Doing it all

Sometimes people ask me how I do everything I do, or make comments like "I couldn't do what you do".  I have always been uncomfortable with these conversations, but never sure why.  Then I stumbled upon this blog post  about the great myth of having everything together and being able to "do it all".  People who comment about what I do must think I have my entire life "together".  Reality is so different.  The fact is that no one can do everything [even though sometimes I wish I could].

I thought it would be fun to list some of the many things that I don't do:
- I don't knit, I've always wanted to, but I don't have the time or patience to bother trying
- I don't play with my children nearly enough
- I don't exercise
- I don't get enough sleep
- I don't use my time as wisely as I could [I'm always choosing to watch tv or browse the internet over other things]
- I don't read enough [my growing tower of books I want to read on my bedside table is proof]
- I don't read to my girls enough
- I don't keep on top of my housework ... ever [my house is really dirty]
- I don't keep in touch of my friends/family the way I'd like to
- I don't remember birthdays
- I don't dust. Ever.
- I don't eat fruit [unless my kids are watching and then I have to]
- I don't keep on top of my photo albums [Miss 3 and Miss 5 don't have baby albums at all yet!!]
- I don't put the washing away until I run out of baskets [and I own heaps]
- I don't positively parent my kids the way I'd like

So while I have four children, keep busy running my home, helping in the classroom, leading bible studies, helping out at church, bake and cook from scratch, and sew and garden when I get the chance, I am far from  doing it ALL.  But that's okay.  I have a Lord & Saviour who makes up the difference for me in all the areas of my life where I don't measure up.  I am so thankful for Him.

menu planning

I have been menu planning for years.  It is one of the many ways I cope with my crazy schedule.  I like to plan at least a week at a time, but I prefer a fortnight, or even a month.  That way I can make my grocery list and I'll have everything I need in the house for each meal I've planned.  When I'm busy I just recycle my grocery list and menu plan from fortnight to fortnight or month to month.

Recently I was finding that having to refer to a handwritten list, or a note on the computer, was becoming a problem.  I kept forgetting to check it early enough in the day to defrost meat etc. so now I am using Google calendar for my menu plan.

Now I have added an additional calendar that is purely for menus.  So each morning when I look at my calendar I can simultaneously look at what is planned for dinner.  I am loving this.

Do you menu plan?  What tools do you use to help you?

Playing with my thermomix

I've finally had a chance to 'play' with some of the basic things the thermomix can do.  It has been great fun.  These are things that they recommend trying in the first month or two that you own a thermomix.  I've had mine for 6 months and haven't stopped using it, but just skipped over the basics [I'm not so good at following instructions... oops].  I have to say that I wish I'd tried these things earlier as we could have been eating them for 6 months!!

I've made my own butter:

 Made yoghurt [from scratch - SO easy]:

 And boiled eggs in this amazing little machine.

I have to say I am extremely excited. It will be fun to make flavoured butters and yoghurts from this point.

Ideas for school holiday fun

It is the winter school holiday/break now in Queensland.  Two [or three] weeks of no school.  I am definitely going to use some of the 75 ideas from this blog to keep the girls amused and have some fun with them.

I've also been collecting ideas on pinterest for us to do together. 

Usually I choose a few favourites, show the girls, and then they come up with a list of 10-15 activities they want to do too. 

I LOVE school holidays.

the decluttering bug has hit me

It started with the storeroom and hall cupboard.  Moved to the bathroom under-sink cupboards.  Now I've moved into my bedroom...

I was going to post a photo or two of my progress but decided that was just showing off.  Besides, the storeroom and hall cupboards aren't looking quite as good as they did a week ago...

I LOVE looking at a neat and tidy shelf or drawer!! I actually feel more relaxed.

I only wish they would stay that way.

It's a bit like our minds - they get cluttered up with all the stuff we're trying to remember, worries and stresses, lots of stuff that distracts us from what's really important in life.  God is waiting for us to declutter our minds, tidy them up, and fill them with His word.  That's the only way to keep our minds neat and tidy, our thoughts on what's important, and it's the BEST way to relax!

Do you like to declutter your cupboards?  How about your mind, is it in need of a declutter?  Have you read your bible lately? 

Christ is risen - He is risen indeed

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead - Hallelujah!!

Today the girls have an Easter egg hunt in the backyard [or we hide them in the house if it's raining], we attend church, and we spend time together as family.  No presents, no commercialism, no weird bunnies that have nothing to do with Jesus.  I love how simply we celebrate Easter.

My favourite quote about Easter is from a children's song:

He died for us to give us life, and to give us hope He rose.

Happy Easter.

He walks before me

In the busy weeks of the start of 2012 it has been difficult at times to 'be still'.  One thing is for sure, however:  God walks before me.

There have been numerous times when I have prayed, often in desperation, or worry for my sick child, or in panic.  Each time I have been answered, but not necessarily how I expected the answer to come.

Events that could have gone badly have not gone as 'bad' as they could have.  Circumstances and 'coincidences' have occurred so that the best outcomes could happen.  I have learnt more about trusting God, even when things seem to be going wrong.

I have been reminded again that every circumstance, every event, every person that I meet, all of this is forknown, prepared by God beforehand, part of his marvellous plan.

He walks before me.

Thermomix

I did it, I bought a thermomix. After deciding I didn't need one, I saw one in action back in November and I realised this machine is like having another set of very efficient hands. Boy, do I need another pair of hands some days!

I have to say that this machine is truly amazing. I have really enjoyed running it through its paces over the past couple of weeks, and I am making foods I haven't had time to make since BC (Before Children).

It makes a great gluten free loaf of bread, the best gravies and sauces I've EVER made, steams and chops, and much more in just seconds.  It sounds very cliched but I use it many times each day.  Seriously.  I have always preferred making things from scratch.  But now I really make things from scratch... I even mill rice and buckwheat flour in it!!

It has also driven me to clean and tidy the pantry... an unexpected makes-me-smile-every-time-I-open-the pantry-doors side effect!

How moving a pot saved me 10 minutes a day.

I rearranged one thing on my kitchen bench recently.  I moved the pot I put the chook scraps in to a different position - over my rubbish bin.  Until now, it was located near the back door, which was logical as it helped me to remember to feed them!!  However moving the scraps pot has made each mealtime cleanup MUCH more efficient.

When I'm clearing the kid's plates, I scrape the scraps into the chook bucket, put any rubbish in the bin, and then put the plates above the dishwasher.  Before this I used to walk across the kitchen to the door, put the scraps in, walk back to the bin, then stack the plates in/near the dishwasher.  The simple act of moving the scrap pot over the bin has saved me heaps of time as I'm not walking back and forth over and over and over.

I'm now on the lookout for other things that I can move or change slightly that will improve my efficiency around our home.  I'm especially on the lookout in my sewing room.  Can you see anything that has 'always been there' that you can move a little to improve how you do things at your place?

Back to school

My kids went back to school yesterday for the 2012 school year.  This is what I've been doing in the last week to get ready:

Washed, ironed, and labelled all the uniforms.

Sorted out the hair elastics, clips, headbands etc.

Covered and labelled all the books, lunchboxes, and other school supplies.

 

Named and waterproofed the school schoes.

Made pencil cases and library bags.

We have also practiced our morning routine for the last week of the holidays, to help Miss 4 with her transition to school this year.

What do you do to get ready for a new school year?

Practice with purpose

I have been teaching myself to play piano for a few years now.  I purchased a dvd course to learn at home, and if only I practiced, I would probably be where I want to be.  Recently I played piano at church [for the first time ever].  I was totally terrified, made quite a few mistakes [thankfully the band covered a lot of those up], and finished much more confident than I ever have been before.

I had forgotten how important it is to have a purpose for playing.  When I learnt musical instruments at school I was in the band or orchestra [depending on which instrument I was playing at that time] and that gave me a purpose for practice.  I find this with craft - if you don't have a purpose for the craft [eg. a gift, to use yourself] you really don't ever get around to doing it.  I imagine this is why I haven't scrapbooked in so long... I forgot the reason why I was doing it.

It is the same with reading my bible.  If I am reading because I think I 'have to' [like it's a rule] I will eventually stop because there's no purpose for reading.  When I read God's word with purpose, I get more out of it, and I won't stop because I see the value in it.  The question is then, how does one read the bible with purpose? 

I read the bible to learn more about God, which is the most important thing I can do in this life.  It is not a self-help book, I don't read it to improve myself.  The more I read, the more I realise it's not about me.  It's all about Jesus.  And getting to know Him better, by reading the bible, is fun, amazing, and life-changing.  Getting into the habit of reading the bible can take practice, but more than anything else in this life He is worth the effort.

FINISHING UFO'S

While moving into my 'new' sewing room, I found a huge number of UFO's I had stockpiled in different boxes in the shed. There is a huge amount of guilt associated with UFO's, and I did not want them hanging over my head as I started new projects in my new room. So I have been working hard at getting them out of the way. There were two bag-along bags I started out with last year, and never finished, one above, and this one here:

This bag has an alternate colourway on the other side:

It felt good to get these out of the way, they are stiffened with buckram, which I have never used before, so it was a great learning experience to learnn how to use it. I think I'm ready to use it to stiffen a hat brim now [which was my purpose for trying it in these bags].

UPDATE ON HOMEMADE LAUNDRY POWDER

I made more laundry powder today. I had enough for one more load. That means that my first batch lasted for 40 days.

Someone asked me how economical it really was to make my own powder so I went through the maths just now to check. As I've had the ingredients in my cupboard for a while [thinking I'd need to make more weeks ago] I couldn't remember what it all cost so I just went on to the Coles Online website to get approximate prices. I'm pretty sure my ingredients cost me less at my local IGA so this is probably an overestimate:

Sard wondersoap $2.50
Homebrand Laundry soap $2.17/pack of 4 so $0.55 each
Borax $4.30/500g pack [I use 1 cup = half of this per batch] $2.15
Washing Soda $4.90/1kg pack [1 cup = 1/4 of this] $1.25

So the batch of washing powder cost me at most $6.45 [remember I paid less for these ingredients, online prices are often inflated].

I wash 1-2 loads every day. Sometimes more than that. My last batch of homemade powder cost me at most 16 cents per day.

I'm impressed with that. I've made another batch today, and I still have plenty of ingredients for another 2 lots in my laundry cupboard [I stocked up on Sard wonder soap when it was on special a while back]. Our clothes are clean and we aren't being exposed to unnecessary perfumes and irritating chemicals, all while saving some money. I suspect Mr E thinks I've become a bit of a hippie, but I can live with that :)

A "quiet" couple of weeks

It has been quiet here on my blog for a little while again, I'm sorry about that. It's not been very quiet at home, hence the lack of computer time. Let's see, what have I been up to?
- baked 6 batches of brownies for a school fundraiser
- sewed 8 potato bags for raising potatoes
- continued to tidy, unpack and organise the sewing room
- baked cakes, muffins and slices for the family and bible study guests to consume
- helped Mr E build a papaya/banana garden out of the old trampoline frame
- sewed 2 eco shopping bags
- planted out my silverbeet seedlings, and sowed peas, spinach and sugar snap peas in the same garden
- collected, dried and planted an enormous number of paw paw seeds in the new papaya/banana garden
- planted out the new front hedge
- dealt with sick children... a lot...
Needless to say I sleep well at night!! Must try to post more often... keeps me accountable as I try not to blog a project until it's completed.

Organising my laundry [or I am obsessed with my labeller]

I have been organising cupboards non-stop since the school holidays started. Getting things out of the shed and back into the house, finding things not seen for months [or longer]. One room that was really bothering me was my laundry. Since the renovation it is an amazing room, and should have been amazing to be in, but it has been our dumping ground since January! It took a day and a half, but now it's beautiful again.

It all started because my new washing machine was being delivered this week. I needed to make space for the delivery guys to be able to get it into the room. And I didn't want to be embarrassed when complete strangers came into this most horrible messy room in my home.

To reward myself for the hard work on clearing the bench and floor, I started to organise my cupboards too. I love to organise cupboards, it's one of those things that brings me joy [strange, I know]. But a cupboard isn't organised to me unless it's also labelled. Otherwise it doesn't stay that way. I sorted the linen cupboard [above and below]: The overhead cupboards:

And the cupboard under the bench and sink also contains baskets and labels:

The funny thing is, now I have a lovely laundry, I've caught up on my washing, and I'm motivated to keep up to date. Having a pleasant room makes it easier to do. I hope this is a turning point in my love-hate relationship with the washing.

My favourite flower

I just took this photo. I couldn't help it. What a perfect rose. My daughter was given it after performing in a ballet concert on Saturday and today it has opened up. The colour is exquisite too, darker orange on the edges of each petal and a delicious apricot in the centre.

I know it's cliched, but I LOVE roses. I love the shape, the variety of colours [there's not one I have seen that I dislike], and I find the perfume intoxicating. Yesterday for our anniversary Mr E sent me this beautiful arrangement of roses. I am going to enjoy them for quite a few days as they open up. Just stunning:

I am planning a rose garden in our front yard. I have been researching them and found I need to prepare the soil well so it will take me a while to get to the planting stage. But it will be worth it. In a year or two I intend to be producing roses like these in my own garden. Ones with lots of perfume.

An Organised Pantry

Sometimes I wonder what I've been doing and why there's nothing to show for my time, nothing to blog about, and the house is just as disasterous as it was last week. I decided to sort out my pantry at the beginning of last month and I am proud to say it STILL looks good. This photo was taken after a month of maintaining it. I don't think I've ever maintained a tidy pantry for more than a week before.

But this time I went about it differently. I planned on paper WHERE everything would go [approximately] before I took anything off a shelf. It worked. I decided what my needs were [like breakfast cereals on the bottom shelf so the kids can get their own out; chocolate up high so only I can see it etc.] and planned around them first. My plan had a couple of blank spaces, but then as I sorted things I found I had forgotten about some items, or other things took up much more space than I thought they would.

I know what you're thinking: that woman has too much tupperware!!! I also have a lot of flours and other ingredients on my shelves no one has ever heard of [unless you regularly cook gluten free]. Years ago when I was struggling with how to manage a young child on a gluten free diet while keeping wheat products in the house for the others, I decided to colour-code my pantry and fridge. My dear friend CraftyMummy was a tupperware dealer back then and she helped me to organise it all. I've been buying tupperware since I first got married, she just helped me to add to my collection!!

Every time I wonder what I've been up to lately I open my beautiful pantry and remember I did this. Now I just need the motivation to reinvent a few other clutter holes [I mean cupboards].

Sewing Room update

My Ikea Expedit bookshelves are together and attached to the wall of my sewing room. My next task is to fill the shelves with all the sewing stuff that is spread around the house in random cupboards, on the floor of the sewing room and in the shed. Once I have floor space I can get my desks built.

I found a fabulous tutorial to make my own fabric storage boxes for my new sewing room shelves. I haven't been able to find anything that fits the spaces well, and I want it all to coordinate. So it makes sense to make them myself.
Here is the photo that inspired me to coordinate my shelving:

Isn't it gorgeous? I can only hope my shelves will look this neat and tidy all the time. I'm thinking my colour scheme will be pink and white... perhaps with a lime green accent?

RAISED BED VEGE GARDENING - FIRST ATTEMPT

Ages ago we bought this colorbond raised garden bed from Bunnings for the kids. We FINALLY put it together just before Easter, and the kids all helped to layer it with the required newspaper, manure, lucerne hay etc.

Mr E put in irrigation [we're hopeless at remembering to water plants, which is why nothing except natives have ever survived for us] then the kids chose a quadrant each and planted their area with seeds like rainbow chard, purple carrots, beans, and flowers.

In the photo above you'll see a plastic box sitting in the garden and one lonely plant:

This is a single strawberry plant that I popped in about 2 weeks ago when we realised there were no seeds left and there would be no harvest for the girls. The reason for the lack of seeds:

Now we use the plastic box to protect our one lonely plant whenever we let the chickens out. And Mr E is going to make a chicken wire screen or dome for the garden bed before we plant anything else in there!!