New pool, new dangerous recipe, and DIY wipe recipe

So a few years ago, a couple of WONDERFUL friends got Trev a pool for his b-day. It was surprising to L and me about how well they took care of it. It wasn't popped, they tried to keep all the "wonderful" grass clippings out of it, and kept the water in the right area. They kept it thru a whole summer. Then my parents came with their dog. And the dog liked it....and jumped thru it....and popped it. Thus went the pool.

Their old pool from some great friends :)

So this year, I wanted to get them a new one. Then we have gotten the lovely floods a'comin'. I saw no need cuz they wouldn't be able to enjoy it. We had a month (maybe a month and 1/2... I started to lose track) straight of rain everyday. However, at Family Dollar, I saw a pool for $10 and couldn't resist :) I still had to wait for the rains to calm down. So I hid the pool so the kids couldn't see it. You know how kids are...they see something, they want to do it, they beg, they beg, they ask, they ask....so I HAD to hide it.

Finally today I was confident enough that it wasn't going to rain (I kept getting worried of the "isolated thunderstorms" that never came), so as they were outside, I inflated it inside. Then I went outside and attached the hose. Now, parents do anything for their kids. I almost knocked off my knuckle for them. Our house isn't done the best, so the way our water "thingy" is on the house, it's recessed a bit too much, so my knuckle kept hitting the siding. 

Then I brought their pool outside. It's funny cuz the first thing I was thinking of as I was walking out the door was of determined little doggie Gus. Lol. Although I was going out the door, I was thinking of him :) As I go out the door and the boys see it, they ask me....yes, it's true...."Is that a pool?" I wish I was witty enough to say something that could be a type of "Here's your sign" :)

Mark...afraid to step in due to the water being cold

Easing in

I have also found my new favorite dessert recipe. It's dangerous though....cuz it's tooooo good. They are called Lazy Cookie Bars and are soooo delish. L kept laughing at me because I was Ohhhh and Ahhhh over them :)

DANGEROUS dessert :)

And last but not least, I am trying a DIY wipe recipe. There are so many out there, you just have to pick one and try it, then tweak it next time. First off, we use the HUGE rolls of paper towels. Cut the roll in half.

Pay no attention to the "wonderful" sawing

So finding a container for them was fun around here. Then I remembered we had just gotten some Maxwell containers from my dad. I know this won't work for every time (it will rust), but I'm out of wipes and have no car to go anywhere....have to make do :)

  

Paper towel roll fit nicely :)

The recipe I decided to use called for 2 cups of boiling water cooled down. This turned out to be too much. Then it is added to 2 tbsp baby shampoo and 1 tbsp baby oil. Waiting on the water to cool when I wanted to hurry up and do it is what got me :)

The baby oil and shampoo (left) and water cooling (right)

After putting them together, you pour it over the paper towels and let it sit for 10 minutes. Some recipes said to flip it and let it soak for another 10 minutes, so I did this also. Then you pull the cardboard out of the middle. Then you pull the paper towel from the middle. It reminds me of the wipes like Lysol or something that pulls from the middle.

I also squeezed some of the water out because like I said, the 2 cups was just too much, so go along with the 1 cup like most recipes say. I went with the 2 cups because of how big of a roll I was using, but it still ended up wayyyyy to wet.

I've never had boys want their faces wiped, but since I made these wipes myself, they wanted me to wipe their faces after supper :) We'll see how well they work for the bottom :) 

Trying new things

I love trying new things. 

I didn't use to be this way. I used to be VERY scared of it. Because I was worried of "What if it didn't turn out right? What if no one liked it?" I still have those thoughts, however, I've learned that I will find new things I will like, I will figure new things out, I can figure out what I can do different next time.

This weekend has been a fun one. First I made a sock doggie. Now.... I figured out a lot of different things I would do different with the next one. I made his body too little. I second guessed myself. I had it bigger, but thought it was too big, so I cut it down and it turned out scrunched...lol. His arms aren't connected the best, but I was so frustrated..so I need to walk away once I'm frustrated :) I love his ears. I did them in the morning after leaving him alone for the night, so I was seeing him from a refreshed viewpoint :)



Then today I made strawberry fruit roll-up. I have a few changes I would make with it. With the recipe I used, I would double or triple it. With how long it took it and how little amount of fruit roll-ups I got out of it....it seemed almost "fruitless" :) Also, I would use a lil bit less lemon juice. It's not bad, but it definitely has that twang. It reminds me of my school days of pulling one out of my lunch bag :) Can't wait until the boys try them :)

Coming out of the oven. Splitting the pieces. 

 Split it into 4 pieces

All rolled-up :) 

 

The 31st of November

(I had written this in January  2013, but didn't publish it)
So, 7 days after my last post was a tough one. On Nov. 31st, I had talked to my mom at 7pm. We talked about how she was feeling better (after being in the hospital the week before due to blood loss). We talked about the pictures she colored in her physical therapy (she was sooo excited about that :) ) She told me that she had a little bit of a pain in her shoulder due to some exercises in PT, but that she knew she had to have a little pain to get better. Then made plans for me to come up there with the boys the next day or Sunday. She was excited, as was I.

 At 8:20pm, I got a call from her again. She wanted me to bring a picture of my dad for her to have in her room. She had pictures of me and the boys....now she needed on of dad. I said no prob :)

At 10:30pm, the phone number that showed up on the caller id was from the nurses station. They call me when she falls and so I was like "Uh, oh. What happened?" I answered the phone, the nurse asked for me and I told her she was talking to me. She then said that she hated to inform me that my mom had passed away. I was stunned and asked what happened? The nurse said they were guessing that she had a stroke because they found her on the floor beside her bed.

I lost it. I couldn't even hold the phone. I had to give it over to Lewis. I fell to my knees, crying and   screaming. how could this have happened? I had JUST talked to her?!?!

Dad calls a few minutes later and Lewis had to talk to him. The nursing home obviously called him at the same time as me. Dad went up there (he told me later that he didn't believe it, so he had to know). When I had talked to my mom at 7, he had been there. He had went home and at 9:30, he had talked to her. So we know that it happened fairly quickly after dad talked to her.

The good news is that we know she didn't suffer. We figured she'd "go downhill" for a while. It's good that she didn't have to go thru that.

Dad and I went a few weeks later and spread her ashes in Ga., near Kennestone Mountain. My dad's parents are spread over the mountain and that's how mom and dad both wanted it done for them. However, we learned that it's not legal anymore, so we had to improvise.

It still hurts. It's been 2 months and I have a prob realizing she's gone. Last few days, I've had dreams and thoughts about her. I miss her.

Once again....

....I am making myself a promise. I want to keep up this blog. I KEEP saying this, but then I go months without posting. And soooo much happens. 

Facebook is great for the posting and I get so caught up with just posting on there and saying "There!," but I want to do this for my kids. I am so OCD when it comes to my writing, that if I make a mistake on the paper, I have to re-write the page. So journals have never been a favorite of mine. So doing blog writing will leave something for my kids to look back on. Even going back every so often on what I have on this one, it's great to see. Before I got into Facebook, I wrote all the time. Now....well, we see how it is...lol.

So, I am dedicating it to writing AT LEAST once a week. I don't want to say more because if I don't and get discouraged, it might be months before I come back. So I DO want to do MORE than once a week, but we will PROMISE at least once :)

:)