Miscellaneous Musing

• A Little Worried-  My girls are both home sick from school today which means I was able to sleep in with no alarm clock and will not have to be the chauffeur to and from school today and won't be sitting at gymnastics for two hours tonight.  Uh oh!  That sounds a tad like a day off.  Yikes!  I don't want another one of THOSE!    Trust me!  I have absolutely no expectations for today.  Did you hear that, Murphy?  No expectations!  So you just keep your law to yourself today, OK? 

• On the Novel Front-  I've been plagued with writer's block.  I was telling my Writer Buddy yesterday that I've written a whole four paragraphs in the last two weeks.  Not exactly stellar progress, but I'm encouraged because writing those four paragraphs was fun and not frustrating like it has been.  Maybe I'm breaking through the block?  I hope so. 

• Time to Climb That Mountain Again:  Oh joy.  It's time to lose weight again.  Here's me sticking out my tongue-  : p 

• W.O.W. : We are going to have a very full house for Thanksgiving this year.  I'm so excited about it.  My aunt and uncle and cousin are coming to visit for the first time since we've been married.  My mom and dad and grandma, my brother and sister-in-law and their four kids, and great friends who really are family will all be joining us.   I've got a long "to-do" list but its a labor of love because I want it to be special for everyone.  The front porch project went well, but once I walk IN the house I'm bombarded with all I see that I'd like to make better before everyone arrives.  It is definitely time for another Within One Week challenge.  I'll post more details soon, but I wanted to make sure you got it on your calendar so you'll join me.  It will be Nov. 8 - 15.  

I suppose that's enough rambling for now.  : )

Have a very happy Thursday everyone!

Love,

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My New Find: Chalk Markers

I just arrived home from my first ever trip to the wonderful world of Hobby Lobby. Oh my goodness, I'm afraid I could easily spend a million dollars in that place! I think my eyes are still a little glassed over.

For the past few years, I've followed blogs of southern women who sang the praises of Hobby Lobby, and assumed it was a southern store that wasn't available here out west. But one day a few weeks ago we were happily driving down the road when I suddenly screamed, "We have a Hobby Lobby!!!" Good thing my husband is a professional driver and didn't swerve off the road. For some reason though, he wasn't willing to stop and go inside that day. : )

So today, I finally made my way back with a 40% off coupon in hand and was not disappointed.


My Favorite Find of the Day:

Both Nester from The Nesting Place and Shannon at Bless Our Nest recommended these chalk markers on their blogs, and I'm so excited about my little purchase.

Remember last year when I transformed this silver tray from the thrift shop into a chalkboard?

I've loved having it on display in my living room, but the chalk has been a frustration for me. I couldn't hold the chalk right to have nice handwriting, and it kept smudging and looking messy. The chalk marker writes like a marker and can be washed off with a wet rag.

Take a look at the before and after pictures:

Before:

After:




Anyone else been bit by the Fall craftiness/home decorating bug yet? : )

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Nana's Midas Touch

I've always hoped that someday I could grow up and have even a little of my grandmother's gift for making her home a place of beauty. Even as a little girl I was aware of how nice Nana's home was and loved being there.

During the first weekend of our vacation we stayed at Nana's house and although my pictures will never be able to capture exactly how her home feels to me, nor will I be able to give a complete picture of how pretty it all is, I wanted to share with all of you a glimpse of one of my favorite places to be:

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Menu Planning

My mom has been bugging me to try e-mealz for a long time because she thought it would help simplify my life. I kept putting it off as motherly advice and something I didn't need. During her last visit, though, I finally gave in to her nagging suggestion. : )

I'm so happy I did. I love, love, love this system!

I've tried online meal planning systems before and they just didn't work.

Here's how this one is different:

1. The meals taste really good!

We've been doing this for two weeks now and haven't had a meal we didn't like. My family has been very happy! With the old plans we were lucky to get a 50% family approval rate. Some of the meals were terrible.

2. Easy to read and only two pieces of paper-

Each week on Thursday, I log in and print off my menu plan and grocery list for Wal-Mart. It is well organized, easy to read, and fits on two pieces of paper- one grocery list spreadsheet and one menu plan spreadsheet that include all of the directions for preparing the meals. The other plans I tried, I would have to print pages and pages of directions and recipes.

3. I'm not wasting ingredients-

The old plans would have me buy a jar of expensive pesto sauce for one meal that I would never use again. I've noticed that with this plan, ingredients get used again to prevent being wasteful.

4. It's easy to skip meals we won't use-

The grocery list is numbered according to what meal the item is needed for, so it is very easy to mark off items if I know I won't be making that meal this week. If we are going out to dinner or to a friend's house one night, I just cross off one meal from the menu plan and each item on the list that has that meal's number.

5. Not every meal is some complicated major recipe-

I got burned out on cooking with the old plans. With this one, there are some more detailed recipes (like Chicken Florentine Lasagna- YUMMMY!!!) but one night we had Pigs in a Blanket (hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls- which the kids LOVED) and another night was soup and sandwiches to use up the leftover meat from the roast the night before. It is so practical and easy!!

6. It is easy to budget for-

When I signed up, I chose the grocery store I would be using (Wal-Mart) and the grocery list gives me an estimated cost for each item and an approximate total. I've noticed that they try to include items on sale that week in the recipes for the week.

The whole system only costs $5 a month (billed every three months for $15), and because I found a coupon code from Dave Ramsey, it only cost $12.50 for these first three months. (The code was DAVE) I can budget for the cost out of our grocery budget.

I cannot put into words how great it has felt to:

1. Not get to 5:00 and have to ask the dreaded question, "What are we going to eat for dinner???"

2. Feed my family well.

You can also choose to do a menu plan for only 2 people if you are newlyweds or empty nesters or you can choose a diet plan like Weight Watchers or low carb.

I'm sorry if I sound like an infomercial. I'll stop now. I'm just so thankful for this and wanted to share the joy. LOL. : )

Here's the link again if you want to give it a try:

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My New Friend

Let me introduce you to my new friend:

Mr. Dish Drying Rack

Truthfully, this is one of those blogs posts I feel silly writing. I imagine you sitting at your computers saying out loud, "Duh, Becky."

But I figured I'd share anyway in case there is someone else out there ending every day facing a mountain of dishes.

Transitioning to homeschool seemed to double the amount of dishes waiting for me at the end of the day because the girls are home eating all three meals, making snacks, etc. Busy with lessons and adventures and crafts, we'd throw the dishes in the sink. Some nights I was so tired, I'd leave them until morning. Isn't it depressing to wake up to a dirty kitchen?

I tried something new this week and it has been a dish washing miracle for me. I start the day by filling the sink with hot soapy water and put the drying rack next to it. The rule for the day is, "You use it, You wash it."

After school, the girls' chore is to put all clean dishes from the drying rack and the dishwasher away before I start dinner. As I cook, I clean each dish immediately and put it in the handy dandy drying rack or rinse it and put it in the empty dishwasher. Then after dinner, they all put their dishes directly into the empty dishwasher, and I turn it on before I go to bed.

Also, they choose a "cup of the day" that is rinsed after each use and left on the counter. One cup a day has cut down on dishes, too. I just tucked in the kids and guess what? I don't have any dishes left to do. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with all of this free time? : )

So far it's working great!

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W.O.W. Results

How did it go ladies???

I'm so excited to visit your blogs and find out how your week went as you tackled those goals. Remember to celebrate what you were able to accomplish even if it wasn't perfect. That's what I'm doing! I did not completely finish my goal, but I'm excited about how far I got and how much it is helping our organization already.

I got about half of what I hoped to get accomplish finished, but I'm so thankful for the accountability because I can say with certainty that none of it would have been done without the knowledge that I'd be reporting to you today. : )

My original goal was to have my card-file system all ready to use, that I would develop a weekly and daily schedule that would work for our homeschool and life, and I also hoped to cover the ugly tin box with some pretty contact paper so I could leave it out on the kitchen counter.

Here's what is finished:

Awhile ago I won this planner for Homeschool Moms:

So, I used it to map out our school week by the half hour. We were able to implement the new schedule yesterday and it worked great. I'm hopeful that knowing what we "should" be doing will help us keep on top of things instead of winging it.

I also started going room by room and listing what needs to be done in each and how often that chore needs to be done. Some chores I want to do every day, some only need to be done once a year. Most chores were labeled daily, weekly, twice a week, monthly, seasonally, or annually.

Those two steps were as far as I got. I'm still working on getting it all transferred to 3x5 cards, but I did buy some really fancy colored cards for the job. I'll do another post when I finish it.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and the fun of doing our work together.

I'm adding MckLinky to the bottom of this post for you to link up your results. On Thursday I'll draw the coffee winner. Can't wait to hear how it went. : )

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Ready to W.O.W. ?

Wow, am I ever in need of this W.O.W. challenge! : )

For those new to W.O.W., it stands for Within One Week. It is a challenge I host periodically and is open to anyone and everyone who has a goal they'd like to accomplish within a week, enjoys support and cheerleading, and would like a shot at winning a free coffee on me. I'd love to have some new players this round, so if you haven't joined us in the past, I hope you will this round. You can read up on what W.O.W. is by clicking the W.O.W. label on my sidebar for more info, or email me and I can walk you through how to join us. It's fun! And it feels so good to get something checked off your to-do list.

My goal for this week:

We recently jumped into homeschooling two months ago. It has been a huge blessing, but by jumping in mid-year like we did, things are a tad disorganized around here. (That's an understatement!)

All of my focus and energy has been on schooling, and all other things have been pushed aside- housework, menu planning, ministry work, even blogging! LOL

I've come to the conclusion that it is now time to develop some kind of workable schedule and routine around here so we aren't just reacting to mess and always trying to stay one step ahead of it. I don't want to be afraid anymore that someone is going to knock on the front door and see how messy things have gotten. : )

I love being hospitable and I also want to work homemaking into our school experience, so that's my goal. I want to develop some kind of a system, routine, and cleaning schedule that will actually work for us.

I'm starting with this old tin box:




When I was a little girl, I remember my mom using a card-file system for housecleaning. Years ago, she gave me all of her old cards and dividers:



Everything was color-coded and filed in the box according to the frequency of when they needed to be done: daily, weekly, monthly.

I found this card in the box. It must be at least 25 years old. My color must have been pink. : )



I've decided to give that old system a try. So within one week, I hope I have something developed that will work for us.

Your Turn:

1. What would you like to see done in one week? Do you have a fitness goal, a business goal, a house goal, writing goal? Write a blog post about it or leave a comment on here. You are welcome to use my W.O.W. image above.

2. Come back here and link up using McLinky.

3. Next, Monday, I'll have a new post here for us to link up our results. Again, if you don't have a blog, feel free to use my comments section. We can cheer you on from here. I'll tell you how I did, and someone will win Starbucks on me.

A few things to remember:

1. The more people who play, the more fun we have. Please invite your friends to join us. And please link back to this post from your post.

2. Choose a goal that isn't too overwhelming, something that can be done in a week without too much stress.

3. If you don't finish, that's OK, too! You will be closer to finishing it than you were a week ago, and that is something to celebrate!

4, Please visit the other players often throughout the week to cheer them on

Have fun! I can't wait to be inspired by you all!

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A Season of Blessed Frustration?

In one of the Harry Potter books, the beloved bookworm, Hermione Granger, wants to enroll in more classes at Hogwarts than is humanly possible. To accomplish this, she uses a contraption called a Time Turner. It allows her to attend one class, turn back time, and then attend another class.

I've decided that I need one of those Time Turners. I could put in a full day of homeschooling, turn back time and get the house clean, and then turn back time and work on my writing, ministry, and fitness goals. Of course, all of that would leave me wiped out. 24 hours in one day is about all I can handle. I'm not sure I would like putting in 72 hours in a day. Hmmmm....

I know what I need! I need a Body Splitter! I could be like Barbie. There could be the Homemaker Becky, The Homeschooling Becky, The Workout Sports Becky, The Professional Writer and Speaker Becky, The Super Sexy Wife Becky, and of course, the Blogger Queen Becky who never lets a day go by without a new post. : )

Seriously speaking, what I really need is a dose of patience.

I was reading a magazine article recently that talked about the different seasons of a woman's life. The author talked about how often we think the season of motherhood is our WHOLE life. Because of this, it is called the Season of Frustration. Our days are filled with demands and responsibilities and there isn't enough time or energy left to pursue our dreams and goals.

My take away from the article was to remember that this time of my life will NOT last my whole life. It is only a short season. A blessed, sweet, sweet season that outweighs the frustration.

There will be plenty of time after my kids are grown and gone to devote my whole day to writing books and traveling to speaking engagements. I'm sure my house will be and stay clean then, too. This season is tough, but temporary and full of great blessing.

I'll still try to squeeze in all the other things because that is me- I love to be creative, to write, to teach, and to attempt to keep a nice home and a somewhat fit body, but at the end of this season of my life, I want to be able to say I soaked up every second with my family most of all.

It's just a balancing act. Or a juggling act. I heard a speaker say once that when you are looking at all of the things you are trying to juggle, you will find rubber balls and china plates. The rubber balls will bounce back if you drop them. The china plates will shatter. I'll just have to focus on the china plates and leave the rubber balls for later.

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

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W.O.W. Results- I Painted! : )

I'm a wannabe, but I had fun!

I didn't know what I was going to paint exactly, just that I was itching to be creative. So, I grabbed some acrylic paints, brushes, stencils, and the value double pack of canvases at Michael's and pretended I was a little kid again. I searched the Internet for inspiration and then just started paining. You gotta try it! It is so much fun!

The view above Prince Charming's dresser last week:

Here it is this week:

And Papa's handsome picture that was once in a boring white $2 frame, is now a $3 frame because I added some Fire Engine Red paint to it. : )

Before:

After:

And this guy is no longer sitting on the floor:

It's hanging on the wall:

Woo-Hoo. What a fun project! Thank you, Heidi and Emily for playing along with me and for the others of you who cheered me on.

I tried to take a painting class once, and I think the instructor had a hard time not laughing me out of the class. It was fun to try this and not need it to look like anything, just a little token of love from a mommy to her boy.

My kitchen table and floor were an art studio for the week. And I had to paint at night when kids were asleep who wanted desperately to HELP me with my project.

Now the girls want paintings for their rooms. A ball is one thing...painting Shawn Johnson and a puppy dog is another!

What do you think, Prince Charming. Do you like your room?

How did your projects go?

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Time to W.O.W. Again!

It's that time again! Ready to W.O.W. with me? I hope so!

Do you have something you've wanted to get done but keep procrastinating? Join me this week and let us cheer you on. (Browse the past W.O.W. posts to get an idea of what it's all about, and then come back here and join in the fun)

Last month, Heidi did a great job with scrapbooking and salsa making and won the coffee prize.

(Which probably hasn't shown up in her mailbox yet. Sorry, Heidi. Thanks for being patient with me! Should be there soon.)

Maybe you will be the winner this time!

Here's what I'm up to this week:

I'm back in Prince Charming's room this week. I've mentioned that I've been reading Nester's "31 Days to a Better Dressed Nest" and on Day 5, she told us all to "paint something."

So within one week that's exactly what I'm going to do. : )

At first, I thought about my coffee table, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough for that quite yet. I've been itching to "create" something lately, so being told to paint something seemed like the perfect opportunity.

During a past W.O.W. Challenge, I finished Prince Charming's bedroom. But it actually isn't all the way done.

This is the view over his dresser:

A Bare Wall. : )

This week, I'm going to get creative and something will be painted and above that dresser. I think it will involve a canvas, a paintbrush, and some paint. Since I don't even know what it is going to be yet, you'll have to come back next Wednesday for the big reveal.

I'd also like to get this off the floor and hung up on the wall:

And I picked up this picture frame during one of my treasure hunting sprees, but want to liven it up a little, so I also plan to paint the outside edge red:

Look at all the painting I'm doing! : )

What would you like to accomplish in just one week's time? Let's us know in the comments section or link up to your blog and we'll all cheer each other on throughout the week. Next Wednesday, I'll post my results and you can tell us how you did. One person will win a Starbucks card for you to buy a drink on me.

Have fun and don't forget the cheering each other on part! : )

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Three Quick Things...

1. Could you take a quick moment to answer my poll on the sidebar? Thanks! : )

2. I have 9 pounds to go to reach my weight loss goal, and I'm in serious need of some motivation/encouragement to make it to the end. I'm not exactly sure what I've got planned, but I was wondering if there are any other readers out there interested in supporting each other on my fitness blog to lose 10 pounds?

They could be your first 10, to get you jumped started, they might just be 10 that you've been packing around for awhile and know you'd feel better to kiss them goodbye, or you might be like me, 10 pounds away from a goal you've been working toward for a long time and need a push to cross the finish line. I just think it would be fun to do some kind of challenge, or book club, or support group, or something to give us all the accountability and support we need. Anyone out there interested or possibly interested? I'll come up with more details soon and let me know if you have some fun ideas. As always, the focus will be lasting change, not quick fixes. (Who wants those 10 pounds back at the end? I don't!) : )

3. Nester is starting a new series on her blog this month called "31 Days to a Better Dressed Nest." Sounds like fun and thought some of you domestic divas out there might be interested.

Happy Thursday!

Love,

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Transformed Treasure

So, did you guess what I did with my little thrifting find?

Since I'm probably not the only fan of Shannon's "Bless Our Nest" blog, I bet you've seen this done before. (She's the pro, I just tried to copy) If you don't follow Shannon's blog, you should. : )

First, I wrapped it with painters tape.





Second, I sprayed it with Chalkboard Paint:

Ta-da:

It looks a little lonely on the table by itself. I need to find a few little treasures to keep it company and maybe a fancier plate holder like Shannon has.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? : )

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