Almost Debt-free!

We are scheduled to close on our house next week, and we may be able to close before that. We are so excited! I think we may go out for a debt-free steak dinner to celebrate! But I won't count my chickens just yet....:)

The Makings of a Quilt

My little guys, now almost 4 and almost 6, are about to grow out of our toddler size bunkbeds my husband made them (well, at least the almost 6 year old). So now, it is time to make some quilts for them and get them some regular size bunkbeds! I made the quilts for their toddler bunks a while back, and I loved how they turned out! You just can't find store bought quilts or comforters of comparable quality. I even checked online and found some cotton quilts at Kohl's, but they, even at a half-off sale, were still at least twice as much as it would take to make them with all new materials. The nice thing about homemade quilts is that 1)They are made of cotton, which doesn't pill and lasts longer than polyester, which most store-bought comforters are made of, 2)The edges are made with a binding that is 4 layers thick and cut on the crosswise grain or bias, making the edges super strong. Even when that wears out, you just replace the binding, not the whole quilt! 3)It is quilted with cotton thread, much better and longer lasting than the clear thread most store bought comforters are made from. I can't count how many of our store-bought comforters have fallen apart because the quilting stitches have come out, and the cheap polyester batting has bunched up. Homemade quilts are quilted with more stitches, so that even if a stitch or two did come out, the whole quilt wouldn't fall apart.

Anyone can learn how to make a quilt! My little guy, who is 5 years old, is learning how to make a doll quilt, that he's going to give to his sister when he is done making it. Starting out with just a simple pattern makes it easier, but as you gain experience, more complex patterns are lots of fun! This is how I went about deciding how to make these quilts....

First, I decided that I wanted it to go on twin size beds. I found that a twin bed measures 39x75. I knew I wanted it to drape down only the minimum amount on all sides, since this would be for bunk beds - I found out that would be 10" on each of 3 sides. I also wanted it to have a pillow tuck, so that the pillows would be covered (I want the boys to learn how to make up a bed that way) - that's an additional 10" at the top. I also wanted to make another "card trick" quilt pattern, since I'd done that before, liked it, and wanted to do it again. I found out that one quilt block would be 12 1/2". I figured out how many blocks would be able to fit on the quilt, based on the measurements I'd just taken. After that, I took the extra inches leftover and divided it into two separate borders (an inner border & outer border).

Next was to calculate how much fabric. I'm NOT a math person, and all this calculating made my brain hurt, but it was worth it to know exactly how much fabric to buy. The nearest fabric store is 20 miles away, and they were having a good sale, so I didn't want to have to return on a NON-sale day to pay too much for fabric that I didn't properly calculate! So, after a riduculously long session of meticulous calculating that would take the average math whiz a third as long, I emerged with the fabric measurements to buy. If anyone is interested, leave a comment, and I can give you a link to the websites I've found that assist you in calculating fabric measurements. I think in the future, I will just look through my stash for fabric, cut them into equal size squares - then when it is time to make a quilt, I will already have them made up! But I wanted these to be special. :)

I decided to start on my project ASAP, so it wouldn't get put away and forgotten about. So, one night when my hubby was working late, we turned the computer screen to face the couch, put on a movie, and I started cutting squares. Not even close to being done, but got a good start! So what about you? Tell me about your quilts and quilting experiences!

We're All Moved (well, mostly)

Wow, are we exhausted! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. We took a trip to Arkansas for my husband's work, and to visit family, the beginning of July, and since we got back, it has been almost non-stop work! The day we got back we started packing to move, and from that day until the day we moved the following weekend we worked from morning to night packing our house (with the help of some wonderful friends). So many decisions to be made while packing - do we keep this or not, where do we put it in the new house, what box should I pack this in with what other things, etc.

Moving day went so well! We had lots of friends from church show up to help, and our whole house was loaded into the moving truck in 1 1/2 hrs.! Smoothest move ever. Once we got here and unloaded everything into the house, it was very overwhelming! We had nothing but a narrow path through the house, boxes stacked high - who knew where to start? All the children were tired from the move, so all fell asleep and I had a few hours to unpack things alone while my husband returned the moving truck. I started with our tiny little laundry room. I had almost a year to think about where I wanted to put things, so it wasn't too difficult to do, actually. All the duplicate cleaning supplies and such were boxed up an labeled for the garage/storage shed. Then my mom and sister arrived to help me start unpacking, and my brother-in-law put the boys' bunkbeds together. They were tired from their own busy days, so it was a blessing to have them come and help out. My mom came the next day as well, and my husband took Monday off from work, so I had some time to get some of my "honey-do" list done (can you hang this on the wall? move this furniture? install a shelf?). From that point on, little by little, boxes started disappearing, and order was being restored. Jeremy spent every evening of the following week working out at our old house, getting home at 1:30 AM, so the unpacking, on top of all the other normal duties around here, was all ME! We both fell into the bed exhausted every night, but felt good from the days of hard work. The last few days we have been going back and forth from our old house as a family (even staying one night there), and so I am surrounded by chaos once again! Laundry to be done, unpacking and sorting still to be done, and a HUGE clothing donation from my sister (a blessing, of course!) to be sorted through.

We knew that getting out of debt would mean some hard work, but we didn't know exactly what kind of hard work would be involved. Now we know! Sometimes the days are stressful and we snap at each other, or the house is a wreck from having to focus on other things, or we are physically SO tired, but it has been worth it. We are definitely looking forward to selling our house so that we can settle into more of a routine around here (and be DEBT FREE, of course!). I'm also looking forward to swimming out from under the last box around here, and "everything having a place, and everything in its place".

I'm not sure what kind of blogs are the most interesting to my readers...sooo....leave a comment and let me know what you'd like for me to write about! What would you like to hear more about? What is the most interesting to you?

Packing Up

This week it's PACKING TIME! Next weekend is our moving day, so we are packing like crazy around here. Michelle Duggar has advice on packing in her 20 and Counting book, which she got from Emilie Barnes' book, so I've used that, plus the advice on Flylady's website. I have an index card file box. Inside is one card for each box, with the contents of each box listed on the card, along with the number of the box. The number of the box is also ON the box. :) This way, if I need to pull something out of a box, I know where to find it. I used those file boxes you can get at office supply stores to pack all our stuff for "storage" (since our mobile home is small, ALOT will be in storage!), and the things that we will be almost immediately unpacking from boxes are packed in moving boxes, and just labeled the usual way. We have colored stickers we are putting on the boxes - a different color for each room. Then we are planning to put a piece of paper with the color of sticker on the wall of the room where they belong - to make it easier for our sweet friends who will be helping us.

It's kind of nice to pack. For one, we've been trying to move for about 10 months now, so I've had lots of time to think about it. Also, we've lived in this house for 10 years, so there are things that haven't been touched in a while. Moving is good motivation to clear some things out, dust and clean, and organize.

Since we've got little ones, I've got to keep them busy, or else they get in trouble! I've been setting them up with activities to do: trains on the floor, puzzles at the table, books on the couch, etc., and I try to change the activities every 15-30 minutes. And of course, I let them help wherever they can! My 5 year old likes to help me assemble the boxes, wrap newspaper around dishes, and things of that sort. My 3 year old is good at fetching things like scissors or markers that I've forgotten. And my 2 yr. old sweetie is good at handing me things close by or throwing things in the trash. And baby is good at making sure I take a break every few hours to nurse her. :)

Our 4 chickens are at our neighbors house, hanging out with his chickens. The chicken tractor got moved at the same time and is now housing our neighbor's hen and her baby chicks. She was losing chicks at an alarming rate, so now they are safe from the chicken hawks, or whatever was eating the little chicks. It'll be fun to get more chicks of our own someday!

Borrowing, Mortagages, and Presuming Upon the Future

Back when we first decided to sell our house (hmm...maybe 2 years or so ago almost!), we talked with a realtor, one of Dave Ramsey's ELPs. He took us through evaluating our home value and what we would need to do to coordinate buying & selling. We knew, back then, that just putting our house up for sale and then just buying whatever was available would not work for us. We needed a miracle to be able to pay cash for a house! So we decided to save up money like crazy, buy a place with cash, and then sell our home once we got moved out. He appraised our home at about the same price that we purchased it for 10 yrs. ago. A little disheartening, but at least we would be able to pay off the mortgage with a little profit.

Now, here we are with our new place bought, trying to fix up our current house - and we call the realtor again to talk about putting our house on the market. Bad news. The housing market has plummeted, and our house (best case scenario), is worth about what we owe on it. That means that after paying the realtor we will actually have to PAY MONEY to sell our house! It's worse than breaking even. It's true that "riches maketh wings and fly away". This is all due to banks lending people money who can't afford to pay it back, and those people actually BELIEVING the banks and BORROWING more money than they can pay back. What's more, now that banks have changed their lending policies, fewer people qualify for a mortgage. That means, too many houses on the market, esp. foreclosures which are being sold for not much at all, and not enough people who can afford to buy! As the realtor says, "People don't want to buy your house, they want to STEAL it!"

Borrowing money is presuming upon the future (Jim Sammons quote). Presuming that your house will always be worth more than you owe on it. Presuming that you will be able to sell your house if you need to. Presuming that you will always have an adequate income to sustain your mortgage. Houses are not always appreciating assets. Jobs change. Moves sometimes need to be made quickly.

What if we took our financial limitations to be a sign of God's direction? If we didn't have the money to buy something, then that must mean that it isn't God's will for that time. "God's work in God's time will never lack for God's funds" - Jim Elliot. What if, as Christians, we decided to live in, drive, wear, and use whatever God has provided the cash-in-hand for? What if we taught our children how to work hard and save at an early age, so that by the time they are ready for marriage, they will be able to pay cash for their first home (however humble it may be)? What if, instead of foreclosing or filing for bankruptcy, we paid back what we owe, even if it took a long time? What if we believed God for the impossible?

We don't know what will happen with the sell of our house. We just know that God provides. I love how Dave Ramsey says that when you start moving in the right direction, it's like God puts a moving sidewalk underneath you, accelerating your progress in the direction He wants you to go. Will God work a miracle and help us to sell our house with enough money to pay off the mortgage and the realtor? Will He, in spite of a low selling price, provide the money from another source to pay it off? Will we find a renter instead to tide us over until the market recovers? Will we just have to scrimp and save (hey, we've done THAT before!) to make up for the difference? We are paying our stupid tax, as Dave Ramsey says. If it isn't too late for you, please heed the warning - the one in Scripture "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:7 or "Owe no man anything but the debt of love" or what about this one: "If thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger (banker!), thou art snared with the words of thy mouth (or thy ballpoint pen!). Do this now, my son, when thou are come into the hand of they friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe (or gazelle, as Dave Ramsey says) from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler." Proverbs 6:1-5

Preparing for a Move

Well, let's face it - we've been preparing for a move for 7 months now, BUT we are actually getting CLOSE now! The list of things we have LEFT to do is actually shorter now than the things we've gotten accomplished. The children's bathroom, boys' room, girls' room, living room, laundry room, and kitchen are all complete now! What remains is the master bedroom (installing carpet and baseboards) and master bath (take out old shower, replace flooring underneath shower as needed and possibly sheetrock behind shower, install new shower, paint, replace broken mirrors, install vinyl flooring, and replace countertops/sinks). I'm sure we will discover even more than needs doing in this bathroom, but that's our list for now. We also found a good deal on a steel frame, metal building that we will be using as a storage shed. What a load off my mind to have storage! The biggest stress for me living here was going to be lack of storage; glad it will not be a problem. The neighbor behind us does concrete, and he is having his trucks stop off at our house to pour concrete on the way to another job. He is able to give us a good deal that way. We are getting the best quality concrete because of the job he is doing on the way, and we are getting the highest storm/wind rated building in the hopes of using the building as a storm shelter as well. Our neighbor was just telling us about a tornado passing right over our homes a week or two ago! It went back up and caused no damage to our homes, but he could hear the roaring of it passing overhead. That is the second tornado this season that has passed so close by us. Thank the Lord for his protection! We are but dust, and our lives so fragile, yet He cares for us. We know that we will not leave this earth one day sooner than our appointed day, so there really is no place for worry. We know we are in His will doing what we are doing now, and in that regard, we are in the safest place on earth.

Tongue Tied

Little Hope is now two months old! She is such a sweet, pleasant baby. However, I knew something wasn't quite right. With my other children, nursing pain lasted about 4 weeks, but this time was different. Once 4 weeks passed, I kept thinking that any day the pain would go away. I tried adjusting her latch and doing all the things I knew to do. Days turned into weeks, and before I knew it, she was 7 weeks old and we were visiting the midwife. When she asked how nursing was going, I mentioned my ongoing pain. It just so happened that several of the midwives and assistants had just gotten back from a seminar on tongue-tie, and after examining her, they definitely thought she had it. They recommended a local dentist who is able to do the procedure with a laser, takes only a few seconds, and no anesthesia is necessary. The very next day I called to make an appointment. It was a Thursday, and they got me in on Monday, but honestly, Monday couldn't come fast enough for me! I was so ready to be done with this intense pain and to be able to enjoy nursing my sweet baby. When Monday DID come, we went in for our appointment and the dentist looked her over. He said that her tongue looked fine, but her upper lip frenulum (I believe it is called - the piece of skin that attaches the upper lip to the gums) was too short. Her mouth was unable to open wide enough when nursing, which was causing my pain and causing her to be gassy and not take in as much milk. In 30 seconds the whole procedure was over, and I was nursing my baby WITHOUT that intense pain! The next week or so was an adjustment for us. Hope's lip swelled pretty badly (she still looked so cute, though, poor baby!), but that was gone in a couple days. She never got fussy or refused to eat, as the dentist said she might, so we were thankful for that. We could just tell that her lip was still tender. Everytime I nursed, I had to pull her lip up as it should be, to keep it from reattaching, and also to help Hope relearn to nurse the correct way. I was still a little sore for the first few days, but now, things are feeling more normal. I'm so glad this procedure was available to us! It has certainly made a difference for me and for Hope. She is getting more milk now, is more satisfied and doesn't have the gas problems she was having before. And she is smiling for us now! We are thoroughly enjoying it, too. :)