Closets Meet Spring

After being home less than thirty minutes from a week at the beach, Bill and I were already looking at beach area real estate, and contemplating if that was really a move for us in the near future. Real estate there was surprisingly cheap if we were willing to downsize- which then got me thinking about how much stuff we could get rid of, and still be quite happy. I imagined how much easier daily cleaning would be in keeping up with less space and things. After a couple days, reality set in that we already were home, and maybe one day when the kids were grown we could move to the beach, or at least have vacation property there. So instead, after spending two days of imaging a life in much less square feet, I decided it was time to clean out the closets. One of the reasons we (and when I say "we" I mean "I") fell in love with this house was because of the vast number of closets and how big each one was. We have only lived in this house for two years (today marks the anniversary we had our closing) and already I'd managed to fill each one without even realizing it. So to make a long story short, I spent the next week working in the morning at VBS in our local church, then spending all afternoon and evening purging our closets, completely rearranging the kitchen cabinets and pantry, and making countless (I seriously lost count) trips to Goodwill. The result? I smile every time I open a closet, the house stays picked up throughout the day with much less struggle, and I am a much happier momma.

At the Deeper Still conference in Kentucky, Priscilla Shirer spoke on the commandment from God regarding keeping the Sabbath. She posed this question: Are we as a society addicted to the chaos? Do we get restless and irritable when there is a day with no planned activity, instead of enjoying the rest? Do we have too much stuff in our lives- both in activities and our possessions? When the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, God provided them manna from Heaven that they were to gather each morning. They were only to gather as much as they needed, or else the remaining food would become infested with worms. However, on the day before Sabbath, they were to gather a double portion, so that they would not have to work the following day on the Sabbath. The way the original Hebrew is written, it appears that they did not have to work double to gather the food the day before because there was more bread per square foot. The same amount of work that day resulted in twice the results. Priscilla then gave the example of her own speaking schedule in 2007- she was traveling so much that she was exhausted and didn't feel she was praying enough for the women she was speaking to, and felt overwhelmed throughout the week at home with her small children. So she and her husband (also her manager) prayed for God's leading. They decided to leave the schedule for 2008 completely open, and wait on God. That is when Lifeway approached her about the Deeper Still conference series. Instead of spending every weekend speaking at an individual church, they could invite ten or so area churches to come at one time in a big arena setting, thereby reaching ten times the number of women in the same weekend as would have been reached before in the same amount of time. If she had continued to schedule speaking engagements as she had before, this opportunity would not have been possible. Priscilla said it was as if God was telling her, "You give me the Sabbath, and I will give you a double portion."

Purging the closets and getting rid of so much stuff- toys, clothes, and more toys and clothes, opened my eyes to the ridiculousness of it all. My girls have one entire wall of their bedroom that is one giant closet- and it is jam-packed with clothes. All of it bought on sale/clearance, and gifts from Grandma, yes- but they don't need that much! I still had infant baby blankets tucked in the linen closet because I didn't want to let go of them. Keeping a couple blankets as a keepsake is lovely, but twenty? Craziness. Today, for the first Sunday in a very long time, I did not fold a single item of laundry, clean one single bathroom, or mop one single floor. Instead, I went to church, played with the kids, and took a beautiful two hour nap (thanks to my parents who came to visit and play for awhile.)I have four children to feed and nurture, so in this stage of life there will never be a time I can prop my feet up for twenty four hours, but as far as anything that can wait for tomorrow? It will still be there in the morning. My double portion? I see it in the way my house seems to stay picked up so much easier- who knew cleaning closets could have that effect? Maybe it's more a state of mind that makes it seem simpler, but whatever the cause, I'm liking it. The children also pitch in a lot more now, and I know that's making a huge difference. So my new goal is to continue honoring God in this way, taking rest when I need it, and becoming a better wife and mom for it.

Elusive Perfection

I'm not sure exactly why I'm about to post this picture, except to say that if I were to see this image in someone else's house, it would in a wierd way lift my spirits to see that someone else is imperfect like me. I seem to live with a subconscious belief that every other young mother's house is spotless 24/7. And why exactly do I believe this? Think back to the last playdate you had at your house. How much time did you spend cleaning beforehand? Especially if that mother had not been to your house before? In my case, not only will I try to make sure my house is spotless, I will even reorganize closets on the slight chance that someone will need to look in there. I act as if my home is a model house up for sale. I have in my head that every other mother, including the one coming over, lives in a spotless home nearly every second of her life. But unless this elusive, perfect mother has given birth to robots, I should know this is not true. I work throughout the day keeping up my house, cleaning to the best of my ability while still  maintaining a life outside of Pledge and bleach. But perfection is always just out of reach. I wake up in the morning, determined to maintain and end the day with completely clean rooms, no laundry to be dealt with, children engaged with their mother all day long, and no project left undone. Which means I go to bed disappointed. Every. Single. Night. And I'm sick of it. So, here is a picture I took the other day, just five minutes after the kids and I had completely cleaned and organized the playroom from top to bottom.

I am not exaggerating in the least. Seriously, this is what my children can do in five short minutes. And that is ok. That is ok. That... Is... O... K...

Let that sink in. It's ok that my children play, and have fun, and make a mess. It'll get cleaned up. And it will get messy again. And so will the kitchen. And the laundry. And the unmade beds. It's all fixable. And cleanable. Because one day, I will have a clean, spotless house, 24/7. And there won't be fingerprints on the wall. Or peanut butter on the ottamon. Or crumbs under the table. There will only be memories. Of the time when my children were small, and laughed, and played, and made messes, and reminded their mommy of what really matters. And it didn't include Pledge. Or bleach. Or even, perfection.

Painful Miscommunication

Over the past few weeks, flowering weeds have overtaken our front yard. Bill is usually in charge of the "outside things", but lately his time has been consumed with building our backyard deck. So, last night we had a discussion in which I told him that  it really bothered me that the front yard didn't look as nice as it could, and I asked what we could do about it. After a 2 minute discussion, I walked away with this conclusion: that there was some expensive yard feed we could buy, but his preferred method would be to hand-weed the yard.

Waking up motivated this morning, I took all four kids outside at 8am so I could get started. In nearly five hours I only stopped to feed Lydia and lay her down for a nap. Brooke would make quick runs inside the house for snacks and drinks. Ironically, during this time the neighbor's lawn service came to maintain a beautiful picture perfect yard. I came very close to walking across the driveway and hiring him on the spot, but instead I buckled down and kept right on, one weed at a time. I finally had to quit for a break and feed my hungry children at 12:45pm. Here is what I was able to accomplish in that amount of time.

Not too bad, right? Especially considering the lawn is less than a year old.

Now here is what is left untouched thus far in the front yard:

According to my own estimates, this leaves about, oh...another 10 hours of physical labor. Though patience is something I struggle with, I tried not to be frustrated, and instead happy with the progress I'd made while simulaneously entertaining four children. I even sucked up the fact that my fingers were red,swollen, and throbbing, and that I had small cuts and a painful rash all over my forearms. Yes, I had worked hard and should be proud of myself. Then, I had a conversation with my love. And I tiredly told him what I did this morning. And his response? "Oh, did you not want to buy the lawn feed?" what did he just SAY?? Seriously? Did I just waste nearly five hours outside for nothing? Apparently, even after nearly twelve years together, and seven wonderful years of marriage, we had two completely different conversations yesterday. He re-explained that he was actually fine with buying lawn feed, but that he had just made a comment that if I wanted immediate results (he knows me well) that the only solution was to hand weed. Bill reassured me that my work wasn't necessarily for nothing, but my balloon of motivation was already leaking air. Fast.

I don't know if this job will be completed or not. I'm all for some good exercise, but back-breaking outdoor work isn't usually my preferred way of spending my time. At any rate- we are on our way to a good-looking lawn, sooner or later. Now it's time for a hot shower before one of my angels wakes up from a peaceful napping slumber. Does anyone have any Icy Hot by chance?

Mommy Tips

Day to day living in my house is filled with funny preschooler lines ("Mommy, is kindergarten really a garden?), cleaning up messes ("Isaac, let me wipe the oranges out of your hair") and generally a whole lot of chaos. But in my world, if there's going to be chaos, I at least want it to be organized. So here are a few tips I've figured out along the way.

1. The coat/shoe solution.

I was tired of always picking up a trail of shoes and coats every time we came home, so I came up with this first idea. I decided to attatch hooks to the lower half of the door so the kids could easily hang up their own jackets. These are the same hooks advertised around holidays for temporary decorations.There is no damage left if you ever decide to remove the hooks.

It worked like a charm, but I was still left with a pile of shoes on the floor in the closet, and good luck finding your shoe's mate when it came time to go out the door. So I picked up a shoe rack at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for under $10. Here is the after picture. ( I could have dumped the shoes on the floor to show you a before, but sorry- I'm just not that dedicated today.)

The within-child's-reach philosophy has not stopped there. I leave a package of wipes in a basket in the living room so they can wipe their own hands and mouths after eating, and each of the girls have a basket of panties by their beds so they can reach them first thing in the morning. As each of them gets older, I plan to expand this philosophy. It makes them more independent and their mother less stressed.

2. Washing bibs

Any experienced mommy of an infant has figured out that washing bibs with velcro leads to other clothes in the wash being pricked and pulled. I usually would end up washing bibs by themselves or with a load of towels, but then I felt like I was always running out of bibs due to the limited number of wash cycles. So I came up with this next idea. I zip the bibs inside a lingerie bag before washing. (And if you have kids, you have owned lingerie, so there should be such a bag somewhere in your house. Otherwise, you can pick one up for a few dollars at your nearest Target.) This way the bibs can be washed with any load and not damage any clothes in the process.

3. Crumbs under the table. Several times a day. 

You would think I gave birth to calves the way my children graze all day long. So the best $40 I have ever spent thus far is on the Swiffer Sweep Vac. Sorry for the infomercial- I'm not even getting compensated for this promo- but this little piece of equipment has saved me countless hours of cleaning. It's like a dust buster with a long handle. It's much faster than a broom, lightweight, and child-labor worthy. They are excited to do it for me, and so it's a win/win situation.

Hope these tips can help you. I'll have more coming your way soon. So what is your best mommy/life tip that has helped you out?

There's a Rooster in my Crockpot

Here is part two of the poultry saga just as I promised. If you missed the blog that day, here it is. It would have been brought to you yesterday, but Mr. Rooster decided to take an extra day to thaw in the fridge. He must have been as scared to be cooked as I was to cook him. Besides, I still hadn't decided on an exact recipe. I was unable to get a hold of my sister or brother in law for their input (who, now that I think about it, still have not returned my call...ahem.), so I decided on a lemon herb crockpot recipe. l could have put him in the oven, but that would have meant hauling out my turkey pan since he wouldn't have fit in anything else I had. So the crockpot it was.

Here is what I found after removing the bag from the fridge.

Notice the lovely bright red blood and greasy yellow fat. This didn't help my squeamishness at all. Step one was to get him out of the bag without touching him. Funny- my first job ever was at Chick fil A in which I touched raw chicken on a daily basis, and here I was terrified of this rooster. I'm proud to say I was able to accomplish the next several steps without ever touching him with my bare hands. And let me tell you, this was not easy.

Here we are post bag removal and the rinse cycle. Are you imagining him with a head and feet? I know I am. Next step- the spices. I used garlic powder (feeling too lazy to mince the real deal), oregano, lemon pepper, salt, and pepper. The oregano and and garlic powder are sprinkled into the cavity.

Down the hatch.

Next step was to sear the outside in a large pan on the cooktop. Using butter would have tasted better, but the health nut that I am, I opted for olive oil.

I'm not a chef, obviously. I couldn't get "all sides browned" when he was so bumpy. It must have been all that running after the girls that beefed up his legs and got him in this mess to begin with. Next was seasoning the outside. After placing him in the crockpot, I sprinkled lemon pepper, salt, freshly ground pepper, and lemon juice all over both sides.

I then added water to the pan that he browned in, and poured the heated juices into the crockpot.

Here we are four hours later.

Yum. It smelled so good at this point I felt like I could stop referring to it as "him".

Here it is ready for carving.

And whalah- the finished product.

Served with an apple spinach salad, green beans, baked potatoes, and buttered bread.

It tasted pretty good, and the ultimate test of success- the kids didn't even ask for ketchup! So sis, if another rooster decides to misbehave, send him up our way- after beheading and skinning of course.