It's Okay

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I like my house to look just so. I wake up early in the morning to give myself a head start to my day, I end my day making sure the house is ready for the following day. I like getting one load of laundry done per day, and I like when everything has a place and is in its place.

But.....

I am okay when I look over my home and find a set of toy keys sitting on the coffee table where they obviously do not belong.

I am okay when I find a lonely little stuffed toy on the floor in the dining room.

I am okay when I find the matching sister stuffed toy under the coffee table.

I am okay with pink doillie hearts being stuck to my living room wall.

It's okay because I am reminded that I do not live in the pages of a magazine.

I live in real life.

I live in a home with my husband and two small children.

I live in a home that is lived in.

I want my children to know that home is a place where we live and play and grow......

.......and when we are done, we clean up and put our toy keys away.

Hanging the Laundry

We have been hanging the laundry again since the beginning of the year.

 

I haven't hung the laundry since just after Ian was born. At the time, I didn't realize,  how much I missed hanging the laundry.... the process of getting everything ready and the benefits I get from it.

 

Like with everything, there has to be some preparation before I take the clothes out to be hung. There is no way I am hanging the laundry so the world gets a full view of our "unmentionables." My rule is, if you can't see it when you are wearing it, you shouldn't see it when it is hanging.

 

There is a way to prepare everything so that you don't have to go searching for the right item to hang.

 

Obviously, I have to check the weather before I throw my load in the wash. If it is going to rain, I don't even bother to wash my load of laundry. I would rather do two loads of laundry and hang my clothes than get my load done for the day and have to use my dryer. Addie usually pipes up in the morning, "Mom, don't forget to check if it's going to rain."

 

Once the load is done, I pick through it and lay my larger items in my basket first. Then the medium sizes, and lastly the smaller items that are normally hidden when you are wearing them. This takes about five minutes at the most.

My line is considered an umbrella line, so the shorter lines are on the inside and the longer lines are on the outside. The smaller, personal items are hung on the interior of the line, and because I picked through everything before I came outside, they are already sitting on top of my clothes pile.

We also have a smaller rack that stays on our back porch.  I have Addie hang washcloths and socks on. She enjoys it, but it is also teaching her how to hang laundry so she can continue to help me later on when she is big enough to reach the lines.

I love that hanging the laundry forces me (the indoor person) to go outside. Not only can we hear the chickens, cows and horses from the farm behind us, but the other day I also heard a donkey. Nothing compares.

We noticed an increase in our electric bill when I stopped hanging the laundry. Hanging the laundry means I do not use my dryer unless it cannot be helped (three days of straight rain....it has happened). There are no quick 20 minute dewrinkle cycles multiple times throughout the day because I was too busy or forgot to take the laundry out when the timer went off. For me, it actually makes things easier and causes less stress to hang the laundry.... and is cheaper.... and I am all about saving money.

Do you hang your laundry? If you do, what are your "tricks" and benefits for doing so?

Christmas | Decor

Welcome to our home!

I hope you enjoy this slide show of our decor for Christmas this year. You'll find it very simple this time around. Clutter drives me batty and having more than necessary out and up makes me feel like there is always something to clean or fix. So this year I decided to go simple.

And you know what? I think it is my favorite year of decor yet!

Customize your own picture slideshow

The Office Mini- Renovation

Brian said that because I relaxed so much while visiting GrandTiti and family, I had so much pent up energy that it caused me to do what I did last Monday and Tuesday. What did I do? I decided to tear apart our office on Monday. I guess Brian's assumption is partially true. I did have all week to think about my least favorite room in the house, what I wanted to do in there, and how I would set about accomplishing it.

I literally emptied the desk, bookshelf and closet onto the office floor. (Until I am able to download my pictures onto Brian's computer I won't be able to post any. Our computer is very picky about which files it will download from my camera.) For anyone that knows me well, messes make me a little stressed. I am not compulsive in any way, it is just hard to see where to start in a mess. I decided that I would just pick one thing up at a time and decide what to do with it (keep, donate, or trash it). So that is where I began.

We have been blessed with so many books, many which were mine and Faye's when we were children or were bought when I was teaching for use with my students with the intention that my children would read them one day. However, our bookshelf was bursting at the seams and I hated walking into the office and seeing the bookshelf looking cluttered. So while Addie was napping (so important when deconstructing a room), I decided what was Addie-age-appropriate and what she would have to wait to read (meant for ages 4 and up). Anything that fit in the later of the two categories was moved into our bedroom temporarily.

After deciding what went back onto the shelves, I worked on books that were Brian's and mine. I found some great books that I plan to read and use as additional devotional materials and some books on marriage that we had gotten while doing a Weekend To Remember conference (highly recommend to every couple no matter how long or short a time you have been married or how wonderful your marriage is. The Biblical teaching and communication that it encourages has been known to save marriages and has strengthened marriages that were already strong. We went before our first anniversary as a gift from my parents, and have used the teachings ever since in our marriage.).

Addie's books (that are toddler durable) were placed on the lowest shelf of the bookcase so she can have easy access to her books. Other Addie books that we use for devotionals or are paper books are up higher so that she cannot get a hold of them.

My other dilemma was the proportions of the room. The bookshelf (which was the largest piece of furniture) was on the smallest wall and the smaller desk was on the largest wall. Brian did me the favor of moving the furniture around (the two pieces of furniture swapped walls) and then I could begin replacing certain things. The books that were too old for Addie were boxed for Brian to put in the attic (poor thing, he has so much work ahead of him).

I'll spare you the blow by blow of putting the room back together, but let us just say that after two days of work (Addie helped me on the second day to go through all of the notepads, sticky notes, index cards and desk related items. Did you know that a calculator is really a cell phone in disguise? I didn't either until Addie pointed that out.) everything in the office has a place/home and everything is pleasantly in its place/home. The only thing left for me to do is hang my paprika colored curtains. The room feels bigger, and I actually enjoy being back here now.

Eventually, I would like to slipcover the sofa bed (now I know why Mom hated this sofa- it was hers originally, and when Faye and Dad moved in with us after Mom's passing, we brought it over here for Faye to sleep on- it is a very drab green color) and put some coral pillows on it. But that is a job for another day. Tuesday night, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep at 10:00...very unlike me.

Maybe in a few days I'll be rested enough to take apart another room. Which room will it be?
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Today's song is O Holy Night performed by David Phelps.

Scratched Some More Off My List

Back in July, I posted here my list of projects to complete before the end of the year. One of my projects was to make an apron with the beautiful vintage looking material my cousin Belinda had given me.

This past Thursday, I decided that I was going to find an easy to make apron with no complicated details. I typed "apron patterns" into my search engine, and a whole multitude of links came up. I found a quick tutorial on A Feathered Nest for making an apron. Then after recording many sewing shows, I mixed the patttern from the tutorial with the directions from one of the shows, and this is the apron I got.

I was so proud of it, I wore it while cooking and then for the rest of the evening. I now have a better understanding of the pattern itself, and, Lord willing, I plan on making a few more in the future.

I can't wait for my next session!

Two...and Fall Frenzy

Cuteness personified lives in my house. When you have a little girl with the brightest smile, a playful spirit, and LOTS of personality, you can never have a bad day. Recently, we have been trying to teach Addie to put one finger up and say "One" when we ask her how old she is. Boy were we surprised on Monday when she answered the "How old are you?" question by putting up one finger and very proudly and loudly saying, "Two!" Cousin Laura, the Leap Frog Lily you gave Addie as a baby has done its job well. She now knows what number comes after one.

On another note, the Fall Cleaning Frenzy has hit our home. Last year, I read a book called Living Organized (anyone who know me knows that I love organizing and being organized). In it, was mentioned the Mt. Vernon method of cleaning. The main idea of this method is to start at one point in your home, clean what you come upon, and move on. You do as much as you are able, and the next time you come back you pick up where you left off.

I began on Monday with the two smallest areas in our home, the laundry room, the front entry, and the kitchen pantry. Everything was scrubbed (bleach was used after a small person went down for a nap), evaluated (do we use it, need it, love it?), and either put back, placed in the garage for a future garage sale, or tossed.

On Tuesday I tackled the fridge and freezer. I'll bet you didn't know how much fun a toddler can have with ice packs from the freezer. The fridge and freezer were completely emptied in stages, shelves were scrubbed in the sink, dried, and replaced.

The picture shows what my working white board looks like. This is a reminder for me of all the spaces and things I want to make sure that I clean in the particular room I am working in, which is the kitchen for this week. As each item is completed, it is erased. Yes, some things are obvious, but isn't it more fun to cross things off a list than to just know it was done?

Sometimes doing the regular chores that we have as Keepers of the Home can become monotonous and less than exciting. I think it is always interesting to learn from others new and different ways to clean and organize to keep our jobs fun and (dare I say) exciting. I am always looking up websites, books, and magazines for different ways to clean and organize to keep me fresh and alert and to keep my family on the toes.

Some Decorating

My mother had given us the rod-iron decoration for Christmas 2007, and since then it has hung there looking very lonely. I have wanted to do something in the space below it for a long time, but had not had any ideas until recently. My mom-in-law and I (and, of course, Addie) had gone to Marshall's a few weeks ago where I saw the letters. I loved the idea of having the intials to our names hanging above our bed, but since I learned from Mom that decorations should always be done in uneven numbers and proportionate to the space, I knew I needed something else. I bought the letters, which were originally cream colored, and spray painted them brown. I had been given a picture of Brian and me dancing together at a friends wedding (one of my favorie pictures of all time) that I had enlarged to a 5x7. Addie and I went shopping a few days later at Michael's where I found the frame. It was on clearance for $4.97, and I had a coupon for an additional 25% off of regular and clearance prices. The frame cost me a total of $3.75. So for under $20.00 I was able to decorate a part of our home that had looked bare and lonely for some time.

Cornices

Here they are!! I am so excited!

My husband and pops-in-law picked up the wood on Saturday, August 1. Pops then cut and built the boxes to go over my windows and brought them to us on Monday. On Tuesday, my main project of the day was to cover the boxes with batting and fabric. That evening, my parents-in-law came over, and Brian and Pops put them up for me. Aren't they wonderful (Brian, Pops, and the cornices)! I love how they make the rooms feel finished as opposed to big and empty. Thank you, Pops and Brian, for helping me cross one of my projects off of my list.

As for Me and My House...

Back in February, our church hosted a two week revival. Brian and I were both ministered to during that time in ways that required action on our part. On our way home one evening during that two week period, Brian made the comment that he wanted me to somehow put the verse Joshua 24:15 on a wall in our home so that we could have a constant reminder of Who was really in control of our home. I immediately knew the perfect spot for the verse. I cut out the letters on black card stock using my Cricut (later I found out that Cricut makes vinyl for rubbing onto walls- just my luck!), used my scrapbooking adhesive squares, and put the verse up on the main wall of the house. This wall stands in the center of our main room to give a slight definition to the three rooms and entry way. It is the wall you always have to pass to go from one side of the house to the other. It is the wall that holds the highest point of the house. It is the wall that now holds a visual sign to all who enter that the Lord is the Foundation for our home. I look forward to sharing with you in the future other glimpses around the house.

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My sweet little girl is in the process of teething...again. She now has a total of 8 teeth (one of the eight is breaking through). But my sweet little girl remains her sweet little self- playing, learning, and exploring. Everyday we watch a couple of "learning to read" DVDs. One of them is the Leap Frog Letter Factory. Two weeks ago she began making the sounds to the letters S,T, M, and N (in that order). Yesterday, she made the A sound with the video instead of waiting for them to say it first. Mommy was SO proud. I got right on the phone and called Daddy to let him know about our God-gifted girl. We realize that God is the One who ultimately gives knowledge and understanding, so He gets the credit. We are only doing our part in spending time with and teaching her.

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And just by way of an update...yesterday I said that I was going to wrap some Christmas presents, and I did. I just want it to be very clear that I don't just write stuff, I actually do what I write about:) And for tomorrow's post I will be posting a picture from Mother's Day. In the May 11th post from Yahoo 360 I mentioned that I would try making a layout and posting it. Well, I tried making the layout, but our old computer began acting up. We have since gotten a new computer (I still have to install the scrapbook program on it), and, because I am able to upload larger sized pictures on this site (yipeee!), I will be able to post the actual pictures for you. Have a great day!