The water guy came out to test the water today. He found no sulfur, but I always thought the water smelled like metal, not like sulfur. His iron test showed 2 parts per million, even after going through Dad's whole house filter he'd installed. So he guessed that it might be 3 ppm if it wasn't going through the filter.
Then he did a calcium test. He had to keep adding his drops into the water, waiting for the color to change. Drop, drop, drop... Finally the water changed, which showed 50 grains. Combined together, that gave us a hard water score of 60 grains. He said usually when he tests & finds hard water, the score is about 10-15 grains. We have extremely hard water.
That's why I smelled metal & the toilet tanks already have brown film inside (iron). That's why the dishwasher element turned white after the first wash, I have to clean the dishes after washing them, and I have to clean all the fixtures every day to keep them from getting white crust (calcium).
How is it that Grandpa has such good tasting, very soft water just a few miles away?
OK, here's the deal - the outlet mall opened at 11pm Thanksgiving night!
Carter's had already sent me an email about their sale starting at midnight - 50% or more off every item in the store. Shoppers arriving between midnight-10AM got a coupon for another 10% off your entire purchase... while the coupon supply lasted. And on top of that, I found a coupon from the Star-Telegram for a $10 gift card to any store in the outlet mall, while supplies lasted. So...
MawMaw, Aunt Jana & I headed to the outlet mall at about 11pm while Dad stayed home with the sleeping kids. I found a green jacket marked 70% off and a thick green vest for 50% off. (then add another 10% off!) Put them together and we have a versatile coat for a little boy who loves green!
The jacket & vest, two little shirts for Elizabeth, a dirt cheap skirt for next summer, a pack of truck underwear, and an adorable pair of tights = about $20 after all discounts.
My first midnight sale & keeping MawMaw out way past her bedtime = priceless.
So then I came home & napped... because now I didn't need to be at WM at 5am fighting the crowds to get a cheap WM brand coat that may or may not have lasted. But because I love my husband, and we saw that Target had the game he wanted for half the usual price, I got up again at 4:45 and headed to the Wax store.
I arrived in the parking lot at 5:30. They opened at 6am. The line waiting to get into the store was down to the garden center doors at the Lowe's next door. So, I parked over there & got in line. Everyone seemed to be chipper. As people started pouring in behind me, I heard them talking about how awful their experiences were at WM earlier.
Then a guy came down the line giving everyone in line a coupon for a free chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-a. Don't you just love them!??!? Then some Lowe's employees came out into the garden center getting ready for their opening at 6am. One of them hollered out, "You know, some of y'all could come over to our store!" The other hollered, "Hey, one of you guys pull me out a TV & save it for me, OK?"
5:55am - The frigid air becomes filled with drizzle. A crowd starts to form close to the doors of the store. People who've been waiting in line start to get agitated. The lone security guard is loosing.
6am - The doors open. The line starts filing inside and a pack of about 30 people who were not in line bolt toward the door. People are more agitated & start hollering things I won't repeat. People from the back of the line started sprinting, passing people who've been waiting longer. I got in as quickly as I could. No, I did not run. I went straight to electronics.
The game was all gone. The game system was all gone. I left empty handed.
My sleep-deprived, pregnant self was about to start crying when I remembered the free chicken biscuit. I was starting to feel better with some chicken & Diet Coke in my system. Then Silent Night came on the radio, I sang along & enjoyed the rest of my morning - I sang Christmas carols with the radio all the way home, I thought about how blessed we are and how I know I am more blessed than the people who ran & pushed & shoved & grabbed up what my husband wanted. I enjoyed the beauty of a deserted county road with fall colors and falling leaves, and the fact that I was going home to my own house. I moved all the boxes that were still stacked where the Christmas tree will go.
A couple of hours later, when everyone else got up, Dad & I decided to try another Target for his game. They were also out, but I was able to get a rain check, so even when the game goes back up to full price, I can still get it for half-off. The checker at that store mentioned that another store that was just 4 miles up the road was rumored to still have the game system. So we went on.
I'm happy to report that after Dad had saved for the game system for 2 years now, I got the last one they had at the 3rd Target of the morning! And that it came with a free $60 Target card... which I can now use when I go back with my rain check... making Dad's game absolutely free, with gift card to spare!
So overall, Black Friday was a success for me! And guess what - the system came with Pac-Man! And 2 kid games that I've already listed on eBay!
This is just a teaser... but Black Friday started already around here! : ) I've already come back home! And yes, the time stamp is correct!!! Stay tuned for more details...
I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but bear with me for just a moment...
I've been wishing for a kid-friendly advent calendar for a few years now, but have never found one that I just fell in love with. Growing up, we made a countdown chain out of construction paper every year. Here's the chain we made last year, but with preschoolers, it usually end's up being Mom's chain. Making it & tearing off just one loop every day didn't seem to hold their attention.
This year, all these great homemade ideas have just fallen into my lap... so I may start thinking about making one! Not sure when I'll do that with boxes to unpack, Christmas presents & curtains still needing to be made, decorating & baking to be done! Here's a few links for those of you that may be wondering what you're going to do for yours:
Kids Craft Weekly has ideas for advent calendars you can make with little ones.
The Crafty Crow shows a sample & links to 17 beautiful calendars, most obviously mom-made, but kid-friendly.
My sister made a cute one last year using matchboxes & family photos. I keep thinking maybe she'll post a tutorial... hint, hint... Hers was published in Somerset's Holidays & Celebrations magazine this year! Here's a picture of it with my niece pointing to Elizabeth & me on one of the matchboxes!
So what does your family do for advent / countdown to Christmas?
OK, so the only 'Thanksgiving-y' song I could actually remember when we were in the car was to sing "If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands!" It's now one of Elizabeth's favorite songs. As she requests songs: "ABC!!" and we sing the ABC song "Clap Clap!!!" and we sing If You're Happy/Thankful
I told Aunt Sissy last night that Elizabeth is amazing - I have another genius on my hands! ; ) She knows her colors pretty good, she can count to 10, she can recognize many of her ABC's and gets about half of the song in the correct order!
In between verses of If You're Thankful and You Know It I always ask, "What are we thankful for today, David?" Here are some of the answers I've gotten in the last 2 weeks:
songs, monster trucks, animals, good food to eat, our family, Mom & Dad, guns, cars, sticks, the moon, our cats, my game, our church, my backpack, our new house, paints
I feel like, after almost 2 years, I'm finally doing my job again - Domestic Engineer. And it took me all week to write this post because I've been so busy!
Unpacking & getting settled in is still an ongoing task (NO, we're not settled in yet!), but now that we're in the house, all the tasks of running the house are also in full swing.
This week, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a meal at Uncle Bubba's house. And I finally tried my hand at Minestrone. I found this great minestrone recipe, but used chick peas for the white beans and Wacky Mac Veggie Shapes for the macaroni. See mine here. Next time, I'll try a different bean, or less beans. We also had to add more salt. We had our first supper guests for this recipe & it was well received by all! Even though I couldn't find the spoons....
I also tried a new muffin recipe for breakfast: Healthy Harvest Muffins. We just call them pumpkin muffins. David helped me with this recipe & we changed it up just a bit from the link by using all purpose flour, the individual spices, and 2T wheat germ instead of all the flax stuff she used. While I was adding the wheat germ, David asked, "What's that?" I told him it was healthy stuff. Then while stirring, he said, "And I'm stirring in all the healthy stuff." All 4 of us loved the muffins - another keeper!
Thanks to this stinky hard water, I discovered that vinegar in the dishwasher works even better than Cascade's rinse agent! Next, I'm going back to using vinegar instead of liquid fabric softener in the wash before my whites turn permanently dingy! And I finally found the silverware! I was so excited to see it, that I took a picture of the silverware in the dishwasher!
No more sharing one spoon for us!
We finally got our verses written out for Aunt Sissy's Christmas project, whatever it may be, and will try to get them mailed soon. And we assembled the Happy Thanksgiving Banner that she sent us:
Gluing the letters to the tickets.
A couple of days later, I found my hole punch, and David threaded the tickets onto the ribbon.
This was fun and good for his fine motor skills! Plus it looks cute hanging up.
I finally dug out the dining table! That was my goal for Saturday. By Saturday night, it was all clean, we put all the leafs in to create the super honking table, and decorated it for Thanksgiving. David & Elizabeth were both excited about sitting at the big table. Who knew? David kept asking, "Is it Thanksgiving???"
Sunday (today) we celebrated our Thanksgiving meal with Grandpappy's side of the family. Dad was on duty, but David & Elizabeth fit in better than ever before. When we got home, David said he wanted rolls for supper. Um... we don't have any rolls, sweetie. "We can make some," David tells me. Perhaps I've made too much stuff this week!!! So I dug around & found a recipe for Easy Yeast Rolls. Indeed they were easy, and tasty, too! I had no idea how big to make the balls, so some of them ended up pretty tiny, but perfect for little hands.
Wow, I just realized that I also made chili, chocolate chip cookies (again), and bread this week! And that my son now thinks I can make anything. : )
Tune in Tuesday for Tiny Talk! I won't miss it this week! I've already got it set to post! : ) It will be all about Thanksgiving!
There's really no need to show the other view of Baby #3 - there's nothing there to see. Dr.B couldn't find anything either. Conclusion: It's a girl!
We saw her heart fluttering. She waved. She kicked just a little bit. She's got a brain, 2 arms & 2 legs. I was pleased that he let us see her so thoroughly and explained everything we were seeing as he went along. Based on the measurements he took, the computer came up with a due date of April 6, 2009. Since the original date was April 12, he said they'd leave it at the 12th, give or take.
The fun blog, Kiddio, is hosting a Fairy Silkies Giveaway this week! Based on my experience making them, I know David & Elizabeth both would enjoy playing with those beauties! These are made by an Etsy seller, Beneath the Rowan Tree.
Besides the beautiful play silks, they also have these amazing wool nativity sets. Absolutely gorgeous. I collect nativity scenes if anyone wants to buy this one for me! : )
It's all Yours God, Yours God, everything is Yours. From the stars in the sky to the depths of the ocean floor. It's all Yours God, Yours God, everything is Yours. You're the maker and keeper, Father and ruler of everything. It's all Yours.
Carter's had already sent me an email about their sale starting at midnight - 50% or more off every item in the store. Shoppers arriving between midnight-10AM got a coupon for another 10% off your entire purchase... while the coupon supply lasted. And on top of that, I found a coupon from the Star-Telegram for a $10 gift card to any store in the outlet mall, while supplies lasted. So...
