The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY~February 23, 2011
Outside my window... sunny, but still winter and still cold!
I am thinking...about some changes I would like to make in my life
From the learning room...multiplying and dividing fractions, solar system, outlines and a book report
I am thankful for...my healthy children...I know I say that a lot, but I've been hearing and reading so much lately about ill children.  My heart aches for the parents of these children.
From the kitchen...chicken sandwiches and potato wedges
I am wearing...pants and brown sweater
I am creating...burp cloths
I am going...to get my menu planned and grocery list for March done, and clean out the fridge.  How does it get that bad?
I am reading... Bible~daily, just finished Large Family Logistics and will be loaning it out to some friends
I am praying...for my grandma who is waiting for some test results
I am hearing...a ball bouncing, giggles
Around the house...laundry almost done, not much else going on around here today
One of my favorite things...snuggling with my hubby ;)
A few plans for the rest of the week...big doctor day for one of our sons tomorrow, music lessons on Thursday, date night with hubby Friday (I can't wait!)
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

the baby burp cloths I love to create!

Thanks for stopping by!  For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Have a great week!!

Blessings,

Who Say's Homeschooling is Hard?

This weekend I was cutting up some fabric.  Our 4 year old always like to help by taking care of my scraps~or straps as she calls them.  As I'm cutting, she say's..."Look Mommy...I made a one!"

And I thought homeschooling our littlest kids would be the hardest.  Then I realized...I have always been homeschooling them.  What a joy to see them excited about learning!

Have a great day!

Blessings,

What a week!!

Last weekend was the start of a very nice and warm week (well...at least for Wisconsin!).  We even reached 50 degrees one day this week!  Last weekend this is what life looked like....

....taking walks, melting snow, just enjoying the outdoors.  Most of the snow has melted and it has been a nice week.  I am anxiously anticipating spring!

Tomorrow this returns....

They are forcasting 7-12".  I guess winter isn't quite over yet!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Homemaking By Heart

I'm sure if I looked there is probably a website or even a blog with this title.  It just happens to be what came to my mind as I was thinking about this post. 

I have been reading the book "Large Family Logistics" by Kim Brenneman.  I ordered it because I had seen on several homemaking websites people raving about it.  Ever since we started homeschooling, I have felt disconnected from things around our house.  I thought it couldn't hurt to see what this author has to say.

Now, I am not completely finished with the book yet, but what I have read has been speaking right to my heart.  And as I was reading, I realized that I have not been a very good homemaker.  I was a working mom until we had our fourth child.  I had long dreamed of becoming a stay at home mom, and finally my dreams were coming true.  I had visions that I would be a cross between Betty Crocker, June Cleaver, and Martha Stewart.  HAH!!  Enter in needy newborn who seemed to nurse 24 hours a day and when she wasn't nursing wanted to be held.  I got next to nothing done.  But....she grew out of it.  I....did not!  I became a lazy housewife.  Yes, I had supper on the table when hubby got home from work.  Yes, we always had clean clothes to wear each day.  Yes, I got things done.  But my heart really wasn't in it.  And it was taking a toll on our family and our home.

You see, since my heart wasn't always in what I was doing, I really didn't do a good job.  Yes, the clothes were washed, but they were in several wash baskets in the living room.  Yes, things were picked up, but nothing was really where it belonged.  Things became stressful, and I became frustrated.  And a frustrated momma makes for a frustrated family.

I wanted to be a home MAKER...not a housewife.  I want our home to be a peaceful haven for all who enter it (well...as peaceful as a house of 7 people can be!).  I have been gleaning from some of my favorite homemaking blogs, praying over this, and making an effort to do everything with a cheerful heart.  I have seen the difference in what I accomplish each day, and how our house runs.  It makes a big difference when things run as they should.  Yes, there are days when the baby is crabby, kiddo's are ill, momma has a headache...but having a schedule and knowing how and when things should be done makes these things not such a big deal anymore.  I really do have the best job in the world, and I've learned to appreciate it all the more.

I have several blogs on my sidebar that are written by women who also have a passion for their families and homes.  And there are many more out there.  Read and get inspired!

Have a great day!

Blessings,

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY~February 14, 2011
Outside my window... sunny, warm for Feb in Wisconsin~highs in the upper 30's!!
I am thinking...about the things I need for tomorrow's appointment
From the learning room...week of tests ): ~ Bible test on David, Saul, Solomon, Samuel, Math test on fractions, a service project for Grandma tomorrow ~a slow week otherwise as we have a couple of appointments this week
I am thankful for...God's faithful servants in my life~our pastor had a good sermon yesterday that has me thinking about my prayer life
From the kitchen...Bubble pizza, salad, finger jello
I am wearing...jeans and red shirt
I am creating...nothing this week
I am going...to be more intentional in certain areas of my life
I am reading... Bible~daily, Large Family Logistics (GREAT Book!!)
I am praying...for guidance in the same area's I want to be more intentional about, some relationships, our son's appointment tomorrow
I am hearing...our son doing his math (he does it out loud as he writes it!)
Around the house...not much going on right now, laundry done, trying to decide on what color to paint our kitchen
One of my favorite things...good friends and good conversations
A few plans for the rest of the week...neuropsych testing for our middle son who is autistic tomorrow (hoping to get some answers on abilities), music lessons, maybe shopping for a new guitar for our oldest son, day off school on Friday, kids coming overnight on Friday nite (it only looks like a  busy week!)
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

What a Sweetie!!

Thanks for stopping by!  For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Have a great week!

Blessings,

Birthday Boy!

Yesterday, our baby turned 2 years old!  I can't believe that he is that old already!  Time goes sooo fast and in the blink of an eye they are no longer babies.  Sunday in church I was snuggling my 2 month old nephew and trying to remember when my kids were that little.  I miss it.  There is nothing better than a sleeping baby on your chest!  But I know that to keep them small, I would miss the blessing of seeing them grow.  We had a small celebration last night for him~we will have a combined party with family for him and our oldest daughter who's birthday is next month.  He has been such a joy in our lives, we can't imagine life without him!  He has always been a content baby, and now he is  a boy who is full of laughs!  We just love him soo much!  Here's a few pictures of him....

If you  noticed, the cake had pink frosting on it.  It was meant to be red, but I ran out of food coloring and it ended up pink.  Luckily, he didn't notice~in fact the only one who asked why it was pink was Daddy!!  Have a great day!!

Blessings,



Weekend Activities....

Our house has been neglected over the past few weeks, so today was a cleaning day.  The kids all helped (even the littles!) and we are pretty much caught up.  I just finished mopping the kitchen and bathroom floors and we're just waiting for them to dry.  There are a couple of loads of laundry to finish, but then we should be in good shape.  I am reading the book "Large Family Logistics" and there is a lot of good advice in this book about how to avoid the major cleaning days by having routines.  That is one area I've needed to work on.  Ever since baby #5 was born (almost 2 years ago!), I have struggled with keeping routines.  I am not sure why, but after starting this book, I can see the need to get into a routine and keep it.  I think part of the problem is that we have had so many appointments in the past year for two of our kiddo's, that it just seemed impossible to stick to one.  The appointments may have lessened in quantity, but we are never going to be without them.  We have 5 children after all.  Between dentists, doctors, therapists, haircuts, and specialists~we cover one or more of them each month!  I would love to be able to make routine checkups for all the kids in one day, but neither our dentist or our doctor wants to take that much time out of their schedules.  So I try to make those appointments around the time of each child's birthday.  Anyways, I have learned a lot already from this book, and am not finished with the book yet.  I recommend it to anyone!

So....I just need to start tomorrows dinner, and finish up the laundry yet this afternoon.  I am pretty sure my husband is putting up anything we have for the Green Bay Packers in the basement right now!  He is pretty excited that the Packers are again in the Super bowl. 

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

I'm SO Excited!!!

I have won another Give~away!!  I have seriously never won any other give~away and I have been chosen in not one, but two give~aways over the past couple of weeks!  I am super excited to get this one over at Broad Horizons Homeschool Blog.  It is a DVD from the West ladies about quilting!  I am very new to quilting and would love to learn from these ladies.  I have another DVD from them and it was very informative.  I'm hoping for the same for this one.  I could stand to learn a thing or two (or 100 or 1000) about quilting.  YEAH!


In other news around here, the storm of the decade (as it has been called on the news) is over and done with.  Clean up is well underway!  We didn't get as much snow as they were originally predicting, but the wind made blowing snow a huge problem.  They shut down many roads and highways over the night.  We are done snow blowing our driveway and sidewalks, and helped a few neighbors as well.  The sun is out and it is pretty outside.  It is very cold now though, and temps are going to drop even lower.

snow drift out our garage door!

Good day to stay inside and get a few projects done.  I have been working on our pictures today.  The photo albums have been neglected over the past few years, and we have many pictures just stuck in a box.  I am organizing them and getting them into the albums where they belong! 

My copy of Large Family Logistics arrived in the mail yesterday!  I have gotten a good start on it, and feel it will be a good help for our family (me in particular!)  I have felt convicted about some of the things in the book already, so this book is also helping to confirm some of those things.  Even if you don't have a "large" family (what is large anyways?), this book might be worth reading for you!  I'll let you know more as I read more!


Have a great day!


Blessings,


Project 365~January 2011

More pics from my project 365!

This first one needs some explanation!  My mom made this for our dishwasher because we were having a problem with trying to put away dirty dishes, or putting dirty dishes into a clean dishwasher.  So we put this on the dishwasher and everyone knows if it is clean or dirty (well...as long as we remember to turn it around!).  The problem came when this mysteriously disappeared.  No one knew where it went.  We decided that the baby must have thrown it away.  He went through a stage where he always wanted to play with this, but he was also throwing everything he could get his hands on into the garbage.   It had been missing for several months!  It showed up unannounced back on the dishwasher on this day.  I was going crazy trying to figure out where it came from and how it just appeared back on the dishwasher.  Finally our oldest son (the comedian!) confessed that he found it under the stove and put it back on the dishwasher!  It was a bit dusty (no, I don't often clean under my oven!), but no worse for the wear!


Day 18

Day 19

the kids love to snuggle with Daddy in the morning!

Day 20

hubby took us out to lunch~no, we didn't eat outside!

Day 21

School's closed and the ski trip is cancelled too!

Day 22

painting the basement

Day 23

my daughter wanted me to give her a facial

Day 24

Grocery shopping day!

Day 25

had fun coloring

day 26

spilled pretzels on the floor~someone was holding the bag upside down!

Day 27

baby with the hives(this looks good compared to how he looked later)!

Day 28

family pizza and movie night!

Day 29

the baby got ahold of the camera and shot a pic of himself!

Day 30

animal tracks in the yard

Day 31

icicles on the garage and snow beginning to fall

I am really enjoying this project, and I hope that my photography skills will improve by the end of the year.  Right now I feel like all the pictures are the same, but I hope to get some variety in them soon.  I'm just impressed with the fact that I actually remembered to take a picture every day!  Check back later this month for more pictures from project 365.


Have a great day!


Blessings,