Laundry

After going camping for 3 days I just completed a TON of laundry. And as I've been meaning to blog about how we do laundry I figured now was a good time.

We do laundry like a lot of people with very few differences. I have a washer and dryer (which both work at the moment!!!) but I don't use boxes of laundry soap or bottles of liquid soap. I make my own laundry soap as I find it's cheaper and it works better. I mix it in a 3 gallon bucket and keep under a chair in the entrance where my washer and dryer are at. A bucket full lasts me about 5 or 6 months and cost me about $30. I actually got the recipe off the Internet ant love it. It's simple and works great. 1 box of Borax and 1 box of soap powder. Mix in equal amounts. Then I buy sunlight soap bars (very pure soap) and either grate them into the bucket with my salad shooter or grate some into each load as I do laundry. Papa grated this batch but normally I just grate with a small knife into the laundry if needed. Not all loads need the extra. I do use a stain remover called Spray and Wash on the tough stuff. But I could just rub bar soap into it. I'm too lazy and there are other things I'd rather be doing. So I add a little spray and wash into the washer with the soap and only spot remove if 2 washings don't remove the stain. It works for me. I do use color safe bleach when I can find it which is rarely these days. I only use it on really nasty stuff. ( like Camping stuff) I also do use regular bleach on my whites and rinse them 2 or more times so that E doesn't break out in a rash after wearing them.


I have a trunk in our bedroom which is Laundry Central. I put totes or laundry baskets of different shapes and sizes. For example I have a short white laundry basket that is only for whites. Large blue totes are for darks and the green large laundry basket is for colors. I need one more really for lighter colors but now I just do some of the darks first and then re-sort the colors into that tote and the green basket. What I need before another colored laundry basket is more room for it. This color system makes it really easy for the kids to put dirty laundry away and also pre-sorts it and saves me time on laundry day.

I know people who are totally convinced that the only way to do laundry is to do a little bit every day. That drives me crazy!! Really. Then I ALWAYS have laundry EVERYWHERE!! And I don't have a 'laundry room' so it's on the couch, on the beds and everywhere in between!! So I do mine all in one day. Or if I'm not on the ball in 2 days. I start early when I get up and throw a load in. By the time I'm done chores it's washed it goes in the dryer. Load 2 goes in and when it's washed and if it's summer and I have a laundry line it goes on the line. My washer takes half the time of my dryer and I can really only hang dry about 1.5 loads at a time. (we are working on ideas for a longer line) So every second load goes on the line. And if it's nice enough the 1st load is dry on the line when the 3rd load goes up. If not the washer sits for a bit while we catch up. I can do a lot of laundry this way. Even with forgetting to start a load or turn on the dryer which happens often enough. By early evening I've done 5 or 6 or 7 loads (in the last 2 days I did about 10 and I was done folding by 5ish.) and after supper when the tables cleared we fold. This time because of camping and doing sheets and some camping blankets I had closer to 10 loads. What a lot of laundry. Sheets in my house do not get folded. They get taken off in the morning or after naps and are back on beds before naps or bedtime. What ever works for that day.


Folding. I like folding laundry. It's very satisfying.. No really. This nasty dirty stuff is now clean and folded and put away!! DONE for another week. Normally laundry day is Monday or Friday. Sometimes both and sometimes neither depending on what's going on and how much there is. Oh and I don't iron anything. Nothing. I don't even own an iron. I hang up anything I don't want wrinkled as it comes out of the dryer. There is very little I hang. I'm allergic to some fabrics and these are often the wrinkly kinds so it works. Anyway back to folding. So I have 4 large full laundry baskets or totes in a pile stacked 2 high. I clear off the table and wipe it. The I pull out my armless chair. It has to be armless to fit the basket. Then I grab a basket and start to fold the big stuff. J, L and E have another basket. They take out all the socks and put them in the whites basket. They also take out jackets, bibs and washcloths. Bibs go on R's chair, jackets go in the entrance in the box, and J folds the washcloths and puts them away. I fold the rest like a mad woman as E and R and L bring me 'fold able' stuff. J and L put clothes the right way out as I fold. R loves to fold laundry and packs this here and that there until I barely know whats going on. She is good help though if you can get her to focus. When everything is folded we sort socks and the boys put them in pairs and I or J fold them together. L or E put the laundry baskets back and R puts Papa's socks in his trunk just to keep her out of the socks we are trying to fold. I put my different piles in the same place every time I fold laundry so it's almost automatic when I fold. Papa's has by far the lest amount of laundry so his pile is farthest away from me at the back of the table. Mine laundry goes beside his but closer in but also at the back of the table. J's goes in front of Papa's on the side of the table I'm standing on, then L's and E's and finally R's. Socks and underwear go in the middle of the table along with small towels. Big towels go on Papa's chair and so do his over shirts. Extra blankets and things go on top of the towels or on another chair.

Putting away. L or J runs to their bedroom and opens the 3 drawers under E's bed and then the rush is ON!! J, L and E run back and forth putting laundry away and R puts more of Papa's laundry away. Handy that he likes trunks so much. She just has to chuck it in :) I put towels and my laundry away before helping the kids with the last of their stuff and helping to close the drawers. All of L's clothes go in the drawers and some of J's. E and J share the old change table shelves with J's shirts and PJ's. Everyone has a small box or basket to put underwear/socks and in R's case PJ's in. And laundry is done again for another week.

Family Campout.

It rained one afternoon and the kids watched a few movies in Grandma's trailer. Left to Right is.. Justin, Luke, Jed, Rose, Levi, Emmaline, Ashley, Oakley, Alex and Mackenzie!! 10 of the 15 grand kids.

Luke, Justin and Grandma rolling out dough for lunch. They loved helping.

I'm told it was the 6th annual Fehr Family Rainout this last weekend. I think I missed the 1st one because I don't remember it. (Actually it would have been the year before we moved up :) Anyway it was our 5th. As the family has been growing it gets crazier and crazier. This year because of Grandma and the new baby Kyle we ended up changing plans at the last minute and camping closer to town then normal and no one went fishing at all. We went to a local lake that has a campground and bathrooms and a beach and playground but no showers. The kids had a great time. And we were all there. Though we did not get pictures with all of us. So we had Mom and Dad Fehr in their travel trailer, T&D Fehr and their 3 children, Luke, Alex (a girl) and Kyle (Aged 7, 5 and 4 days) sleeping on their boat (D took Kyle and Alex home for 2 of the nights ), S&D Thiessen and their children Justin and Ashley (the oldest grandchildren at 11 and 9) in a tent trailer, D&A Fehr and their 2 children Oakley (almost 3) and Kirsten (7 months)in her uncles travel trailer, A&K Martens and girls Mackenzie (3) and Courtney (5 months) in their motor home, Us with our 4 kids in out camper on the trailer, And M&D Campbell with their 2 children Kacey (1.5) and Ruger (3months) in their camper. And I must say it was a bit weird to be one of two of the girls that did not have a baby or newborn!! All in all we make 29!! Mom and Dad are 2, children and in laws are 12 and grand kids number 15!! 12 of the 15 grand kids are 5 and under!! 4 of the grand kids are under a year! Needless to say there was a lot of baby passing and strollers and kid fun stuff going on!! The older kids brought their bikes and ball gloves. The younger ones played on the playground and grass but mostly the sand that was everywhere by the end of the weekend. It did rain and we put up a huge blue tarp to 'live' under and our large 12 man tent for the kids. We also had 2 little shade tents that were great here and there and everywhere. There is 3 birthdays in a row in July and this weekend hit them all!! So we sang and ate cake and ice cream. Actually last week was Mom and Dads anniversary too (36 years!!). And Kyle's birthday too. So all in all there are 5 birthdays and a anniversary in 10 days in July!! Crazy days. There are 7 boy grandchildren and 8 girl grandchildren. The 1st several went boy girl boy girl but starting with our E there was 5 girls in a row so it's nice now that Ruger and Kyle have come to help balance it out. I told Papa that we should have a boy next too to help equal out all that girl power!!
We always do a treasure hunt for the kids and J turned out to be very quick with the clues. Good job J!! They all loved the small toy snack and water pistols they found at the end and we had a great water fight with anyone who could pull the triggers!! We were all very soaking wet and had a great time. Some of the men played rounds and rounds and rounds of horseshoes until their fingers were blistered but had a great time. I didn't cook a single meal all weekend and loved it. Papa is a great cook and it was awesome!! Thank you Papa!!! The kids took a bit of getting used to sleeping all together in the camper without their normal noisy fan but by the last night we all slept great and all the way through the night!! They are still tired though without naps for so many days and are catching up!! E went up to grandmas blanket on the beach one afternoon and layed herself down and napped!! Fell asleep in her life jacket and slept for over an hour. Other then that nap R was the only one who napped all weekend. Oh and Papa napped too.
We came home tired and weary and ABSOLUTELY FILTHY!!! So we checked the critters (Bindy was at the neighbors and had given him a bit of a run. Sorry Mike), unpacked the food stuff before showering everyone and sitting eating supper in our PJ's in the living room watching movies till bedtime. The next day was to tackle the dishes and laundry !! 4 kids + 2 adults + sand + smoke (the fire under the tarp smoked us all) + rain + mud + living outside for 3 days = a TON of laundry!!

Death and Life!!

Kay Wiebe

My Mom's Mom Kay died of pancreatic cancer on July 7th. She was sick for about 5 weeks and in a lot of pain. She insisted that she wanted to die at home and did with all her kids and husband around her. Most of the in laws where there as well as a few cousins. Kay believed in Jesus and that he died for her sins and that he rose again and is alive and I'm excited to see her in Heaven someday. She will be greatly missed. She was greatly loved. She was 76 years old and left behind 8 children, 8 in laws, 29 grandchildren, 17 grandchildren in law, and 35 great grandchildren. Add the few people in long term relationships with grand kids and the 2 babies due in the next few months and the clan will be up to over 100 people. We buried her on July 13th and we were almost all there. My cousin Walter and his wife and children were the only ones missing. But they had a great excuse. They had a baby boy that afternoon and named him Darren James. My oldest brother Tom and his wife Dana were at the funeral which surprised many of us as she ended up delivering their baby boy Kyle James at 2:30am on the 14th. Life and Death meeting together in one family on the same day. Needless to say it was a emotional day for the whole family.

Kyle James

THEY LIVE!!!

Haha. My goldfish that I put in the pond are ALIVE!! I thought for sure that pair of ducks had finished them off and haven't even been down to see in ages. But this morning I had to go move Bindy on her picket line and was close by so I went to have a peek!! And there they were!! Swimming happily on the top layer of the water. 6 beautiful colored goldfish. If you recall I put all the brown ones in the lagoon :) There may be more then six but six is all that were out this morning. I'm going to take the children out later to see if we can see them. How exciting!!

Fast Work!!

Papa got a call this morning about his knee. He has an appointment for the end of the month!! Thank You LORD!!!

Update.June 09

Papa hurt his knee about 18months ago and then several times in between then and now. He recently got an appointment with our family Doc and found out that they wanted him to do a CAT scan on it 18 months ago when he 1st went in. No one from the clinic had called us so we didn't even know!! Anyway yesterday he went in for a CAT scan and he has a referral to a knee doctor in a town about 6ish hours from here. If he waits for the doctors in the 'City' he'll have to wait up to 2 years just to be seen!! With this other doctor he should be seen very soon and possibly even have surgery this summer!! They want to do a scope surgery to see what is happening inside the knee. Our family Doc was very impressed at how tight and strong his knee was. His hurt knee was tighter then his none hurt knee. Now that Papa is mechanic-ing his knee is bothering him more and interfering with his work. Papa is also getting geared up to go back to school. His 1st 6 week schooling season starts late Sept. He'll be driving to school in 'the city' everyday! It's only about 45 minutes from our house.



J, 5, is growing up!! He constantly surprises me. He loves to help and has started doing things for others with out being asked or in secret!! The other day while I was busy with something outside he set the table for supper with out even being asked!! He still loves his bike and yesterday we took the training wheels off... tried it without and put them back on. He simply isn't ready. The balance he needs is not there. Also his back tire has a wobble and it isn't helping.



L, 4, is talking more and more and getting IDEAS!! ACK. The other day he asked if we could have 'cut up apples and banana's and marshmallows with liquid chocolate!!' He's had chocolate fondue once but it sure made an impression!! He is also doing well on his bike. He went up and down the driveway at least 8 times yesterday!! Mostly though we find him in the sand box!! When ever I ask him to do something he always comes back and asks if there is something else he can do. What a great helper.



E, 2, is on a Beautiful kick. Everything is Beautiful!! Everything. Or she'll fall down and say, "Oh I almost fell down.' When really she did fall down. She also loves to be outside and hates to stay in with R when the boys are out. She can get herself totally dressed now and loves to pick her own clothes. Whenever I tell the boys to do anything E says "what about ME, what can I do!!" So I give her little chores to do to and she loves it.



R, 1, is talking more and more. She can say Mama, Papa, moooo, baaaa, please, more, nite nite, bye, love you, and lots more things that she just mimics. She is a climber and just climbed on the chair to see Bindy who is grazing out there. She is a little doll and everyone loves her and wants to hold her. We recently went to a wedding and she charmed everyone she met. She loves to put things, mostly diapers, in the garbage. She holds out her hands and asks for them and then proudly walks to the kitchen and, after some one opens the door, puts them in the garbage!!



Forrest our Black sheep died the other day. We are not sure why. He was tied to a truck and we found a dead chicken under the truck but could not find any anti freeze or anything that would have killed them. He did look a bit like the cat we lost to anti freeze so I did give him some vodka mixed with water which is suppose to take the anti freeze out of their kidneys but he still died. Papa and I hate having anti freeze around and have searched every thing and can not find any. So we really don't know what killed him. The boys barely blinked an eye but still want me to get some more sheep. We'll see. I think if we do it will be a grown ewe and maybe we can keep it alive!



I am still waiting for my kidney stones to pass. It's been months now and I have a appointment soon to see what else we can do about them. They don't bother me much but they are still there and they will bother me again when we decide to get pregnant again. I'm also looking into a herbal remedy for them but so far have not managed to start one. I'm really looking forward to butchering day and being almost chore less for a few weeks. My green house is growing well and soon I will have enough to do with out several sets of chores.



Our weather goes from sunny and windy to cooler and still. We've not had very many nice days were we can go play in the water somewhere. Hopefully we will yet. We've had several thunderstorms and one night we all sat on the couch and watched the lightning while Papa read to us. The boys loved 'catching' the lightning and then counting to see how far away it was. When it rains it rains at night which is also nice.



My raised beds got planted late but at least they got planted. Papa never did have time to bring the bobcat home and empty the manure stall and fill them in so I mixed up, by hand, nine large wheel barrows full of peat moss, manure and sand and put a 6 inch layer of this in each raised bed before planting it. It worked great but my shoulders are still sore!! I have peas, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, dill, radishes, turnips, and beets in the raised beds. Corn, potatoes, beans, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the garden (planted on time). And tomatoes, peppers, cukes, and some herbs in the green house. Oh and I have carrots and several zucchini in big pots here and there. We also ate our 1st strawberries of the year at Papa's birthday party!! Yummy!

Have a wonderful God blessed day!!