Christmas Decorations At Our House

Welcome to a tour of our home at Christmas time. Above is the picture that I used on our Christmas cards. Believe it or not, I only had to take one picture. The kids behaved beautifully! :) Our front door... A wreath I made in our MOPS group last year....
Poinsettias in a snowman flower pot...
A snowman wind sock....
And the front of our home. Simple candles in each window. Not too much fancy stuff going on. Still, I feel like it is warm, inviting and Chrismissy. :)
Walk in the front door and you will see...

Our Piano with a ginger bread ice skating pair. Also....
a Crystal hurricane lamp with a white candle and some cranberries between the candle and glass. In the background, the clock and the tree.

An advent calendar...
Our tree strung with cranberries and popcorn, white lights, and meaningful ornaments.

An Ornament that belongs to Sweetie.
Next to the tree is my shelf that I have up year round. Add a poinsettia and some pine needles and it makes it look like Christmas.
On the coffee table an advent wreath that I made one year. We always forget to do it though. ;-)
And a nativity scene. It always gets rearranged by some aspiring interior decorators that live here. :)
On the end table next to our couch. A real pine bough with pine cones, and Apple Pie candle in the center. Walk into our kitchen and see our table.
A plastic plaid tablecloth, that goes really well with my furniture. And a center piece with two candles.The Center Piece is made from a milk glass bowl on top of a doily. Inside the bowl are sliver Christmas tree ornaments balls. Real Pine bough sprigs are stuck around the bowel. Some Cranberries to fill in the cracks.
There are red candles in crystal Christmas Candle Holders next to the center piece

In the kitchen, colored lights adorn the tops of my cabinets. Thank you for visiting! :)
To see more Homes decorated for Christmas please visit Boo Mamas.

*PS. When I post this as a direct link to my post about this on Boo Mama's , it is hard to see my "post a comment" link. Just move your mouse over where it is supposed to be, and you will see it. People have told me that they have a hard time seeing it, but I have been so busy, I haven't had time to figure out how to fix it. So please forgive me. :)

My Laundry System

I am a lazy laundress. With three children, at one point four and under, I may of found a laundry system that is not very stressful, but also not very much according to proper house keeping rules.

First off, I do laundry every other day. I do only one load.
Now I am going to break rules. Once I know that the fabric won't bleed, I throw all my colors together. I wash in cold water most of the time, which doesn't bleed fabrics as easily.

Most fabrics these days are colorfast, however I always question red. So I always wash those separately; until I know that it is color fast.

My wardrobe is very simple I have two jean skirts. One to wash, one to wear. Unless my children's clothing is very dirty or soiled, I make them wear one pair of underware a day.

I put the wash in the morning, and throw it in the dryer later in the day, then fold and put away.

My baby sleeps in the clothes that I dress him in the morning with. Unless he has had a bath, or it will be cold, then I put him in a footed sleeper.

If someone has been sick, then I will wash in hot water. I only wash sheets every few weeks.

I put vinegar in with the laundry soap, and a few drops of tea tree oil.

If I get behind at all, and have a mountain to climb, then I will divide my clothes the proper way. But for now, this is what works for me. Shocking?

For more ideas that work for others, click on the button on top of my post. :)

In *Everything* Give Thanks!

I Thessalonians 5:18

In *everything* give thanks: for this the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Today I may get a little long winded with this post, but it something that I have to remember to remind myself constantly, and something that God has blessed me because I have given thanks to him.

So, I will tell a little story. :) To make an extra long story short with too many details to bore you with, my husband and I finished up our last college credits after we married about six months into our marriage.

We sold our little home, and moved back into a college dorm with no air conditioning. When we did this I was four months pregnant. This was fine at the time. I wasn't overly huge, and the weather was nice. But as the months progressed closer to the summer, and as my belly grew, the heat became uncomfortable. As graduation neared, and temperatures sored into the low to mid 90's it became *very* uncomfortable. The mornings were not too bad, as I was in class where there was air conditioning. :)

However, the afternoons were pretty bad. So I got this wicked idea in my head to ask the Lord to have someone take pity on me, and have them offer me a cool place to stay (like their home) while they were at work. That way, I could do my homework in comfort and relax. My legs were beginning to swell from the heat in the last stages of pregnancy, and it was just plain hot in my dorm. So I prayed, then I hung around in the afternoon hoping someone would ask me how I felt, and I could tell them all my woes, and hopefully they would take pity and offer me a room.

I was pretty disappointed that no one did so. Discouraged, I went up to my hot room. As I was sitting on my bed with only the bare necessities on me, in front of my fans, after I had taken a cold shower; I *decided* that instead of dwelling on the uncomfortable, I could be thankful for what I did have.

So I began to thank the Lord for the cold running water, for in some countries you have to walk a long distance and carry the water. Then I thanked the Lord for the fans that were blowing on me, because I could have no electricity for fans to work!

I fell asleep, and forgot all about my prayer that the Lord would have someone take pity on me. One day, when the heat was especially bad, I stayed in a school building and sat in a comfortable chair, and tried to take a nap.

A teacher walked by and asked how I was doing, and I said fine. She asked me how my feet were (because they were really swollen) and I said that they were fine. Then she asked me if I would like to have a dorm room that had air conditioning. A few students had left during the semester, and there were rooms available. I said Of course! So I went and choose a room that had really cold air.

As I got in that nice and cold room, I realized that I had given God Thanks despite my circumstances, and He probably took pleasure in that. He probably won't do that every time we are in a tough circumstance. After all, there are more problems people face than not having air conditioning. But it showed me that God does care about our comfort and all the "little" things in our lives. I didn't complain about my circumstances, and He blessed me in a way more above than I could think. Instead of staying in someones house and having to leave, I could sleep overnight in a cold room!

So this Thanksgiving remember to give God Thanks for everything, including your tough circumstances. As I have progressed into our marriage, there have been much more "important" things come up, besides having air conditioning. And I must admit that I haven't responded to each situation as I did above. I wish I could say that I have; because it is so freeing when I do!

With that said, I would like to list some things that I am Thankful for.

#1. That Jesus died on the cross and took my sins and placed them on himself. I should of died, but He did instead because He loved me. The only way that I could pay for my own sins is death. I have sinned against a Holy God, and he cannot let me into Heaven because of this sin of mine. His justice wouldn't allow it, even though God is compassionate and does not want me to go to Hell, his perfect justice demanded it. God would not be God. I broke the law, I must pay for my crime.

But God had a plan. He is a loving God. He doesn't want us to go to Hell. Just as much as God is a God of pure justice, He is a God of pure love. So He sent His Son, Jesus Christ (God himself) and placed our sins upon Jesus. Jesus died instead of me. God's Justice was satisfied in behalf of my sin. I do not have to work for my salvation. I do not have to be good enough. All I must do, is agree with God, that I have sinned against Him, and trust that Jesus has made the complete payment for my sin. Jesus has paid for my crime. I don't have to go to Hell! Jesus will credit his righteousness to me if I just believe and bet my eternal soul that that is true! What a wonderful God!!!!!

#2. I am thankful for my husband. Here he and I before we began our courtship at the Christmas banquet at our college.

I was pretty young when I got married. I was two months from turning 20. Marriage is a big decision is life. I was pretty picky about men. My husband was the first one that I "dated", the first one I gave my heart to, and the first one I kissed on our wedding day.

But as I sit and think about our marriage in hinds sight, I am soooooo grateful for such a wonderful husband. He isn't perfect; neither am I. But of all the guys out there that do what they can to "catch" a girl, and then turn out to be crazy lunatics afterwards, I am very blessed indeed! ;)

This Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for him. I am going through a tough time with various issues, and he has been there right beside me. He has been the "strong" one in the family. He listens to me with an understanding heart, and tries to make me feel better by bringing me my favorite flavor of ice cream. :)

God knew what he was doing when I choose this man and allowed me to marry him. My husband has caused me to grow in more ways than I could of imagined. He is my best friend, and I cannot imagine life not being married to him. Being married is tough work for sure! But it is a good work. I love and respect my husband so much!!! Look at what he did for me on his day off.

He cleaned my van from top to bottom! He took the seats out, and vacuumed the floors, he took upholstery cleaner and cleaned the seats. He got all the sticky juice spills out of the cup holders. He worked on the van for about six hours!! If anyone knows my husband well, they know that cleaning isn't one of his specialties; although he has many other great ones.

Yet he did it, and I didn't even ask! When Sweetie saw it she said, "Our van is clean! I have never seen such a clean van in my life! I just can't believe my eyes!" That shows you how bad our van was. I tried to clean it as much as I could, but with three children, it is quite difficult. So anyway, I am thankful for such a wonderful husband!

#3. This will be my last thing I write about what I am thankful for. There is so much more to list, but this entry has gotten way too long. I am thankful for my children. They bring so much into our lives, that I can't begin to write about it here. That was one of the main reasons I started this blog; so I could write about my adventures with them.

I am going to post their baby pictures, because this is how I received them from the Lord; as babies. :)

This is Sweetie I don't have any new born photos on the computer. She was about six or seven months here. This is Bean
Here is Little Tiny Boy.

I told you that today was going to be a little long winded. If you have read this far, be sure to stop by Kelli's and see what other's are writing about Thanksgiving.(If you have the time after reading mine!) Just click on the "Giving Thanks" button at the beginning of my entry. Have a wonderful Day! :)

Works For Me Wednesday~Motivated Moms

I have always been challenged with housekeeping. It isn't that I "can't" clean, but it can get just so overwhelming with three preschool children running around the house. I have tried a lot of things; schedules, Flylady, chore systems, etc. While these things have helped me know the basics of running a household, it wasn't until I found Motivated Moms, that things truly began to look up for me, and I felt in control of things.

What is Motivated Moms? Well, it is a housekeeping list *already* planned out *for* you, for the whole year! I don't have to think. :) I just do what the list says. If I do it, then my house stays clean. And the nice thing about it is, the list isn't overwhelming. It gives you your regular chores that must be done everyday, and then gives you little jobs for that day of the week.

For instance, your chores may be just to clean out one shelf in the refrigerator, clean the bathroom mirrors, and sweep the porch. Those are your only chores on top of your have to be done chores, like washing clothes, dishes, etc.

It comes with a little boxes to check, so you actually feel like you are accomplishing something during your day. And at the end of the day, your house looks reasonably great; that is if you stick to the list.

Another nice feature is that it will include things in there that, people like me would *never* think about cleaning. Like cleaning out the air vents, checking light bulbs, cleaning out behind the refrigerator, cleaning inside of the oven. All of this is done in small little steps, so you don't feel totally overwhelmed with housekeeping.

Motivated Moms is instant gratification, because as soon as you buy it, it downloadable with a pdf. file. The cost is reasonable. Around $7 or $8 I believe. Just think, your house work all planned out for you. All you have to do, is check off those boxes, and you have accomplished something. :)

So Motivated moms works for me!

Click on the Works For Me Wednesday labels for more ideas on things that work for others, and then. Click on the Motivated Mom's link to see a sample, and to order one for your self. :)

More Like Tackle it *ALL* Tuesday :)

There were several projects that I needed to tackle today. I am in the midst of decluttering and rearranging my house. With three children almost 5 and under, this can be *very* challenging.

The First Tackle was the Girls room. Usually I try to make it clean it up *all by themselves* but I did not have time for that today. So I *helped* them out. It took about an hour. Here are some before and after photos:

Before of Room

After Of Room

Before of ClosetAfter Of Closet

The next tackle was to switch my linen closet to underneath the bathroom cabinet. I am doing this because this frees up a lot of shelf space that I can use to stock up on items when they go on sale. The towels I moved to the bathroom, where they will be easier access when I bathe the children. If I happen to forget a towel then it won't be a big deal to go and get one as it is right there. I have other plans for the bathroom for storage, but that will have to wait awhile. For now this arrangement will seem to work.

Before Of Linen Closet

After of Closet

Before of Under The Bathroom Sink

After Of Under Bathroom Sink. I know it doesn't look all that organized, but I am not a picky towel folder. :)

After the closet, under bathroom sink switcharoo, I tackled the hallway. There have been Rubbermaid boxes full of baby clothes sitting in there since last year. Yikes! (blush) Here are some before and after photos:

Before

After

Then the last tackle of the day was finishing up laundry. Whoa, it was pretty bad. I had four *huge* loads to fold and put away. That task took me about an hour maybe a bit longer. Here are some photos of that.
Before
Laundry Folded
Laundry nicely put away! :)

For More Tackel It Tuesday Ideas visit 5 Minutes For Mom

Planting a "Garden"

Last weekend we all loaded up in the car and went to Wal-Mart to buy some potted flowers to spruce up the flower bed under our front window. Since we have moved in, I haven't done a thing with it. The builders put some kind of evergreen bush in it, and it was just kind of "blah". Daddy kindly dug those things out for us, then the girls and I "cultivated the land" and planted some flowers there.
It doesn't look like a professional landscaping job, but it looks a lot nicer than the weedy evergreen bushes we had in there.
Sweetie is always trying to "plant" a garden. She frequently comes up to me and asks for a carrot so she can "plant" it and make a garden. I give her a carrot sometimes, but obviously her garden doesn't grow much. This planting was especially fun for her, although the fun wore off after a couple of hours of gardening. We had a lot of weeds to remove and dirt to break up.
In the process off "cultivating" we found all sorts of spiders, crickets, and little tiny centipedes (or millipedes I don't know how to tell the difference).
The girls found the bugs interesting. Although Bean used to have fits over bugs, she has kind of warmed up to them now.
I was pointing out the spiders and said, "Hey look it is Charlotte!" Sweetie then squatted down and said, "Salutations!" to the spider. Daddy then asked her what salutations meant. Sweetie said, "It is my fancy way of saying Hello!"
My mom bought the girls the original version of Charlotte's Web and as you noticed, Sweetie has pretty near memorized it! She has "only" watched it about 10 times too. : )

Bean is trying to decide where all these flowers are going to go!

I think Sweetie is kind of caught off guard here by the camera

Hard at work!

Tiny Boy watching everything going on from his perch

A Couple of Mistakes Turned Out a Great Dish

Ok, I know what some of you are thinking; "YUCK!". Alot of people don't appreciate my taste for fine gormet foods. :)

This was supposed to be Black Beans and Rice with Italian Susage.

When I went to get the ingredients out, somethings were not according to my plan. My plan, was to cook the black beans and susage in Chicken Broth. When I poured the Chicken Broth into the crockpot, I noticed funny little chunks in it. I looked at the label of the can, and noticed that it was preseasoned with Garlic. "Ok" I thought. "Not a problem, it should be fine with Italian susage. I was going to put garlic in there anyway, this just saves me a step." When I got the susage out, I noticed that I did not buy Italian susage, but "lime" something susage. I am not an expert cook, but I thought combining Lime, and garlic sounded funny. I had not other choice but to continue cooking, because I had no other options for supper. So, I decided at this point, I couldn't do much to make it worse, and I added Italian seasoning to it. After it cooked all day long in the crock pot, I made some brown rice, and broccoli. I topped the rice with the black bean mixture, and sprinkled a mexican four cheese mix on top of it. I must say it was pretty good. Even Bean, my MOST picky eater, ate it!