31 Days to Clean - Day 2

On day 2 of 31 Days to Clean, Sarah Mae says that women are LIFE-GIVERS! She goes on to say that

"Life-giving, in its most basic sense, is raising life above the level of mere existence."

This is so very true. I know as a wife and mother, I do not want my husband and children to merely exist. I want them to THRIVE! I want them to live out their dreams, to pursue greatness, and to find joy in becoming who God created them to be.

After the birth of each of my children, I did not sit back, put my feet up and tell myself that I had done a great job and now I could relax. Nope, I knew that the REAL work had just begun.

Life-giving does not begin and end in the delivery room. Every day I must make the decision, a conscious effort to pour into my children, my husband, my family and my friends. Some days, I must pour into them more than I get back from them. Some days I must give more than I think I have to give! And on those days I must go to GOD, the True Life-Giver, and let him pour into me (more than he gets back) so that I in turn can pour into those around me! 

Today's Challenge: CLEAN OUT AND SCRUB DOWN THE REFRIGERATOR AND FREEZER

I will post an update later today of my clean and organized refrigerator and freezer!

31 Days to Clean - Day 1

Our front door

On Day 1 of 31 Days to Clean Sarah Mae asks 

"Why do you want a clean home?"

And all kinds of reasons came to my mind, 

so that others don't judge me 
so that I can open up my home to family and friends and not be embarrassed 
so that the voices in my head that tell me I'm not enough will be quiet 
so that I am not ashamed when people stop by unannounced 

And as I ran through this list I realized something...

these reasons have always been my reasons and obviously they are not enough because hear I sit in a house that is far from clean! And I had an epiphany, fear and embarrassment DO NOT motivate me. They actually make me less motivated in the fact that they remind me that I will NEVER be able to do it all. 

So I realized I needed to come up with much better reasons to keep my home clean. And I realized that while fear and embarrassment do not motivate me, LOVE for my children and my husband DOES! And when I looked at keeping my home clean through the eyes of a mother and wife here are the reasons I came up!

Why Do I want a clean home?

I want to create a place that Micah and the children want to be! I want our home to be a safe haven from the world outside our door. I want this home to be a place of comfort and calm for them. A beautiful place that makes them happy and lets them see God’s hand in their life. From the minute they walk in the door I want them to feel, know, and see the love that I have for them and breathe a sigh of relief in their soul that they are “HOME”! 

31 Days to Clean - Introduction

Today I am starting the 31 Days to Clean book written by Sarah Mae. I am very excited to start this book because I really need to get my house, life, and time under control.

Sarah Mae confesses in the first paragraph of her book that

"I struggle with managing my home well. Cleaning does not come naturally to me; in fact I think my DNA is allergic to it. "

and from that sentence on I knew that Sarah Mae and I were kindred spirits!

I have been married for 21 years and I have struggled with keeping my home clean, decluttered, and organized since the very first day. I have gotten MUCH better over the years but it's still a daily struggle to do all that I feel I should be doing. Finding a balance between housework, family time, homeschooling, and cooking/baking has always seemed an impossibility to me.

And then when Sarah Mae wrote,

"The heart of our home is not in the ability to keep it perfect at all costs; the heart of the home is love."

I knew that this book was written to my very feeble, insecure, imperfect heart. See, I want a perfect home, decorated just so, spotless with everything having a place and everything in its place. I also want to cook 3 meals a day from scratch, make my own bread and whip up a special treat that my family will love. I want my laundry to be caught up, my children to have the most amazing education possible, my husband to be amazed at his Proverbs 31 wife, and I want to always be there for anything that my family or friends need.

Unrealistic dreams... ABSOLUTELY! But just because I realize they are unrealistic does not mean that I stop having them and unfortunately that also means that I do not stop beating myself up because I cannot achieve them!

My prayer is that this book will help me, not only to better maintain my home, and set me up for success in keeping the kind of home my family desires to have and I desire to give them. But more importantly teach me to show my family Jesus every single day. Whether that be by taking on the heart of a servant and washing floors, or by taking on the role of a teacher and sitting with a child until they understand a hard math concept, or by taking the role of comforter and listening to a broken-heart.

Because I am fairly certain that my children and my husband will focus less on the mess and more on the message that Mama is showing/living/teaching everyday.

January Habit

MEALS!

As part of having a schedule and a routine that will actually work for our family I would like to use our meals as the anchors of our days. So we need to have consistent meal times (so that we can have a consistent schedule and routine).

My goal/plan/habit is:

Breakfast 7:30 Monday - Friday
Lunch: 12:30 Monday - Friday
Dinner 6:00 Monday - Friday

Now weekends are a little less structured and while I don't want to lose that feeling of relaxation I also don't want Monday to be a complete and total restart because everything fell apart on Saturday and Sunday. So on the weekends the plan will be

Breakfast within 30 minutes of the children waking up on Saturday
8:00 Sunday 
Lunch between 12:30 and 1:30 (depending on what time they have breakfast)
After church on Sunday. We usually eat out on Sunday so I don't really have much to do here other than pick where we are going.
Dinner between 6:00 and 7:00 Saturday (this is the one day that I will do my best to wait for Micah to be home from work for us to eat)
We don't really eat dinner on Sunday so I will just say that if anyone is going to eat they must eat before 7:00.

As I said earlier I am hoping that by having our meal times set we can use those times as a structure for our day.
Example: Morning Routine will be finished after breakfast, afternoon routine will be started after lunch, and before bed routine will be completed after dinner.
My goal/hope is that by having the framework for my day tied to our meals (with 3 kids those meals happen no matter what) that going from one task to another will happen more naturally. 

12 Goals for 2016

I have 12 MAJOR goals that I would like to achieve in 2016!

Finishing reading through the Bible.
I started this last year and as of today I have read 838 chapters and I am 70% through the Bible! I chose to read the Bible in Chronological order and I am loving it! 

Finish 12 DIY projects
I don't have all the project decided on but I know a few of them

1. Paint the inside of the house
2. Refinish the end tables in the living room 
3. Make a wreath for the front door 
4. Make a command center in my office

Focus on one habit a month (28 days to create a habit)
I wrote about my monthly habits that I am wanting to work on here!

Take at least one picture a day

Have a monthly date night with Micah

Take one child out each month for one-on-one time

One Fun Friday Trip with the children each month

Go to Ohio for at least one family vacation

Set up a weekly blogging plan and stick with it!

Start our debt snowball back up

Learn how to make fudge

Start teaching Delaney how to cook

Monthly Habits for 2016

I am wanting to work on one habit a month this year. I have read that it takes 28 days to form a new habit (I think everyone has heard that at one time or another) and I'm just going to assume that it is true. So I feel like if I work on one habit a month then by the end of the month I should have it down! Right? Well, it looks good on paper!

So here are my habits for 2016!

January:
Meals!

February:
School!

March:
Morning Routine

April:
Afternoon Routine

May:
Evening Routine

June:
Mondays

July:
Tuesdays

August:
Wednesdays

September:
Thursdays

October:
Fridays

November:
Saturdays

December:
Christmas/New Year

I feel if I can get these things under control by the end of the year that I will be doing very well. I may have made my habits to broad (meaning covering to many things) and so I may have to adjust them as the year progresses. But I am really hoping to be able to commit to these habits and be well on my way to the "Best Year Ever"!

Menu Plan for the Week of December 12

It is time to get serious about cooking and baking this week! I simply cannot believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away and I have not baked one cookie! How is that possible?!

So this week is going to be all about the cookies and treats!

Homemade Pizza Crust

Saturday December 12
Breakfast: Sour Cream Blueberry Coffee Cake
Lunch: Sandwiches/Potato Chips/Fresh Fruit/Apple Dump Cake
Dinner: Pepperoni Pizza/Cheese Pizza
Baking: Peanut Blossoms/Pumpkin Bread

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Sunday December 13 (we are having some friends over after our church Christmas concert)
Breakfast: Sausage Biscuits/Fried Potatoes
Lunch: Eat Out
Dinner (after the Christmas concert): Sun-dried Tomato Slow Cooker Dip/Christmas Meatballs/Stuffed Crescents/Dirt Cake

Monday December 14
Breakfast: Cereal/Toast/Banana
Lunch: Spaghettios/Bread/Canned Fruit/Candy
Dinner: A Croque Monsieur/Parmesan Potatoes/Salad
Baking: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Tuesday December 15
Breakfast: Chocolate Waffles
Lunch: Hot Dogs/Pretzels/Fresh Fruit/Cookies
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie/45 Minute Yeast Rolls
Baking: Peanut Butter Cookies/Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

Wednesday December 16
Breakfast: Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
Lunch: Pizza/Salad/Pudding
Dinner: Marinated Chicken/Honey Roasted Carrots/Mashed Potatoes/Mom's Homemade Buns/Noodles with Sauce
Baking: Banana Bread/Russian Tea Cakes

Thursday December 17
Breakfast: Pop Tarts
Lunch: Taking the kids to EPCOT
Dinner: Leftovers/Baked Lemon Pasta

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies

Friday December 18
Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls
Lunch: Fish Sticks/Macaroni and Cheese/Applesauce/Cheese Curls/Brownies
Dinner: Hamburger Pizza
Baking: Sugar Cookies/Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies

Menu Plan for the Week of August 17

As part of my goals for this week I wanted to make a menu plan and a grocery list to keep us from eating out during the week. We are moving my Aunt to Tampa on Sunday and that will require eating out twice so to keep the budget in check there will be no fast food trips or pizza delivery calls!

Taco Salad

Monday August 17
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Spaghettios/Bread/Canned Fruit/Candy
Dinner: Taco Salad/Spanish Rice
Baking: Banana Bread

Tuesday August 18 (MICAH OFF)
ANDREW'S BIRTHDAY MEALS
Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls
Lunch: Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Dinner: Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo/French Bread
Baking: Oreo Cookie Pizza

Wednesday August 19
Breakfast: Pop Tarts
Lunch: Pizza/Salad/Pudding
Dinner: Mini Cheeseburger Pies/Baked French Fries/Salad
Baking: Peanut Butter Bars

Thursday August 20
Breakfast: Leftover Cinnamon Rolls (just need to make more icing)
Lunch: Chicken Nuggets/French Fries/Yogurt/Pudding
Dinner: Clean out the freezer/pantry night
Baking: Chocolate Cake Cookies

Friday August 21
Breakfast: Cereal/Toast/Banana
Lunch: Fish sticks/Soup/Applesauce/Cheese Curls/Brownies
Dinner: Freezer Pizza Dough/Hamburger Pizza
Baking: Leftover Oreo Cookie Pizza

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Saturday August 22
Breakfast: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Lunch: Sandwiches/Potato Chips/Fresh Fruit/Snack Cakes
Dinner: Coke-a-Cola Ham/Mashed Potatoes/Corn/Noodles with Sauce/Buttery Bread Machine Dinner Rolls
Baking: Brownie Pie

Sunday August 23

MOVING MY AUNT TO TAMPA
Breakfast: Pancakes/Sausage Links
Lunch: EAT OUT
Dinner: EAT OUT 

I will let you all know how I do on sticking to my plan and also if any of the new recipes are winners I will of course be sharing them with you. 

Setting My Mind

“You are what you are and where you are because of what has gone into your mind.  You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”   – Zig Ziglar – Motivational Speaker
Often I have heard mums say, “I’d love to have a tidy house, but that will never happen”.  Yes it will you just have to set your mind to that’s what you want and it can be done.  Form new habits and create routines.  You will soon get order into your household.

I read this a few days ago on a blog (I really need to do a better job of writing down the blog names). And it made me think, so I copied and pasted it into a word document and went on with my reading. But all day this thought kept popping back into my head. And then for the next few days I found myself thinking about it more and more. I have read it over and over. Pondered it. And prayed about it.

I have looked around at my house and my life and wondered "WHY, why don't I have things in order? Why are the kids not doing school? Why is it 5:30 and I have not even started dinner?" Why, Why, Why?!

Well, I have the answer! Because I didn't MAKE the plan and WORK the plan and get it DONE! THAT IS WHY! It's not rocket science, it's laziness! And I REALLY need to Set My Mind on what I want to accomplish and then accomplish it!

So I have three areas that I am going to SET MY MIND in.

ONE: Homeschooling - I will make sure that every child does school everyday Monday through Friday (of course I know that their will be exceptions (like when Dad is off work, or it's a holiday) but I am going to plan for school EVERY SINGLE DAY! So I will be working on creating new habits and routines that will help me accomplish this!

TWO: Meals - I already cook almost all of our meals at home. 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. That's a lot of cooking! Thank God I love to cook! But I am not so great about cleaning up, or planning ahead, or working the plan. So I am going to create new habits and routines in this area as well!

THREE: My Bedroom - Lord have mercy on my bedroom! It's the dumping ground for all things homeless. Seriously, my bedroom just might make the cut for that Hoarders show! It's ridiculous and embarrassing and it has got to be fixed! So I am going to work on cleaning it up and then creating habits and routines to keep it cleaned up!

There are many more areas of my life that I need to get a handle on but these three are my TOP priority. So I will start with these and as I get them under control I will branch out to other areas.


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