Monday, August 29, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A big job!!
In thinking of all the things God has asked us to do and has given to us to care for I have found that none of them are greater than our children. They are such a blessing and a beautiful gift to us and we are to take the best care we can of them. God says in His word that we are to "train them up in the way they should go and they would not depart from it." Sometimes that is hard and we have to make some tough decisions, but if we are training them God will take care of the rest.
Tom and I believe 100% in Christian education. We have had our girls in Christian schools since they started. I heard a preacher preach one time on training our children up for Christ. He made this statement "Why would you raise your children in Jerusalem and bus them to Egypt for training?" I have never forgotten that comment. It is our duty as Christian parents to train them first and foremost at home. Teaching them about Christ and His love for them is the most important lesson we can give. I believe that sending them to a Christian school only strengthens the training that we as parents are giving our children at home.
We recently had someone comment about how we are spending too much money sending them to a Christian school. I was rather put out with that person and had to ask God to help them with their ignorance. It is money well spent!!! I worked a lot of hours this past year so that my girls could go and I wouldn't trade one moment for anything else.
Tom and I believe 100% in Christian education. We have had our girls in Christian schools since they started. I heard a preacher preach one time on training our children up for Christ. He made this statement "Why would you raise your children in Jerusalem and bus them to Egypt for training?" I have never forgotten that comment. It is our duty as Christian parents to train them first and foremost at home. Teaching them about Christ and His love for them is the most important lesson we can give. I believe that sending them to a Christian school only strengthens the training that we as parents are giving our children at home.
We recently had someone comment about how we are spending too much money sending them to a Christian school. I was rather put out with that person and had to ask God to help them with their ignorance. It is money well spent!!! I worked a lot of hours this past year so that my girls could go and I wouldn't trade one moment for anything else.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Doing it the old fashion way
I have heard so many people talking about making their own laundry soap and I've kind of scoffed at the idea thinking that I couldn't live without my Tide...:):) I finally broke down and decided to make some home made soap. I had been give some recipes and had googled laundry soap and found even more recipes, but I just wasn't happy with any of them. I mean, who wants to spend an entire day trying to make laundry soap? I wanted something fast and efficient that would get the job done without the big expense I had been paying.
My friend Deborah Mershimer posted a recipe on facebook stating that she didn't melt and boil and squish stuff together but rather she just did a dry recipe. She made it sound so quick and easy that I wanted to try it too. I bought the ingrediants and made my first batch. I was so impressed. It was easy to make. Each batch is one grated bar of Fels-Naptha soap, one cup borax and one cup washing soda. All ingredients now available at our WalMart! Yay! You can also use Zote soap or castille soap. Today I made mine with a bar of Ivory soap because I had forgotten to get the Fels- Naptha bar while shopping on Monday. It usually takes about 2-3 tsp. of soap per load and you can add vinegar, bleach and oxy clean if you so desire. It is about 5 cents a load. You can't beat that.
So, I did my first load with this new home made soap. I think that load was towels. After they were done they smelled so fresh and clean I was impressed. But I knew the real test would be on my husbands work clothes. He works construction, mows the hay fields and sweats like a horse. I knew if his clothes (which I do not allow in my clothes hamper) came clean then I was sold on this soap. His clothes came out super clean!!!! They even smelled fresh!!! I was sold!!!!
Now that's all I use. I have 2 little kittens in the house right now because one has a broken leg and their bedding gets yucky!! They come clean and smell fresh!!!
So there it is. I love it and I would encourage you to try it for yourself. You will find it fantastic just like I did!!!
My friend Deborah Mershimer posted a recipe on facebook stating that she didn't melt and boil and squish stuff together but rather she just did a dry recipe. She made it sound so quick and easy that I wanted to try it too. I bought the ingrediants and made my first batch. I was so impressed. It was easy to make. Each batch is one grated bar of Fels-Naptha soap, one cup borax and one cup washing soda. All ingredients now available at our WalMart! Yay! You can also use Zote soap or castille soap. Today I made mine with a bar of Ivory soap because I had forgotten to get the Fels- Naptha bar while shopping on Monday. It usually takes about 2-3 tsp. of soap per load and you can add vinegar, bleach and oxy clean if you so desire. It is about 5 cents a load. You can't beat that.
So, I did my first load with this new home made soap. I think that load was towels. After they were done they smelled so fresh and clean I was impressed. But I knew the real test would be on my husbands work clothes. He works construction, mows the hay fields and sweats like a horse. I knew if his clothes (which I do not allow in my clothes hamper) came clean then I was sold on this soap. His clothes came out super clean!!!! They even smelled fresh!!! I was sold!!!!
Now that's all I use. I have 2 little kittens in the house right now because one has a broken leg and their bedding gets yucky!! They come clean and smell fresh!!!
So there it is. I love it and I would encourage you to try it for yourself. You will find it fantastic just like I did!!!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Hello friends
It has been quite a long time since my last update on here. I was so shocked and pleased to see all the comments on my last blog. I had not been to this site and didn't know so many of you were reading my blog. Thank you for your kind comments.
Summer is over and school is here. It's been a wonderful and fulfilling summer with lots of changes in the Wheatcraft household. It would take a book to tell you everything, so I will just highlight the events of our lives for you.
We moved from Florida to Ohio this summer. After 7 yrs. we felt that a change was necessary for our family. So we packed up and in June moved to a very little town in Ohio where there are no street lights and the only public building is the post office. A very radical change for us. We were one mile from Jupiter Island in Florida where all the stores were in walking distance from us and people were everywhere. It was so dry that everything was brown and ugly. Imagine the culture shock (in a good way) when we came to Ohio and everything was green and lush. The trees are so full of leaves and the grass is so soft and green. It took us a while to adjust to the beauty of God's handwork. Not to say that Florida is not beautiful. I love FL and would move back in a heart beat. We just had been used to the brown and dry yards in contrast to the lush green here. We moved into an old farmhouse with 4 bedrooms and lots of space. It has been an experience let me tell you.
You can see how old this house is but we have lots of beautiful yard and even planted a garden. My corn is high as an elephants eye...lol, and my beans are so bushy. They are getting ready to produce and I'm ready to pick...lol. This is another new experience for us because in FL we had nowhere for a garden. I'm looking forward to canning some beans and putting up corn.
Another thing that we are having a hard time with is gas in the vehicles. In FL we hardly had to fill up the cars because everything was so close. Here, we drive 30 minutes to get to Wal-Mart. It's been a challenge to say the least. After moving here and realizing this, we began to plan our trips so that everything we need was bought during that trip so we weren't making unnecessary trips to town.
My Tricia loves horses with a passion. We have never been able to give her a horse for lack of space and money. When we moved here there were 3 horses around the corner from us. Two of them kept getting out and grazing in every one's yards. One morning they found their way to our yard and my garden. I didn't know how to get rid of them and not wanting my garden in their bellies, I called the police. To make a long story short, they came and went and a few days later my hubby was talking with the horse owner and she said she was getting rid of the horses. When he asked her how much she said she was just looking for a good home for them. Tom was so excited to hear this and said we would take them. We took them out to the farm and Tricia is in love.
We are in the process of trying to buy our own place right now. We are hoping to be able to build a home on the farm that Tom's parents own. It's a slow process but we are patiently waiting. Last week the girls added two new kittens to our family. They are so precious. Sunday morning Katie accidentally shut the car door on the little females leg. It is broken so we put a splint on it's leg on Monday and she is sleeping in a cage in the laundry room. She is feeling much better. We named her Callie and we named the tomcat Tiger. We all nicknamed him fatso. He is such a roly-poly. He is a blast!!
Well that lets you know what is going on in our house. I will post pictures later of the kittens. I'm finding that blogspot is frustrating when it comes to pictures. Leave me a comment when you have the time. Take care.
Summer is over and school is here. It's been a wonderful and fulfilling summer with lots of changes in the Wheatcraft household. It would take a book to tell you everything, so I will just highlight the events of our lives for you.
We moved from Florida to Ohio this summer. After 7 yrs. we felt that a change was necessary for our family. So we packed up and in June moved to a very little town in Ohio where there are no street lights and the only public building is the post office. A very radical change for us. We were one mile from Jupiter Island in Florida where all the stores were in walking distance from us and people were everywhere. It was so dry that everything was brown and ugly. Imagine the culture shock (in a good way) when we came to Ohio and everything was green and lush. The trees are so full of leaves and the grass is so soft and green. It took us a while to adjust to the beauty of God's handwork. Not to say that Florida is not beautiful. I love FL and would move back in a heart beat. We just had been used to the brown and dry yards in contrast to the lush green here. We moved into an old farmhouse with 4 bedrooms and lots of space. It has been an experience let me tell you.
You can see how old this house is but we have lots of beautiful yard and even planted a garden. My corn is high as an elephants eye...lol, and my beans are so bushy. They are getting ready to produce and I'm ready to pick...lol. This is another new experience for us because in FL we had nowhere for a garden. I'm looking forward to canning some beans and putting up corn.
Another thing that we are having a hard time with is gas in the vehicles. In FL we hardly had to fill up the cars because everything was so close. Here, we drive 30 minutes to get to Wal-Mart. It's been a challenge to say the least. After moving here and realizing this, we began to plan our trips so that everything we need was bought during that trip so we weren't making unnecessary trips to town.
My Tricia loves horses with a passion. We have never been able to give her a horse for lack of space and money. When we moved here there were 3 horses around the corner from us. Two of them kept getting out and grazing in every one's yards. One morning they found their way to our yard and my garden. I didn't know how to get rid of them and not wanting my garden in their bellies, I called the police. To make a long story short, they came and went and a few days later my hubby was talking with the horse owner and she said she was getting rid of the horses. When he asked her how much she said she was just looking for a good home for them. Tom was so excited to hear this and said we would take them. We took them out to the farm and Tricia is in love.
We are in the process of trying to buy our own place right now. We are hoping to be able to build a home on the farm that Tom's parents own. It's a slow process but we are patiently waiting. Last week the girls added two new kittens to our family. They are so precious. Sunday morning Katie accidentally shut the car door on the little females leg. It is broken so we put a splint on it's leg on Monday and she is sleeping in a cage in the laundry room. She is feeling much better. We named her Callie and we named the tomcat Tiger. We all nicknamed him fatso. He is such a roly-poly. He is a blast!!
Well that lets you know what is going on in our house. I will post pictures later of the kittens. I'm finding that blogspot is frustrating when it comes to pictures. Leave me a comment when you have the time. Take care.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Reading, writing, and arithmatic!!!
Tricia is loving second grade She hardly complains because she has to get up early to go to school. That in itself is a blessing. Who wants to dress a cranky child??? I'm often amazed at how much she has changed since last year. She is so excited to start the reading program again. She really enjoyed it last year. She goes after class on M,W,& F until about 5 p.m. and does all her reading and homework. It gives me a break plus she gets to go to the park and play if there's time. I'm just glad the first week is past and our schedule has been reestablished. Next week will hopefully go a lot smoother.
I'm house sitting this week taking care of two dogs and a cat. I had pictures on here of the animals before but since then one dog died and a new dog is now there. They are both golden retrievers and so they are very gentle natured dogs. My girls love to walk them as long as they don't have to pick up poo...lol!!! That unfortunately is mommies job...lol!! We like staying at this house because it's so big compared to our little house and there's a huge bathtub for the girls to play in with jets in it. They have a blast "swimming" in the tub. They make quite a mess for mommy but that's ok. :):)
We started cleaning at the school to help pay tuition. That has been a challenge. Trying to find the right time for everyone in the family is sometimes a pain. Last night we went after supper and it seemed to work better. We are cleaning 9 classrooms and 8 bathrooms. Its a lot of work but with Tom and I working together it is going faster. Tricia is the trash lady and she does a good job. Katie just kind of hangs out and makes us all nervous...lol!!
Toms parents will be here over labor day and we are excited to see them. Especially the girls. They love to go visit G&G in Ohio and we haven't been since Christmas. It will be nice to have them visit. We plan to go up for Thanksgiving. We're excited about that too.
One thing is for sure, God is good and He is good all the time!! He has never failed us and we are trusting Him for our future. It's so good to know that we have a heavenly Father who watches out for us and loves us so much. I'm glad I'm His and He is mine!! God bless and thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment. I love to read them. :):)
I'm house sitting this week taking care of two dogs and a cat. I had pictures on here of the animals before but since then one dog died and a new dog is now there. They are both golden retrievers and so they are very gentle natured dogs. My girls love to walk them as long as they don't have to pick up poo...lol!!! That unfortunately is mommies job...lol!! We like staying at this house because it's so big compared to our little house and there's a huge bathtub for the girls to play in with jets in it. They have a blast "swimming" in the tub. They make quite a mess for mommy but that's ok. :):)
We started cleaning at the school to help pay tuition. That has been a challenge. Trying to find the right time for everyone in the family is sometimes a pain. Last night we went after supper and it seemed to work better. We are cleaning 9 classrooms and 8 bathrooms. Its a lot of work but with Tom and I working together it is going faster. Tricia is the trash lady and she does a good job. Katie just kind of hangs out and makes us all nervous...lol!!
Toms parents will be here over labor day and we are excited to see them. Especially the girls. They love to go visit G&G in Ohio and we haven't been since Christmas. It will be nice to have them visit. We plan to go up for Thanksgiving. We're excited about that too.
One thing is for sure, God is good and He is good all the time!! He has never failed us and we are trusting Him for our future. It's so good to know that we have a heavenly Father who watches out for us and loves us so much. I'm glad I'm His and He is mine!! God bless and thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment. I love to read them. :):)
Monday, August 23, 2010
School is in session!!!
First day of school today and it began so nice. Tricia woke right up and sat up in bed all shaky so I made her lay back down for a few minutes to get fully awake...lol!!! She was so excited she couldn't hardly sit still. Hope the rest of the year goes the same. She is in second grade this year. She was so excited to see her friends and catch up on all the news.Her back pack was all ready to go last night.
We decided to go over to grandma's and say hello before going to school. Katie spent the night at grandma's so I could concentrate on getting Tricia ready. I just can't hardly believe she is old enough to be in second grade. My Katie will go next fall. That will really seem weird.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
An update for you
Hello to all my friends. I know, I know, this is the “lazy mans” way of writing letters but I’m too tired to hand write it so here it is. I thought it was time to say hello and update everyone on all the news from our end of the good ol’ USA!!
We do have some hot weather going on down here in FL but then I think it’s hot everywhere these days. We just had a little storm pass by us and thank God it didn’t cause any damage to us. We sure would have liked to had more rain with it but God knows what we need. I’m sure that the southern part of FL and the Caribbean Islands got plenty of rain. One thing about these storms, even if they are below us or above us, we tend to get some great breezes. That makes our evenings fantastic for bike rides and walks.
Summer has been slow here. My work has slowed down considerably and so I have been able to spend a lot of time with my girls. We have been to the beach several times but we haven’t really gone anywhere. It’s nice to just relax and spend time at home for a change. The girls get so hot when they are outside and Katie isn’t out long til she’s right back inside. She is like her mother. We are homebodies and like to be indoors.
Tricia has started piano lessons. She has had 4 now and I’m really impressed at how well she is doing. She hollers she doesn’t want to do it but I have been encouraging her all the way. She can do it and I’m sure she will one day thank me for making her focus and learn to play. She is also doing very well singing and has decided that she wants to do some voice lessons. This thrills me so much. I thank God daily for the opportunities that He is sending our way. I keep telling her how honored God is to see her using her talents for Him.
Katie is growing and getting more “smarty pants” everyday. She will be 4 in December and we are still contemplating putting her in PreK. I’m not wanting to rush her but yet she really wants to go. I guess we will see how mature she is when that time comes. I think it’s the phenomenon of going and not the work that is involved.JJ Katie recently was dog bit on the left side of her face. We were so scared because her eye was scratched. The dog didn’t clamp down on her face; he kind of snapped and raked his teeth down her face. She was swollen and bruised and two places were bleeding. We took her to the ER and they checked her eye good and cleaned the cuts. She is pretty well healed up now and doesn’t look like she will have any scarring. We just thank God for His hand of protection on her. It could have been much worse.
Tom is doing good. He joined a gym in town and is really interested in working out and getting into shape. Since switching jobs he is not nearly as active as he used to be and I think it’s catching up with him. He’s getting a little pudgy around the middle…lol!! He thinks the world is falling apart. I told him I love him pudgy but he won’t hear it.
I’m not sure how I am. I’m wishing I had more work and yet dreading when Fall gets here and I actually do get more work. We have taken on the cleaning job with the school to pay tuition. It will be about 25 hours a week. We wanted to do it because when Katie starts it will be a big chunk of money to send them both. Since this is why we came we have to work hard to make it happen. Tom is going to help in the evenings and I think with all of us we can get it done in half the time. It’s not hard work we just can’t get in there until after school is out.
We still live at 9085 SE Morning Street, Hobe Sound, FL 33455 if you want to drop us a letter or post card. The girls love to get mail. Every once in a while I send them a letter. They get so excited when they see their name on the envelope.
Buddy is still with us. Hair and all!! He is so adorable. The girls love him so much. Katie is not a bit scared of him after her dog bite scare. She still hangs all over Buddy and lays on him. He is so gentle with the girls and they love him a lot. We have taught them that teasing him is bad and they get into trouble if they start to. He is a good dog and really is protective when he is in the yard. It’s so funny how he just runs to everyone like a lumbering elephant and gives them kisses. Everyone backs up a few feet when he comes towards them…lol!! I guess they think because he’s big and black that he’s mean. It’s quite the opposite.
Well, I guess I will close this letter by saying that we still serve a wonderful Savior who has answered so many prayers and worked so many miracles in our lives in just the past few weeks. One of these days I’ll write and list all the prayers He as answered for us. I’m so thankful that I have Him to turn to and I know that He hears and answers prayer!!!
Take care and write to us soon. We love you all!!! God bless and keep you!!!
Love, Tom, Gale, Tricia, Katie and Buddy!!!!
We do have some hot weather going on down here in FL but then I think it’s hot everywhere these days. We just had a little storm pass by us and thank God it didn’t cause any damage to us. We sure would have liked to had more rain with it but God knows what we need. I’m sure that the southern part of FL and the Caribbean Islands got plenty of rain. One thing about these storms, even if they are below us or above us, we tend to get some great breezes. That makes our evenings fantastic for bike rides and walks.
Summer has been slow here. My work has slowed down considerably and so I have been able to spend a lot of time with my girls. We have been to the beach several times but we haven’t really gone anywhere. It’s nice to just relax and spend time at home for a change. The girls get so hot when they are outside and Katie isn’t out long til she’s right back inside. She is like her mother. We are homebodies and like to be indoors.
Tricia has started piano lessons. She has had 4 now and I’m really impressed at how well she is doing. She hollers she doesn’t want to do it but I have been encouraging her all the way. She can do it and I’m sure she will one day thank me for making her focus and learn to play. She is also doing very well singing and has decided that she wants to do some voice lessons. This thrills me so much. I thank God daily for the opportunities that He is sending our way. I keep telling her how honored God is to see her using her talents for Him.
Katie is growing and getting more “smarty pants” everyday. She will be 4 in December and we are still contemplating putting her in PreK. I’m not wanting to rush her but yet she really wants to go. I guess we will see how mature she is when that time comes. I think it’s the phenomenon of going and not the work that is involved.JJ Katie recently was dog bit on the left side of her face. We were so scared because her eye was scratched. The dog didn’t clamp down on her face; he kind of snapped and raked his teeth down her face. She was swollen and bruised and two places were bleeding. We took her to the ER and they checked her eye good and cleaned the cuts. She is pretty well healed up now and doesn’t look like she will have any scarring. We just thank God for His hand of protection on her. It could have been much worse.
Tom is doing good. He joined a gym in town and is really interested in working out and getting into shape. Since switching jobs he is not nearly as active as he used to be and I think it’s catching up with him. He’s getting a little pudgy around the middle…lol!! He thinks the world is falling apart. I told him I love him pudgy but he won’t hear it.
I’m not sure how I am. I’m wishing I had more work and yet dreading when Fall gets here and I actually do get more work. We have taken on the cleaning job with the school to pay tuition. It will be about 25 hours a week. We wanted to do it because when Katie starts it will be a big chunk of money to send them both. Since this is why we came we have to work hard to make it happen. Tom is going to help in the evenings and I think with all of us we can get it done in half the time. It’s not hard work we just can’t get in there until after school is out.
We still live at 9085 SE Morning Street, Hobe Sound, FL 33455 if you want to drop us a letter or post card. The girls love to get mail. Every once in a while I send them a letter. They get so excited when they see their name on the envelope.
Buddy is still with us. Hair and all!! He is so adorable. The girls love him so much. Katie is not a bit scared of him after her dog bite scare. She still hangs all over Buddy and lays on him. He is so gentle with the girls and they love him a lot. We have taught them that teasing him is bad and they get into trouble if they start to. He is a good dog and really is protective when he is in the yard. It’s so funny how he just runs to everyone like a lumbering elephant and gives them kisses. Everyone backs up a few feet when he comes towards them…lol!! I guess they think because he’s big and black that he’s mean. It’s quite the opposite.
Well, I guess I will close this letter by saying that we still serve a wonderful Savior who has answered so many prayers and worked so many miracles in our lives in just the past few weeks. One of these days I’ll write and list all the prayers He as answered for us. I’m so thankful that I have Him to turn to and I know that He hears and answers prayer!!!
Take care and write to us soon. We love you all!!! God bless and keep you!!!
Love, Tom, Gale, Tricia, Katie and Buddy!!!!
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