Living with the Lindahl's

Clothes, Clothes and More Clothes!!

2010-07-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

We have decided (we=my mom, my sister and I) that we will have a garage sale August 5-7th at my sister's house. We did a sale in early June and did well, but as we already had things marked and ready, why not try again. In the meantime we would have time to look through our homes for more unwanted/unneeded items and in my house, clothing that the girls have out grown or just simply have too many of.

I pulled the totes into the house on Monday. By Monday evening, I had gone through and sorted everything by size. By last night, I had sorted through Mikayla's and Rebekah's dressers and restocked them and sorted out any sell-able or stained and worn out clothes. I started Maggie's but by 11pm, I decided to call it quits and start again today. I am hoping that by the end of today I will finish Maggie's and Rachel's clothes and be able to put lids on the totes for now. There is still 3 more totes to go through out at my Mom's house. Hope to get through those on Monday. Until then I think my house will continue to look like a mess....it is an organized mess though as it is all in totes.

The question that I keep running through my mind is just how many clothes do they need to have. Most birthdays mean more clothes...not lots, but 3-4 outfits. That over time builds up. You should see the piles of clothes Maggie could wear. Infact in my cleaning and sorting, I found an outfit or two that may have not been worn or barely worn. I put one of them on her today. They fit now but wouldn't next year....so that is the hardest part of her sorting. She is SO TINY that she can still wear 2T/24 month clothing!! Dad said I set her up to be the short one when I named her after her great great grandma. LOL I don't want to hold on to too much, but then again I don't want to get rid of something she could use. I know we will have a sale again next year.

The older girls are required to wear uniforms for school...so I have a box of uniforms. Figure it was easier than needing to search through all of it when it was time to switch at winter time. Rachel's new school only allows pants and ankle length skirts so that means she won't need a switch at any time. She might need a sweater or two to stay warm in class...but that's pretty simple.

Well, my hope is that by Monday I will have all clothes sorted, clothes for the sale marked and ready to set up. That is my hope...but think I will still be pricing on Wed before the sale. :o)

Happy Birthday Rebekah

2010-07-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Rebekah's 8th birthday and I thought I would take a trip down memory lane to the year she was born.

Rebekah is my only summer baby.... and boy am I glad I didn't do that again! I was miserable to say the least. We didn't have A/C in our house at the time and knew I didn't want to be so hot all summer, so we got a window unit. It worked well, but I found that we all slept better in the living room in front of the unit.

Well, the doctor decided that I looked uncomfortable and suggested induction. I had had Rachel on her own time and she was a few days late. I jumped at the idea and the date was set. We arrived at the hospital and got all set up. We didn't know it until hours later, but our anesthesiologist was going to make a mistake that would keep me in the hospital for days. But I am jumping ahead of myself. Labor went very smoothly and I enjoyed not feeling any pain.... in fact I couldn't feel anything really below my waist. You would think that would be a good thing... didn't help when it came to pushing though as my legs were so medicated I couldn't move them at all. With my sister and hubby's help (and of course the doctors and nurses) I pushed and she arrived. She was smaller than Rachel. 8lb 6oz. 20 in. long

Then mistake that the anesthesiologist had made would catch up to me many hours later. She had placed the needle in too far and I ended up with a spinal headache that lasted for many days and kept me in the hospital for 5 days instead of 3. I did finally go home and my body did heal.

Now today we get to celebrate my little headache....just kidding...my little blessing, Rebekah! Happy Birthday Rebekah!!

Here are some pictures of Rebekah through the years.......

TerraCycle at WALMART!!!!

2010-04-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

WOW!! This is so exciting!! After months of collecting, sorting, packaging and mailing, we are getting a chance to see the products that all the trash is being turned into at our local WalMart. Now to see if it is a success. You can help make it a success by stopping by your local WalMart and purchasing one of these great new products. Listed below are all the details of what is available in most stores. Show your support of your schools and purchase a bag. ALSO there is a way to turn the dollars you spent buying to also support your school. Save your receipt and contact your schools TerraCycle representative to learn how.

Starting April 5th, and for a limited time only during the month of April, about 60 TerraCycle items, including a bunch of brand new things never seen before, will be available in every single Wal-Mart across the country (3,500 locations) in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this year. The products will be sold right next to the original items they are made from. Kites made from Cheetos wrappers will be sold with bags of Frito-Lay chips and backpacks made from drink pouches will be sold next to boxes of Capri Sun. This will help educate consumers about resource conservation and give millions of students who participate in TerraCycle’s Brigades, an opportunity to see their collection efforts come to life!

Some of the products include:
Eco-Kite: The world’s first standard Delta Kite to be made from food wrappers! These brightly colored kites are made from waste packaging of popular brands like M&M’s, Skittles, Frito-Lay and Oreo and look great flying at the beach or above your picnic. Cookie wrappers, chip bags and candy wrappers are made strong and light to protect your snacks, which makes them an ideal material to make these affordable, fun kites. So make an statement when you go fly a kite: that you can snack and help the planet! TerraCycle pays schools and non-profits nationwide to collect used packaging, join the 60,000 other groups collecting at here.

Kids Growing Kit: Teach kids about gardening and the environment at the same time with the TerraCycle Kid’s Growing Kits for Vegetables, Flowers or Herbs. The Kits use upcycled Stonyfield Yogurt Cups as planting pots and TerraCycle’s famous Worm Poop mixed with compost for the growing medium. The Kits come with growing instructions and the cardboard tray holding it all together is even embedded with the seeds needed to start the plants. Almost no part of these kits is waste and they come with everything you need to start growing right away. Stonyfield and TerraCycle run a free collection program that pays organizations 3 cents for every used Yogurt Cup they collect.

Printed Totes and Wristlets: For the first time, TerraCycle is proud to introduce a full line of bags made from upcycled food wrappers that are reserved to show the white or silver side, instead of the branded side with logos. Frito-Lay wrappers are turned inside out and have a variety of patterns ranging from flowers to skulls printed on each side. With handles and trim selected to match the patterns, no one will even know these bags are made from waste, until you tell them of course! The line includes a variety of tote bags, wristlets and clutches.

Notebooks, Folders, Pencil Cases and Journals: TerraCycle makes a full line of Journals, Folders and Notebooks made from used Mars candy wrappers from favorite brands like Skittles and M&M’s, as well as, Capri Sun drink pouches. These unique, bright items are great for school or personal use. Made from waste wrappers, all of TerraCycle school products have a drastically smaller carbon footprint than traditional products and are still just as affordable and fashionable as any other item!

Accessories Bags: This range of bags includes everything from camera and shoulder bags to backpacks and lunchboxes. Made from a variety of upcycled wrappers including Mars candy wrappers, Frito-Lay wrappers and Capri Sun drink pouches. The items are made from the same wrappers that will cover the very food they may hold on the way to school or work! All made with trim and handles which match the original logos product these bags are as fun and fashionable as they are eco-friendly!

Too Cute!!

2010-02-22T04:22:00.000-08:00

Maggie had a cough and I asked her a question. The tale that unfolded was cute and I thought I had to share. :)

Me: My that was a big cough. Where did that come from?

Maggie: From Africa.

Me: From Africa? Why was it in Africa?

Maggie: It was bad.

Me: Why was it bad?

Maggie: It said a bad word.

Me: It said a bad word? What did it say?

Maggie: It said shut-up.

Me: Oh we don't say words like that do we.

Maggie: No.

Mikayla: You don't talk like that.

Maggie: It was my cough that said it.

TerraCycle by Rachel

2010-02-16T05:44:00.000-08:00

Last night Rachel put out her display at her school and told others about TerraCycle. This coming Tuesday her article on TerraCycle will be posted in the edition of the Acorn, her school newspaper. I wanted to share Rachel's article with everyone.

Enjoy!!!

A New Way to Recycle: TerraCycle
By: Rachel Lindahl

Most people know about recycling. You can collect plastic, paper, tin and aluminum to take it to a recycling company to be reused. TerraCycle is different from regular recycling. With TerraCycle, you can collect a variety of items and send them to Trenton, New Jersey, where TerraCycle will turn the trash you collected into a brand new product.
The items you can collect are drink pouches, yogurt containers, candy wrappers, cookie wrappers, chip bags, pens, Sharpies, Elmer’s glue bottles and sticks, Lunch-able lunch kits, and many more. TerraCycle’s program uses their recycling program to benefit schools and other not-for-profit organizations. Their motto is Collect Trash, Earn Cash, Save the Planet. All a school or group needs to do is sign-up and start collecting trash. Each item you collect is gives your school or group two cents to use anyway that the school or group wishes.
There are two ways to send the products into TerraCycle. The first is to request a shipping label to be sent to you. Second is to print your own label to put on a box to send in. When you have enough to fill a box, seal the box and attach the label. Then you take it to UPS to ship for FREE!! The school that my mom works at, Pleasant Valley, has earned $40.90 from recycling just juice pouches. That is 2,045 juice pouches that are not in a landfill.
The reason I wanted to write about this is because I would like our school to sign-up. If Charter Oak began to use TerraCycle, then the school could provide more field trips for all classrooms using the money earned.

For more information on TerraCycle: www.terracycle.net

God's Washer and Dryer

2010-01-14T03:18:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how God takes things that you don't think are related to Him at all and makes them learning lessons. This past fall, my dryer was not working well...taking 2 and 3 dry cycles to get everything all dry. My mom forwarded me an email from her Sunday School class stating a lady in the class was moving from a house to an apartment and the apartment already had a washer and dryer so she needed to sell/give away her set. I thought I had found a fix for my issue, emailed her and set it up to pay her asking price as we could. No one had responded on the washer and she asked if I would want it as well. I said sure.

In November my husband and a friend went and picked up the set.I had found out before the pick-up that the dryer was electric and my current was gas, so we would have to wait a while to switch them as a 220 line would need to be run. My dad decided to do some investigation into why my dryer hadn't been working and it turned out to be the vent pipe was blocked. It was a fixable problem. We did switch out the washers, but I was too attached to my old one. As my old washer was working just fine, we switched back and put the set out side the house against the house covered in tarps. So needless to say this started my need to sell a washer and dryer.

My first thought was that I would sell them for the price that was greater than what I owed as they were less than a year old. It also wouldn't hurt to have a little extra cash to pay for bills. SO I listed them on craigs-list and had a few responses and one person come take a look, but no one was buying. I began to feel guilty and convicted of this and tried to justify myself by saying I would give the extra money to the church.... but would my greedy heart do that.

Then just last week, a gal from church contacted me asking if I still had them. Her cousin's washer had died and were needing a basic washer to get them through until they were able to get a new one. I didn't know it, but was God touching my heart. When the husband called and told me his story and said they were part of our church and only had 100 to spend, I knew that I had to say yes. How could I stop the generosity that was given to me? I had yet to pay a penny to the gal who so graciously gave them to me with a promise of payment. God swooped in and took over! Thank you Lord!

They came and picked it up Sunday. It was neat as I thought about the generosity and kindness the gal had when she was trying to sell them in the first place. They weren't mine! All our "possessions" aren't ours. Then this week as I listened to the CD of Sunday's sermon, I felt like it was God through Ritch as he preached. That in itself is neat. I had a child who was being uncooperative Sunday and was unable to stay for service. As I headed downstairs to pick-up the other children, I grabbed a CD to listen to. It was also neat as I went to turn on my radio Monday and Tuesday-I have a short drive to and from work- how I never even thought to listen to the local Christian station or any other radio station.... I certainly could have.

God is telling me to trust and let go! Money needs to be given where needed. Possessions need to be given when needed. Help in a physical form needs to be given when needed. I never thought or even imagined how God would use this all for Him!!! Isn't HE amazing!

TooT TooT

2010-01-06T19:59:00.001-08:00

I usually don't toot my own horn, but do feel like I want to share a bit. Today, my principal came to me and said" I want you to know you are making a difference." I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but said thanks. He then proceeded to tell me that two students returning from break brought in two bags of Capri Sun juice pouches. The students had collected the pouches at a holiday party over break and wanted to bring them in for our collection. I was amazed and touched. For those that don't know about the collection program I started at the school I work at, you can read my latest newsletter entry. It is nice to know that you are making an impact in children and in the world.

Just in case you are wondering what we collect....
~Pens, Sharpies and Highlighters (new)
~Drink Pouches
~Malt-O-Meal cereal bags
~Toasted Chip bags
~Scotch Tape dispensers and cores
~Chip Bags (any size and brand)
~Candy Wrappers
~Lunch Kit (lunchables type-label and plastic tray)
~Empty Glue bottles and empty glue stick containers

www.Terracycle.net

A BIG THANK YOU!! To all who donate their trash to help our school!!

Congratulations to all that have been turning in their juice pouches!! We have earned $8.48 with our first shipment! Our next package of drink pouches will be going in before Christmas. Our other items for collection are growing, but have yet to fill a copy paper box in order to be mailed in. I also wanted to share with you that we have been able to add 2 more items to our recycling to earn money for our playgrounds. Starting immediately, we will be collecting Frito-Lay chip bags and Mars candy wrappers. These can be any size bag or wrapper. Terracycle uses these items to make many new products. We will continue to collect Juice Pouches, Malt-o-Meal cereal bags, Ritz and Wheat Thins Toasted Cracker Bags, and Scotch Brand tape dispensers and cores at the Elementary and North buildings in a marked container in the cafeteria. You can visit the website www.terracycle.net for more information.

Mrs. Lindahl, Bright Futures Teacher Assistant

Positives of My girls

2009-11-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

Just a little experiment that was suggested to me... that I write down the positives of Mikayla to make sure I am not dwelling on negatives that make a problem in understanding. A great suggestion I thought.... why not do it with each girl.

Day 1: 11/25
Maggie - sweet smile when she wakes up
Mikayla - great hugs and " I love you Mom" in the morning.
Rebekah - bubbles & getting on Homework Heroes
Rachel - hard worker & getting on Homework Heroes

Can't Wrap my Brain Around it....

2009-11-20T02:53:00.000-08:00

For some that don't know, my hubby was laid off back in Feb. 2009 and has since then been looking for a full time job. During this time he has been delivering the PJStar newspaper and within the last month, picked up a second route to make more money. THe money he is currently making and I make are simply just enough for our family to get by. I am very thankful that God has provided for our family and that we are both working...but here is my problem. The full time job has always been an "issue". Nate wants to work more and make more to provide. I would like to see us not be in a financial bind when unexpected expenses come up. However, he hasn't had much luck. It had seemed that his luck had changed when he was asked for an interview at a company and the asked for a second. Many were praying that this would be it. The news came to me yesterday as a good note and then went south. The good news was that the company was willing to hire him. The bad news was there would be some up-front expense. Now as I have already stated, we don't have extra funds. This up-front expense is not a little one.... it is more than our monthly mortgage amount! Granted our payment amount is comparably small for a single home...but still!! I have asked him to pray about this and me as well... and my gut is still saying the SAME thing. This doesn't seem like the job God would want for our family. God wouldn't ask our family to go further in debt just to add a possible job, would He?? I say no and feel that God is to as the funds are not available. While extra money is good, I am getting the feeling God wants us to be content on where we are. If you read this, would you just pray with us on this issue. God can provide and with prayer, He can answer the need.

Frustration

2009-10-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

Do you know what it feels like when you do everything you can to get things done on time and then you still aren't able to get what you need?? That is where I am at. Our family has been receiving food stamps for over a year as Nate's and my income is low. This has been even more needed since Nate was permanetly laid off in Feb. 2009. While he continues to search for work (he is delivering the PJ Star=2 routes now), he has been unable to find full time work to support our family. Every 6 months our family must recertify for the food stamps.

Back in February, I did the phone call recertification, received a confirmation, and then got the letter stating that that they needed paystubs to finish processing the approval. Weeks went by and still no food stamps. Finally at the end of February (when the food stampshave now run out), I get a letter stating that they never received the envelope with all the paystubs.

I then had to go to the DHS office to take a second copy of the paystubs. The lady then told me that the info would be processed and I would get the food stamps. Weeks of March went by and still nothing. I made calls, and they were not returned as the voicemail stated ("return your call in two buisness days"). Finally about 10 days into April, I finally reached a case worker by phone and she said she would get it doen and I would get my food stamps. And amazingly I did.

Now to today! We have been in this process again for about a month. I received the letter, collected the paystubs... and thinking I had learned from the pervious experience, had Nate take the paystubs down to the office to be copied. They were due on Sept. 8th... and he took them there then.

Well, SURPRISE SURPRISE... we get a letter on Sept. 19th stating that our case is denied and closed as they did not receive the required paperwork! WHAT!??!!? That is crazy!

So then Nate goes back down on the 21st to SEE the caseworker in person. Mrs. Hop(changed the name) states that she has not recieved any paystubs to which Nate gives her a chance to recopy the papers a SECOND TIME! That shoudl solve it, right?? NOT!!! She says she needs a copy of our mortgage slip with tax info. She says we can mail it... Nate tells her no as last time (Feb), you guys never got it. So she says I can fax it.

Nate gives me the info and then on Tues (22nd) I fax it. Call to ask her to let me know she received it........ No return call was ever made.

On Friday the 225th. I travel back down after work to only find out that no caseworkers will see me. I explain the WHOLE situation (in tears) to the receptionist who says she will get a supervisior. Supervisor (white gal that I do not get the name of) comes out and listens to me tell my story... says she will go check Mrs. Hop's desk. She comes back and says all the paperwork is there and should be processed Mon or Tues "I hope." Oh yes... she says I hope! Like that makes me feel REAL confident in the system!!!

Now we are finally past Mon and Tues... thinking that Thurs is the 1st, I will check my account then (there is a phone number to call). GUESS WHAT?!?!?! NO FOOD STAMPS!!

I make trip # 2 (4th trip if you include all of Nate's) to that office at 12:15pm only to find out they are out to lunch until 1:30. HOW IN THE WORLD DO THEY GET AN HOUR AND A HALF LUNCH BREAK!! WHAT WORK ARE THEY DOING!! Anyway, I go back at 1:45 stand in line for 10 mins, tell her my name (btw, she recognized me from last Friday) and she says she will get me a supervisor. I sit and wait.... talk to a lovely young gal who has just had a baby and can't go back to work from a c-section, baby born early only 2lbs, and hubby laid-off, needs food stamps to feed her 2 other children at home......finally get called and the gal is black??

Wait a minute!! I just talked to the supervisor on Friday... it was a white gal. I'm not being racist... I don't care what color her skin is.... just trying to figure out why I am now talking to another supervisor.... How many supervisiors are there!!!!! This one tells me... and shows me on the computer... that my case is closed and they haven't received any paperwork!

WHAT!!!! My husband has been down here TWICE!! I was just here on Friday and the gal (who I don't have a name for) said Mrs. Hop had everything and would have is processed on Mon. or Tues, I hope!! NOW you are telling me you have noting again!! No phone calls returned, no efforts on your part!

Through my anger and tears I tried to be polite and tell this gal my story. She just keeps talking about how Mrs. Hop is not my regular case worker and the gal who is has been out sick. "We're trying to keep up on her case load" TRYING!?!?!?!? Hello?! This is Rediculous!! So I ask her when will we receive our food stamps? "It takes 2 buisness days so they will be there on Saturday"

Today is Saturday. GUESS WHAT??? NO FOOD STAMPS!!! I am so frustated!! IT's not right! I will be going BACK DOWN (time #3 for me) and try to get this solved. In the mean time, we will go pick up a food basket from a church, and buy the few things that we need. Believe me, we are not without food.... I have things in my cupboards for now. It's the milk, cheese and meat that runs out weekly that we need the stamps for.

It's just frustrating when you are doing everything you can to get things done without issue and it doesn't happen. If we didn't need it, we wouldn't use it. I don't like to live on assistance from the state, but need it to make ends meet. For all, I give it up to God. He will provide, I know He will. I can rest in that.

Unexpected Surprises.

2009-08-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I started my first day with Pleasant Valley School District. It was an institute day... not sure why Pre-K teachers need to attend all if it isn't focused on them....hmmmm. Glad to be getting the chance to get to know my new co-teacher and the other 2 Bright Futures gals. Lacie and I will be at one building with 2 groups of 20 and Chelsie and Alex will be at the middle school with 1 class of 20.

We got done around 2:45 and I headed home. THen the fun started. Rachel and Rebekah had been home all day with Daddy. I figured 2 girls aged 7 and almost 10 could do fine... but found toys everywhere and a curtain rod bent so bad it had to be thrown out. I don't understand.
Needless to say, when the bus arrived, Maggie was missing her bag and Mikayla had forgotten to turn in her medicine to the teacher. (Funny, she remembered the foam trays for art) Oh well, such is the life of kids.

Tomorrow is another day. Hope to learn, hope the kids don't destroy the house and that the little ones find the backpack, and deliver the medicine to the school nurse. Life is full of unexpected surprises to say the least.

Mikayla, my "Kaybug"

2009-08-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

Well, actually that is a name her father calls her. She is my 4, almost 5, year old daughter. She had surgery on Monday to repair the hole in her ear. It wasn't a difficult procedure, but did take about an hour.

We arrived at the hospital around 7 am. It was at OSF St. Francis Outpatient surgery. Dr. Gootee was going to take a piece of tissue from her ear lobe and place it over the hole, fill her ear with ointment and let it grow together. Mikayla brought her stuffed puppy along with us. After arriving and parking our van, we took a ride on the cart to the hospital entrance. We registered (funny point: The lady who called out name said Linedhall... never heard that one before.) and then were told to head to the 3rd floor. Up to the surgery floor we went. We were shown to a room that had 4 different "rooms", only walls were curtains. Mikayla saw the toys and took her puppy to one of the cars and started to play. The nurse gave me a hospital outfit to put on her and I told Mikayla that we had to play dress-up. She got changed and returned to playing. When the nurse came in, she had a basket of hats for Mikayla to pick through. They were home made by a group of ladies to help kids feel special when they have to come for surgery... TOO SWEET!!

Mikayla picked a cow one first (no surprise, cows are one of her favorite animals), but then quickly changed when she saw a Strawberry shortcake one. She looked too cute. Then the waiting began. Her surgery was the second one Dr. Gootee was going to perform. After waiting about an hour and a half, the nurse came in and said it was time. Mikayla climbed into one of the riding cars, put her puppy in the small compartment, waved bye to me and off they went. I went down to the waiting area where they give you a pager and a number. The number tells you where the patient is on the screen and then is color coded to what they are doing with them. I watched the screen for a while, but found it to be quite tiring as you wait to see if there are any changes in status. After about an hour, I see that the status did change and her surgery is over. Dr. Gootee called down on the hospital phone to say all had gone as expected and I would get to see her in recovery.

Then the hard part. Seeing your child hooked up to monitors, IV in her hand, A drop of drying blood on the blanket, slowly waking from the medicine.... WOW! Talk about pulling at the heart strings of a mom!! She was in stage 1 recovery for about 15 minutes. The nurse pulled over a chair so I could rock her. She soon woke up and said "Momma". I picked her up and sat in the rocking chair. She cried that the IV hurt her hand. I tried to be reassuring, but all I could do was cry. We were then moved to stage 2 recovery where I rocked her some more. Mikayla continued to complain about the IV in her hand and how much it hurt. The nurse came in and asked if she would like some juice. I said yes. She really didn't want to drink any, but I told her that she would need to drink some in order to get the IV out. She took a few sips and then was done. Mikayla still wanted the IV removed...but the nurses wanted to wait and make sure she could keep the juice down. She cried and cried. The only thing I could think to do was sing. So I asked Mikayla if she wanted me to sing her a song. She nodded yes. I asked her if she wanted me to sing Jesus Loves Me. Again she nodded. So I began to sing. Tears welled up in my eyes and I choked on my cries as I sang. I sand that song about 20 times and before I knew it, she was fast asleep again. The nurse came in after a bit and saw she was sleeping. She said she would return in a bit to remove her IV when Mikayla woke up. She slept for about 10 minutes and the was awake again. The nurse removed her IV, blood presure cuff, and got her ready to go. One of the hospital volunteers brought in a wheelchair and took us out to the parking deck.