Decently and in Order Pt. 1 The Kitchen

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a strong believer in doing everything decently and in order. I love organization! I love staying home with the kids and being a keeper at home. I take my job very seriously and know that my home is a reflection of my family and my savior.
Marrying a military man also helped hone in on my organizing skills and taking ideas from other great keepers at home. We all know that God says things should be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).

When people walk into our home, they almost always say something like "wow you are so organized". God gives me ideas, strength and help to keep everything together =) I know alot of ladies who are even more organized than me, but I know alot more who would like to be more organized. The truth is we all could be more organized. God is the God of Order and not of confusion, and our soul should never be at complete rest until everything is in order. I know there are times when the wife is very sick, just had a baby, is disabled or just had a week of entertaining. Those are times when we should take a rest and not be so uptight about cleanliness and order for our own good. That is not to say to quit completely and wait for your mom to come clean your house! I hope this series will give you some ideas of how to organize your own home. My home is in no way perfect and there are storms of mess from time to time but I make a conscious effort to clean up! My husband might tell you otherwise...but don't listen to him....just kidding!

Anyway here are some of the highlights from my kitchen =)

My awesome pantry organizer from Target it was $39.99!

I love love love baskets! They are usually a little more expensive than plastic but I think it adds character and more concealedness...if that is a word.

Under the sink not as pretty...I know but it keeps things organized and I know where everything is. I like the plastic show off box because it will keep water out, if there happens to be a leak, I store things like gloves and sponges in here.

No organizing materials needed here. Just put like things next to each other.

Tiered spice rack and airtight clear containers make a world of a difference!

Ebay Not as Cool as Craigslist

A few weeks ago I decided I would try my hand at ebay. The craigslist responders were just a little on the slow side here in Springfield Missouri; not quite what I was used to in Springfield, VA or Las Vegas, NV. I had put some nice things on Craigslist and nobody had responded in two weeks of having it posted! A Childrens Place peacoat was among other nice things listed I had to offer bargain seekers.
I looked into ebay and thought I had it all figured out: Small flat rate shipping $5, starting your auction at $.99 is free, ebay only charges if your item sells, auctions last a week etc, etc,....So I went on and posted 5 things: 2 old camera battery chargers with batteries, 2 old modems and routers, and the Childrens Place pea coat.
Well the first item to sell was the peacoat .....for $2.25! Crazy I know somebody just got a steal of a deal. Not too excited about letting the coat go for that little but hey it is $2.25 I didn't have before right? ...Wrong we tried to get some small flat rate boxes at the post office but they were out. I notified all of my buyers via email that I would get the boxes asap and even ordered them through the USPS website (however this took a week to get them so I went back to the Post office)
Next time there are boxes at the post office and guess what... the coat does not fit in there! I already had printed out the shipping label through ebay for the small flat rate box....so I thought I could go home and cancel the first label and make a new one...Nope....more than 20 hours had passed since I originally printed it and could not cancel. Again I notify the buyer on the status of the coat. Then I go out again to the post office and of course I forget my clear packing tape at home to affix the label on the box that cost $10.95 to ship! No way am I buying the Post office tape for $4 more since I already am losing $4 to ship the coat in the first place. I take the initiative and notify the buyer again on the status of the coat. I went out to the post office again that same day and had it shipped.
The next day I get this mean email from the buyer accusing me of lying and stating that this is "absurd" and I need to "overnight" the coat and I am going to be "reported to ebay" .....and there are "freezing temperatures" ...Okay lady calm down, it has only been 9 days from the time of purchase to the time of shipment,I kept you informed the whole time and was not avoiding you at all. I wouldn't be complaining either you just got a coat for 98% off of retail value and If your baby is freezing because you are waiting for the peacoat that is not something reporting to ebay can fix.....maybe child protective services can help... I don't know?
In the meantime Craigslisters were calling and texting me nonstop and I made about $80 on craigslist! Then I found this super awesome store called Other Mothers. I took in some baby stuff there and got $46 store credit! The store credit will never expire and their kids clothes go up to size 16. Also Way better than ebay! I will say the old camera batteries most likely will not have sold on craigslist and brought in $18 of profit after shipping charges for me so that was good =) I did put gospel tracts in all my packages and pray that my delayed shipping was not a bad testimony and that God would be glorified in all that I do =)

100% down on a house

It is official My husband and I are homeowners! God has been way too good to us! Chris has voluntarily separated from the Air Force as of October 1, and God led our final PCS to Springfield, Missouri. The Lord really put it on my husband's heart to pay for a home in cash. I was at first resistant because I thought in our price range we would need a fixer upper. I am so glad we did not take out a mortgage! I love our new home so much. We found the home and 10 days later we closed and moved in! Paying with cash has some serious benefits, closing cost were only $400 ,we got 8% off the asking price, and we don't have to worry about forclosure ever! We even had enough left over in our house budget for brand new appliances!

Our reunion Story !

It is Thursday and I am Still busy thanking God for bringing Chris home from Afghanistan safe on Tuesday night! We were so excited for him to be coming home and arriving at an airport only an hour away from home. I bought Rachel a patriotic dress and hair bow, the boys wore red shirts and blue jeans, I bought a blue top, red head band and borrowed a white skirt from my sister. We made signs and brought American flags. We were ready. Camara charged, and left home 2 hours early. We got there and of course the plane had been delayed by about 2 hours. The staff at the USO was great we played in the play room, ate cup of noodles, girl scout cookies, and candy. It was getting close to his arrival and we got word that the plane had landed. We headed out to the terminal and I realized my camara was not working!!! Then Noah said he had to potty (too much Sunny D at the USO). I can just imagine what my face looked like at this point. First things first I went to take Noah to the potty back in the USO. Now onto my biggest problem no camara!!! I tried pulling the lens out with my teeth didn't work too well. I remembered passing by a very strange vending machine. It was a vending machine made by Best Buy and had nintendo video games, gps's, and of course camaras!! The problem was the cheapest camara in there was $179.99. I stood there for a minute and contemplated...Would I pay $179.99 for a picture of my children welcoming their daddy home from Afghanistan? My answer: priceless!! So I swiped my debit card and the camara came out of the shoot like a box of candy! I opened it up and put the battery in of course it didn't work b/c it was not charged. I began to scour the airport for an outlet I found one not too far from the terminal and charged it up. Then after much waiting and waiting about 20 people came out of the double doors at about 2-5 minutes apart before my husband came out. Then finally he came out. I saw him looking confused b/c Operation Welcome Home was there clapping and ringing bells and shaking hands with the service members as they came out. Very nice of them to do but I know my husband and he was not looking for any celebration from random patriots he wanted to see us =) So we walked over and exchanged kisses =) He is in Missouri now doing in processing stuff and then Lord willing he will be back here in Va in a few days!

Bouncing Back after Baby

I feel like I have been eternally pregnant here lately and my body does not know what normal is supposed to be. I have been pregnant and or breastfeeding non stop since June 2005. I know alot of ladies that have more children than me and even closer together so I am not conplaining or making an excuse here...I mean look at Michelle Duggar that lady has 20 kids I think and looks better than some people who never had any kids! When I got married I was about 145lbs. That is what I would say is normal. I am 5'6. After I had Christian I was about 165lbs. That felt a little uncomfortable to me and none of the weight ever came off only more came on. When Christian was 6 month old or so I got pregnant with Noah. Chris deployed when I was 7 months pregnant with Noah and I went to live with Charlotte and ate chocolate every day and would walk through the kitchen to use the bathroom everynight when I woke up to use the bathroom. I think I was close to 200lbs. After I had Noah I was holding steady at 176lbs. This weight also did not come off. I was going on walks doing tae bo eating home made meals with organic meats....Then I read a book called Gods Way to Ultimate Health by George Malkmus. It seems a bit crazy this guy ate only raw fruits and vegetables and juiced them as well for a year and healed his colon cancer. I thought I would give it a try. I lost 40lbs in 3 months and did put any back on until I got pregnant again. I was able to stay under 135lbs I couldn't believe it, I felt so much better and became more active. Joshua's pregnancy was pretty good I got to about 167lbs. After I had him it took about 9 months to loose the weight by just continuing with juicing and trying to add as many raw fruits and veggies in when ever possible and limiting animal products. Rachel's pregnancy was almost the same. She is 5 months old now and I have 10 more pounds to loose. Eating healthy is not a diet it is something that you must do to live a good life. On a typical day I will try and make carrot juice with something green in it too. Have oatmeal or cereal or yogurt and granola. Eat atleast one really big mega salad with spinach leaves. Eat some brown rice/quinoa some samon or lentils, and lots of fruits. There is always junk food around me. I cave in almost always, that is one area I really need to give over to the Lord I know sugar is terrible for your body. I feel like the apostle Paul when he said for the will is present with me but how to perform that whick is good I find not. Today we went to Trader Joes and I bought some chocolate covered almond clusters. I love Trader Joes' constant supply of organic produce but seriously think it would help if they got rid of all those good looking sweets! Lord willing I will be somewhere around 135 when Chris comes home in a few weeks!!!

Northern Virginia Driver Strikes at Last!

Well within the first few hours of being here in Northern Virginia we noticed that there was a bit of an impatient spirit haunting the roads. I think someone beeped at us at least once a day to tell us to pick up the pace. Parking lots are a fight for the best spot and people will run you over with your baby in your arms to make sure they get the best spot even though they are young and healthy with no kids and could have parked a little further away. I was just saying to myself I cannot believe we have been here for almost a year without some one crashing into us. I spoke too soon because after leaving Target with some friends I came back to my car to find a note on it. The note explained how sorry someone was for their accident of scraping the side of my car. As I was buckling the kids in the lady pulled up next to me and gave me her insurance info and kept asking about someone calling the police on her after she hit the van. God must have been watching out for us because all of my friends were in the store with me when it happened. I don't know if she would have been so kind as to leave her info if someone hadn't stopped and written her license plates down. Well anyway, I remained calm and was not even upset really. I figured I should go ahead and get it fixed as my friends advised incase we wanted to resell it oneday. So I went ahead and had it fixed, I got to ride around in a 2011 mini van for a few days, they cleaned and waxed the car and the car looks better than it did when I dropped it off! Plus they gave me a $50 check for the scratch on the black rubber part on the side of the van that you can't even notice! God is in control of every situation and I am thankful no one was hurt and everything worked out the way it did =)

Adventures on Craigslist

So, I know it seems like we just moved and it is almost time to move .......again. We have moved 10 times in 6 years...yes that is right 10 times...No I am not exagerating in the least. Move #1We moved from Lackland AFB to a one bedroom in Las Vegas #2then moved to a 2 bedroom since I was pregnant with Christian, #3 then moved to Charlotte's house during Chris deployment to Quatar #4 then moved to a condo in North Las Vegas #5 then moved to base housing at Whiteman AFB #6 then moved to a townhouse off base in Warrensburg, Missouri, #7 then moved to Norfolk with my sister while Chris was going to Iraq, #8 then moved to Hampton VA with my sister while Chris was still gone, #9 then moved to Base housing again in Missouri, #10 then we moved here to Springfield, Virginia. Phew makes me tired just thinking about all those moves.....Anyway, I am trying again to declutter the house in preparation for yet another move and make some cash in the process to beef up our savings in preparation for Chris' upcoming career change........which we are still not sure of what that will be. I found a good amount of stuff not needed anymore......Chris gave me some pretty high value stuff to sell...His old google phone and weights were big ticket items and so far this month we have made $259 on craigslist. I have met some interesting people and got to hand out some gospel tracts to some people in need of a savior =) So it really is an all around win win win situation posting things on craigslist : Decluttering, making money, and sharing the gospel!

He's Here......He's Gone....

My how the time goes by. Chris came home for 16 days and has already been gone for 3 days.So thankful that he was able to hold his little girl at last. I am so thankful for the time that the Lord gave us to be together; without Chris having to go to work, and nothing to worry about but how we were going to spend time together for the day. So thankful for how God has kept him safe while he was in Afghanistan and how God has kept me sane in 8 months away from him with 4 kids. We made so many memories in the short time he was here, we went out to eat ....alot, went to the movies, Chuck e Cheese, a birthday day party, threw Christian and Joshua a birthday party, had lunch at the Pastors house, went on a run together, and most importantly studied God's word and prayed together. I miss him terribly but have to admit I actually only cried for about 2 seconds when we dropped him off at the airport. I was able to hold it together knowing there were some people starring at us......and that his deployment is 3/4 of the way done and that God is in Control. God uses Chris' deployments for some serious character and strength building for me, and I have seen my sisters get saved at our awesome church her in Virginia. For that I am thankful for his deployment.

She's Here! (Rachel Anne Logan's Birth Story)

It all started on Wednesday February 9th around 5:30am, I was woken up by an all too familiar feeling of water leaking. I stood up and went to the bathroom and sure enough it was amniotic fluid coming out in small gushes. Most people would probably think it is time to go to the hospital. I was thinking at this time....sure wish I would have paid $4,000 and got that homebirth midwife. Why ? Well the last two children decided to arrive into this world 17 hours and 2.5 days after my water broke. I made the mistake of going to the hospital right after my water broke and the whole time I was harrassed about getting pitocin from about 30 minutes after getting to the hospial and not making any "progress" (cervex dialating). Then they want to hook you up to the fetal monitor and get mad at you when you move and the monitor moves out of place. These monitors are the worst at picking up contractions for me anyway they are seldom accurate and just annoying! Then they want to "help" you along with some pitocin. Oh how they tell you pitocin is just so natural and something your body makes anyway and has no side effects. Well I happen to believe pitocin has some serious side effects on mom and baby. Then they want to start pumping antibiotics into your bloodstream in case of infection. Then they cut your meals off and tell you not to eat anything but crushed ice and broth. When you refuse their "help" then they are offended and start telling you that you and the baby are going to die if you don't do "something" (take their drugs). Knowing all this, I decided to stay home til any painful contractions started. Nothing happened for the first day and I went to bed and woke up the next day...still nothing. My friend from church brought over an electric breast pump to help my body make some oxytocin. I used this took a nap and then used it again after the nap. My body did start making contractions after the pump and then didn't stop. I needed to shower first and make dinner. Then my sisters came over and needed help on their homework. I realized I could not finish dinner or help them on their homework and so I took my shower and got the bags ready for the hospital. My mom met us at my house and my sister drove my van and followed my friend from church to the hospital. It was rush hour so we didn't get on the highway and it took about a half hour to get to the hospital, I walked up to labor and delivery and went to the exam room, I was 10 centimeters dialated already and then they wheel chaired me over to the labor and delivery room. Rachel was born about 5 minutes later. Her cord was around her neck twice and she was purple when they handed her to me. This accompanied with the nurse yapping in my ear about why I should have been at the hospital as soon as my water broke caused my blood pressure to go up a little but other than that everything went very well =)Praise God for a Natural Drug Free childbirth =)

Tow Truck Troubles!

So this morning I woke up and started getting the kids ready for church. I was in the middle of changing Joshua's diaper when I heard my door bell ring. Very strange for the door bell to ring at 8:30 am on a Sunday morning. I ran down the steps to see my neighbor Carmen at the door saying "I am sorry to tell you but your car was just towed I tried to run after them but I was too late." My car towed....from in front of my house....on a Sunday morning....with all of my carseats....not cool!!!! So I called up the tow company and asked why it was towed and they said I had an expired state inspections sticker since 2009. Very strange that it could be expired since 2009 considering that is when it was first registered in Missouri, and I didn't think someone would give us and expired sticker they day they issued it to us. However the driver insisted that it was a "dead' sticker and he had to tow it. I explained I was unaware of anything being expired on the vehicle, I had 3 small children, 9 months pregnant and my husband in Afghanistan for the year, and asked if they could bring my car back. He told me it was against policy so I had to get a baby sitter for the kids ( my mom came right over) My neighbor gave me a ride to the tow place. I was unable to talk to anyone there because the girl behind the window was on the phone the whole time and just took my liscense, and debit card and then said go to the gate on the left.....I just wanted my car back to get to church since I had already missed sunday school. My mom and I both looked at the sticker which has no expiration date on it and knew they did not have any right to take it away. My car does not need to be inspected until the registration is expired in 2012!! They need to give me my $125.00 back and gas money to give to my neighbor. I called them tonight and no one ever called me back. So I will call again in the morning. I hate to complain but seriously this was not nice!

Where Will God Lead my Husband?

Time goes by so fast, Chris' deployment is just about half way over already! Thank God for keeping him safe thus far. I am so proud of him and greatful to have a husband that follows after God! He is 99% sure he is getting out of the Airforce upon his return and so that leaves my mind to wonder alot of our future. Where will we go, What will he do, What do I need to do right now to prepare our family? I think we will either stay here in Northern VA, or go back to Las Vegas. Chris wants to be a police officer. I know he will make an excellent police officer, he is a man of integrity, strength, perserverence, knowledge and overall great character. Any Police department would be greatly benefitted by his service. So I looked into Vegas and Fairfax County police Departments. The pay is greater in Las Vegas, and the homes are cheaper (alot cheaper) but we really need to make a decision based on where God wants us to be not on money. I love the church here in Alexandria, there are many opportunities to do outreach for Christ and provoking sermons. There is a great church in Las Vegas too. I could see our family in both places and able to serve Christ. I just have to pray alot for God's direction, and wisdom and for my husband to have an open heart to hear God's call in our lives. So now we are going to be working aggressively to save enough for a 3-6 month money supply and a 20% down payment on a house. So really that means saving a bunch b/c if we needed a 20% down payment in Vegas we need $24,000, if we need a 20% down payment here we need $46,000!! big huge difference so I will try and do my best in honoring God in our finances and not do any foolish spending. I always think of proverbs 27:1 "Boast not thyself of tommorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."

Baby Shower!

My friend Jessica made the candy bar wrappers, and my other friend whose husband is with Chris in Afghanistan made the diaper cake

My mom made 100's of roll sandwhich's

Charlotte hosted all the games

My Dad even came!

Last Saturday I had a baby shower at Lighthouse Baptist Church for baby Rachel. Everything was so nice, there was a diaper cake, chocolates with our faces on them, chocolate cake, my mother in laws mac n cheese, about 40 people, and a ton of baby girl gifts. I am so greatful for all the things I recieved. I actually got 2 of alot of items and ended up returning enough stuff to buy Christian a new jacket, hoodie, belt and 2 shirts from JCPenny's! I still have a $25 gift card to spend at the PX! It was so fun unpacking all the gifts and putting them in Rachels room. All I need now is our baby!

Natural Birth Plan!

Lord willing we will be having another Natural Intervention Free Childbirth in just a few weeks, so I have my hospital bag packed, babysitters lined up, a baby shower this weekend, and of course my birth plan!

My little Joshua!

Well Joshua is not going to be the baby anymore next month! He still does not voluntarilly sleep when put down for bed so the crib is staying up until he starts climbing out of it! I love him so much and he is quite a handful! He has shared a room with Noah for quite sometime but he is going to have a new roomate! Lord willing I will be bringing home Rachel sometime next month. We have a 3 bedrooms with 4 kids(almost). Christian and Noah have been sharing a room together for the last month or so. This leaves Joshua to be the lucky boy to share a room with the girl. I am having my first girl so I don't want to miss out on decorating with girly things, but I also don't like to mitch match stuff . So I was able to find the exact same crib bedding as Joshua on Ebay except for a girl! I think it looks nice together.

Baby Girl!

I love the shirt that says "little sister" and the layette that says "Daddy's girl"

Our baby is due next month! I had a bath robe 2 dresses, 2 headbands, 5 hair bows, 2 organizing baskets and 2 pairs of socks this morning in my baby girl inventory. Soooo.....I decided I needed to buy some more things for the baby girl. I hate to spend so much money on baby clothes that will only fit for a little while, but I had alot of fun picking out cute girly things even with all 3 boys! God has blessed us with more than enough with all the children and I am so greatful for his provision. So here is what I came home with today =)