Thankful Hearts 2011

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Day 10

1. watching the sun rise or sunset with amazement

2. Going on vacation alone with my hubby 

3. sitting in the fall sun reading a good book

4. watching my children light up each day their daddy comes home

5. Each day I get to stay home and school my kids (even on the hard days)

Isn't it fun to watch our list growing! We've already THANKED GOD for 50 things.....and that is only a drop in the bucket, and it only took a few minutes each day. Is your daily list making helping to keep your heart in a thankful spirit? I sure hope so! We have the flu floating around our house this week, but amongst it all I'm just thankful that my kids are "hitting the bowl"! Even in yucky stuff we can find things that are praise worthy....again it's a choice.

To follow along on my list making journey start here.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

I've been making my own homemade powder laundry detergent for over a year now...maybe longer I really can't remember. I liked the idea that I could make my own for a fraction of the cost of a leading detergent, yet I could get the same cleaning power. The powder version is very quick to make and only requires purchasing three ingredients. I've always had in my head that the liquid version would require so much more time....and it seemed scary, I worried I would mess it all up! I'm laughing now as I type this because it seriously couldn't be further from the truth. The liquid version that still only requires the same three ingredients...4 if you include water...took only about 5 extra minutes! Want to know the recipe and the steps to take to make your own? It's really is easy peasy...give it a try.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

safe for HE washers

4 cups of tap water

1 bar of Fels-Naptha Soap- grated

1 cup of Washing Soda

1/2 Cup of Borax

Step One: Pour 4 cups of tap water into a sauce pan, Grate soap and add to pan. On medium heat, melt the soap, stir slowly until it's melted. (takes 5 minutes or less)

Step Two: Add Washing soda and Borax to pan. Stir slowly until mixed in. (takes about 1-2 min)

Step Three: Fill up a HALF of a 5 gallon bucket with HOT tap water, pour pan mixture into bucket, and stir again to be sure your contents are all mixed and melted.

STEP FOUR: Fill the remaining 5 gallon bucket with more tap water. Cover and let it set up over night. In the morning it should have a nice gel consistency. 

It should look something like this.

Depending on the water quality, actual usage amounts vary. As a guide start here:

Top Load Washer: Heaping 1/2 cup

HE Front Load Washer: 1/4 cup

HINTS:

**If you prefer a scent in your soap you can essential oils at the very end and stir the contents well.

**If your wondering where you can get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, You can #1 call around and see if a local restaurant has any you can have for free or #2 buy one at your local hardware store.

Thankful Hearts 2011

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Day 9

1. Our new computer is up and running

2. For our first day back in our school room!!

3. My nice warm bed to sleep each night

4. surprises from my husband

5. A quiet schedule with no where to be

To find out what this list making is all about or to catch up, start here.

Thankful Hearts 2011

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Day 8 

1. My in-law family

2. The warm glow of a bonfire

3. A stroll through the woods

4. Thrift Stores

5. Finding a great sale...and using a coupon on top of that!

To see why I'm making my Thankful List, or to follow along go here!

Thankful Hearts 2011

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I don't know about the rest of you but I'm having a blast making my Thankful List! If you want to read more about my list making you can go here to catch up. 

DAY 7

1. Our basement being ready to use again!

2. Doctors with caring heart and compassionate care

3. The Lord's gift of another day

4. Thanksgiving Season

5. Bible Translation for all those still in need of God's Word

Thankful Hearts 2011

The weekend is in sight and so I'm wrapping up Day 4, 5, 6 all in one post! If you want to play catch up, you can go here.

Day Four

1. Loving Family

2. Faithful Friends

3. Fellowship with Friends & Family

4. Quiet talks with my children

5. Random "I Love You", or "Your the Best Mom Ever" from my family

Day Five

1. Weekends

2. Movie nights

3. Popcorn supper on Sunday

4. Snuggling & reading books

5. A wonderful life full of blessings

Day 6

Our 12 year anniversary!!

It seems so incredible that today we celebrate 12 years of marriage. God has been so good and faithful to us. Four energetic children surrounding us, and making each day memorable. I love my husband more each year, he still makes me laugh and I LOVE THAT! He was made just for me and that simply amazing! I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us as we grow old together.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

In honor of our day my list is all about my sweetheart:

1. Your Loving Arms

2. Your Patience

3. Your Kisses

4. Your Hard Working Spirit that allows me to stay home

5. Our last 14 Years together

I hope your having fun with your own list...

Thankful Hearts 2011

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 In case you missed my post yesterday, and want to know what my family and I are doing for the month of November head over here! I hope many of you have decided to join in on the fun and are making your own lists.......

Day Three

11. paint trays...genius little things!

12. our chickens

13. DATE NIGHT with my sweet Hubby!

14. my salvation

15. smiles & giggles from my kids

Giving Thanks.....Join the FUN!

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November...really....I can't believe it! I do love fall, I think I might have mentioned it once or twice before. I have always really LOVED NOVEMBER for several reasons. To me, November kicks off the holiday season, setting the mood with the many things that I have to be thankful for! On my FB page I started yesterday listing 5 things each day in November that I am thankful for. I love what making a simple list does for my perspective......getting focused on THE GIVER of all these fantastic things on my list. I know that no matter where I am in my journey in life, there are always things to be thankful for. CHOOSING GRATITUDE IS A CHOICE.......a moment by moment choice. I wish I could say I always choose gratitude, but I'm working hard on it. If your wanting some Fall inspiration you can head over to my PINTERST page and find some!

 Pinterest

I would like to invite you to join me in my list making this month. You don't have to have a blog and make them public, simply grab a piece of paper and start jotting them down each day. I plan to make this a family event at our house with each child making their own list of ONE thing per day they are thankful for, and on THANKSGIVING MORNING will can wake up and share them with each other. Doesn't that sound like a fun way to start off the day?

THANKFUL LIST 2011

Day One

1. My Hubby

2. Hot bubble baths

3. my dream house

4. my four kiddos

5. warm sunny fall days

Day Two

6. grace

7. unconditional love

8. church family

9. a warm bed to sleep in

10. fresh, clean, uncontaminated water

I'll leave you with this quote I found on Pinterest today...you may want to sit down it's a powerful one!

What if today God only gave you the things you thanked Him for yesterday?

Geography Matters......The Munford Series Review

 I was so thrilled when I discovered we were going to receive a series of books that teach history/geography is such a fun way. This series of books follow Munford, a water molecule on his many adventures to places all over the world. After spending time reading the series over the past week, I was excited to hear there input after reading the books. I decided to conduct an interview with each of the boys and here is what they had to say.

Lance consumed all four books in two days...Caleb has completed two book in the series and is working on the third.

Lance: 10 years old, 5th grade/Caleb: 8 years old 3rd grade

Q: What did you think about the Munford Series?

A from Lance: I thought they were very good books, I enjoyed reading them.

A from Caleb: I liked them. They were fun.

Q: Would you recommend these book to your friends and why?

A from Lance: Yes, I would recommend them. They helped to me to learn.

A from Caleb: Yes, I would recommend them. They teach you about history in a fun way.

Q: What age kids would you recommend to read these books?

A from Lance: 7-12 yr olds

A from Caleb: 8-11 yr olds

Q: Which book was your favorite and why?

A from Lance: The Klondike Gold Rush. Munford discovered that he didn't need gold to be happy.

A from Caleb: Munford Meets Robert Fulton. I learned that he invented a kind of bottle rockets.

Q: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest what would you give the Munford Series? 

A from Lance: 8

A from Caleb: 7

I think it's exciting when we can find products, such as these, that introduce our children to learning new things in such fun ways...not dry bland facts and dates thrown at them that they will never retain. If you want to stay up to date on all happening at Geography Matters~Where Learning Comes Naturally head over to their Facebook and hit the LIKE button, or Twitter goers can go here! .If you'd love to excite your own children about learning...or need a good Christmas gift for some kiddos be sure to pop over here to buy your own books! Each soft cover book for this series are only $8.95 each.

 OR 

SPECIAL FOR GAERTEGANG READERS!! Buy 3 get the 4th FREE!! Use the code 4MUNFORD43 

A big thank you to Geography Matters for sending us the complete series FREE in exchange for our review and honest opinions. It's been a pleasure!

New Happenings at THE GAERTEGANG Household!

A few things have been happening around here as of late. Our basement flooded (after a faucet handle decided to just blow off), two weeks ago. Since everything is still in a "mess" we have been unable to function as normal, whatever that is. Here are a few pictures...I know they don't show a whole lot.

super soaking wet carpet....

more super soaking carpet!

When all is said and done, it could have been SO MUCH WORSE! I'm glad we were home and could start clean up right away. We are all dried out, with pretty minimal damage. For that I am truly grateful!

On Monday we discovered that our youngest little man, Zach needed some vision correction. He was so super cute and excited about getting his glasses!

His before: LOVE THOSE FRECKLES!

 His after:

I would LOVE TO KNOW how to eliminate those glares on his glasses. Is it my picture taking skills that need tweaked or can I just use something in editing to get rid of them.....do tell!!

On the very same day, Caleb got his braces! (Can you hear our bank account groaning?)

I can't tell who is more excited Caleb or Julia.....I can tell you that later that day and today Julia is defiantly more excited. With an upper & lower expander and braces all in one setting his little mouth is aching pretty good.

It makes me all warm and fuzzy to see how excited they were for each other.

(Believe me I need those fuzzy moments.....every once in awhile......in between fights!)