Busy Day

Posted on October 18, 2007 by Abbie

Today we had a school break as we are sticking closely with the school calendar allowing them to be off when friends are out, etc.

So, we headed off to the gym after laying around and then went out for lunch with some friends from the gym. The kids had a great time. Who wouldn’t? An hour working out in exchange for chicken nuggets and greasy unhealthy fries, swallowed down by a nice soft drink…yummm! But the kids had a great time 🙂

Now to our car woes. While visiting family (which I should be posting pictures on soon) this weekend, Mark and his dad noticed a slow drip from the anti-freeze. Mark checked the levels and they were low and then they were low by the time we reached home. A leak in or near the radiator. We thought it might be a hose that he could work on with a friend, but now, he thinks it is part of the radiator something or other (give me credit, I did know what the radiator was and anti-freeze). He saw it “oozing” out of one area on the radiator. Now, he’s got to leave work early today and take it in to get it checked out. However, if they have to repair it, we may be without transportation next week which looks like this: Monday: speech (and Zoe’s reeval), Tuesday: Ballet (which we pay for and I don’t want to miss because then that means we’re not getting our $$ worth), Wednesday: speech (possibly), Thursday: MOPS, and Friday I have no clue but I’m sure we have to be somewheres. We’re looking into renting a van (yippee, new car to drive that doesn’t belong to my car payments). But, that is expensive and we’re not sure we’ll be able to do it on top of the fix on the van. Otherwise, I think I might be able to work out transportation for all our troops to all their events. I can only imagine how confusing this would be if they actually had to go to school building other than our home, yikes!

And as a finale to the day…breakfast for supper…yum yum!

Ahhh!

Posted on October 17, 2007 by Abbie

Mark and I joined the gym yesterday. As a result, I went to work out today. It was great. It’s our Family Y and the people there are really friendly. I put the kids in the nursery and enjoyed about one hour of quiet iPod time with Dr. Dobson! Very nice. I’ve got more energy now too. I’m really looking forward to being able to go on a regular basis and try to get into shape and lose this baby belly. Zoe, Ace, Liam, and Josiah all had a great time playing in the rooms and the people who were working in there were really great with them. Liam didn’t even notice when I left…they did say that when people came to pick up their children, he was a little upset that I wasn’t there but then went about playing.

Stay tuned to see the new and improved Abbie 🙂

Chores

Posted on October 16, 2007 by Abbie

We have chores around the house. I’m from the Dr. Kevin Leman school of “familyology” (my word, not his) that says, “Your children don’t live in a hotel. You need to teach them to be a part of the family.”

So, we started the kids out early learning how to help around the house. Does this mean I get a break from doing things around the house? Far from it, I’m not training them in household chores so that I can sit around and do nothing. I wan them to learn how to help in our family and also so that when they get out on their own, they will be able to do things on their own to maintain their home.

They all start learning to clean up around 15 to 18 months. Liam has taken the longest to teach this but he’s finally picking up on it.

After learning to clean up, I observed Zoe dragging her laundry hamper bag downstairs. She was about 2 then. She also was very interested in helping me clean the bathrooms. Zoe’s always been a big helper and loves doing things around the house. Her chores right now include, cleaning her bathroom with me, washing the morning dishes (because they’re plastic). She can empty the dishwasher and knows how to sort the silverware. She knows how to sort clothes and is teaching Ace how to do that. She can empty the dryer and is now learning how to put clothes from the washer into the dryer and how to operate the washing machine and dryer. She’s also learning how to make her bed.

Ace can do a lot of what Zoe is doing but is still too short to reach the washing machine.

Liam likes to “help” with the dishes…mainly playing in the water. He can take the clothes downstairs and he can help put clothes in the washing machine.

I’ve heard people complain because their children don’t do anything. Or they say they are too young. I think people can underestimate kids abilities. However, I also know that adults can expect perfection. My children don’t do all of their chores correctly, and I don’t punish because of that. I don’t expect perfection from them when they do chores. My main goal is to teach them how to do it right. It’s a learning process and when you start early, I think it’s easier because they know this is how it’s going to be and they need to contribute to the family just like mom and dad do.

I wrote all of that because I was so excited when Zoe wanted to empty the washing machine and she was able to get up on a step stool and do it. She was so excited about learning how to use the machines…stay tuned for the post on how all my whites turned pink because I let Zoe do the wash 🙂

WOW!

Posted on August 27, 2007 by Abbie

Somehow and for some reason, Josh McDowell, came to speak at our church. If you don’t know who Josh McDowell is, he is a great Christian speaker and author. His main focus is on teenagers and he’s written several books to help Christians focus on the basics of our belief and mainly on the truth!

He spoke Sunday morning and Sunday evening to a packed house. I only got to hear the morning message because Josiah was a little fussy and there were 10 babies in the nursery so I stayed back there to help. It was really good.

His main focus Sunday morning was on the importance of fathers in the lives of children. And the importance of loving and caring for our children. He threw out a ton of statistics about how having a caring/loving father effects children and how a non-loving father steers children away from Christ.

It was great to hear and also wonderful to reflect on how loving and caring a father Mark is. He’s always there for the kids and though our house may need 100 things done, he puts them third (God, me and then them). He’ll put aside all of his “chores” till after they’re in bed to play and allow them to “pile on” him. He’s never once complained about changing a diaper, slinging a baby (wearing them), sleeping in a rocker with a fussy one, having to leave work to go to the hospital with them…none of that. I am so blessed that my children have a father who strives to reflect the love of our Heavenly Father.

I love ya, babe!

Just Call Me Grace

Posted on August 21, 2007 by Abbie

Yesterday afternoon, I was rushing from our utility room with frozen goods up to the kitchen and missed the step but hit it with my big toe. Owwww! I thought for awhile that I had broken it as it swelled up on me. But, today the pain has receded and I’m able to walk on it. It’s very sore but not broken, I think.

Sewing Machine Saga

Posted on June 23, 2007 by Abbie

Well, while working on a cute pillowcase dress for Zoe (with a lot of help from Mark’s mom), my sewing machine started skipping stitches. I thought nothing of it until Mark’s parents left last weekend and I tried to finish up the ribbon embellishment I was doing on the dress. It started skipping stitches and then stopped stitching all together. We were all at a loss! I called my MIL and my mom to see if they could help troubleshoot. We gathered several ideas to work on when we had the time and we also had the option of having it serviced (at the cost of $55). So, I was going back and forth with either having it serviced or replacing it with a newer model (mine is over 10 years old and extremely basic).

So, last night Mark took it completely apart and checked all the belts and whistles and then lubricated everything. This morning I tried it with different thread and it still didn’t’ work. So, we took the bobbin case out and cleaned out all the lint and it still didn’t work. I called mom to see if she had a clue as to what I should do…service it with no guarantee it would be fixed or purchase a newer model…mom was for the newer model but suggested I check the sewing machine website and see if they had any troubleshooting ideas.

Lo, and behold, there was a question about skipping stitches which stated that the needle was incorrect (I had checked and made sure it was correct for the fabric I was using). But, it also said that the needle needed to have the flat part facing the back…which mine didn’t! Duh!!

Tada! It’s fixed! Such a simple solution…at least we didn’t pay the service charge to be told I couldn’t install a needle correctly!

Grass Update & Kids

Posted on June 21, 2007 by Abbie

Mark got in as it was getting overcast and windy and got the grass cut. We really enjoyed playing outside this morning!!! It actually didn’t rain until this afternoon.

Ace has been fever free for the past 24 hours and his throat is still pretty sore. Zoe is showing signs of getting it, however. We all stayed home from church tonight in hopes of not spreading it or getting it anymore. Pictures later…

The Grass

Posted on June 19, 2007 by Abbie

First off, again, Ace is running a fever this afternoon…not out of the woods with him yet!

This is just cracking me up! All through May we struggled to keep our grass from going completely dead. Then the tropical storm came through while we were on vacation. Last week we had Vacation Bible School in the evenings and so we couldn’t cut the grass (which had grown because of the good yummy rain we had from the tropical storm). Every night last week (except maybe one) it rained! Yesterday, our chance of rain was about 30% so, I thought, great, Mark can work on the grass after the kids go to bed.

So, I asked him at supper if he was going to cut the grass when the kids go to bed and he said he was planning on it. Not even thirty minutes later, I hear rumbling in the distance. By the time we finished supper, it was lightning and thundering all around so the grass didn’t get cut. Mark just called and I told him if he could get home quickly, maybe he could beat the rain. However, I just looked at the weather radar and it doesn’t look like he’ll make it! Oh well, I’ll have to get out and measure how tall it is before he actually gets to cut it.

What a blessing, though! We have been praying for rain and there are still places all over the south who are going through severe drought! We have been blessed with good rain these past few weeks.

Laundry Detergent Recipe

Posted on June 13, 2007 by Abbie

With help from www.frugalshopper.com

I’ve had several requests for my detergent recipe, so here goes!

18 c water
1 bar soap, grated (any bath bar soap or Fels Naptha Laundry Soap)
1 1/2 c Super Washing Soda (I purchase it from www.soapsgonebuy.com)
1 1/2 c Borax
24 quart bucket (I purchased the exact size I needed at Wal-Mart and it has a locking lid to keep prying toddlers out of)
12 c hot water
hot water

Mix soap in a saucepan with 18 cups of water, and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 3 quarts hot water to bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket with hot water and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until thickened. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load.

**Detergent will not suds but that does not mean it won’t work**

Consistency should be a little like gel but sometimes if too much water is added it will be watery (but is still useful).

The Sling

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Abbie

My sling rings came in this week. I rushed to get it made but hadn’t gotten to the pictures of it until today. I can put Liam in it (he’s small enough) and he cuddles right up next to me! It’s so sweet. I hope Josiah enjoys it as much.

By the way, no construction updates because there has been none. I’m not sure of the reason but can only speculate that it is because of some little golf game that is going on this week! Framing will start on Monday.

Here’s the pictures:

Aha, instant cuddlebug!!

Trying to get out of the sling!!!

Just a Bunch of Characters

Musings of everyday life in a house full of Characters.

Tag Archives: About the House