Happily Ever After...

I have a weird little secret. I have been making my own laundry detergent for several months now. And I LOVE IT!! It gets your laundry every bit as clean as store-bought detergent, and are you ready for this?? You use just 2 tablespoons of the mixture. So it lasts F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Even if you are a laundry maniac like me and do 2-4 loads per day. AND it costs like a penny a load (or thereabout) Here are the cast of characters: 1 box Borax 1 Box Washing Soda 1 box Baking Soda 1 3 lb oxy clean type stuff 4 bars of Fels Naptha grated (I know, I know, I only show one.) 1 canister of Downey Unstoppables (not necessary- I just like the way it makes my laundry smell) Total is about $21 at Wal-mart and all of these items are right in the laundry detergent aisle.  So you grate the 4 bars of soap (you can use Ivory soap as well) using a fine grater.  Then mix all the powders and soap and unstoppables together. I usually dump it all in a trash bag a...

Thankfully Chinese New Year is 15 days long. Last Monday, (the official "day" for Chinese New Year) I get a text from Yo: "Isn't today Chinese New Year?" I replied: "Not for us... Check back next Sunday." It's how we roll, folks. It's how we roll.  We started the day with Dragon Donuts. Call me creative or call me a plagerist.  I have no idea who I stole the idea from, but Lord knows, it didn't come from me. I do not have a creative bone in my body. But apparently I steal ideas well.  I thought they were... festive. In an ugly way, of course.  Our Maggie stayed the night, and Aria took this photo of her eating her lovely Dragon Donut. We even re-named her "Mei" for the day so she felt a little Chinese. I think it worked.  My four precious blessings. Can I just tell you that they melt my heart with their Chinese loveliness?!? I AM SO THANKFUL the Lord blessed us with these treasures....

If you know us well, you know we are.... how do I say .... unconventional? decisive? a tad rash perhaps? I will say, when know what we want-- WE DO IT. A f ew days ago we started talking about getting a big dog. We have a big dog NEED. And a little dog NEED. We like one of each thankyouverymuch. When Greg travels, it is an extra-layer of protection to have a  large dog. Also a  large dog is the perfect treadmill. You can't roll over and hit the snooze when you have a BEAST in your face. So, it will come as NO SURPRISE to those that know us, that just a mere 3 days after we decided to get a dog, that we had a home visit for a "potential pup." And then he stayed. Just like that. Without further adieu, let me introduce Harley...  Harley was from the boxer rescue. He is 2.5 years old and a pure bred boxer with papers. He was surrendered because his owner couldn't spend the time with him that she used to. He was not neglected or abused. In f...

I decided to start photographing our little crocodile  to show you why the  circles under my eyes look so lovely and dark.  In exhibit A we find: 1)Her doing the splits. (I'd give it an 8- she slept through it, so she got bonus points.) 2)Her right foot juuusssstttt about to get stuck. 3) Her neck covered in her favorite blanket.  (Her hands can rarely do what she wants them to, but she ALWAYS gets her blanket on her neck- which isn't always a good thing, if you know what I mean. If we take that one out,  she'll use whatever is in the crib, and ONLY her neck is covered.) 4) A pillow pet who hides her tubing underneath it, in hopes that she will not strangle herself. In exhibit B we see a closer look-please note: 1) The lack of space in her crib. 2) The hole in her right PJ foot for tubing. (Just in case you were wondering) 3) A very cute sleeping baby with a warm neck. 4) Two little legs and feet that most...

Today is my amazing man's birthday. It's his birthday double-digit year. (and it's not 33 or 55) I'll let you do the math. While no one is perfect, my hubby is pretty darn close. He loves me fiercely, he is a HANDS ON Daddy, he is well-respected in his career, and he loves his Lord with his whole heart. This year I wanted to give him something he would REALLY love for his birthday. He has very few "wants" so gifting for him can be hard. I decided memory making was in order. With the crazy insaneness   relative calm of our day to day life, I thought a date a month was the perfect gift. Each month was planned and pre-paid for dinners to old favorites, and ones we have always wanted to try. Train rides in the fall, and a class at the Viking school (we LOVE that place) as well as a few surprise dates he won't know about until the month of the date. Thankfully, I planned this last summer and have been pilfering money to pay for each date in a...

Four Years ago TO THE EXACT WEEK  we were sailing in the Mediterranean  for my sweet husband's 40th birthday. We had all of our children with us, and made wonderful, magical memories in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Rhodes,Turkey and Egypt. Gianna was just 21 months and Aria was 3.5 when we made the trip. Yesterday, our cruise ship the Costa Concordia, the largest ship in the fleet, looked like this: Our prayers are with the families that were aboard the ship.

It is blissfully uneventful here. I. love. it. Gianna went to the Pulmonary Doc last week, and her lung capacity is UP. It was 60% and is now 75%. Thank You Lord! The Dr. was FLOORED that Gianna has not been seriously ill. She literally has no capacity to cough hard, and even a cold could turn into pneumonia. But... it hasn't. God is good. Celia is back to her happy, joyful, HEALTHY self. And Sofia, my divalicious princess will be starting ballet today. She will love it. Her sweet teacher will allow Celia participate also if she feels up to it. AND, the moms get to sit and chat upstairs over coffee. I get friends, Sofia gets ballet, and Celia can try too- SCORE! I'm so excited for all of us. We are headed to the cardiologist today too. Celia needs to be checked regularly to make sure she is good, and Sofia had a minor issue last year with her heart, so we are going for a re-check and hopefully she will be released. It's been a light week- 2 pulmonary visit...

SOOOOO..... Ever since Celia's g-tube surgery in early November, I have been DREADING the appointment where they cut the stitch holding her button in place, and take out the button and....{GASP!!} make ME reinsert the daggone thing. As in, there is a HOLE in my child's abdomen and I have to plug it up. I think I vomited a little just typing it. UGH! Due to unforeseen circumstances because of RSV and subsequent hospitalizations, the appointment kept getting moved. Oh darn. However, today was the day of reckoning. I was SO TERRIFIED  super-calm waiting for a stinkin' HOUR AND A HALF for the Dr. to finally come into the room. Who was that mad woman pacing the floors anyway?? Thankfully, Daddy came so I was not alone. With FOUR children. AND A GAPING HOLE. Greg and I both wanted to make sure that we knew how to put a new button in, you know, just in case we FREAK OUT at the GAPING HOLE in our daughter's tummy and totally forget what to do. Not th...

I thought of "Sleep Deprived Part 3" but then who would really believe I would devote three whole posts to our sleep (or lack thereof)??? So, instead, I thought I'd tell you what tubies (a fun term for our g-tube dependent girl) call "feeding the bed" We woke up at 5 AM this morning as usual to turn off her pump. She was sleeping peacefully........                                                 ......in a puddle of formula. How that does not wake her up, I have yet to discover. She somehow disconnected the whole entire tube from her button and was pumping the formula all over her, the bed, the floor, etc. It's never a good thing when I hear a frantic "HONEY!!" over the nursery monitor. On the most FREEZING morning of the year,  we tag team the sheets change, the crib and floor clean up and the baby bathing. Sigh. We have tried literally every...

January: SEVEN INCHES OF SNOW IN GEORGIA!!   Daddy was out of town and I was snowed in alone with 4 little girls. Need I say more? Ahhh, yes, we celebrated Chinese New Year with all four of our beauties! February: Hmmmm, let's see.... I got OLD, My handsome man and I celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss, Aria learned to ride a bike without training wheels, and Ryan decided to turn 23. Yes, we wear short sleeves in February here in Georgia. Be jealous. March: Gianna turned five, Chelsea had a birthday, Celia had eye surgery in both eyes,  I had unexpected surgery and Daddy took care of, well.... everything.  Not my favorite month, well except for the birthdays. Let's skip to April, shall we? April: Grandma Maggie came for a whole week, My son got engaged, my best friend's mom passed away, and Gianna's had yet another surgery. A month of highs and lows, that is for sure. May: We got our first big clue that Celia's medical condi...