Back to the grind

This was a windy and busy weekend. We had turned our 5th wheel around so that the morning sun would shine on the water lines and help so that they wouldn't freeze and also make dumping the tanks easier. Everything went fine except that we had some trouble getting the 5er level. We ended up buying 4 jacks and reinstalling the hitch into the pick up, I think we took it out a bit prematurely, and after working on it two different days I think its level enough to be able to live in it.

Then we found a leak coming from the bathroom into the living area. It only leaked when Jeff took a shower so I accused him of being reckless with the shower head. He promised he hadn't been and upon investigation he discovered a small crack in the bottom of the tub. Oh dear. He right away put a sealer on it and then looked on the net for a replacement tub or a better fix. We have not been using the shower since we found the crack. We are blessed that there is a shower house just a few feet from where we are parked. Anyway, Jeff found a product that is suppose to be great so I will try to find it at a lumber yard today.

Last night when it was time to retire, Jeff stepped on the steps leading to our bedroom and kaboom, the step broke. We knew we were going to have to make new steps so we actually had already purchased the treads to make the new steps. Jeff used a couple of screws to secure the step until this weekend when we can make new ones. The stairs had been weak for quite some time so we had already planned to make new ones with a hinge on them to allow for more storage. I never have figured out why they weren't made that way to begin with. I can put my had vacuum and several other things in that space. There are always maintenance projects no matter where you live if you want to keep your place nice and not let it get run down.

I think a lot of folks don't realize that to keep a home in good shape there are constant maintenance and improvements to make. When we lived in the big house on 16 acres of land it was the same only multiplied many times. We are enjoying the fact that the maintenance on this place is in a much smaller proportion than with the big house. Therefore we have more time to do things and more money to do them with. That has been a huge blessing for us.

Mollie is cleaning out the fridge and Hannah will wash the resulting dishes. I vacuumed the place and in a bit I am going to scrub down the bathroom. I will be using the homemade disinfecting wipes I made, which I love by the way. I even had to add more stuff to the container because I use the wipes, wash them with our other wash, and then toss them back into the container and eventually the liquid was used up. I just took a glass and added some vinegar, tea tree oil, a squirt of dish soap and then about a cup of water, I shook or swirled this and poured it into the container and flipped the cloths over so the bottom ones could be used first.

New Pink Monkey Affiliate

Congratulations to DJ, our newest Pink Monkey Affiliate. DJ's blog can be found at :
http://momladyb.blogspot.com/
DJ will be receiving a free bar of soap for becoming an affiliate as well as 20% of all sales she does from her blog.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank You lord for all the blessing you give me every day. One propane tank emptied last night and Jeff had to get up at 11:30 to switch them over. Then he had inadvertently unplugged the water line heater so we woke up to frozen water lines. He is out there now trying to thaw them so I can get on with the cooking. I am thankful we had a second propane tank we could switch to and there is a bath house a few feet away where I took my shower and Jeff brought me water from to get started on the meal.

This is our menu for today.

BLSL chicken breast cooked in the crock pot with herbs

sweet potatoes

dressing

cranberry sauce

green beans (plain, not the famous casserole)

rolls

gravy

for dessert we may have brownies or I may make something else like a cobbler

What are you thankful for and what is on your menu for today?

Pink Monkey News

Pink Monkey will soon be offering two kinds of Thieves oil. Formula #1 is the original blend made with eucalyptus. Formula #2 will replace the eucalyptus with tea tree oil.

We are also developing thieves oil soap and tea tree oil soap. So now we will have Oatmeal, milk and honey, tea tree oil, thieves oil and plain.

Also in the works is online ordering. I am working on a way to enable my customers to be able to order product online no matter where they are. I hope to be able to offer this from my blog, this blog, and my affiliates blogs.

Had a good time in Branson

Our family drove to Branson this past weekend and spent time with two more of my daughters and my son in law. Joy, Kaleena and Justin. We went out to eat one evening and then came back to Kaleena and Justin's and exchanged Christmas gifts. This worried Mollie a little bit because she thought it was strange to celebrate Christmas before we celebrated Thanksgiving. Saturday we shopped and boy was it crowded. I enjoyed the beautiful weather but not the crowds. We tried to go to Dick's 5 and 10 but it was wall to wall shoppers and I get claustrophobic so I stayed outside.

On Sunday we all went to Kaleena and Justin's church. They have a small group but its growing fast and they are building a new building. When we were there the steel shell part had just been completed. They said it would have a roof by next weekend. Their current church is so small that they have to have two services to be able to fit everyone in. They have an old school building right now.

Then we can home and Justin deep fried a turkey while the rest of us prepared the other food items. That was one of the best turkeys we have ever eaten.

Later on Sunday Joy, Mollie and Hannah all left and went back to college with Joy. They went to church with her and spent the night in the dorm, we picked them up on Monday on our way through. They asked us to stay for lunch but we had such a long drive and it was two hours until lunch that we declined.

When we arrived home Jeff went to turn the water back on and he said we must of had high winds because all of the west side of the skirting was under the 5th wheel. So this afternoon we will reinstall that and put in some extra screws for good measure.

I have a list a mile long it seems today so I had better get started. Hope all of you reading have a great day and have a good time getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Belly Butter

I found a site that has instructions for making home made belly butter for pregnant ladies. I wanted to get it on here so I don't loose it.
Here is the link:http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2010/09/homemade-belly-butter-all-natural-pampering-for-pregnant-mamas-2.html

If you go to her site she has detailed instructions for making it as well as several pictures. Seeing as how I have a daughter who is hoping to have a baby soon I thought this would be a good thing to make for her.

Lipstick in schools------

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem.

A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.
Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror....

There are teachers .... and then there are educators.

Deer hunting season

My son in law Justin.


Justin got a deer. He loves to hunt and fish. He even owns a guided fishing service on Branson area lakes.

Have you ever seen a praising mantis?

The middle wife by a second grade teacher

I have been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they are welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class wit h a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother and I am going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She is standing there with her hands on the pillow and I am trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement..

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she does not have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Er ica lies down with her back against the wall.)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting but never even got past ten then all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I am sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it is show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

Shanna read this story at Christina's baby shower, I thought it was cute so I asked her to email it to me so you all could enjoy it too.

Steven Elijah Derixson

Dedicating Elijah to God.

Getting ready for a bath.

Daddy and Elijah.

He looks just like Sammy.

Hi mema Debbie.

Dedication. Mom is praying for Elijah.

Elijah's baby shower.

Some of the ladies at the baby shower.

More baby shower pictures.

Baby shower.

Shanna Flora, one of the ladies who put the shower on and her daughter Linen.

The gift table.

Christina sitting in the place of honor.

Christina and one of her daughters Kaitlyn.

Bill dedicating his son to God.

Sammy is sleepy.

Dedicating Elijah.

Baby Elijah.

oops, I put this picture in twice.

A group picture of those who prayed for baby Elijah.

Winter is coming.

The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very cold winter.

It must be true because the squirrels are gathering NUTS.



Three of my neighbors have disappeared.



Are you O.K.?

Jelled champagne dessert

Are you looking for something unique to serve this coming holiday season? Well, I discovered an unusual dessert that would be perfect for a festive brunch, a light ending to a heavy meal, or an addition to a gala buffet.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
2 cups cold white grape juice, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups champagne or club soda
8 fresh strawberries, hulled

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin, over 1 cup cold grape juice; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in sugar. Remove from the heat; stir in remaining grape juice. Cool to room temperature.

2. Transfer gelatin mixture to a large bowl. Slowly stir in champagne or soda. Pour half of the mixture into eight champagne or parfait glasses. Add one strawberry to each glass. Chill glasses and remaining gelatin mixture until almost set, about 1 hour.

3. Place the reserved gelatin mixture in a blender; cover and process until foamy. Pour into glasses. Chill for 3 hours or until set.

Recipe from Taste of Home Entertaining.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children.

It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began.

You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting.

As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be.

He began to speak and his statement was this: My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus To wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?"

The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past And use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters. Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel Of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case!!!!

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

Psalm 55:23

Baby Elijah

Mollie and I made the long (13hour) trip to Houston to see baby Elijah on Wednesday. The trip was long but uneventful.

We met little Elijah as soon as we arrived. He is a sweet little baby. He isn't fussy and only cries when he is hungry. That is a huge blessing as there are babies who fuss and cry and you cant figure out what is wrong.

He is so tiny though. When he was born he weighed 6 lbs. which isn't all that tiny but when you haven't held a newborn in a while it sure seems tiny.
Christina is still having some problems with her hips, we are hoping they return to their places soon so she can get past that pain.

We are trying to be helpful while we are here. I am glad we are close friends with Bill and Christina, because it makes it easier to just get in there and do things.

I will try to take some pictures of Elijah today so I can post them and you all can see how beautiful he is.