Great Article on for stay-at-homers

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2001/novdec/9.74.html?start=2

Great Site for Stay-at-home moms
http://www.homebodies.org/

Home Keeping, Back to the point...

I created this blog and renamed it a few times and now I would like to get back to the main thing:

HOME KEEPING

I have read lots of articles and books about being a disciplined keeper of the home. I have, unfortunately, found no great Christian specific sites that really get to the point. So, I am going to get to the point.

I STUCK TO THIS "GREAT PLAN" FOR A TOTAL OF ONE AND A HALF WEEKS...IT'S FUNNY HOW I THINK I AM AN "EXPERT" ONCE I GET A 'GREAT' IDEA! BLAH, BLAH. BLAH...
How do you turn a day that is a blob of depression and chaos into a productive day?

• MY THREE FIVES

I am no expert but this is working for me. I have a daily schedule that is structured into three sections: morning, afternoon, and night(-duh.) I allot myself a set of 5 chores that I do everyday at the same time. I have the morning 5, the mid-day five, and my evening 5. My morning 5 are always: make bed, start load of laundry, get dressed and ready for the day, straighten our bedroom and bath, fold and put away one load of laundry. My mid-day five are always to de-clutter and pick-up all four major family areas and start either the dishwasher or another load of laundry. My evening five include moping the kitchen, making preparations for the next day, de-cluttering living room, check email, start next load of laundry. This helps me to stay on top of the daily 'grungees' as I like to call them.

• CHORE CARDS

There are lots of chores that need to do be done weekly and then there are others that need to be done even less often. These tasks include cleaning out the fridge, reorganizing the kids closets, vacuuming under the couches, etc. I simple make 3X5 cards with a chore written on each one. I have a system that indicates whether it is a once-a-month or a once-a-week chore. I even have chores that are twice a month. I try to do at least 3 chore cards a day and I write the date on the back so that I can keep track. As I complete a task, I move it from the "do" pile to the "done" pile. My simply move them all back to the "do" pile at the end of each month, week or two week cycle. This also helps me maintain control of the larger picture.

• MY BRAIN BOOK

I make a notebook filled with form "to do" lists. Each day is one day. I have the date at the top and a list of check boxes with daily tasks which include a box for the number of chore cards, and exercise "yes/no" box, a vitamin "yes/no"box, and other things like prayer time, learning time with Ky, and a connect box that helps me to remember to reach out to my family and friends via email or a phone call. My page central box to write my tasks for that day. On the right, there is a side bar with a place to write my prayer focus, my meal plans, my exercise plans, and a place to jot down items to add to my shopping list.
My brain also contains my daily routine and my three fives incase I forget. I like to mark of each thing that I accomplish. If I don't do everything on my list, I simply transfer it to the next day. Everyday is a fresh start. I love it because I get it all out of my head and I don't have to use my brain as a storage container, I can, instead use it to think, pray or whatever throughout the day.

• MY MORNING LAUNCH

Right after my morning five and while Kyson is distracted with his toys, I squeezed in my "launch". Some people call it a quiet time but to me it is a chance to put the day into perspective. I usually have several books that I
am reading but this is just for bible study, prayer, reflection, and planning with my brain. I even assign a specific prayer focus to each day, for example, Monday I devoted to my kids and husband and our circumstances. Tuesday I pray for my family and friends, Wednesday is for my neighbors and people that I don't know who are in a tough situation. Each day has a specific purpose though I try to pray everyday for anything that the Lord puts on my mind.

• OTHER

This leaves a lot of time each day for more interesting adventures. After my "launch" I have time to spend teaching or playing with my son. I can run errands, visit my grandmother, or tackle a project. I also try to work in a daily play/learn time, a reading/education time for myself, and a creative time.

The KEY is flexibility. This system is just my "floor" . I can leap off schedule anytime knowing that when I land I will stick to the plan...

THATS IT!

Billisms

My Dad's birthday is this Saturday. We are having a family get together in his honor.

My dad is a very intelligent man who is 100% dedicated to his family. He has always been very involved in our community and is a faithful servant and member of his church. He is always doing something for someone else. He is an awesome worker who in his spare time can build, make, or fix anything.

However, Bill is famous for his "Billisms".

Here are a few of Kandis' favorites....

"Hooo-ey! Them must be some elastical pants!"
-(Bill in response to the movie "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants")

"LAWD-A-MIGHTY! Them marshmallows big as apples!"
-(Bill watching marshmallows in the microwave.)

MOM: "Bill the phone's ringing!"
BILL: "What?? Three nuns are singing??"

MOM: "The keys! I need the keys!"
DAD: "The Cheese? I didn't know it was bad! I'm sorry."\

"Man those are so good they make your lips chap yer??? "mom help I can't remember!

new story by me

A LESSON ABOUT BOUNDARIES...

Once upon a time there was an ant named Lou.

One day Lou walked out her front door and noticed that a large toadstool had sprouted up right next to her door. Suddenly, Lou had a great idea. She would turn that toadstool into a nice big table! Lou was an artsy ant and this would be the perfect place for her to sit and paint. So she polished it up and made it nice and clean. She, then, found several big rocks to use as seats. She even found a small acorn shell and filled it with tiny flowers to make a pleasant center-piece. The next day, she planned on spending all morning seated at her new art table with her new watercolor set.

However, Lou's fancy new table was soon noticed by everyone else.

Once the the other bugs noticed the big table, they became interested in using it for themselves.

Being a nice bug, Lou decided that it would be selfish to not offer the table to her friends and neighbors. Especially because some of the reasons they wanted it seemed much more important than Lou's little hobby. After all, her afternoon tinkering with watercolors was no match for the Ant Colony Community Beautification Banquet or the National Bug and Worm Alliance Counsel meeting. Then there was the Adult Caterpillar Literacy class, the Locust AA meetings, the Doodle Bug Club, and so forth. Suddenly hundreds of bugs were coming out of the woodwork to use Lou's table.

So Lou, just took her paints and put them away and made a place for the little old gnats who needed a place to play gin rummy.

Afterall, it would be selfish to tell them to leave...right?

Then one day on the way to BugMart, she noticed something that she never noticed before.

There were toadstools EVERYWHERE! There were big ones, little ones, wide ones-- just the right size for bug tables! There were enough toadstools for almost every bug for miles around!

So Lou, realized that she wasn't selfish to want to use her own table. The other bugs took advantage of her because she never stood up for herself. She would go home right then and take back what was hers!

So Lou marched back home. Her antennae fidgeted wildly as her thoughts raced. Once she got home, she saw that her front yard was filled with all sorts of bugs waiting to use her table. One roach barked, "Hey, the bathroom is out of toilet paper and we could use some snacks, Lou!"

Lou spoke quietly at first, "Excuse me, I would like to use my table now."

The crowd buzzed noisily ignoring her polite plea.

"Excuse me, I would like to use my table now!"

No response.

"Excuse me, I would like to use my table now! PLEASE!"

Standing on a nearby rock, Lou shouted, "HELLO, HELLO! This is my table and I want you all to go. There are lot's of other tables. You can get your own!"

They still ignored her.

Then in an eruption of pent-up frustration and anger she freaked out. Running towards the table, mid-stride she opened her mandibles and snapped the leg off of a spider had been using the table as a place to sit and drool. She then pounced like panther to the top of the table clearing the the table with one terrible swish of the bloody arachnid appendage.

Their maxilla hit the floor and they gawked at Lou standing in the middle of the table.

Seething with fury, she spat the leg out and glowered like a demonic wasp "LISTEN YOU IDIOTIC, SELF-ABSORBED, LAZY, FREELOADING JERKS! GET YOUR FILTHY THORAXES OFF MY TABLE OR I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU ALL! (Perhaps, she was bit dramatic but it never the less, she got them to shut up!)

After a long pause, the mob let out a unanimous "Humph!". Then, they grudgingly packed up their things and left.

One fat green beetle remarked as she left, "You are selfish and your paintings look like poo!"

The spider didn't move because it was dead. Besides, bugs kill each other all the time and no one cares.

So, Lou cleaned up the mess and fixed the rocks and filled her little acorn with fresh flowers.

The sun was shining, and the air was fresh...

... it was quiet... peaceful...

...she stared at the clean white paper spread out over her wonderful table...

and for the life of her, she couldn't think of a single thing to paint...

AGHHHH!

I have this huge slab of guilt lying on my shoulders. Because I HATE to disappoint people. But I have no choice! Sometimes I wish I had never moved back here!

When I resigned from my position on the Chamber of Commerce, I left a huge event unfinished--THE COTTON PICKIN' QUILT SHOW.
The last two directors were quilters and that is how it became a chamber event. It has been handled largely by a group of quilt lovers and then it landed on my shoulders when I became director. From the beginning I tried to convince them that it should be "outsourced". With businesses closing left and right and a troubled local economy, I wanted the Chamber to do what it was designed to do---help local businesses. The quilt show is a baby asprin compaired to the heart transplant that our city needs. I just don't think it should be the Chambers job. It never should have been. It might have brought some people to town and it might have given us a little bit of pride. I am sure people have really enjoyed them. But if it is about tourism, our high school track meets bring in much more traffic.

Now that I have resigned, we have offered many people good money to see it through but not one is dumb enough to say yes. It is an enormous head-ache according to everyone who has ever done it. And you can delegate to committees all year long and that doesn't mean you can count on anything being done. The idea of being in charge of this event makes having slivers of bamboo shoved under my fingernails sound quite pleasant...

If nobody else will touch it with a twenty-foot pole, then why was I stupid enough to even think that I should handle it? The thing is, everyone is having a stroke. "What are we gonna do? Who is going to do the Quilt Show? Oh NO!!!!" But no one wants to do it... everyone is running from it like Ebola.

Hey, I have been yappin' since June that the sky is falling. And now as pieces of the atmosphere begin drifting downward, the rest of the world finally pays attention.

Sometimes people have no clue what they are asking for...

I am no longer an employee of the Chamber yet this issue is giving me a ulcer...

The last Quilt show meeting, these were actual comments that I heard in response to my statements:

Me:
"I have never even been to a quilt show..."

Lady
"Well, you should have."

Me:
"I will be 9 months pregnant during the quilt show. Last time I went into labor a month early. I don't want to be dealing with the quilt show then"

Lady:
"Sounds like poor timing."

ARGHHHHHHHHH!

I feel better.

Oh Yeah! Only 12ish weeks to go!

New favorite t-shirt quote
"BIRTH CONTROL IS FOR SISSIES"

My new son will be here soon. We are excited to meet Luke sometime around the end of March. We are calling him Luke but are unsure if his first name will be Luke or Landry. Personally I like Landry Luke Latham. If he grows up to be a rapper or a pro-wrestler he can call him self Triple "L" or "L" to the Third or whatever...

Also, here is a great album to get:

Coolest album by a mom for her kids. Think Imogene Heap plus Enya doing ethereal God-centered songs for her babies....

Blink by Plumb

Great book for fellow mommies


In short, it is about dying to self and living a life of joy in God's designed role.
Not for the weak or those looking to deny the created order of a family...

The Story of Stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

follow the link above. Whether we are democrats or republicans, we can see that we need to be responsible for our environmental behaviors. And to those of us who have too much "stuff", maybe this will help us kick the consumer mentality. It's not just about being "green". It's about not laying up for ourselves treasures where moth and rust destroy--or treasures that we end up packing away in a land fill!

Part the Waters...

So, I resigned my position at the chamber for many reasons... Mostly so that I could be with my children at home. I am convinced that it is God's will that I make my home the first priority. I am one of those all or nothing people... I realize that this choice makes me the possible target of scrutiny in my home town, but I can't listen to anyone except my husband,the peace of God, and the advice of true friends who know what I am dealing with...

So, this is a great thing. I have been wanting to be a homekeeper for many years and this is my first opportunity to do so since we have been married... I mean the first time that I did not contribute financially. I have strong urges to make up for the lack of income but I know that God is telling me to trust him first.

As for my town, we have been hard hit lately. Our motel, our vet, two resturants, are closing. We have had 4 deaths in the last two weeks-one a young father. There is a sense of hopelessness and depression here and I don't think another strain of short-lived human ideas will change anything... OUR ONLY HOPE IS GOD.

Lord I repent for trying to do things my way instead of seeking you first. Lord pleas raise up an army of prayer from this small town that we might see your power!

"The Lord is my strength..."