Category Archives: Getting Organized

Finding My Place…..

Blogging, Getting Organized
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I’ve been thinking.

Yikes,  I know, that’s kinda scary sometimes.

But I’ve been thinking about my blog here, and where I really want to go with it. I’ve been having mixed feelings about blogging. I enjoy it, but I’m not sure I want to write about my family life every day. I mean, sure, when there’s something super funny that my kids do, or something exciting going on (Like Bub crawling), or some cute pics now and then. But I really think I am going to start going more in the direction of posting frugal recipes and doing some reviews, and maybe some bible lessons that I study during the week.

I’m just not the kind of person that likes to share everything about my life.  I just kind of feel like this whole blogging world can be kind of fake and more about finding out the latest gossip and “did you hear what happened to so and so” or “I can’t believe so and so said that”.  I don’t know. Ever since I started blogging and reading other peoples blogs, I just get that uneasy feeling. Now, don’t get me wrong though. There are some really great blogs out there with uplifting and encouraging posts. I just feel like it’s too easy to get sucked into this whole online world, and then it’s like you’re living two different lives. You act one way out in the real world, but then, in cyberspace, it’s all too easy to be someone else. You say things that you might not say to someones face and it’s just too easy to hide behind that computer screen.

I always try to think about what I’m writing, and think, “Now would I say this if I didn’t have a computer screen to hide behind?” And if I wouldn’t, then I’d better not write it either. You never know when someone you know in person, a friend, family member, co-worker, may find your blog if you haven’t already told them about it.

I do care what people think of me. Some may say that you shouldn’t care, but that’s not true. Now if you are standing for something you believe in, then that’s a different story. But if you care about what people think of your character, then you’d better be careful what you write.

Well, there’s my little tangent that I just went off on!hehe  But seriously, I don’t like feeling like I’m getting sucked into cyberspace and out of the real world. Feeling like, oh, I’ve got to check so and so’s blog to find out what’s going on with her today!

So I’m not going to post everything that’s going on in my life and I may not even post every day. I do want to try and post 2 or 3 new recipes a week, and do a couple product reviews a month. So between all that, I should still be able to post every day, but probably only 1 or 2 really thought provoking posts a week.  I just have too much on my plate to try and put alot of thought into each post every day!

Anyway, just thought I’d throw that out there, and I look forward to sharing God’s word,some great recipes, reviews and the occasional give away!

P.S. If you have any ideas or questions about something for me to do a post about, please feel free to share or ask! I’d love some ideas from others!

Not Me Monday – Re-post

Baby, Getting Organized, not me monday
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Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Since MckMama did Not do Not Me Monday last week, I’m going to repost this for my Not Me Monday post for this week since I Do Not feel like writing a new one! :) So these are actually “Not Me’s” from 2 weeks ago:

Well, all I have to say is, what a week! Sick kids, sick me, somewhat sick husband, and we were all very cranky last week….All week.  Thankfully we are almost all over it now and I feel soooooooooo much better! Thank the Lord for Ibuprofen!  I was all out of Ibuprofen last week and didn’t feel like going to get some so I tried just taking Tylenol from Wednesday till Friday for my nagging headache but it did absolutely Nothing! So Friday was payday, and I had to go get some groceries for our semi-bare cupboards and I actually remembered to pick up some Ibuprofen.

Now as far as the toilet paper goes, I certainly wouldn’t forget that! I would not be in the same isle as the TP and be thinking about getting some, only to forget as I walked toward where it was displayed on sale, round the corner and head for the baby food isle without giving the TP a second thought! Nope, not me! I would not be heading to the bathroom when I got home, only to remember that we were out of TP, and that was one of the main reasons I went to the store in the first place! I would not be that forgetfull.  I certainly did Not use the paper towels that I had bought that night (which were in the same isle as the TP) in place of TP.

So, back to the Ibuprofen. I took some Friday night and then laid down to nurse baby off to sleep in our bed. It was probably about 20 min. and all of a sudden I was feeling sooooo much better! Wow. I felt Horrible all week long and now with just two little Ibuprofen pills, Whala!  So that was pretty cool.

Another thing…. Chris A certain person did Not put Baby on the bed with pillow and blanket around him (so he wouldn’t fall off the bed)and turn his back for a second, only to have Baby plunge to the floor decide to scoot off the bed and onto the floor.  I certainly would not have let that happen…..(as she sheepishly remembers her firstborn falling from the bed when he was approximately the same age, or her second child falling off the couch, or………).

We’ve been keeping an eye on Baby, but he seems to be just fine. He had a little bit of a bump on his forehead, but mostly a rug burn on the spot.  As soon as I heard the thud and the crying, I knew what had happened! Chris felt horrible, and poor Baby cried and cried, and then he’d look at his dad, and start crying some more as if to say “Why did you let me do that!?” it was kind of funny. Even a little while after that, later in the evening, he would look at his dad and give him kind of a sad look and then turn away. Usually he wants to go to daddy!

I also would not decide to rearrange our living room Saturday night in an effort to create more space and help me to organize it again(nothing like a change of scenery to entice one to keep the home clean for a little while!).  I absolutely did NOT somehow bump the 32″ LCD tv that we bought from Chris’ grandma for only $100, that was sitting on the floor because we had to move the TV stand, and then find out that the thing it landed on actually cracked it!! Nope, I am much more carefull than that.  We now do not have a crack on the right side of our screen with nice colorfull lines running up and down that side. (Yikes!)

A moment of silence please for our injured television set………………….

Ok, back to our regular scheduled programming.

So that’s my Not Me’s for the week! Thanks for dropping by!

My Mom…..

Getting Organized, Motherhood
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It’s almost Mother’s Day and I’ve been thinking alot about my mom the last few days and how she’s always been there for me, helped me when I needed it, given me guidance, etc, etc, etc….. The point is, she is such a wonderfull mom!

My mom has had the past 2 weeks off of work, and guess what? She’s been to my house twice this week (my parents live a little over an hour away.) to help me get things cleaned up and reorganized. She drove thier truck here and we loaded up a few things that we needed to get out of our house, and took some blankets and clothes home with her to wash them for me!

Our house has been a disaster area lately and I really, really needed this this week! We have a bit more space now and she took away,, and we threw away,, quite a bit of clutter that was caving in on us. You cannot have clutter in an 800 sq. ft. house that only has 2 bedrooms and 3 kids. It just doesn’t work!

I love it that I don’t have to feel like she’s going to judge me or give me a lecture when she sees my house this way. She just gets right to it and starts washing dishes or something, or keeps the kids busy while I get some things done. But seriously, I am so glad she came to help me out this week. I’ve been feeling quite depressed about the state of our home lately, but felt like there wasn’t much I could do about it on my own.Now I have hope that, now that we’ve gotten alot of clutter out, I can actually make more progress. She’s planning on coming up again to help go through the kids room too, so that’ll be awesome.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough. She took our two older boys with her to her house Thursday night, and is keeping them until Saturday morning.

Did I mention how much I LOVE my mom?

She has always been there to talk to, always lent a hand, usually without us even asking. I don’t know when the last time I actually bought diapers was! or baby wipes! She’s always bringing us something that we may need when she visits. And when we go visit them, we usually end up leaving with more than we came with!

One day I want to be able to repay her for all the help she has given us. Yes, I know she doesn’t expect me to repay her(well,maybe  the $500 we borrowed to get the car fixed last year), except maybe just to say “I love you mom”, but one of these days I’d love to take her out to dinner, or buy her a spa day, or something like that!  I want to be able to spoil her one of these days……..

So, here’s to my mom. A wonderfull mother who raised my brother and I with love and patience, and nurturing and Godly values. Yes, my dad is included in that too, but this isn’t Father’s Day yet is it? :) . Who took me to all my horse shows, 4-H meetings, and riding lessons. Who actually watched and listened at my riding lessons so she was able to help me alot at my horse shows! Who encouraged me in my drawing and painting, bought me art supplies.

Mom, who helped organize my wedding and made sure it was absolutely beautifull!

Mom, who’s been there at the birth of all my boys and stayed each time, for a few days to help out. She didn’t make it in time for the actual birth of our 3rd, but she got there shortly after.

Mom, who’s helped us in time of financial need.

Mom, who’s always shown love and compassion!

Love you MOM!

I’d love to hear what you love most about your mom!

Not My Week……

Baby, Getting Organized, not me monday
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Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well, all I have to say is, what a week! Sick kids, sick me, somewhat sick husband, and we were all very cranky last week….All week.  Thankfully we are almost all over it now and I feel soooooooooo much better! Thank the Lord for Ibuprofen!  I was all out of Ibuprofen last week and didn’t feel like going to get some so I tried just taking Tylenol from Wednesday till Friday for my nagging headache but it did absolutely Nothing! So Friday was payday, and I had to go get some groceries for our semi-bare cupboards and I actually remembered to pick up some Ibuprofen.

Now as far as the toilet paper goes, I certainly wouldn’t forget that! I would not be in the same isle as the TP and be thinking about getting some, only to forget as I walked toward where it was displayed on sale, round the corner and head for the baby food isle without giving the TP a second thought! Nope, not me! I would not be heading to the bathroom when I got home, only to remember that we were out of TP, and that was one of the main reasons I went to the store in the first place! I would not be that forgetfull.  I certainly did Not use the paper towels that I had bought that night (which were in the same isle as the TP) in place of TP.

So, back to the Ibuprofen. I took some Friday night and then laid down to nurse baby off to sleep in our bed. It was probably about 20 min. and all of a sudden I was feeling sooooo much better! Wow. I felt Horrible all week long and now with just two little Ibuprofen pills, Whala!  So that was pretty cool.

Another thing…. Chris A certain person did Not put Baby on the bed with pillow and blanket around him (so he wouldn’t fall off the bed)and turn his back for a second, only to have Baby plunge to the floor decide to scoot off the bed and onto the floor.  I certainly would not have let that happen…..(as she sheepishly remembers her firstborn falling from the bed when he was approximately the same age, or her second child falling off the couch, or………).

We’ve been keeping an eye on Baby, but he seems to be just fine. He had a little bit of a bump on his forehead, but mostly a rug burn on the spot.  As soon as I heard the thud and the crying, I knew what had happened! Chris felt horrible, and poor Baby cried and cried, and then he’d look at his dad, and start crying some more as if to say “Why did you let me do that!?” it was kind of funny. Even a little while after that, later in the evening, he would look at his dad and give him kind of a sad look and then turn away. Usually he wants to go to daddy!

I also would not decide to rearrange our living room Saturday night in an effort to create more space and help me to organize it again(nothing like a change of scenery to entice one to keep the home clean for a little while!).  I absolutely did NOT somehow bump the 32″ LCD tv that we bought from Chris’ grandma for only $100, that was sitting on the floor because we had to move the TV stand, and then find out that the thing it landed on actually cracked it!! Nope, I am much more carefull than that.  We now do not have a crack on the right side of our screen with nice colorfull lines running up and down that side. (Yikes!)

A moment of silence please for our injured television set………………….

Ok, back to our regular scheduled programming.

So that’s my Not Me’s for the week! Thanks for dropping by!

Working at home-The juggling act…..

Getting Organized, Working At Home
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So I’ve come to the conclusion that it is, in fact, easier to work away from home. Those that have these dreams that working from home with your children underfoot is going to be absolutely wonderfull and euphoric will have them dashed to pieces once you realize that, especially with children under 4 years old, it’s hard to get anything done!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I want to be home with my kids. They can drive me absolutely nuts, but I also can’t stand to think of missing out on watching them grow and learn. I love that it makes us closer as a family, and I love taking care of them.

I do know what it’s like to work outside the home part time though, and it is nice to be able to make money without the distraction of kids, baby, and guilt about not getting housework done.  You’re completely focused on your job, and there are no other expectations while you’re there except to just work.

So why don’t I just get a part time job?

Because I want to be home with my kids. I don’t want to be stuck at a job that we might come to rely on financially to where one day we might not be able to afford for me to quit. Then I’d be wanting to be home with my kids and I’d be stuck.

It also isn’t worth the cost of daycare.

I was also brought up with entrepreneurial delusions of grandeur.  I was brainwashed into thinking that being your own boss is the best way to go! I love the idea of having my own hours, and being able to take time off whenever I want without having to ask the boss and schedule it in.  I love the idea of making money working on the internet, and making my own product like with my soy candle business, or with my paintings.

I love the idea of all this, but the reality is that it is difficult to schedule it all in! I do chalk part of it up to the fact that I have a baby that needs alot of attention, and that is true. I know things will get a bit easier once he starts sleeping completely through the night, and in his own bed. Also, once he starts being able to follow his brothers around, I won’t have to hold him so much. So there is a light on the horizon.

So how to juggle Mturk, candle making, mom blogging, a horse classified site, painting(which I am not even attempting to do right now), and still be able to homeschool, take care of the house, all without crashing and burning? Well, that’s a good question because this past week, though it’s partly due to everyone being sick, I’ve felt like I just need to take a break from it all. I really, really, really need to get it together and quit trying to fly by the seat of my pants.

So here are my goals for next week:

7am- get up, get dressed, study/prayer

7:30am- start working on hits at Mturk untill 8:30-9

9am- kids up, eat breakfast

9:30am-start some school work, reading and math with Nboy, ABC’s and counting, etc… with Ekid, and the mechanics of learning to crawl, with Baby :)

10:30-kids watch tv

11am- make hubby some lunch

11:15-noon- Work on Mturk hits some more

Noon- make lunch

12:30-1:30 do something with the kids(read,play,play game, walk to park etc..)

1:30-nap time for baby and Ekid- Nboy can draw or do workbook. Housework for me

2:30-work on blog or website of choice :)

3:00-4:30- kids tv time

4:30pm-start cooking dinner-wash dishes

6pm-dinner

8:30pm kids get ready for bed

9pm kids in bed

9:30pm work on blog, websites or Mturk or watch a movie :)

11:30 bed time!

So tell me, does this all sound crazy to you? I know it seems like I’m trying to fit too much onto my plate and you’re thinking,”why don’t  you just drop a couple of things so you’re not so stressed?”  I don’t know, I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment! There are some things that don’t need to be done every day, like tweeking websites, and once that’s done, they’ll kind of be on auto-pilot much of the time.

So all you working-at-home moms out there. How do you do it? Do you think you have too much going on? Do you do it because you Need the income, or is it because you just enjoy it?