Andrewisms

Andrew: Mom, why is my birthday taking so long to get here?
Me: It'll come when the snow comes.
Andrew: God, make it snow soon!
(We had a talk about when it was appropriate to use God's name at this point. :-) )

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Chris: Hurry up and pick up your toys!
Andrew: Daddy, remember I'm just a little boy!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Recently I read a book about the Duggars, a family with 18 (or is it 19 now?) children. It included this recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I made a half recipe since I only had a 3 gallon bucket and it cost around $1! According to the Duggar website, this should be enough for appoximately 90 loads of laundry in a top loading washing machine. I'll let you know how well the soap works. It was super easy to make. Once I had assembled all the ingredients, I had the soap melted and mixed in with the water within 10 minutes. I let it sit overnight and it was a nice jell. Now I have to dilute it with water and I should be able to wash some clothes!

My baby boy is now 1!

One year ago, Joel Adrian Engelsma was born. And mommy was so happy to have another baby boy!

Some things I love about him...
I love that I love him even though he's my third boy. I wouldn't change him for a girl!
I love the way he opens his eyes really wide and kicks his legs when I put him to bed.
I love how he greets me with a big smile while waving back and forth on his feet when I get him from his nap.
I love how he screeches with joy when he is really happy.

I love how he loves to play with his brothers and how they love him.
I love his long sticky up hair and how it flies in the breeze!



I love how he explores his world and looks for new and interesting things.
I love this boy!

Taste of Home magazine subscription...for 2 bucks a year!!!

Go here to get a Taste of Home magazine subscription for $2 a year for up to 4 years! This offer expires today and is for new subscribers only.

Update: I just checked again (Mon at 6:30 PM) and it looks like its still available.

Great Meijer Deal

Meijer is running a great deal on Kraft/Nabisco products this week. Buy 5 of participating products and receive and instant $5 off. But that's not the best part. Buy $20 in participating products and receive a $20 rebate from the this savings booklet. Sign up to receive the booklet in 6-8 weeks. So I spent $15.40 on 5 Koolaid Jammers, 5 100 calorie boxes of snacks, 5 Easy Mac cups, and 5 Nabisco Snak packs, and I will receive $20 back! It would have been even less if I had been able to find all the coupons listed in the scenario here.

My baby's gone!

When I left for choir this evening, Noah looked like this...






and when I got home, he looked like this.






I hope his hair grows back quick!

Ludington with 6 little boys!

Last week we went to Ludington with friends from church and had 6 little boys between 3 couples (Joel stayed home with aunts and grandma). We had wonderful weather and such a good time with friends.

5 of the 6 boys. We took them all on a hike~most were carried on the way back!

We biked to the lighthouse, about 3 miles round trip. The weather was so beautiful. The sky was clear and we could see all the boats out on Lake Michigan.



The lighthouse.

Andrew and I climbed to the top (Noah was too short). Here he is on one of the landings. 120 steps to the top!

Mommy and Andrew at the top of the lighthouse.


Levi, Caleb, and Andrew all climbed to the top of the lighthouse.

Pyogenic granuloma

That's what has been on Joel's face for the last three months. But today, hopefully, it is gone for good. I took him to the dermatologist...wait, back up. First, I tried to change his bandage this morning before we left, but when I did that, the whole top of the granuloma came off and I had a gushing bloody mess. He is so sick of us messing with his face and he would not sit still at all. So I got all three kids in the car, held Joel while I drove us down the road to Chris's mom, who got the bleeding to stop enough to put a bandage on. Then Joel and I went to the dermatologist who decided right away to biopsy it and cauterize the bleeding. So, 2 women held his arms and legs, I held his head straight, and the dr numbed his cheek, biopsied the thing and cauterized it. There is a chance of reoccurence, and if that happens, he will have to actually have it cut out of his face. I am hoping the dr got everything so we don't have to deal with this anymore. Now I need to get a huge bottle of hydrogen peroxide and clean up all the bloody clothes lying around.
Seriously, I am very thankful that it was not something more serious, but it was still traumatic for me.

Free Calendar

Who ever buys a calendar?
Get a 2010 wildlife calendar free here.
Good until Sept 15, 2009.