Thankful

A Few Things I'm Thankful For....

my salvation in Christ the Lord.

a messy house filled with children running and laughing (and sometimes fighting)

a smile from my youngest first thing in the morning with a greeting of, "Hi Momma" with so much enthusiasm. Like he hadn't seen me for days.

how God has given them each their own personalities and hearts for Him.

my husband and how he has given himself up for me.

the love of my family.

that my mom survived and was completely restored so many years ago.

that I had a grandmother who prayed.

my church family.

watching my Grandpa dance with my niece yesterday.

listening to my dad sing.

my sisters and their families.

my mother-in-law who is my biggest fan.

that I'm an American.

for God's creation.

that I have so many examples of godly men and women in my life.

that my oldest wants to be a missionary when he grows up (and a superhero!)

that my daughter has a helpful spirit and reminds me that she's watching me each and every day!

that God forgives and shows grace and mercy to me EVERY DAY.

for our soldiers who sacrifice so that you and I can be free.

for God's sovereignty.

that people love me enough to take the time to read this list.


*I am thankful for so much more and cannot put it into words for fear that my tears of joy and thankfulness will short out this keyboard and cause an electrical fire which would be bad and yes, I know this is a run-on sentence.

"Be joyful always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Frugal Cleaning

I really enjoy cleaning. I also enjoy saving money. I thought I'd share a few things I've tried recently that have made cleaning easier and saved money. First off, I invested in some microfiber cleaning cloths. You can get 4 large cloths for $3 at your local Family Dollar. These cloths are so large, I cut them in half. I use these cloths for all of my cleaning. They can be used for dusting, cleaning showers, mirrors....pretty much everything. I use one of the cut cloths and attach it to my "Swiffer". It works even better than the disposable cloths you pay $5 for. These cloths are amazing at removing soap scum. My showers get so smooth you have to be careful next time you get in. The next product I have recently been made aware of is lemon oil. I use it to dust and polish. You can use it to clean stainless steel. I also put a thin coat on the clean shower walls and fixtures. It can extend the time between cleanings. DO NOT PUT IT ON THE SHOWER FLOOR! Now on to the laundry. I started making my own laundry detergent. According to the recipe I use, it costs about $.01/load compared to "Tide" at $.25/load. It smells great and softens the load. I also started buying liquid fabric softener, putting it in a recycled spray bottle, and spraying it on one of my socks from the "Home for Wayward Socks" bag. I dilute the softener with an equal amount of water. I've had the same bottle of fabric softener for months and months. Here's the recipe for the laundry detergent:
1 c. grated Fels Naptha
1/2 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 c. Mule Team Borax

I grate the bar soap with an old cheese grater and put all of the ingredients in a recycled ice cream bucket with a lid. You use 2 tbsp per load. All of the ingredients are available at Kroger. I hope anyone who reads this finds this helpful. For other hints, try out:
http://www.everydaycheapskate.com/
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/
http://www.womansday.com/

Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear

My middle child is intensely funny. She keeps me in stitches and provides a heapin' helping of what I call "blog fodder". We were out of town a couple of weeks ago. The morning we were leaving the hotel to come home, we caught the end of the movie "Evan Almighty". Pretty cute movie. A few days after we came home, the kids and I went to the grocery store. I always park right by the "Cart Corral". This allows me to park my behemoth van with no fear that anyone will park beside me and we all have to enter through the drivers side and also none of my children will fall out of the vehicle and the door will not bang into one of my husband's patient's brand new white Cadillac! Not to mention any names (mason). After our shopping trip, I loaded up the van with kids and groceries and went to put the cart away. An elderly man with a long white beard is also putting his cart away right beside our van. I hear my daughter say, in her best news reporter voice, "The Weirdo with the Beardo". You know how you try to act like "whose kids are those and where is their mother?". Didn't work out so well. My two year old is smiling and waving at me. After I stopped secretly laughing, I gently informed my daughter that was not a nice thing to say. I got the usual and customary, "I'm sorry. I didn't know." Why do children pick out the most obscure things from something they've seen or heard and use them at the most inopportune times?