I just wanted to let you know the time has come for me to end my blog here at HSB. It's been a fun 3.5 years here and I wish you all well :).

Blessings,

Ann

Have you ever been in your jammies, donning a big fluffy purple robe with a shower cap on your Listerine dowsed hair, only to have your husband walk in the room to say there are 2 people at your house to see you? By the way, it's a school day and 1 pm in this questioned scenario.

No? Me neither, but I can imagine it going something like this...

Wife: "Who is it?!".

Husband laughing: "I don't know."

Wife, horrified at her smell and sight: "Well, get rid of them!"

Husband in hysterics as wife drops to the floor to hide behind the kitchen island, exclaiming, "Tell them I'm in the SHOWER!!!!"

Husband barely able to control himself, "They are IN THE HOUSE!"

Wife, unable to sneak to the shower since the kitchen is separate from all the areas where this is possible, finally emerges, laughing hard with her husband. Meanwhile, way too much time is passing and the company can likely hear all the commotion in the adjoining room. The wife comes around the corner to see a friend and her daughter, thankfully NOT STRANGERS, and not someone whom she minds seeing her in such a ridulous costume in the middle of the day. Thankfully, the kids were dressed and so was the husband.

Can you imagine this happening in real life?!

I would have liked to have sat in bed reading peacefully after snuggling with the kids watching Bambi, but there was a higher calling to my time tonight. You see, I've fulfilled a profound dream of shampooing everything upholstered in my home, and when a man is in the house, he isn't into that for hours on end...especially at midnight. During breaks I'm cleaning out my house. Four pair of shoes are now in the 'to go' pile and if you are a size 9, these have your name on them! I'm a 9.5 now, I know, Sasqwatch is coming to mind even if I can't spell his name. The babies...the weight, things stretch, like feet. I digress...so the water is getting hot for the shampooer whilst I write so I'm under the gun here, but have to say I'm also getting rid of all the plastic plates and cups in my cabinet? Know why? I have too many plates and instead of getting rid of what were my sweet mom's and my Bubbie's, I'm putting some of those down low for the kids and if they break, they break, but I'm going on the "no plastic from China" thing here so am willing to risk it. I also am determined to let my home breathe....breathe I say!!!!! No more cluttered cabinets. It's like working on your spirit before your hair--I'm going from the inside, out here. Maybe one day I'll get the kitchen island done, but in the meantime, drawers and closets and cabinets are the focal point.

Time to finish the steps! Good night!

It's not overstating for me to say there is a joy unspeakable in my bedroom tonight. It involves the fact that all the laundry is clean, and......I CAN OPEN MY DRAWERS AND PUT THINGS IN THEM NICELY. Nothing is groaning to me from inside the drawer, "Stop, you're hurting me!"                                                      

I knoooowww. Can this be possible?                                    

There is much work to do, but at this moment, my kids dressers and mine are all in good shape. George's always is pretty good but I'll be removing sweaters soon. He's got NICE ones if anyone's hubby is a sweater guy and wears a large. Most have never been worn.                                                                              

Anyhow, simplicity is one key to peacefulness. I can hardly wait to parse down my spring/summer clothes. It might happen before the season comes, but well, probably not :).                                     

Closing thought: Are we STRIVING toward the goal or just sauntering around hoping to maybe, somehow, hit it? I'm with Donna's comment below-God bless those willing to give it to us straight when it comes to being better for Christ. God help us not harden our hearts so we refuse to submit to His, or his, will.  

This is what I would suggest if you ever end up dealing with lice. Like a peanut allergy, lice is something to dread acquiring. I've not dreaded much in my life, but these two things are on my list. Both have happened in our family. So what do you do?

1. Buy the Rid combo pack, use the shampoo on EVERYONE, then whomever had the lice worst,use the gel to do the first combing.
2. Invest in a nice comb-metal or even the Robi comb.
3. While mom does the head/s, dad can strip all the beds completely and remove all clothing that has been worn in recent days to the laundry room and start the wash
4. Vacuum the whole house, including the beds, and use the handheld device. Lice aren't invisible and they are wingless, thank God.
5. If it's a bad case, consider the pesticide spray for carpets.
6. Day 2, use Listerine and whichever comb you've invested in.
7. Continuing combing daily for the first 7 days, and washing everything that is worn, used, looked at, slept on. We have a new policy that removed clothing goes straight to the laundry room.
8. Where nit-picking occurs, vacuum afterward.
9. Wash hands when changing between sanitized locations/duties and unsanitized.
10. Wash with Rid again on day 5-7 (I forget what it says). I think Rid is better than Nix.
11. When week 2 hits, do the hair every other day or every 3rd day depending on how successful treatments have been. Try the olive oil overnight with a shower cap the day after the Rid is used.
12. Every 2-3 days treat with Listerine or olive oil and keep combing/nit picking even if you aren't finding anything.
13. Keep washing and vacuuming.
14. After 2 weeks, go to combing every 3-4 days, but keep the new habits of neurotic laundry habits. After 3 weeks of no troubles, it may be ok to just comb and check weekly.

I don't think I will ever be able to think the same about laundry or sheet changing/pillow washing. Thankfully just days before learning one of our children had lice I had washed all the bedding including pillows. This might have kept things at bay for the rest of us since we never did get it like that first case.

The Robi comb gets good epinions reviews so we're getting it as an extra checker. Better to be overvigilant than complacent if you ask me.

Also, whenever you've been out in public (ballet, classes etc), take backpacks etc straight to the laundry room for a few days. I also highly recommend keeping your house clean and straight all the time, because if a breakout comes and your house is a wreck, it might just push you over the edge. :)

It is amazing how much certain sorts of common health issues can cost. Aside from my oldest missing her first ever tea party birthday party, my middle daughter missing her last soccer game and the party where she would have been presented her first trophy, missing a dance class that has been paid for, missing CC which is paid for, laundering about 30 loads of laundry in a week, clothes ruined by temperatures they require but aren't supposed to endure, time missed from work that has to be made up, extra laundry detergent, there is the cost of the implements to deal with your health 'crisis'. Time missed from school factors in and how that impacts your holiday time off that was also planned, as well as general stress to the family in dealing with 'stuff' day in and day out. Everyone gets sick of it from time to time. I'm finally beating the sickness I've had on top of our family situation. I'm crediting MMS. That is the only thing different this year from when I always get this. Thank you for praying for us. We still need it.

There is no doubt that meals brought over by angels disguised as homeschooling mom's do wonders when you are sick. For one thing, I'm clearly blessed by friends who cook better than me and who do fancy meals!  It really does make a body feel better to have something wholesome to eat while not having to be on your feet to do the preparation.

Thank you so much to the wonderful friends who have helped us in this way. God bless you~

I've got a friend that I would like to emulate in many ways. She is unassuming and if you met her, you would think, "What a lovely lady, she looks so nice." If you knew how she homeschooled, you would notice it is unique in some ways yet tailored perfectly to her student. Though chances are, you wouldn't find out a lot of detail in relation to this because as a genteel woman ought to be, she is quiet about certain aspects of her life. Aside from these things, deeper down is where you wish you knew her. She has a knack, a gift I believe, to reach out to others in special ways just when they need it...a little something to give some light at the end of a gray tunnel. And she finds ways to do this which are private, something that I admire and wish for in my own life. If you are privileged to get to know her, you will also find that she is extremely godly and wise, and uses discretion in her council. She is one person I can always go to for advice on submitting to George, and for this, she is priceless. I've learned to be thankful for this time we are friends because she has alluded that it will probably only be for a season. A lesson learned, no doubt, by experience. I feel this is a woman that the daughters of Jerusalem would rise up to call  blessed. In her, her husband has a precious jewel. And me, a valued friend. I am not alone in this, I'm sure. She quietly goes about serving those in her life, likely not realizing how special she is. My children love her and her daughter. They both shine with His love and kindness, and none of our lives would be the same without them.

~So thank you RURTSY, for the gifts you left today. It was a welcome reminder that these dim days will pass soon enough, and the diversion is priceless.

I'm writing to ask for prayer. The 'not feeling 100%' has swelled to the point I've been in bed all day. I look and feel terrible and can't do some things that NEED to be done; it is something when mom can't do what has to be done.  I have to get enough energy to sit up sometime today, for several hours. George is holding down the fort on all other fronts, I am just needed for one section. I don't know what I have, but hope it doesn't go to pneumonia which is where I ended up the exact same time last year. Thank you for praying for me and us--for health, to grow as a family during this trial, and for energy--just for a few hours.

My prayer is that God will preserve America even as the events of the Revelation come to pass. That Christ will return, but we will still see around us people who love and fear God in the United States. I hope socialism is never allowed to grow more than it already has--that we will stomp out any remnant of that evil way of governing. Obama is a terrible excuse for a President, and I hope he fails in all he is trying to do because it is against the America I know and love. How could I, in good conscious, wish for someone whose objectives are in complete contrast to my own, to be successful? That would mean I want to see Jeremiah Wright's ideology here in my neighborhood, and I DO NOT. I listened to some of his speech recently as he talked of how much he doesn't like the American way and it just makes me see this President of ours in a light that is DIM. There is no way for 20 years Mr. Obama didn't listen, hear, and agree with Wright.

All this to say, may God bless those in Maine standing for what is right. May He bless NJ with fair taxes so the people can live more freely, and may He shine on VA and continue to oppose the tyranny the Democrats have the audacity to call "right" in that great state.

If we fail, it will not be for lack of trying--and in the end, Jesus will prevail!

(and yeah for chicken/rice soup waiting in the crock pot!)