The life and days of a temporary stay-at-home mom...

Here's a few things I'm enjoying about being a temporary stay-at-home mom...

1. Having the time to cook dinner without rushing like a crazy woman.
2. Cooking dinner for my family instead of my husband always cooking.
3. Having a "laundry DAY" -- yes indeed - today was laundry day and ALL my laundry is washed, dried, folded and put away (with the exception of the load in the dryer right now). That's a WONDERFUL feeling!
4. Saving money by not eating out for breakfast and lunch every day like I did at work.
5. Having a straightened family room every single day... just about.
6. Having CLEAN bathrooms!

And last but not least... feeling like a good mom. Being there for my boys, and loving each minute.

Earthquake in Haiti

If you're looking for a charity that you can trust and can make a much needed and welcomed donation to, would you consider: World Vision. They are reputable and honorable.

In previous years when I co-pastored the youth ministry at our church, we would lead the kids in World Vision's "Thirty Hour Famine" where we all fasted for thirty hours. It gave us all a small taste of a child's life (a very hungry life) in a third world country and to raise money for those less fortunate. It really left an impact on the kids lives.

World Vision is already in Haiti, and they also just sent 18 metric tons of lifesaving goods including food, clean water, blankets, and tents to Haiti -- the airplane just left at 5:30 this afternoon, and will arrive tomorrow morning in Haiti. They have more than 370 staff that were there when the earthquake hit, because they have been working with them for many years.

I can't believe that nearly 80 percent of the Haitian population lived on less than $2 per day before the earthquake! Can you imagine??? The article on their website is excellent and informative... click on over to World Vision for more information.

Please keep the victims of this earthquake, and the relief workers in your prayers!!!

Head Scratcher, Eh?

I have recently been on a bread-recipe hunt to find and perfect the best yeast roll dough recipe possible for the bread machine. Mmmm, I love me some good buttery yeast rolls like the ones you'd find in Bob Evans, or typical steak houses.

So, I came across THIS RECIPE. They look really good... but after I read through the recipe, I had two reactions... first I scratched my head. Then... I researched it. Then I laughed my head off, because I had never heard of such a thing!

So here's the term I read that caused such a reaction in me...

"4 cups white flour (more as needed, U.S. residents use bread flour, Canadian residents can use all-purpose flour"

Did you notice that?? "U.S. residents use bread flour, Canadian residents can use all-purpose flour" ... I thought they were kidding... haha ... real funny, right? I mean, really -- what happens if you aren't a legal resident of either Canada or US - does that mean you can't make this bread? Just kidding...

So anyway... I googled Canadian flour and American flour. Who thought there would be a difference... but... there is!!!

Mystery solved. How do you like that, eh?

P.S. -- I made THIS recipe today and they turned out like GOLF BALLS. ICK. Failure, failure, failure!!!

(Photo By: Breezytoo from Recipezaar)

Restful, relaxing... yeah.

So this past week, I've spent each day at home working on "projects."

So far, I have removed ALL the toys from my family room, moved them down to the rec room, and made a play area for Hunter. I organized, cleaned and made the play area super kid friendly, but left room on the shelving for growth.

Then, I cleaned the family room, dining room, kitchen, steam-mopped my floors, caught up on all my laundry, folded everything and put it away, cleaned half of my bedroom and VACUUMED (GLORY BE), pulled everything out of my husband's armoire, purged old shirts, re-folded them and organized the armoire, organized my linen closet, and last, but NOT least, I cleaned the master bathroom. The one everyone uses. The one that looked like a truck-stop's bathroom. Trust me. I know. It is now shining clean! Can you hear the angels singing???

Next on my list: Clean my living room, my closet, the rest of my bedroom, and the spare bedrooms, and my PANTRY (what a mess). That should take up the better part of next week!

The biggest project? Clean up the storage rooms. I am SO NOT looking forward to that and I'm saving it for LAST. Yes, indeed.

It's very nice to be home so that I can get my home in order, and take care of my boys.

So what did I do today? I slept until 10, lounged around, read a book, had lunch, took a nap, fixed dinner, planned next week's menu and grocery list, planned my daily schedule for when I'm caught up on all the hard core cleaning, read some more, relaxed, rested, and did nothing but enjoy my boys as they wrestle each other on the floor in front of a warm and cozy fire. That's exactly what I did.

And I don't feel one bit guilty either.

Amen, and amen.