Encourage your children to think beyond presents this holiday season. Give a child water. Water changes everything.
instafriday
August 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
Hello, Friday!
Let’s take a look at our week via instagram, shall we?
The boys made us their “special” lemonade…
We worked on our projects… okay, well mainly my husband worked on the chicken living situation.
BUT, I was busy turning this old family writing desk into a beautiful dresser in our foster care room! It’s perfectly imperfect and I love it!
Speaking of foster care, our life has been busy with our little foster baby. It’s so much fun to watch her learn and grow. It’s amazing all that she has picked up in the last few weeks.
She stands next to furniture!
The twins read her books…
And Averie and I have soooooo much fun clothes-shopping for her!
Christy and I found these “vintage” desks for giveaway while we were visiting my Dad. I grabbed two for the twins and she grabbed two to haul down to Texas. The boys are loving them!
Linking up with Life Rearranged.
it worked for me! {what to do with those yucky, almost-gone candles}
August 15, 2012 By 2 Comments
I love candles! I enjoy having the fragrant smells permeate my home and make it feel oh-so-cozy. What I don’t love, though, is the nasty leftovers left in the jar when the candle is burnt down to the end. I have jars and jars of candles like this. Instead of throwing yet another jar away, I decided to take action and make those babies sparkle again!
What to do:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Peel off stickers and labels. {yeah, I obviously got a C- on this part}
Line baking tray with foil or wax paper.
Place candles upside down on tray.
Bake until all the wax drips out… warning: your house will smell FANTASTIC!
Let the jars cool, then handwash or run for a cycle in the dishwasher.
Use your new spotless jars to hold all your household treasures, craft supplies, beauty products, etc!
Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
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it worked for me! {stinky towels, no more}
August 12, 2012 By 5 Comments
Stinky, smelly not-so-fresh towels. You all know what I mean. Those towels that no matter how many times you wash them, or how many fabric sheets you stick in the dryer, they just stink. Or, maybe they smell almost-fresh coming out of the dryer, but the second they get wet, that mildew, musty smell is back.
Maybe you left a load overnight in your washer and they haven’t been the same since?
Maybe your front-loading washer doesn’t live up to all the hype?
I’ve tried washing machine cleaner.
I’ve tried adding plain white vinegar to my machine.
Nope. Still funky.
I saw this on Pinterest the other day and decided it was worth a shot.
What to do:
Wash a load of towels in hot water and 1 cup of vinegar. Don’t add detergent. When that load is finished, run the towels through another cycle on hot, this time adding 1/2 cup of baking soda.
Guess what?!
It’s a miracle. My husband will not be bitching about stinky towels any time soon. They smell FRESH and LOVELY! Amen!
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grabbing life by the horn{worm}s
July 17, 2012 By 6 Comments
Does it seem to you that time is flying by at epic speeds? Or is it just me?
I’ve been meaning to write about our trip to Florida. How the massive crowds at the theme parks made me want to stab people, but then the last few days at our favorite beach town soothed my soul {and feet}.
I was planning on writing about how awesome the kids did in school this year. They are some smart little cookies, you know.
I had intentions of writing about foster care. We are officially a licensed foster family now, since April. We waited and waited for our phone to ring, and wouldn’t you know it, as we were in Florida going through the security line for Disney World, we got a call for two little girls. It didn’t work out and they weren’t placed with us, but a few weeks ago, we finally had our first placement. She is the most adorable baby and we are enjoying loving on her!
Did I mention that I survived another year of the three-kids’-birthdays-in-five-days week? Just barely. We pulled it off, though, and I now have TWO teenagers. Lord, help me.
Our oldest is taking his driver’s road test next week. Lord, help me.
Oh, and today I discovered these beasts {tomato hornworms} mooching off my tomato plants. Okay, more like devouring them. What the hell. Don’t mess with my tomaters.
So, like I said. I’ve been meaning to share all these things with you; but, I’m kind of tired. This having five kids thing is kind of exhausting. And awesome.
something i did {you capture}
June 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
We have had some big, exciting weeks around here lately. I love summertime!
We have been playing with my chickens {I love them!}. They are amazing to watch. Really.
We bought 47 acres.
Oh, and we went to Florida. Rollercoasters and theme parks, followed by many days relaxing in the sand and chasing lizards.
Linking up to You Capture!
Baby Tesher
May 10, 2012 By 1 Comment
When my friend Amy asked me to take baby photos for her, I said yes immediately. Hello! BABY! I love babies! And then I thought, WAIT. I’ve never photographed a baby before. Crap. The day came, I cranked my heat to 80 and created backdrops by turning my furniture at weird angles in my living room in front of our big picture window. I envisioned a sleepy baby that would handle posing and fiddling and never wake up. Bahahaha! First off, let me say that Tesher is one of the cutest babies ever. He is totally squeezable and ohmygoodness that hair! Secondly, I clearly had no clue. The baby slept all of maybe ten minutes during our few hours together? Please note, that he fell asleep after the shoot and slept the entire time while we went out to eat. Nevertheless, he was perfect and beautiful and I was able to get some awesome shots! I hope you love them, Amy! Thanks for letting me play with your sweet little bebe!
