Makes me SMILE:)

Gran always told me to count my blessings.
Problem is - I have so many!

So many things made me smile this week :)

Right now I am loving ...







The flowers from my bouquet from my sister's wedding. I love that the silk flowers will continue to brighten my home ...



Cackleberries (eggs) from our chooks! They taste so good and are so fresh! Our chookies sure earn their keep!



My nursing registration FINALLY through! And what a battle it was!



Reading books I loved as a child with my girl! She just soaks up the chapter books!



My new spice holder I bought at Aldi this week! No more searching through the cupboard for what I need! I just need to fill and label it!

Why??

When I am so far behind and have about 12 hours work to do before bed do I decide it is a good time to organise and tidy my drawers????

Just wondering!

Think on these things ...

Whatever is true,



whatever is noble,



whatever is right,



whatever is pure,




whatever is lovely,



whatever is admirable—




if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.



Phil 4:8











This has not been a good week or so for me.

Not only I am I dealing with an incredibly inefficient beurocratic organisation and getting nowhere fast, but I have had a few things happen last week that were both unexpected and emotionally draining.

Finding joy right now is tough.

So today, as I blog, I am purposefully finding joy.

God never promised an easy life, in fact he promised trials, ... trials to build strength and character. In James (1: 2-4) we are told "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

I don't want the trials. The child in me just wants things to go my own way. All the time.
But mature and complete in my faith - yeah - I want that. And I have a long way to go. So the trials come, and you know, I will get through them, and one day - maybe not till I am in paradise where there is NO pain,but ONE day, I will look back and see how this is part of the plan the Lord has for me.

....

In other words, as my wise Gran said - "Everything happens for a reason"

So right now - while I face trials, and while I struggle and grieve for a season, I am choosing JOY.

Everywhere I look in my home I see JOY .... and that is what I am believing in today

PS - aren't these roses incredible! I bought them as a must cheer myself up gift.
And if anyone finds a bush that grows them I will have 1 please!!!

Trying to find a doily for the vase made me miss my sweet gran a little bit ... I was so looking for a larger one ... I wish she was still around to make me one ...

But it gave me joy to use something beautiful she had made in love just for ME!

Mother's Day ... not always Hallmark Perfect

Sometimes the smallest hands make the biggest imprint

Before I was a mum - I couldn't wait for my first Mother's Day.

And for years - while I ached to be a mum ... Mother's Day pretty much tore me apart.

Now I am blessed with Miss E Mother's Day is a day of amazing joy ... but somehow I still ache too.

On Mother's Day this year - please say a prayer
For those who long to be mother's - and can't.
For those who have baby's in their hearts and in heaven ... but not in their arms.
For those who long to be mother's - but due to circumstance - singleness, death of a spouse, separation, divorce ... can't even try.

For those whose own mother's are in heaven.
For those who ache and hurt because they cannot be with their mothers on Mother's Day.

For those mothers whose children are away
For those whose own mothers were not good mothers

This post makes me ache to write, because in many ways it cuts so close to home.
My journey to motherhood was not easy ... it still isn't. But I have been blessed.
And I know people who I love so much and I will not be able to ease their pain on Sunday.

I love you. I ache for you. I wish I could fix it.
But I can't. All I can do is pray. And be here.

honestly ... and struggles

I know I've been a bit quiet.

And I'm sorry for that - my enthusiasm has had just a little break.

In the past two weeks I've had a sick girl, then a sick husband and a sick me.

And I'm struggling with my moods a bit at the moment (and all this rain isn't helping!)

As I say to Miss E - I just need to take my crankypants off and start anew!!

I have some great new projects and ideas to show you - and a lot of honesty on my journey.

So stay tuned! I promise I'll be back tomorrow with an update! Nothing like a new project to give me the pick me up I need!

Learning by taking risks

I was talking this afternoon to Miss E's prep teacher.

We are blessed with the sort of teacher that you dream of getting for your child. She is well read. She is enthusiastic. She is talented. She acts crazy at times.

Her goal for prep is to get our children to be confident in themselves, love school and learn to love to learn. That's it.

That said - I know the curriculum has been expanded well beyond the "normal" prep curriculum, and I love that too.

Today we were talking. We were talking about my girl. And the perfectionist in her. For example, every day in class they do "cross pattern walking" and other activites. These are specially designed to get the left and right side of the brain to cross over (or something like that anyway)

To begin with Miss E didn't want to do it, because she didn't know how. Then she tried it but gave up, because she didn't do it right. She told me she couldn't do it. She told me the teachers said she was doing it wrong. (um - don't think so honey - they were just helping - but you are so like me and I probably would have said that too)

The perfectionist in her stops my girl trying new things. If she can't do it already, or is worried she will fail, she just refuses to try.

And so our conversation went. Till I mentioned this perfectionism. And the teacher said "we have to knock that out of her". And I agreed.

And here is where the lesson lies. She said "the way we teach children nowdays, and how we get them to learn, is we need them to take risks. They have to try things. And fail. And in doing so they stretch themselves beyond what they thought they could do."

And I've thought about that all night. What do you not do, because you might fail. Is your house untidy, because "I'm just too busy. I don't have time". And because you worry you might start and be right back where you started.

Is there something you always wanted to do, but were too scared to try.

We need to take risks. That is how we learn. We might not always succeed. But if we try with all our heart there is a lesson, even in the failing.

What risk can you take this week?

Choices ...

I'm leaning to this ...

Thoughts??

Keep it or dump it? - an update on how Spring Clean all Round is working for us.

Now that some of my systems and ideas are starting to become habit, and we have been living with some of the changes for a little while, I intend to review some of my older posts to let you know what has been working, what we are changing, and what has gone by the wayside.

A month ago I reviewed "Spring Clean all Year Round", a sweet little cleaning system that helps you spread out those ongoing cleaning tasks throughout the year.

http://findingthecalminthechaos.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-is-what-i-love-spring-clean-all.html

I'll be honest - I didn't use it while we were renovating. It was enough for me to cope with keeping things generally tidy. Any more was beyond my reach.

But now things are becoming *somewhat* normal again I am loving using this.

It sits in a corner of my kitchen.
Each night I lay out the cards that are set aside for the following day, and discuss with Paul any tasks I need his help on, or would like Miss E to do.




As I complete each task I refile them vertically in the next spot they will be done. This is so I can pull them out if I need to refer back to them the same day.



At night I file them horizontally, and pull out the next day's tasks. Easy.


I like this system as I am reviewing the day before what needs to be done, and Paul and Eliana are clear on what I need them to do for me.

My next task is to make a few extra cards for tasks that are not in there, but I would like added to the system. This way it will evolve with our families needs.

Definately a keeper! Cute and functional. Perfect for me!

Why Ikea?

I've been asked a few times - why Ikea for our kitchen?

I thought I'd blog just a little tonight about our experiences.

For us it was a combination of quality, price, and function.

#1 - We loved the options Ikea gave us. Not only in the cupboards and veneers, but in the little storage ideas and solutions that make Ikea unique. I wanted a really functional kitchen. Ikea could help us achieve that.

#2 - The quality. Compared to other kitchens in the price range we were looking at, Ikea was much better quality. It was the little things that mattered - things like dampeners on the drawers so they can't be slammed. I was very happy with the quality.

#3 - The Ikea Kitchen planner software. Once I figured this out, this was key to getting what I wanted. It let me play and change things. And I didn't feel so overwhelmed.

#4 - My Father in Law is a builder. This meant I could relax in knowing that any little problems we came into with installation would be fixed well.

#5 - The ability to upgrade components that mattered. Things like the pull out shelves for the pantry. And the ability to pay extra for the custom made bench tops. I believe you need to buy decent benches - they are the workhorse of your kitchen.

#6 - The price. Our cupboard veneer was discontinued. This meant we got these at 65% off retail. Which meant I could put more money into things like the cupboard upgrades that I wanted. And price DOES matter.

Overall, I am very very very happy. A few things were a problem, like a dented sink and living so far away. But to be fair, once we made them aware of the problem Ikea were EXCELLENT and compensated us for our time.

Would I do it without Gene (the Father in law builder) - probably not. Although I do think we *could* do it. But it would take a lot more time. And a lot of googling and youtubing to work things out. And probably hiring a handy man to help with some bits. And no one could do a job as good as Gene.

Would I go ikea again? I guess that depends how it wears. SO far, that is a yes. Time will tell...

If you are wondering where I have been ...

I have a good excuse.




SIX (count them - SIX) assignments done and ready to hand in tomorrow.
Regular life (and decluttering) will return as soon as possible.

Soon to come - organising to succeed. And how I remember my green bags. I tell ya - it's all exciting stuff here!