That One Weekend When Nobody Showered

Yes I said it…NOBODY showered; not Brian or Liam nor I showered the entire.weekend.long.
It also should be called:

The weekend we thought Liam had the plague, then the flu, but it turned out just to be hand-foot-and mouth.
The weekend we were quarantined inside our home with worse cabin fever than a hunter in the middle of winter hyped up on red bull.
The weekend we ran through all of our dishes and laundry before we stopped to do a load.
The weekend we watched Croods twice, Lady and the Tramp four times, and Veggie Tales once because Liam couldn’t get off the couch.
The weekend the couch was never more than two feet away from a puke bucket.

The weekend we sat covered in germs and stink next to Liam on the couch because he begged for us to just hold him, hold his hand, hold his cup, hold his roo-roo—both of us to hold him---and we did without moving, without a grudge, and without showers.

Let me tell you it was worth it. And so was using the entire can of Lysol and the entire water tank of hot water Sunday night.

Sometimes little superheroes just need to be held.

Writers Gotta Read

I’m not going to lie, I have been such a slacker lately. I have been too busy to write, too busy to read and too busy to stop and breathe. That is all about to change.
I took a new, totally amazing, totally rewarding, totally WORTH IT  job back in August this year, and we have been trying to perfect our family schedule ever since then. The new job gives me mornings with Liam when Brian is working and then time with the both of them in the evenings after 6 pm, but there is no time for “me” time. I used to write in the mornings after Brian took Liam to work and then have my alone time with Liam in the evenings from 4-6pm before Brian got home but not anymore.  Now my mornings are filled with giggles and tickles, fixing breakfast and packing lunches, and occasionally sleeping in with my snuggle bug Liam.
I WOULD NOT, WILL NOT, CHANGE THEM.
So where is the time to write and paint and read?

When I started the new job and started coming home after 6 pm to dinner on the table, followed by bath time then reading time, then brush teeth and bed time---well there was no time left. 
I sit here now writing only because my little blonde bear has a horrible virus/plague and has spent the past three days napping on the sofa. Soon though he will be back to his normal bouncy self and then we will be back to the normal schedule.

So as I explained to Brian in so many words, “if I do not write I do not function” and he looked at me with those “I don’t understand but I will fix it” eyes…..a plan developed. I will deliver Liam early to our sitter once a week before work and have an hour to write then as well as turning off the TV one night a week for BOTH of us to write, read or whatever. A mandatory no TV night.

Hallelujah.

Since I believe with everything in me that writers have to be readers, I have been looking for books to motivate and move me, or just make me enjoy the read, and I have developed my LIST. (Queen of lists right here.)

Like any good list, it is primed and ready for expansion; so I am willing to hear input as well but what I have so far is this:

Eleanor & Park—by Rainbow Rowell
The Book Thief – by Markus Zusak
How to Raise Selfless Kids in a Self-Centered World—by Dave Stone
Give Them Grace—by Elyse M Fitspatrick and Jessica Thompson
Radical—by David Platt

So here’s to the love of books, both writing and reading alike!

Winners!

Our two winners were Renee and Manda! Thanks to all those who pinned, posted, and shared! Soon we may pair with Blue Lizard to do a mega sunscreen giveaway so if you didn't win don't give up! To the winners please email me your shipping address via the email listed on our contacts tab, and thanks so much for participating! 

Oh, Happiness Giveaway!

Okay, it’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of September this year. So what better way to try and start September off right than with a Labor Day giveaway? How about two Labor Day giveaways!

My friend Sarah Autry over at Oh, Happiness! is one crafty lady. If you remember I mentioned a while back that she was responsible for revamping my blogs, but she also runs an Etsy site selling her customized invitations and art prints. One of her latest creations are these adorable Pregnancy Prayer Cards that have customized prayers and scripture centered around your growing baby. Each weekly card details new developments for your baby and specific ways to pray for them as they grow. (All references in NIV.)

Here’s some examples:

I only wish I had these when I was pregnant with Liam! They are truly unlike any other pregnancy tracker gifts I have ever seen!  Since I have so many pregnant friends and family, we want to give away a set today!

It’s so easy to enter, here’s how:

Do any ONE of these three things:

• Repost this giveaway on any of your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or your personal blog, etc.) and leave your name in the comments section below.
•   Post the link to Sarah’s Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/people/segraha on any one of your social media accounts.
• Go to Sarah’s Etsy account (Oh, Happiness!) and favorite her site!
•  Pin it! Pin one of the images above to Pinterest with information on where to purchase the cards!

It’s that easy!

Then head over to www.throughliamseyes.com to check out our sunscreen giveaway! Winners will be announced later this week so stay tuned!

 Happy Labor Day All!!!

 

Dear September

Dear September-

I have mixed emotions about meeting you this year. I won’t lie, last year you were one of my favorite months of the year. September is National Awareness Month for Visual Impairments and Blindness, including Albinism, as well as White Cane Awareness month. So this year I looked forward to you just like last year to do my White Cane posts, wear my Raise Awareness shirt, my braille shirts more often, even doing little giveaways of sunscreens and braille books.

Then things changed. You changed for me, for our house, for our family.

Nowadays when I think of you, September, I dread you. I dread the emotions you bring with you this year, and hope that next year will be better. Right now all I think of when I think of you is a due date. A month that should have marked the coming of our second child, our middle child, and for that reason it is special. I’m a middle child, and one day I will have a middle child, just not this September. So for this year, as we wade through September, no belly about to burst, no nursery prepped, no every-five-minutes-or-less bathroom runs, and no baby in our arms, I will hold a grudge 30 days long, and hope that next year I enjoy you more. I’m not sure you will ever be one of my favorite months again but for now I am content enough not to rip your page from my calendar altogether. But that’s as much as I can say for now. Be kind to us September, in our house you are special, you are still loved, but you are also on the bottom of the totem pole.

Sincerely a sometimes but not this year fan,

Truth

I found this recently. I've been avoiding this blog recently, one that I frequent often for her mommy wit and advice, and her overseas travel stories.  She and I discovered our pregnancies at the same time and I knew she would be blogging a lot about it, so I avoided it like the plague.  I dared to venture to her page this week and I was shocked when I read her most recent post. It was like ripping off the bandaide on an old wound, bringing anger and tears at the same time, but it was a MUST read for me. My heart needed it, and it was beautiful. I won’t spoil it or try to under explain it here, but it is well worth the time to read.
http://adrielbooker.com/dear-pregnant-woman-from-a-baby-loss-mom/

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I’m not an overly obsessed pinner on Pinterest, but I am a major DIY’er. If I can do it myself, I prefer to.  So when I saw the dozens hundreds of DIY laundry soaps and baby wipes being pinned, I was intrigued.  At first I thought it would be more of a hassle than it would be worth, until I found a mom blogger who had put them both to the test to see her savings over the course of a year.  By replacing these two items with homemade versions she claimed to have saved $600 a year! Now granted she has 6 children in a household of 8, and we are only a family of three, but still I wanted to give it a shot.

I mean $600 is one mortgage payment.
$600 is one large vacation, or three mini weekend get-aways.
$600 is eight weeks of groceries in our house.
$600 is 15 tanks of gas in my car.
$600 is one year of paid satellite television.

Even if in our small household we only save a portion of that, we would still see the savings over time. So ten minutes of mixing time seemed well worth it. We decided to only do the laundry detergent for now, as we are almost done (fingers crossed) with baby wipes for now.  When we have more children we will try to do both.

I thought I would share my recipe even though it is not the most original I’m sure. I saw many recipes on Pinterest that I liked and decided to mix several different ones for my own.

A few reasons for my choice ingredients:

• *We used Zote soap instead of Fels-Naptha for two reasons.  Zote is plant derived so it’s environmentally safe, whereas Fels-Naptha is not and is strongly discouraged if you have a septic take (even though we do not) because it kills the good bacteria inside them causing back-ups over time. Fels-Naptha is also harmful if it gets in your eyes or ingested by mouth whereas Zote soap is not. Because of this we went with the Zote soap which has a whitening agent in it but does not have as much stain/grease fighter in it. For that reason we added the Oxi-Clean which replaced the need for Fels-Naptha. If we had not used the Oxi-Clean we would have used a small amount of Fels-Naptha instead, but in smaller amounts mixed with the Zote soap.

• *We used a mix of Washing Soda and Baking Soda as everything I read said that Washing Soda was so acidic and with such a high PH balance that the Baking Soda was needed to re-balance the load as to make sure the fabrics did not cause skin irritation. So we used equal amounts of each in our mix.

• *I wanted to use a booster in our mix, like the Oxi-Clean, but as I looked for others besides Oxi-Clean I found most were scented.  Purex Crystals were my first choice as a stain booster but since they are scented, I bypassed them for the Oxi-Clean because of the sensitive skins in our house. If it were not for the sensitive skins I may have chosen a scented booster and powdered softener, but the Zote soap does give a good clean scent.

My advice is to customize your recipe for your households needs and then test out different versions to see what is right for your crew, but our version is below. We loved the results and the laundry smells and feel just as soft and good as our normal All Free and Clear detergent.

We average with our costs per ingredient, that the total cost for one batch (which does 256 loads) is between $9.80-$12.90 for the one batch of almost 2 gallons.  The price varies only due to generic or name brand ingredients and if you remove the extra option for the Oxi-Clean or not. This averages out to $0.03-.05 per load!   Our normal liquid detergent (All Free and Clear) is $4.00 at 33 loads which is $0.12 a load. Since I tend to use the liquid more freely and get only 22 loads from the bottle (I always use the large load amount) I would be spending $0.18 per load.

To switch to homemade is a saving on average of 9 - 15 cents a load!

Let me break that down further for you.
Say I do 6 loads of laundry a week for a year.
That’s 312 loads a year.
Homemade would cost me $9.36-$15.60 a year, and store bought would cost me $37.44-$56.16 a year.
A possible savings average of $46.83 a year!

Now I know what you are thinking--that’s not $600 a year! It’s true it isn’t, but remember how I said that mom blogger had six kids? Two of those children were babies in diapers….washable cloth diapers. Also, the $600 was baby wipes and laundry detergent combined. So I can easily see how, over time with a large family, you would save more money with these homemade versions than our smaller family will. Still to me it’s a small save and a fun new DIY to try. So, now for that recipe.

Homemade Laundry Soap

*1 Bar Zote Soap  (or 3 bars Fels-Naptha Soap bars, or use one of each)

*1 3lb 7oz box Washing Soda (We couldn’t find the 4lb boxes-just make sure it’s even with the Baking Soda.)

*1 3lb 7oz box Baking Soda (or 3-4x 1lb boxes if you cannot find the larger box)

*1 box of 20 Mule-Team Borax (You will only use an equal amount to match the sodas so if you’re using 3lbs of each soda use only 3lbs of Borax. If you can find the 4lb boxes of the sodas use the whole 4lb box of Borax. Since we used about 3lbs of each soda we used ¾ of the 4lb box of Borax for ours.)

*½ of a 2lb tub of Oxi-Clean

Dump all of the above in a large container and seal. The bars of soap (Zote/Fels-Naptha) will have to be grated with a cheese grater into small shreds, and then everything should be well stirred. Just like most powders you need to add the detergent mix in the water before the laundry is put in, and if you have an HE washer it’s advised that you dissolve it in a cup of hot water first and then pour it into the washer.

Happy Washing!

The Difference Between Joy and Happiness

The past few months have been a huge roller-coaster in our house. The coaster departed the station the moment we decided to pursue expanding our family of three into a family of four, and after two dive drops (miscarriages), the ride ended back where we started. Some days, it is so easy to think the ride was “all for not”, but the rides twists and turns definitely taught me so much about motherhood, my hearts desires, our family dreams, and ultimately the biggest thing: the difference between Joy and Happiness.

A few days after our first “dive drop”, I drove through the Starbucks window on my way into work with my puffy under eyes subbing in for my usual makeup.  I was in no mood to talk to anyone but I was holding it together.  Now, I would never admit this to my husband, but let’s just say at least half of the Starbucks baristas may or may not know me by name….and drink order….just maybe.

Anyway.
It only took a minute for my barista friend to hand me my Frappuccino, but her words have stuck with me for weeks since then.  She paused with my receipt and stuck her head out the drive through window, “Is everything okay? You’re usually one of the most joyful people through my window at 6 a.m.” She waited for me to respond by I just shook my head. “Well, you just look like you’ve lost your joy,” she finished and with an apologetic smile she retreated back inside the window.  I sat there for a few moments but no words came, so I forced a smile back at her, which must have looked strained, and then just drove away.  I wasn’t ready for the questions, and I had not prepared myself with a reply.

It took weeks and another “dive drop” for me to realize something—there is a difference between losing your joy and losing your happiness because there’s a big difference in joy and happiness.

Your happiness moves and changes with each event or change in life, but your joy cannot be shaken when it is rooted in Christ. As a Christian your Joy is unwavering.  Let me explain.

The definition for Happiness is: the state of being happy or satisfied.
The definition for Joy is: great delight or a feeling of great pleasure and happiness or rejoicing.

Joy is a fruit of the spirit. Gal. 5:22 –“..but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…”
Happiness is not.
Joy is strength in the Lord. Neh. 8:10 –“…do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Happiness is not.
Joy always comes with the morning. Ps. 30:5 “One may experience sorrow during the night, but joy arrives in the morning.”
Happiness does not.
You still have your Joy even in times of sorry when the happiness is gone.
Joy is happiness but happiness isn’t Joy.

When your Joy is found in Christ it cannot be lost, it cannot be easily wavered, it cannot be stolen even when your present happiness can be.  I hope when people see me, even in my days of sorrow, they see that I do indeed still have my Joy. After all when I look at these definitions, I want to be more than just satisfied, I want to have the joy.

So I guess you could say Starbucks fed more than my caffeine addiction that day! Kidding…but even though I didn’t learn this until after my conversation with the barista, I am glad I have realized it now, and next time my answer will be ready.

Fun fact: Joy is mentioned in the bible around 189 times; happiness is only mentioned 20 times.

Wedded Bliss

In our house May 29th is a holiday. We celebrate it more than we do most others, because without it we wouldn't have our little family.

A extra special day because it's Brian and I's 4 year wedding anniversary.

In a world where the success rate on marriages is 10%, we choose to celebrate every year as a victory,  like the holiday it should be.  

Today I thought of a few funny things I've learned in our four years of marriage and thought I'd share some of my favorites. 

Starting with.....
 

1. Sometimes to get what you want you must place heavily weighted bets. So if you see Brian wearing his first ever pair of plaid shorts-please note, he bet poorly. 
(So many choices I could choose from!)

 

2. Forcing your hubby to watch too many So You Think You Can Dance episodes with you may trigger spontaneous, competitive car dance offs.  (Videos to come!)

3. Loosing said dance offs may trigger heated high weighted bets over previously mentioned plaid shorts....

4. We each have different roles and wear many different hats in our family. No really we do.  

5. Flowers never get old

 

6. Based on the number of matching superhero shirts Brian has purchased for him and Liam, my husband must still harbor a childhood desire to grow up to be a superhero. 

7. He is always my superhero. (I was always more for superheroes than a knight-in-shining-armor kinda girl.) 

8. 4 years married may feel like 40, but I have a feeling when we get to our 40 year mark, it will feel like only 4. 

Love anniversaries, love him. 

The Great Passy War

This is only an introductory post, a "one foot in" kind of deal.  The war started early Saturday morning and is still heavily underway. On the defense we have the Parents; the opposing side-Liam. By the end of Saturday the score was Parents 1: Liam 0. Since then, the tables have evened. It's more of a stale mate. 

Our Strategies:
We began with the "big boys don't need a Passy," which morphed into- "if big boys go without their Passy all day, they get suckers!"

That worked for only a day.
Then the "redirect his attention" strategy was applied.... Followed by the "supply him with something to chew on"....And then more bribery.

Liam's strategy was more of a "embarrass the parents by screaming at the top of my lungs at restaurants, then scream over the music in the car, and finally non-stop chatter in hopes we would mute him with a Passy."

Only at nighttime do we give in; when we wake, the Passy stays in the crib.

Yes, The War rages on this week, but after surviving the first three days, then the first week, I think we will be victorious. At least until the potty training war begins.
Got to pick your battles-today the Passy, maybe tomorrow the potty.

Ideas as always are more than welcomed.
More to come, right now Liam's battle cry is calling. 

I'd do it again every night for a hundred nights

Some nights we get home and crash, forget to spend time making memories that last. Work consumes our time instead of play....Then, some nights we play, and we do not stop until dark. Those nights I wish I could repeat every single night! To make sure we have at least one a week, we have "family date night". Tonight's was too good to keep to myself- primarily how it ended.

Summary of our family date night:
1. Get the amazing yet always unpredictable Naru. Free sample sushi which I tried for the first time... Ever! Agreement from husband to wear plaid shorts if I ate said sushi-- if you know him you know he is dying inside right now.
2. Stuffed ourselves on my fav, chick-fil-a ice cream!
3. Surprise stop at the park to swing and climb. (See post on Liam's swing experience and why this is such a big deal HERE!)
4. Pull over car to kill huge spider on Amy's passenger side front seat- needless to say after Dada missed the spider Mommie road in the back with Liam the rest of the night. Dad spent time emptying and searching moms purse for spider upon the return home.
5. Highlight of our night:
"Mom!! My shoooooee!! " said the toddler from the back seat.... With the windows rolled down.
"Liam WHERE IS YOUR SHOE!"
"Out da (there)." Points outside window.
Hence the ten minute search for the shoe on the side of the road and a very large "I told you so/he's just like his dad" from my mother-in-law.

Laughter has seized us tonight and I hope it doesn't let go!

A New Kind of Easter Eggs, Tradition and Mess

Easter morning as a child in the Hinson house meant getting dressed in our best, most floral and puffy dresses (usually matching ones) and attending church with our entire family. Then home to crowd around the kitchen table and decorate easter eggs, followed by an egg hunt on the lawn, and candy filled easter baskets to sugar us up before we crahsed out for the night.

Now, to clarify, Easter became so much more than this to us as we grew older. The reality of the true meaning of Easter, that Christ died so that we might live, the GREATEST story of Grace....that all came along at an early age as well in our house. We've already started Easter traditions centered around the story of the Cross with Liam so that he too will know it from very early on.
But let's be honest....the part kids really remember from the first to say their 4th or 5th Easter, is the eggs. Eggs filled with candy, eggs filled with money, decorating and dying EGGS!!
And that's okay, their just babies! And I love family traditions! Those times we shared with all of my 7 cousins, crowded around my nana's kitchen table to take turns dropping eggs in dye were priceless.
And oh the messes we made!!
The spilt dye, the smashed and stinky eggs! I want Liam to have the experience of dying eggs but until he is older and can participate in the "mess", I thought up a new way. A more permanent route (because let's face it, noone keeps those stinky eggs!).
My new way--Wooden Eggs.
We found them at Hobby Lobby--go figure--for 40% off of $3.99 for a four pack.
Liam enjoyed painting them just like I recall enjoying dying Easter eggs way back when.  I think every year I'll use them in our Easter decorations around the house. Even though eventually we will switch to dying real eggs, maybe we will just start doing both and add to our decorations each year. With a little modge podge they are sealed for life!
A new Atkinson tradition of our own, along with sharing the story of Grace at 5 a.m. cuddled in bed with mom and dad with a picture book. Oh and the floral dresses, suits and candy filled Easter baskets. ;)

The Insomniac Toddler

I look at this blog title and just laugh today. Nap-time. Who gets nap-times anymore? (I've tried enacting nap-times at work with no luck thus far.)

These past few weeks, Liam has forgotten that he is a toddler and not a newborn anymore. He's decided he prefers a newborn's sleeping pattern, and I've decided to never have another newborn again.....KIDDING!! 

I have decided to wear ear plugs at night though, and maybe sleep with my head under a pillow. 

Or just sleep in the yard. 

Preferably in a tent.

Just saying.

Anyway, this insomniac Liam has got to go. Our night night prayers with him have started turning into "and wake him with the morning light.....but not until the morning light. Preferably closer to 7 than 5."  The following have all, ALL, been tried (and failed) in an attempt to regain our sanity sleep.

• Pick him up and rock him. --Even though everyone and everything told us "don't pick them up!!!" We did, we regret, let's move on.
• Leave him lying and pat/rub his tummy/back. --That's if we can keep him lying down at all.
• Sit in his rocker across the room and sing/shush him.. --Insert nap in the chair here.
• Put him on the couch with us because we refuse to have a "only sleeps in our bed" relapse.  --Insert hours of squirmy giggles and demands for tv time here.
• Let him cry it out. --This used to work like a charm on Liam when he truly was an infant.  "Used to" being the key word here. 
• And my least favorite....stern voice and a spank on the behind. (Always carried out by his dad.)

After last nights 2 hour 47 minute nights sleep nap, I feel as if I've lost what sanity I may have had left. (Also "may" being the key word.)

Tonight, there will be Benadryl, Benadryl for everyone!  All those in favor say "I", all those opposed say you'll be at my house from 11pm to 3am tonight.

Any takers??  I thought not.