Tag-Archive for » Making My Home Sing «

Nov

I’ve done just enough this weekend to get a few things caught up – dishes and laundry. The two never-ending household chores that can’t be left to chance…

But it felt good. Its nice to have cleaned off counters and full dressers. Other chores will get taken care of this week as my energy comes back – and I’m really trying to “take it easy” the way that I should.

Honestly, there have been really sweet moments with my family this weekend – and really sorrowful moments, too. I’m one to want to “mark” milestones in my life, so my husband and I are talking about ways to have a simple memorial service of sorts to commemorate the loss of our baby. Maybe we’re going to plant something to keep – we haven’t talked it all out yet – but I need something.

I had a memorial service as part of my recovery from my abortion and have a small child’s New Testament with my baby’s name inscribed on it. I don’t want to do the same thing here, but I want it to be something memorable and sweet. I know it won’t always hurt so bad – so I want something tangible like that. If any of you have any suggestions – we are definitely open to them.

If you have experienced or know someone who has experienced miscarriage or pregnancy loss and memorialized it in some sweet way, please feel free to share it.

In the meantime, I am making my home sing today by playing the Twila Paris CDs I copied to my iTunes on my computer. I can turn it on and it plays in the background while we do what needs done. Click the link below to hear the song that really speaks to me right now.

Do I Trust You Lord

Maybe it will speak to you, too.

Category: Cleaning, Faith, Family, Favorites, Friends, Home, Life, Management, Organization Tags: Making Home Sing meme, Making My Home Sing, Making Your Home Sing 4 Comments

Nov

Making My Home Sing: Stepping Back

queenmommy

Okay – I’ll admit it – I’m a control freak. I like things a certain way – and if I can’t have them that way, I give up entirely.

If I can’t have a spotless house, I give up and allow clutter to collect around us, even though the chaos drives me crazy.

SIGH.

Finding a happy medium is my ultimate goal, but I often lose sight of it in my pursuit of perfection. A perfect house. Perfect furniture. Perfect arrangements.

With or without children, perfection is not something I have ever been able to attain. Big surprise. And over the years, I have learned to let go of things here and there, but I still have that inner woman who shrieks at me to “get this house clean!”

Enter pregnancy. And bedrest.

It is only short term for now – but it has required a complete letting go of my control over the appearance of our house. I have a history of early spotting in pregnancy – but with this pregnancy it’s a bit heavier than it should be so I’m on bedrest for a couple of days.

In the meantime, Roy has pretty much taken over. And he EXCELS at it.

Now I’m not saying that I am relinquishing all duties and responsibilities of house and home keeping. Uh-uh. I still like doing dishes my way and having laundry done a certain way – BUT the rest of this stuff is being perfectly managed by my husband and daughters.

He has taken over meals and kept us fed. He has taken the girls out shopping and out to play. He has waited on me hand and foot. He has been in charge and done it so well.

And I think that to a large degree, it’s because I. Have. Let. Him.

It’s not his role to take care of everything in our home. But it is very likely that he doesn’t do more because I’m always trying to control him it.

So being forced to rest – in bed – I have seen a whole new side of my husband and my girls. They have brought me water and juice and snacks and lunch in bed. They are playing well together. They are learning to care for others more than themselves.

When I have made my way to the living room, my eyes have been assaulted by toys and blankets all around – but the house is so peaceful because nobody is yelling. Nobody is fighting. And when they’re asked to clean up they do it in a jif…

So I’m going to practice STEPPING BACK from Mrs. Perfection and relaxing a bit. It may be out of necessity at times, but I really want to practice it regardless of bedrest or not.

So that’s how I’m Making My Home Sing Today. And it’s a really nice song…

Category: Life, Making Your Home Sing Tags: home keeping, House Keeping, household management, Making My Home Sing, Stepping Back 5 Comments

Nov

Am I Singing Today?

queenmommy

So being newly – and might I add surprisingly – pregnant has left me absolutely wiped out.

No. Energy.

We just found out about 2 weeks ago, and I’ve been really struggling to adjust to the news. It’s not that it’s bad news, it just literally shocked me so I’ve had a mix of blissful excitement with twangs of anxiety and panic.

You see, I will be turning 40 in December. That’s really no big deal – in fact, I’m looking forward to reaching my 40th birthday and see it as a major, Happy, milestone of my life.

But being 40 and being pregnant, well, the medical community describes it as:

“Advanced Maternal Age”

(Did you just hear all my joints creak?) Now, they labeled me with this term when I was pregnant with Georgie, but I didn’t think anything of it. I was only 37. But 40 + pregnant has really bowled me over.

And I’ve not been sleeping well. For a solid week – one or both of the girls would climb into bed with us and I’d be awake for hours.

Finally – thankfully – I had a solid night’s rest last night, and after a conversation with a not-much-older, but somewhat wiser friend who knows what I’m going through – well, I feel MUCH refreshed!

No big bursts of energy – and I am taking naps when the girls do so I can keep up – but I am discovering a new and improved “critical” eye when it comes to my home.

And we’re gonna be pitching a bunch of “stuff” this week. There are 3 categories I’ll be culling from our home:

1. Broken. If it’s broken or really not usable – it’s going in the trash. I pitch things as I find them, but I don’t always find them and now I’m on a mission to find and get rid of whatever is broken or not working – and it’s outta here.

2. Unused. If it hasn’t been touched in a year, unless it is an heirloom or treasure – it’s outta here. It started with my husband’s collection of T-shirts – which HE decided to let go of after I asked him to take a look at them. Very happy about that. I’ve got other clothes, too, and Good Will is going to get a few bags of donated, wearable clothes this week.

3. Unwanted. Oh, the toys. The toys that are always on the floor but never played with cuz the girls are rolling around in the toy buckets. The dress up clothes and princess shoes and baby dolls stay. Practically everything else is going away. Some in the trash – some to Good Will.

A baby definitely changes everything – and we are whittling down our incessant collections of “whatever” it is that we all seem to love to keep. =) We will have more breathing room – more room to stretch out – more room to see what we really have and can be grateful for our blessings.

I’m over the shock of the pregnancy – and I’m looking forward to my birthday again – and trying to think of ways to celebrate it BIG this year. As BIG as this tired mama can manage anyway…

So that’s how I’m making my home sing today…