Trick or Treat

Cut it out...

I laugh that all it took for Gracelyn to cut her hair was to go with her her Nana and cousin. She wanted to be just like Keely! I have wanted her to cut her hair for a few months. Start over with a shorter do so that her hair would be all one length. But that just wasn't going to happen until Sat. So here are the results.

Before: Gracelyn's 1st grade picture

After: Holding Ethan who recently got a new cut as well.

Guess Whose B-Day is TODAY????

My intention was to post early this morning but it just didn't happen. We have been on the go since 7 this morning but of course NANA-B has been on our minds all day.

Hope you had a great day birthday girl. Cake will be soon we promise!

Love you bunches. You're the most fabulous Nana we could ask for. Praise God for grandparents (and great in-laws)!

"I am a Christian"

When I say... "I am a Christian"

I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin."

I'm whispering "I was lost,"

Now I'm found and forgiven.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble

and need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"

I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak

and need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"

I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed

and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"

I'm not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are far too visible

but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"

I still feel the sting of pain,

I have my share of heartaches

So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"

I'm not holier than thou,

I'm just a simple sinner

who received God's good grace, somehow.

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When I read this poem I am reminded of imperfection and grace. Because of my imperfections I must stand firm in my faith that God will grant me the grace and mercy that I need. And because of the love that God has for me I want to show the people I surround myself with God's love and His grace. I want to shower my friends and family with an immeasurable amount of grace each day because God has done it to me repeatedly. Fortunately I have great people by my side that make this easy and something I want to do. But in return I ask for the same immeasurable amount of grace and love back. Life is too short for strife and heartache that can be resolved through showing each other grace.

That's life tip #1 for you.

New Gadgets

I recently had a Pampered Chef party and loved getting all kinds of goodies. I have collected much of the kitchen items over the years and love their products. Kitchen gadgets make me happy. This time I didn't need any BIG items so I was able to get lots of smaller items which just made my cabinets smile.
And just because I am a dork I took a picture of all my loot.

To everyone who ordered I will be delivering your items Wednesday at church or Thursday! :)

Just can't help but laugh!

The downhill slide

We are scabbing beautifully! Isn't that wonderful news?? I sure am excited. We are on day 7 of the pox and I believe that Cannon is completely over it. His scabs look horrendous and he accidentally picked one last night because he thought it was a booger. (I would hate for you guys to not know the whole story!) So one sore is really looking bad. But at least he was all smiles. Mason is VERY itchy on his neck area and gets really frustrated when it starts up itching. But I believe he is mending nicely too. I had originally thought he had it worse because there were more spots on him but they were so small that some just went away and never blistered and scabbed. He had nothing like Cannon's face.

So if everything is moving along great then why am I not feeling good??? It is the sunshine I tell you. Being cooped up in the house is draining me. I seriously have got to get out and see the sun. We are going for a drive in a little bit I have a few errands that I have saved up and hopefully Sonic will be involved. Or maybe Starbucks...

Sweet scabby Cannon.

Last night we were putting the boys to bed and I laid down on Cannon's bed. So he quickly hopped on and covered us up. Mason climbed over Cannon and got in the middle and we stayed and talked for a while. We were a tight fit but had a good 10 minutes of conversation.

Gracelyn and Ethan. Because you just can't resist that beautiful girl when she says take a picture of me daddy. *head tilt*

And this too shall pass...

We are still in the thick of CP... I don't think there are any NEW spots today soooo that is encouraging. Now we are just waiting for the scabs to form. Exciting~I know.

Yesterday I was sooooo desperate to get out of the house that I volunteered to drive my mom to a funeral 2 hours away just to do something. The boys were loaded and ready for an adventure. They didn't know it meant going to Perryton, sitting at the cemetery for a little bit and then a nice Sonic lunch at the park and then the 2 hour drive back. I live on the wild side for sure.

A couple of weeks ago I did some major overhauling of the kid's rooms so I thought I would show the hard work.

The Boy's closet. It used to be the changing table/diaper area. Now it is the toy area. I don't know if we will ever put doors back on it.

Mason's corner. He had to be moved away from the window because he was tearing up the blinds and I was afraid the curtains were going to be coming down.

The TV cabinet I changed into a dresser/armor for clothes. It has baskets in the door area and then the drawers on the bottom. It has been a huge livesaver.

Cannon's corner. He loves his bed so much. He would really love a bigger boy bed but this is working great until we need it for Mason.

Gracelyn's new bed. THANKS CRUMS!!! She loves it so much. It gives her so much space. Which truth be told we should switch the boys and Grace because her room is so much bigger but I just can't paint over the mural in their room just yet. I will soon. Maybe. I don't know. Just not yet.

Gracelyn's cozy corner. She loves to sit and read in her chair. My great grandmother made the quilt and the cross above it has a piece of jewelry on it from Cameron's grandmother. Yes that is a snowman pillow. We keep him around all year for the heck of it.

Ignore the PILE of laundry that is literally busting out of her hamper. It wasn't laundry day. The cornices are covered in a bedspread from my grandparents. I want to get her new bedding. Maybe for Christmas. Maybe by then I can switch their rooms.

Day 3-4 of chicken pox

Got up early this morning and called the doctor's office. Put in my request for an appointment and started getting ready so that I could whisk the boys into the first available slot. When I got my call back the nurse verified that it was chicken pox and that there was no need to bring them in because they had a mild case AND she didn't want to expose the entire office to it. I get it. I really do but I also wanted to tell her that if we didn't get out of the house I was going to go insane!!! Did she hear the desperation in my voice? We are home bound because at this stage in the pox (as I lovingly call it) they are HIGHLY contagious. Still have some bumps that aren't blisters yet on both boys but some are already scabbed over on Cannon. Not sure if keeping Gracelyn away was that good of a deal or not. We didn't on purpose it just worked out this weekend that she was gone for 2 nights because of previous engagements. Boy she is one busy girl. So hopefully we won't be redoing all this in a week with her.

Here are our Monday pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Cannon had a new spot this morning on his leg

What a face! They are all pretty much scabbed over finally.

Mason's face has some eczema issues as well as a few spots on his for head and arm

M's neck is the worst area. They are blisters now. And of course his back is blotchy from eczema

Go Me!!! *EDITED*~Recipe added

I made my own laundry soap. My mom and sister made this a while ago and they finally let me in on their secret. It was so easy! I loved being domestic and a little green.


The recipe I used was super easy!
Ingredients:
1 bar of soap
1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 box of Borax

Heat 4 cups of water on stove and grate or shave the 1/2 bar of soap. I grated it. Add to hot water and stir to melt. Don't let it boil. I'm not sure why but just don't. I don't think it will explode but the recipe said DON'T. I tend to listen to people when they say DON'T in capital letters.
Pour 3 gallons of hot water into container.
Pour soap mixture into container and stir.
Pour 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda into container and stir.
Pour 1/2 cup of Borax into container and stir.
Stir, stir, stir. Make sure everything is dissolved.
Put lid on tight and let sit for 24 hours so that it will form a gel. It might be lumpy but that is okay. You can stir it up if you like but you don't have to.
Use one cup per load of laundry.
**DISCLAIMER**This is a low sudsing detergent so I have read that it is fine for HE washers. Look it up and check before you make it but I think it would be fine.

Now of course I followed my mom's advice and went ahead and doubled the recipe. If I was going to all this trouble might as well and really do it up right! So I used the whole bar of soap, 2 cups of soda and 1 cup of borax. I used a 10 gallon tote and it fit just fine on my dryer as you can tell.

The ingredients cost roughly $6.50.

The soap shavings. They were so pretty and smelled heavenly.

The soap melting with water on the stove.

The watery solution that should thicken up by tomorrow night.

It made roughly 6 1/2 gallons and sits so pretty on top of my dryer. I can't wait to use it and see how it washes. And yes of course my dryer is always that clean and pretty. I didn't spruce it one bit for a picture.

Day 2 (but really 3) of the Chicken Pox

Cannon had some spots on his face on Friday that I brushed off as just sore from a runny nose. But in reality they were the start of chicken pox. I was too sick to really notice so yesterday was the first day I actually looked at my children in 24 hours and realized that hey those spots look like something other than just little bug bites.

Day 2~blisters are now open and starting to scab. I think we might have one-two more days of being contagious. His nose is the worst and there are a few up inside there that really bother him.

Mason has a few spots here and there that haven't turned into anything yet. When I did the body check this morning he wouldn't let me get close to take pictures of his neck/back but he sure was happy to sit and *play* for a minute. Silly boy!And yes he ran around with a bare bottom and pooped in the floor!!! Sheeeeeeesh... He also is wearing two different shoes because he inherited his daddy's fashion sense! :) Love ya Babe.

chicken pox??

I *think* Cannon has chicken pox. Just lovely! Poor fella he hasn't been feeling good in my opinion and now I know why. I am not totally sure it is chicken pox but it sure does look like it. He has about 10 spots and 5 of them are blisters. Say a quick prayer that we are able to recover quickly.

sickies

Seriously thought I was on my death bed yesterday! I haven't been that sick in a long time. I hurt all over and had a fever. I can't remember the last time I had a fever. But this morning I am better. Still achy but can move at least.

Yesterday Cannon and Mason had popcorn and yogurt for lunch. Renay came and got Mason and Gracelyn so they could at least have a decent dinner. Cannon had some pizza my mom brought over. I was afraid dinner would be repeating lunch if they hadn't helped out. Cannon sat in front of the TV the entire day. From the moment he woke up until he went to bed. It was nice. Mason wondered around trying to play by himself. They were pretty good for having minimal supervison.

But today is a new day and I might even get out to check out some garage sales! That was my plan yesterday at least until the sickies set in.