It's the Little Things

I've discovered as I make this journey through life that it's not the huge things that make or break your day, week, month or life. It's the little things. So in honor of the little things, list a few with me that made your day, week, month or life brighter or sweeter.

• It's a chat with 'Shua where he tells me know much he loves his wife and all the sweet things he's going to do for her while he's home from work for a day.
• It's being able to share the home that God has allowed us to live in this year with family and friends, whether that means game night fun, long weekend visits, laundry facility sharing or a baking party.
• It's starting to grow a pineapple 'tree' from the fresh one you just ate, so that someday, it will make you a new one to enjoy.
• It's a warm kitty in your lap while you watch TV.
• It's a new juicer that hubby bought so you can eat more healthfully! YUM~O
• It's the satisfaction of a day well spent doing something your kiddos are interested in, whether it interests you or not.
• It's warm socks on a cold night.

I like the idea of this style of post. If you like it too, add your little things! I'm making it a goal to focus on the positive this year...Join me!

Holiday Hallway Project

Hello Friends!
Just zipping past with a quick craft for the 'no big holiday' months of January and February. I have this lovely little hallway at the front of my house and I've claimed it as the 'holiday hallway' since hubster doesn't care for my 'clutter', I mean decorating attempts. So since we've arrived last spring, it's been adorned with our Summer Reading Challenge posters, spent a while dressed up for fall, and most recently was a wintry blizzard full of snowflakes. I had intended to leave the snow up all winter, but a certain someone declared with CHRISTMAS decorations and helpfully took them down for me. *ahem, thank you* So I now have a bare hallway that is NEEDING some attention. I've got two long pieces of twine strung along the walls and plenty of mini-clothes pins to hang things on, so it's just a matter of picking a topic. After perusing my calendar for upcoming holidays, I decided that I'd do a multi-holiday theme for the rest of the winter. Those holidays include more snowflakes, hearts for Valentine's Day, President silhouettes and quotes plus national and state flags for President's Day, and "I have a dream" Dream Clouds for Martin Luther King Day where they will fill in their dreams for the world. To some it might be a bit jumbled looking, but I'm excited about it.
I've got a house full today with Jodi's 2 boys here to join my 3, so once nap time is over for the littles, we will be gathering around the craft table with scissors, glue and crayons to enjoy some creative time together.
If you are interested, I printed things from these pages.
Flags~ http://www.free-printable-flags.com/ and http://www.freeprintablecoloringpages.net/category/State_Flags
Hearts~ http://homeschooled-kids.com/valentinesdayhearttemplate.html
Clouds~ http://www.edupics.com/coloring-page-cloud-i22857.html
President Silhouttes~ http://kidscraftzone.com/category/Presidents-Day-Crafts.aspx

Thanks for joining us. I'll be adding a few more pics once we are finished with our craft.

Wordless Wednesday

I just love a great photo op, don't you? My nephews spent the night last week and in the AM, this is how I found little Titus. Just precious~

Mr T. asleep in DT's reading nook.

It's the Little Things

I've discovered as I make this journey through life that it's not the huge things that make or break your day, week, month or life. It's the little things. So in honor of the little things, list a few with me that made your day, week, month or life brighter or sweeter.

• It's a WHOLE day that doesn't require me to leave the house. WOOT, it's been way too long~
• It's a nearly completed to do list, and it's not even dinner time!
• It's a cozy evening planned, complete with a handsome hubby, a comfy couch and blanket, a movie and possibly even a fire if the temp drops a little more.
• It's a gap toothed smile from the little one.
• It's a dryer full of fresh, warm clothes.
• It's fresh bread on the counter, just pulled from the oven, filling the house with it's wonderful aroma.
• It's a church whose heart is to serve the community around it.
• It's a handsome hubby that still loves me after all the years we've put in together, all the ups and downs, and all the craziness and chaos we've created together. (that's not a small thing, but is deep on my heart today)

I like the idea of this style of post. If you like it too, add your little things! I'm making it a goal to focus on the positive this year...Join me!

Homeschool Room Re-Do

I am so excited to share this post with you! The first weekend in Sept (yes, I know it's November) Dan went out of town to pick up Patrick who had been spending a few weeks in IL with my parents. I asked my sister Karen to watch David and Derek for a few days so I could have a much needed break from parenting, homeschooling, being the mama taxi and meeting the needs of my husband and family. (hey, everyone needs a break now and then) I made my lists, prioritized them, started over, made more lists, made more lists and MORE lists, and before long, I had way more planned than I could get done in a MONTH alone. So I settled on one large project and made it my focus. Our school room had been needing "something" for a while. It was crowded, cluttery, disorganized and discouraging to be in for any length of time. "Something" needed to be done. So I endevoured to do that particular something. *winks*
Once all of the Man Crew was off to their adventures without me, I settled in with some music, some snacks, a new Gaither DVD, and my camera. I'm sure I annoyed everyone on my FB friends list by posting every 5 minutes for a few hours. I am not used to being alone (as in, it's been 10 years since I've been alone for more than a few hours~ seriously) so once I got the hang of that, I got down to business. I started with the pre-requisite BEFORE pictures that looks like this *cringe*

I hope this is a No Judgement Zone :) I know. Clutter clutter clutter. Anywho, after that, I just scooped up every single thing in the room and drug it to the LR. I piled all the papers, and books, and games, and manipulatives on the couch, chairs and floor and started going through every single thing. THAT took 2 full days. It was slow going but so worth doing. I pulled almost 1/2 of the things out to either be put into storage (boys old school papers and projects) sold on eBay or to homeschooling friends, or just be tossed, tossed, tossed. It felt GOOD! I cleaned the room, the furniture and the walls. I also rearranged so that the room was more open and airy. So, here is the fruit of my labors. 3 days well spent in my opinion. The boys are able to find all of their things at a moment's notice. Plenty of things went to other families to bless them. The room is clean and useable, we almost never have to LOOK for somewhere to sit down our papers these days, and that's ALWAYS a good thing!

Oh, and we even finally had room for all my encouraging posters, informative reminders and seasonal decorations.

I know, I'm a super dork to get so excited about a clean and well organized space, but I'm ok with that. :) Being able to effectively corral our homeschooling 'schtuff' has always eluded me, so it's a big deal. LOL
     Blessings, ~K~

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life~ Day 9

Today's focus is to break our goals into manageable piece, small steps, attainable mini-goals. This is a great plan, and one that I struggle with. I LOVE to just dig into a project with both hands, all my gusto and boundless enthusiasm. However, I often fall on my face a few days later since I'm exhausted and the rest of my life is a mess. Sooooo, I guess I'm in the right place and in good company. :) This challenge is so wonderful for me, even though the past day or two hasn't gone very well. Here we go:
Assignment 1: Small Habit (go for a walk as soon as Dan leaves for work on the weekdays)Goodness, another day that I didn't get it done. Dan had the day off, so we slept in and then hit the ground running since we had company coming.
Assignment 2: Continue with Life Hack
Terrible. It was game night and by the time everyone was gone, I was too tired to care that the kitchen was a mess of leftover veggie trays, empty soda cans, half filled glasses and chip crumbs. *ugh*
Assignment 3: Mega-Project:Never even went in there again today, but I'm thinking I'll have time on Saturday. Here's to hoping I can make it happen tomorrow. Today's assignment was to be digging through 3 boxes and either getting rid of things, setting them aside for eBay/Freecycle or packing them carefully to be taken into the garage. That was yesterday's assignment as well, so I am now 6 boxes 'behind'. A tad discouraging, but like I said, tomorrow is another chance.
Thanks friends for enjoying the journey with me. Here's a link to getting started if you are interested.
http://www.servingjoyfully.com/2012/10/30/21-day-self-discipline-challenge-kick-off-link-up-here/
     Blessings, ~K~

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life~ Day 8

Today's focus is to keep your goals IN SIGHT, not in your head, tucked away on a list somewhere that you never see, or under a pile of clutter that you never get around to cleaning up. Thursday started out tough for me and only got more hectic throughout the day. To be honest, it was what I generally call a 'train wreck' day. Nothing went right, nothing of much value got accomplished and I was quite discouraged about it. However, I want to be authentic about my journey towards discipline, so here are my 'results' for the day.
Assignment 1: Small Habit (go for a walk as soon as Dan leaves for work during the week):
FAIL: Had a little one here that we do NOT turn our back on, let alone leave the house while they are in residence. I will report that I did get that walk in later in the day, so I suppose that means it's only half a fail? LOL, I didn't do it in the morning, but I did eventually get it done. I suppose I can deal with that.
Assignment 2: Continue with Life Hack
HUGE FAIL: Woke up to a messy kitchen. I had been out and about the evening before and I just went to bed instead of spending 10 minutes setting it back to rights. Very discouraging after doing so well up until now.
Assignment 3: Mega-ProjectFAIL: Never even went into the project room Thursday. I don't want to talk about it. LOL!

Thanks for coming along on the journey with me, even on the days when I fall off the wagon and subsequently get run over by said wagon. :) If you are interested in joining us, look here for today's assignments and how to join. http://www.servingjoyfully.com/2012/11/07/day-8-where-are-you-going/
    Blessings, ~K~