The funny thing about living somewhere for 8 months is that it is too long to not unpack and live in chaos but too short to find great organization for the space and a home for everything. When we first moved in and realized we had very little storage we built the big shelves for…
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My secret to a clean kitchen: start with the kitchen table
I have been baffled with my inability to keep my kitchen clean over the last few years. I grew up with our family cleaning up after each meal. I have plenty of memories of job wheels rotating through who swept the floor, wiped the table, and put dishes in the dishwasher. I know how to…
The Story of our Armoire Project
About two months ago I had an epiphany as I was trying to tackle the clutter in our household. I have been minimal with not only the things we have in our home but also with storage. We have three floating shelves in our living room and a cabinet. That doesn’t make for lots of…
Emily’s Pioneer Bonnet
Since our church history road trip last summer, Emily and Nathan have really enjoyed playing pioneers. Emily wanted a bonnet to wear and I suggested that she make one. She picked out the fabric and worked through every step of this tutorial with me. Her favorite part was gathering the material and it was fun…
Project: Laundry Basket Stand and Wood Computers
Last week I decided we needed to build something for our laundry baskets. The kids and I dug through our scrap wood bin and came up with a tentative plan. They also commandeered wood to make computers and build fires. On Wednesday I dropped the kids off on campus so I could work for a…
January Progress: A Clean(er) Home
When I was sick last year a friend came and helped us out for a week. On one of my few visits to the kitchen I discovered a clean microwave and felt so cared for. Emily ran upstairs at another moment and exclaimed, “Mom, you should see the floor. It is so clean! I love…
The First Six Weeks, Part 3: The Christmas Season
At the end of November I put together a short list of things to celebrate the Christmas season. The very first thing we did was decorate the Christmas tree. My first solo day with three kids we had 10 hours to ourselves to make ornaments out of cardboard. We made a few that helped us…
UPDATE: “The Living Christ” free printable BOOKLET
I can’t believe it has been three years since I originally made “The Living Christ” wall prints (still available here). I’m sad to say it has been about that long since I last studied the document. Instead of printing out the 8×11 pages again I redesigned the content for a booklet. To make sharing it…
Transitioning to Barefoot Shoes and Making Leather Shoes for the Kids
About two months ago I started looking into barefoot shoes/minimalist footwear. My focus was reducing sciatic nerve pain. I read Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning to Minimalist Footwear and began doing the exercises in preparation to switch to my new pair of vivobarefoot shoes (they were only $75 when I bought them due to a refurbished panel)….
Carving Wooden Animals and Accepting Me
I have been trying to be pretty strategic about the toys that enter our home. One on my list for awhile was wooden animals. Unfortunately the ones I really like are rather expensive, so I decided to make some. I started trying to carve with my pocket knife which was super slow going. Andrew came…