House Cleaning Dilemma June 11, 2012

Alright, Ladies, confession time… My name is Lindsey and I am a horrible housekeeper. There, I said it. It’s out in the open. (sigh of relief) Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, EVENTUALLY the house needs to get cleaned. When I was still working outside the home I seriously considered hiring a house cleaning service to come in and do all the dirty work cause I just could NOT see how I would ever have time to get to REALLY cleaning the house. As my time at work was coming to an end I began making all these lists of things I would be able to get done. Fun outings and activities with the kids, elaborate meals I would prepare, and yes, even house cleaning. Needless to say I had some pretty high ambitions for my new job, being a stay-at-home-mom. Well, a month or two in to my time at home I realized that, while I was definitely having lots more fun with my babies and even finding myself easing out of my cooking comfort zone of spaghetti and tacos, the house was no cleaner than it had been when I was going to work all day. Now don’t get me wrong, I get a lot of the major cleaning done. You know, the obvious stuff like picking up toys that are scattered around the living room, washing clothes, dishes, etc. But for whatever reason, my attention to detail is lacking. I typically do not notice the dust accumulating on the ceiling fans and picture frames, or the dirt/crumbs/etc scattering the kitchen floor, and certainly not all the stuff embedded in the carpets. So since these things go unnoticed when I’m making time to clean the house, they VERY rarely get done. I know, like I said I’m a horrible housekeeper. Thankfully, my husband is a little better at noticing these things. (Although I must admit I’m not always thankful for this) I must give him credit though, rather than coming home complaining about these specific chores going untouched, he’ll occasionally pick up the slack or make a little suggestion in passing like “You know, we really need to dust” (of course, he’s really saying YOU need to dust, but is wise enough with his wording to avoid what could turn into a not-so-pretty “discussion” if you will). But apparently, I haven’t been picking up on his subtle cues lately and he finally had to lay it all out there to get my attention. So here was this pretty lengthy list of areas around the house that were in desperate need of some TLC, most of which honestly had not even crossed my mind as needing to be done in the near future. So after a brief battle with my pride and avoiding the sinful instinct of getting defensive, I set to work… or at least THOUGHT about getting to work. To be honest, I was paralyzed. I am a list maker from way back and seeing everything that needed to be done, I didn’t know where to start and found myself so overwhelmed that I just did nothing for a couple days. Finally, in wanting to offer my husband a little hope that these things WOULD get done one way or another, I asked him to give me ONE thing that he would like to see done that day. After all, it’s not as if I had nothing else to do between caring to two kids under two, doing all the noticeable housework, cooking dinner, etc.  I hoped that by focusing on one task at a time I would gradually get to all the things on this discouragingly long list. (Please do not read this as my husband being some kind of drill sergeant. I am really just a horrible housekeeper) Well, after almost a week, I can say that this has been working for me. As I complete one chore, I’ll ask him to give me another for the next day. Sometimes I’ll get on a roll and accomplish more than I had planned which REALLY boosts my confidence. But of course, there are still days that, due to unforeseen events (like my son getting eaten up by ants… yes, this happened the other day and we are still recovering, poor baby) even the one task doesn’t get done.

The secret is setting goals. SMALL goals. When small children are involved, you’re guaranteed to experience some set backs so don’t set yourself up for a let down by expecting too much of yourself. Some days it’s a GREAT accomplishment just to make it to bedtime with an ounce of sanity left after saying “No” seemingly ALL DAY! (We are entering the Terrible Two stage a little early, pray for us) It’s easy to think you have time to do so much, after all, you’re at home all day. Truth is, when you factor in all that you HAVE to do (changing diapers, getting kids fed, dealing with the occasional meltdown, etc.) we really aren’t left with a WHOLE lot of extra time. Managing the time that we do have seems to be an art that I am only beginning to figure out. I’d love to hear any tricks or tips on how you manage your time!

I will close with a little cleaning tip I recently discovered. Today’s chore was dusting the ceiling fans. Thanks to Pinterest, I learned how to make this job a little less messy… a pillow case! Yep, just a pillow case. Makes perfect sense when you think about it, but with my lack of cleaning skills I never would have thought to try this. So you just slip the pillow case over a fan blade and gently wipe all the dust off allowing it to fall into the pillow case. Please share any other cleaning tips you have found!

Freezer Co-op 101 May 4, 2012

I recently joined a freezer co-op made up of six ladies (including myself). I have really enjoyed exchanging and consuming the meals. It’s made my afternoons so much easier on busy days or when my husband was out of town recently and I didn’t have his help with the kids while I prepare/cook dinner. If you’ve never heard of a freezer co-op, let me explain. Basically it’s a small group of ladies (or gentlemen) that exchange freezer meals that they’ve prepared. Our group has six ladies, but it can vary depending on how many meals everyone is comfortable making. Each month we choose a meal to prepare and make six batches (one for each family). Then we meet up and exchange. We try to plan the meals so that we get a nice variety, rather than a bunch of chicken based meals. I don’t know about you, but I tend to get in ruts cooking the same stuff. By exchanging these meals, we’ve been able to enjoy more variety that I either haven’t thought of or have never felt comfortable making. We share the recipes for the meals we exchange so when we find certain meals that we really enjoy, like the Mango Pork from our recent swap, (something I probably wouldn’t have attempted if I had come across this recipe elsewhere) I can refer back to it for future use. Making enough food for six families seems like a large task, and sometimes is depending on how much prep work is involved in the chosen meal. But it makes preparing dinner so much easier when I can plan a day/time to do a large amount of cooking (like the weekend when my husband is home to entertain the kids, or during a nap time if I’m able to get them to nap at the same time). Plus, when you’re cooking a lot of the same thing, you’re able to get it done quicker, and what mom doesn’t like to save time when she can? Freezer meals that cook in the crock pot are ESPECIALLY convenient! Everything’s already chopped, mixed, etc. and you just dump it in the crock pot! Amazing!

 

If you’re interested in starting your own freezer co-op, my friend Joy, recently wrote a post describing more details about getting started (Fearless Freezer Cooking blog).  She also shares lots of other freezer tips including what and how to freeze certain foods as well as recipes on her Facebook page (Fearless Freezer Cooking Facebook page). Using my freezer to store various snacks, meals, etc. has been great, especially while we have two babies in the house that are especially cranky during the 4-5 o’clock hour when I’m trying to get dinner ready.

Friendship in Marriage May 2, 2012

I remember dreaming as a little girl about the man I would one day marry and live “happily ever after” with. At that time, my dream looked a lot like a Disney fairytale. I was a beautiful princess needing to be rescued by my knight in shining armor. He would pursue me with such determination until he won me over. We would get married; ride off into the sunset, and live “happily ever after”. The movies don’t often go beyond this point, but I always assumed we would spend every waking moment together gazing into each other eyes and fall asleep every night wrapped in each other arms. In this dream, there were never arguments, never harsh words, never anything more important than spending every moment with one another… Reality check… Marriage is not all sunshine and pixie dust.

 
Due to the sermon series our church has been going through entitled “Real Marriage”, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the topic, and especially my own marriage. It’s been great to learn and be reminded of what God intends marriage to be and that ours isn’t the only one that goes through rough patches. As you can see, my original view of marriage wasn’t exactly realistic. Of course, you couldn’t have told me that. The truth is, culture plays such a major role in people’s view of marriage, and often leads us to have these crazy expectations which are impossible to meet. One thing I’ve been reminded of is that I am a sinner and I married a sinner. Therefore, we are imperfect, selfish people that were created so differently it’s a wonder how we ever ended up together. After a recent conversation with my husband, I lay in bed thinking back to when I realized that he was the man I wanted to marry. This may get lengthy, but there is a point.

 
I met my husband at a church homecoming lunch during my junior year of college. Neither of us were expecting this day to be so life-changing since he was simply visiting as a potential youth pastor and I was accustomed to the only other member of the church anywhere close to my age being my sister. Nevertheless, after a little Facebook stalking from both ends, we struck up a friendship. From my end, that was all it was for quite a while. We finally dated for a few months during my senior year of college, but I broke things off when it started to get serious. You see, I enjoyed talking to him and hanging out with him but felt there should be this overwhelming feeling that just wasn’t there. (I was looking for the fairytale.) Little did I know, God was writing His own fairytale for me. Heath (my husband) continued pursuing me and our friendship continued to grow. I graduated college, moved back home, and started my teaching career. During my Christmas break I had the opportunity to travel to Durango, Mexico for a mission trip. I’ve been on a few mission trips before and was very excited to pour myself into seeing lives changed in Durango. I had no idea, it would be MY life that would be changed through this trip. The teams I’ve traveled with before had been mostly college age kids like me. This time, however, I joined four or five older couples as well as a few girls my age. Throughout the week I helped build a house, organized a Christmas party for the community, and just loved on the people there. All the while, I was watching these older couples on my team as they interacted and served alongside one another. Although I was completely focused on the things we were doing there, Heath kept crossing my mind. By the end of the week I had come to admire these couples for the special relationships they had. There was nothing glamorous about them. They were just as grungy and smelly as I was at the end of the day. They weren’t all lovey-dovey and full of romance for one another. They were just best friends serving the Lord together. I watched them and realized that that’s what I wanted. I wanted to grow old with someone that I enjoyed being around even when they’re smelly. Most importantly, I wanted to grow old with someone that had the same desire for pursuing Christ and His people as I did. One the way home, I was processing all that I had experienced that week and once again I thought of Heath. Well, I got home and called him up. (It had become somewhat of a tradition to meet up at Waffle House after my mission trips and talk about everything that I had seen, done, experienced, and learned.) As usual, our conversation went on for hours. In the back of my mind, I started to realize how much I appreciated Heath and his friendship. Most of all, I appreciated the way he pointed me to Christ and strengthened my desire to love and serve Him. I got into my car that night feeling as if something had changed between us. I continued thinking and praying on the way home and soon realized that the friendship I had with Heath was something I wanted for the rest of my life. He was the best friend that I wanted to serve alongside.

 

I say all that to say that God used a few old couples in Durango, Mexico to teach me the importance of friendship in marriage. I’m so very thankful for this lesson because it led me to Heath. We may not have the Disney fairytale marriage as our imperfections cause us to fail one another often. But we have a friendship and a love for Christ that can endure any feud we may have.

If you’d like to listen to the sermons from this series, you can find them at www.newcitywr.org/real-marriage/ Or visit us at New City Church Warner Robins!

Hair Bow Tutorials April 10, 2012

In honor of my beautiful baby girl turning 3 months old, AND my good friend Candy finding out that she’s expecting a GIRL (SO excited for y’all), I want to share some super easy hair bow tutorials. Until recently, I’ve never made, or even attempted making hair bows. I found a couple tutorials that looked easy enough and thought I’d give it a try. I sat down intending on just attempting ONE bow and ended up making six or seven in that one sitting. That’s how easy these are! Since realizing this, I’ve taken up a new hobby. I’ve become somewhat of a ribbon hoarder. You can buy ribbon by the spool but unless you’re making a really big bow or several of the same one, you shouldn’t need even half that much. I prefer to buy it by the yard if I can (half a yard is usually all you need). Craft stores like Hancock Fabrics sell some ribbon by the yard. But you can also save pieces of ribbon from gift wrapping or even off some little girl clothes/toys that come in fancy packaging. Ribbon isn’t the only thing you can make bows out of. You can also use felt (those are probably the absolute EASIEST), or fabric (I haven’t made any fabric bows yet, but I’ve seen some REALLY cute ones). Since my baby girl doesn’t have much hair yet, I clip these bows onto headbands I found at Kroger of all places. The headbands have a little piece wrapped around them that you clip the bows to. This way you can switch them out and don’t need a headband for every one. I use the little bendy clips but you can also use alligator clips that you’ll see in some of the tutorials. Each image below will take you to the tutorial I used to make them simply by clicking on the image. Happy Bow Making!!!

These are probably the easiest. The only thing you'll need is ribbon, a hair clip, and a hot glue gun (and maybe a button if you want). You can find the tutorial by clicking the image.

These felt bows are SUPER easy as well. All you need is felt, a hair clip, and a hot glue gun. You can see the tutorial by clicking the image. I made my slightly different. I cut two wide strips of felt and one thin strip, fold one for the top part and leave the bottom one flat. Then use the thin strip to wrap around the center and hot glue it. (The wider you make them the easier it is to achieve the cute pleat in the center. My orange one is thinner than the other two and therefore didn't turn out as cute.)

These are some of my favorites. They require a needle and thread but it's still pretty easy. Again, you can see the tutorial by clicking the image.

These cute little flowers require a needle and thread but are still easy. These are best with wide ribbon. The yellow/orange one on bottom is thinner and the tiny petals didn't turn out as nice as the other two.

These felt pom poms are cute and again super easy. All you need is felt and a hot glue gun. Click the image to find the tutorial.

These are a little different than the typical bows. They require needle and thread, not too difficult but I wasn't able to make them lay flat like the tutorial showed. Click the image to see the tutorial.

Spring Skirt Tutorials April 7, 2012

This 90 degree weather we’re having down here in Georgia is getting pretty brutal. And it’s only the first week in April!! Definitely time to break out the shorts and skirts… well, much to my dismay VERY few (as in like only 1 or 2) of my shorts fit!! Anyone who’s ever birthed a child can attest to the frustration that comes after you’ve brought your bundle of joy home and continue to wear maternity clothes for weeks. Some women are able to shed the weight quickly, while others find that the extra pounds take up residence on their belly, hips, and rear-end. With baby #1 I seemed to fall in the first category. However, with baby #2 turning three months old next week I’m beginning to think these pounds on my hips have made themselves at home. My sweet husband tries to encourage me, saying “you look great, babe!” but unfortunately, my clothes disagree. So what do you do? Well, I’m still clinging to the hope that I WILL get back into those clothes. So, rather than going out at buying a whole new wardrobe to fit my new mom body, I thought I would attempt to make a few skirts myself. I haven’t been sewing long so I was a little intimidated by the thought of making my own clothes, but skirts are very forgiving.
Here’s my first attempt. I followed this tutorial for what they call a Circle Skirt. Below is my finished product. It’s certainly not perfect, but like I said, skirts are very forgiving and it allows my legs to breathe better than jeans.

Here’s my second attempt. This one required less fabric and I was actually able to throw it together one morning and wear it out to a playdate. The Tutorial didn’t use actual measurements but said to just wrap the material around you and estimate where to cut. Mine didn’t turn out quite like the pictures on the tutorial because I didn’t bunch as much fabric around the elastic like I did with the first. I found the more fabric that was bunched around the waist the bigger my hips looked, but I could have made it a hair bigger since this fabric isn’t stretchy knit like the other two skirts were.

Here’s my third attempt. This one was supposed to be another circle skirt (like the first) but had to be modified since the fabric I bought ended up being too small. So it’s kind of a combination of the first two but instead of using elastic for the waistband, I made one following this Tutorial.

So if you have ANY experience sewing whatsoever, you can do this. I don’t think I’m brave enough to attempt any other types of clothes yet, but feel free to share your own ideas for easy clothes to make. Enjoy your beautiful Easter weekend!

“If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” April 5, 2012

This saying was mounted on my grandma’s fridge. Growing up, I remember reading it and thinking “they really got that right”. (Love you, Mama!) Now that I’m a mom myself I have quickly learned just how much a mom’s attitude affects her family. Moms, whether we like it or not, carry a special power of impacting our family’s attitude. If we are irritable, it quickly rubs off on our husband and children. If we are short on patience, our children often reflect that. Realizing this has been very humbling for me and has brought me to my knees on countless occasions. Every mom wants to be a positive example for her children. In order to do so, we must be proactive rather than waiting until we are snapping at our kids and greeting our husband with criticism when he walks in the door rather than a kiss. As moms, we are often giving so much of ourselves that we forget to carve out time for us. This isn’t something we should be proud of, “I must be a great mom, because I have taken such good care of my family today that I haven’t had a second to myself”. When we do this, we are actually hurting our family. How can you effectively pour into your children if you yourself are drained? So, do what you have to do to insure that you remain physically, emotionally, and most important, spiritually healthy. Get together with your girlfriends (occasionally without the kids), take a nice bubble bath after putting the kids to bed, snuggle with your husband (making time for your marriage is also crucial, but that’s a topic for another day).
Most importantly, we should make time for our own spiritual growth. This may or may not look the same as your time with God before you were a mom. When you consider it a great accomplishment to shower before 5pm (or at all for that matter) you know you’ve got to get creative in making time for spiritual growth. It’s not as easy as simply laying the kids down for naps and diving into the Word, although I still find myself believing this. I finally get them both to nap at the same time, and before I finish my brief celebratory dance for accomplishing this great feet I’m slapped with the reality of the mountain of laundry that has taken over the better half of our bathroom, although I just washed dishes last night somehow the sink is full AGAIN, and I haven’t a clue what we’re having for dinner. So this “break” I fooled myself into believing I would have, has quickly faded into oblivion. (And people actually think we are able to nap when the kids nap! HA)
One way I’ve found to sort of put me in an attitude of prayer is listening to a kids worship cd or Pandora station. It may sound strange, but when I started playing this for the kids, even if it was just on in the background while we were playing I would hear a song or a line of a song that would cause me to worship. I may not be able to stop right there and get in the Word but it would at least put my focus on Him and give me the desire and motivation to make time at some point in the day. The key is just to be intentional with your time. I’ve found myself praying in the shower or while driving (of course, if the kids are screaming I’m praying for sanity, but none-the-less praying). We also try to have a brief family devotion during breakfast or dinner by reading a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and praying as a family. This is not only beneficial for our kids, as we are teaching them these spiritual disciplines, but also for us. Being a fairly new mom myself, I’m still figuring these things out. I’m curious, how do you make time for yourself and the Lord?

Good Days AND Bad: Survival Outside the Home January 27, 2012

It’s amazing how quickly you can go from feeling like Super Mom, able to handle an outing like a piece of cake, to feeling like The-Little-Old-Lady-Who-Lived-In-A-Shoe (she had so many children she didn’t know what to do). Reality is that every second of every day is unpredictable with small children. One minute they’ll be sweet little angels that you’re proud to take to the grocery store cause they’re just so stinkin cute waving and cooing. The next minute you’re praying the receptionist at the doctor’s office would show at least a little sense of urgency as she watches you struggle with a squirmy toddler trying to escape your grip and a crying infant that can’t seem to be consoled. This is what I experienced the past two days.

 

Day 1: First Trip to the Grocery Store   ( A+)

I spent the better part of the morning preparing to make this trip. You’d think it was some huge event, and for me it was. So I planned naps and feeding times around this greatly anticipated trip just a mile down the road to the grocery store. I packed snacks, diapers, wipes, burp cloths, and of course a couple pacifiers. But the most important item was the Moby Wrap. I never had or used one when my son was a baby, but thought it may come in handy this time around, and I was right.

Let me pause my story to share how easy and inexpensive this handy piece of fabric can be. You can find these in stores for around $45, but who wants to pay that much for a piece of fabric?? There’s really no special skill needed to make one for yourself and it doesn’t even require any sewing! Simply buy 4-5 yards of jersey knit fabric (you want to use a stretchy fabric so jersey knit is the best). Fold the fabric in half lengthwise and cut along the folded edge. This will make not just one, but TWO moby wraps! Now the sewing is optional. If your fabric seems to fray a lot, you may want to hem along the edges to stop the fraying. I intended on doing this, but never got around to it and it works just fine without the sewing. So there you have it! A cheap and easy moby wrap that I promise will be a lifesaver when you need free hands (and free buggy space in my case). You can find instructions on YouTube on how to wrap it to hold baby securely.

So my first trip to the grocery store scored an A+ thanks to the assistance of the moby wrap. My son was satisfied with his Cheerios and paci and my daughter slept through the entire experience wrapped snuggly against my chest. I walked out of the store with great pride feeling that I had just conquered the world… and then today happened.

 

Day 2: Well-Baby Check-up with the Pediatrician    (C-)

After the successful trip to the grocery store the day before I had no worries that this quick trip to the Pediatrician would pose any problems at all. We’d be in and out within an hour, possibly even 30 minutes (our doctor’s office is great about not making you wait). Things started off smoothly as I unloaded both kids from the car and made my way safely across the parking lot. Both babies did well through the appointment until it was time to leave. The 5 or 10 minutes it took for the receptionist to schedule our next visit seemed to take a lifetime. My toddler wanted to run around and “explore” (aka make messes with everything in sight) and my newborn suddenly was unsatisfied sitting in her car seat and started crying. I’m sure I looked like an octopus using every limb God gave me to get the situation under control and get out of there. The receptionist, of course, didn’t seem to notice me struggling as she continued to speak to me in a whisper (as if I could hear her over the crying baby), answer phone calls, and do pretty much everything possible to elongate the process of scheduling our next visit. Finally, as I clung to the last bit of sanity I had left before losing my cool, we got out of there. This trip scored a C- but at least I learned something from the experience. Call the office to schedule all further appointments!

 

So moms, you can plan and prepare the best you can, but things will NOT always go as planned. You will be thrown curve balls as kids are about as predictable as the stock market. So buckle up and embrace the craziness of motherhood as it guarantees to have both good AND bad moments.