Home with all my heart

Yesterday I did one of the funniest stupid things I've ever done. Not to be confused with the many stupid things I've done that were serious or harmful or just not funny.

Last month we had a dreadful fruit fly/gnat problem in our house. I refuse to spray chemicals about in the air we breathe so I resorted to hanging a couple fly strips up in the rooms that were the worst, figuring on taking them down when they'd served their purpose because though I'm not a saavy decorator I'm pretty sure they don't go with current my decor. They worked wonderfully, but I haven't taken them down yet. Yesterday I climbed up onto Seth's little dresser to reach a high shelf and not finding what I was seeking I climbed back down and began to search elsewhere. That's when I felt something on my head. Oh no... Oh yes. I reached up and felt the sticky strip in my hair. I hadn't even seen it hanging there! I'd showered that morning and my long hair was still down, about half dry, now a tangled, sticky mess.
     I called the girls, laughing,      "Uh... help!"
      Atira assesed the situation,    "I think we're going to have to cut it."
      Classica Atira, but I feared she was right. Then Farra joined us and started pulling (classic Farra) and the strip came off without all the hair and pain I expected. Back to the shower to wash the mess. Shampoo and conditioner did the trick and there was no stickiness left. I laughed the whole time, wishing I'd thought to have the girls take a picture. How ridiculous!

Organized Christmas - Week 4

Week 4 - Close To Home Week

To the munchkins' rooms I go! Actually this has been a work in progress for the past week or so anyway...so I had a bit of a head start here. There are always way too many toys for them to pick up after they are done...does anyone else have experience with this also?!?

On the decluttering front...so with the exception of sorting out all of their clothes by season...their rooms are done!

On the cleaning front...their rooms are going to be going through my intensive fall cleaning (I also do spring cleaning). With the princess' dust mite allergy...this is a necessity. We need to remove their air conditioners, clean the windows, wipe down the walls, turn the mattresses and clean the floors. We are going to be "redoing" the princess' room this year...more to follow...so this is also going to be a huge head start on that project!

On the organizing front...this is where I need as much help as possible! Luckily I have an expert organizer right here at home! I am going to be looking for some cute ways to organize their rooms. I want something more than just the plastic tubs that we have now. I want their rooms to reflect them and be organized. So this may take a while...I tend to go slowly onthese things because I want it right from the start...less waste that way.

Forms to print off:

Holiday Home Spruce-Up Checklist
Birthday Planner

This is also the time to plan any Advent celebrations that you want to do with your family. I watched an episode of Katie Brown's Workshop a couple of days ago and she had a wonderful and unique idea for the Advent calender. I think that we are going to do this! For some reason...I am having difficulty adding that link so here it is. http://www.katiebrown.com/kbep1.cfm?cat=NEST&episodeid=25&seasonID=2

Also, they recommend splitting your Christmas Card list into 5 sections and completing the first one this week. This is something that my honey usually enjoys doing...so I will leave that to him!

How are your Christmas preparations coming along? Anything new that you are incorporating this year?

Blessings,
MrsC

Living a Life of Balance Ch.1 Pt.3

John 15:2
John 15:16

6. "A balanced life pays heed to both the physical and spiritual needs of our bodies. A balanced life thrives and bears fruit."

"What does John 15:4 say we must do in order to bear fruit?"

Jesus is saying that we cannot bear fruit unless He abides in us.

"What does John 15:8 say is the result of a fruitful life?"

Jesus is saying that by us living a fruitful life...God is being glorified. There are many people that do "good works" in this world...but many of them are done in an effort to glorify themselves or celebrate the human life. Without Jesus in our lives...all of our works are empty...no matter how many people we "help" in this world. It is what we do to help these people for the eternity that will make a difference and that brings glory and honor to God!

Blessings,
MrsC

Our newest little one...

I haven't posted here in nearly a year, but a new baby was recently added to our family, so I thought I would share it for all my old friends here at HSB. This photo was taken at eight weeks (about 10 days ago). He is heading on 13 pounds now and is a very good (and cute!) baby. He gets lots of loving care and attention from his 10 older brothers and sisters. Amazingly, he appears to have red hair...my husband had curly red hair during his growing up years (it's dark auburn now); but all 10 of our other children had various shades from ash and strawberry to dark blonde.

Something different with my childbirth experience this time was that it was my first c-section. During labor the contractions were stressing the baby (long decels in the heart-rate after contractions), and when he was delivered the cord was wrapped around his neck and body several times. Not only that, but there was a knot in the cord- likely a negligible factor, but interesting nonetheless. Thankfully the Lord kept us safely and he was *perfectly fine,* scoring 9 on his apgars. I was sorry to have not been awake when he was born, and wasn't even sure he was ours when I first saw him since he had so much hair (compared to our other babies). But since there was only one other baby in the nursery, there wasn't much room for debate on that one!

Looking for Bulk Foods Links!

I am currently researching bulk foods websites and was wondering if anyone has found a reliable source for things such as bulk peanut butter? I can't believe it has risen to over $2. a pound at the stores in our area. The 5 lb. containers I got for $5.99 last summer are now up to $9.49!

Organized Christmas - Week 3

Week 3 - Me and Mine Week

First of all, let me say that I am so sorry about forgetting this post last week. I will post it here now and then on Thursday...continue on as normal. Do you ladies see why it is absolutely necessary for me to get organized here?!? So here we go!

This is one of those weeks that you can do and just be done with...for the most part.

Start in the master bedroom first. Let's declutter and get our closet's organized for the upcoming season. The closet part is the hardest for me simply because our weather goes from 49 degrees in the morning to 84 in the afternoon. I haven't really decided what to wear most of the time yet. That is also where I am going to make the biggest effort in my decluttering journey.

I have clothes that I have no intention on ever wearing again...I know many of women have that problem...but seriously, I would like to get my closet down to about a quarter of what it is now. I think 3-5 blouses, 3 slacks, 3-5 skirts and 3-5 dresses should suffice. I will keep many of my t-shirts (they are a necessity around the farm), all of my jeans (I think I have 4-5 pairs that still fit) and a few of my sweat shirts and pants. I don't have the heart to go through my sweater inventory though...that will be for another time when I have recovered from this first purge.

Now then on to the Christmas Card List. That is an easy one to do...just get out the old address book and get busy. Chances are that if I have your address...you're on my list! Christmas card list that is.

Then there is the gift closet...we actually started one around three year's ago after Christmas. I buy things that I find throughout the year and put them in the closet. Sometimes I have a specific person in mind at the time that I buy it and sometimes I just can't pass it up and figure out who gets it later. I am a person that HAS to have just the right gift for people. I can not stand giving generic gifts just for the sake of giving. However, there are those times that we have resorted to that (primarily at the prompting of my honey) and then I feel bad because it probably isn't as personal as I would have liked it to be. The gift closet inventory is something that I will delegate to my honey this season. He is very good at organizing and he can also "get it done"...to where I am very busy right now. Also, since most of out combined family is from "his family"...it will give him the opportunity to decide who gets what. I do (with exception to a few people that I already have gifts designated for) have him decide what gifts to give to his family. Then they can blame him for their gifts LOL!

In closing...there are a few things that I need to direct my energies toward this week:

finalize the decluttering in my bedroom and closets
give the bedroom a thorough cleaning and spiffy up the hardwood floors
transfer names and addresses to the Christmas Card List
have my honey inventory the gift closet
I also want to get a "Christmas Letter" in the works to send out with many of the cards this year, some of the people that we send cards to...we haven't seen in forever

They recommend that you schedule some Mommy-pampering-time during the month of December. What are some inexpensive, relaxing things that we can do to lighten the stress that can (and normally does) come with getting ready for the holidays?

Blessings,
Christy

Living a Life of Balance - Ch. 1 Pt. 2

The Juggling Act

1. "What does Jesus remind us of in Luke 12:22 and 23?"

Jesus is telling us that there is more to life than our physical needs. We should not worry about the things of this life that are going to mean very little in the eternity. This is the part of life (as a mother) that I tend to struggle with the most. After all, we (as mothers) are built to concern ourselves with the physical need of our families...that is just what we do.

2. "But as believers, we also have to consider the balance between our physical and our spiritual needs. What comparison does Paul draw in 1 Timothy 4:8?"

He contrasts the lasting differences done for the physical and the spiritual persons. Again we see that the things done for the spiritual person last longer and are more profitable to do. The things we do now to further our spiritual person are both enriching the physical person here (by helping us to be "better" people now) and ensuring our future reward in Heaven. In contrast, the things that we do to feed our physical self alone (those things that we just have to do for ourselves...buy that outfit, get that object) will have no lasting impact on our spiritual person. Note: I am not saying that indulging your physical desires once in a while is a "bad thing"...just saying that it will have no value later on in the spiritual life.

3. This was matching up Scripture with a paraphrased verse. I will not be posting that because I feel that it is of little value to this study. I will instead just post the Scriptures for you to peruse should you choose too.

Proverbs 2:7
Proverbs 3:21
Proverbs 8:14
2 Timothy 1:7
2 Timothy 1:13
2 Timothy 4:3
Titus 1:9
Titus 1:13

Blessings,
MrsC

Home with all my heart

Camera news!

New Camera!

Ponderings...

Stupid human tricks

Organized Christmas - Week 4

Living a Life of Balance Ch.1 Pt.3

Our newest little one...

Looking for Bulk Foods Links!

Organized Christmas - Week 3

Living a Life of Balance - Ch. 1 Pt. 2

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