty wakes up and after having toast and a banana comes to join the party!

Luke and Joslyn both write out this week's memory verses to keep in their rooms.  They also wrote alliterations today.  Luke's was:  Mack Mouse makes macaroni.

Joslyn, of course, took school VERY seriously!

And, with that, I'm going to bed!  Hope you all enjoyed a peek into our day!  'Night!

Restoration

Yesterday, Husband and I made an up and back trip to Anchorage to drop Luke off at the airport.  For those of you who don't live in Alaska, it takes 12 hours round-trip.  And, round-trip is what we did!  We left at 2am night before last.  Luke flew out at 9:30am, we did MINIMAL shopping (still paying two mortgages) and headed home.  We got home at 5 pm last night.  Talk about a tired Mommy and Daddy!  Thankfully, the children were quick to go to bed last night and both Husband and I were asleep by 9pm.

When you travel that far you get a lot of time to think!

While  I was waiting at the airport for Luke's flight to take off I was texting with Sydney.  (Who's in Long Beach, WA visiting my family right now)  She was just heading out to see the King Tut exhibit in Seattle.  She also got to go to Pike's Place and otherwise do fun, touristy things.  I'm a bit jealous.  ;) 

While I was texting with her I noticed that I receive an OVERWHELMINGLY larger number of texts from her than from anyone else......and not one of them says. "I hate you!"  LOL  Do you know how much that blesses me?  That my 17 year old is my friend?  That she still calls me "Mommy"?  That when she reads something that she's not sure about she comes to me and asks what I think?  (Most recently regarding some theology).

Statistically though, it SO could have be different for both Sydney and me. 

I am a Teen Mom, or, at least I used to be.  Now I'm a mom of a teen  (or 3)! ;)

I've been walking this road for 17 years now and the farther away I get from that 15 year old pregnant girl the clearer the bigger picture gets.  I can see all the ways God's hand has been there.  All the things He's  restored and all the prayers that have been answered.

This is one of my favorite songs of all time.  I love music that tells a story and....little known fact about me....I love old-school rap.  It's OK, you don't have to like it too...we can still be friends.  Anyway, here's a link to it on youtube.  If you can't stomach the rap part of it I'll post some of the lyrics for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ1DHhobVVg

"Irene"

Hush little baby baby don't you cry
Daddy's gonna sing you a lullaby
Everything's gonna be alright
The Lord's gonna answer your prayer tonight
Hush little baby don't you cry
Daddy's gonna sing you a lullaby
Everything's gonna be alright
The Lord's gonna answer your prayer

Last night you had a dream you was the homecoming queen
Today you're 18, happy birthday Irene
School you had to drop out to raise your little child
Don't seem to be anyone around
You've got to reach up to touch rock bottom
The powers that be keep you downtrodden
Daughter of Zion, I heard your prayer
Just cast your cares and please beware of snakes
They come in all shapes and sizes
Tempt you, put scales on your eyelids
Don't waste your sorrows
They'll give you strength tomorrow
Your Calvary's about to come so
Keep your head up, don't you ever let up
This storm will pass you'll be ready for the next one

Hey little girl with the pressures of the world on your shoulders
Don't say that it's over
I heard your prayers, just cast your cares
And I'll be there so don't you fear

[CHORUS]

Irene I carried you when you was too weak to walk
I took to you when you gave your heart to God
Faithful and true, that's what I'll always be to you
Believe in you, believe in Me and these mountains have to move
You have dreams and aspirations
I knew you before creation
Your foundation's solid
I will give you a palace, restore your soul
You'll be up for any challenge
Many storms are on the way better sharpen your faith
Count the cost, take up your cross
And wear it every day
Rest in Me and I will give you strength
Blessed is she, Irene who seeks my face

[CHORUS]

Father I'm stronger than when I first believed

OK, I had a hard time choosing so I just posted the whole song.  I did have a support system but I also had dreams and aspirations.  I went to school and worked.  Honestly, Sydney didn't get much of my time those first couple years.  I was young.  I was selfish.  I wasn't necessarily a BAD mom.  I just did the things that I thought moms did however misguided those perceptions were.  And you know what?  God still blessed that!  He still blessed that floundering, selfish, scared girl.  I turned my heart toward Him....over time....and He used that to turn my heart toward my home.  My children.  My husband.  He answered my cries.  He knew what I needed when I didn't even know what I needed.

And he knew what Sydney needed.  He has sent her a Daddy that adores her....and she adores him.  They're best friends.  There's not a single drop of his blood running through her veins but they are 100% father and daughter.  She's never had one of those "REAL" dad identity problems.  She has a dad who has filled the hole that should have been in her heart. 

So what's the point in all this?

I'm just amazed to look back and see all the blessings God has given me.  Me.  That naive girl.  He didn't come after me with a stick or condemn me.  He just loved me.  Blessed me gently....over time and watched me bloom under His loving parenthood.  And Sydney too....she had every right to be a "troubled" child.  People even EXPECTED it!  But look at her!  So beautiful on the inside and outside!  THAT is the work of a loving God.  Not a hateful taskmaster!

Bears and Sea Lions!

In the past few years our bear population has really sky rocketed!  So much so that we are pretty much guaranteed to see one upon leaving the house.  Yesterday, I heard that there was a Mama Brown Bear (sow) with.....Are you ready for this.....QUADRUPLET cubs hanging out over at Allison Point.  Now THAT'S something special!  Even for these parts!  James Michael and I took a little detour on the way home from dropping Husband and Elijah off for their 5 day rafting adventure and, sure enough, the bears were right on the side of the road!

We watched for half hour or so, during which time James Michael noticed we were low on gas and wondered what would happen if we ran out.  I suggested he could push the truck home.  His reply?  "Not when YOU'RE in it!"  Stinkerhead.

Back to the bears.....So tonight I loaded up all the kids, took them to the grocery for a very healthy meal of corn dogs, bananas, and Strawberry milk  (Husband is gone...remember?  Doubt we'll be eating anything NOT out of a box this week!) and headed across the bay.  The bears were easy to find.  Tourists were lined up F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!  Did I mention how good the bears are for tourism?

So, are you ready for some pictures and maybe a video? (If I can figure it out that is!)  Here goes!

Ughhh!  The video won't work.  Well, I'll post and keep working on the video part!