Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Part 3~ Tips on making housework easier

In Sarah Mae's e-book 31 days to clean she talks about having reasons for why you want a clean home. She asks you to write down on a piece of paper all the reasons why and to keep it somewhere that you can see it everyday. This helps get you motivated!

By the way this e-book is amazing! It's uplifting, encouraging, and just gets me motivated! :-)


Reasons why I want a clean home
~ because I want my husband to feel like a king in his castle
~ because it’s healthier
~ because you can find things easier
~ because I want to be productive
“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” proverbs 14:1
“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27

Part 2~ Tips on making housework easier


As wives and mothers we need to make our homes a haven to our husband and children! I am no expert in this... I fail. Daily. It's hard to want to keep up with things, but it's SO wonderful to have a comfortable clean home! Isn't that what you want? Lets work together to try and accomplish a haven for our families! :-)


Here is my example of my schedules that I'm trying to work on! ;-) I have a daily 'to do' list, a weekly 'to do' list, a master 'to do' list, and then my schedule of when to do these 'to do' lists!

Daily To Do:

Morning:
Clean kitchen 
Pick up clothes in bedroom
Make Bed
Feed Animals
Take something out for dinner

Afternoon:
10 min. daily room (every room) pickup
Put on laundry

Evening:
Clean Kitchen
Make Hubby's lunch


Weekly To Do:

Monday:
Baking day
Clean Fridge

Tuesday:
Clean all the bathrooms

Wednesday:
Vacuum
Sweep/mop
Dust

Thursday:
Change sheets and towels
Shopping day (every other Thursday)

Friday:
Tidy all desks
Tidy tops of things


Master To Do List: 

Empty Boxes in Master bedroom
Empty boxes in Master Bathroom
Clean master bedroom closet
Clean/organize school room
Clean Mandy's (the Dog) hall and empty box
Wash light fixtures
Fluff pillows in dryer
Fill Azure buckets and lable

Note: this list is an ongoing list of things that pretty much just needs to be done once


Schedule:
7:00 Dress
7:30 Feed baby
8:00 Breakfast and devotions
9:00 Morning 'Daily To Do' Chores
10:30 Feed Baby and put down for a nap
11:00 Exercise/nap
12:00 Lunch/ Wake baby/ feed her/change her
12:30 Dishes
1:00 'Weekly To Do' and 'Master To Do' chores
4:30 Start dinner
6:00 Dinner
6:30 Dishes/make hubby's lunch
8:00 Get baby ready for bed


These lists, of coarse, are all rough drafts, but basically there it is! Do you have any schedules or to do lists? How do they work for you?

Monday, August 29, 2011

Part 1~ Tips on making housework easier


I'm always trying to learn more tips for getting me interested in cleaning! Cause to be honest cleaning has never been that exciting to me. I wish it was! Cause then maybe I'd have a clean house all the time, but it's not. It's just something that I dread. Yet it's something that is completely constant:

~The dishes have to be done 3 times a day (or else you get behind)

~ The laundry continues to need washing

~After you wash the laundry, if you don't fold it quickly, it becomes a HUGE mountain that you now never feel like folding.

~If you don't fold the laundry right away some things then need ironed

~The bathrooms need cleaned (at least once a week)

~The floors need vacuumed/swept/moped

and so on and so forth!

And to top it off... if you don't get it all done then all of a sudden you not only have a mountain of laundry BUT a mountain of all the other housework as well! 

Over the next few day I'll be sharing a few things that I've been working on trying to put into practice to try and get things under control! Cause seriously if I don't start now then by the time my husband and I have our 12 children (if the Lord so wills ;-) ) then things will really be chaos. 

1: Scheduling!
Can I stress this enough? I don't think that I can!

Does it really work? I believe so!

Isn't it hard to stay on schedule? Yes!

But here is what I do:

Now I know what you are thinking... 'I tried a schedule once, it didn't work', 'I hate schedules', 'schedules work for some people, but not for me', 'I don't like having my days planned out' ... If your anything like me those are the thoughts that used to (Um I guess still do at times) occupy my mind. There is just something about having a schedule that seams daunting. But for me I think that it is the key to my problems! 

I think that the thing that most people run into is this:
They start a schedule with high hopes of staying on it! They stay on it for the first day. Everything went as it should! Stayed on the schedule completely! Now really excited about how the day went they wake up the next morning ready to pursue the next day of scheduled life, but uh-oh something doesn't go as planned. It's now 8 am and you were suppose to get up at 7 am. You try to manage. Then you have to run to the store because your out of milk, now breakfast, that was suppose to be ready by 8 is pushed out to 9:30. Now your really behind on everything and you just feel like giving up! But you decided to get yourself caught up and back on schedule by noon! At noon your having lunch right on time! Everything is somewhat okay. THEN you realize that in all your hurry this morning you forgot to take the dog out and to put on your load of morning laundry. 

Thus your day just goes about in an all mixed up fashion and you decide to shred the schedule into a million pieces! I know that I always wanted to! Until someone told me that really your day doesn't have to go completely by the schedule just so long as your getting everything on the schedule done in a somewhat timely matter, with the distractions that used to distract you out of the picture. Plus, don't you have days that you just want to drop everything and go somewhere? You just have to realize that these things will happen! Just continue to wake up the next day ready to pursue the schedule again! 

Plus, you don't have to put things on the schedule that you have no idea how long it will take you to do. For instance cleaning the bathroom... one day it may just take you 10 min cause all your doing if giving it a quick wipe down, the next day it may take you 45 min cause your giving it a completely thorough cleaning! Instead just put on the schedule to clean from 10:30 am - 12 pm. Then if you have left over time from cleaning the bathroom you can do other cleaning chores, you need to do that day, or you can have a little free time! 

I also schedule which days I plan on cleaning certain places in my house. For instance you can plan to clean the bathrooms on Monday, wash the sheets and towels on Tuesday, vacuum/dust/sweep/mop on Wednesday, clean the fridge on Thursday, and have a baking day on Friday! I write out all the chores I would like to get done once a week and then pair them together accordingly. For example I would need to dust the same day I vacuum. Washing the towels the same day I wash sheets is always a good idea. Or if you want to clean the stove once a week you could do it the same day you clean out the fridge. Get the idea?

Another good idea is to schedule in time to do the things that you enjoy! Such as sewing time, computer time, exercise time, nap time, or anything else you enjoy during the day! Then you can look forward to your favorite time of day! 

Remember that the schedule is there to help you! If you find that part of the day is just not going right rework the schedule out to suit your needs. Rewrite the WHOLE schedule if you need to. The first schedule doesn't have to work out perfect.

Tomorrow, I will give you an outline of my scheduling papers! :-) 

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Anniversary Happiness! (Wordless Wednesday)

I Love going to the beach! The air, the water, the wind! It's all just so refreshing! :-) And that is where my husband took me for our 2nd anniversary! :D

I love waves!

Our little blessing loves the sand! She was helping Daddy and I dig a hole! It was super cute!


What a fun surprise it was! :D

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Remembering! (Wordless Wednesday)

This time of year I remember back to August 22, 2009! 

It's was one of those days where you remember 'most' everything, but it was all a haze.


YEAH! Beautiful lovely wonderful day!

Monday, August 15, 2011

My Diaper Stash (So Far)

So far in my diaper stash I have 2 Thirsties Dou Wraps,


Two Comfy Rumps diapers. One is a Fuzzy Wuzzy and the other is a Plain Cloth Diaper

   





And I just took advantage of the buy 2 get 1 free sale on the GroVia one size AIO diapers at Abby's Lane ! I can't wait to see what I think of these diapers! :-)


For Soakers I have 2 of the microfiber soakers from Comfy Rumps


A Thirsties Stay Dry Duo Insert




And Two Hemp inserts!



So far I have a little hodge podge collection, but it works for me! I enjoy trying all the different diapers out there and find which one/s work for me and my life style! 

So what is your favorite cloth diaper/s?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

~Susannah's Birth Story~

I know for some being pregnant is very miserable. I'm not saying that it (at times) wasn't miserable for me, but for the most part I enjoyed being pregnant! I loved all the baby kicks, hiccups, wiggles, and to be honest the bump that came along with it all! :-) Yes, I enjoyed being large! :D 


It's hard to remember how things happened but I'll do my best! ;-)




On September 26th I woke up at about 9:00 am from what I thought was my water breaking... so I told my husband and we called our midwives, parents, and Doula (Amy). We had expected labor to start up at least within 24 hours. So we waited at home for a little over 24 hours and labor never started up. We tried to get it to kick in with several different things... I even took some Castor Oil. (Castor Oil had worked on my mom.) However nothing happened. The midwives were concerned about an infection so we then headed for the hospital. On the way I had an extremely bad tummy ache and I threw up all the Castor Oil. I was really nervous at this point. I didn't want to go to the hospital (partially because I didn't know what to expect when we got there and partially because I don't really like hospitals.) When we got there I got even more nervous and I asked my husband if we could wait to go in till someone we knew showed up. We sat outside the hospital and we prayed. Finally the midwife showed up and she took us in. We then met our nurse who took us to our room. When we got to our room, Amy was already there! My parents arrived shortly thereafter. The midwife then came in and started telling us we needed to get labor to start. Pitocin was the option. At the time my husband and I were pretty set on not wanting to use Pitocin. Finally we decided that was what we needed to do. That then made me even more nervous. Finally the nurse suggested that the Midwife check me and see if my waters had actually broken. And they hadn't. So we all went home... And at that time I was feeling pretty much embarrassed. Because of all the people who 'thought' my waters had broken and thought that the baby was on her way. However I am very thankful for that dry run! Because the second time around I wasn't nearly as nervous! :-)
Finally the next day (the due date) came and went with NO signs of labor. Then on September 29th at 4 in the morning I got up to go make my usually trip to the lou ;-)... and the moment I stood up there was no mistaking that my water had actually broken! :-) I then told my husband and he called into his work yet the second time and told them that my waters had broken again. ;-) When then called everyone and waited around a second time for 24 hours. This time tho we went to the midwives office to confirm that my waters had broken. My husband and I walked and walked and walked around the apartment complex... hoping and hoping that labor would start all on its own. This time however we decided not to take Castor Oil! ;-) (didn't like the results of that none whatsoever the first time!) Finally we headed off to the hospital for the second time after I had some breakfast.
On the way I was super excited! Much better then the first trip to the hospital! ;-) When we got there I wasn't at all as nervous either! I felt better and was sure that this was the real thing! We started talking to the midwife again and it was the same thing. Pitocin. By this time my husband and I both had kind of warmed up to the idea of using Pitocin... even tho we had planned for a all natural drug free birth, sometimes plans don't go the way we hope they will.
They then started the Pitocin IV and I had some 'second breakfast' while I waited for contractions. Shortly there after contractions started up slowly... I got a bit nervous at this time and I cried while I held my husband's hand and he reassured me that probably all the hormones going through me was making me nervous and emotional. I realized he was right and I calmed down a bit. My parents, and Amy then went and had some lunch. My husband ordered lunch and ate while I watched. When my parents and Amy got back labor was just starting to come in full force. It was still pretty light and I mostly just moved around in lots of different positions holding my husband's hand and trying to relax and get comfortable between contractions. I remember Amy, my husband, and I then went for a walk. Which I didn't like at all because it caused contractions to come in stronger (tho that might have been a good thing). When we got back I changed positions some more. Then I remember I got up and stood supporting myself with the wall while I held my husband's hand and while Amy massaged my back. I then started crying again... then is when it started getting hard. I remember I went into a sort of dazed state. I would say things like 'I'm so tired' and 'My back hurts'. I remember my husband would continuously tell me to relax and he kept telling me I was doing great and kept encouraging me! He was amazing! At one point I remember people talking about whether she would be a September baby or a October baby. When they were talking of that I felt a bit exhausted and tried not to think about whether she would come in September or October! I'm really thankful she was a September baby! ;-) It just made me to tired to think that it could last longer than 12 hours. So I tried to keep my mind off of when she would come.
I got into the jacuzzi tub at one point... I remember that it was great when I wasn't having contractions but it didn't really feel so good when I was. I got out shortly. When I first got the urge to push I didn't think I was ready so I didn't push. Finally I couldn't hold back the push. And at that exact moment the midwife walked in and asked the nurse how I was. I let out a different pushing noise and I heard the nurse tell the midwife 'that's the first time I've heard that'. At this point I was sitting on the toilet. I remember I sat there for a little bit and pushed here and there. Then the midwife asked me 'Your going to let me know if you feel the baby coming out right?' I remember thinking to myself 'if this is the position that I'm in and she's coming I'm just so tired I'm going to go for it.' Amy then suggested that we move to the hands and knees position on the bed because I had liked that pretty well when I was having contractions. So we made our way there... when we got there it was only 4o min. of pushing and she came out! She came out with her hand above her head. When she came out the midwife told me to reach down and pick up my baby! It was so wonderful! I looked at my husband and seen him crying, which made me all emotional too! I then got to lay down in the bed! Right when I got laid down I started having another contraction... which at this point really annoyed me. I was so tired I just wanted it to be over so I could hold my baby! I think I might have even asked if they could just pull the placenta out. Ha ha! But soon enough I got the urge to push it out all on my own.
I remember at one point when the contractions were really strong I thought 'this is the only time this is happening' But then shortly after I thought that I realized that I would forget all the pain once I held the baby and I knew that there would be many more babies to come, if the Lord so allows! Sure enough I want more beautiful tiny babies! ;-)
Overall I would describe my birth experience as amazing and beautiful! The whole time I felt at peace! The Lord was in that room that day! Even one of the nurses said that it was the best birth she had attended. I am also very thankful that we had a dry run only a few days before the actual thing! And also thankful that the dry run was SO close to the actual thing! I praise the Lord for a beautiful, healthy, smiley baby girl! The very next day she smiled at us! What a blessing! Overall I labored for 7 1/2 hours!



Aww! I just want to squeeze that tiny baby!


Oh the bliss of holding your tiny one when they are first born!


At home!

On September 30th, 2010 at 7:23 pm our little blessing entered the world!! :-) She was 8 lbs 2 3/4 oz! 18 inches long!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I love this laundry soap recipe! It seams like no matter how I've messed up the recipe it never ceases to still clean the cloths! :-)

Grab a big ol' pot and spoon. Make sure your grabbing one that you won't mind not using on anything else afterwards! I keep my pot and spoon in the laundry room so that I know it won't get used for food!

Pour 4 quarts of water into the pot! 

Then put the pot on the burner and turn the burner on medium heat.

Now you are going to add 1/2 cup 20 mule Team Borax (Sodium Borate)
And 1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (Sodium Carbonate)

Stir these in.

Then grate up 1/2 of a Fels Naptha bar. I use a grater that I know I won't be needing to use with food. I got mine used from Goodwill!

Now pour the grated up bar into the pot.

Turn up the burner to medium high at this point and stir till all the fels naptha is dissolved. 


Now you let the soap cool for about an hour or so. You can either leave it in your pan or store it in a big bucket. After it's cooled a bit pour in (up to 3 gallons, I use 1 1/2 gal) HOT water and stir throughly.

~It needs to be stirred once in awhile to keep things mixed up. 

~This soap doesn't have a lot of smell so if you prefer, you can add some favorite essential oil! 

~I usually just eyeball the amount that I put into the wash, but for a large load 1/2 cup or so works very well! It gives a nice clean to the clothes without the chemical residue that commercial brands can leave behind.

~This batch of laundry soap usually last my family of 3 for about 1 1/2 - 2 months!

Enjoy!

Enjoying Summer! (Wordless Wednesday)




Monday, August 8, 2011

Happy!


  
Dear followers,
I just had to write you and tell you that you ALL (and I really do mean every single one of you) are fantastic! You've made my blogging experience really pleasurable! I've simply LOVED all of your comments, they make me extremely happy! Thank you all for being such fantastic followers! :-)

Friday, August 5, 2011

Signs of a mama!


You know you are a mama when:
~It takes you at least 45 minutes to get out the door

~You talk to friends about diapers, teeth, diaper rash, birth stories, and...

~You accidently step on cheerios that are soggy and you think nothing of it

~You wear a poopy piece of clothing for awhile, but only because you have to bathe and dress the baby first ;-)

~You stare into the beautiful eyes of your baby while she is still awake at 2 am and you think about how one day she will grow up and you'll look back at the days when you held and comforted her during the night.

~You enjoy playing peek-a-boo, patty cake, and other baby games

~You do all the nasty mommy things, that you never thought you'd do, like wipe your baby's nose with the hem of your skirt, smell your baby's diaper to see if she's dirty, drink out of the same glass as your baby, eat the piece of candy that fell on your baby's changing pad, and...



Mother Knows
Nobody knows of the work it makes
to keep the house together,
Nobody knows of the steps it takes-
Nobody knows but mother.
Nobody listens to childish woes,
Which kisses only smother;
Nobody's pained by the naughty blogs -
Nobody, only mother.

Nobody knows of the sleepless care
Bestowed on baby brother;
Nobody knows of the tender prayer - 
Nobody knows but mother.
Nobody knows the lessons taught
of loving one another,
Nobody knows of the patience sought -
Nobody, only mother.

Nobody knows the anxious fears
Lest darlings may not weather
Storms of life in coming years -
Nobody knows but mother.
Nobody knows of the tears that start,
The grief she gladly smothers;
Nobody knows of the breaking heart -
Nobody, only mother.

Nobody clings to the wayward child,
Though scorned by every other,
Leads it so gently from the pathways wild -
Nobody can but mother.
Nobody know of the hourly prayer
For him, our erring brother,
Pride of her heart, so pure and fair-
Nobody, only mother.
                                                        From Moral Lessons of Yesteryear, compiled by A. L. Byers

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Cup of tea? (Wordless Wednesday)




Enjoying a nice warm cup of tea after the move! (I know, it's Summer, but it was cold that day. ;-) )

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Daisy field and randomness!

My husband and I just moved into our own place last month and with it we got a beautiful daisy field! :-)

Isn't it so lovely!!?


This is our cute little red barn!

We are still in the process of unpacking boxes and I've been finding it very difficult to get a normal routine going but I did start:

cloth diapering! That was one thing that I was so excited and anxious to start right after we moved in! My husband didn't want me to do it while we lived in the apartment because we didn't have a washer and dryer in our complex so I would have had to go to the laundry mat. I'm very thankful for a washer and dryer, and the fact that I am able to start cloth diapering FINALLY! So far I LOVE it! We just ordered 2 more diapers and I am waiting anxiously for them to show up! I can't wait to make the complete switch! Tomorrow I plan on starting to use cloth wipes full time! 

The other thing that I knew I needed to crack down on was getting our daughter eating more solids. She was eating them once in awhile, but she was needing to eat more often. So I fed her some

Cheerios. I gave her many other things to try, but she just loves Cheerios. I gave her peaches, avocado, apple sauce (which she doesn't like), green beans, broccoli, pickles, and much more. But there just seams to be something about the Cheerios that she just wants them over everything else.

Before we moved to our own place we figured that we would probably need a cat one day. Then two of my parents cats had kittens! So we decided to bring home

Brownie and Stitch! :-) 

Follow me Tuesday!

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Kind of new to this whole blog hop thing... So if you have any tips for me feel free to share! :-)

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