Reshaping It All Challenge

I am joining in on the 65 day Reshaping It All Challenge!  I am sooo excited to participate in this.  I have read the book and I love it!   In this 65 day challenge, she will be highlighting parts of the book, giving daily tips and activities to incorporate into your day.  Come and join in on the fun!

I Laughed, I Cried, I Baked!

For my youngest daughter's 6th birthday, I decided to make her a cake to go along with her Toy Story theme.  I love, love, love to challenge myself with doing specialty cakes for each of my daughters' birthdays.  I still have a lot to learn, but I have so much fun doing it! 

After piping the whole cake like in the picture below, I decided to smooth out the frosting.

 My daughter decided to get her ears pierced with her birthday money.  I was happily snapping pictures of this event until she didn't find it so fun anymore.  She did very well considering that her ears were done one at a time.  I am so thankful for each of our daughters!  We are so very blessed!

Praising Our Children

One of my favorite verses is, Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things.  ~Philippians 4:8

Having had the privilege of hearing Michelle Duggar speak at the convention, there is something that she said that really stuck with me.  She advised us to praise our children, 10 times more than we correct them.  We can praise them, not by flattery, but by pointing out a certain character quality that we notice in them.  Our children naturally want to please us.  When they feel that we cherish and value them, they will respond much better to correction.   This was such a good reminder for me!  I want my girls to remember me as a mom who smiled at them, loved them, cheered them on, and valued them!

Today I am linking up with Women Living Well!  This blog is one of my favorites!!!
                                                       

Mid-West Homeschool Convention

We had so much fun at the convention in Cincinnati!  We saw comedian Tim Hawkins, as well as The Duggar Family.  Jim Bob was gracious enough to take a picture with our family.  God also blessed us with the opportunity to meet another family while we were there!  Liz, (Forever Changing), and I met through our blogs.  It was so cool to be able to meet in person!!!
One of the major themes of the convention, seemed to be about focusing on your child's heart, and instilling character.  One of the workshops, was with Tedd Tripp, who is the author of Shepherding a Child's Heart.  He explained how most of the time parents will try to manipulate the behavior of their children, to get them to behave.  For example, by grounding them for a certain amount of time, or promising a reward for good behavior.  (Which I am guilty of!)  Instead he encourages parents to focus on the character trait that needs correcting.  To instill character first.  Otherwise, when you need to correct them, they will have a tendency to feel wronged, and angry.  One way of helping them with their heart attitudes, is to have them keep a heart notebook.  Mr. Tripp suggested letting your child decorate the front of it, and write down bible verses on the inside that pertain to each character trait, or heart attitude.  I think this is a great idea!  What a wonderful way to help them to remember God's word.  
I signed up for a natural wellness course, through Vintage Remedies!  This is very exciting to me, as I have felt very passionate about learning how to use natural remedies for our family.  They also have a Vintage Remedies book for Girls, which I plan to use with my daughters!  It teaches them how to live a healthy life, choose healthy foods, and even how to make things, such as natural cleaning supplies and skin care! 
On a final note, we found out that we will be moving...again!  I am so thankful for the simplifying that has already been accomplished in our home.  This should make moving so much easier this time around.  I recently found a book entitled, Speed Cleaning, by Jeff Campbell and The Clean Team.  I am looking forward to reading it, as it promises to help you cut your cleaning time in half!  I will keep you posted...
Blessings to you!
~Jaime

Simplicity

Simplify~

to make less complicated, clearer, or easier In trying to organize our home, I started to realize just how much stuff we had that we didn't need.  It almost seemed as if a light bulb went off in my head...why on earth do we have 20 dish towels, when we could get by with 5?  Or do my daughters really need so many clothes, that they overflow out of their dresser drawers? We have been blessed with hand-me -down clothes over the years, but I have had a tendency to hang on to everything.   As the old saying goes, You can't organize clutter! So, I started with all of our clothing.  I ended up taking several bags to goodwill.  Now my girls have a much easier time not only keeping their clothes put away, but also keeping their rooms picked up and clean.  (I had each one of them go through their toys to donate the items that they no longer played with.)  This has felt so liberating, and peaceful!  Why did I not realize this sooner?  It has motivated me to simplify other areas of our home as well.  It is a work in progress.  I am absolutely loving the results of simplifying!

Organized Bliss???

Okay, I have to admit that maybe I was overly optimistic (just a tad) about getting my house completely cleaned and organized from top to bottom in one week.  I had a great start, but didn't count on getting sick in the middle of it.  I think I wore myself out!  The good news is, it has only been 2 weeks since I started, and I am almost finished!  I have been gleaning many wonderful tips and bits of advice from various blogs, websites, and home organization books.  One of my favorites was to put all of our DVD's into a DVD wallet, (or in our case, 3), and get rid of all of the empty movie cases.  What a difference this has made!  You would not believe the amount of weight and space they took up before.  I have also had to get creative with storing our clothes, as the bedrooms and closets in our home are small.  I have clear totes that slide under the beds to hold clothes, as well as an over-the-door shoe hanger, re-purposed for small items, such as socks.  This I hung on the inside of our closet door.  I have also been keeping to a home keeping schedule. Today was the beginning of the 3rd week of doing this routine.  Today was Tuesday, which is to focus on the bedrooms.  One part of it, is changing the bed sheets.  I make it a point to have all of my laundry caught up, so that I can get all of the bedding through the wash on that day.  I love doing this weekly!  I read such an inspiring blog post about making our beds to the glory of God.  You can check it out here: http://raisinghomemakers.com/
It has been a blessing to our entire family to have a routine that we stick to.  It has made such a difference in our home.  :)

Forgiveness and Peace

I am humbled today.  I have been dealing with a lot of things in my walk with God.  I have had many convictions lately regarding different areas of my attitude. One of which came in the form of hearing something repeated back to me, that was said by another...about me.  Ouch!  That didn't feel good.  I had to swallow my pride and let go of the hurt that started to stir up inside of me.  By God's grace, I can honestly say that I now feel a peace in a place that would have drove me up the wall with bitterness before.  I am so thankful for God's forgiveness and mercy in my life.  I am in awe of the greatness of our God!  He is always there when we call on Him, ready to guide us and love us through it all! 

Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering: bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  ~Colossians 3: 12 - 13

Cleaning Challenge

Since we moved to this house last spring, I have been organizing and de-cluttering little by little.  I have made progress, but never actually, completely finished what I have started.   In light of desperately wanting to restore order to our home, I have decided to have a little fun with it and create a challenge for myself.  The procrastinator in me seems to make me an excellent go getter when I have a deadline to meet.  ;)
My goal is to have the ENTIRE house clean and organized by the end of this week!  Can it be done?  I sure am counting on it!   My prayer is that in doing this, I then will be able to keep up on our home much more effectively each day with a routine.  I figure that blogging about this will not only keep me motivated, but accountable.  For added good measure, I have invited friends over for dinner this coming weekend.  :) 

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
~Romans 8:37 

House Keeping

As much as I don't want to admit it, I have been feeling defeated in the area of keeping our home.  Our house is not terrible, but it can go from clean to messy in no time flat.  I long for a more orderly home.  How great it would be to wake up and have a clean house to start our day with.  Or to invite company over on a moments notice.  For me, I notice how different I feel when our house is in order...it is therapeutic!  So, I figure what better way to conquer this, than to get a schedule in order!  I found a house keeping schedule from The Time-Warp Wife blog.  http://time-warp-wife.blogspot.com/2010/09/home-maintenance-schedule.html
I plan to start implementing it into my daily routine today.  I am so excited to start seeing the results of keeping to a schedule!

Link up!

Today I am linking up with Raising Homemakers, and Women Living Well!
<a href="http://raisinghomemakers.com/"><img src="http://raisinghomemakers.com/images/RHbutton.jpg" border="0px" alt="Raising Homemakers"></a

<a href="http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/search/label/Women%20Living%20Well%20Wednesdays"><img border="0" src="http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq297/courtneylivingwell/LivingWell.png" /></a>

Today is the start of week 3 for praising our husbands.  The focus this week is on intimacy.  Here is an excerpt from Courtney's blog:
Within our God given femininity, we have the power to make our men feel stronger, more capable, more confident and loved in all areas - simply by responding to his initiatives with desire.

I am noticing so many positive things in my marriage as a result of this challenge so far!  Let us strive to put the needs of our husbands above our own.  I know our marriages will be blessed!  Don't forget to check out the link pasted above.

The Joy Of The Lord

The joy of the Lord, is my strength!  I am learning to be joyful in all circumstances.  
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  ~James 1:2-3
I started the James bible study, (a little late), with hopes of being able to catch up!  One thing that really stood out to me in starting this, was the word JOY. 
Today I will be looking to the Lord - to be joyful in all things.  To remember that God is doing a work in me!
You will show me the path in life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. ~Psalm 16:11
Here is the link for the James Bible Study: http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2011/01/introducing-our-james-book-club/

In The Kitchen

Today was a productive day.  I cooked all afternoon.  I made enough meals to last for a few days.  That should help us this week, as we have a full schedule.  My girls made pancakes to have ready for tomorrow morning.  They also helped me to make cornbread and hummus.  Some other things we made were meatloaf, steamed veggies, cabbage, and homemade cheese and basil polenta!  This should help our week to get off to a great start! 
For school, one of our studies is from the "I Want To Be Series" by The Old Schoolhouse.  It is on becoming a doctor.  One of the fun activities mentioned in it, is to make a jello mold with various fruits or gummy candy in it.  Once it is set, you let the children perform pretend surgery on it, (with a plastic knife), removing the fruit and candy.  We are planning on doing that tomorrow...my kids are sooo excited!  : )
We are also trying out some new curriculum! They are Learning Language Arts Through Literature, and also Biology by Real Science 4 Kids.  We start our new schooling schedule, (with our new items), tomorrow!!!

Mid-West Homeschool Convention

We registered for the convention!  I am so excited!!!  This will be our first time to attend one of these.  Along with all of the great speakers, we will see a Tim Hawkins show, and The Duggar Family! 

A Heavenly Home

It is the desire of my heart, that our home would mirror heaven.  That it would be a place of love, laughter, peace, and growth.  A place where each family member, (or visitor), is made to feel special, important, and valued beyond measure.  
A passage of scripture that I am meditating on, is Proverbs 31.  It is such an awesome portrayal of a virtuous wife!   On the topic of desiring to have a more heavenly home, one verse really stuck with me, as an important factor, in accomplishing just that.  It is Proverbs 31:27 ~ She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.  That is a good reminder for me on those days when I am not feeling very motivated.  I am so thankful for God's mercy and grace!  What a privilege it is to be a keeper of the home!

Praising Our Husbands!

http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/2011/01/you-go-first-10-fun-ways-to-praise-your.htm

I love this!  It is so important for us, as wives, to build up our husbands.  I would encourage you to join in on this challenge and experience God's many blessings for your marriage!

Goals

* To read my Bible daily.
* To make it a point to delight in my husband and children each and every day.
* To find joy in daily routine tasks.
* Keep to a housecleaning and cooking schedule.
* Find ways to cut down on our grocery bill.  (For a gluten free diet...family of 6.)
* Complete all 90 days of P90X!

Today I read in the book of Judges, in my Bible.  To me, it speaks volumes of the love and faithfulness of God!  He always provides a way out, when we wholeheartedly seek Him.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband!  We have been married for 13 years.  I love our life together!
God has blessed us with four amazing children.

Today, after our school lessons are complete, I will be working on getting our basement organized.  Also getting our homeschooling materials put away, as we recently moved our school area.

I recently came across a website that has many idea's for getting the grocery bill down.  She even has gluten free recipes on there!  The name of the site, is:
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

Today will be day 5 of P90X.  I was doing this program last Fall, but didn't make it past the second month.  I am looking forward to completing the program this time and seeing results!

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jude 1:2

New to this!

This is my first blog!  I plan to blog about positive things in my life, including being a wife, and a homeschool mom.  : )