Starting to feel "homey"...

Has it been that long since I've posted on my home blog.

Yikes!!!

LOL!!!

ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

I guess I don't even know what to write about. I sometimes feel like my life has to be

absolutely

PERFECT

to type here.....

No, not really....

I never created this blog to write down my perfections

BY FAR

ha ha ha

This is a place for me to write down who I really am

I'm a work in progress

YEAH--DEFINITELY!!

So.....hmmmmm.....what has been going on since my last depressing post.

OH

Lots of fun things

awesome things actually.

My good friend was throwing out her furniture and I came just in time to save it. She bought new furniture and didn't want to sell her old couches because she thought they were in awful shape.

OK........

I had to totally laugh because her couches she thought were "AWFUL", they were by far better than what I had currently in my home. :)

So guess what I did.....???

I told her to NOT throw those couches away, but give them to ME!!!

Yep, so now I have some more furniture for my front room and it really has brought a homey feeling into the house.

I am going to post the pics later. My husband is out of town and I don't have the camera on me.

Sooooooo.........

I am planning on sewing (did I just say SEWING...ha ha....and I don't even know how to sew)....anyway.....I am planning on sewing some couch cushion to give it a more cozy feel to my front room.

Thank you Lord for sending these couches my way.

They are treasured.

AND

I am going to paint the boys' room. I bought some paint but I still need to "make" some time to actually get in there

to

tear down the old bunk beds

Kilz

steam clean the carpet

Sew curtains

(there I said it again...SEWING...yikes... I don't know what I'm saying!)

Put in the new bunk beds that have been in my garage for MONTHS!

Lots of little things are getting

fixed

replaced

and yep

I feel like maybe I might

be making this old house a

HOME!!

YAY Lord....He loves me and knows my heart!! And He ALWAYS answers prayers!!

Chris

Tour of my laundry room

I've been tackling my laundry room lately. What fun!! I've done a few new things to ease the clutter and make clothes management easier. Remember, laundry is one of those household chores which needs MAJOR CONTROL. So are you ready for this??? I am taking you on a very short tour of my laundry room today and have a few pictures of the projects. I've been good about keeping the laundry maintained which is a big change for me. So I guess I am feeling excited and wanted to share what I've done. :) LOL

If you have any tips to share please leave them with your comments. You know me.....I can always use tips. :)

Discouragement vs. Blessing

I know I am not the only one in life who feels discouraged at least once per week. Here is what goes through my mind during those times......

1. I feel like my house is always a WRECK

2. Laundry never is caught up. There is always some sort of growing pile in my laundry room.

3. I have no time to do "projects"

4. Am I doing enough for the kids schooling?

5. I hardly play with the little ones.

6. Why do I get so distracted?

7. When do I get MY time!!!???

Ok, not to bum you out or myself, let me list those things that are positive....on the days I am feeling good and my reality of my life :)

1. I love my quiet time with the Lord

2. I love talking to my kids about the Lord and life.

3. I love laughing and hanging with my older kids.

4. I am so blessed to have such beautiful, wonderful, caring, loving, children.

5. My kids are healthy!!

6. My husband loves me so much and never once complains that the laundry is not done or serving sandwiches for dinner.

7. I have such great friends.

8. I have a great church.

9. I am growing in the Lord with leaps and bounds. I 'FEEL' it.

10. With homeschooling I get to mold the children and train them up in their gift and callings.

I could go on!! But I'll stop right here.

I guess, when I am feeling bummed a bit, I need to list those good things in life.

On a side note:

My good friend has been coming over and helping me organize. It is so wonderful to have her come and bless me like this. We've been working in my kitchen. She spends a couple of hours with me. We chat and organize. HOW FUN IS THAT!!??

Here are some of my cabinets we tackled last week. I love opening up my cabinets and actually finding my salt, chili powder, and other spices. So now I don't have my meds and oregano right next to each other. ha ha ha!! Yeah, it was bad. I am a bit ashamed. :( These are the areas I would just ignore and tell myself "I'll get to it when I have some time to spare."

I don't have any before pictures just after. I know my cabinets look somewhat bare, I have to shop this week. These cabinets are only for those foods I need for the week. I have a large shelf where I store stockpile canned goods and other foods. Actually this shelf is bare also. Yep, when the budget is tight you can't stockpile much. :(

(Top shelf-pasta noodles, middle-pasta sauce, rice, drink mixes; lower-my baby goods)

(Top shelf- extra goods; middle-canned goods; lower-peanut butter, daily lunch stuff)

(Top shelf-Misc and some stock pile; middle-beans, packet spices; lower-non daily spices)

(Top shelf my meds, middle -my baking ingredients, lower- my daily spices)

Just got a call from my friend and she says she is going to look for more storage containers for me. Isn't she such a blessing. Thank You Lord for awesome friends!!!

Have a wonderful week!! Love you guys :)

Chris

The Kitchen Sink and everything in between

You know...... I just love a clean, shiny kitchen sink. It makes me feel like I have a home that is put together and in order. I love schedules and routines it keeps my family functioning at top levels (somewhat). If you are a regular visitor of this blog you might think "she is always talking about schedules, routines and home order." I sound like a broken record....don't I? This is the purpose of this blog. To share my journeys of schedule, routines, and home order or the LACK OF IT. :)

The lack of it....can that possibly be true?

I feel like this is how I've been functioning the past month or so. Soooooo, I am going to give you a peek into my "not very scheduled life"

5:00 Alarm clock goes off.....I hit snooze.....5 minutes later, it goes off again.....I hit snooze once again.....5 minutes later, I glance at the time and talk myself out of getting up....I hit snooze again...5 minutes later, the alarm is calling my name......by this time I am forced to wake up because my babym, who sleeps next to me in her little crib, is now awake and crying because my alarm clock woke her up.....ugh!!

5:30 Make a bottle....feed the baby....I fall asleep while feeding her....realized I fell asleep, the baby finishes her bottle and oops....I need to wake up.

6:00 SO now I am an hour off "schedule". GREeeeeaaaaaT!!! I am not going to get mad...I have the peace of God :)

6:05 Walk in the kitchen, start my coffee (can't stay awake if I don't), make some breakfast, check some emails before turning on some bible teaching on the computer.....Start listening.

7:00 Just listened to some teaching and have so much enjoyed my time. So, by this time I know I should be waking the kids and have already gotten myself dressed and ready to go. But....I love the quietness of the home and I really don't.....no I don't....want to wake the kids. I wait to wake them.

7:30 One of the little boys comes out to the family room.. Then another,....and then another. They are still quiet and sleepy. By this time....I realize....I'm a bit behind. Quickly get dressed, make my bed, start breakfast, change some diapers....

8:00 Older kids are getting up.....I know we should be eating breakfast by this time.....oops. I start to tell them to hurry up and not waste time....(sergeant mommy begins her drills).

So in between the time they awake until school begins, we are getting ready for the day. Between these times....I have spanked a few kids, stopped a few fights, started some laundry, fed the baby, inspected a few chores which need to be done again.....etc.

We, somedays, begin schooling at 10:30.....Homeschooling then feels like it has taken over my life. I take deep breaths and think "Maybe tomorrow....." Tomorrow what? I'll be more punctual? I'll stay on schedule? So then I say "Maybe one day...."

At the end of each day....I realize this is season of my life. No, my home doesn't look like the the pictures out of Southern Living magazine, or the other homeschool mom's house whose youngest child is 13 yrs old or the mom whose children go to school all day and she has time to work on home projects. Nope!!!! If you visit my home it usually has dishes in the sink, handprints on the walls, and toys on the floor. I have chosen not to get upset about the dirt on my walls, the pee smell in my bathroom, the stains on my carpet. I'm not even going to get upset about the lack of time or money to decorate or buy new furniture...nope. I am going to rejoice in the Lord Always and know.....just know.....that one day my home will look presentable and I will be able to buy the new furniture. :) And just maybe it might look like those pictures in the magazines. :) I love to dream!!

Reality

Chris

Do you Micromanage your kids? I think I do!

I decided to do a little research on Management :O -- The ins and outs on managing a large group of people with different personalities. Who better than a large family like my own. --

I found this interesting article on the Dangers of Micromanaging...oooo...ouch!!!. I tend to do this alot!

I will highlight some of the interesting points I found and relate it to my home life. FUN!!

The Dangers of Being a Micromanager

You may wonder exactly why being a micromanager is bad for your business (Oh no!!!). On the surface, it seems wise (it sure does) to make sure that your staff is doing a good job, to pitch in and help with a project now and then. It seems to demonstrate a solid work ethic and set a good example for the team. What could bewrong with that? (Yeah, what could be wrong with that?)

Well, if you’re a manager, there’s a lot wrong with that.

Basically, micromanaging is involving yourself too directly (yep I do this way to much) in what your staff should be doing instead. By definition, a manager is tasked with — yes, you guessed it —managing. That involves coordinating projects, solving problems, dealing with other managers, and developing relationships with clients. (homeschool planning and teaching; disciplining the little boogers; loving on my hubby and ironing his work clothes; loving and building good relationships with my kids)The manager has to ensure that a certain quantity of work gets done, and normally that work is much more than one person could ever do alone ( you better believe it with a large family I can't do it alone....I tell this to my kids lots). Therefore, the manager supervises a team of people to help them carry out that work.

However, if a manager’s time is consumed with micromanaging, there's no time for all the other managerial tasks on his or her plate (maybe this is why I feel behind many times over). Quite simply, it is damaging to your business to micromanage. (OUCH!!! and double OUCH!!!)Here are some tips to keep in mind when tempted to manage to the nth degree:

• There’s more than one right way. As a supervisor (mom) you need to prepare your employees (you mean children ;) to complete projects successfully, and to be clear from the beginning about the results you expect from them. Then you should stand back (WHAT??? Stand back....could this actually happen!!) and let them carry out their designated tasks in the way they see fit, (I can see the dust bunny sitting on the couch and jumping for joy) coming up with their own solutions. Remember that employees (my kids) need to do things in a positive way, but not necessarily in the same way you would do them (Yeah, you're right about this). This does not mean that communication is closed down — you still need to touch base from time to time, to see how projects are progressing (Ok, I can see them hardly doing anything but playing around--could they actually progress in a timely fashion without me hovering over them), and to check if the person has any questions. But he or she needs freedom to work within an open framework, to learn and grow (yep, yep, and yep). The end result is a strengthening of your firm. There’s no way your staff can develop and the firm can flourish if you are always there to meddle in the project and demonstrate the “correct” way to accomplish a task ( I do exactly this with my 15 yr old--the meddling mom!!)
• It’s about trust. Your employees have to believe that you trust them to do a good job (I don't think I do trust them to do a good job...I guess this is bad :o ). But how can they do that if you’re always hovering over their shoulders, diving in to rescue them from themselves? If it’s inevitable that your staff’s decisions will be second-guessed, they will begin to feel frustrated and powerless (picture of my son when I come in to meddle). In addition, your employees (children)will learn that they will not be held accountable, and will soon stop trying to make any decisions at all.
• If something’s wrong, fix it. If you have an employee who is indeed constantly doing things incorrectly, it may be time to clean house (Ok....now this is my goal....HELLO) and hire someone who can do the job properly (That would be nice!! Hey honey, I need a maid, babe!! This article said I need to hire someone). But first, see to it that your employees are fully trained and know everything they need to know to do their jobs well. Be certain you're communicating the duties of the job clearly (I confess sometimes I am hasty with my commands....my bad). Finally, keep in mind that some employees want to be micromanaged (I have a few children like this....hmmmm.....interesting). Just as you need to stay out of their way, your staff needs to remember the importance of making decisions on their own. (we have to work on this deal)
• Beware of burnout. If you insist on meddling in a project, creating frustration and lack of accountability in your employees,(creating frustration in ALL OF US) and still attempt to shoulder all your other managerial responsibilities, you’re going to get tired. Really tired. (This is me on a daily basis....frustrated and fed up) And eventually, tiredness will progress to exhaustion and complete burnout (That's it!!! I quit or their fired!!!). At which point, you won’t care about micromanaging anymore. But at that point, of course, it will be too late (Not with Christ...there is always Redemption!!! This I do know. :D ) Don’t let events progress to that point.

The bottom line: a good manager is one who prepares, and then trusts employees, remembers that he or she is part of a team, (mi familia) and leads by example, not by doing everyone else’s work. Your staff will appreciate your efforts, and will feel a greater sense of personal accomplishment. And in the end, your business (my HOME) will thrive (Yes!!! \0/ I want this).

It was so much fun dissecting this article and relating it to my home managing skills. I learned about what not to do. It is going to take LOOOOTTTTSSSS of practice to not get FRUSTRATED with the little details they didn't take care of. Oh....LORD have Mercy!!!

Keeping up with Laundry, not the Joneses

I was wondering what I was going to type this week. I guess we'll discuss laundry. Ah, my favorite past time of all times! Who doesn't love doing laundry? Hmmmm?

Actually, it isn't all that bad when you keep up with it. I rather enjoy folding laundry. I like the smell of clean clothes and I like looking down into an empty basket knowing the day's laundry has been completed. The one thing I don't enjoy doing is putting clothes away. This is something my kids do for me. Each child, with the exception of the the short ones, put their own laundry away. I wash, fold and they put it away.

The key to keeping the clothes manageable is doing them every day if you are a large family, and folding it at a specific time during the day or folding it as soon as it dries. I've tried both. For some reason I can't keep to my scheduled "folding time" which is in the afternoon. I might have to schedule this in the morning...we'll see. Since schools been out, I've been washing and folding as I go and then having the children put their clothes away. So far it's been working great....no more baskets of clean unfolded laundry or baskets of dirty, stinky laundry.

To manage, I usually do about 2-3 baskets of laundry daily. If I don't wash clothes for a few days....I regret it later. If I can wash on a daily basis it doesn't become an untamed mountain of clothes. So I've decided to treat laundry management like my kitchen cleanup. After every meal, we wash dishes, wipe counters, sweep floors, etc... If I tackle laundry like a chore that MUST be done every single day then I guess it seems more manageable. I guess, I've always viewed laundry as one of those chores that when it's overflowing then I do it. I found I treat some of my household chores like I still have four people in our family. I don't know why, it's really strange. I do this with time management as well. Alright, alright....I am learning. Slap! I know I have eight kids, not two. Wake up Chris...HELLO!

So, I finally got it!! Beeeee Con-sis-tent! Aha!! Not hard. Ok, we'll see what happens after this holiday weekend. He, he!!!

(laundry room--before)

(Laundry room--before...my Goodwill pile was in the upper lft corner bags and boxes of stuff!)

(laundry room--after....ahhhh, no more dirty clothes, floor swept...it still needs more order... that will soon come to pass...for now this will do)

(laundry room--after...notice my Goodwill corner...I am down to one small bag that needs to be filled and sent away to Goodwill..need to find a place for the baby tub. I do use it...just don't like it in my bathroom)

Chris

Home Improvement--highly needed!!!

Yes, I am starting a new blog!! A blog devoted to home management. Actually, a journal of my journeys of home management-- The "ins and outs" of the "nitty-gritty" of putting my house in order while raising my eight children. BEWARE: The following pictures are of my house in "messy" status...this is what it looks like after having a busy week and neglecting our ChorePacks.

( Before: School books all over the desk, after this weeks evaluations)

(After: My oldest son cleaned up the school room--yeah, for teenagers)

(my unorganized laundry room with lots of baskets of dirty laundry)

(dishes to wash)

(my neglected bedroom with dirty clothes to be washed and carpet to be steam cleaned)

(toys that need to be sorted and gotta get rid of some)

(my front closet that needs some order)

I must confess, the one thing that has been highly neglected (at least just maintained), while having bunches of babies, has been my home (better the home, than the children...LOL). Throughout my childbearing years, I've had to "let loose" on many house goals and on how clean I want my house. Most of it has been from not having much time, not having much energy (mental and physical), and not being a "natural born" housekeeper. Yes, the children do help, all the time, but a child's sense of what is "clean" is not as crisp as an adult's. Also the more children you have (especially many little people at once), the more taxing on the house it can be. To name a few: Toys--EVERYWHERE; handprints and footprints on the walls, hot wheel marks on the my new coffee table; crumbs on the floor (good thing for my dog), oatmeal stuck on the blinds; food in their clothes drawers---ewww; nasty, rotten sippy cups under the couch; pee pee underwear in their drawer--not knowing my 3yr old messed in his pants and changed and decided to put his dirty undies back in his drawer with clean clothes---then me and the rest of the children trying to figure out where the stink is coming from, oh yeah...a big ewww; and yes the list can go on and on and on.... I hope I am not the only one with a messy children--LOL

Now that my "dirty laundry" has been exposed, I hope you will join me on this journey (long, short, or never ending...LOL) of putting my home in order. I am looking forward to sharing what I am learning along the way. I would love it if you could help me by giving your input. Leave your comments or email me with some organizational, cleaning, or house keeping tips. Anything is helpful, because I am not a "natural born" tidy person. LOL...

Sooooooo....... till then....

Chris

P.S. If you want to catch up on my family life and other things on my mind...continue to visit my other blog Joyful Mother.