Things to Know....Just in Case

Just in Case.... Tomato Sauce Stains Follow these steps to remove tomato juice and tomato sauce stains from washable fabrics such as Acrylic Fabric, Modacrylic, Nylon, Olefin, Polyester and Spandex: Sponge stain with cool water immediately. Then rub with a lemon slice or sponge lemon juice on the stain. Flush with water, blotting as much liquid as possible. Allow to dry. If any trace of stain persists: Presoak (the method of soaking a stained article in warm water before laundering it) in a solution of 1 quart warm water, 1/2 teaspoon dishwashing detergent, and 1 tablespoon white vinegar for 15 minutes. Rinse with water and launder as soon as possible. Raspberry Stains 1. Flush stain with cool water. 2. Mix one tablespoon of white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent with one quart of cool water. Soak in this solution for 15 minutes. 3. Rinse with water. 4. If the stain remains, sponge with rubbing alcohol and rinse thoroughly. 5. Launder, using chlorine bleach, if safe for the fabric. Chocolate Milk Stains http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Scotchgard/Home/Applications/Carpet/Stain_Removal/ Blood Stains http://www.ehow.com/how_1212_remove-blood-fabric.html Strawberry Stains Mix baking soda with water into a paste. Apply liberally to fabric. Let stand for a few minutes than launder immediately. Removed Anne's stains after sitting on strawberries in the car for three hours! Your camera gets wet (aka you leave it outside and there is a rainstorm later that day). DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TURN THE CAMERA ON AND TRY IT!!! Immediately remove the batteries. Remove the memory card and any other removable part. Leave the camera to dry for one week. If you are brave you can bury the camera in a bucket of rice with lid on it. I was desperate to have a working camera and figured, "hey what's a little rice compared to what this baby has already been through?!" I buried the camera in rice as suggested by several websites. It was a bit dusty when we removed it, but cleaned off easily with a microfiber cloth. Put new batteries in the camera once it is completely dry and power it up! GOOD Luck! Our camera powered up, but unfortunately the LCD panel no longer works. We were willing to live without the LCD panel for a while, but after a few days the battery light began flashing. We opted to buy a new camera since it isn't economical or practical to replace four batteries every few days....and we took it as a sign that there are some other problems with our camera we don't know about. So, if you leave your camera out in a rainstorm....prepare yourself...you may just have to buy a new one. You Get Dry Erase Marker on Your Clothes For my teacher friends and parents with children that use dry erase boards Murphy's Oil Soap is the only thing I found to remove the stains. After reading several other things people tried to get the marker out of their clothes....save yourself the headache and time...go buy some Murphy's Oil Soap. Place the soap directly on the stain. Turn the fabric inside out and place on a paper towel or clean rag. This will help prevent the stain from transferring onto another part of your clothing. Use a sponge or toothbrush to rub the stain back out of the fabric. I used a clean rag to scrub the fabric. Rinse and repeat often. This saved me Grace's favorite pants (the stain was two weeks old and washed, dried, and treated many times over) and Anne's best Sunday dress. My search for a dry erase cure lead me to a wonderful product... Foohey's Washable Dry Erase Markers. Wal-mart carries them and they are fantastic. I'm no longer a stress case when Grace wants to use her "School Book" to practice writing and drawing. In the event Grace neglects to put it away immediately and Anne helps herself to the book and markers, I can take it in stride. Anne's not real neat with markers yet, but she is allowed to play with these. I think they wash out of clothes easier then Crayola washable markers. Hooray for kid friendly and mom friendly products!

Things That Make Me Smile

Anne slept in the other day and when she finally emerged from her room this was the face that greeted me...

"Good Morning!"

(I thought I'd better post at least one picture before the blog party lynched me for posting two very lengthy entries about FHE. Things really pile up when I fall behind! Now I can post pictures guilt-free! And besides, we replaced the camera I ruined so more photos to come soon...well..probably next week)

FHE 10/06/08 Obedience

Obedience

Opening Song: Hymn #237 Do What is Right

Opening Prayer: Mom

Lesson: Edwin had the lesson prepared for this evening but the hospital called and the doctor had to leave. So the girls and I sat on the piano bench and tried to talk about obedience. Grace's little mind was stuck on The Wizard of Oz. (She watched it for the first time today and loved the entire movie and that's all she wants to talk about...flying monkeys, a mean witch, a good fairy witch Glenda, Dorothy's shoes, and the poor dog.) So when scripture stories didn't capture her attention I tied the make-shift lesson to the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy was told by the Wizard to get the Wicked Witch's broom stick. The Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion helped Dorothy get the broom stick. Because they obeyed the wizard's directions each person received the thing they were looking for and they found happiness. We can have a happy home when we obey.

FHE Reviews- September

9/08/08 Kindness in our Home Lesson: We told the "Warm Fuzzy, Cold Prickly" Story. In a small town the people loved to get warm fuzzies. They were soft to touch and you could put a warm fuzzy in your pocket to hold whenever you felt sad or lonely. Everyone wanted a warm fuzzy. You received a warm fuzzy whenever you said something nice to someone else. It was a happy town full of love. One day a witch came into the town. She was mean and nasty. She did not like the warm fuzzies. The witch would say mean things to others and give them cold pricklies. The cold pricklies killed the warm fuzzies so the warm fuzzy soon left the town. The people were not happy. They did not like to have cold pricklies. They missed the warm fuzzies. Only the witch was happy with cold pricklies. The townsmen learned that saying mean cold pricklies only creates sadness and sorrow. They worked very hard to get the warm fuzzies to come back by saying nice things to one another. We need to use warm fuzzies in our home. Temper tantrums and screaming create cold pricklies. Mommy and Daddy give cold pricklies when they raise their voice in anger or frustration. Cold pricklies chase off the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the greatest warm fuzzy we can feel. We want the Holy Ghost to always be a part of our home by using warm fuzzies with one another. Edwin shared a mission experience where he had a conflict with another missionary in his apartment. They first used cold pricklies to resolve the conflict. However, neither person felt good about the situation and they both struggled to be happy during the day. When Edwin met up with his roommate they apologized for their poor attitudes and became good friends after that situation was resolved with love and kindness. 9/15/08 Learning Lesson: Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;" We have been on vacation mode since we moved from Texas in April. It is time to start focusing on a house of learning. Many of Grace's friends are old enough to start school. Grace is still too young for formal preschool, but mom and dad can work together to teach Anne and Grace many things. We want to have a house of learning. It is good to learn about all the wonderful things in the world. We also need to devote a part of our studies to learning about Heavenly Father and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reading good books helps us learn about many things. Reading the scriptures helps us learn the gospel. 9/22/08 Following a Good Example Guest: George Albert H* Opening Song: I'm Trying to Be like Jesus Opening Prayer: Edwin Lesson: Edwin followed a track of paper footprints across the floor. Each of the children followed in their Daddy's footsteps. At the end of the paper trail they found a picture of Jesus Christ. We discussed how Jesus is the perfect example for us to follow. However, there are good people on this earth today and we can follow their examples. Brother H* said he really admired his father and has tried to follow his father's good example. Edwin followed his father's example for many things in his life. He looks to his mission president as a good role model for his professional career. Grace can be a good example for Anne by teaching her and showing her how to live a happy life in our home. Anne is a good example for Grace during bedtime scriptures and prayers. Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 21 "... because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:" Closing Song: I'm Trying to Be like Jesus Closing Prayer: Brother H* 9/29/08 Powerful Testimonies Guest: NormaDee W* Opening Song: Hymn# 301 I am a Child of God Opening Prayer: Grace Lesson: We matched up a few pictures from ancient and modern day prophets with their testimonies. Grace shared her simple testimony during fast and testimony meeting the day before. We discussed that when we share our testimony with others we share our feelings about our Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Testimonies invite the spirit to touch our hearts so others can feel Heavenly Father's love. Grandma Dee testified that since she is losing her eyesight rapidly she prays every day to be kept safe from harm. Each night she thanks the Lord for protecting her and allowing her to feel his love through guidance and protection. Closing Song: Hymn #301 I am a Child of God Closing Prayer: Anne Activity: Painted nails with Grandma Dee and ate ice cream and brownies.

It's October!!!

Introducing Sass and Zuzz!!

When the girls woke up this morning I told Grace today was the first day of October. She immediately started grinning and jumping up and down. "Can we wear our costumes?"

Why not?!