Run and Not Grow Weary...

There's Ethan, in the middle. They thought that his "glow in the dark" shoes were funny. Actually, they are silver Nike's, not really glow in the dark, but when I looked at the picture I immediately saw God's blessing on Ethan and our lives. When we moved to Zavalla to help Ethan complete high school, we never even dreamed that he would do so well in sports, let alone in cross country running. But God did. I have always told Ethan that God has a plan for his life, as for all of our lives, and to me, this picture holds a spiritual message. God has used Ethan's physical stature to help his emotional and mental one. He has enjoyed sports and making new friends. This picture is him with his Fellow Christian Athlete's. The kids here have made Ethan feel welcome and included in their activities. I have always believed that God would honor our faith in Him, but I never hoped that we would see the benefits so soon! I thank God daily that he has blessed us with Ethan, and his sister, Erin. They make our lives more complete and joyful!

Good Clean Fun

I think I have posted about this laundry soap recipe before, but I was making a new batch and decided to put it out here in blog land one more time. Thanks to nurse and friend extraordinaire, Wendy Linton, who first gave me this recipe. I have been using it for 2 years and still love it. So here goes.

You will need:

1 cup of borax

1 cup of washing soda

1/2 cup of grated Ivory soap

1/2 cup of grated Zote soap (found on the laundry aisle in store)

Stir all together and then process in blender or food processor just to get a finer powder and better combined mixture. Use 2 T per load and that's it! I did the calculations, and it only costs 6 cents per load. Here are a few pictures for show and tell:

Here's how all the packages look, except for ivory soap, but I think you know what that looks like :)
Grating up the Zote soap:

Mix up in bowl and then process a little at a time to get a good, fine powder mixture.

Find some pretty jars for storage and start doing laundry!

Here is the white hoodie that was involved in the bike accident that I mentioned in a previous post:

I did use a spot remover that you spray on before putting it in the laundry, but it came out snowy white with my homemade detergent. I was very impressed that all the mud was removed. I don't have an after picture right now, but you can take my word for it. It is so white and clean, and never going to go on a bike ride again!!!!!!

MS 150?

NOT!


Maybe the LS 6! No, I am not about to attempt the MS 150, but I am determined to get in better physical shape and start riding my new bike that I got for Christmas. Just so happens that to my mom's and back is 6 miles, so that is where I will start.

Here I am heading off on the first trip!

As I was riding down the road I decided to try to take a picture so my readers could experience my trip sort of in 'first person'. So, I took the camera out of my handy dandy basket and tried to take a couple of shots of the road I was on.

And then, you know the rules of riding. If you look that way, you will go that way! I ran right into that muddy rut and fell all the way in that mud hole! (It was really deep) and it was not fun! I was knee deep in muddy water and socks deep in mud! I picked myself and my bike up out of the mud and started accessing the damage. I had only traveled about 1 mile and I didn't want to give up so soon, so I decided to ride the rest of the way.

Here is the muddy bike. Understand that this picture does not give good credit to how bad the damage was.

My left leg went in the deepest and so my shoe and sock were completely covered in mud. I had mud splashed all over me and also splashed on my brand new white hoodie! More about that later.

As I shook off the excess water, I noticed that a truck was approaching. The only vehicle on the road at the time and he stopped to check on me. He first asked me if I had intended to go in the mud. (I don't think he actually saw the accident thank goodness). I explained to him, that I really didn't want to go in there but hadn't been on a bike in a while. He asked me where I went to school..lol. What?? I told him my age.. and he didn't believe me. .said he thought I was in High School. Yea, right!!!! Anyway, I asked how much it was gonna cost to keep him quiet about the accident and he said, "$1,000". I then decided that if he talked and I found out about it I would just say that he ran me off the road! I think we parted with an agreement between us!

So, I finished the first leg of the ride and ended up at my mom's house. I couldn't go in because I was too muddy, but she did bring me a glass of water to have on the porch. When I knocked and she opened the door, I think I scared her. I had mud on my face and didn't realize it. I told her I had a wreck and she thought car wreck! Anyway, she almost didn't let me ride back home but I assured her that I was just fine and besides, I was too muddy to ride in her clean car! I made the ride back home with no more incidents or accidents. There was mud on my face, a big disgrace, but you will continue seeing me ride my bike all over the place!!!

All in the Family

All but me that is. Of course, I am the one taking the picture. This was Christmas 2010 at Nanny's and that is Schotzie in Erin's lap. Her sidekick that travels with her everywhere. We had a great time celebrating Christmas and eating all the fun foods we allow ourselves on this special day. I had fun going all around and taking pictures. I think the youngest person there this year was 13, so not as much fun as when litte kids are present, but we had a good day and finished off with the girls going out to a movie. It was not so good...Hope we pick a better one next time!

Meet the New Addition to Our Famiy

This is Gracie and she came to live with us right before Thanksgiving 2010. Our dearly beloved, Josie, died in September 2010 and we were grief stricken. Actually we were shamelessly, hopelessly, saddened and decided the only way to recover was to find another similiar pet to hold in our empty arms. Our daughter, Erin, found us Gracie on the internet and picked her up for us. It was almost love at first sight. Actually, she loves everyone at first sight. She greets complete strangers, both men and women as her long, lost, friend. She is so sweet and fun to watch. When she finally gets tired, she actually lets us hold her in our arms, but most of the time she just wants to run and play. She just discovered her reflection in the nighttime window this week and it has been so funny to watch her reactions. At first she barked at the other "doggy in the window", then when she realized the doggy wasn't afraid of her and wasn't going anywhere, she began to play. I keep trying to show her that it is just her in the window, but she just doesn't get it. Oh well, I will let her enjoy her new friend while she can. She will face reality soon enough!

Last Year's Last Project

WAY BEFORE




BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Tada! I started and finished this in two days, the first week in January actually, so technically this is this year's project. But as you can see from the "way before" picture, it has been in my garage for awhile. We were so blessed to get a great love seat from a friend for Erin's new apartment in Galveston. It has a small living area so we were looking for a love seat and happen to see an offer on face book for one that was just perfect for her. In great shape and very comfortable. Of course, not in her preferred colors so she asked me to slip-cover for her. Not my favorite task, but you'll do anything for your kids, right?

Anyway, I think it turned out great and it looks good in her new location. She is going with a beach theme since she will be living a couple of blocks from the seawall. She actually clocked it and can walk there in 4 minutes. Oh my, the life of a student. I don't quite remember my student days as quite so fun, but maybe I have forgotten?? It was fun moving her in and fixing up my space where I will stay when I go to visit. Yes, I have my own room with a very comfortable bed, so my "student get-a-way" is just waiting for me. I think I will wait until it gets a little bit warmer before I crash her pad, but I am sew looking forward to it!

It Pays to Be Flexible

And sometimes it hurts just a little. I have been very negligent in posting to my blog over the winter months, so I am starting fresh today! I will go about my days looking for new blog material to be able to share with the world of blog readers. I don't get out much these days so it will require much creativity to be able to come up with interesting topics, but I will commit to giving it a good effort. Sew, check back soon and look for new posts!