Author: Erin
Turning a corner
I had a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders this week. Friday was a day I never thought would come. Friday was the day…
I quit my job.
Whew! I feels so good to say that. I have been teaching at PCC for 5 years. I have taught many night classes and summer classes and been on overload more than I would like to admit. But Friday, I told my boss I would not be renewing my contract in fall. I have committed to teaching a couple of classes this summer, but I will officially be done in May.
I quit, so I could stay home with my children. I quit so that our family could be obedient to what God has called us to do. For some time, we have been doing things backwards at our house. In 2006, we packed up everything and I started working as a travel nurse. Kerry was home full time and in school full time. We moved here in 2007, for my job. And to be totally honest we have been miserable with the whole situation of me being outside the home and him being here. Kerry is a wonderful father to our children, but God designed for mothers to be at home. Me working outside the home has served it’s purpose, but it’s time for that season to be over.
I am delighted at the prospect of spending my days at home raising my children full time, instead of just 2 or 3 days a week. Kerry and I are both delighted at the idea of not having to juggle our schedules around each other or feel like 2 ships passing in the night. More than anything though we are thrilled to finally be in God’s will for our family.
You might ask…”What are you guys going to do?” Honestly? We don’t know. We have felt like this was the first step in being obedient to God. We are trusting in Him to provide for us because we are being obedient to His call. We are both incredibly peaceful about the future. Kerry would like to be in ministry full time. He will be searching out job opportunities that will allow him to minister as God has called him. Where and how that will be…we don’t know. Someday he would like to pursue seminary, if God provides that opportunity for us, right now it’s just not feasible for our family financially.
I will still be teaching online and I plan to keep my nursing license up to date. Someday there may be a season where I am called back into the workforce or to use my nursing education to serve God. I do miss the hospital and witnessing the miracle of birth. I have missed that, but both Kerry and I have resolved that we will not sacrifice our children or our family for me to work outside the home. Raising children, godly children, is the most important job there is for me. I am excited about what lies ahead for our family, even if we don’t know what that is.
Don’t forget about the HUGE cloth diaper giveaway going on right now. Enter below for your chance to win!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Booty Buns Cloth Diaper Giveaway!
Welcome to the Go Green ♥ Give Charity Cloth Diaper Giveaway Event sponsored by Booty Buns Cloth Diapers! Over 175 blogs have teamed up to present this amazing cloth diaper giveaway hosted by Daily Mothering.
Here’s your chance to win an entire stash of one-size cloth diapers!
This amazing cloth diaper prize pack includes:
20 Booty Buns One-Size Cloth Diapers
(these true one-size cloth diapers fit 3-45 lbs!)
20 matching flannel/terry cloth wipes
40 microfiber inserts
20 cotton flannel liners
(picture does not show inserts or liners also included)
First, a little about Booty Buns…
In case you haven’t heard about them, Booty Buns Cloth Diapers are incredible one-size cloth diapers that truly fit from birth to potty training! They feature a snap-down rise with 5 different snap settings (most one-size diapers only have 3!) and a waist with 10 regular snap settings plus 2 crossover snap settings. The diapers have hip snaps to prevent wing droop on smaller sizes. The incredible size range of this diaper fits from 3-45 lbs!
Booty Buns Cloth Diapers are pocket diapers and each diaper includes 2 snap-on microfiber inserts that can be stuffed into the diaper or laid on top with the included cotton flannel liner against your child’s skin. The diapers have a waterproof PUL outer and a soft suedecloth inner with dual gussets on the inner lining to ensure everything stays IN the diaper! Booty Buns One-Size Cloth Diapers come in an assortment of bright colors and each diaper includes a matching handmade flannel/terry wipe. You can find out more about the diapers at Booty Buns, or check out the detailed Booty Buns One-Size Cloth Diaper Review at Daily Mothering!
Booty Buns is dedicated to encouraging others to “go green” and “give charity.” Shannon, the owner of Booty Buns Cloth Diapers, leads by example. For every diaper that Booty Buns sells, she donates one Booty Buns Cloth Diaper to a child in need in the US and third-world countries. Booty Buns is the exclusive cloth diapers donator for Operation Showers Of Appreciation, and they are also donating diapers to babies that have severe medical issues here in the US. Shannon hopes to donate a lifetime supply of cloth diapers {20 diapers} to every baby in need around the globe. You can join in this effort by purchasing your own set of Booty Buns Cloth Diapers and telling your friends about Booty Buns!
Make sure to stop by and follow Booty Buns via Facebook, Twitter and Blog for news and giveaways!
And now for the giveaway!!
ONE WINNER will receive this gigantic cloth diaper prize pack valued at $546!
And, the winner will get to select their choice of diaper colors!
This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada.
Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.
Sign in using your Facebook account OR your name and email address.
Click “Do It” for instructions on how to complete each entry.
There is no mandatory entry. Complete as many entries as you wish.
The more entries you submit, the better odds you have of winning!
a Rafflecopter giveaway Continue reading “Booty Buns Cloth Diaper Giveaway!”
Five Minute Friday — Loud
Loud. Besides orange shirts and purple shorts I think of…
What I don’t want to be as a mother. I don’t want my children to remember me as an angry mother. As one who lost her temper and patience all in the blink of an eye. I want them to remember me as a mother who laughed and showed grace and mercy. I resolve every day, sometimes every minute, not to be loud, but to be the mother God has designed me to be.
Do my children know that I not only LOVE them but that I LIKE them too. That I enjoy being around them? That they are blessings to me. When they describe me, loud is not the word I want to come to their minds. How are my actions and words showing them who they are to me? I want my actions to be louder than my words. I want them to know without a doubt that they are the awesomest people I have ever known and that I am so very thankful for them. I have so many memories as a child of “loud” and they’re not positive ones. I don’t want my children leaving my home with that same impression, or fear.
I want the noise of many children filling my home. I want that kind of loud. I want the loud that comes with laughter, brothers playing and learning together. I want the loudness of God’s blessings in my home. I desire a home spilling over with love. The loudness that comes with blessing, growing and learning.
The loudness of complete joy and love. That is the Loud that needs to be in my home.
Cloth diapering basics
I posted yesterday about a HUGE giveaway I’m part of. I have cloth diapered each of our boys. I have used cloth much more extensively with our last two that with our first two. At first, it was a little daunting, but now it’s second nature and is the easiest thing ever. So in anticipation of the giveaway, I want to tell you a little about how I do it and answer a few questions that often come up when I say I cloth diaper.
The first question I almost always get is “Do you use pins?”
Nope. They make these great little things called Snappis. They don’t poke the baby and they work great! I only use snappis if I’m using flat diapers or prefolds. My other diapers have snaps or hook and loop (fancy word for really strong velcro).
The next question I often get is “what about the poop?”
My initial thought is usually “what about it?”, but I know what the person is asking.
When my babies are exclusively breastfed, I just put the cloth diaper in the bag with all the others. I don’t rinse them at all. Once they start solid foods we rinse the cloth diapers in the toilet and put them in the bag to be washed. There are a couple of options for rinsing. Some people use a diaper sprayer, it’s a sprayer that attaches to the toilet (think shower head) and you spray the diapers off that way. I’ve never been able to talk DH into buying one, so I don’t use one. Instead, we bought a cheap pair of tongs and marked them (so they don’t get confused with our cooking ones should they ever leave the bathroom). I grab a corner of the diaper with the tongs and dunk the diaper until it’s “cleanish” and then just toss it in the wash bag.
or
What about all that laundry?
I do diaper laundry every other day, with 6 people in our family I don’t really notice the extra load. It doesn’t really seem to add to my work when it comes to washing. My washing routine is usually a cold rinse of the diapers, a cold wash and then a hot wash. I’ve found this seems to be the best routine for getting and keeping my diapers cleaner. I have been using the same routine and the same diapers since I started, they don’t have any stains and look almost brand new! I use my homemade laundry detergent for my cloth diapers and occasionally will add bleach to the hot wash or vinegar (never in the same load) if I have a particularly stinky batch. One thing that I really like to do is to hang my diapers out on the line in the summer to dry! Nothing makes me happier than having diapers hanging on the line drying.
What kind of diapers should I use?
There are a number of options when you’re going to cloth diaper. The cheapest option is probably flat diapers or prefold diapers with covers. I have several of these diapers and covers and use them often for my babies until they’re about 4-6 months old or so.
I also like using pocket diapers for outings and smaller babies. Pocket diapers are “stuffed” with an absorbent stuffer. For someone looking for “easy” cloth diapers, these are the diapers you want for sure! They’re uber easy to use and are thin under clothes.
I have some diapers that I call my “workhorse” diapers. They’re fitted terry cloth diapers that hold up to anything. They’re a little bulkier than my pockets or prefolds, but I have had the same set of fitted diapers since I started cloth diapering 9 years ago. They’re easy to clean, use and I have used them on babies from 8lbs to my toddlers right before potty training.
There is also a kind of diaper called “all in one” it is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a filler and cover all in one. These are even easier to use than pocket diapers! The biggest draw back for me is that they take a while to dry after I’ve washed them. Otherwise they’re fantastic! One the cost scale, these tend to cost just a bit more than pocket diapers.
Already sold on cloth diapering? Want to try it, but aren’t sure where to start? Be sure to come back and enter my giveaway! You could enter a life time supply of diapers! A $546.00 value (which is HUGE in the cloth diaper world!)
Cloth Diaper Giveaway!
Would you like to win a LIFETIME SUPPLY of cloth diapers?!
The Go Green ♥ Give Charity Cloth Diaper Giveaway Event sponsored by Booty Buns Cloth Diapers starts this Saturday, March 24th!
Over 175 blogs are coming together to present this fantastic fluffy giveaway hosted by Daily Mothering. Mark your calendar because you don’t want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win an entire stash of one-size cloth diapers!
ONE WINNER will receive a gigantic cloth diaper prize pack valued at $546!
And, the winner will get to select their choice of diaper colors!
This amazing prize pack will include:
20 Booty Buns One-Size Cloth Diapers
(these true one-size cloth diapers fit 3-45 lbs!)
20 matching flannel/terry cloth wipes
40 microfiber inserts
20 cotton flannel liners
(picture does not show inserts or liners also included)
This giveaway will be open to U.S. and Canada.
Come back March 24-31 for your chance to win it all!
New Recipe Monday — Strawberry Bread
Since strawberries are coming into season, I’m excited to make strawberry bread again. I found this recipe when I was expecting our last child and was looking for something I could make when our midwife came for the homebirth. Unfortunately we ate it all before the baby was born so she had to settle for zucchini bread. 🙂
Strawberry Bread
3-4 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup oil
2 cup sugar
4 eggs
3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Sift together flour, soda and salt (as a side note, I rarely sift anything). Beat eggs until fluffy. Add oil & sugar. Mix well. Add flour mixture, cinnamon and strawberries. Mix until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured pans.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until loaves test done.
Our family likes cinnamon, if you don’t care for it as much, you could cut down a bit.
A Psalm for today
Psalm 32
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Brave
Brave. I’m not.
I shy away from intense discussions with those around me. Something that I would have never done when I was younger. I don’t like the conflict now. I don’t like the uncomfortable stuff that comes with confrontation. I take a lot before I’m pushed over the edge into confrontation. I was yelled at this week, in public, in front of people I knew. I didn’t confront the yeller no matter how much I wanted to. I didn’t tell the person it was totally inappropriate and that they were embarrassing themselves. I just stopped talking. I’m the kind of person who walks away and thinks of what I should have said, what I should have done and that I should have been brave.
I wish I were brave.
I shy away from sharing my faith “too much”. I’m ashamed of my chickeness. It’s not because I’m afraid of the impression of others, but because I am afraid I will be responsible for turning them away. I will say something that makes them think “I want nothing to do with that God of hers” and I will be responsible for driving them away from the God that will save them. I don’t want that kind of burden, but I wonder why I’m so willing to bear the burden of what could happen if no one ever shares with them because they aren’t “brave”. Satan wants us believe that we aren’t, we can’t be, we shouldn’t be…brave. He wins a victory when we aren’t brave.
Ephesians 6: 10-16
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness inthe heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Be BRAVE.
Wordless Wednesday (almost)
My husband gave me a new camera for Valentines day this year. When he took his photography class for school, I lived vicariously through him. I enjoy the opportunity to exercise the “other side” of my brain sometimes, and taking pictures is a way for me to do that. It’s not something that is ever going to make money, but it’s something I enjoy and that is worth something. This week when I was playing outside with the kids, I was experimenting with showing depth in my photos. Below are some of the fruits of the day.
