Another Record

I am quite surprised at my shopping speed today. In the two and a half hours I have while Ellie is at school, I managed to visit Giant, Wal-Mart, Aldi's, and Holly Hill Heath Food. I really don't know how I accomplished all my shopping and even arrived early to Ellie's school. Josh had time to play a little on the school playground before picking up Ellie.

Usually I make it to only two stores.

A Kulp Record

Generally Ellie and Josh's bedtime routine lasts about an hour. Even when we try to be speedy.

Tonight the kids were on our nerves. Actually it's been all day. They weren't really naughty, just very active and boisterous. So, we decided that bedtime was going to happen soon and quickly. Gary says it was 25 minutes tonight, but I'll be generous with 30 minutes. They each had spankings to start with, then baths (no play time,) teeth brushing, hair brushing, pajamas and diapers, rocking and prayers.

And here we sit with so much time, we don't know what to do with ourselves.

We could admire our handiwork of the day. Gary handily installed a new outlet in our kitchen. Now we have 7. Our previous ones weren't the best placed things in the kitchen. Well actually maybe not much is well placed in the kitchen. The main outlets that we had access to from the counter are in one corner. The other two are near the switch for the kitchen light, but you have to go through or around a book shelf to reach it from the counter. Not very convenient. We also have tile around the kitchen, which doesn't lend for easy installation of outlets. We decided to move the microwave to a corner of the kitchen that was more out of the way, but it had no outlets. We discovered there was no tile on that wall, and there was a space to feed wire. So Gary went to work, and there you have it. A new outlet. And no extra trips to the hardware store. Everything actually went as planned. An uncommon occurrence here in our house.

While Gary worked on that project, I shopped. For food and household accessories. I found Yoder's Farm Market, which has nicely prices and naturally raised chicken eggs and beef, which I purchased for our eating pleasure. The beef I found at another place a while ago was so not economical.

At another farm market (both of these places are just really privately owned stores with the name "farm market." And I make this distinction, because when I think of a farm market, I see rows of tables and lots of farmers and their wares.) I found reasonably priced unbleached flour and whole wheat flour. I am going to try making bread more often and thought more flour to be helpful.

Then lastly I made my way to Impact thrift stores. I found a glass baking dish for all the bread I will be making, another small cheese grater for all the cheese we grate, some plastic bowls for the kids to use, and two clothing items for me, and yes, they are "household accessories."

I also remembered that I wanted to fix our dustbuster. Which I was able to accomplish once I got the thing open.

Our CRV

Our car may not have leather heated seats or wipers on the head lights, or keyless entry, but I recently discovered that our little beauty has a holder for the gas cap for when you are pumping gas. Isn't that so handy? Now we will never have to worry about losing our gas cap.

And the warranty for the CRV is still good, so we can now get the repair it desperately needs, without having to pay for it. We thought the warranty had run out already.

Home again, home again

Well, we are home. No week at the cabin. We arrived home this afternoon. We decided it would have been really late to pack up, clean and organize last night, so Gary took off half a day, and we came home today.

I decided to forgo my little hair experiment. I washed it this morning. Maybe I'll just not wash it as often, or maybe I'll just wash it everyday. Who knows?

With being home, I get to make something for MOPS tomorrow. I was looking forward to not having to take anything, though I am glad to be able to hear the speaker. And I may have found a new MOPPETS worker, which is exciting, since they are hard to come by. I still need to actually talk with her about it. Let me tell you, I will be glad when my time is over as MOPPETS Coordinator. I am weary of coordinating.

The weather is turning nicer, which means walking outside more. My friend Nicki and I are walking buddies. We have walked some in the colder weather but hope to walk much more with the warmer weather. Sometimes we have to take along children, and they appreciate the warmer weather, since they just sit and don't work up a sweat.

Two changes of one plan

It was all set. Leave for the cabin on Friday afternoon. Stay until the next Saturday.

I neglected my friend Wednesday night. I am deeply sorry, Myrtle. She has worked over 40 hours in four days. Way too much for her. Thursday night , completely overwhelmed, Myrtle called. All the working and trying to pack was too much. She decided it was better to not come.

So today, I packed for just the weekend. Gary, the kids and I were still going to the cabin for the weekend. This afternoon after much sleep and reading a letter from me, she concluded that not going to the cabin was a poor decision. So, basically she frantically started packing to leave by 6:00. I had to rethink what I packed and grab more food and clothes for 6 more days.

She is currently en route to my house, Gary is currently en route to the cabin with the kids, and I am just waiting.

But we are still going to get our week away in the little cabin in the woods.

My next notion

I mentioned that I was going to try not washing my hair as often. Well, I am actually going to try not washing my hair at all for 4 weeks. I read up on it, but unfortunately all I found so far was people's personal opinions. There were no expert opinions.

I last washed my hair on Tuesday morning. I am counting from Wednesday, so I am on day 3. It's greasy next to my ears, where I tuck it often. Otherwise, it's a little frizzy.

From what I've read, it will get worse before it gets better. Supposedly my hair will eventually balance itself out and go from greasy/frizz to luxurious locks. I have noticed that when I just wet it in the shower, there is way less hair in the drain.

I will make sure to keep you posted on it's progress.

A Phenomenon

I have witnessed a phenomenon on several occasions upon rocking and putting my son down at nap and bed time. I already knew he just loved sucking on his blankie. But until recently I did not realize there was a precise way it had to be in his mouth. Oh no. He can not just stick it in his mouth. It usually takes at least 3 times to find the right way. He has on occasion had trouble determining the best way and has been quite put out. He has even attempted to enlist my help, but after trying to help once and failing, I tell him he has to find it himself. When he does locate the perfect blankie sucking spot, he settles his head on my shoulder and snuggles in. The entire process is most precious and humorous to watch.

Tonight it took him four times trying and upon finding the right way, he pointed to his mouth as if to say "I found it, Mama!"

Watch out!

My mob boss husband.

Family Day

Yesterday we took a walk downtown. Ellie rode her tricycle and Josh drove his car. We packed a lunch and ate at the quaint little town "square." From our vantage point, we gazed upon the beloved train station. And our little ones were gifted with two beloved choo-choos coming through town. We also saw several buses and motorcycles and many cars.

We all sported our Phillies shirts. The time is soon upon us when Sunday afternoons will be spent watching the sport of baseball, waving our rally towels, cheering on our Phillies.

On our trip home, we stopped off at the local hardware store. The store has everything you could want and if you can't find it, they'll order it. They have great service. You barely get in the door, when an employee comes out of the woodwork and takes you directly to the item for which you are looking. On our trip today, we needed either a new spindle for a door knob or new knobs since the spindle wouldn't come out of the one knob.

Gary was holding it and didn't even get a chance to say what he wanted. The employee said "Right there" while pointing to the rack next to us where the door knobs were hanging. He thought we wanted door knobs, but upon further investigation and helping get the spindle out and taking a look at the door knobs to make sure they weren't stripped, he went hunting for a spindle. They had one left. We bought it. Would Home depot have given us that kind of service? I think not.

We also visited the Philly pretzel shop and treated our taste buds to some warm twisted dough.

It was a beautiful day, and we had a great family time.

Updates

We have never had such a gush of soap from our dispenser as we have now with having replaced the inside parts. Watch out dishes!

I believe I have found an adequate deodorant. It is a liquid crystal roll-on. I could do without the wet application, but it does fairly well at odor protection. My next foray into more natural is shampoo and not washing my hair as often. I have heard it is better for hair to not be washed every day. Although I wash it every other day, I might try longer between washings.

We received adoption information today from Bethany Christian Services. We are researching information about adoption with no plans to move forward in the near future.

Ellie has announced she will be a doctor when she grows up. She has already practiced many times on Gary and me and enjoys being practiced upon. She is a firm believer in many shots.

This is My Word

Our choir is singing Pepper Choplin's This is My Word. I believe it is one of my favorite anthems.




This is My Word

As the snow falls from heaven,
As it comes in swirling showers from the sky,
So is my Word.
As the rains bring the water to the earth that is thirsty and dry,
So is my Word.
And the Word of my mouth, it shall not return empty:
It will bless the earth wherever it is heard.
This is my Word.

As the rain brings renewal
And the tender buds begin to come alive,
So is my Word.
Giving seed to the sower,
And the bread to the hungry 'til they thrive,
So is my Word.
And the Word of my mouth, it shall not return empty;
It will bless the earth wherever it is heard.
This is my Word.

O Lord, when I am weary,
When I feel the days I'm living are in vain,
My God, help me be faithful to the Word You have given to proclaim.
Proclaim the Word, and you will go out in joy,
And be led forth in peace,
And the hills will break before you into song.
So be faithful, brave and true,
For I will go before you,
And when your earthly journey here is done.
I'll say well done, well done!

As the snow falls from heaven,
And the rain comes in showers from the sky,
This is my Word.

The Flower Show

We had a lovely day today. It was our excursion to the flower show at the Philadelphia Convention Center. My parents, the kids and I drove down to the city, found a very expensive parking garage to park in, and walked to the convention center. We waited in the lobby for my sister to finish at her internship. We walked to the Reading Terminal Market for supper, drove my sister home and drove ourselves home. It was a fun day!

Your minds are begging the question: "When did we get to the flower show?" A very good question, indeed. The answer is we didn't. The fellow who was giving my sister the tickets, never managed to actually get them to her.

Yesterday, it was the snow and school cancellations, today it was a broken down car. So for over two hours we sat in the convention center's lobby waiting for the tickets. We finally realized getting the tickets wasn't going to happen, so we just waited for Jess. Entertaining the children for that long was a feat in itself. I think we and the kids did a fantastic job.














I did however get some pictures of the pansies in the planter outside the convention center. I got to see some flowers, at least.

Visit with Myrtle Bernice

My dear friend P has nicknamed me Bettina Matilda. Why? I don't know. I decided she needed one too. I had come up with George, but that one didn't seem right. So I used the same initials as my nickname. And came up with Bernice Myrtle. However Myrtle Bernice flowed better, so that is what has stuck. And more importantly, she approves.

After the seminar, Gary took a train back home, while I drove to Myrtle's house. We had a slumber party. Though we actually didn't achieve much slumber. We drug our selves off to bed around the time I usually get up. But there were no children pining for attention, so it wasn't so bad. Though if you ask my body, I think it would object to it's bedtime.

We did however manage to slip in much game playing and FarScape. I think we both allowed a fair amount of wins and losses. We also had some good talk time.

And as much as Myrtle wanted the snow to keep me there, I was able to get home Sunday night. With me came Myrtle's former laptop, which I am typing on currently, and one of her former cameras. She updated her electronics, and she graciously passed them on to me. I am greatly appreciative. She also acquired a web cam for our use. Now we can watch while one of us slaughters the other in scrabble.