How I Stay Organized...and Baby Bear Feet

I first found the world of blogging while I was online searching for a way to organize my days, and find out how other homeschooling mom's managed their responsibilities.  What I found that benefited me the most was using a Household Management Binder.  I am one of those people who works better with a list. I abandoned my binder in late pregnancy/early baby days...well, now my baby bear is starting to crawl, we finished our homeschool year, and I need to get back on track!!  

In my binder, I have my morning routine page, to get me off to a good start, followed by a poem entitled, No Time for God...(read poem here) to remind me what's important.  Then I have tabs, each with a clear pocket to tuck important papers in, and extra notebook paper to jot little thoughts onto.

My tabs are: To-Do's (with lists printed from OrganizedHome.com); Meals/Recipes; Cleaning; Activities/Projects; Budget/Finances -with pockets for incoming bills to pay, and outgoing bills to file; School Info and Records; Books (to request, read, write notes on); and Purchases to Consider.  I feel so much better having a place to write things...and to remind me to do everything! Rather than being busier and more hectic with a whole list of to-do's, I am more productive and efficient.  I end up getting to spend more quality time with my children and husband! 

Speaking of the children, look at my baby's bear feet: Aren't they adorable?!

Hearts for Home This Week

Last week, I joined in with Cherished Hearts at Home for the weekly Hearts for Home link up, and I'm joining in again.  First of all, I was pleased to accomplish much off last weeks list.  As you see above, I made my fudge--and ate it, too! It makes so much I was able to send that plateful to my husband's coworkers to enjoy.

About three out of five days, I got an early start...at the end of the week I lost motivation and energy...for those of you who don't know, I am quite far along in pregnancy.

We went to the pumpkin patch, see the pictures here.  It was a gray day, nice and cool, and since people thought it might rain that day, it was much less crowded. We had a lovely time.

We read and snuggled on the cloudy days, particularly Laura Ingalls' Little House in the Big Woods...which has to be the best snuggling book ever.  We were inspired to make pancake men...

And, lastly, we had our Daddy Day...emailed pictures of our pumpkin patch visit, called him several times, made him some loving cards...

This week, I want to:

1. Take advantage of my "nesting" urge to organize the kitchen and kid's armoire.  We have already gone through all the children's clothes, and all our books...eliminating and decluttering.  It feels great.
2. Make mini-books with the children...they enjoy looking through them for months afterwards.  My oldest wants to make one about owls today. She keeps saying Twoowhittoohoo!
3. Really enjoy the family dynamics as they are right now, before the new baby changes things up.  I saw a comment about this by Gae (Cherished Hearts at Home), and I realized I have been wanting to hurry this pregnancy, and could make better use of it by appreciating the way things are now.
4. Spend some good time in biblestudy...again, while things are still quiet.

I'm sure there is plenty more I need to do, but that is all I can think of right now...I hope you are having a great week too!

Guest Post - A Peace Within

Today, for a Thoughtful Thursday, we have a guest post from Noellen, of Comfort and Conversation.  I so enjoyed her post the other day, that I asked her if I could share it with you.
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Peace from God is not just an emotion that is with you when times are good, when life is calm.  His peace is always in you, even when times are rough.  It's easy to "feel" peaceful when everything is in order in your life.  But not so easy when life brings you challenges.  It's during these times that you need to stop and reflect and ask yourself, "Is the peace of God with me now?"

In my study recently, I have been reading A Woman's Walk with God by Elizabeth George and I quote the following passage from her book:

Are you in turmoil, or are you trusting and at peace? Are you running around in circles, or are you resting in the Lord? Are your words revealing a sense of panic and pressure, or are they words that edify and encourage, that minister grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29)? Are your actions reflecting the priorities God would have you set? Is your relationship with Him first, or are you too busy to sit at His feet and enjoy His presence? The woman who wrote the following words knew busyness...until the Lord interrupted.  Let's learn from her.

I'm Busy Lord!

I'm busy Lord. Surely You can see

The thousand things that wait for me!

The dishes still lie in the sink - 

I cannot stop to pray and think.

Lord, I know you understand,

For You gave these children to my hand;

And now they cry and need me so,

Lord, You understand. I'd better go.

Now I've got them all to sleep,

I'd better dust and mop and sweep.

I must thaw out the meat for stew,

And the ironing is long overdue!

And kindly my Lord answered me,

"Why do you from My presence flee?

I have so much for you today.

My child, I want to hear you pray.

"I love you, child, I want you here

To rest and listen-to shed a tear.

What if Paul had stopped to say,

"Lord, I'm too busy to write letters today!"?

"No, my child, I'm what you need,

Through household duties you can speed,

Yet when you're through, there's emptiness

If this quiet time you miss."

Oh, thank You, Lord, for showing me

How much I need to wait on Thee.

For what's an undone dish or two

Compared with sharing time with You?!

May the peace of God be with you today!

Wordless Wednesday

All the Little Things

Today I want to share all the little things I love about having children.  My list of ten is in random order.

Little Pouts - Smooshy Face

1. Little Feet...they run, they pitter patter, they swing, they dance...they are so adorable!
2. Little Voices...that say their words in that way that only little children can do, and make you laugh with the things they come up with.
3. Little Readers... who sit on the play room floor with books strewn around them, flipping pages of the one on their legs, with those cute little feet pointing up.
4. Little Hugs & Kisses...they wrap their arms tight around your neck, give a big squeeze, and say, I Love you Mommy!
5. Little Loveys...the sweet blankets and toys that are their favorites become mine, too. :-) Fuzzies and Bunny Softies, Bunny Bunsies and Duckies.
6. Little Excitement..."We're GOING to GRANDMA'S?!! YEAH! We need to show her this or that!!"
7. Little Soft Cheeks...what more can you say?
8. Little Helpers...with (mostly)  that happy willingness.
9. Little Pouts...you don't want them to last forever, but they sure are cute!
10. Little Imaginations...tents, dress up, playing babies, the list goes on and on.

Super Baby Ready to Take Off

What are some of the little things you love about having children?

Joining in with Thankful Thursdays.

http://www.chattingatthesky.com/tuesdays-unwrapped/

Joining in with Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky. 

The Value of Time

I love old books, and I have several vintage school books, primers, and readers that I have bought at estate sales and such.  Sometimes, when I can't sleep at night from a cold, or pregnancy discomforts, I read them until I am sleepy again.  One that I found had many good articles and poems was Bancroft's Fifth Reader, and in particular, the piece on The Economy of Time.  You can find it here on Google: "The Economy of Time" from Bancroft's Fifth Reader.
Just like many people, I have a tendency to waste away the minutes that add up to quarter hours, half hours, and eventually, whole hours...time that can be filled with useful things...like improvements to self, mentally, spiritually, physically; or profitable time spent with children or family and friends.  When I read this article, I printed it, and put it in the front of my household management binder as a very good reminder to me.  I will share a few quotes with you:


"...The man who has wasted the precious hours of life's seed-time finds that he cannot reap a harvest in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine; but lost time is gone forever."

"Rely upon it, if you are a miser of moments, if you hoard up and turn to account odd minutes and half-hours, you will at last be wealthier in intellectual acquisition, wealthier in good deeds harvested, than thousands whose time is all their own."

"The small stones that fill up the crevices are almost as essential to the firm wall as the great stones; and so the wise use of spare time contributes not a little to the building up of a man's mind in good proportions, and with strength."

Also today, I wanted to share with you a link to some great animal coloring page printables, found on Animal Jr.com.  I'm going to print out some of the cute owl pages for my littlest one, who loves owls.
Free Kids Coloring Pages

And now I'm off to make the most of my minutes today! Happy Friday!

Clock Photo by Suat Eman, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A warm welcome to my new blog

Lately, my life has improved because of one simple change. That change was starting to read blogs! I have benefited so much from the information and resources and thoughts people have shared on their blogs.  I have found delicious recipes, household organization tips (which I really needed!), hairstyle tutorials for longer hair, homeschool ideas, and christian living inspiration.  To all of you stay at home moms (and daughters) who are sharing a piece of your lives, it is not in vain! You are really making a difference, one person at a time.  I enjoy this new blogging world so much, I thought I would give a try at joining in.  I plan to write about projects I am working on, fun or interesting activities I do with my children, thoughts about christian life, food I've made and enjoyed and more. I hope you might take away a little inspiration or an uplifting.