The Simple Woman's Daybook for the First Day of Fall!

FOR TODAY September 22, 2009...


Outside my window... cloudy, breezy and cool...59 degrees! Autumn is definitely making her presence known!


I am thinking... these allergy pills make me sleepy


I am thankful for... a good church, where the Word of God is preached strait and unapologetically and God's power is evident.


From the learning rooms... we're working on behavior this week..


From the kitchen.... dishes waiting to be washed..no dinner waiting to be prepared. Hubby's parents are taking us to Chuck E. Cheese's for Anya's birthday.


I am wearing... blue shirt and jeans


I am creating.... comfort for my baby girl


I am going... to Chuch E. Cheese tonight! I'm not too old to enjoy that kind of stuff, am I?


I am reading... nothing right now, I've got a long reading list. I better get started.


I am hoping... that I can sneak in a nap before I have to pick Noah up from school.


I am hearing... Strawberry Shortcake... We got Anya a video for her birthday and she wants to watch it all the time.



A few plans for the rest of the week... Besides Chuck E. Cheese, we have alot of work to do getting ready for the Rock-A-Thon.


Here is picture thought I am sharing:
My awesome Daddy! He got that hat in Ireland! He teaches 8th grade history, coaches football and track and sings lead in the gospel group, The Victorymen. I love him sooo much!!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Rock-A-Thon!!!

As some of you know, my husband and I own a bead shop called Stone House Merchant. We will be at the Tri-State Gem and Mineral Society's annual Rock-A-Thon at Joplin Memorial Hall this weekend. It's always a blast! There are a few people, like us, that bring beads and jewelry. There are tons of rocks, both finished and rough. And there are some that have the more precious gems and fancier jewelry. They have geode cutting and lots of other fun things planned! For more info, such as times and things like that, go here.You should definitely come by, say hi, and take a look at all the other great stuff they have there! We'd love to see you there!

Good Morning World!

I hope everyone is having a great day! I'm just dropping a quick line before I get to work on this house. Alot's been going on around here lately. Just trying to get things ready for the Rock and Gem show this weekend. Trying to get stuff ready to re-open our shop. And, of course, working on the house. Flylady's not going too bad. Although, I am having trouble keeping my lace up shoes on. Once it starts getting cooler, I will be able to do it. They just make me too hot right now. But it's coming, slowly but surely!

My son, the baby and I are fighting with allergies right now. That's my least favorite part of the seasons changing. Once fall gets into full gear and it gets cool enough to kill off some stuff, we'll be all better. Then we can thoroughly enjoy this beautiful time of year!

The biggest thing that has been going on has been happening inside of me...spiritually. God is working on me, and for once, I'm not trying to get in His way. He's teaching me so much! About myself and about Him. But that's a whole other blog post. I haven't even been able to talk to my hubby about it yet. He knows something is happening. but I'm not so good with the talking when it comes to something this important. The thoughts are scrambled inside my head. The only way I can get stuff like that straitened out is to write it down. So, soon, I'm going to do just that. My hubby gets to read it first of course. :) Then I will probably post about it.
Well, that's all I have time for right now. Have a great day!!!

It's that time again....

Some may call me crazy. Some may want to pelt me with loads of fruitcake and ice-filled snow balls.....but none-the-less, I have to say it....there are less than 100 days left until CHRISTMAS! Yep, you have found the online home of a self-proclaimed Christmas FREAK. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to enjoy every minute I can of Autumn......But Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year.......

Babysteps and The Simple Woman's Daybook

I'm starting Flylady's Babysteps today. I've started Flylady many times in the past few years, but have never stuck to it....because I don't follow the rules. She tells us to use babysteps so we establish habits, routines. It takes 28 days or so to turn something into a habit. So doing things bit by bit gets them in your head...they become routine. But when you go from no routine at all to a full-fledged shedule all at once...you crashand burn...And that is exactly what I've done, many times before. I know flylady's routines will work, and I want things done NOW. So I go all out...until I fizzle out...within a day or two. So I'm doing it right this time...although I do have so much catching up to do. So I'm adding just a little extra to my daily babysteps. Flylady says that you can do anything for 15 minutes. So I will clean for 15 minutes every hour.....besides the babysteps... So slowly, things will get in order and eventually, after I get all my babysteps gone through, they will become routines....and things will finally be in order around here. I'm so excited!!!

Today's Babystep or Babystep #1: Go Shine Your Sink! Gotta get it good and cleaned out....and keep it shiny, so every morning I have a shiny kitchen sink smiling at me!

If you haven't heard of Flylady before, you should definitely go check her out!!!

And now it's time for....

FOR TODAY September 14, 2009...

Outside my window... It's cloudy. The trees are gently swaying with the breeze. I'm wondering if it's going to rain

I am thinking... about how blessed I am...

I am thankful for... my husband, he is so loving, hard-working and handsome. My children, who can be, at once, both nerve-wracking and awe-inspiring. How could God have seen me fit to be entrusted with their love and care? My home, so beautiful, so very "homey". I am so immensely blessed!!!

From the learning rooms... still working on our ABC's and 123's

From the kitchen.... tonight I will be making a skillet dish of potatoes, smoked sausage, rice, onions and eggs, with green beans and biscuits on the side. Usually, my best meals are the ones where I just throw stuff together and "wing it."

I am wearing... stretchy denim capris and an orange t-shirt with a rainbow and butterflies on it.

I am creating.... a home. Where my children can grow into wonderful and strong members of God's kingdom...a home full of love and learning. A place where God is welcome, where He can come and dwell with us.

I am going... to continue working towards my goal of having my son out of public school by Christmas....it is not an option. God didn't give him to me so I could send him off for the government raise...

I am reading... nothing at the moment...but I am getting ready to go through our books and start making a reading list. We should be forever learning new things and what better way to do that than by reading and doing?

I am hoping... for the best holiday season yet!

I am hearing... Anya babbling, me shushing her because the baby is asleep. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week... just working on this house, plus church tonight and Wednesday. And our friends' house for some awesome fellowship on Thursday!

Here is picture thought I am sharing:

My sweet babies on the swings!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Give-Away @ Ponder & Stitch!!

My friend Amy is a very gifted crafter. She makes fabulous jewelry out of vintage found items and out of fabric.

She has two etsy shops but this one is closing so you better check it out while you can. Her new shop, Ponder & Stitch, is amazing! So creative! I would've never thought about making textile jewelry! You HAVE to check her out! And while you're at it, go check out her blog and enter her contest for one of her textile cuffs. You won't be sorry!

Thoughts on a Rainy Day...

I just love a rainy day! The soft gentle sound of the raindrops hitting the ground, the roof. The smell of wet earth and trees. It's so relaxing and refreshing. The only thing that would make it better is if my boys were here with us. But I do have my girls here and we're going to make the most of our day. A little ABC's and 123's. Some coloring. Some bottles and burping.

I'm also going to be starting my flylady rountines on Monday so I want to do a bit of catch-up cleaning to give that an easier start. I've gotten pretty behind on my housework this summer. So my goal today is to work on the house for 15 minutes each and every hour until hubby comes home. Starting now, that would give me 2 hours of cleaning, total. I think I could get alot done in those two hours! I can only do one load of laundry today though. Our septic can't handle much more than that when it rains like this. So a single load of must have it is. I'm behind on my laundry too. So, once the rain is over (supposed to rain all week), I will be doing at about 3 loads a day until I get caught up. Then I will be going through all the clothes to weed out what we don't need anymore. We have far too many clothes!

But, as I've said before, I have to be ready to take Noah out of public school by Christmas! And I WILL get it done! I've been researching different resources online and I'm getting excited! I'm going to be taking a more eclectic approach this year. Last year we just did the straight forward textbook/worksheet curriculum and we both got bored fast. I plan on using some of that too. But, I'm leaning more towards unit studies and unschooling. It will be like a structured unschooling. I have too many people that would protest if I did complete unschooling...my husband included. Plus, my son isn't the most motivated kid on the block. It's my fault. I'm not very motivated myself. It's something I've been praying about, and God is bringing me out of it. But I hope, as he gets older, I can turn it more over to him. Although he is a very inquisitive young man, so that is a good start!

Another thing we're behind on is our business. We were hoping to have our shop reopened by the end of this month and we haven't made any progress yet. Pat hasn't been able to do much because of being sick. Plus we have church 3 nights a week. But we have to get it ready. Plus the local gem and mineral show is also at the end of the month and we're not even close to ready for it. We paid for a whole booth this year instead of our usual half-space. This will be our 7th year there! I just now added that up. I hadn't realized it had been that long! It's always so much fun! And there are some great people there!

Another thing on the back burner is our etsy shop. We are getting ready to restock and reopen that too. We LOVE making stuff! Not only are we going to be making our beaded jewelry, but I'm going to be making more artist trading cards and some altered art. Hubby is going to try his hand at book making. He's done it before but he hasn't done it in a while. He also makes chain maille jewelry. And come spring, he'll have his lapidary equipment up and running. He also wants to learn faceting and silversmithing. And I want to try my hand at photography. So many hobbies, so little time!

Well, I guess I better get to work. Take care and God bless!!!