As many of you know, my oldest daughter, Roo (sometimes known as Eeyore-which she doesn't like, but is true none-the-less). is in middle school this year after being homeschooled last year. I haven't posted very much about her this year so I thought, in all fairness, I should give her a little screentime.
Middle school has been a very interesting experience for the whole family. As with all things that involve Roo, nothing is easy or straightforward. She's our first. That means that all experiences are new experience for all of us. This makes life very exciting.
So far this year, she has done very well adjusting to her classes and has maintained an "A" average in all but two of her classes (English and Social Studies are her "B" classes). It seems that this is the year for academics to start "clicking" for her. Praise God!
Socially, she has made strides toward making new friends and is learning how to choose good friends who treat her with kindness and respect, verses bad friends who take advantage of her and use her. Making new friends has always been a struggle for her, but I am happy to report that she keeps trying, despite two bad experiences. She is positive and upbeat and seems to enjoy going to school for the most part.
We had a rocky start in the communication department earlier in the year, but recently, I have noticed a marked improvement. She is opening up, and I have learned to quiet my reaction to whatever she has to say. Apparently, me overreacting was not encouraging her to open up...I can't imagine why:-)
Lately, she has been asking to have more time with me, and she is beginning to express an interest in exercise. So, I have started taking her to the gym with me from time to time. She has also asked to go for early morning walks again. I'm thinking that might work out 1 or 2 times a week.
My darling Roo. She has such a caring and compassionate heart for everyone (except her little sisters). I pray that her heart will not harden as a result of difficult experiences, but that instead her compassion would grow. I am so thankful that God saw fit to put us in charge of her upbringing.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Doing the Laundry Dance
Laundry is a pretty big deal around here. It's on-going, all the time. If you come to my house for a visit, odds are you will hear the washer or dryer going in the background. I almost always have piles of clothes in our bedroom in various stages of being folded, sorted and waiting to be delivered back to their rightful owners. So, when my friend, Lainie, posted on her blog Mishmash Maggie, that she had successfully made and used her own batch of homemade laundry detergent, I was intrigued. Let's face it...laundry detergent ain't cheap!
She posted the recipe along with pictures and a detailed, step-by-step how-to back in September 2008. Let's see, it's now January 2009...hm...it's only taken me 4 months to finally get around to giving this recipe a try. Don't judge me! (grin)
Anyway, here are pictures of my process. I don't think my batch looks nearly as pretty as Miss Lainie's, but if the end result is the same, then I guess it's ok. Here's the link to Mishmash Maggie to get the breakdown "Mishmash Style".
This stuff is so cool! (I know it's lame to excited about soap, but until a few months ago I didn't even know it existed.) I had to look a little while at Target to find it waaaaayyyy up high on the shelf in between two big boxes of laundry detergent. There it was all by it's tiny lonesome:-)
I was so disappointed that the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda wasn't at Target as well. What's up with that? Anyway, I had to go to Freddies to get this gem.
Good 'ol Borax. I found this at Target on a wall isle next to the Bleach.
I purchased a new cheese grater that I will keep with the soap making stuff. The only cheese grater we had was a Pampered Chef grater and I just did not want to use it to grate soap.
Isn't this pretty? I agree with Lainie, I love that it's pink!
I put the grated Zote soap in a pot along with about 3 quarts of water (as per Lainie's instructions) and this is what it looked like before the soap melted.
This is what the Zote and water mixture looks like after all the Zote has dissolved. I had more suds on it, but skimmed them off before I took the picture.
I just used an old buckeet we had out in the garage. It was just barely big enough. You can see all the suds on top of the detergent. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave those or not. For now, I'm leaving them. The detergent sits for 24 hours like this and then when it's done it has the gelatin-like consistency. At least that's what I'm told. I won't know until tomorrow.
This was a fun project to do. I enjoyed knowing that I can make it myself for MUCH less than it costs to buy it at the store. I will let you know how it works for us. Thank you Miss Lainie Pants!
Blessings and have fun "Doing the Laundry Dance!"
Kim
She posted the recipe along with pictures and a detailed, step-by-step how-to back in September 2008. Let's see, it's now January 2009...hm...it's only taken me 4 months to finally get around to giving this recipe a try. Don't judge me! (grin)
Anyway, here are pictures of my process. I don't think my batch looks nearly as pretty as Miss Lainie's, but if the end result is the same, then I guess it's ok. Here's the link to Mishmash Maggie to get the breakdown "Mishmash Style".
This stuff is so cool! (I know it's lame to excited about soap, but until a few months ago I didn't even know it existed.) I had to look a little while at Target to find it waaaaayyyy up high on the shelf in between two big boxes of laundry detergent. There it was all by it's tiny lonesome:-)
I was so disappointed that the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda wasn't at Target as well. What's up with that? Anyway, I had to go to Freddies to get this gem.
Good 'ol Borax. I found this at Target on a wall isle next to the Bleach.
I purchased a new cheese grater that I will keep with the soap making stuff. The only cheese grater we had was a Pampered Chef grater and I just did not want to use it to grate soap.
Isn't this pretty? I agree with Lainie, I love that it's pink!
I put the grated Zote soap in a pot along with about 3 quarts of water (as per Lainie's instructions) and this is what it looked like before the soap melted.
This is what the Zote and water mixture looks like after all the Zote has dissolved. I had more suds on it, but skimmed them off before I took the picture.
I just used an old buckeet we had out in the garage. It was just barely big enough. You can see all the suds on top of the detergent. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave those or not. For now, I'm leaving them. The detergent sits for 24 hours like this and then when it's done it has the gelatin-like consistency. At least that's what I'm told. I won't know until tomorrow.*****
Happily, I was able to get all of my products for right around the same price as Lainie did at the same locations. I will be on the lookout for a store that sells all the products at one location, but if that doesn't exist, then at least they are sold at stores where I already shop. It's not like you have to buy this stuff every month. From the looks of things, Iwill only have to replace the Zote bar this year!This was a fun project to do. I enjoyed knowing that I can make it myself for MUCH less than it costs to buy it at the store. I will let you know how it works for us. Thank you Miss Lainie Pants!
Blessings and have fun "Doing the Laundry Dance!"
Kim
Monday, January 12, 2009
5am thoughts.,,
I'm up really early this morning...5am. That's crazy early in this house. I didn't sleep well last night, tossing and turning. I think I just had a little too much wonderful "me" time with my 2 bestest girlfriends yesterday. I feel a little guilty! Note to self: Do more of that so that you don't feel guilty about it.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to carve out some time on a regular basis to do things for myself. I love my husband and my children, but I need to love myself too. That's hard to type out. It looks and sounds so selfish, and I suppose it is, but taking care of my own needs is equally as important as taking care of my family. Yet, I have not been giving myself equal attention.
I used to be pretty good at making myself more of a priority. God allowed a season in my life when there was balanced between work, home, children, husband and me. It was a lot easier when we only had one child. However, now that we have three, I have found it difficult to find time to even think about what I might want to do IF/WHEN I am able to carve out some time. I've lost some perspective.
I should preface this by saying that my husband and I prayerfully made a choice when we had children to have me quit my job and stay at home. After one full year at home, I took a part-time job and have worked a variety of part-time jobs ever since, that were flexible enough for me to feel like I was still a sahm, but also allowed me to bring in a little income and get a little grown up time. None of these jobs were particularly fulfilling, but that was ok because my fulfillment came from being a good mom and wife, not from any job.
Somewhere along the way, I started giving up more of things that I would do that were just for me in order to make time to do things that were for the kids. That's not a bad thing, as parents that's what we do, right? We are parents, after all. That means we give up a little of our own stuff to allow for our children to have opportunities and time with us. However, that can be a slippery slope. It's important to maintain a healthy balance, and in my case, I don't have that anymore.
I know that there are seasons in life. I accept and understand that this season of life has been one of me taking care of others. And up until recently, it has been very fulfilling. I felt that I was right where God wanted me to be. However, now that my children are a little older, I feel like God is allowing me some time to start to work on myself again. Just a little bit. Refocus. Clear my head. Bring a little variety to my life. There is probably a much bigger picture here that I am missing that only He can see, but for now, it's enough to know that it's time for mommy to do something for mommy.
As moms, our lives often are exciting due to the many adventures we go on with our kids. At the same time, our lives are mundane due to the regular schedule of events that inevitably occur when you have children. Each day is more or less the same as the one before, and it all has to do with our children, and their activities. None of that is a bad thing. It's just that...I want more. I need more variety. I want something that is just mine. Something that is fun, challenging and creatively stimulating. Something, that will enrich my life, and therefore make me more of a blessing to my family.
So, I guess that might be why I didn't sleep well last night. I got a little reminder yesterday from my bestest girlfriends, that there is life outside of my family bubble. I realized that God has brought me and my family to a place where I can leave my bubble and return without it popping. Now I just need to practice not feeling so guilty about it!
Blessings,
Kim
One of my New Year's resolutions is to carve out some time on a regular basis to do things for myself. I love my husband and my children, but I need to love myself too. That's hard to type out. It looks and sounds so selfish, and I suppose it is, but taking care of my own needs is equally as important as taking care of my family. Yet, I have not been giving myself equal attention.
I used to be pretty good at making myself more of a priority. God allowed a season in my life when there was balanced between work, home, children, husband and me. It was a lot easier when we only had one child. However, now that we have three, I have found it difficult to find time to even think about what I might want to do IF/WHEN I am able to carve out some time. I've lost some perspective.
I should preface this by saying that my husband and I prayerfully made a choice when we had children to have me quit my job and stay at home. After one full year at home, I took a part-time job and have worked a variety of part-time jobs ever since, that were flexible enough for me to feel like I was still a sahm, but also allowed me to bring in a little income and get a little grown up time. None of these jobs were particularly fulfilling, but that was ok because my fulfillment came from being a good mom and wife, not from any job.
Somewhere along the way, I started giving up more of things that I would do that were just for me in order to make time to do things that were for the kids. That's not a bad thing, as parents that's what we do, right? We are parents, after all. That means we give up a little of our own stuff to allow for our children to have opportunities and time with us. However, that can be a slippery slope. It's important to maintain a healthy balance, and in my case, I don't have that anymore.
I know that there are seasons in life. I accept and understand that this season of life has been one of me taking care of others. And up until recently, it has been very fulfilling. I felt that I was right where God wanted me to be. However, now that my children are a little older, I feel like God is allowing me some time to start to work on myself again. Just a little bit. Refocus. Clear my head. Bring a little variety to my life. There is probably a much bigger picture here that I am missing that only He can see, but for now, it's enough to know that it's time for mommy to do something for mommy.
As moms, our lives often are exciting due to the many adventures we go on with our kids. At the same time, our lives are mundane due to the regular schedule of events that inevitably occur when you have children. Each day is more or less the same as the one before, and it all has to do with our children, and their activities. None of that is a bad thing. It's just that...I want more. I need more variety. I want something that is just mine. Something that is fun, challenging and creatively stimulating. Something, that will enrich my life, and therefore make me more of a blessing to my family.
So, I guess that might be why I didn't sleep well last night. I got a little reminder yesterday from my bestest girlfriends, that there is life outside of my family bubble. I realized that God has brought me and my family to a place where I can leave my bubble and return without it popping. Now I just need to practice not feeling so guilty about it!
Blessings,
Kim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)