Washcloths by Madelyn

Our 10 year old daughter Madelyn wants lip gloss and silly bands and other silly things. I was raised by two strict people who lived through the depression. I am cheap. beyond cheap. I also dont have money to spend on these things.


I am not crafty. I really like the idea of WAHM. Of "stealing" little snippets of time while babies nap and between drying tears and wiping noses to make small crafts etc to add to the families extra money. Trouble is that I am not crafty.

Madelyn has been in an amazing Girls Club for a few years now and has learned some really neat things: baking, knitting, jump rope, camping, quilling, needlepoint, painting and crochet.

She has been hoarding yarn under her bed. (in a sealed plastic container) It bugged me. I tried to find a good parenting moment here. I found a pattern that seemed easy enough and made some prototypes. She is making washcloths to sell. We talked about 10% going to her Girls Club dues, 20% for tithe and needing to pay for supplies. There is a homeschool craft fair in the Fall and we are preparing for that. Then I got carried away and thought about Etsy. And a logo and business cards and blog giveaways and.....

I also dropped and broke my camera.

Today I tried to get my act together for her and took some pictures with a lame camera and posted to Etsy. There will be matching ribbon tied sets soon, more (hopefuly better pictures) and if money comes in a logo and some giveaways. Maybe some money for lip gloss and silly bands and popscicles from the ice cream man.

Please do take a look. the Washcloths are well made and clean and very scrub worthy:)

Gingerbread House brings some Merriment

I'm drowning in domesticity and deprived of merriment! HELP

My daughter rang the bell for The Salvation Army with her Keepers at Home Girls' Club in front of Walmart yesterday. I ran inside and bought a Wilton gingerbread house kit. It took way too much work to get from there to here but so be it at this point in my life:)






If your holidays didn't involve a gingerbread house making time...HERE is one for you to play with:)

Id like to get a box of graham crackers next year and get EVERYONE involved. My three year old LOVES seeing Christmas lights on people's house and SCREAMS "GINGERBREAD HOUSE." While I was trying to put him down for a nap, his siblings kept telling him how exciting it would be to eat a gingerbread house when he woke up. he got pretty frustrated with them for talking nonsense. This could get interesting. What am I saying? It WILL be interesting.

Sometimes Life Just Sounds Like a Country Song

Today we attended a tea for Keepers at Home.



My daughter recieved all the badges she has earned since Christmas.




I haven't seen a lot of the moms all year and they asked how I was. I didn't want to say "great" and smile but I also didn't have the energy to explain that in the last week....





Grandpa died.

My hormones comletely wacked out and my milk dried up.

Baby wont take a bottle. Wont take a cup. WONT.

The dog died.

There was so much other drama and relationship drains that I cant even explain.

Im exhausted. I actually slept until 1 pm today. 1 pm. I am not depressed. Honest. I'm just plum worn out. I want, maybe need, a break. From the house, the chores, the demands of people. The crying baby that I can't feed. I'm *suppposed* to make this time make sense for these people and I feel like I can barely keep my own head above water. There are no meals planned. No folded laundry to put away. Nothing is planned and there are 6 people staring at me waiting for a plan.

I can't just throw all this info at anyone asking "How have you been?" It's probably not even good for me to rehash all the emotions. But I also hate sucking it up, smiling and saying "great! how are you?" and then just sauuntering away. I guess I could answer something about how I am very blessed. I know that I am.

For now, I breathe.

Week in Review

This didnt get done this weekend and now it is into the next week....

I am back to drinking way too much cofee and enjoying it :):

We got a new bed! We went from this:

To this:

Our old bedframe was cracked and hanging on less than a thread. I had gotten it a few years back at the thrift store for $10.00. I guess it lasted us. We way overthought our new bedframe. We'd really like a King size but there is now way to fit that right now. We paid $229 including tax and shipping. It took all day to put in. Why do these things take ALL day and where do you put a toddler during the process. Where does said toddler nap during this process? Why are the directions so discumbobulated? Do they make sense to anyone?

My son approached me and said that that I had to much to do and could he do math with his sister...uh..yes please!


Her other older borther has also started reading her a Bible story each day and doing a Bible Study together.

I feel guilty that Im not doing it myself but it does warm my heart to see them spending this time together.

Dear daughter also finished her quilt sampler for Keepers at Home Girls' Club:


We had a celebration at church. Our dear elder stepped down after 41 years of service. Wow huh? We celebrated his service and continue to share with him in worship. We had a potluck and presented him with an awesome clock/plaque. I brought my camera but there are no pictures because...it wa a potluck and I was preoccupied with eating :)

Baby now has two big teeth on the bottom and is pulling himself up on EVERYTHING

Friday

The Fall Festival was great! I was so glad we were able to go! The Girls' Club sold their homemade soaps and Playdough and made $21.00.
We then went to our the new library in town and worked on our Bible Study on kindness. The girls are also keeping a journal each day on ways they were kind and on ways that they could have been kind but passed up the oppurtunity.

While we were gone, my husband was home. My oldest son and I have been moving Rubbermaid totes of stuff out of the garage to the backyard for the fumigation. My husband reorganized the garage. He didn't leave room for the totes that are temporarily in the backyard to be returned. He also made the things that I need to get to unaccessible. He meant well and worked all day and killed his back. I came home to pack for camping and couldnt find or get to the sleeping bags. I felt violated. He felt unappreciated. I cried and bawled. He couldn't figure out what my problem was. Then he noticed that a tire on our van was totally unsafe and worn down low. It was 6:30. We stared at each other-our 12 year old interupted to tell us HOW I had ruined the tire. We tried to figure out how I could get the van in to Big Brands tomorrow before camping. (My husband leaves for work at 5am) I called Walmart to see when their tire center closes and they said they would squeeze us in. They were sooo great about it. Now I need to figure out how I am going to pay the car insurance tonight...

It has been in the 80's here for awhile. Now that I am going camping and staying in a hotel with a pool (during fumigation) the weather cooled WAY down and the wind picked up:)

We Made Playdough

I feel like Im taking credit for someone else's "coolness."

But my daughter and I and her Keepers at Home Girls' Club made playdough today!! I have the most amazing friend who is great at everything domestic and I am soo not. I want my daughter so badly to have this training and begged and begged her to start a Girls' Club. I found this program and am happy with it :)

I don't know why I havent talked about Girls Club before...I dont know if it is Ok to share the pictures Ive taken becasue they have others daughters too...but "we" have done a lot of fun things and earned quite a few badges:

We Be Jammin'

My husband's grandparents live a few blocks away. They have a beautifully, well planned yard with many healthy fruit trees on their small lot. Grandpa Great is reaching 90 now and not keeping up with his yard like he used to. While our 2 year old slept, I stayed home with our two littles while the "big kids" and my husband went over and picked nectarines. We had bags and bags and bags. I called a friend and plans began.


My dear friend had taught our young girls to make jam as part of a Keepers at Home project. This is actually a GREAT story and I need to blog about the club some too. We had made strawberry jam which proved to be quicker and easier than nectarine. This weekend fell together for us. My husband was off of work, hers and her three older boys were off on a Boy Scout event. It would be just us girls (and Gabriel who as of yesterday, is a month old)

I stayed up until 2am sewing buttons on my daughter's apron in preperation.

How silly is that? I would have been up anyway :( I have trouble getting to sleep at night.

We spent ALL DAY making jam. ALL DAY. It went quickly though. We talked and visited. Our girls ran in and out giggling. I felt very cool because this isnt something that I could or would do alone. We talked about Amish living and working together (I spent a good part of the day nursing or rocking my baby.)

We planned a Bible study for our families. We talked about ways to save money on food.


We also fed the scraps to my dear friend's chickens:

and quail.


Felt very good to waste nothing, and spend a day with a friend.