I'm a Working Girl

I have a job. Like a real job. I know, I know. Being a stay-at-home mom IS a real job. I mean I have an extra job. One that actually pays money.

I'm working at our church's Kids Kamp until the end of the summer. It's not full time. Thank you Lord! But, it's been enough to keep my mind swimming and my body begging for more sleep.

This past week I worked 4 days. The weeks following will be a lot lighter. Only 2-3 days per week. About 6 hours each day.

So in addition to taking care of my own children, I'm entrusted with the care of 3-5 more children. And I also plan activities, games, crafts, stories, songs, poems, and a little bit of knowledge.

The toughest part of all this... pre-planning everything. It's a lot of mental work. When I'm there it's wonderful! When I get in the car to drive home... not so wonderful. I'm begging Michael and Maggie to not talk. Or cough. Or sneeze. I want complete silence.

But, I made it through the first week and I'm excited to do more!

Recap of '08

Remember the goals that I set for 2008? Neither did I until I looked back in my archives. Here they are and how I did.

1. Minimize childrens books - I cleared out a bunch. Pretty much all that I could. Although, I think I can purge some of Maggie's little board books. I'll get on that.

2. Take the kids to the public library once a week. Totally failed. I did take Maggie about once a week for story time. Never really checked out books though. Mainly movies. Still need to work on this goal.

3. Have a date night with Jamie once a month. Totally failed. I was shocked when I looked back in my archives at how little we actually went out together. I'm really going to work on this one again this year.

4. Pray before I react to the kids. I think I will always be working on this one! I'm a bit more patient with them on days that I begin with prayer. If I wake up before everyone and do a little Bible study lesson and pray alone my whole day goes smoother than when I don't. Thanks Lord for that wonderful blessing!

5. Bring down my grocery bill. I succeed sometimes and failed sometimes. I will continue to work on this. It's definitely getting easier and easier the more I work at it.

6. Dress more feminine. I'm giving up on this one. I've never really defined it so I was never sure what that goal really meant. I'll just keep dressing the way that I normally do. Well, I might try wearing lip gloss everyday. Who knows.

7. Paint and redo the downstairs bathroom. So did NOT happen. It's still this horrible bright mint green and I detest it. Maybe it will get down this year.

8. New dishes. Yippy! A goal that I actually met! Jamie's aunt had a set of all white dishes that she had from Jamie's grandma. No one else in the family wanted them. They are perfect for me! I got rid of all my other dishes. Brought out my flag style dishes and even redecorated the kitchen in my old american flag stuff. Looks nice.

9. Clear out plastic storage containers. I met this goal as well. My cupboard is less cluttered. Although, I think this will be one of those ongoing kind of goals. That stuff seems to breed all on it's own.

10. Recycle cereal boxes. Another goal met. I take my pile every few weeks or so to the recycling center since our curbside doesn't pick it up.

Whew. I had some great goals. Unfortunately not all of them were met. But, I'm pretty pleased with myself. Now on to a new year!

A First for Everything

Tomorrow Michael goes to camp for the first time. It's about an hour away. Two nights and three days. With kids his age. No one that we know, yet. We do know the dean. That's comforting to me :)

I'm excited for him. But worried too! All the normal mom stuff. Will he take a shower? Will he remember to brush his teeth and change his underwear? Will he make friends? Will he have fun? Will he fall in the lake and drown?

I know he'll have fun. I've been blessed with one of those rare kids who loves trying new things. He'll go into a room of strangers and not think anything different. He's not scared to ask for help. He's not scared to talk to adults. He's pretty out spoken and out going. I keep comparing it to Vacation Bible School. With sleeping added in.

I'm also excited for him to go because I think I'm going to surprise him by re-doing his bedroom. See, his room is another room of our house that just hasn't ever been finished. His walls are half painted waiting for a chair rail to go up. Well, I've changed my mind about the chair rail and I'm just going to paint the walls cream.

I found an awesome metal framed head and footboard bed painted red at a garage sale a few weeks ago. I paid $5 for it. I was going to repaint it, but I think I'll keep it. Apparently Michael loves red. Awhile back I bought him a comforter set that has stars and planets on it. I'm going to shoot for a Star Wars theme... on the cheap side. With just a few red accents like the bed and drawer pulls.

I'm hoping to pick up a cheap Star Wars poster and frame that for him. And maybe buy some cheap light sabors to hang on his wall. Other than that, that's all I'm doing. The painting will be the only labor that I'll have to do. Oh, and all the moving of furniture that goes along with that.

So, even though the living room isn't completely done being decorated I'm moving on to the next room. But, I promise I'll finish the living room!

Freezing Eggs

Yup, I froze some eggs*. My mom and dad came up for a visit today... it was a splendid time by the way. My mom had found 2 dozen eggs for only $1 each at Kroger. So, being the nice mommy she is, she gave them to me.

Well, the expiration date was today.

I checked a few web sites online about freezing eggs and found that it's very possible to do so. I cracked two eggs, slightly stirred them to break up the yolk, poured them in a zip lock bag, and repeated about a dozen times. I had first tried putting one egg in a ice cube tray but the eggs were too big and overflowed.

I'll have to let you know how it works out when I go to bake with them.

*In case there is some sort of confusion... I was freezing chicken eggs.

The Comfy Room

So, those two blue chairs I looked at with Jamie last week? I love 'em! They're in our living room right now. We took out our love seat and re-arranged the rest of our furniture. I'm finally pleased with the set-up. It looks inviting from all entrances. There is an obvious conversational triangle. And, the tv is perfectly visible from three sitting spots. No more children fighting for the 'corner spot'. (This is an important thing in the Wetzel household these days!)

Now the fun part. I get to decorate! Since we've moved here 3 years ago, every. single. room. has that unfinished look. It's annoying. Jamie and I talked about color schemes and I'm going for it. Not too crazy. I don't need to paint the walls or anything. Just a few throw pillows and some other things to add. I'm hoping for a nice finished living room. Under $30.... think I can do it?

I'll post some pictures when I'm done.

The Black Box Thing

We don't have cable at our house. We've used an antenna for our tv for as long as I can remember. It's an ok set up. We get our local PBS station in very well and a few other channels in pretty good. Probably a total of 4/5 stations. I like to limit the amount of tv watching for the kids and without a lot of channel options it's quite easy.

Well, life has changed around here! We got that little black box thingy the other day. We've been watching so much tv lately!

We can now get through our antenna 4 PBS stations, all the major networks, and then a few extra's. The kids love Qubo. They show kid friendly cartoons non stop. One of our local networks has a station that shows the weather 24/7. One of the PBS stations is Create and they air all the more crafty type shows. And... it's a crystal clear picture!

So, if you see us and our eyes are all glazed over and we've gained another 10 lbs. you'll know why!

Re-Cap

Michael's appointment went well? yesterday with the oral surgeon. He's doing great. He's so excited because he was told that he can rough house again. He's been refraining from playing rough with Jamie for a long time. I'm sure the light sabor's and rubberband guns are going to be dug out of the closet this afternoon.

I refuse to go anywhere today. Besides drop off / pick up of Michael. It's really really cold again. Yesterday just about killed me. Maggie and I were in and out all day. I never warmed up. Maggie was complaining that her feet hurt because she was so cold. She begged for a hot bath.

Plus, the house is super duper trashed. Every spoon, plate, glass, and bowl is dirty and sitting on my kitchen counter. Every sock, underpant, jean, towel, and pj is piled high either in the hallway, bedroom floor, even the living room. The house isn't just messy... it's dirty. It will take me awhile today to tidy it up and then clean it.

My goal is to tidy up the whole house, wash all the clothes (that includes folding and putting them away), and do all the dishes (wash by hand and put away). Dusting, vacuuming, and wiping of any kind will be done at another time.

Of course, my work load is a little bit lighter than what I'm conveying to you. Micheal does have an after school list that he does everyday that includes putting his own clothes away and wiping down the bathroom. So, those jobs will get done too.

Wow, it's already 11!?! I better start moving. My strategy on days like this? I set my oven timer for 15-20 minutes and rush around and clean as fast as I can. I make Maggie wait during this time if she needs me for anything. After the timer goes off, and after I've taken care of Mag's, I reward myself with 10-15 minutes of computer time. Usually my reward is reading just one blog, writing one email, or playing one game. Actually less than the time I give myself. Then, I set the timer again and clean super fast again.

It works for me!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I was adventurous today, I made my own liquid laundry detergent. I followed these instructions. It didn't go so well for me.

First of all, my Ivory bar of soap took about 20 minutes to dissolve. Then, when I added the baking soda to the mix it started foaming. And then it just kept getting bigger. It was all over my stove. So, I got out another large pot and used that one as well.

The whole process took me over an hour. I'm not sure I feel comfortable using my regular pots for the mixing and cooking of soap. That doesn't sound too healthy. I won't make that kind again.

But, I may try this powder version instead. Dump it all together and shake it up.

The reason I gave this a whirl is because it's very inexpensive to make. I've been buying the cheap liquid detergent when it goes on sale buy one get two free. Frugal? Yes. It just doesn't clean very well. Therefore, not a great buy. I thought I'd try making my own. I heard that it cleans great and it's cost effective. Another bonus, I've heard that you don't have to use fabric softener with it. It softens all on it's own.

What I spent:
Borax $2.67 for the whole box. With the liquid recipe I only used 1/2 cup.
1 box Baking Soda $0.60. I used the whole box.
1 bar of Ivory Soap $0.29. I used the whole bar.

Total cost $3.56. Remember though, I still have almost an entire box of Borax leftover. Still, I won't make this one again. Too much work. The powdered one is just dumping and shaking. Way easier!

A sad day

I had to take our tree down today. Our pick up day for it is tomorrow so I had to do it. I wasn't ready to see it go.

I loved my tree this year. It was really pretty. White lights, red beads, silver ribbon, red bulbs, and all clear glass ornaments. I had a sheer silvery table clothe under it for the skirt. All the gifts were wrapped in silver or red foiled paper.

Ah... the upside to it is there's a huge open space in my living room so it actually looks clean in here :)