Ran out of good post headings a long time ago :)

One day I'll be a creative writer. Until then, you get the same boring stuff, written in the same dull form.  I always think up my posts so creatively in my head and then when I sit down to type them up I get stuck in the same ol' rut. Maybe its because I'm always in a hurry. Or its taken so long to get the pictures together that by the time they're ready, I'm ready to be off the computer. Or maybe I'm just not as creative as I like to think I am in my head :)


I finally got around to making my laundry soap. I was actually kinda waiting until I ran out of soap so I could use the container :) Here you have it.

Is it really worth it? Sounds like a lot of work, right? Wrong. 

First off, I don't have the exact prices in front of me, but I already had the oxyclean, vinegar (SavMor sale--I haven't bought any of this since we were married other than at the sale. So basically pennies), and the essential oil. Had that forever actually.  For this project I specifically bought the washing soda (meant to, but came home with the baking soda instead so just used a diff recipe), Borax, and Fels-Naptha laundry bar.  Borax & Soda were right at a couple dollars each. Bar soap was .97 Not bad. So far, between the powdered & liquid detergents, I have made enough for about 80 loads. And you see all the left over stuff I have? I think we're talking about 1-2 cents per load. TOTALLY worth it since we do laundry daily now, and sometimes multiple times a day.  I know, that's nothing compared to you folks with lots of kids, but compared to the once weekly we used to do . . .. 

AND besides being worth the money, it was easy, and a lot of fun to do. Not sure why. Maybe it just makes me feel like a good homemaker even though I'm not one :) Shall I tell you how many times I've pulled the liquid stuff out of the pantry and poured a little into the cap then back to the jug just to admire it and make sure it really worked?? No, I shall not tell you. Its fun. Trust me. (warning: if you try this at home your spouse may laugh at you ) :) I have done one load with it and the clothes came out clean. That's the best part of it all! :-) 

And because no post is complete with out pictures of my cutie pie . . . (the little cutie pie, that is. No pics of the big one this time)

It really is starting to feel more like fall every day! I can't wait to get some fall decorating done around here. Fall is one thing I will definitely miss in Australia. So I'm taking in each day and enjoying it to the fullest here. :) Don't we have such an awesome (in the right sense) Creator? 

Just love enjoying the crisp breeze,

 beautifully 

                            colored

 falling 

                         leaves,

 and the squirrels scurrying around with acorns in their mouths. 

So much to be thankful for!

Our Adventures

Caleb loves getting a few minutes with daddy before he goes to work in the mornings. He's not super awake here, but precious anyway. One of these days I'm gonna take pictures outside or without flash so he can keep a smile and not have the "deer in the headlights" look.

Early morning shaving with daddy

 This kid is a spit-up monster. (Oops, sorry, GJ! I mean monster in the most endearing way possible!! He's precious!! :)

I put this bib on him to catch all his spit-up (its getting ridiculous! and I'm having to wash EVERYTHING--including the walker seat, etc) but he thought it would be more fun to chew on it . . . .

until he saw the camera. Then we can try to grab and chew on that!

I gave up on the bib. He falls over. Notice the mouth. See? Told you he's a spitter! :)

 Our dear mother made me some GF baking mix with her new machine and gave me some recipes with it. You know its not bad when even David will eat the GF stuff! :)

My first attempt at gluten free choc chip cookes. David even likes them! :)

AND, and apple crisp. Because the neighbors brought freshly picked apples. And the weather was in the 70s-- that's *almost* fall, right??

Last night poor mom came and baby sat Caleb while David & I went the the Weecycled consignment sale. Our sweet boy messed up his schedule in the afternoon. He was supposed to eat shortly before mom came, then go to bed for the night and we'd have no time limit on returning. Well, he decided to eat an hour + early, then take a short nap and see if g'ma could keep him happy until mom and dad returned. He's got enough fat reserves I'm sure he wouldn't starve, but you know . . .  It was our first time to this particular sale and it was only opened for new parents/grandparents so you had to stand in line and show your printed e-mail letter of confirmation. The line was AGES long! Took us a good 20 min to get in and all they were doing was taking the letter at the door, like a ticket.  Then there was SO much stuff it took forever to go through and I think we stood in the check-out line for at least 30 min. They had about 8 people working registers, but wow.  We got some really good deals and came home with a few things accidently. Including a cute little tux for Caleb that I meant to show David but not keep. Oh well. Guess he'll be well dressed for your wedding, Jon! :) He should be good to go for the winter. We're only missing a good church outfit, so I'll check Ashley's (HWGA) sale for that next month. We got a baby monitor set to use at church during teen activities/fellowships. We currently use our phones (put one on speaker in the sleeping baby room and keep one with us), but this will be better.

Some of our loot from the consignment sale

Can't remember if I mentioned our dishwasher going crazy last week, but Jackie decided to install a new one for us. It came this morning!! Please pray for the guy who installed it. We had a good talk-- I wasn't able to give him the gospel straight-forward (as in I Cor 15:3-4), but talked a lot about religion in Bulgaria, what he's thinks of religion in general, a relationship with Christ,  life after death, etc. He is from Bulgaria (hence I can't remember his name), as is his wife. He said they've had lots of people invite them to church and they've gone to several, but have decided they are just not religious. They had some Mormon friends evangelize them extensively and he said they always give a polite hearing b/c they don't want to offend. I was his first job of the day so didn't want to detain him, but I had mentioned (in a discussion on large families) that my SIL had passed away last year and when he left I gave him her pamphlet. He seemed very touched and said he would find it very interesting to read. I did put our e-mail on there in case he ever wanted to contact us. Pray for him!

Our Busy Life :)

This past Sunday (a week ago) we started teaching the 5-6 grade SS class. We have 28-30 kids in the class! We really enjoyed our first week. Our classroom is small and we had to add chairs a couple times as people kept coming in. We have a good group of kids and we're excited to see how the Lord grows them and us over the next 2 years of working together. I am especially burdened for this age group since I was saved in 6th grade. David shared his testimony with them last Sunday, and I'll be sharing mine tomorrow. Very excited about that!

David had his first full week of classes and is pretty excited about them. He did have to go in to work extra early (leaving between 7-7:10 most mornings) to get in his time, esp. b/c he had a long lunch with Pastor Rush on Tuesday. 

Thursday evening Jake & Liz Swanson, our neighbors, watched Caleb for a couple hours so we could go on a date. That was really nice. We weren't sure where to go for free, so ended up walking the Swamp Rabbit trail and talking, then got an ice dream at Chic-fil-a (they are gluten free and dairy . .  well, I'm eating it sparingly ;-). 

We both taught at teen club last night, and then attended our first teen activity today. It was 7th grade initiation, which is always fun :) There are 16 new 7th graders!!! The activity began at 8:15 with work around the church. David was in charge of mopping the choir loft and choir room (with a team of 4 guys) which included moving and replacing all the platform chairs, mics, etc. I had a team of 4 girls and we cleaned ALL the baseboards in the building, erased scuff marks, etc. 

The second half of the activity was at the park where we played a couple games, had lunch and the Bible challenge, then initiated 7th graders and played another game before heading back to church at 2.  

Caleb did *not* sleep much :( He did fall asleep in one of the teens arms during lunch, so I laid him in his stroller where he slept for about 25 min or so. By the time he got home to take  a nap he would have normally slept at least 4-5 hrs of his day. I think this will be good for him, and for us. :) He did GREAT even without sleep. He was so sweet and calm and never made a fuss. LOVE that kid :)

No, he's not eating baby food yet, but I started making/freezing some. We plan to start him at 6 months. He would LOVE to eat!! I did let him taste this when I made it and he about attacked me for more. He's always reaching for our food and making chewing motions/noises.  Hmmmm, our fat kid just might get fatter ;-)

Its hard to believe that our baby boy turned 5 months on Wednesday!! I'm sure he's close to 18lbs or more by now.  He has found his feet and can spend minutes on end just looking them over and playing with them. Precious! :-) We love every minute with him and thank the Lord for him constantly. We have truly been blessed beyond measure!

Tomorrow starts PACE for the youth group, and we have a youth workers meeting after church in the evening. Next Sunday is the parent/teen meeting. Here we go full steam ahead! :) And loving it! The Lord has been gracious to give us so many valuable opportunities for learning in ministry here.