Curtains

I started on some projects around here while Bill was in Phoenix. It kept me busy in the evenings. :D I wanted to add some color in our home, with all these brown, all-wood walls and ceilings. I decided to add some window treatments.

I started with three simple valances for Clayton and Riley's room that I made by just tearing apart the bed skirt that came with Claytons's new bedding - since bed skirts aren't needed on bunks. :D

The easiest room was the bathroom...just hanging a bamboo shade (and of course painting the bathroom, hanging a new shower rod, and a few new fixtures).


Then I experimented with a design all of my own for Ian and Hayden's room. Honestly, I didn't want to spend money on more rods. So for about $2.00, I got enough cup hooks to try something new.




Our bathroom has needed help for a long time, and I finally just started messing with it and designing it as I went. I shortened it a couple of time. :D My favorite part is the string of rocks I found.


Last, but not least, I finally - today- finished the troublesome kitchen shades that have taken me all over town looking for supplies. So, several hardware stores, fabric stores, a jewerly department, a bead store.....and a willing helper later ...



This was my first attempt at a roll-up shade. These Swedish shades were pretty easy to do - once I found all the supplies! It is also my surrender to the salmon orange kitchen cabinets that won't be going anywhere anytime soon.




I never found any shade pulls, other than the ordinary white plastic ones, so decided to string some beads on the end. It was a great finish.

Easter - from several perspectives

The week leading up to Easter pre-occupied my mind with many things - very few of them really having to do with Easter. Our dryer gave out. We had to decide weather or not to register Clayton at Charter again. We needed to get tires changed out. A brother had a birthday. Tornadoes terrorized friends in the south.

Friday, we went to church, but I never made it to service because I served the first hour and had a missions team the second hour. Realizing I was going to want to go back on Sunday, so I could attend an Easter service, I picked up a shirt for Clayton (since he has nothing even close to appropriate) and hose for me (since I haven't had use for any in quite some time). We went to an egg hunt in the pooring rain and then came home and prepared for Easter lunch with friends and a birthday party with family.

Riley was dragging himself around and complaining of sore legs. We figured he was over-tired and needed a nap, but after his nap he was still dragging and complaining and saying his side hurt. We discovered he had almost a 104 fever, so we called triage at the children's hospital where he had his surgery and they advised we have him screened for a kidney infection. Several hours later, after the ER and a long wait for a prescription, we came home with the simple diagnosis of Strep - though his throat still doesn't hurt. We are extremely grateful that the odd symptoms had nothing to do with his kidneys, but highly contagious strep suddenly cancelled all of our Easter plans.

So...to all of you who are missing the days festivities for motherly duties, take heart! God still has a Word for you.

This morning, I cuddled up on the couch to watch the account of the crucifixion on our Matthew DVD. We had put it on for movie night Friday night, but noone stayed awake long enough for the crucifixion. Something new about the Easter story hits me every year. This year, I was struck by Jesus' grief in the garden.

I wondered what was really at the root of all of his deep grief. He said he was sorrowful to the point of death. He was sweating drops of blood and pleading with God the Father for this cup to pass from Him. I wondered what about all of this was causing such deep grief? He was God in the flesh. He knew all things and I believe had inner strength unlike anyone on earth.

1. Was He simply grieving over the dread of the torterous pain He was about to experience? I know I would, but I have a hard time believing that was really the major thing on His mind?
2. Was He grieving over knowing that the sins of all mankind - past, present, and future, would all be laid on Him....the guilt, the emotional sorrow, the sickness, the dirty feeling, the heart-pounding consequences. He knew no sin, and yet was about to experience all of the sin of the whole world. That had to be agonizing.
3. Then I wondered....if all of that wasn't enough, was He grieving because He knew that when all of that sin was on Him, He would be separated from His Father. Having never sinned, He knew no such separation. Everything He did, His Father did through Him. The were intimately and uniquely connected.

I've never experienced that kind of physical pain. I know what kind of grief and guilt and sickness overtakes me when I am sinning, but I can't imagine the weight of the sin of the world. What really strikes me, though, is that I often don't even sorrow over being disconnected from the Father. There are times that I feel disconnected, and just apathetically assume it is just a phase or a season that will pass. I'm not sure I truly grieve over it. But our perfect, innocent Jesus (I'm convinced), couldn't bear the thought of knowing He would be separated by sin from His Father, even for a short period of time.

Oh, how I want to be grieved by that.

Fun with the kids

Our fun little treat this year was to make cream puffs. They really are quite simple, and it is fun to tie some illustrations to them.

To make the dough:

Bring to a boil:

1/2 c. butter, 1 c. of water, and 1/8 t. salt

When it begins to boil, quickly stir in 1 c. flour until it forms a ball. Take it off the stove and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then stir in four eggs, 1 at a time, until you have a smooth dough. Drop by small spoonfuls on to greased cookie sheets and bake for about 25 min. at 400 degrees (or until golden brown).

The kids will love seeing the little plops of dough puff up. Explain how they remind you of little tombs. Then cut the tops of and show that they are empty on the inside. (They may not be completely empty...and you will have to hollow them out a little).

We then used aerosol whipped cream and squirted them full and put their tops on. You can explain how we are so empty without Jesus, but He fills us up with good stuff. If you want, you can even go further when you put the tops on and explain how we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Then simply sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate.

Showers and Bread Machines

Ah! We've finally had two pretty spring days - IN A ROW!! There is nothing like sitting out in the sun to blog with my laptop...after brining out the cushions for the lawn chairs and relaxing with my coffee and a book!

So some funnies with Ian this morning:

Ian had pushed four beanbags and the entire stuffed animal collection down the laundry chute last night. So this morning, I told him that before he could play anything else, he had to pick that stuff up. The whining began:

"I'm so bored! All I ever do is work! Driving kids around, cooking dinner, all that stuff is fun. Everything you get to do is fun!...and all I do is work!!"

Which was followed by some comments while I sat in the sun with my book as he helped dad fill holes in the driveway. "OH! I get it! The boys all have to work, and all the girls have to do is relax!"

This if course was followed by me making breakfast, folding a couple of loads of laundry, making cinnamon rolls for tomorrow, and doing my 30 minutes of doctor-mandated exercise....which followed yesterday's helping the boys with their room, changing bedding, washing sheets, doing about 7 loads of laundry, cleaning both bathrooms, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning our bedroom, making lunch, paying the bills, and balancing the checkbook. I just giggled! Yep! Boys have to do ALLL the work. Girls just get to relax!

I FINALLY HAVE A BREAD MACHINE.

Several years ago, my mother-in-law gifted me with her family-size breadmachine, as she had replaced it with a smaller, camper-friendly version. I had never used one, but fell in love and quickly begin making my own pizza crust, bread, cinnamon rolls, and became slightly famous for my dinner rolls. I used it to death! Literally! One day, though it had never even moved a bit on the counter, it totally jiggled itself off the counter and landed on the tile. The lid and front panel broke off, but I put it back together and it still worked for months. Then one day, we all smelled smoke. We were dashing around the house trying to figure out what was burning. It was the bread machine. She was done.

This Christmas I was given a $50 gift certificate to Kohl's, so I kept my eye on their bread machine, waiting for a sale, and those famous 15% off coupons. I finally hit the jackpot. It was on sale, I had a coupon, and it was only going to cost me an additional $20. Woohoo! So I ordered it. I got a ship date, and a tracking number. A couple of weeks later, I decided to track it. UPS had no record of the package. I contacted Kohl's.com and they told me that they were out of stock. "But you said you already shipped it!" "Well, they are out of stock. We can refund you." "But most of it was paid with a gift card." "Well, we can send you a new gift card." "But I won't get that price again."Being in the customer service profession, I was slightly annoyed with having a different person reply to each e-mail I sent. Noone was following this through and taking care of it. It was simply being randomly answered by whoever got it next. I ended up with a credit on my card, no gift card, and no bread machine. Grr!

So last week, I got in the mail a 30% off coupon for Kohl's. I really do love Kohl's, but I really didn't want to order it online again. So I saw they had bread machines back in stock online. But it wasn't on sale. The next week it was on sale, so I called the store and asked if they had any in stock. He said he had one, and I asked him if he could hold it for me for an hour. I gave him my sob story about trying to get one since Christmas. He said "Really?! How 'bout I mark it down another 10-15% for your trouble." Did I mention that I love Kohl's. I told him that would be awesome and went to pick it up from customer service. He had marked it 20% off! So! It was on sale, then he marked off 20%. Then I had another 30% off coupon. I got the bread machine for $45!! vs. $89....and my first batch of cinnamon rolls are rising for the oven.

So this morning, I had just started my shower when the infamous knocking on the door began. It caused me to wonder, which plan worked better? The "prepare everyone that I'm taking a shower, and I'll be done in just a second" plan - so they know where I am and don't worry about anything? Or the "sneek to the shower quickly while everyone is busy and hope I can get out before anyone notices I'm gone and have any need to track me down" plan?

Now obviously the plan one chooses has a bit to do with the age of the children you are leaving outside the shower. But at this stage in my life, I've decided that usually sneeking through is the best plan. That got me thinking about how God is with us. We often think that if we just knew His plan, we would be able to deal with things - if we just knew what He was up too. But I'm convinced, that when God reveals to me what He is up to, I pester more. "How long is it going to take? When are you going to take care of this? You said you would do this. Why aren't you doing it?" But, if God sneeks behind the scenes and prepares things without me knowing, and then"Boom!" its ready....I'm just thrilled and excited have never dealt with the impatience. Either way, He is doing the same work behind the scenes....but with the latter scenario I'm not pestering him to pieces.

Just my random thought for the day.

Lots of Randomness

I haven't been on here for a while. My computer has been being held ransom after work hours by my adoring husband - a phenomenom that happens every time he needs to buy something. So, today, my poor computer has been released because we've finally replaced the Subaru.

If any of you have any experience shopping for used cars, you know what a horror that is. If any of you have experience shopping for used cars with four boys in tow...well...let's just say that if you don't - don't try. It takes a whole night to look at a car, because nothing is close in location. So by the time you drive to Spokane or Athol or Deer Park or wherever, you've wasted a bunch a gas, and you have to buy dinner and hang out at the McDonald's playground to reward the kids for their time in the car - though we won't say anything about their "behavior."

But when you are like us -buying used, on a low budget, your options are limited, and you find yourself in some interesting situations. "Yeah, its a deer magnet. We've hit a few." "Did I say I hated to let it go? I meant I bought it at an auction last week to make a quick buck." "Yeah, it's a great, clean rig. (except for the part where we saudered in new little square pannels because the locks were busted)."






SO ANYWAY...I'm really glad to have this done and over with. We have let go of the Subaru Wagon that noone around here ever really fell in love with and replaced it with an older model Honda Passport. Now we find ourselves with two '99 vehicles that both need some identical work, and it would be great if we could find some places that offered 2 for 1 tire sets, 2 for 1 wiper motors, 2 for 1 windshields, etc. Oh, such is the life! But we feel very blessed as God totally protected us from ourselves by giving us that uneasy feeling before we almost purchased another vehicle. We bought this one from Christians, and the guy told Bill that he'd had it for sale for two weeks (we never saw it listed until yesterday). He said he'd had lots of calls and a few come look at it, but just didn't feel like pushing it. Today, when Bill called, he felt like God was saying to do whatever he could to help us get this "rig." (Sorry, it is Idaho for vehicle). He took much less than he was asking, and we believe we got a good "rig."


In other news:

• It is still cold!! It has snowed almost every day this week - then the sun might come out later. Maybe.


• The boys all went to the dentist today. Their teeth all look terrible, and I told them before they left (certain I wouldn't have to honor it) that I thought I was going to start giving cash for "no cavity" dentist visits. Would you believe three of them were cavity free??!! Did I say "cash"? Umm....well, let me think about it a bit. (grimace.)


• I hit a spectacular sale at Albertson's last week. It was 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal for $5, and if you bought 7 boxes, you got 3 gallons of free milk. So I got 21 boxes of cereal, 9 gallons of milk, oatmeal, flax meal, and something else all for about $36!! I came home and quickly dumped it all in the hallway and asked the boys to help put the cereal in the cold cellar for me because I had to get to work. I went to the cellar later to get something, and this is what I found. Thanks guys!

• We now have pictures of the cyst from Bill's leg. I won't post them, as some may really not care to be exposed, but let me know if you want to see. Mwahhaaa!


• Ian has now turned 7, and we had a very fun dress up party. His friends came as any character they wanted, and we made a movie. We had, ahead of time, edited a photo to turn Ian into the Hulk and had it put on his cake. This is the first time EVER I've not made my kids' cake. But with Bill's surgery the same weekend, I gave myself an out.

Click here for a cute little slideshow of all of our "characters."

• We got to hear baby Brandel's heartbeat this week!!! and I've gotten to shop with maternity clothes for Michelle. It is so fun to see her in maternity clothes! Bill tried to buy some little girl's socks at Old Navy the other night...just in hopes!
• I'm so glad to be walking again. It is amazing how every winter I'm ready to move downtown and have neighbors, and as it warms up, and I can walk....I never want to leave this place. As I ventured out for my first walk and God-talk for the season, I saw a tree, with a heart scraped into the bark. I grinned and thought about how even nature shows their love for God, but on my last pass by it, I heard God say to me, "No, you don't understand. I had that done for you this winter. Welcome back!"