Homemade Laundry Soap

I am trying an experiment--making my own laundry soap. We do a lot of laundry in this house, and I feel like we are running out of laundry detergent all the time. We'll see if this mixture gets the clothes clean.
I got the "recipe" from here: homemade laundry soap

Wordless Wednesday

Happy birthday Ryan!

Ryan is a teenager today. He was born in the wee hours of the morning on October 23, 1998...13 years ago! He was the tiniest and quietest of my babies. He has grown into such a neat kid. He's so unique and original, and we love him so much!

He has had so many interests over the years,

one of them being building really tall domino towers.

His current passion is running and he decided to run 13 miles this weekend!

We love you Ryan! Hope you had a great birthday!

Growing a Family

I keep thinking about the post by Ann Voskamp of the holy experience called what a family is really about.

Because our family is growing and changing, especially since Levi joined us, it was particularly meaningful to me. I love her descriptions of how individual members of a family change and grow. Over time we become more mature and more forgiving, but it's one step at a time.

It's comforting to me to be reminded that "It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow." 1 Corinthians 3:7

I will keep tending the seeds, which seems overwhelming on some days, but I will rest in the knowledge that God is in the center of the process. It is He who will make things grow.

This and That Randomness

Meggan wanted to plant a garden this year. We are enjoying the fruits of her labors. She has made homemade salsa several times and it is fabulous--always gone within a few days. She is enjoying school and doing well. Sometimes homework is a drag. She is fortunate to have a great group of friends that make school more fun!

We bought a carton of eggs that was frozen. Most of the shells cracked. It was a mess, but Meggan enjoyed peeling the shell off of one to see what a frozen egg looks like. It looks like this:

Cross Country is over for Ryan and Levi. We had great weather for most of the meets.

Ryan is glad it's over, because he has his own running plan that he is ready to get back to. Sometimes working within the coach's plan was a challenge for him. He is very independent and self-motivated. He is also doing great in this new venture called public school.

Levi has cross country behind him and is looking forward to trying wrestling. We are proud of him for trying new things. He is getting into the swing of school and his classes. He has recently enjoyed some weekend trips with other families: one to K.C. for a day of fun, including a trip to a pumpkin patch; the other took him to MN for pheasant hunting.

Brandon has been enjoying fall hunting season by making a trip to Missouri. He brought back deer meat from a friend's kill. We ate it fresh last night, and a new friend of Brandon's joined us for supper. He is from Minnesota and is at ISU without a car. He hasn't sat around a table with a family for a while! I hope we weren't too overwhelming. This is the first fall in eight years that Brandon hasn't been playing football, which leaves more time for hunting.

Speaking of football...
Ellyn doesn't know what she's going to do when football season is over. She can hardly stand the thought of her football manager "job" coming to an end for the year. She loves football and the other manager/friends.  I bet she'll fill her extra time with something... like dance, the school musical, friends, etc. She never seems to have a dull moment in her life, which is partially due to loving her siblings so much and hanging out with them during her free time. She almost couldn't handle last weekend when Brandon and Levi were each gone hunting, and Ryan and Meggan were gone to a retreat.

Each week I say, "I think things will settle down a little around our house this week." Byron laughs now when I say it. There is always something unforeseen that seems to take the extra minutes of this season of our lives. 

The things I had planned to do once school started are still surrounding me. The piles of photos will have to wait. The messy craft table will also wait. This blog...it has to wait as well. :)

But Byron and these silly darlings will not wait...

Learning...

--learning that I don't know the future, but God does
--learning that He will provide all that I need
--learning to rely on the Word to restore my mind
--learning that the hope I have in Christ is such a gift
--learning how to "...fix my eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)
--learning that the Holy Spirit has equipped me with power (Acts 1:8)