~HEATHER'S HIGHLIGHTS~: ~Memorial day, Mission service, Mary broke her arm, Phillip and I celebrated 22, youth weekend, Dad and Mom's visit, Father's day~

SUMMER TIME!!! Sweet iced tea, Patriotic picnics with family and friends, and traveling for missions and Jesus. :-)
Lord willing tomorrow we leave to head to South Dakota. We will have a mission service in Rapid City on Sunday, June 25th, and a mission service in Mitchell on Sunday, July 2nd. On Tues. June 27th thru Friday June 30th Phillip is to preach at a youth camp for Native Americans. Some of these youth come from very troubled homes!! :-( PLEASE PRAY!! For Phillip as he preaches, and for those young people to get Saved!!
Then we head home to sing for a wedding in our church, then head South until Aug. 1st. We will be doing mission services and get to see Phillip's family.

~Scrubba-dub-dub...Laundry organization~

It's easy in our BUSY Lives as Keepers of our Homes...for some things to overwhelm us. Maybe it's your dishes you can't seem to keep on top of, or maybe it's the laundry. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. As the Bible says it's best NOT to compare ourselves among ourselves. But, I think it is nice to share tips when we find something that works for us. Maybe someone else is struggling in the same area.
Memorial Day Weekend we were gone on Friday night to a graduation, then on Saturday we traveled home from Indiana, ran to 2 graduation parties, and came home late that night. By the time we got home, Abigail had a high fever (she had been stung by a bee, so maybe it was a reaction?), and I was exhausted.

So, after the Lord's day, we celebrated on Memorial day, then...

Tuesday morning and the MOUND of laundry waiting for me to

SORT IT,

SCRUB IT,

AND WASH,

DRY,

AND FOLD it...

was WAY overwhelming.

So, I cried a little, (Don't think I'd ever cried over laundry) and begged JESUS to help me come up with a GOOD PLAN for doing laundry. This plan may not work for your situation, but I'm soooo GRATEFUL to Jesus that He cares about the little things...and how He has helped me with my laundry.

~Tip #1 Have your kids help you SORT the laundry. (whether you do this in a rolling divided basket, or just have them sort your main laundry basket, it's so encouraging to start laundry when DARKS ARE WITH DARKS, LIGHTS WITH LIGHTS, TOWELS WITH TOWELS, DRESSY CLOTHES WITH DRESSY, AND SCRUBBIES WITH SCRUBBIES! :-D

~TIP #2 Have several baskets to sort into. If this is not an option for your situation, that is fine. I just find it helpful to have 4 baskets that the kids sort laundry into.

~TIP #3 Do at least 2 loads of laundry a day. Have a day for each load, so that it all gets washed that week.

I've divided it this way.

Monday ~ Dark load & kid's Dressy clothes
Tuesday ~ Light load & towels
Wednesday ~Dark load & Phillip's dressy shirts
Thursday ~ Light Load & Scrubbies
Friday ~ Dark Load & sheets or rugs, etc.
Saturday ~ Dark load & Light Load

When each load is done, I bring it upstairs and either fold it myself, or call all the kids to grab their clothes out, fold them, and quickly put them away. Viola!!!
Each night I go to bed feeling HAPPY that 2 loads (or more if I have time) is done, washed, dried, and PUT AWAY!! :-)

TIP # 4...I don't use bleach anymore to get stains out of white clothes. I have noticed thru the years that bleach often YELLOWS clothes.
NOW...I soak clothes in powdered Tide, white vinegar, and baking soda. It has worked wonders for me!! (Grammy E. gave me that tip! :-)

If you have a Laundry tip you find helpful, you are welcome to leave it in the comment section, I'd love to hear from you! :-)

~Our Happy Memorial Day~

~Our old gas stove~

~Elijah ran with my Memorial day and a lady at Kroger had just put out fresh fruit FREE for kids.~

~Heading to Eden Park to watch our sweet friend Samantha play in a Free patriotic concert.~

~Elijah, Noah, Robbie, Kristin, Rebekah, and Mary.~

~It was beautiful~

~Afterwards we all were privileged to go to Daryl and Laura's house for a grill out. I brought this fruit to make little fruit pizzas out of cookies.~

~Smores~

~Brittany's cute little banner.~

~Dessert time~

~Laura and Brittany's pretty table.~

~Silly Abigail~

~My cute little white bike from Bethany~

~Abigail wearing Aunt Laura's sandals.~

~Elijah getting ready locust shells with a marshmallow. UGH!!~

~Enjoying our "Snow ball flowers."~

~Sarah made us a Colombian Aramatica. Fresh fruit, fresh mint leaves, hot water, and some jelly.~

~Things weren't going so good that day....This was the 2nd time my Argentine Mate had spilled for the day.~

~America...the Beautiful~

~My sign...Children are the Best Things since Husbands...and some sweet Roses and Rose buds from Baby Mercy's tree.~

~YAY!!! Phillip got my dishwasher in and running!!! This is the first time I have had a dishwasher since 2004!!!!~

~Phillip and the boys building a chicken coop. It's turning out ADORABLE. I'll show you pics one of these days.~

~One evening Sarah, Mary, Abigail and I ran to the mall. I went to Chick-fil-A for they had free ice cream cones on their calendar cards. When I got up to the register I asked what their offer was for that month. She said, "THE BBQ sandwich." So, I ordered 3 free sandwiches and was going to buy 4 ice cream cones. The total was like $23.00...but then she swiped our calendar cards...and at the end, she said, "Your sandwiches were FREE, and you had FREE ice cream cones on your 3 Calendar cards...so your TOTAL IS $1.29!!!!" I was SHOCKED! AND HAPPY!!! AND PRAISING JESUS!!!~

~Our Free Sandwich~

~4 of the Sweet faces that call me Mommy!~

~On June 4th we went over to Daddy and Moma's house for a yummy Sunday dinner.~

~Sarah holding a cherry that Gramp grew.~

~The kids eating outside at Gramp and Gram's house.~

~Laura made yummy apple pie bars and sent it over for our dessert.~

~Sunday night June 4th, we had a mission service at Mr. Wallace Thornton's church. We had a lovely snack after church at Sis. Gene Hoods home.~

~On Monday, June 5th, we were getting ready for our 3 day anniversary trip away. Mary picked us these pretty flowers and put them in our room.~

~And this little rosebud she put in a medicine cup. :-) ~

~The Kids thought that this was neat that this ball stayed in the current of the fan.~

~#WHAT YOUR SILVERWARE JARS MIGHT LOOK LIKE WHEN YOUR 2 YEAR OLD PUTS AWAY SILVERWARE.~

~On Monday, we began getting ready for our Anniversary get-away. Uncle Dan and Aunt Carole sent us this sweet card for our anniversary and a gift card.~

~Our nice anniversary gifts and card from Daddy and Moma.~

~Mary drew this card for us.~

~Kimberly and I ran to Sam's and got some goodies for the kids to eat while we were gone. (And we took some of the goodies with us on our get-away.)~

~While Kimberly and I were shopping on Monday night, Phillip called me and told me that Mary had fallen and he wasn't sure if she broke her arm or not. :-( But, by the time I got home, she wasn't crying anymore, so we thought she was ok. After a fitful night of sleep we decided to take her in to the ER before we left for our anniversary trip. Sure enough, she had broken her arm. (She looks pretty pain-free and happy in this pic, because she had pain meds from the ER.) ~

~Dear Aunt Laura fixed this fun get-well gift...and even included a cute little teddy bear...on which she put a bandaid on it's left arm.~

~OUR HAPPY 22ND ANNIVERSARY~

You are my Knight in Shining Armor...
My DREAM come True!!
You are my Beloved Prince...
You are my Wonderful YOU!
You are the creamer in my coffee,
The icing on the cake!
I get to be YOUR wife...and your name take! :-)
You are my Bestest Friend
The 5th Chamber of my heart!
You are the twinkle in my Eye...
The Fruit in Life's Tart.
You are the chocolate in the cookie,
The Rock of our Home,
The one I laugh with, LOVE, and to whom I dedicate this poem!
~Heather!~ June 6th, 2017

~Blessings. Grow old with me...the Best is yet to be.~

~Our dear friends Dean and Andrea gave us a $25.00 gift card back in January. We saved it for our anniversary. So, we had a yummy meal at Cracker Barrel.~

~Our waiter gave us a hot fudge Sundae for FREE (gratis) for our anniversary.~

~We enjoyed some days at Serenity Log cabins.~

~There were these yummy cheesecakes waiting for us. :-) ~

~We took goodies with us, so that we only ate out one meal each day.~

~Coffee time~

~A lot of relaxing at the cabins. #Just what the doctor ordered. :-) ~

~One supper we ate at Ponderosa.~

~Fun signs out in amish country.~

~Caleb had had a bike accident and was rushed to Children's and then 30 mins later is when Mary fell and broke her arm. So here's the left-arm-in-the-sling twinkies.~

~The Greene Beanery coffee shop where we enjoyed coffee on our way home.~

~Jesus helped me to find this cute white tea pot at a pond shop on our Ann. trip for around 1.50. :-) ~

~Noah had this on our doorstep when we came home. :-) ~

~Simple gifts for the kids we brought back to them.~

~Abigail feeding our new dog Flint. Our friends couldn't keep Flint, so they gave him to us.~

~We gave our fish "oopsie" away to our friend Kristin.~

~Mary ready to get her cast on.~

~And here is her new cast. She chose pink, and orange with gold glitter. :-) I took her out for an ice cream cone after she got her cast on.~

~Friday, June 9-11th was youth emphasis weekend at our church. Bro. Scott did a great job.~

~Kimberly playing the piano for service. They had the young people involved all weekend long, and it was great!~

~Todd leading singing~

~After the service on Saturday morning, we had a nice picnic together.~

~Zack leading the singing~

~Andy and Brittany Klines' adorable baby~

~Scott leading the singing~

~Young ushers~

~A ladies quartet~

~DAD AND MOM DICKINSON COME TO OHIO TO VISIT!~

~the Lavys pretty farm~

~Amy giving everyone rides.~

~Abigail wearing Grandpa's Veteran's hat.~

~We just missed Grandpa and Grandma holding hands.

~Kimberly was asked to play her violin at a Daddy/Date night at Chick-fil-A. They said that she could use it as a fund raiser, so she asked if she could raise money to help Bro. Jimmy in Bogota, Colombia. He has to have cataract surgeries in both eyes, and then buy new glasses.
They said she could. The Lord and our church people helped and over $1,500 came in.~

~Here is Pastor Jimmy teaching the underprivileged children in Colombia.~

~Abigail going to hear Kimberly playing at Chick-fil-A~

~Abigail was a tad afraid of the cow, so Noah jumped in with her.~

~Kimberly with her sign explaining about Bro. Jimmy's cataract surgeries and glasses.~

~We though this sign was cute. We do have quite the diverse weather here in Cinci.~

~Our friend Ruth Ann is getting married. Janie and Grammy E. and our church threw her a beautiful bridal shower.~

~On Friday, June 16th, the girls and I went up to spend the day/night with Grandpa and Grandma. Phillip and the boys were at a survival class/camp out for 3 days.~

~Beth cutting Dad's hair.~

~Shooting~

~Kimberly shooting~

~Sarah shooting~

~Me shooting.~

~Visiting in Dad and Mom's 5th wheel.~

The grandkids~

~Kimberly and Sarah begged me to spend the night at Grandpa and Grandma's 5th wheel. They gave us permission. This is where Mary slept. Abigail slept on the floor with Kimberly.~

~Grandpa and the pesky coon he shot.~

~The girls and I had Skyline on the way to get some groceries before we went to back home.

~Father's Day~
~Phillip got some jeans and cologne for Father's day.~

~My centerpiece for Father's Day.~

~We invited everyone over to our house. There were 25 in all. I made little bow ties out of paper napkins and card stock the same color.~

~There were 25 of us.~

~It's hard to see this, but Sarah drew me a mustache for me table.~

~Grammy passing out the Father's day gifts.~

~Sarah did a new hair style and it was cute.~

~Beth letting all 3 of the little ones eat Cheerios.~

~Our whole Dickinson clan.~

~Grandpa and his two baby girls~

~We ladies put Sunday dinner together. Beth made the refried beans, Laura made the taco meat and brought over a hot chip dip, chips, and iced tea, and I made the Spanish Rice, and bought the supplies and set the table. And I bought an ice cream cake for dessert.~

~Cute little Abigail in a cute little dress that her cousin Brittany got her.

~I was happy to find this white shelf at Goodwill to help me organize my sewing / craft room.~

~The bins to the left are filled with material that my Moma gave me. With 2 girls that sew besides me, it's a blessing to have material to dig through when it comes to adding to the length of skirts, etc.~

~Grandpa and Abigail~

~Grandpa and Grandma came over on Tuesday, June 20th, and we had left overs from Sunday and then we served ice cream sundaes for dessert.~

~Dad enjoyed walking around GBS...he was the maintenance man there for 6 years.~

~ A cute sign in GBS's coffee shop.~

~Bro. Hyatt and Dad visiting together.~

~This is what we were doing ONE year ago. Kimberly was graduating. :-) ~

~And this is what we were doing TWO years ago. Kara and Bethany were with us in Argentina. :-)

~Well, I can't seem to pull up the pics that Sarah took of the BEFORE of this room, but this one will sort of show you. A few weeks ago, Mary said to Kimberly, "I wish our room (Hers and Abigail's) were pretty.
You see a while back, Phillip, Kimberly, and Sarah had worked for WEEKS on Kimberly and Sarah's room. Fixing the cracks in the plaster, vinyl spackling the cracks, letting it dry, sanding, priming the walls, and then painting them. They were so DONE with working on the 3rd floor, that they left the other side for another time.
The OTHER SIDE...is where Abigail and Mary live now.
So, DEAR SWEET KIMBERLY took it upon herself to tear into their room.
(Sarah would have helped more, but she's still in school. :-)
Kimberly has worked for WEEKS fixing the cracks in the plaster, filling them with spackling, letting it dry, sanding them down, then putting in more spackling, letting it dry, re-sanding, etc.

~Here's Sweet Kimberly faithfully working on the little girls' room. (Daddy would have helped her but he needed to build the chicken coop outside and fix the fence for our dog someone just gave us.)

On Tuesday, June 13th, while Kimberly was playing for Chick-fil-A, Sarah and I started painting the little girls' room with Primer. It had been a Dark purple as you can see....so we were happy to lighten up the room.~

~One day while we were all 3 WORKING FOR HOURS painting...Sarah ran downstairs and made us a yummy burrito for lunch.~

And then Sarah and I painted the room with the pretty Sherwin Williams paint called "Gorgeous White" that we had chosen. (Someone got us a great discount on the paint.)
The Gorgeous White paint is slightly pink...which Mary LOVES! :-)

It was hard to get these pics due to lighting,
but Mary and Abigail are sooo HAPPY with their new room.

NO MORE CRACKS IN THE PLASTER, NO MORE DARK DINGY PURPLE, JUST HAPPY GIRLY PINK AND FUN-NESS!!~

~You can see Mary in the mirror...taking the pic.~

~We were so happy to find this little girly bed set for the girls.~

~Their little telephone table I found at Goodwill for $5.99.
(Kimberly wants me to make sure and tell you that they are going to paint the purple door knob on the closet a shiny black one of these days. :-)