A week of deep cleaning!

Today I we cleaned and cleaned some more and still have quite a list to cover. I pray alot when I clean and today was no exception. Sometimes I complain too! ;) I really cannot believe how much dirt and grime can build up! My kitchen is the one place where I try to keep exceptionally clean. So I thought! Until today! My children are all assigned specific jobs in the kitchen and deep cleaning, I guess is one I have left out. Today my 10 year old and myself tackled that! Now it is too clean to cook in! ;) Anyway, as I have been thinking constantly about my list of things I want to accomplish this week, (our school is titled, "The Ups and Downs of Cleaning") Meaning we get our house clean from the ceiling to the floors! That is one of the benefits of homeschooling right? Being creative and being able to do what needs to get done! AS my list keeps growing, I can lose sight of why it is so important to teach my children to keep a clean house. (Not obsessively, just orderly and neat.) It is about working together and realizing we are all in this together. I had to have a moment to change some attitudes at first and it really frustrated me. I wanted them to be excited with their work clothes on begging me to show them what needs to be done next with anticipation in their eyes! Yeah, right! Them, not so much, at first! As the last 2 days have continued, things have changed. They have done a good job and end up laughing about something as they are buried in cleaning. We have actually begun to enjoy the week and look forward to our list tomorrow.

As I have been praying, I have been thinking of my relationship with God and how I like to do all the fun things that come with being a child of God, but watch out when the "yuck" stuff appears! The cleaning out of my heart. The stuff I have let build up and just decided it was not a problem until the conviction comes in full force! I have to then have a little attitude adjustment from Him. Some time alone with the Word of God and prayer deep cleans my heart and unlike my kitchen, where I feel it is too clean to want to use it, this cleansing of my heart encourages me to want to be used for Him! I can then laugh and enjoy His presence again. How fun! Amazing how God speaks to us when we are doing everyday things and we decide to take the time to listen! I guess, now I need to go make dinner in my clean kitchen! ;)

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Okay guys, you want honesty, here it is! Enjoy taking part in my agony of the happenings of the week!

It is not me who had to send my 5 year old outside with a paper towel and bag because he decided to take a dump under our screened in porch! I know we have indoor plumbing and he surely has figured that out!

Two days later it was not my same child that urinated on our screened in porch because his brother told him too.

I did not witness my 14 month old bringing the inside bucket of my potty training sons potty chair up to his mouth like it was a big cup! (I will not even say what was in it. Let your imagination run wild!)

It is not me who just admitted that really gross information. I am too modest for that! Others would then think I don't know what I am doing raising all these boys!

It is not me who DOES wonder how to raise boys! I would surely not expect them to mark their territory! I would not look at them as barbaric! They came from MY womb.

It is not me who had to completely take my 3 and 4 year olds hair (on MOTHER'S DAY)to the scalp because they decided to take a pair of scissors and cut "polka dots" into each others hair.

It is not me who is still alive and as of now, has no heart condition after all the things that have happened to me this week in my life with boys!

No, I still cannot believe I admitted all this stuff! I would never let ANYONE know how disgusting my beauiful cherubs really are!

No, surely my mother will not read this posting! She had only me to clean up after! I NEVER bathed 2 times a day and it is not me who would not wear clothes more than 8 hours on my body because anything longer would mean they would have too many dead skin cells on them! (I DO NOT have a germ phobia!)

Yes, I did clean everything up and use Lysol, mom! :)

God's promise

Here is another unexpected foto for my Foto Friday! We had a storm move through this evening and this was the beautiful remnant over our home. It is a reminder of God's awesomeness! Enjoy! He painted this for you!

 

Works for Me Wednesday

Today is "Works for Me Wednesday". I have a very inexpensive way to remove wallpaper. Get a spray bottle and add about 1/4 cup water to about 2 Cups of fabric softner. Mix well. Spray on the wallpaper you would like to remove and let sit for a few minutes and simple begin pulling away old wallpaer. It's that simple! I used Downy, I am not sure about the generic brands. They are pretty watery to begin with so if you choose to try the off brands, I would not add water. It not only works on regular walls, but it also removed old wallpaper from tile with ease. It leaves the room smelling good too!:) I would make sure you have a drop cloth down if working around carpet. Unless you get fabric softner on the bare wall, there is no need to clean walls except for what you would normally do anyway since the fabric softner sticks to the old wallpaper and not to the wall. Have fun!

"Not Me Monday"

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


Here is my contribution for "Not Me Monday"

I do not have 7 boys! Surely God knows I could NEVER handle that many bodies full of testosterone under MY roof!

It was not me who witnessed everyone fleeing from the park when we showed up in our 15 passenger van because people thought it was the "Shock and Awe" of '09 in our town. I would never have caused others to run for their lives just because MY family was invading! And if that were true, I would never have stayed in my van for a few extra minutes to hideout making sure no-one could see it was ME who was in charge of the WHOLE clan!

It is not me who does not like animals that has 3 hamsters, 10 rabbits, 2 guinea pigs, 1 cat, and a dog residing in our home! I could not handle the mess!

It is not me who just witnessed my 15 month old son putting a dirty wipe in his mouth that feel out of a dirty diaper on the way to the trash! I would have seen that drop! Then I would be inclined to call the poison control center to make sure he would be okay! (After I fainted!)

I did not take my 15 year old son to get his driving permit! I AM NOT old enough to have a child driving! That would mean in the next half of his life, I would be old enough to be a grandma! Nope, not me!

It is not me who let my 10 year old keep 2 caterpillars in her room ALL winter long in a plastic box wtih dirt while they "hibernated". Then I would go to bed every night wondering if they had escaped!

I know I did not find my 8 year old sneaking a fruit snack and handful of crackers to bed one night and he DID not hide the crackers under his pillow! Then there would be crushed crackers all over that would fall down to his brothers bed because they share a bunk bed! And I did not find the cracker crumbs and a fruit snack in his brothers hair in the morning ground into his scalp and stuck to his hair. My dear sweet boy, would not go behind by back like that!

And SURELY I am not pregnant with my 11th child! I am sure God knows that is too big of a responsibility for me! And if that were true, thank goodness He knows that for me that is too big of a responsibility but with Him, all things are possible!

Women of Faith

I spent this weekend with my mom and oldest daughter at a WONDERFUL women's conference called Women of Faith . I have been going each year for the past 11 years and this year was just as incredible as it always is. Some years I have gone, I have had definite issues I have been dealing with and knew God was going to reveal things to me. Other years, I went thinking I had it all together only to find out that there were issues He wanted to bring to the surface. I have learned that there are ALWAYS things I need to have brought into light, it is just at times, I am to preoccupied to really closely listen. Not real cool, huh?! Well, this year, was one of those years I thought I was going to go to listen to God's word and enjoy just being with Him. Which I did! BUT that was not all God had in store for me! We worshipped with Steven Curtis Chapman Friday night and He told of the pain and heartache him and his family has been through this past year after losing there 5 year old daughter. He said he has never understood the sovereignty of God more and never questioned it more. He was so humble. He also sang a song that God used to stir my heart. It is called Heartbeat. First God used it to reassure me of the value of being a mother, hope you enjoy it also. Then He used Sheila Walsh to show me some other things He wanted to remove the veil from my heart and help me overcome. I can't really share quite yet what that consists of because He is still working on me, but I will be sure to share when I am ready and have more answers. I will give a hint, it is about letting go and letting God! Something I struggle with. So through the tears and the laughter, God renewed my spirit and gave me the desire to once again begin another time of cleansing. I strongly advise any woman that has a chance to attend one of these conferences, to take a weekend and DO IT! It is a great time to come together with other women believers and soak in the love of Jesus! I am including a picture of me with Lisa Welchel (formally Blair on the 80's show "Facts of Life". It is a terrible pregnancy picture of me but oh well, I decided to eat my pride! ;) Have a beautiful Christ-filled day and remember, God is never finished with us until we see Him face to face!

 

Happy Anniversary

 

Today, I celebrate the best 16 years of my life! Thank you my dear, sweet, husband for your uncontional love and being such a great father to all of our beautiful arrows! I LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Can't wait to see what God has in store for us next!

"Works For Me Wednesday"

This is my idea for "Works for me Wednesday"
I have 10 soon to be 11 children so inevitably thoughtout the day, kids will leave little things of theirs laying around. So in order to eliminate my nagging constantly to them, I use an inexpensive shelf from Wal-mart and they each have a labeled basket with their name on it. If I notice something laying around that they have forgotten to put away, I simply place it in their assigned basket and we have a pick up time before evening bible time that they must put the contents of their baskets away. 2 things to remember when using this system, make sure they are picking up the majority of their things immediately after they are done, and make sure the basket is not to big! Otherwise it becomes a lazy persons catchall! ;)

This is really useful in teaching little ones the job of tidiness and putting things away at the end of the day. It also keeps little things from gathering all over the house when there is a place to put them.

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