A Sneak Peak of My Monday

Today was a busy day, but a good day.

Here is a glimpse...well, let me backtrack to the middle of the night...

I was woken up in the middle of the night to take one son to the potty (which is much better than changing sheets the next morning...or middle of the night!) and then later on in my slumber, my 3 year old and his blankie came in to  my room and climbed right into bed with me.  I was so tired, that I decided to let him snuggle there with me.  I am not sure how long he was there, but I eventually turned over to Dawson and asked him to take Smiles back to his bed...and he did!  (He is the best husband!).

Okay, now back to this morning:

All of this happened before 9:30am: said goodbye to Dawson, showered/got dressed, folded some laundry, got the boys up, suggested clothes for them to wear today, helped them get dressed, fed them, and got them out the door

10-11ish Smiles had an eye doctor appt - everything went well, but they gave him those eye drops that dilate the pupils...which he does not like at all (who does?).  I really like his eye doctor - he is awesome with the kids! (Even Brady likes him!)

11:30-12:30 Back home.  Time to make lunch and call my mom - I need to take her to the chiro today...which is fine, b/c I could use an adjustment too.

12:45 - out the door to go to story time at the library

1:15-2:30  Story time and spending time at the library with some friends

2:45 leave the library and pick up mom.  Go to the chiro and get adjusted.  Stop by CVS - I am in there for about 10 minutes.  Drop mom off at home and I go home

4:30ish ?  Get home, give the kids a snack, get ready for the board meeting, throw some dinner together - and whatever else I had to do!

6:15 Dawson arrives home.  I talk with him and give him the run down of what I am thinking of saying at the school board meeting.  He prays with me.

6:45 I am off to stop at CVS - there is something else that I needed to get there.

7:20 I arrive at the school board meeting and talk briefly with a former colleague and then make my way into the board room.  I say what I wanted to and listen to everything that is going on.  I don't always like taking the time to go to the school board meetings, but I am thankful that I have gone to them and hope that I am able to continue to go to them so that I know what is going on in my school district.

9:30 Finally home from the meeting and find that my kids are wanting kisses from me...which only makes them hyper!  So, they did not settle down until about 10pm!!!!  Their bedtime is 8:30 the very latest!!!!  Tomorrow morning should be "fun" to wake them up...I think that it will be breakfast in a bag and milk in a sippy cup which they can eat on the way to our Moms Meeting tomorrow morning!

This was a busy day, but not a "hard" day and not too exhausting - just very busy.  I am thankful for my health, for my family and for my God who has helped me through this day without feeling stressed out.  Normally, I would have been setting up for our Moms meeting, however, I was not able to because Dawson had to work overtime and I had the school board meeting.

It was a good day.  Not everything turned out the way that I may have wanted it too.  However, my son's eyes are healthy, our car is running fine, we borrowed the Nemo soundtrack which I really enjoyed (thanks for finding it, Brady!), we all got great and well-needed adjustments, there was food to feed my family, my husband has a job and makes me smile, CVS had some great deals, and I had the freedom to voice my opinion at a school board meeting.

I am so thankful that the Lord helped me move through this day with grace and ease.  The dishes are not done, the laundry is backed up and I could name many other things here that are not "done" at the moment...but I choose to focus on the positive - I am thankful for the dishes and pots and pans that we have to cook with and eat off of and I am thankful for the clothes that we have so that we have more than one outfit to wear.

God is so faithful.  God is so good.

Birthday Party Planning Thoughts

If we had the parties in January, I would have thrown a McQueen party and a Rain Forest party for my two boys.  However, since we had to push the parties off, this gave the boys time to chance their minds and now we are having a Winnie the Pooh party for my 3 year old (this Saturday) and an Under the Sea party for my 5 year old (some time next month).

Usually, my mom has helped with making special cut out cookies for the parties and my sister has made the cakes, however due to the limitations of health and time, all of that is on me...and I am taking it on!  I am actually going to do some things a little bit different than I did previous years, and I am hoping that we will have nice weather.  

The weekend, our guests will be visiting each of the Winnie the Pooh characters "homes" and doing some sort of activity while they are there.  I still have to a lot to do to pull this off - but I think that it will come together!  Time to put more of the thoughts in to action!

Project: Simplify - Week #5: You Decide!!!

Earlier this week, the 5th and final hot spot was revealed over at Simple Mom, I was happy to see that it was "Whatever you want!"  That is kind of what I have been doing anyway, so that worked for me!  As you may know, I thought that Project: Simplify was a great idea, but I did not follow along with the hot spots that were posted each week...I kind of worked on whatever I felt needed to be worked on - which could really have been anything in my house!

Ok, enough about that - have fun in whatever you may be working on this week!  I am actually working on prepping for a (belated) birthday party for my 3 year old! LOTS TO DO!!!

Project: Simplify - Week #4: Pantry and Refrigerator

Yes, I know that it is Wednesday already and I have not written about Project: Simplify - Week #4!  This week, the hot spot that many people are working on is.......your pantry and refrigerator!  If you want to see what is suggested that you do as you work on this hot spot, then head over here and check it out!

For my pantry, I use an inventory checklist that you can find over here at Organizedhome.com.  This is such a helpful tool for me.  I now know exactly what is located in my pantry and do not have to run to the basement to search my cabinet to see if I still have some diced tomatoes left!  My husband is slowly catching on to the concept, but he is embracing this idea with me!  I also use an inventory sheet for my freezers - it is really helpful when planning meals, and avoiding food from getting "lost" in the freezer!

I have not been completely participating in Project: Simplify like I have wanted to - however, I am trying to get things accomplished in my house!

I LOVE Date Nights!

I can't wait...I am going on a date tonight with my man! I am so excited that we are going to see live theater again! I have always enjoyed live theater - both plays and musicals. I enjoy watching them and I enjoyed participating in a couple of them! I was in a musical when I was 13 - it was called, "With an Everlasting Love." I was the youngest cast member - most everyone else went to the Bible school where it was performed. I was in another one in high school called "Carousel." That was a lot of fun to be in since a lot of my friends were in it too! My best friend had one of the main roles - she was amazing! They were both so much fun to be in!

We are going to see, "Joseph" at Sight and Sound! It is going to be so nice to be on a date with Dawson again! My MIL will be with the kids - thanks, Mom! Date nights are so awesome!

Project: Simplify - Week #3: Toys and/or Kids Clothes

I am SO excited about this week's hot spot reveal on Project Simplify! Week #3 is Toys and/or Kids Clothing! I might actually get it done!!! I will be focusing on kids clothing, not the toys at this moment in time!

Last week, I started to work on sorting through and boxing up the baby clothing that have been in my basement. I have been on a break from sorting the clothes since (about) last Thursday, but I will have to get back to it tomorrow. In fact, I think that I am going to bring up another box of clothing tonight and put it in my family room so that it is ready for me as soon as a wake up...or as soon as I shower & get dressed, help the kids get dressed, and make breakfast - although it might have to wait until after preschool drop off depending on how smoothly the morning runs! In any case - I will get back to decluttering the baby clothes in my house!

I have to say that it has felt really good to pack the clothes away. It has been fun to travel down memory lane a little bit while looking at the clothes, and it has also been really good to practice getting rid of things that are now considered clutter in my home! I will let you in on a little secret...I have been putting aside some of my favorite pieces of clothing and I am thinking of making (or having someone else make) a quilt out of some of the baby clothing fabric. We will see - BUT, only one box will be devoted to the clothing that will be saved! :)

The Big Reveal...Or Not!

Well, the big reveal for Week #2 of Project: Simplify is not going to happen here today! I have had such high hopes to participate in Project Simplify that Tsh is hosting over at her blog, but when I was really thinking about what I needed to start decluttering in my house, I felt like it was the garage and the basement...although I DO need to work on the paper clutter too!

So, this week Dawson and I had a really nice, long talk. It was SO nice to do this again! With everything going on in our lives - helping out my parents, trying to find energy to get dinner on the table and clean something here and there in my house, and now mandatory overtime for Dawson during the month of March - there does not always seem to be a lot of time for us to sit down and have a nice long uninterrupted talk. We talked about so many things - and at one point, I was doing most of the talking; telling him about what has been on my heart and mind. Quite a few things came out of our talk - including what I decided to begin purging/decluttering out of our basement. Let's just say that my sister and I will hopefully make a few bucks this summer at our garage sales selling our baby clothes and other baby items. Yes, we do believe that we are done having children!

So, I may not have participated in this week's Project: Simplify - Paper Clutter, however, I did work on decluttering in my house, and I am ok with this! If you have participated in this Project - then good for you!!! I think that I am going to continue to purge in my basement, but I will post the new parts of Project Simplify, and keep it on my backburner!