My biggest change when you walk in my house....

The below picture is the first thing you would see when you walked into our house. One of the basics behind the book is to look at the first thing people will see when they walk into your house. When I looked at these pictures it was a revelation.

I realized the objects that I don't see while sitting down on the couch are actually the first things you see when you walk in my front door. Applying the principles from the book, look at the after picture.

Ok, so where did it all go. I have a that is next to the front door and I put all of the video games in totes. I have a tote for each gaming system. The controllers get dumped in there when we are done. The video games are behind the controller totes.

I found a Green Apple....or rather Alexa did

Our cat Alexa brought Chris a present yesterday. She had found a mouse. Even better, it was our mouse. The 4th mouse that was missing. Now, please realize that Green Apple, the mouse, was in Alexa's mouth, wet with slobber and looked barely alive. Chris put her in the cage, hand fed her and gave her some droplets of water. As of today she is running around with the other mice and seems to be doing good. Elisha is thankful that God answered her prayer to bring Green Apple back home safely. Here is a picture of Green Apple sitting on Landon's should while she is still in shock. :)


Today is Father's Day and the family enjoyed a morning at the mall hanging out together. Later, on to my parents house for BBQ. I love when people invite us over to feed us :) and I looove BBQ :)

Because I didn't have enough stress....

I get home today and the cats have knocked over the mouse cage....GRRRR. Luckily, three of the four were huddled in a tube together scared to death. The 4th is yet to be located. Landon did very well with it and didn't freak out too bad. The cage is not reassembled and hopefully the cats will leave it where I moved it too. Note to self: don't store the ENTIRE food chain in the same home. Someone will put and end to it. Landon's door is staying closed now. :)

The House The Cleans Itself - The Beginning of the Beginning

I was at Family Christian Stores one day and I saw a book on the 5 dollar table called "The House That Cleans Itself". I am house-cleaning challenged or impaired or whatever. I am horrible at it. Chris and I have talked it over with counselors and I have NEVER found a solution. Over the years, I have bought several books that would fix the problem and NONE of them made sense and were way too complicated. I have looked at this book several times and thought it sounded like a nice idea. For 5 bucks, I made the huge investment and bought another book to dust. I brought it home to much teasing from my husband.
I read it and started to get to work. It was liberating and exciting. In a meager blog I won't be able to walk you through how to do the process but I am going to lay my heart on the line and show you some before and after pics as well as how I got there. Before I post any pics I want you to realize that I had already been REALLY working on getting my house together for a year so it was not as bad as it was. I already had some really good processes in place and the book was the icing on the cake. I have taken on a second job and sometimes I work 7 days a week and travel and this system is keeping my house together in the midst of all of it. It is a work in progress and I am still learning to change some bad habits but I have come a long way, BABY! :)
I have a few friends who are starting this book. Facebook me and let me know if you have any questions or are stumped on any areas in your house and you go along. If you are interested, I think the book is 9 bucks on Amazon. I would say it is well worth the investment.
Also, digital photography has been the key for me. When I got started I took about 100 pictures of my house and printed them all. I lay them all out on my dining room table while I looked at and prayed over the mess I had created. Any time I get discouraged I pull them out and look at how far I have come.

June June June

June is always a HUGE month for me. Landon's birthday, my anniversary and the beginning of summer.

My baby turned 4!! Hard to believe that he is already 4. We have decided that we are not having anymore kids so two is it! I am working a second job temporarily while Chris is settling into changes in his career but that's another story in itself :) So on Landon's birthday which fell on a Sunday this year we went to Old Town Donuts in Florissant for a birthday breakfast. That kid ate and ate. 1 chocolate long john, 1 old fashioned and donut holes. We didn't think he would stop.

Then the family went to church without me because I had to work. We had his party that evening and it was small and laid back but so much fun. My mom made a green cake (his favorite color) with dump trucks on top. He got the Tag reading system (SO AMAZING) and several books to go with it. He also got a Handy Manny fix-it car that is pretty cool, a pool, clothes, puzzle.
Later on in the week Grandma Clayton bought him a really cool hamster cage for 2 mice and all of the fixings. It is sooo cool :) He loves them. And then Elisha bought two mice on her own and added them.

He loves watching them run through the tunnels and build nests. He almost fell asleep sitting up the first night watching them. They are names Georgy and Green Apple. Elisha's are Becky and Bella. :) Very cute.

Our anniversary is Saturday and I am working so we will celebrate on another day. Hard to believe it has been 6 years since I said, "I do". I had no idea what I was really saying I do too but it has been an amazing ride. Chris and I have had our shares of broken dreams, heartbreak and hurt feelings. For awhile, it didn't feel like we would make it through but here we are and stronger than ever. I don't know that I have ever been so challenged to grow in Christ by anyone else. I am so proud to be his wife and to be growing and experiencing life with him. When I look back at the road we have traveled it is unbelievable that we made it!!! But we did!! Now to look forward at the road ahead and whatever our next adventure may be.

And summer begins....can't wait for the adventures in store......