Moving....

Today, I'm sitting here typing in this little box because I made a commitment to blog daily for a full month. But I can't think of much to say...at all! I really like my new dishsoap dispenser? Is that really blogging fodder? An unused oil bottle and spout-looks pretty darn cool with it's orange soap on the new shiny sink by the snazo new faucet. But does sharing about my new use for an old bottle and making up words like "snazo" constitute a blog entry?

Hmmm, but that does give me an idea. Is anybody interested in how we're revamping things and making do in our new kitchen?

Let's see, we took an old hutch that was rather ugly from our current kitchen, painted it a "Cherry Coke" red and hung it on the wall over the existing miniature sink in the new kitchen. Miniature sink meaning about the size of the sinks you find in small travel trailers....itty bitty-but instead of changing out the entire sink and cabinet we decided to make do and installed a snazo new faucet-meaning it's shiny, pretty and the faucet is it's own removable handheld spray nozzle.

Said sink and cabinet have the strangest back to them and actually have a raised area above them, but no counter or anything on it. So we wanted to put a raised backsplash/shelf the entire length of the cabinet/counter area. But what to use? It's only 8 inches deep, custom counter 8 feet x 8 inches? I can only imagine the cost! Wandering the aisles at Lowes I come upon PVC "boards" for making trim work for outside your house. PERFECT! Thirty bucks and we have a sleek, water proof mini-counter that I know won't absorb any splashes or germs.

The island for our new kitchen is actually a base/counter in our current kitchen that we'll be placing a new countertop on and some snazzy white beadboard on the back to freshen it up. Wah-la, storage, place to prep food, and eat. Perfecto!

It has certainly been fun wandering aimlessly through stores looking for ideas, spending alot of my spare time flipping through magazines and my design and decor books for ideas and inspiration. My poor husband is truly tired of hearing my newest, "I was thinking!" or "Look what I found as an idea!" But I'm sure he'll enjoy our new space when it all comes together and I can cook him a proper breakfast (I think he's tired of cereal and eating on the go as well). I really never thought I'd be this excited about setting up a kitchen...maybe I need to get out more? ;)

Boys will be boys....

I shouldn't be, but I am always amazed and ammused by our two little people and the way their wee minds work and how they perceive things and learn through everything around them.

My 4 year old is getting very efficient in dressing himself from top to bottom but will occasionaly struggle if his clothes are "inside out" and is quite happy when we help him to get his clothes "inside in" for him. His younger sibling recently bent over and stood on his head in the kitchen to peer at me from between his knees and said, "Mama, I see you and kitty and I'm upside down!" As he stood up he continued, "Now I'm upside up!".

Today we were discussing the coming of a new cousin in late fall and that two different aunties have babies in their bellies. My eldest responded, "And you too mommy, you're a girl too. So you have a baby in your belly too!" Oh dear, I assured him that no, Mama does not have a baby in her belly. "Oh, Ma-Maw (Gramma) doesn't have a baby in her belly either because she is a Ma-Maw."

The eldest, more so than the younger, has a pretty particular nature about him. I think he has a bit of his Great-Grammie's orderly genes in him. There has been some digging and repiping by the water company across the street from us and each night he looks out our windows and exclaims, "Mama! Look at the mess! We need to go clean that up!" I can't complain too much, he's a wonderful picker upper and LOVES helping his mama clean up. Just recently as I was dusting, wiping, and cleaning he grabbed a wipe (baby wipes work great for lil' helpers) and took himself all over the house wiping down whatever he felt needed it while saying in his cute lil' singsong voice, "We're going to make this place shine!"

Our youngest loves to win whenever possible and with an older sibling around he doesn't get to do that too often. We live on the second floor so each return home is a "race" (a slow and steady race) up the stairs, usually with the 4 year old reaching the top and turning to say, "I won!" as he looks down on the rest of us. His younger brother used to pout and fuss because he wanted to win, and we assured him that he was a winner and to keep going. He now loves to get to the top before us and will exclaim, "Brother win me and I win you!" Their grasp of the english language is SO adorable!

And my favorite of the recent "conversations": The four year old of course has begun asking the seemingly constant and endless "why" and "what" questions. "Mama, what is the sun?", he asked at bedtime recently. "Well," I explained, "it is the great big star in the sky that shines during the day and makes it really hot here on earth." "Oh, what is earth?" he questioned. "It's where we live, planet earth." I stuttered to explain. "But where is earth?" he asked again. I answered, "Well earth is the planet we live on and is in outer space with the other planets and the sun." His eyes light up and he says, "We live in outer space!" I start to re-explain, "Well, no honey, we live here on earth, not in outer space." He looks at me matter of factly and says, "Earth is in outer space. I live on earth....in outer space." How can a mom argue with such logic!?

Itty Bitty Kitchen

I was pretty sure I had a small (9' x 12') kitchen (with large dining room) where we live now. But now I'm working to contain my kitchen in a 7' x 10' space, with no dining room to speak of....hmmmm?

But we're doing it. If you set your mind to it, you can do it. And in the process you can have FUN! :-D I've been setting my mind to alot of things lately and WOW, it's quite amazing what a great plan and positive mindset can do for taking on, setting and achieving goals!

I've been reading "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill through this year along with watching and listening to various other motivational speakers like Zig Ziglar and Michael Clouse. It is amazing the difference taking the time daily to immerse myself in some personal growth reading/listening/watching. It is also sadly amazing the stagnation that occures when I don't keep on task and focused.

It also is not surprising that this "immersion" can be easily spread to other aspects of my life. If I am not taking the time daily on tasks, information, and thoughts that center around my family and their well being, I can easily see the lack in our relationships and our attitudes towards each other. If I don't take my daily GOD time I see my relationship suffer which greatly effects ALL other aspects of my life.

There are so many things that are always jostling and demanding for our time, but it basically comes back to putting our minds to something and doing what we want/need to do! How on earth am I going to function in a 7' x 10' kitchen with no dining room? With a little ingenuity and fun-that's how. How am I going to find hours a day to focus on the things that ground me and grow me? With a little ingenuity and fun-that's how!

Sometime this week I'll start posting pictures of the before and after as we head into the new place. Exciting times! :-D

Peace, Calm and Serenity

Heard an awesome message this morning from a rather wise man. It is wonderfully ironic how timely of a message it was as well. My husband and I have been thinking, praying, talking, discussing, and praying again and again, about changes in our family, our lives, our business, our lifestyles, our whole shabang. We have slowly been filtering things out that are really unnecessary, some things that are harmful in the long run, and looking at our lives from a different angle. It's been very enlightening to say the least.

So today, our wonderful pastor talks about "Spiritual Ballast" using an illustration of a sailboat and it's keel and ballast. See, I KNEW water and boats were straight from GOD! :D A sailboat must have a keel and ballast in order to be righted if tipped. Idealy, supposedly, and according to our avid boater pastor, a correctly ballasted sailboat can be completely tipped upside down in the water and will right itself. Quite amazing when you think of all the mast and sail that would be underwater!

Apply that to a personal, human mindset-I want ballast in my life! I need, want, must have that ballast that runs under the surface; very seldom seen, not flashy or high tech, a simple utilitarian stableizer to keep me rightable when everything around is stormy and choppy.

It's not the fancy schmancy things in life that keep us righted. It's not the showy, technilogical things that can return us to our feet. It's not even "right people" who can set us on track. It's the things we keep ourselves centered on, our faith in GOD, the positive habits we set ourselves on. It's the things under the surface that keep us righted and on track.

The highest advanced sailboat with all the latest and greatest technilogical hoopla, high end bits, and best of everything available on board can't withstand a storm without having a proper keel and ballast. Just some food for thought I.....thought I'd share. :D

On a side note: This 'blogging daily challenge' is a little more, ummmm, well, challenging than I originally thought it might be. But I shall keep on a' blogging, 27 more days, and I complete my challenge with flying colors and have a new habit to call my own!

Day two blogging challange...

Here's hoping my blog doesn't fold up and implode or explode as I am actually posting two days in a row! Again, my goal is to blog daily for an entire month in an effort to get into the habit of regular blogging.

Today's post is all about moving. Seems like it's been in the works FORever, but in reality it's been less than a month. In one month we have moved A LOT of stuff out of my parents home and started moving them into their place. We've moved a decent amount out of our home (with quite a bit more to do), done a ton of brainstorming and creative musings. It's actually been a fun experience playing with all the ideas and possibilites as we get set to move into our new place and get settled.

It's going to be an experience living so close (practically on top of) so much family in a "relatively" small space, but I really think it's going to be a fun experience.....most of the time. Monday should start some real down and dirty "moving" and working in the new kitchen. Pictures will follow. :-D

Oil, Life, and Generalities...

All this talk about oil and the catastrophe in the Gulf has everybody thinking about ways to slow down, cut back, detach ourselves from the use of oil and petroleum products. Laying in bed last night I had this amazing revelation/reminder pass through my tired mind. All the products in my small home business are Petroleum Free! No oil, no petroleum by-products, the products in my small business are not contributing to the "oil issue".

That felt really great to realize. But what else can we do? As awesome as it sounds to 100% detach ourselves from oil and the whole business is it really possible at the drop of the hat. Practically and in all reality, no, but being responsible can truly make a huge difference. There's the age old concept of walking places-not doable for every person and every destination, but taking the chance of sounding cliche', every little bit really does help. My husband has been wanting a flat panel TV for a couple years. He started saving his change from every transaction, grocery store, hardware store, etc... Anytime he receives any change it goes in his pocket (you won't find him in front of you at the store sorting through his change to give the cashier exact change).

The concept elluded me, I thought it was a pretty silly idea. How on earth was he going to get a flat panel television with a quarter here and a few pennies there? It was going to take FOREVER. (You can see my notable lack of patience trait here). In a week or two we will be moving into a new home and once we are settled my dear hubby will be heading out to buy his new flat panel tv. No scrimping and saving. No huge investments, just a little bit here and there, going a long way in the end. Now that the concept no longer elludes me, how can I apply that to my lifestyle surrounding my energy usage and responsibility?

I know my personality and lifestyle won't be making any huge drastic changes like "going off grid" (though reading the stories of people who have is very exciting and motivating). But I can still take some of those same ideals and practices and apply them to my current habits and routines. A million little changes soon add up to a flat panel tv.....or a large change in responsible energy usage/earth care.

What small ways are you making a difference in your part of the world

Potty Training, Soap, and Trains

One small boy with NO interest in leaving diaperhood behind, who hates soap, and LOVES Thomas The Train. How on earth would I ever get him interested in potty training and going to the bathroom IN the bathroom EVERY time? Thanks to my friend Judy W., I am in the process of reading, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Hill is quite the amazing writer with a lot of great information and encouraging biographies.

Well, dear Mr. Hill began writing about our minds accepting anything we tell it over and over so I decided to take his advice and apply it not only to my fledgling business but also to my son's slow attempts to potty train. We began telling him over and over that he COULD put all his pee pees in the potty all the time. Thankfully Mama didn't give up after a day of mishaps and now three days into determined potty training we are getting somewhere!

Now soap....getting my son to wash his hands thoroughly is quite impossible. We have the most wonderful foaming hand wash at our sinks, but alas, he would pump it onto his hands and then directly into the faucet flow and rinse them off and considered himself "washed" and ready for his "go potty in the potty, have dry pants, and wash my hands!" reward (imagine that in the sing song voice of a toddler :) ). For some reason I decided to have him check out my Bella Bar (not your typical bar of soap) on day two of training and wahla! we have a winner. This boy will suds himself to the elbows if I let him, he even cleans the sink while he's at it, "Come back here you silly slippery soap! I'll get you slippery soap!"

It's definitely been an interesting few days of a potty training journey, but it's very encouraging as he is getting prouder and prouder of himself.....I don't have a thing to do with how proud he feels. :P So, hanging on a hook in our wee bathroom is a new Gordan Train Engine for the day he gets it 100% right all day. He was SO close today and I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow IS the day!

So, who would have thought a wee train, some extreme encouragement, and great soap would be the key to potty training success! :-D