Everything and Nothing

Wish I had batteries...I could have shown you before and after pictures of my bathroom. It was the room I decided to take on today. I gave it a thorough scrubbing from top to bottom. Especially the shower. I even rearranged my decor in there. Once I get batteries I can show you my quick and easy way to make it look like a hotel spa!

As I mentioned, the Spring Cleaning Bug has hit the FITPH (Five in the Potter's Hand) household..OK, really it has just hit me..not really anyone else has been affected...of course, my husband is a total neat freak (so he is an assumed participant , our children are all under the age of 5...but our boys do like to organize their toys! Wow..that was a long pig trail...lol! So the SCB has come to our home, we rearranged the rooms so that the kiddos have the biggest room. (Is there a law that says you have to have the master bedroom if you are the parents? Besides, what benefit is there to having the master, if there is no master bath? Not much!) The boys love their new room and I love our (Querido and my) "new" room :) Now I just have to paint the boy's room, the music/media room and repaint the bathroom (I am sick of the green...lol). Yup, I have a lot of painting to do!
I will post pictures once I can!

Querido got a raise...PRAISE THE LORD!! And this month, we have money left over after the bills are all paid, groceries are accounted for, gas is allotted, etc! God is so good, all the time!

A pile of laundry is calling my name, so dear readers, I must bid you adieu!

Do You Know Your Colors??

Found this while looking around other blogs. Give it a try, you won't beleive how many colors you can forget when you are asked how many you can name in five minutes...lol!

43

DeterrANTs

Dead-ANT, Dead-ANT, dead-ANT, dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant,dead-AAAANNNNNTT, da, da, da...
Sugar ants are quite persistent! No matter how many I send to an early demise, more come to replace them. They are EVERYWHERE...my kitchen, my floors, my bed (yes, I found a couple of them IN MY BED!!!!), my bathroom, and my shower
(IS NOTHING SACRED??)!!!!!
Every spring they come in by the ever-so-organized droves...which in turn drives me CRAZY!
I got fed up and I started looking for home remedies against ants (well besides spiders...EEK). As I was perusing different websites today I came across a natural, non-toxic, non-fatal remedy! (I really hate to kill the little guys, they are just doing their job) CINNAMON...or even cayenne pepper!!!!!!!! Just so happens I have both in my cupboard. If you sprinkle a line of either around the outside of your home, the ants will not cross the line. It keeps them outside where I am more than happy to have them be! Well, I had forgotten that we did that last year at the front door..guess what insects are extremely smart? They haven't come in the front door at all! So I sprinkled some at the back patio door. I felt kind of sorry for the ones on the other side of the cinnamon barrier---they looked so confused and lost. Nevertheless, they would not cross the line! Yipee!

Saturday, I am going to implement this plan on a larger scale, OUTSIDE!

Praise the Lord for natural remedies!

By the way, cucumbers are supposed to have the same effect. Also if you soak a string in citrus juice, that is purported to work as a deterrent as well. I haven't tried those yet, so I'm not sure they work. But cinnamon works great!

Things That Happened To My Camera...

UPDATED: Please see my post "Ensuring Their Safety" for why I have deleted certain photos from this post.



So I went to see if the batteries on my camera had magically recharged themselves (not rechargeables, so that would have been a miracle) and this is what I found...


Smile for the camera...





Apparently I have some budding photographers in my family...LOL! The boys got ahold of my camera (without my knowledge, I might add) and took some pretty good shots for a 5 year old and a 3 year old. They also had the foresight (or deviousness??) to turn the camera off and place it back on its spot on the table...it's dangerous to have children that smart...LOL!

When We Get Bigger And Other Lessons

Right now my two sons are discussing the benefits of getting bigger...
"Mom, are we gonna have kids when we get bigger?" JM questions me.
"After you get married, I am sure you will have kids." I reply
At this point JM and IE are laughing so hard they can barely speak (apparently having kids is funny...lol)
"I'm going to have two boys!" JM enthusiastically announces.
"Me too!" IE chimes in.
At this point I get the distinct impression that they are planning to marry each other when they grow up...(ahh brotherly love and such innocence)
"But you have to marry a girl when you grow up." I clarify for them.
"I'm going to marry AJ!" JM states matter-of-factly.
"Um, you can't marry your sister honey."
"Why not?"
"God doesn't want you to marry your sister. He wants you to marry someone else."
"What is her name?"
"I don't know, only God knows."
The boys laugh and move onto other pressing matters, like what car we are going to buy for them when they get older...hah! (I informed them that they would be buying their own cars.)

It just made me think of how family truly prepares us to love other people. And also, how you can start building solid family values at any age. They don't need to know about homosexuality or incest right now. All they need to know is the basics: you can't marry your sister or your brother no matter how much you like them and only God knows who you will marry.

Actually, it made me kind of proud that they had even considered marrying their sister...lol...at least the lesson of loving your siblings has set in!

Spring Bug Hits Again :)

The Spring Reorganizing My Home Bug has hit me again. I never do anything truly permanent in the way of home decorations, because I know I will want to change it up sooner or later...lol.

My latest project is going to be the kids' room. I decided that the boys needed a bigger space and so we are going to put them in the master bedroom. (Where are Querido and I going to crash you ask...in the spare room, of course!) I was speaking with my ever-so creative mother and I decided I am going to make the bedding for the boys and for my daughter's crib as well. That way I can make it harmonize and NOT spend a fortune. I am excited about this little venture because I think it will turn out awesome!

I am itching to reorganize and rearrange the living room too. That will wait for another time...

Thankful Thursday

Today I am grateful that I know Jehovah-Jireh and that He cares about me... down to the smallest detail. There is nothing that escapes His notice. And that thought alone is staggering! He knows my needs and wants before I even voice them...wow. The Almighty Creator of the universe is concerned with my needs...me, the lowly clay vessel. I am esteemed in His grasp and made into something valuable by His touch.

On this day of thankfulness, I am thankful that my children and I are feeling better! My boys are back to their rambunctious selves and my darling daughter is her smiley self again (still teething).

I am especially grateful that my sister was here to help nurse me and the kiddos back to health....THANK YOU SIS!

I am thankful that I have a lovely house. Being a homeowner sure beats renting an apartment. We have such awesome neighbors across the street too. God just keeps blessing us!

I am thankful that He wants to bless us...thankful that the Lord of Heaven cares so much about our lives.