Making Your Home Sing: Celebrate Him!

Welcome to the Making Your Home Sing Monday meme! Every day you are doing something to make your house into a home for yourself and your family (if you have one). My point with each Monday post is, what are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing?

It can be an attitude or an action. Motivation, our attitude, baking, encouraging our husband or children (if we have either one), organization, cleaning, saving money....the opportunities are endless.

Having a holiday this week totally got my days all mixed up. It just basically dawned on me that it is time to get this meme up! Everything went so fast and I am still in a pumpkin pie induced coma.

We got most of the Christmas decorations up on Friday, and the tree up and decorated by Saturday, but by then it sort of looked like Christmas threw up all over my house.

You know what I mean. You are making the transition between your everyday decorations and your seasonal decorations, and everything is everywhere.

Friday afternoon I dropped my son off at the mall and apparently everybody and their brother were supposed to meet there. Only I didn't get the memo.

As you can imagine getting out of there was tricky. There are no stop lights in the parking lot at the mall. It's every man, woman and crazed shopper for themselves.

Once you get out towards the street there are stoplights, of course. But dare to drive into the mall and your life is no longer your own. You are at the mercy of The Christmas Shopper.

You know who he or she is. Maybe you've been her. She knows that everlasting happiness (and a 75% discount) is inside that mall, waiting for her.

She rushes through the stores, ignoring the music and bumping into the other shoppers. She frowns at them. They have some nerve. Don't they know she's busy and in a hurry?

She and her 50,000 siblings come to the mall and get in my way. Because it's all about me. And a parking space.

Please, let there be a parking space within walking distance is my prayer the minute I drive into the mall. Because of course it is raining (or snowing) and I don't want my hair to get wet (or frozen).

This time, fortunately, I didn't have to go in. But it was still scary just driving alongside The Christmas Shopper and all her little friends.

Plus, I know that soon I might be The Christmas Shopper. Desperate to get that one last gift. That one last deal. Moving so fast that I don't get the chance to truly enjoy the season.

This week, don't be The Christmas Shopper. Don't get so caught up in the hype that you forget to stop and enjoy why we really celebrate this holiday. Don't rush through this Christmas. Stop and enjoy it.

Smile at someone at the post office. Let someone go ahead of you in the grocery store. Don't lose your head because someone beat you to the "best" parking spot.

Don't stress. Enjoy your loved ones, make some cookies and freeze them, start a new Christmas tradition. Remember the Reason for the Season! It's when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ! This week I am going to make my home sing by celebrating Him!

If you want to use your blog header or profile picture, use the "from the web" button on your right (after you click to link up). If you want to use a picture from your computer use the button on your left (unless the picture is on your blog). Please let me know if you have any problems with linking up.

What are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing? Please go here for instructions and/or ideas and come back here to link up to join us today! Please do not put your own "Making Your Home Sing Monday" Linky on your blog. As always, please don't forget to link to this post. Also, please don't forgot to leave me a comment!

Frosty The Snowpoodle

So, I never thought I'd be one of those people that puts clothes on their dogs.........

Never say never.

Anyway, I bought a little purple parka for my toy poodle. Much to the chagrin of my husband, children, and pretty much the entire western hemisphere.

Since it snowed I've been putting on her "winter coat" so that she could have a little added warmth when she goes outside to do her thing. Otherwise she comes in looking like Frosty the Snowpoodle, or maybe the abominable snowman.........or maybe snowpoodle.

Besides, you all know she needs to be stylish when taking care of business. Other dogs can be so mean and judgmental. Especially if you're a purebred poodle, not to mention a Toy. They're just jealous.

Last night she came into the house without her coat. Apparently she never got the memo that we don't take our coats off when we're outside playing.

I was like "Oh no, tell me you DID not just lose your coat. Do you know how much I paid for that?" and she was all like "Whatever. It's not like I asked you to buy it for me." She rolls her eyes at me and I was like "Don't you look at me in that tone of voice, Missy" and she was all like "Whatev." It was our first big fight.

I convinced myself that I had to go out and get it because I didn't want to leave it outside all night. Did I mention it was almost midnight?

I put my boots on and wondered why they felt so uncomfortable, until I realized that they were on the wrong feet. I seriously debated on whether or not I should just leave 'em that way so that I could get it over with sooner. I pulled my coat over my jammies and out I went into the cold, snowy world.

We have a big yard, and as I was tromping around trying to find the coat, I questioned the wisdom of not bringing a flashlight with me. But everyone knows how ridiculous it is to bring a flashlight when it's dark outside.

Did I mention it was almost midnight? Did I also mention that if I hadn't put a coat on my dog I wouldn't have had to do all that in the first place? Next time she can just go find her coat herself.

Making Your Home Sing: Surprise Them!

Welcome to the Making Your Home Sing Monday meme! Every day you are doing something to make your house into a home for yourself and your family (if you have one). My point with each Monday post is, what are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing?

It can be an attitude or an action. Motivation, our attitude, baking, encouraging our husband or children (if we have either one), organization, cleaning, saving money....the opportunities are endless.

Right now it is snowing outside. I love the snow, as long as I don't have to drive in it. I love the beauty of it. I love walking outside with the night sky illuminated by falling snowflakes.

When the kids were younger we would put them to bed at their regular bedtime. If the snow continued to fall and blanket the ground we would decide to "make a memory."

So we'd wake them back up at 10:00 p.m., 11:00 or sometimes even midnight. We'd all bundle up and go outside and take a walk in the snow. Sometimes we'd be joined by other parents and their squealing children.

I have to admit that my kids woke up real easy and weren't the type to be extremely crabby or overly tired the next day. Plus, we homeschool so we could adjust our "start" time if we wanted to, although we didn't always.

During the summer time we'd put them to bed and then "wake" them up a little bit later to go out for ice cream. In this case, they weren't in bed for very long so they usually weren't asleep.

Sometimes it's just fun to put them to bed and then surprise them with a popcorn and movie night, or a surprise game night, or maybe just surprise them with ice cream from the freezer.

One morning the kids woke up and walked downstairs only to find a gigantic "spider" web. Their dad and I had strung string all over the place (be careful not to wrap it around breakables though). The kids loved it. Another thing we did was we surprised them with a "picnic" on the floor of the living room. Another time it was "camping" outside in the backyard.

One day we did a treasure hunt and left clues all over the place for the kids to find and follow. At the end of the hunt was a small treat. Another time we built a big fort with blankets and furniture and surprised the kids. Another time we put on some Disney songs and grabbed the kids and just danced around and laughed.

Are you putting fun into your family life? Are there little surprises that you can do? It could be something as easy as putting a special plate at the dinner table and saying "Tonight, we're all going to tell so-and-so what we appreciate about them." The next time it would be someone else's turn.

You don't have to make it just for the kids either. I used to surprise my hubby with little notes in his car or his sack lunch, or I'd buy a special little treat that I knew he'd enjoy, etc.

If you're not doing it already, pick something fun and silly to surprise your family with this week and make your home sing! You don't have to make it a big production. Just pick something small and surprise your kids with it! You'll be surprised how much you will enjoy it too.

If you want to use your blog header or profile picture, use the "from the web" button on your right (after you click to link up). If you want to use a picture from your computer use the button on your left (unless the picture is on your blog). Please let me know if you have any problems with linking up.

What are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing? Please go here for instructions and/or ideas and come back here to link up to join us today! Please do not put your own "Making Your Home Sing Monday" Linky on your blog. As always, please don't forget to link to this post. Also, please don't forgot to leave me a comment!

Who, Me?

Today my 17 year old son and I were all alone in the house. Well, except for the dogs, of course. But you might as well be alone when they're here because they are lousy conversationalists. Besides, who wants to talk with someone whose idea of a good time is rolling in something that even the cat wouldn't touch.

Anyway, my husband called on the phone while my son was making the first of 47,950 trips to take the recyling out.

So when my son came in I said "Your dad wants you to call him."

"Me?" he answered.

Duh.

I guess that whole "Who, me? or "do-you-mean-me-or-my-sibling?" syndrome is alive and well. Even if your other sibling is off at college. In another state. Even if you are the only person in the room whose father is alive and well and living on planet earth. Even if the only other ones I could possibly mean were the dogs, and they aren't on speaking terms with their parents.

Seriously, yes, I mean YOU. I am not talking to myself, although I have been known to do that.

You are the only other person here in this room that I am talking to. For that matter, you are the only other person in the entire house that I could be talking to.

Dude.

Yeah, I'm talking to YOU!

How Do I Love Thee, Costco? Let Me Count The Ways!

Yesterday I found my particular favorite kind of socks at the local warehouse store and it was a very emotional moment for me.

Let's all pause for a moment of silence to reflect a minute. Thank you.

O.k., moment over.

It's just that you know how it is at stores like Costco or Sam's Club. If you see it you gotta buy it, even if you don't want it, because it may be gone the next time you come.

Basically, you gotta be willing to commit. You can't just stand around and decide whether or not this particular brand of socks is right for you.

You can't go home and think about it and then come back and take 'em for a spin in your car. Too risky. They may have moved on to someone else and left you behind, crying in your shoes.

You can't take them out a couple of times and then decide whether or not you want to continue the relationship.

You have to decide right then and there whether or not you want to make the relationship permanent.

The pressure is enormous.

At Costco, every item you see has the potential for your future happiness or future pain. Every decision is fraught with tension.

Should I buy this now or wait? If I wait, will it be gone the next time I come? If I buy it, will I regret it for the rest of my life? If I don't buy it, will I regret it the rest of my life?

Every trip to Costco or Sam's Club has the ability to be a nail-biting experience. Every trip has the ability to make you or break you.

Just knowing that your peace of mind and future happiness is at stake is enough to make you consider going into therapy every time you darken those doors.

However, ever so often you have a moment, like I did yesterday when I saw those socks, and you know that you can't live without them.

Just knowing that there are moments like that make all the risk worthwhile. So I will continue to court Costco and Sam's Club until one of them breaks up with me.

My Friend, The Hair Whisperer

My friend, I like to call her "The Hair Whisperer," cut my hair recently.

For some reason, I will often go a long time between cuts.

I don't even notice how desperate I am getting, until my hair falls in my eyes and I can no longer see.

I was trying to blindly clean around some knicknacks, and as I knocked one over I decided that perhaps it would be a good time to get my bangs cut again.

After all, you can only rock the Cousin Itt thing for so long.

I wish the hair on my head grew as fast as the hair on my legs. Not that you needed to know that, but I am fully convinced that leg hair grows about 50 times faster than hair-hair. Do you know why that is?

Because hair knows when it's not wanted. Ask any poor girl who has been dying to grow her hair out after a bad cut. She will tell you that her hair is taking forever to grow on her head but that she's growing a nice mustache, thank you very much.

Making Your Home Sing: Fun Over Function

Welcome to the Making Your Home Sing Monday meme! Every day you are doing something to make your house into a home for yourself and your family (if you have one). My point with each Monday post is, what are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing?

It can be an attitude or an action. Motivation, our attitude, baking, encouraging our husband or children (if we have either one), organization, cleaning, saving money....the opportunities are endless.

I think I need a maid. Who's with me? Lately I just can't seem to find any great desire to clean my house. Oh, I still clean up the kitchen after meals, and I am still doing some picking up, but I have laundry waiting to be folded and I don't care. I have a bathroom that needs cleaning and I figure it's waited this long, it can wait a little longer. I haven't mopped my floors in two weeks and frankly, I am o.k. with that too.

Did I mention that I have people coming over for Thanksgiving? Unless I want to greet them with crunchy, sticky floors and messy tables it is GO time, people!

But still, I don't care. Today, I don't care. Tomorrow I will, but today I won't.

Sometimes we just have to pull back and let it go. Sometimes we just have to let the mess go and chill out. Of course, some of us chill out more than we should (lol!) and today, I will be one of them.

So here's to ignoring the mess that calls you and embracing freedom! Today I am going to enjoy time with my family, time (later) for myself, and ignore the laundry, the floors, and the bathrooms. And, if I'm really good, I will ignore the rest of the house too. Hmmmm, a gal could get used to this.......

So if you find yourself drowning in a sea of clutter and mess, and you are losing your sense of humor and your patience, perhaps you should take a few moments to remind yourself that you used to be a fun person.

The world won't end if you take a timeout from the housework and have some fun today, people! So take fifteen minutes, an hour, a couple of hours or all day and enjoy yourself with those you love.

Tomorrow I will make my home sing, today I will make ME sing by putting fun over function!

If you want to use your blog header or profile picture, use the "from the web" button on your right (after you click to link up). If you want to use a picture from your computer use the button on your left (unless the picture is on your blog). Please let me know if you have any problems with linking up.

What are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing? Please go here for instructions and/or ideas and come back here to link up to join us today! Please do not put your own "Making Your Home Sing Monday" Linky on your blog. As always, please don't forget to link to this post. Also, please don't forgot to leave me a comment!

But Officer, I Thought It Was MY Car!!!!

Have you ever left the house in a hurry to go to the store, and then once you got there you wondered why on earth you left the house looking like that? Yeah, me neither.

The other night I suddenly realized that I forgot to go pick up some medicine. My hubby was about to leave to go somewhere and I knew that the pharmacy would be closed by the time he got back, so I figured I'd just run out.

I assured hubby I'd be back in a few minutes and left dinner in the oven (with instructions for hubby) and ran out the door.

When I got into the store I happened to glance down and realized I was wearing a ratty old sweatshirt and some sweatpants that were too short (and too tight). Seriously, if they were loose do you think I would need to be exercising????

In my hurry I had forgotten to change out of my exercise clothes. I also realized that my hair was plastered all over my head and some of it was caught up in a pony-tail that even a pony would be ashamed of.

So I got in line (In line????? Don't these people know that I am in a hurry?), got my purchase and headed for the door. But before I got there one of those dern displays jumped right in my way and forced me to look at everything on it, thus distracting me.

At some point I remembered I was in a hurry and ran out to my car. Once in the parking lot I attempted to break into someone else's car. After several failed attempts at unlocking the door of "my" car, and lifting up the door handle several times, I eventually realized it wasn't my car. I want you to know that the people watching were just as surprised as I was.

On the way home I missed every light, which gave me the opportunity to make a frantic call home, and also gave hubby no choice but to consider taking the gas-guzzler instead of waiting for me if I didn't make it home in time.

I believe all this proves that if you leave the house wearing sweats, you should be prepared to sweat. I also believe this proves that I would never make it as a car thief.

Thank You!

The Homeschool Blog Awards are up and my blog has been nominated for "Best Homemaking Blog." Since I have no idea which one of you nominated me I wanted to say thank you, so I hope you'll see this! It was very sweet of you to think of me!

If You Read This And Get A Headache, I Apologize

Testing, testing......*clears throat*.....hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?..... Hey, cool, I have an echo on my blog.

I am procrastinating. Usually I spell procrastinating f-a-c-e-b-o-o-k.

But today, I spell it b-l-o-g-g-i-n-g.

Because I don't want to exercise. Oh, I need to exercise, I have to exercise, but I don't want to exercise.

How come exercising isn't as much fun as eating chocolate? I ask you, does that seem fair?

How come the good things for you aren't always as much fun as the bad things? I guess that's why they call them "bad" things. Not that chocolate is bad.

However, if I ate less chocolate maybe I could do less exercise. Sigh.

So today I am posting in the middle of the day (well, more like the early middle) and I'm thinking that I've missed all you morning people out there.

You've been up, checked your Reader or Dashboard for my post (because I know that you can't start your day without me, right? yeah, right.) and gone on with your busy lives.

And I'm thinking that all you night people are going to be too busy exercising to even go on the computer, so you won't read this post either.

So basically, I am just talking to myself and I am o.k. with it. I do it all the time.

And, since I'm talking to myself, I will tell myself that you need to get your behind off the computer and go exercise.

Then I will tell myself to go away. Or be quiet, because that is nicer. Then I will go and call my mom and tell her that I am picking on me.

However, I may be listening, so I think I need to be more discreet, so that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Making Your Home Sing: Instilling Values

Welcome to the Making Your Home Sing Monday meme! Every day you are doing something to make your house into a home for yourself and your family (if you have one). My point with each Monday post is, what are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing?

It can be an attitude or an action. Motivation, our attitude, baking, encouraging our husband or children (if we have either one), organization, cleaning, saving money....the opportunities are endless.

Have you ever considered the thought that you have to have a license to drive, a license to marry, a license to drink, but you don't have to have a parenting license?

Parenting is hard work. It's not for cowards.

Being a parent is an awesome responsibility. You are raising a child who will eventually grow up and become a responsible adult, making decisions, voting, running a business, having a family and raising little future adults of their own someday, etc.

How many of us will make a to-do list for the day, a goals list for the year, and yet make no goals for the raising of our children?

If you went to work every day and had an understanding of what needed to be done, but made no plan or effort to do it, how could you accomplish and meet your work goals?

How could you make phone calls, write up reports, or have a successful business if you didn't have a plan as to what type of direction you were going to go in? How could you even have a business if you didn't decide what type of business you were going to have?

And yet how often do we, as parents, blindly go day to day without having a firm direction for the raising of our children?

Have you ever sat down and wrote a list of the values you would like to instill in your children? Are you doing anything to instill those values now?

For example, if I want my child to learn a work ethic, am I giving him the opportunity to learn to work about the home by doing chores, or find ways to make money by doing chores for others? If I want him to learn how to serve, am I giving him opportunities to serve at home, in the neighborhood or at church?

If I want to teach him perseverance, am I there with encouragement when he wants to give up on homework, chores, or music lessons? If I want him to be respectful, am I ignoring disrespect or giving consequences for it? What do I want my children to know about Jesus? What am I teaching and modeling at home? Am I taking him to church so he can learn about Him there? Am I going with my child?

Am I modeling the values that I want my child to learn? Am I giving him opportunities to learn them?

Am I parenting intentionally and with purpose?

If you haven't done so already, you may want to consider making a list of values and beliefs that you have that you'd like to teach your children, and then prayerfully look for ways and opportunities to do that.

But remember the old saying about values being "better caught than taught." We can't just teach the values, we need to model them as well.

One way to make our homes sing is to have a song that needs to be sung. So this week, I encourage you to sit down and write out the lyrics for the song that you want to write on your children's hearts and lives and make some music!

If you want to use your blog header or profile picture, use the "from the web" button on your right (after you click to link up). If you want to use a picture from your computer use the button on your left (unless the picture is on your blog). Please let me know if you have any problems with linking up.

What are you doing or going to do today to make your home sing? Please go here for instructions and/or ideas and come back here to link up to join us today! Please do not put your own "Making Your Home Sing Monday" Linky on your blog. As always, please don't forget to link to this post. Also, please don't forgot to leave me a comment!

I Am Pretty Sure This Never Happened To Martha Washington

Today I am joining my friend Kim over at Homesteader's Heart for her Friday Funnies meme. Please pop over there for more fun!

There are some things that happen that make me wonder if I am "normal" and everybody goes through things like this, or if it's just me.

For example, a ringing telephone.

For some reason, I feel that I have to answer the phone by the third ring. Maybe even the first or the second ring if at all possible, but definitely by the third ring. It's kind of a personal code of honor.

To do anything less would be a tragedy of enormous proportions. And, after all, the phone police are everywhere.

So today I was changing into my workout sweats and I was just pulling on the bottoms when the telephone rang.

Now, at any given time there could be at least four to five people in this house. But I promise you, no one will answer the phone except me. And if they do answer the phone it will only be because I didn't and the ringing annoyed them, and they had to step over my unconscious body to get to the phone.

So, the phone began ringing while I was dressing. Because we all know that it is a universal rule that the phone only rings when you are in the bathroom or changing.

I already had my shirt on but I pulled on the sweatpants and ran out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to answer the phone. I feel that it is important, at this point, to interject the fact that there is a phone in our bedroom, too. Apparently, I haven't discovered it yet.

I bolted out of my bedroom because I knew that my seventeen year old son would not answer the phone because heaven knows it's not for him since he has a cell phone, and anybody who is anybody would not be calling him on the house phone.

So I'm hopping and running down the hall and I get my left foot caught in the bottom of the pants somehow. With every hop I am desperately pulling up the pants (which are inching dangerously downward) with one hand and trying to free my foot with the other hand. At the same time, my foot is pulling them back down again, as it is stepping on the hem every time I put my foot down to try to run.

Now I know why women wore dresses all the time back in the day. I'm pretty sure this never happened to Martha Washington.

Hop. Step. Run. Pull. Hop. Step. Run. Pull. I have never learned how to run without using both feet. I am sorry. Hopping I can do on one leg, but I find it easier to run using both feet.

So I am hopping and trying to keep everything on, because, you know, there are children in the house and I don't want to scar them for life.

I finally get to the phone, somewhat dressed, and I answer it breathing heavily.

I think that the caller on the other end had second thoughts because by the time I said "Hello" they had hung up.

I wonder what Martha Washington would have done?

Having An Identity Crisis

I think I'm having an identity crisis. My blog can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up.

I blame my blog, because it obviously has a mind of its own.

Some days it wants to whine about my hairstyle (or lack of one) and sometimes it wants to talk about marriage or wallpaper (because obviously, the two go hand in hand). Some days it gets real serious about something and the next thing you know we're talking about hairy legs again.

I do appreciate those of you who have stuck with me, and I have to ask: do you mind when I come on here and blog about absolutely nothing but what is going on in my warped little mind at that moment?

Because I can talk about the fact that I was in the laundry room today and stood on my tippy toes to reach a basket on the highest shelf, because I needed the swifter duster. I can also question the decision to put it on the highest shelf, but whatever, dude.......

I can also tell you that I knocked the basket off the shelf and all of its contents fell between the washer and the dryer. Of course they did, because not falling or falling anywhere else would have been too easy. Well, some of it fell into the garbage and it was realllllllly fun getting it out.

I can also let you know that I bent down and picked everything up and put it back in the basket. Then I bumped my head on the corner of the cupboard door that I left open. Because that's how I roll.

You'll also be happy to know that I managed to burn myself while cooking dinner.

I tried to get the dog to go outside, but I firmly believe that the dog thought she was letting ME outside. Because she did not go outside but instead waited until I went out first. I think there is some confusion as to who is in charge around here.

Oh and I went outside to wash the front porch windows and I locked myself out of the house. However, the windows looked lovely and I could see inside the house just fine, so I could see what I was missing. I blame the dog.

I guess what I'm saying is that I am struggling with what to write about on here. I appreciate all of you for sticking around and reading as long as you have, and I thank you for it! I just don't seem to know what I want to write about anymore, and yet I kind of hate the idea of giving up this blog altogether.

So I don't exactly know where my blog is going. As I said, I'm having an identify crisis!

Who Works On Their Tan In The Rain?

Today is my day to blog at the Five Mom's blog.

"Here's the problem: I don't like to wear a hat in the rain because it ruins my hairstyle. I don't like to wear a hood in the rain because it ruins my hairstyle. I don't like to wear my HAIR in the rain because it ruins my hairstyle. "Umbrellas are for cowards!" I cry as I run outside and totally throw caution (and my hair) to the winds.....and the rain.........."

So if you can totally relate (or even if you can't) feel free to join me over there today as I weigh the pros and cons of surgically attaching an umbrella to my hand.