Whisk!!!

Honestly, I had just gotten her out of bed and she's so in love with this kitchen set I got her
for Christmas that she apparently needed her whisk to help her wake up.

FIRE!

Mackenzie set fire to a kitchen towel the other day while scrambling eggs. I had to laugh. It so reminded me of growing up with my mom and her kitchen mishaps. I vividly remember my dad rushing out the back door into the yard with whatever she had set on fire held out in front of him. Once the fire was out he'd come back in the house shaking his head and as if he knew he was up against something that just couldn't be changed said in a defeated voice, 'Karen.'

So when Kenzie started her small fire, I grabbed up the towel and ran out my own back door, just like dad use to. :) Laughing the entire time and fighting flashbacks I came back inside and said defeatedly, "Mackenzie." I think Kenzie was just in shock that it happened so fast, but lets face it, she was just glad she hadn't set fire to her wonderful outfit!!!!!

The only sad thing about it was that was a really great drying towel for the dishes...lol.

One of our favorites.

Easy Cheesy Manicotti.
My family loves this recipe so much I thought I'd share it with all my blog
friends. Plus I wanted to play around with the pictures I took of it to see if I could
type up recipes like this. Wouldn't it be neat to have an entire cookbook set up
like this? If you try it please post a comment and let me know how you liked it.

Grace and Peace to all,
~Jess

No laughing!!!! (I mean it)

Ok, so I've always wanted those Space Bags you see on TV, just to see
if they would actually work and shrink up like they say they do. Well
little did I know, Wal-Mart actually sells them, at a higher price than on
TV, but still. I got two of the Large size bags for $8, came home, and
stuffed some clothes inside just 'to see.' Well as you can tell from the pic,
it worked.

Those of you that have had the pleasure (ha) of coming into my little house
know how hard up we are for storage and just space in general. We have
a small storage building on the other side of the carport and it's just crammed full of stuff. Mainly Kids Kloset clothes that I'm storing for the next sell, all the kids baby stuff like the bassinet, and high chair. The stuff that I'm not ready to get rid of yet because I feel like it's only a matter of time before I pull that stuff back out again to use it.

To make a long story short, I'm so glad these things work. I really think these bags are going to save us some space. I don't know how much but I'll take whatever I can get!!!!

~Jess

More?

So it was time to make more homemade laundry detergent and the
two younger kids got in on the stirring action this time. :) And I think
it made a difference!!! This batch seems much more gelled.

I added 25 drops of lemon oil to the batch this time for a stronger,
cleaner smell and I love it!!!!!!

In looking for the essential oils I discovered a great health food store in
Huntsville, off of Oakwood. Ok, I didn't discover it but I had never been
there before or knew they existed. :) Good prices too and wonderful
organic yogurt covered pretzels.

I made my own Febreeze and antibacterial counter top spray the same day
I don't much like the smell of the antibacterial spray (it has Tea tree oil
in it and I just don't like the smell of that stuff) but the Febreeze rocks. :)

~Jess

7 X 7

My take on the 7x7. I hand wrote them and taped them up on the walls in the rooms of the kids, one on the bathroom mirror, the other on the wall beside the table. And instead of just me praying this over my kids I have them pray it as well. :) It's a great reminder for me and these are verses I want written on my kids hearts as well.

Sponge Dryer Sheets....Sponges I mean!!!

What's this picture you might ask? Well I posted sometime ago about the Homemade Laundry Detergent I've been making and using and loving. And now I've found the next best thing to go with it. Instead of Dryer Sheets I use sponges. Yep. That's right.

You take Fabric Softener, the cheap cheap cheap kind, or your favorite kind with a great smell, and pour 2-3 cups of it into a container with a lid on it.

Then add equal parts water and stir it like crazy or shake it if you have a super tight lid. (If you're like me, and can't take a heavy perfume smell on my clothes because of migraines then add 5-6 cups of water).

Then buy some good sponges (not the ones with the scouring pad on them) cut them into 4 pieces and throw them in the fabric softener, water combo.

When you're ready to use them, take one sponge piece, wring it out and toss in with a load of wet clothes. When you're laundry is dry just add the sponge back to the bucket to reuse again.

Side Note: I tend to do only Super sized laundry loads at my house, so I use two of the sponge pieces. If you're like me, then I would recommend cutting your sponges in half instead of in 4 pieces. That way you don't have to search for two sponge pieces while you're folding laundry. I love this and it works amazingly well!!!!

Cost Break Down:
Cost of 2 pack 4 quart plastic storage containers with lids: $2.12
(I'll use the other one for homemade antibacterial wipes)
Cost of 6 pack of sponges: $2.68
Cost of Fabric Softener: $3.48 (and you don't even use half the bottle!!!!)

I've got to start keeping a count of how many loads of laundry I can dry with the amount I have in the bucket below!!!!!!

Once in awhile.....

I take pictures constantly. There's a never ending stream of 'let me get my camera' or 'look at the camera' and my all time favorite,' stop clowning around so I can get a good picture for once!'

And finally it happened. Isaac was upset with Mackenzie over something, so he went into my mother's room, jumped onto her rather high sitting bed and was somewhat pouting. I came in, camera already in hand, and took a picture of his sad face. :( Then Ev snuck in and I started snapping silly pictures. And then, God stretched out his hand and said, "Jess here's something like a gold star.' and ~poof~ a perfectly beautiful picture of Isaac and Evan Grace together.

So stop holding your breath, blink once last time to make sure you're eyes are clear....and wait for it....


wait


for

it

 

Opening Toby Mac concert with B. Reith

Family Force 5

Relient K

Toby Mac

Ok this slide show has like 67 pictures but they are ALL worth it.