Cleaning schedules

Young Girl Cleaning and Tidying


I have been a long time follower of Candy's blog, http://www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com/ and I'm happy to see that she's in her new home and blogging again! Yea, Candy!

Today she posted about her cleaning schedule and how it works for her. I have purchased almost all of Candy's e-books and they have all been very informative, helpful, and inspirational. And one thing that she has mentioned was to find a system that works for you.

I have tried a day by day schedule, but for our home and family that just didn't seem to work for me. I made the HMB (home management binder) and it came out great, but after some time, I found that I still needed to simply my cleaning routines.

Having five children, here's what's been working for us:

The youngest is only one, so he's not in on chores yet, but for the other four, here are their responsibilities (ages 13, 10, 7 and 7):

Each child does their room chores each morning.
-make bed, put any laundry away, straighten up room, bring down dirty laundry.

Then their big chores are:
-Two little ones--- take care of sorting and bringing up everyone's laundry. They love this! Long ago, I got rid of folding. We did it for so long, but by the time the folded piles made their way upstairs, a stack (or two) inevitably ended up falling over, thus wasting so much time and causing a lot of frustration. Instead, they just "throw" the clothes into piles for each person, bring them upstairs, then the following morning each person is responsible for folding and putting away their own clothes. Works very well for us. I do one load of laundry per day, alternating one dark load, then one light. Sometimes I'll need to do an extra load or two each week to account for unexpected washing or extra stuff (wet towels from yard play, nose bleed in middle of the night--dd #2, etc.)
-Two big girls---kitchen duty. Basically assisting me with clean-up, including scrubbing pots, loading/unloading dishwasher, wiping down counters, putting away leftovers, etc. They also take care of garbage and recycling.

Shared chores with me:
-vacuuming (they all love to vacuum), sweeping, wiping down appliances, wiping windows, mirrors, etc. We do these on more of a weekly basis. Sort of the "Saturday" clean-up. Or it becomes a mid-week big clean when we're expecting guests.

Overall, I have reduced the number of toys downstairs and relocated them to their rooms and to the play space in the attic. Really helped in our living area. Now we just have the baby's toys downstairs, wooden blocks, a couple of child-safe games, and knitting supplies. Moving all choking hazard toys and games upstairs eliminated the stress and worry to constantly be making sure that little pieces weren't misplaced.

So, with our system our house is usually company ready in a moment's notice. Maybe not upstairs all the time! That area is a challenge for me. You know how it is...as soon as you're out of site, little ones want you. I can't seem to be able to really spend a whole lot of time upstairs otherwise my little guy misses me!

One of my biggest jobs is clothing transfers. I have saved all of my daughters clothing from when my oldest (now 13) was a baby. I took very good care of their clothes, so we got to reuse mostly everything. Now that our youngest dd grows out of something, I am now getting rid of stuff. So strange...after all these years, to pass on something that has seen so much play. Then to pass on my little guy's clothing after only a couple of months as he grows into the next size feels so alternately strange. We're kinda sure that we're done with planning for any more children, but if the Lord chooses to bless us with another child, He would provide for the clothing as well. We have always been overly blessed in this area, receiving bags and bags of clothing from friends. Anyway, the big season transfer of clothing usually lingers on for a week or two, depending on how much I can get done between homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, nursing, etc. etc.!

We occasionally use Choreganizers as well. They love the novelty of the cards, but sometimes, if you can believe it, they spend way too much time doing their chores! I need to get on with our day so I'll eventually return to a more simple routine. Their main chores of kitchen detail and laundry, then clean as needed works most of the time. Summertime I sometimes go back to the Choreganizers.

Hope this helps someone!
May the Lord richly bless your day,
Lisa

Makeup Design by Lisa

Summer Blossoms IV

Well, I've been busy ordering products for my makeup kit. Most of the makeup I'll be using will be Pure Skin Minerals from www.littlestuff4u.com . Sandra is great and her products are beautiful and very affordable. She was very willing to work with me to get this done. Just have a few more notecards to fill out offering makeup to the six families getting married in our church. I just got my business cards on Friday, so I'm almost good to go!

This morning in my women's Bible study, we were discussing the topic of self image and how as women we face the challenge to not focus outwardly or to base our self image on the way the world views beauty. There is a study by Laurie Cole whom I saw recently on Life Today that I would really like to get. It's called Beauty by the Book, found here: https://www.priorityministries.com/shop/prodcategory.php?c=22
It goes through all of the women of the book of Proverbs, not just the Proverbs 31 woman that Christian women are so familiar with. I have heard many a Christian woman sigh with exhasperation at the high goals of the Proverbs 31 woman, that she sounds too perfect and not obtainable, but I disagree. Why shouldn't we as Christians strive for the very best? Sometimes we settle for good when the Lord has his best waiting for us. Wouldn't that also apply to our role models? Why would he give us a mediocre woman to aspire to? Anyway, I think this would be an interesting book study to do at this time in my life of returning to the field of makeup. Keep me focused. Maybe I can bring some of what I learn to my clients, helping them to realize their true beauty in the eyes of the Lord.
May the Lord truly bless your day...
Lisa

One of my first loves...

Victorian Girl Putting on Eye Makeup
I have decided to return to doing bridal and special occasion makeup. I received my cosmetology license about fifteen years ago and had worked for years in salons doing hair and makeup. But since having children and choosing to stay home, I have left salon work and only did brides and prom makeup when requested. Well, I have been pondering and pondering for the last two years about having a home based business but I just couldn't figure out selling what. I wondered recently why I was trying to reinvent the wheel. Makeup was always my first love of occupations, prior to being a mama of course! So, I'm going to establish an LLC under the name of Makeup Design by Lisa and possibly sell whatever line I decide to go with. I'm leaning towards a mineral line, and today I ordered a starter kit from Bare Minerals. I'm very excited to try it as I am sure I am going to love it. I have been using a hodgepodge of makeup with some of it being mineral makeup. This is something that I love, that I am good at, and can bring in a little extra money. So I'm excited about this opportunity and giddy about trying out my new makeup when it comes in. I'll keep you posted about how I like it.

May the Lord richly bless your day,
Lisa

Gerberas I have loved...

Pink Gerbera I

There's just something about this flower. I first discovered them when I was picking out flowers for my bridesmaids' bouquets. I had found this great long simple dress from Betsy Johnson's in NYC. I purchased four dresses: one large, two medium's, and one small, with only one bridesmaid with me. They all fit the girls like a glove. It was a beautiful crepe material in a plum color with tiny bunches of flowers dotted here and there. I know that one of the flowers was a pale blue so our florist had suggested a gerbera daisy in light blue with some other flowers mixed in for their bouquets. I just loved them. So cheery. Classic shape for a flower really. Something you draw as a child. The round center with the long spear-like petals. But I love all the colors that gerberas are available in.

The next time I used gerberas was for our first daughter's first birthday. We heard about a great photographer in the town we lived in so we had a photo session for her big day. I purchased a half dozen or so of hot pink gerberas to match the dress she had on and with a clean white background. Well, they were just beautiful photographs.

I had forgotten about this simple childlike flower and how it has appeared in my life on occasion until I found this photograph. I'll have to see how they will mark another special day for me.

My current knitting: with my little guy turning one this weekend, he steals a great deal of my attention during the day, happily so by me. No complaints there. I just have the evening to knit, so during this season of my life, I spend more time reading blogs, books, and ravelry about knitting than actual knitting. I can nurse him while I do those things, but knitting while nursing is getting a bit trickier than when he was an infant. Especially a lace shawl. Noooooo, no, no, no. I don't think I'm going to risk having it ripped out by those cute dimpled fingers. The shawl I am plugging along on is Wrapped in Comfort's Julia shawl. I need to finish and block by late April for a wedding I'm attending. My yarn is Lisa Souza's Petal (50/50 silk/merino) in the Tropical Pink colorway. I'm also working on a simple triangle prayer shawl for a dear friend who just returned from the Mayo Clinic for testing. Next up is working on a sweater for my hubby, Sally Melville's Einstein coat and casting on for a pink pair of simple socks for me. I already have a lacy pair that I'm working on, but the color is very autumnal and I need to see spring colors! The other two projects are both darker colors, and I think I've decided that I need to have something pink going on at all times. I just have to.

Newest pink find...very cute pair of pink cordoroy pants from a thrift store. Score!

We saw the movie, Fireproof, last night. It was written/directed/produced by the Kendrick brothers. The same team that made Flywheel and Facing the Giants. Fireproof stars Kirk Cameron who plays a fire chief having marriage difficulties. Just love all three films these devoted, very talented and FUNNY men have produced. Go rent them if you haven't already.



May the Lord richly bless your day,
Lisa

Think Pink

I have been totally pink inspired by the Think Pink group on Ravelry. I knew I have always loved pink since I was a little girl, but I never really considered how often I prefer pink over other colors. So I decided to change the layout of my blog...to pink. I'll add pink photos as often as I am inspired.

My most recent favorite pink item...the two dozen pink roses that my wonderful husband bought for me last Friday. My love.

May the Lord richly bless your day,
Lisa

I stand corrected...

Well, it did continue to snow all day long, accumulating to a good 7 or 8 inches. Hubby said on his way in to work (he leaves the house at 1 AM), his car did a 360 (or even more!) on a nearby road. Thank you, Lord, that he is safe.

Well, enjoy the brightness of this new fallen snow. Spring will come in its season!



Purple Tulip

Seasons...

We got hit with another last hurrah of snow last night. The weather reports changed all day yesterday as to the timing of this storm, and truth be told, I was really expecting it to turn to rain. As I drove to a wedding shower yesterday, I saw some boys playing basketball with no jackets on and I'm thinking, "Snow? Today??" Naaaaahhhh. Well, snow it did. But not quite the dier foot of it that was possible. I don't mind it. Yes, I was looking forward to spring weather and looking for shoots of bulbs popping up through the ground. But I also appreciate the change of seasons that the Lord provides for me. We go through so many different kinds of seasons in our lives. We have seasons of friendships, some lasting only a day or so at an event, some lasting a couple of years until one of them moves away, and some that withstand time and distance to carry us through a lifetime together. We have seasons of trials. Where the Lord carries us through the difficulties of life. Seasons of proserity. Seasons of creativity. Seasons of solitute. Seasons of great spiritual growth. And seasons of the desert, walking seemingly alone. But we are never alone. The Lord promises believers that He will never leave us or forsake us. So when my little fella woke me up at 6 am, a little early for this lady, I went downstairs, enjoying that early morning strangely cast light, and looked outside. He has given us one more snow this season. Such beautiful white beauty. White as snow.
Take time today to give thanks to the Lord for such awsome beauty. Imagine. Such pure brightness coming down from the sky. Spring will come soon enough. In its season.
May the Lord richly bless your day,
Lisa