cloth diapers!

I recieved a package of cloth diapers today. I am so excited. I had orginally decided to go with prefolds and diaper covers to save money. When I tried the different prefolds, I really liked the hemp which cost more. In fact, when I looked into perchasing the diaper covers and hemp liners, I realized that I was going to spend almost as much as buying the pocket diapers! So I ordered a pack of 6. My biggest frustation is probably the prewashing required when you get them. I want to put them on and use them now. Who wants to wash and dry them 5 times?
Anyways, I am very excited about them.

this week!

This has been a week where I really just want to stay in my room and not come out! I have Bells Palsy which I can not take anything to speed up the recovery because I am nusring Sarah. That means that anything that uses the right side of my face it difficult. I don't smell or taste (makes washing out messy diapers and underware more pleasant). My eyes adjust to light at different rates so this causes a headache and my right is very red which freaks the kids out. I have to use eye drops to keep it moist but it still feels like an piece of old discarded fruit. Talking and chewing are difficult. Some of my words are slurred and I get tired if I talk too much. Yelling at the kids is almost impossible. Food gets stuck on the right side of my mouth and I have to push it out with my fingers. My right ear continues to be sensitive to sounds. I should start getting better in a couple of weeks to three months!
Then we have the broken window to deal with. The glass has to be ordered and will not be in until late next week!
And we have Eric's contining education this weekend, which has to be done before Tuesday when his linscense expires. This morning I found an email from them that said the couse was cancelled! After much scrambling, we did find another course to cover his needed hours but we have to pay for it too! $$$$$
Eric had a flat yesterday when he tried to leave for work!

So all in all, it has been a tough week but yet I can see how God has been able to orchaeate things to work out in our favor in a way that we did not expect.

Zoo!

Zoo trip at last!

W finally made it to the zoo on a free day! We made it like two hours before closing but we made it. We whipped through the new children's area that we hadn't seen and then all the way to the back of the zoo to see the elephants!

These are some pictures that Qorban took with his DSI

Today has been a day!

Today has been a difficult day. I did go to the walk in clinic today to see about my ear and the bells palsy. Cannot do anything cause I do not want to give up nursing Sarah. So we will just wait for it to run its couse and hope that is not too long. They flushed my ears out and boy did that hurt on my right ear. The good news is that is feels like it relieved pressure in my ear so maybe that will speed up my recovery.
This evening, Caleb threw a chunk of bark through Liliana's bedroom window. I told the landlord that we would pay for the window but they can not fix it until tomorrow and we are in for a thunderstorm tonight. Got cardboard up over the broken part of the glass...
Trying to get kids to clean is probably sending my blood pressure through the roof!

chores

Once again, I am trying to get kids to do chores. I am assigning a room to each of the three older kids for a week to clean. This week, I assigned Liliana the living room to pick up and vaccum, Caleb the kitchen to pick up the floor and sweep, and Qorban the bathroom to wipe down. Next week they will switch rooms. I am going to come up with 5 weekly tasks to be done in each zone that can be done one each day like dusting, cleaning out couch, wiping down light switches and doors, wiping down cabinets and cleaning glass.
Right now, it is Saturday and the bathroom has been wiped down which was pretty easy cause I broke the pipe a couple of days ago and so the floor was throughly cleaned. I did the tub this week and since I have been cleaning out cloth diapers, the toilet looks good almost all the time.It is hard for me to keep kids doing their chores and not just do them for them.

Bells Palsy?

I have been having trouble with my right ear for a while. It felt stuffy at first, then it started hurting a week or so ago. Then, it felt like the loud noises the kids make just go right in my ear with out anything to buffer them. This means that loud noises, screams or crying, hurt really bad. I goggled ear ache relief and have tried warm olive oil, warm compresses and alcohol in and around my ears. Yesterday morning, I tried to eat part of Liliana's apple and it tasted funny. Last night, my ear felt numb instead of hurting so I thought it was getting better. Eric said that my left eye was partly open and blinking nonstop like. I said my eyes felt the same but maybe I was just so tired. I went to bed. Today, foods especially fruits and chips taste funny. I can not close my mouth right when I get a drink so that liquid just leaks back out of my mouth and my lips are numb. I can close my right eye but I have to think about it. My right ear continues to hurt.

diaper sprayer

I have decided to use cloth diapers mostly with Sarah although we are still using disposible at night and when supplies are in the wash. I bought a diaper sprayer after hearing from Christina how great hers was and reading on line what a help they are and how easy they are to install. So mine arrived yesterday. I was excited. When Christopher went to sleep, I went to work. I successfully drained the toilet tank and unhooked the supply line from the bottom of the tank. Then I tried to loosen the line from the water pipe behind the toilet. The first attempted twist sheered the pipe off inside the wall. Water was spraying out at an amazing speed. After a panicked call to our landlord which went to voicemail, I went out and looked at the water meter. Then ran back inside and grabbed my adjustable wrench from the flooded bathroom. I managed to shut the water off at the water meter to stop the flow. We cleaned up as best we could. We spent last night in a hotel so we would have running water. Losing running water brought so many things to a screeching halt in our life. I had run dish water in one sink but had no rinse water. I had hamburger meat defrosting in the other sink. I had the boys strip their beds and washed their sheets and blankets. I put Sarah back in disposible diapers. Not to mention the obvious, no one could go to the bathroom or really even brush teeth!
Today, a guy came to fix my mess. He spent most of the morning fixing the pipe and at one point thought he might have to remove the whole toilet but managed to fix it by cutting a hole in the wall.
The diaper sprayer, now hooked up, is amazing for cleaning out cloth diapers. I think it will be great for potty training Christopher too.
Also, an added bonus is that our toilet now stops running after it is flushed. We just might see a drop in our water bill!

blessings

My kids and I have not had a cold or really been sick in any other way except for Caleb's ear infection since my 36 week of pregnancy and Sarah is just over a month old now. That is the hand of God!

failings

Wednesday nights message was about it is ok to fail. It is not ok not to try. We have convinced ourselves that it is only ok to do something if we have all the answers and a garentee that it will work. We do not step out to do something cause we do not know everything first. We forget that so many of the great people of the past were great failures before they succeede so big. They just did not give up. Edison tried 1000 ways to invent a lighbulb. So many great politians of the past didn't get elected to anything until the right moment but they ran for lots of offices and never ever gave up their dreams.
It is ok if my kids are not perfect. It is ok to let them fail. It is important that they and I learn to try and not give up!
Nothing will happen if we step out in faith and fall flat on our faces. The great harm would be if we did not get back up!

Sarah's first walk

Great imaginations at work

Memories

I just want to remember the time Liliana and Christopher were walking up the driveway. When I asked them where they were going, she replied, "We are in outer space and going for a walk on Venus."

When I asked Qorban what 3x4 was and he said, "Well, it is not 8."

How Christopher likes to pull Sarah's bow down into one eye and say "grr, she is a pirate." Guess that is a step up from taking it off and saying she told him she does not like it.

Wonder what it means if a child constantly checks the same books out from the library? Caleb use to check out the same two Thomas the train books from the Cushing library for over a year. I use to turn them in after story hour so that he had to pick different books every other week. Now he is checking out the same books from the new library. Getting really tired of reading them!

An educational experience!

Sam P 4th birthday at Chuck E Cheese

Christmas 2012

Sarah's birth

Sarah was our first home birth. It was a beautiful thing to be able to be in the comfort of our own home. Everyone got to see her right after she was born. There was no fussing with security issuses. We had a wonderful midwife who came to ur house.

proud siblings

We welcomed Sarah to our family in December 2011. She has been a delight and everyone has enjoyed spending time with her.