Doggy Allergies

Did you know that dogs can have allergies? I didn't, but apparently my dog is allergic to something. He's been acting weird for the last few days and has a rash on his backside that is infected.

One trip to the vet, one shot of steroids, two weeks worth of antibiotics, and $75 later and he's as right as rain.

WFMW - Getting Rid Of Stinky Smells

Having six people, one cat, and one dog in the house can lead to some rather unpleasant, um, bathroom odors. I've tried all different types of air fresheners, and besides giving me a headache, they just leave the bathroom with a flowery stinky smell.

Then I discovered Pure Citrus! This stuff will cut through and eliminate (ha ha) any stinky smell, plus it doesn't give me a headache. I bought this at Walmart for about $2.50.

This is what works for me! Head over to Rocks In my Dryer for more great WFMW tips!

Poor Dog

We spent yesterday afternoon shaving Mugsy. We forgot to take a before picture, but here's the after picture.

With all the fur we shaved off we could have made a whole other dog.

Then K and I gave him a bath.

Mugsy doesn't like baths.

Poor little guy!

Sunday Scripture

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;

by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Proberbs 24: 3,4

Early Riser

Since reading this book several months ago, I have been getting up at 5am each weekday to do my devotions. I can't say it's been easy, especially the first month or so. Having a coffee maker with a timer has helped a lot.

Other than the obvious benefit of having a committed time to read my bible and pray each day, there have been additional changes in my life due to this habit.

I have become an early riser.

This morning I awoke to the sun shining through the windows and the birds singing and I thought to myself "wow, I must have slept in really late this morning," only to look at the clock and realize it was 6:06am.

And I was wide awake.

On a Saturday.

I don't mind becoming a morning person, it's actually kind of nice having an early start to the day.

The only real downside to rising early is that I am now absolutely exhausted at 9pm each night.

Family Notebook

A few weeks ago I put together a Family Notebook. It turned out so cute, I thought I'd share it with you. (Please forgive the dark pictures. I think my flash isn't working.)

I started with scrapbook paper, stickers, and ric rac.

I put together the cover first. (I covered up our name in these pictures.) I cut the red heart paper to fit, then I cut the red paper to fit and used the letter stickers for a label. I glued the label to the heart paper, and then bordered the label with ric rac.

Using the same method I made dividers for the different sections.

The Planning section has my daily schedule, a calendar, and my to-do list.
The Information section has phone numbers and other important information.
The Money section has our family budget and a spending wish list.
The Menus section has my weekly menu plan and copies of recipes that I want to try.

The Family section holds all the kids different schedules and family information.

The Church section has our church information and prayer list.

The Kids Jobs section lists, well, the kids jobs.

The Medical section has medical information for the family, including the kid's immunization records. These sections are pretty self explanatory aren't they?

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my Family Notebook! It was a lot of fun putting it together. Do you use a Family Notebook? If so, leave a comment and tell me about it.

End Of School Busyness

Hi blog world! I'm still here, I've just been busy with all the different activities and concerts that happen at the end of the school year. I have a free day tomorrow.(yea!) Well, I won't get too excited as I have to catch up on laundry and house cleaning, not to mention blogging!

I'll be back tomorrow with a post about my new Family Notebook!

Sunday Scripture

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22, 23

Prom Night

Last Saturday was prom. J didn't go, but K went with a group of friends. Here's a few pictures:

A wonderful time was had by all. We are so thankful that K has such a lovely group of friends. Don't you just love the jumping picture?

A New Meme

I've been without the Internet for a few days and I am finally back! I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on!

Anyway, now that I'm back, I've been tagged by Connie for a meme.

Here are the rules:

1. List these rules on your post.
2. Answer the following questions in your post.
3.At the end of the post tag 4-5 people. List their name with blog link and leave a comment on their blog to tag them.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

QUESTIONS

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? I was living in Illinois and celebrating the fact that my husband was finished with graduate school. I was also sick with morning sickness since I was pregnant with S.

2. What are five things on your to-do list today? Go grocery shopping, clean the kitchen, volunteer at S's school, catch up on laundry, and take a nap! I got everything but the laundry done.

3. What snacks do you enjoy? Natural Cheetos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Frozen Ding Dongs.

4. What would you do if you became a billionaire? Pay off our house, give a lot to our church and missions, and save money for the kids college and for our retirement.

5. What are your bad habits? Picking hangnails until they bleed, being unorganized, and rearranging furniture.

6. Where have you lived? Illinois and Wisconsin.

7. What are five interesting jobs you've had? In high school I was the annoying person who calls in the middle of dinner to take a survey, I worked the cash register at Foot Locker, I was a secretary, and now I'm a wife and mom.

8. Who have you tag to continue the meme fun? If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!

The Best Gift Ever

I had a wonderful Mother's day, my husband and kids made the day so special!

I've been looking forward to this Mother's Day for a long time. That's because S is in third grade this year and third graders at S's school make a special gift for their moms each year. They make a book where they write all about mom from A to Z .

This year I received my book from S, thus completing my set of Mother's Day books from my four kids. Here's a few excerpts from S's book:

It is "X-tra Speacial" It's sad but true. I invent nothing.

You know I'm a good mom 'cause I never punch....

Or kick.

I do expect him after school... but only sometimes?

He did make note of the most important things:


I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day.

Sunday Scripture

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

Psalm 134

Busy Day At Home

Today I'm having a busy day at home. First of all, it's laundry day, so I'll be running up and down the stairs all day (maybe this will help me lose those 35 lbs that haven't budged since I started the Diet Ticker over to the left. I'm wearing my pedometer today to see if I can get to the recommended 10,000 steps today!)

Second, I've decided that laundry day should also be baking day. The kids eat so much, so I'm hoping that if I make some healthy treats it will not only be better for us than processed foods, but it will be more budget friendly. So far today I have started a loaf of whole wheat bread in the bread maker, and I have two loaves of pumpkin bread in the oven. I am hoping to make some cookies and some sugar-free jello later.

Third, I need to get the house ready for Sunday when we will have family over for Mother's Day.

So, I'm off to fold some laundry! Have a very happy Mother's Day weekend!

Learning To Live Today

For my birthday a few weeks ago, I was given many great gifts, including books. I love books and they are usually the first thing I ask for when my birthday rolls around.

This year I received seven wonderful books from my Amazon Wish List; three from my in laws and four more from my kids.

One of the books I received is The Hidden Art Of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. Published in 1971, this book has many wonderful ideas for bringing beauty, art and music into our homes. (I got a kick out of Mrs Schaeffer talking about her little granddaughter. Considering that I was 6 in 1971, her "little granddaughter" is most likely about my age!)

Anyway, I was struck by one passage in particular:

Interior Decoration, as I intimated before, is not just one's artistic efforts, but is that which your home (even if it is just a room) is. If you are 'decorating' with clothes draped on every chair, with scratched of broken furniture-it is still your interior decoration! Your home expresses you to other people, and they cannot see or
feel your daydreams of what you expect to make in that misty future, when
all the circumstances are what you think they must be before you will find
it worthwhile to start. You have started, whether you recognize that fact or not. We foolish mortals sometime live through years of not realizing how short life is, and that TODAY is our life.

This really hit home with me. We have been living in our home for over 9 years, and it is in no way, shape, or form my dream house. In fact, we bought the house with the idea that we would live here for 4-5 years and then build our dream house.

Well, that never happened. After 9 years, I am still living here with all the dreams I have for my perfect house, and yet neglecting the house the Lord has given me now. I need to not only learn to be content with what I have, but I need to make the most of it! I need to work towards making this house beautiful.

I may never have my dream house, but I should be making the house I have into a wonderful and beautiful home for my family.

What do you think? Do you struggle to get past your daydreams for a future home? What have you done to make a not-so-perfect house into a beautiful home for your family?

WFMW - What Doesn't Work For Me

With six people in our family, (one of them being a 17yo girl who can change outfits 3 times a day) I do a lot of laundry. All the advice I've ever received about laundry is to do a few loads every day.

Well, this does not work for me.

My laundry room is in the basement and I don't usually go into the basement unless I'm doing laundry. My problem is I put a load of laundry in the washer in the morning and then totally forget about it. (Have I mentioned that I'm not good at multi-tasking?) Then, the next time I want to start a load of laundry, I find a washer full of musty, wet clothes that need to be washed again.....yuck.

So, I have a regular laundry day. I try to spend two days a week concentrating on catching up on laundry. If that is my main focus for the day I seem to get it done, and I don't leave wet laundry mouldering away in the washer.

So, while laundry every day doesn't work for me, laundry day does.

Head over to Rocks In My Dryer for more WFMW - What Doesn't Work For Me.

Sunday Scripture

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another;

be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

1 Peter 3:8

Just Thought I'd Boost Those Numbers

I've read on other blogs lists of words people have Googled to find their blog. Do you want to know the most Googled words that have led people to my blog?

Fashion Hair Nets.

Seriously. I get this at least 2-3 times a week. I guess it's due to this post.

I just didn't know there was such a market for hair nets, and btw, is there such a thing as a "fashionable" hair net?

A New Meme

I've been tagged for a meme by Connie to write a six word memoir.

The Rules:

1. Write your own Six-Word Memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

So, here goes:

I've been saved by grace alone.

In the end, this is all that matters. (Ephesians 2:8,9)

I'm not very good at tagging people, so consider yourself tagged if you want to play along!