Books that I read for fun in February 2017 (with mini reviews)

Over the last 2.5  years, I have been documenting the books that I read for fun (and not just for review purposes).  I have decided that I need to continue that as reading is important part of how I relax. Books that I read for fun are books that I have not been asked to review and that I have chosen to read, well because I like to read. In 2015, I read a total of 49 books! In 2016, I read 58 books. In  January, I read 2 books for fun. While I don't have a goal in mind for this year, I will continue reading as it is something that I love to do and I like to document the books that I read.  (Please note that if a book looks interesting to you, you can click on the picture of the book and it should take you to it's page on Amazon.com. I am an associate through them.)

So....What did I read in February:  

I started the month out by reading The Life Giving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming by Sally and Sarah Clarkson. 

This was an interesting read, and I read it in one night. I love seeing how others create memories and come up with traditions in their own families. I love how these authors went month by month and gave ideas to cultivate home. This was a good read and I would recommend it.


 
Here are the books I read for fun in:
January 2017
Books from 2016
Books from 2015
Books from 2014

                                                 Have you read any good books lately?

Any books you would recommend for me to read in 2017? 

Happy Homemaker Monday (2/27/2017)

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was okay. I spent much of Friday in bed because I felt like crap. Stuffy head, etc. I am also battling a depression episode big time that doesn't help at all. I took another long nap yesterday. I just can't seem to get in the groove. Hopefully, I can kick this latest bout, but it is hard to even want to try. It seems like so much work.

For today, I will be joining in with the lovely Sandra over at "Diary of a Stay at Home Mom" in her Happy Homemaker Monday meme. So let's get started: 

THE WEATHER:::
Today it is cloudy, and temperatures I believe are going to be in the 50s. Last week, we had record high temps on Friday (with 74 degrees!), thunderstorms Friday night, snow and sleet on Saturday. Yesterday it wasn't too bad out. We are supposed to get more warm weather tomorrow with storms before it gets back to the 30s. Crazy weather.  

ON MY READING PILE:::
Nothing

ON MY TV:::

On Friday nights, we typically do pizza and a movie for the kids. This year I would like to try to remember what movies we have watched, so I will be recapping here. This past Friday night, we watched Peter Pan (which I recently acquired cheaply through ebay). The kids liked the movie!

I have Planet Earth II recorded on the DVR.

This week will be a little different TV watching wise as we are doing a media free week for the kids. They haven't been listening and have been getting into trouble more, and I am wondering if it is because of too much TV, so we are going to go screen free for them during the week this week to see if that helps.

ON THE MENU FOR THIS WEEK:::

MONDAY: lasagna
TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY: 

SATURDAY:

SUNDAY:
I have no idea what I am making this week.

ON MY TO-DO LIST FOR THIS WEEK:::
Monday: Ben speech, tutor, trash and recycling to curb

Tuesday: kids to school, Aldi's grocery store

Wednesday: kids to school, tutor, Lent begins

Thursday: kids to school, tutor

Friday: kids to school, tutor
Saturday: Tea Party for Rebecca's AHG troop

Sunday: PSR, church,

And each day has the daily housework that needs to be done.

LOOKING AROUND THE HOUSE:::

It isn't too bad. There are toys out (both cat and kid toys!), but it isn't too bad.

  

FROM THE CAMERA:::
Yesterday was Rebecca's awards ceremony for her Upwards Basketball season. I took her to McDonald's after for dinner. (Her brothers had to stay home because they were in trouble). She even got to have a hot fudge sundae!

WHAT I'M WEARING TODAY:::

I have on jeans, a red sweater and brown boots. 

 

SIMPLE PLEASURE:::

Taking naps. 

DEVOTIONAL OR QUOTE:::

So there you have it. A little peek into my life on this Monday. Hope everyone has had a great day and let's see what this week will bring! 

 

Enjoying the weather and getting my craft on

I know that there are many areas of the country that are experiencing not normal weather. Here in Ohio, we are one of those parts. Temperatures the last week have been in the low 60s and it has been absolutely beautiful. (That being said, temperatures are expected to go back normal---low 40s on Saturday!)

On Sunday, we were going to go to the zoo, however, Jacob threw up around 5am, so we quickly decided against those plans. Instead, Rebecca and I went to church. By the time we got home, Jacob was back to normal (we think he just ate way too much the night before for dinner). We decided instead to head over to one of the parks in our area and walk around.

The kids love this particular park as there is lots of green space and lakes where they can throw rocks. There is no playground equipment but my kiddos have never complained. They had lots of fun and it was a wonderful afternoon out in the sunshine and warm weather.

We have also been trying to get the kids outside as much as possible this week. Ben has even learned to ride his "Big Wheel" bike, which is a huge accomplishment as he doesn't like his feet off of the ground. Rebecca enjoys riding on her scooter and Jacob likes to throw the balls around.

So we have been having fun and enjoying the reprieve from the cold. What has the weather been like where you are?

In other news, I decided to decorate a little for St. Patrick's Day, which is the next holiday. I couldn't find anything that I liked for our mantel, so I decided to get my craft on and create something.

I really like how it turned out and it was very low cost, as I just had to buy the wood and the shamrocks (the wood was like $1.09, and the shamrocks were $0.79. I already had the paint and the modge-podge.) I also bought green beads to add to our candle holders at the Dollar Store. So for less than $5 I have a decorated mantel.

So that is what I have been up to...Hope everyone has had a good week!

Weigh In Wednesday #8 of 2017

So one of my 2017 goals is to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year. This is a necessity for me, as in the last few months I have gained 15 pounds. That is not good. I want to be healthier and feel better about myself. 

In order to keep me accountable, I am hoping to come back each Wednesday to share my weigh in and my successes and failures from the previous week. So let's hop to it and see how I did this past week, shall we?

SO HOW DID THIS WEEK GO??? 

My official starting weight (on 1/1/2017) was: 242.0 pounds!

My weight last week was: 235.2 pounds.

My weight this week is: 232.6 pounds. 

So a loss of 2.6 pounds!  :-)
Total loss from 1/1/17: 9.4 pounds 

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I stepped on the scale this week. Last week was kind of a bust eating wise with Valentine's Day, sickness in the house, stress of the mice and then adjusting to kitties, etc. So I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale and saw the loss! 2.6 pounds, I will take it!

On the exercise front, well.... similar to last week. Nothing. I think I am battling depression and so it is hard to get motivated to exercise. I did go out with the kids and Bill and walked on Sunday around the park and I was running around playing basketball with Jacob last night outside.

• Wednesday: Nothing
• Thursday: Nothing
• Friday: Nothing
• Saturday: Nothing
• Sunday: Nothing
• Monday: Nothing  
• Tuesday: Nothing

With Lent coming up, I am contemplating giving up ALL sweets and processed sugars to maybe help with my weight loss. It will be hard though as I am a chocoholic. We shall see.....

If you are trying to lose weight in 2017, how is your process going? 

Happy Homemaker Monday (2/20/2017)

Happy Monday afternoon! The sun is shining here and it is warm outside! It is a good day! Today is President's Day and the kids had it off of school, so they have been home creating havoc here. As have the cats--- one decided to poop in several places in our living room and dining room this morning, and not in the litter box. Not a fun thing to wake up to. And both kids and cats have had a ton of rambunctious energy this morning/ and early afternoon. I have a mile long to do list today and I feel like I am getting none of it accomplished, but that is how life goes sometimes. I decided to sit down and type this out, before I head upstairs to attack the 3 loads of clothes that need folded and put away. So, for now, I will be joining in with the lovely Sandra over at "Diary of a Stay at Home Mom" in her Happy Homemaker Monday meme. So let's get started: 

THE WEATHER:::
Today the sun is out (YAY!) and it is gorgeous out! We have had temperatures in the 60s the last 3 days and it is supposed to be like that all week! I hope so because it is great to get outside!

ON MY READING PILE:::
Still haven't really gotten into reading anything yet. But I need to read my review book this week, so I will be reading In a Different Key....

ON MY TV:::

On Friday nights, we typically do pizza and a movie for the kids. This year I would like to try to remember what movies we have watched, so I will be recapping here. This past Friday night, we watched Lady and the Tramp (which I recently acquired cheaply through ebay). The kids liked the movie!

Now that the NFL season is over, we typically have on college basketball or the NBA. If Ben gets to choose, then it is Lego Star Wars. I also started watching Planet Earth II, which premiered this weekend.

ON THE MENU FOR THIS WEEK:::

MONDAY: ham slices, augratin potatoes, green beans

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY: 

SATURDAY:

SUNDAY:
I have no idea what I am making this week. I have a mile long to do list today and that is on my list. This warmer weather has made me want to make some different things.

ON MY TO-DO LIST FOR THIS WEEK:::
Monday: Ben speech, tutor, trash and recycling to curb

Tuesday: kids to school, Aldi's grocery store

Wednesday: kids to school, tutor

Thursday: kids to school, tutor, Rebecca has basketball.

Friday: kids to school, tutor
Saturday: Rebecca has her last basketball game, walk

Sunday: PSR, church, Upwards awards celebration 

And each day has the daily housework that needs to be done.

ON MY TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:::
Pay Bills
Laundry (at least 4 loads)
Clean upstairs and downstairs bathrooms
Empty trash
Menu plan
Iron stars on Rebecca's basketball shirt (after it is washed and dried)
HHM on blog
Mop downstairs floors
Decluttering session in our bedroom
Work on St. Patrick's Day decorations
Fill out forms for Ben's testing

LOOKING AROUND THE HOUSE:::

It isn't too bad. There are toys out (both cat and kid toys!), but it isn't too bad.

  

FROM THE CAMERA:::
We took the kids to the park yesterday to run around, throw rocks in the lakes and see the geese. At one point, Ben wouldn't get down from a rock, so I had him climb on my back and we walked around with me giving him a piggy back ride!

WHAT I'M WEARING TODAY:::

I have on jeans, a green/brown/and white floral short-sleeved shirt and tan flats. The weather is too warm to wear a sweater and boots!

 

SIMPLE PLEASURE:::

Spending time outside with my kids and hubby. 

DEVOTIONAL OR QUOTE:::

So there you have it. A little peek into my life on this beautiful Monday afternoon. Hope everyone has had a great day and let's see what this week will bring! 

 

Valentine's 2017

We had a pretty good Valentine's Day this year. With a few special things that we did and a few that we didn't get to do...

Each day leading up to Valentine's Day, I placed a heart with a  special thing about each child on it on their walls for them to find when they woke up. The kids loved this idea, and I think it is something that I will be doing each year for Valentine's Day.

I came downstairs on Valentine morning to find chocolate from my hubby on the table!

I left out a card and a Reese's peanut butter heart for my dear hubby before I left for the morning.

The kids had school. Jacob and Rebecca took their Valentine's to school for their parties that afternoon. They both said they had fun. In Ben's class, they had their Valentine's party which I attended.

After the party, we headed home to get Bill so that we could go look at the cats that we ended up adopting.

We were originally going to go get Greek food for lunch, but decided that we had just enough time to grab some Wendy's and then head to Walmart to get cat supplies before I had to be at my tutoring session.

After my tutoring session, we took the kids to pick up the cats and bring them home.

By the time the excitement died down, I had to quickly make dinner so that Bill could eat before he had to head to work.

I had bought Valentine themed cups and napkins for the kiddos to use and completely forgot to have them use them. LOL

I also had bought things to make strawberry shortcake for dessert, but that didn't happen either.

On Wednesday, I came downstairs to find an emoji pillow on the table for me. Not sure why my husband got me the mad faced one-- is he trying to tell me something?? , but the kids really seem to like it....

Also on Wednesday, Benjamin asked me to draw a heart so he could cut it out and he did. This from the child, who has had occupational therapy issues. I think he did a great job and it was the perfect way to cap off Valentine's.

So overall, our Valentine's Day 2017 was a pretty good one! Hope yours was as well!

February Decluttering Project: The Master Bedroom (Update #3)

In case you missed it yesterday, we got a couple of new family members this week. On Tuesday we adopted two new cats into our family. They are 7 month old brothers and we have named them Gus Gus and Gronk. They have pretty much taken a lot of our attention these last couple of days, so I feel like I am so behind on general housework, laundry, etc. However, I did get some decluttering done in our bedroom before we got the kitties so that is what this update will be about.

One of my goals for 2017 is to give our home a deep decluttering. As I mentioned in my New Year's Goals post,  I want to take a room a month and really give it a good cleaning and decluttering. In January, I chose my nemesis-- the room/closet off of the bathroom. And I am pleased to say that I was able to declutter it completely!

After giving it much thought, for February, I decided to work on our master bedroom. What better thing to do for my husband, whom I love with all my heart, than to give him, and us, a place to truly relax in at the end of the day instead of being faced with laundry piles, miscellaneous stuff that has been stashed in our room, etc.

Last week, I tackled my dresser area and the floor around it.  

This week, I wanted to tackle my husband's dresser.

I started with the top of it, clearing it of receipts and things that I knew were trash or belonged somewhere else. I then moved on to the drawers. I even called Bill up to help, which he did so grudgingly. I took all the clothes out of his drawers and his workout clothes basket and we went through them one by one.

Bill covered with the shirts out of ONE of his drawers.

Well, I should say Bill laid on the bed and I held each one up and then he said keep or donate. I will say this that I was highly impressed with the amount that he got rid of. He got rid of a ton of his t-shirts and some shorts that he said he had forgotten that he had. We went through all of his drawers and even his clothes that were hanging up in the closet (because I figure while he was in the mood, might as well do all of it!). We are donating a trash bag and a half to Goodwill of the clothes that he got rid of!

 

Bill also cleaned off the top of his dresser and it looks so much better.

Now that we have the kitties, I am hoping it is incentive to keep surfaces clear as they like to climb around on top of things!

Next week, I am hoping to get into my closet to get to work...It desperately needs it.

So hopefully, I can get some of that done coming up this week.

If you are decluttering in 2017, how are you doing with it?