My first weekend as a natural housekeeper

I've been putting off practicing my natural housekeeping habits while DH is home, but this weekend (our weekend is thur/fri) I got lots of motivation Wed night. So all weekend I stayed on top of the dishes, swept the floors when they needed it, picked things up as I saw them, etc and today I have an almost clean house!! I'll need to wash bfast dishes here in a bit, the kids needs to pick up their room and I need to vacuum, but that won't take anytime at all. Usually I spend ALL day cleaning on Sat to make up for hte weekend. I'm so excited!

Oh, and while I'm blogging, I'll tell you I got my dryer fixed to. We've had the belt sitting on the counter for well over a week now, but DH hasn't gotten around to putting it on. When, Wed morning, I had a load of laundry sitting the washer that had been there since the night before, and it was raining, and was supposed to rain all day. I NEEDED to get those clothes dry. So I asked DH to help me fix the dryer. I got the typical "later" which means "I'll forgot until it's too late to get it done today." So I pulled the dryer out as far as I could by myself and got to work. It was still all disconnected from when we discovered the broken belt. I got to work until I reached a point where I just wasn't strong enough, then I asked DH for help. He had been completely oblivous to what I was doing, so he was shocked to see me sitting in front of the dryer with it half taken apart, lol. But in less than half an hour we had it fixed :) There were at least two things I wasn't strong enough to do myself, so I was thankful to have my strong hubby to help me out :) I'm so proud of us though for saving hundreds of dollars and taking the chance to fix the dryer ourselves even though we had no idea what we were doing. The dryer is now working great and I'm still using my clothesline as I'm able, lol. Except now I don't have to put laundry off b/c it's raining, lol.

Too hot

We had a window a/c for most of the summer, so we did fine, but it was just a borrowed one and the owner needed it back several weeks ago. Not a huge problem b/c they said the "heat wave" of the summer was over and we enjoyed temps in the mid 80s. Just my luck, the last week has been in the 90s and it's been HOT in here. We live in a single wide trailer (ie, big metal box) with no shade, so it warms up pretty quick inside. I'd been doing alright, though on Wed none of the chores got done until after the sun went down, but yesterday and today were not good. Yesterday morning I managed to get all my chores done (DH works mornings on Sat/Sun), but then we had to walk down to my MIL's and back right around noon. Normally it isn't a problem for me, but being in the heat for last several days, walking, and then carrying Genesis part of the way was just too much. By the time DH got home from work in the afternoon I was done. Anytime I got up and walked around I started feeling a little dizzy and light-headed. I ended going down to DH's Gramma's house just down the street and cooled down in her a/c for a bit, but still had to take it easy the rest of the day. Which left DH in charge of dinner so we didn't exactly eat well. Heat, lack of protein at dinner yesterday and pregnancy resulted in a cranky Mommy this morning with a headache. So I've spent all day today sitting in front of the fan, with my feet up, drinking lots of water. Yesterday, the forecast for today was 92, then morning it said 88 which made me hopeful. Yeah right, that's why it's 93 right now.

Luckily, it really IS supposed to cool tomorrow and get us back into the mid 80s with nights in the low 60s. I should be fine after today. HOpefully. Now to figure out how to convince DH to cook a NUTRITIOUS meal for dinner without sounding naggy and ungrateful...

"Almost" grown up

Do your kids ever reach a time when they suddenly mature on you? All 3 of my kids have done it just recently. I used to a 1yo, a 3yo, and a 5yo. Now I have a very definite "almost 2yo," "almost 4yo," and "almost 6yo." Not to mention an "almost new baby." It's so very exciting and so sad at the same time. It's just amazing how they grow up right before your eyes.

Asher has grown up a lot in doing school. Part of that is b/c *I'm* actually getting school done every day with him. Now that he's officially doing K and I'm keeping records and such, it's just so much more real and exciting. My boy is really doing school and I'm really homeschooling him. Everythign before now was just fun and practice, but now we're getting down to the real stuff, yk?

Canaan has matured a lot in his speech and actions. He's definitly a preschooler now. He loves to learn and is picking stuff up so quickly (though that's probaby b/c some of it I started teaching him really late!) He's just very almost 4.

Then there's Genesis. She's lost almost all her babyness. It makes me sad to see her growing up, but what a beautiful and helpful little girl he's becoming. She's got the sweetest heart, when she's not trying to throwing a tantrum, lol. I'm glad I have another baby on the way though b/c I love having a baby in the house, and she's just not a baby anymore.

Going Green(er)

We're actually already pretty "green." Cloth diaper, no paper products except toilet paper, etc. Of course now my dryer is out of commission so I'm hanging my laundry. Which, btw, I hung all our laundry out to dry last summer and absolutly loved it, but we haven't had a clothesline here so I havne't been able to. Even the line we have up now is not great. It doesn't quite hold one big load of laundry, and it's stretched all the way across the middle of our yard, which isn't really convenient for kids playing. But it's still been nice to hang my laundry out. Which is probably why even though the new dryer belt is sitting on my counter I haven't nagged DH to help me get it on yet. Maybe this weekend, maybe next...

And our newest big step, was to buy some reusable bags from here. We actually got them through a co-op so we got a great price on them. The biggest reason I haven't done this before is simply cost. Good reusable bags are not cheap. But this deal came up and we had a few extra dollars and there's been talk lately around here about stores starting to charge for bags, so it seemed like the right time. We only got 6, but I think we'll need some more. The website says 6 bags will fit a whole cart, but I'm thinking my cart is fuller than theirs. No matter though, there were extras in the co-op so if we need some more, I can still get them cheap. I also haven't done it before now b/c quite frankly, we use our grocery bags! I don't buy trash bags, just use Walmart bags and take the trash out every day. It cuts down on the smell from trash sitting too long and being in the routine of taking it out every day means they rarely overflow. I'm a little concerned about this, but not too much. For one, we have a good size stock-pile of bags. Even though we actually get at the store about what we use, family hears that we use them for trashbags and give us all their surplus. Or at least they did, until I finally started saying no thanks and recommending they drop them off at the recycle box in WM. But we still have a lot. And should we eventually run out, I'll just go without. I already empty the trash everyday, so instead of taking a bag out, I'll jsut take the whole small can and dump it. Then rinse the can out. Who doesn't need to wash their trash can more often anyways? So that's my plan.

Midwife appt

We had another appt with the midwife last week. It went great of course :) I'm measuring about a week and a half ahead, but given that this is my 4th and I tend to go a week or two early, that's okay :) She rarely uses the doppler to hear the u/s, prefering the fetoscope (is that the right word?), but she couldn't pick up the heartbeat with it this time. She said "I love it. I keep getting kicked, but can't get a heartbeat!" So that baby is doing good, was just too far back for her to pick it up. But as she said, you can feel the kicks! I love to sit and just feel the baby move. Definately one of my favorite parts of pregnancy. We signed the contract and paid our deposit, so she's officially our midwife. Of course we still have quite a bit more money to pay her, but it's so worth it. She gave us some great ideas for getting more veggies in me. I've never been a big veggie eater, so this it's really hard to me to get them in. Especially since I'm supposed to be eating all those wonderful leafy greens for good blood health, but I don't like them! So she gave us good ideas. And I"m so proud of myself. Today with lunch (our main meal), I served a side salad, and I actually put cucumber and tomatoes on mine (from our garden). I do not like either of those, but I used my food chopper to cut them up real small, and I used a generous amount of cheese to mask some of hte flavor, but it was actually good and I made myself a second salad. Yay for healthier eating and getting more veggies in.

A Visit with the Dentist

Well, after years of putting it off for many reasons, we finally visited the dentist. DH went about 2 months ago b/c he had a wisdom tooth break off, so we made appts for the whole family (minus Genesis) for a time when we knew we'd have a car. We all got cleanings, DH got one cavity filled and Asher got 2 cavities while we were there. I was in the chair when Asher got his cavities filled and DH was with Canaan who was getting a cleaning, so I have no idea how they did it. He didn't seem numb or anything so I wonder if maybe the didn't drill as deep since it was just baby teeth? DH has to go back and get another cavity filled and I've got 2 that need filling. I also have a wisdom tooth that is cracked, but since I'm pg and can't take the good pain killers they don't suggest pulling it until after the baby is born. And then they'll probably want to pull all three! Yikes. But the kids did great and the dentist even complimented us on how well behaved they were and how good they did. The boys did great I hear. In 3 wks (when I'll have another midwife appt) we go back to fill our cavities. Fun times!

Why don't more people homeschool?

I just don't understand it. I'm on a private message board for moms of kids who were born the same time Asher was born. Almost all of the kids are starting kindergarten this year. And I've already heard a whole bunch of complaining about lack of individual attention, kids who are goign to be bored, or behind, bad influences, somebody else having control of their kid and what they're learning or not learning, etc etc. So why don't these moms homeschool if they're so worried? "I would be bored" "I don't have the patience" "I simply have no desire to" Several of these same moms considered homeschooling for at least a bit, and yet, out of 30-40 moms, I am the single homeschooler. I don't understand. If you don't like what the schools have to offer, than don't take it! Get over yourself and what you want and do what's best for your kids!

Sorry if I offend anybody, but this just really bothers me. Why take the status-quo when you don't have to?

Anybody know how to fix a dryer?

Yesterday morning I went to get a load of laundry out of the dryer to discover it was still pretty damp. Odd, I thought, but it was a load of jeans so I figured it just didn't run long enough, that happens sometimes, so I started the dryer again and walked away. Fast forward about an hour to the dryer buzzing, I open it, while it's still running. Usually in this situation, the dryer stops and I see clothes falling down. Not this time. The dryer stopped alright, but no clothes fell down, b/c they weren't spinning! Great. Now DH and I know very little about dryers, but we know enough to know this is probably a belt issue. The dryer is 6 years old after all. It's about time for this kind of thing. So we spent an hour googling how to fix a dryer belt and nobody told us how to take the thing apart in the first place! It was all about routing the belt, but nothing on how to get to it in the first place. We have a handy neighbor across the street, but he wasn't home, of course. We finally just took the top off the dryer, the only thing we could figure how to get off, which was enough to verify that it was a broken belt. So we put the top back on and called and ordered a belt, praying that our handy neighbor would be willing to help us put the belt when it gets in. As our luck runs, the company is switching facilities right now, so it'll be 2-3 wks before it gets here. Oh, I could have gotten it here in one week instead, but it would have cost me more in shipping than I was paying for the belt! Besides, if I can make it work without a dryer for a week, surely I can do it for 2 or 3, is my thinking. So tomorrow DH is supposed to be rigging up a temporary clothes line for me. Good thing I already have lots of clothespins from hanging clothes all last summer!

Fun at the Fair

The county fair is this week and we had free passes for tonight, so off we went, even though Austin was working. We went with some neighbors so I had some help for a while, and overall the kids did great. The problem was Canaan. He's always been a bit more nervous and new people and situations than the other two. I can recall when he was 9 months and a stranger helped me get his stroller onto the city bus and Canaan just screamed and screamed b/c the guy touched his stroller! So Asher went on a few rides while Canaan assessed the situation and eventually decided he would like to go in the funhouse. All was well until the end. He was nervous about going through the spinning wheel in order to get out so the nice lady who works the end went in to help him. She made the mistake of grabbing his hand and he just hit total meltdown. By the time I handed Genesis to our neighbor and got up the stairs the lady and just picked him up and carried him out. It took several minutes for him to calm down. Next he rode the flying cars and the carosal just fine, thankfully. Then we get to big slide. He watched Asher go down it several times and decided it looked like fun. So I decided to go on up and take Genesis down, too. We walked up all those stairs and then Canaan refused to slide down. I offered for him to ride with me and Genesis, for him to ride with just me and I would send Genesis down with Asher, for him to ride with Asher. Nope. He would not go down. Back down the stairs we go. So we do the cars and carosal another time or two then head back for the Dragon Wagon (kiddy roller coaster). Asher had ridden it when we first got there and had fun, so Canaan decided this time he was goign to ride, too. On he goes. By the time the dragon made it around the second time he was crying so hard, they stopped the ride so I could get him off and then started it back up so the other kids could finish. After that Canaan stuck with the cars and carosal. Which I have no problem with! On one hand, I want to give him props for trying new things, even if he did end up scared. On the other, good grief child, I can only stand so much. Does anybody else get this kind of fun?

Oh, and before you asked, I had every intention of taking lots of pics and then forgot the camara. But we'll probably go back on Thurs or Friday when Austin is off from work and I will do my darndest to remember the camara and take lots of pics!! Genesis looked so grown up on the flying cars. I was nervous about letting her ride, but she loved it!

Back to Real Life

Well, vacation is over. After several days of camping, followed by several days at home where we weren't actually at home much, it's time to go back to Real Life. Although technically today was our first day after vacation, I still didn't get much done b/c that "Longest Yardest Sale in the World" is this weekend. So I spent all day working that. I think so far we've made a whole $30-40, lol, but at least we're getting rid of a little bit of junk. And what's left I'm freecycling. I don't imagine we'll do much business tomorrow. Around here Friday and Saturday are the big yard sale days. Which I think is odd, but I regress. After working the yardsale all day I got to come home to a complete disaster, b/c what house isn't a disaster after vacation? So I got to spend the whole evening cleaning the house and getting kids to do their chores too. Yup, a fun-filled day, lol. And unfortunatly, we have no pictures, b/c the camara was misplaced. *sigh* The county fair is this week, so I'm praying I find it before Tuesday when we have a free family pass.

All day at the yard sale while I was sitting outside making a whole dollar or two an hour I worked on my cleaning routines and schedules and thinks of that sort. And to top things off, I just started Organized Thanksgiving. Have you heard of Organized Christmas? If not, you should Google it. The author takes all those crazy holiday chores and seperates them into weeks so you don't have to do squash it all in the end. Well we don't celebrate Christmas, but we want to do up Thanksgiving a bit more this year, with holiday baking and such, and then the kids all have thier bdays, so I still have all the present buying to do...So I took Organized Christmas and tweaked it so I'll have it all done by Thanksgiving, and then hopefully I'll only have to maintain until the baby is born. So I wrote out all my todo lists for that. Hopefully my house will be wonderfully clean and organized before I know it. yeah right...

Visit with the midwife

Ok, first off, we LOVE her. She's so great and we just really mesh well. That's always good news :) She was great with the kids and answered all our questions. She seems to have the perfect amount of fact based practices and instinct in her practice. Just over all great! Today was just a meet and greet, though we did hear the heartbeat b/c Asher wanted to. I have to go back next week to go over diet sheets and stuff like that. She recommended I go ahead and get on state Medicaid, just in case we need tests done. Otherwise we'll have to pay out of pocket. She wants me to get an RH antibody titer b/c I got my RhoGam shot a week late with Genesis. Most likely, it won't be an issue and I'll be fine, but it'll be nice to know. That way if I do have a few antibodies and things start to go wrong we'll have idea of where to look for why and we'll know if we need to be watching for signs for RH incompatibility. I"m also so excited b/c she does breech and twin births. My biggest fear is that I'll have another c-section b/c of something relatively minor like breech or twins, but now I don't have to worry about that. In fact she was telling us about a birth she just did, primary vbac twins and the first baby was breech. So she had all 3 "big risk" things all in one birth. Isn't that awesome! She also is very supportive of our wanting a large family and was talking about all the things we can be doing now to help that happen and be healthy and such. She also said somethign about a repeat customer discount, so hopefully the next baby will be cheaper, lol. It was just really great and I'm so excited to have her as my primary "baby doctor"

We're back from camping!

We had a wonderful time camping, but you'll have to forgive me, as my pregnant brain forgot the camara!! I was so upset when I realized it. I told DH his mission for the rest of his vacation is to take lots and lots of pics!!

We had a great time though. We got up there Thursday afternoon and found the perfect camping site on the river beach down this huuuuuge flight of stairs. So I took Canaan and Genesis down while DH and Asher made several trips. We got the tent set up, then took a little break for a swim. Afterwards DH decided that the sand would drive him crazy, so back up we went, with all our stuff!! We went further back into the park and found a new perfect camping spot that had a wonderfu, though steep, path down to the river from where are tent would be. So we completely set up camp there. About that time it was time for dinner and then it started to get dark so we headed for bed.

Friday morning the boys went down fishing after bfast while I cleaned up the camp a little bit. Then Genesis took a nap in the shade. Afterwards we headed down to the water for a little swim with the boys. We eventually headed back up for lunch, we all laid down in the shade for a rest, then we went to the playground at the front of the park. Came back, had dinner, and hung out around the fire until bed. Repeat something similiar to this on Sat.

We were undecided if we were going to come home Sunday or Monday and had actually decided to go wait until Monday, but then DH woke up Sunday morning with a really sore back from sleeping on the hard ground, so we decided we would pack up camp after lunch. Well, after breakfast the kids were restless so we went for a little road trip. We stopped at a park for a while so the kids could play, then just went driving around. Canaan and Genesis soon fell asleep so we just kept driving. Eventually we got hungry for lunch and stopped at a cute Mexican restaurant that was wonderful. Headed back to camp, packed up and came home.

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and I wish we had stayed longer. I could do that for a week, easy. DH still has 5 days off of work, that's including today. Today he'll be helping a neighbor set up a huge pool that they got for free. He hopes they'll get it done today, they've been working on it for a while. Then we're supposed to go through yard sale stuff. This coming weekend is a huge yardsale that runs all down the highway that backs up to our backyard. So we're getting ready for that. Should be a fun week though! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post before we're done ;)