Going Kidless

 So this week, the two adorable, freshly trimmed, boys went on vacation and they stayed with . . .. .

These two people (I seriously need to get a picture of them together) known as their Grandparents :-)

Now, I love my kids but I have to admit that when my parents pulled out of my driveway with my kids, I did do a little happy dance on the sidewalk!!!!  They left on Friday and are coming back tomorrow (Tuesday).  Granted, as soon as they get here I'm leaving to go scrapbooking for the whole day and won't actually see them for real until Wednesday!  We've done these little "vacations" for our kids since Josh was about 9 months old.  Admittedly, when I worked full time, the last thing I really wanted to do was send my kid away for any amount of time - I already didn't get to see him all day but, when he was 9 months old, he stayed overnight with my mother-in-law when my husband took me away for our anniversary . . .it was heaven :-)  Then, not long after that, we left him with my parents for two nights so we could go on a babymoon before Nate arrived . . .it was fabulous!  After Nate was born, well, we have tried to work out a weekend (which has stretched into 3-4 days now) every 6-8 weeks where the boys stay with the grandparents.  It is a huge benefit to everyone!  Don't get me wrong, I love and adore my kids but having the freedom to run out the door in two seconds is fantastic.  I thought I would share my list of things we enjoy when the kids are gone:

1) Eating hot food.  Seriously.  When the kids are home, by the time I get to eat (any meal) my food is cold - I had to cut their food, blow on it for five minutes because it's "hot mama, hot mama" and refill drinks plus get another fork . .. and knife. Tonight, we cooked on the grill - we got to eat our chicken while it was still hot and juicy with lots of flavor!!

2) Eating out without having to clean up the floor.  We are not the parents that leave a mess in a restaurant.  Before we leave, one of us is on the floor picking up all the stuff our kids (and probably the previous kid) dropped.  We went out to dinner on Saturday and . .. I didn't have to clean up .  I could just leave!  (Funny thing is - now, before we leave anywhere, Josh gets down and says "clean up mama" !!)

3) Getting up and leaving for church in less then 1 hour.  On Sunday, we got up 45 minutes before we wanted to leave . . .snuck in the door of a church at the last minute (not nursery needed) and were the first ones out of the parking lot!!! 

4) No bath time.  Sure, it is cute to give my kids baths and fun to watch them run naked through the house but . . .it is so relaxing to only have to bathe myself HA!

5) I can keep the gate open.  It is so much easier to get things done without having to open the gate or to have to fight kids to get through the gate :-)

6) We can both leave!  Usually one of us stays home while the other runs to get a . . .Frappe . . .but when they are gone, we both jump in the car and go where ever we need to go! 

7) No toys . . . yep, the toys all stay picked up and put away! 

8) I can sit down for more than 2 minutes - without having to get up to fill a sippy cup or change a diaper!

9) No changing diapers . . . enough said LOL

10) Well, really, number 10 is simply this - I would recommend to any mom to take a break from  your kids :-)  Even if it is for one night/two days - it will make you a better mom and your kids better kids!  

Please understand, I love my children more than anything.  I don't take for granted every day I have them and am so thankful for the joy they bring.  Yet, I'm also very grateful for grandparents who are willing and able to enjoy days with their grandkids.  What a true gift for all of us! 

Deep Cleaning 101 - Master Bedroom (plus a little more!)

Last week's zone was the Master Bedroom!  I don't know about you, but my master bedroom is anything but a "retreat".  In books I've read, shows I've watched, and people I've talked to, I always hear/see how that one room should be a quiet, relaxing place to go.  That is all fine, if you have the space!  Let me show you a few before pictures.

What do you notice in each of these pictures??  Very simply, my room has to serve multiple purposes!
1) Bedroom (duh!)
2) Workout room
3) "Guest" room (notice the play pen)
4) Candle Storage

My husband and I play a little game that is called "In my next house . .. . "  I'm going to play this little game with you (aren't you so excited!)  In my next house I'll have a room that is my workout/craft room.  That room will be located next to the great room and will have either a window or half door so that when I'm in there, I can still see the kids.  The room will be big enough to house my scrapbooking supplies (set up like all of those inspiration rooms I see, or course), my craft stuff (all neatly organized and pretty) plus, an area where I can set up my treadmill and maybe some other great piece of workout equipment.  Of course, it will have a great TV to watch too!  Doesn't that sound wonderful? LOL  But, for now, my bedroom acts as so many things because that is the best place for them!  There is no other place in our house for the treadmill except for our room.  It is not ideal but, it squeezes in, allows me to watch TV while I walk, and gives me a private space to walk without worrying about little fingers.  Our room is also the ideal place for the munchkin I watch to nap - so the pack-n-play gets set up each morning for him.  Our room (my little closet space) is also where I store my candle cart so it is easy to grab what I want when I need to refill candles. 

With all of that said, our room doesn't get really cleaned very often.  So, when these deep cleaning week comes along, I really make sure to take the time - even if it is on the weekend - to really clean.  Including washing the extra blankets, comforter, mattress cover and getting on the floor and vacuuming under everything possible.  I also make sure our closets and dresser are organized (things tend to get shoved into corners just to get them off the bed) 

Here is a basic look at what I do when I deep clean our bedroom:
1) Dust every surface and remove things that don't below
2) Organize dresser drawers and closet
3) Strip bed completely and wash everything (don't worry, I change the sheets more often than once a month!)  One side note - I do not wash my comforter every month.  I usually wash it 2-3 times a year.  It is technically dry clean only but I have figured out how to wash it at home :-)  The downside is that I do need to hang it out to dry which means I can wash it in the middle of winter !!
4) Clean pictures on the wall and mirror
5) Vacuum - the floors, the baseboards, and ceiling corners. 
6) Maybe once a year, I try to steam clean the carpet.  Due to the crowded space, we can't rearrange so when I do steam clean, it is only the main area that gets done at this point.

Now for the "Plus a little more!"  As I mentioned last week, I usually tag Josh's room onto the bathroom week and Nate's onto the bedroom week.  I saved them both for this week since the boys would be gone, making it easier to clean!.  Here are some pictures!

Now, their rooms really don't get as dirty as others.  There are multiple reasons - one being that I pick stuff up every week when I do their laundry; two, they really only sleep in there; three, they haven't learned to mess them up. HA!

This is my basic list:
1) General pick up - just make sure everything is put back in the right place/room
2) Closets - make sure that everything is hung up and neat; move any out grown clothes out.
3) Dust surfaces
4) Vacuum the floor, baseboards, and corners
5) Bedding/curtains - I wash the curtains and big bedding only once or twice a year.  My disclaimer is that the bedding (bumper and other extra blankets) get washed more often because sometimes, well, they get icky dirty due to sickness :-( 
6) Windows - clean the insides and the blinds

That's all for this week!  You can check out my other deep cleaning posts by clicking HERE.  Next week, we'll talk about the Living room and Dining room!

21 Days of Prayer Challenge - Day 20 - Heart Change

Encouragement from Brooke

The most foundational thing we can ask God for in the lives of our sons is heart change. The Word says that

what's in the heart eventually comes out. Bad stuff in the heart? Bad stuff comes out. Good stuff in the heart?

Good stuff comes out.

I heard an illustration of this concept once from a pastor friend. He held up a Styrofoam cup with a little water

inside and proceeded to ram his hand against the cup so that the water splattered everywhere. Then he asked this

question:

"Why did water come out of the cup?"

So what do you think? Did the water come out of the cup because he rammed his hand up against it? Certainly a

possible answer. But consider this: could it be that the water came out of the cup because there was water IN the

cup?

Think about it … if the cup had been empty when he rammed it, nothing would have come out.

And so it is with our hearts. Life has a funny way of ramming up against us. People pull out in front of you when

you're in a hurry. The neighbor's dog won't stop yapping through the night when all you need is a few hours of

sleep. Your children pick the day after your favorite relative dies to be little horrors … somehow sensing that

mom is frazzled.

Stuff happens.

We get hit. Probably every day. But our response to the hits comes from what's in our cup...or hearts. Bad stuff in

the heart? Bad stuff comes out. Good stuff in the heart? Good stuff comes out.

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure

produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." ~Luke 6:45

Remember to commit to praying the 10 prayers in this chapter today.

Happenings in this House!

 This was a week of weather!  The beginning of the week was so very hot!  We did a lot of nothing!  On Tuesday night, a huge storm came through - this pictures show the front edge of the storm as it came over top of our house.  I was on "storm watch" since this happened after the rest of the family went to bed.  A cold front finally moved in on Wednesday evening (after another storm!).  Such relief!

 The boys just chilling out.  We watched a lot of cartoons on Monday and Tuesday!!

 On Thursday, both boys got haircuts . . . . and suckers.  Notice those blue lips?? Gotta love blueberry dum-dums :-) 

 Such a cutie!  The boys were in sorry needs of those said haircuts and look so much better now!

 The boys are waiting for Papa!!!  From the time Josh got up on Friday, all I heard was "Papa? Papa?"  I told him Papa would be coming after lunch to which he replied, "Pizza, Papa?" LOL  Both boys were thrilled when Papa and Grandma arrived  - so much so, that I no longer existed!  They actually went home with the grandparents and are there for a nice long weekend!

 Without Kids, we are enjoying some great time together!  On Saturday, we took time to completely clean out the garage.  We also did a few other small projects including scrounging up all of our pop cans so we could turn those in and, if you can believe it, have enough money from that to pick up the last few hinges we need to hang the cabinets in the kitchen (which will get done today or tomorrow!) before heading out on a date night.  We started out with dinner at Red Lobster (which we love plus we even had a gift certificate to help us out a little.)  From there, we drove to Muskegon to visit the beach.  If you know me at all, you know that I love the beach - it is a pipe dream of mine to own a cottage on Lake Michigan . . I will settle for a nice lake even . . .I want to watch the storm come in over the lake . . and see the ice cold frozen water.  I just love it.  We don't get out to the beach often right now so this was just a wonderful thing!  Yes, it was a little chilly but we sat in the sand and just watched the water for awhile before heading to "our" ice cream place at the Campground. 

 :-)  We have a thing about taking pictures  . .. and Darryl makes weird faces so I joined in.  This is one of the "worst" ones LOL

Finally, we ended our night by going to the drive-in!  We LOVE the drive-in movie theatre.  They even still have the old working speakers (or can tune your radio to the station instead.  We saw Mr. Popper's Penguins (which is a cute movie) but mostly just enjoyed being out together.  We very much look forward to taking our boys to the drive-in and building memories with them - Darryl has great memories of going to the drive-in as a kid, dressed in in PJ's and enjoying popcorn. 

So, those are the basics of our week!  Hope you enjoyed your week as much as we did ours!

21 Days of Prayer Challenge - Day 19 - Salvation

Encouragement from Brooke

There is NOTHING my heart yearns for more than my sons' salvations. To quote from the eBook:

"Day after day you will parent, intentionally seeking the heart of your son. But until the King of

kings and Lord of lords turns his heart of stone to a heart of flesh, your son's actions will be

motivated by what is pleasing to him, rather than what is pleasing to the Lord."

p. 15

Everything hinges on this. Oh, we can pray for protection, good friends and influences and positive, fruit-bearing

experiences for our sons along the way. But until their hearts submit to Jesus they will continue to choose

themselves and their own way.

Elyse Fitzpatrick, in her book entitled,

Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus, says

“There is no easy way to say it, but it must be said: parents and churches are not passing on a robust Christian

faith and an accompanying commitment to the church.”

Take a moment today to look long and hard at your parenting. Is it Gospel-centered, or have you allowed the

world's “stinking thinking” to creep into your home?

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God

raised him from the dead, you will be saved." ~Romans 10:9

I have been personally praying for this very thing for my boys since before they were born and it is a constant burdon on my heart.

Today take time to pray the 10 prayers located in the Salvation chapter!

Creative Memory Spotlight - Do you need to shop?

Do you have some things you need to work on your scrapbooking or other paper crafts?  Well, now is the perfect time to shop.  I could really use some last minute orders this month so, if you have been thinking about it . .. go ahead and check out my WEBSITE and order away!!!    There are current sales listed as well as a clearance section!  Call your friends and see if they want to order too - combine your orders and divide the shipping costs!  I was scrapbooking on Friday evening using one of the 11 x 14 Pic Folio Albums shown below . . . .

... and was reminded of how quick they are for whatever you are working on right now!  Or, stock up on some pages, get the page protectors you are in need of or, of course, pick up something brand new! 

Thanks and, as always, I appreciate your orders!

21 Days of Prayer Challenge - Day 18 - Anger

Encouragement from Brooke

So much of the Christian life is a choice. Every day (multiple times a day) we’re presented with a choice

to choose God or choose ourselves. Anger is a perfect example.

You can just feel it coming, can’t you? Anger is an almost total body experience. Muscles get tight. Temples

throb. Jaw clenches. Explosion feels imminent … wooing us into believing we have no choice but to react.

But it’s not true.

We almost always have a choice when it comes to anger. We can choose to embrace it and sin. Or choose to put

it away, and instead choose kindness, self-control, compassion, and love.

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

~Ephesians 4:31

Today's Challenge - take time to pray the 10 prayeres in the anger chapter for your son(s) today!