On with the Wash!

Back from a lovely week away... family time in Apollo Bay, immediately followed by church family camp, in Anglesea. Well, mostly lovely. More about that later.

We've arrived back to a week that is going to be HOT HOT HOT. Alllll week *sad sigh*
So, I was up at 4.15 this morning to bake a zucchini slice, before it gets hot in here. Success. Also took advantage of the silence to read a few chapters of Acts. Without interruption!
And then on with the rest of the day.

I want to get caught up on washing by the end of tomorrow. That's all the sheets from all the beds plus all the washing from being away. Plus an extra set of sheets from our bed. Only got one load of washing done last night, once we were back!

And while I'm thinking of it... we'll be needing a new washing machine in the next 12months... Do you have a machine that you LOVE? What is it and what do you like about it?

I've joked about having an ironing fairy

 

and the Lord has given me an ironing angel!! 

At the end of Sunday's service (Pete's baptism and Timothy's dedication), many people approached us and one lovely lady gave me a note with her phone number, saying she would like to help us with house cleaning &/or ironing!! Pete had mentioned my MS diagnosis in his testimony and this lady tells me she does house cleaning and ironing, free of charge, for those that might need a hand.

I jokingly asked her if she'd seen my ironing pile!! (it's more of a mountain at the moment, than a pile)

So today, I am going to phone her and graciously accept her offer and the Lord's provision.

With MS, I struggle mostly with fatigue and 'head space'... heaps worse than the usual lack of head space one might complain about. The children can ask me something and I need to repeat it back to them a time or two just to process it and figure out what they're asking! Sometimes I sit doing nothing, because I can't even get thought's straight enough to think about what to do next!!! Of all the things I need to manage, ironing is always at the end of the list even though I have a huge awareness that it needs doing. The person at most disadvantage because of this is Pete, so as much as this will be a blessing to me, it will also be to Pete.

God is good!



ETA a PS: I've noticed my 150th post ever, is coming up soon and I've been toying with having a give away as many of my blog friends have done... so keep an eye out... it will be in the 150th post... it's something I love to use daily and is related to cooking, gardening and babies!

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Little helpers

We had such a fun time Saturday night / Sunday morning when my favourite nephews stayed over. Mr4yo and Mralmost2yo.. ooh, he's two this next week!
Anyway, back to our fun....
The boys arrived at 3.30pm, just as the downpour arrived in our part of Melbourne (65mm in 24 hours here)
so Mr4 went outside with Melinda and Nathaniel to dance in the rain and get completely SOAKED... so it was into dry pyjamas by 4pm.
A little bit of indoor play (Timothy and Mr2 had been playing trains while the others got wet) and then it was DVD time on the bed in our room which they thought a wonderful idea... and a bonus when the home made pizza arrived up there for dinner!
Clever hubby laid out large blankets first to catch the crumbs :o)

the little ones aren't quite as enthralled by the movie!

 Into bed once that was over and they all went to sleep right away and didn't wake till just after 7... the most civilised rising we've had with 5 blessings in the house at one time!

A tasty breakfast of eggs and hash browns, big glasses of milk and then it was clean up time.
I asked Melinda to gather the plates for me so I could get the dishes underway and a little 4yo voice says to me 'can I help too Aunty Relle?'  Loved it - so sweet! So he, with much joy, gathered all the empty milk glasses and brought them to the kitchen for washing.

I was reminded of this later in the afternoon (The nephews headed home shortly after 9am) when I was clearing the dry dishes and Timothy comes into the kitchen with an "I help mummy" as he starts to put the glasses away that I'd stacked onto the table for the older ones to put away. He was rewarded with much praise from both Pete and I.

Such joy when they offer to help, vs being asked.

Such joy in the home when we do ALL work together! I'm a believer in jobs from as early on in life as possible.

At the moment home making jobs looks a little something like this

Timothy (2.5)
Feeds the cat
Picks up his own toys
Takes out the recycling with Nj (has been doing this for about 12mo)
Brings his dishes to the sink (occasionally I cringe but no breakages from this yet)
Puts his own socks and undies away
Does lots of 'gofer-ing'... "Timothy, can you please get X for mummy?"

Nj (7)
Folds clothes and puts them away
hangs wet clothes on  the drying rack
Peels vegies
Makes his own bed
Strips sheets off beds for washing day
Brings the bins in on rubbish day
Takes out the rubbish bags
Keeps the toilet paper shelf from running out
Puts dishes away
Removes chairs for floor mopping and then puts them back
Unloads the car after grocery shopping
Changes dirty nappies!!
Sets the table
Working on: learning to vacuum

Melinda (8)
Removes the dish drainers and cleans the draining board
Folds clothes and puts them away
Can make simple lunches like pizza toasts and sandwiches
Peels and chops vegies
Strips sheets off beds for washing day
Puts a load in the dryer and turns it on, empties, folds and puts away once dry
Removes chairs for floor mopping and then puts them back
Unloads the car after grocery shopping
Sweeps and washes the bathroom floor
Sets the table
Working on: washing dishes

There won't be a any rude shocks when these children have their own homes to care for!

What about your children - do they get to help keep the house going too?

(*gasps* as I realise I need to check we have a gift organised for Mralmost2 nephew!)

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Out the window!

When I googled for pictures that fit 'out the window' this one came up - and a whole bunch of 'huh?' ones that just don't fit the phrase at all! Where did the phrase come from anyway?

So!... I have come to realise over this last week of attempting to get back into some sort of routine, that all of life has 'gone out the window' with all our moving dramas. NOTHING is working well.
This means I am starting from scratch. Sigh.
So start from scratch I will.

Next week Pete is taking the kids to visit Grandma down at the beach for 2 days. I was going to be unpacking. Thinking it through I have come to the conclusion that I am better off doing some serious planning/organising etc for this time

Mostly school stuff
Followed by daily jobs/routines
Followed by food/meal management

Note to self: The printer is showing low on black ink... I'd better buy the replacement before I am without car otherwise I can guarantee it will run out on the first page printed on the first morning they are away

What I'd like to know is
-Do you have routines/schedules and if so, how well do you stick to them?-How often do you take the time to review and shake them up?
-If you don't, are you getting as much done as you'd like to/could?

I feel like I am wanting this


but starting with this

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My Laundry

I was working in my laundry for the first time today and I must say...
although rather odd... I do love it!

Can you see it? It's on the right hand side of the house (but not the garage and workshop which is the separate building)
This is the view from about 2m in front of the back fence.

This is taken from just in front of my laundry - loving the huge yard and the kids are too!

This next one is taken from the same spot and is to the right of the above photograph.
The path on the right of the above photo is the same as the path on the left in the photo below

and here's a close up of my laundry *grin*

That's right... it's outside LOL and what a view I have! Was pretty nice to be able to pull the towels out of the machine, spin around and hang them up

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Pulling it all back together

For the last 9 weeks life has been very much upside down... we found out we were 'being asked/told' to move out of where we were renting. It took us a week over that and then we gave 4 weeks notice... they'd given us the 120 days they were legally required to. We chose to leave earlier so we could stop paying rent and thus be able to pay for the move!
So then 4 weeks were spent packing, cleaning etc. Down to the very last minute too.
Then 3 weeks 'floating'.... 2 weeks house sitting in the city at my BIL & SIL's house while they were in Europe and then another week with friends here locally in Knox and then yippee of all yippee's, we were accepted for a house and we've been here for almost a week.

And as of today, I have full internet access!! This is important as I am a rare one that gets more done with the internet being a part of my day :o)

We only have about 1/2 of our things here... many boxes to come... and a cat

I soooo need to get everything back on track. As you'd imagine, little formal education has taken place over this period. Much learning of course, just not the things we class as 'bookwork'.

We have had some fun. Learning to live with less. A trip to the museum. The loss of an old friend - and the children finally getting through this happening, what a 'bad day' actually is... the loss of a young friend through drowning and many more tears... lessons in decluttering.... many many kilometres on the road... city traffic at 6.30am... sausages in bread becoming 'cooking from scratch'... getting over takeaway... an art sale and crafting workshop... a tupperware party... learning from one of the most relaxed mothers I have ever seen... learning how much 'being unsettled' the children can cope with... getting sick, all of us; I believe as a result of the poor 'on the go' diet we were on... more time to play with friends...

So now almost back into real life!
This weekend will be church, a meeting at church, Pete helping a friend move house, heading to Geelong to collect our dear Minty (cat) and picking up my NEW DEHYDRATOR... and some more unpacking :o)

I am soooo loving being in my own kitchen again.... loving the cooking... even better will be when the big fridge arrives!

I had also just started M.O.T.H. before the moving saga began, I am really looking forward to getting back into it... and getting into M.O.T.Chores

Sick Day Plans

I'm a mum. A SAHM. Who's going to give me a sick day?!

Ha! Not likely you say?

I rarely ever get sick but was thinking about this after a Face Book friend commented on her hubby being sick and that him being unwell was as unpleasant as being ill herself! I'd say this goes for most men. Some won't ever take a day off when 'sick' but it's a rare man who won't let you know about it!

Well, no one covers my work load if I get sick right? I don't have a mum or MIL that just pop in to help out as many of my friends do, So I've figured I need to get prepared myself! In fact the one time I've had kids and asked a family member to come and feed my toddler her dinner I was asked 'is it really needed?'. Can I tell you how much that HURT! (When a woman asks for help - she NEEDS it!!!! Most can't ask by the time they're desperate!! When someone asks you for help, please trust they need it unless you see a pattern that says otherwise) So yeah, not much by way of help around here.

Anyway, things I am going to get ready...
-Casserole in the freezer for this purpose only so dinner will be done with about 2 minutes effort.
-DVD kept back from the kids, ready for them to watch when I need to rest (a long one!)
-Print out some puzzle pages, cut & paste and colouring sheets for the kids
-Make a note of Audio CD's we have on standby so I'm not doing a read-a-loud
-Keep some healthy instant snacks on hand so I'm not caught out needing to bake
-Get a loaf or two of home made bread in the freezer also for the above reason

I know some mums are organised like this for the first couple of days of their period each month; I'm blessed not to need that but every now and then I'll be unwell or am just plain exhausted and the above will help keep the family running.
I already keep up on the washing so we're never more than a load behind and I'm working on that with the ironing!

What do you do when you're not well enough to carry on as usual?

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My housekeeping skills are just fine, Thank You Very Much!!

Ever been offended by something your husband has done? Most of you will have experienced this, I am sure.
I'm now learning that the best way to solve the offense, is for me to chill out and put my rose coloured glasses right back on! The ones I wore when we were dating - if you know what I mean. The days when we excused them almost anything :o)

For months, maybe even years and I've just not thought about it till now... I've been driven nutty (note I'm not saying he's driven me nutty, please), by hubby asking 'when is the last time the towels were washed?'
My internal dialogue... "who cares when, just trust that I'm doing my job, they're clean and you're not going to catch anything!" (btw, I know some wash towels daily, here it's a weekly-ish thing... and that's quite normal among people I know). My external dialogue was rather grumpy too... you know how it sounds when we assume we're being criticised (eek)

I was taking his straight forward, simple question as an inference that I wasn't washing them often enough.

Can you see how ego centric this was of me? Nuts I tell you, NUTS!

Then one day last week, the light bulb went off.... hubby was not criticising my work. It was a genuine question, based on me doing my job 'too well', if you will. He just wanted his towel to be clean.
Most of our towels are the same colour. So if I wash, dry, fold and return it to his to towel rail - is it going to look like I've cleaned it??? *NO*!!!!

I've solved the problem.

I've changed my thinking, and my approach.

I decided I could just lovingly answer his question when asked, or I could remove his need to ask.

I did the latter.

Now, I wash his towel, and replace it with one of a different colour. Instead of hanging on his towel rail, I place the fresh towel, folded on his side of the bed.

What about you? Anything come to mind? Pray that God will show you any innocent situations where you need a new attitude so you can get those rose coloured glasses back on and instead work on you... he's really not out to annoy you!

Last Evening

Last evening I spent a lovely hour with Melinda, getting things done around the house. We baked bread, hung washing and put Timothy back to bed a few times. I aim to keep these times happening with her. There is and will be so much value in maintaining our times of conversation with each other.

I've been using a clothes rack to dry most of our washing since moving in here 9months ago
Not so great for sheets or outside in the wind!

Today Pete strung up a clothes line for me - Yippee!!
and, as you can see, I put it to good use right away. Melinda passed me clothes and we chatted as we worked. The photo is a little dark as the sun has already gone to bed :o)

Here is the bread we baked - It's called Cuban bread and I reckon it's a foolproof recipe. I don't have a mixer or a bread maker, it's all by hand here so foolproof is good.

Fresh and warm, ready to eat


and some Anzac biscuits I made during the afternoon

Time flies

Wow - 3mo since I have been here!! Procrastination is my middle name lol, thought if I didn't pop in here now, it may never happen.

What am I up to? Lots!
God has blessed me with a family to cook for.... the story being that I have been greatly frustrated by the systems that are required in large churches (and most are large by my count nowadays). The systems of put your name on the list of you can cook a meal for someone that needs it. The system of if you need a meal, call us and someone on the list will do a meal for you. Yeah right - I am so stressed/ill/work out/depressed that I need a meal from someone else... I can almost guarantee it's still easier to cook my own meal!!!!
Anyway... with this I decided I would use my gift of cooking/hospitality outside the systems and prayed that God would bring the people to me that needed to be fed. And He has.
I am humbled, grateful and blessed.
It is such a joy to be able to serve God in this most basic of ways. *teary*

Home education... is such an inspiring journey!
We experienced a great home education conference in October and it was lovely to also have the opportunity to meet with like minded people there. Looking forward to another next year already!
The children have been finishing up a number of curriculum's and moving on to the next ones. They love doing this and I enjoy seeing the progress they've made.
We'll be starting memory verse lapbooks this week, inspired by a new dear friend sharing her idea on facebook and I am gradually becoming more disciplined in doing/starting the home ed day with bible and prayer - which is so important but so easy to not do!

Nathaniel asked God to live in his heart this last month - only days after I had read about keeping note of when it happens so that you can reinforce it over the years... anyone else out there not be 100% sure if you did it, did it properly and thus repeated the same thing a number of times? This shouldn't be!
Anyway, it was in the middle of a home ed lesson and he noticed the letter 't' looked like the cross that Jesus died on... the conversation went from there and I immediately wrote it down and the prayer he prayed. Such an exciting step in his faith journey.

On the home front... I get better and worse with my homemaking every week, *sigh*
I need to force myself back to flylady and get the routines in action again. I love that Pete is home and works from home but it is so hard to have the strict routines that work best for me when that same drive isn't in the other person. Not to mention that the MS makes focus so much harder. Ah well... I continue to grow.
Speaking of which... family breakfast time right about now and if I don't get up and get doing, the day will be undone!!

I love this quote

I Work For a King

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

What does your week look like?

I don't mean your schedule, events etc. What do I mean though? I guess I mean your sanity, your motivation, your sense of order and organisation.

I have a theory... based on what happens here, what I read of other people and just because. Just because it makes sense. To me.

Monday - The start of a new week. Planned, focused and organised
Tuesday - Because Monday was good we think we have it under control and Tuesday seems to just cruise
Wednesday - Because we let Tuesday cruise, there's a whole bunch of stuff that didn't get done. Add that to Wednesday's tasks and it's overwhelming, so not too much gets done
Thursday - We realise the week is almost over, so we get focused on some key tasks
Friday - Our last chance so we either spend the day as headless chooks to cram before the weekend or we throw up our hands with a 'why bother' because it's just not going to all get done.

Please tell me it's not just me...

The key day for me is Tuesday
Tuesday is the tipping point
Do Tuesday right and I can hold the week together
Don't do it right and the whole week can unravel

What day is your undoing?

3 Months In and Counting

It's been 3 months this weekend since we moved in here.
It's amazing how much can change in that time, and change many times at that!

I finally have a business routine happening - which is the most stressful, when it's not happening.

Homemaking is okay - it has it's ups and downs. We've just added a work table to the loungeroom for the children and hubby and I can already see the benefits. Being a work at home, home education family means we are pretty much all here, all the time. We need to not drive each other crazy LOL.
Well, the loungeroom wasn't getting used much - maybe 30mins a day for TV and once a fortnight when having friends over. Not much considering it's about 25% of our floor space and 50% of our living space!
I believe this addition will help me be more organised but only time will tell. More organised means more than one spotless room at any one time LOL

While I decided more than 7 years ago to home educate, this is our first 'real year' as dd is 6, almost 7 (school year here is same as calender year) so we've been finding out what works and what doesn't. I'm settling in to being happy with our chosen curriculum and knowing what to add and what not to add. I have worked out that my best business time is morning, and so home education is about to be an afternoon thing - we're taking a couple of weeks off at the moment, to prepare business for while we are away.
I feel that we're ready for more consistency once we're done with this break and I look forward to it.

Meal planning & shopping - is wonderful. We are all eating more fresh foods. I do need to sit down and write a meal planning list as there are so many more options that I keep forgetting about. As I type I can smell a chicken roasting in the oven... I am determined to do it myself for $6/chicken instead of $11 when cooked by the supermarket. Roast chicken tonight, chicken pie tomorrow and then chicken n corn soup on Monday.... LOVE roast chook!
The cost of 5mins to do a roast chook for a savings of $5 is like getting paid $60tax free an hour!

Exercise - I need to get back into it. I was walking 3 x a week for a month but with the colder weather, it has dropped off. I need to focus on this.

Water - am drinking lots but need to keep my focus on it as it's easy to stop doing!

Money - we are doing so much better with this, however there is still room for improvement. I need to take a look at next month's finances and work out what cash we need. We're slowly moving to cash shopping etc. This month petrol has been cash and it's working well.

Goals other than mentioned above....
I want to have the kitchen, dining & lounge all tidy asides from what is being used at the time.
This year, maybe for Christmas, maybe sooner? I'd like to buy a sewing machine so I can better care for my family.
Debt. I'd like to halve our debt between now and Christmas.

Hmm... yes.... all is good in the House of Bogwitz :)

The bread I've been baking

Say NO to Gadget Clutter!

In my endeavours to be clutter free PLUS create a warm and welcoming home for my family - all at the same time, I am finding that while I am getting rid of boxes of 'stuff' to the op shop - there are still items I am considering on adding to our home!

I am being careful though and am discovering that there are some gadgets that IMO are just not worth having take up space! Our society has become gadget and 'stuff-a-holics' and we're easily conned into buying what we don't need.

2 in particular come to mind at the moment... a sushi maker and a bread machine.

I'd never made sushi but then watched a friend make it - with a gadget that helped get it right... a lot simpler than the one I've pictured here. I thought of course 'ooh, I want one'... but decided to give it a go the traditional way first. What can I say... it was faster and simpler and a whole lot less cleaning up without the gadget! Yay - I can keep the empty shelf space and the cash!

Bread machines... have been all the rage. Most people I know use it a few times then it gets sent to the cupboard for the odd time they use it - or loan it out to friends or sell it on ebay LOL

Well, I have been experiementing with bread recently and can't think WHY I would want to clutter up my home and deplete by cash just to have a bread machine!
I have a recipe that takes no more than 10mins hands on for baking. It only needs less than a minute of kneading and you can make it any shape you like!

Why oh why would I want a bread machine that requires storage, dusting and an initial investment when I can make 2 loaves for $1 in less than 10mins hands on???

A harmonious and productive home is uncluttered.... pass the sushi maker on!

Live Purposefully

"So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins, such as violence and cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects, that too little attention is paid to the passive sins, such as apathy and laziness, which in the long run can have a more devastating effect." Eleanor Roosevelt

"Look carefully then how you walk!
Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but
as wise - sensible, intelligent people; making the very most of the time - buying up each opportunity - because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-17

Music Gets It Done!

I've found 'our' CD at last... one we had but hadn't used for this purpose.

Let me rewind...

There's a lot of home making jobs to be done at our place... more than the average family. Because we actually live here LOL
We educate here and we work from home. And contrary to popular opinion, having hubby working from home does NOT decrease the workload for me, it increases it. Somethings are definitely more manageable but over all, it is an increase in work to be done. Same as having the children at home with me versus at an institute for education. They make their mess here, not there LOL.

My aim as a parent is to raise godly children that are a blessing to others and that can manage their own homes with excellence, once that day arrives.

To this end, the children are a part of the daily home making jobs. I have a 1yo... a little too young still, but not for long. My 5 & 6yo's are plenty old enough though!

We start the day with our jobs and this is where the CD comes in: Today I added in a CD - and when the CD is done, we're done.
We used Andre Rieu 'Fiesta'. One I bought by recommendation of flylady, so I should have known long ago that it would be great for this purpose!

In the hour the CD was playing (nice and loud!) we got a lot of things done.... table cleared and wiped, floor wiped and swept, DW emptied from last night and re stacked with breakfast, all beds made and rooms tidied, dirty wash collected and a load put on, yesterday's washing all folded and put away, benches wiped, the cat food area cleaned up, carrots peeled and then dinner 1/2 cooked, curtains and blinds opened, rubbish bin emptied and re-lined. Our whole list and a little more. When the CD stopped, we stopped.

So as of now - this is our home making jobs CD!

My Sunday at Home - asides from a slipped disc that has kept me bed ridden much of the day was spent doing this ... a productive evening is better than nothing!

Before:



















After (duh!):