Mark it "Done"

I had a huge list of things I wanted to accomplish today.  I hit the ground running this morning, and I'm happy to say I got almost everything done!

1. Laundry caught up
2. Grocery shopping
3. Living room cleaned
4. Cooked dinner and a huge batch of meatballs - the start of my "once a month cooking" experiment
5. Kitchen cleaned - partially anyway
6. Dog cleaned - she hates bath day
7. Shopping for new clothes with my nine year old

Tomorrow I'll finish my OMAC ambitions with a layered meatball casserole and some breakfast burritos.  I'm tired, but its a happy tired.

Something's Missing...

Tonight I'm home sick...our oldest son and myself both woke up during the night with a stomach bug.  He recovered quickly.  Its taking me a little longer.  So while they're at church tonight, I'm home sick.  The quiet house has given me time to think.

I've been thinking about things I love, things I'm passionate about, that I've let slip away because of busyness.  One of them is cooking.  Maybe its because all I've eaten today is dry Fruit Loops and chicken noodle soup, but I realized that I don't have fun in the kitchen anymore.  I don't experiment or try new recipes.  I don't pour through foodie magazines anymore.  I miss it.  Its time for a change.

I've been working hard on couponing, and now I'm dabbling with meal planning a month at a time.  One thing I'm going to include is one night a week to try new recipes.  I'm going to rediscover my love of cooking.  Since I'm home sick, tonight's the perfect time to start on the stack of Bon Appetit magazines a friend gave me...

31 Days to Clean

I am not an organized person.  Everyone thinks I am...but I'm only organized on paper!  Off paper, things go downhill fast.  So I'm really wanting to read the new ebook "31 Days to Clean." 

I'm desperate for an easy way to clean and organize my home.  I'm just over two months away from starting dental hygiene school, so I'll be an almost full-time student and working almost full-time.  Its going to take a super organized home and family to pull this off.

Want to find out more about the book?  Check it out at: http://31daystoclean.com/

A little redecorating...

Welcome to Working Mom Wednesday!  One of today's prompts is about sharing your life in pictures.  I've been snapping lots of random pictures lately, because we've been doing some decorating in our house.  Our house flooded in the storm surge of Hurrican Ike in 2008, and we had to pretty much start from scratch.  Remodeling took months, and redecorating has been an ongoing process that we're finally wrapping up.

Our big project has been finishing out the kitchen and dining area, and we've done some work in the living room too.  Here's what we've been doing...

The perfect red chair for the living room!  We searched for that chair for months.

The sign we found at Hobby Lobby - it's perfect for our bistro/coffee house look.

One wall of our dining area - Hobby Lobby was sold out of "love," so I have to go back for it and we'll put it at the bottom.  (We got really silly putting this up, saying our hopes are too high, we're living too low...everything is funny when you're stuck at home because of winter weather!)

The other wall of our dining room, and our table...both the picture and the flowers are more great Hobby Lobby finds.

As awful as the flood was, we have really enjoyed getting to remodel our house.  This is the first time in our married lives that we've gotten to redo everything and make it totally our own. 

Now, I can't resist posting the pic of us bringing that picture above home...we found it on sale for half-price at Hobby Lobby, and we thought it would fit in the trunk...it didn't.  So my kids had to ride back home - a 30 minute drive - with the picture in the back seat.  Let's just say they weren't happy campers...

Home Keeper's Journal - 2/9/11

I'm really excited to be linking up with the Home Keeper's Journal for the first time!  I'm a working mom, pastor's wife, and college student who is trying to balance it all.  My house is usually thrown to the bottom of my priority list, but I'm working really hard to change that.





In my kitchen this week ………lots of meat, since my husband and I are both on high protein diets.  Ten pounds to go and I'll be at my goal weight!

Foremost in my thoughts this week ……..my to-do list, especially at work.  We're drowning right now at my job - too much to do and not enough time to do it all.  Business is booming, so it's good stress, but it's still keeping me pretty uptight.

I’ve been so busy with ……..housework!  I'm glad that I'm finally getting caught up on it all.  There's still more to do, but thanks to new routines for our family, it's finally getting done.

Could someone please ……..send the House Fairy my way to finish things up for me?
I’ve been wanting to do this for so long ……..read and relax!  Since I have this semester off from college, I'm trying to catch up on all the books that have been on my list for quite some time now.  I'm really looking to forward to my favorite author's new book, coming in April - The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker.

If I manage things just right ……..I'll have my house clean and organized and my family on a good, working schedule before I start back to college in July.

How to Know You're a Bad Housekeeper

I will be the first to admit, housekeeping is not my strong point.  Although I'm trying really hard (and doing much better, thanks to FlyLady) to develop and stick to a system, it's something I've always struggled with.  Through the years, I've learned to notice a few signs that back me up on this...

1. When you pick up the Pledge can and a dust rag, your husband grabs the camera and starts snapping pictures, saying, "I have to get proof of this!"
2. You open a bottle of all-purpose cleaner and the kids start asking, "What's that smell?  What is that?  Are you cooking something?"
3. The dog walks into the room, sees you holding a Swiffer duster, and starts barking madly.
4. When the kids are putting their dirty clothes away, they have to ask, "Is this the clean clothes hamper or the dirty clothes hamper?"
5. You require a week's notice before any company arrives or any major event takes place at your home - it will take every bit of that to get the house clean enough for them.

Anyone else have this problem?  I'm learning and hoping that soon, this trend will change.  Have a great week!

Setting My Goals - 3 in 30

I just stumbled across the 3 in 30 challenge (via Twitter) at The Tuckers Take Tennessee.  I love this idea!  I have lots of goals for 2011, which I blogged about last month, and it can get overwhelming sometimes.  I think that breaking them down into 3 smaller goals each month will help me get them done.  So here are my 3 for February:

1. Follow my daily FlyLady routines!
This is a habit that I've been kinda-sorta doing...some days it gets done, other days it doesn't.  I want to make it a daily habit, because I know it will go a long way towards keeping us all more organized.  I'm also trying to get my kids into the habit - they each have a folder now with their daily jobs and homeschool assignments.

2. Get to bed on time every night.
I am by nature a night owl, but after a long day at work, I'm too exhausted to get anything done at night.  I started consistently getting up early a while back, and now I've started the Hello Mornings challenge at Inspired to Action, so I'm getting up even earlier.  The problem is I also like to stay up late...late nights and early mornings do not a happy mommy make.  So I've got to get myself to be at 10:30, 11:00 at the latest, each night.  Maybe then I won't require a venti Starbucks skinny carmel machiatto to get me going...

3. Have a family devotional time each night with my boys.
This is a habit I was really good at for a while, but during a very difficult college semester (this past fall) I let it slide too much.  Now we're totally out of the habit.  I'm doing great with my daily quiet time - now it's time for the kids to see that example lived out.  So every night, I plan to read our Keys for Kids devotional, pray with my boys, and spend a little time talking about what God has done that day.

Getting Organized with FlyLady

Last month I blogged about how I started using my Cozi calendar and the FlyLady system to get my home organized.  My goal is have my home running smoothly by the time I start dental hygiene school in July.  I promised an update each month as to my progress.  So here it goes...

The House Fairy didn't drop by, wave her magic wand, and clean my house for me.  (If anyone sees her, please send her my way...I'm hoping she just took a wrong turn.)  But things are definitely better.  There are still piles of laundry in our bedroom, but my kitchen is staying a lot cleaner.  The kids are helping more.  I'm beginning to see a change.  It's a gradual change, but it's change nonetheless.

One big change I'm making this week is introducing chore charts for my kids.  They already do chores, but I have to nag them to get them to do their everyday tasks, like brushing their teeth and putting their dirty clothes in the hamper.  I typed up a chore chart for each of them from Lisa Whelchel's website, and I'm going to put them in page protectors.  The boys can mark off their jobs with a dry erase marker when they're done.  I'm hoping this step will really us get the chaos reigned in.

My other goal is to start working on Mt. Laundry-Pileup every night for 10 to 15 minutes.  I know I can't get it all taken care of in one night, but within a few days, I should see a big difference.  That laundry is probably by biggest stressor right now, so tackling that will make me feel much more in control of the situation.

A Foot In Two Worlds

I was reading through some new-to-me blogs a few weeks ago on Working Mom Wednesday when I came across a great quote on The Working Homekeeper.  Mary Ellen described being a working mom as "having a foot in both worlds."  It's such a perfect description, because finding balance as a working mom is so hard!  We truly do have a foot in at least two worlds - sometimes more!  We have to balance our jobs outside the home with our jobs at home.  We balance full-time employment with full-time motherhood, trying to accomplish twice the work in the same 24 hour time period.  We're all chasing the dream of being Supermom.

I recently read an article from Working Mother magazine that said that although 2/3 of working moms are primary or co-breadwinners, they are still the ones who do most of the housework and most of the childcare.  That's a huge role to fill.

My typical day involves my job as a manager at a women's gym.  I love what I do, but it's not a low-stress job.  Most days, I'm on my feet the majority of my 6 to 8 hour day.  I come home late and tired to a hungry family, so I cook dinner and attempt to clean up afterward.  Sometimes I help with my kids with their work, or I grade and file tests and record scores for our homeschool.  Once I get them in bed, I do my own schoolwork.  The days when I have both college classes and work are even harder.  What makes my schedule even crazier is that my husband is a full time pastor.  Our church is almost large enough to start adding staff, but until we get there, I help him on my days off (Wednesdays and Saturdays).  I'm never home, so it's really hard to get things done.

The truth is, there aren't enough hours in a day.  All we can do is to do the best we can and know that God will use us, regardless of where we are in life.  I truly feel that I am making a difference at my job, one that I could not make if I didn't work outside the home.  Sure, there are days that I wish I could go back to being a SAHM, but I've found a lot of joy and a lot of amazing opportunities in my role as a working mom.

Home: The Final Frontier?

It's wild, untamed, and sometimes dangerous.  The unknown lurks around every corner.  To find what you're searching for may take hours, even days.  It can be a no man's land at time.  It's...my house.

Let's just say that I'm...domestically challenged.  On paper, I'm very organized - off paper, not so much.  By the end of a day spent juggling family, work, school, and more, my house gets pushed to the back burner.  But all that changed last week...I've decided that I'm sick and tired of our chaotic house, so I decided it was time for a change. 

I blogged Friday about two websites that I've used on and off for years joining forces - FlyLady and Cozi.  When I saw their big announcement, and heard about how the new Cozi calendar would work with FlyLady, I knew I had found my answer.  I've tried FlyLady's system before, and it works.  It helped me when my kids were younger and I was staying at home, then somewhere along the way, I let it all slide.  Now, with everything I need on one calendar, in one place (on my Droid X thanks to the new Cozi app!), I have no excuses.

I can already tell a difference - not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless.  I know it's going to take time.  I'm starting my family on new routines, one at a time.  Right now I'm teaching my kids to spend 15 minutes each night cleaning up - putting up clothes, gathering up their toys and school supplies from wherever they've wandered to during the day, etc.

From what other students have told me, I don't know what stress is until I've actually started the dental hygiene program, so I want my house organized and my routines in place before I (hopefully) start in July.  I'll be blogging every month or so about my progress.  I can't wait to see the results start adding up!

A busy mom's best friends join forces!

I am so excited that two of my very favorite resources for busy moms have joined forces!  I have used both in the past, but now I am dependant on both of them every day.  In fact, on Monday I'm going to start sharing how I'm using these tools to finally get my home and family organized.

Cozi, an online calendar system, and FlyLady have combined efforts to create an amazing, FREE online calendar system that keeps your family and your home on track.  As if that wasn't good enough, Cozi also has an app available for iPhone and Android phones.  I bought it (only$ 1.99!) for my Droid X and I love it.

You can read more about Cozi and FlyLady here, and you can sign up for your free calendar.  It is fantastic!

Clean Like a Hotel?

An article in a women's magazine caught my eye recently...it was titled "Clean Like a Hotel." Sounds great...I'm always reading cleaning articles, even though I try all the ideas and they never work at my house. It's still not as neat as I'd like, but I keep hoping that one day I'll stumble across that magic formula that makes my house look like the ones in magazines. After 10 years of looking, I'm really starting to lose hope in that dream...

But it sounded promising, so I read the article. Sounds easy - make the beds every day, pick up the diry clothes, tidy up. I thought about how nice and neat hotels always look. They look so fresh and clean, with everything you need right there in it's place, waiting for you.  I started to get so hopeful...maybe my house could look like that...it sounds so simple.

But then, reality set in.  Here's why the "clean like a hotel" model won't work at my house...

• Hotels don't have Hot Wheels, assorted Star Wars characters, Legos, superheroes, and an entire robot army to remove from a room before they clean it.
• Hotels aren't permanently inhabited by two growing bottomless pits who eat from sunup to sundown.
• Hotels don't have homeschool in session in the dining room 5 days a week.
• Hotels don't have a kitchen inhabited by someone who loves to cook but is a very messy cook.
• Hotels also have people whose one and only full time job is to clean them, and they are not balancing cleaning with another job, college classes, and teaching children's church.

Okay, so my house will never look like a hotel...but I'm still holding out hope for the magic formula...or at least the magic house cleaning fairy!

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Peace Soaps - My First Giveaway!

I'm really excited to be doing my first giveaway here! I'll get into that more a little later, but first, I am really excited about the product I'm giving away!

Peace Soaps were born from a partnership between Kiss My Face and Seeds of Peace, which brings teenagers together from opposing sides of conflict (such as Israelis and Palestinians) for one-of-a-kind leadership and conflict resolution training. At a camp in Maine, teens who would otherwise be "enemies" instead learn to live and talk with "the other side." They return to the Middle East, South Asia, and communities across America as more compassionate, understanding and tolerant peace makers.

This mission is, of course, made possible by sponsors like Kiss My Face, who will support Seeds of Peace by donating 10% of all profits from Peace Soap to the organization.  The donation is earmarked for programming and supporting camp efforts. In addition to donating proceeds from Peace Soap, Kiss My Face will also be sponsoring an online forum called “The Pledge for Peace.” Making a “pledge” is free and simple – all one needs to do is log onto the Kiss My Face Facebook page or Thepledgeforpeace.com and note what they will do to promote peace in their everyday lives. For every 10,000 pledges that are made, Kiss My Face will send one camper to the Seeds of Peace summer camp during the 2011 season (a value of $6,000). There is no limit to the number of kids that Kiss My Face will sponsor! The campaign will be running from June 15th through September 15th, 2010.  You can learn more by visting http://peacesoap.kissmyface.com/

The first thing I did when my package arrived was to open the soaps and start smelling. I love to use cleaning products that smell good, and these smell absolutely scrumptious! Each time I opened a new one, I thought, "This is my favorite." I also love the fact that they are all natural. I've struggled with allergies all my life, and the harsh smell of many cleaners causes my allergies to protest. There was nothing to worry about with Peace Soaps, however.

So once they passed the first test, I was ready for the second. My baseboards needing a good scrubbing, so I grabbed my Lemongrass Cleary Sage soap, mixed it with a little water, and set to work on the baseboards. It worked great and made everything smell great, too. Since that worked so well, I used it to clean up a sticky orange juice spill on my kitchen floor, and it worked just as well as it did on the baseboards.  I was amazed at the variety of ways I could use these soaps, and they worked just as well on every single one.  Overall, I LOVED Peace Soaps, and I look forward to using this product for years to come.


Now on to the giveaway! Here are the rules:

• The giveaway is open only to residents of the continental United States.

• To enter, just leave a comment on this post.

• For extra entries, let me know in your comment how many of the following you have done - one extra entry for each: (1) Become a follower (if you're already a follower let me know) (2)follow me on Twitter (3) subscribe to my blog (4) link back to this giveaway from your blog

• The winner will be announced on my blog next weekend and will recieve a set of 4 Peace Soaps, valued at $39.96. Please contact me within a week with your address so that I can send your prize.


Disclaimer: In exchange for reviewing Peace Soaps, I received a full set of Peace Soaps from Kiss My Face.

Grocery Shopping Made Easy (at least easier...)

I don't know about you, but I hate grocery shopping!  My goal when I shop is to get in, get everything we need for a week, and get out, never to return again...well, at least not until the next week.  I love Lisa Welchel's entire website, and she has great downloadable charts.  One that I use often is her grocery shopping by aisle chart...I just added in my store's aisles, and it's really easy to get my list together and get through my list without constantly doubling back for things I forgot.  You can find all of her charts here.

Works for Me Wednesday

This is my first time to join Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family. I love finding new tips and ideas to make my life easier, so I'm really excited to find this blog carnival!

One of my favorite "works for me" finds has to be the organizer shelves that I bought months ago for each of my kids.  You can find them for $15-20 normally, but I found mine at Ross for $8 each...I love a good bargain!  As I do laundry, I stock the shelves for the week with all their clothes, including socks and underwear, for each day.  It makes life so much easier on the crazy days, and I'm not digging around early in the morning before I leave for work, trying to get clothes laid out for the kids.