"It's Deductible!"

I've been sick for over a week now, which means my house has been falling apart for at least that long. I still don't feel well, but have decided today is the day to suck it up, pull my hair back, and get some chores done!

I've already itemized our donations over at "It's Deductible" (a service of Turbo Tax online) this morning, so I can finally drop off these garbage bags full of donations to the Care Center. We never have yard sales anymore. Mostly because I'm too lazy, but also because most of the stuff we get rid of can benefit someone in need (lots of kids stuff and household goods, and LOTS of adult clothing) and we get a tax deduction. Another issue I have with yard sales is where to store it all until I have enough to warrant holding a sale. I'd much rather itemize my stuff on "It's Deductible" as I weed it out than price it for a yard sale and have to deal with the headaches involved in that. Their site has almost every item categorized with low, medium and high quality values already assigned, so at the end of the year, we know exactly how much we've donated. It's great!

I'm off to deliver these goods (and get them the heck out of my dining room...finally!).

What do you do with your cast-offs?

One Less Kid

We only have two, but sending KID 1 off to Kindergarten has really given me a LOT more time and energy to get stuff done around here. It's amazing what a difference one less kid makes when it comes to home projects! My house is cleaner, more organized, and more "put together" than ever before. I feel like I have a little more time to spend making things work better around here. I'm cleaning out closets, getting rid of excess stuff, planning our menus for the week, and creating "systems" for managing the household. Holy crap! It's like a whole new woman is emerging from the tired, stressed out, weight-gaining, unmotivated, unhealthy old me. And I didn't even realize things had gotten so bad until I could compare the "old me" to the "new me." I just thought I was lazy for the last five years. Wow! I feel so much lighter. 52.5 lbs lighter, in fact.

I guess I had just gotten into a rut. Mostly due to the fact that there are only a limited number of hours in the day, much of them taken up by our two preschoolers. And as you know, staying home with preschoolers is HARD WORK! While I didn't have to change his diapers anymore, or even change wet sheets, or get him dressed, or feed him, our five-year-old required so much of my time and energy to train him, love him, and entertain him. Now that he's spending most of his learning time at school, I feel like I can just relax and have fun with him when he's at home.

I'm able to focus more attention on our little one now, who loves having Mommy all to herself. She started preschool this week, so now I have two mornings a week to work out, do some writing, get my hair cut, go shopping, schedule appointments, or relax, all without having to juggle two kids simultaneously. When I went for my yearly this spring, both kids were with me and they both decided to wear their cowboy boots and hats. "Brought my posse, Doc," I quipped to the doctor as she bustled in to find two cowhands climbing on her stool. It will be so nice to walk into the ob/gyn exam room ALONE!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids. We have fun together. I didn't even realize how depleted I was until I got some time back for myself. This is the first time I have had daylight hours to myself in over FIVE YEARS! It's great, but I also wouldn't trade these past five years for all the tea in China. I've just entered a new "phase" of mothering, and I have to say, it's fabulous! Like Karly, I didn't shed a single tear when we delivered our little Kindergartner to his teacher on the first day of school. I was ready for the change and so was he.

"Have a great day at school, honey!"

Our Nest

Many of you have been to my big 'ole house. In fact, I have admitted many times to just closing doors to clean rooms (okay, the dirty ones, too - have any of you been upstairs? No? Wonder no more!) and not letting anyone in if we are having company. Sad, but true. In the last year I have just been too busy with a new baby and 2 jobs to work on our nest. Ladies, these days have come to an end!

In the last month, I have been sorting out my ideas files (I have a file for each room in the house and when I find something I like in a magazine or catalog, I file it so I can find it later) and am ready. I think I am ready, at least.

In the next couple months (probably it will take all summer) I am going to attack the master bedroom. It's a huge room facing north with a lot of light. We have a king bed and a hodgepodge of furniture. White walls. Sheer curtains. It's totally uninspired. We have a baby swing for KOTJ. A book shelf crammed with books for all of us, kids included. Wooden, dark stained floors. A bunch of laundry baskets. A recliner, for when I couldn't sleep laying down while pregnant with KOTJ, now piled with clothes. Other junk. It has taken me 5 years of living here to figure it out...and I finally have a plan.

We spend a lot of time in this room. We all sleep here, but it's also where I sort the laundry, fold the clothes, dress everyone most of the time, read many books and magazines, etc. Lots of junk gets dragged in.

So, before I start buying fabric like crazy, any ideas? I need as much help as I can get with this one! BTW, Design Mom is hosting "Ask Design Mom" week. If you need inspiration for your nest get on over there, she is great!

The Magical Christmas Tree

I've been tackling putting away the Christmas decorations. THE Princess has decided that we should keep them up so we are ready for next Christmas "in a few days." Ah, I love that time doesn't have it's death grip on her yet. Almost everything is "tomorrow" or "yesterday." How I wish I could revert to the days when my biggest worry was how many popsicles I could get away with eating before my mom figured out that I was on my fifth one.

THE Princess's first Christmas, it was just us. Her dad had split just before she was born. I was struggling just to pay the mortgage and going through a terrible divorce. My weekly food budget was $25, thankfully I ate with my mom often. I scrounged together $50 to buy a tree from the Care Center. It came complete with lights and all. They had ornaments for 5 cents and I got about $3 worth. That year, our tree was magic.

We would sit in the dark and look at the lights for hours. Many nights we slept on the couch or made a nest of blankets under the tree. THE Princess was about 9 months old and mesmerized by the lights and the glitter. I was mesmerized by her. It was a little bit of joy in our big old house. A house that seemed empty and quite lonely much of the time.

And that year, I left the tree up until her birthday in March. I didn't care who drove by and saw the lights in the front window in February. We just needed something. Anything. To get us through. The twinkly tree lights seemed to help.

Each year as I pack up the tree and it's decorations (we still use that same one from the Care Center)I think about leaving the tree up until March. Sitting and looking at it in the dark with my little one. The unadulterated joy it brought her. Our tree is magic, you know. THE Princess says so. Plus, we have to be ready for Christmas tomorrow.

Fun Fall Things

Rachel got me thinking about Fall with her post the other day about her pumpkin muffins. They looked so good and they also inspired me to start brainstorming (that might be a bit strong) for ideas. That being said, I love to scour magazines, books and the Internet for ideas for all kinds of things. Being a teacher, I do almost nothing original. I prefer to say that I borrow the idea and make it my own. Here are a few things I've been thinking of cabbaging on to.

The Wack-O-Lantern (Just the name makes me love it!)

Use a mallet to pound golf tees into the pumpkin at random. (Won't THE Princess love this? I even think it looks kind of Martha-ish!) Remove and reuse the tees as you go. When you're done with poking fun, cut an opening around the stem with the carving knife (a job for an adult), remove the lid, and clean out the goop from inside. Place a candle inside the pumpkin and get your glow on.

Pumpkin Snowman

The pumpkin version of a snowman! Stack three pumpkins in graduated sizes, drilling holes through the pumpkins and inserting a large stick to secure. Add stick arms and a face using a black marker.

The Pumpkin Vase (An oldy but a goodie from Martha!)

Select as round a pumpkin as you can find. Cut off the top, and scoop out the inside pulp and seeds. Inside the pumpkin, place a plastic paint bucket or any plastic container that fits easily. Place a cube of Oasis floral foam inside the container, thinning it to fit. Press the foam down to make it level, and drench it with water (enough so that a small pool collects at the bottom of the container). Arrange seasonal flowers, dried leaves, and berries as desired.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (Not at all original, I know.)

I always save the seeds from any pumpkins that we carve or that I cook with and make roasted pumpkin seeds. They are easy to make. Separate the seeds from the pumpkin pulp, rinse them in a colander and pat them dry with a paper towel. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Put in the oven at 300 F for 8 minutes. Stir and leave for another 8 minutes. I have flavored them with the traditional salt, and then tried other flavors. We have really liked paprika, cinnamon sugar, and red pepper. It makes them "designer" pumpkin seeds, don't you think?

Pumpkin Butter

I have to confess, I do this about every other year. I make and can pumpkin butter (similar to apple butter) to give as gifts. I'll get some pumpkins on the cheap right after Halloween, cook them down, and make pumpkin butter. Mmmmm...I hope I can wait that long!

What Fall ideas do you have? What are you working on?

Weeds To Pull

While we are anticipating guests this weekend, I am running around the house trying to get everything perfect. I am scrubbing the baseboards, the floors are being swept, even the garden is getting weeded.

Everytime I have guests coming I go through this routine. I do a deep clean trying to make the house as presentable as possible. I always end up asking myself, "why do I not go through all of this for my family...for me?"

I know why, simply, we live in this house. It is lived in. If you pop by my house at any given moment, the dishes will be done, but there are sure to be toys on the floor. The floors will be swept, but I guarantee you'll see a stray crayon lying around. You're even bound to find piles of laundry waiting to be put away.

I would love to have my house immaculate, just waiting to surprise a guest who might pop by, but it is not my number one priority. Spending time with the kiddos - they won't always be here to play in the sand, but I guarantee there will always be weeds to pull.