My Baby Boy

Logan was born on April 23rd 2005. He weighed in at 8.2 pounds. He was a week early. It was a nice sunny afternoon and I was watching The Notebook. I was half way throuh it when I went to go make some lunch. I stood up and took two steps and my water broke. I was kinda in shock! I went to the front door where Caleb was working on a flower bed and told him. He thought I was just kidding. I finally convinced him that it was time! So I went and took a shower, shaved my legs (why do we think that this is needed when you are having a baby?) I fixed my hair and make up (you know, cause you want to look good for pictures right?) Yeah well that didn't work out. I looked horriable in the pictures, but I didn't care at that point all I wanted was to hold my baby. I had a c-section and all I remember is hearing him cry that was one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. All (70+) that came to see Logan in the hospital thought he was beautiful! We got pictures with each one that came. I look back, and feel so blessed that so many people would want to share that joy with us. We truly are blessed with so many family and friends. Logan is now 5 years old he is awesome. He tries us to the max, and he is stubborn. But he also has the biggest heart and very smart. He was talking at 6 months, knew his ABC's by 2 years old. He loves to sing in church and loves to read the Bible. I am so proud of both my children. God has blessed me with an awesome family!

The Toy Library

I first saw the toy library on a blog that I read daily called http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com. I love reading Heather's great ideas. I started our own toy library in our hall closet. I never have put the kids toys in their bedrooms simply because I like their rooms to be nice and neat. So the toys have been in a spare bedroom, living room (bad idea) and our back storage room. Nothing was working! Until I read about the toy library. Great Idea! I started by putting a large bookshelf in the closet, then I had lots of little bins to put the toys in. I put all blocks in one, all cars and trucks in one, and so on. I then took and labeled each bin A-L. I laminated a picture of each kid and put velcro on the back and stuck them to the wall. Now when the kids want to play they check out one bin at a time in the toy library. They pick the bin they want and put their picture in the empty spot. And they cannot check out anything else until they check the last toys played with back in. And if they are not picked up I just look to see who's face is in that missing bin's spot. Now no more but mom, he/she got it out, or toys all over the place. Problem Solved!

MY BABY GIRL

Baylee Jo was born on July 2nd, 2008. She was two weeks early and still weighed in at 9.11. She was a beautiful baby, head full of long black hair and beautiful tan skin. If I had not been in the room, I would have thought they had gave me the wrong baby! She looked like a little eskimo baby. All the nurses at the hospital was talking about the 9.11 pound, head full of hair, beatiful baby girl. She made me so proud from the very start. We brought her home on the 4th of July. She was such a good baby, very little crying and was never fussy. Logan loves being the big brother and he is good at it. Fast forward 2 years later...she is so much like me (poor kid). She will not let the boys be slobs, period. They just better not try to leave dirty clothes laying around! If they do she will fuss until they pick it up or she will just do it herself (that's the me in her). She is independant she wants no help from anyone. She can hold her own, she can run with the best of them. She has always been a daddy's girl. But in the last few months she has actually let me hold her more. She is so loving and will give us all lots of hugs and kisses all day long. (without having to ask) After such a hard delivery with Logan I thought I would never have another child......Thank you Lord for knowing what I need more than I know what I need! I could not imagine my life without my baby girl! She truly is a blessing from God!

First Day of Kindergarten

He loves it! Me? not so much, but I'm sure I will get the hang of it. I am so proud of him. He is growing up so fast.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Ingredients: Borax

Washing Soda (I have only found this at Kroger's)

Octagon Soap (grated, I use a cheese grater)

Water


Directions: Boil 8 cups of water , add the Octagon soap and let melt. I then take a five gallon bucket and when the soap has melted I pour it into the bucket adding 2 cups borax, 2 cups washing soda, 2 gallons of water mix well. Then I just take old laundry detergent bottles and fill them up. It's now ready for laundry time! Shake well before using takes approx. 1/4 cup per load.

Menu planning and Freezer foods

I have read lots of blogs about creating weekly menu plans. To me it seemed like it would take too much time (something I don't seem to have) but now that we are doing a budget I thought it might help. I know it would help with less trips to the grocery store and impluse buying. So I started this week. It is not set in stone and we can mix it up during the week. I love the fact that I can prep stuff in advance, hopefully that will help on the days that I work. I also started doing some freezer foods too. I made 1 1/2 dozen homemade biscuits and froze (we baked some Sunday morning and they turned out great) Also made Caleb some breakfast wraps, and some hot pockets (pepperoni & sausage, egg, cheese). They have turned out really good also. I'll be trying more things this week hopefully!

God let me tell you my idea!

Ok what is wrong with that sentence?

It was said in our Sunday school class this sunday. At that moment it opend my eyes. As silly as that sentence is, it is what so many of us do! When you do not let God lead you, you are saying God I have a better idea. And we all know that God's way is the perfect way. I am so blessed with a great Sunday school teacher and others in the class for bringing good points out. I do want God to lead me in all my paths. I have to remember to get self out of the way. Something else was brought up about how many hours a week the average Christian spends watching t.v. Take a guess! 25 hrs. (wow) Ok now that we know that, I would like to know how many hours we spend reading the Bible and in prayer. For me not even close!When I first heard that 25 hours a week was spent on t.v. I thought well that is not my family we don't have cable or satellite, we don't even have an antenna that works! There was several reasons we got rid of satellite, cost, the filth, more family time, and more Bible and prayer time. And yet we find other things (other than reading our Bibles and Praying) to fill our time. So in my opinion the problem is not the t.v. it is the one staring back at us in the mirror. I want what God wants for my family. (Father does know best!)


I finshed reading the Total Money Makeover and we have started doing our budget and getting our emergency fund in place. I think Caleb is now ready to get on board with it too! I am very excited about this whole process. Please continue to pray for our family that God's will will be done.

Yard Sales

Just a little history of me and yard sales: Both my grannies loved to yard sale. As a kid I hated it! When I was growing up my mom would take my granny Cook places that she needed to go (doctors, stores, ect.) Well, while we was in route she would spot a yard sale. So they would stop and look around. As a kid it seemed like they took forever! I guess I can admit it now, there was times if I saw a yard sale ahead, I would try to get granny's attention so she would miss it. Oh no not her, she had an eagle eye! (serves me right I guess) Granny went home to be with the Lord three months ago. Oh how I would love to call her up and go yard saling again! I have made yard saling a hobby for the past five years now. I love it!

So the other night, some friends of ours came over and would ask where we got this and that. Every time we would say, yard sale. They could not believe some of the great deals that we got. So they asked if they could come along one Saturday. Their first day is tomorrow! I hope they enjoy it as much as we do.

My tips for yard saling:

~~~~~I start the first of the week looking for sales (newspaper, our local sales network, word of mouth) I read each one, find the ones that I think will have things I am looking for.

~~~~~I map out a route so not to back track.

What to do the night before:

~~~~~Make a list of what I am looking for.(you will find it)

~~~~~Get snacks, drinks ready to grab (a must with kids)

~~~~~Check car for gas (time saver)

~~~~~Always get cash night before(good idea to have small bills, and change)

The day of:

~~~~~I like to be at there when the first one opens up. It is true the early bird gets the worm.

~~~~~When I arrive I scan the items go to the ones that interest me first. I go to clothes last, because not everyone will stand and go through them.

~~~~~When going through the clothing check for stains, rips, zippers, buttons ect.

~~~~~It's kinda like a mission to me, I get in and get out. LOL And off to the next one.

That is some of my tips.... Would love to hear yours!

Wow ! It's been a whole year since I was on this blog! I guess my mom was right, I start things with good intentions of finishing them, but then I get preoccupied with other more important things (in my mind) and never finish what I start. That is really weird, because I can't stand when others do that. Hmmmm, seems like we can always see other peoples faults but not our own. Guilty here! That being said, I am going to try to do better with this blogging thing. We are starting the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover at our house and I want to keep record of that on here, and hopefully help others out there not to make the mistakes we have made with our financial decisions. God has put it on my heart that I need to be a stay at home mom. I tried this once when Logan was 3 months old. It lasted about 3 months. It was not for me! Not that I don't love being with my kids, but I have always worked. I like it. It montivates me. I also like to contribute my fair share to our family income. But for about the last year the Lord has been leading me back to our home. I have always lived in the same hometown, but I feel I am still making my way back home (to our home) I am very nervous with this whole process, because we barley get by now! But the Lord is saying TRY ME! I have no doubt he can, so why am I nervous? I guess it is the human in me lol. So hope you keep checking in to see how our journey is going, and hopefully I will have something on here that can help someone else. Please pray for us! I know God has all the power!