Welcome

I am very late posting this, but here is a picture of our new niece, Natalie Jade! She was born to Jeremy's brother, Hans, and his wife Angela. She is a doll! We've only been able to see her once, but hope to see her again in the next day or two. Congratulations Hans and Angela!

Friday

Since it's Friday morning and I'd like to get my house cleaned today I decided to post something on my blog. It's only 8:00.

I've heard different ones of you talk about homemade laundry soap. I'll be honest with you and say that when I first heard about this I thought it sounded like a great frugal idea, but decided right then it wasn't for me. I mean, how good could the stuff be? Well, my mom and sister-in-law tried it and liked so I thought I'd give it a try. Still thinking it was a bit crazy. I had recently started buying more expensive soap because it seemed like the cheap stuff that I had been getting (yeah, you know the stuff I'm talking about) was not getting anything cleaned and our clothes seemed to fade so quickly. So, with that in mind I could hardly imagine anything that cost around $.03 a load (Cindy's figures) could be worth anything. Then I tried this recipe from http://www.tipnut.com/

Recipe #1
1 quart Water (boiling)

2 cups Bar soap (grated)

2 cups Borax 2 cups Washing Soda
Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.
Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.
Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (will gel).

I have been so pleased with this soap! I do treat stains with Shout before I wash them and of course there are somethings that I soak in oxy clean (powder, not the spray -don't get me started on this stuff, it's amazing) because I can't get the stains out, but for the normal day to day grim this soap works great. It doesn't make much suds, but it works. You should try it. P.S. Our Wal-Mart does not sell the washing soda, but Giant does and maybe Target. It is washing soda you want, not baking soda.

Off to clean my house. The picture at the top of this post has nothing to do with laundry soap, but it makes me laugh so I thought I'd share it.

Well...

The ultrasound lady person thinks we're having a girl! We don't have any pictures with "three lines" like I've seen, but there were no boy parts that we could see. I was hoping for a more certain answer, but that's life with ultrasounds. We'll know for sure in about 20 weeks. I'd say we're maybe 80% sure it's a girl, but we'd better have a boys name ready too. :)

It's always so exciting to see the baby moving around. Such a miracle. Before I was a mother I used to wonder how it was possible to be as excited for a second or third child as you are with your first. I should not have worried! I can hardly wait for December -boy or girl. :)

Sunday Night

We've had a good weekend. Last week we had VBS at church each night so we enjoyed a day at home yesterday. Jeremy and I each accomplished some "work" and then spent time relaxing. Last night we played our third game of Catan Cities and Knights. It's growing on us. The first game was a complete waste of time. There is a lot to learn, but we like it. Have you played it?

One of Jeremy's ongoing projects over the last few weeks has been taking down a play set at my grandparents house that they didn't want anymore, bringing it to our yard and then setting it up again. It turned out to be a bigger job than he anticipated, but it was well worth it. The boys love their new "fort"! We even ate lunch in it yesterday. As I type this Jeremy and Isaiah are out there reading a book. Bill Peet is the choice for tonight.

My Saturday was full of home type stuff like making zucchini bread, laundry, cleaning the bathroom that sort of fun stuff. I also tried to return a book to the library that was overdue, but the night drop box was locked. That was rather annoying. Kind of thought a night drop box was there so I could drop off books after hours. Hmm.

Here are a few pictures. Mom the last one is for you. :) Any guesses on if I'm carring a boy or a girl?

Kids

Part of the reason I wrote what I did yesterday and why it struck me is due mostly to the questions that Isaiah has been asking lately. I wish I could remember them all. I should start writing them down and then post a whole bunch of them.

One question I heard him ask Jeremy the other night was "Why does Jesus love bad people if bad people killed Him?". Jeremy does a great job of facing these questions head on. I'm not sure how he answered that question, but a few minutes later the phone rang and it was for Jeremy. I took Jeremy the phone and he told Isaiah he could ask me the question they were discussing. Jeremy looked at me and said "we're on the sword of the Spirit". :(

The Trinity also confused Isaiah. (why wouldn't it?) We've gone though different questions about it. One was "Is Jesus in God's belly?

Maybe I shared this already on here, but several months ago Isaiah ask my aunt (lives across the street) if he could borrow and purse from their toy box. I wasn't too sure about it, but decided to see what he would do with it. Awhile later I looked outside to see Isaiah taking stones out of his "purse" and throwing them at Nathan. When I asked him what he was doing he told "I'm David and he's Goliath". Pray for Nathan. Daily.

I'm sure you all have stories like this. Kids are so smart! I feel like my brain wears out by the end of the day trying to come up with answers to his questions. I am thankful for a bright little boy though. :) Nate is just starting to talk. We'll see...

Talking and Walking the Truth

Lately I have been a bit discouraged and somewhat fearful as I listen to the news and hear others talk about how life as we know it is changing and will continue to do so if things continue as they are now. I don't fear so much for myself, but I do for my children. Will they be strong enough in their faith to stand for what is true? Will they face persecution because of their beliefs? Will they stand and lead our churches and other believers no matter the cost? I have often voiced/cried out my fears to Jeremy and asked the question, how do we train them now so they will know the truth and stand for it? Jeremy's responce is often along the lines of "We live it".

Along with these thoughts the last few weeks I have felt spiritually dry. Have you been there? I long for meaningful time with the Lord, but just don't seem to connect. Last week I sat down and asked the Lord to show me something, anything. I'd like to say I then opened my Bible and it randomly fell open to a verse that spoke to me and immediately ended this dry time. It didn't happen like that, but I started to see God in different things. Verses that I guess I've "hidden in my heart" began to come back to my mind and force me to meditate on them. I don't mean long hours of silence pondering a certain verse, I just mean thinking about it during my days off and on. "Mediate" sounds so high and lofty!

Deuteronomy 11:18-19 (all of 11 -great chapter) kept coming to mind. I couldn't even remember how the verses went, but I knew they talked about teaching your children as you go through life. Yesterday I finally dug up the passage and read it.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up". Deuteronomy 11:18-19

I can do that! I can talk to my children about what a great God we serve. About what truth is, about life and death and a place that is even better than a 5' swimming pool or a chocolate ice cream cone. I can also tell them about hell and the cost of sin. I can read them Bible stories (accounts, not fiction) and we can talk about David and Goliath and read the story AGAIN and AGAIN and maybe slowly the truths of this Living and Active Word will start to stick and they will start to hunger for truth and search for it as they search for that precious lost Matchbox car. Maybe, just maybe, with God's prompting and a lot of prayer I (with Jeremy) can raise these children even when life as we know it is changing before our eyes. Be encouraged, we can do this!

Good Morning

I really need to get to work, but decided to say hi.

• I got at 6:15 to walk with my aunt this morning. It always seems like a really bad idea when the alarm goes off, but I feel great when we're done.
• I have a bunch of hamburger and ground turkey thawing out. I found a good sale a couple weeks ago and now I plan to make stuff for my freezer. What would you make? I'm thinking of beef burritos, taco meat, meatloaf, meatballs. Hmmm... So many options. I LOVE having prepared food in the freezer.
• Last Saturday I washed the windows in the living room. They looked great when I was finished, but now I see streaks. :(
• I went to BB's yesterday. I always spend so much money there, but each time I go I think I do a better job of buying things we use and need rather than ending up with a bunch of junk that I buy because it's so cheap.
• Yesterday I was trying to explain to Isaiah that Mommy and Daddy don't have money to buy him everything he wants. He's response: "I'm sorry you don't have lots of money". We've been talking about starting to have him "earn" an allowance. What age is the right age to start giving an allowance? I told him soon he can earn some money so then he can save up to buy things he wants. He told me "Can you just earn it for me? I'm too little".
• I am amazed at how much this baby is moving! Maybe by the third one you just know better it feels like. We find out in two weeks if this is a boy or a girl. I'm guessing a boy. We'll see.
• I can't think of anything else to say so I guess that means I need to get to work.