January?

2013?  Seriously?  I can’t believe that 2012 is over!  Where did it go?  And can you believe the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had over the last week or so here?  Is it really January?  But I’m not complaining.  I hate summer heat, but this warm spring-like weather is just gorgeous!  So, I figured we’d better make the best of it while we can J.

You know you live in Florida when you can spend a few January afternoons like this.

The boys and I really enjoyed the THREE days that we went to Carrabelle Beach.  Nothing like a little solar Cymbalta (or homeopathic Prozac) in the middle of January.  Ahhhhh....

 

It's back to cold again today, though (but I'm still not complaining---remember I hate the summer heat!). 

Christmas has come and gone and, as far as I know, the gifts I made went over well (see previous post to view them).  Whew!  Jonah thoroughly enjoys his tent (or Bat-Cave as he calls it).  And while Levi does not have his own room to put his bookends and shadowbox in yet, I hope he will enjoy them even more once they’re displayed in his own personal space.  I’m praying that the nieces and nephews have found use for their things as well.  I enjoyed making them all!

 

I was reading this morning about how a new-found friend of mine re-uses things.  It made me a little sad that I don’t come up with more uses for normally discarded items myself.  We are very good about not wasting food around here, but I seldom find uses for things such as bottles, cans and boxes that just get tossed.  Thankfully, we now have recycling in this county, so I don’t feel quite as bad about how quickly we fill up a trash can (or recycle box as the case may be), but maybe I’ll put a little more thought into finding ways to make use of those items more often. 

 

Here are a few things I’ve re-used or re-purposed recently, but feel free to share ideas with me as I endeavor to continue to try to reduce, reuse, and repurpose.

Jonah’s new “art tray” made from a large cookie sheet and some washed out and spary painted vegetable cans.  That boy loves to draw and create.  There are magnets glued to the cookie sheet to hold the cans in place somewhat while still allowing them to be easily removed for use in other places.  I have not found a magnetic container for the glues thus far, but this plastic container fits perfectly and is something I already had here at the house.

 

 

These are the calming jars I originally made for my boys back in the summer (from jelly jar and baby food jar).

 

 

And this is a scarf rack I made from a cheap curtain rod (café rod it may be called) and some shower curtain hooks.

 

It’s a start!

Meager Christmas; or is it?

Well, like everyone else, money is tight this year, so hmmmm… what am I going to do about Christmas presents? 

Fortunately in our families, we only buy for “the little ones” so that helps make things a little less straining on the ol’ bank account, but there are 8 kids all together, so still a little stressful sometimes.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE getting things for the kids, but sometimes it can get to be overwhelming.  This year it was proving to be even harder with money tighter than usual. 

PINTEREST.com to the rescue!  Yep, I MADE all the gifts this year.  And though I started out thinking how meager and pitiful it was going to be (and praying all the nieces & nephews forgave me), they turned out quite well if I do say so myself.  Here’s a peek at what I made, but shhhh… don’t tell the kids who haven’t gotten theirs yet (it’s Christmas eve as I type).

 

I started with calming jars for all the kids over the age of five. 

I found these adorable light-bulb shaped jars at Hobby Lobby and just HAD to find something to do with them!  Calming jars are really cool!  They’re basically jars (of any sort) filled with water, glitter and clear glue or glitter glue (food coloring optional).  The idea is when you’re upset, you shake it up and watch everything settle (and don’t respond until all has settled).  I made them for the kids, but probably need one for myself (I keep wondering when my kids are going to offer theirs to me—I made some for them back in the summer out of jelly jars).

 

Next I made themed wooden letters (first letter of their name) for the older nieces and nephews.  Of course I tried to personalize them with things I knew each child was interested in.  No, I didn’t intend to spell the word “sobs”, but hoping that’s not the sound they all make when they open their gifts!

I also made wooden inspirational blocks for each child according to their interests (designed each one on my computer after “stealing” the wording from the internet).

Next up came the “material presents”. 

First, scarves for the girls (Jonah was my model for the picture) and hand warmers for the boys.  Fortunately, both nieces like camouflage, so that made it easier (and cheaper) to just buy one material for all.

I made this Batman cape and mask for Jonah (he is going to be so thrilled!).  I’m not a huge super-hero fan and generally don’t allow such things around here, but yep, I caved!  On the up-side, the only Batman show they’ve ever seen is the original (I guess it’s the original) from back in the 60’s that plays on ME-TV and Jonah just LOVES Batman now.  I don’t think they have a clue what the modern Batman is like.

I also gave each niece (and my mom) a container of Peppermint Lip Balm I made from genuine shea butter amongst other things.  Then I made Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub for the kids’ Sunday school teachers, p.e. coach, speech teacher and my mom.

For Levi, I made this baseball shadow box and, with the help of my dad, these baseball bookends.

Here’s a look at the assembled gifts for the older nieces & nephews.

Last, but not least, with lots of help from my dad (he made the frames) I made these cute pup-tents for the younger nephews (and Jonah).  Jonah is pictured “modeling” the tent here, but I have to tell you the story behind (or should I say after?) this picture.

I realized there was no way to “hide” these tents from him since we’d be giving one to the nephews before Christmas day so Jonah would see them then.  So, after getting it put together, I just left it in the living room for the boys to see when they came home from hunting.  Jonah came in and got all excited about it until he realized it was not for him.  When I said that these were for Cayden & Aaron, Jonah added, “And maybe I’ll get one too!” To which I responded, “Why would you get one?” (with much seriousness).

The boys went on to take a shower and shortly Levi came out of the bathroom saying that Jonah was not coming out of the tub because (in Jonah’s words) “no one loved him or even liked him”.  Levi said, “I told him you and Dad loved him, but he just said no they don’t because no one is getting me anything.” –OH did I fail to mention that I’d told the boys weeks ago that we may not buy them anything due to money?  They were perfectly okay with that until now ;)

Isn’t Jonah going to be surprised when he gets up Christmas morning to see HIS pup-tent in the living room (with the garnet sheet he picked out thinking it was for his bed I’m sure)?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!  And please don’t forget the real reason for the season.

Home Made

We still haven't gotten Levi's bites/eczema under control completely

 but I sure am feeling like Suzy-home-maker while trying! 

 

I started with making a lotion "bar" (and chap stick).

 

Then I made him some soap.

He said it was a little "weird" (with the oatmeal in it), but I think we've all grown to love it!  --Except Jonah, that is, who says he can't stand to look at it because it looks like "throw-up".

 

 

Next, I moved on to making cream/ointment (not sure what to call it).

 

I've made a few different batches of this stuff (trying to figure out the best approach).  I think I like this one the best, and yea, you guessed it... it's one I just threw stuff in and so I don't remember exactly what and how much!  No worries, I'll have fun experimenting all over again when I get my real/pure Shea butter!

 

As so often is the case when I get on a roll.... I just kept rolling!

I made laundry soap...

 

Another lotion bar (or ointment or cream or whatever you want to call it) in a deodorant container (because Levi hates to get the creams and lotions on his hands).

 

and hand soap & dish soap (these are mostly for me!)

 

I'm quite enjoying myself and can't wait to decide what to make next!

FYI: nieces & nephews may be getting home-made stuff for Christmas this year ($$ is tight around here), so be warned (and feel free to chime in with suggestions)!

 





Our Little Writer

Jonah has always had a great imagination (unlike anyone else in this family).  He has always told us great stories (whether we wanted to hear them or not).  About a week ago he "wrote" this story and I'm just so impressed I want to share.  I even had to assure Jake that I had NOT directed him or corrected him at all (which should've been obvious by the time he got to the "scarder and scarder" line).  I simply wrote down, word-for-word, what Jonah dictated after he drew the pictures (he drew the pictures, brought the paper to me and while looking at each page, told me what to write).

 

 

Like his great art work of the fire truck, he may never write anything this great again, but I'm still impressed with this writing (since he's only 6-years-old).

Catching Up

Wow!  October is almost over.  I'd always heard about how fast time goes as you get older... I totally believe it now!  Lots of catching up to do here, but I'll try to make it quick ;).

It doesn't happen often, but I've recently gotten out the ol' sewing machine.  Jonah is so pleased with his Wild Kratts outfits (I made him two since I anticipate him wearing them often). 

 

 

And after 6 years of Levi having his own "special covers" (that I made before he was even 2 years old, I think)...

 

 

Jonah has finally requested "special covers" for himself. ---That couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Levi is majorly attached to his (the covers above, on the right) and makes a big deal about not wanting anyone to touch them and now the two boys are actually in the same bed and Jonah gets fussed at if he touches them!!  (For those who don't know, Levi has always slept on the floor under the bed and now he's IN the bed.  YES, I said UNDER the bed (the boys have a big captain's bed that is high off the floor and Levi has always slept underneath and never in the bed with Jonah, but has now been in the bed with Jonah for a month or two maybe).  ANYWAY... now Jonah has his own special covers to love and cuddle with.

Two happy boys!  And they're even happier when they think about the fact that when the carport is closed in they'll each have their own room!  I'm so excited to be getting a new room myself (with a WALK-IN CLOSET)!  And maybe just as excited to be getting a school room (which is what our bedroom now will be)!  I know we're way behind the times, but that's okay.  We're happy and we knew when we decided for me to stay home and homeschool the boys that there would be sacrifices to make.  We're okay with that :).  God has given us way more than we deserve already!

In other news... I know Jonah is the one you're used to hearing about with ailments (and make no mistake, he's always got bites that are on the verge of infection because he won't leave them alone), but this time it's Levi.  He has bites that he's scratched and now they look horrible (similar to the last one that the doc said was staff).  But we took him to the doctor on Friday and he said he saw no sign of infection.  My self-diagnosis was apparently right again... eczema (which I thought he had outgrown years ago).  The doctor said it looked like they began as some sort of bite (probably mosquito) with eczema being a factor (or however he said it).  I'm getting pretty good at diagnosing things around here.  It just sometimes takes me a week or so to figure it out.

(trust me, this picture not only doesn't show all of them, but doesn't even come CLOSE to showing how red and nasty they look.)  And, yes, even after 5 days of treating with prescription ointment, they still look just as bad as when we began.

On the school-front, we've just finished up our second six weeks, took a week off, and are excited about the fact that we will finish the first semester before hunting season (we always take all of hunting season off since Levi goes hunting with Jake every day--and Jonah goes many days).  Both boys are doing very well in school (even though I just discovered that I had Levi doing more work than he was "supposed" to--Science was to be part of a semester and Health the other part and then History was to be second semester.  We're almost done with all three!  Won't he be excited next semester to learn 3 subjects are completely done?!)  Shhhhh.... don't tell him!

We're all excited about this cool, crisp air, and the anticipation of finishing up our first semester and taking a long, deserved break!  I hope your life is as blessed as ours.  I'll leave you with another one of Jonah's wise moments.

We were getting ready to put Jonah to bed when he said he wanted to preach.  And, while I love that he loves the Lord and knows His Word, I felt that it was just a tactic to stay up later so I told him, "That's great that you want to preach, but right now it's bedtime."
He answered with, "What's more important... sleep or preaching?"
I told him that preaching was very important and I hope he will continue to do that, but that right now there's no one here that really needs him to preach to them, so sleep is more important.  Without a moment's hesitation Jonah said, "Umm... L, E, V, I." (he spelled Levi's name).
He is still concerned that his brother has not asked Jesus into his.  He's a sweet and thoughtful kid and we are blessed to call him our own.