I think I am finally starting to get it together. A little. Un poco.
Yesterday B and I did a fun craft. Rainbow rice. It seriously was a lot of fun. I might have to make more. I got the "recipe" off Pinterest but made some changes and notes for the future. (see here for original blog post: http://shareandremember.blogspot.com/2011/06/rainbow-rice-garden-sensory-play.html)
The "recipe" is as follows: "I measured out the rice (4 cups) and put it in a Ziploc bag with about 2T of food coloring or liquid water colors (works great!) and 3 T of rubbing alcohol. The kids helped me mix the rice in the bags to spread the color. We put them on pans to dry in the sun."
I grabbed my little helper and we started making Rainbow rice. Could he be any sweeter?
B and I actually put 5 cups of rice in the bag and used 2 of the little teardrop looking bottles of food dye. They are not quite 1 T each. Even though it was less dye and more rice, they sure turned out vibrant anyway. If you want lighter colors, you could even go with just one of those little tiny bottles.
We did learn the yellow is so vibrant that if you put both of the dyes in, it will actually come out orange. So the second time we tried (really third after B turned my yellow into green the first time) I only put half of the yellow dye in and a lovely shade of yellow was born.
Because it felt like 40 degrees below zero yesterday, we decided to "bake" the rice, rather than put outside to dry it out. We put the rice in a pan, turned the oven to 170 degrees, and dried/baked for 30-40 minutes. Warning. Your house WILL smell like rubbing alcohol. At no point (once I took my head out of the oven) did I feel overwhelmed by the fumes. When the rice is dry, it will no longer smell like alcohol.
I just love the colors.
NOTE: You will make a HUGE mess. On the counter tops. On your hands. On your clothes. On your buddy's clothes. Be prepared!
With the crafting out of my system yesterday, and a great time at girls night out last night, I had a renewed sense of purpose this morning. Purge. Purge some of the things I have agreed to do. Purge some stuff. I started on my bedroom and was able to identify clothes to get rid of and I have almost an entire bag of trash. Phew. It is about time. I even got the two Christmas trees put IN boxes and one is even in the back of the van to put in storage. I was on a roll today, but had to stop as the three boys woke up, I had to fix dinner, and had a meeting at church. But I'm hoping that I was on a roll enough that it will carry over to tomorrow.
The good thought for the day? I am strong willed, when I want to be, and am typically not afraid to speak my piece. I know at times this is not a good thing, but for now, it is sufficiently good for me. God blessed me with that trait, I just must learn to use it for good.
In the Traver dreamland, day 38 has been six days long. I'm not going to lie. An absolute and complete failure of epic proportions. I just can't figure out where my day is going! I am a stay at home mom. My house should be neat, my children dressed nicely with their hair combed, dinner ought to be on the table at 6 when the hubs comes home, my Christmas decorations should have been put up on January 6, and my devotions should be done every day.
Wrong. My house is in an utter state of despair. Christmas stuff everywhere. Craft stuff everywhere. 14,000 toys. Everywhere. I can't seem to just sit down and purge.
My children are typically dressed, but not always appropriately. Breckin wore a hand me down CARS shirt to church today, hair all over the place because I can't seem to remember to call Stephanie for an appointment. But I figured it was his birthday, so what they hey, wear your CARS shirt, jeans with permanent mud spots, and crazy hair. Amberlie was well put together though, so that felt like a win.
If the hubs has dinner waiting on him, he would most likely faint. And if it was edible, he would be out for two days.
I got most of the Christmas decorations out of the house on January 7, so I was only a day late for Epiphany. But they are all sitting in the garage, still completely put together. Yes, I have 2 Christmas trees sans decorations upright in the garage. At least they are in the garage as opposed to the one still in my bedroom and the itty bitty tiny one still in my bathroom.
And devotions? I don't know how I missed it every single day starting with Friday. WHAT?
So yeah, no purging and no less of me but a wise young bird explained it to me like only she can. I have said yes to too many things. I know I know how to say no. I have said it before. So I tried to explain to her that I hadn't done that. I told her I am only working on... and... and... and... and... and... and... and that isn't including what goes on in my own home, like cooking and cleaning and all the other fun stuff. Like promoting trafficking awareness and fair trade. Like raising money for Hayley's mission trip/six months abroad.
Yep. She got me on that one. And trust me she is queen of busy-ness. She used to tell me she would sleep when she was dead. Well my wise bird has a wise bird hubs who helps her decide when to say yes and when to say no. I plan to really focus on that wisdom and attempt to apply it in my life.
So, I still plan to purge. I still plan to lose less of me. But I also plan to gain more of my time back to do the things that are important to me. My kids, my house, my sanity. So while I spend the next 33 days trying to purge my material possessions and clean my house, I plan to purge the "extras" from my schedule. As my wise young bird told me, " Just think if you say no to something, that is blessing someone else to jump into a role maybe they wouldn't have anyway." Wise words, young one. I'm gonna listen.
So here goes...33 days til my 42nd birthday. What can I do to lighten my load, bless others, and still serve my mighty God? I guess I'm on a journey to discover.
Peace out.
You know those days that are good days, yet they are epic fails? I always have them in the middle of a project. Like when I'm getting tired, or I need that big bowl of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup? Yeah, well I had one of those days YESTERDAY. On day 1 or 2, whichever, of the 40 days. Ha. I've never had it happen on the first or second day. I was doing just fine in the morning, accomplishing what I need to accomplish then 11 a.m. hit. I pick up Breckin at 11 and that pretty much stopped any and all forward motion. I did get a few other things done, but small ones, and I didn't tackle a room or a closet. I didn't get rid of a bag of anything. Although I do have a partial bag of trash started. I did a little crafting, but not much, finished nothing. I did get the living straightened up and most of the Christmas decorations removed. That's it. Mondays are my lazy days. The days when I recover from the weekend and the 4 crazy days before the weekend. Maybe that's it. I shouldn't have started Sunday night/Monday. Today will be better. Even though I will have three little ones afoot, it has to be an improvement over yesterday. I am thrilled that I am keeping up (mostly) with the 3 devotions I committed to do this year plus the extra one I added. Phew.
As for the less of me...I did really well until about 4:30 when I made the decision. You know the one that can alter an entire evening for a whole household? I decided we would have chimichangas for dinner. I did at least make them with ground chicken instead of ground beef (man I love that discovery!!) but then you fry in a ton of grease. Not the best idea I have had for dinner on a "less of me" challenge. But they were good. At least if I was doing it wrong, I was doing it in style. I had planned to go to water aerobics after dinner, but instead I chilled in the recliner and "dozed" ~ I was completely aware of my surroundings, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. Kids went to bed early, thank goodness, and I got ready for bed. Ahhhh...sleep. Nope. I have a new addiction, or rather it has me. Downton Abbey. So I watched it on my Kindle with my ear buds in one ear (the other side is broken) until 10:30.
As for my challenge day? Epic fail. But I'm still here, I have a fresh start this morning, and God still loves me anyway. And that is the nice thing for today. My God is head over heels in love with me. And you.
Peace out.
I was reading online (I don't remember where doggone it!) about purging your house, cleaning it up, de-cluttering, whatever you want to call it. Some are taking this challenge beginning 1/1. I read it too late, plus was out of town for a day and a half so would have messed it up anyway. So...I'm going to do this now, starting today (really late last night).
It is 40 days until my 42nd birthday and what better present for myself than to do a 40 day and 40 bags (and more) challenge. I added the more ~ I am going to try to get healthier again. I did it 3 years ago, then broke my silly left foot. Let's just say it went downhill and up to my backside since then.
The challenge? For the next 40 days I am going to get rid of one bag of stuff from a room. Last night I started on the kids' room. I ended up with half a garbage sack of trash ~ pictures they drew, papers from school or church, a few broken toys, wrappers or boxes from presents at Christmas ~ and a box full of stuff to either get rid of or put in their correct places! I almost removed Christmas trees and decorations, as yesterday was epiphany.
I am going to attempt to remove a bagful of stuff from every room, the garage, the attic, and the storage shed every day until February 16, at which time I plan to rest (in a hopefully de-cluttered, purged, and clean house). My biggest challenge will be my hubs and my kids who do not like to de-clutter, purge, or clean and don't like it when I do it either. WISH ME LUCK!
During this time I will also be working on the backside, the side side, and the front side. I will be riding the recumbent bike more, eating healthier, and doing the Vi shakes again. I actually like them a lot, I just hated getting that ridiculous old blender out. So for Christmas I got myself a little personal blender and I ADORE that little machine. So had a shake for breakfast. I feel better already knowing that I CAN DO THIS. I've done it before. Now, there seems to be a rage on FB to have groups where people are encouraging one another, reporting their exercise for the day, what they ate, how much they are losing, and saying one nice thing about themselves. I have yet to find such a group, so I'm going to make my own group. Here I am ~ today I haven't exercised yet, but hope to go to water aerobics tonight. I started out with a shake this morning and some cranberry juice (I really like that stuff!!). I know what I started out weighing, but sorry, not sharing that!! I'll report more tomorrow.
My nice thing? I prayed to God at the beginning of the year to put a craving in my heart to know Him more and He put that desire there. I really feel the desire to know Him more, to spend more time in His presence, and to be a better disciple. That desire is the nice thing I'm going to say today.
So hopefully in 40 days, I can tell you that I got rid of a bunch of junk AND I lost some of me!
Peace out!
P.S. Please pray for Hayley and team as their travels continue today to Senegal. As far as I know they are in Paris right now but will be heading to Senegal very soon.
