Quality Time vs. Quantity time

I spend most of the day with my children.  I mean, I am a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM), so even when I am doing "other things", my children are around.  I get stuff done when they are sleeping and when Brandon is off work.   I cook or pick up or sew or check e-mail or balance the checkbook or blog during afternoon naps (after we finish home-school) if the kids are home, and while BabyK takes his morning naps while the kids go to preschool (2 mornings a week).  So I actually have plenty of time to do the things I want to do, just not a lot of time all at one time.

I hear a lot about spending quality time with your kids.  Like if you only see them in the evenings, then that time needs to be quality time, but what does that really mean?  Does that mean that you are only doing things with them? That you aren't cooking, or cleaning, or what?

Something that I have been working through is how I make sure that my kiddos know that they are in their proper place in my list of priorities.  I mean, my kids are so much more important than checking e-mail, playing on pinterest, or writing this blog.  They are really more important than balancing the checkbook or making a gourmet dinner for a guest.  They are more important than my latest sewing project or Sunday school planning or ironing or putting away laundry.  So the question is this: How do I demonstrate that?  I still have to do all of those things.  I can't get them ALL done while kids are napping!  Starting in Jan, I will be home-schooling BoyD full time meaning that he won't go to any pre-school.  BabyK will most likely abandon his morning nap in the not to distant future.  And GirlM her afternoon one.  So my "free" time is going to diminish.  My to-do list won't.

So here is my solution for the moment.  It is a work in progress.  But the first thing that I want to always do is spend some time everyday with each of my children just playing.  (not necessarily 1 at a time...I can play with all of them together).  Not doing school work or a planned craft or even having them participate in one of the things I am doing, but just sitting and playing.  Doing what they want to do.  Apart from my to-do list.  This is actually very hard for me.  I find that I spend so much time with them but very little of that is just playing.  And boy, do they want me to!

The other thing is that I don't EVER want to be too busy or too involved to look my children in the eye and give them an answer if they want to ask/tell me something.  Let me specify.  When I am reading an e-mail for example, and one of my children comes to my side and I hear the familiar "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy", I want to be able to stop, turn to them, look them in the eye, listen to what they want to tell/ask me, and then if I need to, explain that I have to read the e-mail and that I will be with them when I finish.  And then get done asap to give my attention back to them.  Not the distracted response of "one-sec" or "can't you see I'm busy" or "sigh...hold on!"

Although my kids are not the only thing in my life, they are one of the most important, and giving them that place in my heart means I have to give them that place in my schedule.  

Do you have any ideas or things that you do to make sure your kids know how important they are to you?  I would love to hear them!

Food on Friday

For this week's menu, I am using some recipes that I found on Pinterest.  If you don't know all about Pinterest, you MUST check it out!  You can also click on the link above to "follow me" in my pinterest endeavors.  I will be linking the recipes that I am using. (To actually see the recipes and not just my "pin", you have to be a member of the site...just request an invite)


Saturday:
L: Meatless spaghetti (made with chopped vegetables instead of meat)and salad w/ easy breadsticks
D: Left Overs
Sunday
L: Crockpot mushroom chicken with rice
D: Left overs (with sandwich cookie-rice crispy treats)
Monday
L: Veggie Frittata
D: PB and J sandwiches with apple slices
Tuesday
L: Chinese food with ramen noodles
D: Chicken pasta salad
Wednesday
L: leftovers
D: Black beans, rice, and coleslaw
Thursday
L: Soft tacos with spicy slaw
D: Apple pancake with sausage
Friday
L: Beans, eggs, potatoes, tortillas
D: Family Fun night (popcorn, apples and cheese)

Elasticized Jeans

Do you ever have jeans that are a little too big in the waste but fit you everywhere else? Do you ever get that gap in the back of your jeans when you bend over a little bit? Does the waist of your jeans get stretched out during the day and start to droop?

I have a solution! This is thanks to my friend Chantelle who did this to her jeans and showed me how.  The pair of pants in this tutorial is my third to elasticize and I love it so much!

Basically, all you do is sew a length of 1inch wide elastic into the back of the waist of the pants.  And as long as they aren't WAY too big, you can't even tell they have elastic while you are wearing them.

You start by making vertical cuts in the inside layer only of the waist band. I do mine from one side-back belt loop to the other so that I know it stays even.

On this pair I my elastic was shorter (I'm too lazy to go buy more) so I cut mine closer to the center.

Here it is with the slit cut.

  Measuring out an appropriate length of elastic, I thread it through the newly made tube from one opening to the other using a safety pin.  It is better if you have extra elastic as it is easier to sew if the measurements aren't exact.  Here, you'll see:

Don't forget to match your thread so that  the stitches aren't noticeable on the back of your jeans.  Sew one side with a zig-zag stitch one a very wide stitch being careful to stitch the elastic and both cut ends all together.

Pulling the elastic tight through the pants, pin then sew the other opening closed like this.

Your pants should look something like this:

Now check to make sure that you sewed all cut edges and then pulling the extra elastic tight, trim it off.
If you want those zig-zag lines to be invisible, you need to hide them under your belt loops.  See, you can't even tell while I'm wearing them that they are elastic in the waist!

Arrows point to the zig-zag stitches that hold the elastic in place.

All done!  Enjoy your gap-free, stay-put jeans!

Food on Friday

Here's our budget friendly weekly menu for this next week.  This week I spent $55 on food, a little bit of cosmetic stuff and some cleaning supplies.  And I will spend another $6 or so on Monday at the market (fresh veggies)


Saturday:
L: beans, eggs, tortillas and potatoes
D: Thai food (chicken, peanuts, spinach, garlic, and rice noodles)
Sunday
L: Frittata and homemade bread
D: Left overs
Monday
L: Meatless spaghetti (made with chopped vegetables instead of meat)
D: Leftovers
Tuesday
L: Leftovers
D: Lemon pepper chicken and pasta with garlic green beans
Wednesday
L: leftovers
D: Black beans, rice, and coleslaw
Thursday
L: out of town
D: Cheesy hamburger macaroni and mixed veggies
Friday
L: Beans, eggs, potatoes, tortillas
D: Family Fun night (popcorn, apples and cheese)

One thing that we have started doing that is saving us some money, is baking bread in the breadmaker every night.  Or, most nights.  When we remember.  That way we wake up to fresh baked bread and it costs us around $1.20 per 1 1/2 lb loaf.  And we actually eat a lot of bread so that ends up saving us quite a bit.

And we also don't use fresh milk for anything except drinking.  We keep powdered milk that we use for all cooking and for Brandon and I to drink.

Being Feminine in a Feminist World (part 2)

To see my critique of the Feminist movement and Part 1 of the blog, go here.


I really want to talk about what Biblical femininity looks like.  I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what the Bible teaches regarding what it means to be a woman and what our role is.  


Let me say what it is NOT and then contrast that with what it IS.  


What Biblical femininity is NOT: a woman must be in submission to a man...any man...whichever man is around.
What it IS: a woman must submit to her husband. (Eph. 5:22)  That is the only man that I must submit to, so I chose wisely.  And for the record, scripture tells us to submit to one another! (Eph 5:21) We shouldn't, as disciples of Christ, be looking out for our own interest, but the interest of others!  (Phil 2:4)


is NOT:  weak and helpless and needs a man to take care of her
IS: "She is clothed with strength and dignity" (prov. 31:25)  Don't get me wrong, I love that I have a husband who takes care of me, considers me, works to bring home an income so that I can buy things.  But that doesn't leave me weak, and certainly not helpless.  A godly woman is a woman who has both inner and outer strength!  Just look at the proverbs 31 woman...no where do you see that she is weak or dependent. 


is NOT: belittled because of anything
IS: honored because of her pious and modest behavior.  Is looked up to by other women as "having it all together." She is praised by her children and husband! And she is confident in her relationships because of her righteous dealings: honest and trustworthy.


is NOT: destined to live life wearing drab black dresses, covering her head, not wearing makeup or anything that makes her pleasing to the eye.  (There is an important note I want to make here.  If someone, because of their convictions, religious practices, or personal tastes, are described by the above comment, this is not a criticism of that, it is just a statement of my opinion that those things are not required of a godly woman by God.  Please, please take no offense)
IS: praised because of her womanhood and her beauty. (prov. 31:22, Song of Solomon chapter 1) She is not simply beautiful because of her outward appearance, but more importantly because of her Christlike character.(1Pet. 3:3-4)


is NOT: suppressed: sexually, personally, emotionally, or professionally!
IS: free from the negative consequences of promiscuous behavior, free from shame, free to be who God made her to be using whatever gifts God has given her!  And to have the help of the Creator of the Universe in using these gifts!


is NOT: controlled by her husband, by her lusts, by the culture, by a quest for beauty or youth, or by any human.
IS: controlled by the Holy Spirit and by herself (self-control) In other words, independent! 


So do you have real femininity or have you bought into the Feminist movement's definition?  


I wonder what you think of what I have written.  Do you agree/disagree?  There is so much more that I want to say regarding these topics, so there may be a part 3!  

Household Notebook: an overview

I have created (or rather re-created) my Household Notebook.  Do you have a Household Notebook?  Do you know what one is? It is basically a place to organize my job as household engineer!  A place to keep important stuff.   I decided I would share an overview of mine:

My sections in my notebook are as follows:
My Daily Docket : a one page summery that I complete for each day.  Click here to download my version...I LOVE it!  I adapted it from the one I found  here.
Routines: These are actually stuck to the inside cover of my notebook and include my A.M. and P.M routines
Financials: budgets, debt load worksheets, financial goals worksheets, and spending worksheets
To-dos: The master list that I use when things need to get done.  From this list I delegate, move to my weekly or daily to-do lists
Meal Time: My monthly menu plan, but you could also add a weekly menu planner and/or grocery lists.  Many people put in pantry/freezer storage inventory, too. Oh, and some put favorite recipes in here, but I have a recipe notebook in my kitchen.
Laundry: A stain remover guide
Emergency: An emergency list with numbers and info, you guessed it, in case of an emergency
Holiday: Maybe one of my favorite sections: has birthday planning sheets, and holiday gift budget planner
Blog: Eventually this will have a place to organize blog ideas and projects.
Projects: So far this just has my master project to-do list, but I will eventually have project/craft organizer worksheets in here, too
Yellow Pages:  place to store the family's important numbers.  No more running to the phone book or internet to find that one number that I used last month but can't remember the exact business name.
Ministry: My ministry schedule and lessons that I am using/working on.

Really, a household notebook should have a place for cleaning checklists (I have a full time maid so I don't have this section), a household inventory for insurance purposes, a place to keep warranties and receipts, school/activity schedules, medical info, babysitting info...the list could go on and on!   I am just getting started and may end up adding much more!

For more info, just google "household notebook" or some variation of that.
Here are links to the places I went to find the printables that I used:
Frugal Living
Buttoned Up
Martha Stewart
Organized Home

Being Feminine in a Feminist World (part 1)

Well...I thought I was being so creative in my title of this blog.  I have been mulling over writing something like this for a long time and this title fit so perfectly.  Then I go and google it to see what all was out there about this topic and I came across a mountain of writings/blogs/books/articles all by this name or some variation of it.  Oh, well. I'm not copying anyone, I'm just not that original!

I really struggle with writing blogs.  I have a list of like 10 different things that I want to blog about; some creative, some spiritual, some logistical, etc.  The problem is that I only get like 15min. at a time to write and it always seems like such a daunting task to write the whole thing at once.  And then there are pictures to get off the camera, organize, edit, and post.

So...here goes...something.  I am going to start this discussion and hope that someday I will be able to come back to finish everything that I want to say regarding the topic.

First, I want to mention my thoughts on Feminism as a whole...I want to hear back from you regarding these things.  Feminism as a movement for equality of women in the political, economic, social arenas is an extremely loaded concept.  Should women have equality in politics? Yes.  Should women have equality in the job market?  Yes.  Should women equality economically? Yes.  All of those things we have today (for the most part) because of the feminist movement that said the status quo of keeping women in there place by political and social "rules" was no longer acceptable.  Women are intelligent, capable, strong, economically savvy  and politically shrewd.  There is no reason that they shouldn't be able to participate in the market place in the same capacity as men.  They should have suffrage, equal pay for equal work, and should not suffer discrimination because they are women.  They should have the opportunity to pursue economic gain and should lose the stigma of "old maid" if they aren't married by 25.  

Let me tell you where Feminism has gone wrong: The idea that women's rights and women's roles are the same thing, that women are sexual beings (just as men are) and should have sexual liberties that have traditionally been afforded to men, and that in order to be strong, brave and independent, a woman must behave as a man does with the exception of flaunting and using our sexuality to our advantage.

The reality of the matter is that women and men are different.  We are NOT equal in roles and we are NOT equal in authority in a marriage or in the church.  The problem is how the feminist movement takes offense to this instead of celebrating it!!  Let me say that I would not be a man for all the money/power/authority/rights in the world.  I don't want that.  I like being a girl.  Being a woman. Being feminine. God, in the Bible, celebrates femininity!  God made us feminine!  We just need to know what that looks like!

 Click Part 2: What does being feminine look like?   to see the rest.

Food on Friday

Um..food on Friday on Sunday.  We've had a lot going on over the last few days so this is a couple of days late.

Our menu for the following week:

Saturday:
L: Veggie eggs (cut up sauted vegetables mixed in with scrambled eggs)
D: Taco Bell and S'mores.
Sunday
L: Roast and homemade bread (slow cooker and bread machine) and salad
D: Left overs
Monday
L: Cheesy hamburger macaroni and mixed veggies
D: Vegetable soup
Tuesday
L: Left overs
D: Beans, rice, and coleslaw
Wednesday
L: Spaghetti and vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli and carrots)
D: Black eyed peas and cornbread
Thursday
L: Tuna salad sandwiches
D: Leftovers
Friday
L: Beans, eggs, potatoes, tortillas
D: Family Fun night (popcorn, apples and cheese)

Food on Friday

I think I am going to start something new. Brynne, our intern for the summer, gave me this idea and I have no idea if will help anyone or not, but we're gonna try it.

I am going to post our weekly menu every Friday here. Every Friday I sit down and make the menu for the next week. I try to take into account our schedule as best as I can and I try to use leftovers. I then use that menu to make my grocery list and I do my weekly shopping on Fridays as well. I never include breakfasts on my menus because I never know what my mornings are going to look like.

For breakfast we usually eat one of the following:

-Cereal (or granola) with yogurt

-peanut butter toast (make toast, spread w/ PB, and pour on a little bit of syrup.)

-Frog on a lilly pad (bread with the center punched out grilled with an egg in the middle...a mix between a fried egg and toast)

-Pancakes

-Waffles

-Eggs and beans and toast.

Ok..on to this week's menu.

Saturday

L: Chicken tomato basil mozzarella pasta.

D: Leftovers for kids, grownups eat out for birthday party

Sunday

L: crock pot: chicken with tomatoes and onions served over rice with broccoli salad. (everything is made in advance so we can just eat when we get back from church)

D: Leftovers

Monday

Lunch: grilled cheese and tomato soup with carrot sticks and celery in ranch

Dinner: meatloaf, mixed veggies, and salad

Tuesday

L: Black beans, rice, and coleslaw

D: leftovers

Wednesday

L: Homemade vegetable soup w/ homemade bread.

D: Leftovers

Thursday

L: Bean empanadas (Gladys will make them) with rice and tomato cucumber salad

D: Mussel soup and bread

Friday

L: re-fried black beans, scrambled eggs, handmade corn tortillas

D: Family Fun Night (popcorn, cheese, and fruit)

You might notice that we eat a lot of beans. They are cheap, healthy, and we can make 2 lbs once a week and it serves us many meals. We eat cheap. I usually spend around $50 a week at the store. We buy our meat in bulk like once every 2 months and that costs us around $100 for 30lbs of beef. We don't eat meat everyday. We try to use up all of our leftovers.

If you have any questions or want any recipes, just ask! Maybe this can give you some ideas or inspiration.

Last Minute Baby Shower

My friend Tiffany left the country on Friday morning to return to the US and her 2^nd baby is due in September, so on Wednesday afternoon we threw her a baby shower and good bye party. She was out of town the entire week before and only had very limited time available for us to do this, so we didn’t even know we could until Sunday afternoon. So I had 2 ½ days to plan and implement the party on an EXTREMEMLY limited budget. It was so super fun! I wanted to share some of my ideas and how we pulled it off.

For the goodbye part of the shower I made a scrap book using cards that I had made from a kit. I bought the kit at Target one time when I was in the states at the 1 spot and it made 8 cards. A FANTASTIC deal. I then went to a scrapbook store and bought the paper that matched and some sticker embelishments as well as a scrapbook to put them all in. It was very inexpensive and I put one card per page as well as a space to journal and a photo. Each guest came in and secretly wrote in a card in the journal. I took pictures at the shower of everyone and I will send those to her so she can print them and just stick them in the scrapbook. She was very surprised and it was fun watching her look through each of the pages. Gonna show some pictures of the scrapbook when I get some. Forgot to take them! :(

For the baby gift, I had to get creative. I didn't have time to really shop around for her and I wanted to give her something special. I had some burp cloths (prefold diapers) that I had dyed red and yellow. I took those and found some coordinating flannels and accent fabric that I already had and embellished the burp cloths with some fun designs. I am going to make a couple of more of those and I will post a tutorial here. It took a couple of hours in all, but so worth it! They came out really cute.

For games I took several of GirlM's baby dolls and some newborn cloth diapers that I had and we played pin the diaper on the baby. It was hilarious! The women had to first work in teams and then individually to see who could pin the diaper on the baby the fastest w/o it falling off or actually pinning the diaper TO the baby. Then we played "what's in the diaper bag" where I filled the diaper bag in front of the ladies with all the things that a baby needs when you leave the house. We had around 15 items and then I gave each person a piece of paper for them to try to remember everything that I had put in the bag. It was fun. There were enough mommies there to fill me in on the things I forgot to include!

We don't know the sex of the baby so the cake and all the decorations had to be unisex. I looked and looked at the walmart for some toy or something that I could use as a cake topper and coudn't find a thing, so I settled on this green bow. I just cleaned off the bottom part really well and then just stuck it on the top.

We did the following for decorations:

A few flower arrangements, some confetti on the table, some color coordinating dishes.

I used a couple of GirlM's doll diapers (plastic) and stuffed them with some tissue paper and hydrangeas from my back yard.

I used some of the bouganvilia from my front yard to weave in and out of this plate from Southern Living at Home and wrote a little note on it. I didn't have any cute ribbon, so I made do.

I hung up some twine over our entry to our Living room like a clothes line and hung up some of GirlM's doll clothes with some little clothes pins that I had already. Instant baby decorations!

We also put up balloons with ribbon all over the place. Balloons are big here.

Just another shot of the table. Some of the food is missing from this picture, but you get the idea.

We used facebook for invites so we could put this together so fast so I made an invitation just for Tiffany as a keepsake.

For food we went simple. We made chicken vegetable tostadas, we had fruit salad with a yogurt/mayo dressing, we had some mixed nuts, and cake. And a Guatemalan punch called Rosa de Jamaica (hibiscus tea). Oh, and a bowl of chocolates.

For party favors I just bought some tiny gift bags and stuck some chocolate goodies inside.

Anyway, it was a ton of fun and a good memory for Tiffany. All in all I spent (on food, gifts, flowers, decorations, favors, scrapbook, everything) around $80. If you were hosting a shower like this with others, it could be even less expensive. Hope this gives you some ideas. It was really a fun time.

Recap of the week.

This last week was crazy busy for us in terms of ministry and our personal lives. Please check out my other blog at talesfromthebranches.blogspot.com to hear more about some of my ministry events of last week.

On a personal note, we had a rough week. We had big kids sick with a diarrhea, but thankfully they got over it quickly. The baby had diarrhea which I first thought was from teething because he is cutting two molars (OUCH!) and that isn’t un-common, but after finally taking in a sample to a lab, we found out that he had a pretty yucky bacterial infection. Now…he is doing SO MUCH BETTER!

The other thing that was rough was that a dear friend of mine that lived here in Guatemala left the country Friday morning with no specific plans to return. Her name is Tiffany and she has been such a blessing in my life over the last 4 years. She has a little girl the same age as BoyD and were our first friends here in the country. Her Guatemalan husband was my language instructor for 2 weeks when we first moved here and we promptly met his wife and his little girl as they lived just a few short blocks away. We walked to each others’ houses, the kids shared baths, and she introduced me to cloth diapers.

This last Wednesday, we had a baby shower/goodbye party for her here at my house because her second baby is due in September. It was so fun and it was good just to enjoy some time with her. I am truly, truly sad to see her go. To see more about that shower, including how I put it together in about 2 ½ days, check back. I will post that next.

So here I am, my Saturday, my day of rest, and I am cleaning my house from the week of craziness, planning the Sunday school lesson for tomorrow, and planning this next week’s home school curriculum.

BoyD has to have his passport renewed so we have an appointment in Guatemala City on Monday. We will be leaving beautiful Xela right after church and taking a ½ day mini-vacation on Sunday night and Monday morning at the Barcelo, our favorite hotel in Guatemala city. We will get to sleep in a bit, eat out, and swim. We need it, even if it is just for a day.

I'm expanding!

I'm expanding! I can only link up one blog at a time to facebook and this is the one that won, but I have another blog that I am starting. This will be a blog about my ministry life. My life as a ministry. I should say "our" life, but I am not sure if Brandon will post to it or not. I hope he does.

Anyway, go on over to talesfromthebranches.blogspot.com to check it out. Leave a comment if you can so I know you made it! So to sum it up:

Reflections of a Wife and Mommy will be a blog about my life as a wife and mom, a homemaker, a crafter, a baker, and a home schooler.

Tales from the Branches will be a blog about ministry things we do, places we go, inspirations we have, etc.

Although there is some overlap, I am excited for a place to categorize my thoughts and experiences a little bit. Remember, you can visit either blog and subscribe to them via e-mail by entering your e-mail address in the little box on the left. I hope you enjoy it!

Saved by Grace through Faith Alone? Really?

Yes. But...

Saved by faith,

Saved for works.

You CANNOT separate those two. Please stop trying. Stop preaching that all salvation is is faith in Christ. Please stop reducing the gospel to fire insurance, or even to an abundant life for the believer only.

"Our Christian habit is to bewail the world's deteriorating standards with an air of rather self-righteous dismay. We criticize its violence, dishonesty, immorality [homosexuality], disregard for human life [abortion], and materialistic greed. 'The world is going down the drain,' we say with a shrug. But whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Let me put it like this. If the house is dark when nightfall comes, there is no sense in blaming the house; that is what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is 'Where is the light?' Similarly, if the meat goes bad and becomes inedible, there is no sense in blaming the meat; that is what happens when bacteria are left alone to breed. The question to ask is 'Where is the salt?' Just so, if society deteriorates and its standards decline until it becomes like a dark night or a stinking fish, there is no sense in blaming society; that is what happens when fallen men and women are left to themselves, and human selfishness is unchecked. The question to ask is 'Where is the Church? Why are the salt and light of Jesus Christ not permeating and changing our society?' It is sheer hypocrisy on our part to raise our eyebrows, shrug our shoulders, or wring our hands. The Lord Jesus told us to be the world's salt and light. If therefore darkness and rottenness abound, it is largely our fault and we must accept the blame." [insertions, mine]

--John Stott

So we look down on the homosexuals as gross sinners and we shame the abortionists (or worse, those who have had abortions) as murderers and miss entirely the plank of apathy and self-righteous judgement that is in our own eye. What are we doing to be light and salt? Going to church? Inviting others to church? Hrm. How well is that working for us?

Challenge #4 - Write a note

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blogs and have them delivered to your e-mail by going here and typing in your e-mail in the "subscribe" box.

I've been out of the loop lately. My grandmother died and I had to go back to the states for the funeral and there was packing and travelling and unpacking all related to that that took an entire week out of my "30 days to a better me." And then we didn't have internet for a day and a half. I mean, I didn't stop doing my challenges, I just stopped giving them for a bit.

Let me sum up my progress: I have not been charting my time, but it is no longer necessary. I have become incredibly aware of how my time got wasted, and apart from that, the last week has been so busy that I literally haven't had time to even check my e-mail. So, I'm not wasting time. For now.

I have kept my hot spot (my desk) clutter free. Except last night when I went to bed w/ stuff on it. My excuse? I am working on these same things this morning and putting them all away and pulling it back out again would probably use up some valuable time. Lousy excuse, I know, but I was zombie tired when I came up with it. It doesn't hold near as much water in the light of day. :)

Overeating: Mas o menos. I mean...a couple of times I have eaten too much, but I have lost of total of 3 lbs since the beginning of the month so I'm not too worried. I sort of "gave up" yesterday and ate too much and ate too much chocolate, but I won't do that today. It is a new day and I am done overeating.

The Challenge:

Write a note

Not an e-mail, an evite, or an e-card. Not a message on facebook or a tweet. An actual note on paper. We live in an electronic age and we have lost much of the value of pen and paper. There is something so cool about getting a letter or card in the mail with a handwritten address and a real stamp! This is an easy challenge, so to make it more difficult, I am going to ask you, plead with you, beseech you to make this a weekly thing. Do you need some ideas or inspiration?

Write a sweet/romantic note to your spouse and leave it with cologne or perfume on their pillow.

Write a note to your kid(s) and put it in their lunch box/backpack that tells them in detail how proud you are of them and how much they mean to you.

Write a thank you note to a friend or neighbor just for being there for you.

Write a far-away-not-in-touch-with relative to ask how they are doing and tell them you are thinking of them.

Be creative. Be genuine!

The Bible tells us to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13

So how are you going to encourage someone today? Don't you want to be one of those people that makes other people feel important and cared for? Boy, I do! I am going to write some notes and mail them from here. Even cooler to have a postmark from Guatemala, right? haha!

Comment here and tell me how you are going to answer this challenge. We all need accountability.

(ps Look for another challenge coming very soon)

Challenge #3 - You are what you eat?

We are on our way to better us-es.

We have been logging our time to see where we've been waisting. Ok...I have had been travelling etc so I haven't logged but one day, but I'm gonna start again tomorrow.

We committed to "put out" a hot spot and keep it out for the next month. I am doing REALLY great on that front. My desk is neat and orderly.

Now we are going to address the next battle front in the war for a better us: our digestive system. I say that so generally because this issue is going to vary wildly depending on your habits and circumstances, I don't want to limit this challenge to any specific problem

We all have areas of our digestive health that are not super healthy. Some examples: You eat too much. You eat a disproportionate amount of carbs yet you don't run marathons. You skip breakfast. You don't get your recommended amount of water every day (take your weight in lbs, divide that in 2, and that is how many ounces you should drink in a day. I weight 135lbs, so I should drink 68oz of water in a day) . You don't take vitamins. You don't eat any vegetables. You eat fried foods more days than not. You never just eat 1 cookie...you eat the whole batch. You drink soda on a regular basis. You don't get hardly any fiber in your diet. You eat an unnecessary late night snack every night before bed. I could go on, but you get my point.

The challenge:

Choose one unhealthy food related habit (or a healthy habit that is lacking) and change it. For the next month, don't do whatever it is that you do that puts junk and not goodness into your body. Commit to do this every day for one month.

I have already been addressing some of these things in my life, but one that I have let slip and have noticed a difference in is overeating. I tend to eat too much food when I really like it. I act as though this will be the last time that I am going to get to eat this amazing thing! The truth is that if I ate less, I would have some of whatever it is as left overs! I could eat it again and save money on groceries! Haha! So I commit to stop eating when I've had enough. Reducing my portion sizes to a reasonable amount, and only get a second (or third) helping if I am still hungry.

Well...we'll see how this goes! Are you doing this with me? Are you going to change something in your digestive life? I think we will see a difference! We can do this one step at a time.

Challenge #2 - Hot spots

Are you keeping track of your time today? I had said that Brandon and I were going to keep track for a week, but I don't think that will be necessary. At least not for me. I am finding that as I try to keep track of what I am doing and how long it is taking me, I am more aware of waisted time! I am going to make sure I track a home school day and a non-home school day so that I can really see where my time goes. But geez...I am staying on task so much more just knowing that I am going to have to log. It is not to late to participate in this challenge. Go here to find the post. (if that link doesn't work, or there isn't a link that appears, then just go to my last blog entry to find it)

The new challenge:

Take Care of a Hot Spot

What is a hot spot? This comes from Flylady and I LOVE IT! You know when you have had a fire but the fire has died down? Even if you don't see any flames or any red, there can be hot spots in the coals. Areas where there is enough heat that if you put a small log onto it, it will catch fire again. We have places like that in our house. Places that collect clutter. You can clean and organize it, but as soon as the first piece of mail (or whatever) hits it, it catches fire with clutter. These places are battle grounds for order. One day goes by unattended, and these hot spots are blazing (and covered w/ crap!)

The only thing you can do about hot spots is keep them clear. Keep them clear of ANYTHING. Hot spots can be bathroom counters, junk drawers, entry tables, nightstands, desks, kitchen counters, treadmills, and even living room furniture! The challenge this week is to become a fire fighter for at least one hot spot in your home. Take how ever much time you need to get it completely cleared off, actually finding a home for whatever was on there, even if that home is the garbage. Then, commit to keep it free of fuel. Every day, several times a day, whenever you see that spot, clear it off. And keep it clear for the next month.

My hot spot is going to be...hmm...I have so many...my desk. That's the one. I commit to keep my desk free of clutter and things that don't belong there for the next month. I will put away my supplies when I finish a task. I will not get up from my work until my desk is orderly. I will struggle against the family machine that puts misc. toys/papers/trash/crap on my desk.

We will probably do this challenge again w/ a different hot spot, so don't overwhelm yourself with 10 places to de-clutter. Depending on how hot the spots are, 1 or 2 will be sufficient.

30 Days to a Better Me

Actually it is going to be 28 days or so. It is from now until May 1st and since today is April 2nd, we won't have a full 30 days. 28 days of a better me doesn't sound as cool. I digress. Let me explain.

Over the next month I will be making a few changes, solidifying some changes I've already made, and sharing all of this with you. Nothing is going to happen too drastically or too quickly, but I know that if I'm honest here in sharing what I'm doing and going through, I am more likely to be honest with myself and more motivated to do what it is I want to do.

Also, I am going to ask you to be a part of what I'm doing. I want people to participate in these challenges with me. Won't that be fun? I commit to post here at least every other day (It would be fun to post every day but that might not be realistic) and give new challenges as well as keep track of any progress made or lost.

I know many of you read this blog on facebook, but if you want to you can subscribe to my blog by going to wife-and-mommy.blogspot.com and clicking "subscribe via e-mail" and my blog will be sent directly to your e-mail.

So on to the first challenge. This will actually start tomorrow (Sunday, April 3rd).

Keep a daily log.

I suggest in 15 min. increments. Brandon and I are going to do this for a week because our daily schedule varies a lot depending on the day, but if your days are pretty routine, you could just do it for a couple of days. Basically, you write down everything that you do for the entire day in 15 or 30 min. increments. From brushing your teeth, to taking a shower, to fixing your hair, to preparing and eating meals. And just to give credit where credit is due, this is actually a suggestion by Dr. Howard Hendricks, renowned professor of Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics at Dallas Theological Seminary. I am going to print up a few excel spreadsheets to make it easier.

The purpose of this is as follows: So much of the time we waste time by keeping busy with things that we don't even realize we are doing. You are at work and you check facebook every hour or so but you are on for 15 min. You end up not working for almost 2 hours in your 8 hour day! You go in to take a shower and you spend a couple of minutes plucking your eyebrows and popping zits instead. You go into the kitchen to start on dinner and you find yourself looking through the pile of mail on the counter. 15 minutes later no bills are paid and you still haven't made dinner, but you have a really good idea which is your favorite rug in the new Pottery Barn catalog. You get on the computer to check e-mail at home, and you find a fun website that keeps you occupied for a half an hour. Maybe none of that sounds familiar to you, but there is probably time in your day when you are doing something that could wait until later, or you are doing something that takes longer than you planned. These little 15 min snippets rob our day of productive time and then we don't have the time that we need to do the things that we WANT to do. In my case it is practicing the guitar, playing the Wii w/ my kiddos, sewing, or making homemade bread.

If you want to do this challenge with us, and you want me to e-mail you a copy of the spreadsheet that I am making, just leave your e-mail address as a comment and I will send it to you. Just use the form "address at suchandsuch dot com" instead of typing in your actual address. After I do this for a couple of days, I will be able to post here some of my results.

Join us if you can. It will be fun to see what all we can accomplish in 30 (or so) days!

Routines and keeping chaos under control.

Have you ever felt like life was too much to do in too little time? Are you living with a messy house and a constant rush to figure out what's for dinner? Do you go to bed every night with a to-do list on your mind from the day before. Are you usually late?

I have been sick for the past couple of weeks, not having the energy to get up early and workout, etc. My routines have been disrupted big time. I have been needing a nap every afternoon. And I have been going crazy! My desk got messy, every table in my house had stuff piled on it. I felt totally burdened under a never ending pile of crap. I felt like I was constantly behind on my chores: laundry, diapers, meals, etc.

For me (and probably for most), the key to a stress free home is routines. Reasonable routines.

Depending on whether or not you knew me as a child, this might surprise you: I am, left to myself, extremely unorganized. Messy, chaotic, big picture. Now, after much discipline and work and effort, I am in serious control of the little world that is my house. Let me explain.

My house is normally neat. I keep a tight schedule. I home school my children and plan their classes a week (sometimes 2) in advance. I have 2 calenders that are filled and synced. My day is planned out. My menu is planned a week in advance and my groceries are purchased. In my home, almost everything has a place. We still have almost all the pieces to the toys that we have. This only works when I have my routines in place.

Generally speaking I get up at 5:15-5:30am. Work out until 6-6:15am. Have some Bible study until 6:30. Get ready until 7am. Get the kids up and dressed, get my stuff ready for the day (errands to run, things to do, school to do, etc). Kids are either on their way to school by 8am or we are doing school upstairs by 8:30. School is organized around BabyK's nap times so that they aren't working with markers while he is crawling between them. In the evenings we all help clean up the kitchen, we pick up the upstairs, the kids have their bedtime routine and are in bed by 7:45-8pm. Brandon and I have an hour to watch TV, etc, and then we head to bed at 9pm. Fridays are grocery days, Friday nights are Family Fun Nights, Saturdays are calender sync days, and Sundays are get ready for the week days. Disclaimer: this is not set in stone and we are not perfect at it...Brandon does so much in the mornings and evenings so that I can get my stuff done.

When those routines are disrupted, I'm a wreck! And my whole family feels it. If you are what I described in the beginning, let me suggest some serious routine re-haul. Maybe you do OK w/o routines, but that isn't normal. Routine it and keep chaos under control. Did I mention that I have a maid that comes every day and keeps my house clean? That helps! haha! If I didn't have her, I couldn't play my guitar, sit and blog, work at the church as much as I do. Don't feel like you have to have it all together all the time. That is unrealistic. I just want to share what keeps me sane, organized, and what keeps our chaos under control. (Note that I didn't say that we don't have chaos. :)

Wool Diaper Cover Giveaway

There is an awesome giveaway over at Mom's Milk Boutique blog! You can win (i'm trying to) a wool cover! I've always wanted to try one of those, but they are pricey, so this is the perfect chance. Check them out!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, BabyK was born at 9:30pm in Lubbock Texas, weighing 7lbs 10oz.

Since that date, he has learned to lift his head, roll over, push up, clap, drag himself across the floor, sit up, crawl, stand up, walk along a table/wall. He has learned to say mama, dada, mimi, night night (ni-ni), ball, no, no-no (more emphatic), nose (while pointing to the appropriate part). He has learned to sign "more" (also "mas" in Spanish), "all done," and "milk" and to give hugs. He has learned to find his baby, his hair, and his shoes. He has learned about gravity, tickles, pain, books, love, kisses, and falls.

I have learned all over again how much God loves me.

I am in love with my beautiful baby boy, and I am so thankful to have had this last year getting to know him. He loves to pull hair while sucking his thumb or nursing, so we gave him a baby doll with hair to save mine. Now he is hooked! He is a light in our home. He is so sweet and snuggly and loves to laugh. He is the hardest teether I have ever seen and has never consistently slept through the night. I love him and my life, our home, our family is better because of him.