About the Dishwashing Post

Just a minor detail: I realized the other day when I paid the bill that it was actually the power bill and not the water bill that we saved money on. Just FYI. I don't know if it affected the water bill or not. We pay water every other month and we've not got that bill yet.

I'm Impressed

So this is interesting. I was reading on Lindsay's blog last month about hand washing versus using the dishwasher. And you would think that because you're doing something by hand that you have to be saving money somehow right? Well, I decided to stop hand washing our dishes and strictly use the dishwasher, except for big items or things that really needed to be hand washed.(why would I hand wash when I have a dishwasher in the first place? Because I thought I was conserving energy. It turns out that I wasn't), except for big items or things that really needed to be hand washed. So, we just got our water bill today and in the past month our water bill went down by $22! Like I said, I'm impressed. We don't have the greatest dishwasher in the world, I still have to maybe rinse a glass or two that didn't get fully clean, but it's not too bad.

Week 7

Why does being pregnant have to be so much of not fun stuff? I have no energy, this month I have had no motivation to go walking like I was doing. I'm happy if I just get the boys outside for a half hour to play. My desire for salads and eating healthy is about zip compared to what it used to be. I have not thrown up, but just an occasional queezy moments. Certain foods sound awful to me, and things I used to eat and love, I really can't stand right now, like avocados--weird. I made a big green salad tonight and added alot of veggies, even thought I didn't want to eat it I thought if I just made it and put it on the table and try and force myself to eat it, I'll eat it. But I just could not eat it. I managed to just eat some plain romain lettuce leaves after my dinner which was a bit encouraging. It's all I can do to try and make food for the rest of the family and force myself to eat it too. And my brain is half gone. I'm so forgetful and just can't seem to keep up with what I used to do. I feel like I'm trudging through my day. I can't wait until I get more energy sometime in the coming months. With Moses I didn't feel good until I was about 20 weeks along!! Elijah, I don't quite remember. Oh yes, my baby is about the size of a small blueberry according to babycenter.com.

Camping Trip July 2008

We had a great camping trip this past weekend. Like most vacations however, it was a bit tiring, and it's taking a few days to recover! It's a lot of work going camping with two little guys, but definitely worth it! The strangest thing for me was actually being the parents, and being the one to take my children camping. Does that make sense? When you're a kid you don't have all the responsibility, and there is always mom or dad to look to for help. But this trip was a whole new experience since it's the first time I've camped since being married. It's a strange reality to have arrived at this place in life: I just had to sit and marvel at the fact that I have children now and my husband and I are the ones taking them camping and creating new memories for our family. So here are some of those memories!

Moses was excited, along with Elijah, to go camping!

We were packed and ready for our trip on Sunday morning. It's a tight squeeze taking a family of four camping in a small 4 dour car. Our plan was to go to church with our car packed and leave right after.

We were quite packed in!

It's amazing how much stuff we took camping with us! Most of which we really needed and did use.

Our campsite: You can see me by the fire on the left and our table is kind of messy. We arrived a bit later then we expected because we stopped to pick blueberries at a u-pick farm along the way! So we were hurriedly trying to set up camp and get dinner going because the boys were hungry. I made chicken in the slow cooker the day before and refrigerated it. We reheated it over the fire with BBQ sauce(wrapped in foil ), and then we had homemade pasta salad and baked beans (heated up on our camping stove).

Some good friends let us borrow their tent which was a great blessing.

Papa and Elijah. I didn't get Elijah to smile in this shot, but he really was having a great time!

Our first morning eating breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage


We had a beautiful gorgeous day on Monday!


We hung out with some good friends over at the beach and the guys had a great time digging a moat around a big mound of sand. Do you see a resemblance in the background?


Janine and I enjoyed visiting and taking pictures of our boys having fun in the sand!

The Boys had a lot of fun!

Elijah sitting on Moses' lap in a little chair by our campfire

Beach Campfire

Our last morning hair, and there!
Moses sleeping so soundly, but I had to wake him yup so we could pack up our stuff. The boys slept great by the way, considering it was really cold and a whole new sleeping experience.

It was a joy to experience camping with our boys and be together as a family.

Children are a blessing

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. "
Psalm 127 3-5

I love this passage and I thought it only appropriate to post it today. I am finally announcing to all that Finlay baby #3 is coming soon!!! I am about 5 weeks along and due near the end of March 2009. I am feeling okay overall, I haven't been sick, just exhausted. With two little boys I don't have the luxury of napping whenever I want, but I get rest when I can. I just feel blah on some days and don't want to do anything. We are going camping this weekend, and even though my energy has been low it will be wonderful to go to the coast and camp for the first time as a family!

Below is a link to one of the sweetest videos of Moses that I wanted to share

Singing Moses

Free Giveaway Contests

I was just over at Biblicalwomanhood checking out Frugal Fridays and found a website with some contests. Natalie of CurlyWurlyGurly is doing a “Breakfast in Bed” give-away. You should go over and visit her site and check it out too:)

If you like natural soaps and candles, here is another contest to check out at Mommie Daze

One more over at Shake the Salt. It goes on for another month and there are a lot of entries already, but hey, it's worth a try!

Pets

So, I think we might be naming our fish Blueberry! We will see. The boys seemed to like that one, and especially since we've been eating lots of berries lately!

A kitten followed us home today on our walk. I fed him a bit of lunch meat(not sure if that is good for him or not, but I wasn't sure what else to feed him). The kitten seemed awful hungry and skinny. So, he's been sticking around all day. We will see how long he hangs out. He is cute, although it might be a she. I asked the boys what they wanted to call it and Moses replied, "Blueberry!" How funny! My husband will be so tickled to see the cat when he gets home from work. He is the biggest cat lover of anyone I've ever met. I'll have to post a better picture later.