Thursday, December 27, 2018

The End of average

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/16/465753501/standards-grades-and-tests-are-wildly-outdated-argues-end-of-average?fbclid=IwAR35UISB_2-JtcLiZ6i-_NAeHNAtj3oLu-LURqxfXgVl2WTDDJGLGsdXUQ8

Interesting. 

Homeschooler have known this for some time. 

I have heard of children who taught themselves to read at 3 or 4, but couldn't really understand addition until 10. I've also heard of kids who could do multiplication of fractions at 5, but couldn't really read until 9 or 10. By the time the child is a teenager, you can't tell which was which. I have one myself who was reading at 4 and another who just didn't "get it" until 9. Today, you can't tell which is which, or even which of my 8 oldest would be in running for either. 

Humans are each a unique creation of the Master Artist. We can't be lumped into one big group.

Of course, our schools were not designed for each child to achieve their best. That has never been the true goal. They were designed to produce an obedient workforce of consumers that can't think well enough to through off the manipulation of the elite. 

But that's not the goal we parent's have for our kids. Nor, honestly, the goal most teachers have for their students. They were lied to in college; told what they were being taught as "the right way" was the best for the kids. It's not. 

The only way we can possibly provide out kids with the best is to give each one a unique course of study designed just for them. 

Only through homeschooling (which includes private tutors, co-op classes, community or college classes, apprenticeships, etc) can we succeed in giving each child what they deserve.  

Saturday, December 22, 2018


Picture the life you want, then remove everything that isn't in the picture.
When Stillness Calls Loudest—How to Minimize Noise


Christmas is the time to honor Jesus for coming to us to bring salvation. 

How does your season honor Him?

Or is it too full of stuff-and-junk to see the manger?

Exercise Is ADHD Medication
So, essentially, ADHD is "making little boys sit still and be quiet like little girls." Yes, I know girls have it too. I have a lot of symptoms of it myself. But its not like any of us in America get enough movement in our lives. And boys are affected by ADHD in far higher numbers. We need to quit acting like there is no biological difference between boys and girls and treat them how they need to be treated.
 
SIX THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BEING A HIGHLY SENSITIVE HOMESCHOOLER
I have often suspected that God prefers homeschooling more for the parents benefit than the child's.

When Stillness Calls Loudest—MInimizing Noise

Illness is getting better. Hope we are well by Christmas. 

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Momminess

A couple of good articles today for moms.

First, goals for your homeschool for next year. Yes, I aim for these too.
3 Resolutions

What I Wish I Would Have Learned Before I Began Homeschooling – Part Three: Boundaries with Ourselves
Ouch
The Kingdom of Mom


"When you take the free will out of education,
that turns it into schooling."

-John Taylor Gatto 
Author, The Underground History of American Education
Two-Time State Teacher of the Year
*The World's Most Courageous Teacher*

My goals for the coming year (most I have already started to aim for):

  • Draw something everyday.
  • Play music everyday.
  • Continue simplifying school so we can better focus on the big stuff

If I get that much formed into a habit, I will be doing good. I am looking into picking up a nice drawing journal to carry in my purse to help with the drawing one.

Monday, December 17, 2018

Fast Fashion and Uniforms

I once realized I needed to clean out my closet. I have to do this occasionally because it gets where nothing more will fit in it. So, I took everything out and sorted it; everyday tops, dressy tops, tops for cold weather, and so on. So overwhelming! How do you pick which to get rid of?

I decided to start with the no brainers, the ones I knew without even thinking about it that I wanted to keep. These were the tops I wore every week-ish. My favorites. After taking those out of the stack and hanging them up, I turned back to my stack to decide what to get rid of.

This may have been the only time in my life when I did an honest double take. I turned back to the closet and counted the everyday tops I had just hung back up.

22

I had No-Brainer hung back up 22 everyday tops.

How many everyday tops does a woman with a working washer and dryer in the house need? My mom always said 8, "One for each day of the week, and one to wear while washing the other 7 (she had near 100 in her closet when she passed away)." Now, I may disagree a bit. I run the washer everyday, so theoretically, I could get away with 3-4.

But the point is, I had more than enough already. I gleefully turned back to the bed, picked out one ugly shirt (for painting), removed hangers, and donated well over 150 everyday tops!

And I have never missed one of them!

A couple years later, I read several articles about people choosing "uniforms." This is not dressing like nurses all the time, but picking one look to represent who you are and staying with that everyday. You don't have to think about what you are going to wear in the morning. One less decision to make. (Why Successful People Wear the Same Thing Every Day)

I decided I would go this route, so I removed all the tops that wouldn't match a simple black skirt or pants. This equaled exactly 1, lol. Then I bagan shopping for those simple black skirts and pants. When I had found enough of them (3 skirts) at my local thrift store, I donated all the rest of my skirts except one simple gray wool skirt for the very occasional use. When I needed shoes I looked for black ones.

This means from the waist down I wear black. My tops (and Hair clips :-) are where my wild colors are. I always know my clothes match and I look nice. So much less stress! AND my clothes now only take up about 3 feet of closet space, nice and loosely hung. Hubby simplified his clothes years before I did, and so now we are selling our dressers (we're keeping one for undies), and buying bookshelves and a couple nice chairs for our bedroom. Since we are both bookaholics, this will be a much better use of the space.

What could you do with the space if you reduced your clothes to just what you actually need?

Who Says We Need Changing Fashion, Anyway?


Saturday, December 15, 2018

The Holidays and Life

"How does this honor Jesus?"

A rhetorical question I asked my dad the other day. We were discussing decorating for Christmas; dragging out all the boxes of clutter, the running around, and on and on. The fact is, it doesn't honor the One we Christians are supposed to be honoring if we are in slavery to the stress and perfectionism of the season. We are worshiping stuff, not the Savior.

Actually I've been becoming increasingly aware at how much SAtan has led modern Christians astray with materialism. How many people for example have told me "I can't afford a godly education for my kids" while living in a 2500 sq ft house and driving brand new cars and paying $200 phone bills every month?

Ah, yeah.

It is obvious what the real priorities are.

I've been reading a book named "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" Yes, I know this is an old book, but the advise is still good (though I disagree with his opinion of Robin Hood. A close reading will tell you that Mr Hood did NOT steal from the rich to give to the poor. He took money from government (and "church" which was part of the government at that time) officials who had cheated the people by levying exorbitant taxes and gave it back to the people. He didn't rob the rich he knew took care of their people and were fair to them. But that aside....) It makes me realize I need to put more energy into my own business instead of the direct sales company I'm with.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the product! One of the training points is always "Wear the product!" to which I respond, "Why wouldn't I? Why are you selling it if it isn't always in your hair anyway?" Duh.

This is the only direct sales company that has ever tempted me, and I really joined to get the 30% discount for myself. they don't have any monthly requirements and the annual minimum is so tiny as to be irrelevant, so its a great deal for me.

This last year or two, though, I have been trying to grow it as a business. But you know what? I may actually make a bit of a profit by doing this, but the REAL profit has been the marketing they have taught me.

It is time to begin applying that to my books, my church, and my herbal salve I make (and will soon be offering for sale :-) )

I have become a devotee of Flylady. It is really helping my house and other areas of life, to be honest. She constantly preaches that perfectionism is evil. It is the biggest barrier to us getting anything done and the cause of most of our stress. She is right.

And for our homeschool: The Minimalist Homeschool We can't be perfect. We CAN'T teach it all (no one can, even the government schools). This author recommends we pick the 5 most important things for each child to focus on for this year and let the rest go. SO MUCH RELIEF!

Some of today's articles I've read:

How to Strengthen Your Brain to Avoid Concussion The authors son recently fell and had a concussion. I am finding her information interesting.

Have you ever thought about not giving gifts? We give to our kids, my parents, and one friend (occasionally we send a box of cookies to my brothers). But that's it. We do the standard Christmas cards, but its only about 25 cards total. 

Why aren't the rich happy?
“The sensation of ‘being well-off,’” she wrote to me in an email, “is not about fulfilling a childhood dream of buying a sailboat or something; feeling wealthy is about comparison with others in your reference group. So the question is not what individuals want to buy, but what they feel they must buy in order to keep up their status.”

What if home education could be really simple?


Friday, December 07, 2018

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Re:



On Tue, Nov 6, 2018, 7:11 AM Betty Tracy <mrsbettytracy@gmail.com wrote:
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.
John 1:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.14.NLT
--
Mrs. Betty Tracy
Wife to Andy
Mom to 9

Secretary of the Internet for
Bread of Life Christian Fellowship

Independent Consultant for
Lilla Rose Hair Accessories

Tuesday, November 06, 2018

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.
John 1:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.14.NLT

Friday, September 21, 2018

Cogitations on endeavors

Did you know I have 9 blogs? Not counting the 4 I put together for the church to make the church's website, the one I set up for my kids to share writing on (which they don't use), or the one I set up to put family photos on to share with each other (which we haven't done.) Let's see, I have this one, as well as;


  1. Ministry of Mom
  2. Homeschool WWH
  3. Proclaim Liberty (politics)
  4. Bible Truth
  5. A Bible Commentary one (which I write in daily, putting scripture into my own words as a part of my daily devotions.)
  6. One on Health
  7. One on Herbs
  8. One where I talk about the hair accessories I sell.
I don't post on any of them but the Bible Commentary regularly. 

Why do I have so many? Well, I figure those who want to know about homeschooling don't really want to hear about politics, and those who want to know about herbs probably aren't interested in homschooling. 

But I'm not sure if that is really the best way to approach blogging. No one place really gets enough of my attention to be "me". 

So, maybe I should go to just one source for everything. If I do, it will likely be here. So, you all may be hearing more about hair, homeschool, life in general. I'm not promising, just thinking "out loud."

Wednesday, June 06, 2018

Skin Salve


I am working on a deal with an eFriend/distant relative for her to carry the skin salve I make.

I began making this salve shortly after starting to learn about herbs. It is based on salve offered by others, but my own recipe.

Have you ever heard Rhett and Link's "Rub Some Bacon On It"? A silly song extolling the virtues of bacon to cure whatever ails you.

I often feel like I am singing my own version of their song, "Rub Some Salve On It."

Rashes, cuts, scratches, burns, anything wrong with the skin, Rub Some Salve On It! It relieves pain and helps the skin heal faster. (This is done by providing the skin with the nutrients it needs to heal itself, instead of relying on the vitamin and mineral stores in the rest of the body.)

This last month we have found it works well on Chicken Pox, too.

Yes, Chicken Pox.

Personal Family information:


  • Hubby- had CP as a child, been blahhh for a month now.
  • Me- had CP while pregnant with child 2. Been blahh for a month now, especially bad today.
  • DC 1- had CP at age 2, suffering with shingles this last month.
  • DC 2- I was pregnant with him when I had it and he was vaxed at 1. Today he is in the worst day of CP, itchy, painful, but slathered in salve.
  • DC 3- Vaxed. Been blahh for 2 months now, though continuing to work full time.
  • DC 4- Vaxed. He had a couple of off days, but is fine. 
  • DC 5- Vaxed. She's ok
  • DC 6- Vaxed for CP. A few off days, but ok.
  • DC 7- Not vaxed for CP. Had a full blown case a couple of weeks ago.
  • DC 8- Not vaxed at all. Perfectly healthy. Not a pox in sight.
  • DC 9- Not vaxed at all. The first one to have polka dots. 
So, 3 with pox, 1 vaxed and 2 not. Very interesting. 

But the point is, my salve and oatmeal/chamomile/calandula baths are the only things bringing relief. 


The distant cousin (our grandpas were brothers) who is interested in my salve makes her living making soaps and lotions with goats milk (from her own goats). She sells at arts and craft shows, as well as online.

I traded her some soap for some slave a while back and she loves it! Now she wants to carry it for her customers too :-)

So, coming soon, Sugar Plum's Family Farm Skin Salve! (or whatever she decides to call it)
(created by Tracy Enterprises :-) )

Other $ News

I was able to get a booth space at Dayton's Oodles of Noodles event at the last minute. Like, the Friday before the Saturday event.

We had a great time and made a tiny profit. I really need to have about twice as much stock in order to make a real profit, but that can only come in time. I did meet some neat people:


One lady greeted me with "I want a Peacock!" (one of our most popular clips.) I got her her peacock!

RosieAnother who fell in love with Rosie, but needed one 2 sizes smaller than the one I had in stock. She bought it anyway and promised she would buy the right size later. She hasn't yet, but I saw her walk by several times with Rosie in her hair. 

A woman who fell in love with the ugliest clip I had (bought in a bundle of clips at Black Friday. I would never have picked this one out by itself). But in her hair it was stunning! Wow!

And many others :-)


Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Polka Dots for everyone

9 Thou will make a court for the tabernacle. For the south side the wall will be curtains of fine twined linen of an hundred and fifty feet long for one side.

10 And the twenty support pillars and their twenty bases will be of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their pegs will be of silver.

The "fence posts" are to be held together with brass and silver.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Bible Study-
Exodus 27- The Alter and the Court
Romans 7

Today's work in Romans 

From

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

To


18 For I know that the things we suffer right now are not comparable to the glory which He will reveal to us later.

19 All of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the children of God. 

20 For the creation was put under the curse, lost its purpose, not because it wanted to, but because of Him who has also given hope, 

21 Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the slavery of decay to the same glorious liberty of the children of God. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Hymn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
? recorded steps yesterday. Didn't wear the phone/

Well, a lot has happened for not actually doing anything.

We were supposed to leave for our camping trip Friday night, but Friday morning Joshua (who had been running a fever for the last couple days) woke up with polka dots. Chicken Pox.

So much for camping.

A little research says there is a chance Hubby and I are carriers (since we have had CP before and it's latent in our systems, just waiting to be activated), and there is no way in the world we want to spread this to the church, so we stayed home yesterday. 5 of our kids who are in no way showing symptoms went. My oldest who is just now feeling back on her feet from Shingles and my 7th child (Jackie-13yo) stayed home. Jackie had a headache and just didn't feel good.

The the car the kids took only had 5 seats anyway. (#2, Jim 23yo, was off training to fight wild fires)

Well, last night Jackie came to me with a large, painful lump behind her ear. By the time I was done researching that, she had about three pox started (painful lumps behind the ear signify swollen lymph nodes, meaning she "has a cold.") So, 2 down with Polka Dots, and Hubby was running a fever yesterday. Looks like it's going to be an "interesting week."

And what about the CP vaccination?

When I first became a parent I was very much for vaxing for anything possible. I also realized that as a stay at home mom I was the true "first responder" for any and all accidents or illnesses. So I set about educating myself on how to take care of any minor illnesses or injuries.

The more research I did, the more I ran across anti-vax information.

And the more anti-vax info I read, the more convinced I became that vaccines weren't all they were said to be. The science just isn't actually there, like we are told it is.

What with all the allergies we have to deal with (already messed up immune systems), and all the possible negative side affects of the vaxes, I decided to quit vaccinating my kids. By that time the oldest 5 were fully vaxed, the next 2 were partially vaxed, and the youngest two have had none.

(Most of these diseases there are vaxes for are actually very mild illnesses in the grand scheme of things, especially in healthy, well nourished, children. They really are just "the polka dotted flu." Oh, the child is miserable, of course. But I would much rather my child be miserable for a couple of weeks than have type 1 diabetes, more severe allergies than they already do, asthma, or any of the other "modern" diseases that have been on the upswing only since vaxes were introduced; MS, Lupus, Fibro myalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer [we now know for a fact the original Polio vaccine was contaminated with a virus that caused cancer. Polio is, in healthy children who are not given aspirin, a month long bad cough. It was the bad interaction between aspirin and Polio that caused the need for the iron lungs, not Polio alone. My mother and her brother who dies of cancer 20 months of so before she did, both received this vaccine], Autism [a major scientist from the 2004 "vaxes don't cause Autism" study was recorded on hidden video admitting that they lied. The study actually showed a 300% increase in Autism in association with the MMR vaccine.], or many others [did you know there is some evidence that obesity and heart disease are both caused by viruses? Meaning the immune system is malfunctioning not kicking these bugs out.]. All of these diseases are in some way malfunctions of the immune system.)

So how the population in the house stands is:


  • Hubby, #1, and I have all had CP (me when I was pregnant with #2. Talk about about miserable!)
  • #1 has now had Shingles (official medical sites say you only get this once, but eyewitnesses say otherwise :-(    )
  • #2-5 vaxed against CP, but #3 was very sick with a fever about 5 weeks ago. CP without the spots? Do the vaccines really just keep the primary symptom from displaying? How do you tell the difference between spotless CP and the flu? (I have read eye witnesses who have had times of unvaxed family members getting a "childhood" disease and the vaxed members having the exact same symptoms but without the signature symptom, i.e. spots)
  • #6-7 partially vaxed, #7 polka dotted.
  • #8 mildly sick about 4 weeks ago, including a fever, but going strong right now. Spotless CP or just the flue?
  • #9 acting like his fever is gone this morning (and it was last night, so it evidently hasn't come back). The spots are going away. 
So, how many will get polka dotted? How many will get the "flu"? How many will not get sick at all? 

And what about #2? I was 5 weeks pregnant with him when I had them, so did he get CP before he was born? Plus, he was vaxed for them. So where does he stand? 

We shall see!

Meanwhile, today is #6 (Jennifer-15yo) birthday! Yeah! We always take a day off school for a birthday. So maybe I can catch up on some stuff.





To Do:
  • Take Jennifer out for her birthday
  • all the normal chores
  • finish setting up the newsletters for the blogs I am doing
  • do a detailed inventory of my Lilla Rose stuff. (I have decided that I need to go back to a detailed inventory to better protect myself from accusations of credit card fraud)
  • switch my son's phone
  • finish prepping the beds for planting
  • list things with craigslist

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

  • Pull music for worship service
  • water my trees
  • make the puppy gates
  • Set up loyalty cards for BeST Clips 

5 Habits That Changed My Life In 2018

NO MORE FRIENDS, NO MORE WALKS, NO MORE HAPPINESS
The Bible says to abstain from the very appearance of evil. This is not a "What will the neighbors think?" kind of command, but, abstaining fro the appearance of evil usually keeps you out of the temptation to fall into evil. Don't know why this author didn't use this scripture, but otherwise, good article. 


Flylady often blames our mothers for why we don't dust, but I disagree. My mother never made me dust, much less "dust the right way," (move everything off, wipe the shelf down, put everything back after cleaning it). I think "dusting the right way" is just unpleasant work (like cleaning a toilet). No one enjoys it by the nature of being human. I do agree using the feather duster is fun, though. It makes the job much better. Oh, it doesn't get all the dust and what it does get a good deal is just wiped off the shelf onto the floor. But, duuhhh, dust first, then vacuum up what you knocked off. So much nicer. Not perfect, but nicer.

For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Moving for 10 minutes a day

I try to walk around the block everyday we have school. That takes 25 minutes (half of it is up hill, so slow). I need to find a way to get my moving in on non-school days.

Weekly zone focus:  

Master Bedroom
(You know, my "moods to clean" run about a week behind Flylady's schedule. I think the week of reading about doing a zone makes me want to tackle it. I may just set my zones to be a week behind hers and work with it instead of trying to focus on what she says.)
(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

  • SOS
  • Jenn and I are going out to lunch
  • Roast

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • Clean under the Master Bed (I have drawers under mine and I happen to know none of them need cleaning. We have only had this bed a couple months, so nothing has been in there very long. I will open each one to refresh my memory on what's in there, but I doubt I need to actually do anything.)

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

  • Monday - Declutter Bathroom Counters and Wipe Down
    27 Fling Boogie anywhere in the house (I'm hoping to get to the storage)

    Tuesday - Shine the Tub or Shower
    Hot Spot Fire Drill - Declutter those Flat Surfaces

    Wednesday - Declutter Items from the Medicine Cabinet
    Declutter 1 other area

    Thursday - Check Bathroom Supplies
    Declutter 1 other area

    Friday - Mop the Bathroom
    Declutter 1 other area

    Set your timers and then take a break when it goes off!
     My version that fits my house

"Do it Now."


"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 


Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Post settings Labels Published on 5/3/18, 8:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time Permalink Location Options

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Just in time for Mother's Day!


Oh, you forgot it was Mother's Day tomorrow? No problem! I now offer eGift Cards! Send it to mom today. It will be right on time!

https://squareup.com/gift/JVJE8QYB448KR/order

Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Today's Study and Plans

Exodus 22:5 If a man turns his animals loose in someone else's field to eat it, he shall give the owner of the field the best of his own crops as payment. 

6 If a wildfire burns up someone's crops, whether in the field or already harvested, whoever started the fire has to pay for the loss.

Destruction of property is not tolerated, whether accidental or on purpose. The one who causes the loss, fixes it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Bible Study-


Exodus 22b- Destruction of property, Witchcraft


Romans 6

Today's work in Romans 

From
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 

8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 
to

7 So then, is the Law sin? Of course not! No, I wouldn't have known what sin was if it wasn't for the Law. I wouldn't have known what lust was, except that the Law said, "Thou shall not covet."

8 But sin took advantage of the Law by producing in me every kind of coveting. For without the Law, sin has no power. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Hymn  Sweet By and By

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5399 recorded steps yesterday.

To Do:
  • Mount Never Rest (laundry) 
  • Pull music for worship service
  • finish getting the books closed for the month
  • finish setting up the newsletters for the blogs I am doing
  • switch my son's phone
  • order new eye drops
  • fix my display purse
  • weekly home blessing
  •  monthly printing
  • pay church bills

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

  • Got two of the newsletters ready to go.
  • got stuff posted to fb

Imagine Life Without This"The blessing and the curse of the human brain is that it’s good at adapting—to the good and the bad. Once it adapts, we’re used to what we have. Rather than being in awe of being alive, of having food, water, and shelter, we take them as givens. And then we want more."


For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Moving for 10 minutes a day

I try to walk around the block everyday we have school. That takes 25 minutes (half of it is up hill, so slow). I need to find a way to get my moving in on non-school days.

Starting Baby Steps
Flylady is taking this month to go over the beginning steps to refresh our habits.

Weekly zone focus:  

Entry way
(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

  • SOS
  • SOS
  • Polska Keilbasa

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • Clean and declutter the entryway

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

  • Monday - Declutter & Dust the Living Room
    Tuesday - Declutter the Entryway
    Wednesday - Declutter Items from the Front Porch
    Thursday - Declutter in the Dining Room
    Friday - Declutter/Detail Clean Anywhere in Zone 1 or 5



"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 


Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Monday, April 30, 2018

Today's Study and Plans


Exodus 21:14 And if a man borrow anything from his neighbor, and it is hurt, or die, while the owner of it isn't with it, he shall surely pay for it. 

If you harm someone’s property while borrowing it, you pay for it. If you borrow your neighbor's lawn mower to mow your lawn and it breaks while you are using it, you pay to repair it.

15 But if the owner of it is with it, the borrower shall not pay for it. It was hired and is paid for by the rental fee.

If you hire someone to mow you lawn and his mower breaks down, however, that’s the owner of the mowers problem, not the one doing the hiring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Bible Study-

Exodus 21c - Of Theft



Romans 6

Today's work in Romans 

From
4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 

5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 

6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

to


4 In the same way, my brothers, when you died to sin with Christ, you were freed from the Law. Now you are "married" to another, even to the One who is raised from the dead, so we can produce fruit for God. 


5 Because when we lived for the flesh, the sinful passions brought out by the Law worked in our bodies to produce the fruit of death. 

6 But now we are saved from the Law, since it is dead to us, so we can serve the Spirit in the new way, instead of the old way of serving the letter of the Law.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Hymn  The Nintey and Nine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3308 recorded steps yesterday. a lot for a Sunday since I don't wear the pnone.

Lots to do. Need to make some salve.
Friday we went to one of the local shelters to look for a dog. We prayed before going, and later, when we brought our old dog to meet our first choice, that God would help us get the right dog. 4/5 of the dogs were boys, and so no options (our boy dog is good with all girls, but only about half the boys, and we just don't want to chance it.) 

Half the girls were too Pit-ty for us. I know Pits can make great pets, but Hubby and I both think they are ugly. Not "so ugly he's cute," just plain ugly. 

I glanced at the little spotted female on the end, but because she was only a medium sized dog I passed her by and we seriously looked at a border collie X. Still not really a big dog, but bigger. She absolutely told Jiffy she was boss, and he told her in no uncertain terms there was no way he would submit to her, so she was a no go. We figure this was God's way of telling us she wasn't the right dog for us.

So, I went back to the little spotted dog (by little I mean she will only be about 40 pounds when fully grown). She is only around 6 months old and ran wild, malnourished, for her early life. She hasn't even been at the shelter long enough to be spayed yet. But, oh what a sweety! Just the right combination of excited to meet us and not quite sure of herself (so she won't be a bully). She even wagged up to Josh (6yo), but then got scared of her own boldness and ran back to the shelter worker holding her leash. 

But she is so small :-(

I thought about the mastiffs at the other shelters, and that my Hubby had said if we didn't find a dog we liked at this shelter, they were all having an adoption special and he and our oldest could go Saturday to one of them. 

But then I "saw" little Pepper Anne cuddled on the couch, catching movies with us, sitting with Jiffy in the front  of the van on a day trip, playing with Josh and Jane. I have never "seen" a dog with our family before bringing it home before. I have "seen" other things, and known that God was telling me which path to take, but never in adopting an animal. 

So what could I do? Even if she is small, she is a member of our family. I think we need her, and she certainly needs us. 

She visits the vet Thursday and we pick her up Friday. 

To Do:
  • Mount Never Rest (laundry) 
  • Pull music for worship service
  • finish getting the books closed for the month
  • finish setting up the newsletters for the blogs I am doing
  • switch my son's phone
  • order new eye drops
  • fix my display purse
  • weekly home blessing
  •  

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

  • Got two of the newsletters ready to go.
Imagine Life Without This"The blessing and the curse of the human brain is that it’s good at adapting—to the good and the bad. Once it adapts, we’re used to what we have. Rather than being in awe of being alive, of having food, water, and shelter, we take them as givens. And then we want more."

For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Making our Beds every day.

This is something I have done for a long time. It really does make the whole house seem cleaner.

Weekly zone focus:  

Living Room

(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

  • SOS
  • SOS
  • ? EEkKKK! I was going to cook up a turkey I have in the freezer, but I forgot to take it out yesterday. There is no way it can be defrosted by super time. :-(

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • fire Drill the Living Room

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

  • Monday - Declutter & Dust the Living Room
    Tuesday - Declutter the Entryway
    Wednesday - Declutter Items from the Front Porch
    Thursday - Declutter in the Dining Room
    Friday - Declutter/Detail Clean Anywhere in Zone 1 or 5



"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 


Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Friday, April 20, 2018



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Bible Study-

Exodus 20- Commandment #10: Don't Covet
Romans 5- Faith Brings Peace and Joy
Today's work in Romans 6
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

to

12 So, don't let sin rule your physical body, obeying its passions. 

13 Neither let any part of your body become controlled by evil, but let yourselves be controlled by God, because you are now alive instead of dead, and let your bodies be instruments of righteousness for God. 

14 For sin can not control you, because ye are not under the law, but under grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Hymn  Jesus Paid it All

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4885 recorded steps yesterday; 7366 the day before.

To Do:
  • Driving Lessons
  • Mount Never Rest (laundry) 
  • Start working in the yard and garden (when it quits snowing)
  • List some more books with eBay and mail what sells this week.
  • List stuff with Craigslist.
  • Decide on events for both the church and my business.  (:-) found some Facebook pages that will help this! May have one lined up for June 9)
  • Pull music for worship service
  • Make salve
  • Get oldest son's phone company changed.
  • grocery shopping

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

  • The weekly blessing
  • fixed the vent
  • ran important papers to town
  • took a friend out to lunch for her birthday
  • figured out how to add a second site and newsletter to mailchimp

Why Top Recruiters Are Almost NEVER Top Earners 
I decided a long time ago I wasn't going to be "that" family member; the one always trying to make sales or sign up downlines. 

Homeschooling for mental health
"Because how dare we suggest that dealing with bully torments and teenage cliques are necessary “socialization” required to raise whole human beings? That is like saying that being cooked in an oven is necessary in order to know how to heat up a lasagna."


For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Making our Beds every day.

This is something I have done for a long time. It really does make the whole house seem cleaner.

Weekly zone focus:  

Family Bath and 1 other room (Flylady is doing her guest room. I Don't have one, but I do have some things I need to do in the kids rooms.)

(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

  • SOS
  • SOS
  • ?

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • Shine your bathroom sinks

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

  • Shine your bathroom sinks



"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 


Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Monday, April 16, 2018


The New Testament "Ups the Anti" It raises the standard. Lust is equal to adultery, as is divorce.

Matthew 5:28 “But I say to you, That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

Luke 16:18 - Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery, and whoever marries her that is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Matthew 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, "Thou shall not commit adultery."

28 But I say to you, That whoever shall divorce his wife, except for the cause of [the misuse of sex, adultery], causes her to commit adultery. And whoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Bible Study-

Exodus 20- Commandment #7: Don't Commit AdultryRomans 5- Faith Brings Peace and Joy
Today's work in Romans 6
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
to
4 And so we are buried with Him by baptism into death, so that just like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, we should also walk in a new life. 

5 For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall be also be raised from the dead like He was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Hymn  For the Beauty of the Earth. This is a thanksgiving hymn. I think we will learn it in church.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
? recorded steps yesterday. Didn't wear the phone.

To Do:
  • Driving Lessons
  • Mount Never Rest (laundry) 
  • The Weekly Home blessing 
  • Start working in the yard and garden (when it quits snowing)
  • List some more books with eBay and mail what sells this week.
  • List stuff with Craigslist.
  • Decide on events for both the church and my business.  (:-) found some Facebook pages that will help this! May have one lined up for June 9)
  • Pull music for worship service
  • Make salve
  • Get oldest son's phone company changed.
  • Fix the dryer vent.

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

  • Nothing yet :-)


Why Top Recruiters Are Almost NEVER Top Earners 
I decided a long time ago I wasn't going to be "that" family member; the one always trying to make sales or sign up downlines. 

Homeschooling for mental health
"Because how dare we suggest that dealing with bully torments and teenage cliques are necessary “socialization” required to raise whole human beings? That is like saying that being cooked in an oven is necessary in order to know how to heat up a lasagna."


For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Making our Beds every day.

This is something I have done for a long time. It really does make the whole house seem cleaner.

Weekly zone focus:  

Family Bath and 1 other room (Flylady is doing her guest room. I Don't have one, but I do have some things I need to do in the kids rooms.)

(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

  • SOS
  • SOS
  • Roast

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • declutter the family bath (mine doesn't need it.)

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

  • declutter the family bath (mine doesn't need it.)



"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 


Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Exodus 20:6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments. 

The consequences of serving God also last up to four generations. I am still reaping the benefits of my God-fearing great-grandparents, in fact.

It is interesting that in my nutrition class in college the teacher told us that a mother’s nutrition before she ever even got pregnant would affect her grandchildren! How healthy a woman is when she gets pregnant determines how healthy her child will be, if that child will have the basic building blocks she needs to in turn produce a healthy child. I find it interesting that science is reaffirming God’s statement here that what we choose now will affect up to four generations later, and how much more affect spiritual things will have than merely physical!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's Bible Study-
Exodus 20- Commandment #2: Don't Worship Idols
and
Romans 4- Abraham's Justification by Faith
Today's work in Romans 5
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
to

19 For just like by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. 

20 But the law was given so that sin would abound (be made more visible). But where sin (is more visible), grace (undeserved favor) is even more abundant (even more visible).

(And herein is the dilemma of all Bible translators; do you translate word for word with adjustments for grammar, or do you translate the meaning? This verse translated literally from the Greek reads like the King James. That is an accurate translation, even accounting for modern grammar. However, taking the entire scripture into account, "abound" should be "made visible.")

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Hymn Written after viewing this painting.

"I (Jesus) have done all this for you. What have you done for Me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8152 recorded steps yesterday. :-)

Hubby took the day off yesterday and we rode a train. 

First, we woke up at 4:30 and drove to Reno to catch a Greyhound. The bus station only allows 2 hour parking, so we parked in a public parking lot a couple blocks away and hoofed it.

After a lovely ride to Sacramento on the bus, we had 1 1/2 hours to get from the bus station to the train station 1 1/2 miles away. I am impressed we walked it in 30 minutes! Most of the kids and I walk around the block before school most days, about a mile in 26 minutes, but Hubby and the boys with jobs aren't used to that. I think we were able to go so much faster because Sacramento is pretty flat, while we live on the side of a hill.

A small rest, and then instead of waiting for the shuttle, we walked from the station to the boarding area.

On the train, we walked from the last car to the snack bar 3 cars away, and back.

Such a beautiful ride! We drive the highway that sort of parallels tracks a couple times a year and the view is world-class-beauty. It's just gorgeous!

The train tacks a slightly different path through Donner's pass that is even more beautiful.

The kids had a blast and Hubby (a serious train fan, as well as a travel-the-western-US buff) got see things he has never seen in his life. It was a day to remember, for sure!

The train station was about 3 large blocks from where we parked, so we had walk after the ride.

This all added up, according to my pedometer app, to 3.3 miles of walking.

When a word ends in the symbol/phonogram "a" it says /aw/ (in my accent), the same sound in "father" and "water."

On schedule for the week:
  • Driving Lessons
  • Mount Never Rest (laundry) 
  • Weekly Home blessing 
  • Start working in the yard and garden
  • List some more books with eBay and mail what sells this week.
  • List stuff with Craigslist.
  • Decide on events for both the church and my business.  (:-) found some Facebook pages that will help this! May have one lined up for June 9)
  • Pull music for worship service
  • Finish Romans 5
  • Make salve
  • Get oldest son's phone company changed.
  • Pick up some chicks. (the "cluck, cluck" kind. All of our current ones lay brown eggs. The ducks lay white ones. So, I want some "Easter eggers," green-egg-layers. We have had some before, and the eggs are naturally green shelled.)

"The reality is, all our meals are eaten here, at this house, in this kitchen, at this table. Every crumb falls on my floor. Every dish goes in my sink. There is no janitor or cafeteria-crew. All the books, papers, craft supplies, science experiments, sports gear, shoes, coats, art materials, musical instruments … all of it is contained in my house. The same one where I live. The same one I clean."
I have read many a working mom saying "I do all those things the stay at home mom does AND hold down a job!"

No. No you don't. You send them off to someone else to supervise. Some one else who has a janitor to clean up after them.

A stay at home mom, especially a homeschooling one, not only does the teaching and supervising (babysitting), but all the janitorial work. Heck, the working mom even usually has a janitor to clean up after HER for the mess of the majority of her waking hours.

So, yeah, don't even go there.

Why did you have so many children?

For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Making our Beds every day.

This is something I have done for a long time. It really does make the whole house seem cleaner.

Weekly zone focus:  

Entry, dinning room, porch, and yard (Flylady's entry must be into her dinning room.)

AND Anti-procrastination week.

(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week) 

Today's Meals:

  • SOS
  • SOS
  • Roast and Taters

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • Scrub the stove

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

  • Declutter a kitchen cupboard



"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 


Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Friday, March 16, 2018

Snow! and pictures

Today's Bible Study- Exodus 4- What's in Your Hand
and Romans 3


Today's Hymn 
And there’s a nice youngster of excellent pith,— Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith; But he shouted a song for the brave and the free,— Just read on his medal, ‘‘My country, of thee!’’ - Oliver Wendel Holmes

5284 steps yesterday, if the app is working right. We walked around the block yesterday.

We woke up to 7 inches of snow and still falling.

Hubby's footprints

Joe standing by the snowman is 6'4"
 And since it's still snowing, the snowman is still growing...



We did go to lunch with Dad. He came into our town and met us at the closest fast food. This way my two boys who work evening could take us in their cars.

Didn't get a lot else done, besides school.

We will likely put the grocery shopping off until tomorrow. We are a bit short of fresh fruit and veggies, but we have plenty of the rest of food we will need for today. So, meh, why challenge the snow?


I am switching our "school year" planning from "our school year starts at tax time" to "Your school year starts at your birthday." I will spend some time working on that today, and should have both more cleaning time and more time for my business lessons.

Still on schedule for this week:
  • Mount Never Rest (laundry)
  • Decide on events for both the church and my business.  (:-) found some Facebook pages that will help this! May have one lined up for June 9)
  • List some more books.
  • Everything that needs listing on craigslist is outside, so not doing that today.
  • Need to mop the kitchen. The kids have this as part of their chores, but once in a while it just needs mom's attention.
  • The kitchen cupboards need straightening out. This will take half an hour to an hour.
When you can't afford to be a good mother
This hits so many cords. BTDT

Simplifying the Little Areas of Life

I have been grieved by several letters directed to Doctor Newton

Birth choices and their price 
I think most would be horrified to know how little true information is given to moms about birth, or how little of what we do with birth in the US is backed by science. This article was written by a lovely lady in Israel, but the situation is much the same.


Flexi of the Day:  




For my routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Get dressed every morning to the shoes.

Flylady began working with mostly stay at home moms. We SAHM often have the problem with this (I never have, but I understand why others do). It really does make a difference to get dressed each day.

(I am not going to wear shoes. I'm just not. Call me a rebel. I will wear socks when it is cold.)

Weekly zone focus:  

East end of the house (kids rooms and their bathroom.) Flylady calls this zone "main bathroom plus one other room" telling us this week to focus on stash-and-dash rooms/places. For me, that's the outside storage that needs listing on craigslist and ebay.

(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week) 

Today's Meals:

  • Jon (19) has decided to cook us all breakfast. Eggs and taters.
  • SOS
  • Stew

FlyLady Daily Mission

  • Mop the bathroom floor. (I did this Monday)
  • Spend 5 minutes decluttering the stash-and-dash rooms/places
  • Give yourself a spa day
And Flylady's essay for the day;

Dear Friends,

Several years ago when I began to mentor women on the internet I wanted to help them gain control of their homes and lives. My mentoring was not to teach them how to nag their husbands to help them around the house.

Many have complained that I don't understand that husbands and wives have an equal responsibility in keeping the home working. YES, I do know this. But unless your husband or wife is a part of our group, I can't help them. I can only help you. I don't expect you to do it all, but you can and many have. What about the single moms or widows that have to do it all by themselves? They don't have husbands to help. They have to take care of the whole home alone. Oh and I almost forgot the members, whose spouse is in the military and away from home for months at a time; Also the spouses that have to travel a lot with their jobs. The spouse left behind has the responsibility for the entire home on their shoulders.

What I have noticed, is that when the member of our group, albeit the husband or the wife, gets their routines in place and the clutter in the home is decreased, that they have found that the other spouse comes around and starts to help, so do the children. They start to clean up their "off limits" HOT SPOTS! You know the ones that if you even touch, will get you in HOT WATER!

Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition, as many of you think. I believe that this perception is hurting many families. Here is why. When we feel we are doing our half of the work, we automatically feel slighted because we don't feel our mate is doing his or her fair share. So we pout, fuss, or even go on strike. This is so silly.

Marriage is a 100%/100% proposition; Each person giving their all to the family.

When you do all that you can, you have done your best. When you sit at the computer all day, don't get dressed, and don't hit a lick at a snake (Southern for just do something), you are not spending your time wisely. All because your perception is, "Why should I clean up, it is just going to get messed up again!" or "He won't even help, this isn't my entire job! If he won't help then it can just stay this way, I didn't make the mess, so why should I clean it!"

There are many reasons our members to not get up and move. Most are just excuses. We all have the same number of hours in each day. Even members with several children are seeing progress. There are members with sickness that are doing well and there are members that work, either at home or away from home, that are seeing great progress.

So what is your excuse? Are you sitting pouting 'cause your spouse does not do his or her fair share? You can only change yourself and your own attitude. Get the mote out of your eye first. We don't give you permission to declutter your husband or wives things. Quit nagging and set the example by taking care of your own clutter first. As you set the example, by getting your HOT SPOTS clean, you are going to be so surprised at the changes in your family.

Are you ready to FLY?

FlyLady

    Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

    • Clean the tub/shower


    "To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

    "Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

    "Baby Steps."

    "You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

    "You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

    "Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."


    How about you? What's on your list today?

    Have a great day!

    I highly recommend Flylady.com