Mandy Knits a Lot and other musings from a pastor's wife

This week has been a roller coaster of illness at our house. The week started with Matt waking up about 1 am Monday. I was awakened by the sound of him throwing up beside my bed. After that all stopped, laundry started and child asleep in my bed, I go crawl in Matt's bed, only to discover that he'd thrown up in it, too. So in the dead of night I'm changing sheets so I'll have a place to sleep. Monday being a holiday, I couldn't take him to the doctor. He ran a fever a lot of the day, but didn't throw up again until... Tuesday morning at 2:55 am, we repeat pretty much what happened the night before. Except this night, he made it all the way to our room before he threw up. After cleaning and getting him back to sleep in our bed, I tried to sleep in there, too. His congestion was so back that he was snoring. Who can get to sleep with that?! So I spend the rest of the night on the couch. He goes to the doctor Tuesday morning. He's not got strep, but most likely ...

No, we are not moving to a new house. We are just shifting rooms within the house. This is how it was when we first moved in: BR1: Dave and I BR2: Matt BR3: Junk BR4: Computer and workroom Then Elizabeth was born. Her crib went up in our room since our room was the largest. I also didn't want her crying and waking up Matt. After she started sleeping all night long, we did a little rearranging again: BR1: Matt and Lizzie BR2: Dave and I BR3: Cleaned out and turned into my craft/sewing room BR4: Computer/workroom/junk Now Matt is wanting his own room. Since we are fortunate to have 4 bedrooms, he can. So I've spent the better part of today packing up my craft room so he can have his own room. I've moved all his toys, his bed, and all his other assorted stuff into my former craft room. He can now shut his door and keep Lizzie out of his stuff. Tomorrow, Dave and I will pack up the computer/work/junk room and moved Lizzie into that room. Here's the new configuration: BR1: C...

I've done pretty good with keeping up with the folding. Right now, there is one basketful waiting to be folded, one in the dryerm and one in the washer. I'm working on it.

Dave said in his sermon this past Sunday that 25% of New Year's Resolutions are broken before 2 weeks have past. I haven't made it that far yet, but I'm doing pretty good. Right now, the only unfolded thing in the laundry room is the dirty laundry. I'm not folding that. Not everything is put away, but everything clean is folded and stacked or hung up. It is a good feeling to know that I can find exactly what I'm looking for, unless it's dirty. It's great!

Our house is taken over by The Office. We love it and watch it every night. Dave got all 3 seasons on DVD so we've watched them over and over. Although I know what happens with Pam and Jim, her stomach just drops whenever they don't get things right. I know what happens. Anyway, the writer's strike has got to stop soon so the show can get back going again. It's just so funny and good and all that. If you haven't watched it, you should. It's awesome!

As of now, both the dryer and the washer are empty. That's unusual for me. There's no piles in baskets. In fact, all the baskets are empty and piled up themselves. There are small piles of neatly folded clothes for each of us. All clean clothes are folded. There is quite a pile of dirty clothes in front of the washer, but those don't count in the resolution. It is so nice to be able to find any piece of clothing that I have and it's right where it is supposed to be. I also hung up a rod in the laundry room for hanging up hanging clothes. Dave went through all his clothes and got rid of everything that doesn't fit or he just doesn't wear. I think he's got about 3 button-up shirts and 2 dozen t-shirts left. The closet is much emptier, and so less laundry. This is probably the most boring blog in the world, but folding laundry is a big deal because it had become so much of an issue to me. It's like Clean Sweep or How Clean is Your House. Getting rid of the ...

New Year's Resolutions have always been a big joke to me. Last year I resolved to not drink any coffee. I detest coffee. But this year, I'm going to try one. Laundry is a huge issue for me. I don't enjoy it. Washing and drying is easy. Putting clothes into one machine and then into another is a simple quick task. I don't mind that. I only have to remind myself that my grandmother had to haul all the clothes outside and wash them by hand--she had 6 kids. However, after the dryer comes the problem. I'm usually looking for a shirt or jeans that I know is in the dryer because I washed them a few days before. After I pull all the clothes out of the dryer, Elizabeth finds me and gets all under my feet, so now I have to leave the pile to tend to her. After 5 or 6 loads, that makes quite a pile. It's hard to find 2 little baby socks in all that. It has gotten so bad that I put a box in the laundry room to put in clothes that I find that are too little for the kids. Some...

Dave and I recently had a second child, a girl, join our family. Her big brother Matt is incredibly protective of her. He tells EVERYONE, "Don't look at Elizabeth!" And he means it, too! The jump from 1 child to 2 has been quite an adjustment for me. I had almost a year to adjust to not working before Elizabeth was born. Most days it was just Matt and me. I was able to spend quite a bit of time with him. I've come to realize that one more child does not just double to work--it's multiplied. Despite all the extra work, I wouldn't trade these days for anything!