Before and Afters of My Kitchen

Before and afters of my kitchen!  It had gotten pretty cluttered over the past few months, and it was nice to reorganize and freshen up this space that I spend so much time in during the day.  My only regret is that when we had people over at Christmastime, they had to see it like this.  :(  Well, it looks and feels a ton better now, and I love my new workspace!  These pictures were taken yesterday. 


Before:

And these pictures were taken today!

After:

Finding My Groove

I am one of those people who thinks they have to sit down and write up a massive, year-long, decorated (preferably scrapbooked) PLAN before I can actually clean something.  No, I can't just dust.  I have to have a plan of attack first.  So I sit down with my notebook and my pencil -- I have used Excel to do this too -- and plan my dusting out for the entire year, which rooms I will do on which days (this process usually requires both coffee and chocolate in order to do it right)...

Well, I am beginning to believe that the planning isn't conducive to the cleaning.  Ya think?  (This sounds really familiar.  Did I post this EXACT same blog about 3 years ago?  Or maybe 3 months ago?  Ha!)

So here is my new plan.  When I see that something needs to be done, I will write it down in my planner in the "Weekly Priorities" section.  I will have a set cleaning time every day.  This cleaning time will be non-negotiable.  While my husband is at work, my main responsibilities are taking care of my children and my home, so once I know that the kids have what they need to survive for the next half hour, I will then proceed to spend that half hour cleaning something I have written down.  I will keep a record of what I am cleaning on which days.

This will be much like Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  It is hard to make a budget until you know where your money goes.  In the same way, it will be difficult for me to plan a cleaning schedule until I know how often things in this house need to be cleaned.  I have lived here for 9 years; it is time for me to have this figured out!  I have been trying to use others' ideas of what should be cleaned when, and my house is just different than other houses.

We are here all day (homeschool seems to work better for us when we are actually at home, imagine that!), and have 3 children (one of them a newly-crawling baby who needs clean floors), a large hairy shedding dog, a little dog who sometimes mistakes the carpet in the basement for her own personal grass pad, a shedding cat who likes to sleep on anything that looks warm and soft (my piles of unfolded laundry are her favorite. thing. ever.)... are you beginning to see the picture here?   It all adds up to one big hairy mess if I don't keep on top of it.  And I haven't been keeping on top of it.  So what do I have?  A big hairy mess, you're right!

We have been blessed with a gorgeous home that has 5 bedrooms (2 of which are being used as my craft room and Mike's office), 4 bathrooms (!), 3 living areas (living/TV room, reading/fireplace room, and rec room in the basement), a kitchen that has everything I need, lots and lots of beautiful wood - one of the reasons we loved this house from the moment we walked into it, and one of the things I desperately need to take better care of so that it will retain that beauty.

My house will need to be cleaned more often than many others' houses.  No one else's schedule is going to be the same as mine.  I have to make my own schedule.  I know; what an epiphany! 

I'm off to implement the plan!  Wish me luck.

My Work

I read this poem today over at Women Living Well.

My Work

I have the greatest work in the world;
The job of rocking a baby to sleep,
That of guiding his tottering feet,
A baby's clothes to launder and fold,
A precious life to shape and mold,
A drink to give from a little cup,
At night his toys to gather up,
Hurts to heal and fears to quell,
A baby to keep clean and well,
A stack of diapers to put,
Oh, what a happy worthwhile day!
I am a "Mother."

I have the greatest work in to world;
A husband to encourage when things go wrong,
When he comes from work to greet with a song,
Denims and shirts to wash and mend,
A helping hand, when needed, to lend,
Three times a day is meals to cook,
To strive to be my best to look,
His back to rub at the close of the day,
For his faithfulness to God I pray,
When hubby's in the field I take lemonade,
for all these tasks his love has Paid.
I am a " Wife."

I have the greatest work in the world;
A home to keep happy, clean and bright,
Make things go smooth and strive for the right,
Jams to cook and jellies to make,
Cookies and pies and bread to bake,
Washing, ironing, and sewing to do,
So many tasks, will I ever get though?
Lettuce to wash and peas to pick,
floors to scrub, lost items to seek,
Dishes to wash and windows to shine,
These and many more tasks are mine.
I am a "Homemaker."

Help me, Father, to faithfully work,
Forgive if I unconsciously shirk,
give me the patience and love I pray,
To keep myself in duties way;
With all the hustle that each day brings
May I not neglect the needing things;
Each day to spend time alone with Thee
That Jesus Christ be seen in me.
Thank you for husband, our home, our girls and boys;
Thank you for love which brings me much joy.
Thank you , Lord.

----Mary Lou Burkholder

I was overwhelmed when I read it, at first, just because actually thinking about all of the work that goes into what women do every day is exhausting.  And I can also add "Homeschooler" to that list as well, and it's no wonder that some days the house doesn't look it's best!  ("Some days?"  Who am I kidding?!)

I was talking to a friend today about scheduling, and how having even just a yearly schedule would free up so much brain space.  You know, scheduling things like the animals' yearly vet checks, changing batteries in smoke alarms, preparing the lawn mower for another season of lawn mowing (which was what spurred the conversation in the first place; the neighbor was having his serviced today so that it will be ready when it is warm enough to mow).  

I have tried to schedule my household cleaning chores, and it didn't work for me.  I got so behind, I ended up starting my list over again several times before finally deciding that not having a list would be easier than the mental stress of trying to keep up with the list I had made.  But perhaps I was starting with minutiae, when I should have been looking at the overall picture.  I'm off to make a list of yearly "things to accomplish" and write them on my calendar.  Because it's only February, and I'm not too far into the year yet!  

Maybe I'll even tackle a list of monthly "things to accomplish"... or maybe I'll wait another year to see how things go with this list first!  After all, a new baby will be joining us in about a month, and that can change things.  A little.   

Happy Mother's Day!

We have a new member of the family!  I went with Christy, Mark and Miguel to pick her out the day before Mother's Day.  Happy Mother's Day to me!  I am over the moon in love with this little girl.  Here she is, in all her puppy cuteness.  We call her Snicker, short for Snickerdoodle.

She is a 12-week-old Shih Tzu, and I think she was the cutest one of the bunch!  She came right to me when I called her, and as soon as I held her I knew she was the one for me.  She is sweet and loves to snuggle, and she follows me around all day and lays down in between, on, behind, or in front of my feet.

She kept me awake almost all night the first night, whimpering and crying and begging to get up on the bed with us.  I was firm and patient (it was hard!) and kept putting her back in her little bed and saying "In your bed, Snicker."  She slept from 3am-4am, finally, and then woke up and was sniffing and running around the room, so I took her outside and she did her business.  Yay for (somewhat) house-trained dogs!

When we came back inside, I was so tired I was a bit desperate for sleep, so as a last measure, I dangled my foot off the bed next to where her nose was in her bed.  She went right to sleep!  Hallelujah!  I had figured it out!

After a minute, I pulled my leg back up into bed (my hip felt like it was going to dislocate soon), and fell asleep.  Five minutes later, she woke up crying and jumping at the side of the bed, so I put her back in her bed, said "In your bed, Snicker," and dangled my foot by her bed again.  She fell asleep for about 10 minutes.  And so on and so forth, until 5 nights later (last night) she slept through the night without waking up once!  Yippee!  She feels like part of the family now.

Just don't ask Gordon.  He's not sure about her yet.  Sooooo insanely jealous that she gets to go outside in the front yard (too many things to chew on in the backyard) and he has to stay inside and watch from the front door.  He's growling in his sleep right now... probably at her.

It is nice having her almost house-trained.  I just loved the lady we got her from.  She sure loved her little puppies, and I could tell it was hard for her to sell them after raising them for almost 3 months, but I'm sure glad she did, because we just love her! 

She loves Mike, and she knows that he is for playing with, and I am for snuggling with, and the boys... well, the boys are for carrying her around and dangling toys in front of her nose!

Boy, the angle of that photo makes my head spin!  Sorry about that.  I love watching Sammy love on Snicker, though.  He sure loves the puppy... almost as much as I do.  :-)

The second part of my Mother's Day happiness is that Mike finished painting the main floor.  He took Thursday and Friday off of work and spackled, sanded, primed and painted all day both days and Saturday as well.  I brought Snicker home in the midst of the painting, so she got to get used to the house being all torn up and moved around!  I am getting it put back together, though.  Here are several pictures of the main floor as it is tonight.

 Had to sneak that last one in.  Doesn't Miles just look so cozy all snuggled up with a couple of books and a fuzzy blanket?  Hmmm... I think I'll go join him.  With Snicker at my feet, of course.

What I Did Today

Before:

After:

Good Food and Good Times

My front door three days ago.

My front door today.

What I did with the "old" wreath. This garage sale cookie jar is coming in handy! There is a candle inside of it, and I'll be filling it with small pinecones and cinnamon sticks. The candle inside is called Cinnamon Bun, and it is YUMMY. I just love fall!



We had a lot of fun last night. We got to spend time with Adrienne and Nicolas at IHOP; Grandma G. and Suzy (Grandpa) stopped by for a while after a birthday dinner they went to with some long-time church friends; and Caleb came by for a few minutes to pick up their dogs, who spent the week with us. It was a fun evening!




We were handing out cherry pie left and right, because I made one yesterday and everyone knows I love to give people food. It's what I do! You can't come over to my house and walk away hungry. I haven't tasted the pie yet, so I hope it was guest-worthy.

I was going to make tuna casserole last night for dinner, but there was no way I was going to turn down IHOP with a good friend. Now I have chicken that needs to be used tonight, so I think I'm going to make shredded chicken, stuffing, roasted potatoes and gravy for dinner.

I stuck a package of frozen chicken thighs in the crock pot on High on Monday morning with some butter, sea salt and pepper, and by Monday night the house smelled SO good. I'll make the gravy with the drippings and "good bits" that I saved from the bottom of the crock pot.

Here is my tuna casserole recipe. It is easy and fairly quick to make. It's the recipe my mom made when we were kids, and I still love it! The boys (all three of them!) love it too. The leftovers are really good. You may want to use an extra can of cream of mushroom soup if you plan to reheat it more than once so that it stays creamy.

Tuna Casserole

1 bag large shell pasta

2 small or 1 large can tuna (or salmon)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can sliced mushrooms

1-2 cups shredded cheese

1. Cook the pasta.

2. Mix the tuna, mushrooms and two soups together in a baking dish.

3. Add the cooked pasta and stir together.

4. Cover with the shredded cheese.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is all melted.

I see banana bread in my family's near future.

Occupation: Housewife

This was in Great Grandma's trunk. It is typewritten on an old yellowed piece of paper.

Occupation: Housewife

What am I doing with my life?
Well --- I am only a housewife.
I'm homework-helper, expert on spelling,
The keeper of secrets without telling,
A band-aider, a hurt-feelings mender,
A peanut butter and jelly vendor,
I'm a bed-maker, laundry supervisor,
Child disciplinarian, a chastiser,
A baseball catcher, a Girl Scout leader,
A hamster breeder, an animal feeder.
I'm a rummage-saler, P.T.A. doer,
Children's piano-practicing pursuer,
A thermometer-reader, cookie baker,
A spring planter-weeder, a fall leaf-raker.
I am a table-duster, vacuummer-mopper,
Little League rooter, argument stopper,
A gourmet chef, hamburger fryer,
Food-purchasing agent, clothing buyer.
I'm a romantic lover, chatty talker,
A midnight to 2 a.m. baby-walker.
A business listener, a sock-sewer,
A concert, a big game, recital-goer.
I'm a dog-minder, lost items finder,
Everyone's daily agenda reminder,
A nose-wiper, an aching-neck rubber,
Itching-back scratcher, dirty-head scrubber.
That's what I'm doing with my life:
I'm only a housewife.

There is no author's name recorded, so I don't know who wrote it. It's a fairly accurate description of what I do all day, though! With a few exceptions, of course. I mean, you DO have to have a girl to do Girl Scouts, right?

I love my job! :)

Coat Closet: Before and After

Before

After

I know, I know... how much fun is it to look at someone else's closet??? But I am totally inspired by before and afters, so I thought I would start posting some of my own. Not all at once, of course, because who wants to clean out all of their closets at one time!? Not me!!!! No, I am taking this one space at a time, and I'm sure that by the time I am finished the first space will need to be changed again.

And you know how it goes. When you reorganize one space, the junk from that space starts to invade the rest of the house. So now I need to find homes for everything that was living in my coat closet without my permission. Wish me luck!

My Kitchen -- Before and After

Before

After

I had a lot of work to do, and I finally (without even the aid of coffee... I have been drinking tea instead of coffee for a few days, and I am much more mellow, fewer ups and downs. As I sit here drinking a Dr. Pepper. Oh well. At least my kitchen is clean.

The Real Big Reveal

I made you wait long enough, didn't I? Well, some of you have already seen the new bathroom in all its jungle-y glory, but for those of you who haven't... sorry I made you wait! I have been rather busy the last few days, and very tired because of the extra kiddos I'm watching this summer. I've been going to bed around 9:30, which basically means that as soon as the boys are in bed and asleep, I get ready for bed. That doesn't leave much time for blogging, or any of my other evening activities. But I LOVE getting up early!! The sunrise is so amazing to watch. It's like watching the world come to life again every day! I can't believe I slept in for so many years and missed this.

Do you like the bathroom? The boys sure do!