my favorite writer

my husband is an awesome writer! this isn't his current profession, but it IS his passion and his hope for a future career. he says things just the way I would want to "in a perfect world." he's insightful, transparent, honest, trusting, and worthy of this post dedicated to him.

I encourage you to visit his blog and especially this post.

I love you honey. you know me inside and out and love me anyway!

acorns a falling

last fall I received a surprise package from lisa; in it the most adorable felted acorns she had made!

I fell in love with them! and asked her if she would gather acorn tops from her yard for my project this fall. she gave me the supplier of wool balls-ornamentea and sent a bag overflowing with acorn tops. a few weeks ago, I put them all together to kick off my fall decorating.

love them! everytime I walk into the living room and glance at my basket full of acorns, I smile and think of lisa and the basket full of blessings she brings into my life! love ya girl. thanks for being so willing to share yourself with me!

simplify and savor #2

let's go to the laundry room!

nothing says 'I love you' like clean laundry, so go ahead ... bless your family! one of my personal goals for "back to school" time was to re-establish my routines. I had especially relaxed with my laundry routines, and it had become more of a chore. as with many other household tasks we do each day, it's all about attitude. and mine needed changing. I'm working on viewing my laundry task as a way to bless my family; take care of them; spoil them each day.how many of you are like me {or the old me}: wet laundry left overnight in the washer smells in the morning; dry clothes left in the dryer until they are cold wrinkle more; husband looking for something to wear in the morning, or worse yet-ironing his shirt and pants in the morning; running out of laundry soap; loads and loads of laundry to do on the weekend.

{new me} in an effort to make laundry a habit, I've added it to my morning routine. see if my routine might work for you.

1. I empty each laundry hamper upstairs (one for each room)
2. take all the laundry to the laundry room
3. sort it into my two laundry baskets {thanks kathy for the laundry basket; I now have a matching set.}
4. start a load- white or dark, whichever I have more of; one load every day
5. when the load is done washing, it goes into the dryer, gets folded, then put away.
6. every other day I do ironing for 15-30 minutes.
Since school began, I've done this each weekday and have been free on the weekends to spend time with my family. yes, mondays bring more laundry (from the weekend), but the extra is well worth not having to think about laundry each weekend.

just a few products keep my routine simple- free and clear detergent, shout advanced, mother's little miracle, dryer sheets, ultimate care clorox bleach. that's all. make laundry time a blessing time!

simplify and savor #1

I have the "organizing bug". a couple of situations have sparked the organizer in me to be on high alert, and I've taken advantage. since school started, I've been tackling my personal routine schedule, a meal plan {with mark's expert help}, and purging areas of the house. I bring you a series on organizing.

mark and I are focusing on simplifying every aspect of our family life. nothing is off limits, from meal planning, household chores, calendars, money management, family fun, creative time- it's all in the mix to be re-thought out and prioritized. over the next week, I will be fluttering around my house simplifying my rooms and routines. as I do this, I'll be posting to my series called "simplify and savor". I know many of you already do or are familiar with many of these ideas and mantras, and that's okay, but for those of you who don't know me, I pray these bits of simplifying and organizing will help you.

the Lord blessed me- I was born organized, but I know many of you weren't and may struggle to keep your life just that ... your life. we are human beings not human doers, so let's start down a path of making our life more about relationships and blessings and less about the checks on our to do list. don't get me wrong, I love a good to do list. and I love the thrill of checking just one more task off my list. But in my current stage, I'm trying to BE MORE rather than DO MORE; have my daily tasks be more motivated by spirit than by obligation.

**some of the ideas I share were first shared by flylady. check out her website!**

So today as part of my Weekly Home Blessing Hour, I spent a good chunk of time in the bathroom and hall closet. So for today, let's go there. What does yours look like? Is it a place you enjoy thinking about? If not, try some of these tips.

Bathroom Tips

1. purchase all the same color bath towels. this will make your laundry routine even easier. you won't have a few towels in the dark pile and others in the white pile- instead you'll have all the towels in one load together.

2. I change/wash towels twice a week. Pick your days.

3. have a master list of toiletry items you and your family use on a regular basis. when you're close to running out or have run out, add it to your weekly shopping list. why stock pile items{spend your money}, when your favorite store is willing to do it for free on their shelves?

4. find a favorite _____ {fill in the blank} and stick with it. you only need to spend time deciding once!

5. I change sheets every friday.

6. eliminate extra sheets! we have two sets for the boys' beds and one for our own. when I take the sheets off the boys' beds, the clean sheets get put on at the same time! I then wash the dirties, dry, fold and into the the closet they go for next week. for my own room, the sheets come off, get washed, dried, and put right back on the bed. I'm trying to get that done before it's 11pm, and we're ready for bed. {sorry honey for the days I don't make it.}

7. don't get caught up in the b&bw craze of having to have every new scent that comes to the market or having to buy the quantity they pick for you to get a special deal. why spend more on items you don't need to "save" money? use up what you have, make do, or do without.

8. Target brand toilet tissue is great and cheaper.

9. pare down on your cleaning products! one central place for the bathroom supplies will keep you from purchasing unnecessary items as well as use the ones you've purchased. flylady says "soap is soap", so don't fill up on specialty cleaning products. find a good all purpose product you like and stick with it! who really needs 5 bottles of toilet bowl cleaner? my favorites right now are Green Works bathroom cleaner and Green Works glass and surface cleaner.

10. check the expiration dates of medicines in your closet and your children's doc kit regularly. please don't flush the expired medicine down the toilet- it could end up in our drinking water.

11. clutter {more items than you use or need} can clutter your mind. so, keep it simple!

12. wipe down the sink and toilet area each day.

13. the boys share one toothpaste. we used to have two messy, goopy containers in the closet- I couldn't handle it. we're down to one! this month ... spencer's favorite brand and flavor, next month ... connor's.

does the never seen, never heard toothpaste messerupper visit your house too?

don't be shy in sharing your ideas! what do you do? what ways do you save time and money when it comes to the bathroom and hall closet? leave me a comment; I'm sure there are many more ideas we can all use to simplify and savor our lives.

lounging

okay, so again, we get inspiration from leslie...when I saw these, and these, I soooo wanted a pair. {problem-I don't sew!} lucky for me I know someone who does. lucky me, our church was hosting a garage sale, where I found THE most PERFECT sheet for lounge pants. I bought the top and bottom (different color) for $.50; I got the pattern book; and I recruited the seamstress! thank you! thank you! thank you lease for these awesome lounge pants! I wear them at least two times a week during the day just to feel close to you.

so in addition to making my pair and her pair, lisa made pairs for john samuel, spencer and connor! what a sewing machine {no pun intended}.


thanks for the inspiration leslie. thanks for the time, skill, inspiration, and willing heart lease! love you!

tuesday's roses

**be sure to read the quote/post below this first!**

these are the "roses" I found today in my life. some were free; some I purchased. they all made my life just one blessing after another. some of the pictures are better than others, but guess what? they're all good today.

my tenderhearted son; "you're the best mom"

little miss matched socks

an updated light haircut

candy corn hershey kisses

favorite fall decorations

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today."

-Dale Carnegie

my sister posted this quote on her blog, and I just had to share it here. this describes me. I feel like I'm always looking, searching, wanting what's around the next corner instead of enjoying what's in my backyard. what will be in my backyard today? whatever it is Lord, let me enjoy the roses you give me today. let me linger in their bouquet. let me share my roses with others. let me, Lord.

the end of phase 1

lots of teeth happenings around here today! spencer completed phase 1 of 2 today by getting his braces off and retainers in.

this is a photo from our appointment to get his braces on:and a good shot of him late in the process with braces:
and the most beautiful...braceless spencer!

dr. brust predicted over the next month spencer would loose 4-5 baby teeth. they're all loose and ready to break out. guess what? one came out today in a french toast stick at lunch! not sure it made it home, but one down, 4 to go.

knit by the water

our city hugs the detroit river giving us access to a wonderful park on the water. I had this goal last week, but enjoyed being around the house too much to venture out. today, I ventured. my goal was to just sit and knit a while. somehow in my mind "a while" was more than 30 minutes. {note to self} being by the water is great, but it's also windy!

I'm at the rosebud and petal stage of the baby hat. these are the petals to my rosebuds. a big thanks to beth for the #5 dpn she gave to me in one of her surprise gift packages. without them...no petals, no rosebuds.

{wip} update

lots of projects complete and in progress {wip} around here!

lisa shared this feather and fan dishcloth pattern with me while we were in hilton head, and I haven't been able to put this silly little pattern down! you'll see these again when it's gift giving season. I purchased bath & body hand soaps to go with them along with another knitted 'hand' item {yet to be knitted}. my plan is a gift theme..."we've been blessed by the work of your hands".

{wip} my autumnology cross stich is coming along. I'm enjoying the completed feeling with each small box I finish. have to focus on this one... it's autumn already!

{wip} another baby hat almost complete. rosebud from itty-bitty hats. this time for a baby not yet in the united states. a grandmother from our church is hosting a baby shower for the baby girl her son and daughter-in-law are adopting. I decided to "make" something to celebrate her!

september saturday summary

back to school

our week has been filled with wonderful memories.

it feels like just yesterday that I was taking spencer to the "kindergarten doors" and pushing baby connor in the stroller. it was all so new and so emotional. now spencer is in fifth grade and allowed to {finally} ride is bike to school alone. yes, I said alone. and yes, I allow him. we're ten minutes from school by bike, and he meets a few friends along the route. we took a few trial runs on monday for timing and bike lock practice, and tuesday he was ready! {isn't he handsome?}

next up ... kindergarten for connor

excited doesn't begin to describe how connor was feeling wednesday afternoon as we prepared to drive him to school. while dropping spencer for the first day seemed to be so emotional, this year I couldn't be sad with a little guy who was so happy! he was full of anticipation, readiness, and pure joy in being a kindergartner!

while spencer's big adventure was riding to school, connor's was riding the bus! I had planned on driving connor to school the first week {after all, I drove spencer his entire kindergarten year!}, but connor had different plans. he announced on thursday that he would be "taking the bus." alrighty then. this is actually riding on friday ... thursday he got on and off too quickly for photos!

I continue to struggle the first few weeks of September with sadness. my struggle began when spencer started first grade and started riding the big yellow bus. every year since, I seem to be melancholy, sad, and emotional at the start of school. thursday was my really sad day. lucky for me, I had a show scheduled {my first of the new season}, so I had a few tasks to finish. {note to self} be sure to schedule a show or shows during the first week of school to keep my mind busy. by friday, I was looking forward to the time alone in the afternoon and feeling a little less blue.

The speed at which time is passing ... oh my, oh my.

savor summer ... t minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Before moving on, the "finisher" in me has to finish the savor summer series.

I was doing so well at keeping up with my posts when the unthinkable happened!

{note to self} once you give a 5 year old your camera, don't leave his side. {note to self} upload pictures from your sd card to your computer regularly! 150 summer photos gone in just one second! I thought I was being such a "good" mom, nurturing connor's curious spirit to try new things, by allowing him to use our camera to take pictures of aunt kathy's new house... wrong. so our final savor summer days are gone, some memories are now only documented here.

we enjoyed our final days of summer moving aunt kathy into her new house in ohio. for an organizer (me) it was a dream project! her new house is now ready for her to make it a "home" full of memories of time spent with family and friends. thanks kathy for letting us be a part of this new chapter in your life!

{the picture} one of my favorites from our hilton head vacation. I could stand at the water's edge all day and night. I find the continuous wave crashing comforting. I think of God's love for us always there through the calm and the rough waters.