Vanicream

In the past six weeks, my 9 month old developed a nasty case of eczema. From past experience, I knew that our pediatrician would recommend using hydrocortisone and Aquaphor. I'm not thrilled with using a steroidal treatment on my kids and I've had limited success with Aquaphor. This time around, first I tried using a coconut oil lotion, again with limited success (though it is my favorite lotion to use on my own Colorado dry skin). Finally I listened to my cousin who recommended ...

The Vanicream has caused the redness to fade and the rough patches and bumps are mostly gone.

Works for me!

On Lemons and Luxuries

Our washing machine would have cost over $400 to repair. The Sears repairman did not charge us a thing for his trip and diagnosis. I think he realized that we had purchased a lemon from Sears and felt sorry for us. The machine was not old.

I did research on the internet to figure out a replacement machine. James went shopping Thursday evening, but without success. Today he decided to take the day off to get the job done. Good thing. It took most of the day for him to purchase the washer, drive to a warehouse and pick it up, unload it at home and hook it up. If he had waited until tomorrow to do this, there would not have been time to get the laundry done this weekend.

Now I have Mt. Laundry to tackle, and it is pleasant to do with a new machine. This washer has a sanitary cycle which takes longer to run, but means death to germs!

I accidentally ran a load of darks last night without laundry detergent. Several of the jeans were caked with mud. I thought I'd have to run them again, but when I inspected the clothes, they smelled clean and were stain free. So far, very good...

Our dishwasher is dying a slow, lingering and loud death. It also is beyond repair. Funny how appliance failure often seems to happen all at once! Yesterday, as I blew dry my bangs, my hairdryer popped and died in a flash of sparks.

I could get by without a hairdryer or a dishwasher if necessary, but a washing machine? I've been reflecting on how necessary that appliance seems to modern life. I could wash dishes by hand easily, but clothes? My grandmothers have stories to tell about how they used to do dishes or laundry. My father's mother at one time, while living in Kentucky, had to get water from a creek and wash clothes in a washtub, including diapers.

I'm very thankful to the Lord for providing James with a reliable job and savings to go out and replace appliances right away.

After James took out the "old" washer, he contemplated how to get rid of it. He recalled that our town was scheduled to have a once-a-year, large item curb-side pick up sometime in May. He looked it up on the web and found the pick up scheduled for...this weekend! What a blessing that he could just wheel the lemon out to the curb this morning! The trash guys heaved the machine into the truck and I watched as it crunched the washer flat.

This whole episode causes me to realize how easy my life is, to thank the Lord for his good gifts, and to remind myself that my treasure needs to be in heaven even in times of plenty.

Reader's Digest

Birthday Cakes, Cards and Crafts

This week's Works for Me Wednesday features a birthday theme. I've never been particularly fond of making birthday cakes, but my most infamous confectionary catastrophe occurred on my second child's third birthday. I baked a cake from a mix in a 9X13, and leaving it in the pan, I frosted it with whipped cream and attempted to decorate it with colorful sprinkles. Bad idea. The cake absorbed much of the cream and the lid fell off of the sprinkle shaker, dumping the candy confetti unceremoniously in a heap. Thankfully my three year old did not have much aesthetic sense and was perfectly thrilled with the mess. Unfortunately for me, the cake is memorialized in full-color pictures. (No I will NOT scan one in and post it!) I wailed to my husband, "Why can't I buy the cake and make the card? I'm much better at cards!"

Fortunately, before my children grew old enough to catch on to their mother's incompetence, familyfun.com came to my rescue. I'm betting that many wfmw participants will post about this wonderful website with a cake finder to provide step-by-step instructions for truly easy-to-make cakes that are guaranteed cute, allowing any mom to become a member of the "Fun Mom Club."

Betty Crocker is another good source of easy recipes for birthday cakes. Here is a cake that I made from a Betty Crocker recipe:

I still would rather make a birthday card! Here is a goofy card that my husband and I made together for my oldest son for his eighth birthday:


On the front of the card, we wrote: "For your birthday, we wanted to invent a CAKE EATING MACHINE..." Inside: "but then we realized: That's Why We Have YOU!!" (I said it was goofy.) I put together a little collage below this of small scanned in pictures of my son with cake at each of his previous b-days.

Our family's most elaborate birthday party in the past was a "Flying Pony Party" (named by my daughter) which included a hobby horse craft:

When the kids arrived, they colored posterboard pony heads that I had drawn and cut out ahead of time. Two other moms and I, armed with glue guns, stuck googly eyes on the ponies, glued on each kid's choice of crinkle paper mane, and attached a stick to make homemade hobby horses. (The mane and stick were sandwiched between two posterboard pony heads.)




This concludes a very wordy Works For Me Wednesday post!

What Does the Logan Say?

While we read an animal board book, Logan came up with his own signature sound:




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Fact Building

Can you smell that? Sorry. Our washing machine put a spin on things by running through its cycles today...without water. I didn't figure it out until I "washed" the diapers twice~ first on "cold" then on "hot". Water did run into the drum initially, but then right on out, leaving behind a lot of suds to mingle with the mess. A Sears repairman is scheduled to show up sometime on Wednesday. Sigh. I've gotta do something with the diapers before Wednesday.

On a cheerier note, Logan just discovered that his knees work well for getting around and is crawling "for real". He has even managed to crawl up the stairs several times. The older kids make great "spotters" and cheerleaders.

We kept a program from the piano competition for posterity. Evan had to write a short blurb about his interests and future plans for the performing arts when he applied for the competition. The program listed "fact building" as one of his hobbies. I wonder if anyone scratched their head about that one and thought "geeky homeschooler". Evan actually wrote "fort building." (He knows some facts, but doesn't presume to build any!)