Isabella's 6 Month Photo Session

Here are a few of the pictures from Isabella's 6 month session!  She is such a big girl now!!  :)

  Enjoy! :)

love, love, loves the straps to my camera now!

Maybe she will be a little Canon lover like her mom :)

Be Blessed.

Isabella's 6 month update

Here are the highly anticipated stats from sweet Isabella's 6 month visit to the doctor. She was a trooper with her vaccines (unlike the poor little chap in the room beside her- bless his heart!!) and she went to bed at 6:30...apparently all the fun snow and shots got the best of her! ;)

Height: 26.5 inches long (75th percentile)
Weight: 14.5 pounds (17th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.5 inches (32nd percentile)

Here is a day in the fun habits of a growing baby!
Breakfast: rice cereal
Exercise Time
Snack: yummy bottle
Nappy Nap time: 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours
Lunch time! Beans, peas, or squash
Let's Learn Italian with Daddy Time
Snack: bottle, again
Nap, nap, gotta get her rest: 1 hour
VeggieTales Time (30 minutes of pure bliss and laughter)
Snack: bottle
Dinner: beans, peas, or squash...with Mommy!!
Bellie and Mommy GiggleFest (fun times!)
Nappy, nap: 30-45 minutes
Bath time!
Snuggles Time :)
Snack: Bottle
Bedtime!

She loves to sit, reach and play with her feet.  She also likes to get on her knees in the "bed" portion of her playyard and "swing" back and forth.  She giggles and laughs for at LEAST 30 minutes when she starts doing this.

Recently, she was playing in her crib while I put away some of her clothes.  She squealed at me so I turned around.  Behold, what did I find???  Her up on her knees, holding on to the railing in her crib!!  She looked at me with the BIGGEST grin- so proud of her accomplishment (and the fact that I was so impressed).  Needless to say, Matthew and I have moved the bed down a notch. ;)  

We hope you have enjoyed her update!!  She is growing so quickly.  Be Blessed.

Homemade

I had so many friends asking about what recipes I use to make our homemade laundry detergent and fabric softener that I decided to put it on here!  I hope this helps someone out and saves your family some money!! :)

I started researching making our own detergent and softener because I was a little weary about having all of those chemicals around Isabella, it is a lot cheaper than buying it already made at the store, and because I had heard from a couple friends that had already converted (saying how much cheaper it was!) and it came highly recommended. 

A general Google search yielded both of the recipes I use.  I found them on a frugality website: TipNut.  I didn't have a reason to alter the recipes, as they work perfectly for us.  Each header is the link to the page where I found it.  Feel free to browse around more, as the site has tons more information than just the recipes I use!!

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 Laundry Detergent

 (makes 288 ounces)
1 quart (4 cups) water- boiling
2 cups Fels-Naptha bar soap (1 bar of soap)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
2 gallons water- hot
5 gallon bucket with lid

Finely shred/grate the bar of soap until you have 2 cups (my bar of soap just equaled 2 cups).

Boil 1 quart of water.  Add grated soap to the boiling water and reduce heat to low.  Let simmer until all soap has dissolved, stir occasionally.

Add boiling mixture to a large bucket (this can bought at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc for less than $4.00, or better yet, use one you already have!).  Add Borax, Washing Soda and 2 gallons of water, hot-not boiling (32 cups) to the mixture.  Stir repeatedly until all parts are mixed.

Close lid- you're finished!

Stir before each load.  Use 1/4 cup per load.

The whole process takes about 30 minutes from start (grating) to finish (closing the lid)!

I have plenty of Borax and Washing Soda left over (at least enough to make 3-4 more recipes of detergent).

All of the ingredients for this laundry detergent recipe can be found at your local grocery store.  Giant has every item needed all in a nice little 3 foot space in the laundry aisle. :)

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Fabric Softener

(makes 32 ounces)
1 part (1 cup) Baking Soda
1 part (1 cup) Vinegar
2 parts (2 cups) hot water

You can use an old fabric softener bottle for this one- yay for spending less money!

If the whole "parts" thing throws you for a loop, just use the cups.  That happens to be what fills up my softener bottle.

Mix Baking Soda and water in large bowl/bucket.  Stir until Baking Soda has dissolved.  Add Vinegar to mixture (they will fizz and react, so make sure the container is bigger than what you are mixing, to allow for fizz). 

Once it stops fizzing, pour into your container.

Shake bottle well before each use (be careful when you open the lid that it doesn't overflow, as the mixture will fizz again).  Use 1/8 cup per load.

I also have plenty of Baking Soda and Vinegar left over for another use (or two depending on how big the bottle and package is that you buy).
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How Much Does It Save???

Here is how much it costs to create each one (assuming you don't have the ingredients at your house and you need to buy each at the store- new), versus buying it at the store already made (Tide and Downy).  Also, the break-down per load that it costs you to convert to homemade. I might add that it took me twice as long to do all the math required to make this post as it did to actually MAKE THE PRODUCT! :)  Thought you'd get a chuckle out of that one- I guess I am a true English major. ;)

Laundry Detergent
I used to buy Tide Liquid Detergent 150 oz. for approximately $17.00 to $20.00 depending on whether or not it was on sale (my goal was always on sale, plus a coupon).

Here is what it now costs us for liquid laundry detergent ingredients:

Fels-Naptha (1 bar- 5.5 oz.)  $0.89
Borax (76 oz.) $3.59
Washing Soda (55 oz.)  $1.79

Grand Total: $6.27 or $2.17 per batch!!

Fabric Softener
I used to buy Downy softener (any scent) 41 oz. for $5.49 at Giant (sale price between $3.00 to $5.00, plus a coupon).

Here is what it now costs us for fabric softener ingredients:

Baking Soda (8 oz.) $0.43
Vinegar 16 oz. (white) $0.89

Grand Total: $1.32 or $0.88 per batch!!

Here is the break-down per load for our family:

Laundry Detergent (288 oz.) 144 loads
Fabric Softener (32 oz.) 32 loads

Savings Homemade vs. store-bought brands:
Laundry Detergent $ 0.0275 vs. $ 0.1339 per load
Fabric Softener $0.0151 vs $0.267 per load

CHA-CHING! :)

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I hope this helps someone out- please message me if you have any questions!

Be Blessed.

Biltmore:: America's Largest Private Home

As many of you that know our habits already know: The Dressler's Love Biltmore!!!  We had been season ticket holders for a long time and we regularly visited the house while we lived in Knoxville and even after moving to Pennsylvania.  The past couple years though, we have been unable to make it over to the house, with all of our travels and visiting with family.

First, I should tell you a little about the house (in case you don't know, skip on if you do).  The Vanderbilt family was extremely wealthy, and one son- George Vanderbilt decided he needed to build a beautiful home modeled after the gorgeous French Chateaus.  He enlisted Richard Morris Hunt as his architect and Fredrick Law Olmsted to be his landscape designer.  Both were top-notch and delivered what is arguably their best work!  The house is privately owned by Vanderbilt's grandchildren and is open to the public for viewing.  It has 43 bathrooms, a gazillion bedrooms, a swimming pool and bowling alley, a fantastic pipe organ to play lovely holiday music for everyone...plus much, much more!  They have this cool behind the scenes tour and this LandRover off-road adventure that sounds pretty rad.

This holiday season I told Matt that the only thing I "wanted to do" was visit the house and enjoy the holiday spirit at this beautiful home.  So, leave it to the sweet man that I married and my Mother to make that happen!  We headed over on New Year's Eve (what a great day to go!).  We toured the house again (seeing some new rooms that had opened since we were there last), visited the winery (waaaaay busy!), checked out the cool new car they have on display and just browsed around the grounds!

When we went to the winery, I was able to pick up some Wassail that rivals the Wagner Gormet Foods Mulling Spices that I have always used (which I might add they decided to discontinue.:(...)!  So, you should definitely give that a try, go HERE to order a pack!  I put it in tea to make a spiced, wintery tea mixture.

I can't tell you how much I love EVERY season at this place, but I do believe that Christmas is my favorite!  Here are some pictures from our visit to the house and grounds! If you are ever in the Asheville, NC area, please stop and visit this house- it is worth the money!!!

Be Blessed.

Christmas Time!

Well, whew, this Christmas season felt a lot like a whirl wind!  It was Isabella's first Christmas, we were traveling here, there, and everywhere, PLUS I had to work until Dec. 23rd (ummm, yuck!).

We picked out a special little ornament to represent Isabella's first Christmas (complete with 2010 on it!).  It proudly hung directly in the middle of the tree (as if it weren't obvious enough that it was her first Christmas...we had to make sure that everyone could see it!) :)

Sorry we are just now getting this post up on the blog, I was sick as a dog (sick enough to miss a day of work, and y'all know I NEVER do that!) Tuesday night and Wednesday before Christmas, so I missed 36 valuable holiday hours!  I'm just glad that it came before the holidays and not on our trip to TN- God's blessing in disguise I guess! :)

We hosted Christmas at our house for the Dressler family since it was Isabella's first Christmas, and boy what a hit that was!  I have never seen so much glitter in ALL OF MY LIFE!!  haha Aunt Meggie's presents were wrapped with glittered paper (very beautiful might I add!!) and my presents were wrapped with glittery ribbon- it was just a ridiculously glittery festivity that I LOVED!  Isabella partied so hard that she ended up falling asleep in Poppy's arms at one point in the holiday festivities!

Isabella received some LOVELY toys that she is currently enthralled with.  I'm not kidding when I say she can't get enough of these things! :)  Her favorite part of the holiday was ripping the paper off the presents...and eating it.  We had a few fussy/whines because she wanted the paper back, but as soon as we handed her the fun, moving, lighting presents, she was fine! ;)

She also decided that she would show off her newly acquired skill of hunching up on her knees and swinging back and forth in her play-yard!  It was awesome and I definitely thought that I might cry!  :)  What a great gift from God to see her new skills and to see her growing so much!

We are so blessed with such wonderful neighbors!!  They came to visit, brought cookies (two giant plates FULL) and spread the Christmas cheer some more!

The day after Christmas we rose early and got on the road, headed to Tennessee for a great Southern Second Christmas!!  YAY!

While we were in TN we were able to meet up with my Grandfather's family (the Hunts!!), have our TN Christmas with my Mom and her family, visit my Dad, and even squeeze in an AWESOME trip to Biltmore (more on this in another blog!).

She was fortunate enough to have a brief encounter with SNOW!  And no, it wasn't here in PA ;)  Surprise, Surprise!  Check back for a special post about her fun times in the snow. :)

I hope you enjoy these shots from our first Christmas with Isabella!!!
Be Blessed!

Randy's Direct Decendant

Okay, so can anyone guess what the title of this blog is all about??  Only the true, avid, Christmas Holiday Fan will probably get it! :)   Feel free to comment with your guess!!

In honor of our semi-snowy day today (yay for a 2 hour delay on a Friday!!), here is a post about Isabella's first snow!  

All giggles playin' in the snow!

So, most of you are guessing that Isabella's first glimpse of snow was here in the snowy land of Pennsylvania, right??




Wrong.




Her first snow licking, playfully fun experience with snow was in fact, in Tennessee!!

makin' a snow angel!

As many of you know, I am a HUGE lover of snow!  I can't get enough of it (and boy, do we get a lot here!), but this year it has missed us (so far at least).

I was kinda sad that we didn't get a white Christmas for Isabella to play in, but God came through (like he always does!!!) and delivered this selfish little want of mine in his own special way!  On our Southern Second Christmas day!!!!!

After opening presents and one delicious little nap, Isabella and the paparazzi (known as Mom, Dad and Nana) headed out to check out that fluffy white stuff!!

Here is a fun little photo montage of Belle's first snowy adventure...enjoy.

 And all you PA people, don't snicker at how little is there...our time will come, joy, our time will come! ;)

Be Blessed.

a lack of posts.

I feel bad about the lack of posts for the month of December. 

It was my first month back to work, the holidays were in full swing, and I just plain failed miserably at posting the story of our life.

I'm sorry to all those folks that checked into our blog to see what was going on during the holidays for us and for sweet baby Isabella.  This is my commitment to you that I will do better, now that the near year is upon us, updating, so that you can keep up with our family!

I have been prepping several posts, so check back for several fun little things I have been working on!

Be blessed- and thanks for being understanding! :)

Our Belle of the Birthday Ball...

For our November family birthdays (Bill and myself) our big, ole' family went out to eat at a local Japanese restaurant.  I looove sushi and hibachi, so this was the best of both worlds!

While it wasn't Isabella's birthday, she definitely became the 'belle of the birthday ball' so to speak when she made this face:

MONKEY FACE!  :)



Enjoy this funny little girl, have a good chuckle at how silly she looks (at the same time, SO utterly happy!)    :)

Be Blessed.

Hunting Camp

So, surprisingly enough, PA is not as 'city' as most folks would think.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are definitely large cities here (I happen to live in the large metropolis of the capital--a dash of sarcasm-- although it is large in comparison to most TN cities I am used to...).  Well, in the great state of Pennsylvania, many school districts have you go to school until Thanksgiving (through Wednesday) but students are out on Monday (when most systems go back).  Why, you might ask, would they decide to do this?  Well, I will tell you.  Hunting.  The first day of Buck Season.  A lovely two weeks of gunfire from all around, all in search of the elusive deer with a "nice rack".....yes folks, that's right.  I said a nice rack- get your minds outta the gutter! ;)

The districts decided to give students off that day because they had such poor attendance (prior to my living here).  The result is as follows:  We get to spend days at the farm cooking, and shooting things.

Here is how hunting camp works in our lovely, not so little, family.

The farm is a hair shy of 90 acres.  No one but family is allowed to hunt there, so it is PRIME for good hunting on such a stupendously rockin' holiday such as the first day of buck season.  There are 4 couches, 4 bedrooms, and plenty of floor space, so when you shove 12 people and a hunting dog (that is scared of a gun, more on this later)--no Pugs allowed (Tucker would try to eat them)-  it is PACKED! There are, at last count, 5 tree stands in the forest, so take your pick- again, plenty of room for everyone.

Before the story starts, feel free to get a good chuckle at Matt wearing his "hunting gear"....which translates to Alex's jacket (an 8th grader), Austin's gloves (a 7th grader), and Lord only knows who the hat belonged to (perhaps TJ?? a 9th grader)!!  Yep, you guessed it- this is going to be THAT kind of story! :)

The guys head out before the sun is up- apparently, prime time again for finding that Buck eating his breakfast.  Note, I will not call it Bambi, lest I begin to weep on the keyboard as I type this.

Here is how catchin' the rack went down this year.

7:30 am...all fellas have been gone 15-20 minutes and the BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG (I am tired of typing BANG, so add about 6 more in there) begins.  Tucker- this is the aforementioned hunting dog (Springer Spaniel) that is scared of a gun- begins barking and howling.  Poor Meg, no more sleeping in.

Oh boy, here come the fellas, Jeep with trailer in tow, dragging two deer to the house.  Have I mentioned that there is a huge tree out back of the pool?  Yeah, that's right, your thoughts would be correct if you are thinking: "Oh No!  They aren't gonna use that tree for the deer are they?!?"  Incredulously so, yes, they are.

Now, I should stop for a moment and tell you about how these lovely deer looked.  I will make it as descriptive as possible so you can feel my agony over the slaying of Bambi (one time use of the name).  First, one has three legs.  Yes, that's again right folks, no typo there, this deer only had three legs.  Look close in the pictures and you can count three little gangly legs!  And his rack was quite lop-sided.  The fellas were pretty sure that it had been hit by a car and survived.  They tried to make it sound a little better by saying that the deer wouldn't have lived through the winter, but that didn't really comfort Meg or me. :/  Needless to say, this one didn't get 'cleaned' for meat.

The second buck they shot was a nice 9 pointer, that, according to Billy Bob, came through the early morning mist, so majestic that he almost thought twice about shooting it, then BANG!  Fired away.

I will take his word for it that it was 'majestic' seeing as how all I saw was a dead deer.....

Now, on to this bit about 'cleaning'....I really don't see the need to call it cleaning a deer, honestly, there is not a darn thing about it that is clean, except those of us that refused to look at it.  I'm telling you, there is enough blood, guts, and gore to put a Rambo movie to shame!  By the time Andy was finished, he was covered in so much blood and nastiness, it was enough to turn the most hardened carnivore into the newest of new vegetarians!


I am convinced that the girls had a MUCH better job- chillin' in the kitchen, cooking good food for the boys! :)  We had such a great time sitting around, talking, and cooking.  Deer Camp Chili is a must!!

The best part of the opening day of Buck Season is seeing the boys- TJ, Alex, and Austin- all exciting about their successes!  They were totally into the season, then totally crashed on the couches for hours!  The cold zapped some energy, then the excitement of the kill took the rest!

I hope you have enjoyed a little glimpse into the lively living we do around here as part of the Dressler Clan...oh who am I kidding, you are probably completely grossed out! :)

Be Blessed!