Fall Homemaking

In my last post, I shared how I was falling short in some areas. Homemaking has taken a BIG hit. Seems like  that is always the way. When life slaps us, we tend to do only the necessities, and leave everything else to the wayside. Once I started to do some Fall decorating, I realized just how lax I had become.

Ok, maybe not THAT lax.....more like..... 

 As I began to pull out the decorations, I saw areas that had been neglected. Like the formal dining room. Yes....laundry on the dining room table. It is clean, but does NOT belong there. Never in the 13 years that I have lived here have I used that formal room as part of the laundry room, until the last several months. 

 If you look in that far back corner, you will see baskets stacked on each other...all laundry. 

The desk in the eating area and the shelf above it, were in a terrible state!

Remember that hermit crab Zach won?? His home has been on that shelf for the last month! And look at the junk!

Even the little scarecrow didn't hide the mess.....toothpaste and old mail still glared back at me!

Baby steps....which is code for "the clothes are off the table, but the baskets are still in the dining room".

I did spend some time on that desk and shelf today and it looks MUCH better.

 I didn't have a before pic of the desk, but it was covered in junk mail, and dust! Some other fall touches around my house.....

 Hoping to make strides each day to getting things back to a system of homemaking that keeps me from falling short!

Hello Notions Nook!!!

 I found the new-to-me quilt shop today. It is not too far from home (closer than the other shops in town), and was quite LOVELY. The Notion Nook will be seeing a lot of me! There are walls of 1800 repos, 1930's repos, Primitive Gatherings, and more Moda than you can imagine! (click on the link, cause she has online shopping too) I did not see any hand quilting notions, so I asked the lady behind the counter if she carried any. Cay introduced herself as the owner, and led me directly to a peg holding Dritz quilting betweens. UGH....they suck. Just my opinion. I told her I was looking for a place that carried thread, batting, and needles that were hand quilter friendly. She apologized and said she had not had a need for those items, but had been trying to get a hand quilting class going so she could broaden out into that arena. I told her that I had been teaching for Acorn for the last 4 years, and before I could get another word out, she ran and got a pad of paper and a pen and said, "What do you need in the store, and can you teach classes here?" So long story short, she is ordering all my favorite hand quilting notions and I have a class in June!! I did not come home without sampling her wares! I got the bumper stickers shown above, and some darling Moda packs (a 5" and two 2 1/2") that will be perfect for the Simply Charming quilts.

I also grabbed a stack of Civil War Repo fat quarters. I love them!! They are so gorgeous!

Cammy was very interested in what was coming out of that bag!

Don't worry....we don't eat on those placemats ;)

Yesterday my WW friends, Carol and Melody, came over so we could baste Carol's "queen" sized quilt. I say "queen" cause it was NOT queen!! It was bigger than KING! We had to piece an 8 inch wide strip onto the 120x120 bat. Luckily she had another one in the car!

Carol (in the lime green) pieced together blocks that her 80-something year old mother embroidered. The 16" blocks are gorgeous!!!

She used the perfect fabrics to sash them!

4 hours later (that includes a break to eat a wonderful salad Carol brought) the quilt was ready for the hoop. 

Now back to today...I am flip flopping LOL....I spent the day with my mom shopping for wall decor to match her new couch. I love what we came up with!!

So pretty!!! That couch is BIG! While we were at Old Time Pottery,  I found this metal star that I knew would look good on the small wall in my eating area. 

It's all textured, which doesn't show in the picture, and looks like it was made for that spot! 

That's all for now. I am going back to Mom's for the morning tomorrow, and then grocery shopping. The rest of the week should be very relaxed. We are expecting sunny days and climbing temps....and Friday brings grandkids!!!! YAY!!!!

Write Your Vision

How's your 2012 starting out? Mine...I won't complain, but it could have been better. We rang in the New Year with these little ones! THAT was a great start to 2012!
They were here 4 nights and left on New Years Day. It was a wonderful time with those babies, and I treasure every minute. When they left, it was so quiet, I almost couldn't stand it! All that was left was this....I left it there for most of the day....just wasn't ready to let them go.
I still had children at home though, and let me tell ya, the drama started! The first few days of 2012 had me reeling. My daughter dodged a huge missile...I am not even sure she realizes it, but someday the Lord will show her just how blessed she was in that first week of 2012!In the meantime, I am thankful that God gave me the wisdom, even in a way I never expected, to make the right choices for my family. It hurts my pride to say, had I just listened to my husband in the first place...but you know I have to figure it out on my own sometimes. I am blessed to have a husband who gets that about me.
And all the while, this smile and that twinkle in his eye, reminded me of what being a mother is all about....hard choices, but also great rewards! (I got a hug from my daughter too...eventually)
I can't share photos of the kids and not mention the girls....they continue to love each other and play and cause all kinds of their own drama...but it is fun drama! I sure love these girlies!
(the small one wears the big one out!)

So it is the new year, and even thought the first few days of mine were rough going, it does not mean my 2012 is without promise! I spent the week between Christmas and New Year like I do every year.... I wrote my vision for the coming year. Back in the early 90's, my Pastor, (Pastor Mike, from my church in McHenry) did a New Years teaching on writing the vision...see Habakkuk 2. Ever since, I have been writing my vision for the coming year. He taught me how to use specific categories....since then, I have designed these around my own life, and have come up with the following.....many of these are the ones he gave us to use in an outline (Gosh, he is a gifted teacher! I sure miss him!)

1) Spiritual and Innerdevelopment, 2)Family/Relationship, 3) Personal Development, 4)Ministry, 5) Physical and Health, 6) Homeschool, 7) Marriage, 8) Homemaking, 9) Material, 10) Reading, 11) Home Improvement, 12) Blogging, and last but never least QUILTING! Quilting get's it's own page!

I have to say that most of the time I meet my goals with a 70% success, though last year was more of a failure....good-bye 2011!!!! Now all those categories may look overwhelming....you can choose ONE and go with that! Just set at least 3 goals for the coming year for yourself! Write the vision....it will be worth it! The other part of that verse says to make it plain on tablets...your tablet can be your computer, your phone, or like me...use an old fashioned piece of lead and some paper!!! I have used a piece of poster board and cut out pictures in the past....making a goal poster is a fun way to write the vision! I keep my goals in the back of my binder so I can see them....the third part of this is "so you can see them and run with them" (my own paraphrase)I put the categories as a heading and then make more detailed goals underneath...just 1-3 goals per heading, though a couple of categories got more this year. For example, under Homemaking Goals, I have listed, Organize each room, Use binder schedule daily, Use my monthly cleaning schedule.....Also, along with using the binder schedule, I am using a daily PODA....
Now, what happens when you get off track for any reason? I had a horrible cold yesterday...I am much better today thanks to Zicam...but I did NOTHING yesterday, which was scheduled to be a big cleaning day! Well I did make my bed and had to run the errands on the list, but other than that I laid around or hand quilted the day and evening away! This morning I read this wonderful post. Today, I am NOT returning to yesterday's list, but continuing on with today's jobs. Yesterday's list will get another chance next Wednesday!

Some other detailed goals under the heading of Physical/Heath are to continue the WW meetings every week, increase my activity (there is also a detailed plan for that...you can not be too vague), and to make 2012 a completely meat-free year. Under Home Improvement, I have listed paint the bedroom, and tear down wallpaper in kitchen...both of these were carried over from last year, and that's ok. It just gives them more of a priority this year! Quilting goals??? those deserve a post of their own, but you know what is number 1 on that list, right?!
Now go write your vision!!!! Make it plain on tablets, so that you can see it and run with it. Here is to a productive 2012!!!

Back To Binder Basics

"Most of all, someone has taken the trouble to make things nice. To fluff up the pillows, fill a vase with flowers, put down freshly laundered throw rugs,or set a pot of potpourri to simmer. These little grace notes of sight and scent do more to make a home feel gracious and expansive than all the expensive furniture in the world."

I read this quote on Copperswife last June, and it has stuck with me! (you can read it here) Sadly, it just stuck in my mind, and I didn't implement it. 2011 has been "The Year of the Sloth" around here, and my home has suffered the most. I have spent the year working very hard at not working! My 2011 goals are left 90% unmet. That is insane....it should be the other way around. Well, this year I am turning it around! My Home Management Binder is pulled back out, reworked a bit to fit my current schedules, and within a short couple of months, my home will back to ship shape!!!

I even made that quote my front page.

I started today, right where the book says to begin....I didn't get my entire house in order BEFORE I started...I just dove right in as if I had been following it all along. I used a daily sheet and crossed off my tasks as they were finished.

A little bit of deep cleaning was added. A couple of kitchen cupboards were cleaned out, but my scheduled focus cleaning will start after the New Year.

It is one of main goals for 2012...to get my house back in order!

Speaking of order, I LOVE that feeling when all the Christmas stuff comes down and things get put back into place. I always change a few things in the process....I am itching for some new placemats for the kitchen table. These look just a tad "Old Lady". I will look for just the perfect ones in the next couple of shopping trips.

The tree came down today and Sassy supervised from her spot on the couch.

Cammy found Zachary's Merry-Go-Round amusing!!! She climbed in and out of it, batting at the sides as it went around! She is fully recovered from her bout with the tummy bug.

She is growing by leaps and bounds and LOVES Kyle. She will curl up with him and purr herself to sleep. She does not do that with most people.The grand kids are here for the week. Such sweeties, and I enjoy every minute with them! It is close to bed time, so I am off to tuck them in. I will be back with more on my 2012 Goals, and I am sure some TJ and Emerson pictures!!