Blogging Award

Thanks to Amanda at Tales from a Mother for giving me this nice award. :)

So Here is How It Works:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award by linking back to them in your post.
2. Tell us 7 things about yourself. (Becasue I know you're dying to know more :) )
3. Award 15 or 16 recently discovered bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news!


Seven things.


1) I can find the humor in almost anything.  A lot of people don't like that.  OK, a couple don't, and they don't talk to me anymore.  I find that really funny. :D


2) As for what I don't like in a person...I don't like people who complain about everything. I don't like people who keep a list of wrongs done. I don't like manipulators. Other than that, I like everyone I meet.


3) I am a rebel against the establishment.  Not against God & the Bible...that would be stupid, but against convention and traditions of men.  (See any photo of H-F for a recent example of how that works out practically. lol)


4) I like how being a Christian enables me to be joyful in all circumstances.  I may not be happy, but I can always find joy & a peace that passes all worldly understanding.


5) I'm learning ASL so I can help my kids, who want to learn it. My 4yo is still better than me, though.


6) I used to want seven children. But after having five, none easily, and all with PPD, I'm good with just five.


7) I really wish I knew how to sew.  I used to, but I neglected my fledgling skills & am sorry.


That's all I could come up with...and I had to clean the kitchen to come up with those. :D


As for blogs...there are many newly discovered if for no other reason than that I had taken a long sabbatical from reading blogs & blogging.  These are in no real order, just picked about every other new one on my blogroll, from the bottom to the top.  Very scientific, or something like that. :)


A Defrosted Calvinist
Let's Be Self-Sufficient
The Tomato & the Duck
Homeschool Creations
I Take Joy
Heritage Booktalk
Lane's Blog
Rumohr Has It
TinkerLab
Totally Tots
Poetry for Children
Our Normal Chaos
The Chocolate Muffin Tree
hands on: as we grow
Joyful Mothering
The Crafty Classroom

Of Laundry and Other Things

Before I start with Day 26 of the 31 Day Challenge, I'd like to direct you to this post at The Homeschool Village.  As a bibliophile I'm not sure if I can part with any books, but I think I can probably send some school supplies. :)

~~~~~




So, after a hectic weekend during which I was basically home to sleep, I finally finished my desk project today.  The most difficult part is always the top of the desk. I don't know why.  There really isn't a lot to find a place for, just a lot to dust.

Here are some of my files that actually have labels.

Today's topic was laundry.  I'll be doing a lot of that this week, at least what my dh doesn't get done.  We'll be travelling next week so we need all the clothes we have.  I don't want to spend an entire day of the trip in the laundromat. :)

There were some really great ideas in this chapter on getting the laundry done, folded, and put away.  One thing we'll be doing differently when we return from Texas is having each of the older three children do their own laundry.  I actually got this idea from a conversation a few moms were having at ballet a few weeks ago. One woman, who has less children than me (I always assume around here...I think I know all the ones that have the same or more. :D), said she has been having her kids do their own for years.  They each have their own basket and their own day.  Well, how about that? I have five kids, and there are five days in the week. (We are not home on weekends so Sat & Sun never count as real days of the week here. ;))  So when we return each child will get a basket, a day, and, definitely, a Tide Pen.  I'm looking forward to it, though not as much as my dh will be. (Obviously, Babycakes will not be doing his own, but I do plan on teaching H-F.)

Now, all our kids share a room.  It used to be the Master Bedroom, but the kids outgrew their room as soon as we found out #5 was coming along.  It's worked out really well.  We even found a five-man bunkbed for them and got it mega-cheap on clearance at Christmas.  What an incredible blessing that was.  Our big splurge this year, though, has been on wardrobes for each of them.  With the bunkbed, a lot of space was opened up so we have room for the furniture.  We saw them at IKEA and figured they'd work perfectly.  Each child has space for plenty of clothes...not all they own now, but all they need for a week.  Here is a link to everything they have in this particular system: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18835-2/. Anyway, now there is no reason to argue about whose clothes go where, in which drawer, etc. They each have their own space & can, to a certain point, organize it the way they like.

This Week

Song of the Day:  Spoken For by Mercy Me (see post below)

Reading: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (read free, online here)

Verse:  John 14:1 Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

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Well, it's certainly been busy since I started the 31 Days challenge.  Things look a lot better around here, too. :) It's a little harder to remember everything done by the end of the week as opposed to blogging each day about it, but I've been taking some pics each day which will hopefully jog my memory. 

Let's see, Tuesday we received a nice box in the mail. It contained the six-volume Matthew Henry Commentary, Christians  Are For Ever (an abridged version of The Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance Explained and Confirmed by John Owen), and a gift for a friend.  It is nice to have MH in book form. I'm sure that young people don't mind reading everything on their iPhone or on the computer, but some of us old folks like pages that won't strain our eyes the way staring at a TV (essentially) for hours does. 

On Wednesday I found this great "craft" we can use to countdown for our trip to Texas, which is in less than two weeks.  (In all honesty, I found it at that link via 2 more links I can no longer remember...hence the reason I was blogging daily. :D)

We were going to take Babycakes to get his hair cut that morning but put it off until Thursday.  And what fun that was. </sarcasm> Rather than say anything, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Before

This pic makes me regret not getting it done on Wednesday.  Would've made a truly great Wordless Wednesday post. :)

This was so not worth it.

Thing 2 ready for his cut.

H-F wasn't ready to cut his hair. Fine with me, I have a bottle full of de-tangler.

Thing 2 doesn't mind haircuts as much as his brother.

He really didn't seem any worse for the wear.

Here's another one who hates to have his hair cut.  At least he doesn't scream anymore, though. :)

A little shorter than I wanted but we'll deal.

So we're done with paid haircuts again for a while.  The Teenager is just going to have to save his money and pay for his cuts since he no longer wants the clipper cuts I give.

Today is the last day of school for Things 1 & 2.  Next week they have Space Camp all week, then we are off to Texas.  On the weekends we have ballet rehearsals (this weekend) and the show (next weekend). I'm ready for June to be over and it's only the 3rd. :0)

MercyMe~Spoken For

Facing the Cold, Hard Facts ;)

OK, I finally posted the link to this blog from my old blog.  I guess that makes it official. I have accepted that H-F just isn't going to dance. :D Seriously, though, it was a little weird. But Blogger has a better platform. I was getting a bit tired of WordPress.  I know they will keep my stuff up forever though so I don't worry about it like I do my HomeschoolBlogger blog.

Hmmm, if I'm taking blogging this seriously, I probably should go to bed and get some rest. haha. (OK, but just one more file drawer.)