[cp_dropcaps]T[/cp_dropcaps]his morning as I sat at my dining room table, I thought, what if I did one new thing each day for the rest of this year, how many things would I be able to do? How many additional things would be accomplished? Two Hundred Sixty Six. Imagine: 266 additional things. Instantly, I’m reminded of the significance of the number 266 — an average pregnancy is 266 days. Not anymore for this Sarah, but that’s a number I’ll never forget. I considered: Purposefully learning and purposefully accomplishing one additional thing every day. Adding one more step, situp, pushup, crunch, squat—-one…
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♥ It’s Tip Time! ♥ These tips fall under the categories: I’m so glad I saved _____ ; and the category: Ooooo… saved myself a whole bunch of time and energy by planning for future needs! Yay! Continually in the mindset of thinking efficiently, make a conscious effort to consider the needs of others–your husband, family, etc., etc. ♦ A kitchen log and/or a journal will help you put it down and out of your mind = eliminate worry. Pray the Lord will guide you as you plan, pray He will give you insight for what you need or what…
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Carry on. When you’re drop dead tired and there’re still several hours and as many chores left to do at the end of the day: Carry on. When you have so much to do you don’t know how you’ll do it all: Carry on. When you have so many needs to fill and seemingly not enough resources to fill them all: Carry on. When you’re weary and successes are few and failures are many: Carry on. When you feel all alone and as if no one cares for what you do: Carry on. Carry on, Mother, carry on! Motherhood’s a…
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A clean home is a happy home. I know, I know, if ever there was a guilt inducing statement, that is it! But, seriously, think with me for a moment… consider some of the very best homemaker feelings/accomplishments. Doesn’t a ship-shape-top-to-bottom tidy give you a great feeling? How about a thoroughly cleaned out garage, a freshly cleaned and ordered pantry, fridge or bedroom closet? If you stop and think about these sorts of things, you’ll probably quickly remember how great it felt and how smoothly things seemed to run in your home. Remember? With the advent of our son getting…
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It’s sure a beautiful Springtime day here in the Snohomish Valley — it’s the kind of day that puts thoughts of rains and flooding to a very distant memory — though such a great possibility only a few short months ago. It’s funny how quickly a current reality can totally erase or totally eclipse another, isn’t it? As I walked around outside for the first time in a week, I stopped at each of the different garden beds and then on out to the vegetable garden where my initial delight was slightly dimmed by the vision of all the weeds……
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What’s Pulling on Your Apron Strings? That might sound like a strange title to the message I want to share with you today, but perhaps by the time you finish reading this letter, you’ll have an idea and perhaps realize some things you’ve been wanting to take care of for some time. So, what’s pulling on your apron strings? You know… the thing or things that nag at you or that seem to be pulling at you from one direction or many. You may be attempting to work around your home and keep having interruptions or distractions that prevent you…
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I’ve been browsing the seed catalogs, the websites and books for “what to do this month” in (or about) the garden. I must admit: I’m anxious. Very anxious for Spring to come. But then, you probably already knew that. You know, though, I’m sure not as weary for Springtime as I have been in other years. Maybe so much has been going on that I’ve not noticed that there has been enough rain to completely fill the swimming pool. Or, maybe it’s been so busy around here that I haven’t stopped to notice (and lament) that there have only been…
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You’ve likely heard the phrase: “Do what you love, love what you do.” Well… I got to thinking about that phrase sometime back and thought: one can’t always do that. And then I thought, maybe I feel like I can’t always do what I love [to do], but I can learn to love what I do (and change my whole outlook in the process). And so there was a turning point in my journey. One of many turning points. :o) Lemme give you an example. Just this morning, I came into the kitchen planning to unload/reload my dishwasher (and to…
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I don’t know what it is about “empty spaces” and my (and maybe your) insatiable need to fill them, but both are there: the empty spaces and the insatiable need to fill them. I guess I attempt to fill full spaces, too… but that’s another story for another day. I was tempted to take the beautiful new calendar my daughter bought for me and insert it into the oak calendar frame and rehang it clean and fresh — empty — for awhile. But before I knew it, I was filling in birthdays — deciding to limit the notations to ‘family’…
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Each year, about this time, I refer to a “Christmas” page I created on our website and though it’s probably been up (and rarely updated) for the last ten or twelve years, it remains a great resource for me — and I hope it will be for you, too. Regardless how you spend the holidays or Christmastime, there are, no doubt, special things you like to incorporate into your days and evenings with your family. These special things might be traditions or celebrations, family recipes or gifts you prepare and send. Whatever the case, as always, we mothers need to…