Ode to Ty

Happy Birthday to the newest member of our family

TYSON LOWDER

Thanks, Tyson, for putting up with us

For being game to do ANYTHING we might do

For graciously including us in your plans

And most of all, for loving our daughter

Have a wonderful birthday!

Our Weekend

We are back from a busy weekend. It was great to see Em in concert. The quality of musical performance was superb. She enjoyed meeting new friends and singing her heart out.

We are all pretty tired today and sad too by the death of Pres. Hinckley.

While we were there DH and I decided to visit the zoo.

It was cold out, but it was fun to see all the animals.

Birds of all kinds

No bears or lions, but tigers, oh my!

On the Road

Hey all . . .

We (dh and me) are getting ready to go to Grand Rapids for Em's Honors Choir weekend. She is there already and we are spending the night there and will watch her perform tomorrow. The kids always do such a good job and she just loves the experience.

I will post when we get back and show some pics!

Update on closet

I thought I should update y'all on the closet situation and not leave you hanging. I KNOW you are all just dying to find out the final result . . .

After mulling it over, thinking about spending a moderate amount of $ to get something better, but not what I really want, I decided to splurge and get what I really wanted in the first place. So in about a month's time I will have some custom cabinets installed. Of course I had to have DH (dear hubby) approval first, but when succinctly explained by me my reasons for desiring what I wanted he readily agreed. WOW! (that was easy, but don't tell him that)

So look for the updated photos in about a month!

Pete and Repeat

I woke up this morning and guess what I saw??? No really, can you guess what I saw outside my window . . . . again?
Yes, we have snow again. And no school again. This time we got a lot!
But we Michiganders are tough. We can handle this! We are so hardy that we don't even need coats. Heck, we can wear our summer clothes!

(she is wearing shorts and flip flops--can't quite see those!)

And, we can even get a tan! Well, sort of, through the clouds. . . .

sigh . . . Here's hoping for an early spring . . .

Squeaky Clean

All my dear relatives have been posting great recipes on their blogs with wonderful pictures. I have a new kind of recipe--laundry soap. Yum Yum!

Dear hubby has been suffering from skin ailments the last few years and I was prompted to try different laundry detergents to try and help him. The internet--the source of most wisdom--has some great recipes and I decided to try my hand at it this afternoon. Here are the basic ingredients:

I grated the bar soap in my Cuisinart. It looks almost good enough to eat!


Finally, I mixed it together with the other ingredients, found a jar and here it is. Ta da!


It smells nice, although taking too deep of smells is not a good idea. My sinuses are feeling like they got a good cleaning.

I have also switched to a new fabric softener: Vinegar. It works great, and no, your clothes do not smell like salad dressing! Once it dries there is no smell.

Great for the environment and cheap too! Not bad for a Saturday afternoon. By the way, here are the ingredients:
1 bar Fels Naptha soap (I know, I didn't know what it was either, but it should be either in the laundry aisle or bath aisle)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)
1/4 cup oxi-clean (optional)

Use 1 tbsp for light loads, 2 tbsps for heavy loads

I'll let you know how it works!

The Dog Days of January

I woke up this morning and realized, "I live in a boring town". Now I am sure that you have all thought that at one time or another about my little piece of heaven, but for me it was a sudden thought, like a bolt of lightening. Even the dog is bored.

For example, I got up this week, looked out the window and said, "Hmm, it's snowing." Next day, "Hmm, it's snowing." Next day, "Hmm, snowing again." Today, though it was "Hmmm, snowing and windy."

What is there to do in a small town in the dead of winter? We do enjoy some winter sports, the ones that don't drain our pocketbook. X-country skiing has been pretty good, until my boot created a blister on my heel that took a week to heal. Plus, how fun is skiing when it is 8 degrees outside?

So I content myself with the inner workings of my home. I try not to watch TV. I have read almost all the works of Narnia. Why didn't I know about those when I was a kid? I have been blogging more than ever. Computers can make life much more enjoyable when there is nothing better to do.

And please don't think that I must not be busy enough. Au contraire!! I have A MILLION things that need to be done. I just don't want to do them today. Maybe later. Maybe in February.