Day Three: Making Your Home a Haven - CARED FOR

First, a little of Lauren's accomplishments for the day:

If you have a toddler/preschooler, I highly recommend the Priddy books! The writing wipes off so they can be used over and over again for tracing letters, numbers, shapes, etc! Lauren LOVES to do them, and the really good news is that the ink washes out of clothes! Guess how I know that?!? ;o)

Here's the princess in action:

Check out that tongue!!! I am still cracking up! She did the whole book this morning after breakfast, but was particularly proud of the letter L page, "Mommy, look! L! L is for LAUREN!"

Love that!

On to creating a haven from the havoc of my home! The assignment for today was to think of tasks you had been putting off doing around the house. Since I am a master procrastinator this would have made for a looooong list - so, I chose a few and am feeling pretty good for finally getting these things done! It definitely lightens your spirit and makes the house a more cheerful place to be! Things I have done today include:

1. Mend a ripped pair of pants Justin has been asking me to sew for... well, let's just say I think we still lived in our HOUSE.


2. Get dinner in the crock pot to free me up this evening. I have found this sort of planning is instrumental in my attitude for the night! Why is it children decide to MELT DOWN every night while I cook dinner? Then poor Justin gets to work all day only to arrive home to two crying children and an agitated wife. He is so great about it though (love you, honey!).


3. Remove, wash, dry, and replace the bedding for all three beds.


4. Organize all the cool-weather clothes that were unpacked and piled in the master closet. Yes, piles are my M.O. - I admit it.


5. Clear off clutter from the top of our dresser. Seriously, I haven't been able to see the top of the thing since we moved in! Again, the piles...


6. Sweep back porch and put away all outdoor toys. Besides Daisy, Lauren is the only one who uses our backyard (the girl LOVES rocks and bugs - which is pretty much all that is out there!), so it gets very neglected.

There are still several hours to go before Justin gets home and I am hoping to get some extra cleaning done that didn't get accomplished yesterday. I am really just praying that this will truly change my outlook on keeping up my home and I will be able to stay on top of it more than in the past. God is changing my heart about how I am spending my time - so my goal is to wean myself off the old ways and on to the new, making sure to leave a little "me-time" in the schedule as well. I am a firm believer that we can only give our best to our kids and our spouse if we still take care of us - remaining who we really are outside of mom and wife!

Happy haven-izing, everyone!