Giveaway

I just found this site that is having a holiday giveaway...check it out
http://pankratzfam.blogspot.com/

Getting it done

Well, even though I was working this weekend, I was able to get some more done in the bathroom. As you can see, I have the flooring down. I still have a little trimming, and need to tape it down, but it is down. It looks much better in person. Now that I have the floor down, and have to wait for the new shower base to arrive, I will do the walls. I should have the walls done on Tuesday, with the plumbing done on Wednesday. Then the shower base should be back in....then the fun begins. I doubt if I can get it all done before my parents come from Florida...but at least it will be functional again (minus shower).

Flooring

I am finally installing the sub-floor. After we all ate our turkey dinner, I started. I have the new sub-floor down, and am almost ready to apply the thin-set mortar to install the Duarock floor. I have chosen to do it this way to prevent potential water damage.....better safe that sorry. Unfortunately, I unwrapped the new shower base only to discover that there is a major flaw...there's a crack in the base. The biggest problem is that it is a special order item, and it takes a week to come in. So tomorrow I will need to take it back to have a new one ordered. At least I have other work that I can do in the mean time...ie plumbing and walls. I probably will only do the plumbing, but who knows, I may tackle the wainscoting walls. This time tomorrow, I plan on having the new vinyl flooring down. We will see, depends on how long it takes at Lowes for the return/re-order. Need to get a going and get that Duarock down so it can start setting up (mortar takes a while to dry)

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. Personally, today I am reminded how lucky I am that I know how to do the bathroom. I am thankful for my dad who taught me, my mom who encourages me to tackle things that I may fear that I can't do, children who enjoy helping, children who all have accepted Christ as their Savior and who love the Lord, a job that pays the bills and allows me to be home with the kids during the week, a home that I can afford, and life in general.

Check out this Giveaway

Hey, here's another giveaway to check out. This is for Black Friday. There is a new drawing every hour on the hour starting at 7am. Go grab your number now.
http://kandykissesboutique.typepad.com/

Giveaway-Womp’Em Sticks

Head over here for a great giveaway
http://crazydogslife.blogspot.com/2008/11/whomp-em-sticks-review-giveaway.html
They are giving away Womp’Em Sticks.

Finally

Finally-the DEMO IS DONE!!! YEA!! After the girls and I finish the cleaning then I get to install. I am not removing all the old plaster walls, just going to cover with wainscoting. I guess it's cheating, but why do more work than is really needed (more work means more money that would need to be spent to fix)

WFMW-Home Made Cranberry Sauce/Bathroom Demo Completion

I hate canned cranberry sauce...so do my kids. It is terribly tart and to me just plan yuck. However, give me homemade, yummy! The great thing about homemade, you can make it as sweet or as tart as you like. In keeping with the holiday, WFMW-Homemade Cranberry Sauce-super easy and yummy.

1-12oz bag of whole cranberries

1 cup of sugar (more if you want it sweeter)

1 cup of water

Place all ingredients in a heavy sauce pan. Cook on med-high until boiling and all cranberries have burst (once boiling it is only minutes). At that point you can place in a bowl, I however place in a blender to blend then place in a bowl. You can also skim off the burst cranberries if you prefer a jelly instead of a jam-your choice.

I am almost done with the bathroom demolition. My plan is to have it completed today, as well as prepare what I can for tomorrow. We are eating our meal at noon tomorrow, so everything that can be made ahead needs to be done. I plan on installing the sub-floor for under the tub tomorrow, like I have nothing better to do....ha ha. I need to do it tomorrow while I have help to carry in the 3ft by 5 ft piece of 1/2 in plywood....it's too big and bulky for just me to handle. The sooner I get it in, the sooner the shower base can go in. Yahoo!!!

Already this morning I have been the the grocery store and bought my last minute supplies for dinner tomorrow. I have also been to Ace Hardware to by the rest of the pluming supplies for the shower base. Took my youngest to school (he was late for the bus). Made my cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and started the green beans. My girls helped me tip and snap the beans, so that was a big help. I also removed the remainder of the tile floor....just a little more wall tile to remove and demo is done!! Been a little busy, but the sooner it is done, the better.

Well, I got a lot of work left to do today, so I better get going. Have a great day!

Don't Do This At Home....

Here is a picture of my boys. This is one of my favorite pictures. It is so typical of them. They really love each other a lot, love to fight, wrestle, joke...being brothers.

Yesterday I had quite a scare, other than my oldest being sick. I was trying to wash my hands, but instead of getting a squirt of soap in my hands.....it went in my eyes. OUCH!!!! I immediately flushed my eye with loads of water. I called my eye doctor, and luckily they could see me right away. I am a little touchy about my eyes, see I had Lasik eye surgery about 1 yr ago. Even though I flushed the soap out of my eye, it was still burning and felt like there was something in it, and my eye was starting to swell. I got right into the doctor. They looked, and sure enough there was something wrong. It seems that the soap and flushing caused a minor corneal abrasion. The doctor said that it wasn't that bad, more like a carpet burn, but it was there. The doctor said it should heal very quickly, but it will hurt for a couple of days, but each day should be better. This morning it is feeling so much better, still stings, but nothing like it was.

My shower came is late last night, so off to Lowes to go pick up the base. Since I had such a terrible weekend, I am a little behind in the remodel, but will just need to pick things up this week....fun.

Sick Pup Update/Work

Well I had to take my eldest to the doctor today. He has been sick all weekend. He is still running fevers and started coughing terribly yesterday. The doctor said that he has the start of an ear infection as well as pneumonia, so antibiotics to start. At least he should be better for Thanksgiving.

This weekend at work was terrible. I am an on-call hospice nurse, and I love it. I love the dying individual, and their needs are so different from other patients. I do hospice, because I love the challenge and needs of the dying individual and family. I go to people's homes when there is a need (pain control, emotional support, death pronouncement). When I work weekends, I start work at 6:30pm on Friday and stop at 8am Monday morning. Normally those hours are not a problem, since most of the time I may only have a few visits all weekend long. This weekend was an exception. I had a 2 hr visit Friday night, went to bed at a decent hour (11pm), woke up Saturday morning around 8am. I had to leave my house 8:30am Saturday morning, and I did not get home until 10:30pm that night. I then had a call at 1:30am...off I went, just to get home at 5:30am. Tried to sleep in a bit, but back out the door at 7:30am, finally home around 5pm. Just to get a call at 8pm requiring me to go out yet again....figures, given the holiday approaching. Mind you, most of my time at work is driving. I figured that I drove approx 700miles all weekend long. I still feel like I have been run over, just need to catch up on my lack of sleep. I only made a total of 10 visits, which is really not that many given the number of miles I drove and the number of actual working hours. I love my job, and the hours, since I can be home with my kids all week long, when I have them. I make the trade-off of working all weekend, in exchange of being with the kiddos. Good trade-off if you ask me. This schedule entitles me to work full-time with limited work days. This is why I can remodel then house all week long. I am not a Super Woman by any stretch of the imagination, just crazy....tee hee.

To learn more about hospice care please visit The Hospice Foundation of America at

http://www.hospicefoundation.org/

One Sick Pup/Making Soap

Well, my eldest is under the weather. On Wednesday afternoon, I had to pick him up from school early, because he was starting to run a fever. He had to stay home from school Thursday and today. He is running a fever of 101.2. That's it, no vomiting, no stuffy nose, just a fever. Of course, when he is running a fever his head hurts and joints ache, but isn't that normal for anyone running a fever over 101?

Because he is sick, and this is my week to work, I haven't been able to do much on the bathroom. I did however buy the new shower base, faucet, and plumbing supplies. I had to order the base and it will be in on Tuesday November 25. That should give me just enough time to put in the rough plumbing (re-run the supply lines-since I had to remove the old because they were falling apart), place sub-flooring plywood over the existing sub-floor (just for added support, as well as filling in a huge gaping hole from where they cut out the old sub-floor for the old tub drain), as possibly lay down the new vinyl floor. If I don't get the rough plumbing done, it is not that big of a deal, because I can still do it after the tub is in place, but it is easier to access without the base in place. I can't wait to go back to Lowe's and buy the tile. I am really getting excited. It is fun to watch it all come together.

Next week my oldest 3 have no school. They have Thanksgiving break. They will need to help me in the bathroom for sure. One day next week, I plan to have a soap making day. Me and my girls will make soap. I plan on giving soap and fizzy bath bombs to the teachers as Christmas presents. I've made soap in the past, and it is fun to watch the fats and lye transform into soap. In school the girls have been studying matter and how you can change matter from liquids to solids by adding heat or other chemical reactions. I thought that it would be fun for them to see the chemical reaction take place by stirring. (Yea, I'm a science geek). My mom always says that I live at Little House on the Prairie.

Works for Me Wednesday-Easy & Cheap Wallpaper Remover

Easy & Cheap Wallpaper Remover.....no, it is not an oxymoron. Since I live in an old house, with lots and lots of wallpaper (every wall in my house has wallpaper), I have tried everything and spent loads of $$$ on products to remove wallpaper. I have found that the easiest is just plain old hot water. It's very simple and the cheapest. Fill a spray bottle with hot tap water (hot water tends to work a little better, but cold tap water works too). Score the wallpaper, and then spray the wallpaper until it is soaked. Let the wallpaper sit for 15-20 minutes(1 cycle), repeat the cycle for a minimum of 2 cycles before trying to scrap off. It is best to lightly spray before trying to scrap off. I have found that going through at least 4 cycles is even better. When I have done this, and gone through 4 cycles, then the old wallpaper can be pulled off almost in full sheets. Basically, by using water, what is happening is the glue is being turned back into liquid. With this method, you will have to wash the old glue off the walls with a sponge, but better than spending hours on end scraping and scraping and scraping. Good luck with your wallpaper removing.

Winter

Let the snow fall. I am so ready for some snow....especially after a small taste of it last night. We had a few snow flurries, and a slight dusting (very slight) over night. I guess that I am just a kid at heart...I LOVE SNOW. Don't get me wrong, I have shoveling the driveway, but I love the look of snow all over the trees and ground. I love waking in the morning seeing the ground covered in the fluffy white stuff.

My plan for the day is to cut out the rest of the plaster from the walls. I need to cut the top edge of the plaster (means tons of plaster dust everywhere) with my circular saw, then remove the remaining plaster and chicken wire that holds the plaster up. Once that is done....plumbing (yea).

Guess that I should put dinner in before I start working in the bathroom. We are going to have pot roast for dinner....pot roast in crock pot....gotta love it.

Bathroom

Hooray...THE TUB IS OUT!!!! I am just so happy to see it gone.

More Bathroom

As you can see, the bathroom remodel is still coming along. In order to get the tub out, I had to remove the toilet and sink. Tomorrow the tub will finally be gone! Hooray!!! As soon as the tub is gone, I can really get down to business. Out will come the rest of the walls around the tub, will be able to order the new shower base, install the new plumbing, install the new shower base, then the new walls. After the new walls go up, then it will take a little to get the new tile up. After the tile goes up, then the new walls in the rest of the bathroom. I plan on doing wainscoting, using bead board panelling. The nice thing about the wainscoting bead board is that it will cover where the old tile was removed (hides things and looks good). Then on to painting, flooring, and finally installing the sink and toilet, and maybe a new mirror and lights. It's called bathroom remodel on a budget of $2000 or less....can it be done? So far I have estimated the cost of supplies to be $1100. Yes, I think I can do it. Amazing how much money one saves by doing things themselves.....DIY Network does pay off.

Baked Fried Chicken, and twins

Twin #1 is in red

Twin #2 is in blue.

They are 8 yrs old, and my middle kids. I have boys flanking them. They all love to fight with each other, but the love each other very much. I will show you pictures of my boys later. You have seen my youngest already, he is the one helping me tear apart my bathroom. Back to my recipe swap.

Gayle over at http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/ is having a recipe swap, so here is mine. This is my girls favorite, and it is real simple.

Baked Fried Chicken

Ingredients

6-8 pieces of chicken

1 cup of Bisquick

1 tsp salt and pepper

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp parsley

1/4 stick of butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees, cut butter into quarters and place in baking pan. Melt butter in pan.

While butter is melting, place all ingredients except butter and chicken in a bowl and mix (can add spices to suit taste). Coat chicken with Bisquick mixture. Place chicken, skin side down, in pan/butter. Cook for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then decrease temp down to 350 degrees and turn chicken over. Cook for 30 minutes more, or until done. That's it. Serve with your favorite sides, we like mashed potatoes and green beans.

By the way, the answer to your questions is "No, it is not the same girl, and Yes, they are twins" Actually, when people usually ask I tell them that "No, they are not twins, but it was a buy one get one free sale at the hospital". As a mom of twins, you get certain questions asked over and over. The other answer to your question is, "I tell them apart by looking at them, they don't look alike." I love being a mom of twins, but certain questions get old after a while. My girls like different things, and have totally different personalities. It makes sense, since they are different people. That is the one thing I wish people would understand about identical twins, they are different people. They have different likes and dislikes.

Rainy Day

Today has been one of those lazy rainy days. Haven't done much of anything, and now I have 4 whining kids home from school. Twin #1 is complaining that Son #1 stole her gum from the car, and twin #2 is whining that she has to read for homework, and Son #2 is complaining that he can't go outside to play. Put on top of all that, my throat is starting to feel sore, and my ear ache....one cranky house. Just can't wait for the real whining to start when twin #1 has to put the dishes up, son #1 take out the trash, twin #2 clean the table, and son #2 help mom with the laundry.....then the real drama will unfold. Today is really a day that I can't wait for bedtime to come fast enough.

Tomorrow will probably not be much better. I have to do some plumbing, so I can remove a bathroom sink (the turn off valve leaks when turned to the off position), remove the bathroom sink and toilet (so the tub can be removed), more laundry (never stops...2 loads a day regardless), take the girls to a church bonfire, take the boys out to dinner (since they can't go to the bonfire...girls only), go to the grocery store to buy marshmallows for the bonfire, try to get in touch with someone to help remove the tub (only weighs 300-400 lbs), so on and so on. Still need to put the pool up from the summer. I have it all down, and just need a little help folding it up to put it away. My list keeps on growing larger and larger by the minute, but so is life in a big family.

Works For Me

This is a great recipe for cleaning whites. It will get almost any stain out of white clothes....and with 4 kids wearing white uniform shirts everyday, I have a lot of need for a great stain remover.
Word of warning: use in a well ventilated area, the fumes are wicked....but not harmful.
1 cup bleach
1 cup vinegar
1 cup baking soda
place bleach and vinegar in a big pan (dishpan works great), fill the pan up hot water. Add the white clothes, then add the baking soda. Once the bubbling stops, the stains should be gone...I tend to let the clothes sit for 15 minutes...once done sitting, I rinse the clothes, and then wash as normal. Gets the clothes so white, and stain free.
Have bought used stained drapes, and table cloths, used this recipes, and poof-just like new.

Another tip-
To get blood out of clothes, use hydrogen peroxide. Just poor on the spot, the peroside will bubble and remove the blood. Sometimes, you may need to keep pouring more on and may need to rub, but it will eventually get the blood out. Just rinse the peroxide from the clothes with cold water.

~The Handmade Quilt-er~: Win This Quilt (My Giveaway)

~The Handmade Quilt-er~: Win This Quilt (My Giveaway)

Time

There are just not enough hours in the day. I have so much to do, and not nearly enough time to do it all in. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, shopping for a new toilet seat, bathroom remodel, cooking dinner, and homework with the kids. Guess a mother's work is never done.

Just Another Day

Just another day working, which means another day driving around the state of Maryland. While driving I will be thinking of everything I have to do at my house that I can't get done....laundry, dishes, that bathroom. One day soon I will have that tub out (my goal for this week). Well, don't have much time, gotta get ready to leave and start my day.

Odds and Ends

This first picture is of a flower that I saw while on a field trip with my twin girls. We went to a nature center. At the center they were talking about how seeds travel, and the different types of seeds. I really loved the trip, except that I would have loved to have more time to actually look. Kinda hard to do while watching 5 8yr olds that only wanted to run around the labyrinth.

Any one tell me what kind of flower this is?

This picture is of my littlest helping to tear down my bathroom walls. Yes, all that wall is now down with this little ones help. Every day that little guy comes home from school, he begs me to bang more in the bathroom. He has done a great job ripping out walls, tearing up tile floors, cutting out plumbing. Is it wrong to let a 5 yr old do these types of times??? Then again, I did let this little one cut down a 20-30ft tree with an axe all by himself.

I like to save money where I can, even if that means letting the little ones do the labor, but is it wrong if they want to do it?

Nature of the Beast

As you all know, I have been remodeling my 3rd bathroom. My youngest son has been helping a lot with removing the walls. Well, I am now down to removing old plumbing. Yesterday, I was in the tub, working at removing some of the plumbing. I was sitting on the edge of the tub, the one that I am trying my hardest to free up to remove, and decided that I needed to change my angle, and try to work at the plumbing from behind (through a 2 ft by 1 ft access panel). I started to swing my leg over the tub, but it got caught on something. Down I went, banging the back of my head on the sink on the way down. Trying hard to catch myself, yet keeping myself from getting too torn up from the shards of ceramic tile littering the floor (had to remove part of the old ceramic floor tile to be able to remove that d*** tub). Checking myself, well, can't be too bad, no major bleeding, and I can still walk.....barely. Looking at my foot, I've got myself a good bruise on the left little toe. Foot still hurts like the dickens, but no break or dislocation...just my pride. Today, I am back at it, almost have the old plumbing out. I still need to somehow figure out how to remove the old faucet, but it is coming along slowly.

My Favorite Store

I went to my favorite store again today. My youngest was so excited to be able to go. Giant Eagle has free child care for shopping moms. Giant Eagle is a grocery store. They also offer money back towards gasoline, as well as good prices on items I buy. After check-out, I looked at my receipt and was surprised to find that I can save $2.20 per gallon of gas....Regular unleaded is a whopping $2.19/gallon. I quickly went to the gas station and proceeded to spend a whole $1.85 on 18.5 gallons of Super Unleaded. That works out to a total of $0.09/gallon. I could have splurged and spent $0.19/gallon on Premium, but, I thought that Premium might break my budget..lol.
That's why I love Giant Eagle.