Lincolnion

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of  response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’

Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible… The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this?  Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Pick me up at 5:30.’ I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.

I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: ‘To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

• No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.
• These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
• They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
• The passion of their building was fuelled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over.  You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. 

As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.’

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

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I received this in my inbox from my mom today. I don’t know who the invisible mom is, but I thank her for sharing her thoughts. I just want to add to the last paragraph, that whether or not the world marvels, if we’re faithful some day we will hear, “Well Done” by the One who matters most because we’re never invisible to HIM!

Baby John loves the Ergo “bak-bak” (and rode happily while we were on the trails) but he also loves walking with his big Sis!  We’ve been enjoying the spring weather.  How about you?

• This post links to Wordless Wednesday

I bought this spatula (2/$1) at the dollar store years ago when I got my own apartment. I’m now married and it is still kicking around. It’s a great spatula but I am even more enamored with it now.

You see that little missing piece? I was baking in the kitchen one day with baby John at my feet. I handed him a spatula to keep him occupied. When John gave it back, I discovered that he had his first little tooth through. (I had known it was coming, just hadn’t realized that it was through and functional LOL)

Yes, I still use this spatula and it makes me smile every time I pull it out. It reminds me of days gone by and helps me remember to embrace these times for they are my future memories.

Lord, thank you for all the special stages that we’ve been blessed to go through with our littles. Though some are more difficult than others, each leaves us with priceless memories; a gift from You!

• This post links to Gratituesday and the 30 Minute Challenge

GG arrived last week. We wanted to make her arrival special. We made some welcome banners, drew some special pictures and made a “vase of flowers” to greet her when we picked her up at the airport.

Egg Carton Tulips

Cut out the egg holders into 12 little cups. Then cut “V”’s out of each cup to make a tulip head. We used Elmer’s squeeze and brush (a birthday gift from her friend) and it worked out awesome. You could also use markers, crayons or anything really. Then we (mommy) poked a small hole in the bottom and put in a pipe cleaner stem. By making a little twisty bump in the end of the pipe cleaner then it will stay. I had a couple jam jars and used tissue paper wrapped in the bottom to hold them in place.

Chloe was really happy with how they turned out. We made a jar for gram as well as for GG. We have a few more people to make some for. What a perfect spring time craft!!

• Magic Marker Monday @ 5 Minutes for Special Needs

Yesterday afternoon we headed to Toronto to pick up my mother-in-law from the Airport. She’s visiting for 2 weeks. Chloe was super-excited to go to the airport and get GG. For the past several days, every time she saw an airplane she wondered if GG may be on it. Well, GG is finally here and Chloe has all sorts of plans for book-reading, walks and sidewalk chalk drawings. Let’s hope GG can keep up!

Add to that, a visit to Krispy Kreme which is {kind of} on the way to the airport and you’ve got yourself a fantastic adventure! I love that they have the big windows and you can watch the donuts proof, fry and glaze. The littles thought it was fantastic. I was horribly disappointed that they no longer offer samples when the light is on. I understand with the economy, they may need to scale back but they could at least give them to the little ones. You know, only for those under 10 or something. Or maybe, sample with purchase.

Anyway, visiting family and Krispy Kreme donuts are finer things in my book!

I was delighted to have the opportunity to review some fantastic products from Fresh Organics. If you missed my Fresh Organics review, why not take a moment to read it now?

Fresh Organics makes awesome ‘100% safe for long term use’ products for the whole family.  Mom, dad, teen or tot can use it no matter the skin type. Interested in Green Cleaning? They’ve got that covered too!

Congrats to Kimberly, who is our winner and a big thanks to all who entered.

{What was I thinking?!?}

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She found out my peanut nursing pillow has a small hole in it. {Why, oh, why didn’t I sew it the moment I noticed it?!?} There was fluff everywhere.

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I did what any reasonable blogger mother would: I put her in a safe place (time out) and grabbed my camera!

I tidied and snapped pictures. Then I sat with her and we talked about how it isn’t nice to make a mess or break/wreck things.

She said, “I so sorry Mommy. I won’t do it yeserday.”

I was pretty sure she was repentant, though a little confused about the day. LOL.  I hugged her.

She said, “Mommy, I will help you find more clues.”

“Huh?” was my intelligent response.

“I put clues in the bathroom too.” she said proudly.

Pillow fluff is the clue. What a crazy little monkey. Her “game” of leaving “clues” around made perfect sense to her. I think we’ll have to come up with a different version to play though; preferably one that doesn’t involve my poor pillow!

Moral of the Story (choose your own):

Don’t have children. Don’t shower or check your email. Sew gaping holes. Don’t leave children unattended.

I am thankful for  my adventure-filled life! I think we’ll have pancakes for breakfast

SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE: I am still finding more “clues” each day. This morning I found fluff balls in my shoes in my closet. She sure was thorough!

John is still working on the whole concept of on the tray, then bake, then eat; priceless!

A tip that works for me? Double or triple the recipe for shortbread or sugar cookies. Roll the extra dough into a cylinder, wrap well with cling wrap and freeze. When you want fresh baked cookies quick, simply pull out a roll, thaw, slice and bake. Easy-peasy!

• Linked to Wordless Wednesday and WFMW

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Laundry Room:

With a 3 year old and a 1 1/2 year old, wearing cloth trainers at night and diapers full time respectively,  I spend a lot of time doing laundry. Because my attention is called this way and that throughout the day, sometimes I find myself with unfinished tasks. This often results in things being dumped in the laundry room to be dealt with later. Thus, it overflows with ‘stuff’ and it is hard to find what I need. Since we have to go through the laundry room to get to the garage from the house, it makes it especially difficult (and frustrating?) for DH to navigate the dangerous waters of the laundry room.

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Participating in the challenge issued by Org Junkie, I tackled my laundry room. I just want to say that most of my house is fairly organized but I struggle with the laundry room.  I started by removing everything, she outlines this step in her PROCESS. I then cleaned, sorted and decided what was staying (essential laundry and cleaning items) and going (stray items donated, bulk cleaning items moved to bulk shelf in garage, things that belonged elsewhere put in their place etc.)

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I decided to pare down my cleaning supplies. I like cleaning supplies; fun containers and colors, different scents and purposes. I have found that, though I like to browse the aisles and purchase things that appeal to me, I stick with my basics when cleaning. I have my Orange Glo furniture polish (smells awesome!), my Epicure All Purpose Cleaner (love it!), Nature Clean toilet bowl cleaner, Method Good for Wood (this one smells wonderful too, like almonds.) STOP. Why do I have two furniture polishes? The orange is almost done and I am replacing it with the Method one. Method is a company concerned about producing earth-friendly cleaners and I would rather support them. Nature Clean and Epicure cleaners are also environmentally friendly! I also have a container that use to have Method all purpose cleaner in it. I had used it all and kept the container. It now has the tiniest but of Nature Clean all purpose cleaner mixed with water. This is the solution that Chloe (3yrs) uses to clean with. I put all of these items along with a California blinds duster, my Epicure Bamboo cloth and two e-cloths (glass, dusting) into a caddy which makes it easy to grab and go without forgetting something. I do use Lysol Cleaning wipes in the powder room because it means I can quickly give an extra little clean frequently. I also have things like Armoral (car), heavy duty oven cleaner and my rug shampooer cleaner on the top shelf. These are things that I use a few times a year and need to keep for now. Anyway, anything I don’t use any more or had a little left in I either gave away, disposed of, or put it in a prominent place to use up first.

I still have a bunch of vases to give away. Our church is having a yard sale this summer so I plan to donate these. For the time being, I cleaned the top of my cupboards and put them up there in a display. They are out of the way and will find new homes come summer. I only need a few.

A while ago I had organized all our craft supplies and stored everything in the laundry room. Well, the cupboard that held books and school supplies has been moved to a more practical location however the craft supplies? There isn’t anywhere that I could store them other than in the laundry room. They are against the wall by the dryer. All the drawers are organized. We do crafts at the dining room table and when John (1 1/2yrs) is a but older I will move them out there but now, for safety’s sake, they need to still live here. Since I put my laundry basket on top of the bins anyway, I think it still works.

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After everything was clean, as I put things back I gave some real thought to how the mess usually happens and how I could deal with it.

• Containerizing. I love beautiful containers but right now a trip to the Container store is just too pricy and even the dollar store costs money.  Solution? I now use cloth wipes but used to use disposable. I have lots of those empty containers and I put things like my soap nuts, extra cloth wipes, mesh wash bags, cloths pins etc. into those. I also used cardboard fruit baskets to sort my cleaning cloths and gloves. Cost? None!

• I throw kitchen laundry and towels into the washtub through the week but then need to use the wash tub. Solution? Oversized green laundry basket from the garage fits perfectly in the tub but means I can move it easily to get into the sink and not have towels all over. I also have a laundry basket in the corner for clothing. DH often takes his socks off on the main floor or the littles make a mess on their clothing during meals. Having a designated clothing basket separate from the smelly kitchen linens is a must

• With no windows, I would love to paint and add some happy wall stickers in there to cheer it up. I saw some cute pink bubbles and such online once. I don’t really want to spend any money right now though. Solution? I hung my Fall dining room centerpiece on the wall. It not only protects it from crunching during storage but it looks pretty. It’s made of dried Chinese lantern flowers. I also put up a bulletin board a while ago. I tidied it up and will have Chloe make some new pictures for it. I also have a page on contentment up for me to read as I am in there. It’s hard to be content about everything all the time isn’t it?

• My cupboards are sorted into Laundry/Ziploc, Epicure/Light bulbs and Household cleaning. A functional system for me which will help me know what products we have so I avoid overbuying.

• I know sometimes clutter will still end up on my dryer. Solution? A basket! Now I don’t actually like this particular basket however it was one we had. It’s about the right size. I’ll watch at yard sales or value village for one that will work for me. I use a downstairs basket and and upstairs basket system in my house and it works well. I simply leave them on the banister downstairs and upstairs, filling them as I go about my day. When I make a trip upstairs, I take the basket with me and put away anything that was in it and take it back down with me. Before implementing the basket principle, I would just pile things on the stairs to go up or down. The basket is much more effective. It means that I have a temporary holding space that has boundaries! I’m going to use that in my laundry room as well. I know it will work for me.

Kitchen Cupboards:

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I also reorganized our  kitchen cupboards (which was going to be my original project until my laundry room started to overtake me!). I buy many baking items from my brother-in-law in bulk and needed to create space. We also got a sale on KD which my husband and littles love.  I moved some cupboards around, emptied them, gave them a cleaning, sorted, designated some things to be used up right away and threw out expired food items.

My DH’s creation

Reflection Questions:

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it? Starting! LOL. I also hate to get rid of anything. This challenge was a motivator though and because I wanted all the cleaning things to fit in the cupboard (and look nice for the photos), I was more ruthless than I usually would be. It helped me to truly identify what I really use and keep only that.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order? Well, I mentioned some already but the biggest thing I think is having a cupboard specifically for my Epicure products. This means they actually have a home and aren’t all over. The other biggie? Accepting that I will have things that end up there as a holding spot, and designating a limited space for them. Knowing that the basket principle works for me in other areas gives me confidence that it will work in our laundry room too.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

• Random things to donate (bubble machine, mirror, collectables, old toys etc.) were put into a box and donated. I now have a special box to put donation things in and when it is full, I will take it down and donate it.
• I love samples and free things. I had a whole whack of sample sized soaps. At first I put them in a prominent spot to use first but then realized that on our 3 week vacation this spring, I will take them with us to save money on our laundry bill. I put them in a baby wipe container.
• Rogue socks went into my new “rogue sock basket” located in my bedroom where I do all the folding and sorting anyway.
• Bulk cleaning items were moved to where all the other bulk items where.
• I disposed of cleaning products I had tried but didn’t like, keeping only the things I like and use regularly.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?

• Disposable Wipes Containers
• Cardboard Fruit Baskets
• Wall hanger for the broom and other items behind the door (dollar store)
• Laundry basket found in garage

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge? See photo below.

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When I first read the challenge, I thought, “I’ll do the garage”. Well, I opened the door and immediately was overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start, how to start or where I can find the time since it is a task that can not involve the littles. I can work on it at night (dark) or during nap time (not much time!). I would have an almost 0 budget for the job. We don’t have our basement available for storage so the garage houses everything: bikes, yard tools, seasonal clothing, camping gear, skating gear, old files, Christmas decorations, outgrown clothing that I was going to sell, things we’ve never unpacked since we moved in 5 years ago, things my husband is going to sell, the extra seat from my van, my strollers and more…

I have learned a lot about organizing from Org Junkie and am feeling confident of a job well done in the laundry room but that was just training for the real (and overwhelming) job I need to tackle very soon. The prizes you are offering would all assist in tacking an even bigger job ahead.

UPDATE:

When I cleaned out and better organized my cupboards, I found the perfect container for my laundry room to replace the metal basket I had in the original pictures. I didn’t like the look of the metal basket or the fact that it may scratch my appliances. I love the vibrant color of this container! I do hope to replace the wicker basket there with a sorter laundry basket when I find a deal!

So hurray for me, and everyone else who accomplished big or little organizational challenges in February.

Photo by Dezz

Teens to Tots ~ Love @ Totally Tots is not for the faint of heart. Our author doesn’t mince words and puts it right out there when it comes to disciplining our little ones. Straight from the Word and written from the heart, it was one of best posts I read this month!

A Few Words About Motherhood @ (In)Courage was such an encouragement and blessing to me and I know it will be to you too. Flawed, Forgiven, Freedom, Enough, Chosen. Let go of that mommy guilt, knowing that He is enough!

The Virtuous Marriage: Frugality @ Simple Marriage had some interesting thoughts including "Frugality keeps you from living under the control of someone else" and the truth that "Frugality and simplicity have lost some respect in our society". Our family is on the right path but with a long way to go How about you?

Me Time for Moms: The Dailies @ A High and Noble Calling reminds us that the right "me time" is vital!

Parenting for Fruit by Penny Raine was incredibly timely. Some days I wonder if I am making progress. I’m {mostly} consistent and yet we battle again and again.

The Power of Cash @ The Happy Housewife is completely and utterly true. After reading Total Money Makeover, I tried it and I really function better on a cash system!

7 Habits of Highly Successful Homemakers @ Org Junkie contains a few reminders and a gentle kick in the pants for me. "Without a clear plan, one finds things to do all day long and never feels done." Ouch. That’s my day more than I care to admit!

Things I Say in a Day @ We are THAT Family. Go and read the comments for a giggle. I’m sure most of us moms can relate! LOL

You Should Get Out of the House Syndrome @ At The Well was inspiring and oh, so true.

Educational Philosophies Defined, Part I and Educational Philosophies Defined, Part II @ Simple Home school were quite eye-opening. Chloe is "practicing" school right now at age 3 but we do plan to home school. My church uses Beka and I had assumed that I would simply purchase the curriculum and we’d work through it at home just like she would if she were at school. After reading these, I am seeing how flexible homeschooling can be. There are several methods that appeal to me and I think we may end up being one of those eclectic families! After browsing various sites, I came across the Ontario school curriculum. In my wanderings, it appears that you can basically teach your child what you want, how you want. You may choose to have your children tested using CAT tests in the appropriate grades but I don’t see any requirements about having a certain number of subjects, hours etc. I’ll have to investigate more! If you have any links pertaining to homeschooling (laws and guidelines in Ontario or anywhere else, curriculum and resources) please share them in the comments!