Update on Brownley the Cairn Terrier Chihuahua Mix

Sorry I have been a little absent from my blog lately, between pregnancy, homeschooling, and also I started babysitting during the week too, blogging has been at the bottom of my to do list!

I wanted to do an update on our doggy Brownley the Cairn Terrier Chihuahua mix. When we got our puppy we had no idea what he might look like and so I tried googling pictures but it is not a very popular breed. He is 7.5 months old now and so I am thinking he has his "grown up" dog look now =)

He is very kid friendly, infact he is taking "quiet time" with the 3 boys right now! They are trying to build a lego bridge for him to fit under and he seems to take it all very patiently. He does like to chew on things that fall on the floor mainly pencils and erasers since school started. He is 90% potty trained with only 1 accident in the last 3 weeks! Praise the Lord because I was starting to get a little frustrated potty training him and then he would just come and pee right in front of my face. There were a couple of days I was getting ready to snap a picture of him and post it on Craigslist...lol. He did get chased and nipped by a bad neighborhood pitbull (the same one that bit me in the spring time). Other than that incident he gets along well with other dogs. That is all the info I have for now on this mixed breed =)

Is It a Princess or a Prince?

Which ever color balloon we blow up will determine the baby's gender =)

 Poor Chris really wanted another little girl!He is still in denial we will have 4 boys come February!

Pregnant is not a good look on me especially when blowing up a balloon! A very cute idea from our photographer though =)

So we will have to paint Rachel's room a neutral color because I am not putting my baby boy in a pink room!

Look how teeny tiny but still has all the feautures of a full term baby at only 19 weeks! How could
anyone ever doubt that this is a LIFE!

Thanks Rebecca @Road of Life Photography!

Neighbors Kitchen Order Restored!

My next door neighbor is a working mother and she really wanted to get her kitchen in order. I told her I would come over and help one day and so she finally invited me over to help clean up the kitchen! Even though we live right next door to each other in the same neighborhood our kitchens are totally different! Her biggest complaint was she has no pantry =(  I didn't think her kitchen was as unorganized as she made it seem! I think we all are very critical of ourselves especially before we let someone else see it for themselves. And she really didn't even need my help she did most everything all by herself!

The condiment/baking cabinet was not functioning to it's full capability!

She picked up these mesh containers to store her packets of gravy and whatever at Target I think. It made a big difference so they don't fall all over the place anymore.

She had a ton of bakeware!

 We just wiped out the cabinets and lined it with some liners she picked up at Dollar Tree. Then put the bakeware back in more neatly!

Her daughter has a bit of an obsession with water bottles....lol. I think my neighbor tossed some of these out!

So much better!

I couldn't believe all the kitchen utensils and gadgets she had!

Of course all of these utensils and gadgets were of great importance and she could not part with any of them! She did pick up the utensil caddy to make a little more space but overall I was stumped as to what to do with all these things in an orderly fashion! Feel free to leave a comment of suggestion for the utensil drawer because it is so overflowing that a utensil divider will not work! 

Also this was done in April or May and I am just curious to see if she kept up with her cabinets or if her daughter bought any more water bottles...lol =)

Consignment Craziness!! A review of the Just Between Friends Sale

Here in Springfield, Missouri we had 2 HUGE consignment sales! I shopped at the first one put on by the Trading Hands Kids Sale and got some pretty good deals! Then I participated in the Just Between Friends Sale as a consignor. It was pretty exciting. It kind of felt like black Friday...lol =)

I didn't have much to consign as I am waiting to get rid of or keep my baby girl things; after our sonogram on Wednesday! I made my own price tags with barcodes at home with the JBF website and safety pinned them on. The inspection process was very meticulous and if your clothes didn't look brand new they were not taking them! My 3 boys are pretty hard on their clothes and I thought I only picked out the best of the best and put the rest in the donate bag..... Needless to say even though I cleaned and ironed the outgrown clothes some were rejected =(. My friend at church gladly took the rejects and her son is now wearing them though =) All together I had 12 items of boy clothes, 3 slippers, and a few books. They sold all 18 items!!

The sale was soooo massive there were mountains of boppy pillows and buckets and buckets of shoes in every size possible and jam packed clothing racks! 

Since I was a consignor I got to shop before the public. I was really excited about this until I realized that the shop before the public day was a Tuesday when hubby would be gone with the car =(. My pastor's wife came to the rescue and dropped me off to shop and ran errands with my 2 little ones. I got this nice Gap Maternity Pea Coat for $40. Not the cheapest thing there but I figure I can resell it for around the same price next year =)

I love yard sales and consignment shops because you can find things that are hard to find in stores nowadays like skirts for little girls that go below the knee =) This Children's Place skirts was $3 and will be going to my nieces until it is time to pass it back to my baby Rachel =)

The JBF consignor website updates at the end of each sale day to display what items have sold!

They sold all of my items that passed inspection for $76.75! I will get 60% of that minus the $10 consignor fee. So in about 2 weeks I should be getting a check for around $36! That is waaaayy more than I could have made at a yard sale!

I would definitely do this sale again next year!!!

The JBF is a nationwide franchise you should check out their site to see if they have one near you!

http://www.jbfsale.com/default.cfm

Bewitched!

1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry

     I had a great opportunity to attend a ladies conference this weekend. In all honesty it really hadn't been on my mind much as to what God would have for me to learn. I was just going because I thought it sounded nice....yea I know I am not that spiritual at times. 

  The theme for the the conference was "...Teach Me Thy Paths." Ps 25:4. The first night was really more than I wanted to hear about myself. The speaker Angie Gaddis spoke on, "Teach me thy paths in being a wife". If you would have asked me before last night if I was a good wife...I would have told you...I am one of the best wives I know....I mean really did you have to ask? LOL. I stay home and care for the kids, I cook, I clean, I organize, I pray for my husband. That is pretty good don't you think? Better than most wives out there right?? 

Of course Mrs. Gaddis had to break out Ephesians 5 on me! 

Ephesians 5:22 "²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."

     I realized I have been extremely rebellious in this past year after my husband separated from the Air Force. I had been on my own for a year making all the decisions, controlling the budget, the child training, the home keeping everything! It was a little harder than I thought to take the submissive role when he returned from Afghanistan. Here is a break down of how I rebelled and how God used my husband to protect our family from hardship by not listening to my great wisdom...lol.


Exhibit A)  I wanted to take out a mortgage for a home. Chris said No. I said "whine, whine whine, and then Fine do whatever you want to do we will live in a tiny house with a bunch of unruly kids roaming the streets!"

How God used it for good.
1) Taking out a mortgage could have financially ruined us because we had no income for about 9 months!

2) Moving to this neighborhood gave us great opportunity to witness to people who would have otherwise never stepped foot inside a church building!

3) Of course those unruly neighborhood kids have become the main focus of the bus ministry at Bible Baptist Church. I have grown to love each one of them no matter how unruly they are because I am sure God sees me just the same and still loves me =)

Exhbit B) I told my husband to get a normal job; not commision only. We went down to $2 in our checking and savings account and God showed me that I not only didn't trust my husband, but didn't trust Him either. I began to think really really bad thoughts like I should have finished my degree and got a steady job and not had kids, I should start a daycare to pay the bills, I should start waiting tables at night .....just crazy things....

How God used it for good:

1) Chris is self employed and can set his own hours and even take the children to work with him when I feel overwhelmed.

2) Chris only has to leave the home 2-3 days a week for his job. He does the rest from home. 

3) Our family now has the opportunity to earn passive income the longer he stays with his insurance business.

Those are just 2 examples of my rebelliousness towards my husband. I thank God for a husband who unlike Adam didn't hearken unto the voice of his wife! Ladies submit to your man!!

And the Winner isssssssssssssss............Judith Schimdt

     The Winner to what I am sure you are asking yourself???  We are expecting our fifth child! I had been thinking I was most likely pregnant for a month or two but finally really confirmed it with a pregnancy test last week. I was feeling pretty sleepy almost everyday, the veins in my legs were enlarged and I was maybe a little grouchy.....but no morning sickness Praise the Lord. This will be the first birth not funded by tax payer money via Tricare. My husband is self employed now and our insurance is a bit ridiculous paying $500 a month with an $8,000 deductible....so basically we will be paying cash for every medical expense short of  a serious life altering health problem. With all that being said we found a really great midwife for a great price! For $2,800 we get a christian woman with 19 years of experience! She has seen it all; breech babies, twins, short cords, cords wrapped around the neck multiple times, face presentation and delivered all of them in a home! I will be getting a sonagram to confirm the due date but right now it looks like we might have 5 kids while the oldest is still only 6 years old! Here is her website if you want to check it out and read some of the birth stories on there including some twin home birth stories!

http://homebirthbaby.net/experience/

Organization Inspiration: Entertaining Guest in a Small Space!

My sister and her 2 girls came for a visit a couple weeks ago! They stayed for almost 2 weeks. Our home is smaller than the average american family with 4 kids measuring at 1268 sqare feet. How to fit 3 extra people in for 2 weeks.....without having our living room taking over by luggage! There is no spare bedroom and the laundry room is not quite big enough to fit an air bed...lol. So I came up with a great idea....I emptied out our coat closet and made it into a guest closet! I re located the coats to our bedroom closet and the mop and vaccum supplies to the garage temporarily! This is how it turned out!

I put blankets and pillows on top.

Then a laundry bag and gift bags on the hangers!

We made a welcome banner out of an old gift bag.

 

 Noah is such a gentlmen helping his cousin Jayla  carry her luggage.

Everyone was super excited!

Noah drew some portraits of my sis and nieces on their welcome banner.

Rachel started warming up to having the two divas in the home.

I put some toiletries and goodies and the gift bag =)

How do you guys usually set up your home for guests without a guest room?