"Hell Hole to Haven in One Week Flat!"

Ok so, as I moped around the house last week, asking the inevitable "Why Me?" questions, something came to me.. My home, my balance, my life is in the chaos it is in because of something I am doing. right? So I scoured the internet in search of answers.. hours upon hours, I spent, searching. (those of you who know me, KNOW that I can research the hell out of anything!). I looked high and low for answers, how do I bring it all back under control.. the house, the laundry, our schedule, my business.. It took DAYS of research and in the end, I came to no further of a conclusion then where I had began.. But the answer DID come! it was a light bulb moment that hit me days after the research and inquiries were far gone.

THERE ISN'T ONE.

That's it. What had I been searching for? A magic pill.. a formula of some kind that I could mix in a bottle, sprinkle across my kitchen and watch the haven I have been looking for appear?! that wasn't happening. I had researched, and researched.. and the truth was, I knew it all already! I hadn't learned anything new. I read and re-read the same answers I had read 2 years ago, when the same boat capsized! I know about flylady, I know every group on yahoo, every homekeeping site on the web, every book, every method, I have been there.. done them all and failed at each and every one! :-) SO, what was the answer?

IT wasn't WHAT I was doing, it was what I WASN'T doing!

fatigue. kids. lack of sleep. over-scheduling. yada, yada, yada.. if there's an excuse out there, I've used it! well, clearly the problem is that NOTHING is getting done.. no, the problem is that I am DOING NOTHING! (don't fight me on that, I have plenty of proof!) Everything I read tells me to take it slow..15 minutes here, half an hour there, baby steps... Right? for me? Wrong! I'm no good at baby steps, so for the next week, I will be taking this hell hole I call my life, and making it into the haven I want to be a part of. With Gods guidance, this 1 week boot camp, will put me back on track and keep me there.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT NOW!?

I know, I asked the same thing? What will make this time any different then the other times. This time.. I have MY answer..

It wasn't WHAT I was doing, it was what I WASN'T doing!

I've learned that every bit of it boils down to discipline! Yep, DISCIPLINE! That's the difference! That's the one thing that not too many homemaking sites and methods talk about, and you know what? THATS what it takes. The discipline to get up when your body says no. The discipline to shut up when you wanna say what's on your mind. The discipline to keep on going when all you want to do is stop. The discipline to shut it down, when you want to keep on going. The discipline to Do what I say I will DO. The most successful people in the world, are that way because they have disciplined themselves beyond what the average joe cares to deal with (a very difficult place to be for a naturally un-disciplined person).

SO!

THIS week, I will get up off of my lazy butt, EVEN when I don't feel like it and do the things I have scheduled to do. THIS week, if I am too tired because I stayed up too late - SUCKS to be me! THIS week, NO excuse will be enough. THIS week - By the power of God, I will BE disciplined, i will commit to making it happen.. because frankly, that's ALL. IT. TAKES.

Starter Cultures for you!!

Ok, so stay tuned for quick updates on what's going on with me.. But first, I have an awesome contest to tell you about! Someone will win 3 starter cultures from Cultures for Health! If you're not familiar with cultures, they're the little starter buddies, you need for making your own healthy fermented foods like, yogurts, kefir, kombucha and cheeses.. Check out CheeseSlaves Blog, to find out ALL the ways you can enter to win! Good Luck!!

Stitches South Pic!

Well, I swear I'm making an earnest effort to keep up with blogging on this personal blog! I've got to get better at it, and I will be using it as an accountability point as well! (As you can see, I've already failed by missing 2 "tackle tuesdays" in a row!).

So, excuse me as I update, with a few pics of what we've been up to lately. The first pic being of my 2 pumpkin butts in front of our LYS's (local yarn shop's) vw bug! This was at Stitches south last wee, we had a Ball!!
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Fullearths is in full swing!

I've been uber busy trying to keep up with everything, I think mostly because I re-opened business. Yaay!

BUT its like adding kid number 3 ya know? The adjustment period? Well, same thing.. boy, this new "baby" has me running circles! However, I'm sure that, in time things will settle all in, and I dream of a home that runs like a well oiled business! ;-)

In the meantime, soap:
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Tackle it Tuesday!!!

.. begins again!  with.... CLUTTER.. oh, the big C word is my home's greatest downfall!!  So, I have NO choice but to take part in the big declutter.. I'll pick a spot later and DD and I will knock it out and post our before and after pics.  Wish my luck! I'm gonna need it! 

ps:  Thank You, 5 minutes for mom for motivating me to this end!  (can you tell where I spent time this morning? she has some awesome pics of her cluttered zone destroyed!) 

Moms! Win an HP mini 1000!

I know I've been gone for quit a bit!  Spending a lot of time at my other blog, re-opening Fullearths, etc. and getting my new etsy shop up and running - all in addition to being at home, homeschooling, housekeeping, meal making, wife being, soap making, order knitting - has taken up much of my time! LOL  BUT,  I rejoin you, oh momma bloggers with a awesome mom give away from 5 minutes for mom.com - a New HP Mini 1000 laptop computer.  Itty bitty tiny techy cutey ( I must admit for a mac girl, it's rather cute!)  So head on over (the computer link will take you right there) and sign up for the drawing! I am! 

n

Throwing in the Towel..

Well, I'm considering gong back to work.. Why? I'm no good at what I do here. simple enough!   All the kid training, house cleaning, cooking, teaching etc. Is not what I'm "trained" for, so I've reached my last straw and decided it's time to hang it all up.  I did believe that it was my God given duty to be here, caring for my family and raising Godly children, but obviously that's not his plan for me, or my kids, so I know when to quit fighting.  I'll do much better bringing in enough income to send the kids somewhere, and pay someone to clean the house.  

Big dreams of a farm and living sustainably destroyed, I know.. but what else is there to do? Some are cut out for it, and others.. are not. I'm one of the others..  Do I think it's best for my kids? At this point, I think it's better.  Not sure how the whole thing will play out, not sure of the details, but I'll keep things updated as I go along. Who knows, maybe now, I can actually keep this blog up to date?! ;-) 

A knitters Journal

Of course, Ravelry is the ultimate be-all of needle art organization for most fiber artists, but I've come to realize that electronic organization is not for everyone.  It seems, more and more people have joined the movement back to pen and paper organization.  

While browsing for a Nintendo DS sock pattern, I came across this VERY neat knitting journal!  I absolutely love the idea (and I'll be sure to post pics of my own journal when I get around to making one)!  As much as I love Ravelry (and I do!), one must admit that there is NO substitute for the *touch and feel* of fiber arts. There's a certain sensual tingle that runs up every knitters spine when they run a piece of luxurious, fluffy, silky fiber through their fingers. A knitting journal is the perfect way to combine this strange "touchy" addiction with the ability to keep track of projects, needles, stash, and gift and queue lists. A physical journal is the perfect place for fiber swatches ~ wether it be the yarn for that specific knitting project, or the roving for your next creatively designed handspun yarn ~ swatches are perfect - the touch and the feel.  As long as you have all of the proper elements, a journal should be fairly simple and fun to assemble. Grace, at Kathyrn Ivy.com, has been so completely thorough in this area, by providing everything you need to get started - and it's all free!   The site even includes all of the free printable pages you'll need to create your own fiber organizational masterpiece! 

Put THAT on your New Years Resolution list! ;-D 

It's all come to a Cohesive Culmination!

www.Cohesive Culmination.com

Ok, so there's a double meaning here..  

Firstly, please visit my dear friends new blog!  There are only a few posts, but he is VERY new to the blogoshpere, and I've found his posts to be quit interesting thus far!!! (

although I may be a bit biased.. :-D ).  Oh!  While your there, click on a few ad links to cheer him up this holiday season! 

Yes, all of my Christmas knitting, and other planning has come to a very neat finale, and it was a beautiful day!!!  Our family is SUCH a blessing!!  We have done al we can to teach our children about the true meaning of Christmas - the celebration of Christs birth, the wonderful gift of the ability to GIVE, and a time of family bonding.  They honestly LOVE the family bonding time, and I couldn't imagine Christmas without it.  It has to be the biggest part of Christmas for us!  

I spoke with a friend yesterday, who did NOT share that family time.  For the first time, is dawned on me, that this is not the way for Christmas for everyone!  Some spend this holiday (and others) alone. Some  spend it with acquaintances, or even friends, but there are those who spend it alone.  What a breakthrough for me! Thank you LORD for the family time you have given us, I will cherish it and never take it for granted again! 

 

$100 Walmart Give away!!

Click here to Check it out!  

Sense & Sensibility E-PATTERNS are here!! YAAY!!!

I absolutely love long, flowing, dresses and skirts. I love the feminine, vintage wardrobes of a time when ladies were ladies.  In my arsenal of, somewhat limited, resources, I have stashed away a few websites that I adore that offer this type of attire, or sewing patterns for this type of attire.  

Well, I have had my eye on this website for SO long, LOVING the 1910 tea Gown Pattern as my favorite.  Well, come to find out, Sensibility.com is now finally offering e-patterns for immediate download!  Yipee!!!!  Talk about instant gratification!  (doing the happy dance!)

Updated knitting Projects!

I can't believe I'm spinning!!!

Thanks to some marvelous friends on Ravelry, I am spinning!!! I can't believe it!

I know I am a bad, bad blogger! But I have put some things in place that will, hopefully, make it possible to have a nicely updated and interesting blog, we'll see!

I have been busy - between the kids, homeschooling, homemaking and keeping, (yes, there's a difference ;o) knitting and, now my newest hobby - spinning, I've really got to stay on top of my game to keep my blog updated. My lack of consist ant content is simply a sign of my lack of organization. LOL However, with the help of my newest favorite website, Happy Housewives, I am slowly coming around. It's like boot camp, and I LOVE it!

Exhaustion has set in...

Well, this is just a post to post.. Because it's been so long. We are back from our wonderful vacation! It was great!

But.. now we're back.. :-) the laundry has piled up, the house is out of sorts ( to me at least!). I am back on our MOTH schedule, which has been a God send! And we have begun schol again. I have also gotten our meals menu together. I AM, however, having a really hard time, fitting in my work schedule.

Things usually work them selves out though, so I am not worried. Just pretty tired! I am glad and feel so blessed that school is going so well! DD is dong wonderfully with her new Math U See curriculum. Some of the concepts are a bit of a challange for her to grasp, but that's the fun of it I think. It really keeps it from getting stale. Life as it is, is a blessing, just needs some fine tuning. Thats the exhausting part.. when I'm not quit so exhausted, I'll post exactly what fine tungin resources we are using.. but until then!

n

Playsilks, Puppies & Soap, Oh my!

So what on earth have we been up to?? So much!
Making homemade toys, soap and getting our little pug Pinky re-adjusted to being home. (See previous posts below for details on each)

In an effort to rid our home of plastic-blinky-blinky-blinky-non-imaginative toys, we are on a quest to make new, fun, natural material toys to replace the ones we're just gotten rid of. One of which are these lovely playsilks! What is a playsilk -- hmm.. here's a good definition. We had so much fun dying them with koool aid yesterday, and dd and son began having fun with them almost immediately.


In addition to the playsilks, we've been playing around with wool roving, making felted balls and fairies. What fun that was! Click below to flip through the pics to see the felt ball making fun!

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The kids had a ball! And it was a most impressive science project!


Many of our toys are typical Waldorf inspired toys ~ very simple toys, faceless dolls (to make way for imagination) and natural materials. DD has also been on a very big Fairy kick and added fairies to our list toys to make. Here is her first Waldorf inspired fairy, named Angelica. We plan to make more very soon, and with each go, we plan on getting better at it! ;-)

All of the wool roving for this project and the felted balls, was given to us by some dear fellow ravelers, who read about our interest in natural wool toys, and donated some wool to experiment with! From color dyed, to natural combed wool to raw wool straight from the sheep! This little play has provoked some kind of a desire to play with wool (oh no! Could the spinning bug be hitting home!), and as such we have 2 LB of roving on order from The Sheep Shed Studio. Maybe I won't spin it.. {clearing her throat}, I simply DON'T have time...
...TO BE CONTINUED.

So, I decided to show my gratitude to these generous wool-giving ladies, by sending them some handmade soap we recently made. That was another fun venture. Click through the stack below to see the process (you can also click to enlarge and see a description.:

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In more news ~~ Pinky is home and settling in just wonderfully!


She did have a vet appointment yesterday for a small imperfection we spotted in her eye. All is well, however, and we left with some eye drops to administer 3 times a day.... oh joy! But hopefully, this will mean clear, beautiful eyes for a long time to come.




Until later..

n

Puppia Harness - Now available!

Our new shop, Puppia Pets, is now stocked with beautiful harnesses for your pet. So, why a Puppia Harness? Here are just a few reasons, the Puppia Harness is a best bet for your small dog:

- High quality materials are used in manufacturing. Makes for a very durable Puppia Harness!
- No velcro, so your pup will NOT pull away. Velcro harnesses can be dangerous for very active pooches.
- Puppia Harnesses have the sizing down! They are very well fitting, making them exceptionally comfortable for your pet.
- No neck/throat strain. If you have a small breed (like my pug, Pinky), then you know how delicate their throats can be. This harness puts the pressure of pulling across the chest, as opposed to the throat.
- The Puppia Mesh Harness is awesome in the summer heat!
- More control for you! It is easier to control a dog across the chest, then it is to control by the neck alone.

These are just a few reasons the Puppia Harness is one of the most popular small dog harnesses available today. For A full selection of Puppia Harnesses ( including the Puppia Orion, Puppia Rainbow, Puppia Dotty, and the Puppia Spring Harness ), at VERY impressive prices, check out Puppia Pets!

n

Knitting Projects!

Click on each photo, to shuffle through pics! 

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Does $10 go a long way?

When it comes to a produce Co-op, it does!

We are pretty pleased with our stash from the Produce Co-op we joined. The Co-op is a group of folks who come together to buy fruits and veggies in bulk. In GA, one family goes to the Georgia State Farmers Market every 2 weeks, and purchase fruits and veggies in bulk. They then bring them all home and divide them up among all the family "Baskets". This means that each family is able to get more for their money than they would at their local grocery store.

This is our first week, and we were a little bit unprepared. We brought this big basket, that we THOUGHT would be big enough, but others were there with laundry baskets! So, hubby grabbed one of the smaller stashes ( I wouldn't have done that, but momma was busy with baby in the car) and packed our basket up, and in two weeks, we'll be better prepared with a much larger vessel of some sort!

So here's what we got for $10:

1 lb Strawberries
1 lb Broccoli
1 bunch Bananas
2 lbs Carrots
2 ears Corn (? maybe this smaller stash was for non-corn lovers?)
5 Apples
5 Potatoes
1 lb Grapes
2 Heads Lettuce
2 heads Collard Greens

Now, I think that's pretty good, especially for one of the smaller bounty's. It worked out just fine, because this is just enough for our small family of 4, for 2 weeks. We look forward to our next visit, when we will be much more prepared and hopefully, just as pleased!

Here's another way to make your $10 go far! For those of you who are faithful users of Ravelry , the knitting and crocheting community, Check out Revelraiser, a fundraiser for the amazing folks behind this absolutely awesome site! So your not the donating type? oh, you WILL be when you see THESE BREATHTAKING PRIZES!!! If for nothing else, you must check out the link just to drool!

I turn my back for 10 seconds....

So, here's why I should NEVER turn my back on the kids to ask the sales person a quick question, right?

I turn my back for just a quick question, and I turn back to my baby boy dressed like the missing princess from YMCA! Oye Vey! My poor baby.. do you see the eveil fairy godmother back there? Yes, she's the culprit!

Needless to say the people around me thought this was hilarious, Daddy? ~ not so much.. LOL


We are very close to starting our new school year, our Sonlight curriculum is here and looks VERY interesting! We're really excited to get started. DD had such a great time putting together the castle box that the books came in! All we need to get now is our handwriting from Abeka and Math U See and we're all set!

Listen In:
Birds? chirping? Yes! Early morning bird songs are so pretty.

View from the front window:
Kids at play, must be spring break?

Supper Plans:
Fish

In the garden:
Gardening Plans: We will begin out Square Foot porch garden any day now! Hubby bought the wood, now I wait!

Beauty in the common things:
We are so blessed to have a home, our health and so much of everything we take for granted!

On the Needles:
Silk Sleeves, Koolhaas hat, and finally, my Shetland Triangle! (Thank YOU Trudi!), Socks and Chevron Scarf.

Something New:
Baby boy is walking! (he's actually been walking for about a month, but I forgot to tell you.. hehe) and Video Podcasts!!! LOVE Vcasts, and this one --> Lets Knit2gether, in particular!

n

I'm Mrs. Beaver!

Which Chronicles of Narnia character are you most like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Mrs. Beaver Peter Pevensie 63% Mrs. Beaver 63% Aslan 63% Lucy Pevensie 60% Edmund Pevensie 57% Susan Pevensie 50% Mr. Beaver 40% Oreius 33% The White Witch 30% Mr. Tumnus 30% Ginarrbrik 13%