Wanna make God Laugh??

I always joke that the fastest way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans. And I don't meant that God doesn't want us to do what we want to do, quite the contrary! But I do think that sometimes we want to control every facet of life. We want to do what we want to do. End of Story.

I am no exception... I wanted to go back to work. I organized my daycare. I got the boys registered. I got the rules down, I got them excited. I squared away a job. A paycheck. I got my husband on board. I was ready for Monday.

And then God laughed.

His laughter sounded an awful lot like my son's wailing at 2am on Saturday. And it lasted all weekend. I thought Corbin had an ear infection... or maybe herpangina again. But the Urgent Care and After Hours doctors said it was nothing.... "just teething".

I hate "just teething".

But fast forward to today. Wednesday. And I am not at work. I am at home... caring for a baby with Hand Foot and Mouth disease... and an ear infection. And he can't go back to daycare until Monday... at the earliest.

I am not mad or anything... but I feel like I am being tested. Like I need to make sure this is what I am ready for. Like this is where I belong. In a month, when I am no longer a contractor, I won't have the luxury (?) or being able to call out and just say "Sorry... gotta stay home with the kids today. Call me if you need me." Is that what I want? And if it is... why am I still questioning it?

Thrifty Decor

I have never been one to have a Martha Stewart home. I love pretty things, decorations and all that... but I suffer from a disease I call "I-can-do-that-itis". I refuse to buy things I can do myself. And combine that with the lack of real wall space in my house... it's easy to see why I don't have anything really on my walls.

No curtains. No pictures. Nothing.

But I am trying to make that change. And we all know I am just a little bit cheap :cough cough: I am trying to do this all while spending as little as possible.

This weekend, I tried my hand at these Book Wreaths over at Living with Lindsay!

I am pretty happy with the end result! And best yet, it only cost me $2! I got my book and wreath form at the Dollar Tree... I had the glue gun and gray paint already.

I am not sure where I will keep it, but for now, it feels at home above this shelf.

Pennies in the Dryer

Ryan has gotten to the point that he has discovered pockets. And money. And he will go into my pockets to get money to put into his pockets.

And I am not used to this... and I forget to check his pockets before they get into the wash. And now I have pennies in my dryer. Well, pennies and matchbox cars. One day I will learn.

As I was cleaning out my findings of 11cents out of the dryer today, I remembered a rule that we had growing up... whoever finds money in the dryer is the owner of it, regardless of whose pockets lost it. It made it much easier than trying to figure it out. And so I realized I needed a little bank to set in the laundry room. And I wanted something prettier than a mason jar with a slot cut in the lid.

I don't know about you... but I got one of these in my stocking... a Tootsie Roll bank. I loved these growing up... and I figured it would be perfect!

I cut some paper to the right length and width, then used my trusty Mod Podge.

First, I covered the bank in Mod Podge, which acts like glue and stuck the paper right on.

Then I coated the entire thing in another coat of Mod Podge to seal it on... mostly since it will be in a more humid room and I don't want it just peeling off.

It looked pretty cute, but I decided to stick a little tag on with a ribbon remnant to cheer it up... and to the Laundry Room shelf it went!

I think I'll use that money at the end of the year (or whenever it's full) to buy me something pretty... just for doing the laundry. ;o)

Confessions

A lot of my friends are familiar with Confession Wednesday... a weekly ritual that involves spilling details that would never leave your lips as they wouldl do nothing more than incriminate you... and, well... I have a few confessions.

1. My house is regularly a wreck. Not like "OMG... I forgot to wipe up a small little spill over here!" kind of wreck... a "Honey, have you seen the floor lately" kind of wreck. Don't believe me? Here are two rooms of my house... and they look like this every.single.day.

2. I just barely took down my Christmas Tree. As it right before I started typing this post. It needed to come down so that I could feel like I accomplished something.

3. I co-sleep... and by co-sleep, I do mean in the same bed. With the same blankets. And my pillows. And I actually love it. There is something great about being able to get up with a crying baby, feed them, and put them back to sleep, all without stepping out of my bed.

....

Ok, so my confessions aren't really that good... and I am sure I could have whipped up something better... but I did want to say that confession #1 is my next focus... I am going to be doing some major purging... I really want to gut these rooms out, paint, organize, and then live in them. I am tired of feeling like my life has absolutely no order. I'll be posting some updates on these rooms as they become what I want them to be.. a fully functional laundry room, and Ryan's big boy room!

What do you have to confess today?

Work Smarter...

So, I was supposed to come in here and tell you all how great I am doing on the Body After Baby Challenge... but I slacked yesterday. Well... "slacked" is relative. I didn't make it into the blog world, but I worked my tail off!

Dustin and I decided that one area of our lives that we refused to argue about anymore is the housework. I try my hardest to keep up with a very lively toddler and have decided that it really is ok for the house to not be perfect because that means that we live here and that my kids are having fun being little! However, my husband doesn't agree with this thought process... so he's willing to give up other little luxuries so that I can have a cleaner come in a couple times a month to do the deep cleaning that I NEVER get to! And so... I must clean for the cleaning lady. One of lifes ultimate mysteries is why we do this... but I am doing it... so there. :oP

One thing that I have found that I think is utterly amazing are Febreze vacuum filters! I tried finding them online to show you, but you are just going to have to venture into Walmart and see them for yourself. I have a bagless vacuum, so I replace the filters to keep the dust nice and trapped! But these Febreze filters also make my rooms smell WONDERFUL! The Hubs always tells me that he likes the smell of vacuuming (which is just dust in the air, IMO), but he is a new fan of the Febreze filters too... clean floors and a nice fresh smell... plus no plug-in freshers that are fire hazards or too exciting for little hands!

Um, but I have been making progress. As you can see by my little ticker on the right, I have lost 7 lbs. I still have 13 more to go in the next 11 weeks. I know I can do this... I did great on my water last week. 3+ water bottles a day (over 64oz a day) so that means that I got my 8 points each day for the challenge. 56 points. I also signed up for the ning.com message board with the challenge... so that's another 5 points.

This week, we have to walk... 15 minutes of walking is 1 point, and we can max out at 4 points a day. I am getting the boys up and at 'em each morning to walk around the neighborhood for at least 30 minutes... and we are doing it again after dinner and before bed for the boys. :o) So far, I have 6 points for the week... doing good... and I'll update later. I am also going to keep up on the water although I don't think the points count anymore. :o)

I hope your day is going as great as mine... back to the laundry!

It's Cool to Play Indoors!

Here's what we have been up to! And don't forget about the giveaway below... I have a funny feeling that the 2 comments are both gonna end up with a cd. ;o)

Clutterbug...

I never said I am clean. Ever. I am someone that isn't annoyed my little piles of clutter. But, I have been trying to get to a place that allows me more time to craft and hang out with my kidlets. One thing that I'd love to be able to do is just 1 main chore a day. I'd love to not do housework at all, but that's pretty much what has gotten me where I am today.

Today, I am packing up toys for both selling and to pull out later as a "new" toy. I am also going to be trying to streamline my chore process.

I do need some feedback though... like 90% of the women I know, my Mister doesn't help out at all... and when he attempts to make an effort to help, it ends up creating more work for me. Last week, I was able to have my sister (who normally is in Georgia, but came to visit for a month) come over and just hold my little arm baby so that I could clean. Deep clean. And my house looked pretty sexy if I do say so myself. But fast forward to today, and I'd have no chance of convincing you that there was ever a clear counter in this house. Thanks, Hubby. ... grumble grumble...

So... about that feedback... what do you do to keep your house clean while (a) having toddlers underfoot, (b) your husband doesn't want to help out, and (c) it feels like one step forward is really 3 steps back. :o(

Works for Me Wednesday- Motivated Moms

I know I have talked on several occasions about getting my life put together and trying to be a better housewife. This is by far one of my goals in life... if I were to get 3 wishes from a genie in a lamp, #2 would be to have my house completely together and make it look effortless (behind being debt-free of course... I am saving #3 for a really good wish).

In my quest, I have tried checklists that I have made, chore emails, running myself ragged doing everything all at once... none of it really helped. I'd end up bored with my checklist, putting the emails to my junk box and exhausted. So, I started the quest again...

This time, I found Motivated Moms. They have a planner that you can download for $8 for the year. You print out your checklists all at once or one week at a time, up to you, and put it somewhere for you to remember to check it. Mine is now on the fridge. Each day has 5 small chores to do, from vacuuming bedrooms to clipping children's nails, so that everything gets taken care of eventually without you getting worn out. There are also the "daily dozen" as I call them that need to be taken care of daily... things like throwing the trash, feeding the pets, and doing the dishes. But the best thing is that I can do these little baby steps, check them off and feel accomplished!

They do have a few different versions, including full page and half page, and one even has daily bible readings. Check them out by clicking the link below! I don't know about you, but $8 was well worth my sanity!

Keeping House and a Command Center...

I will be the first to admit... a very common phrase out of my mouth is "Please excuse my house." I am trying to change that this year. I started off the new year by emptying my living room completely and steam cleaning carpets. Next came a deep clean of my furniture and a weeding though of Ryan's toys. And then I tackled the kitchen. Then the laundry room. Those rooms are the majority of the "livable" portions of our house... so now I am feeling better about actually living in them!

I am wanting to be someone that can do lots of things because she has the time to do it... and because there is nothing at her house to do... no rooms needing a cleaning, no piles of laundry begging to be washed and folded. A girl can dream, can't she?

But my next project is going to be a family command center. A place for our family calendar, hooks for diaper bags and purses, hanging bins for mail to go out, and I think a bulletin board for coupons, tickets, and menu's... I am a very visual person, so I need to be able to see all of this at a glance... and I need the hubs to see it too... so a pocket calendar just isn't cutting it...

Have you done this in your own homes or have an idea for one? My goal is to have this up by Sunday! Watch for pictures!