Times...

There are times in our lives when we feel that we are not worthy of God's love or can't even imagine how someone so beautiful and perfectly sinless could ever forgive someone like us.

How can this be true? How can it be possible that we can still be loved after all that we've done wrong?

God, our Heavenly Father knew...He knew even before the beginning of time that we would sin, what mistakes we would make, and how ugly we would be...

He chose to become man, He chose to send His one and only Son, He chose to take our sins and our punishment upon Himself. Jesus Christ chose to die for us in spite of who we are or what we did.

Jesus knew what we would be and still chose to come and die for us anyway...to love us anyway, to forgive us anyway, to save us anyway. Not because we deserve His love or forgiveness, but to display His amazing glory, His amazing mercy, His amazing love!

Through repentance and faith our sins are forgiven, there is no more condemnation, no more shame.

There is only love and freedom!

Thank you dear Lord for the cross! Thank you dear Lord for your amazing, merciful, saving grace!

Thank you dear Lord for being our Heavenly Father and loving your children even when we do fall.

Thank you dear Lord at times like these...times when we doubt, we have your Word filled with promises that we can run to...and please forgive us when we don't.

Homemade Laundry Soap...Yes, I'm serious!

So, during my pregnancy people often would compare our family to the Duggar Family. I had no idea who this Duggar family was. People would just say that we reminded them of that family. One person actually said, "Wow! Your pregnant again! What are you guys thinking?! Are you trying to be like that crazy religious family with like 20 or something kids...what's their name? Come on...you must know that show...Oh ya, I think it's Duggar!" Ya, real nice...that's always what your aiming to hear when God has blessed you with a baby! Especially when some of those comments are from your ever-so-sweet family members! And especially when you're already feeling super-duper with all the lovely eventfulness of morning sickness and such! It's always so encouraging to be asked..."So, are you guys going to stop after this one, Is one of you guys going to finally learn your lesson and get fixed, Wow! How many kids do ya guys need?!" Oh man, those were just some examples of the sweetness we were exposed to...again, mostly from our family! Real encouraging guys, thanks for that!

Anywho...the topic of this post wasn't supposed to be "Oh poor me with the mean-ness during Joshua's cooking time in my belly" It's about Homemade Laundry Soap! Yay! Ok, so here's the deal...I wondered who in the world this Duggar Family was that we were constantly being compared to...so I did what any curious person would do and Googled them...I watched a show, and quickly fell in love with this family! Well, the first show I watched just so happened to be them making their own laundry soap...I thought they were insane...nuts...crazy! Maybe I'm too lazy or something, but it seemed like just A LOT of unnecessary work! I'm a mom...I have enough work to do! Well, I can't lie...I was intrigued...dare I say...curious? Yep, I was curious...So, what did I do? I Googled it of course! Now, this is what I found...you can make the liquid detergent...A LOT of work, or you can make the powdered soap...not that much work at all. So, I bought the ingredients and made some! All I have to say is...AWESOME! It totally works and costs soooooo much less than the name brand or even the no-name brand stuff and washes great! Ok, so I sound like an infomercial. Ya, I'm a nerd...Ok, I got it! Hahaha...Tina's a dork...hahaha...she made her own soap! Ok, Stop it...Did you get that out of your systems yet?! Now listen...Why spend more $$$ than you have to? We have 6 children and only one income...I want to save anywhere we can. It works, I love it!

Here's the recipe...(found in the laundry isle)

1 bar Fels Naptha bar laundry soap grated (I used a box cheese grater)
OR you can use Ivory Soap for sensitive skin, eczema or babies

2 cups washing soda

2 cups Borax laundry booster

Optional but recommended:
1 cup color safe bleach powder

Fels Naptha bar laundry soap....$1.29

Arm and Hammer washing soda 55oz. box...$2.89 (try to find the off brand, it's cheaper!)

20 Mule Team Borax laundry booster 76oz. box....$3.99 (again, off brand!)

Everyday Living brand All color ultra bleach 30oz box....$1.99 (Any brand of color safe bleach will work. This is a store brand)

Ok, Now mix all ingredients together! And, Viola!

Store laundry soap in an air tight container so that moisture doesn't make it yucky. I keep our's in a big plastic ice-cream tub...you know...those gallon size Cookies N' Cream plastic tubs with the handle? I always double the batch, so I need a big container! Man, I love those tubs...I use them for everything (hair ties, Matchbox cars, Polly Pockets, etc...) Ok, sorry...back to the subject!

You only need 2 Tablespoons per large load of laundry! Awesome, right? And only 3 Tablespoons MAX for "hard working man" or super gross baby laundry. You won't see a lot of suds and that's ok...Suds don't clean, products do! It is also great for soaking clothes and treating stains too. AND You do not need any fabric softener anymore, the clothes come out nice and soft! If you do have static you can use a little white vinegar in your rinse cycle (amount depending on the craziness of the static!) or dryer sheets. And, if you love your yummy scents, you can also get some essential oils and drop a tiny bit in the wash or even the rinse!

Well...That's it...EASY-PEASY...not a lot of work at all, just grating and mixing. Also, when you purchase all the dry ingredients, you are purchasing enough to make more batches. Just buy another bar or two of the soap when you run out and then make up another batch.

I haven't made the liquid soap...I think I'm to lazy! But, it does seems like the best deal in saving $$$. So, who knows...I have to admit that I'm also kind of curious on how the liquid works out too. Maybe I'll Google that next!

Have Fun & Happy Saving! Ya, I know...I sounded like an infomercial again!

P.S. By the way...I LOVE the Duggar Family! They seem to really have it together. She seems like such a loving wife and mother, and he seems like a good husband and father, and they all seem to love the Lord! I find it a compliment to be compared to them!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed...?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? This was a question asked by a wonderful family member that I wish I could spend time with, and get to know more...I think we'd be good encouragement for each other...Well, this is how I answered that question...

Well, to answer your question...Oh I so promise you, I for sure get stressed out!

It's not easy, but I trust in God. I pray, talk to and praise Him all day long! If I don't then I have a bad day.

We have 4 of our kids Mon-Wed and then all 6 of our kids Thurs-Sun! And, 2 of them are under 2 1/2 yrs. old! It does get pretty stressful at times. But, we also have the most fun ever! I do understand the not having time or energy to do things after house work, homework, mothering, and wife-ing. But, that's when you pray...A LOT!!!

I look at it like this...they will only be this young for such a very small window of time. They are indeed my children but they are also God's gift to me. God has only loaned them to me to nurture, bring them up for Him and for His glory, and to love them. When they are all grown and out on their own they will take with them what they have learned. I want them to love the Lord, I want them to see the Lord and His love through me, I want them to remember their mom as a woman who may not have been perfect, but who loved them so very much and who also loved God with all of her heart. I want them to remember a happy me. Not a crazy, overly stressed out, obsessive compulsive, overly organized, things have to be perfect, unhappy clean freak, basically a not at all fun lady!

So, who cares if the house isn't perfectly tidy, there are toys out, the beds aren't made, the laundry isn't done every day, the dishes sit in the sink, or you haven't dusted since...well, who knows when! And, who cares if you haven't really gotten the chance to get dressed or even brush your hair yet in the morning (or the afternoon sometimes) but the kids want you to just sit and play...do it.
Sit, relax, praise God, thank Him, and love and enjoy them.

Your house will be clean and tidy...eventually...someday. But, right now your main job is to be an awesome, caring, and loving mom.

One day when they are all grown up and moved out, you will miss them so very much. You will miss the noisy-ness, the business, and even the messiness!

Now, with all that said...I do still get majorly stressed out and I often (constantly) have to remind myself that this is only for such a second in the whole entire grand scheme of things. I'm not perfect but I serve and love a perfect God. He would have never brought me to it, if He couldn't get me through it. Eventually they won't need me...as much, so I praise God for the time that I do have with them now. And, when they aren't depending on me I pray they will be depending on Him.

I thank God for my children everyday and I also thank Him for choosing me and entrusting me to care for His children.

I think it becomes less stressful when you keep that in mind, otherwise the day becomes really poopy!

Hey, by the way...Did you get our Christmas picture? Oh man, talk about stress! That was soooo ridiculous! They had to take and retake that stinkin' picture like 8 times, seriously! Finally I had to say, "Ok, that's enough...we'll just go with the best pose!" Some of the kids look a little...well, silly-ish and they're not all looking at the camera, and my hair is totally sticking out, but Joshua and Gary look perfect and we all survived and we are all alive and well and here to say we've made it! Ya, we probably won't be doing that again for a very long time! Yay, so much fun!

Sleeping Dogs...

I got this in an email...This is so funny...This poor pooch would totally be my families dog if we had one...we have cat, and he get's pretty stressed out sometimes!

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.
I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head;
he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the
hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.
The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour.
This continued off and on for several weeks.



Curious I pinned a note to his collar: "I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and also to ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:
"He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?"

The Mom Song

Before you watch the video I wanted to say that I originally heard this song from my husband who played it for me off of a internet/radio program who has it posted on their website. Well, I usually agree with their views and opinions on most issues but on this I did not...but hey, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and the world would be pretty boring if we were to all agree on EVERYTHING.

P.S. They didn't like it...they said it sends out a message that moms are stressed out and un-happy. Oh brother...it's funny and true! But, in their defense they are men who said this...they probably don't or can't understand that you can be both completely stressed out and completely happy at the very same time! HeHeHe!

I think this video is hilarious! It's the perfect "MOM song" Mothers do have a very huge responsibility. On top of trying to keep our homes and "wife-ing" under control, running errands, and trying to remain calm and...well sane...we also have the stressful (yet blessed) responsibility of raising children! God must have a sense of humor! I'm sure of it...If I were a betting woman I'd "double down" on that one! It's so amazing to think that our families still come to us (moms) for advice...We are nuts!

Seriously though, I do praise God for trusting me with this amazingly, awesomely, wonderfully, blessed...dare I say job, or task? Well, it IS a job...Mothering is indeed work. I think some mothers cringe at that...Mothering = Job. But, why? We work hard at what we do (I literally work up a sweat sometimes!) and that's ok to admit. If it were easy then we'd have a world full of "little angels" and well...we don't! We were born sinners and well...we act like it! So, mothering does have it's challenges. But, it doesn't mean moms are unhappy or would rather be on vacation. Well, now that depends...I'd love to go to Hawaii! But, not without my kiddies! Well...maybe without them if it was a second honeymoon situation with my loving husbando...then that would be super-duper groovie! But, I would call them everyday...like a gazillion times! And, this probably would never happen until they are like in college or something!

Ok...Anyways, back to the subject on Mothering and it being ok to refer to it as being a job...That's it! Simply put! I will say that being a mom is the most enjoyable yet stressful job that I have ever experienced...and I LOVE every single moment of it! My children will be in my home and under "my wing" for such a small window of time, I want to cherish all moments of this time...even the poopy ones! During the difficult "back sassy" moments God is teaching both my child and I something...what is it? Well, I won't be able to find out if I don't do my "job". If I just sit on my hands and give in to my child and let him/her walk all over me so that I don't offend them or damage their self-image, or put a dent into their self-esteem, then I am really just hurting them for when they are out in the real world dealing with real life.

This world today is full of selfish, obnoxious, self-absorbed, arrogant, little brats whose parents weren't brave enough to obey God's parenting plan but instead chose to go with the world's psycho analyzing, liberal method! And, I'm not saying God's parenting plan is super easy-peasy...cause it's not! It would be so much easier to give in to the whining sassy pants stuff the kids throw at you. It's tough to have rules and remain consistant. It's hard to be the "strict", or the "over protective" mom when your children's friends and even other family members get to pretty much do whatever they want just as long as they're happy. But, I try to remind myself I'm not trying to be "cool", or be my children's "BFF", or get "props" from their "peeps". I'm trying to do a good job of Mothering them, loving them, keeping them safe, raising them to remain respectful even in our world full of "brats", and to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, all of their mind, all of their soul, and with all of their strength!

I fall short...all of the time! But, I do pray that I learn from my mistakes, and do a better job the next time. I thank God everyday for my children, I thank Him for the strength, patience and love He has given me. I am for sure a work in progress, and I am thankful for His patience with me!

When my children are all on their own and I'm sitting at home in my "empty nest", I will indeed be reminiscent of my happy, stressful, crazy at times, blessed beautiful "job" of being a mother!

I love being a mom, thank you God!

Hey Christian! Do YOU Believe...

I was wondering something today after watching an interview with Bill Maher and former Governor Mike Huckabee, who also ran for President (who I voted for!)

Bill Maher was talking about his new movie Religious, and he and Huckabee were discussing "religion and faith".

That made me wonder about other Christian's biblical views.

So, here's a question for you Christian...

Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? I mean the true, actual, God breathed, God inspired, authoritative Word of God? Do you believe it can and should be taken literally, in it's entirety? Do you believe that even though "men wrote the bible", it is still the Word of God, and that only He (God) inspired these men?

The reason I ask is because I was very disappointed and even disgusted that our President George W. Bush (who claims to be a Christian) said that he does not believe that the bible should be taken literally. He even laughed and smirked like that was such a ridiculous question!

It makes me sick to my stomach that anyone who claims to be a Christian would dare say such a thing! It hurts to hear "so-called" Christians say that the bible is just a bunch of stories and that somethings you can take literally, but somethings are just metaphors or allegories. I hate hearing that Jesus was just a good man and that the bible is just full of examples on how we should live. I can't stand it when people claiming to be Christians will say that Jesus is just one of the ways to heaven. And that Jesus is right for them personally but may not be the right truth for someone else. I am so sick of the "Politically Correctness" polite crap!

As a Christian you should believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and should be taken literally!

As a Christian you should believe that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God the Father! There are no amounts of good works, or being a really nice person that will earn your way into heaven! It is ONLY through repentance and faith! And, if there was another way...Why would God allow His only Son, Jesus Christ to be punished, to pay for our sins, to die such a horrible death on that cross, if there was another way?!

As a true Christian it should offend you deeply to hear other self-proclaiming Christians not stand up for and defend the truth!

As a true Christian we should believe it, preach it, teach it, and live it!

I'm sorry to sound angry, it's because I am. I'm so angry at our country for allowing the Christian Faith that we were founded on to be spit upon! I'm angry that we have allowed words like Jesus, sin, and hell to be considered offensive and even "hate crimes"! I'm angry that we've ripped prayer and God out of our schools, but force...errr...I mean, teach "tolerance" of very offensive things and even teach sexual education, which also encourages "safe-sex" with birth-control and condoms! I'm angry that this country allows us to murder our un-born babies, feed our lusts with inappropriate entertainment, allowed the sanctity of marriage to be shamed, all while we spit in the face of God! I'm angry that we all have to walk around on eggshells so as to not offend anyone, in fear of being sued! I'm angry that "Freedom of Religion" and "Separation of Church and Government" have been so badly misused and abused! I'm angry that this country has turned it's back on our Lord!

And, I'm angry that our leaders have also!

For My Husband...(with love)

Well, my husband last night said that I really need to make a new post. Seriously, are you seriously being serious?! Do I not already have sooooo much to do?! Hello!!!...new baby...sick kids...new baby...housework...new baby...sick kids...meals to cook...did I mention that we just had a new baby AND sick kids?!...and weekly doctor's appointments, noses to wipe, a baby that nurses like a mad man and butts to clean!...Ofcourse I only thought this all to myself...but out loud to him I said, "Oh, ok...I will."

Men! Do they not understand the busy-ness of a mom?! Seriously, just waking up and getting out of bed is an acomplishment these days! And then if I even manage to get dressed, brush my hair and my teeth...I am a winner! No, honestly my husband is super-duper amazing. He helps me out so much. Sometimes I do have to twist his arm a little bit and maybe even karate chop him with my words, but most of the time he totally rocks as a husband and father!

And, it really hasn't been that rough. Little Joshua is such a good baby! He cries so soft and hardly ever. He's already starting to smile and trying to talk to us. He's for sure going to be a "social butterfly", I can already tell! I'll be getting calls from school and notes sent home saying, "Joshua is such a sweet boy, he just needs to stop talking in class." Oh ya, that will for sure be him. But, for now...he's a wonderful baby! He just nurses like he's starving constantly. The doctor even said when she seen him that he has gained sooooo much since he was born (3 pounds in only 6 weeks!). She was very surprised that I was only nursing him! Joshua though is a little bit of a stinker! He's a "high needs" baby at times, and will only want MOM...that's when the fun begins! Because, it never fails that when he needs me so does Bella! Then I have to try and juggle both of them on my lap in my arms and they are both sobbing (ofcourse, what fun would it be without that?!) And, what doesn't help much is...my sweet and loving husband is laughing at all of this! This is when I want to strangle my husband...you know, choke him! And, poor little Bella...she has been so very sick, then better, then sick again! Then ofcourse the cold ran through our house like crazy until we all got sick and then sick again! But, I remind myself that this time although stressful at times will be over so quickly, and we'll have an empty nest. I will look back and miss the "stressful moments". I am always looking back to when I first became a mommy...and now Toria is a 10 year old little stinker! And, JoJo's not to far behind her! Again, these cranky and fiesty moments will fade too, and the sounds of pitter-pattering little feet, little cries (and even big ones!), boo-boo's, and even the grumpy looks, huffy-puffy back-sass, stomping feet and slamming doors will all just be a distant memory. Hopefully a memory that we will all look back at and laugh, cry and thank God for!

I thank God with all of my heart for entrusting me to mother His children. I pray that even though at times I will indeed fall short, in the end I will hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

So, here I am posting for my darling husband! "Hi Honey, I love you!"