The Dress

Here is the dress Mom and I worked on the other day. See the cute flower?My sister made it! Isn't it pretty?

A Perfectionist's Nightmare

Bad pictures!

I know that Easter is NOT about Easter pictures! I know this. But the last two years, we've taken the worst pictures. I'm blaming the lighting.

Too much sun coming through practically bare trees = bright spots and darks spots! Not good. I won't even go into the fact that I'm about a month and a half past needing my hair done! Look at those roots! Or the fact that every time Papa got ready to take a picture the wind picked up. Good grief! And dispite the shade, we're still squinting.

Here it is slightly edited in PhotoShop.

This is my favorite picture from 3 years ago. Now you see why I'm disappointed?

More Easter

Setting up...

The girls...The boys...Meme and Papa...Mamaw and Papa with 9 of their 15 grandchildren...Isn't my sister pretty?

Strawberry Jam-Preserves

Look at what my friend brought me...

When I saw her last Wednesday night, she told me she was going to pick strawberries the next day and asked if I wanted her to pick some up for me. I gave her $4 and this is what I got!! I estimated about 11 pounds all together.

What do you do with 11 pounds of strawberries? I froze a bunch. We ate a bunch. And Mom came over today to make a bunch of strawberry jam-preserves. (We couldn't decide what the difference is between jam and preserves so we're using both names.)

So yummy!!

Laundry - Sorting

I realize I'm a little bit nutty really nutty about my laundry. Of all the ways someone could help me, laundry would be the worst way. It makes me want to hyperventilate just thinking about it because I know it wouldn't be done the way I like it.

I also realize that some of you reading this will think, "Whatever lady." But a friend encouraged me to post about this subject so maybe some part of it will help someone.

Before I get into sorting, I want to encourage you to get your kids involved in laundry. Each of our kids has a day of the week assigned to them. On that day, preferably before breakfast, one of their responsibilities is to bring down the dirty laundry. Then on Thursday, we all go in the closet room to work on putting the clean laundry away. Many hands make light work!

Sorting laundry. Here are my baskets on shelves made by my handy husband. I have six baskets for sorting dirty laundry. I have another large basket that we use to transport dirty laundry from upstairs down to the laundry room. And then I have two clean laundry baskets for transporting clean laundry from the laundry room to the closet/dressing room. I never put clean laundry in a dirty laundry baskets.

So here is my list of baskets along with how I wash them and whether I dry them in the dryer or hang them up to dry (and I promise I didn't sort the actual baskets by color on purpose - that's my story and I'm sticking to it):

Left - Towels, wash clothes and really dirty white socks. Wash in hot water. Bleach added. Dry in dryer.

Right - Nice solid whites and off-whites. Wash in cold with Tide with Bleach Alternative (TwBA). Hang up to dry.

Left - Underwear. Wash in hot. Dry in dryer.

Right - Roddy's workout clothes. Wash in warm. Dry in dryer.

Roddy's white t-shirts, white socks not needing bleach. Wash in warm with TwBA. Dry in dryer.

Sheets. Wash in hot. Dry in dryer.

Pillows. Wash in hot. Dry in dryer.

Left - Any clothes with white and another color on them go in this basket. It is then sorted into at least 4 loads:

1. Red and white, 2. Mostly dark with some white, 3. Mostly white with some dark, and 4. Boys sports outfits.

All are washed in cold with TwBA. Hang to dry.

Right - All solid colored clothes. This basket also gets sorted into several loads.

1. Good black clothes, 2. Jeans, 3. Reds, oranges and pinks, and 4. The rest depends on how much of each load I have. I can have enough clothes to wash separate loads of tans, blues, and greens. Or I can just combine pastels together and darks together. I usually put yellows with tans, purples with blues, dark browns with not good blacks.

All are washed in cold with regular Tide. Hang to dry.

Laundry 101

Laundry is one of my favorite jobs. That wasn't always the case, though. Because I'm so picky about the way my laundry is done, it used to be a mental challenge every time the laundry basket was brought down.

Which load should this go in? was the constant question. I know most people just throw lights together and darks together and towels together. Not me. But I finally figured out a system that works for me. I no longer have to think about it. I just do it. No more decision making. That part is now done. And it makes life a lot easier for me.

A friend once asked, "How do you get all the laundry done?"

My answer is, "I don't!"

I'm a firm believer that laundry does NOT have to be done. In my book, it's a ridiculous notion.

This is a picture of my laundry at a point where I consider it "pretty caught up."
I remember back when I had 3 little ones. I looked at my one laundry basket which was stacked up a couple feet above the edge and thought, What a lot of laundry! Hee hee hee! I had no idea!!!

Anyway, I used to think I needed to get laundry baskets emptied and everything put away to feel like I could check Laundry off my list. But who can ever get laundry done? Even if I emptied the baskets and put it all away, we'd all change our clothes at bedtime and I'd have a full basket again! See? Ridiculous.

I also used to think that doing laundry every day would get old. But since I've figured out the best way for me to sort and know just how I want to wash each load, the only work is physically entering the laundry room and throwing in the load.

My laundry goal is to do at least 3 loads a day, one at each of our major meals ~ breakfast, lunch and dinner. My laundry room is right next to the kitchen so I'm right there anyway.

Tomorrow I'll tell you how I sort my laundry. For now, I want to give you some laundry tips. A lot of these are preferences and you may think I'm nuts (especially when you find out how little I put in the dryer).

Bleach ~ bleach is your friend. I put a little bleach in every load of towels and wash cloths to keep them from smelling musty and mildewy. I recommend it.

Vinegar ~ if you have a new red or dark colored garment and you don't want it to fade, soak it for about 15 minutes in a bowl of cold water with maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white vinegar. It helps set the color.

Darks ~ turn dark colored clothes inside out to wash. It helps with fading also. If you don't believe me, check your hubby's dark socks. Whichever side is usually turned out when you wash them will be lighter than the side that isn't exposed.

Good Whites, white socks and white t-shirts ~ I never wash white garments with any other color. If you want dingy whites, go right ahead and mix them in with other colors. I can always tell my kids socks from others' because although they are stained on the bottom from being worn without shoes (ugh), the tops are actually white instead of gray.

I also never dry my good white clothes.

Dryers ~ I don't dry most of our clothes. It saves energy and your clothes last longer - both of which save money. Clothes don't shrink or fade or pill as badly if you hang them up to dry. I don't have an outside clothes line so I hang them to dry on hangers in our closet room.

Clothes I dry are: hand-me-downs that I know were dried by their previous owners, socks, Roddy's undershirts, most jeans, underwear (but never bras or sports bras), sheets and towels.

Rubbing Alcohol ~ Gets ink out.

Hydrogen Peroxide ~ Takes out blood.

Shout or some other stain remover is a must.

Fabric Softener ~ I use Downy instead of dryer sheets in every load of laundry since I don't use the dryer for all the clothes.

Miscellaneous ~ I never lay clothes on top of the washing machine since I never know if there is the tiniest bit of bleach unseen that may ruin them.

Sewing Fun with Mom

What do you do when it's just too beautiful to stay inside and your mom is over to help you get some things done?

You do what any normal person would do, you take "things" out!

My mom retired a year and a half ago (YEA!!!) so she tries to come over one day a week ~ usually after her Tuesday morning Bible study ~ to help me do whatever I need to get done.

It is my favorite day of the week!!

She usually brings lunch, so I have one less thing to think about. Very nice! And I usually have a short list of things I want to get done. That list usually includes organizing something, cleaning out something, or sewing something...or all of the above.

On this particular day, we were having some gorgeously warmer weather. Neither of us could bear to be cooped up upstairs with our sewing project. So we moved everything outside.

I have this dress that I love and wanted to see if we could make another one similar to it. I had some pillow shams that I picked up at a garage sale a year ago that I was going to make into an apron. That is until I decided to use them to make my dress.

Iris helped us...The dress isn't finished yet. Hopefully we'll wrap it up this week and I'll reveal it in my Easter pictures (I'm going to put in on after church!).

Monday's Motto

Life is not fair.

Suck it up and move on.

I not only tell my kids this, sometimes I have to remind myself!

Flag Football 2010

The boys just finished up a season of Upward Flag Football. Charlie was on the K-1 grade team and Jay and Gray were on the 2-3 grade team.

This was Charlie's first time playing and he was a riot. He had the most fun out there. And because he's been playing with his older brothers, he really did well. At the last game, the other team was short a couple players so Charlie volunteered to play for the other team. I was thinking his coaches are crazy to give him up. He scored both touchdowns for the other team.He didn't care whether he won or lost, though.

The older boys on the other hand, were more competitive this year than last. They got to practice good sportsmanship. They lost the first game and it was not pretty. I had to tell Gray if there wasn't a drastic difference in the second game, I wouldn't let him play the third.

He did much better the rest of the time. It helps that they won all the other games, but hey.

Gray being QB...

and smoking the other team for a touchdown...

Jay being QB...

He just missed it...

Working together! Go Team Wagner!

Roddy and our good friend, Kevin were two of the coaches for the Crushing Boulders.

Great job, Dads!

Monday's Motto

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12

There are days we feel we are wrestling our own flesh and blood ~also known as our children.  In reality we are fighting for our flesh and blood against the enemy and his evil forces. 

Stand strong Warrior Mamas!!

Saving Money

We are stewards of all things given to us by God. 

Every good and perfect gift is from above.

Everything is God's and we just manage what He chooses to give us ~ time, talents, home, children and money.

Since we're talking finances this week, I thought I'd share a few ways we can manage our money wisely.

• Use a Cash Budget

Set up a budget.  Then for the areas you can (groceries, clothing, eating out, etc.) use cash.  This keeps you more accountable than a credit card ~ even if you normally pay it off every month.

We thought that since we always paid ours off and earned 1% cash back that it was a good thing.  But we didn't actually keep track of our spending.  With cash, we have to be more aware and careful and disciplined.  Once the cash is gone, it's gone.

• Stay Home More

I had a coupon for free mascara from JCPenney.  So yesterday before we went to the grocery store, we stopped by the mall. That particular store didn't have the department to get the mascara so it ended up being a wasted trip. But I noticed as I was walking around looking for it, I found all these cute things that I would just love to have. 

The more you're out, the more you will see things you think you need. Things that before you were perfectly content to do without.  My advice: when you go to the store, stick to your list!

I would say the same about sales flyers and internet browsing.  I find when I browse through them, I start wanting things I had no desire for a few minutes earlier.

Also, the more you're out, the more likely you are to spend money grabbing a quick meal at a restaurant which would cost much more than what you have at home to eat.  Not to mention the gas used. 

Okay, I'll move on now.

• Be Thankful

Godliness with contentment is great gain. 

There are so many things we can find that we think we just can't live without.  But when you're trying to be a good steward of your finances, sometimes the best thing you can do is be content with what you have.  Even more, be thankful for what you have.

Be careful of comparing what you have or don't have with what others have.  Covetousness is equal to idolatry.

Victoria Botkin suggests that if we want to compare ourselves with others, instead of comparing ourselves with those that have more, we should think of those who have so much less ~ the orphans in Haiti, the mother of a stillborn baby, the young widow with even younger children to raise alone.

We do have much to be thankful for!  And if we have Jesus, He's all we need anyway!

The Kids' Money System

I have been wanting to implement some kind of system for the kids to organize their money.They get paid a few dollars a week and what I've been doing is ever so often I'll say, "Okay, you've probably been paid enough to put a dollar in the offering plate for your tithe." Not a good system.

And if they ever ask to buy something at the store, I always say no because I don't want them to spend all their money. Or I don't want them to think that just because there is money in their wallet, they should spend it.

Well my friend had this great idea to keep up with her cash envelope system. She went to the dollar store and bought a coupon folder (the kind that will fit in your purse). After she's sorts her cash into envelopes labeled "groceries", "pet care", etc., she then slips them into her little coupon folder. Before heading out, she can either grab just the envelope she needs or take the whole coupon folder with her.

So, like I always do when I see a great idea, I stole it! Not her coupon folder, the idea!Now, when I pay the kids, they automatically give me their tithe money from change they keep in their wallets. I put it in individual envelopes for them to put in the offering Sunday morning.


Then they can divide their money up between spending, saving and gifts. The spending money goes in their wallets. That way if we've decided they can buy something when we go to the store, they just take their wallets.

Their savings and gift money goes in a coupon organizer. They can either save up for something big now or put the money in their bank accounts. Emma's saving for a horse ranch one day so she's serious about putting it in the bank. Their gift money is for them to use when they want to buy birthday gifts for each other or gifts for family at Christmas. What about you? What do you do with your kids' money?

Didn't We Pass the First Time?!

I was only a few weeks away from delivering Iris (our fifth) when Roddy was downsized! He was the better salesman but politics saved the other guy. We were also a few months away from closing on a house we were having built. At this point we'd been married almost 10 years.

Did we freak out? It would be reasonable, right? We needed insurance to deliver this baby, we needed income to pay bills and be able to close on the house we'd been waiting for over a year for. But we had seen God's faithfulness throughout the years in more minor situations and had full faith that He would take care of us again.

Sure enough, within two weeks Roddy started work with a competitor. God is good. All the time!

Fast forward almost three years. Things were going great. Roddy was learning a lot and had been promoted to Sales Manager.

But just after Thanksgiving, without any warning, Roddy was demoted from Sales Manager to Salesman. And the next week, he was called into the office and told to turn in his company car keys and cell phone immediately.

When Roddy called and told me someone was driving him home, I did cry. I thought, "Lord, didn't we pass the first time? We never doubted You and trusted You to take care of us. Why are we going through this again?"

But I sucked it up and remembered what He had done for us before and got to work making a banner with the kids to put on the garage door so when he pulled in the driveway he and the guy driving him home would see it.

It said, "You're the BEST! We love you!"

The next Sunday we were sitting in church. I don't remember what the sermon was about but I must have been thinking about our situation. All of a sudden, it became crystal clear to me...

All I need is Jesus!

If I have nothing else, but I have Him, that's all I need. I don't need a house or backyard. I don't need a bunch of clothes or furniture. All I need is Him.

What weight was lifted from my shoulders.

Here's the exciting part of the story. None of this surprised God.

A couple weeks before Roddy was demoted, he was on plane coming back from a business trip. He had been bumped to a different flight and the plane was crowded except for his row - he was the only one sitting in a row of 3 seats. A gentleman from the back ended up moving to his row. They ended up talking and the gentlemen gave him a business card and said, "If you ever want to change industries, give me a call." He was the VP of the company.

Roddy put the card in his wallet and didn't think anything about it...until he was fired. He called the number on the card, set up a meeting and a month later started working for the company he's with now.

Once again, God proved that He will provide.

The Lord Will Provide

When we married, neither of us had debt. We had credit cards but always paid them off (and still do).

I was a money-hoarder. We didn't even have that much but I was always wanting to save, save, save.

A couple years in, our church offered Crown Financial Ministries classes. I remember making the comment that we didn't need a class to tell us how to save money (I already did that). Well someone anonymously sponsored us so we went anyway.

Come to find out, my issue wasn't with saving money, it was with trusting God to take care of us financially.

I learned that what I thought was our money and our material possessions wasn't ours at all! It's ALL HIS!! Whatever we have, He gave us. I'm just a steward of it.

Roddy had always said that but I hadn't adopted his philosophy. Before we took the Crown classes, he had back surgery (about a year and a half after we were married). Because of a miscommunication with the insurance representative, he ended up at a hospital that was not in-network. Instead of covering 80% of the charges, insurance only covered 50%. That was a big difference!!! We're talking thousands! I was distraught.

Roddy said if that was how God wanted to spend His money, so be it. I wasn't convinced. One night I was stressing out about it, so I picked up my Bible. It opened right to Genesis 22. An angel had just appeared to Abraham who was about to kill his son and offer him to the Lord as God had told him to as a test. As Abraham raised the knife God sent an angel to stop him and then provided a ram for him to sacrifice instead.

Abrahams words jumped off the page. He called the name of the place:

"The Lord will provide"

Well if that wasn't loud and clear!!

That was a turning point for me. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the other two incidents that solidified my trust in Him in this area and freed me from stressing over money.

Monday's Motto

Live like no one else now,

so you can live like no one else later.

~Dave Ramsey~

This week I'm focusing on finances/money. We are going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University with some friends. Loving it. I recommend it to anyone.

What he means by the above is that everyone else (or most people) live beyond their means financially. They buy things they can't afford to impress people they don't really like. Or they just don't have the self-control to stay out of debt. Credit card debt, auto debt and student loans are rampant!!

Dave says if you can't pay cash for it, don't buy it.

After going through bankruptcy 20 years ago, he has only used cash and doesn't even have credit cards. He says the FICO score is really your "I love debt" score.

He is now a multi-millionaire and actually paid back all the debts he was cleared of when he filed bankruptcy - even the banks.

He says we should live below our means now (like no one else) and pay off debt, save 3-6 months expenses, etc. (see Baby Steps). Then one day you will be able to live like no one else because you will be financially secure.

You can also listen to him on the radio or on-line. He's on our local radio station for several hours starting at 3:00 every afternoon. I'm addicted. The kids even ask to listen.

He's also got a book called The Total Money Makeover.

Come back tomorrow to hear one of our money stories...

Monday's Motto

Hospitality is this:

What we have received from the Lord,
we gladly share with you.

This was one of the quotes from last Monday's "Evenings with Victoria Botkin." Her point was that as mothers we have seasons. If you have young ones at home, this may not be the time for Martha Stewart entertaining. It's the season for adding an extra plate at the table for mac-n-cheese. It's fellowship while folding laundry.

Gotta tell ya, that is extremely freeing for me!

Book It Program

Pizza Hut has this cool little program we've taken advantage of for a couple years now.  It's for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade.  They send you 6 free personal pan pizza tickets per child enrolled.

You and/or your child set reading goals and at the end of each month, they are rewarded for reaching those goals with a free one-topping personal pan pizza.

Go here to enroll.

Exposed

I read a lot of blogs. Not all of them daily, but some - my favorites. I have often wondered of those writers whom I don't actually know what they are really like.

I'm an analyzer. I like to know why people are the way they are. If I know more about a person's temperamant, life experiences, even birth order, it helps me understand them better and I like to know what makes people tick!

So I thought maybe if you read this blog and don't know me, you might wonder the same things I have wondered about others. From time to time, I will share with you some things about me that might help you understand who I really am, why I write what I write and why I write how I write. These posts will all be titled: Exposed.

Expose means to make known, reveal or unmask. Which is something I need to do more of.

I'll start by saying I fear rejection and criticism. I'm sure after each of these posts I will completely doubt whether I should have exposed myself. I don't like vulnerability. And while some of you may read the posts and think that's what you consider being vulnerable? Trust me, for me it will be.

I am bold and confident in some ways. I don't mind what anyone thinks of my beliefs, convictions or the way I live my life (which is a result of my beliefs and convictions). What I fear is personal rejection. Not being liked for who I am. Not being accepted because of my imperfections. Even being rejected based on perceptions of who people think I am.

I would love to uncover all my sins and weaknesses, quirks, failures and ugliness and not care about what someone thinks of me, but at this point in my life that feels impossible!

I have just learned in the last couple years that God accepts and loves me unconditionally. That I don't have to be perfect for Him to see me as lovable. And that has been extremely freeing. One day I hope that I can care only about what He thinks of me. I think that would be ultimate freedom.

Until then, perhaps this will be my therapy. My own personal counseling group, consisting of me and a bunch of faces I can't see.

And just maybe exposing one piece at a time won't be so frightening.

Mediocrity - A Word Picture

I heard this story once in a sermon on the radio...

A couple of teenagers came to their dad and said, "Dad, can you sit down? We need to talk to you.

"There's this movie we really want to see. It's rated R and I know we aren't allowed to see R rated movies but we asked around about it. There are only a few bad words, no big deal. And one sex scene ~ but it's more implied, off to the side.

"It's got fantastic special effects, though, and some great actors. Come on, Dad. Let us go. We don't want to be nerds! Can we go, please?"

Dad thought and said, "Let me think it over for a day."

The next day arrives and the teens ask, "Dad, did you decide about the movie?"

"I did," he says. "And you can see it."

Just then he brings out a batch of fresh baked brownies and says, "But first I want you to eat these brownies I made for you. I chose the finest ingredients ~ the best chocolate, freshest walnuts. And they are so moist!

"I should tell you, though, I put a tablespoon of dog poo in them. It not much and I baked them perfectly at 350 degrees so I'm sure it killed any bacteria."

Do you think the teens ate the brownies? There wasn't that much dog poo compared to all the good stuff that was in them ~ just like the movie they wanted to see.

So if we saw the sin in the things we digest mentally and spiritually literally as dog poo, we might be less apt to partake. Don't you think?

Monday's Motto

Our greatest distraction to our devotion for God

is our service for Him.

~Oswald Chambers

In other words, we can get so wrapped up in minstries, serving and doing, that it is actually a distraction to our relationship with Him.