"A Police Officer's Wife"


A special kind of woman: a cut above the rest,That's A Police Officer's Wife, rating her best.

How many good byes are whispered, joined with a fond embrace?As duty steals her man, for the danger he must face.

How often have meals been ruined - or tender moments disturbed,by a call for special duty, sparking loyalty un-swerved?

It's a devil of a job, for an angel like this,Who......for the love of her man, must forsake that kiss,
She can run a garden tractor; even paint a room in need,How she can stretch a dollar is a miracle indeed.

She's mother, lover, chauffeur and nurse, A living symbol of: "for better or for worse."
Rich is the man, reaping his rewards in life,Who chose to be the other half of
A Police Officer's Wife.

(Author Unknown)

For you, Carrie.

I've Wanted to Take Pics Like this for Awhile Now

I've seen a lot of posts in an online chat community that I belong to, where people ask how to store cloth diapers. Very few responses include a changing table like our's, and most of the curious have similar tables.

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So, here is where we change diapers and how Saxton's cloth diapers are stored

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The diapers are stored by type on the middle shelf of the changing table, in either baskets or stacks. The in season wool, our choice cover, is also stored on this shelf. The cloth wipes sit in the center front for easy access. The bottom shelf contains hemp doublers (the best kind ever), off-season wool, and soakers. The wetback hangs on the right side of the table, and the diaper pins are stored to the left, on top of the dresser.

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We use several types of diapers, including flats, prefolds, fitteds, AIOs, and pockets.

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From left to right: (front row) flats, prefolds, wipes, and fitteds

(back row) more flats, wool longies, pockets, and more fitteds

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I love how bright and cheery our diapers are!

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Yup, that's right, we own a Farmall patterned diaper. Isn't it cute?

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We own several different brands of fitteds.

Front to back: Suzy's One Size & Four Little Fluff Bugs, Goodmamas, and stacked in the top picture, Artsy Fartsy FooFoo, and on top of the table, Sustainablebabyish.

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I prefer Blueberry brand pockets & Bum Genious Organic AIOs when we don't want to wear wool or our Olive Jane cover.

(AIOs are kept in the diaper bag)

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Usually, we wear wool. I love handknit wool!

(in case you can't tell from previous posts)

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I covered a handmade bar of soap with a piece of flannel, and keep my pins stuck in it. Not only does it keep my pins close by, but the natural oils from the soap coat the ends and make them very easy to slide thru diaper fabric. Because it's on top of the dresser, I don't have to worry about Saxton geting into the pins and getting hurt.

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The bottom shelf of the changing table has 3 baskets that sit in the front. One basket holds hats (that Saxton has no intention of wearing), one holds his newly aquired blocks, and the 3rd is where we keep his shoes (not that he wears more than one pair, picky kid).

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Behind the baskets, and away from curious fingers, I keep our other diapering supplies.

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In the back left corner, is the hemp inserts/doublers (all made by the notorious AFFF), stacked neatly (sorta), where i can reach them from the side when needed.

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In the center back is the stack of shorties, waiting ever so patiently for warmer weather. Aren't they bright and cheery?

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In the back right hand corner, and not pictured, is where I keep our stack of wool soakers. We wear them under jenas, cords, slacks, and at night. Like the doublers, I can reach them thru the bars of the table.

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Lastly, the top of the changing table.

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I keep the changing pad up there, of course, and hang wool off the edges to dry. Sometimes they are drying after a super wet diaper or a day of use, or if they a soaker, I hang them there after I wash and lanolize them. Right after I wash & fold diapers, I usually place a night time diaper on top, because I don't have room below.

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There you have it; the where, how, and why we store the diapers the way we do.

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Happy cloth diapering!

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If We Make It Thru December...

I always thought that old country song was, well, out of line with the Christmas season. But after the Decemeber we just survived, I think I can relate to the song writer.

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The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph a family for their Official Christmas Family Picture. I actually photographed 3 families, but this picture has stuck out as a tradtional styled favorite from the shoot:

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Thanksgiving Dinner went really well, with my inlaws in attendance. Dinner was delicious, we all ate too much, and the day was wonderfully enjoyable!

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(Now to just convince the inlaws that I want to visit after dinner, and J & I can do dishes after they leave...)

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Black Friday found me rising early, meeting J when he got off work for the kid transfer, and Saxton & I bargain hunting. I think we did really well!

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I was home around noon so that J could go help with the MRR Club Toy Train Show at the Mall. It took a little racing around the house on our part to get out the door on time for the area light-up parade, but we were there early, with a clean truck and bundled up kiddos.

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Xavian rode in his Cub Scout Pack's float

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And I drove Korra, minus her attendants, to represent her portion of the Pleasantville Royalty.

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It was a rain sleet mix, and I had a very cold and shivering pair of children at the parade's end. Thank heavens for cheeseburgers and hot chocolate!

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This is about the time that one of Santa's Elves came to live with us. We named our Elf on the Shelf, Ralph. Ralph was in a new place almost every day, and oh! how much fun the kids had finding him!

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We rose to an unseasonable warm day on Saturday, and were waitting for the tree stand to open at noon, to insure we could pick out the perfect tree. The wonderful thing about these trees, is that they are grown less than 30 miles away, and are cut Thanksgiving Day, so they are fresh, and really last the Christmas season!

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Xavian helped me drag that big ol' thing into the house, and once I bought more lights, I covered it in the glowing bulbs and we set about decorating it Tuesday night.

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Friday night was our Hill Top Hometown Christmas Bash, and off we went to see Santa and for Korra to perform more raoyal duties.

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The visits with Santa were quite annimated, and full of smiles!

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The highlight of the evening was Xavian's uplanned invitation to sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas with the performing band. Very unexpected, but so wonderful to see and hear!

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Sadly, this is when our month long Christmas celebration took a sad turn. In the chaos of returning home from seeing Santa, our beloved family dog, Alco, did the unthinkable. Saxton had surgery, and Alco had to be sent to a new home. We miss Alco everyday, and we've coulda-woulda-shoulda'd ourselves over and over.

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In the end, we've both had to admit that Alco made the choice, and all we could do is find him a home without toddlers.

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Saxton has recovered, but will have scars. And he still loves "woof woofs".

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Korra's Christmas program found mom and dad sitting on hard metal benches, watching their little girl sing. And sing she did!

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That evening, our lives took another painful turn. The neighbor's dogs attacked and killed Chessie on our backporch. I will admit, I lost it on the dog owner. Especially since his dogs did this to another cat of our's (front porch), have destoyed property of our's, and have a history of terrorizing Alco and the kids. Not to mention those dogs have cornered me in my garage.

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We opted for legal action this time. It doesn't look good for the dog owner.

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Needless to say, I had an emotional breakdown about this point, and really didn't feel like celebrating Christmas anymore. J & I held each other and the kids, and we all cried.

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Thank God for family and friends who lift you up when you feel so lost and hurt. Their kind words helped us pick ourselves back-up, and restored much of our Christmas spirit.

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Xavian's school Christmas Program was the following Monday night, and my! he looked handsome!

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My BFF Nicki came the following Saturday to cut Saxton's hair. I won't lie, I cried.

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First came off mommy's lock of hair to keep

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Then 'Aunt' Nicki set to work turning him into a big boy. She did a wonderful job!

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Always the clown, Xavian ventured out into the snow while Nicki was visiting, and turned himself into a human snowman!

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Before we knew it, it was the Tuesday before Christmas, and we celebrated Korra's 6th birthday a few days early (she's a Christmas Eve Miracle)

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And then it was Christmas Eve, and we made cookies and candy. And hot choclate on a stick. YUM!

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Then we hung our stocking by the chimney with care,

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Left Santa some cookies and milk,

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And woke to Christmas morning and gift opening!

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Saxton decided unwrapping new things is the best thing ever!

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And Xavian was left speechless when he opened his REAL drawing supplies

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Christmas dinner was tasty (as usual), and we lazed around a great deal the rest of Christmas break. With exception of my annual after Christmas shopping trip, of course.

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Our Christmas turned out much happier and fulfilling than we thought it would be, after the rough patches. But we made it thru December, so we're going to be fine.

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Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year, from my family to your's.

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