Yeah! Party!

There is nothing like a 5 day long party! Here is another one for you all! http://arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-5-of-our-blog-party.html

I hope that everyone remembers what they are truly Thankful for today.

In Him,

I love this blogging Party!

This wonderful woman is having another day to party! There are so many things to celebrate, and here is another one, A family is working very hard to bring home a very cute little boy with severe CP. http://www.jeremiahspromisejohn1418.blogspot.com/

Here is the party: http://arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-4-of-our-blog-party.html

Another Party!

I am so loving these parties, even if I don't win, to hear the stories, and to find the new blogs, and the items I am able to purchase to help out families is so awesome in itself!

http://arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-3-of-our-blog-party.html

Giveaway!!!

Have you been to the blog party yet at http://www.arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/? It a party to celebrate family, and everyone loves to celebrate families, and I know you love to have parties!

Grateful

Right along with Thanksgiving, can we just skip it all together this year? I have just not been in the spirit at all. When my favorite music station started paying non Christ bearing Christmas carols 2 weeks before Christmas, I just wanted to crawl in a dark hole until the day after Christmas. I have so much to be thankful for, but there are a lot of things plaguing me as well. My days are spent much differently now. I am running a pretty tight ship, but I feel like I am going to fall over board some evenings after the boys go to bed... Father, if I trust You for my eternal salvation, why don't I trust You for my daily needs? Instill in me the peace that comes from casting all my cares to You. Help me wake up to saying this is a new day, I am rejoicing it, and going to bed being grateful for the day that I have had with You, and with my family Father.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

It has been over 2 months since Adam has picked up his guitar. Even when we said if you don't start practicing again, we will sell the guitar, and we will keep the profit. He jut shrugged his shoulders. His grades are great, he came home with straight A's on his report card, I wouldn't of thought he would get less, but he did. He hasn't been doing chores, which we had told him that if he didn't want to do chores, then he was not allowed to do the things that he was allowed to do when he was doing his chores. With responsibility comes flexibility in the fun stuff. He has regressed. I know why. We know why. It makes me sad. I know ways to change it... but it is the way I choose to change it I am not sure about.

God here I go again, I am placing this one, alongside my problems and flaws I have already placed in your large, loving, already heavy hands.

Matthew 11: 28-30 (28) Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I need to repeat this verse in my head a lot lately. I also have been told that I need to be the window into God's world. It is just hard, when I feel like that window locked, there is duct tape on the windows so the panes won't shatter, and boarded up so my winds won't gush through. Thank you for telling me that though, thank you for giving me that push, and giving me the eyes to see that I need to be that window...you know who you are. I will keep my winds blowing like a hurricane, and I will break through.

Going Green take 2

This past week has been a hit! I have been soda free! The rest of the house... well that will be a big step when they decide to join me on that wonderful part of this journey.

We have been using cloth napkins at dinner time. I have not had to replace the paper towel roll at all his past week, and it is only half gone, so that makes me happy.

I can honestly say that I LOVE to hang dry my clothes! It keeps me on my toes with my laundry! I have to plan the laundry out. I have to make sure I keep up on it, because it is not like I can just throw a load in the wash and then just dry it really quick (well I can, but I am choosing not to use the dryer, he is retired again).

Lights have been out! Everyone has been doing their part to make sure that the lights are turned off when they leave the room, or if we are eating dinner, the tv is off. It is nice.

As for driving... well there has not been much of that going on for me since my van is almost on it's way to the morgue unless my dear husband can figure what is going on with my engine. His Subaru is once again in his garage and being worked on until late hours of the night. The Jeep... well... it is "working".

Everyone is very much so doing their part to recycle like it's nobody's business!

Cold water is being used for washing, I am even thinking of making my own dishwashing liquid... but that is a whole new post!

I have not found the mesh bags for our veggies... so I am still on the hunt... I have found a few web-sites, but they are so pricey. So the ones we have had to use from the grocery, we are using to throw diapers away in.

So, so far so good! I am proud of myself, and my family! Carbon footprint, eat our dust!

Going green take 1

So I have decided to take it upon myself to lighten the carbon footprint that my family is leaving. I have a list that I am starting, to improve our footprint... to make it slowly fade... I hope.

The biggest thing this weekend was cloth napkins. DH wasn't too sure about how I was going to keep up on it, but I am willing to give it 110%!

No soda. No soda for me at least, which means that I will not be omitting Co2 from all of the soda I would normally be drinking. http://www.breathingearth.net/

Hanging em up to dry! I have retired my dryer again, and boy is he happy! He will only be put to use when something needs fluffed, and that will be a rare occasion.

Turning off the lights when we leave the room, and making sure that the appliances are un-plugged if they are not being used, or they are on energy save.

I have put a bottle filled with water with some rocks in the bottom of the bottle, in the tank to my toilet to help conserve the water. It will help us save about 10 gallons a day in water just by me putting that bottle there.

Instead of driving over to get DH's coffee in the morning, I will be walking. The same with going over to Walgreens for anything that is needed, which is two blocks away.

My recycling has gone WAY up. I usually skimp, and if I get lazy and I don't want to wash out the can of soup or milk jug, I just toss it. Instead I am leaving it in the sink, and I do it when I do the dishes.

I have been using cold water in my wash instead of warm or hot water, and making sure that I always have a whole load of laundry to do instead of just 3/4 of a load.

No more plastic water bottles are going to be purchased for our household. We have quite a few reusable water containers, and those will be used, unless the older boys want to reuse their precious plastic water bottles.

No more, "Paper or Plastic?" I am sticking to using my bags. I paid for them, why not use them! If for what ever reason I have purchased so much at the store that day and I can not for everything into my 10 bags, well then I will use paper, since I can recycle them.

My next stop... I am looking for some mesh bags to put my fruits and veggies in to transfer from store to home, instead of using the plastic bags at the store... Any ideas on which website to start at?