Love the Little Things in Life

 I love seeing the baby swing in the corner.

 I love that in our house decorative items are filled with toys.

 I love reading children's books.

 I love hearing kids practice the piano.  

 I love that our 10 year old helped plan the menu and wrote it on the menu board this week.

 I love to see projects created at our homework table. 

I love to see the random places that the baby kicks off her socks.

I love when post-it notes are left on the fridge.

 I love to drink wildly healthy smoothies for breakfast!  

I love when they play crazy games together.  

1 Simple Rule to Keep Kids Clothes Organized

Clothes are a major part of our homes.  We have to launder, hang, fold, pick up, store, and wear clothes on a daily basis.  When you think about it,  clothes take up a lot of our time!  With many children in our home we also have a lot of clothes. To keep our drawers from looking like this:

We have a simple rule that works wonders

Have less clothes :)  

We have found that we need to limit the amount of clothes that we have by selecting our top 10.

This is what we do for our youngest kids.  We select our top (about) 10 outfits.  My third son always seems to have a lot of clothes.  He gets hand-me downs from his two brothers and new clothes from Grandmas so he helps me pick his favorite outfits (what he will really wear).  Having less is really a magical key to being able to enjoy what you have.  Why not have everything in your closet something that you enjoy wearing and look nice in? Don't hang onto worn out items and clothes you don't like.  Clean out your closets! 

It is also important to have clothes that mix and match.  When shirts can go with several pants or shorts you have a greater variety of outfits with less items!  

My new friend- The Vitamix

For Christmas we were lucky enough to get a Vitamix.  I use it ALL THE TIME!  I really love this little machine because it makes so many healthy things so quickly!  

Of course it makes smoothies and milkshakes, but it also makes hot soup, peanut butter, and almond milk.  My kids even asked one day, 

"Mom, can it make bread?  What about crackers?"

A Beautiful Christmas

Clutter Attracts Clutter

Daryl Hoole teaches an important lesson in her book, "The Ultimate Career."  She says that

"Clutter attracts clutter" 

and 

"messes multiply".

Last week we got home from grocery shopping and I had to carry in the baby, my purse, groceries, and a bunch of coats.  My arms were so full I just dropped three coats on the bench in the mudroom and forgot to go back and pick them up before the kids came home from school.

I laughed out load when I walked past the mudroom a few hours later.  When the kids came home from school and noticed the coats thrown on the bench (including mine) and they just threw theirs on top of the stack. They didn't hang them as usual because they followed my lead.

I guess the lesson learned is that if you want your children to pick up and be organized you have to set the example :)

I love babies.

One of the kids snapped some pictures of me holding the baby, while we were watching my daughter at gymnastics.  Just so you know, I love babies!  I wish they stayed little for longer :)  

Learning about Work, Responsibility, and Independence

Growing up my dad had his own business which presented us with ample opportunities to learn to work.  Our kids can't go to work with their dad, so I try to provide jobs at home to teach them to work and give them a chance to earn money.  They save some money for their missions and they learn to pay their tithing.  

A few jobs they have had lately to earn money are:

Help with the Christmas Cards:

 Our Oldest daughter helped organize the Spices and medicine cupboards:

 Over the Summer she also went through the bins of clothes that we are saving for little kids to grow into and cleaned them out and organized them.

  Our oldest son research, organized, and updated our 72 hour kits so that we are ready for an emergency.


They learn responsibility by completing their daily chores and being responsible to pick up after themselves.  

They are learning to be independent by learning to cook.  I really enjoy teaching them to cook! When they leave home I want them to know how to cook healthy meals, keep a house clean, and be organized.  

I also believe it is important to teach them while they are young and have time to learn.  When they get into High School they seem to be so busy and involved that they don't have as much time to learn these essential life lessons.