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

I want a home

I hope this post isn't to sad.

I am feeling sad tonight.

Why?

I don't know.....

I guess just the fact that as I walk through my house and look around I think how my house isn't a home.

Why?

It isn't that I don't want to make it nice.

I really do!

I just can't.

At least not now....

Until I have more money.

It is hard to make a house into a home when you have no money.

It seems like our whole lives have been about not having enough.

Ok, I know I sound like I am pouting and complaining and I think I am, but I guess I am allowing myself to do this tonight since this is my blog and I need to just

VENT.

LOL

I was crying to my husband again.....

I do this sometimes when I have

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

Yeah, a BIG BABY

I want to be able to:

repair

paint

buy picture frames and fill my walls with pictures of the kids

make a cozy kitchen

buy lots of organizing bins and things

a new bed comforter with matching pillows, curtains

redo the children's bedrooms

blinds....curtains for the house

closet doors--since all my doors are down

a new entertainment center with a big TV (I don't even watch TV, but I like movies)

nice cozy furniture

lamps.....I like soft lighting

a little cozy reading recliner with a little table on the side with a nice lamp on it

just so I can read the bible and watch the kids play

more glasses since they have almost all broken (I use jelly jars now)

matching plates

oh and a van to fit my whole family (our current one seats eight)

and I want to have grass in my front yard with flower beds all over

I want play equipment for the children and have a beautiful oasis in my backyard

I want......

I know these are "wordly things". I know I shouldn't want these things......is it OK to want a nice home?

Maybe I just need to live in a grass hut with a dirt floor and forget about the nice things.

Just bring people to Jesus.

But Jesus visited homes

I bet He visited nice homes

All of this "house a home" thing isn't a big deal most of the time

Then there are days that I do desire these things and want the money to just go and spend and make my GARDEN OF EDEN!

I guess it's hard when you live within the same walls, 24/7 and you never leave.....

You get a bit stir crazy and want to

CHANGE THE ATMOSPHERE

a bit

I have prayed about this already and know God has heard me and has answered.....

He always answers

I just don't know what the hold up is

I gotta ask Him again....

Lord, what's the hold up......

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.