Faith, Home, & Family
This year (well, 2008), when I unpacked the Christmas decorations, I found this note that I had left myself.
I had forgotten that I had written it, so it made me laugh. lol But I remembered to put something under the Advent candles, so they didn’t drip on the furniture.
Leaving notes for myself in the holiday decorations for next year, Works for Me!
Tonight, I did something that was brutally hard for me.
I went, with the kids, to the viewing of a 12 year old girl that died of leukemia.
The kids have been to lots of viewings and funerals for my family, but this was the first one that we went to for a child. I wasn’t sure how they were going to take it. But they did better than I did, I think.
They had a closed casket. Which is understandable, since she had lost a LOT of weight. I was surprised, but thinking about it, it seems like a good idea. They had LOTS of pink roses on top of the casket, like completely covering it. With pink ribbons that said “Princess Brooklyn” on them.
Statistically speaking, she should still be here. She had the “good kind” of leukemia after all. Seriously, that’s what they (the dr.s) tell you when your child is diagnosed with ALL.
She had the cell lineage with the higher cure rate, and Calen had the cell lineage with the lower cure rate. Yet, she died.
Our God is not a God of statistics. And we have to accept His will, even when we don’t understand it.
Yeah, I know, this post is a mess of jumbled thoughts. But this has affected me deeply. It was all I could do to get out of the funeral home without crying. Yeah, I had tears in my eyes, but I wasn’t sobbing. I thought I was going to cry all the way home. I would have, if it hadn’t been for the kids. I held it together for them. They don’t understand it either.
It really warms my heart to hear them now praying for the Lord to comfort Brooklyns family.
I HATE cancer!!
Wow! Where did 2008 go to? It really is true…the older you get, the faster time goes.
We had a great Christmas. Lots of family time, and that’s vastly more important than what the world tells us Christmas should be!
I’ll just share one Christmas tidbit….
A family from our church traveled last month to the Ukraine to adopt a child. Since they were going to be there over Christmas, they wanted to make it a nice Christmas for the kids in the orphanage, so they were talking up a collection. Our four youngest kids voted to each give up one presents from us to them, and send the money for the orphans. So our 4 children sent $100. ($25. a piece) to help orphans in another country. They never once said they wished they hadn’t, even when there really was one less present for each of them on Christmas morning! We are soooo proud of them!!
The girls are going to spend the night tonight with their big sister, and the boys are going over for a few hours. So we’re going on a date!
And we go back to school on Monday. I can’t wait!!!!
Yeah for keeping kids so busy that they don’t have time for fighting and getting into trouble!!
Hannah made this soap the other day, and I’ve never shared it here! I got this from an email list several like 6, 7, 8, I don’t know, maybe 5, years ago. My girls really like this soap, and can really tell a difference when they don’t use it.
Since I don’t know for sure where it came from, I will post it just like I got it, then tell you what I do after. Oh, and if anyone knows where it originated, please let me know.
Acne Soap
4 oz Melt and Pour glycerin soap
1 T herbal shampoo
400 IU vitamin E
1/4 teaspoon liguid glycerin
1/4 teaspoon tea tree oil
1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil
soap mold
green soap coloring or drop of green food coloring if desired
Melt soap in the microwave, add the other ingredients and pour into mold.
Let dry completely.
Let cure for at least 24 hours before using.
If you have trouble unmolding it, try popping it into the freezer for a couple of minutes.
Ok, that’s the original recipe that I received.
Here’s what I do:
Since we no longer have a microwave, we do this in a pan on top of the stove and it works fine. Just use low heat and stir. You can leave it on low while you add the other ingredients, because it starts setting up just minutes after taking it off the heat.
We don’t use any green coloring. What does it matter if the soap is green?
The last few times we have made it, we didn’t use the herbal shampoo, and the soap worked just as well.
Making my own acne soap Works for Me!
Hannah is still hurting after here “incident” on Saturday. So I called the dr and believe it or not, she got an appointment for today! shocking, but true!
She got a shot of a steriod to help reduce the inflammation and clear her sinus’s faster. She wasn’t very happy, but she chose the shot over taking pills for over a week. The Dr. also gave her some stretches to do 10 times a day to help the muscles in her neck.
Oh, and our van broke down today. I’m thankful. Not that the van broke down, but where it broke down. I wasn’t stuck on the side of the road with the kids. We had gone to the library this morning, and the van was running hotter than it usually does on the way home. The on the way to the Dr.s, which is just 2 miles down the road, the temp guage hit the red zone. YIKES! While we were waiting for prescriptions, we ran to the store, as Hannah has starving, which is only another mile. D passed us on the road and met us at the store. I told him what was going on and we switched vehicles.
Turns out the water pump went bad. It takes us almost 30 minutes to get to the library. So I could have broken down and been stuck on the side of the road somewhere. With 4 kids and a Granny.
I am so very thankful that I didn’t! G-d sure does take care of us!
I left this morning at 6:10 a.m. (Yep, A.M.) to take K to work. I had to stay in town until 10 to pick up Hannah and Abby from their big sisters house where they had spent the night last night.
So I went shopping.
Except, there aren’t that many choices at 7 in the morning. lol
I went to Walmart. lol Where I found the Kids Christmas ornaments for this year. Nice ones, for only $2. And since the kids weren’t with me, the ornaments will be a surprise this year. K had wanted to get a can of coffee for work, but I talked him out of buying it at the gas station $$$ and got it while I was here.
Then I was off to Krogers. Even though I had already gone shopping for the week, I picked up a few good deals. Boneless pork ribs on clearance, 2 gallons of milk for $1.99 each, free (after coupons) yogurt (3 4 packs) and free (after coupons) Jello singles, And free after coupons Febreeze Noticeables starter kit. Actually, I made money on some of these items. I also got a couple other things. My total after coupons was $12. and change.
Since I had to wait for the drugstores to open, I ran the coffee out to K at work. It’s only about 2 miles, approximately. I stopped at McD’s and got us both a breakfast burrito. Then I went back to Walgreens, and sat in their parking lot for 30minutes waiting for them to open. It wasn’t all that bad, I ate my burrito, and organized my coupons for the deals I wantd to get.
I did 3 transactions, some of it was repeats from the other day. I did add some Glade scented oil candles. I’ve wanted to try these since they came out but I’m was too frugal to buy them. Walgreens had a good deal with their rebates. so I got them for 99 cents after rebate. I spent $13.94 after coupons, and I’ll get $10 in rebates. Here’s a picture:
Next stop was CVS. They didn’t have the razor that I wanted. 🙁 But I got the refills and will get the razor next time. I spent $9.40 out of pocket, and received $15.99 in ECB. Here’s a pic:
As I was walking to the car, Abby called to see where I was. 10:05 Yeah, a full 5 minutes after I said I’d be there. lol
I got the girls picked up (finally!), and we headed home. I got everything put away, checked email, etc. And then it was time to head out again.
We went to a birthday party for a very special girl. I can’t say who, as I don’t have permission to share her info. I think I’ll ask if I can share, as she needs prayer.
While we were at the party, Hannah passed out, fell backwards and cracked her head on the cement floor. It was LOUD! So we left there at about 5:20ish and headed to the ER. Signed in at 6, and left at 9. After lab work, neck xray, and a head CT. Turns out, she had a sinus infection that she didn’t know she had and that caused her to pass out.
We picked K up at work, and got home at 10. What a loooooong day!
today a supper free day!
Can I do that? Yes, I can!
ha ha
There are only going to be 4 of us here for supper. 4 out of 7, that’s almost half. so the halfish amount of people that are here will get no supper.
Ok, ok, I’m not starving my family! I’m going to surprise the halfish people here with supper out at our local restaurant.
surprise, surprise, surprise….
