10 Years

WOW!  I can not believe it.... mostly because time has gone by so fast.  Nathan and I have been together for 10 years. (married for 8 in May)  We started dating 10 years ago??? really??? Where did the time go?  I couldn't have been more blessed.  God truly gave me my soul mate.  Nathan is such an amazing, man, husband and father.  Nathan truly puts my needs firsts. (moving us back to Jacksonville is a great example of that) These 10 years have been wonderful, full of fun, love, long talks, laughter, arguments, disagrements, forgiveness and friendship.  I am thrilled to be where we are today and celebrating... I am excited to see what the years to come bring us.  Now we need a date night! ;)

Laundry Soap

Laundry is a daunting task for any large family... and can get quite expensive too.  I have seen recipes and heard of making your own soap and how easy and inexpensive it was... I have been wanting try this for a long time.  I have put off trying it even longer... b/c I had to make it and wasn't sure what I was in for. Well I finally jumped on the bandwagon!  After seeing a friend post it on facebook and she included pictures (I'm visual) it gave me the UMPH that I needed!

It really was easy peasy!  And CHEAP!  It cost around $6.00 for all the supplies and I have plenty of Borax and Washing Soda to make tons more.  This recipe is to make enough soap for 40 loads.  I will probably triple the batch the next time I make it.  I got the recipe from here http://duggarfamily.com/recipes.html  but I will also show you the steps. They also have a recipe for liquid detergent if you prefer that and for fabric softener (SIDE NOTE : Love the Duggars, I'm an avid watcher of their show!  We love their Tater Tot casserole, its a regular in the Fields house but I add shredded cheese to mine :) - try that too!)

Grab your supplies.  (Ivory bar soap, Borax and Washing Soda. It was hard to find the washing soda, finally found it at Publix!)

                                                 Give the baby a snack so he is happy :)

                                                                Grab a cute helper or two...

                                                       Keep Pooh and Piglet out of the soap.

                                                           Measure all ingredients.

          
                                                                           Add to soap.

                                                                           And stir.

Yes it is that easy!  You grind up one bar of soap on the fine part of the grater. (it was really easy to grind I thought it was going to be hard)  Add 1/2 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda.  Mix well and that is it!  Use 1 tablespoon for a regular wash and 2 tablespoons for a heavy soiled wash.  I've done several loads so far and I am impressed!  They smell is very clean and light. All the clothes are clean and colors are great! TRY IT and save some money!!!!! :)

For people with little babies... I think that this detergent is probably safe for babies.  So no more buying expensive baby detergent.  Since I used ivory soap the smell is really light and I don't think it would irritate the baby's skin. 

Another helpful tip... On the back of the Borax box was all sort of cleaning tips you can use Borax for... from stains to toilets... I haven't tried it yet... but Borax is really cheap (like $3) and worth a shot!

Jackson 8 months old

I need to update on my little man!  He is such a good baby!  I know I've said that a ton of times but he really is!  He is 8 months old (on December 29th) and such a cutie!  He is still rolling all over the place, very purposeful to get what he wants.  He gets a hold of the girls food alot too.  I have had to take away a chocolate covered pretzel, which the chocolate was mostly gone.  A chicken nugget... Payton had taken it away from the table when she wasn't suppose to and guess who found it!  He is eating all sorts of baby food and we started the "puffs" he loves them.  He just grabbed them like he had been eating them forever and gets them in his mouth without a problem.  Jackson babbles all the time and does raspberries.  He loves his sissies...  and the love him.  Taylor and Addison are all over him.  And are a huge help and make him laugh anytime that he gets fussy.

I don't think that I posted this but at Jackson's 6 month appointment (he was actually 7 months old we are a month behind b/c of our move) the DR that we went to was really concerned about his size being he was in the 3rd percentile in height and weight.  She was a bit extreme in my opinion.  I struggled with the comments that she had and things that she wanted to do b/c he was small. I didn't like some of the things that she said, she was quite rude and something else that happened.  I finally decided to go to another DR b/c if she going to freak out over everything I take them to the doctor for that would just get old real quick and drive me nuts.  So the new DR wasn't as concerned.  He had a couple of good points that Jackson is very alert and his stomach isnt sucken in you can't see his ribs... so more than likely he is just going to be a little guy.  He did say you never know though b/c every baby is different and grow differently.  I felt much more comfortable with what he said.  And was completely at ease about Jackson being "small" with all that said.  Exactly one week from the second appointment we had.  Jackson gained almost a pound and grew about an inch! I do have to admit that I wanted to contact the 1st "freak out DR" and say take that! lol  Don't mess with a Mama! (at least not this Mama)  I am very excited about Jackson's growth!

A little sprucing...

You know I can't leave well enough alone...  I finally broke out the vinyl on my cricut and LOVE it! :)

We needed some accessories for the master bath and since they are so expensive and we needed two of them (we have 2 sinks) I was waiting for a bargain!  Well I saw these cuties at the Dollar Store, yes plain white toothbrush holders but I liked that they had a bigger holder for the toothpaste too.  I fell in love and saw more! SCORE!

                                                      A litte bit of vinyl, so much cuter!

Nathan really likes them.  He thought that I bought them and they were like $10-$15 a piece.  PAH-LEESE! I would never spend that much on a toothbrush holder! Anywho... I told him where I got them and what I did.  He was impressed! :)

So having the cricut out and vinyl I couldn't stop... I always wanted to add something to this red plate that we have.  So it got a little sprucing too.

                                                                         So pretty...

Say Goodbye to the Gray...

I've mentioned before that we are blessed to now be living in my in-laws house, the house that Nathan grew up in.  It is a big house and very nice.  We love it :)!!!!  We are excited to put our "stamp" on it.  Everyone has different taste and with that said... my in-laws had all the trim work and doors in the house gray... just a look that they liked when they built the house.  We want to have color on the walls and want white trim.  I have been so anxious to paint.  Nathan HATES painting with a passion!  I have been bugging him about buying paint and he kept putting it off and didn't want to.  Well today he surprised me with a gallon of white paint!!! :) I was so excited... seriously the best present! So of course I started painting today, who could wait, not me! I was squealing while painting... I was so excited!  I started in the foyer... and man this is going to be some serious work! (LOL)  I cleaned the trim and then started painting... the gray was a pretty dark gray and it is going to take about 3 coats of white paint to cover good.  I'm thinking we might go get some primer... and then paint for other rooms.  (Yes the whole house has gray trim and doors)  My plan (don't you just love how I plan!) is to paint the trim in a room and then do the walls in that room.  So one room is finished and there is a sense of accomplishment.  Gotta keep the motivation up!

I did not get finished with the foyer today but I coat 2 coats done and 1 coat on the closet door.  Like I said I had a peek into the realization of this project today... going to be some serious work.  Good think I don't sit still for long ;) 

So here are some pics of the progress....

Foyer Before

(already moved furniture to the middle of the room)

Foyer Before

                                                             During... gray going away.

                                  
                                                           after... 2 coats needs 1 more

                                                                   after 2 coats... 1 to go!



A cluttered house...

Nothing drives me more batty than cluttered areas.  After 4 kids (and a husband) I have to deal with these areas more than I want to.  It is really ok, its not the end of the world... and I honestly tell myself when the house is overtaken with messes - that I would much rather have a cluttered house and fingerprints on the walls and glass and have sticky floors than to have a house empty of these messes b/c a house empty of these messes would mean no children (or only 1 or 2 kids)  So I would much rather have a house full of kids and a house full of clutter than no clutter at all. (or clutter that I could maintain!) 

With that said... I try to maintain the clutter and a portion of this comes from the hubster... he has alot of odds and ends from work and a work laptop.  There hasn't been an area in our houses for that! (Or I haven't made that area Ooops!)  anywho... this is his dumping station and it drives me crazy!!!  So I cleaned it up, now I just have to get him to put his stuff in the basket.... :)

Before cluttered mess in my kitchen.... driving me CRAZY! (In the back are our "good choice jars" I moved those, will write more on those later)

All cleaned up!  So much nicer :) and makes me happy except those chords... gotta figure something out for that, but for now it's all good.  Its the little things in life that make me happy :)

Please understand that our house is a mess most of the time and over taken with these clutter areas... I am not perfect at cleaning them all, all the time :)

Christmas continued...

Ok since I couldn't figure out the slideshow thing.  I put up my most favorite pics instead of all of them!  Its hard to choose people! lol  So now my Christmas post is really late.... oh well.  We had a wonderful Christmas morning.  I was so excited to see the girls faces.  Obviously each year gets more fun with the awareness and excitement growing.  We bought Taylor and Addison bikes this year and I just couldn't wait to see their faces!!!  Taylor, Addison and Payton were very sweet and cute with their presents.  Jackson slept in that morning which was nice to have undivided attention with the girls.  Jackson woke up and enjoyed his presents too ;)  Papa and Nana came over that morning and we had fun exchanging presents with them too.  Later that day we had a huge Christmas dinner with our family and that was alot of fun.  We loved having a house FULL of family here. :)  Would you believe that I was so busy during the dinner that I did not take a single picture!  URGH!  oh well. 

Here are my favs from Christmas morning...

All Tuckered Out

                                Jackson is zonked out asleep in the bumbo.  Christmas wore him out :)



Christmas Eve

Growing up Christmas Eve was a big holiday all in its own for me.  I spent Christmas Eve with my Dad and his side of the family.  It was a huge Christmas party with all the trimmings.  After dinner we would hear Jingle Bells coming from outside (my Grampa up on the roof banging a leather strap with jingle bells around) we'd run outside... to find Santa.  One year there was an airplane in the sky with a red light blinking and I freaked!  When we came back inside there was mounds of presents pouring from under neath the Christmas tree because Santa made a special trip early for me because thats when I was there with my Dad and Grandparents and my Dad. 

This is a magical memory for me and I remember Christmases at my Grandparents very vividly.  After moving to Atlanta we haven't been home for the last 3 years.  I was so excited to know be living here and could go to my Gramma's and see my Dad on Christmas Eve.  We don't do the Santa thing with our girls but we still had fun and enjoyed our family!

                                               Here is Taylor showing off her snow globe.

Christopher

 My Gramma and John

The girls playing with their new fairy toys.

 Payton excited about the Princess tent they just got.



Ginger Bread House

I have always wanted to do a Ginger Bread House and never have.  I am hoping to make this a Fields' Family tradition.   It was fun and cute and we bought the kit!  I originally wanted to make it ourselves... but lack of time got us this year... the kit worked out great!  The girls had a great time and Addy and Payton loaded up on sugar!  (Taylor won't eat anything sweet except sugar cookies)  Anywho... we had fun!  I love the pics of the girls licking their fingers ;)

Rolly Polly

My sweet Rolly Polly Jack Jack.  He is cracking me up!  This photo was taken Dec. 15th... so just over 2 weeks ago.  He isn't crawling, he isn't scooting.... he ROLLS!  None of the girls rolled... so this is a new one for us.  He is completely happy with just rolling.  He gets around good too.  I had him sitting on the Elmo couch in the picture to the right with some toys... I am going about my day... and where is Jackson... He rolled - I'm like how did you get there!?   He would only do this when I wasn't in the room either.... So it always surprised me.  Since taking this picture he is rolling more and has made it to the foyer.  He now does it when I'm in the room :)  Little stinker!  But a cutie!

 He is quite proud.

What happens when....

Sometimes I ask myself... WHY? Did I think this was a good idea???  I really thought it was at the time until we got home and I saw what they were doing!  We were at Hobby Lobby and I bought the girls a wooden coloring thing that comes with markers - my girls love these and I periodically buy them for them.  My thoughts were oh this will keep them entertained on the way home.  Hobby Lobby is about 25 minutes from our house and I thought that this would keep them awake since they had missed their nap this day.  They were quiet and I honestly didn't give it another thought...  So to my surprise when I got home and started unloading them out of the van.   But they are cute and it was quite funny!  It took about 2 baths to get all the marker off :)  So this is what happens when you let your daughters draw in the van on the ride home....