At Least My House Doesn't Stink..

So, I'm having a really "off" day.. I don't feel great, such is life with certain health struggles. Anyway, so I'm getting dinner ready to go in the slowcooker, and this happens.. I had forgotten that I had my wall Scentsy thingy on early and that it was still warm, and boom, all over the counter!


All I could do was *sigh loudly* and and tell a very upset child to bring me the hairdryer, yes, the hairdryer. I wish I could find the original poster on Pinterest and give her credit, but it's been a round for a while..
 

My now child that was upset (she was sure it was never coming up) now got a turn to hold the hairdryer...marveling at the wax ripples that was my Apple S'mores Scentsy Wax Bar. She saw the beauty in the mess.. There is a message for us mom there somewhere..I'm pretty sure. Soon it was clean, slowcooker filled, and our home once again happy and blessed. Well, at least for this moment.  

Well, that is a snippet of our day.. The least I can say is that~ my house doesn't stink! It actually smells amazing between the Stuffed Pepper Soup (THM E) cooking and the delicious smell counter top! :D

A Little Surprise

Every now and again I get a glimpse of what my children may become in the future.. I have a vivacious 12 year old that loves to organize and decorate. She found this print in the Abeka Book Magazine, cut it out, and framed it beautifully in a frame she found out in the garage. I could almost imagine her future, given to her by our loving God as promised in Jeremiah 29:11. This little girl has been through so much and she still finds beauty all around her.. She embraces homeschool, and still enjoys our time together...well, most of the time. ;) I'm so thankful I get to be her mom, God has blessed me richly! She adds so much beauty to our lives, and now she has added beauty to our home as well.


Proudly, now displayed on our bookshelf along with our other projects and things to explore..

Little Baskets...Little Helping Hands

So if you know me, you know I don't love cleaning.. That said, I feel like it is all I do!!! No seriously!!! 

 It's fine (whatever, it's not fine) when we are not too busy, but add homeschooling and raising three very busy little girls~ well, sometimes the house suffers!!! 

That is one of the reasons I have dedicated this summer to teaching the kids to help around the house... even if they are pretty sure it's going to kill them! What can I say, they don't like cleaning either...LOL. 

So I saw this idea on Pinterest... not sure who came up with it, but this is how we plan to use it in our home. *Fingers crossed!*

I found these tall little baskets at the dollar store...I thought a nice green might keep everyone calm. A mom can hope, right?!? 

 I put together items for each room of the house... Kitchen all in one basket, etc.

 This way I can take one basket and work with a child on how to use the items for said room. No more digging in my cleaning closet!! Then hopefully when they become skilled at cleaning that room I can just hand them the basket!!  It's kind of a jump up from the little chores they have been doing.

I also labeled them with a little tape and a sharpie... easy peasy!
I really hope this helps, and makes chores a little more fun!! I also helps it helps me to streamline cleaning when I am rushing around to get it done... because let's be honest~ we are moms, and their hands are small!

Laundry Lessons

Sooo...
It's summer!
It's summer and my kids are bored!
It's summer and my kids are bored, and the house is a mess!

Sooo...I'm working to teach my kids to help with the house work. I'm starting with the laundry with my seven year old...my seven year old that HATES to help clean!!

I had to pick up a few products, tips, & tricks.. The little packs of laundry detergent help so much with spills! 

I wrote the number to remind her of how many to add to a standard load..if it's a special load I plan to just do it myself. The little softener beads have a little line in the cap...easy peasy!

Then I marked the washer and dryer with a dry erase marker so she knows where to start them...again just for an average load. 

Oh, and she needed a little stool.. You gotta love her style with her camo shoes and mix-matched socks!

There she goes...so far she has done 2 loads and is pretty proud of herself!

One tip* Either pre-sort the loads or give them a color....say red and pink! ;) 

Our Christmas Break

~I just wanted to share what a blessing the break has been for my kids and I. I had wanted to do a little catch-up, but looked in their little eyes and thought better of it. Burnout was on our heels and we could all feel it! So we packed up the homeschool stuff, and put it away! We had some fun to be done! 

~ The week before I had complained to my bestie that I sometimes feel that I'm working away their childhood~ papers to grade, ASL vocab to learn, lessons to teach, breaking up fights, church responsibilities, housework(mounds of housework!), the laundry, household shopping, and the cooking...you know the list, the never ending list! Uhhg!

~My eldest is starting the early stages of becoming a little lady, and I can already feel our relationship starting to strain a little bit..time is so precious. I don't want my children to grow up and remember me being at home, but not really in their lives, you know? I want a relationship with them. I want to look back on these what now seem tiring, stressful, endless days as some of the best in our lives.

~So, I really used this break (2 weeks) to work on my relationships with our children.. We have played games, watched movies, modeled with playdough (anyone else have a love/hate relationship with play dough?), and just spent time talking...no not every minute, and at they still enjoyed quiet reading when I just needed a break! I'm human after all! I can honestly say I feel closer with kids than have in a good long while. I love that about homeschooling..I am here and we can change what we are doing when needed.

~I also spent time teaching my little ones chores, one on one. This is something I have been putting off because to be honest~ my little ones are lazy, especially my middle child! I love her to bits~ she is the most tenacious child I have ever seen! So I made learning to do a couple of new chores a fun 1on1 time with mommy! A time of lots of praise, and teaching her how good it feels to see a job done well.

Hopefully with the 2 littles doing a bit more it will free me up to spend more time with my little loves! Last year I wanted more fun in our homeschool and we did it! I need to go back and post about that soon!

~ This new year I simply want more time with my children! I want the closeness that I feel can be woven onto our homeschool experience.. I simply want:

Relationship.

A Journey Into Homeschooling!

So after a LOT of prayer, talks, and sleepless nights we have decided to homeschool our children.
We had always planned to homeschool, or if we moved I would get a job at one of the local Christian Schools and put our kids there...it was a nice plan.

Well, life had other plans~ adoption plans!

That was when I began to doubt our big, beautiful plan... I had a child that was ESL (English as a Second Language) that also had some other issues that made learning difficult. This made for some big questions~
Did I have the patience? I love her more than my own life~ but she can drive me nuts!!!!! Just being honest here.. Seriously; considering we have no biology~ we are SO MUCH ALIKE!!!! So yeah, we get on each others nerves!!! I fear the teen years are going to kill us all!

I also have another child attending a program for the Deaf. She couldn't be home with us...was it fair? Would it hurt her feelings? The answer: NOPE! She loves going to school... She will have Bible, Art, and PE with us at home as well so there is plenty of time with us! :)

My youngest has some challenges, but was aging out of therapy which meant it was up to me to help her now...which kinda meant more stress! So it hit me at like 2:00 AM~ what better way to help her than to teach her! I could "plan" time out of our day to work on her home-therapy.

So there I was~ out of excuses! I finally asked my husband; the amazing, wise leader of our family, what did he think for the final time. I mean we had milled over it, and over, and over, but one this day I just simply asked with desperation in my voice in and his reply was this "I don't want to put more stress on you, but, yes, I feel that you have a lot to offer our kids. If they were home with you they could learn stuff that isn't taught in school; they could learn how to be like you (trying not to tear up!), and that would help them for the rest of their lives."
To be honest I have never felt more honored in my life! In that moment I felt like the woman that was spoken of in Proverbs~
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Proverbs 31: 28

So, we applied with a homeschool charter, and ordered some of our curriculum...
~and that is how we became a homeschool family!

More to come...much more!

Entering the World of Prepping!

Well, I should say...my hubby's world. I am not a prepper at heart. I like to be prepared, but in the back of my mind honestly I trust in God...and just kinda feel that we will be just fine. I mean don't get me wrong, I have a first aid kit, but most of my time and energy go into trying to figure out what to make for dinner....surviving & cleaning the disaster of a crazy house, not one that can happen in the future. No disrespect to those that prep, it's just me... Me and my tired self most days! :)

My husband is the opposite! He was a boy scout and it shows!! He studies prepping.. He lives it!
He also wants me to start preparing with him...as his wife, helpmeet, & best friend, I say~ sure. :)
So I started thinking what would my household really need if something bad happened?? Food, shelter, water, and protection.

I started thinking...do I really want to look into my girls' eyes when they are hungry? I am the meal planner in our house so I took over the food... So I am learning, growing, and sharing with you guys!
Wish me luck!

So I am starting with dehydrating... I have wanted a dehydrator FOREVER!!!

Pictured is some watermelon candy I made for the kids... I doubt we store much of it because it goes so fast around here!

I am adding veggies, herbs, & soup mixes that I dehydrate myself to my other grains, beans and dried goods. I am taking small steps, and learning as I go..

I have started a garden..

I am studying canning... More to come later! :)

Excalibur 9-Tray Dehydrator (Google Affiliate Ad)

Toothbrushes....Worthy Clutter!

So now I am on to the bathroom... We have a very small family bathroom. We have a master bath, but somehow everything ends up in this very small space?!? There were

So I needed a way to keep the ledge tidy and keep everyone dental hygiene items, well hygienic. So I looked at some other ideas then it hit me... It is worthy clutter! We all want a a healthy mouth as well as bodies. I just needed to contain the worthy clutter~ in cups! YAY!

We all have our favorite characters.. We love certain colors... Organization was born:

So each cup has a toothbrush in their favorite color, their own tube of toothpaste(thank you coupons!), and a weeks worth of dental floss picks!!!!

I love this!!! I think it is my new favorite thing!
Oh, and hubby's cup is SpiderMan! ;)

Starting To Get Organized...

Like I said...STARTING!
Honestly there is stuff everywhere! It is driving me crazy! So now that the girls have been home for a while I feel like I can get some things off my To Do List!
Number 1. is organizing my hall space~

So there ya go... The big pink basket will soon be replaced to a blue, but for now it will work.
I really love being able to find everything..

We went a a trip soon after I did this and it was so nice going right to the container to find the little shampoo bottles!!! I am weird I know... LOL!

More to come...for now I will just look at this cabinet and not the pile of clothes on the couch! ;)

Baking A Little Love...Along The Journey

So tomorrow is Valentines Day!! One of my girls is off on break right now, but my middle daughter is off to school with some yummy cookies! She attends a preschool for DHOH so I thought some Heart & Hands and ASL~ I Love You cookies would be perfect!!!

So that gave us a fun activity for this afternoon...

So we pounded out the dough...

Then we rolled it out...

Then cut out our cookies...

So I just baked up some variety and put them on a plate... Homemade chocolate chip on the bottom! 

So there you go... a little love! I hope the kids love them!!!

I Don't Organize The Forks...and other confessions

Yep, you read it right I confess that I no longer organize my forks from the spoons! I know, it is just awful but at the same time each time I toss that cutlery basket into the drawer I smile a little inside...

I am sure some of you may cringe, but this is my new normal...brought on by a very good, yet hard conversation with our adoptions worker.... Her opinion was hire someone to help with the house, or find short-cuts! Then her words freed me from house-wife guilt "with 3 special needs kids, you just can't do it all." So since a housekeeper wasn't in my budget I went with the shortcuts!

I now enjoy baskets in closets that hide the clutter, a messy fork drawer, a basket for the shoes near the front door, laundry that is not sorted by color, and many others...most of all I enjoy more time with the family.

 I also enjoy more sleep as I am not up cleaning till 2 AM the night before a home visit.

While your "normal" may not be the same as mine with speech therapy,  physical therapy,  play therapy, family therapy,  school,  IEPs,  weekly home visits,  checkups & growth checks,  homework,  online ASL classes, mounds of adoption paperwork, and other weekly family activities....I am sure you have your list of crazy that we call "normal."
 So let me release you...you can't do it all. So what short-cuts do you make? Leave a comment and let me know.. :)

You know...now that I think about it~ I could just stock up on SPORKS!!!

The Yucky Stuff Along The Journey

Yes, today I am talking about two things that I really don't like one is laundry and the other is PUKE! Even worse when the two combine~ Ewwwww!!!!!!!!

I hate the tummy bug and with school back in session I know our girls will bring it home...

So I wanted to find out how other moms deal with the piles of bedding, sick blankets, dollies, and clean-up towels that come with our babies pets, or hubby is sick.. So what do you do? Any tips? Please share in the comments below!

I'll go first.. Here is what I do now:

1. Shake off...well you know.

2. Prewash with a couple of drops Dawn Dishsoap on cold. I figure if it is chemically produced to dissolve food, well, puke is food...um sort of I guess. ;)

3. Do a short soak/prewash with a few drops Tea Tree Oil. TTO kills germs, viruses, and gets rid of odors naturally.

4. Launder as normal on hot or as garment suggests. 

Your turn, what do you do to get those fabrics to once again comforts your sickies?

Jars...Balls...And Perfect Children

Jars...Balls...And Perfect Children~ Well 2 out of 3 isn't bad! Right?!?

We have 3 amazing little girls that we love sooo much! They are beautiful & talented & came with their own personalities and set of challenges. These many times show themselves as behaviors...oh my word do they!?!

 When you chose to Foster-Adopt you chose to take it all...you take the past hurts - fears - anger- you live with the aftermath and sometimes it is hard to take. Really hard to take, but you take it~ because you can...it is a burden that those little shoulders shouldn't have to carry alone.

You also know that your life and home will never be the same.

You have to find special ways of doing things even face being judged by others...they just don't get it, but how can they??

I don't want to make them sound pitiful, but that simply I chose to take in all of the information and address certain things in a way I see fit just as their new mother. Just as any mother would... I want to help them to grow and heal.

I am so thankful that we have a great support system! We try to surround ourselves with those that have been there...and still going through it that we can get ideas from when we just don't know what to try next.

One of the ideas to come our way is the behavior jars. 

The other side has their picture but they would also be able to tell from the lid color that they painted and the sticker selection! 

The idea (which I think I also saw on a nanny show) is that you catch them being good and put in a ball. 

On the show they could also lose one, but for children already dealing with a lot of loss that seems counter productive. 

When all of the jars are full (thus older sibling encourage good behaviors in younger siblings) we have a family activity. 

Also, to increase expectations we will later make the balls smaller and the jars larger, but the idea is to go slow.
I write about my kids because they are what I know...they are my life! I am sure they would work with just about any kid that loves bright colorful balls and fun!

I am not if this will work forever, but for now I'll just stuff a little hope in these jars along with the little paper balls. 

A Journey In Cook Once Meals~

So we have been a family of 5 for a little over 2 months and I am slowly moving from "survival Mode" to working on getting my home back in order..
 I have heard it said that the heart of the home is the kitchen and I truly believe that.. it is where we eat, talk about our day, play board games, but most importantly where we have family devotions after dinner with my singing & daddy reading from the Bible. 


      The kitchen also tells all of my girl's senses that they are home. My girls love to run by and get a big sniff of whatever I am cooking. Just tonight my oldest hugged my at the stove and told me that I cook because I love her...so true. 

So needing to get back to really cooking for them lead me to cook ahead meals. Cooking ahead is not a new idea by any means..I have no idea who did first so I can't give honor where it is due. Also, I am not a recipe person so you may want to look those up. Basically this is just making the meats & things and putting it all together at dinner time. Enjoy!

I just add fruit & milk~ Here are the meals:

BBQ Chicken

Mashed Potatoes

Carrots

London Broil Roast

Baked Potatoes 

Green Beans

Fajitas

Corn

Refried Beans

Chili

Corn bread or Chips

Celery

BBQ Sandwiches

Raw Veggies

Fruit Snacks (because it is Friday!!!)

So this is what I did...

1.   Tossed a bunch of boneless Chicken (I know it is better to prep your own, but I that is just too much right now) & into the crock-pot with some cleaned end pieces of celery, onion, & carrots(as well as some sticks to serve on day 1) & some S&P & Tony's seasoning then filled it half way with water.
Cooked on low till tender and almost ready to fall apart.
     The the celery & carrots were chopped and put in clear containers, & some in baggies for snacks. Half of the onion was diced, and the other half chopped long(with 2 bell peppers of the fajitas) for the other recipes.
When fully cooked & cooled, remove the meat and strain the broth. I like to pop this in the freezer to make a nice quick soup stock when someone gets the sickies...
Set aside chicken for fajitas for on day 3 you will chop some of the chicken and add it to your peppers & onions about half way to warm it through..
The last day I pull the left over chicken apart with 2 forks add more sauce and serve on buns.

2.   I Start some Pinto Beans in my large pot...added some of the diced onion for flavor. Let them simmer most of the day till tender...honestly don't stress about them they pretty much cook themselves just make sure they have water.
I take about a 1/4 of the beans out and make refried beans.
To the rest of the beans I make chili by tossing in seasonings & cans of tomatoes and add any left over corn, peppers, & onion from the night before & the chopped beef from 2 nights before>>see below.


3.   London Broil cooked the night of and sliced at the table, take the other half back to the kitchen and dice it up for the chili.
Dice up the other half for the chili you can also slice some for fajitas as well.

4.  Bake some potatoes. Have them baked one night & smash them with milk & butter for the other.

There are other things I could do if I had more leftovers...shredded chicken from fajitas could make chicken salad sandwiches, or add an Asian sauce and put in lettuce for wraps for lunch. Put extra diced beef with rice & creamed soup for Beef Tips & Rice. Oh, and my fave~leftover chili makes great Frito boats!!! There are so many ideas and this is just to get you started...Enjoy! Oh, and please feel free to post your ideas!!!

Two Months In Cloth...What I've Learned!

So we are coming up on two months with our girls, and that also means 2 months in cloth diapers! I thought cloth was pretty cool, and the more I researched the more I liked the idea...the only problem: ewww!!! Well, so I thought...then I thought if people can scoop dog poop surely I can do it for my child! That is when I found a few tips and tricks that made it no big deal...I don't scoop!!!
 I thought I would share some thoughts with you guys as this is National Real Diaper week! ;)

 (So cute~ Oeko Popo)

Choosing~ There are many different types of cloth diapers! Also, what works for one baby may not work for your little one!!! I have some pre-folds & liners that use mostly at night...got a great deal. I must say I love One size All In One Pockets! They go from about 8lbs-35pounds so your baby can wear them for a good long time! They are also just like a 'sposie you change them the same way!

Cleaning: I learned this lesson the hard way...you have to get some really good soap! You will also need a good wash cycle. I don't swish or have a diaper sprayer (too cheap) so I do: Pre-soak cold, Wash/rinse Hot, 2nd rinse Cold. You also need laundry soap made for cloth diapers or you will get buildup, stink, and a rash..granted my little one has sensitive skin, but I wouldn't chance it again. 

I love Rock'n Green!! You just have to make sure you get the right kind to go with your hard or soft water.

I am a little new to Soap Nuts and to honest I like my RG better, but they are pretty cool!

It the words of Hubby "that is the hippy-est thing I have ever seen!"

You have to dry your diapers....to make them last longer I like to hang them up to dry. I love my little Octopus!









Stripping:  If you happen to get 'stinkies' you need to strip your diapers! Stinkies is when your diapers come out of the wash and still smell. Sometimes you can run the wash again, but after that you know you have build-up and you have to strip them.. There are a few ways..
1. You can do the cheap/free way & boil them in a large pot on the stove for about 20 minutes. This will make your kitchen stink!!!!
2. You can use a drop of Blue Dawn Dish Detergent and a scrub brush and scrub the yuck out.
3. My new/fave is grab some Funk Rock and just toss your clean diapers in the wash and let them soak over night...no touching the nasty!! Gotta love it!!!

A Few Other Tips:
 Get a good wetbag or liner! I bought a cheap one and let me tell ya, you don't want a cheapo!!! I love Planet Wise!!! You just toss it in the wash too.

Once you child starts eating solids GET SOME FLUSHABLE LINERS!!!!!! You will thank me!!! No poop to deal with...fabulous!
If you do use pocket diapers hang a pair of tweezers near the diaper pail for pulling the insert from soiled diaper...well if you are like me a refuse to touch the nasty. :)
Enjoy~

Getting Ready To Bring Our Babies Home!!!!

The week leading up to the girls coming home I rushed around nesting like a mad woman!!! I cleaned everything~ rewashed all of the things that I just hung-up...crazy, I know!  I also pre-prepped all of my cloth diapers~even though we used 'sposies on the trip! This is the crazy part of nesting that we don't want to admit...it causes our husbands to run in terror...and our cats to hide in the garage! It looks like this:

Washing..Sorting...Insanity (Name of my next blog?? Maybe!) 

Okay, enough of that...told you it was bad! 

We picked out their little coming home outfits..

A few hair bows...

...and just a few things to keep them busy in the car for the TEN & A HALF HOUR DRIVE!!!

Like I said...just a little and they can have the rest when they get home. ;)

So we loaded up the car and made the drive one more time...this time for a good long while to pick up our girls and bring them HOME!!!!

So once again we were off!! Big smiles on our faces...dreams in our minds...love in our hearts! 

While Parts Of My Heart Are Away....

I figured I would make some..

I can't wait to start making some pretty hearts and decorations for Valentines!!
I love the whole month of February! I love the hearts, flowers,  the candy, little love notes, and all of the little things that say I Love You!

This is also a month of art.... sharing little crafts.

Even better....I get to go see my girls this month!!! More to come about that soon!!!!! 

The Girls' Rooms Are Just About Done!!!

We had to send some pix the the girls' social worker so she could show the girls where they will be living... So that meant getting some finishing touches on the rooms!

To be honest, I am not sure we will ever be completely finished because there is just so much cute stuff to buy!!! Did I mention I love pink!!! We also need a couple of larger items...like a toy box & new dresser for the oldest's room. So I guess I will be taking more pix, but you can get the idea...enjoy!

Well, the first pic is a doll house I want to get for the girls and it also serves as a warning for anyone wanting to see the rooms in person first- do not scroll down! Also prepare yourself for the cuteness!!!

The is a picture of the youngest two's room...I really hope they like it! There are teddy bears on the walls, but I didn't get them in the shot. They also have toys and gifts in the closet, and few of them were left on the floor from PawPaw!

Auntie came over to help...

This is my favorite!!! Our (soon-to-be)big girl's room!!! The beautiful new bed is from Nonni & Papa!

My New Toy...

I got a cool new homemaking toy!!!! It is so super cool!!!
So I can't remember wear I saw this...for the first time, but I bought it at Ikea!

I just about squealed with delight with all of possibilities!!!

The main thing is all of the cloth diapers that can enjoy some sun time, and I don't have to stand out at the clothes line to hang them up...that means more time in the nice warm heat this time of year!!!

So cute~so cheap~my cute little octopus toy!!!!