Slowing Down

I should have realized this a long time ago and I would probably not have been so strung out. I couldn't figure out why when E (baby boy #3) came along, my whole world seemed to fall apart. Part of it could have been moving with 3 small boys (the youngest not even 3 months old) to a town that we were familiar with and I should have been happy. Not so much so. As the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months and then the months turned into years I felt my whole world was spiralling out of control. In March we will be in our current home 3 years, the longest we have been in any house since we were married 7 years ago, the longest M has been in a house in his 6 short years of life and it's all starting to click.



Why? I slowed down and smelled the coffee, the flowers, the books, whatever you wish to smell. I have been looking at everyday chores, as just that a chore, the past few weeks I've started to change my way of thinking. I started to take time for myself. I don't really have one organizational website, book, person that I follow. I have adapted several into what works for me. But I do believe that anything can be done in 15 minutes. I work for two 15 minute periods in an hour on household chores or duties, then I move on and work on a craft for 15 minutes and finally I stop and read for 15 minutes. My, the things that I have accomplished in the last few weeks. I have to set a timer, if I don't, then I don't take time for me and lose track of what I was working on.



I may not always get done everything on my To Do List, but I've stopped beating myself up, started my new list for the next day and if there are items that need to be completed from the day before, I don't rewrite them, I just complete the task later in the week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is upon us. Our plans for the day include dropping the kids off at Parent's Night Out and then heading home for a nice dinner. I chose a simple menu from MyRecipes. It's called Charm Him on the Cheap, it includes:


Cherry Tomato Toasts
Skirt Steak with Lemon and Chili Roasted Potatoes
Broccoli with Lemon Crumbs
Chocolate Sorbet
and maybe some brownies, I haven't decided on those yet.

And this is a little Valentine's Fun.

1. Flowers for my Wife on Valentine's Day, 2. bleeding tree, 3. The arrival of a rainstorm, 4. dawn passion, 5. Love and affection, 6. Romance Isn't Dead, 7. A little piece of Heaven......, 8. The Gates, 9. in the mood for spring, 10. The Abode of God at Dusk, 11. At 3000m just a bit closer to God?, 12. CROP CIRCLE MAKER - Matthew Williams

I chose words related to LOVE and put into flickr and then chose the pictures that I liked.

1. Valentine's Day
2. February 14
3. I Love You
4. Passion
5. Affection
6. Amour
7. Cherish
8. Respect
9. Lust
10. Devotion
11. Worship
12. Faith

I hope you enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

The girls' quilts

I just love how this quilt turned out. The first few pictures are of Lydia's quilt. I just love it. The pictures don't really show the true colors or how it looked after it was washed.

A little closer view.

The back is made from flannel, this one is butterflies.

And lastly, here is her patch. I used bleached muslin and traced a picture and wrote on it with permanent marker. It says, "Handmade for Lydia with Love by Aunt Wendy Christmas 2008".

And now, for Grace's. It's the same pattern as Lydia's and actually the same colors, but the colors were mixed differently. And her backing is flannel as well, just a different print.

You can learn how to make this Ragged Squares Quilt over here.

Menu Plan Monday - February 2nd

It's that time of week again. I'm happy to say that all of my menu planning seems to be paying off. We have been eating healthier meals, saving some money and getting to try new recipes. The boys are really enjoying getting to pick a new cookie for each week to take to work with us. And breakfast and lunch have become much easier as well. Although, most items are the same that we would normally have for breakfast at least I'm not running around in the morning trying to decide what they are going to have. I look at my calendar the night before and tell them before they go to bed what they will be having for breakfast the next morning.

Anyway, here is the list of meals we are having this week!

Monday - Chicken Fingers with Honey mustard and salad

Tuesday - Tex Mex Pepper Steak with Rice and tortillas

Wednesday - Spicy black bean stew with Rice and salad

Thursday - Sage & Balsamic pork chops with pumpkin polenta

Friday - Boosotto with salad

Saturday - Dinner out (perhaps pizza)

Sunday - Mexican pasta with Tomatilla sauce, bread and salad.

If you'd like to learn more about Menu Plan Mondays, visit Orgjunkie.com. To see a list of this weeks meals visit here.