Proverbs 31 Wife and Mother PT2

 Today's Tackle was the kitchen/dining room its the second day working on it.

 I wanted to empty this unit that has held dishes for 3 years in our house and put it in our bedroom. One to relieve clutter in the kitchen/dining room and two to organize some stuff in my bedroom. I didn't want to get rid of it because it is the first piece of furniture my husband ever purchased for me. He got it right before Mekenzei was born since my parents were coming out. So it means a lot to me.

 We had worked on the lower cabinets Sunday until it got to much with all the power out. This is how the kitchen was left. It was so overwhelming but I kept plugging away at it.

The unit is now ready to be moved. The ac will go in the window after the electrical gets installed.

Got everything put away, everything has a home. The two corner cabinets on the top hold food. I do still need to go through those and figure out how to better use the space. I really dislike them altogether.

 I love this little area, it used to house rubbermaid/ plastic stuff and odds and ends. I got rid of two boxes of odds and ends and now it holds things we use all the time. I am very excited.

I have plans for Paul to add a shelf down the middle- in the end I want to store cookie sheets and cutting boards here, and move the big pans to the other cabinet.

Thankful for my $2 black dish pans, they will help organize this space better.

Another Zone where I have to wait for Paul to put a shelf in, this one will give me space on bottom and top, also a false shelf so that the water line is not damaged.

This is my favorite. The day the fires broke out I found these cute little mugs for $1 each. I was very excited. They did not have five different ones like I wished they had, but they had a set of three that were alike then two that were different, so the kids each have a designated mug and Paul and I now do too. He also has this huge Texas mug I bought him years ago in San Antonio. Since they get used frequently Paul hung these little hooks under and he can store his coffee pot here too. In the winter I will pull out my hot water thing, but for now it can sit in the cabinet.

I have had our spices on this tiered rack for years, and I loved it, however it just adds clutter to an already small house, so we figured why not use this canning space. We took all our canning supplies, added them to a black dish pan and put them in the pantry off our room. We figure we don't use them all the time so they can be stored and brought out. We donated the spice rack so I am happy about that.

Everything I read in my organizing books talk about a cleared off table every night before you go to bed. So while I let the kids do homework here, my hope is that every night I can make sure it is empty. It seems we have issues with surfaces in our house. Nothing gets put back and soon I have such a chore trying to clean up. We have a ways to go in the dining room/kitchen but progress was made today for sure. I am one exhausted girl too! I even managed to get all our clothes washed and I am pleased to say it is all put away.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday 

Meeting at MWS 6 pm/ AC wiring installed 5:30

Chicken Taco Salad

Bean Burrito Jakob

Tuesday

Waffles or Pancakes

Wednesday 

Younger Kids Church 5-6:30/ Historical Society Meeting 5:30

Spaghetti

Thursday

Tacos

Friday

Hot Dogs/Chili Dogs

Saturday

Tuna Helper

Sunday 

On Your Own

Thankful Thursday

We are very thankful to be home. 

Thankful to have had two places to stay while we were evacuated from our home. 

Thankful the kids did well and even the dogs for the most part. 

Thankful that slowly but surely life is returning to normal again. 

Thankful to the unclaimed property check which put tires on the truck this week- that was an adventure to say the least. 

Thankful to friends that were very helpful as I almost melted down from the stress of the whole matter. 

Thankful that we are back to working on the house. 

We got the bathroom done- minus a couple things that we need money for, this weekend we will tackle Mekenzei's room- the ceiling. 

We learned that old school house tile ceilings don't work well in fires- boy does the smoke dust just come on in, so we are going to do a wood flooring style ceiling- Sure sounds difficult. 

I am praying the Lord helps us get it done this weekend.

I am very thankful for all your prayers. 

We are truly Blessed to have such a Gracious Lord.

WordFilled Wednesday

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Words: Thom­as Ken, 1674. These lyr­ics, sung as the Dox­ol­o­gy in many church­es, are ac­tu­al­ly the last verse of a long­er hymn, Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun.

This is what comes to mind today. I am thinking of the fires and how lives could have been lost, more homes could have been destroyed etc. There were many that now have to start all over, my heart really goes out to them. For us our home is still standing. It will take a while to get it all cleaned and we did loose fridge and freezer food but overall we really are okay. The kids were amazing, they handled things so well. I did not even worry much about the house because I knew that if the Lord taketh away then He would also provide again. Please continue to pray for our state, and our nation and the world as we continue to face so many obstacles, financial, health, martial etc. We have much to be thankful for.

Tackle it Tuesday

Well its not Tuesday either but I did do this yesterday along with wiping down walls, cleaning the fridge and freezer etc. I am happy to say the Bathroom got an overhaul. I will talk about this more later but we learned that if items are in containers you can grab more when being evacuated.

So here is what we came up with... note we are creating a bucket for towels, toothbrushes, blow up mattresses and small pillows I will make so that in the future we have those and do not have to buy them. That sure was rough.

 Everything used to just be on the shelves in the closet, no one ever put anything back correctly and it was always an issue or re-oganizing. No more- Thanks to Walmart and these nice shoe size buckets for $1 its all in containers. I even found a couple black dishpans that will hold all our homemade soap from my friend Rita and the other hair supplies like blow dryers and curling irons. I am very happy that Kenzei helped me go through everything. Also made the job of cartons covered in soot not an issue.

 We have a leak under our sink and well we just can't seem to get it fixed right- it creates mold right there too, so these dishpans will be great for keeping things dry and also easy to pull out so that every few days I can clean the shelf liner.

 We had to purchase TOWELS while we were out of our home. I had some of the white ones before so now I think I have 10 of all the same towel. I am very excited. I love these because they are easy to bleach and now my old ones can be rags outside or for cleaning projects. I Love my nice clean bathroom, which is organized and easy to maintain. I am praying this new system will work for us. I am hoping that birthday money will buy me a light fixture for above the mirror- will update in a month and let you know.

Menu Plan Monday

So this is not Monday but we are just back in our house last night. Fridge and Freezer and cleaned out and I have planned enough meals to get us through Friday night. I am looking forward to a more normal week next Monday.

Wednesday

(kids- new bible study younger two)

Tacos

Thursday

Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Friday

Tostadas
For more menu planning ideas please see Orgjunkie.com

Tackle it Tuesday

Well we had an interesting 24 hours. I left yesterday afternoon since Paul had off to get a break- I rarely do that. A friend and I were about 45 min away when I got the call that a fire was within a mile of our house. First let me say that it could not have been a better day because Paul was NOT at work. Had he been the kids would have been here all alone. I cringe at the thought.

We learned some important lessons. One cell service is not reliable in emergencies. I had the hardest time talking more than a minute at a time and it took forever to reach Paul or him to reach me for hours. 

We thought of the kids and that they need to know how to send a text from email- because our internet was still working- so we will be setting that up today. 

We also learned that Jakob needs to at least know how to drive. We will also be teaching him starting tonight to just drive around our neighborhood- so that in the event a parent is not home to get the kids out he can just leave with them. I was shocked that even with a license they would not let me in last night.

I found it interesting to see what everyone grabbed.

Paul grabbed the CPU part of the two computers we own, the hard drive and my files/folders by the desk

He also grabbed his mom's quilts that were in a cedar chest.

Each of the kids grabbed some clothes, the quilts I just made them and a couple smaller baby quilts I had made each of them. 

Of course i had to laugh that they grabbed their game systems. Mekenzei grabbed two stuff animals. 

They grabbed the dogs and snake too.

As a family we have had to evacuate a home when they were kids due to mold, we were only allowed to take the clothes on our backs, because the levels of mold in the house were so severe. I am thankful this time we had warning. I am thankful that it missed our subdivision also. Many were not so lucky.

I am grateful we had great friends that let us bunk with them last night, even the dogs were able to stay in their backyard. It made me feel good to know that if the house was gone we at least would still have a roof over our head for a while. 

I think it was good to see that the house is just the structure it is what and who that is in it that makes it a home.

There are many without homes today, there are many that need supplies and a place to stay. There are also many all across the state of Texas fighting fires. Please pray for them. I know Austin desperately needs some rain!

Menu Plan Monday

For more menu planning ideas please see Orgjunkie.com

Wow I am posting late due to the fires, I had no way to get our menu up. Thankfully our house is fine- airing it out since it was thick with smoke. Please pray for all those affected. There are so many that lost their homes.

Monday

Fire- so we ate Pizza

Tuesday

Fajitas at Nikki's house 

Wednesday

Tuna Helper

Thursday

French Toast

Friday

Pork Chops in Crock pot with potatoes and carrots

Saturday

Blueberry Waffles

Sunday

Spag and Garlic Bread
Green Beans

Humbled

You know I was moved to tears today when I saw my friends post. It always amazes me how you can touch people's lives just by the way you live. I am truly blessed by friends like this one, so awesome. These are times that really touch your heart!

Hey guys, ok my friend has entered a contest... I dont typically pass along stuff like this but she gives gives gives did I mention she GIVES all the time to people with an open heart freely no expectations. Could you all go to pottery barn and vote for her to win this. It would be great for her to be on the receiving end. Its the pic with the orange brick Jennifer W. Thanks for you help!- Here is the link to vote....

http://www.facebook.com/potterybarn?sk=app_102397223197490

 

Thankful Thursday

This week as usual I have much to be thankful for. 

We had three dogs which all got into poison but only lost one. I am very grateful, sad still but grateful.

Kids are still adjusting to school. Jakob has stayed up till midnight every night and gotten up at 4:45. I am so thankful he works so hard and has not really even complained.

I am thankful that I took Mekenzei to the dr for her foot. We really didn't have the money to do so, but I am grateful they took Xrays and found that she needed more help then I realized. She's being a trooper about the soft cast and crutches too.

I am thankful for the Tattler Reusable Lids that I won this week, they will be in the mail shortly. I am excited to see if they work as well as the other blogger says. We have really started to can more and more with the economy and wanting to provide for our family.

I am thankful that Paul got an extra side job this week. These sidejobs are so important to us!

I am thankful that my customer really loved her pillowcases. She gave me wonderful feedback too.

I am thankful that I am one of 12 finalists in a pottery barn contest on Facebook. I will admit that one viewers photo is a little more compelling then mine- at least I have a desk, but I am still thankful to be chosen.

I am thankful to be working on this Christmas Senior Project and for the response I am getting. I pray that more people can pitch in and these seniors can have a wonderful Christmas.

Most of all I am thankful for my husbands hard work. He got half the chimney down and I am ever so grateful.

I continue to see the Lord working in our lives and that is very exciting.