It has been so very cold here.  Just the perfect weather for snow, if only it would.  Early in the weekend we were down to two degrees.  Brrrr.  Thus I did not get out into the garage all weekend as I would have liked.  However, I did get some C&C cleaning up done.

I have a corner in my bedroom (don't we all) where my totes and boxes of sewing stuffs reside.  I have, with God's help, emptied a tote and two boxes from that corner.  It feels so good to see it shrink.  I have also determined to use fabric I have rather than buying for sewing projects.  In fact, I am making a blanket for my nephew.  I wanted to try a flannel rag quilt, but didn't have enough flannel of colors and patterns I had in mind.  I was about to go buy some, when I remembered some cute dinosaur fabric I bought for my son, a few years ago, that he decided he was to big for.  So now, I have a cute blanket under construction and with some scraps of lining material (used previously for Easter vests for my son) to make triangles for a boarder.

Yesterday I did go out into the garage for an hour or so.  Brought in three boxes and whittled them down to one - which is full of things that have a place to go.

I love seeing my keep piles growing smaller and the get rid of pile growing larger!  It feels very good, very liberating.  My sister recently informed me of a family whose home burned to the ground.  I have SO much stuff that will be of help and use to them and it is already in boxes for transport!  Praise the LORD, He made a place for this already!  He is so good!

"Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable to the Lord." 

Ephesians 5:8b-10 (NKJV)

Satan really likes to get at us when we have set our minds to do a thing.  I have been fighting coming down with a cold for a few days, and today it really hit me.  However, I would not be moved!  Rather than going out into the fridged garage to continue cleaning out boxes there, I tackled the Christmas stuff today.

I did manage to fill up one box of things to part with.  Unfortunately, that did not diminish the capacity of Christmas storage needed.  In fact, my dear love brought home two more totes to put stuff in!  UGH!  I really tried.  I don't think I failed, however, because I did fill up a box to get rid of and identified some items to "recycle" next year.  I also boxed a few special ornaments for my three blessings as their own special ornaments that they will inherit someday.  (I decided to do this because while sorting through the multipicity of ornaments I have amassed, I thought, "How will my children ever know which is their special ones if I were not here to tell them?")

Yesterday I also filled a box with magazines to get rid of.  I sorted all my other magazines into seasons (Spring & Summer, Fall & Winter) to make accessing these easier during the appropriate time of year.  Again, the number of boxes did not decrease, which I can't figure out why not, but I do have less than I started with.  This also brings up a good point I read somewhere (maybe at Dandelion Seeds) that we should really evaluate our magazine subscriptions.  Keep those we truly value and cancel the clutter -- including merchandise catalogs!  owwww!  That's rough.

Has anyone else started their own battle with the evil twin "C"s yet?  Leave me a note and let me know how it is going for you.  Sometime this next week I am going to share some insight and thoughs from an article I found (in one of my older magazines) about contentment.  Stay tuned.

God Bless your labors.

Greetings in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.  I want to wish you all a blessed and joyful 2007. 

I generally don't make New Year resolutions, however, this year, at the close of the Christmas celebration, I found myself face to face with Change.  It seems that this elusive, yet ever moving body planted itself right in my path, determined to be dealt with face to face.  You see, I don't do change well, at least the obvious kind of change.  (That is such an ironic statement from someone who has moved eight times in six states since marrying 18 years ago.)

The changes I must face this year, the ones I know of anyway, are not insurmountable, but they are changes nonetheless.  The largest and most looming is that of Clutter and Chaos; those twin evils that haunt and lurk in most homes.  I met them as I packed my Christmas decorations and supplies.  I had only a handful of new things, yet I could not get everything back in the boxes from which they came!  It was then I determined to fight this beast and unshackle myself from the things I have.  "Be careful that the things you possess don't end up possessing you" is a warning that I have not heeded well. 

So, I have begun and resolved to have no mercy upon the twin evils of Clutter and Chaos.  I began in the garage.  That has a story of its own, but I will say this, we have not yet unpacked all the boxes since our last move, to Idaho, a little over a year ago.  {sigh}  It is a confession usually accompanied with a strained laugh, and responded to with some sympathy from others.  But I do not confess to you this for such pity.  I am shamed that I have so much stuff (some of which has not been unpacked since we moved from Florida to Washington, from there to Idaho, TWO years ago!  Enough is enough! 

I have emptied, so far, six boxes of stuff; lots of trash, and some going into other boxes for a garage sale or charity.  It is a liberating feeling!   As soon as I finish typing this entry and I bundling up to go back out and tackle some more boxes (it is about 20° out this morning).

I really think that once I battle with Clutter and Chaos, then I will be able to embrace Organization whole-heartedly in this New Year.  I know my friend, Dandelion Seeds, is making January the month to declutter in prepartion for another Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge  in the spring.  Visit her blogs and join in.

God bless you all in the changes that you face in 2007.

Yesterday it began to snow.  Not the frantic, fluffy stuff, but sort of a drizzle, only in snow.  Off and on it went for the afternoon.  My littlest kept asking to put on the snowboots and suit to go play.  So very cute, only by evening the grass was not even covered up.

However, we woke this morning to about four inches of fluffy snow.  It was so beautiful; blue sky, the proper amount of chill in the air, and new insulated snow boots for everyone, including Mommy!  :O)  The night before we strung real cranberries on fishing line; so we took that out and looped it on the tree with the bird feeders.  I don't know that the birds really went for the berries though.  We have been seeing mostly House Finches this month. 

Since my last post, we have not slowed down much at all.  Thanksgiving found a total of 14 crowded warmly in our home and some wonderful fellowship and praises of Thanksgiving to God above filling the nooks and cranies.  The dance "recital" was wonderful!  There was over 400 tickets sold and everyone danced great.

My first month of Irish step dance lessons went well.  I have discovered how uncoordinated and aerobically challenged I am, and it is worse than I thought.  :O)  But, I am learning and my children, who have been dancing a year now, are trying to bring me up to speed (their speed) as kindly as they know how.  They don't even laugh at me, bless their hearts!

Thank you for stopping by this year.  Please do come back and visit again.  Leave a comment so I might be able to stop by and visit you as well.  Merry Christmas to all and a blessed, peaceful New Year!

:O)amy

The leaves have been blown from the trees already and the winter rains have begun to fall regularly again.  Oh, it is soooo cold.  How could I forget how cold it was last year?  The foothills have put on their winter shawls, gently dusted white by the new snow.

October was very busy for us in the ways of traveling.  We finished traveling around the south-eastern counties of Idaho getting stamps for our "passports."  Then we turned northward and finished 12 counties in the panhandle.  What a wonderful trip that was; my first time north of Boise.  We then hand-delivered our "passports" to the Governor's office, to which we were treated to meeting Governor Risch.

We celebrated our 18th anniversary in Couer d'Alene.  While there my eldest daughter and I attended the Mother-Daughter Tea sponsored by Christian Heritage Home Educators.  What a wonderful weekend it all was!

This past weekend I celebrated my birthday and my children and dear husband gave me a pair of Irish ghillies for taking Irish step dance lessons, with two of my children.  They all have much more confidence in me and my abilities than I do, for I am quite nervous about the whole affair.  When I expressed my gratitude, oh how eager and excited they are for me, I also mentioned I probably wouldn't perform (as our school is a performance school, not a competition school) but only enjoy learning, my dear children exclaimed, "No, Mommy!  You have to perform, we want you to perform.  We want to show you off!"  What a blessed woman I am!  So come December, you will dance with me.

We now are planning to host 16 for Thanksgiving and participate in a holiday recital at the Nampa Civic Center, as well as three other performances before the recital.  The children are thrilled.  I am thankful we homeschool so we can enjoy these activities to the fullest.  I am ready, however, to hibernate.  Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it SNOW!

Wow!  I can't believe that summer is really coming to a close.  It is a bit darker in the mornings when I wake.  Yes, the sun is sinking behind the neighbor's house a little earlier in the evenings.  But my flowers still bloom, the garden still produces yummies, and the weather feels just right.

Yet, I know it can't be helped.  I do love fall.  It is a transition season that brings hints of what may be and rest from all the things that make us so busy during the summer.  I am ready for that rest.  I hope for a really good winter, one that will force me to stay indoors more in order to finish all those half-finished projects and start a few that have been stewing in my mind all summer.  I also want lots of snow!  After all, that is one reason why we moved back to Idaho.

For us, the end of summer is usually marked by an End of Summer Ice Cream Social (that is the title of our event).  We the tradition when we lived in Florida.  They have always been so much fun.  This year was no different.  Last night we had 66 friends and neighbors in our backyard enjoying ice cream and one another. 

As I buzzed about keeping the ice cream toppings filled and making sure everyone had something to drink, I surveyed the scene with contentment.  The children played various games with gusto.  The adults sat on blankets or chairs or stood in small groups engaged in lively conversation. 

Four and a half gallons of ice cream later, the sun began to sink low and slowly little knots of families began to pack up.  Everyone left with a small token of thanks from us, a hug, and with a smile on their faces.  It took me a few hours last night to get sleepy, and when I woke this morning it was with a feeling of remembered pleasure (and a little sugar hangover too).  I can't wait until summer ends next year.

I just wanted to write a brief note about our past five days.  Our entire family went on a camping/geology field trip with FIGI.  This trip had about a dozen families in attendance.  My husband and son went on a previous trip together.  My husband was so excited when he came home that he signed us up for the next trip right away!

On this trip, we met and camped at the City of Rocks in southern Idaho.  As we were setting up camp a huge thunder storm hit.  It was pretty exciting, except the tent wasn't fully staked and our three-year old was crying because of the thunder.  After that we ate and started to follow a trail near our campsite.  Ten minutes into the walk my eldest daughter started to run, tripped and fell.  Her hand landed on a cactus!  Owww!  Needless to say, we didn't go any farther.

But, to the good stuff.  The next morning we caravanned down the road to an unmarked rock called Registar Rock.  Pioneers on the California trail stopped here to write their names on the rock with a mixture of axle grease and soot.  It is unmarked to prevent vandalism.  From that rock our guide, Mr. Brent Carter, a former geologist for the USGS, turned and said, "Now we are going to the top of that hill" (which was across the road in the opposite direction).  To get there, we cut through barbed wire and then bushwacked up the hill (avoiding cacti).  He took us to an abandoned mica mine and told how mica was mined during WWII for us in electronics.  Then we went uphill further and around the other side to see a "vog" (several deposits of mica and quartz). 

From this hill we looked down upon a rock formation and Mr. Carter directed us to assembly at that place.  It was a lot farther than it looked and we still had to watch for cacti.  This particular rock formation looked as if it had been scooped out all around the front of it.  Mr. Carter discussed what evolutionists would say took place and then he discussed how the features of this rock didn't support that idea, and went on to describe how a great amount of water would have done the job (i.e. Noah's flood).

We then bushwacked our way back to the road and our cars, returned to camp for lunch.  Immediately following lunch we headed out again to another much larger rock structure:  the Twin Sisters (this link will have pictures of Registar Rock and at the end one of Twin Sisters).  We parked near a campsite and began a trek up the steep valley between these two mammoth rocks.  Again, there was no trail and it was very steep, but we all made it.  We stopped about halfway up the crevice to again discuss the evolutionary take on the formation of these two rocks (one being dated several "million" years older than the other.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence to support the collision that would have had to take place.  There is virtually no seam between these two rocks (of different compositions) indicating no collision or active contact between the two "Sisters".

Once all were safely down the mountainside, we headed out to a rock quarry some distance from our camp (about 15 miles from Oakley, ID).  They excavate quartzite, which has thin layers of mica between layers of quartzite.  Using just a stone chisel and hammer the men split the quartzite layers apart to be sorted by size and shipped out for use in decorative landscaping or building.  These are huge rocks they start with (some taller than 5 feet with a thickness of up to 2 feet)! 

We headed home for dinner and fellowship.  The next part of the trip will come from descriptions from my husband and two elder children.  The toddler and I went back to Grandma's house to get a real shower and sleep in a real bed.  Stay tuned!

A - Accent: American
B - Breakfast Item: generally just juice
C - Chore you hate: cleaning the bathroom
D - Dad's Name: Homer

E - Essential everyday item: hair scrunchy

F - Flavor ice cream: Almond Amaretto
G - Gold or Silver?: White Gold

H - Happy Place: Sitting on the couch (watching birds, reading, storytime with children)
I - Insomnia: not often
J - Job - wife and mother (would not change it for the world)
K - Kids: yes (3)
L - Living arrangements: Two story house in new sub-development
M - Mom's birthplace: Nebraska

N - Number of houses you've lived in: 3 apartments, 6 houses (since being married)
O - Overnight hospital stays: 4
P - Phobia: being buried alive
Q - Question: Why would a Christian disbelieve Genesis 1 as literal?
R - Religious Affiliation: church of Christ.
S - Siblings: one sister and one brother
T - Time you wake up: 7:30 a.m.
U - Unnatural hair colors you've had: Red
V - Vegetable you refuse to eat: I am trying to expand my horizons in this area.
W - Worst habit: Biting my nails
X - X-rays you've had: Dental, spinal and MRI on shoulder

Y - Yummy: Strawberry cheesecake
Z - Zealous about?: God and family

Thanks to Tootle for the inspiration! 

Today is the start of our summer schedule.  We homeschool year round because we take so much "time off" to travel places visiting family or keeping my husband company when he has to go out of town for work.  We take some school work along on these trips, but they generally become field trips for us.

During the summer we work on finishing workbooks and catching up on subjects that were generally neglected during the course of the year.  It really is nice and it keeps us in the habit of school.  Most of the time it is a half day of "school". 

 This year we will getting into our habit of weekly trips to the library; alternating between two libraries this year.  We also take a morning to go to the movies.  (Regal Cinemas have a free summer movie series.)  This year I am adding a morning walk to our routine (good for mommy and getting the wiggles out).  We are also going to use Usborne Books at Home Ten Terrific Weeks program "Adventures Around the World" for a fun geography study.

I am also going to train my children and implement Manager's of Their Chores.  We have been needing a real system to get everyone moving and on track for some time now.  I read through the book about a month ago and can see that it will be very good for us.  My daughter, who is ten, is more than capable of being my right arm, but has not been trained to do so.  Maybe as I do this then I could also organize myself with the Managers of Their Homes scheduling process as well.

Oh, don't forget that there is another Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge.  It started July 2.  Visit the CHCHC blog to get started.  I won't be participating right now, but will wait until we break in August from school to prepare for starting up in September. 

Enjoy your summer!  Renew, Refresh, Regroup!

blessings,

amy:O)

This is for any of you fellow Idaho homeschoolers.  If you can make tomorrow (6/14) to the Capitol steps for a Support Your Troops rally -- then be there!  This is an event organized by teens.  I believe they are nation-wide, so check to see if a rally is happening in your state!  Operation Completion

Last week I went with a sister in Christ to a seminar called PureWives.  The speaker was Morna Gilbert; she was amazing.  The seminar preceeds a two-day seminar for husbands/men called PureVictory.  It deals with the troublesome and consuming sin of pornography.

I was amazed by Mrs. Gilbert's passion for women dealing with the effects of a sex-saturated culture and/or husband's with an addiction to pornography.  She has experienced some horrific events in her life and yet she has risen above the circumstances of these trials to glorify the Father and the Lord Jesus.  She is an amazing woman.

One thing that she said really stuck with me.  As she introduced her discussion she made it very clear that the world has infiltrated the Church in this arena.  The Church is turning a blind-eye to a very real and very deadly sin that 72% of religious people admitted they have a problem with (according to a Focus on the Family survey).  She said the problem comes from the fact that pornography is Available, Affordable, and Annonymous.

I see several things contributing to this issue in Christian circles.  First, Christians don't want to talk about it.  Truly it can be very defiling to one's mind, but the fact is pornography is out there and we must talk about this evil (in age-appropriate terms) with our children, with our husbands, within the church.  If we are not afraid to confront it, then we can fight it.  We can help others do something about it!  We need not CONSUME it in order to fight against it.  If we don't teach our children to run from this sin, even in its most innocent forms, then the world will draw them into it!

Second, we must let the world and its standards perish by the wayside.  Mrs. Gilbert addressed this saying, "No I can't tell you how to dress.  Or what to wear or not wear."  But remember, "But you were bought with a price."  Christians must remember, we are not our own any more!  It is no longer we that live, but Christ living in us.  Therefore we must put to death the deeds of the flesh, etc.  We can't stand on our "rights" saying,  "I can dress anyway I want."  "I can listen that music and be fine."  "I can watch those programs/movies and it doesn't hurt anyone."  Those are just lies the enemy has sown in our rebellious hearts.  We must dress to glorify the Father, we must listen to music that edifies and spurs us on to love and good works, we can't watch what the world watches and expect our hearts and minds not to be corrupted.  It makes me so sad to walk into worship and see young and mature ladies dressing just like those at the malls.  I have seen so much leg, cleavage, undergarments, etc. in the assembly of the saints to cause me to wonder where I was really!  How can we expect those young men and our husbands to have the mind of Christ when the woman in front of him is giving a peep-show?!

I encourage everyone to visit the Pure Warriors website to learn more, to equip yourselves for Satan's most deadly attacks on your family, your husband, and yourself.  My husband attended the men's two-day workshop and said his eyes were really opened to how damaging this evil is to families, to men.  We can't let the Bride of Christ be stained with sexual impurity and think it will be pleasing to God. 

My prayer for each one reading this is that you will have courage to face head-on this evil.  That you will fight with Christ for your husband and your family.  I pray that your heart will become sensitive to the sin in all its forms (media, music, dress, etc.). 

Father God, thank you for the armor and weapons you have given me to fight satan and his arrows.  And Father thank you for fighting for me and my family; I know if You are for us, who can be against us.  Father please guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus Your Son.  Help me turn my eyes away from things that would defile me, that would stain my heart with sin.  Make me sensitive to sin and evil that I may be a pure bride -- for You and my husband.  Father, give my husband also courage to resist these temptations and keep himself pure in thought and in heart.  O Father, cleanse your Body of this wickedness and help all those who are Yours to purify themselves and be a light to this lost world.  In Jesus powerful and holy name, Amen.

I have always had a bit of pride of the fact that I am sort of a neat-knick.  Well, Amy's CHCHC has revealed more than pride in my heart and a realization that I'm not so much of a neat-knick after all.  I found out that my home, as well as my heart, has looked pretty good on the outside, much like those half-washed cups my Lord speaks about (Matthew 23:25-26).

I admit when I started in on the Challenge I felt very confident in completing each task as scheduled to the utmost.  Having been public school trained, I knew that I could dot my I's and cross my T's pretty well.  What I didn't count on was the revelation that that isn't what really mattered.  That came as I read Jeremiah 29:13, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."  Even as I read, I could feel myself trying to conceal, my heart twisting to get out of the light.  The Spirit had shown me that my "whole heart" wasn't there. 

So here I am at the end of the Challenge.  My house is pretty clean.  I haven't quite finished everything, but there are fewer piles (and those are much shorter than before), my children are seeing the benefit of putting everything in its place, we have moved most of our school stuff into the bonus room and are ready to use it.  The garage has a long way to go, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Most of all, I feel as though I have a new beginning.  I still, at times, feel my heart shrink back a little when the Spirit calls me to trust, but I am moving forward in faith.  My Father is all good and desires His best for me.  How can I want any less?

This growing process is difficult and at times slow.  I am so thankful to have embarked on this journey.  I would have never thought I'd been where I am today when we began our homeschooling journey five years ago.  I don't know where I will be five years from today as I have begun to let the Spirit clean out my heart.  I do know it will be a wonderful trip!

I was tagged by Smfeet2001...  Six Random Things About Me:

1.  My nose is pierced.

2.  I like solitude.

3.  I got my first motorcycle when I was 3 years old.  (My Dad still has it.)

4.  I am a bookworm (actually my whole family is).

5.  I love altered books, but can't bring myself to alter a book. 

6.  I want to live in New Zealand and go to Antartica.

This spring has been so busy; more than I really appreciate.  Although I love to travel, we have been driving south to stay with my parents everyother weekend for mow three months.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love being closer to my parents to be able to visit them so much and Bob is doing a great thing when we are down there (he is preaching at a local congregation and helping do projects around my parents' home), but I am growing tired of leaving my own home projects undone and not being home to spend time with my own family. 

I counted yesterday and we have fifteen weeks of "curriculum" left and I only have eleven more weeks of school scheduled.  I know, I shouldn't be concerned about such a thing, but I would like to keep things up to speed in that area and still be able to take more time off for summer (we essentially school year-round) activities.  Plus now that I am working on cleaning and organizing my school room (CHCHC) I am finding a lot of books I've never used and don't fit into our learning right now.  Believe it or not, but those books are laying a guilt trip on me!

After a great deal of discussion last night with my husband about what we should try with our oldest daughter and her resistance to math work (different kind, take twice as long and live with it or bag it) I found myself returning to the phrase, "We just need to slow down our life."  So, as I rush frantically into a week with two dance performances for the older two and a trip to Utah with my husband (that means two weekends away from home) I am determined to slow down.  I am going to prayerfully revamp what I am doing.  As I figure it out, I'll let you know, but I am getting off the expressway!

For those of you participating in the Clean Homes, Clean Hearts Challenge, I wanted to share a rather important break-through for me.  I didn't get it done!  AND, I am still breathing!

Alright, that may not sound like earth-shattering news to some of you.  It is a great step in allowing the "peace that passes all understanding" to reign in my heart.  When I started the CHCHC and printed out all those forms, calendars, and journal pages I suspected I might have an issue with it at some point in time.  You see, I am one of those people that get really whigged-out if the calendar (or lesson plans) say something is suppose to happen on a particular day and it doesn't.  (I am battling that demon as I use Sonlight for the first time.)  Now I haven't followed the calendar just exactly, because we've had a very busy schedule and lots of traveling this month, however, I have mearly substituted one room for another.  This week, I actually fell behind (due to a sick toddler, bless her heart).  But I woke up today without one frantic thought!!

I think it all started Monday.  The CHCHC devotion for week 4 targeted Jeremiah 29:13.  As I read that, the Spirit convicted me of being unsubmissive to my husband and rather bratty toward him on our trip.  I immediately stopped reading and went to him and began to apologize.  It was so humbling, but so wonderful!  Since then, I have felt unburdened and so much more aware of my attitude toward my husband.  (Some of these seeds also came from the homeschool conference we just attended.  More on that later.)

So, ladies, if it doesn't get done, just remember, "The sun will continue to rise and set."  Today is the day we have and God's plans are so much bigger than ours.  Go with the Spirit!

That is where I was literally yesterday for about two hours.  I took everything out of our walk-in closet.  It is not huge, but stuff apparently can get lost in there anyway!  Who would have known? 

This adventure was part of CHCHC.  Amy V. keeps writing, "Be ruthless." in regard to stuff you haven't needed or worn in six months to a year.  Well, my closet is a tough area to clean out.  After all, I have alot of favorite clothes and yes, some of them I haven't been able to wear since having children (ten years or so ago, but who's counting?!).  I am pretty sure that one day I could fit some of them again and by then they'd be back in fashion. 

Well, I'm taking a leap of sorts.  I tossing anything two sizes less than I am currently wearing.  I'm keeping the one size less items and giving myself until the end of summer to fit them.  If by then they still don't fit comfortably, then out they will go too.  (This includes all the stuff under my bed and in totes.  It is now or never and it will be good for me and my overflowing spaces too!

I was just checking in on my blogging friends.  I stopped by CreativeHomeschooling and her post just rocked me.  Please stop by and read....then take a "snow day".

What a week!  I don't know why I do this to myself every year, almost every holiday.  Of course I make it through, but you'd think I'd learn better for the next time!

I finished my kitchen/dining room scrub down and you can actually see my counter.  To quote my eldest daughter, "Yea, I've seen that counter before.  Not that much of it all at once though."  Yikes!   :O) 

During that week I sewed like a mad-woman to finish Easter outfits (which I did) and a dress for my new neice (which I did).  I did have to stay up until midnight to put together Easter baskets and fill eggs (to leave here while we were with family) and fill eggs and pack things for our weekend with family.  But, I did it!  It may be a good idea to go ahead and start on the next holiday soon.

In the meantime, I will start my CHCHC Masterbedroom today (like it or not) and prepare for the Christian Heritage Homeschool Conference this weekend in Redmond, WA.  To top it all off, I have a bone out of whack right between my shoulder blades, which is severly limiting my reach and bend motion, and two slightly sick children and dh, too (none of which make good patients).  I keep pressing ahead, because if I slow down, it may catch me too!

Keep praying for my new baby niece.  She's not eating well. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Happy Monday!

This was day two on the kitchen/dining room.  I worked really hard, but the breakfast counter is still hiding from view!  Hubby was home today (not feeling good), but graciously moved the fridge and the stove so I could get back there.  WoW!  I can't believe the dust that can accumulate in six months time.  I still have to get into the fridge and oven to clean, the lower cabinets too, but then I can work on the floor and baseboard trim. 

In between all the cleaning we are still doing school, I am sewing Easter outfits for three dears and planning and preparing for Easter activities at my parents home two hours away!  Since no one has RSVP'ed I am scaling down my plans (it appears it is turning into a come when you can event instead of the "Leave It to Beaver" day I had hoped for).  God is good!  He sure knew I bit off more than I could chew.  :O)

I am also a new Auntie today!  It is a girl, this time!

I just wanted to update/encourage everyone tackling their spring cleaning.  Today was suppose to be the finish of the Living Room challenge, but I had to switch that with Front Yard cleaning because we had lots of rain earlier this week.  Any way it was a busy day.

We started right after a soccer game this morning with spreading compost on our backyard (there is no grass there yet).  As that was finishing, I went to the front yard (a whole lot smaller than the back yard) to start racking all the barkdust out of the flower beds (it was there when we moved in in the fall) because I just don't like it.  As those piles grew large, the rest of the family moved to the front to start hauling it off.  My wonderful husband would bring back a wheelbarrow of compost for me to rake into the grass in the front.  Once the barkdust was out we turned the soil and added lots of compost to that and raked it out.

About half-way into the second flower bed I remembered that I needed to clean the front enterance as well.  So I set my two daughters (who had gone inside) to cleaning the windows and porch railing.  After I finished the second flowerbed and composting around the tree, I set to scrubbing with a brush the door and window trim and tracks.  While my helpful husband cleaned up the kids inside, I hosed off the porch, entry mat, and sidewalk.

A quick shower later, we headed into town to eat dinner at Sonic (no food since breakfast).  It was a good workout to be sure and the front looks so fresh and ready for spring.  My flower beds are ready for flowers, too.  We are suppose to get some rain on Sunday, so all the compost will get settled into place.  Later this week we will add the Water-Keep crystals and till it all into the backyard and rake into the flower beds.  (They hold water for your plants' roots, very good in hot dry areas.)

It has been alot of work this week, but I feel like a great load is being lifted by just scrubbing everything and getting rid of junk that has been sitting around so long (well six months in this house -- I dread the garage still bulging from moving boxes).  I am showing very little mercy.  I do need to spend more time in prayer, although I am doing lots while I clean. 

Thanks so much to Dandelion Seeds for putting this together!  (I still don't know how to put the link in her name.)