A nice surprise

Mark just called me about an hour ago to let me know he was driving home.  Rarely does he get to start his 10 hour drive home before noon, and most commonly it's about 2 or 3 pm.  What a nice surprise!  The only problem is I thought I had all day to get the house cleaned to my "Mark's-homecoming-specifications."  In reality I have about 3.5 hours.  Good thing we have a less than 900 sq ft home!

Things I love about right now...this moment

My cup of coffee.

Going into the bathroom and almost tripping over a toy that doesn't belong.

Hearing the defeated cry that follows after the thud from an object being thrown/dropped from the crib.

A just-chilly-enough house for sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt.

Looking around and seeing clear evidence of a child living with me.

Grant porch renovation

The long-awaited before/after of Mark's parents' front porch.

The porch needed help on so many levels.  It was dreadfully narrow, covered in nasty carpet-ish miniature golf course-like fabric.  And those steps.  Please look at those steps.  How a woman who has gone through so many knee problems, including surgery, got up and down those steps day in and day out is beyond me.  Props to Sherri for being such a patient good sport as she eagerly waited for a better way to get inside her house.

BAM!  That's the kind of art my husband can pull off.  That man never ceases to amaze me.  He can take any idea and turn it into a reality.  Notice where the porch ended before.  They (Mark and Tim) added 2 feet to the original width.  And 6 evenly spaced steps with sturdy handrails replace the 3 different sized steps with no handrail.

rewarding life changes

For me, it all started with my burning desire to hire a midwife to assist me in a natural birth.

Once I did that, I slowly started becoming more aware of the little areas in life where some changes could be made.

Cloth diapers, organic foods, cleaning supplies, body care/toiletries.

And let me tell you, these changes are some of the most rewarding tasks I've set out on.

Now everything I look at is through the filter of how can I take care of this without any chemicals, or rather how can I take care of this using only the things God made, not the things man tweaked.

The hardest BY FAR has been cleaning supplies.  I'm just now really getting in to that one.  But it's hard to come to grips with the fact that *Clean doesn't have to smell like something.  Clean smells like nothing.*  I love me some scented cleaning supplies.  But then I turn the bottle and look at the ingredients and see all sorts of warnings about skin contact and eye irritation and DO NOT, WHATEVER YOU DO, INGEST THIS, and I think wait a second.  If these things are dangerous to our bodies, why am I cleaning with them?  I know I can use lemon and lavender (etc) essential oils to give the house a "clean scent," but it's just hard to let go of that Clorox Green Works.

Anyway, bottom line is that I stand beside each of my decisions regarding the care of my house, family, and our bodies--convinced that they are the choices God has led me to, and that they are right.  That doesn't mean that I expect everyone to come to the same choices (though I would certainly love to see that kind of revolution).

Details later, maybe? 

But for now I am quite certain that given the chance, I could conquer the world with coconut oil and baking soda.

friday park visit

Roscoe is sooooound asleep right now.  He missed his morning nap and then we spent the whole day out and around, getting home from the park around 4:15.  So thankful for family that lives close.

Nana, Roscoe, Papa, and Eliot

Eliot's favorite person ever is Papa.  Hands down.

Peekaboo with Aunt Bethy

Liam.  A child's life.

Distracted mid-swing.  (joking) (he's not that strong yet)

To think that Roscoe used to be afraid of him...

Felted wool dryer balls

A few months ago my mom asked me what kind of fabric softener I used, because she had just found a tutorial for making fabric-softener-like wool balls (you'll see).  I proceeded to boast in the fact that I didn't need fabric softener.  Rarely did our clothes wrinkle, and there was never a problem with static.

Don't speak so proudly unless you're prepared for Murphy's Law to come punch you in the face.

It wasn't 2 days later that the static electricity in our clothes was so bad that the hairs on my arms would stand up straight as I attempted to fold laundry.

I really don't want to use fabric softener (liquid or sheets).  Liquid because I don't want any residue in the washer (it'll coat the fibers of the cloth diapers and cause them to hold undesirable scents) and sheets because those tend to create a waxy buildup in the lint trap of the dryer, reducing its effectiveness, and there are chemicals in it and I'm really trying to go as chemical-free in this house as possible.

So I talked to mom about what she did and I found this cool little tutorial (very similar to what she described).

Here's how it looked for me:

An old, unlined, uncomfortably scratchy, oddly fitting wool jacket that I bought for $5 a few years ago and may have worn twice.  A scane (sp?) of 100% wool yarn, and wool roving.

Cut the fabric into strips and begin to form a ball out of it.

Tightly wrap the yarn around the wool ball.

And then the roving around the yarn.  A word to perfectionists: it may not really resemble a perfect ball shape yet.  I had a hard time with this because I desperately wanted to make it perfect, but it's nearly impossible to.  But no fear...

You then stuff the balls into a pantyhose leg.  Tie each one separately and tightly.  Then run them through a hot cycle in the washing machine and dry them completely.  This is the how the wool felts.  After they came out of the dryer, I cut mine out of the pantyhose and decided to re-stuff them into another pantyhose leg and repeat the washing/drying step.  Then after they came out of the dryer the 2nd time, they were felted and beautiful.

That's it!  They're ready to go.  Just pop them in the dryer for each load of clothes.  I forgot to take an after picture right when I completed the project, so this one's from about a dozen dryer loads of use.

So the run-down of how it works is that the wool soaks in most of the moisture from your load of clothes and evenly disperses it throughout the dryer, so it stays more humid throughout the dryer during the drying time, reducing the potential for static electricity. And I've noticed that I can have the heat setting on medium instead of high, and my clothes still dry faster than before, with no wrinkling.

I'm not sure if these are going to last as long as the ones in the original tutorial.  She said they can last up to 5 years.  I think I forgot to put my washing machine on the hot setting when I washed them, so that could be the reason.  But so far, 12 loads in and they're doing great!

What I spent: $3
1) wool jacket from the closet: $0
2) yarn from Hobby Lobby with 40% off coupon: $3
3) roving from my mom (she gave me her extra): $0

playground shots

I went to the park downtown today to get some exercise.  It's hard to pass up on a day this beautiful.  On the way back to the car I decided to stop and let Roscoe walk around on the playground.  For the most part, he has officially chosen walking over crawling as his method of transportation.  And, oh, the things that is introducing into his little world.

look closely

mid-walking

mid-walking, part 2

So happy with this shot that I captured as he breezed past me.  That profile!!!

all tuckered out, getting some blanket cuddles

belly laughter to carry you into the weekend

This kid is so rough and tumble.  He loves being tossed onto furniture, and the rougher, the better.  So Mark discovered a few days ago that flipping while throwing him was a huge success.

Grant porch sneak peek and why Roscoe loves his Grampa

As I was organizing pictures into various folders I came across this video that I had forgotten I recorded.  I didn't want any pictures of the porch renovation at Mark's parents' house to be posted til it was finished, but this video is just too cute not to post.

Roscoe goes through phases of which grandparent is his favorite (he doesn't understand yet when we tell him not to pick favorites).  Right now, even at the time of this video, my mom (Nana to Roscoe) is by far his most favorite person in the world.  But I dunno, Mom, you may want to watch out for Grampa.  These are some of the reasons Roscoe goes crazy when he sees this guy.

(And you both know I'm just playing around with the favorites thing, Roscoe loves you both to death, just as he does his Papa and his Grandma.) ;)