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Yes, I am doing that pregnant lady thing called “nesting.” Don keeps trying to get me to sit down and relax, but I keep noticing things that need cleaned, organized, or thrown out. My tolerance for clutter and dust is at its all time low. The stacks of items for my yard sale are growing larger and I can’t wait for a nice, sunny day or two to get rid of this stuff for good!

I also started taking the tabs off the cloth diapers so I could put new ones on them (the velcro lost its cro). I got a little too ambitious with the seam ripper though and broke it… another project on hold

The one area in which I don’t feel the nesting urge is cooking. Thankfully the last two nights we were able to eat off gift cards we’d received for Easter (yes, my mother uses any occasion to get us a restaurant gift card!).

Anyway, that’s all for now! Chirp, chirp!

I am planning on having a “real” yard sale this Saturday. What I mean by “real” is that I am actually preparing my items (cleaning, pricing) and planning on advertising via a Central Road sign and Craigslist. Last year I had an impromptu yard sale that yielded me about $20! I didn’t advertise at all and it only lasted 2 hours… most of the remaining items were sent to Goodwill and Vineyard Community Church as usual. I priced things so low at this sale that one shopper gave me the advice that I priced them too low! I’m not accustomed to selling my things. Usually we give away all our unwanted items throughout the year (cause honestly, it’s easier to do).  I still pass on most of our boy clothing, coats, and other items I know friends and family can use.  So it’s still strange for me to think about charging anything for our stuff. But, now that we’re in more of a financial pinch these days, I’m feeling less guilty about trying to make (a tad bit of) money in an effort to help our family funds and I’m actually getting excited about it!

In an effort to feed my family healthier meals (sans the pesticides and preservatives), I am going to grow a fruit/vegetable garden in our backyard and an herb garden in one of our front yard flower boxes.  I am hoping a garden will also help us save some money on our produce since we have been juicing and eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I have been scouring books and websites to figure out how to do this successfully. I am a complete newbie gardener and I’m honestly a bit intimidated by this endeavor. So far I have consulted the All-In-One Garden: Grow  and The Complete Gardener.  Both of these books are chock full of gardening knowledge, especially when it comes to selecting items to plant.  They both discuss how you can plant fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in the space to create a useful and beautiful garden.  I think I benefited more from the All-in-One Garden because the Complete Gardener seemed to be written for more experienced gardeners who wanted to update and improve their current garden.
This is the book I REALLY look forward to reading: All New Square Foot Garden. I put this book on hold at the library and have a feeling I may need to purchase it and refer to it throughout the spring/summer. I have some friends who have used the square foot garden method and seemed to have done well with it, so I think this will be my starting point. I have already checked out the website and it seems to be a good fit for my current gardening goals.  We have a great spot off our patio to plant a garden (where my husband recently cut down a tree). Thanks to the previous owners of our house, we already have tons of beautiful flowers outlining our backyard as well. I gather from my gardening research that some of these “beautiful” plants are also functional for cooking… such as my favorite for viewing, lavender.

Anyway, I will try to keep you posted on my progress. I am also investigating composting and rain barrels… lots of work to do in the next few weeks!  I am really excited… I can’t wait for all this snow to melt and for spring to pop up!

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Don and I are trying to be more intentional about having people over to our house so we can enjoy old, new, and potentially new friends. One way we are doing this is by having at least one family over for dinner a week. So far, this has been a lot of fun. I’m trying to build up a “dinner guest” recipe book that makes it easy to keep my pantry stocked for such dinners. So, if you have any good dinner recipes that most people enjoy (ya know, nothing too unique), or if you know of a good cookbook I should check out, please share!

I’m also planning on hosting a Pampered Chef party next month and I am considering selling the products. I really like PC products and I like how the cooking parties will give me a chance to meet new people. I also love the idea of helping people create inexpensive and healthy meals on quality cookware! I feel like it’s a chance to promote healthy eating at home and encourage people to be more hospitable (two things I value highly).

Romans 12:13   Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Hebrews 13:2   Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have

entertained angels unawares.

I Peter 4: 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

I’m also preparing for a couple other things this season.  The biggest venture is a Holiday Open House event where we’ve invited our friends, family, and neighbors to join us in celebrating the season and collecting items for needy people in our area.  I am really excited about this party!

The second venture is one I wrangled my mama into.  “We’re” making an advent tree for the boys.  LOL.  I have zero sewing skills, but I really don’t want to dump all the work on my mom… pray!   We have to get moving because I’m supposed to start using it with the boys tomorrow. Not only do we have to assemble the ginormous tree, but I also have to come up with the daily devotions and activities/symbols to go along with each day… yikes. I ordered a book from amazon that should help me generate ideas, but it hasn’t arrived yet. The tree itself is modeled on two I’ve seen online (one from potterybarn and one from some uber swanky and expensibe site).  I’ll show the finished product if we get it finished.

I first read about soap nuts here: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/06/soap-nuts-faqs.html.  I decided to do more research on my own about the product then I prayed about purchasing some.  I didn’t want to buy something I wouldn’t actually use, so I waited a few weeks before I purchased them.  I compared prices online for NaturiOli soap nuts and ended up purchasing them through their site.  I have been using soap nuts for a week now and I love them!  They are really easy to use and they leave our clothes scent-free.  I don’t even have to use dryer sheets now to keep t

he static cling away.  I think if you compare the price of soap nuts to the price of your laundry detergent and dryer sheets (even if purchased at a super deal), you will find they are a better buy.  After all, they won’t leave a layer of unhealthy chemicals on your clothes and you won’t have bulky packaging to throw in the waste.