Not exactly a professional opinion.

Last night upon finding out that my nephew was going to spend the night, Schyler immediately began grilling us with the fact that she was sleeping in our room and she was NOT sleeping in her room.



Typically when he spends the night, she picks a different exotic locale in which to stay "letting" him have her bed. Seriously, exotic. One night it was the bathroom closet. No kidding.



Wait.



Could I get in trouble for that?



*nervous shaky voice* Oh ha ha I was just kidding. I only let my child sleep on a perfectly fluffy completely safe bed.



Anyway, lately when he has stayed over she has made a pallet on the floor in her room.






Well, last time he spent the night and she made a pallet was last Tuesday night.







Our tornado struck promptly before daybreak Wednesday morning.






Could she really be thinking about that? I think so.



Then she actually verbalized that she was. She said, "Ooooooh noooooo. Last week he spent the night on the same night and we had to go through that awful tornado. I am sleeping with you."



Okay. Done.



I know. Blue skies. Not even a chance of rain. Completely illogical and irrational.





But let me explain my experience- on Monday, January 5, 2004, Schyler was about two weeks old. She had just gained back up to two pounds on the dot (she had lost down to 1lb. 11oz.) and something just wasn't right that day.





When I left the NICU at 6:00 that evening, because they close for shift changes, she was okay.





When I returned at 8:00, the doctor met me in the waiting room and informed me of all the details of the cardiac arrest she had suffered.





It was a trying time to say the least.





But that week went by pretty well, improving much.





However...





The next Monday, I prepared to leave at 6:00, as usual for shift change, I broke out into a sweat, I began a little nervous shake, and I had a hard time leaving. I talked to the nurse and she assured me everything was fine.





I knew everything was fine. It was completely irrational. But I couldn't help it.





Could that truly be post traumatic stress? I don't know. I am certainly no doctor, not even close, but I think it could be. I honestly do think that that is closer to post traumatic stress than people who go out and commit heinous crimes and then try to get out of trouble by blaming it on that. I think that would be more like spoiled-rotten-brat-syndrome.





Now of course she will not be allowed to sleep in our room forever, maybe not even for another night. We will diligently (I hope!) pray for wisdom and discernment so as not to be manipulated allowing her to fall in a terrible pit of sinfulness. (*fluttering eyelashes* Not that my sweet perfect little baby would ever manipulate her loving parents.*cough cough sputter*)


We will need to be careful not to "plant" ideas - "Are you feeling scared?" "Are you nervous, angry, anxious?" But to listen to what is said and not dismiss it.





SO - I say all that to say, pray for all the children and parents who have suffered far greater loss and trauma. Pray that parents will seek God for wisdom and discernment and that they will think on what is true. Pray that families will reach out to Him for healing. And listen. Listen a lot.

A crispy thank you.

Thank you my throngs of loyal followers for making my birthday absolutely grand. It was a lovely day.




I'll share -

KayKay said, "Happy 21st Birthday!!! :)"

To which Ma said - "Happy Birthday! (Are you really 21?)"

Why Ma, of course I am not, she was only joking. I'm more like 25...ish...plus one... or two...or eight





But I have to say, my very favorite was from my dear Aunt Mama Hen. That sweet woman. She has definitely grown a tough outer shell since being in this family, God bless her. But let me clarify the first statement on her lovely list -



You don't love me because I leave utensils, you love me because I have a kitchen drawer compulsion. They must be neat and organized, and I located your shears and huge knife that you didn't even remember you had. Well, that or I stole them from Granny's and she's probably looking for them right now...





My hard working husband even made it home. The department went back to regular off days before everyone turned into complete zombies, so that was nice.


A certain inlaw gave me a very , um, nice, ...clothesline. Yeah, a clothesline. It's...great. No really I am very appreciative, just a little confused. Did I mention that I wanted one? I don't know. Maybe I did at some point.

Anyway, I did use it. Our clothes smell nice, but for the love, it was like getting dressed in cardboard. Sandpaper covered cardboard. I know we used to hang out clothes all the time growing up, so what did our parents and grandparents do about that?

Discipline may work after all!

Ug. Yesterday was a terrible day of punishment around here. I know! So hard to believe. My dear sweet, kind little girl.

The little girl who is almost brought to tears when someone calls her babies "dolls" because that infers that they are not real. And her babies are very much real to her. She spent some of her lemonade stand profits buying real diapers and real wipes for them so she could be a real mommy.

The little girl who thought to grab her cousin's blankie when we were running to safety during the tornado because she knew if there was serious damage he would need it for comfort.

But it was a tough day and Dad knew it had to be, in the wise words of Barney, nipped in the bud.

So the babies had to be taken away for a time.

You have never heard such pitiful crying. Heart wrenching.

As sure as I am that she has to be taught that her sin affects not only her, but others as well, and that sin has to be dealt with immediately, as sure as I am of that, I am also sure that we have dealt too harshly and she is sure to need therapy. I am sure that we have stunted her ability to reason and we have no doubt begun a vicious cycle that she will surely need to be medicated for.

Oh the perils of parenthood. The guilt! The torment!

Won't it be great when grandchildren come around and we won't have these torturous thoughts?

"Was that a proper disciplinary action?" Who knows? No one will say that about their grandkids- just give 'em a cookie. Aunt Mama Hen and I discussed this subject last weekend and I'm thinking I should go ahead and set up a paypal account so you all can begin donating to her therapy fund.


But, thankfully, God sent me some encouragement this morning. He is so Good.


We must labor to do good to our children even from their earliest years. If Satan begins so early to do them harm, we must not be behind him in diligence to lead them to God. How soon in life a child becomes responsible and accountable, is a difficult question to solve. Perhaps far sooner than many of us suppose. One thing, at all events, is very clear–it is never too soon to strive and pray for the salvation of the souls of children–never too soon to speak to them as moral beings, and tell them of God, Christ, right and wrong. The devil, we may be quite sure, loses no time in endeavoring to influence the minds of young people. He begins with them even from childhood. Let us work hard to counteract him.

-J.C.Ryle

Someone commented this - "...In the absence of God’s truth, the human soul will cling to Satan’s lies in its hunger for love, value and security."






Oh and by the way, today is my birthday. Yes I am telling you that so that you can all tell me how happy you are that I was born and all the other numerous wonderful things about me...looks like it may be a low comment day.

Deodorant, shampoo, detergent- all things clean and fresh.

A couple of people have asked me recently about the laundry detergent, so I'm going to give an update. Or at least try anyway. I have had two occasions this week to use post hole diggers and I promise you, I was not cut out for such madness. My arms are like noodles. I was meant for dainty tea and cake type things, I'm absolutely sure of it.


So anyhoos - I do still use it and I still like it. I use the recipe I posted here. If I have some particularly stinky towels or some things I want to try to keep really white I toss in some extra Borax. Or Super Washing Soda, whichever is near.


I use vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser and I also squeeze a few drops of Eucalyptus oil in the vinegar for towels and linens. I'm sure you could do that with any scent in all your loads if you want.


As far as measuring, I don't. We kept an old store bought detergent container and I just use the top and pour however much I think I may need. Now we have very, VERY hard water, so if you don't, take that into consideration.





Now, here is Heidi's recipe for shampoo:

3 oz Liquid Castille Soap (she sent me Dr. Bronner's)
1 1/2 cups chamomille lavender tea*
1 1/2 Tablespoon glycerin

*Steep 4 teabags. I used 2 cups water to steep and drank the 1/2 cup leftover!

Cool and mix in bottle. Take a brush in the shower with you and brush it through your hair. She says this is very important.

Here are some of her tips and a link for conditioner and she touts her love of glycerin here.


I think my hair is oily. It is thick, but fine, oily and wavy/curly (read: wild). I tried the baking soda mix, but could not make it through the adjustment period. I can see how that one could be great for some people, my hair was fuller and somewhat more tame, but I just didn't have the will to make it through that adjustment.


The first time I used Heidi's concoction, I was coming off of a "volumizing" store shampoo. I guess volumizing is code for very drying. My head itched like everything. I had not washed it for several days just trying to get it back to somewhat normal.


Her recipe felt wonderful! It felt soooo good in the shower. Like medicine for my scalp. I washed it again a few days later and it felt a little on the oily side. Kind of like a coated feeling. So the next night (last night) I took my vinegar/water spray bottle in the shower and sprayed my hair. I didn't shampoo, just vinegar and this morning it feels great.


It feels clean, smells nice, isn't oily at all, and looks good. This recipe gets all lathery and smells good and those are a plus for me. It seems like to me that everyone has to work a little bit with whatever they do to figure out what works. We have trained our hair for a long time to be completely stripped of natural oils and be replaced with fake ones. You don't just fix that with one use.


Oh, also, I haven't had any glycerin, but that is on my list for this week.


Now for deodorant I started out with what seems to be a pretty popular recipe:

5-6 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1/4 cup Baking Soda
1/4 cup Cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)

Combine dry ingredients, then work in coconut oil. I worked it in just like I do when I make biscuits, use a fork and mash, mash, mash.

NOW! Our pits broke out in a rash (only the left side, what is with that??!) after using this. So I added more oil and cornstarch which straightened it out. I guess the abrasiveness of the baking soda was just too much.

This has worked so well for us. We have found we don't even need to use it every day, of course that may change when the dog days of summer truly arrive!

But, what we found was that, truly, NO store bought antiperspirant worked for us. We would sweat anyway and have more of a smelly-goat-in-a-flower-field aroma. You know, B.O.+perfume. Blech. Not good.

This recipe is NOT an antiperspirant. We still sweat, same as we did before, but now there is absolutely NO smell. NONE at all.

I keep mine in a little glass storage container. I just stick my finger in it and rub it in. It doesn't take much at all, too much may even be abrasive like I talked about above. I can't imagine how long it is going to last!

So there is my super long inside view of our personal hygiene. Pretty exciting, huh?















I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

I've got the power.

We have power! An exciting day here on our road! Although my daughter is a little disappointed. She enjoyed cooking on the camping stove and the slow pace of sitting outside in a communal gathering place connecting with neighbors in the evening. I have to say, that was a bright spot.





We found out that the tornado that came through our road was an EF-3.





My poor husband is still working twelve hour shifts, or more every day. On top of making sure we are cared for and have everything we need. He is so good.





Well, let me tell you about another bright spot! The day after the tornado, my sweet mail lady brought me a box. Listen, you should periodically leave treats in your mailbox for your postal worker. It is so nice.





So anyways - She brought me a box. Well it was from Heidi! It was all the makings for her homemade shampoo! And girls, she not only sent me the ingredients, she sent a bottle to put it in and a funnel to get it in there. She thought of it all! So sweet!





Now let me tell you the best thing. When I got online after our tornado, the first email I got was from her letting me know she heard what was going on and was praying for us. Is that God in action or what? She also said this -



"Between the hurricanes and tornado's you guys have to slog through, I think I'd be packing up and moving out of there! I hear California doesn't have either storms, and where we're at, at least, the earthquakes are more like foot massages . . . ;) "









Very tempting, Heidi. Very tempting.














I am going to post more about her shampoo recipe later. Right now, though, I'm going to go do laundry...I've never been more excited about laundry before in my life!!

And she's right.

Here are two pics from my street. The first is a group of trees all twisted and snapped off.



This is our road, pulling out of our driveway. My husband and father-in-law spent hours clearing the trees and power lines to get a path to homes so that everyone could be accounted for.

And everyone was accounted for. Although many homes were damaged, it seems as though people were okay. A little shell shocked, but okay.

This was not the worst. I do not want to make it out that we are among the worst of the damage. There are people searching for family all over. Cities have been reduced to rubble.

Our neighbor and friend found out only hours ago that their daughter was killed last night when their home was destroyed. She is survived by her husband and two children.

We are on easy street as I borrow power and cook on a camping stove. That could be classified as fun. Adventurous.

We know that we do not have it hard.

One woman who lost her home and possessions said, "This is part of life. It will happen again. But what I have stored up in heaven can not be taken away."

The roaring. I won't forget the roar.

It happened like this:


Roar.


Head up.



Feet hit floor.



Kids room.



Bathroom.



More roaring.





We're okay. Our neighborhood is okay, comparatively speaking. There are so many things I want to say, but words are not enough right now.


We will not have power for an unspecified amount of time. We have a generator to run our refrigerator and I hook up to that every once in a while to gain access to the outside world.


We are okay. Our home is okay, but please pray for our area. There is a lot of sadness and devastation around. Also, my husband's job comes with a lot of responsibility during times like this.

We are so thankful. So thankful.