Corah: My hero!

My daughter Corah is my hero. I tell her that often.  Every time she does something that I never could have done.  Not at her age, not at my age, not at any age could I have done it!

She can play the piano... IN FRONT OF PEOPLE!!!!  Wow!  I never could do that.  I tried. (And cried.)  She can even memorize the music and play it by heart!  I never could do that.  She is awesome!

She is a wonderful singer.  She has a beautiful voice and has already done a couple of duets for church.  I did that... but not at age 12!!!

Her latest thing was the Acts Academy drama.  She didn't have the lead, but she had a pretty major role.  And was fabulous!  She was even the FIRST person to speak in the play!  (That made my sooo nervous!)  And Corah was nervous, too... but she did great!

Isn't she darling with her flowers from her sister, Jordyn?

Here she is with her good friend, Kelli.  In the play they were best friends, "Betty Lou" (Corah) and "Bernadine" (Kelli).  It was a 50's play so they wore circle skirts and ponytails.

Corah with her special little sisters, Mary (back) and Leah.

*Sigh* My hero.

Kitchen Tips & Tricks #1: "How to clean up a kitchen"

I have never done a series on my blog, but I have been mulling one over in my mind for a while.

I also wanted to try to "link up" to my friend Esther's blog for her "Hearts for Home Thursdays". So click the button and link up with us!

 

When I was first married to my husband {and his three children} I barely knew how to cook.  I wasn't at all good in the kitchen. I hated trying to figure out what was for supper because I didn't know about meal planning.  I hated even more to clean up after a meal!  I always remember my Mom being "done" with her day after supper. {I have been known to still be cleaning up from supper at 11p.m.!}  She washed the few dishes that she, Dad & I messed up in our meal then went to the livingroom to sit and watch T.V. or have family Bible reading or whatever.  Since it was just the three of us, she didn't really need my help or ask for it.  I didn't have a problem with it then... but I never developed the habits or skills it takes to run a kitchen efficiently.  So I had to learn everything the hard way!  The more children we had, the harder it got, too.  Now that I am no longer breastfeeding every three hours, changing diapers every two hours or holding a fussy baby while trying to do... everything, I am finding that I have more time to think about ways to make my life easier and even help my home look nicer.  {Maybe its because I am getting more sleep, too?!}  I thought I might share some of these "tips & tricks" just in case it might benefit someone else as well.

First, I had to develop a plan for myself to follow for clean up.  I had to know where to start in order to make it go faster and more efficiently.  So here's my plan:

1. Put away all the clean stuff. 

(or else where will the dirty stuff go?)

2. Load up the dirty stuff.

(Whether sink or dishwasher...)

3. Clear and wash the table

(For us "wash" the table means changing the tablecloth)

4. Wash pot, pans and dishes too large for the dishwasher.

5. Wash the stove and counters.

6.  Clear away clutter

7. Sweep the floor.

The other thing is to ask the kids to help out with some of these jobs so I am not up until 11:00 still cleaning up supper {and lunch, and breakfast....}  If the job is big on a particular evening, I will declare, "No one leaves the kitchen until all the work is done!"   This helps me to complete the kitchen clean-up before I have to move on to bath, story & bedtime for little ones.

I guess I am a little slower than most women, but I really needed direction to know where to start.  Once I have a starting point,  I can get the job done quickly.  I keep this list on a sticky note on the window over the sink {so I can't lose it, ha-ha!}.  

I have found that I actually enjoy being in my kitchen and am more prepared for the next meal when I follow this simple plan! {THREE times a day, not saving it for evening.} I was tired of spending too much time doing something that shouldn't take more than 1/2 hour or so, then not having time to read  and pray with my kids before bedtime.  I don't want to miss the fun part of being a mom because I am too disorganized to get past the yucky part!

God Bless!

Judy

Faith Comes by Hearing

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Romans 10:17

Every time I have heard this verse, I associated it with Salvation.  I had never considered that this is how I will grow in my faith!  But that is what our Sunday school teacher said yesterday.  My faith comes {grows} by the Word of God, too!  I have learned that because I do not pray often, depending on the Lord the way I should, my faith is just, well... small.  I am fearful.  My thoughts wander to places they shouldn't.  I try so desperately to do everything on my own.

I have got to be the most pathetic of Christians because I actually read my Bible so infrequently.  I have been very convicted about this lately.  I am trying to get up earlier in the morning and have my own devotions.  Then Dallas leads family devotions after breakfast. Then we have "history" in the afternoon in which we are reading Genesis and {supposed to be} studying ancient Egypt.  It is a pretty tall order to follow, and there are some days when none of it happens.  But I have to thank God every time any of it happens, because it is only by HIS grace. In my flesh, it would never happen at all.  In Dallas' flesh, it would never happen, either!

My faith come by hearing... sermons about God's Word, but most importantly, "by the Word of God"!

Life just gets too busy!!

I know everybody is busy.  It is just busy having a family & homeschooling.  Some days I just don't know where to begin.  I have come to a realization, though... it begins the night before.  I can't go to bed at midnight ANYMORE!!!  10:00 should be my bedtime, not midnight.  (...and its 10:30 now, hmmm...)  If Momma doesn't get her rest, all the rest will fall apart!

Before Christmas our home was such a disorganized mess, I didn't know how I would ever get it cleaned up.  So I offered to host Christmas!  Sounds silly, but I work better with  a deadline!  I got the house pretty clean... though my bed was covered in last-minute clutter when everyone arrived!  But over all it was pretty clean!  I had gone through the school room, play room and "family room"/"Tyler's bedroom" and had it in as good of shape as an unfinished basement could probably get.  I had the upstairs decluttered and cleaned up as good as I could get it.  Then it hit me:  the only mess left is that clutter pile I stuffed in our room on Christmas morning!  Wow!  I was so close, surely I could finish it up curing Christmas break!  What incentive, to be almost, dare I say... "DONE!"  That is NOT a word I would normally EVER use in my household tasks.  My work is never really done!

So now I am in maintenance mode, and I must say, I like it a whole lot better than chaos!!!  I don't feel guilty if I sit down for a few minutes when my back hurts.  I don't feel guilty when everyone's homework is done on Friday night and the kids want me to sit with them and watch a movie.  I don't feel guilty NFL Playoffs weekend when I want to snuggle up to Hubby on the couch and watch the games because there's nothing to feel guilty about!  Don't get me wrong, ITS NOT PERFECT, but its not chaos.

Even our bedroom isn't chaos!  Our bedroom has always been a "catch-all" and has never been "really clean".  It is pretty clean!  (Notice I said, "pretty clean".)  I have a sense of pride in my work, but much more importantly, I know that I didn't do it in my own strength.  God is the one who gives strength.  I have been so short on energy these last 5 years, it feels great to have energy!

I am also trying to get up early to exercise and pray.  BEFORE the kids get up!  My goal is to (eventually) go to bed at 9:00, get up at 5:30 for exercise, personal devotions, shower, and prepare dinner.  If I do it in the morning, I will have more free time later when I can spend time with my family, eat dinner earlier, clean up earlier, and... go to bed earlier!!!  It is sort-of a cycle, which starts with going to bed early.  The problem is, I am a night owl!  So by God's grace and my obedience to Him (and a schedule) I CAN DO THIS!!!

Wordless Wednesday, 7:25 this morning...

Pictures of Boston

Downtown Boston Skyline

This building was the seat of Massachussetts government and many historical events happened here, incliding the Boston Massacre on its front lawn, and the reading of the Declaration of Independence just14 days after it had been signed.  (I think this picture is actually the back side.)

Revolutionary War artifacts, in the Old State House.

A statue of Benjamin Franklin, Boston was his hometown.

The Old North Church, from whose 14 story steeple Paul Revere was signaled to tell the colonists, "the Brittish are coming!"  You know the story!

Statue of Paul Revere.  We were so unfortunate to get there after the church and other special buildings on the Freedom Trail were already closed.  Behind the statue is a courtyard lined with plaques of historical information.  If I remember right, America's first school was built in that area.(?)

The USS Constitution, the oldest ship still sea worthy.

A residential street on the north side of downtown.  There are 2-3-4 story buildings everywhere, all are very old, and they are filled with apartments, some quite large, I am guessing.  We noticed the streets are extremely clean.  No garbage blowing around these streets!  The narrow roads (not wide enough for traffic) are another indication of their age!

This is the view from our hotel window.  Not bad for an industrial area!  The oil tankers come to this area to unload into huge "bins"(??? I'm from Iowa, I don't actually know what they're called!).

Sadly, we never made it to Bunker Hill.  Our walk was long, my feet had blisters, and it was getting dark.  We were a little nervous about finding our way back to a train station and it was hard to tell by the train map what streets the stops were at from where we were.

We had a beautiful flight home this morning: NO turbulence, sunshine, it was AWESOME to get close to home and actually identify the towns and roads below us!  We couldn't see our house, as they fly directly over it.  (We knew that- we see them all the time!)  We could even see the pavement at the end of our gravel road!

Boston, Mass.

By God's divine intervention and appointment, Dallas and I are in Boston, Mass for a real estate class.  Like, what are the chances we could find people to watch 5 kids for 5 days, get the most timely flights out here, the most accommodating and least expensive hotel in the area, and then get a Christian POWERHOUSE teacher!!  As he introduced himslef this morning, it hit me just how Sovereign the Lord is in our lives!

Thursday morning we got up at 3:30 a.m. for our 6:00 flight.  Everything went so smoothly (except the turbulance all the way to Chicago!)  We arrived in Boston on time and had the afternoon to do the Freedom Walk.  (Which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone ever visiting Boston!)  The walk is free, and we bought a $7 guide book.

Yesterday we toured downtown Boston.  We saw the site of the Boston Masacre and our original "Capitol" building (The Old State House,)  Massachusseett's original state building (INCREDIBLE ARCHITECTURE!!)  Paul Revere's home and statue.  "The Old North Church" where someone hung a light in the bell tower to notify Paul Revere that the British were coming.  It is SO TALL!  It is hard to believe the architecture of that time, when they didn't have heavy equipment or seemingly the means of doint that!  We saw the USS Constitution and we could see the Bunker Hill monument, but were too tired to go there.  It is a walking tour and they said it was 2-1/2 miles but it sure seemed farther!  (I have the blisters on my feet to prove it!)  There are so many things to see and the wonderful smells of all the restaurants.  It was a BEAUTIFUL mid 60's day with sunshine, and downtown where the buildings are so close there is no wind so it was nice and warm there. 

It was so neat to look down the alleys.  The buildings are so old that the "streets" between some of the 3-4 story apartment buildings aren't wide enough for cars, so they are like really wide sidewalks.  Some are barely wide enough and are one-way.  It was weird, we'd be walking along and there would be an open door and if you looked in, you were looking at someone's kitchen!  One dould easily look out their window and watch someone else in their 2nd story kitchen!  I wasn't sure if they were really narrow 3-story houses, or if each level was an apartment, but only 2-3 feet from the street!  We are enjoying the Harbour, we can see a small inlet of it from our hotel room. 

I HATE FLYING!!!  It has been 16 years since I went to Honduras and that had been my only time.  I almost got sick between Chicago and Boston.  They gave me a Sprite and I sipped on it the last 1/2 of the trip... that saved me!  (Whew!)  Once we came out of the clouds and could see ground, we were horrified to see SNOW EVERYWHERE!!!  But when we landed the captains said it was 61* in Boston. (YEAH!)  The east coast was "dumped" on last weekend, still homes without power.

When I get home I will add pictures. (I am writing this on the hotel computer.)