Thanks Aunt Tanya!

Chad's sister, Tanya, got a new, different style pool this year. She had asked us if we wanted to buy her old one. We told her we would think about it. Well, after looking at our budget, we couldn't find a way to fit it in, so we told her we couldn't buy it. She was kind enough to let us have the pool! The girls were so excited! It took us a while to get it set up as Chad was busy with other project as well as not knowing exactly where we were going to put it. Saturday Chad worked on leveling out the ground in the front yard and we started filling it. Sunday after church, the girls wanted to go swimming even though we told them it was going to be REALLY cold. We invited their friend, Jasmine, over and they went in. Chad went in, but you can tell from the picture that he was hurrying to get out! We took the thermometer from the fish tank to put in the pool to see what it was, and it was only 62 degrees! The girls played in it for hours. I got in a for a little bit, but I couldn't handle too much of it.

Allyn, Sabra, and Cora weren't allowed to go in the pool because of the stunt they pulled on Saturday (see post "Scripture of the Day") but they watched us for a long time.

Carmichael Reunion

The Carmichaels have a reunion every year in July. We used to take one big family picture, but the family is too big to do that now. Instead, we take pictures of each "family" within the big Carmichael family and then put them into a college for everyone to purchase. Here is the Gordon Carmichael family. Well, at least this is who came to the reunion. Chad's sister Donna is in PA so she didn't come and her daughter didn't come. His sister, Diane, nor any of her kids or grandkids came and his sister, Tanya, didn't come and her son is stationed out of state for the Navy, so obviously he wasn't there. We were still the largest "family" there despite so many people being gone!

Scripture of the Day

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
--1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

This scripture came at just the right time. I needed to be reminded to rejoice always and give thanks in everything. We need to remember that even the things we see as "bad" events in our lives happen because God allowed them to happen. It may not be comfortable, but we need to experience it because it may help us to grow in our faith, it may be a consequence of a sin, or may help us better understand what someone else is going through. No matter what it may be, big or small, we need to thank God for allowing us the experience.

Yesterday is an example--Allyn, Sabra, and Cora took a whole container of oatmeal that I had just bought and was playing with it in their room when they were supposed to be napping. I went in their room to get after them and remind them that they couldn't go in our new pool until they took a nap and all I could see was oatmeal everywhere! Actually, it took me some time to figure out what the mess was because I was definitely not thinking about oatmeal. I couldn't even see their carpet because it was covered in oatmeal. They had oatmeal in the window, on their beds, and even the some of the drawers of clothes! I had to completely tear apart their room to clean (mattresses off beds to make sure I vacuumed it all up under their beds, tear clothes off the shelves and wash them, etc.).

Although I definitely didn't thank Him while I was in the midst of it, I am thankful now because their room is the cleanest it has been since we put the second set of bunk beds in! I was also able to go through and throw out a number of things I have been wanting to get rid of for some time. It took me an hour and a half to get everything cleaned up, but I didn't have to cook dinner because I used up my time I would have spent making dinner so the three girls had to contribute $5 each to buy a pizza! I wish I could have been thankful enough when it happened to take a picture, but I was too upset and appalled to think about grabbing my camera at the time.

So, I guess the old adage that every cloud has a silver lining is true. We may have to look hard in some cases, but we can (and should) give thanks to God for EVERYTHING!

EDITED TO ADD: I shouldn't have said anything about learning something from this scripture. God chose to test me on whether or not I did learn something! Today, Chad and I were out in the new pool with Dara, Eva, and a friend of theirs. The babies were sleeping and Allyn, Sabra, and Cora were supposed to be taking a nap because they are grounded from the pool for a few days because of what they pulled yesterday. Well, today they got into the pantry again and got out a bag of sugar and was eating it and in the mean time spilled it all over Allyn's and Cora's beds and the floor surrounding it. It wasn't as big of a mess as yesterday, but it was a lot stickier! I didn't yell today because of what I learned, but I am finding it hard to see what I am supposed to be learning from it!

Cadillac Jeepers Give Back

Chad is a member and officer of Cadillac Jeepers (although we don't have a jeep!). He was the secretary for the past year and was just voted as vice-president for the next 12 months. The Cadillac Jeepers sponsor the Jeep Blessing every year. They tithe on the money made from the Blessing and decided to give it to Care Net of Cadillac this year. I was so excited they decided to give to Care Net of Cadillac as it is a ministry close to my heart. They met at Care Net of Cadillac on Saturday before their meeting to give the money to LuAnn Graf, Care Net of Cadillac Director.

I know Care Net of Cadillac will use the money wisely and to further their ministry. Care Net of Cadillac not only supports pregnant women, but also help the women after they have their babies through the Pregnancy Resource part of the organization. They also have Positive Choices in Education that is an abstinence education they teach in local schools as well as Caring Hearts Abortion recovery. They are in the process of getting set to be able to offer ultra-sounds to abortion-minded clients as well. If you are looking to give back to the community, it is a great place to volunteer and they are always in need of more help. They have been trying to get a men's program started as well so they need men volunteers, too!

Thank you, Aunt Charity!

The girls want to thank their Aunt Charity for providing us with pictures of the Broncostar in the parade for their scrapbooks. She gave us a couple of different pictures, but I liked this one best! We would still appreciate it if anyone else got shots if they could share them with us as well.

Cute as a bug in a basket

I was doing laundry the other day (surprise, surprise!) and Cora loves playing with the baskets. Well, I turned around from moving a load from the washer to the dryer to see this.

She had climbed in there herself with her blanket. She must have been tired because that is usually the only time she gets her blanket and sucks her finger. I thought she look so cute!

Greatest Fourth in the North Parade

We had the privilege of being the the Lake City Greatest Fourth in the North parade this 4th of July. The Cadillac Jeepers are always in the parade and we actually had a running vehicle this year so we joined the rest of the group. Unfortunately, the "Broncostar" wasn't put together until after midnight on Thursday so I didn't have any candy to throw, but we still wanted to be in the parade. We had a lot of fun and were amazed at how many people actually come to Lake City for the fourth! We had a lot of comments on the Broncostar. Most people were surprised to see a four-wheel drive mini-van. We also got lots of comments about not having the front doors on.

Dara sat in the front so I could be between the twins in the second seat in case they got fussy. Eva, Allyn, Sabra, and Cora were in the back seat. If anyone from the crowd got a picture of us, I would appreciate receiving it (if it is digital) or a copy (if you have 35mm).

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

God's Provision for Soap!

God continues to amaze me with His provision for us! It is awesome how He provided what we needed to live when He created this earth. I was introduced to soapnuts a couple of months ago. I decided I was going to give them a try. Some family members and a neighbor and I ordered a case of them to try them out and I can't tell you how thankful I am that I did.

Soapnuts grow on a soapnut tree in India. They are very plentiful there and are often grown for ornamental reasons because of their beauty. The nuts have a natural soap inside them. When you order some they have been seeded (although you may get lucky and find one with a seed still in it!). When the soap comes in contact with water, the soap is released. The main reason I bought them was to use in my laundry. You throw 2-3 nuts in the cotton bag that comes along with the nuts into the laundry and then start your machine. You can reuse the nuts 2-3 times as long as you are using warm or hot water. If you use cold water, then just use 4-5 nuts and reuse 4-5 times (as it takes longer to release the soap). I figured out that it costs me 4 cents a load to wash! This is much cheaper than any other laundry detergent, it's natural, and it works! They are great for HE washers because they don't create lots of suds and you don't have to use a fabric softner because it naturally softens the fabric (even more savings!).

I have found a number of other uses for soap nuts as well. You can cook them into a liquid and use the liquid as shampoo, hand soap, dishwasher soap, insect repellent (on you and your garden), flea shampoo for animals, it kills lice, repels ants, and the list could go on and on! If you don't like the sent of it (which I admit isn't very appealing), then just add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. I have added tea tree (for added cleaning), lavender, and lemon.

I bought three of the bags that came in the case of six from the co-op. I am 1/2 way through my first bag and have been using them for about six weeks. And remember that I do laundry every day!!!! I ended up selling one of my bags to a friend who wanted to try them out so I have another bag here. If anyone is interested in getting a bag, let me know because I plan to start using it for shampoo, hand soap, etc. more often as I use up what I have and will then start going through it even faster (but also saving more and more money!). Like I said, six bags come in a case so I would like to have 3-4 people who also want to order and I don't know if those who ordered with me the last time will be ready to order more when I am.

Convicted Heart

I must say that I love the fact that we can find so much uplifting and encouraging things on the Internet. It is also nice that God leads us to the sites we need to hear something to touch our lives in either a good way or bad way (but in God's way regardless). I recently found the Above Rubies website and signed up for their forum. Within that forum I was linked to this blog and was truly convicted by her post. I have book-marked both sites so I can continue to be blessed by the good information and uplifting stories . I suggest you at least take a look at them.

On the Move

I had to share this!

I was working in the kitchen last night. I had laid Martha and Jaina down on the floor to watch the ceiling fan (they like that). Well, I could hear Martha "talking" up a storm. She started to fuss a little bit so I looked over to see what was wrong and noticed that Jaina was missing. Since the other girls were in bed, I knew they hadn't "taken" her so I had to look around. She had moved herself across the living room. If you look at the picture and see where the pink/purple burp rag is, that is where I laid Jaina down. If you look under the chair, you can see where she ended up!