A Day of Rest

I love that God commands us to take a day of rest. Sunday is truly our day of rest and relaxation. Sonny works almost twelve hours four days a week, three and a half hours one day, and eight hours another day, leaving Sunday his only full day off. He is exhausted by the time Sunday comes around so we relish in the fact that it is a day of rest. Many times we go to his parent's house after church and spend the day with family, sometimes we have lunch at other people's houses, but our favorite activity to do on Sunday is to sit around at home and play together as a family. We try to make something delicious for dinner that we don't normally have during the week, we like to play games, we play with Lil' Squirt, and many times we watch movies. It makes for a great day and lets us relax before entering another full week.

Yesterday was one of those Sundays. We knew that we had a lot to do: weather proof the house (I know, it's STILL not done and it's January), fix the dryer, clean (which always needs to be done), take down the Christmas decorations, laundry, and a number of other things. However, after every single day off for the past month has been full of car fixing (which is finally done), we decided to do none of them. We watched a couple episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos (one of my all time faves) and spent the day lounging around in pajamas. Sonny even made pudding, which we ate in bed as we watched a movie. The day would have been a lot more fun had Lil' Squirt been in a better mood though. He threw the biggest fits he's ever thrown, which included bawling, screaming, stomping, kicking, arm flailing, and throwing himself on the floor. Whoah. Between those fits and fussiness, he was still the sweetest, cutest little boy imaginable. Sonny got to enjoy a little walk with him outside while I took a delightful nap. It was a perfect day.

Now today the work begins. After a weekend of no housework, a lot needs to be done. I can just look forward to next Sunday, when we get to see the family and a friend whom we haven't seen in ages! At least I don't have to wait all week to see my sis-in-law! She's coming over tonight for dinner and to see her nephew. Yay!

Question of the day: Does anyone have any healthy, frugally delicious meal ideas for the week? Let me know! I'd love to try some new recipes!

Irene Does Life

This one is long, bear with me.

Have you ever heard of the blog, "Ben Does Life"? Is that grammatically correct? Oh well. Ben Does Life is about a 24 year old guy who was very overweight and decided to do something about it. He started changing his eating habits and began running. Only a couple weeks after he started his new lifestyle, he participated in a 5K and fell in love with running. He has lost a total of 120 lbs and he's not done yet! He not only got healthier physically, but mentally as well. He was very depressed and had lost his girlfriend of four years to that depression. After changing his life for the better, he was happy! One of the things he says repeatedly throughout his blog is that when you want to start living life, just do it! Get up and go.

I first read about Ben in a Yahoo article featuring 8 outstanding people who lost an amazing amount of weight and blogged about it. I have been hooked to Ben Does Life for the last couple of days. I have felt so inspired to just get up and change my life, to stop being lazy and do it! Laziness has taken control of my life and I intend to fight it!

Ever since I stopped working in daycare, there hasn't been much of a physical aspect to my life. I do housework and take care of my one-year-old, but that's pretty much it. Last spring I spent a lot of time outside, hanging up laundry and going for walks, but many of the old habits started to return slowly and have now gotten out of hand! That type of lifestyle (sitting around watching TV or movies much of the day, staying home 24/7, slacking on the chores, etc.) is the beginning of a long downward spiral of depression for me. However, I'm going to stop it in its tracks right now, before it gets to a really bad place.

Now, I don't plan on being as radical as Ben and making my entire life about running, but I do want to get healthy and be a more productive housewife. I would like for my husband to come home to a beautiful, cozy home at night and not have to tell him tearfully, "I lost track of time," or "I was so tired!" I'm not going to devote a whole blog to it, but I will give updates now and then as to how I'm doing. Ben talks so much about being held accountable by his blog and I know how important accountability is so I'm going to be sure to document my successes AND my failures.

I found out that the loop around the trailer park is one half mile, so I plan to walk it 2-4 times a day (depending on the weather since I have to take my precious Lil' Squirt with me) at first, working up as I gain more strength. When the weather gets nicer, there is a pond just a couple miles from my house where I can walk that is also a half mile and gorgeous to boot!

So stay in touch to find out how things go! I don't want to disappoint you, but more than that, I don't want to disappoint myself. Please pray for the ability to rely on God in ALL things and for the strength to keep moving forward. Thanks, friends!

Lil' Squirt

The Lil' Squirt's pants have been falling down all morning. They are so pesky because they barely go up over his thighs, but they sure do come down easily! He's my little tiny waisted boy. A few minutes ago I noticed a flash of bare skin out of the corner of my eyes and turned to see Lil' Squirt standing next to the coffee table with no pants on. I said, "What happened to your pants?" He looked down, smiled, then picked them up and brought them to me. What a sweet and intelligent little boy I have!

Note: Right after I posted this, I realized that I hadn't heard anything from Lil' Squirt in a minute or so. I walked into his bedroom (usually I can hear him playing with his toys in his room) and saw cloth diapers strewn about the room along with every pair of pants from his dresser. I'm sure he was on his way to pulling out all of his shirts as well, but I caught him. How can he make such a huge mess in such a short amount of time? 1-2 minutes, tops.

Goals and Mashed Potato Casserole

I'm not really a new years resolution kind of gal, but I am in desperate need of some lifestyle changes. I've gotten too lazy in the past months and this simply won't do. So here are some of my long- and short-term goals for 2011.

• Finish Reading "The House that Cleans Itself" and be inspired to turn my house into one that cleans itself! Don't worry, I haven't gone crazy and I don't actually think I can have a house that cleans itself, but check out the above link and see what Mindy Starns Clark is talking about.
• Eat smaller portions and walk EVERY day (except maybe Sunday, the day of rest). I've never felt the need to lose weight just to lose weight, but I do want to be healthy. I want to have lots of babies and I want to live well into old age and meet my grandchildren and maybe even my great-grandchildren.
• Have dinner earlier in the evening. Now this will be a tough one, since my husband gets off work at 10:00. I used to eat dinner by myself and just leave the leftovers for the hubby when he got home, but lately I've gotten into the routine of just having a light snack at dinnertime and eating with Sonny when he gets home. It's so pleasant to have dinner with him every night but I don't like to do it because I've heard that it's unhealthy to eat right before bed. I need time to work off my food!
• Be more encouraging and uplifting to my husband
• Be more attentive to learning opportunities for my son and expanding those opportunities
• Prepare more wholesome meals
• Read at least one book a month that will encourage me to be a better child of God, wife, and mother
• Also read at least one book a month for pleasure. I always mean to do this one but end up starting so many different books at once that it's difficult to finish even one!
• Watch less TV. We don't have a TV but over the last couple of years I have started to watch more and more shows online. What a waste of time! *blush blush*
• Combat laziness in general (I'll expand on this one in the near future). That's a BIG one.

I will add more to this list at another time, but for right now, I need to tell you about my latest attempt at a new meal. I know how good sweet potatoes are for you. Yes, I even know they are a superfood, but I just don't like them! Maybe if I eat them in small, disguised doses, I will eventually acquire a taste for them. So, tonight I made a Mashed Potato Casserole with a mixture of sweet and white potatoes. It was good, as long as I had bites that were primarily white potatoes. Sonny quite enjoyed it though. At least someone was happy with it! The only substitution I made was adding my new favorite casserole ingredient: cream of chicken soup, in place of the chive and onion cream cheese. I think it would be a yummy Thanksgiving dish.

Finally!

You have no idea how many times I have tried to start a new post on here in the last few weeks! It's been so hectic and crazy lately! I started an Etsy shop (check out my last post here) which has been taking up way more time than I ever anticipated and my mother has been staying at my house for the last month. She just left on Sunday to start a new job! Yeah! She really likes it so far.

I also had a sick baby boy and as soon as he started getting better, my husband and I started to come down with the same thing. I live in a house of germs right now, so stay away! Lil' Squirt is starting to feel better but he still has a nasty diaper rash. It's been coming and going for almost two months now. We would do a good job of getting it knocked out quickly but as soon as we put him in cloth diapers again, his rash would come back. We changed detergents but when that didn't work, started using disposable diapers exclusively but nothing ever seems to help. We've tried it all: Desitin, A&D Ointment, Butt Paste, fresh air (we've learned to block off the kitchen so he'll stay on the linoleum making it an easy clean-up), numerous changes throughout the day, and not using wipes.

Quick change of subject. Right now my husband is out working on the car but it has this obnoxious car alarm that we can't figure out and apparently it won't let him do his thing. The battery is dying on the car so the alarm dwindles down to nothing rather pathetically. It was entertaining at first but now it won't quit and it's 9:30 at night! Poor neighbors!

Anyway, now the rash has gotten worse and we need to do something different! It has raised bumps everywhere and it has not improved in the last couple of days. I think I'm going to try the natural route. I heard from a friend that grape fruit seed extract worked wonders on her daughter's terrible rash so maybe I'll try it. I went to the local health food store and found it for a whopping $14 for a tiny little bottle (although you don't need to use very much at a time) and walked right back out thinking that was a little too far out of our price range. I think I have passed the desperate stage now and will do anything to help soothe my poor baby's bottom! If THAT doesn't work, it's back to the doctor!

The alarm on the car keeps "chirping" every now and then. Dumb car.

Simply Sweet with Grace

Simply Sweet with Grace. That's the name of my new card shop! I decided to join the wonderful world of Etsy to sell my cards. Etsy is a community of people buying and selling handmade or vintage items and supplies. I call it a community because it is very social. You can participate in forums, email, and discuss topics with other sellers/buyers within the Etsy community. They give tips, ideas, and feedback on the items being sold. It is a great venue for people to express their creativity and get paid for it!

I only have one item up for sale at the moment, but will have many more very soon. I need someone with a good camera to help me get some nice, creative shots of the cards. Image is everything in trying to market what you are selling! Here is what I have for sale now:

I first heard about Etsy from my friend, Mary, who has a shop selling homemade all natural soap. I bought some soap from her for all the women in my family for Christmas and it seemed to be a big hit! Her products are 100% natural, great for your skin, and smell delicious! Check out Oil and Spice and order some soap today! Look her new dog shampoo!

Sonny's aunt sells homemade purses on Etsy too! She uses adorable high quality fabric to make cute purses, totes, and mini-wallets. She's even in the process of making me a special diaper bag! She loves what she does and she'll even work on special orders. Go visit Jacs Sacs!

Happy New Year!

I have tried about a thousand times to start a new post for over a week but every time I try, I either can't think of anything past the first sentence, or I get distracted and have to give up. I started a couple posts continuing the Y2K challenge but couldn't get very far because so much happened in 2003 that I just don't know where to begin! I started a post about the black eyed peas and cornbread I made on New Years day, and one about my goals for 2011. I'll be posting a lot over the next couple of days to catch up, so be prepared for a whirlwind adventure in blogging!

First up, New Years! As many of you know, it's a southern tradition to have black eyed peas and cornbread on New Years Day to ensure a year of good luck. Despite growing up in Washington state, I grew up with this tradition as well. I spent all of Saturday in the kitchen, working on dinner and making fudge. It was a very fun and productive day!

Our anniversary was on the third and since Sonny had to work, we decided to celebrate by getting a hotel room in Roanoke and going to dinner at a fancy (for us) restaurant. My mother being here made it all possible! She stayed home with Lil' Squirt while we went out. It was my first time being away from him for more than a few hours but he did great! It was as if he didn't even know we were gone! It was the most wonderful and relaxing time I have had in ages. Happy Two Years, hubby!