Keeping a Clean Home

((This post is in response to a reader question.))

People who are uneasy about commenting publicly on my blog will sometimes reach out to me privately.

I love it when that happens because it helps me know who's reading, and allows me to become better acquainted with you!

Anyway, someone asked me if I would do a post on how I keep my house clean.

That is laughable to me because my house isn't very clean!

I'm afraid I don't have anything earth-shattering to share with you about it.

But I'll share three things that I do.

They are simple things that you probably do, too!

I've been in homes that are meticulously clean and spotless, and I've been in homes that are really cluttered and dirty. I don't feel as though my home is either.

SO, if you're in the middle like me, maybe you can relate to these house-cleaning habits...

Here we go...

1. Small amounts of daily work.

I do not have a cleaning day or a laundry day. 

Everyday is cleaning day and laundry day!

I have found that if small cleaning habits are incorporated into my daily routines, I can stay on top of things.

If I do one or two loads of laundry each day, then it never piles up!

And if I always stick the dishes in the dishwasher and wipe the counters down after every meal, then my kitchen never gets out of hand!

I have a lot to do in my home each day, so I move very quickly while I do these things.

I tell myself, this will only take a few minutes if I focus and move quickly.

And I have found that it does!

If I see a pile of my shoes by the back door I think, it'll only take a minute to run these upstairs to my closet and put them away... Or if I'm getting ready in the morning and I notice the sink and toilet aren't very clean I think, if I grab and rag and wipe this down it'll probably only take two minutes, then I can move on with my day.

If you're a young, new homemaker I would encourage you to stay in control of your home by doing small amounts of housework each day.

It's actually easier than if you leave it all to a designated cleaning day. You'll poop out quickly and maybe even become discouraged because of all the work you have to do in only one day.

2. Delegate jobs to the children.

In this photo I had asked Nola to take everything off of the bottom shelf of the pantry, wipe it down, and then put everything back in an organized way...

Children are capable of so much!

My children really help me, and I think they feel important and proud working around the house.

My children do things like... Sweep, dry Swiffer, take trash out, tidy/organize, put things away, switch laundry loads over, help bring grocery bags in, put stacks of clean laundry away, etc...

In this photo I had asked Roman to organize this cupboard...

Elsa, who just turned four, empties the dishwasher every morning.

The items that belong in the top cupboards she stacks and places on the counter and I put them away, since she can't reach. But everything else that she can reach, she puts away for me.

If I ask a child to do a job and they give me attitude about it, I simply look at them sternly and say, "We all live here! What makes you think you don't have to help?" 

That usually seems to straighten them out.

(Children need straightening out very often I've noticed, haha...)

3. An end-of-day house tidy.

I started doing this several years ago and it's really helpful!

Around 4:00 or 4:30 I will announce to the kids that it's time to do a house tidy.

The goal is to go room by room, only spending 5 minutes in each room, making it tidy for the night.

Sometimes we make it a game and set the timer. We see how much we can put away and how nice we can make the room look before the buzzer sound. Then we move on to the next room, reset the timer for another 5 minutes, and do it again.

If you only hit the main rooms of the house, (kitchen, dining room, living room, entry way and the main floor bathroom) it goes very quickly and you're done in plenty of time to set the table and get started on dinner. 

Plus, I always like to think of it from Micah's perspective. What a treat it must be to come home to a set table, dinner in the oven, and a fairly clean house!

I cannot do this every single day, but the times I have done it, I've noticed the atmosphere in our home for the evening is just so pleasant! 

Well, those are my three tips. 

As far as deep cleaning or seasonal jobs, I tend to wait until some motivation or urge strikes me, then I dive into it. 

I like doing it that way, (versus scheduling it for myself) because then the energy for the job is strong and there to move me along. Also, I can usually complete the job better if I feel joyous about doing it, instead of feeling as though it's drudgery.

Well friends, like I said, this wasn't going to be anything revolutionary.

But sometimes it's nice to hear how other mamas do things.

And sometimes it's nice to be reminded of things we already know!

I'd love to learn from you!

We can inspire and learn from each other!

What would you add to this list?

How do you stay on top of your housecleaning?

You're welcome to leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog today, friends!

I truly hope that you feel your time here is well-spent.

*smile

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Bird Watching

Recently Micah reminded me of a date we once had, before we were married.

We were at a beach and going for a walk, when at a distance we saw a group of people standing around...

They had binoculars strapped around their necks, and cameras set in tripods.

They were talking and pointing...

"What are they looking at?" we wondered.

As we walked closer we realized they were bird watching.

 We were young and quite energetic before getting married, so it struck us as boring!

Well, time and age can have a funny effect on you, can't it?

Because while Micah and I reminisced about that walk along the beach, we laughed about how interesting we find birds to be now!

(Like for example, did you know that Cardinals mate for life? You will almost never see one without the other. If I happen to see a female at the feeder, all I have to do is look around for a minute and I'll almost always spot the male in a tree branch close by. They do all their travelings together. Isn't that sweet?!)

Anyway...

In my last post about our family room, I showed you this picture...

It was a goal of mine to create a corner here beneath the windows for activities I've noticed my family enjoys...

Nola's taken a liking to putting puzzles together, Roman likes to sit and draw, and Micah and I love to bird watch.

So Micah refinished this antique table, and made a shelf from a scrap piece of lumber he had in his workshop.

I think it's perfect for keeping a couple of our bird books and our set of binoculars. 

The large book was just given to us recently by my grandma.

It had been in her home for many years.

My mom remembers it from her childhood.

What I love about the book is not only is it filled with beautiful and colorful illustrations...

but it came with a handwritten log of the birds that were seen and when.

It dates back to 1970...

The last entry was in 1996 - an Indigo Bunting was spotted and recorded...

It is interesting to note that right around the exact time this book was given to us, we were experiencing a four-day stretch of time when an Indigo Bunting was visiting our feeders!

So... not wanting the tradition to die, I snatched a piece of notebook paper to begin the next era of bird documentation for our book.

I also made sure to get a picture of him while he was here...

I'm glad I did, because we haven't seen him since! 

(I thought he looked pretty next to the yellow finch.)

What about you?

Do you enjoy bird watching?

Do you keep track of the birds you see in your yard?

I don't know that I would have thought to keep track had I not gotten the idea from my grandparents' log.

I wonder if any of my children will want this book and the generations of handwritten recordings someday...?

I can imagine a third sheet of paper slipped in, with dates like 2039, or something like that!

I guess I should teach them to appreciate it first!

So that when they encounter a group of bird-watchers at the beach someday, they won't laugh and think, how boring!

Well, what do you think? Am I off to a good start?...

Haha...

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Before and After Family Room Photos

It was just several weeks after Christmas when we dove head first into renovating our family room.

Do you remember when I showed you this picture?...

This was the Saturday morning in mid-January when Micah began preparing for what would become a half-year project.

It's always real satisfying to see before and after photos side by side. It makes me feel like we've accomplished so much!

So today I'm sharing with you how far we've come in our family room over the last six months. (With a few 'during' shots thrown in, as well!)

Are you up for a picture-heavy post?! Haha...

Let's get started!

I suppose this would be considered the official 'before' photo of the fireplace wall...

The kids are notorious for trashing this room! *eye roll...

The 'during' photos...

Since the previous owners did a lot with dark, earthy colors, my main desire for this house has been to brighten things up!

I find dark houses to be sad and melancholy... I want my home to be light and airy!

SO... bright white paint has become my best friend! 

 

Micah built a new mantle piece for our fireplace...

And finally, (after a lot of late nights working once the kids have been tucked into bed) we have the 'after'!...

I just LOVE it!

(I wanted to move Roman's roller coster creation out of the way for the photo, but he reminded me that it is delicate and precarious to try to move... I remembered that this is a real-life blog! So I agreed to leave it. *smile)

This is what the other side of the room looked like before...

You can see that we decided to keep the wood paneling. It was here when we moved in, but our research on the house has us certain that it's not original. Oh well, we pretend that it is, haha. Micah freshened it up with a new coat of varnish.

'During'...

And the same wall 'after'...

I am very happy with it!

We have an area for some books and baskets of toys...

And a table for bird-watching and putting puzzles together...

My aim wasn't to make this a fancy or fussy room, but just a comfortable place to relax and play.

This is just an overview, so please let me know in the comments if you'd like to see anything close up. I'd be happy to compose a "details" post in the future! 

Also- I didn't include any information in this post about the flooring or chandelier because I've done posts on those already. I'd hate to repeat myself and bore you if you've been following. However, if you're new here and you're interested, you can look up other posts on the progress of our family room under the "Room Makeovers" and "Projects" tabs. They are located on the right hand side of the web version's home page.

Well friends, what do you think?

I am just so pleased with how it turned out!

I wish I could invite each of you over for a cup of coffee and a nice chat in my new family room! We'd have such a lovely time, wouldn't we? We can always chat in the comments, you know! I always love hearing from you!

Hope you're having a wonderful summer.

Check back with me soon...

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Elsa Pickle

Yesterday was Elsa's Fourth birthday...

My baby isn't a baby anymore.

*sniff!

When I was pregnant with her I asked my other children what we should name her, and Nola (who was three at the time) suggested, "Elsa Pickle."

We laughed, but to this day we call her Elsa Pickle.

(Elsa with one of her brothers...)

Some family jokes just stick! Haha...

(Mama and Elsa on the day she was born...)

She has been an absolute delight for the past four years!

I can't imagine our family, or my life, without her!

(Elsa's birthday breakfast...)

She wakes me up each day by coming into my room, sticking her little face close to mine and saying, "Mama, it's morning!!!"

And every night at bedtime she asks if I'd sing her, "Lullaby." So I sit on her bed and sing to her each night, sometimes three or four rounds of it if she asks me to keep going, haha... I never say no.

We have a sweet and special bond.

Prayers I have prayed over her...

That the Lord will grant her repentance at a young age,

and she will come to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

That she will always have a tender heart for God's Word,

and seek Him and serve Him all the days of her life.

That I will be a good mama for her,

and the Lord will keep her safe and feeling loved.

That she will have a heart for obedience and a heart that loves truth...

and a mouth that only ever speaks what is right and true.

I've prayed that

The Lord will bless her with godly friends

and a husband someday who loves God and His ways.

I've asked that

Her husband will be a good fit for our family, and treats her well...

That her womb will be opened and blessed.

And that I will be available to help her with her babies and alive to watch them grow.

I've prayed that

She will be a better and wiser mother than I, and that each generation after me will only get stronger and better.

I've asked that

Any pain or heartache that enters her life will cause her to run after God and love Him deeper. That it will be used for good and ultimately prove to be a blessing in her life.

I have thanked God for giving her to me and consider her a joy and a gift!

"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward."

- Psalm 127:3

What a wonderful four years with my Elsa Pickle!

I look forward to seeing what God does in her life as the years progress.

Thanks for reading, friends!

I hope you have a fun and safe 4th of July!

We're off to see a parade!!!

xo,

 ~ Courtney ~