School Transitions

I wrote yesterday about decided to send our kids off to a new school in August and the date is looming. Until all the registration paperwork is 100% complete, we’ve been a little vague with the kiddos about the plan, but it should be finished in another week and we’ll officially tell them what’s up.

Enjoying our TAG readers is one way we’re keeping the kids in learning mode over the summer.

Lucky for us, our kids have never really had a “bad” school experience. They’re excited about going to a new school. They’ve had their academic challenges to be sure–but school has always been a warm and welcoming place and they’ve been surrounded by our church family that loved them. And I pray that loved and secure feeling never goes away for them.

I didn’t always feel that way about starting the school year (and neither did Mr. Fix-It). Today I’m over at Homemaker’s Challenge talking about some ways to ease your kiddos into the school year if the upcoming transition looks a little more challenging…READ MORE

Our Outdoor Spaces

Around here, porches aren’t just ornaments for the front of your house. Around here, porches are deep enough to actually face the person you’re sitting next to. Around here, porches are just another room on your house…albeit a drafty one. {grin} Our outdoor spaces are as much a part of our home as our indoor spaces.

We’ve hosted birthdays, reunions, playdates and puppy intros on our porches, and today I’m over at Homemaker’s Challenge with some tips on making your porch and outdoor spaces entertainment-worthy……READ MORE

 

I Call My Style “Cardigan”

I talked about Shari Braendel’s Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad style guide yesterday. I also mentioned that I’m still mulling over what my “style” really is. 

Today I’m over at Homemaker’s Challenge talking about ways to help define your own style (Pinterest, anyone?!) and pinpoint exactly what being “put together” means for you. As Shari points out, “The key is not to look bigger or smaller when you dress; the key is to look like you know what you’re doing.” (READ MORE….)

{And be sure to visit yesterday’s post and enter the GIVEAWAY for a copy of Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad!!}  

Zone Cleaning Schedule

Do you do that whole-house “Spring Cleaning” thing?

I shudder at the very idea of trying to clean my whole house in one weekend–or even one week. Ugh–it would be non-stop work!

After following the FlyLady for a while, I developed my own modified zone cleaning schedule and daily routines schedule that means I never have to do the whole house at one time again–as long as I follow the system!

We’ve fallen off the wagon a time or to before, I won’t lie. But I’m over at Homemaker’s Challenge today talking about how our system works and I’ve even re-inspired myself to get back to the plan! I’ve been back in the swing of things for about a month now and, boy, it’s a relief to see things coming together so smoothly again.

Read all about our Zones and Routines

{Psss…I actually posted my zone cleaning lists and routines as PRINTABLES over there!}

 

A Place for Everything

There a lot of things that don’t have a “place” in our house–mostly because we have too many “things.” It’s one reason why we’re tackling this big upstairs sort toss project. But there’s one room in our house that works hard at having a place for everything and everything in it’s place.

Our mudroom. Especially our two-tier, wall hung coat rack. It was a DIY project that Mr. Fix-It and I did a few years ago and our life just wouldn’t be the same without it. Having it there is part of our homecoming routine in the evenings, part of our chore routine, part of our hospitality offerings…

This baby earns it's keep every. single. day.

 

To read about how we made it, and how we use it, hop over to Homemaker Challenge with me…