Healthy Homemade Granola

My husband LOVES granola. I mean, he really loves it. I have tried buying almost every single kind of granola that is sold in stores and they're just 'okay' by his standards. It works because it's food and if he puts enough yogurt on it, who can tell? But as a wife, I wanted to have a granola for him that he just couldn't get enough of. And that's where my latest endeavor came in.

Homemade granola. 

And it wasn't even that hard. It took about 30mins to make and then I set it out to cool. And the best part: he loves it! I think my problem was that he grew up on homemade everything and store bought granola just isn't the same.

I started with a recipe I found from Kevin's grandma that she gave me at my bridal shower. And then I tweaked it. Here's what I ended up putting in:

6 C.       Gluten Free Oats
1 1/2 C. Chopped Pecans
1/2 C.    Sunflour Seeds
1/4 C.    Flax Seeds
1/4 C.    Sesame Seeds
1 C.       Shredded Coconut
2/3 C.    Honey
2/3 C.    Olive Oil
1 Tb.     Cinnamon
1 Tsp.    Vanilla
1 1/2 C. Raisins

First I put the oats and all the nuts and seeds in a large pan and baked them in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Then added the coconut, cinnamon, and liquid ingredients. Mixed it up really good and then put it back in the oven for another 15mins stirring it every 5mins. After that, I spread it out on parchment paper and left it to cool. Then added the raisins and put it in a jar. And voila! It's ready to eat.

It's not quite as crunchy as some granolas because I used honey instead of sugar, but it still tastes awesome. I think Kevin is secretly waiting for the yogurt I made to get done this afternoon before he really dives in, but I keep catching him pulling handfuls out of the jar and eating it.

Success as a wife = priceless!

Gender Reveal Party

Back in January, we announced that we are expecting our 3rd baby by posting this photo on Facebook.

We just reached the halfway point and had decided that we wanted to know the gender of this baby before it's born.  Since we are using a midwife and doing a home birth, I had to find a place to perform the ultrasound.  I found a place about a mile from our house that would do it for a very reasonable price.  So, we decided to have the technician find out the gender and write it on a piece of paper.  Then we brought the paper (inside a sealed security envelope) to my mom who made a cake the color (pink or blue) that the baby is going to be.  Then frosted it over and brought it to our party.

We had about 25 people (not including kids) that made it to share the special moment with us.

There were pink and blue snacks.

Everyone casted their vote.  Boy was leading in the polls.

The cake.

The plan was to have Evelyn call out the color of the cake after we cut it, but for whatever reason, she kept saying the wrong color.  Here's the video of our cake cutting.

So, we are having another girl!  That was my feeling all along, but it is nice to know for sure.  Getting ready for her will be pretty easy as Elsie was born in June so we have the right sizes in the right seasons.  We're over half way there to meeting her and I know the time will fly and before we know it, she will be here.  I can't wait to meet her, but I am cherishing these moments with just my older two.  Being a mommy is so wonderful!

Christmas Projects (A Little Late)

How is it February already?  Wow time is flying.  I meant to post about this way back in January, but never got around to it.

This Christmas I decided to 'save' some money by making many homemade gifts.  The problem with this idea is that most of the time, the homemade gift ends up costing more in the end.  But most of the time it's also worth it because it turns out exactly like I wanted and it's super cute.  Here are some pictures of the things I made this year.  I forgot to take pictures of everything I made, so some of them are the pinterest picture of my inspiration.

For Kevin, I made this chalkboard to hang in our bedroom.  I started with a piece of plywood I found in our garage and went to town.  I love how it turned out and we use it all the time to write little love notes back and forth to each other.  Every married couple should have one!

I made a few things for some children in my life.

The apron I made is this exact apron, but with cupcake fabric.

Burp cloths out of prefold diapers.

The headband I made was bright pink, but I learned how to do this cool knot.

I also made this style apron, but in an adorable grey and pink polka-dot pattern.

And a basket made out of paper grocery bags.

I also made our girls each their own rice bag that you can warm up and snuggle with.  I can't find the cover right now to Elsie's, so there's no picture.

Whew!  Kevin informed me that if I don't have the homemade gifts done by Thanksgiving next year, we will just be buying something.  It took a lot of time and energy to do it all, but I enjoyed every minute. Making something by hand for the ones you love is something I love to do!

A Wife After God's Own Heart By Elizabeth George (7/44)

I saw this book on my sister-in-law's bookshelf one week when I was helping her clean.  The title jumped out at me and I borrowed it.  It took me a few months to get around to reading it, but I finally finished it.  And I would highly recommend it to any wife out there who desires to better serve God and her husband. (Which is all of us right?)

Not only is this book packed full of Biblical wisdom and truths, at the end of each chapter are several practical ways to carry out in real life what the chapter talked about.  I think that is what I appreciated the most about this book. 

Some practical advice that was very helpful to me was:
*Show greater respect for your husband. i.e. look at him when he's talking, don't interrupt, ask him nicely for things etc.
*Encourage your husband.
*Take care of yourself and make yourself more attractive for your husband i.e. fix your hair, dress up, exercise.
*Make the beds daily.
*Pay attention to times of the day when you tend to get 'tired' (or feel lazy) and figure out the things that get you going. 
*Get enough sleep at night so that you aren't too tired for your husband.
*Work on your attitude.
*Get up before your children do.
*Visit your parents.
*Plan one fun activity a week with your husband.
*Make a list of things you've always wanted to do, and then do the things together.

Of course she had a lot more suggestions, but these specifically spoke to me and where I'm at. 

Again, I would highly recommend this book to any wife out there.  You will definitely be challenged to be a better wife and better follower of Christ.  I have to return this book to my SIL, but I wish I had a copy of my own to reference again in the future.

Evelyn & Elsie 'Isms

The way that Evelyn says things these days:

Hankune: Thank You.
Slipalee: Slippery
Lankey: Blanket
Me-Me: Chapstick
Sisser: Sister
Cozies: Sweatpants
Ness: Nest (usually for sleeping in)
Finnanas: Finger Nails (almost always referred to in the context of wanting them painted)
Sack: Snack
Kiwi Bar: Chewy bar aka granola bar

Some of Elsie's words:

Foooo: Food
Foooo: Shoe - must pay attention to context to determine which.
Baby: Blankey
Wooeee: Rudy aka Aunt Maria
BeBe: Baby doll, or stuffed animal
Naaa: Snack
Aame: Amen
Ah Da: All Done
Peee: Please
My: Mine
Hep: Help

She is also very good at nodding and shaking her head to express what she would or wouldn't like to do.

Shanghai Stirfry

I don't think I've ever posted a recipe before, but we just ate this last night, and it was so yummy, I thought I would share it.  The recipe is called Shanghai Stirfry from the recipe book "Two Sisters Cookbook".  Well, the sauce recipe is from there.  The rest is just what I throw together.  Doesn't it look yummy?

To make the sauce, mix together:
*1/2 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
*1/2 C. Braags Amino Acids
*A chunk of Ginger Root a little bigger  than your thumb sent through the garlic press
*3 Garlic Cloves minced
*2 Tb. Honey
*1 Tb. Cornstarch mixed into 1/4 C. Cold Water

Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute until quite bubbly.  Then let it sit until you're ready for it.

I used a 3lb beef roast for the meat, cooking all of it, but only putting half into the recipe. The other half went in the freezer ready for next time.  I've made it with a venison roast before, and that is delicious as well.  Let the roast thaw in the fridge for a day so that it's still mostly frozen, but easily sliced with a sharp knife.  Slice the meat into thin strips. Pour about 1/4 C. of sauce into frying pan and cook the meat.  Then pull the meat out and set aside. 

Chop up whatever vegetables you have on hand or want in your stir fry.  I try to keep it to about 5 different veggies max.  Too many more gives it too many different flavors.  I like to keep it simple.  For this batch I used carrots, onion, broccoli, and cauliflower, but feel free to mix it up to suit your tastes.  Cabbage, and peas are two of our other favorites to add.  Cut them small so that they cook faster.  In the same pan you cooked the meat in, add another 1/4 C. (approximate - I just dump some in) of the sauce and cook all the veggies until they are the tenderness you like.  I cook them pretty soft so that the girls don't have any trouble eating them.  This usually takes about 20-30 mins. 

While all of this is going on, don't forget to cook some rice.  Time it to be done at the same time as everything else if you can. I made this meal last night, and from start to finish - slicing meat to ready to eat it took 1 1/2 hours.  But a lot of that time is cook time, so I got all the dishes washed and the kitchen mostly cleaned up during that time as well.  Then, enjoy!

Let me know if you give this recipe a try.  I'd love to hear how you like it!

acTivity Tuesday

Well, summer and fall got busy, and I haven't had much time to post about our activities lately.  But we've still been doing them.  This week, the girls wanted to go outside and draw with chalk.  Since it's getting pretty cold outside, I decided that since one of their favorite chalk activities is to trace themselves, we could trace ourselves on the giant roll of red paper I got at our Church clean up day.

Had I known how attached those girls would become to the cutouts of themselves, I may have rethought that decision.  But it's too late for that.  The girls now carry their cutouts everywhere with them.  They wanted to take them to bed last night, and were only satisfied not to when we laid them on the floor of their room and covered them their own blankets.

When Elsie tried to grab hers and the arm ripped off, I thought Evelyn was going to cry.  This morning there were loud and terrible screams coming from both girls in the living room.  I went in to see what was the matter, and Elsie had Evelyn's paper person.  Evelyn was screaming because she didn't want Elsie to have it, and didn't want to rip it to get it back.  Elsie was screaming because Evelyn was trying to get it away from her.  Oh. Wow.  This afternoon Evelyn insisted on taking her paper baby in bed with her for her nap.  She usually takes her nap on our bed, and she laid her paper self on Kevin's pillow and she slept right next to it.  She's gotten into making a 'nest' for herself with blankets to take her nap in, and she even made a nest for her paper self.  She was also calling her paper cutout her sister. Here's Evelyn napping with her paper doll.

The girls holding their babies.

Elsie holding her paper person.  Notice the tape holding it back together?  Well, Elsie also took her person with her during her nap and it returned with all limbs and the head torn off.

This is how the girls usually hold their people - under the arms and in a big hug.

The good thing is they are only paper and we can either tape them up, or make new ones if it comes to that. 

What I Thought I Wanted

So I thought I had landed a great way to earn a little extra cash.  Turns out God just needed to use it to show me that it wasn't what I really wanted. 

I was all ready to go clean the gross auto shop for the first time.  I went to bed early and headed over there around 4:30am.  And was it ever gross.  As I organized the cleaning closet I noticed a small hole in the back of the closet and tons of little chewed up plastic left by a mouse (or mice).  I spent almost 3 hours there cleaning the bathroom, windows, and counters.  It does feel good to take something gross and make it look clean again.  I had to be back before 8 so Kevin could get to work on time.  Turns out getting up that early will really wear you out. 

I went back later in the week to find out about a few things I would need for the next time, and found out that not only was the only way to get hot water from the bathroom sink, they also weren't wanting to pay as much as I was needing to make it worth my while. 

While the extra money was hard to see go, at the end of the day, it's just money.  I don't have to get up at 4:30am once a week and wear myself out cleaning.  I can wake up rested and have more time and energy for the things I care most about: my girls and my husband.  In the months since this happened, I have not missed it once. 

God used this whole thing to teach me the truth from Philippians 4:11 "For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

God Works in Mysterious Ways Sometimes

Last week, while at my weekly house cleaning for some friends, I locked the keys in the trunk of the car.  All the doors were locked, and the only metal door hanger I could find wasn't strong or long enough to reach the nob to unlock the door.  And the spare key was sitting there in the center console mocking me.  And Kevin was 45mins away working and couldn't come to my rescue.  Needless to say, I was frustrated.  I was super proud of myself for getting the cleaning done in my fastest time yet.  And then we had to sit there in the driveway and wait for the locksmith to come unlock the car for us. 

But then, as I was filling out the payment slip and making small talk with the technician, turns out he's the owner/manager of the store.  And it also turns out that they're looking for someone to clean the front lobby area of their auto shop.  He said if I was interested to just stop by their building sometime. Wow! Didn't see that one coming.  I stopped in today to check the size of the place out, and get an idea of what they're looking for.  And I think it's going to work out. 

He said I can come in whenever is convenient.  During operational hours, or after hours. I can bring the girls with if I want, they don't care. It's just one bathroom and then the floors and windows in the main room.  This is such an answer to prayer for us.  We've been praying about ways I can make a little extra money to help with remodeling projects, and they seem to keep falling in my lap. 

Like I told Kevin, God wanted me to lock the keys in the car.  Not only to teach me some patience and humility, but also to bless me with some extra work.  What an awesome God we have!

Lyme Disease (Or The Lack Thereof!)

I don't think I've posted about this at all, but this spring in May, I got a tick bite.  No big deal right?  I've gotten tons of ticks in my lifetime.  Wrong.  This tick carried Lyme Disease.  And it gave it to me.  I got very sick for several days, and had the classic symptom of the bulls-eye rash around the bite.  It got so bad though, that all I could do was lay in bed and sleep. 

As soon as I spotted the rash and knew what I was dealing with, I scheduled to go see my soon to be brother-in-law who is a chiropractor in town.  He has a complicated set of vials that I won't even attempt to explain, but I tested positive for both Lyme and Bebisia(a co-infection of Lyme).  Yikes!  I hadn't done much research, but the people that I know that have gotten Lyme never seem to get better.  Was I going to battle this for the rest of my life?  The chiropractor was saying, "NO! You won't!".  

I began taking herbal tinctures that my sister-in-law makes for the business she started called Nature's Pharmacy.  Within 12 hours, my fever was gone.  Wow!  Because it is only herbs, I didn't expect to feel 100% normal overnight.  And I didn't.  It was a long road.  The joint pain, stiffness, swollen achy joints that hurt to move, tiredness, it took a lot out of me and for a long time.  After almost 5 months, I finally feel normal again.  I don't need a nap, I can walk up and down stairs with no pain, I can go for a walk and not hurt, I can get a shoulder rub and not feel like someone punched me the next day. And it's awesome!

After taking the tinctures for 3 months and doing a couple of liver flushes, I went in for a follow up appointment.  I discovered much to my delight that the Lyme was gone.  But... the bebisia was still hanging around.  So I continued my tincture regiment for another 6 weeks along with 3 more liver flushes and went back to be tested again.  This time: ALL GONE!  Praise the Lord!  I had been praying for this to be the result for several days before and during my last liver flush.  Praying that the Lord would use this to take all of the bebisia out of my body.  And he answered my prayer completely!  He gets all the credit!

When I first found out I had Lyme and started taking only tinctures for it, many people were skeptical and hesitant about the fact that I was not getting antibiotics for it.  I have to admit that I didn't even think twice about it.  After watching my sister go the medical route first with no success, I didn't even want to try that.  I think the people who say it can't be beat all go with the doxycycline and then give up hope of ever getting better. I trust my mother-in-law and all of my husbands family who have battled through this and come out winners.  So that's what I did, and it worked!

Going forward now, is the fun part.  No more venison.  No more raw milk.  Being super duper careful when out in the woods.  And also protecting the rest of my family from ticks too.  It's not something I even want to take a chance at getting again.  The data shows that I live in one of the highest reported areas in the country for Lyme Disease.  

But I say, "Bring it on!"  I'm not going to sit in my house and be scared about getting Lyme again.  I'm not going to prohibit our children from going hunting, or playing in the woods.  I'm not going to be paranoid if I accidentally eat some venison or raw milk.  BUT, I am going to be proactive.  I'm going to never be out of bug/tick repellant.  I'm going to check my family members for ticks every time they've been in tall grass.  And I'm going to be ready for the day when someone does get Lyme.  And I'm going to beat it again!

Letter to Adalaide

I wrote this letter to my sweet niece.  I didn't know how else to capture everything that kept going through my head.  So I woke up at 6am on Thursday and wrote this.

We will be burying her tonight.  I don't know if I will be able to read it there, but I am going to give it to her parents. 

My Little Niece is With Jesus

I just cried through this song. Mark Schultz - What it Means to Be Loved.  Cried over the little niece that I will never get to hold.  Never get to meet.  Never get to watch grow up.  There aren't really any words.  Just shock and grief.  It feels so strange to be completely helpless to fix a situation.  To have no words to say.  To not know how to help, or what to do.

Then I remembered reading this post from a friend's blog.  It's called "Miscarriage: How to Comfort".  It's the first place I went.  I wanted to make sure I don't say any of the things on the 'what not to say' list.  I want to know what things I can do to help.  The second place I went was another friend's blog who lost their daughter about a year and a half ago.  She had a link to a blog with a whole series on "How to Help Your Grieving Friend".  What awesome tools.  As I've never been through a miscarriage, I don't really know how she's feeling, or what things I can do to help.  I know there's a long road of grieving ahead for her, but I know that I want to be there for her.  I want to help in whatever ways I can, but I don't want to be annoying.

The other thing that this makes me wonder is how anyone, and I mean ANYONE can think that abortion is okay.  These are little people we're talking about.  Children with a future ahead of them.  I just don't understand why there is such a big debate over it in our country.  What is there to debate?

Anyway.  Just needed to type out my thoughts.  If you have any advice for me how to help her, I'd be glad to hear it. 

Be Your Own 'Doctor' by Rachel Weaver (6/44)

I got this book a couple of years ago, and have been working my way through it for quite a while now.  Kevin and I take a naturalistic approach to our health care, and this book has been a wonderful resource for me in knowing how to remedy many things ourselves. 

Roughly the first half of the book goes through many different herbs telling the healing properties of each, and ways they can be used.  Many of the items listed are common things you would find in your kitchen i.e. onions, garlic, cayenne, ginger, parsley, apple cider vinegar.  The second half of the book goes through several topical sections such as pregnancy, respiratory difficulties, colon health, and others.  This section gives you herbal remedies for many areas of health.  Then it the back of the book are some recipes for teas, salves, tinctures, etc. and how to plan ahead to treat things with herbs.

Every chapter has at least one story about how she has used the herb being discussed and what the results were.  She also gives resources of where to order the herbs and items that she talks about.  

I think the one thing from the book that I have used the most is called 'People's Paste Powder'.  It's a combination of comfrey rood powder, slippery elm powder, myrrh powder, bayberry root powder, and garlic powder.  You use it to put on cuts or wounds.  All you do is pack it into the wound, and it forms a scab like thing.  The comfrey root increases circulation to the area which results in faster healing.  I have used it several times, and had situations where I was somewhere else and wished I had it with me. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in 'herbal home health care'.  It does take a little bit of preparation and work to do, but in my opinion, it is well worth it.  I always keep this book within arm's reach because it is so quick and easy to reference something that comes up in our family.  If you are interested in the book, you can order it on Amazon.  I believe it's $24.

Thoughts for Young Mothers by Elsie D. Holsinger (5/44)

My sister-in-law and I take turns helping clean each others' homes each week.  A couple of weeks ago, we were at her house, and I was helping her move some books onto a bookshelf.  I came across this book, and the title intrigued me.  I'm a young mother, and hearing someone's thoughts for me sounded great.

It was a pretty quick read (only 128 pages).  It's an older book printed in 1953, but the Biblical truths it contains are timeless. Each chapter begins with a verse that goes with the theme of the chapter.  Actually, every chapter is filled with verses.

I think the first few chapters were my favorites.  In them, she talks about being like Christ, choosing to be content, keeping our spiritual nourishment a top priority, and learning from the example of Hannah in the Bible.

One quote that really spoke to me was this, "We Christian mothers are more than cooks and housekeepers.  We are children of God and joint heirs with Christ.  We are His representatives, His ambassadors.  God has given us our home with our children as a special place to serve Him.  Glorify and praise the Lord just where you are."

This whole book was an encouragement, and a good reminder of ways that I can be a better mother to my girls.  I was reminded that I, as the mother, set the tone of the household.  Meaning, if Mom is happy and cheerful showing patience and love, the home will respond in the same way.  If Mom is tired, cranky, irritable and cross, the home will respond in that way as well.  This was a good look in the mirror for me to realize that when my children are getting on my nerves, it's probably MY attitude that needs an adjustment.

I would definitely recommend this book to other young mothers.  And I found out from my S-I-L that the book actually belongs to our Church library, so you can borrow it from there!

Reupholstered Chairs Project

So, we have owned these chairs for almost a year now.  They have been used many times in their sorry condition.

I have had plans to reupholster them for a very long time.  Well, since we got them actually.  I picked up some fabric at a thrift sale earlier this summer, and have just been waiting for some time to get this project done.  Once I got started, it didn't take any longer than a couple of hours.  It's a very easy project to do, but I thought that in case you've never done something like this before, I would put together a little tutorial, just for fun.

Supplies needed:
*Chairs
*New foam padding (if needed)
*New fabric
*Screwdriver
*Pliers
*Sharpie
*Scissors
*Staple gun

Step 1:  Take the seat off of the chair.  Mine had four screws underneath and it popped off quite easily.

Step 2: Take the old fabric off.  This is where I used the screwdriver again (flat head) to pry the staples up, and then pulled them the rest of the way out with the pliers.  Pay attention as to how the fabric was put on i.e. which sides were stapled down first, how the corners were folded etc.  This will be important in step 7.

 Step 3: Determine the condition of the padding underneath, and throw away what can't be used.  For my chairs, the top white padding part was falling apart, but the straw type padding part underneath was in great shape.  I decided to keep the bottom layer and go from there.

 Step 4: Trace the board on the new foam with a sharpie for the correct size.

 Step 5: Cut out the foam using a scissors, and place on top of the other padding, on top of the board.

 Step 6: Cut out your fabric using the old fabric you took off as a pattern.  I cut mine slightly bigger than the old one because the foam I added was thicker than what was originally there. Lay the fabric face down (wrong side up) and flip your setup from step five onto the fabric.

 Step 7: Staple the new fabric onto the board using a staple gun.  I put the fabric back on the same way I took it off.  Sides first and then the ends.  Make sure you pull the fabric tight, as it will keep the fabric from being loose and floppy once it's on the chair.

 Step 8: Now flip it over and you're ready to screw it back onto the chair.

 Voila!  A brand new chair!

 I'm very happy with how my chairs turned out.  The only thing that perplexes me is that I am positive we had four chairs, but I can only find three in my house.  I have searched my house many times over, had other people search my house, and still only 3.  Oh well, maybe I'm just going crazy.

acTivity Tuesday

This week snuck up on me.  After last week, I was planning to prepare a little better for today's activities, and then I prepared nothing.  It's a good thing there is a long list of activities that we can do without any pre-planning.

This morning we did three activities.  We started off with a combination of 'Cruising' and 'House Tour' both from the Early One-Year Old list.  Cruising involves dragging them around the house on a blanket, and house tour is telling the names of each room in the house.  We did both.  The only rooms Evelyn could remember every time were her bedroom, our bedroom, and the kitchen.  She's doing pretty good, and I think a little more repetition of the name of the living room and entry way, and she'll know those too.

Cruising on their house tour.

Next we decided to play winter dress up.  This was my variation of 'Put on Your Jacket' from the Middle Two-Year Old list.  We went down in the basement (which is the coolest part of the house) and pulled out the totes of hats, boots, mittens, and coats.  Evelyn thought it was pretty fun to put all her stuff on, but didn't want mittens so she could still suck her thumb.  Elsie only let me put a hat on her, but she thought she was pretty cool too!

Elsie toddling around with her winter hat on.

I think the picture says it all.  This one is definitely going in the photo albums!

Our last 'tivavee' as Evelyn now calls it, was 'Painting the Sidewalk' from the Late Infant list.  Even though it was from a younger child list, Evelyn loved this just as much as Elsie did.  I took them both outside with yogurt containers full of water and 2 paintbrushes each, and let them paint the steps and driveway with water.  .

Evelyn got so into it, she was painting the storm door, the railing, the plants, her face, our name rock, and was having a blast.  They really surprised me with this one. I thought they'd dump their tubs so fast, but they were actually very into what they were doing.  It was so cute to see them both in their own ways learning the hand-eye coordination needed to use a paintbrush.

We had a lot of fun today.  Can't wait until next week!

acTivity Tuesday

Yesterday as I was browsing pinterest, I discovered a website that a friend had pinned called productiveparenting.com.  The pin had this caption, "Wow this site has HUNDREDS of activities for newborns to 5 year olds that are organized by 1/2 of their age all the way! Perfect for EVERY stage!!!"  It intrigued me.  So, I put the pin on my "Mommy Things" board and later went back to browse through it.  Wow.  There are literally hundreds and possibly thousands of activities to do with your kids.  They are divided by age.  I printed off the 'Early One-Year Old' list for Elsie, and the 'Middle Two-Year Old' list for Evelyn.  There are about 125 activities on each list.  Not all of them are necessarily perfect for every child of that age range, but most of them are.  They range from very little prep work involved i.e. singing songs to a lot of prep work involved i.e. making a balance beam, or a family picture book.

I realized that if I don't have a schedule for blogging, it tends (more often than not) not to happen.  So, I decided to start acTivity Tuesday.  Starting today, and every Tuesday following, we will do activities in the mornings.  Then, hopefully I can blog about them in the afternoons.  Because I didn't have any prep time for this week, we did a couple of activities that didn't require any prep work.

First Evelyn did two activities in one.  They're called Loose Change and Piggy Bank from the Middle Two-Year Old list.  Loose change involves sorting the change by putting each type in a different bowl.  Evelyn wasn't real enthused about this one.  The only coin that she could pick out on her own was the penny, and even then, she asked me each time before she put it in the right bowl.  She was more excited about the Piggy Bank.  This involved simply dumping out the coins and letting her put them back in.  She didn't finish all of the coins by the time we went to run errands, and the first thing she wanted to do when we got back was keep working on her "tivtee" (activity).  With the Loose Change activity, it's something we can keep coming back to until she gets it.  It's a learning and teaching activity as much as it is for fun. 

The other activity I took from the Early One-Year Old list.  It's called Kitchen Band.  I pulled out bowls, lids, pots and spoons and put them on the floor.  Each girl was armed with two spoons and started banging away as soon as I showed them what to do.  Here's a couple photos of the girls enjoying their 'band'. 

Evelyn actually banged on her pot so hard, she broke one of the spoons. I think I am going to enjoy these mornings as much as the girls are.  I can't wait to start working on next week!

HTCI Overview

After going through and organizing our entire house, I ended up with quite the pile of things to get rid of.

Not long after I finished my organizing, my neighbor stopped by to invite me to join the thrift sale she was going to have the last weekend in May.  Awesome!  It turned out to be the best thrift sale experience of my life.  I priced all of my stuff.  There were a few bigger items, but most things were marked around the $0.25 - .50 range.  I brought all my stuff over to her house a couple of days before the sale.  All I did was drop my boxes off and she set everything up.  She's really particular about how her sale is run, so she wanted to do it all herself.  Fine with me.  I went over the first morning of the sale to help run things.  I stayed for about 2 hours and didn't feel like much of a help as I had both girls with me, but we had fun.  And that's all I did.  I went back the day after the sale and collected my unsold items.  We dropped off two pickup beds full of stuff and brought home one big box plus a few other items.  We made $130.00 too.  So I got paid to get rid of my junk and hardly had to do anything.  It feels so good to have all of that stuff gone. The only problem is that I have another pile started already. 

At any rate, it feels so great to have my entire house organized.  If I need to quickly pick up the house for an occasion, I know where everything goes.  If Kevin asks me where something is, I usually know right where to find it.  Of course the organizer in me is constantly looking for areas that need improvement, but for the most part, my home is functioning smoothly because of all the organizing I did.

Area #25: Office & Storage Cupboards

 You know the saying, "Saving the best for last."  Well, I saved the worst for last.  I knew from the beginning that the office and storage cupboards would take the most time to organize.  It's been fun going through everything, it has just taken a lot longer than I even anticipated.  This was another area where things just got stashed when we moved in and never gotten back to. I'll go through each little area and do before and after pictures.  I'll start with the storage shelves that are also in our office.  The nice part about these shelves is that they have doors that close, so it doesn't seem to clutter up the office even though there's a bunch of things stored here that aren't even remotely office related.  The first set of shelves transformation:

I organized the paints into three groups: primers, paints, and stains.  This way it's super easy to look for the type of paint you need. All of the spray paint is in a box, drywall supplies in a box, and anything tile related (installing, cleaning, grout etc.) is together too. 

To the right of these shelves, is an open shelf area that I use for extra office supplies storage.  Before:

And After:

The last section of shelving to the right of this shelf also have doors on them.  I have Christmas decor up top (since I don't need to access it very often).  Paper and office supplies in the middle, and gun cases on the bottom.  Here's a look before.

I implemented a paper storage thing got at a thrift sale for $1 to separate some of the miscellaneous types of paper that we keep around, and limited this area to paper, envelopes, mailing labels, and hanging file supplies. This helps the area not to clutter up with other items that don't belong.

The next area is on top of our filing cabinets.  This section of horizontal space is my primo dumping spot for things coming in and out of the office.  Things that need to get filed, things that need to be entered into the computer, outgoing mail, bills, you name it.  Here's what my dumping spot had become:

I sorted, and filed, and ordered everything up.  I got another plastic paper sorting thing at another thrift sale for $0.50 and it is going to be awesome.  The top is for anything that needs to leave the office and go upstairs.  When I'm done in the office I can just grab everything in that slot and take it with me.  The middle section is for things to be filed in the business filing cabinet (lateral file), and the bottom section is for things to be filed in our personal filing cabinet.  Here's a look at it now:

 The last and most challenging area for me was the desk.  It's actually not even a desk.  It's my brother's old dining room table with all the leaves taken out.  There aren't any drawers for office supplies, so the table top tends to get cluttered very easily.  My paper recycling box was overflowing, and many random boxes had found their way under the table. 

After lots of throwing away, and sorting through papers and stacks of things, my 'desk' area is now a usable work station.  It's not perfect, and hopefully we can get a real desk someday soon, but until then it'll work for what we need.

It's hard to believe that my entire house is now finished.  I'll post my overall thoughts another time as this is getting long enough.  Now I can work on maintaining what I have set up.  I hope that by sharing my organizing adventure with you, I've spurred you on even a tiny bit to do some of the same in your own house.