What a week.

I have sent my husband to Medical School for the Navy, at which time his flight was delayed 3 hours, his itenerary changed, luggage lost, and on and on and on...

I proceeded to have another massive gallbladder attack... I can't imagine the pain people are in, but then you throw pregnancy in on top of it... UGH I have never not wanted to be pregnant more in my life. I spent Sunday evening in bed, all day Monday, Tuesday was admitted to the hospital, discharged Wednesday night and on and on and on. I am still in pain, but more functional than I have been in days.

I am back to work today. I am hoping that I start feeling better soon. Doc said we would talk about bed rest at my next appointment... Six days and counting. I have decided that I am ready.

I booked my trip to Chicago. We leave in 29 days... I am excited. I have to say the girls are holding up pretty well during the first week of daddy being gone. I hope it continues. I am renting a van and we are trecking 500 miles to Waukegan, IL... Should be an interesting trip! :) I elected to go Memorial Day weekend so that we have an extra whole day.

I just got an email notification that my new book is on its way. I have joined the Bloom Book Club. The new reading: Strong Women Soft Hearts is the book for May. We are starting on Mother's Day. I sort of like having a strict outline so that I am accountable for reading daily rather than having to cram several chapters in last minute.

I am excited that our Girl Scout Troop will be going in a new direction next year. I believe we are going to convert (hmmm interesting word, probably the wrong one) to American Heritage Girls. It is less liberal, Christian based, and ministry driven. It reflects a lot of our personal family values, so in theory will be much easier for us to follow. I am really excited about this change.

I know there was more I wanted to add, but for some strange reason... (LOL) I can not for the life of me remember.

God Bless.
Amanda

Not I said the fly... :)

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not tell the seamstress the WRONG directions when applying my husbands rating badges to his uniforms. I also did not rip the sleeve of his DRESS BLUES while removing the wrong patch and trying to reapply it in the right place.

I did not forget to pack my husbands itenerary in his bags when packing him for his trip. And I certainly did not play dumb when we got there.

I did not spend Friday night (after 11pm) fighting with a two year old about how old she was and that she needed to be in bed. I also did not laugh at her when she turned around and shook her butt at me.

I also did not take complete credit for homemade lemondae at my daughters birthday party when really I followed this simple recipe:

Country Time Lemonade (made to directions) mixed with 1 can of Frozen lemonade, and sliced fresh lemons for garnish.

Also I certainly did not and do not sit in the middle of my bed looking at the hurricane that has went through our bed room and secretly plan on it to magically disappear.

I did not make bologna sandwiches with yogurt and potato chips and call it dinner, simply because I was too tired to make anything else.
  
What have you not done lately?

What a day!

My husband is gone... sort of. He's been sitting at the airport for 5 hours but nonetheless he is gone. :(
I have to give myself props... As much as I wanted to, I did NOT cry! Yay me! Not gonna lie, I wanted to, but it was time to suck it up for my girls.

We went to lunch after we left the airport. I am feeling really bad, not really sure what is going on. I thought it was nerves, not clearly this is not.... It's really something different. Maybe I will stay home tomorrow!

I am drafting my not me Monday post. It proves to be funny. :)

*******************DISCLAIMER: What I am about to say could simply be hormones, however, I also want to add that it is not meant to offend any of my friends...It is a simple observation that irritates me to no end!***********************************************

Once we warpped up lunch we drove to Kroger as I needed just a few items for the week: fresh fruit, bread, yogurt, and macaroni... That's it, a handful of items, simple enough right? WRONG!

For those who don't know my husband has requested that I not shop on Sunday's and most of the time I can comply. I have found that I feel better on Monday when I don't shop on Sunday and spend the day resting.

Here is where the tide turned.... We were in line to check out. They had 6 lanes open, all with like 6 people in them, no lie. I've been the person in line with a bazillion coupons and WIC and and and.... BUT what infuriates me to no end is... drum roll please. Again please DON'T be offended this is my opinion and my observation. I should say that yes at one time we were on food stamps, that is REALLY not the problem, and YES we ALL, myself included struggle with weight and body issues. My problem lies when you and your significant other are 350+ pounds, you have two carts full of food and pay with food stamps, NOW really this doesn't even phase me UNTIL half of your second cart has the following items in it: 2- 50# bags of dog food, 25 # bag of cat food, 40#'s of cat litter, 3 of those refillable water cans (you know the ones that the Culligan man brings). Water is important, however I have a problem when you are spending government money on it. Do you know why I am mad? Here is why... If you are unable to get employment (my husband was unemployed until he got Active Duty Military orders, but when he returns... We could find ourselves in unemployed status again) , if you are physically unable to work: whatever I don't look down on Food stamps for people at all... I do look down on when you are on the, clearly have a weight problem and the majority of your benefits are being spent on JUNK FOOD... I don't think I saw anything that even resembled fruit or veggies in their carts... And then you spend another $60 in animal products... I mean really.

Like I said maybe it is pregnancy hormones or something, but I just find it terribly discouraging when there are people who NEED these services and don't "qualify" as the state says, and then there are others who you can see are clearly wasting the benefits that they are receiving.

Phew... OK so I got that off my chest.... Now I'm gonna make dinner, and snuggle with my babies and sleep!!!!!

Until... Not me Monday... XOXO

OK...so maybe just one edit... :)

Here is a photo of Josh and Sera on her birthday after bath time... So sweet.:P)

I am going to have fun with this software. (I think)

OK...now I'm off to bed!

So much to do, so little time

I have determined that I have too much to do and not nearly enough time! Josh needs packed... I've started but there is plenty more that needs done! SURE I could let him do it, but we'd just end up arguing about what he needs and where it is at. I received a call from the seamstress tonight and she still isn't done quite yet. (three patches sewn on and two pr of pants hemmed) errr... I dropped them off on Tuesday... I know she's busy, just makes me nervous.

Sera's birthday party is tomorrow, yes rain or shine. In order to prepare for the party I have to: finish the pasta salad, make the potatoes, put the veggie trays together, make the lemonade, finish cleaning the kitchen, decorate, and organize the yard... I have lost the gift bag for the gifts..., I have completed the fruit salad and laid out the meat... I believe that is all that I have accomplished.

We've been talking a lot about our own business lately. I think it should be food oriented, Josh has other ideas. I have been thinking a lot lately about catering for smaller functions. All the food I am doing for not only this party, but also three other partties in the near future I kinda have it down, plus I LOVE COOKING! It would also allow time to be home and home school the kiddos full time. Going to have to soul search about this for sure!

I recently downloaded photo editing software. I can't wait to start using it. It'll definitely be after this weekend though... otherwise I might loose my mind. :)

I am already bouncing around ideas for my not me monday post... OMG...

I can tell you that I am sitting here at 9:31 arguing with a TWO YEAR OLD!!!  She SHOULD be sleeping instead she is here sitting at my feet yelling that she's four... with 10 fingers up. She's terrorizing the house... And shaking her butt calling me a hillbilly... Yes that is my two year old. Hmmm I might see a Not my child monday post formulating!!! :)

Ok I'm tired. I should probably sleep so that I can do all my crap tomorrow! OY!

Home School Schedule

Amidst the chaos of having a new baby and my husband leaving for Active duty, we have decided to also jump into home school. While it is likely that the kids will return to public school at the end of the summer, we will not be having a traditional summer break. I will be home daily beginning any day now so I will be utilizing the time off to educate our children. It is our hope that one day we will be home school parents, until then... It'll be a remidial summer school. We have been criticized for this, but it is what is best for OUR family. So after further discussion here is our schedule.

8-9a Breakfast, dressing, bed making, etc.

9-10a Bible Study; Daily devotions and lessons

10-11a Outdoor adventure/Science study

11-11:30a Reading Rehearsal

11:30-12:00 Lunch

12-12:45 Rest time

12:45-1:30 Arts and Crafts; If you see my previous post about crafts this will be a time that we will do some of these projects.

1:30-2:30 Computer time; I have obtained several educational programs for a fairly reasonable price

2:30-4:30 Free time

4:30-?? Cooking time. We will be cooking dinner together daily. This will be important for their future as successful women and wives. Trust me I'm not overkilling this, but it is essential for their development.

Also following dinner they will be cleaning up and further learning house keeping chores. WE are going to be making BIG changes around here!:)

I think that's it, however this may be revised as needed. :)

Love-Amannda

I'm feeling crafty

So rather than writing about all the things that I need to be doing for my husband's departure, I wanted to do a post about what we {meaning me and my girls} will be doing while my husband is gone. I have a firm belief that these hands on activities are not only fun, but character building for my kids... plus the time spent together is definitely invaluable!

There is one minor hitch in my plan, but my good friend has agreed to assist me. I seem to be sewing machine challenged. Not because I don't know how to use it, but because mine won't work. Jessica is going to look at it to see if it is operator error, or if I need to get it fixed. I'm guessing it is operator error! :)

Here is our short list: this could definitely grow once A.) we see HOW well these go and B.) what supplies we come across in the next few weeks and months.

1.) Burp clothes for the new baby. I think that if we do these together it will help the kids feel involved in the baby process.

2.) Wipe Cases, these are going to have dual purposes, obviously I will have one for baby wipes for the baby, but as you will see later we are going to be making travel bags. I am hoping to find enough for the girls to have two a piece. One for wipes so that when we are in the car they can wipe their faces and hands, and one for either snacks or pencils, etc.

3.) Bows and bow holders. I have been making these for the girls for a few weeks now. They really enjoy them, so I thought why not TRY to let them assist in making some of the easier designs. I am also

purchasing some nice wooded cut-outs for them to decorate so that we can create bow holders for all their lovely bows.

4.) Bean bags. I have oodles of beans that were once in the Angel Food Ministries boxes that we have not used. I will be using them to make bean bags for hop scotch and like games to play with the kids. I figure they will enjoy the time filling them.

5.) Crayon Wallets. I have seen these on various websites and with our travelling this summer, and heck even church service on Sundays I thought these would be perfect. I am going to include enough for the girls to      have a large box of crayons (I may regret this later) and a small note book in each wallet.

6.) I Spy Bags. This is probably the one I am most excited about. These are bags filled with items intermixed with polymer plastics beads, hopefully allowing for hours of fun! :) I imagine we'll make 10-15 of these, all different so that car rides, etc. are much more interesting and so that they don't get bored looking at the same 5 bags.

7.) Snack Bags. I am trying to figure this one out. Obviously a bag is pretty simple, however I would like to

line it with vinyl (I think), and I want to figure out how to make some sort of closure on it. The obvious

closure would be a zipper, BUT I am not an expert sewer and I'm not positive I would know how to do

this. I suppose this will be a trial and error project.

8.) Tote Bags. I will be buying tote bags for the girls, but I will be allowing each of them to decorate them.

These will be their BUSY BEE bags that I am planning on them taking with us on any extended trip in the

car. Each bag will contain the following: Crayon wallet, activity book, I Spy Bag, Wipe Case with wipes,

Wipe case with "other" items, Snack bag, and a water bottle. I think these will allow to kep the girls busy

in the car, in church, etc. and make them responsible for these items in and out of the car.

Our goal for the summer is to begin a home school curriculum full of life learning activities so that we can have the most well rounded kids! I will be blogging soon on our purposed schedule. I know, I know I should be letting my kids enjoy the summer, but since I will be going back to work in Mid-September, it is necessary that we start ASAP. :) Besides the lul in learning is never good for kids. We have found that if we stick to a strict schedule, our children thrive much better than if we fly by the seat of our pants.

As we begin accumulating our projects I will also post photos. Beginning soon I will be participating in Project 365. A friend of mine Sheena, has been doing this. I am not sure if she is part of the official Project 365 group or not, but it has inspired me to capture my family and our life in a more reflective light. I will be starting ours in the middle of the year, but I figure 365 days is 365 days right? :)

On MckMama today she shared the photo editing program she uses, I am hoping that I can save enough that for my birthday I can purchase the system. I LOVE how people edit their photos, I want to do the same. :)

I suppose that's all for now. Coming soon: Photos from our Resurrection Cookies, Craft photos, and our home school schedule.

Family Pictures... Sort of...

If you read my "Not Me Monday" post you would know that I was less than impressed with our family photos. Nonetheless, I am posting the most updated photos of our family. I was also honored to be asked last night by a local photographer to do a maternity shoot with my girls. I have always wanted to do this, and now I have no reason not to. :) I'll post those once they happen.

These definitely are far from our best, but if they weren't so crazy, then they wouldn't be a true capture of our family! :)

I had a little trouble with rotating this one, so just turn your head. {Smile}

I absolutely did not...

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.



On Sunday I did not drink an entire jug of Orange Juice by myself, nope not me! And I did not avoid house work for a solid half hour by simply locking myself in the bathroom. I have not foregone the entire menu plan theory for the last two weeks and let my children decide what we were having for dinner (even if that means meals with NO logic what so ever), nope not me!

I did not allow my 4 year old to select what she wanted to wear to church yesterday since it was her birthday, even if that included a pink dress, black cowboy boots, and a blue headband, no not me.

I did not watch my husband play with our two year old giving her simple tasks and reward her with sugary treats, no not me.

I certainly did not flip out on the photographer at the local photo studio for informing me that we were 15 minutes early for our appointment... Excuse me for getting 6 people ready and in one place early for once. I did not continue my rant when were were then subsequently taken into the studio 40 minutes late, maybe she forgot that our appointment was at 10. I certainly didn't rush through the pictures because I knew that we'd be having them done once again in just a few short months once our little bundle arrives. Not me, I'm much more rational than that!

I am not secretly planning my to do list around Dancing With the Stars tonight, because I am not a closet Team Kate fan!

I suppose that's enough not me for one day, how about you? What have you "Not" done lately?

Song

On quite a few occassions I have been in the car and feeling the stress of day to day life. While listening to Christian radio a particular song comes on, and well it soothes me. I am trying to find the cd because I love this artists sound... Her name is JJ Heller. I am having complications posting the playlist here, but here are the words: you can listen to the song here

YOUR HANDS by JJ Heller

I have unanswered prayers

I have troubles I wish wasn't there

And I have asked a thousand ways

That you would take my pain away

I am trying to understand

How to walk this weary land

Make straight the paths that crooked lie

Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, heaven stands

When my heart is breaking

I never leave your hands

When you walked upon the earth

You healed the broken, lost and hurt

I know you hate to see me cry

One day you will set all things right

Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, heaven stands

When my heart is breaking

I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world

Are holding me

They still hold me.

 

So much to do, so little time...(and apparent randomness...:))

Today is sort of bittersweet. While it's certainly been hard financially for my husband to be off work, it certainly has been nice. Simple hassles of day to day life, you know, getting the kids loaded into a cold car and into the baby sitter, dinner after a long day of work, laundry and household tasks that seem so daunting... are now all done before I ever get home from work. Definitely not a situation that I  would ask for but one that has been a blessing for sure.  It definitely makes me consider the option of a one income family... We shall pray.

I have taken some time and updated my 101 in 1001 post. I am getting there, thank goodness the venture is 1001 days!

I guess I should explain why today is bittersweet... In a little more than a week my husband will be leaving for a minimum of 16 weeks of Naval training. This is the life of a Navy wife! :) I'm a little more than 25 weeks pregnant set to deliver via c-section in less than 13 weeks. Yes 16 weeks is longer than 13 so we aren't really sure how all this is going to play out. It is our hope that he can at least come home from Thursday evening and fly back out Sunday... Keeping our fingers crossed.

I am in the process of scheduling a couple of trips to Chicago before the baby comes, and then the 5 children and myself will hop into a car van to pick Josh up the 2nd week of August. I know I am taking the 4 with me atleast once, but possibly twice. It is our hope that when we are on our way home we will take several days to come back... vacationing and such.

I have to share my grocery story with you. We are on $85 week grocery budget, which seems to work. This past weekend was even better. Kroger had their triple coupon sale. Woo hoo!!!! All in all our original bill was $87.54... Over by $2.54, BUT then they started trippling my coupons, viola... Final Bill $57 even! Now that's smart shopping.

While our kids will be attending a new public school in the fall, we will also be supplementing a home school program at home. We have obtained some instruction material from CHEO as well as biblical teachings. Since we are considering the one income lifestyle, we might as well ease into the home school aspect for our future. Some may say (mainly relatives) that we are pushing our children too hard. I'm sorry, but it is our firm belief that if you do not push your children and give them the tools that they need to be successful adults then you have not done what you are supposed to as a parent. While I would love for my daughters to be serving wifes and mothers to their families, I believe it is something that they need to be taught NOT something that they just pick up. Sure they can pick it up, I certainly did, BUT I want them to know from the beginning not have to figure it out.

I am most looking forward to when my husband decides where his Navy career is going to take us. Being out on our own again and forming our children in a proper manner. Through God all of this will happen.

This past Sunday we began our journey at Church without a pastor. Our's was asked to resign and we are now amidst the process of finding a new one. Until then we will have visiting pastors. This past week we had Rev. Gordon. He was amazing. I haven't felt that good leaving church in a long time! He preached about 1 Chorinthians 13. I'm sure you are familiar: Faith, Hope, and Love but of these, Love is the most important. There is something about his message that has resignated with me all week. When I am feeling weak I simply reflect and remind myself of the passage. I simply say Love is patient! Just those three little words have helped ease my frustrations and remember that God is only giving me what I can handle... Lots of prayer has been going on, on my part, but all for good reason.

I suppose that's all for now.

Love,

Amanda

Laundry....enough said

When I started my blog I was figuring out direction. I thought I wanted to share my frugal living ways with others... and I do, but clearly I've digressed. I am hoping to still share these items with you. So I'm back at it today. Today I shall share with you, laundry. As you can imagine with 7 and almost 8 people in our house we have an over abundance of laundry! So, how can we afford all of this laundry, especially on one income at this point... (yes being laid off  SHOULD mean that my husband is receiving unemployment, however there have been complications and we have yet to see a check. God willing we will make it through this!)

First off I should tell you, we have a minimum of 3 loads of laundry each day, this is on the low end, between towels and clothes and sheets and blankets there can be as many as 8 loads, it just depends. I can tell you that if we fall off the 3 load per day schedule, boy do we end up with a mess!!!

I am the first person to admit that when it comes to laundry there are no rules... No seperating, no fuss! Just throw it in and go!

Secondly I make my own laundry detergent. For about $10 I can make 10 gallons of detergent. Lets see... 1/2 gallon of detergent gets you about 30 loads, so theorhettically we get close to 600 loads for $10 rather than 30 for $8. Now I have to be honest, since I am able to make so much so cheap there are often times true measuring need not apply. If I know that there are some tough stains or smells I may add a little more to compensate for not pre treating.

Here is the recipe and the breakdown of pricing...

4 1/2 C Water + additional later =         $0.00
1 C Arm and Hammer Washing Soda= $0.25 per 10 gal ($2.93 per box)
1/2 C Borax                                      = $0.25 per 10 gal ($2.50 per box)
1 bar of Fels Naptha Soap, shredded = $1.29
***here is where I devieate from the traditional recipe. With children I have found that I need tougher stain fighters.***
1 small container of your favorite detergent. $6.00
1 bottle of liquid Tide Stain Remover= $1.50 ($3.00 at Family Dollar, but with a $1.50 off coupon)
1 Bottle of Dawn liquid dish soap=      $1.59 (Family Dollar)
5 Gallon Bucket

Here is what you do:
Shred the bar soap (if you cannot find Fels Naptha, Ivory soap can be substituted) and melt in 4 1/2 C of water over heat on the stove. Once soap is melted add Washing soda and Borax and dissolve. Be careful not to let this boil over as it is a PAIN to clean off the stove. While these items are cooking on the stove fill a 5 gal bucket 1/2 full of hot water. Once all items are dissolved add to the bucket and stir. Slowly add detergent, stain remover, and dish soap to the bucket and stir. The next part is a little tricky as you don't want bubbles everywhere. Finish filling the bucket with hot water.

Utilize your empty detergent contatiners. Fill half full with your mixture and half full with warm water and shake, shake, shake. I know you are saying that it seems there is an awful lot of water... Well have you ever looked at your ingredients on your jug? Typically the first ingredient is water... meaning its made of mostly water. Repeat each time you need detergent.

Now as your bucket sits it will gel ... simply stir each time before you add to the detergent bottle and viola lots of detergent! (YES this recipe can be used in HE washers as well.)

NOW Dryer sheets... Have you ever been annoyed finding 100's of dryer sheets randomly around your house? Here is a solution that! It saves money and is much easier to manage.

Fabric Softner:

4-8 sponges
1 Bottle of liquid Snuggle, Downy, or your favorite fabric softner
Water
Bucket with lid

Simply add 1 part liquid softner to 2 parts water. Mix in bucket. Drop in sponges. When you are ready to dry your clothes toss clothes in the dryer and toss in 1 sponge and dry. Simply throw the sponge back in the bucket when you are done for the next use.

I hope this helps with your daily expenses as well as laundry in general. We also (on occassion) throw 1/2 C baking soda and 1/2 white vinegar in the wash to brighten our whites. :)

God Bless,
Amanda

RANDOMNESS....SERIOUSLY :)

Please be warned now this post is full of complete randomness! :) I have a lot of thoughts so what a  better way to do it than blog while I await my Tylenol PM to kick in.

Where to begin, my husband received a call yesterday that he'll be heading back to the windy city in two short weeks. He's a little bummed that he isn't going to the beach but it is what it is. :) I'm excited because it's close for us to commute.

I am throwing myself a diaper shower, there are mixed reasons for this. One Josh is laid off so we could use the help, but that is such a minimal part of it as we know God will provide what we need. I know that, but the main reason I am having the shower is that anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE to have parties! I am excited to have friends and family together celebrating the life of this child. I had hoped one of the most important people in my life would have been involved, she thinks its a dumb idea, so, I'm doing it!

I will be posting photos soon of our Easter holiday. While we wanted to keep the holiday about God and the resurrection, we did cave beyond what we wanted to as unfortunately as commercialized Easter giving. Mostly because I have a shopping problem once I'm there... OOPS! As far as the family egg hunt I wanted to just do coins for the kids... I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE money... I was vetoed against so whatever they got chocolate, filled the eggs and we threw it away. We didn't throw it away because we are prudes who don't want our kids to have candy, but we just don't believe that they need excessive amounts of it! I should ALSO note that we are not people who don't celebrate holidays traditionally with gifts and parties, we do, BUT as we are finding God and our place within Him, I want to instill what these special days are truly are about.

The girls have been open enrolled into a new school district for next year. With the fact that our levy is probably not going to pass I had to take steps to ensure my children are well taken care of.  We shall how this goes. Since homeschooling is out of the option right now this is the best option for us.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Kate Gosselin.,its not an obession I just really like her parenting style and I truly believe she is an iconic woman. I've even taken up DWTS watching... and yes voting. Her new book will be released Tuesday... I'm totally buying it! Today TLC also annouced that Kate plus 8 and Twist of KAte will be hitting their line up this summer.  I am also a huge fan of Michelle Duggar. I am happy to know God has answered prayers and Josie Duggar has been released from the hospital. These iconic woman and mothers give me hope and direction along with God.

I told you this would be random! I am also working my laundry post... Stay tooned. Also watch for Not Me Monday...I'll be participating in come Monday.

Tis the season... (no not Christmas, but the Resurrection of Christ)

***********NOTE THIS WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BEFORE EASTER... PICTURES OF OUR COOKIES AND MORE TO COME, BUT SINCE THIS HAS BEEN IN DRAFTS I FIGURED I SHOULD POST IT! :)****************************************************************

As we continue to grow our marriage, our family, and our values we (my husband and I) have found that one than remains prevelant in our home, that is the influence and the power of God. This year as we are nearing the Resurrection of Christ we wanted to spend time with our children doing activities and speaking to them without necessarily preaching to them. Yesterday we began our 11 day journey to emphasize what this season means to us.

We have had the strange privelige to just have the oldest two girls the last few evenings. It has been quite strange to not have toddlers at my feet every moment. Thankfully Josh picked them back up this morning so all things will be normal again! :) Organized Chaos... tis bliss.

Last night we started our Resurrection egg series and started with one of our craft/food making projects. We made rainbow/play dough cookies. Now I know there are probably questions as to why or how these cookies fall into Easter and what not... Well here is my reasoning which makes only sense to me. :) When I think of Easter I think of Spring and the birds chirping, blue skies with puffy white clouds, and with all the rain showers (which bring May flowers:)) there are rainbows. I believe when you see a rainbow someone from above is sending you a message. In addition to this, it has been my vow to myself, to my kids, for my kids that I will let go of the Type A person that I am, release the reins a little bit and start engaging my children in projects. You know what? I found this amazingly enjoyable last night! I measured all of the ingredients before we started, for two reasons, 1.) I love when people do this in their photo-ops, and 2.) I wanted the process to flow and no fighting allowed. This proved to be very successful.

Each day it is my goal (maybe every couple) to post photos of our projects. Tonight we are finishing the cookies. They had to be refrigerated for 2 hours and once we had everything mixed up it was too late to make them and bake them.

Tonight we'll be finishing the cookies and doing the next part of the Resurrection Eggs.