4 Things

We all have weaknesses, and often it's easier to accept (and identify) the weaknesses of others than it is to do the same for yourself. Even harder is overcoming a weakness.

Well, I've come to accept that a couple of my weaknesses are keeping my house clean and keeping nutritious meals on the table. It's not that I don't want to do these things and it's not that they aren't priorities. It's just that after a decade of marriage and continued failure in these areas I finally accepted reality.

I needed help! So...I got some!

So here are my four things...

1. On Tuesday afternoons my wonderful friend Sheralyn comes over and helps me clean for 2 solid hours.
2. On Wednesday afternoon my wonderful friend Jenny comes over and helps me fold the laundry I've been washing all day in anticipation of her visit.
3. On Saturday mornings my amazing sister is going to start coming over to help me clean for an hour. (She'll start this tomorrow.)
4. And...After a bit of discussion Hubby and I have decided to try once a month freezer cooking.

So there you have it. My 4 things! No more dirty house. No more dirty laundry. No more eating out all the time. No more feeling defeated. No more arguments over housework.

Penny's Priorities Planner

I am by nature a very disorganized person who longs not to be! So in an effort to "get it together" I made myself the following planner page.


What I've done is printed two to a page front and back. So I end up with 4 per sheet of paper and then fold them in half like a book and staple them together (1 month's worth per booklet). This allows me the benefit of a planner without the expense or the bulky binder! Hooray!

If I knew how to attach this to the post in such a way that you could use it too I would but I don't. So if you're interested and you know how to do it leave me a comment!

Have a wonderful day,

Breaking My Addiction to Bottled Water

As of October of 2008 it's been10 years since I've smoked a cigarette. I smoked for 8 years before I quit and it was really hard. It took me a full year and a half of hating it every single time I lit up! Part of the difficulty was that most everyone I hung out with at the time including my future husband was a smoker.

Now I'm facing a similar problem with bottled water. I know that it sounds silly but for some reason we've become a people who prefer a bottle to a cup. And when you're married to a man who refuses to drink water from the tap it is somehow easier to grab a bottle (there's always a case in the house) than a cup from the cupboard.

However, I am choosing to rebel against my own laziness and take control of my habits. Because I prefer a bottle over a cup I will be using a SIGG bottle from now on. I've actually had a few of these for a while but I'm ashamed to say that until now they weren't put to good use. So I'm telling those who know me and all of my blogging friends that I am going to try very hard to have one by my side at all times. (Please call me on it if you see me with plastic!) This will accomplish two things. One is I can cross #46 off my list of 100 things. And two, hopefully I will stay more hydrated.

So there you have it. I'm kicking yet another addiction and stepping closer to my dream life all with one good decision!

Have a wonderful day,

100 Things...

In an effort to live intentionally I've compiled this list of 100 things I want to do between now and the time I turn 35 (June 2010). I guess this is more my style than New Year's Resolutions. (I will highlight them in bold when I've completed them.)

1. Grow my hair at least 3 inches below my shoulders. (Wonderful Hubby says my hair is exactly 3 inches below my shoulders now. For some reason I thought 3 inches was longer than it actually is. 5/10/09)
2. Start walking or biking with my husband and kids everywhere we go that is under 1 mile. (Okay so I've discovered that this is just not going to happen. When Hubby gets off work at night he has no desire to walk anywhere so the boys and I will have to do this on our own. :) )
3. Watch all the Signing Time videos with my kids.
4. Finally read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. (Finished 12/9/08)
5. Begin writing down my childhood memories.
6. Visit my cousins and my aunt and uncle in Joplin.
7. Finish the Beth Moore study I started a year ago on the life of John.
8. Edit and retype the 30 day devotional I wrote a few years ago and finally give it to my friends. (I've finally started this project. You can read the devo's and view my progress here. 5/21/09)
9. Paint my living room and hallway. (Father's Day '09)
10. Stop drinking soda.
11. Reread The Little Pilgrim's Progress with the boys. (We begin re-reading this with our co-op this month! 2/09)
12. Read at least 2 books on the art of storytelling.
13. Save **** dollars in my personal savings account.
14. Try teaching an art class twice a month and see how I like it. (As of January '09 I'll be teaching art to my kids a 4 others 2X's a month for the rest of this school year.)
15. Start recycling. (again)
16. Start making my own money. (started working again 9/09...just 5-10 hours a week doing filing for a chiropractor.)
17. Have a family photo taken. (taken by family on our anniversary. 3/20/09)
18. Plant another tree in our backyard.
19. Finally visit the fire station with the boys.
20. Write my mother a love letter. (Not the romantic kind.)
21. Go fishing with my step-mother and the boys.
22. Get the sound on my computer fixed. (Done 3/1/09)
23. Lose 50 pounds.
24. Get all the bookshelves in the house organized. (For now anyway, 1/3/09)
25. Get a facial.
26. Stay the night at a bed and breakfast with my hubby. (We actually did not do this but have decided it's not the best way to spend our money right now.)
27. Learn to sing at least 5 new hymns.
28. Read A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson, all the way through this time.
29. Take a cooking class at Whole Foods.
30. Finish coloring my Starry Night color page poster then frame it and hang it.
31. Finish the Evan Moore geography workbook with the boys.
32. Stop buying lattes and other espresso drinks. (All I had to do for this one was decide and I did...I will stop buying them but will still order and drink them as my free drink when my punch card is full.)
33. Finally watch the movie Life is Beautiful.
34. Go see my grandma at least 3 times. (1st time: 12/24/08 2nd time: 3/14/09, Grandma spent a week and a half in the hospital...we visited several times and she passed away 3/18/09)
35. Clean my garage out all the way. (7/26/09)
36. Get a pedicure with my sister, my treat.
37. Become pen pals with a missionary. (I've been thinking on this one and there are more than one missionary with whom I correspond regularly via our blogs. I've decided that that counts! 1/1/09)
38. Take a class or acquire curriculum and finally learn to speak Spanish. (7/09)
39. Have a dinner party for the older people in our church who have invested so much in our family.
40. Go see David Crowder in concert again.
41. Get a new tattoo or at least figure out how much it will cost.
42. Look into the legality of painting a mural on the back side of my house, and then get started on it if it's legal. (My husband veto's this idea. But okay'd a painting on the front door so I did that instead.)
43. Build a "cabin" in the backyard.
44. Start saving 10% of our income.
45. Buy frames for the kids art and then begin rotating their work once a month or so. (6/09)
46. Stop drinking bottled water. (1/7/09 For further information see my post Breaking My Addiction to Bottled Water)
47. Reread Boundaries with Kids.
48. Start eating vegetables or drinking V8 with every meal.
49. Donate all our baby and toddler blankets that don't have sentimental value. (As a missions service project the kids at church are collecting blankets for Voice of the Martyrs Blanket and a Bible program. We donated ours 3/8/09)
50. Acquire an algebra text book to work through on my own. (Since I made this goal I realized that I have a 6th and an 8th grade math textbook and that I actually lack the skills required in the sixth grade book. This is exactly why I made math one of my goals, because it's always been my weak point. However, I'm working hard and looking forward to actually being able to teach this stuff some day!)
51. Walk around the block with the boys everyday for a month and see if the habit sticks.
52. Make sure my kids get in bed by 9 p.m. every night for a month and see if I can keep it up. (We redid our bedtime schedule and all is now going well. 3/09)
53. Acquire a new world map for the wall by the computer. (Ordered the Operation World Wall Map 1/3/09)
54. Read a book about Thomas Edison to the boys. (12/19/08)
55. Get into the habit of spending no more than an hour a day on the computer.
56. Treat my husband to a day of record shopping, my treat (with a spending limit of course).
57. Sort and organize my big box of pictures. (2/2/09 Thanks to scrap booking night at church!)
58. Write a letter to each of the missionaries I pray for.
59. Write a thank you note to each person on staff at the church I attend. (I finished these 12/5/08 and will deliver them this weekend.)
60. Print and frame a photo of my dad, us girls and our kids and give it to my dad.
61. Plant lots more flowers in my front yard.
62. Go see a play put on in the park.
63. Get up at 7 a.m. every morning for a month.
64. Resume the habit of praying with my kids every night. (finally got back in this habit 3/09)
65. Limit video game time in my home to 1 hour or less each day. (2/3/09 Began a new system...the boys earn 1 gold coin for getting through a little school work with a good attitude and 1 gold coin for doing chores with a good attitude. Each coin can be redeemed for 15 minutes of video game or computer game time. They can only earn 2 per day and can save as many as they want if that's what they choose.)
66. Memorize at least 30 verses from the book of Proverbs.
67. Have a "Friend Day" open house type party to celebrate my friends and love on them.
68. Spend an afternoon at the park with Hubby, just the two of us.
69. Write a short note to each of the kids I teach at church telling them what I enjoy about their personality.
70. Learn to bake with Stevia.
71. Watch at least a few of the Love Comes Softly videos. (Watched the first one a month or 2 ago and can't seem to get my family to agree to watching any more of them. 4/09)
72. Take a road trip to Washington, MO to visit Matt and Gretchen. (I didn't actually take the road trip but they were able to visit us here and that counts! 2/09)
73. Read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. (Finished 3/8/09)
74. Have an art party with my kids, my nieces and my nephew.
75. Make morning glory muffins for my sister.
76. Make almond pineapple upside down cake for Hubby. (birthday cake! 7/2009)
77. Do some strength training a couple of times a week for 3 months (and then don't quit).
78. Find and train a back up missions teacher in case I need to be out of town or get sick. (7/09 A couple of wonderful middle school girls will be my partners!)
79. Repair or replace the ripped chairs in the kitchen.
80. Finish painting the house. (Thanks to Hubby's friend Bill this is now done!! 5/09)
81. Get curtains for my bedroom windows.
82. Paint a mural on the boys bedroom wall.
83. Build a bat house and hang it in an appropriate place.
84. Update our emergency kit. (3/16/09)
85. Get a first aid kit for the car. (3/16/09)
86. Put together an "At the park fun kit" for the car that includes bug "houses" and butterfly nets.
87. Get a new pair of earrings to wear everyday. (Wonderful Hubby made me some for our anniversary. 3/20/09)
88. Go to a homeschool conference. (I've never been to one.)
89. Write a story book for each of my boys.
90. Read the book of Isaiah in The Message.
91. Stop eating frozen pizza, french fries, etc.
92. Learn to cook on the grill.
93. Declare one 24 hour period a week TV free for the boys and I and then stick to it for at least 2 months.
94. Get into the habit of folding my laundry and putting it away as soon as it comes out of the wash.
95. Find a co-leader for my Thursday night Bible study. (Thanks Jenny! 1/20/09)
96. Make a map of the United States with the boys.
97. Buy myself some new sharpie markers and start drawing with them again. Not sharpies but nice set of colored markers 3/20/09)
98. Get some new plants for the inside of the house. (I've planted grass in containers indoors and been given philodendron plants 6/09)
99. Read a book written by A. W. Tozer.
100. Write at least 5 new poems. (#1 written 4/26/09)

Diet

Not diet as in I'm going on one. Diet as in I'm trying to change mine.

First I broke my sugar addiction about a month ago. In order for me to accomplish this I ate nothing but meat, cheese and veggies for about 4 days. (Which was torture!) This temporarily eased my carb cravings so that I could say no dessert! Starting with the 5th day I resumed a more normal eating pattern including whole grains and fruit and cutting back on the amount of cheese and meat I was consuming. For me sugar is quite an addiction so getting off of it is a terrific accomplishment!

My next major undertaking is to eliminate fast food from our diet. Tonight we watched the movie, Super Size Me. If you haven't seen it yet you should. It does have some foul language and talks frankly about sex so in my house it does not qualify as a family movie but it is very informative. It documents the alarming physical transformation of the creator of the movie when he eats nothing but McDonald's fast food every day for 30 days. He starts out very healthy and by day 21 his doctors are begging him to stop eating this way because they are literally afraid that he could die by the end of the experiment.

I think this movie is really going to be the end of fast food for us. We've already started talking about how to avoid the convenience of it by thinking ahead and being prepared. For instance, Hubby has decided to keep food with him at the salon so that he won't go out for lunch, and I will be doubling meals to go in the freezer as often as possible for nights when I'm too worn out to start from scratch.

Anyway, I'll try to keep you updated on our progress. Have a wonderful day!

From Classical Christian Homeschooler to Possible (eeek!) Christian Unschooler

Thank you so much to those who have been leaving encouraging comments for me this school year. Thank you to those who send me emails full of good ideas and to those who have stood by my side and lifted me up verbally! I have good news...I'm starting to relax.

When I began to homeschool I tried the classical Christian approach and thought that every single day I needed to teach my Kindergartner

• Bible
• Math
• Reading and
• Art

That didn't seem too bad and I actually really enjoyed it! (Except for the fact that W wasn't anywhere near ready for reading at age 5!)

But I gave up the classical method when I realized that in 1st grade I was expected to add

• Geography
• Grammar
• Literature and
• Music

At that point I became afraid! How was I to teach literature and grammar and reading to a boy who wasn't reading at all? I thought, "Why can't literature and grammar and reading all be taught as one subject instead of three?"

I was overwhelmed to say the least. So when W went into first grade I became an eclectic homeschooler who used classical Christian materials as I saw fit and tweaked everything to suit us.

J started Kindergarten the following year, with W entering 2ND grade. At this point I was teaching

• Bible
• Math
• Reading/Literature
• Art
• History
• Latin
• Music (appreciation)
• Geography and
• Science

This was a good year for us, maybe the most comfortable one we've had so far. This was the year I became not only eclectic but "relaxed eclectic" in the schooling of the boys. By relaxed I mean we took no tests, used classical materials but did almost all of it orally or as we saw fit and took our time learning the things we set out to learn. Of course we had our ups and downs but as this post demonstrates, for the most part things were going really well!

And now we have entered our 4TH year of homeschooling. W is a 3rd grader (and finally reading!) and J is in 1st grade. We're still using mostly classical materials and enjoy them (like I said before, we use them in a way that suits us.) But as I've mentioned this year has been tough. The dynamics have just changed. We only have 2 or 3 days a week that we are able to hit the books and I have been worrying a lot about that.

I've been operating under the assumption that in order for my kids to learn they had to do a little bit of EVERY subject every day but this year has proven me wrong. This year our learning looks different. One day we may do science, reading and art for 4 full hours (in the form of one project), and then the next day do 8 pages of math, read the Bible, write someone a letter and work hard on memorizing our spelling words. It's not that they're not learning, it just looks different!

I think I may be moving from "relaxed/eclectic" to semi-unschooling. It's scary for me to even type that sentence, I just know that I am inviting criticism. The thing is, my kids like to learn. Listening to the Swiss Family Robinson on CD is fun to them. Creating a comic book about the life of Joseph is play to them. I'm not kidding! W loves to memorize math facts and Bible verses. J gets excited about writing letters to missionary kids and learning sign language. W will say, "I love writing!" and J says, "Everything is school." We read constantly, discuss what we learn, watch documentaries and educational videos. We listen to Latin, literature and the Bible on CD. And just as important, they love to play and use their imaginations.

So, I'm going to relax and let them be. Everyday doesn't have to look like every other and I don't need to be in constant worry.

Enjoy your day!

Learning and Growing

In the past my family has been known to spend a total of maybe 2 days a year on yard work and such! This year we've really gotten adventurous.

Last fall we planted tulip bulbs for the first time ever. I was truly amazed at how little work they were. Hubby dug the holes, I put the bulbs in and then we covered the holes. That was it...and this spring we had beautiful red tulips!

We planted a veggie garden in April (or was it May) and that has required many days (more than two anyway) of loving care. We were so excited about growing our own food that we've decided to plant a fall veggie garden as well. (Our sprouts are doing well so far and I intend to put them in the ground tomorrow.)

Today I transferred some plants and flowers from one part of the yard to another. I've never done that before and I'm not sure if there's a right way to do it. I hope they live. I think couple of the plants I moved were a Kansas wildflower called Tickseed Sunflower. These plants with their pretty yellow flowers just showed up this year. Because we're not great with gardening we actually allow "weeds" to grow in certain areas of the yard just to see what happens and if we like them or not. This time it worked out to our advantage! So we moved them from the southwest part of the yard to the front (west) side by the street.

In addition to moving already existing plants around the yard, we also planted Paperwhite bulbs and bought a peach tree to plant tomorrow! I'll let you know how that works out.

Somehow this family intends to learn how to grow beautiful native flowers, bulbs, veggies, fruits, fruit trees and maybe someday nut trees too. I'm not sure how much success we'll have but it's not hurting us to try and the kids are learning right along with us. Please leave me a comment with any advice you might have. I can really use it!

Free books!

If you haven't already checked out paperbackswap.com I highly recommend that you do! Just click the banner above. It is a wonderful site that allows you to swap paperback books with other members for just the price of postage. My husband and I are singing the praises of this site because we've saved a ton of money on homeschooling resources this year. This is a great way to not only save money but also practice one of the 3r's (reduce, reuse, recycle) of living green. It's super easy, go check it out!

Homegrown Tomatoes

Mmmmmmmmmmm...tomatoes, they're just one of the wonderful rewards of a backyard garden. This year we shared a vegetable garden with one of our neighbors. (Her back yard doesn't get nearly enough sun.) It's been a wonderful! Neither of us had any gardening experience so it's also been a learning adventure. We planted tomatoes, peppers, carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumber and basil. Here is what we learned.

• tomatoes grow so tall that they shade other plants and should be planted with this in mind (not knowing this meant that no peppers grew for us this year)
• sugar snap peas have to be planted early (again, no peas)
• cucumber plants take up a lot of space
• next year we should plant some fruit too!

Surely these facts should have been common sense but I have never tried to grow my own food and literally knew nothing about it, but I love it! In addition to the tomatoes the basil we grew was fabulous. We're going to try for a fall crop too and have decided to plant; spinach, broccoli, garlic and carrots. Any advice??

Good news...

Just a quick update on the new schedule I made for us after reading, "Managers of Their Homes".

Life has been great with this schedule in place. I won't bore you with the details but I will say we are accomplishing a lot more in a lot less time and enjoying several hours of free time a day as a result! The kids are getting used to it and even my younger son (who does not like being told what to do) is falling into step.

Here is a very short list of some of the victories experienced this week as a result of our new schedule...

Piano is being practiced 5 days a week now, not 2 or 3.
Guitar is being practiced more regularly.
The dishes are done after every meal.
I am reading to the boys every day not just a couple of times a week.
I am having quiet time with God more often.
I go to bed happy because I know that what needs to be done is done.
My husband is not so stressed out about a cluttered home!

Managing my home

I am currently reading Managers of Their Homes by Steven and Teri Maxwell and am looking forward to putting some of their ideas into practice in our home.

I have to admit to two things...1) I borrowed it from a friend and would never have paid the $25.oo for it but now that I've almost finished reading it I'm thinking it would have been worth it, and 2) I am a bit of a "free spirit" and will not be scheduling my entire day!

I have always used a schedule but have also always been only half way successful with it. This book really helps you see the value of a very specific half hour by half hour schedule. It's also very helpful that it is written from the perspective of a Christian homeschooling mother.

I'm in the process of working on a 7:30 am to 2pm schedule. The rest of our day will be free time. (Until dinner.)

I wish I could say more but until I use the schedule for a few weeks this is it! I'll let you know how it goes.

walk, walk, walk!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I wasn't even sure I wanted to post it, but in light of my "whole life makeover" catagory I thought I should share.

I spent all of January developing the habit of walking a mile 3-5 times a week. I'm using an in home walking dvd. It's been really good for me and I enjoy it more than I thought I would. As a matter of fact I don't hate it so much that I did the 2 mile walk instead of the 1 mile today.

So anyway, I'm trying to get healthier and stronger and losing some weight would be a great thing to. I will probably not post about this regularly but if you're truely interested I've added a weight loss ticker to my blog that you can keep an eye on.

I've got rhythm, I've got music...or at least I hope so!

Not to be too proud but just looking at that picture of me playing the guitar makes me giddy. All my life I've wanted to learn to make music and now I finally am...learning that is.

Sunday night I took my first guitar lesson. I learned a few chords and have been working on them like crazy.

It's not as easy or as hard as I thought it would be, if that makes sense. I can make my fingers do what they need to just not very quickly.

And by the way, my fingers hurt...bad! I can especially feel it when I'm doing dishes and typing. But a little pain will not discourage me!

So this is the latest installment of my "whole life makeover" series. I figure it's time to make my dreams come true, or at least give it an honest go!

The system

Like most moms I have always hoped to find a good system for dealing with chores in the best way possible. Last summer a friend of mine showed me chore chart she purchased at a homeschool convention. I really liked it but it was like $15 and I knew I could make my own, so I did.

It's not a very good picture but you can see the general idea. On the left is a "To do" column and a slot with each person's name on it and on the left is the "Done" column. Each chore is moved from the "To do" to the "Done" column when it is finished, and then each morning I just move them back. In between the two columns I have a favorite Bible verse.

This part of the system has worked fairly well for us from day one. The dilemma for me has been figuring out what chores to assign. At first the chores were way too easy...things like brush your teeth, make your bed, etc. But now I'm finally getting a grip on what they are really capable of.

The photo below is my big boy vacuming the hall. His other chores are

• straighten the homeschool bookshelf and kids bookshelf as needed
• help Mom with laundry as needed
• vacum the living room everyday
• clear the table as needed
• scrub the toilet inside and out everyday
• clean his bedroom and make his bed everyday
  

Next you see my little boy cleaning out the sink in the bathroom. He must love this job because he spends about 30 minutes doing it everyday! His other chores are

• wipe the counters and stove while Mom does dishes
• vacum the kitchen floor
• clean the litter box
• feed and water the pets and plants
• clean his bedroom and make his bed
  

These are chores that they have each chosen for themselves and are very helpful to me so I couldn't be more pleased! I'm hoping that we (I) can be consistent and therefore live in less chaos!

If at first you don't succeed...

I am revamping my schedule yet again. I don't really see it as failure but as one step closer to success. We will just have to keep trying until we find something that works. So here is my new proposal.

• I will get up and work out and pray.
• 8:30 Breakfast is served.
• 9 to 10 Chore hour
• 10 Table time
• 11:30 Boys take turns reading out loud to me while I make lunch.
• 12 Lunch
• 12:30 Bible/History time
• time to finish up any chores that didn't get finished in the a.m.

I've also made chore cards to cover each and every chore that must be completed in order to maintain a reasonably clean home. There are 24 chores and 4 of us including my hubby. That means we need to take responsibility for 6 chores each.

Tonight we will have a family meeting and let hubby chose his chores first. Then the boys will take turns choosing theirs and I will take whatever is left over.

Today I woke up sick and realized right away (as my 7 year old was telling me that I am the mom and so it is my job and not his to clean up the tea that he spilled and make his breakfast) that the house was going to be in shambles and the day lost due to me being out of commission. This is just not acceptable to me. I can't believe I've allowed this to happen. My boys are healthy and strong and have good hearts but apparently my oldest has also developed a huge sense of entitlement.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

some good advice that I posted on my fridge today

Work while you work, play while you play.
That is the way to be cheerful all day.
All that you do, do with your might.
Things done by halves are never done right.
One thing each time and that done well
is a very good rule as many can tell.
Moments are useless trifled away;
so work while you work and play while you play.

-M.A. Stodart

Homeschool Schedule Winter 2008

The beginning of each new semester is always a good time for me to re-evaluate our homeschool. Upon doing so I realized that the one thing we really lacked this last semester has been a good plan. So below is the solution to that proplem. Just for explaination, table time mostly includes the 3 R's. One boy will sit with me at the table for math, reading, writing and any memory work while the other plays on the computer (usually at starfall.com or this typing game), then when the one at the table with me is done, they will switch. All other subjects are studied together, mostly in the living room. Also we belong to a very small homeschool co-op and a homeschool group that both meet only twice and month and are on opposite schedules, so that works well for us!

Mon, Tue, Wed
9 am chore hour
10-11:30 table time
11:30-12 break time or finish chore time
12-lunch and Between the Lions
Boys read out loud to me
Bible and history time...also includes art and science
do a quick clean up of main living space then go have fun!

Thurs
9 am chore hour (45 minutes)
piano at 10 am
come home and watch Latin dvd
eat lunch and watch Between the Lions
Table time
Boys read out loud to me
Bible and history time...also includes art and science
clean up and then go have fun!

Fri
9 am chore hour
10-11:30 table time
11:30 leave for homeschool group or co-op
eat a packed lunch in the car
go to the library after group or co-op
go somewhere fun!

Home Makeover, Phase 1

Have you ever considered selling your house? Each time I think of it I dread all the work that would go into the process. I think of deep cleaning, repairs, repainting, etc. Well, we're not selling our house but we've decided to pretend we are and do all that hard work for ourselves instead of doing it just so someone else can enjoy it.

So Phase 1 will include deep cleaning, purging and decluttering every room in our home as quickly as possible. Here is the plan.

Day 1 - December 21, 2007
Bathroom and hall closets

Day 2 - December 22, 2007
Computer desk and laundry room

Day 3 - December 24,2007
Kids bedroom (I figure it needs done before all the new gifts get brought home.)

Day 4 - December 26, 2007
Find a home for all gifts!
Put away all Christmas decorations.
Clean the couches.

Day 5 - December 27, 2007
Family Room

Day 6 and 7 - December 28 and 29, 2007
kitchen and school room (these are actually the same room in my house)

Day 8 - December 31, 2007
Bedroom and outside

I'll be starting tomorrow and I'm hoping to finish before January 1st. Sounds like a lot of work but I will be so glad when it's all done!

My Whole Life Makeover

I've mentioned before that if there is a difficult way to do things I'm sure to find it, and that statement is true in so many ways. Many times I feel frustrated and not in control of my life because much of what I've done in the past has been done by accident...what I mean is that many times I don't actually have a plan and so I don't know where I'm going until I arrive and then wonder, "Hmmm...how did this happen?"

So anyway, I've decided a "Whole Life Makeover" is in order. I am going to be doing a few things on purpose from now on! Every 3 or 4 weeks or so I've decided to make a couple of changes in my life and the way I do things and see what happens.

About 3 weeks ago I gave myself a very simple morning routine to follow.

Before you do anything else you must do this....
Pray like you believe!
Clean off the table.
Assign chores.
Fix and serve breakfast.
Eat and take meds.
Boys do their chores while I...
Clean dishes and bathroom.
Declutter living room.

I also gave my boys a decent bedtime. I'm sorry to say that I never realized how important this is. My kids used to go to bed around 10 pm (when I was so tired that I had to go too!), now they are in bed at 8 pm. It's amazing! And because of this they wake up nice and sweet not grumpy and lazy.

So far these changes have really turned my day around and have been fairly easy to accomplish so I added two more to the mix 2 days ago.

Before you blog or check email you must do this....
Check bank accounts and work on budget.

Really this only takes a minute or 2 if done daily but when you put it off for 2 weeks like I used to it's very overwhelming.


Before you go to bed you must do this...
stack the dishes (realistically I just know that they are not going to get done each night yet)
sweep the kitchen floor
get all laundry out of the bedroom
start a load
Declutter in bedroom

These have also been easy to implement so far. These things sound so easy and obvious to some but I really struggle with just keeping up with the daily sometimes.

I've also given myself a new motto for the year. Last year my motto was "Where I fail, God's grace will succeed." I needed that motto because I needed to say it over and over until I believed it, and now I do. But looking back I see that it not only allowed but also somewhat encouraged me to focus almost entirely on my failures. So now my new motto is this...

Every new day is a new opportunity for God to work in my life.
Every new day is a new opportunity to experience victory, peace and joy.

100 things I love about my life

*I'm a stay at home mom.
*I get to homeschool my children.
*I go to church with people I love.
*My husband thinks I'm sexy even though I'm overweight.
*I live within walking distance of downtown OP.
*I'm married to the man I believe to be the love of my life.
*I love to learn.
*I have read a lot of great books and am finding more to read all the time.
*Spring is finally here.
*I have more than a few really good friends.
*My sister Candy and I live within a five minute drive of each other.
*I am now a part of a homeschooling group.
*My husband is fulfilling one of his life long dreams and opening his own salon.
*My children both love God.
*My husband prays with us regularly.
*My husband reads the Bible with us regularly.
*I planted flowers with my kids today.
*I have very little debt.
*We only have 2 car payments left.
*I'm wearing skirts again.
*I have a new job at Homer's.
*I learned how to draw.
*I get to see live music for free on a regular basis.
*My family and I take walks together regularly.
*I live in America.
*I get to teach all the kids at my church about missions.
*I have valuable things passed down to me regularly.
*My husband does my hair.
*My immediate family is very creative.
*I have many handmade pieces of furniture.
*I have lots of origional art.
*I have blankets that were made for my family by a close friend on every bed in the house.
*My four year old can add.
*I have a church pew.
*I'm learning to create and maintain better boundaries.
*My husband makes me laugh.
*My husband has a wonderful laugh.
*My kids and I memorize lots of Bible verses together.
*My oldest son knows how and loves to use a compass.
*My bedroom decor reflects who I am as a person.
*I get to hear my oldest son practice piano almost every day.
*I'm learning to read music along with my oldest son.
*My oldest son is reading phonetically appropriate books with history and fine art themes.
*I have a Degas print.
*My family eats together at the table somewhat regularly.
*We have never gone hungry.
*We have never missed a mortgage payment.
*I'm a Christian.
*God loves me just the way I am.
*I've learned that legalism and lawlessness are two sides of the same coin.
*My littlest boy loves books finally.
*My oldest boy loves to be told stories.
*I'm not depressed anymore.
*We have a wonderful cat who needed us as much as we wanted him.
*My mother is alive and lives close to me.
*My brother is married to a wonderful girl.
*My littlest sister is going to college.
*I've met and become friends with other homeshcooling families.
*I've made some good decisions about my homeschooling resources for next school year.
*Big trash day is coming soon.
*I've been spring cleaning.
*I get to get out of bed as early or late as I want most days.
*I get to allow my children to wake up naturally most days.
*My children tell me their dreams almost every day.
*My kids sing songs with me at bed time regularly.
*I've reconnected with lots of old friends on myspace.
*My husband has this whole week off.
*My youngest son loves to go barefoot, just like me.
*I usually have purple hair.
*I have a great group of friends at the coffeeshop I work in.
*My oldest son is starting to use his good manners more often.
*I can leave the windows open most of the time for the next month or so.
*My littlest sister calls and instant messages me all the time.
*My other sister can soothe my nerves with just her voice.
*My hubby does laundry to keep us as caught up as possible.
*I've lost 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks.
*My family gets together at least twice a year for holidays.
*I get to spend time with my dad at least once a year.
*I finally let go of my resentment and love my step mom.
*My Nana and my Grandma are both out of the hospital.
*I can weave.
*Summer is coming.
*I'm getting more organized and better at running my home.
*I work only because I want to not because I have to.
*My husband gets better looking with age.
*I get to enjoy the babies born into our church family and then give them back if they cry.
*I get to worship God every Sunday in joyful song!
*Every spring my children and I watch the baby squirrels in the tree out front.
*I have friends who are smarter than me and willing to answer my questions.
*I have seen my favorite band play 3 different times.
*I write on 3 different blogs regularly.
*My youngest son has beautiful curley hair.
*People call me a hippy and not because I'm dirty.
*I believe that God has a plan for my life.
*I love all of my in laws.
*I get to go out of town a couple of times every year. (Not far but I do get to go.)
*My husband has a job that we can barter with when we can.
*I've learned to value people even when I don't like them.
*My husband and my children play together a lot.
*I'm saving money to get a new tattoo.