A Home Story at the MercyINK Blog

Today I'm guest posting at the MercyINK blog. Lauren asked me if I'd share some of my thoughts for her Home Stories series. Here's a tiny piece of what I had to say...

To me, “home” describes the place where I feel loved and accepted. It’s a place of comfort and encouragement…a place I can be myself without fear or rejection. This is what I want to give my family as well. I’ve found that the feeling of home is much more important than the look of the physical house.

Visit MercyINK to read the rest of my thoughts...and please say "hi" to Lauren while you're there.

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Happy Birthday, Emahry!

Emahry,

You make me; dance silly in the living room, listen more, work on breaking bad habits.

You make me; madder than a hornet, lean on grace hard, wish little girls didn’t grow up so fast.

You make me; comb long locks of gold, pray more fervently, judge dresses by their ability to spin.

You make me; view the world with wonder, smile more, want to be a better example.

You make me; seek the Word for wisdom, look for purple, sip from tiny teacups.

You make me; read more, see every moment as learning, thankful.

You make me: a mama.

Happy 5th birthday, Emahry Joy!

 

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My Life–Let’s Break it Down

Many days my life seems slightly chaotic as I juggle all the demands of my very busy schedule. I’ve read that the mothers of little boys work from son up to son down. Oh, how true! Then you throw three little girls into the mix as a mother hen, an independent child, and a baby not quite 6 months old and you’ve got yourself a regular circus on some days.

I’ve found that the only way I get anything really accomplished, as opposed to simply putting out fires all day, is by establishing priorities and setting realistic goals.


This year I’ve found that setting yearly and even weekly goals has been such a wonderful exercise for me.

Without the framework of goals I often feel like I’m spinning my wheels; At the end of the day I’m exhausted but have very little to show for it.

I find it helpful to set goals as they relate to the various aspects of my life. While there are many more—housekeeper, cook, laundry lady, homeschool mom, crafter, and wannabe tree hugger—I’ve decided just to focus on the top three for today.

Having clear goals makes it easier to make and stick to my daily schedule.

So, let’s break it down, shall we?

Child of God
This is the biggest part of who I am. In fact, without this, you really don’t have me. This year I’m striving to spend more time in God’s word, the Bible. I’m also striving to make what I read applicable to my life and then—the hardest part—live it out!

Wife
Let’s just say it, being married is a big deal! Every decision you make can directly impact the person you love the most, but all this loving doesn’t always come naturally. With busy lives and demanding schedules it is so important that spouses capture the little moments and take time to reconnect.

If I don’t schedule these in they easily get crowded out by the mundane, daily tasks. So, I write them on my schedule, because I’d really hate to tell my husband that I can’t kiss him because I have to finish the laundry!

Mom
Mother, maid, nurse, cheerleader, counselor, referee—whatever you call it, it’s hard work. In our family there are four precious little ones all under the age of 5. Yes, I know, it’s a little crazy, but it definitely is helping to break down my selfish nature.


As a stay-at-home mom, my days are filled with the delights of being a mama, but they are also packed with dirty diapers, temper-tantrum (mine and theirs), messy faces, messy floors, messy clothing. Okay, just a whole lot of messy!

But, I know that even more important than feeding and clothing their little bodies is for me, their mama, to feed and clothe them with God’s love. Not that my kids are starving (no one who knows our kids would ever accuse them of not eating) or running around the neighborhood naked (although an occasional streaker might be spotted at home), but their hearts are what I’m striving to focus on.

Do they love Jesus, are they kind to their siblings, are they concerned about those who have less than they do, are they learning gratitude—am I turning their little hearts toward God, and not being a huge stumbling block of hypocrisy along the way.

So, what are the top priorities in your life? How do you make sure that they get the time and focus they deserve?

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Endless Gifts

 

# 424. Amelia’s sweet laugh.

 

# 425. Castle building.

# 426. Perfecting a soaked whole wheat bread recipe.

 

# 427. PJ snuggles.

# 428. Receiving our set of What’s in the Bible? DVDs in the mail.

 

# 429. Watching Lassie reruns on hulu.

 

# 430. Jonathan’s improvement in color recognition.

# 431. Being excited with Emahry as she read her first Bob Book.

 

 

Today's Question: What is one thing you are thankful for today?

 

Will Also be Contributed To: Gratituesday, intentional gratitude Works for Me!, Things I Love Thursday, Finer Things Friday

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Tri-Moms: Romancing Your Husband

Let’s just say it…married life can be tough. It’s easy to forget about romance when you’re up at all hours with babies and small children or when jobs are demanding or the budget is tight.  But, other than your relationship with God, your relationship with your husband is the most important one of your life. Nurture it.

source: Money Saving Mom via me on Pinterest

 If you allow life to crowd out time for your husband, one day you may find that you are living with a complete stranger. Grow together. Live life as one.  While I thinks it’s wonderful to be able to go on periodic dates with my husband, I know that those dates can’t be the only times we connect. 

It’s important to look for small ways to let him know he’s still the one I’d choose all over again.

source: ExLibrisJournals via Etsy

1. write him love letters2. call him in the middle of the day just to tell him you love him3. leave his favorite snack on the front seat of his car4. next time you get out of the shower, write “I love you” in the foggy mirror (after he takes a shower it will show up again)

source: Mama’s Musings

5. read through The Five Love Languages together to find out what speaks to your husband’s heart6. get out of your sweats even if he’s the only adult you’ll see all day7. listen when he talks (actually put down what you’re doing and look at him)8. meet him at the door with a smile not a list of what went wrong all day9. praise him in public10. pray for him (and with him)11. hold his hand

source: Poppies at Play via Kidlet Occupation on Pinterest

12. make his favorite meals13. pull the nighties out of the back of the closet ( he probably won’t even notice if they fit a bit tighter than they used to)14. catch him at least once a day for a real kiss (longer than 5 seconds)15. listen to his dreams or better yet have your own dreamstorming session16. don’t expect him to do your job17. go to bed at the same time18. receive his compliments with gratitude (no disagreeing when he says you’re beautiful)19. thank him for the little things 20. let him sleep in21. forgive quickly and don’t give the silent treatment22. dance together (in front of the kids is great, too)23. be interested and get involved in his hobbies (but don’t take over)24. make a choice to not let his habits irritate you (I know if he was gone, I’d miss picking up his socks every day)25. sit next to him or on his lap
For even more great ideas check out my Loving Your Husband board on Pinterest.

Today's Questions: What is one simple way you let your husband know he is still the love of your life? What ideas from the list above would you like to try?

Please visit my fellow Tri-Moms, Kristin @ Bits & Pieces from my Life and Christy @ A Living Homeschool for more on romancing your husband.

There's also still time to enter the great giveaways from last week’s Share the Love event:

Crochet Patterns from Knot Sew Cute Etsy Shop (3 Winners)

Mornings With Jesus 2012 Devotional

A is For Abigail by Lynne Cheney

Don't Make Me Come Up There by blogger Kristen Welch (2 Winners)

Speak by Laurie H. Anderson

American Family of the Colonial Era Paper Dolls

Up next:

March 6: Celebrating Spring

Coming Soon:

March 20:  Gardening with Kids

April 3: Celebrating the Meaning of Easter

April 17: Spring Cleaning

May 1: Reflecting on the Past School Year

May 15: Summer Learning Plans

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Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

::  The 5 Grossest Things You’re Eating (grain products, shrimp, salad dressing, jelly beans, and canned mushrooms) @ Yahoo! Health

:: Homemade All Natural Laundry Stain Remover @ Simple Organic

 

:: 15 Natural Solutions for Kid Messes @ Simple Organic

"Pin"spiration

(Need an invitation? Leave a comment with your email address and we'll send you an invite.)

:: I love this pantry. I think an inexpensive version could be made by salvaging the wasted space between wall studs.

source: via Andrea Dekker on Pinterest

:: I love easy chicken marinades. We really like this Asian marinade.

source: Life as Mom via me on Pinterest

:: We’ll be adding this shape journaling to our shape activities drawer. 

source: Kindergarten…Kindergarten via Amy Schol Ward on Pinterest

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

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Weekend Links

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: To Young Moms @ Thinking About Home

:: What You're Trying to Tell Him When You're Angry {5 Ways to Fight Through to a Loving Marriage} @ (in)courage
"Pin"spiration

(Need an invitation? Leave a comment with your email address and we'll send you an invite.)

:: I love this idea for a kids' table.

source: Style with Cents via April Noah on Pinterest

:: These fun photo bookmarks would make wonderful gifts from the little ones.

source: Ucreate with Kids via Jessica Fisher on Pinterest

:: I can't wait to try Donielle's recipe for this Coconut Milk Steamer.

source: Naturally Knocked Up via Donielle on Pinterest

linking up at Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles

Today's Question: What good reads or great ideas have you come across this week? Please share a link in your comment.

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Weekly Goals

I fell behind in a couple areas last week. I also realized that some of my goals were a little unrealistic so I've cut back on a few this week. Overall, I'm happy with my progress and hope to keep chugging away at my 2012 goals this coming week.

Last Week's Goals

Spiritual
1. spend time in God's word daily (Matthew 8-14) 
2. complete Chapter 2 days 1-3 of Lies Women Believe workbook
3. choose the 12 passages I want to commit to memory this year I have decided that 4 longer passages would be more reasonable, I have chosen them and will be working on the first selection for the next couple of months
4. pray specifically for my husband and each of our children daily
Marriage/Mothering/Homeschooling
5. pack Tim's lunch each evening I didn't get these packed the evening before, but I did get them packed in the morning
6. refocus on using the red light to get up from naps (ongoing)
7. train Emahry to have quiet time after she wakes up from her nap (ongoing)
8. take the time to let the kids help with household duties (ongoing)
9. complete Funnix Reading Lessons 10-11 and Math Lessons 6-9 I complete fell behind with these this week, we only finished Reading lesson 10 and Math lesson 6
10. have Bible time after breakfast each morning Monday-Friday (ongoing)
11. send cards from the kids to their great-grandma and great uncle and aunt I need to double check my uncle and aunt's address
Personal
11. get dressed each morning
12. do 3 days of The 30 Day Shred I only did 2 this week
13. write in my 10 Year Journal every day
14. take pictures of Amelia's quilt to send to my aunt
Home Management
15. follow & check off my to do list every day
16. clean the downstairs on Friday and the upstairs on Saturday
17. plan meals for the week
Blogging
18. recently more things have been added to our schedule so I'll be cutting back on blogging to make time for more important things I cut down on computer time in general and was more focused

This Weeks Goals

Spiritual
1. spend time in God's word daily (Matthew 14-20)
2. complete Chapter 2 days 4-5 of Lies Women Believe workbook
3. pray specifically for my husband and each of our children daily

Marriage/Mothering/Homeschooling
4. pack Tim's lunch every day
5. continue to focus on using the red light to get up from naps
6. train Emahry to have quiet time after she wakes up from her nap
7. take the time to let the kids help with household duties
8. complete Funnix Reading Lessons 11-12 and Math Lessons 7-8
9. have Bible time after breakfast each morning Monday-Friday
10. send cards from the kids to their great uncle and aunt

Personal
11. get dressed each morning
12. do 3 days of The 30 Day Shred
13. write in my 10 Year Journal every day
14. take pictures of Amelia's quilt to send to my aunt

Home Management
14. follow and check off my to do list every day
15. clean the downstairs on Friday and the upstairs on Saturday
16. plan meals for the week

Blogging
17. write and schedule 3 posts

Today's Question: What three things would you most like to accomplish this week?

Visit Money Saving Mom for more weekly goal setting encouragement.

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Tri-Moms: The Winter Blahs

Do you find your spirits dropping along with the temperature outside? Well, you're in luck. Today the Tri-Moms are discussing ways to beat the winter blahs.
While every season brings it's own share of joys and struggles, winter can be a difficult time, especially when families find themselves stuck indoors for long periods of time.
Here are some ways our family is beating the winter blahs:
:: We're enjoying new toys and books. After Christmas we put several of the new things away. We've been pulling out something new every few days to keep the little ones from boredom. We also rotate through our other toys and books so there is always something "new" tucked away for rediscovering.
:: We're making more trips to the library. This keeps our bookshelves changing and keeps reading fresh for the long winter months.
:: We bundle up and go outside. Yes, even if it's just for 15 minutes, the fresh air and sunshine help everyone feel a little better.
:: We've been enjoying more craft time. The kids received some crafty items for Christmas, so we've been spending a little more time crafting. I've also finally come to terms with the fact that stickers are made to be used up, so Emahry and Jonathan have been having a blast with the piles of stickers in our sticker bin.

:: We also spend time visiting with friends and family. The change of pace, scenery, and company is a great way to help beat the boredom at home. This past Saturday, the little ones and I spent a couple of morning hours at a new friend's home playing and getting to know one another. The kids loved the time playing and I enjoyed the time spent talking to another mommy of little ones.
:: We've also been spending a little more time baking in the kitchen. While this has been a lot of fun, I definitely need to find ways to warm up in the kitchen without making so many tempting treats.  How do you beat the winter blahs? 

Please visit my fellow Tri-Moms, Kristin @ Bits & Pieces from my Life and Christy @ A Living Homeschool for more ideas for beating the Winter Blahs



Up next: February 7: Frugal Date Ideas

Winter Schedule of Topics

February 21: Romancing Your Husband

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Goals for 2012

source

This year I will:

1. Grow in my relationship with the Lord

2. Focus on nurturing a loving relationship with my husband.
3. Continue to grow as a mom and homeschool mom.
4. Challenge myself to become a better woman and homemaker.
5. Be a good steward of our finances.
6. Find ways to minister to those around me.
7. Grow our blog and enjoy it. 

Goals for 2012

Now this may seem like a lot, but many of these are things I'm already doing that I simply want to continue and the things that are new will not all be attempted at once.

Grow in my relationship with the Lord.
- spend time in God's word daily (After reading Kristin's suggestion, I'll be reading through one chapter of the New Testament each day.)
- choose and commit 12 passages to memory (one each month)
- pray specifically for my husband and each of our children daily
- work through at least two topical Bible studies within a Ladies Bible Study group (here's the first)
- partner with Tim in strengthening a small group within our local body

Nurturing a loving relationship with my husband
- focus on the things that are important to him
- find ways to encourage him (tidy house, notes, spoken words)
- find ways I can make his life easier (let him sleep in, pack his lunches, having all of the chores finished before he gets home) 
- make meaningful conversations a priority
- plan at least one date night each month

Continue to grow as a mom and homeschooler

- focus on lovingly training our children to obey with happy hearts

- be more consistent with our daily Bible time right after breakfast

- memorize Psalm 23 together (mainly Emahry, 4 1/2 years old)

- continue to encourage books, art, music, physical activity, and creative play over media

- continue to train the kids to participate in cleaning and other chores

- assign each child (other than the baby) specific daily chores

- finish preschool with Emahry and begin Kindergarten

- begin preschool with Jonathan

- continue to plan out our workboxes 2 weeks in advance 

- choose and finish at least 6 (chapter book) read-alouds

Challenge myself to become a better woman and homemaker

- get dressed first thing in the morning
- organize our home (continue to purge and simplify our possessions)
- get back on track with The 30 Day Shred

- stick to a weekly cleaning schedule

- make our town house homey (tidy, comfortable, and inviting)

- move from weekly menu planning to planning for two weeks at a time
- take at least 20 photos each week (not necessarily of the kids, but I wasn't sure where this fit best)
- get back on track with my 10 year journal

Be a good steward of our finances  
- continue to stick to a bare bones grocery budget
- help Tim plan our 2012 garden (and make time to help him occasionally, too)
- continue to use Swagbucks to earn Amazon gift cards for household purchases
- find creative ways to stretch our monthly date money to get more bang for our buck
- plan and make gifts for next Christmas
- look for ways to repurpose items we already own or ones we can get for very inexpensively
- preserve as much produce as the garden will allow

Find ways to minister to those around me
- practice hospitality (it's so easy for me to make excuses because our home is very small and not really ideal for visitors)
- bake a small loaf of bread for an elderly friend at least once a month
- send Tim's Grandma at least one card each month
- send a card from the kids to one set of grandparents (plus a great uncle & aunt) each month (they'll each get three throughout the year)

Grow our blog and enjoy it
- plan blog posts at least a month in advance
- write and schedule posts at least a week in advance
- begin the process of migrating to a self-hosted WordPress blog with our own domain (eek!)
- choose and write at least three blog series
- finish the rest of the letter printable packs and offer them through our blog
- get back on track and stick to a weekly blogging plan (more on that soon)
- look for ways to let our blog help us meet our financial goals

What are your goals for 2012? If you've blogged about your goals, please leave a link in your comment.

Visit Money Saving Mom for more goal setting encouragement.

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Tri-Moms: Time Management for Busy Moms

Disclaimer: This is a topic I struggle with a lot, so I'm writing this post as much for myself as anyone else.
Today, the Tri-Moms are discussing Time Management for Busy Moms. After the busyness of the past month and with resolutions in the forefront of our thoughts, I'm sure many of us are ready to be whipped into shape in the area of time management.
Since we're talking about time management, I'm going to do my best to make this short and sweet. 
I have found that time management is all about priorities. If something is a priority to me I typically find a way to get it done. So, making sure I have my priorities in the right order is absolutely essential. I can want to be organized with my time all want, but until I allow Christ to transform my priorities to his own, I will continue to struggle with time management and having time for the things that are most important.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."        ~Romans 12:1-2 (emphasis added)

My biggest struggle with managing my time as the keeper of our home is with cleaning. I do.not.enjoy.cleaning. There, I said it. I love to purge and organize, but the daily cleaning is very low on my list of things I like. Not that our house is a complete pig sty, but I'd much rather bake, or sew, or read books to the kids, or (I might as well be completely honest) read blogs, or wade through Pinterest. 

Somehow I began my journey of being a keeper of our home with the gross misconception that I would always have time for the creative aspects of taking care of a home and being a mom and that there would actually be very little that I didn't enjoy.

However, with four little ones at home all day, the time for my creative ventures is next to nothing and the time I'm left cleaning and tidying, and teaching the kiddos to do the same is a huge chunk of my waking hours.
So how do I do it?
Again, I'm still working through this, but I know that my mind needs to be transformed so that I see this part of my job as important, because if I see it as important I'll use my creativity do finish this job as well. If I know it's important I'll take pride in a home well organized and clean, just as I would take pride in a scarf finely knitted or a batch of bread finely baked, or a blog post finely written.
When something is important we want to do it well!
Because, what good I'm a doing my children if they can paint a beautiful painting but struggle with keeping their clothes off the floor and their bathroom clean. Let's just face it, no one wants to live in a dirty, disorganized home. They may say they don't care, but no one wants to search through the dirty clothes to find the shirt they need for work or eat dinner off of a table that is covered in week old crumbs. 
Do you want some practical advice? Well, I could tell you how making lists in the evening help me be prepared to make good choices the following day. And how breaking my day into tasks to be completed before each meal helps me stay on track. I could also tell you how reflecting on the day with my husband helps to make sure that my priorities are in line. 
But the most important thing I am finding in order to manage my time well is to make sure I make at least 15 minutes to spend in God's word everyday.
That's right, my time management strategies is to add in something else that takes time. My mom always says that when you spend time with God he seems to increase the amount of hours in the day, and I think she's right. When I spend time with God, I allow him to slowly transform my thoughts and make them more like his own. This means that my days will focus more on what is important to God and I won't even miss the other things because God's priorities will be my priorities as well.
Want some more practical help with time management? I've found these resources to be very helpful. (Disclosure: The following two ebooks are affiliate links, so we receive a percentage of each sale made, at no cost to you, of course.)
One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler. A great way to downsize what you actually need to spend time doing. Written to be completed in small easy to do tasks, in any order, and at your own pace, this ebook is very easy to customize to your life. You can also enter to win a copy here.

Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Fulfilled. This e-book walks you through setting priorities and developing a time budget. Much like a money budget, a time budget will help you know where your time is going and will even allow you to create margin time for the unexpected things that happen daily in a home with young children.
And if you're a blogger I would highly recommend Blogger Behave: Make your blog benefit your life so you can love both! This is a wonderful resource to help you keep your blogging life in check and keep it from taking over your real life. I'm half way through reading it I absolutely love everything I've read so far! 
Do you struggle with time management, too? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Please visit my fellow Tri-Moms, Kristin @ Bits & Pieces from my Life and Christy @ A Living Homeschool for more ideas on managing your time as a wife and mom.



Up next: January 17: The Winter Blahs

Winter Schedule of Topics

February 7: Frugal Date Ideas

February 21: Romancing Your Husband

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Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~