Go Straight to the Source!

Lately I have been feeling a bit inadequate in the parenting department. I have been letting the kids get away with a lot as I am so tired these days, I have had a few people close to our family either discipline the kids in front of me or have given me "pointers" about what I SHOULD be doing. I felt completely defeated! Now let me stop here and say that I truly believe that I have the worlds most awesome children. They are fun to be around, the see beauty in the smallest things,and most importantly they are already developing a love for God and His word. Even so, they are only 3 and 4. If they don't get that constant training then they are going to slip up... it's only human. So there I sat in the middle of the kids room crying and praying as the kids drifted off to their nap, then God spoke right to my heart. It felt as if He was saying "Everybody has their own opinions and way of doing things, the only one you need to worry about is mine." I immediately hopped on the computer and search the words "what does the bible say about parenting?" There are endless resources to view, this is what I have found to help me begin the process of truly Godly parenting. As long as I do it his way, I can be confident in my parenting.

1) Teach our children to love God with all of their heart, soul and strength. Deuteronomy 6:5-9

2)Teach them respect and loving leadership through our actions towards Christ and your spouse. Ephesians 5:21-29

3) Raise them up in the way that they should go, according to God's word. Proverbs 22:6 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17

4) Involve them in church and surround them with fellow Christians. Hebrews 10:24-25

10 Fun Childhood Memories...

That I would love to share with my children.

Everybody realizes as they become parents that there are things they would like to do differently from their parents and things they would like to do the same. I have to say that my "do the same" list is much, MUCH longer than my "do differently" list. As our own family grows I am learning that it is very easy to become overwhelmed and stressed at times, so I decided to compose a list of things that we did growing up that were just plain fun! These are in no particular order.

1) Go fishing. My dad got a boat when I was in my early teens, it didn't matter if it was at the bay or on the lake, we always had a blast. Thanks to my parents I now get to share that experience with my kiddos every July 4th week.

2) Have a food fight. This did not happen everyday in the Goode household but I remember vividly my parents starting a food fight one night at the dinner table. It was the greatest dinner ever! Afterwards, all 7 of us worked as a team to clean the kitchen and it took less than 30 minutes. I learned that day that walls, drapes and chairs are ALL washable.

3) Wrestle with one another. This became an almost nightly routine in our home. We would move the coffee table out of the way in the living room and play WWF all night long. Dad played ref until I got so big the younger kids didn't stand a chance, then he was my opponent!

4) Sing familiar tunes in crazy voices. Every time we sang 'Happy Birthday' to someone dad would sing it very loud and off key (on purpose), after a few times we all joined in the silliness. We also got to practice this on Christmas morning when it was time for the kids to wake mom and dad. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bell Rock never sounded so good at 6am. I bet mom and dad don't miss that!

5) Double Bounce. When we got our first trampoline, dad was one of the first people to get on. He was king of double bouncing us. We would fly so high it felt like we were free falling back down to earth.

6) Have a picnic in the park. Once a week during the summers growing up mom took all five of us kids to the park. We met up with other families and while the moms had bible study we got to play with the other kids.

7) Go to the Dollar Movies. I don't know if they even have Dollar Movies anymore but I remember mom and dad taking us "just because". With five children I know it was hard to fit going out into the budget but whether is was the dollar theater or the pizza buffet, it was always special.

8) Go camping. My mom  is a rock star camper! Sometimes it was a family trip and sometimes it was with our Awanas group at church. No matter what you wanted to be in my moms group. The woman can put together a gourmet meal from a grill and griddle. She can always come up with ways to entertain us. Board games, talent shows or adventures "exploring"... she's got you covered!

9) Have breakfast for dinner. Sometimes you just feel like having pancakes and syrup instead of pot roast... and that is A- OK in the Goode home.

10) Dive into a cake. Pink, Blue, Green or Black icing, mom always let us dive into our birthday cakes... even as big kids if we wanted to. There is no mess that can't be cleaned up and if something is so precious it can"t get dirty then you probably don't need to have it out at a birthday party. And you know what, sometimes she let us have dessert first.

You only live once, you are only a kid once... let your kids enjoy it! We all had our responsibilities around the house but every now and then it was OK to break them for a few hours and just have FUN!!! That is one of the big things on my "do he same" list.

Linen Closet

So this next project has actually was actually done about 3 or 4 weeks ago. The overwhelming need to conquer clutter actually began as soon as we found out we were expecting our third baby. Our home is not tiny by any means but it is what most would consider a starter home, so organization becomes very important when space is limited. Anyway, our number one goal starting this year was to pay off one of the cars... extra nesting cash was limited. I took stock of my home and what I had on hand, this was the project with the fastest and cheapest results. Again, no before pictures...




I have heard from many people, "label everything, it keeps the
family all on the same page."

 

Starting from the bottom, a couple of our larger extra throw pillows and
our beach bag. Originally we had our beach towels on the shelf
and the bag in another closet, then I realized how silly that was.
Extra sheets are on the shelf above.



For all of the smaller items that tend to get muddled up I used these drawer organizers
from Ikea. I just used a paint pen to label them because my label maker doesn't make labels large
enough to really catch the eye. If I want Matt and the kids o help keep  up the system I need it
kind of "in your face". I know my shams and pillowcases are overflowing a little bit but
I'm trying to keep it real!




The top two shelves are for extra towels and extra blankets. It looked a little nicer
when we had the heavy comforter on our bed and the lighter one up in the closet, but
it has been in the 80's everyday! While watching a show on HGTV I learned "the right way"
to fold towels. In all honesty, this has been something I have changed a few times in my
6 years of marriage, the way I fold towels. Silly I know but that is another story.




And because I can't pull out the camera without them jumping in front of it... and
they are the real reason why you come here. Brooke




and Maddux! (please excuse the random something dripping down the wall
beside him... I have no clue what it is)



All in all this project was FREE fr me but you can find these boxes at Ikea for less than $10, they come in a set of 6 boxes in varying sizes.

Now I am working on getting the kids clothes consolidated into one dresser. I took the day off yesterday to play hide and seek, watch some toons and just enjoy my kiddos. 

Shared Closet

One of the tips from professional organizer, Amanda LeBlanc, was that when it comes to closets, open wall space equals wasted space. I kept this in mind when merging Brooke and Maddux's clothes into one closet. I don't have a before picture (because I kind of dive into projects not thinking), but here is the after.

 So the break down of what I did... I added a second rod for each of them ($9.69 each @ Target), got a shoe shelf for each of them ($10.49 each @ Target) and replaced Brooke's old hamper ($9.99 @ Target). I also got four packages of kids hangers at (you guessed it) Target, they were $1.17 each and will be shared between all three kids. Once I had all my gear in place I organized each child's clothes on their own side. Tops on top, bottoms on bottom. After they were separated by season I lined the clothes up based on the rainbow (another trick I learned from watching "The Amandas" on Style Network). Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet; or ROY G. BIV. I paid attention in elementary art class :)! I have to tell you that I was a little stumped when it came down to Brooke's side because there are so many sub-categories for a girl. Do tunics count as dresses? Do sweaters go with light jackets? Are dresses on the top with tops or bottom with bottoms? But I put everything up as best as I could and then shifted where I needed to. I am happy with the end result though. I do plan on painting in there just to liven things up a bit, but that will wait until we decorate the main part of their room. The kids love it, especially Brooke who can now reach some of her clothes to get herself dressed. Just about $55.00 was spent on this portion of their room but considering the cost of a full closet system, I would say it was a pretty good deal!

Can Neat Freak Be Learned?

There are two types of messy people. The first type lives in chaos and thrives in it. They swear they would never be able to find anything if it wasn't spread out and right in front of them. The second type are the ones who live in chaos and hate it. They look at organized people like they have some sort of powers only certain people possess. They long to have everything together but either can not figure out how or can not keep it up. I am the second type. I long to have my home color coded and alphabetized, a place for everything and everything in its place. But, from childhood I have been overwhelmed by the notion of tidiness and  therefore lose motivation. That is not to say that we are a "dirty" family by any means. We do our dishes everyday, we always have fresh clean clothes, I mop at least once a week... it's just the clutter that gets me. My sister on the other hand is a pro and always has been. I am sure when we shared a room it drove her crazy to see my mess. Even now that she works a full time job, cares for her family and maintains an active social life, her home is spotless at all times. Even when she swears her house is a mess I come into a home that looks like mine on its best day. In all honesty I am jealous! So my question is, Is the neat freak born or learned? Is it hopeless for me to think that my home will one day be a well oiled machine? If the skill can be mastered, can it be done before we welcome our little Elle? I am putting forth the effort to at least try, it is all I can do to stay sane. I need this for myself and my family. I am doing lots of research online for ideas and tips for methods I can keep up with in the long term. Maybe if I document my progress it will keep my on track. Do you have any secrets? Do you struggle with the clutter wars as I do?

Well Color Me...

Tickled. I just ordered big-huge-honkin'-poster sized pictures of Brooke and Maddux. I am going to hang them in their room over their beds. This is the first step I have taken towards their shared bedroom, probably because it is the cheapest. I will hit up HomeGoods and Target tomorrow for some inexpensive bedding. I haven't decided if we are going to go thrift store shopping for their beds or just go pick them up from Ikea. Anyway, here are the pictures I took today to have printed. I wanted them to be very candid and fun.

It's a girl!

Just a quick note to let everybody know that we will be expecting our second little girl, Miss Elliot Grace Ham, August 10th (or somewhere around then). So excited to finally be able to get started on the nursery. Hint: it wont be purple or pink! Here is a first time look at the little one I have already nicknamed "Elle". We were split between two girl names going into yesterdays ultrasound but after seeing how spunky she was, constantly on the move, we decided Elliot was the winner. We know she will have no problems keep up with her older siblings. We can not wait to meet her in person.

P.S. the Dr is already asking if we are "done"... I think we may have to level the playing field but we shall see!