Sorting Laundry

Oh the lovely, fun topic of sorting laundry!!!

How do I sort I laundry, quickly and easily?

I have four spots where people are supposed to put dirty laundry.  Supposed to are the key words!

Once I gather all laundry from those four spots, it comes to said laundry room. In basement.  See post here.

I use these four bins I picked up at Ikea. (Sadly they did have purple at one time but no more. My purple wore out!) Mind you, I have tried several methods and this one finally worked! These bins slide in and out under a desk I have.

We all know that when organizing it's better to go UP and use the space. So UP it was for all this wash. I sort towels, lights, darks and athletics. (I do have a separate area for my husband's pants and delicates!)

When I sort, I simply pull a bin out and drop clothing in!

Once sorted the laundry bin is taken over to the washer!  

Peanut Butter Eggs!!! (with MYSTERY ingredient!)

My husband's family has a tradition every spring of making peanut butter eggs. This is usually done with his sister and his aunts.

We have skipped a few years, due to our crazy schedule, but we were able to make it happen this year.

Perhaps the cutest thing was when my 9 year old learned the MYSTERY ingredient!!

Peanut Butter Eggs

2 lb. 10X sugar
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 cup hot mashed potatoes (instant, prepared according to package)
chocolate for melting

Mix sugar, peanut butter, butter and hot mashed potatoes. Shape into egg-shaped ovals. Put on wax paper on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid. Meanwhile, place a small, oven safe, shallow dish in an electric skillet that has some water in it (about 1/2 inch). Turn skillet onto low. Place chocolate in small dish to melt. (We use a mix of 3/4 milk chocolate and 1/4 dark chocolate). When chocolate has melted and eggs are frozen, dip eggs using a candy or two pronged fork.  Return to tray to harden. Store in refrigerator.

The key is to have the right fork! Dipping can be the hardest!

Making a mess while mixing! Best to use an electric mixer!

Rolling the eggs and melting the chocolate. Notice our melting method!

Usually after we are all done we will dip marshmallows, pretzels, Ritz Bits, etc!

Happy Easter!

Laundry Rooms...Sigh!

Laundry.

Not my favorite subject. Because let's face it. They haven't invented a laundry folder yet (other than children). Nor a laundry-putter-awayer (other than children).

I do not enjoy doing laundry. The only time I enjoy it is when I can watch a good show or movie while folding tons of it. Lately that just seems like a waste of time.

I wish I could say I have tamed the laundry monster. But, nope. Not in this house! We still have TONS!

Someday....and then I'll miss it!

But until then, I've had to make my laundry room a workable space.  The problem is the house was built in ~1819. Before laundry was done indoors. Before indoor plumbing. Before bathrooms. Before laundry rooms! Thus the problem. There is NO laundry room.

In fact, the laundry was probably done in the creek!!!

So, when we redid our house there was a laundry hook up. In the basement.

Not a problem. I grew up with laundry in the basement. Wayyyy back in the back bottom of the house.

The problem is when you see all the OTHER houses with BEAUTIFUL new, lovely laundry rooms.

You know the ones, with granite counters, cupboards, beautiful shelves. That don't have any laundry on them. Nope, not one stitch!!! Best of all is when the creator shares their idea and says they got 50 boxes to organize stuff in. At $5.99 for each box. Hello! I cannot afford that!

My laundry room is not like that!

In fact, my laundry room is in the SAME room as the heating system. And a bunch of duct work!  There is no nice cabinet and no counter top. There IS a utility sink! And some shelves my husband put up!  And a very old desk from the Hamilton Watch Company!  Well, not that old. It's metal!

So how did I make peace with my laundry room? I decided it wasn't going to change, there wasn't any way to make it new and updated.  So I might as well do with it what I could. And that's what I did! I always try to use what I have.

First up was to figure out how to sort laundry for seven people! That's at least six baskets folks! (I can put my husband's and mine together!).  How do you even have enough floor space for six baskets?

Well, after lots of searching, I found an idea. I got a baker's rack (I found this one cheap, but would suggest looking at an auction for a restaurant supply place. We have a local place that liquidates restaurant equipment.) Then I got laundry baskets at Ikea. I needed to use these because of the size. I had to have two fit on one shelf.

Once laundry is FINALLY folded it goes into these baskets. Children are responsible to put their laundry away.

Yes, that's my sad lost sock bin up top! Poor socks!

My husband made this Amish style drying rack a long time ago. We use it to hang up stuff that can't go in the dryer.

I also have a second drying rack. I know you are jealous of all my duct work!

These are my shelves. And please take note of the bright light bulb. No fancy lighting here. This is the room that is the "utility room". It originally had only a DIRT floor. So I am thankful we put concrete in. I did find this beach type mat at Lowe's a few years back. I realized I needed something to make the dreary room a little cheery.  The baskets on the dryer are for my husband's pants and delicate items.  I make sure these are sorted so no one accidentally puts them in on regular! Some day I will show my method for sorting laundry.

But for now, I will be PROUD of my ~1819 laundry room. I won't compare to the ones that are glorious, but be thankful for the way I was able to organize this one! As my daughter says, "We love living in this house!"

Youthanize by Rob Cook ~ Something for ANYONE who wants to reach out to others

Wow. God had me read Brave Moms, Brave Kids by Lee Niehuis.  Then I did I Am Loved Bible Study (thanks Proverbs 31 Online Bible Studies) by Wendy Blight.  I also read If You Only Knew by Jamie Ivey.  I am finishing up Armor of God by Priscilla Shirer.

I was trying to figure out what to read next. I am a huge book "collector" not always having time to read, but desperately wanting to. (Put me on the beach and ahhhhh......)

So I grabbed Youthanize by Rob Cook off my shelf.

I will get to my review soon but perhaps a story is in order.

We love to go to Creation Northeast.  We have started a tradition of going with our older children.  That's a whole 'nother blog post on how to go to Creation and do it "well".  ("Well" to my standards!)

The kids love to play "Bigger and Better". Bigger and Better is when you take something from your campsite and head off to other campsites to trade for something bigger and better. Our crew took a (popular at the time) fidget spinner. Off they went.  Always trading what they got for something bigger and better.

Eventually they came back with a book. They decided this was their "better" and they were keeping it.  They started reading it. Mostly out loud at the campsite.  We loved it.  Added expression as they read only made it better.  Then my friend had a bullhorn she had brought along. Reading the book with the bullhorn was priceless.

At one point some of the crew realized they had seen the man who gave them THE book and realized he was the author! Wow! Someone famous! They tracked him down and invited him back to our campsite.

Mind you at Creation there are thousands of campsites.

Finally, the author walked in. We were soon getting ready for supper and it was my night to cook, but we quickly realized this was a moment to sit down and listen.  We were so excited. He had someone else with him but we had no clue who he was!

So, Rob Cook started to share. He shared a little of his story and listened to one of our crew read his book with the bullhorn.

  My son and friend with Rob Cook along with his two devotionals. Regener8 and Illumin8

Then....we realized the person he had with him had OPENED on the main stage at Creation NE and he just maybe was a bigger deal than Rob Cook. Just maybe.  But I think to our group we were just blessed to have BOTH of them there!  We just listened to Rob and Jordan Coppas for quite a time! And we were blessed.

Now onto my review!

I picked up this book at just the right time. Just after reading Jamie Ivey's story of how she group up in the church but did not follow Christ in the church.  Then Youthanize which shares of how to reach out to the unchurched!! Unfortunately, as Rob shares, the methods we've used the last 100 years are NOT working. Something needs to change!

Rob challenges you in this book. Are your current outreach methods working? What would happen if you actually went outside the church  to reach people for Jesus? What would that look like? Would it make you uncomfortable? What would happen if they came to church? Would you need to them to "conform to church" or can you love them in the name of Jesus. I appreciate that Rob shares just how to do it!

In this book, Rob gives practical insight on how to reach the lost for Jesus. Rob says it like it is. This book is written with those working with youth in mind, however,  I would suggest anyone with a call to reach the lost read it. It can be adapted for any ministry.  Who would that be with a call to reach the lost? Why, that would be the entire church!

Rob shares samples lessons at the end which are a great resource as well.  He also shares lessons he has learned from what went wrong!

I found out that I had to have my highlighter with me since there was so much good insight in this book!

Most books I read I have been given a free copy to provide an honest review. This book however, I proudly bought  and will be buying more to hand out!

Organizing BATTERIES!!

Ok, so this is crazy. But much of life around here is!!

How do you organize batteries?

You know. The ones laying in the junk drawer! 😮

Well, they are a mess to keep track of but I have a super simple way to organize them. Yes, super simple! And kinda crazy.

Measure the space where you want to put your organizer. Because these come in all sizes! Or try to figure out how many batteries you have on hand.

Go to the local hardware store. Get an organizer for nails, screws, nuts, bolts, whatever you want to call it.  Keep in mind that you can't fit a ton of D size batteries.  So plan ahead.  4 will go in the bigger drawer.

Get our your label maker. Make labels for all your batteries ~ AA, AAA, C, D, etc. Then make one for MISC. You know...the ones that you got for THAT watch, or THAT toy.

Sort your batteries. Place in drawers. Yes, you simply must break up the new batteries in the packs. Don't forget to make a drawer for your battery tester.

And there you go! Batteries are organized!!!

The Big Book of Bible Stories for Toddlers

Time for another book review! More organization tips coming soon! Maybe! 😉

The BIG Book of Bible Stories for Toddlers

This book is a great soft cover book with sturdy cardboard pages.  My daughter and I sat down to read the book and enjoyed it! Although she is older than a toddler, she enjoyed reading the pages and looking at the beautiful illustrations. 

One thing that is lacking in the book is New Testament stories. This book features old testament stories and then a few stories on Jesus and that is where it ends. There are no stories of Paul or other New Testament stories.

This is a great beginner Bible or storybook for younger children. The illustrations are well done and we were excited to see that it goes along with the Gospel Project. This would also make great gift.

There is also the added feature of an app to use with the book. This will allow the story to be read to the child. (It does not read the page word for word, but in this case it adds more detail.)  The pages also have a 3-D effect using the app. Note: The symbol on the bottom right page is for the app.

I was given a free copy of The BIG Book of Bible Stories for Toddlers for my honest review.