New Year Home Goals

Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2015 is off to a good start for you.

We have had a wonderful post-Christmas week. Fortunately, Hubster was able to take off all the same days as the kid's school break, so we have all been together enjoying some down time. We've been playing games, watching, movies, sleeping in.... a little Christmas clean-up thrown in....no pressures, no place to be. It's been nice. Usually I'm ready for the break to be over and for the kid's to get back into their school routine. But we've had a good time and they've all been able to hold it together for the most part (for being out of our normal routine, that is huge.) So getting back to some "normalcy" today is coming just at the right time.

The blogiverse is already abuzz with home goals, resolutions, and organization. I've had that on my mind too as I've packed all the Christmas away. But I must be honest. I'm not great at keeping resolutions, commitments, or whatever you want to call them. I'm not a resolution person or a "word of the year" person. Honestly, I just hate to fail.

BUT......that doesn't mean I don't want to get organized and accomplish some home projects this year. I just need to take it at my own pace, not according to someone else's schedule. Change is hard for me so it's better if I take it in chunks instead of all in one fell swoop.

I have found that it is good to put some things in writing though. A couple years ago I went around our whole house, room by room, and really looked closely at it. I made a list of all the things I'd like to accomplish in each room, from small repairs that needed to be made, to painting projects, to big transformations. Surprisingly, when I look back over that list, we have accomplished a lot in our home. And some of the ideas of what I wanted to do and what my priorities were have changed in that time too.

So here is my list of things I would like to accomplish in our home this year. My ideas may change, and more things may come up, but these are a few things that feel like priorities to me right now.

1.) De-clutter our main bathroom. We have a tall cupboard in our bathroom that, with the exception of two small drawers and a very small area under our sink, is our sole storage area. About two years ago, I emptied the whole thing out and implemented some organization. That has actually served us pretty well. It's just time to clear it out a bit and start fresh. It's not a huge project. I'm sure there are just some things that can be thrown away or rearranged. It just needs to be done. And while I'm at it, I also need to clean out those small drawers and find a better way to use that space. Hubster's goal is to do some major renovations in this bathroom this year. I would at least like to get it painted. We'll see if that happens, but having things more organized would help that project get off to a good start.

2.) Reorganize and de-clutter our laundry area. I am fortunate to have my laundry area on our main floor. When we put on an addition about five years ago, we moved the laundry from the basement to a laundry "closet" in the mudroom. I had great intentions of getting this space more organized at the same time I took on the mudroom closet in late 2013. But that project took way longer than I thought it would and by the time it was completed, I was not ready to take on the laundry area. It mostly needs de-cluttering. I also need to move some things around. For example, I have a laundry basket on a high shelf that is for clothes the kids have outgrown and are ready to be given away. The basket tends to get full quickly and when it's full and hard to pull down, I tend to just toss items up there and hope they don't fall back down on my head. I need to find a better place for it so that it is easier to manage and so I am more likely to actually donate the stuff when it gets full. (Which reminds me. I also need to go through all the kids clothes and figure out what they have outgrown. Why can't they just stop growing?!?)

3.) The basement. Yes, the dreaded basement. This has been hanging over my head for years! But when I put away our Christmas decorations, I started working on getting things straightened around a little bit. I got Hubster to move a couple large shelves for me that made them more useful. I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It will still take a long time probably. And this is one of the areas that I just need to do in small chunks. But if I keep at it, it will get accomplished.

4.) My son's bedroom. Since my son is unable to really keep his own room clean and organized due to his physical limitations, it pretty much falls to me. His room is a good size to accommodate his wheelchair and it has become a drop spot for me. It's easy to "hide" stuff there when company is coming, or to "temporarily store" things that I don't know what to do with or am not ready to tackle. Hubster also made some accommodations to his room and bathroom this year and some things just never were put right after that was all done. So the room really could use a good de-cluttering and deep cleaning.

5.) The playroom. This room was one of my main goals last year. It has come a LONG way, but there are just a couple loose ends that I would like to tie up to really finish up this room. More on the playroom later this week!

6.) Have our living room painted. We've been in our house for ten years now and the living room and bathroom are the only rooms that haven't been painted, I think. It REALLY needs it. Because of the high ceilings it will be a pretty big project. Hopefully I will be able to convince Hubster that this is too big for us to take on ourselves....but then there will be the cost. So we'll see.

So that's my list for now. And it may change. You just never know when things will come up that cause you to adjust your priorities.

So how about you? Do you have goals for your home this year? I would love to hear about your plans!

Passing Down The Christmas Spirit - Part 1

I think we've pretty much established that I love to decorate our home for Christmas. Some people look at it as a chore, some look at it as an expectation, and others choose not to do anything it at all. For me, it is a joy. (Not to say that I wasn't exhausted the other day when I was all done.) but I love doing it, I really do.

I also love to Christmas shop (although I am VERY behind this year.) I love to buy thoughtful gifts for people. I try really hard not to buy something for someone just for the sake of giving them a gift. I love to give gifts that are thought out based on what I know somebody really wants or needs.

I've said before that my parents always made Christmas special for us. From the tree to the decorations to the gifts to special times together with family and friends....as a kid, it was a magical time. I have wonderful memories of Christmases past. 

Over the years I've also realized that a lot of how I feel about the celebration of Christmas was passed down to me from my Gramma. (Yes, I know that's not how you spell it, but that's what she was. Not Grandma or Grandmaw....just my Gramma.)

She loved Christmas! It would actually all begin on Thanksgiving day. By then she had received the Sears and J.C. Penney Christmas catalogs in the mail. It was a given that we would write out a wish list for her to shop from. So my sister and I would pour over the catalogs and make our lists.....dog-earing pages, circling toys we hoped for, writing down sizes. Then we would have to explain our list to Gramma, so she knew EXACTLY what she was looking for when she went to the store. We didn't have extravagant Christmases. We didn't get everything on the list. But what we received from our grandparents came directly from those lists we made because Gramma knew it was our hearts desire (at least for that year anyways) and she loved to make us feel special.

(I'm sure my mom has lots of pictures of Christmases past with Gramma, but this is the only one I could find that I had. It made me laugh though because this was so typical. Gramma was down on the floor, making sure all the grandchildren's gifts were passed out.)

And the house would be decorated too. Usually it was the same decorations that were pulled out, including the many ceramic figures that Gramma had painted. There was a Santa that played "Jingle Bells," and a set of carolers, amongst others. Every year she would buy a new ornament or two to add to the tree. Part of the tradition was that when we arrived at their house we had search the tree to find the new ornaments for that year.

 

She also did a lot of baking and  bought lots of candy for Christmas. It was also tradition that on Christmas Day, it was my and my sisters job to arrange all the cookies and candy in special Christmas dishes that she had also painted in ceramics class. Maybe that is why I love Christmas dishes so much.

We would have a big Christmas meal and the main dish was roast beef. Always. (And I've discovered over the years, that is not common.)  Gramma would send Grampa to the meat market (not the big chain grocery store) ....where they knew the butchers by name....to buy the roast for Christmas.

We had a lot of traditions and it was always very special. Gramma put her heart into  every detail. She passed down her spirit of Christmas to everyone in our family. I miss her often, but never so much as at Christmastime.

And so I do what I do at Christmas, not to try to impress anyone or because I feel like I have to. I do it because I love my family. I was given a great gift from my parents and grandparents and I hope that someday my children will realize that I passed the Christmas spirit on to them as well.

Weekend Treasures: Family And Finds

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

On Friday, we spent the afternoon picnic-ing with Hubster's family. It was a GORGEOUS day filled with family, fun, and laughter. Throw in good food, corn hole, volleyball, and celebrating a birthday and it was a perfect day!

In the evening we headed to a band concert and fireworks with my parents. This is something we have done for years....since before we had kids....and it is always fun. We didn't go last year because of bad weather, sickness, and work schedules so we were happy to get back to our tradition (although we missed Sal and her family!) I love patriotic music and again, the weather was perfect, and the fireworks were spectacular!

 

I got a chance on Saturday to sneak out and do a little treasure hunting. I went to my favorite Goodwill Store. Okay, it is the only Goodwill I go to, but I often find great stuff.

I found this sweet jar. I don't think it is old, but I just loved the shape. Can you see the oak leaf and acorn motif around the handles? So pretty.

 

 

 

 

I also found this cute little ironstone creamer.

 

 



And this sweet little thing.

 

 

I challenged Hubster to see if he knew what it was. "No, it's not for sprinkling cheese on your pasta!"

 

But you all know what it is, right? A little vase with a "frog" top? I don't think he believed me....so he Googled it. He was convinced that FROG must stand for something. Silly guy.

 

Then there were these pretty transferware teacups. They are English and their manor house and carriage design reminded me of Downton Abbey.

 

You might remember that I have a thing for teacups....and Goodwill.

 

 

 

 

 

I also found an ironstone tureen and a platter, but I didn't get good  pictures of them. It was definitely a good treasure-hunting day! Since I like changing things around a lot, I love when I can find pretty things I like at a good price.

 

Have you found any good treasures lately?





Being Intentional About Summer

It's June and so it's time to share our calendar on the chalkboard wall, right?  But since it's Summer, we're shaking things up a little bit around here. During the Summer, our chalkboard becomes our "Summer List."

Summer flies by so fast. There have been years when, once it was all over, I felt like we had wasted so much time and didn't take the time to do some of the fun things we really wanted to do as a family. So, the Summer List was born.

 

Each year when school ends, we sit down together as a family and make a list of all the things we would like to do that Summer. Sometimes they are simple things like going out for ice cream and sometimes we have bigger dreams like going on a little trip. We don't always accomplish everything on the list but we try and it at least gives us some goals instead of just winging it. And the kids love being able to check things off the list.



 

(I couldn't help it though.....I've gotten so used to having the calendar on our wall though, so I snuck in a smaller version next to our list.)

 

 

 

 

Another thing that Hubster and I decided to do is to come up with some personal goals for each of our children for the Summer. They each have a reading and math goal (thanks to a math website recommended by our school district) and then each of them have a couple other goals specific to them. These are things that we would like to see them learn or practice. We're trying to make it fun while sneaking in some skills we'd like to see them develop.

 

Hopefully this will help keep away "I'm bored!" and "There's nothing to do!"  I think (at least, I hope) it will help keep me on track too as far as helping the kids in areas they are struggling with and spending individual time with each one. I have high hopes, so we'll see.

 

But it's all about being intentional with our time this Summer and not letting it just slip by us.

 

So do you have big plans for this Summer? What are you intentionally doing to make this Summer count?

 

** You can get a peek at last year's Summer List  HERE. **

A God Thing And A Movie Recommendation

Hey Everybody! I know I don't usually post anything on Saturdays, but I wanted to share something good before this holiday weekend gets away from me and also before I go out of town.

At the urging of the Hubster I took a little time yesterday to do something I would enjoy. I had been wanting to go see the movie Moms' Night Out since I saw the previews at another movie a few weeks ago. Fortunately, there was a showing early enough so I could be home in time after school and so I took off.

I want to tell you about this movie for a couple reasons, the first being that you probably have not seen or heard an advertisement for it.....probably because it's a Christian movie. I wouldn't have known about it had I not seen the preview.

I went hoping for a fun movie and a few laughs. I got that plus a lot more. I laughed, I cried, I was entertained, and I was blessed.

If I was a bit more creative, I think I could have written the script for this movie because I saw so much of my life in it. Do you remember my I Am Enough post from last week? Imagine my shock when, at the most poignant part of the movie, I heard my own words almost exactly being spoken on the screen. (It's an epidemic among women, I tell 'ya!) It was as if God placed those lines there just for me as if to say, "You know those words you wrote about being enough? Those were right on the mark."  A confirmation of sorts. I sat there in disbelief with tears streaming down my face.

Friends, that is ONLY a God thing!!

Take a look at the trailer....although it doesn't do this film justice.




I don't know how much longer the movie will be playing. It's been open since the beginning of May. So if you are a mom who has those harried moments at times (I mean, don't we all?), do yourself a favor. Grab your other mom friends, or your husband (it wouldn't be a terrible idea if he saw it), or go by yourself (I did!) and see Moms' Night Out!

My Mother Is.....

On Monday, my son brought home this paper that he had filled in about me at school. It gave me a good laugh and did my heart good too.

 



 

 

 

My mother is nice.

 

I try. One of my grandfather's favorite sayings was "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

 

She cleans the dishes.

 

Sometimes I feel like that's all I ever do. So I guess he's noticed!

 

She likes dogs.

 

This is true. Especially our dog Sugar. My boy likes dogs too. Especially our dog Sugar.

 

She looks like a heart.

 

I think this may be literally true. I hope it is figuratively true as well.

I would've gladly accepted the answer "Julia Roberts" though.....but I'm just glad he didn't write "Dora The Explorer."

 

She sounds like a popstar singer.

 

That may have something to do with me singing "Part Of Your World" around the house like nobody's business...all. weekend. long. But I'm sure he was just being nice.

 

She smells like cookies.

 

Okay, this is sort of a weird question I think. But I'll take it! I'm glad he didn't say mothballs, garlic, or a wet dog.

 

She always is a good parent.

 

[Weep]

 

My mother is playful.

 

I loved this. First, that he thought of this word. And second, that he thought it described me. I try to keep things fun around here.

 

 

I thought this was so sweet. It made me smile and gave me a couple good laughs. But it also made me happy to know that this is how my son sees me.

 

If you are a mom I'm sure you've felt the same way I do sometimes....that you aren't fun, that you are stressed out, that your life is just one continuous film loop, that you always wind up being "the mean mom,"  that maybe you're not giving your kids the best that you can, and maybe you smell like wet dog (or baby formula, or laundry that's been sitting in the washer for two days....you can fill this in yourself.)

 

What a relief to know that my child doesn't see me this way. Maybe it's time to see ourselves through our children's eyes and cut ourselves a little slack.

 

What do you think?

 



Taming Kitchen Counter Clutter

First things first.....HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!!!

Are we all excited, or what?  We knew it would get here if we were just patient, right?
And now, as I see it, things can only get better....or at least warmer!

So today I wanted to share something that I have a bit of trouble with....kitchen counter clutter. In my case, just one particular part of my counter. You can see from this picture I took back in September that this peninsula counter in our kitchen gets lots of action.

**Disclaimer - The counter was looking particularly horrible on this day. It doesn't always look quite that bad.

You see, it's right inside our back door. So it just becomes the drop spot for everyone to leave their stuff when they come in....besides all the papers that come home from school and in the mail. It is also my command center since that's where the phone is.

Over the years, I have tried different "filing" systems in this spot to try and tame all the paper. Usually they work for a while, but then get so stuffed and out of control that I can't stand to look at them! Then what usually happens is that we will be having company (the peninsula is usually our buffet area too) and so I will stuff the "filing system" in a closet....and will forget about it until I need to go looking for something that is in the files.

That's what happened last week. And when I looked at my nice clean, uncluttered counter I started thinking that maybe I need to come up with a new tactic in order to keep it looking nice.

So here is my new three-step plan.

STEP ONE:  Keep it simple. No elaborate filing system needed. If I keep things simple I will be more likely to maintain the order.

STEP TWO: Make it pretty. My eyes like pretty. If it looks good I will want it to stay that way.

STEP THREE: And this is the real key.... Handle papers as they come in and don't let things pile up. Now sometimes that is easier said than done, but I am going to make more effort to do this. Even now, since I took these photos, there is a little pile of papers that includes some coupons which I need to put in my purse, a birthday party invitation that I need to RSVP to, and one or two other things. I have to keep on top of it.  

This is what I came up with for now. I used this lazy Susan that I purchased on my recent trip to IKEA as kind of a tray to contain things. I added the phone and other important items for this area, like note paper and pens and pencils for messages. This is also the spot where I charge my iPad so the charging cord needed to be here too. Then I added the pretty with a plant and this little robin statuette. Simple. Pretty. And hopefully easy to maintain.

I have also decided that I still need to maintain some files for some important paperwork, but I need to find a more inconspicuous place to keep this so I don't have to hide it every time we have guests over. I hope to give my desk area a little makeover in the coming months so that will be part of that project.

So that's my plan and hopefully I can stick to it. Sometimes you just have to rethink what isn't working and find a better way that makes more sense for how you really live your life.

Do you have a clutter trouble spot in your home? Hopefully my plan will help you think about how you can improve that space and make it work better for you.



Peace On Earth: Mama's Killer Pizza Pasta

'Tis the season for bloggers to be posting their favorite holiday and party recipes. But in the spirit of "Peace On Earth," I thought that this month I would share some of our family's favorite everyday dinner recipes.

We've already established that we have a couple picky eaters in our house and these are recipes that everyone will eat. Thus, peace on earth.....or at least at our house....because I don't have to hear things such as....

     Do I have to eat it?

     Can I just have jelly instead?

     But I like Grandma's better.

Also, I am all about SIMPLE, folks. The fewer ingredients and the less amount of prep time, the better. I don't know about you, but my December calendar is pretty full and my "to do" list keeps getting longer. Can't we all use a little bit more simple at this time of year for getting dinner on the table?

So first up, I present to you my own creation.....Mama's Killer Pizza Pasta! This is definitely a favorite around here. People have actually been known to cheer when they find out we're having this for dinner.

 

First, here are the ingredients you'll need. We have a thing for bowtie (Farfalle) pasta around here. The kids call them butterflies.

You can use whatever type of pizza sauce you like. I just get whatever is cheapest.

But please use real Parmesan cheese....not the powder. You'll thank me later. :D

 

You do need to pre-cook the pasta.

 

And cut up the pepperoni a little bit.

And then you just basically layer everything like you would for a lasagna. Since the pasta is cooked, you just have to let this bake to get it all hot and melty.

And....voila.....Pizza Pasta!

As Rachel would say....YUM-O!

Here's the recipe for you. I hope you enjoy this dish and that maybe it brings a little peace to your dinner table during this busy time of the year.





Four Things For Friday 11.22.13

Hello and Happy Friday!

Here are some little snippets for today.

1.) I confess that I've been leaving the closet doors open.

2.) I have a little sick one home with me today. She's feeling pretty stuffy. Tis the season, I guess. Time to break out the Airborn and zinc tablets. I don't want us all to be sick for Thanksgiving! Do you use any kind of remedies or supplements to ward off germs?

3.) Only three days of school for the kiddos next week and then a five day break. I think we all could use a little breather from school. I know I'm looking forward to it. My poor 8th grader will probably have homework though. That seems to be the way it is this year.

4.) Have you seen this Onion Casserole recipe floating around on Pinterest? I've decided to make this to take for Thanksgiving. I love French Onion Soup, so this sounds really good to me. I know it won't appeal to everyone, but I think there are enough onion lovers in the group. Are you trying any new recipes for your Thanksgiving meal this year?

Hope you have a happy weekend!


Today's Thankfulness.....

* That I can be a stay-at-home mom and be here when my kids are sick.

* That Hubster arrived home safely last night!!  (Woo hoo!)

* For laughter.

* For new friends.

Finally....The Mudroom Closet Reveal!

Hello!

I'm excited to finally share my mudroom closet with you. I never dreamed this project would take me almost a month! It was filled with ups and downs and delays for all sorts of reasons. But in the end, I'm very happy with how it all turned out.

Let me remind you of how things looked when I started. Ouch!

              

When I first shared the mudroom with you, I didn't really have any thoughts of doing a makeover. I really just intended to clean it out and get all our winter gear organized. The sorting and cleaning out only took me parts of two days. I was able to donate some things the kids had outgrown, relocate a few things to different places in the house, and throw some things away.

But once I had cleared everything out and it was totally empty, I realized something....it still looked really bad! The walls were extremely scuffed and dirty from everyone just throwing their shoes and boots in there. I tried to scrub the walls but to no avail. I was only scrubbing off the paint. You see, when we put on this addition, we never painted the closet, only primed it. So I decided that before I put everything back in, I really needed to paint.

But somewhere in between realizing this and digging out the painting supplies, I remembered a very cool mudroom makeover that I had pinned from Carmel at Our Fifth House. I was totally inspired.

Now I knew that my closet wasn't, nor did it need to be as amazing as Carmel's. After all, she was creating a complete mudroom out of a closet and a hallway. I still was going to be closing my closet doors. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be cute, right?

I purchased some of the supplies I needed...like cute new metal door knobs and wood, but it just seemed that my time to work on the project kept getting waylaid. Between birthday celebrations, Hubster traveling (I knew I was going to need his help for some of my ideas), meetings, church activities, etc., it just wasn't getting done.

Finally, last week I decided to paint. I planned on using leftover yellow paint from the mudroom. But when I picked up the can, I realized it was not going to be enough. So I wound up mixing that with the leftover paint from the kitchen. It made the yellow a little duller, but I reminded myself it was only a closet. (You have no idea how many times I told myself that during this project!)

My plan was to wallpaper the lower half using the same bead board wallpaper that I had used in the kitchen, only horizontally like Carmel did. The day after I painted, I attempted to do the wallpapering myself. Big mistake. I really needed a couple extra hands. So I gave up on that and waited for Hubster to be able to help me a couple days later. But in messing up the wallpaper, I also had wasted some and now I didn't have enough. So that evening when I was tired and crabby and disappointed that I hadn't got the papering done, I headed out to Lowe's to get more which was a fiasco and a long story itself.

Finally, this past weekend we had no plans so Hubster and I worked together on hanging the wallpaper, installing a kind of chair rail board, painting, and installing new hooks.

Yesterday was spent purchasing a few accessories....like new baskets to store things like gloves and hats (It always bugged me a bit that you could see through the old baskets. It made it look a little messy to me.) and a cute sign I found at Hobby Lobby.

So....are you ready for the final reveal?



Ta-daaaa!!!!!

Hubster now has his own big basket on the floor for his caps, ear protection for mowing, gloves, etc.

My daughter also needed her own little basket for her iPod, headphones, and other little doo-dads she feels are necessary to keep in this closet.

And don't you love this metal sign? I thought it was just perfect for us all to see as we grab our coats to head out the door. It might be my favorite part of this whole makeover.

I also added another boot tray since it seemed like the two we had were always overflowing.

Now I have to be honest and tell you that there are still a few things that need to be put back in the closet. And the kids will be hanging their school backpacks here as well. But you'll indulge me a couple "beauty shots," right?

I love a good "before and after."

And one last look. I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Thankfulness.....

* For safety for Hubster traveling in bad weather.

* For my sweet sister and her love for all the nieces and nephews in her family.

* For the Lord's provision of help when I needed it.

* For a beautiful blue Fall sky.

Four Things For Friday 11.1.13

It's Friday already! Here are a few [very] random parting thoughts as we say good bye to this week.

1.) The mud room closet organization/makeover is still in progress. Here are a couple clues as to what's been going on this week and what's in store for next week.



2.) I'm just gonna go ahead and say it....I feel like I'm on pumpkin overload. We normally put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. So I'm thinking that between now and then, I'm going to remove a pumpkin every day. That way, by the time it's time for the tree, the house will be de-Fallified. Do you think my family will notice? And it's not even that I'm trying to hurry Christmas along, I think I'm just ready to pare down a little before Thanksgiving arrives.

 


3.) Parenting is the hardest job. EVER. And that's all I have to say about that.

4.) Let me be the first to remind you that Saturday night is the night to set our clocks back.

"Spring FORWARD. Fall BACK."

On one hand, I'm glad for this. It is SO dark when my kids get on the bus each morning for school. A couple more weeks of some light will be nice as we race toward the shortest day of the year. On the other hand, the time change always messes with my children's sleep cycles.

Do you have any big plans this weekend. Not us. And I'm not ashamed to say that I'm kind of happy about that.

Have a great weekend!


Today's Thankfulness....

* For the strength to make it through another week.

* For a starry sky to gaze at as we waited for the school bus this morning.

* For a nice, quiet morning and the chance to just think.