Patio Pond

We always like to have a project going on for the boys.  I thought of a GREAT one :).  During the summer months, we spend alot of time in our back yard.  Picnics, Birthday parties,cookouts  volleyball, badminton, friends are just a few to name. It's one of my favorite parts of summer.

Our yard is perfect!  I love everything about it:  woods, stream, pond, hill for sledding, flat spot for basketball, shooting range, softball field, etc.  The only thing I don't like is the picnic area was on a hill and never a good spot.  So I got this great idea, to have the boys build me a patio this summer.  So I marked out the spot and got my fellas to see my vision (that took so work and motivating).  :)

 

Once they saw my vision, off to work we went.  Loads of rocks were found in the woods and dirt started being moved.  I just love  watching them work!  Muscles and sweat,, oooh love it!   

This is the beginning of our retaining wall.  We'll have to dig out and then fill it to make it level.  Rocks and sand will have to be added and then the pavers to make a wonderful patio area for us.  Oh, the memories to come!  Such FUN!

I keep saying I want a little pond here too.  Fish and the gurgle of a fountain would finish it off.  I picture flowers around the edges, a cooking pit built on the other end and my cozy chairs to enjoy it all.  When Mark and the boys came home Saturday, he was so excited to show me the treasures he had gotten me.  The house he did windows at, also has him cart trash off for them too.  He looked at her pile of trash, trying to judge what size trailor to bring to cart it all off with.  He spotted these old pond liners.  What a sweet fella,, he instantly thought of me and asked if that was part of the "trash" to be removed.  Yippee,, it was!!!  So I'll get my pond and fountain too!  What a sweet blessing from my thoughtful man!!!

Can't you see the patio, flowers, bushes, food cooking on a grill, boys running around and bubbling and gurgling of the fountain as water washes over the rocks?!?! 

Marble Breakfast

During the school year, we started giving marbles as a reward.  I asked my friends on Facebook for suggestions on motivating students.  I especially wanted help with motivating Luke with his penmanship.  Luke is VERY busy and has a VERY short attention span!  He'd rather get the penmanship done and go outside than have his work look neat.  Well, that wasn't working for me!  So, one friend suggested putting a marble in a jar each day his penmanship is neat.  Tim also wanted to join so I gave him a marble if his work was done by noon.  He's our pokey fella (just like Jordan was at his age).  :)    All school year we've been doing this.  On some Monday's, I'd announce it was double marble day and they'd get 2.  One time I even gave 5 if they got them all correct on their spelling test.  Whoo-hooo!    The reward was going to be breakfast at Beemans.  (A local family restaurant that has a great breakfast buffet).  

Well, today was the Saturday I picked to go since I got tired of being reminded their jars were full.  Mark, Jordan, Brendan and Hunter had to go do a house's windows and then go to softball practice, so I took the youngest 5.  

We were seated at a very big round table.  As I was getting Titus seated, a couple behind us asked if they were ALL my boys.  Many things went through my head,, "Do you know how many times I'm asked that?" or "No, they're not all mine"  not a lie since ALL mine weren't with me :)  or "Do you think I'd take this many boys out if they weren't mine?"  but they seemed sincere in their interest and rather nice.  (I've gotten many snotty comments about how many we have!!!)  So, I said "Yes, but these aren't all mine, 3 more are with my husband."   "Are those boys too???" the wife asked.    I smiled and said "yes."   They commented on how well behaved they were and such nice boys. I explained how we home school and told them briefly of the marble reward.    We got our MANY plates of food (I think Luke ate 13 sausages!!!) as I could hear the couple commenting about the boys.  

After we were finally done, the waitress came over said our bill was covered and to have a good day!  That couple behind us had already left and I saw the man speaking to the waitress before he left, so I am assuming it was them.  What a wonderfully kind couple!  The boys were so impressed and pleased that someone was being so kind to us!  What a neat time and memory.  Made the sad ending of being done, nice as we were surprised by not having to pay!  

Planting

Yippee!  The air has been warmer and the gardening bug has hit!  It's terrible, I lay in bed losing precious sleep trying to figure out where I'm going to plant all the veges, fruit trees and bushes; when I need to start planting them and where to add yet another garden!  Mark sleeps contentedly while my mind spins wildly!

Last evening was a great time.  The boys played softball in the lower yard, Mark continued to clear around the pond with a fire going next to it while I planted swiss chard and beets.  The night before,  Tim, Addan and Titus helped me plant rows of peas, lettuce, spinach and radishes.  Such a cozy feeling, especially last night as a storm was brewing, the sky getting darker and darker, the air wetter and windier!   Soon thunder and lightning came upon us and we all dashed into the house.

As I plant, I envision the crops that we'll be enjoying.  I find such fulfillment as we sit down together and most of the meal is the fruit of our labor.  

I also think of different people.  Both my sets of grandparents enjoyed gardening.  My maternal Grandfather actually bought the lot next to their house so he could have a large garden (this was when money was very tight and  he had 7 children).  I remember going to his house and seeing him come home from work and go to his garden and bring in veges to eat that night.  Such sweet memories.  I can also see my Russian Grandmother out in her garden with her apron full of veges. As she came into the house she'd say  "come eat, Tammy, good for you!"  in her broken English.  My Mother also loved to garden.  So maybe it's been passed down to me.  As I plant I often think of my sister Tonya as well, knowing that she too loves to garden and we can chat on the phone for hours about what's coming in now and how we're going to process it.  Last night as I planted the swiss chard, I was thinking of Tonya as she raved about it so much last season!  I also wondered what she has gotten into her ground so far. 

I often think of my Aunt Rosie as well.  She taught me the lasagna way to get the ground ready.  She did her whole yard that way,, covering her yard with old computer paper from her work and loads and loads of compost from a near by horse farm.  

I love turning over the dirt, seeing the worms and smelling the earth.  

Here are the planted rows of beets next to the lettuce.   As I planted them, it got me thinking of how gardening has so many life lessons.  One example is planting seeds is like having children.  We prepare for them, getting things ready and then  we then have them.  Care for them and feed them, watching them grow all with the goal of them, some day bringing forth fruit in their own lives.  As a follower of Jesus, that's our goal for our boys, that their lives bring fruit that glorifies our Savior!  My goal for the garden is not to see pretty plants but to see and have fruit!

Lady Product Tutorial

This is my first tutorial,, eeks!  I'm actually nervous trying this,, not sure why.  Guess I don't want to leave anything out and be sure it's all organized properly and the pictures come out in the right order, SO MUCH pressure!! :)

My friend uses cloth diapers and looked into cloth menstrual pads.  She asked me if I ever saw them and could make them.  This got me real curious.  I made some last year, after first buying a few on Ebay so see how I liked them.  I have gotten to know which ones to use when and how long before I need to change it.  They are alittle different than disposable ones.

There are a few things that are real useful.  I got a cheapo Dritz snap installer.  It was VERY frustrating and rarely worked.  I highly suggest NOT buying one of those!  I did invest in a KAMsnap, hand held snap putter-on-er. :)  (KAMsnaps.com   they have oodles and oodles of colors of snaps to choose from).  I found having a snap on the pad made the world of difference.  Safety pins just didn't work well and the snaps hold it well and are much faster!

 These three are finished pads, the one in the middle (bright blue, red, yellow) is the one I bought from Ebay and used as my sample.


Another useful product is PUL fabric.  It's what is used in cloth diapers.  It's: polyurethane laminate fabric.  It provides the waterproof barrier needed in the medical field that can survive multiple institutional washings.  (taken from celticclothwholesale.com)  I tried making some out of just layers of liner (flannel or old towels) and the PUL worked better for my heavy days.  The ones without the PUL are fine for my last few days.

  The first thing I did, make a paper pattern for the outside liners (make 2), the middle liners (I used 3-4 pieces of flannel) and the PUL liner piece (I made one alittle smaller than the outside liner pieces).


The layers:  baking, PUL (the PUL is the white piece that I used marker to trace on the pattern), liner layers and top liner piece.

I sew the layers, PUL and top piece together with a rectangle in the middle.(do not include the bottom liner in this sewing).   This holds them all in place and also makes a middle section to sit nicely in your undergarment. Then I zig zag with all the layers together around the edges,, the bottom piece, the PUL, flannel liners and top piece.  The last step is to add the snap.

When I'm using my pads, I have a plastic shoe box sized box on the dryer.  I put a dirty pad in it and cover it with cold  water.  As I use them, I just add more water to cover them.  When the box is filled, I pour the dirty water into the toilet and put the soiled pads in a rinse cycle.  Then I just wash  and dry them.  Good to go again.

The pads fold and snap into tidy little packets.  If I'm using these while I'm out, I just put the soiled on in a little ziploc baggie.  They're very easy to use and not a whole lot more work.  So much better for you and cheaper :)

A Feel Good Day

Today is one of those days that I feel like I got alot done.  I love days like that!  I've been wanting to change our bedroom around and thought I'd have to wait until summer to have a full day to do it.  Today was a light day of school (the older boys went and did windows with Mark as he didn't have school today) so the younger ones just did school.   

Mark's side of the bed was where my dresser now is.  It was on the other side but I like being on the inside of the room.  (Weird childhood hang up, if an intruder came in, I want to be farther away from him/it!!)   Mark has his "stuff" in an armoire and I want to move that out and put it where my dresser was and set a table up there to work on my scrapbooking this summer (I have a goal to do one page a day this summer). For now, the desk is there but that is where Mark's armoire is going. I need the boys to move that,, WAY too heavy for me.  :)

Everything gets so dusty during the winter months from the woodstove, so it felt so good to get everything dusted and sparkling.   This little shelf over my dresser has some of my special things.  My very first bear I got in the hospital when I was born, bears that were given to the boys when I had them,  a little copper  bell my Russian Grandma gave me,  a little trinket (the boy looking into the mirror) Mark got me while I had Titus, a couple glass pieces from my Bootsie Grandma (name we called our maternal Grandma-- the blue vase and Christmasy girl), a flower Addan gave me for Mother's Day one year from his Sunday School class and my heart shape rocks the boys have given me!  Such a fun shelf!  Plus there's a picture of me with my sister Tonya at my Word of Life graduation. 

What a good day,, but now my body is so looking forward to climbing into that cozy bed with nice aired out blankets and clean, crisp sheets!  

Resurrection Sunday

Resurrection Sunday is such a fun day for us!  It's always been a huge deal in my family growing up.  Yummy meal, family together, egg hunt after for the kids, church meetings, walk on the beach, egg game and laughter.  Since I've gotten married, our family tradition has become going to my Aunt Rosie's house in CT.  We try to go there every other year.  What fun memories I have being there with family.  This year was our year to be home.  It's always nice to be home too and create memories with our church family.  Of course, it alittle different but still very memorable.

This year, our Pastor's family invited us over Sunday afternoon.  What a treat!  I love especially being with Ellie (our Pastor's wife).  We have alot of the same personality and she's a no fuss type person,  very loving yet very blunt.  I feel like I'm with a sister when we're together.  

So we brought some of our traditions to their house.  The egg game (a game we've done since I can remember,, I remember my two Grandfathers playing and laughing together.  This didn't happen to often as my one Grandfather only spoke Russian so communication was limited.), antipasta salad, and yummy desserts were some we shared with our church family.  The kids had tons of fun playing outside on the beautiful day!  The evening church meeting  was the last fun shared together with friends.  Silas and Luke were baptized at the end of the meeting.  Pastor gave Mark the option to baptize them and the boys wanted their Dad to baptize them!  What a treat and honor!  What a great way to remember the Lord's resurrection,, watching your two sons get baptized!  Such a vivid picture of the His resurrection!  Great day and memories together!

Easter Decorations

My Dad got me the little egg with a duck in it.  Dad is a giver and loves to give to others.  As a child, he was always getting little gifts for us.  One Easter, he gave my sister, my Mom and I each an egg.  A lady from his work made them.  It's a real egg with the insides blown out and beaded work on the outside and a momma duck and her babies inside.  Such fun memories as we take out the spring/Easter decorations.