Good, no, GREAT news!

Evie came through her surgery GREAT, which is a huge answer to prayer. Still waiting on another update, but it's over and she's fine.

Ok, this is a little domestic of me

I recently learned how to make my own laundry soap. From $5 worth of materials, I have a 5-gallon bucket of laundry soap. Also, the borax and washing soda I bought (that was the $5), when mixed half-and-half, make dishwasher detergent. Since I still have a box of borax under my sink, our homeschool science project today was making Flubber. (Yes, like the movie, except, of course, not with its own personality.)
I'm not typically the most "green" person I know (OK, stop laughing. I know I'm a gas-guzzling, convenience-food-feeding, disposable-diaper-using, high-maintenance-hair-product-needing environmental terrorist.). But I'm also pretty cheap. Especially about things I can make at home. The environmental thing is just a bonus.

RECIPES:

Laundry Soap-
- Grate a bar of soap (whatever kind you want; a scent you like)
- Melt soap in a small pot of boiling water
- Pour melted soap and water into a 5-gallon bucket, stir.
- Add 1/2 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda, stir again (make sure it is dissolved)
- Slowly (so it doesn't bubble up too much) fill the bucket with water, stir again
- Let gel overnight, stir, pour into an empty detergent bottle for dispensing

This is slightly thinner than regular detergent, but works great. Use about 1 cup per load (the standard measure on a jumbo-size detergent bottle).

Dishwasher Detergent-
- in an empty jar w/ lid, mix 1 part borax and 1 part washing soap.
- Use about 1/4 cup per load (split between the 2 compartments of the washer). If your water is hard and it leaves a film, put white vinegar in the Jet-Dry compartment.

Flubber-

In one bowl, mix 1 cup white glue, 3/4 cup water and a few drops of food coloring.
In a second bowl, mix 2 tsp. borax and 1/2 cup warm water.
Pour bowl 1 into bowl 2, they will combine automatically and you can just pull out globs of "Flubber".
(This was a math lesson, too, since I discovered that I only had 1/2 cup of glue, so I had to halve the recipe!)

So there you go...my contribution to the environment and your (and my) wallet.

A funny website

This website is where I learned pretty much all I know about parenting.
http://www.ize.hu/click.php?id=5919&url=http%3A%2F%2Fajanlo.kapu.hu%2Fpics.php%3Fd%3Dgyerekneveles

And it's not even in English! (mostly)

Pray for Evie!

My niece, Evie, will be undergoing surgery tomorrow morning to remove a small cyst from behind her esophagus. While the condition is not life-threatening, it's always scary for a little one to have surgery, so I'd ask that you keep her lifted up throughout the day.

Another observation

I'm re-reading what I've posted today and laughing at myself because I write like I speak: massive run-on sentences, excessive use of parenthetical phrases, (probably) improper emphasis on words.
To me, it makes total sense. But reading it over, it's cracking me up.
Oh, well; as Abbie would say (see, there's that "kid funny" thing again)..."Too bad, so sad!" Can you tell that possibly sarcasm is a gene that can be passed along like no fashion sense and a tendency towards slothfulness?

Some of my top favorite of all time funnies from my kids

OK, so kids are funny. Bill Cosby taught us that, right? And of course, everyone thinks their kids are the funniest. Mine actually may be, though. (Kidding, of course...kind of.)

These are my top moments, though.

(Micah)
Grandad: Guess what we’re having for dinner?
Micah: What?
Grandad: Horse snot, camel slop with a cherry on
top.
Micah: (wailing) I don’t liiiiiike cherries!

(Abbie)
Abbie: I pooted!
Mommy: Well, what do you say?
Abbie: Bessie [the dog] did it!

Katie:
K: Mom, I’ve made plans for tomorrow.
M: really, what are your plans?
K: well, first, I’m going to get up. Then , I’m going to put on
my robe. Then, I’m going to brush my hair all by myself.
Then, I’m going to take a bath. By myself.
M: that sounds good; let me know if you need help with
anything, OK?
K: mom, I’m just trying to act like a five-year-old

(Micah)
Micah (to Abbie): floating zoo, floating zoo!
Abbie: Floating zoo?
Micah: No, Abbie, you have to hear Mr. Fred sing it. You won’t even believe it,
But he does. And that’s the only reason he comes to Creation.
Abbie: To Creation?
Micah: That’s the only reason I go, too.

I'm sure I'll be adding more. Kid funnies are one of the only things that keep me from "jerking the wheel into a [expletive deleted] bridge abutment!"
For 20 points, name that movie quote.

Oh, yeah, the reason I chose this title!

Is because a) it was available, and b) I am not the worst housekeeper in the world, but it's pretty close. I mean, I'm not going to featured on Inside Edition as one of those crazy hoarders that are trapped in their home, but at this very moment my house smells vaguely of dog (even though the dogs were washed last night, but I haven't vacuumed in days) and there is a stack of ironing nearly as tall as my almost-3-year old on the back of my couch, and also probably 5 loads of laundry to fold and put away. Which is easily my least favorite housekeeping chore. Except dishes and scrubbing bathrooms.
But on the plus side, I did learn how to make my own laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent, which should save...well, I don't know, but a lot. As in, it cost me about $2 to make a 5-gallon bucket of laundry soap. More on this later.

Me? Blogging? Get outta here!

And it's not really that I find all that much to say...except when I do. So here I am...sitting at my computer desk (which is a likely place to find me at many times during the day...I need to work on that), listening to my kiddos play outside. It's January 30 and it's 65 degrees outside today. Maybe Al Gore is right?