What mother is not tired? I don't know one! We all get a bit overwhelmed from time to time with the duties of motherhood. When it comes down to it, all we can do is our best. I'm reading a wonderful book titled The Family by J.R. Miller. I highly recommend! As I was reading through it today I found the most wonderful piece about motherhood. It is so uplifting and encouraging that I couldn't keep it to myself! Here is what he had to say:
"There is an old picture which represents a woman who has fallen asleep at her spinning wheel, in very weariness, as she toils to fulfill her household duties, and the angels have come and are softly finishing her task while she sleeps. Let parents be faithful; let them do their best. The work may seem too great for them, and they may faint under its burdens and seem to fail. But what they cannot do the angels will come and finish while they sleep. Night by night they will come and correct the day's mistakes and if need be do all the poor, faulty work over again. Then at last when the parents sleep in death, dropping out of their hands the sacred work they have been doing for their children, again God's angels will come, take up the unfinished work and carry it on to completeness."
I found this to be a most encouraging thought, that if I'm doing my best to raise my children up in the Lord, in accordance with God's word, He will send His angels to see me through those times of weariness. How wonderful to remember that we're not alone in this. That we are doing the work of a most merciful God who wants us to succeed as parents and is always there to supply wisdom and gracious love, all we have to do is come to Him and ask.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Ava's room makeover
We all have those rooms that we've known for a while need some work, but we just keep putting it off. This was the case with Ava's room. We really haven't done anything to it since before she was born. I wish I would've taken a "before picture", though I'm not sure I would want proof of the ciaos! The carpeting was stained, nothing really matched, and in that small room she had a bed, a doll crib, a set of shelves, a dress up trunk, 2 dressers, a broken changing table, and to top it all off she was sharing a room with Serenity. The walls were basically lined with furniture and there was a real lack of organization. So, of course, because of that, it was ALWAYS messy!
A few years ago when we remodeled our house we went ahead and bought laminate flooring for the entire house. We did it all, but never got around to laying down new floor in Ava and Mackenzie's rooms. So last Monday Kevin casually suggested we redo the floors in Ava's room this weekend. He has now said he will never suggest anything again. That job turned into a full blown redecoration of her room. We layed new floors, painted, built a new bed, among many other things. So here's my pictures of how it turned out.
Here's the view from the door. The first thing we did was kick Serenity out and put her things into Mackenzie's room, which is empty half the time when Mackenzie's at her Mom's. That opened up a lot more room in Ava's room.
Here is the right corner of her room. Pretty simple, but I love her dress-up box. A good friend of mine made that for her when she was about a year old. I tried to leave the walls a little open to add more pictures later.
This is in the far right corner of her room. When the dresser was given to us it was white with purple sponge painting. We sanded that down and refinished it with brown. The only problem was that while the knobs were off and we were painting the kids lost one! Isn't that always how it goes? I bought a cheap mirror at Wal-Mart and used Rub Ons from Stampin' Up to decorate it.
The curtains on the windows are called window quilts and they are the greatest thing EVER! They are made with batting sandwiched between two pieces of cotton. Then I hand stitched the appliques on. These curtains are so thick that not only do they work like blackout curtains and block all the sunlight, they also block heat and cold from outside. I love them. They are so functional and they were my favorite project in this room because they were so much fun to make. Here's a close up picture and a picture of the one next to her bed.
This is the picture of her new bed. Kevin basically framed out under the bed like you would frame out a house, then he set the bed on top. My kids love "Cubby Holes" as we call them, like little hiding places, and they make them all the time. So we thought it would be nice for Ava to have one built into her room. So we made one underneath her bed. This is a quiet place she can go to read, draw, or just relax. Her radio is in her cubby hole so she can listen to her audio stories, too. The polka dot thing you see are her shelves. We turned them inward so the space could be a little more closed off, but the back of the shelves was the unsightly brown cardboard. So we painted it and Mod Podged cut out paper circles to the back. Then we Mod Podged over the whole thing twice and added two coats of varnish. This was so much fun to do and now I'm on the look out to find out what else I can Mod Podge around here! Lastly, the letters on her bed read "Sweet Dreams Ava". These were made with my sister's Big Shot and were applied the same way we did the back of the shelves.
Here's a picture of the top of the bed. Remember that old broken changing table? Well, since we never like to waste anything, we re-purposed it to make her canopy. I drew the shape I wanted and Kevin used the bandsaw to cut it out. Then he used a 15/64 drill bit to drill holes all the way through the board and a bigger bit, 23/64 to drill in those same holes, but only half way in. That way a Christmas light would fit perfectly. We think it turned out really well, though this project was not very well planned. As you can see from the picture, we didn't take into account that she has a ceiling fan! So now we have to cut down the fan blades so it will be functional again. Oops! We hung a large curtain rod behind that with sparkly tulle hanging from it to give her cubby hole some "doors" without making it too dark.
Finally we have the left corner where her closet is. Her doll crib that Kevin made her for Christmas fit perfectly there.
The kids and I put our hand prints on the wall as a reminder to Ava of how much fun we had together when we painted her room. Kevin didn't get to help, but everybody else pitched in... Even Serenity!
We were able to finish in one weekend, but it wasn't easy! I have to thank Kevin because I can be hard to work with. I'm a perfectionist and a little bit stubborn, but he's always so patient and loving. Plus he went 33 hours with no sleep so we could get the floors done the first day! So, the kids watched way too many movies, we stayed up until the wee hours of the mornings, but it was so worth it. Ava couldn't have been happier. She came out Monday morning and said, "Mommy, I love my new room so much I don't ever want to come out!"
Stay tuned, as this coming weekend we conquer Mackenzie and Serenity's room!
A few years ago when we remodeled our house we went ahead and bought laminate flooring for the entire house. We did it all, but never got around to laying down new floor in Ava and Mackenzie's rooms. So last Monday Kevin casually suggested we redo the floors in Ava's room this weekend. He has now said he will never suggest anything again. That job turned into a full blown redecoration of her room. We layed new floors, painted, built a new bed, among many other things. So here's my pictures of how it turned out.
Here's the view from the door. The first thing we did was kick Serenity out and put her things into Mackenzie's room, which is empty half the time when Mackenzie's at her Mom's. That opened up a lot more room in Ava's room. 
Here is the right corner of her room. Pretty simple, but I love her dress-up box. A good friend of mine made that for her when she was about a year old. I tried to leave the walls a little open to add more pictures later.
This is in the far right corner of her room. When the dresser was given to us it was white with purple sponge painting. We sanded that down and refinished it with brown. The only problem was that while the knobs were off and we were painting the kids lost one! Isn't that always how it goes? I bought a cheap mirror at Wal-Mart and used Rub Ons from Stampin' Up to decorate it.
The curtains on the windows are called window quilts and they are the greatest thing EVER! They are made with batting sandwiched between two pieces of cotton. Then I hand stitched the appliques on. These curtains are so thick that not only do they work like blackout curtains and block all the sunlight, they also block heat and cold from outside. I love them. They are so functional and they were my favorite project in this room because they were so much fun to make. Here's a close up picture and a picture of the one next to her bed.
This is the picture of her new bed. Kevin basically framed out under the bed like you would frame out a house, then he set the bed on top. My kids love "Cubby Holes" as we call them, like little hiding places, and they make them all the time. So we thought it would be nice for Ava to have one built into her room. So we made one underneath her bed. This is a quiet place she can go to read, draw, or just relax. Her radio is in her cubby hole so she can listen to her audio stories, too. The polka dot thing you see are her shelves. We turned them inward so the space could be a little more closed off, but the back of the shelves was the unsightly brown cardboard. So we painted it and Mod Podged cut out paper circles to the back. Then we Mod Podged over the whole thing twice and added two coats of varnish. This was so much fun to do and now I'm on the look out to find out what else I can Mod Podge around here! Lastly, the letters on her bed read "Sweet Dreams Ava". These were made with my sister's Big Shot and were applied the same way we did the back of the shelves.
Here's a picture of the top of the bed. Remember that old broken changing table? Well, since we never like to waste anything, we re-purposed it to make her canopy. I drew the shape I wanted and Kevin used the bandsaw to cut it out. Then he used a 15/64 drill bit to drill holes all the way through the board and a bigger bit, 23/64 to drill in those same holes, but only half way in. That way a Christmas light would fit perfectly. We think it turned out really well, though this project was not very well planned. As you can see from the picture, we didn't take into account that she has a ceiling fan! So now we have to cut down the fan blades so it will be functional again. Oops! We hung a large curtain rod behind that with sparkly tulle hanging from it to give her cubby hole some "doors" without making it too dark.
Finally we have the left corner where her closet is. Her doll crib that Kevin made her for Christmas fit perfectly there.
The kids and I put our hand prints on the wall as a reminder to Ava of how much fun we had together when we painted her room. Kevin didn't get to help, but everybody else pitched in... Even Serenity!
We were able to finish in one weekend, but it wasn't easy! I have to thank Kevin because I can be hard to work with. I'm a perfectionist and a little bit stubborn, but he's always so patient and loving. Plus he went 33 hours with no sleep so we could get the floors done the first day! So, the kids watched way too many movies, we stayed up until the wee hours of the mornings, but it was so worth it. Ava couldn't have been happier. She came out Monday morning and said, "Mommy, I love my new room so much I don't ever want to come out!"
Stay tuned, as this coming weekend we conquer Mackenzie and Serenity's room!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Laundry Tips
A year ago I was feeling so overwhelmed with my family's laundry needs that I resented doing it. I felt like that's all I ever did and like it was never caught up. So I've been working this past year to solve this problem by organizing our laundry needs and cutting costs along the way. Here are some of the things I've learned:
First of all, it is now a rule to make sure what you put in the dirty clothes is actually dirty. I hate to say it, but I was just as bad as the kids at times. So we laid out some ground rules. For starters, we reuse our towels for a week at a time. This has saved me loads and loads of laundry. When we're finished with our baths each night, we each hang our towels in our rooms and by the next day they're dry and ready to use again. We also wear our pajamas for 2 or 3 nights before they get thrown into the hamper. Lastly, if we only wear something for a couple hours to church, unless it's visibly dirty, we hang it back up. Following just these simple rules has cut down on our amount of laundry each week quite a bit.
Next, I added organization and I feel like this has made the biggest difference of all. Here is our laundry schedule: Sunday- Mine and Kevin's dark clothes, Monday- Mine and Kevin's white clothes, Tuesday- Serenity, Wednesday- Ava, Thursday- Mackenzie and Dallas, Friday- Eli, Saturday- Towels and sheets. This has many advantages to it. I can usually get by with doing 1 load a day. This cuts down time on folding and putting away. Instead of having to sort out clothes for 7 different people every load, I know that each load belongs to one person. Also, all of the older kids can fold and put away their own laundry by doing it this way. Now, on any given day it may look like I'm behind on someones laundry, but keeping with this schedule has always insured everyone has clean clothes and it takes the guess work out of everything. Now the only room left for questioning is where I'm going to fit a new baby's laundry into that schedule! ;)
This next part involves washing the clothes. I was notorious for washing everything on hot or warm, but not anymore. Unless someones been sick on something or I'm washing the linens, I wash everything on cold. Washing the clothes on a hot cycle is responsible for 90% of your washing machine's energy usage. What a waste of money! You can add to the savings by making your own laundry soap. It costs us somewhere between $2 and $3 for a 10 gallon bucket of laundry detergent. For more on this check out this post.
Moving on to the dryer... and this is wear I may lose some of you. Kevin has recently installed a set of clothes line poles for me. I know, this seems like ancient work, right? But let me just tell you, I love it! Using the dryer adds 15% to the average family's monthly energy bill and when your family is larger than average, that really adds up. It seems like an unnecessary cost to me. If I can use the natural resources that God has given us like wind, heat, and light to dry my clothes, why would I willingly make such a negative impact on our environment and my electric bill by running my dryer all day? You would think it would take so much longer to dry clothes on the line, when in fact I've found that it's quicker. I can dry 2 loads of laundry at a time on my lines and in mid-day they dry in about an hour and 15 minutes. I hang most of the clothes upside down so they dry quicker, hang pairs of socks together, and hang outfits side by side, then when I'm ready to take them down I fold them as I go and they're ready to put away. I put a load in the washer the night before so I can go out first thing the next morning and hang them. Then before lunch is done I have my laundry done for the day. I've always enjoyed being outside, but sometimes in the hubbub of the day we don't make time for it. This way we head outside at least twice everyday and get some fresh air. The kids love it because it gives them a chance to run off some energy and keeps the cabin fever at bay, plus they love to run into the wet clothes and play in the "tents" that are made by the blankets and sheets. I love it because while I'm hanging up clothes and the kids are busy I can reflect on our day and finish a complete thought and prayer. Corny as it sounds, when we head inside, we're all in better spirits. To top it all off, the sun naturally bleaches the stains out of the whites, and your clothes have a crisp feel and smell.
Hopefully some of you will be able to incorporate some of these ideas into your laundry habits so laundry can become as enjoyable for you as it now is for us. Happy laundering!!
First of all, it is now a rule to make sure what you put in the dirty clothes is actually dirty. I hate to say it, but I was just as bad as the kids at times. So we laid out some ground rules. For starters, we reuse our towels for a week at a time. This has saved me loads and loads of laundry. When we're finished with our baths each night, we each hang our towels in our rooms and by the next day they're dry and ready to use again. We also wear our pajamas for 2 or 3 nights before they get thrown into the hamper. Lastly, if we only wear something for a couple hours to church, unless it's visibly dirty, we hang it back up. Following just these simple rules has cut down on our amount of laundry each week quite a bit.
Next, I added organization and I feel like this has made the biggest difference of all. Here is our laundry schedule: Sunday- Mine and Kevin's dark clothes, Monday- Mine and Kevin's white clothes, Tuesday- Serenity, Wednesday- Ava, Thursday- Mackenzie and Dallas, Friday- Eli, Saturday- Towels and sheets. This has many advantages to it. I can usually get by with doing 1 load a day. This cuts down time on folding and putting away. Instead of having to sort out clothes for 7 different people every load, I know that each load belongs to one person. Also, all of the older kids can fold and put away their own laundry by doing it this way. Now, on any given day it may look like I'm behind on someones laundry, but keeping with this schedule has always insured everyone has clean clothes and it takes the guess work out of everything. Now the only room left for questioning is where I'm going to fit a new baby's laundry into that schedule! ;)
This next part involves washing the clothes. I was notorious for washing everything on hot or warm, but not anymore. Unless someones been sick on something or I'm washing the linens, I wash everything on cold. Washing the clothes on a hot cycle is responsible for 90% of your washing machine's energy usage. What a waste of money! You can add to the savings by making your own laundry soap. It costs us somewhere between $2 and $3 for a 10 gallon bucket of laundry detergent. For more on this check out this post.
Moving on to the dryer... and this is wear I may lose some of you. Kevin has recently installed a set of clothes line poles for me. I know, this seems like ancient work, right? But let me just tell you, I love it! Using the dryer adds 15% to the average family's monthly energy bill and when your family is larger than average, that really adds up. It seems like an unnecessary cost to me. If I can use the natural resources that God has given us like wind, heat, and light to dry my clothes, why would I willingly make such a negative impact on our environment and my electric bill by running my dryer all day? You would think it would take so much longer to dry clothes on the line, when in fact I've found that it's quicker. I can dry 2 loads of laundry at a time on my lines and in mid-day they dry in about an hour and 15 minutes. I hang most of the clothes upside down so they dry quicker, hang pairs of socks together, and hang outfits side by side, then when I'm ready to take them down I fold them as I go and they're ready to put away. I put a load in the washer the night before so I can go out first thing the next morning and hang them. Then before lunch is done I have my laundry done for the day. I've always enjoyed being outside, but sometimes in the hubbub of the day we don't make time for it. This way we head outside at least twice everyday and get some fresh air. The kids love it because it gives them a chance to run off some energy and keeps the cabin fever at bay, plus they love to run into the wet clothes and play in the "tents" that are made by the blankets and sheets. I love it because while I'm hanging up clothes and the kids are busy I can reflect on our day and finish a complete thought and prayer. Corny as it sounds, when we head inside, we're all in better spirits. To top it all off, the sun naturally bleaches the stains out of the whites, and your clothes have a crisp feel and smell.
Hopefully some of you will be able to incorporate some of these ideas into your laundry habits so laundry can become as enjoyable for you as it now is for us. Happy laundering!!
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