The Impact of a Mother

"There is no greater good in all the world than motherhood.
The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation."
-James E. Faust

I read this today and it helped refocus me on the impact of I have of being a mommy. What I am doing with my baby right now does matter and is important for her future development.
Have you had any "Mommy Moments" lately? I would love to hear about them!

Attacking the "Zone"

A few weeks ago I realized that my Kitchen was driving me crazy. So, I convinced my Mom to help me straighen and organize it, which was a wonderful idea!! My Mom had a lot of great idea's and I am now able to cook in a kitchen where the drawers are neatly organized and the cupboards are clean. The problem with cleaning the kitchen out is that A LOT of "stuff" was just thrown into my room to figure out what to do with later on, and yes you guessed it...the "stuff" has sat in my room and gathered more "stuff" on top of it and has become more overwhelming by the day. Finally, today I realized I had to jump over a pile of things to even get onto my bed that I made the decision that is was time to attack the very overwhelming stacks. I decided that I needed to stop looking at my WHOLE entire room but pick a corner, since there are four of them plus under my bed, so a total of 5 zones, and attack one of them at a time. I started with "my corner" of the room and within a short amount of time it was organized and clean and I can vacuum my floor (at least my side of the room's floor) again. Tomorrow I am looking forward to zone 2 (which I haven't totally decided the specific zone to attack yet) but the whole cleaning up my bedroom seems much more attainable tonight then it did this morning!
Do you have an overwhelming area of your home that you close your eye's as you walk bye, hoping that it will just disapear? Perhaps you can try the "zone" theory and attack it before you have time to change your mind! Let me know how your fall cleaning goes!

Scripture for the Day

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

"We cannot do everything, all the time, all at once. We can, through the years, do manythings, at different times, one at a time. It is important to see choices as opportunities, not as frustrations."
Jaroldeen Edwards, Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner...(1991) 19-20

The Ball Game

We took my parents and some friends to a baseball game last night and had a great time! I love going to baseball games! They are so relaxing and makes for some great socializing with very little stress! Have you ever been to a baseball game? If haven't you need to go, you may find that you actually enjoy watching baseball! Of course the home team wonlast night with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, the batter hit a home run ball. It was awesome. For date night this week, go to a ball game, you will have a blast!

Bloging Book Club-"The Countess Below Stairs" by Eva Ibbotson

I have just finished reading "The Countess below Stairs" by Eva Ibbotson, and loved it! The book started out a little slow to me but the author had to do a lot of back tracking before the actual story could begin.
Because of the wars and contentions going on in Russia, during WWI, a Russian Countess "Anna" and her family fled their country and unfortunately in the process lost all their riches to a maid who took off with their jewels. Thus, Anna was forced to seek out employment to keep her family from going hungry. She sought out employment as a house maid in the estate of an Earl who is just getting home from war and his estate is in financial peril. One thing led to another and soon Anna and the Earl "Rupert" find themselves at a crossroads of Love...Does he choose Anna, or the woman he is engaged to? I guess you will just have to read the book to find out.
This book kept my attention and I was very sad to read the last page and realize that there is not a sequel. Please feel free to tell me which character you end up having a book crush on, either the Earl of Westerholme or Anna's drop dead gorgeous cousin...I think I was definitely leaning towards the cousin. (Only because he reminded me of my drop dead gorgeous Husband! :)
I have just started reading "Beauty" by Robin McKinley for my next Bloging Book Club entry. It is a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast and so far I am enjoying it. If either of these books sound intriguing to you be sure to check them out!

Moms Sick Day (s)

First of all its Summer and no one should be sick in the Summer time, and second of all Moms should be allowed a pass on illness' since they have the responsibility to take care of so much. After being passed out on the couch all day on Friday while my Baby ran around the house like crazy, and then having a good 2 hour episode of the unstopable shivers last night I decided it was time to drag myself to the doctor. Luckily I had strep throat. I say luckily because sometimes its good to just be on some medicine that brings you peace to know that within 24-48 hours you will be feeling a whole lot better! Luckily I have an amazing Husband who was able to find a way to leave work early two times now to come home and take care of me and Rose. And also have an amazing friend who took my baby today so I could to to the doctor while my hubby was at work trying to find someone to take his shift. Not only did she watch my baby but she made me some of the most delicous home made chicken noodle soup to send home with me and even included 4 Chocolate chip cookies, which I have devoured! Thank you to my Angels who helped me out when I needed a Mom to take care of me!!!!
Have you ever had an experience where someone dropped everything for you in a time of need? Please do share!

Amber's Kentucky Derby Pie

I made Kentucky's famous, favorite desert "The Derby Pie" last night for the very first time and it turned out delicious! I of course added coconut to it just to give it a little twist and it turned out amazing! Of course it wasn't so amazing to my Husband as he doesn't Love coconut as much as I do, but I am the cook and if it sounds good to me I throw it in! My Husband claims that I cannot call this Pie the "Derby Pie" because of the added Coconut, the real Derby Pie does not have coconut. That is why I am calling it "Amber Kentucky Derby Pie."

You place this filling into an unbaked pie shell. I used a Jiffy Pie shell mix and it turned out delicious!

Recipe:
1 Stick butter or margarine melted
1 cup Sugar
1/2 c Flour
2 Eggs beaten light and fluffy
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 c chocolate Chips
1 c Walnuts, chopped
opt. 3/4 c Coconut (I highly recommend it!)
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degree's for 40-45 min. Put Cool whip or Vanilla Ice Cream on top. Enjoy!

p.s. The cluttered desk was cleared off today, the bills were paid and I am happy because there is still money in the bank! Such a good feeling!

Clutter

Another crazy weekend resulted in a very cluttered home on Sunday. So, when I got home from church and needed a place to sit to do some menu planning all of the table kitchen clutter was thrown to the floor. That felt satisfying enough so the rest of the day went the same way. If the item was in my way or I just didn't know where to put it, it was quickly thrown on the floor. Now, this is not a typical habit of mine, in fact I think it was the first time I have ever lived with that much clutter spread across my floor. I guess it was just my way of taking advantage of the Sabath day-Day of Rest, and also not really having any logical place to put anything.
Thanks to my Angel Husband, we did our nightly walk through the home and cleaned up the clutter by stacking it onto my already cluttered office desk. So what is the point of cleaning one area, if all you do is clutter up another?
I was speaking with my Mom who is the all knowing, cleanest, most organized Woman I know (except for perhaps Carlie) and she gave me a few tips and pointers. One of the most important things is to throw stuff away! And if you think an item is important the truth of the matter is that it probably really isn't, but should you ever need it there is a really good chance your neighbors house is cluttered with it and would be more than willing to share the item with you! So, honey, if you should get home from work today and find some important item missing, I'm sure you will be able to find one at our neighbors! It is time to get rid of stuff from our "Stuff Mart" home, and be sure that as my Mothers favorite quote states: "Everything has a place and everything is in its place!"
What are some techniques you have used to declutter and organize your home? I am open to suggestions!