Dirty Laundry

I am linking up to the writing prompt. Why don't you join too? This week's prompt: dirty laundry!

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The dirty laundry is piled high. A colorful mountain of dresses, towels, sheets, shirts and socks. It all came from the bathroom, where the hamper vomited its contents making it hard to open the door. But my children…my children think this is fun! An occasion to roll in the clothes, dive in the mountain, or get “buried” under the garments. And if by any chance their noses are dangerously close to a dirty sock or underwear, they giggle so hard with exclamations of, “ewww!” that is it hard not to join in the laughter.

And so, while the dirty laundry reminds me of the work I have to do, my children remind me to enjoy each moment. They show me how to laugh in the midst of work, making the everyday chores seem more manageable and less dutiful.

I join in the fun, throwing towels over their head, or even burying them while their muffled voices call out, “Make sure I am all covered!” All that is left is a bundle of clothes that rises and falls as the giggling girls hide underneath. Then they explode with glee sending pants, socks, and washcloths flying in all directions.
Then I tell them it is time to sort the laundry, and “let’s see whose pile gets higher” and we are all working together. My oldest takes the dirty underwear with two fingers, touching as little of the fabric as she possibly can and stretches her arm as far away from her as she can. She makes a disgusted face, and pinches her nose with her free hand.



Oh, I still have to do the washing, then the folding, then the putting away. It is still a chore. However, I can at least enjoy the dirty laundry and the bonding experience it brings to my family. The laughs, the games, and the time we spend working together. I am thankful for the making of a memory that will stay with them, and with me, for years to come. I even wonder if when they have their own families, they will dump out their dirty laundry in the middle of their living room and make a game out of it with their children too.

Besides, it is not the washing that I mind so much, it is actually the folding, and then having to put it away that I dislike! My girls have not found a way to make this fun, and neither have I. But one thing is for certain, I chose dirty laundry, folding, and putting it away over doing dishes any day!

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What about you? Tell me about your dirty laundry and join the writing prompt!

Bedtime Routine

We have been working on our charts and routines. Nichole is very visual (as so are most small children) and she especially likes pictures of things that are familiar to her. As we work on making our chart, we decided to take our own pictures.

So here is our bedtime routine in pictures for the girls that cannot read yet and because pictures are fun!

1. Eat vitamins

2. Pick up play-room

3. Put jamies on

4. Put dirty clothes in laundry basket

5. Go potty

6. Wash hands

7. Brush teeth

 8. Get in bed

Once in bed, I read the girls a story and we pray together.

Note: When I did this with Ellie a few years back it really worked! So much so that she has actually stuck to the bedtime routine even after I stopped reinforcing it. Routines really work with kids! Especially when there are pictures and they participate at creating them.

If you are wondering what this is about, it is a result of wanting to live intentionally, you can go back and read more about that.

I am curious, what is the bedtime routine like at your house?

Living Intentionally

Because I am living outside my limits, I need to begin living intentionally.

About 3 years ago, we were in a good rhythm of life, we were living intentionally. We had a speaker come to our MOPS group and she talked about Intentional Living. Stacy Yoder shared with us some practical ways to get our life in track. Yes, it included chore lists and routines. I took to heart what she had to share and put it into practice. Her system literally changed my life...until we adopted. This is crazy, but we have had Nina for 2.5 years and I am still functioning on survival mode. No wonder i am living outside my boundaries!

So I sat down with the girls today, and I told them we were all going to have chores. We made a list, Monday through Sunday, and each day has some chores. My chores include a load of laundry every day, and making a weekly menu and shopping list.

This is what I appreciated about Stacy, she said, "when your chores are done, you are done, and you have the rest of the day. Your goal is not to get everything done in one day, but every day you have small things to do." And she also encouraged us, "If you miss a day, don't worry about it, the point is not to catch up."

The girls and I also worked on our bed-time routines. They have one, and I have one. For example, mine includes:

• Pick up stuff on the floor
• Check calendar
• Make to do list for next day
• Charge cell phone
• Write down a schedule for the next day on a dry/erase board (this helps a lot with Nichole and her transitions)
• Know what is for lunch and dinner the next day
• Get clothes ready for the girls

Stacy also gave us a nice little notebook. Mine is divided into sections:

• To do list
• On-going to do 
• Shopping
• Routines
• Prayers
• Miscellaneous
• Wish list
• Writing 

This little notebook really helped me out! I had a calendar in there and somehow my life felt organized.

So now that I am taking my life back, I am getting back to Living Intentionally. Now that my girls are older, it is exciting that they can participate.

Stacy does not have a blog, or I would send you her, so instead I will be asking her to share her wisdom with the rest of us here. She is amazing!

What do you do to live intentionally? What works for you and your family? What are the things that make all the difference between finishing a day with a feeling of "well done" as opposed to feeling like "barely made it!" Would love to hear your thoughts.