A little of this...

Hello my bloggy friends! I have had a rather busy week, and unfortunately that meant neglecting my blog. My keyboard is still messed up as well, and using certain keys involves a copy and paste. This makes it hard to get motivated to write, but here I am!


I asked a few blogging buddies for post ideas, topics that would help move my blog toward being more than just a journal. I would like this place to eventually be a resource of sorts, as well as a place to get to know me!


My friends were able to give me some great ideas! I have a few posts in draft that I am working on, so be on the lookout for those! For tonight though, I thought I would just write a little of this, a little of that, and just write what comes to mind!


Fall is finally here! We had some rain at the beginning of the week, and the rest of the days have been nice and cool! I am so excited, and will be purchasing my pumpkins in the next few days!


I took my grandpa to the VA Tuesday. He had 3 appointments. It was an all day event and by the time we were able to leave, I was ready to punch someone in the babymaker. Thankfully, I was able to restrain myself this time. We did get his hearing aides repaired, and he can now hear me without my having to scream at the top of my lungs. I consider that a total win, so the trip was worth it.


Tomorrow, I will be grocery shopping for them. Which, if you have read my blog for long, you will know it is about my most hated chore.


I will also be taking the grands to purchase a car, but that is another story for another day!


Right now, I am going to go bath my babies, and then do storytime! Tuck them in, take a shower myself, and then hit the bed! This mama is TIRED!!

The one that comes after K

Yesterday, I dropped a few drops of water onto the keyboard of my computer. I quick*y turned it over, hoping the water wou*d run back out. I turned it off for a few minutes, and decided I shou*d aim my b*owdryer at the keys for a few minutes.

Bad idea. My keys started to me*t.

I unp*ugged everything and set the *aptop in front of the fan for about five hours.

Today, most of the keys are working. A few do not, but I can survive without them. The one that is giving me troub*e is the one that comes after K. Yeah, that one. So p*ease read * as the *etter that comes after K. Hopefu**y it wi** start working again soon.

Harvest Time!

Fall is in the air. I can feel it coming, I can smell it. The leaves are turning and even starting fall off the tree outside my living room window. Nights are now chilly and I've been able to shut off my air conditioner and open the windows. I can walk into any department store and find a Pumpkin Spice scented candle sitting on the shelf! 

Autumn is my favorite season. I'll say the same thing in the Spring, but for now, Fall is where it's at!

Unfortunately, I live in a region that has about 15 hours of Fall and then it's over. That might be an exaggeration, but not by much. Winter always comes much too quickly. 

And I hate Winter. As a matter of fact, I loathe it. Snow? Ick. Ice? Double Ick!

For now though, I'm going to pretend that freezing temperatures and slick sidewalks aren't right around the corner. I'm going to focus on the beauty that is Fall and take full advantage of the time I have with it.

In a couple weeks, a local Mennonite community is holding a Fall Festival. My uncle is actually very good friends with the Mennonite family, and they gave us the scoop. There will be hand-churned ice cream, hayrides pulled by horses (which Ella will absolutely love!), and pumpkins of course!

We will also be returning to the Farm Market this year. They have a ginormous pumpkin patch and the most delicious apple butter ever made! 

My neighbor and I share a little area of yard between our front doors. Instead of each of us decorating our own yards, we have decided to combine our efforts and turn our shared area into a Harvest Wonderland! A farmer I know is supplying me with a few straw bales and corn stalks, and Amy and I will purchase pumpkins and mums. These won't be the main attraction though!

We have gathered a few pairs of old jeans and a few flannel shirts. We are going to help the kids make their very own scarecrows! I'm so excited about this it's ridiculous! It will be so much fun for Brookelyn and Nolan and they will look great sitting on the straw bales, surrounded by pumpkins and corn stalk bundles!

Ella and Audrey (Nolan's little sister.) aren't quite old enough to build a scarecrow, but they will not be left out. We plan to get a couple of the cute little pumpkins and some finger paint, and let the babies go to town! They can paint up their little pumpkins and then they will be part of the display as well!

Somewhere in the middle of these activities, I would like to also find an orchard to take the girls to. Ella loves apples, it's one of the few things she will actually ask for by name when she wants a snack. Brookelyn likes them as well, as long as I peel the skin off for her. I think it would be fun to take them and let them see where apples come from, and they can pick a few of their own! Sounds fun, right?

Gosh, I love Fall!

Have you already started your Fall decorating? Does if feel like Fall in your area yet?

An Addition to the Family!

My apartment doesn't have a washer/dryer hook-up. That? Really sucks.

There IS an on-site laundromat, but it is only open during office hours and as we all know, I'm not exactly an early-bird. It would cost me about $2.50/load, not to mention I would have to either sit down there and babysit the clothes as they are washing or take a chance on having them stolen. At my previous apartment, a whole load of my children's clothing was taken and I'm not willing to risk that happening again.

In town, there is another laundromat I could use, and it's actually pretty nice and fairly cheap. I've used it a time or two in a pinch, but I thankfully don't have to depend on a laundromat to keep our clothes clean.

My gramcrack has always been kind enough to let me bring my laundry to her house to wash and dry. She doesn't ask for anything in return and even lets me use her soap if I forget mine. I am usually needed out there at least a time or two a week so I generally take a couple loads out with me each time I go and this allows me to stay on top of the laundry situation.

Here's the thing. The washer and dryer we've been using out there is 17 years old. A few months ago, the agitator broke, and only the bottom half would still spin around. This meant we could only do half loads of laundry at a time, and I would usually let things soak for 30 minutes or so in the soapy water just to make sure things were getting clean. I use Spray and Wash like it's my job on even the smallest spots because although the clothes do get swished around and the general dirt is removed, the washer just doesn't have the power to really beat the clothing clean.

The dryer also had it's problems. After the washer finished with my half-load of clothing, I would have to separate my half-load into two smaller loads to dry and they would take at least an hour for each group.

So to recap, one average sized load of clothing would take me over 2 hours to complete. I didn't complain because Hey, my gram was kind enough to let me do laundry there. For free. And I try to never complain about anything free.

But last week, something glorious happened. The dryer broke. It simply gave up the fight and walked toward that bright light in sky.

The next day, the washer started leaking.

Yesterday, I spent the day at Sears with my grandmother, and we looked at every washer/dryer combo they had. We knew we weren't going to get a fancy one, they live on a budget after all. Plus, my gram has to be able to actually operate the washer, and we are talking about a woman that has had me set the clock on her VCR for about 15 years now. But still, the fancy ones were fun to look at!

After we piddled around with the bright red front loaders, the stackables and the other fancy displays, we headed over to the top-loading machines. We compared prices and cubic feet, and finally landed on a set that made my gramcrack happy.

Aren't they beautiful?? The whole way home I was giddy. I couldn't have been more excited if they had been my very own. I folded down all the seats in my van and loaded these bad boys up, refusing to wait for delivery.

My uncles installed them as soon as we got back to her house, and we said goodbye to the broken set. I think my gramcrack was a little sad to see them go. You would have to know her to understand, but she doesn't accept new things easily and has a hard time parting with the old. 

She didn't have anything that needed washing right away, so I tossed the girls' blankies into the washer and fired that bad boy up. 

From start to finish, it took less than 40 minutes to wash AND dry the blankets! With the old set, it would take at least twice that time! 

I can't believe I'm blogging about a washer and dryer that aren't even my own, but I'm still excited about them today! And now that I've shared about them with all of you, guess where I'm heading... 

To Gramcrack's of course! To do laundry! And I'm excited about it!

I'm pretty sure...

...that I'm dying over here.

Four or so days ago (I can't remember at this point, my mind is too scrambled by the thought of my impending death.), Ella had a runny nose. The next day, Brookelyn had one, too.

The next day, full on snot factories. Both girls had head colds, and I prepared myself for a few days of wiping the noses of grumpy kids.

I've spent plenty of time wiping noses, but they really didn't let it interfere with their play. No long naps, no tantrums, nothing. I thought I was getting off easy.

Ha!

Yesterday, I woke up feeling a little stuffy. It went away after a few hours of being up, and I felt fine. Today? my head is full, my nose is running, I have that yucky taste in my mouth, and I spent most of the day napping. I've blown my nose so much it's raw, and we had hot dogs for dinner. I don't like hot dogs, but I like easy. Hot dogs are easy, dinner is served.

If you don't hear from me again, it will be safe to assume this cold took me out.