Making Your Home A Haven

I really can't believe this fall challenge is over. Thank you so much to Courtney at Women Living Well for hosting this challenge. It has been so great to have an actual step to take to focus on making our home a haven instead of a place of chaos.

I truly love lighting my candle each day. The reminder throughout the day to take a minute and pray is such a joy. It is so nice to just take a minute and say a short sentence prayer for someone that is on my heart at the moment or for myself and my attitude toward the day.

The music has been kind of hit or miss. Some times I just forget to turn it on. And other days I just want it to be quiet in my house with the exception of Jake & I. And believe it or not even just having one child there can be plenty of noise in our house.

The areas that were cleaned during the week of clearing the clutter have remained cleared. And I am looking for other areas to continue to improve the clutter flow.

And I have been focusing on tender moments with my family. Whether just to be snuggly on the couch with Jake(it was great this past week with the weather getting cooler and a couple of rainy days) or if I am making a favorite meal for them.

I am praying that each of these things will stay in our home especially during this up coming busy season. That I will not be so focused on the "commercial" part of each holiday and making things perfect. That instead I will take time to be sure my home is a haven for those that will come to it and even more so for my family on a daily basis.

I have loved this challenge and my family has definitely benefited from me working to make our home a haven.  Again thank you Courtney!!!

Week 5 Challenge

We are at week 5 of the Making your home a haven challenge, but first a recap of last weeks challenge. Which was spending tender moments with your family.

This week was a super busy week for us with Jake's birthday and Halloween, but we did find time to just spend together. A lot of our moments came early in the morning. Jake has been waking up almost every day between 3 & 4 in the morning. And even though my sister has to get up 4am to go to work to me this is still the middle of the night. Instead of taking Jake back to his bed I have just been letting him get into bed with us. We all fall back to sleep for a couple more hours of sleep. Then around 7 or so we lay in bed talking, playing, and some times watching tv together. I love these sweet moments together. It works great for us since Jason doesn't get home from work until after Jake is in bed. This way the 3 of us can have time together. Often when I am lying in bed awake and the 3 of us are in bed together I wish we had a photographer that followed us around. How I would love to get a picture of the all 3 of us snuggled in bed together.

One night this week I did let Jake stay up past his bed time and he and I snuggled on the couch to watch Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin. I have to say this was probably one of Jake's highlights for the week. I made popcorn and we got out pillows and blankets and we warm and cozy on the couch together. For several days after this he would tell everyone that his mommy made popcorn and we watched Charlie Brown. Of course this brought a smile to my heart to know that he really did cherish this time with me.


This brings us to week 5's challenge.

Focus on the kitchen, the heart of the home. Cook things with pleasant aromas. Pick a meal the family can cook together - include everyone in a task and take pictures so everyone can remember moments in the kitchen together - test tasting, being creative, laughing and loving. Remove discontentment with your home or family and give thanks to God for the home God has given you to in which to create a haven for your family.

I really enjoy cooking. However, I am super type A and have to follow a recipe to the T. No matter what it says I have to follow it exactly. I have to use measuring cups and spoons and follow every step. I can't eyeball it or add in something extra because I think it might be good in the recipe. Does this make me a good cook? I can follow a recipe and usually it turns out great, but I would never dream of making something up. I have a friend that can take 2 or 3 recipes and combine them to make something even better. Not sure that will ever be me. But I can still enjoy cooking & follow a recipe. 

I also really enjoy making most everything from scratch. One of my most favorite cook books is the Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book. I got this cook book in 2002 and never used it once. Then a friend was telling me several things she cooked from the book and I started flipping through. This cook book is all about cooking from scratch and has some wonderful recipes. After 8 years of never using the cook book I now use it for 2-3 meals a week. Love it. I also really love the blog Heavenly Homemaker. She is a big time from scratch cooker and also one of those make up your own recipe type people. Thankfully with her blog I can follow a recipe and not have to come up with something on my own. Not to mention she is super healthy and has great recipes for whole wheat flour and other stuff. 

For this weeks challenge I am going to have a yummy made from scratch dinner tonight with Jason & Jake. Sundays & Mondays are the only days Jason is home for dinner. The other nights it is just Jake & I and Jason gets a plate in the fridge for when he comes home at 9 or 10. Monday will be our big family meal. Usually we serve from the stove and then take our plates to the table. But tonight I am going to get out serving bowls and set the table. I am going to make sure we linger at the table a little longer enjoying the company of each other. Then the rest of the week I am going to make a few fun dinners for Jake & I. Probably letting Jake make his own pizza one night. And since Jason is home in the mornings I am planning a big family breakfast instead of fast and easy cereal. 

Take the challenge with me...get in the kitchen and cook some delicious meals for your family and make it fun.

Family Time

 Making your home a Haven challenge with Women Living Well.




So we are lighting our candle and listening to music throughout the day and last week added in clean the clutter.



I am happy to report that the landing at the bottom of my stairs remained picked up all week. Not to say that every time I found something down stairs that belonged up stairs I was immediately taking it up there. But I would grab whatever was at the bottom each time I was heading up that way. It is so much more pleasant to look at the stairs and not see a pile of stuff that needs to go up stairs.

I was going to share a separate post about our disaster computer room. But instead I will post the before and after here. I will tell you first that the picture before was after I started going through things. So although the room was a huge wreck it looks worse in the picture because I had everything scattered around. The room is now clean and stayed clean all week. Each time I brought things into that room I would put them away instead of just piling them on a desk (what a concept ;)) . I want to get rid of a lot more stuff in the room. But the giant desk will have to be moved out at another time. Side note...see the snake cage? It has a red tail boa living in it. We would love to sell it. If you are interested let me know.  It has been so nice to work on the computer and not be surrounded by piles of junk and scattered mess.

So all in all the clear the clutter challenge was great for making our home more of a haven. Things have been staying cleaned up and it feels much more peaceful being in our home. Being able to see the flicker of our candle(need to get a new one only a few more days left in mine), hear the soft music in the background, and then this week not seeing piles of clutter around the home has made this hectic birthday month feel like a haven.

So now on to another weeks challenge.
Keep the candle going, the music playing, and add some tender moments with your family. Have a pillow party in the family room and get out every blanket and pillow in the house and be cozy with the kids or your hubby! Even if you live alone you can do this. Enjoy a cozy evening of hot cider and caramel corn. Give a 5 minute back rub to every single person in your house...and for a double challenge- try to give one every day to each family member! During your tender moment with the family, ask them how they feel about this challenge. Are they enjoying it? Is it helpful? Is there anything they would change. Give your family listening ears. I think you will be blessed by the positive feedback you will receive!

I am so excited to find ways to have tender moments with my family. Bed time with Jake is a favorite tender moment with him. But I am hoping to add more things in throughout the week and day not just at bed time. 

Did you take the clear the clutter challenge? Do you feel lighter? They really do say people with more clutter weigh more.

Clear the Clutter

We are into week 3 of Women Living Well Making your home a haven challenge.

Last week we continued to have our candle lit and added in playing music throughout the day.





The candle has continued to be a wonderful reminder to pray.
1 Thessalonians 15:17 "pray continually;" 
It has been so nice to have the candle lit. As I see the flicker I simply say a silent sentence prayer. Love it!!

The music this week has been great backdrop noise to our day. It inspired impromptu dance parties in the living room with Jake. And moments of reflection for me as I cleaned and went about my day. It is definitely makes you think when you are getting frustrated before you speak when something like "Lead Me" or "Our God" is playing in the house.

Week 3's challenge is....
List a few of the spots in your home that make you visually stressed because of all the clutter. Now go buy something for that spot - like a basket to put it all in! Work on cleaning up clutter. Throw things away. While you're at it - clean up some clutter in your spiritual life. What gets in the way of your peace spiritually? 

An area in our home that definitely is a clutter collector is our stairs. Call it lazy, but when things are down stairs and they belong upstairs I just put them on the landing at the bottom. I should walk up stairs and put them where they go, but for whatever reason I just pile the stuff up. And to make matters even worse a lot of times I will walk up the stairs several times before I actually pick up the stuff and bring it with me. I will for sure be working on this during the week. Making it a point to take things up the stairs instead of piling them at the bottom. 


Our other area (well it is actually a whole room) of clutter is our computer room. It is up stairs so when guest come over they don't typically see this room. Therefore things that don't really have a place get moved there when I  clean.  I tackled this room over the weekend and it looks a million times better. Hopefully we will keep it this way. I will post the super embarrassing pictures of this room later this week. 


And the other part of the challenge is spiritual clutter. Because I typically have my quiet time first thing in the morning some days it is so hard to focus. I have a million things running through my mind of what needs to be done that day. Or watching the clock  because we have somewhere to be early that day. During this challenge I am making a point to clear my mind before I sit down to pray and read God's word. To start I will add a few minutes in the morning to make a list of things that need to get done that day. In hopes that this will help me to not think about them so much when I really want/need to be focused on much more important things. My day and tone of our home is totally different when I have a purposeful quiet time with God before the day begins. 


So are you in the challenge this week? Are you clearing clutter from your life both physically and spiritually?

Music in our Home

I am truly loving this fall challenge "Make Your Home a Haven" with Courtney at Women Living Well.

Last weeks challenge was to light a candle in our home every day.

Jake really loved this and every morning when he would come down stairs he would remind me to light it.




Every time the flicker of the candle caught our attention we were to pray for our family and home. I loved having this little reminder throughout the day. The candle I have been burning is caramel pecan so not only did I have a reminder to pray when I saw the light flicker, but also each time I would smell the scent floating through our home.

I would pray different things for my family and home during the day. Mostly I have prayed that I would set the tone of my home, that I would be actively involved with Jake, and that God would fill our home in all we do.

It was great to have the candle as a reminder when I would get frustrated with Jake. Just seeing the candle would remind me to be gentle & loving. 

So I am so excited to take on Week 2's challenge!!

Play soft music everyday in your home. Choose worship, classical or another form of peaceful music that the family enjoys. Focus on using peaceful words and maintaining peaceful relationships. Remind your family to avoid seething anger, tattling, criticism or back talk. As the wife/mother, work on gentleness this week.

I used to be really good about turning the radio on in the morning. It was great to have in the background. Slowly over the summer tv has creeped in more and more and even when the tv isn't on I haven't been thinking to turn the radio on. I am really looking forward to getting back into this habit.

And because the challenges start the week I post. I will do a recap of how this weeks challenge goes with next weeks post.

Are you following along? How did your candle lighting go? Is fall the beginning of a hectic time of year for you?

Light a Candle

Once again the wonderful Courtney of Women Living Well is doing a weekly Monday challenge. This fall it is focused on making your home a haven. And every Monday she will be giving us something to focus on to calm our homes and bring some peace to our days.

For us fall is such a busy time of year(I can't even imagine how it will be once Jake is in school). With both mine & Jake's birthday in October & tons of other wonderful events and fun fall activities it seems that our weeks and weekends are even busier from now until the 1st of the year.

So this challenge couldn't have come at a better time.

It is week 1 of the Making Your Home a Haven Fall Challenge. Here is this week's challenge: Go buy an extra large candle and light a candle everyday in your home. I will be starting mine in the morning! But you can start yours at dinner time. Do what makes sense for your family. I will be placing mine in the kitchen - the main hub of my home. Each time the candle catches your eye, say a prayer for peace in your home.(from Women Living Well). 


I got my candle today and set it up on our breakfast table since you can see that from the kitchen & living room. I haven't lit it yet & think I will do so this evening when we are all relaxing after dinner. But for the rest of the week I am going to try and light the candle in the mornings. Hopefully this will help me to not be short or frustrated with Jake as we get our day started.  

 

With the challenges going up each Monday I will let you know what the challenge is and hopefully the following Monday let you know how it worked in our home over the week. (sorry about the italic font...I can't seem to get it to change back)