So much to say...I'm not a good blogger!

I try to take pictures of important things that our family does. I'm quite an obsessive picture taker! However, I'm not as neurotic as I used to be. You used to never find me without my camera, but lately I'm finding myself mad because I left the camera at home! As I'm typing this, I'm wondering if it's because I have 3 kids to make sure I have in tow! My pictures prove to be helpful in things other then just looking back at the fun times we have, but they also are my backup when I forget to post things on calenders and they also help remind me of things to blog about!

So many things have happened recently! I'd love to blog about everything, but I'm tired so I'll just give a quick rundown of some things! We had some storms and got some good sized hail. We went to the zoo, and it was COLD! We got caterpillars, and are going to watch them grow into beautiful butterflies! Josh found his toes! We have a pair of nesting Morning Doves! I'll probably blog more about Rocky and Mommy Rocky (the doves) and Steve at a later date! It's a great piece of our lives right now.

Here's some updates about our natural living!
The garden is going great! I'll have to grab some updated pictures soon! Our radishes are coming up so big, carrots are just starting to poke though, peppers and tomato's are starting to flower, and onions are doing their thing too! Yay!! We had a bit of a pest problem, but found some organic pest killer!
The health and beauty aspect is hit and miss right now. I returned the stuff I bought for the boys, except the lotion. I'm waiting for their current stuff to run out, and then we'll try it again. My stuff, however, is not going well at all. I'm trying to do things and save money, but I'm finding that it isn't always worth it. I'll keep posting on what ends up working.
Laundry has been a pain in my tushie! I made a mix, equal parts of borax, washing soda, and oxyclean. I also have several other detergents. With the cloth diapers I ended up using so many different things, I think I gave them the stinkies. :( They started smelling like burnt plastic. The other night I had the load on the highest setting, and our whole house started smelling like burnt plastic. The next morning I called the store, and had them come deliver a new one. I'm not sure if it really was the washer, the fact that I added a ton of water, or what! I just felt a clean slate would be best!

Okay, enough of all that! It seems like lately we've had so much going on and I just can't keep up! Since Joshua was born, my life has become a whirlwind of coming and going and not a lot of sitting and relaxing. This weekend I really became just plain exhausted. I kept falling asleep, and it wasn't just a "oh, I dozed off" asleep. It was hardcore, I don't remember anything, waking up with a baby nursing!

The crazy thing is that summers tend to be when we get busier, with outings, sports, vacations, ect. If we're this crazy busy now, what will this summer bring? I was just looking at my calender for the next month and I'm already exhausted! Peyton has swimming lesson's in the morning, Parker has swimming lessons at night (and we have to get into the water with him), we're thinking about a VBS for Peyton, Peyton has a night of coach pitch practice, Saturday morning games, and I have several things planned for playgroups within the first few weeks of June. Gesh! What will I do when all my boys are in sports?!?!?!

I think looking at this calender, realizing how much we already have booked, it's making me want to cherish and try to take a slower approach on our lives right now! I hope that God helps me to SLOOOW down!

Okay, I'm rambling now! I did want to make sure that I posted about one very important thing that happened today! Today is Memorial Day, a day where we take time to honor our men and women who have, who will, and who are serving our country.  I hope that people don't just spend this day doing this though. I would hope that this comes as a natural, every day thing!

Well, my grandpa served and was a POW in WWII. My hubby wanted to make sure that we honored him, and my grandma today by visiting their grave. We haven't been to the cemetery since the day we buried my grandma. It's just been to hard. We put some flags around the headstone, tried explaining to the boys the best we could, shed some tears and paid our respect to my hero's!

Judgement Day

I just have another thought for today. Today was predicted by a religious group to be the end of the world. They said that God would be returning to rapture the believers, and that there would be death and destruction to all those left on the earth until October 21st when God would return and destroy the earth with a fire ball. My first initial thought when I heard this the other day was along the lines of "Great, another wacko group out there to give Christians a bad name."
Secondly, it really got me thinking about my own life. If it was going to be the day God came back to rapture his believers, was I ready. How have I been living my life? Is my life pleasing to God? It was really a wake up call for me to do a check of my personal relationship with Jesus and making sure that I'm all good!

It also made me get antsy to think that if God was coming back today, had I done everything I could have to bring others to Him? Was my life a reflection of Jesus, and drawing people to God's saving grace? One of my favorite comments I learned from my BSF class this year was...."You may be the only Bible someone reads." I want to make sure that my life is a reflection of Jesus and that people want what I have!

Strangely my heart went out to this man and his followers. I have such a soft spot for people when they are being the butt of someones jokes and made fun of for any reason. The jokes were everywhere....they were a perfect target for late night shows, and even atheists were offering their services (pet care, etc) for the people who would be raptured. They were bashing this poor old man, who truly truly believed what he was speaking! I always have a heart for people like that (Mormons, Jehovah's witness'). They are out there professing their faith to everyone! Nothing stops them. I think, we as Christian's, have a lot to learn when it comes to being outspoken like that for our beliefs. My heart also broke for the families and followers of this man. He had them so convinced that this was the day, that most left jobs, families, houses, drained life savings, etc. Now that the end hasn't come, what will happen to these people. I heard a story of a pastor who felt that there would be extreme depression, so he was planning on camping out by the headquarters of this group to be there for the broken people.

I've refrained from bashing these people and their beliefs. It's sad, just sad.  It's been a great thing for me to challenge me to examine my life...a spiritual check up if you will. It's also caused me to get on my knees to pray for the people who believed (and still do) and for the people who have no faith and need Jesus.

Matthew 24:36

But the exact day and hour?

No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

Is It Going to End.....YES IT IS!

I had a follow up appointment for Joshua on Thursday morning, because he just wasn't quite up to par all day on Wednesday. I was supposed to be tapering down his breathing treatments, but he was still needing them at his 4 hour mark. :(

Of course though, he actually started to finally be improving Thursday morning before the appointment, and I did contemplate canceling my appointment. I ended up deciding it best to just make sure everything was okay. His doctor looked him over and said that he would probably not start improving until early this upcoming week. He also said that he noticed an ear infection in one of his ears that just recently started. Ugh! He got prescribed an antibiotic and off we went.

I filled the prescription in the evening, and came home to give him his first dose. I was bawling as I was giving my precious baby this nasty med. I just didn't feel right giving it to him. I wasn't sure if it was because I never had to give Peyton or Parker anything until they were much older, or the fact that our family is trying to live more naturally. Either way, I was not a happy mommy at all.

I started doing some research on ear infections and posted for some help on a natural mommy board. Someone mentioned that I needed to go see a chiropractor for the ear infection. I had never heard of such a thing. Ironically, I had just found a very natural chiropractor and had an adjustment on Tuesday morning. She had mentioned something to me about adjusting Joshua for his breathing issues. I kind of brushed it too the side, because I knew Matt wouldn't be quite comfortable with that.

I immediately woke up on Friday morning after the diagnosis of the ear infection, and called Dr Kate Hansen with Essentials Chiropractor. Matt had the day off because it was Peyton's last day of school picnic! We had so much fun all day together!! :) Anyway, she got us in right away and looked Joshua over and adjusted him. She said that his L3 vertebra was out of place, and now with it back in place he should be breathing better! Amazingly, he has only had 3 breathing treatments in the past two days, which is so great compared to the every 4 hours previously. She also said that he had some swollen lymph nodes behind his left ear (ear infection ear). She massaged the area and did some more adjusting. She also mentioned garlic oil for his ear. I went home, researched how to make it, made it and used it! I love the smell of garlic, but holy moly!! That was pretty pungent!

Before we left the chiro on Friday she said that I could bring him in to get his ears checked to make sure that they looked okay, and that I was okay to remain off the antibiotic. I went in first thing this morning, and she did another adjustment and checked his ears to see that they looked much better!!!!!!!! Yay!! Thank you Jesus for leading us to a great chiropractor and healing our baby boy!!!

Congratulations....twice

Today was Peyton's preschool graduation! Even though he only went 1/2 a year and will be doing another year of preschool next year, it was still a big deal for us! I took him out to lunch after school today in celebration of his last day at school and the graduation in the evening. :)

The graduation was at the future location of the school, which just happens to be a newly remodeled 1/2 of a local bowling ally...(more on that later). It was packed! There was so many parents there, and it was hot. I happened to get up with Josh just when they were putting more chairs out so I ended up in the front row!!

My heart was beaming with pride when my son was handed the flag to hold while his class said the pledge of allegiance and sang God bless America. What an honor for him!! The class then sang their class songs, showed off some skills, and then we watched a slide show of the year that his teacher put together. They even made copies for everyone of the kids! How sweet!

We finished off our day of celebrating at home with chocolate cake (Peyton's request) and pink lemonade!

Our celebration also included a party for Parker being potty trained! WOO HOO!!

I'm such a proud mommy tonight!!! :) I love my little boys!!

Oh yea, back to the school issue. We're not 100% sure how we feel about the new location of the school. It's a remodel of the other 1/2 of a bowling ally. Right on the other side of that is a bar and a sand volleyball area. I'm not sure if that is very impressive to have to take my kids through a bar to drop them off for preschool. Hmmm...we'll just have to see. I love the teachers and their curriculum.

At your beckon call

Here's a great poem, that I'm sure at this point Joshua would agree with 101%! Poor little guy has been sick since Thursday, which landed us in the doc's office this am and then the hospital for a chest xray. No pneumonia, but part of his lung is collapsed, he has RSV, and bronchiolitis. So, enjoy this poem from little Joshua, and say a prayer for his health!

My trusty friend

You are always there for me.

Whether I’m sad or lonely

Hungry or thirsty

Hurt or tired.

You never judge me,

And you never expect anything in return.

When you’re near all my nightmares go away.

You make my dreams sweeter

And my days calmer.

You are warm,

Like a friend should be.

And when it’s cold outside

I know I can turn to you.

I love having a bosom-friend like you.

You always understand,

And listen without speaking.

You’re always there when I need you.

Boobie, I love you!
~ Michelle Abernathy

KiSS mY fAcE

So, I am going crazy with this crunchy thing. I joined all these mommy cloth diaper groups, and some other groups that are based out of the state and are related to natural living. Ahhh! They're converting every aspect of my life...and it's good!!! My really big thing right now is cosmetics and skin care. I've learned all sorts of things from these sites about chemicals and carcinogens that they put in our lotions, shampoos, cleaning supplies, baby wash, soap, and toothpaste. It makes me sick to think that I have just purchased supplies at the store without questioning what they are comprised of.

I did quite a bit of research as to the things I should be looking for. The main big things I was looking for was No Parabens, Sulfates, Pthalates, PEG's. I have been driving myself crazy with researching a good brand. I went to a local cosmetic/hair store, and bought some of the things from their "natural" lines. I was so disappointed that when I was reading the labels, they had all the things I was looking to avoid. I ended up purchasing some stuff, that after more research has landed them in the return pile! The next day I ended up with a cup of coffee, a brand new car cart to entertain Parker, a sleeping Joshua, and an aisle full of "natural" items at Hy-Vee.

I had every bottle of bodywash, shampoo, and lotion on the floor! I was reading over and over the ingredients. I decided on a line from kiss my face. I was sadly disappointed that their rating on SkinDeep wasn't all that great. It is free of Parabens, sulfates, pthalates and PEG's, but it's not the best out there. I've decided that in order to save money on gas and my sanity. I'm going to use what I purchased (except for the lotion that is making me want to gag at this moment....BLECH!) and do a bit better at my research when I need to stock up again!

I finally got my sunbaby's dipes in the mail today. They're currently in the dryer waiting for me to fold them! I pray that they work as awesome for me as they do for others. I also ordered a BG 4.0, a Blueberry Deluxe, and a WAHM pocket dipe from the swap! I'm so excited that I should be 100% CDing in a week or so!! I'll post our reviews with all the dipes as we go along! Fingers crossed!

Oh, I also, did some sewing today for the first time in FOREVER! Matt bought me a portable "Dressmaker-As Seen on TV" sewing machine at a thrift store! Better yet he found it on 1/2 off day! Ha! I sewed a few wipes today. Wowzers, I'm in desperate need of lessons! Let's just say, you won't be seeing any of my creations on Etsy any time soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a GREAT Mother's Day! I truly did! When you read the rest of this post, you may think I'm being sarcastic, but I REALLY TRULY did have a great day! Parker's not been feeling the top of his game lately and I have a really bad habit of not going to bed until after midnight, so I didn't get much sleep. Parker kept waking up and trying to sleep with us, but would only end up asking us to walk him back to his room after about 30 minutes. He's never been one to sleep anywhere, other then his bed. It's a good thing but sometimes becomes very frustrating. We finally woke up for the morning and it was so beautiful outside. Peyton and Daddy made me breakfast in bed, and showered me with gifts and cards! My gift...a sewing machine! It's so funny! He found it at a thrift store, and better yet on 1/2 off day! Nothing beats a $5 sewing machine! They know me all to well! It's just a little starter to see how well my idea goes!

We were having a brunch at our house since it was Josh's dedication day as well, so we were busy getting things ready. We, as always, thought we had all this time to be running late to church! Argh! That would be the one thing I would change for today!

We got to church and had the most beautiful dedication ceremony for our precious baby Joshua! We were extra blessed to be standing on stage with our cousin Jack and his mommy and daddy too!! I'm so thankful to Jesus for all that He is doing in our lives and the lives of my family members!! Both boys decided that they wanted to stay with us during church, and by the end of service they were both asleep, each with their heads on one of daddy's legs! Oh, and THANK THE LORD!!! I found my Bible at church! I lost it on Easter Sunday, and have been so upset about not finding it!

Our brunch went well, and all the food was DELICIOUS! I'm so a brunch girl. I love eggs, muffins, fruit, and juices! We toasted to moms, GiGi and Joshua with some delicious mimosa's! It was a perfect morning and afternoon with our family and friends.

A little while later, my mom asked where Parker was and went to find him. She came out looking quite terrified and saying "I don't know who should go see him." I jumped up so fast and found myself looking at a horrid disaster in the bathroom! Poor munchkin went into the bathroom all by himself (we've been potty training for quite some time now), and the med's he's been on for the ear infection had given him quite runny stools! It was everywhere. He was trying to clean himself up and ended up smearing poo all over my white cloth shower curtain. I mean EVERYWHERE! 

Funny thing is that the day before our washer broke. AHHHH! I threw a few things in the washer and thought I would let it attempt to clean it as best as it could. Matt and I after a while ended up heading to NFM to purchase a new washer. What a thing to have to do on Mother's Day.

We got back home and Parker had fallen asleep while Papa was holding him. Well, he ended up having another accident in his bed. Argh! Where's the washer when I really need it?? We ended up packing things up to grandma's to wash. The bedding was done just in time for bedtime!

Like I said...you'd think I was crazy to have enjoyed this mother's day as much as I did. I just was so appreciative of all the help, love and support we got from our friends and family during such a crazy, hectic day!

It's Done

The garden is planted!! It was a crazy day, and the busiest day of the year to go buy plants! We survived though, and left Canoyer Gardens with only one child with blood dripping down his face. Aye yai yai! Boys will be boys I guess! :)

We planted one tomato plant, a red pepper, a cucumber plant, a row of onions, carrots, and radishes! We also did two patio pots for a pizza garden. It included patio tomatoos, oregano, basil, chives, parsley, and green peppers. I pray that this garden goes well, and that we will soon be reaping the fruits of our labor.

On a bad note, my washer is dying. I'm pretty sure that it's bit the bullet. It has started doing funny things lately, and today it has taken ALL day to run 3 loads. The last load it did was a load of poopy diapers, and it ran for 4 hours and still had soap in the load when it was "done." FRUSTRATING! That is one thing with cloth diapers is making sure that the soap gets out because it will build up a residue on the diapers and render them ineffective.

Oh what a day! My boys were in a very rare form. I had to take Parker to the doctors yesterday because he has a few things on his fingers that I wanted his doc to look at. I mentioned that his eyes had been matting the past few days, which then prompted him to look in his ears. He was shocked to see a terrible ear infection, and equally surprised that Parker wasn't in pain, running a fever, or extremely crabby. I think Parker heard that part of the conversation and figured that today would be his day to make up from not acting sick. AHHHHH! So whiny, poor little guy. He started running a slight fever today, and I ended up having to pull out his nebulizer for a treatment tonight. :(

Tomorrow is Mothers Day and Baby Dedication for Joshua! I'm so excited for the day, no matter how cruddy today has been. We are having our special friends and family joining us for a brunch at our house after to celebrate the moms and Joshua's special dedication day!

Thank you Jesus for letting me be a mommy to my three boys! I love them so much and am so grateful for them and the opportunity to be their mom! I pray that tomorrow as we dedicate Joshua back to you, that you would have Your will with his life! I pray that Joshua's heart would be open to hear your voice in his life. I pray that Matt and I would have the wisdom we need to teach him about You and Your Word!