Thankful (9)

Thankful for the eight o'clock hour -

Photo Source

especially tonight!

Thankful (6)

Photo by: D. Sharon Pruitt

Thankful for our warm, cozy bed after a wonderful, busy and exhausting weekend.

Dinner Conversation

During emergency situations, there's a room at Espy's school where
students & staff can go for their safety.

They call it the secret room.

BILL
I want to know where the secret room is.
ESPY
I can't tell you, Daddy.
BILL

Early Riser

To my mom friends...

because I'm a fan of waking up

before all the Little Ones, even the Big One,

AND

because I'm not a fan of getting all upset if I don't.

Photo by: Martin Fisch

New Love

I just wanted you to know that I'm in love with black doors:

Beware of future posts declaring my love for them
and my desire for The Husband to paint all of ours ASAP.

Paint Project Complete

You might remember my excitement about this paint project...I got my inspiration from a blog I love

and this painting:

I also enjoy:

It reminded some of my friends of Rothko's art.
One of my faves:

Bill was out of town for a few days earlier this month - a perfect opportunity to start my project. After I put the girls to bed, I popped The Proposal (love this movie) into the Mac and set up my "studio." And so the painting began...I was slightly nervous at this point. That stripe is really - green.
Now my fear was of a Crayola-ish painting......probably completed by one of the girls.Oops.
I forgot to take pictures as often as I wanted.
And this is how the evening progressed......which I thoroughly enjoyed by the way.Voila!
(with and without flash)
I was excited.
Are you?
This is when it's helpful to have The Husband around.There you have it.My little DIY art hanging on our dining room wall.

His Hers Yours

Do you have a place for your keys when you walk in the door?
If not, make one of these:

I did, and I put it on a table right by our front door.
So stylish AND functional.
Now if I could only get The Husband to use it.

Search for Simplicity

I love blogs.
I might have told you this before.
I'm also a fan of simplifying.

I've been following Tsh at Simple Mom for a few months now.
Her blog is great!

Simple Mom is a productivity blog for home managers. It’s like Zen Habits wearing an apron. If we want to get things done and be fully present for all the things that are most important to us,
we have to keep things simple.

This blog is a catalog of the resources, tips, and lessons to make that happen. When we find solutions for cutting everyday life clutter, we’re taking care of our family, our home, and ourselves. I believe that when Mom (Dad, too) is doing well, the whole family thrives.

Just the other day, Tsh introduced Simple Living Media consisting of:

Simple Mom
Live simply, stay sane. Life hacks for home managers.
Simple Kids
uncomplicated parenting in a complex world
Simple Organic
back to nature, back to basics
Simple Bites
real food for the family table
and
Simple Homeschool
never let your schooling interrupt your education.

In honor of Simple Living Media's launch,
each of these blogs is hosting an awesome giveaway.
Check them out by clicking on the links above.
You can enter by leaving a comment, subscribing to the blog, or writing about the giveaways on your own personal blog
(hence this post!).
Be sure to stop by soon because the giveaways end
Saturday, February 13th at 11:59pm CST.

I just wanted to share all the giveaway goodness with you.
I also hope you can find a blog that interests you
and helps make life as you know it become a little less complex!

Photo by: D. Sharon Pruitt

No Time

Please read this.
Thankfully I have wonderful, flexible friends
who value the time that we do get to spend together.
Yay for good, sweet friends!

Photo by: chiaralily

Window Wonderfulness

I would like to make one of these for our kitchen:

Photo courtesy of: Apartment Therapy

I saw this idea on one of my favorite blogs.
I know, I know.
I have to finish my paint project first.

Isn't it adorable, though?

Paint Project

I'm excited about painting this...

...for our dining room.

Here's to hoping for good art!

Mommy Things

It may sound trite, but I am at a point in my life where I'm trying to keep things simple. I could go on and on and on about that - but we can talk about that later.

I love reading all sorts of blogs - but,
that's another post for another time as well.
I enjoy reading other people's thoughts on motherhood. Simple Mom in particular is great for my new desire for simplicity.

Speaking of Simple Mom, she's having a great giveaway of Jamie Martin's new book Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.

To all my mommy friends: stop by her blog to enter the giveaway.
I did!

Photo by: D Sharon Pruitt

Our Men

Have the men in your life read their letter from Satan yet?
Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Men✫
Make sure your husband, your brother, your son, and your father
get a chance to read it!

Photo by: Charlie Harvey
✫Thanks to Rob & Bill for sharing this post!

Let's Make Soap

Homemade laundry detergent!
You know you're a domesticated mother of three when you're excited about making soap.

I am not ashamed.

Thanks to my efficient friend (Thank You, Becky!), here is a wonderful recipe that you should try - sooner rather than later.

Laundry Soap ... Under $1.00

water
bar of Fels Naptha
3/4 cup 20 Mule Team borax
3/4 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
essential oils (optional)
4 quart pot
spoon
container for homemade soap

Grate a bar of Fels Naptha, put in a pot on the stove,
and add 6 cups of water.
Let water get warm enough to melt all of the soap.
Pour 4 cups hot/warm water into the container
that will hold your homemade goodness.
Add borax and washing soda to the pot on the stove.
Stir until completely dissolved.
Add essential oils (optional).
Pour the soap mixture into your container of hot/warm water.
Add 1 1/2 gallons of water to your
container of homemade awesomeness.
Stir.
Put the top on your container, and get all excited because YOU just made your very own laundry soap!

"How about them apples?"
Guess which movie that line is from.
Do you own it?
I would like to borrow it and watch it.
Thanks.

Happy Soap Making!

Side Note:
The recipe above almost filled a 15qt container.
That almost makes me excited to do laundry.
Almost.
I still have plenty of borax and washing soda to make more. I'll just have to pick up a bar of Fels Naptha before
my next soap making adventure.

Photo by: Erich Ferdinand

Simplifying

The clutter is driving me mad. I'm on a mission to get rid of things our family doesn't need or love. I guess I'll keep the girls, but we definitely have way too many toys, clothes, shoes - I could go on and on and on.

Just look at this example of organization. It makes me smile.

Last night I got rid of 398,328 towels/sheets and 12,361,235 stuffed animals. It felt good.
The girls actually had a good time purging - imagine that.

My advice for today - get rid of some stuff. Get rid of a lot of stuff. It'll make you happy - promise.

Let's Go to Home Depot

Bill has painted our living room three times. In fact, he's painted each room in our house except for our bathroom and bedroom. Those are next on my list. However, this adorable couple puts all my repainting/redecorating/renovating desires to shame. They make me want to go to Home Depot and buy stuff - right now.

photo source
What do you think? Do you want to go to Home Depot with me? Or would you like to go to Lowe's? I'm not picky.