One way to do it

I don't know about the rest of you but socks are my enemy. They breed at night and run away from home often. Socks are my laundry downfall. I had at least 50-70 that didn't have mates. I kept hoping that one day I would magically find the missing ones while cleaning or catching up on laundry. No luck.

I had all these mismatched socks creeping into our laundry baskets and I couldn't take it anymore.

My solution?? I THREW THEM ALL AWAY!! Every single pair of the kids socks ended up in the trash. They all got new ones for school anyway so throwing away all the ones from previous years really didn't hurt any. In fact it felt great!

Now all I have to worry about are the new pairs I bought them. And to help I'm keeping them down to no more than 10 pair a piece. Let's face it. Macie loathes socks anyway and only wears them in winter because I force her too. No need for 39 different pairs for each kid.

Simplifying! You won't regret it!

Making it easier

I know it's not a popular opinion but I absolutely despise summer. I get very depressed during the hot months which I know isn't exactly a shared feeling with most people. During the Fall months I come alive. I enjoy being in the kitchen and making our home warm and cozy.

This past week I have been getting very excited for the upcoming months. School routines in place, cooler weather, more time baking. I love all of it. Tonight I felt like being productive in the kitchen. I made a peach cobbler for breakfast (it's not too sweet so it makes a great breakfast) and I wanted to make something else but we are in desperate need of a grocery store trip. So instead of actually making something else I got out my quart canning jars and made the dry mix for our all time favorite muffins. We are always making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins but the mixing takes forever. I just cut down on that big time for the next four batches. Can I get a hooray for late night productivity??

I'm hoping to do this for more recipes as well. You would be surprised how much quicker baking goes when you don't have to drag out all your dry items.

Home

I've spent the last few days deep cleaning parts of the house. It feels so good. I'm getting ready for those cozy fall nights of staying home cuddled up under quilts. ( Can you tell I am ready for summer to be over with?)

Home catch up

We have been so busy the last few days enjoying summer activities. Between the creek visit, weekend with friends and going fishing there hasn't been much time to work on the house. It has been sadly neglected.

This weekend we have a ton of stuff planned but during the week we are empty. Time to catch up on the house. My goal is to have the house clean by Friday so that we can enjoy Chuck E Cheese, blueberry picking and the beach this weekend. (Yes I really plan to do all 3 of those in just 2 days.)

I'm happy to report the house is slowly getting caught up. My kitchen towel basket is even full again!

It's gonna be a busy day

Tackling magazines

I am not in a good mood. It's been a combination of children misbehaving and other stress that has put me in a bad place the last few days.

When I am mad or upset I tend to organize and de-clutter much more efficiently. Today I am working in our bedroom but I figured I would do a quick de-cluttering post for those interested.

One area I have been dreading is my magazine collection. I LOVE magazines. Home decorating, scrapbooking, gardening, cooking, homemaking. I love them all. Despite my love for them I realized it was time to get serious. So I sat down and purged. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought.

If I hadn't used a recipe in over a year from a cooking magazine it went.

I am quite happy with the results. The left side of the photo are the ones that went. Right side are the keepers.

What area have you been working on lately??

All things kitchen

Since the kitchen is the room you walk into upon entering the house I started with it. It has also been the easiest by far to remove clutter and unwanted objects. It came down to several questions.
A: Is it useful??
B: If it's decorative does it make me really happy?
I found that I had a lot of things that I had not used in well over 2 years. That stuff went.

I also found that the more I got rid of the more productive I felt. One night I decided to bake. I made a loaf of honey oat bread, 2 loaves of blueberry oat bread and a peach cobbler without having to move much out of the way. I was free to be productive without worrying about making a huge mess.

I also had to come to terms with another area of my kitchen life. Canning. I had been considering selling my supplies because I have not had the time to preserve anything. I was still debating when I decided to clean out some of the old stuff I had preserved. Last year I made a batch of blueberry jam. I followed the recipe but it came out grainy and none of us liked it. The jars sat for about a year. I opened them to throw out the contents and reclaim my jars. I was horrified to find mold on the top of the jam once opened. MOLD!!! This should NOT occur. I did everything exactly the way I was supposed to but it still failed. This was the push I needed to call an end to my canning days. Maybe not forever but for NOW it is right. I gathered up most of my stuff(I kept my jar lifter and some jars) and listed it on Craigslist. Extra $ in my pocket and space cleared! Chapter closed.

I could close this post up but I'm going to add everything so I don't have to do
multiple kitchen posts.

I have real issues with uncovered windows. Call me crazy but I absolutely cannot have a window without at least blinds in my home. I have paid a ton of
money over the last 3 years for various kitchen curtains. I love my curtains but I was dealing with an annoying problem. The window above my sink is HUGE. The problem with the curtains is that my soaps would sometimes get on them and also splashes of water. The curtains were starting to look a little dirty. So I decided to take down the curtains and put up simple valances instead. The blinds keep our windows private and I don't have to worry about getting them dirty. Plus it's much easier to let light in now during the day. I did have to buy the valances but it only cost me $15 for 3.

When you are de-cluttering do not take away everything that makes your room comfortable. You still want it to show your personality. I am so much happier in my kitchen now that I have more space and less visual clutter. Not to mention I can let light in easily now without having to pull curtains each way. It still reflects my taste and style and serves my family well.

One room down. Five more to go.

Photos in order:
1. Valance and clean/ uncluttered counter tops
2. My baking results after I was working w/ a clean kitchen
3. Box of stuff to sell in the garage sale
4. The canning supplies I sold on Craigslist

Loss, realization and a question

Sometimes it's hard to post about certain things. I want to get them out but don't really know where to start.

On Father's Day my uncle passed away. This is the one who lived next door to me my whole life. Our hearts hurt for our loss and for my aunt who has to live without her husband now. This is a very rough time for our family but I have faith that we will get through it together.

One thing that has come out of all this is the realization of just how precious our time together is. I don't want to waste hours each day just trying to keep up with my house when I could be playing with my kids. This is why I am on my de-cluttering spree.

I am curious if any of you guys would like me to post about my progress? My de-cluttering posts usually get a ton of traffic. Speak up and let me know. If I don't get many responses I probably won't post too much about it.

I have plenty of summer stuff to post too (blueberry picking this weekend) so it will be a good mix. I might even do a giveaway at the end of my purging. That will depend on how many readers I have at the time.

So are you interested in seeing my progress?

* throwing a photo in that I love since they are my main reason for wanting to make changes.

Our days have finally turned cold. Presents are piling up under the tree. We have hubs work Christmas party coming up and they are buying a gift for all the employees kids. We have family get-togethers we are looking forward to and the anticipation is growing. The holidays are officially here.

It's been pretty busy around here. Lots of good stuff going on.

:: Cozy Rooms ::
:: Baking ::

:: Comfort food ::

:: Warm Glow ::

This season is going to be a good one for sure.

Home projects ( Red edition)

I have been itching to do a couple of small house projects. I finally couldn't take it anymore and so I went and bought four cans of red spray paint. I had several ideas in mind and just ran with them.

I moved one of our nightstands out of our room and put a bookshelf on my hubs side. I decided that the nightstand on my side could use a sprucing up so I sanded it down and took a leap of faith with the spray paint. I LOVE how it came out. LOVE IT!!Last year one of our dining room chairs broke and my mom and aunt turned it into a table for our porch. It was painted white but wear has really been showing on the white so I decided to turn it red too. It really makes the front porch pop!This one really isn't a project but I wanted to share it anyway. Today hubs ran a few errands and came home with a Spiderman costume for the boys' build-a-bear. He absolutely loved it. I have quite a few more projects in mind for the next month or so. We have been busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. This year we are doing it differently and having it at our house. My mother-in-law and other family members are coming and I am sure it is going to be great. I have been running around making sure we have everything that is needed.

I'm especially excited to get our tree up this coming weekend. Hope you all are enjoying the season.

Fall Glow

Let me start off by saying that there is nothing Fall like about our weather. It is still in the 90's during the day. The 90's people! In the middle of October! Despite these horrible temps I am still trying to bring a Fall feeling into our home. I put new batteries in our jack-o-lanterns and light the fall candles often. Tonight the house had such a pretty and soft glow to it. Almost makes me forget about the 90 degree temps outside.

Domesticated

I love what I do. And I may or may not have a slight obsession with hanging clothes out on the line.

Warm memories

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my grandmother. We were talking about the kids and she told me the sweetest story. When she was little they lived in the country. She was about Macie's age and had to walk a mile or two one way to school every single day and back home again. Sometimes it was raining or freezing cold but they had no choice. She said that one of her best memories was her mom always having something prepared for them to eat when they got home. Sometimes it was warm bread, a pot of beans, or soup but there was always something ready for the kids to snack on.

I want my kids to have warm memories like that too. They always get an after school snack but I try to make something homemade for them. Today I made banana sour cream bread. The recipe is here.

I love that I can give my kids some home baked yummy treats after a long day at school.
Maybe one day they will be telling their grandkids about the food I made for them.

The life of stuff

I have been feeling so bogged down by STUFF lately. We have SO much stuff in this house and it is cluttering my mind. I am wanting to break free. When hubs and I talked about it I felt a lot better. The solution..... Garage Sale and Craigslist and this time anything that doesn't get used on a regular basis or anything we don't absolutely LOVE goes. No more half de-cluttering. I am talking a ruthless cleaning. I have started in the kitchen and let me tell you it feels

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I like it but it is just for decoration and not something I am head over heals for it goes. The kitchen is looking so good and I feel great after making such drastic moves. My real inspiration is here.

Our couches came with a huge ottoman that we never use. It has been in our living room since we got the couches and takes up a huge part of our living room wall. I asked hubs what he thought and we decided to send it packing. The room looks a lot bigger now. This is such a wonderful light weight feeling. It truly feels like a new adventure for our family.

Spring cleaning and planting

I have been spring cleaning like crazy and definitely enjoying the aftermath of that. Our home is looking so calm and peaceful at the moment.


I have also done a little planting. I took this photo yesterday afternoon during a storm. I added another pot to this group last night. At the moment I have 3 flower pots going. The blue pot is Cilantro and then last night I added a pot of green onions. I am LOVING these colorful little pots that I found at Wal-Mart for $1 each. They have tons of sizes in these colors too. I hate Wal-Mart but I am definitely loving their garden center at the moment.

I am hoping to get our tomatoes planted today. They are sitting on our porch just waiting to be transferred. Gotta get back to my cleaning spree. The time change is killing me so I have to keep moving or I will fall asleep.

Dinner for kids

I wanted to do something fun for the kids at dinner last night so I set out a few of my candles. Hubby wasn't home yet and he has pneumonia( yes he is working when he should be resting) so it was just the kids and me. They LOVED doing something special.

It was such a small thing for me to put candles on the table and light them but it meant the world to the three of them. They felt so special and we sat there eating our dinner on a cold evening and talking about anything and everything. It was a wonderful evening.

Freeeeeezing!

It is cold outside today.

If I leave the heater going all day long then you know that it is a freezing winter day. I hate running the heat. Today however, it is necessary. I was planning on getting the boy's hair cut today but I have since decided that there is no way we are bundling up to get a haircut. He has gone this long with his little shaggy hair and another day or two won't hurt him. We are held up warm inside and while the boy is relaxing and watching cartoons I am doing basic cleaning and pickup.

I scrapbooked a little last night so I will post about that in the next few days. I am slowly making room for it in my nightly routine again and it feels great. Since it is such a cold day I decided to make some comfort food tonight. We are going to have fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and cornbread muffins. I am training myself to figure out what I am going to cook for dinner instead of reaching to call for delivery. I guess it is all part of my desire to simplify. It feels good. ( And so does the heater right now.)

Priorities

I get easily overwhelmed with my duties as a wife and mom. There are days when nothing gets accomplished and I raise my voice way too much. Days when my husband comes home to a messy house and screaming, crazy children. Those type of days happen too often around here. They bring me, our family and our household down.

I have been trying to work on different aspects of our lives the last few months. Trying to get things in order and find some way to handle it all. The last few weeks I have done a lot of thinking. The thought of constantly going to the store, kids in front of the t.v and so on is driving me insane. I want a simpler life. There is no need for me to pack up the kids and move off to some remote location. I can choose to make our lives simple exactly where we are.

We look forward to tax return every year. We have been going to the same woman for 6 years to file. The day we get our W2 hubby is in her office and in about 3-4 days we have cash in hand. Around this time we start making plans for it. Car maintenance, catch up on household things needed, pet shots and treatments, etc. A few months ago I decided that I wanted to take a huge amount of the money and go on a family vacation. Somewhere far, wonderful and let's face it...EXPENSIVE! I kept considering our options and could not decide where to throw our money. I honestly don't want to spend $1,000 or more on a trip. Then it hit me. The ideal family vacation. A place where the 5 of us will all enjoy without the expensive price tag. Sometime between spring and summer we will be spending 3 or 4 days on the beach. We will sight see, souvenir shop, explore and just relax and be. Our days will be filled with waves and sand. The best part is that we will have our wonderful getaway with a 1/3 of the price tag.

If I could replace other parts of our lives with the longing for simplicity we would be off to a great start. So that is what I want to do. This summer instead of my kids sitting in front of the t.v like little mindless puppets they will be outside in our huge garden. I am putting a little kiddie pool in the back of the garden so that when I am tending to the veggies they can run in and out and splash around. Evenings will be spent eating barbecue with the neighbors and the kids running around barefoot.

I am going to be more aware of my family's needs. I will take time to hug my kids that extra time when they just keep coming back for more. I will listen when my husband tells me his goals, feelings, etc. I will spend the extra time in the day or at night when everyone is asleep to shine that last counter top or mop the bathroom floor. I will simplify and let go of things that do not truly matter. Because let's face it....hanging out with this little guy and my other babies is a lot more fun than shopping for yet another pair of shoes.

Sparkle

Been really busy trying to make the rest of the house as clean and shiny as this. Back with updates soon.

YIPPEE!!

I am tickled pink to share this post with you. Yesterday I did something that I never thought I would actually learn to do. Not only did I learn it....I rocked it. So what did I do that makes me so giddy with happiness?? I CANNED!!! That is right people. I made and preserved food. Can I get a WAHOO!?! My friend called me the other day and asked if I wanted to make blueberry jelly with her. I have not been to the blueberry farm yet so she said I could just give her some back when I go.

I of course accepted and so off the kids and I went. They played and we made jelly and looked through my friends master canning book. In the end we made blueberry jelly, apple cinnamon syrup and plum jelly. They turned out fantastic. The plum jelly had been made the other day and we knew it was great so we made some more. It was already about 9:00p.m when we got the plum out of the pot and it still had to cool. It is an hour drive home for us so my friend gave me her half pints of already done plum jelly to take home instead of waiting 3 hours for the new to cool.

Blueberry jelly in the beginning stages.


Blueberry jelly cooling.



Everything that we made yesterday.

My half of the goods. 3 blueberry jelly pint jars, 3 syrup pint jars and 4 half pint plum jelly jars. Serious goodness.

I still cannot believe that we did it! We have BIG plans for the summer. Now the problem is that I do not think I can eat these. They are way too pretty. Oh and the blueberry jelly is so good that I caught Macie with her whole hand in a jar we had open with a little leftover that did not make it to canning. It really is that good. She was licking it off her hand because she could not find a spoon. :)