Three Sheets to the Wind

Not this type.

These!

Who knew they dry so quickly? In the dryer they get tied in knots and take FOR-EVER to dry. I hung up the purple pillowcase as I started taking down two other loads of laundry. By the time I got done taking down both loads (and I folded them as they came down) and hanging all of the sheets, the purple pillow case was practically dry.

I am very fortunate that my neighbor has an actual clothes line and that she offered to let me use it (a couple of weeks before the dryer went out - I had told her that I want to get a clothes line so that I could hang up some of our laundry). I filled it with the two loads of laundry I did. I did have to invest in some clothes pins, though. I went to Target and bought three packs of fifty each. I opened them one at a time, and yes, I did have to open all of them to hang up the clothes.

An Exotic Dessert?

Not quite. I was "softening" yeast. I guess my container wasn't quite big enough.

Loads of Laundry

I had a meeting this morning, and when I got home Brett was doing the laundry. Both the washing machine and the dryer were having problems. The washing machine has had problems spinning since we moved in. When it is time to spin, IT DOESN'T. Most of the time it is not a problem to run it through another spin cycle. Today, however, it was having a hard time catching the spin cycle when we tried to re-run it. This frustrated Brett.

Also, when I got home, Brett had to show me what he had done outside. So, I walked outside to see a whole load of jeans/pants on the rail of our back deck. He told me that they take too long to dry, and he didn't want to wait for them in the dryer.

Then the real problem happened. We noticed that we are not getting any heat out of our dryer (yes, we checked to make sure the correct buttons were pushed and it was set to where we really wanted it). As there was no heat coming out, we had to do something. So we did. We took a rope and tied it across the back deck and made a make-shift clothes line.

Emily really enjoyed hanging out the clothes.

... especially the underwear.

We had to hang two more loads out after this, so we ran out of room outside.

So we moved inside (plus, who really wants to air their dirty or clean laundry)...

This is the vacuum cleaner cord. The vacuum is propped up behind our green recliner and tied to a dining room chair (another make-shift clothes line).

Cha - Ching

Brett owes me $1000. This morning the scale tipped below 150 lbs.

Three months ago, before summer officially started, Brett asked me how much weight I was going to lose this summer. I told him I didn't know. He told me to make a goal. My goal was 2 pounds. I knew I could do it. I guess he had different ideas for me.

A little later that day we were talking to my sister about health, exercise, and weight loss. She was just starting P90x and was getting heart healthy. She had also changed the family eating habits (no white bread, lots of fruits and vegetables, and healthy snacks). Brett asked her how much she wanted to lose, and she told him. He thought I should be able to lose 30 pounds.

He put a $1000 gift out there for the first one to lose 30 lbs. He also set a final date to achieve it of 25 July 2009, figuring that three pounds a week was very doable.

As of 6:30 a.m. on 23 July 2009, I did it!

(and I feel great)

As a side note - I totally shocked Brett. He knew that I could do it, but he didn't think I would actually go through the motions to lose the weight, and that doubt is expensive.

Going Green

Last night we were waiting for Claire to come home (she had a fabulous trip with grandma Renee' to Valley Fair), and was going to return after midnight. So, we left the porch light on. I guess there are someone energy conservationist in the neighborhood who has taken it upon themselves to inform people that their outside lights are on.

About 10:30 p.m. the doorbell rang (this is the second time this month). It wasn't a nice, little, press the button once kind of a ring. It was a frantic, press it hard and fast, at least three times to get their attention kind of ring. By the time we got to the door there was no one there. The first time, Eli ran out of the house chasing whoever might have done it. Last night, Brett & I went to bed waiting for Claire to come home, and Caleb went to the door to find that nobody was there.

I guess we will have to be more concerned about the energy we consume so that we don't have late night visitors again.

Who Knows?

NOT THE DOCTOR!

We are giving him antibiotics. He also has some wheezing, so he will be using some steroids to help clear that up. One of the side effects of the steroids is thrush, so we will have to watch for that.

YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!

Hopefully we can get him better soon.

What is It?

Eli was sick last week. He didn't go to church, and he was home Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with a fever. He had little energy, and he had no appetite. On Tuesday he started feeling better, but still not 100%. Yesterday I asked him again how he is feeling, and he told me fine. I asked him why he was talking funny and asked if his throat hurt. He told me that one side hurt. I looked in, and this is what I saw.

I thought it might be strep throat, so I took him to get a throat culture.

The throat culture came back negative, so I called and made an appointment to see the doctor.

So, hopefully we will be able to find out what is plaguing our little guy.

Any guesses?

He has a slight cough, a sore throat, a low-grade fever, and this yucky throat. We are off to the doctor.

Random Proof

I was reading my friend's blog about "Evidence" of her children, and I decided to grab my camera and take pictures that prove that children are here in my home.

a random love note 

a broken window

the rock meant for a harmless butterfly, but caught the window instead

a pile of treasures on the picnic table

hazardous items left on the stairs

missing sandals

tools from the fence removal project

a bucket of screws on my dining room floor

the "character building" pile of 1" x 4" fence post planks

inventive tools

the cage that they boys made and use to trap the girls

games in process

camping gear & toys at the bottom of the stairs

a cooler in the kitchen waiting to be cleaned out

trail mix for a boy scout outing

a stick blender base left over from Brett's Blender Blunder.

Blogging 'bout Brett's Blender Blunder

Last night we made strawberry lemonade freezes in the blender.  It was a great success.  The children loved them.

• 1/2 can frozen lemonade concentrate
• frozen strawberries to fill the blender
• juice from 1 lemon
• about 1 cup of water
• about 1 Tbsp. sugar
• blend until smooth

After the freezes we has lemonade concentrate left over, so we made lemonade (in the blender).  We decided to add a couple of strawberries to make it strawberry lemonade.  Brett was in charge of this, and as he was ready to blend it, he decided not to put the lid on.  As he was going to press the button I looked over and made a noise like "EEEEEEE."  He looked at me and then pressed the button anyway.  We had a lemonade explosion.  The children laughed, and Brett cleaned up the mess - mostly.  I think it will be something the children will remember.

Removing the Fence

We have an old fence that is rotting.  Several sections have come loose and been knocked over, so we have holes in our fence.  Brett told the boys that he would pay them to take the fence down.  So, yesterday they worked to take the fence apart.  They got about 1/2 of it done, but the poles are still in.  The first pole took a while to get out of the ground (the pole didn't take too long, Brett just kicked it down, but the base of the pole with the concrete around it took a while).  

Brett pulling the base out.

Claire in the hole.

After the first one, Brett came in and changed into some work clothes.  He went out and told the boys he would get the corner post out in 15 minutes.  Caleb didn't believe he could do it, so he took a stop watch out there.  I looked at the clock and then sat down inside to read a book.  At 13 1/2 minutes I heard a commotion outside.  Brett had removed the post.  I was glad that he had changed his clothes, too.  He was hot and sweaty.

Brett using all of his mass to push the pole.

He decided that it was much easier to remove with the post still in it and decided to do one more before he was finished for the evening, and the boys (and Claire) got to help.  They got a total of three posts out.

Kung-Fu Caleb

Kung-Fu Eli (he was a little afraid to jump on it)