Henry and Stella Sale!

One of our Mom Based Businesses is having a AWESOME sale on some beautiful pieces ..just through April 8th!

I snatched up a few, including this beautiful thing.

Th sale items are starting at $8 with shipping/taxes INCLUDED ...a great deal and perfect for gifts!

She has them posted only on Facebook so better head there now ...Henry and Stella Designs

Defining Simplicity

As I have mentioned, I am reading Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider. I have really loved being inspired by her suggestions and utilizing her practical suggestions for how to create a simple life.

I hope to write more about those experiences, but for now I want to share my thoughts about the idea of simplicity itself.

Tsh defines simple living as "living holistically with your life's purpose."   This is a great starting point for living this idea of a simple life, and can really apply to anyone and everyone who considers the idea. What that means to each of us is the variable, and what makes the difference between what your simple life looks like, versus mine.

I have been diverting some pretty serious mental resources to considering what "living holistically with {my} life's purpose" means, for me and my family.  In the refining, I have found some inspiration to take care of a few things, let go of a few things, increase my resolve on a few things and relax on others.

Living simply will mean different things for you as well - for some of you, a determination to live more simply will mean you get to work on decluttering your home, others it will mean you put the lysol away and focus on your family. For some, it will mean you relax your grip on your pennies and others it will mean that you are more committed to debt-free living. For some, you will be inspired to become more frugal and coupon clipper of the universe, while others will let go of the guilt of not doing it in this season of life. ..its okay, because living simply is about creating a life that allows you to meet those needs.

A couple of things I have learned about simplicity in my own life ....

* simple and easy are not the same thing. I have found that in order to live simply, I may have to make some hard changes. I may need to get on a budget or lose some weight. In order to live better, I may need to work harder ..at least for now.

* simple and frugal are not the same thing...not necessarily.  Honestly, living simply may mean that I get that steam mop I love so I dont spend so much time/energy/hate points on lugging around a mop and water.  I may spend more on disposable diapers than if I did cloth, but frankly ...cloth diapers simple? nope, not for me.  It may cost more to get a washing machine that works better, but when I can cram 3 loads worth in one load relative to my old one ..I will take it.

Its about spending ALL my resources as currency, not just my pennies.

One thing Organized Simplicity has you do is create a family purpose statement...after some input from the hubby and considering it for a bit, ours is:

"Live simply, peacefully, less stressed with glory to God in everything we are, everything we have and in everything we do."

Having this written down had really helped refine what simple living means for our family. It has nurtured inspiration, motivated decluttering, prioritized our schedules, empowered our service, and given us a heart for what is the most important on a day to day basis. 

I am excited to share with you a little at a time some changes I have made, some have made a big difference in my overall feeling of calm and peace :)

Congrats Stasi!

Congrats to Stasi for winning 6 months FREE on PearBudget! ...this should be a great kickstart for her new years resolution to get on a budget :)

She says in her entry comment ..."I love pear budget! I used their free spreadsheet version before we were married, but i never made the jump to the online version. Even if I don't win, i will try and convince my husband that the jump is worth it" 

I hope this helps your case Stasi! 

YOU may not have won 6 months for free ...BUT PearBudget offers everyone who signs up (again, nothing entered more personal than an email address) a FREE 30-day trial. I have been using mine and LOVE it!

Special thanks to Charlie at PearBudget, as well as Ruth who have offered this great giveaway and have let me gush to them about their great resource and my new favorite iphone app! :) Thanks so much!

Less Stressed Dinner: Chicken Stroganoff

{First, make sure to go enter to win the PearBudget GIVEAWAY ..we are drawing later today!}

Okay, next thing up ..dinner! 

I put this together last night for our dinner and it was SOO yummy I wanted to share ...its pretty easy, although admittedly not as easy as the Crockpot Beef Stroganoff recipe.  It also utilizes many things that are on sale this week at Publix ..inspired by Emealz? I think so :)

{Chicken Stroganoff}

1 lb skinless chicken breast, cut into small chunks

1 small onion, chopped

1 stalk of celery, diced

4 oz of white mushrooms (optional..but yummy)

16oz chicken broth

1 chicken boullion cube

8 oz sour cream

3 tbl flour

 8oz egg noodles, cooked

seasonings for taste: garlic salt, poultry seasoning, basil, onion powder

Melt 2 tbl spoons margarine in a large skillet, toss and saute onions, celery and mushrooms. When veggies are tender, add chicken. Season to preference, I shake all that stuff I mentioned in there :) When chicken is no longer pink, add chicken broth and chicken boullion cube. Simmer until chicken is done and tender.  Mix flour and sour cream until smooth. Spoon this mixture into chicken/broth mixture...a whisk works great. Stir until the sour cream/flower is well integrated. Simmer for a few more minutes to allow the flour to thicken the sauce. Serve over hot egg noodles. YUMMO!

To make things even better, add some Cheese and Garlic Biscuits! ..I stole this recipe off the Bisquick box, adjusted a little to taste and use it ALL the time :)

{Cheese and Garlic Biscuits}

2 cups Bisquick mix

2/3 cup milk

1/2ish cup of shredded cheddar cheese

a few shakes of garlic powder

Mix together, drop onto a cookie sheet and cook at 350 until just barely showing color ..if they turn brown they are tad over done.  Brush with melted butter seasoned with garlic salt, serve warm.

Enjoy!

Project Simplify: Kids Stuff

I have really loved taking care of some of these Hot Spots ...Simple Mom's Project Simplify has been most inspiring to get some of these problem areas knocked out!

This week's assignment was a big area of need in our house, which is why I took care of it last weekend ..two days BEFORE she assigned it as this week's Hot Spot :)

SO..I dont have any BEFORE pics of the Kids Stuff ..but I do have after pics and have been enjoying the organization of that for a week now!

We dont have a huge closet, but we do have a playroom so the only thing in my boy's room is their clothing and some books. That really helps keep the toy clutter to a smaller geographical location...

The boys closet BEFORE ..

{picture here ...the after pic with lots more clothes, stuff sticking out drawers and no empty hangers :}

The boys closet AFTER ...

The blue bins at the top of their closet is one of our Parent Control Stubstances ...their train set. If they have all the pieces down for that at once they end up spreading all over the house, always cluttering up their bedroom (so I take back what I said about there not being any toys in their room ..this is the only thing have in there ..the trains stay in their bedroom)

 The keep their laundry hamper in the closet, it keeps it from being a roller coaster ride down the stairs :)

In the drawers we have pj's, undies/socks and all their pants. Their shirts are all hanging. I personally find that much easier than folding.  I have two levels of shelves ..the lower shelf is specifically for clothes they choose for themselves. Those shirts are ones they can play in and are accessible by independent little boys :) The upper level is next season's stuff, and also shirts that I prefer they dont play in.

This is the room and the extra hangers we had left after we decluttered their clothes! :)

Decluttering their toys has been a perpetual process - I am constantly decluttering that area. Especially since Christmas I have been stealthily getting rid of toys that are broken, junky or not played with. With what we have left, I have half of it out and the other half in a bin in the garage. Its our version of toy rotation, only bringing it out when they start asking for specific things I know are in there.

I leave out categories of stuff that I know they love the most ..cars, dress up, blocks, trains, etc. We were still having a lot of trouble keeping that stuff picked up, so as part of this week's decluttering I did another brutal toy overhaul.

This time I had them chose from those categories their 10 favorites of each of those things (except blocks, the open ended toys stay as is).  They have 10 cars, 10 "people" (my boys LOVE gijoe guys, and other figures like that), 10 of their favorite dress up items, etc.  I was alittle concerned they would complain about it but ..not a whine.

When we were all done choosing our favorite things, we "celebrated" having simplified all of it and we dumped ALL the bins in the of the playroom floor! :) Then we saw how fast we were able to pick it all up, it was super fast :) This was a great lesson for mommy and boys :)

I also have a shelf of toys that are Parent Controlled - things they have to have permission and or supervision to use. In those bins is paint, playdoh, construction sets, etc.  They can reach them, but they know they cant get them without permission.

In the process of simplifying the kiddo's stuff I learned I learned a few things that I would like to remember for when I attempt this again ...

* Kids really do like simplicity ...it has been notable how there has been no complaints whatsoever about the limited toy options. I swear they are playing outside more, playing with eachother more, complaining less about picking up, and playing with what they have more often. Its not just for me :)

* Give them a voice ..I was a bit surprised when I called my 6 yo in to help me declutter his pants. He had a ton but apparently he had serious reasons for why he didnt wear certain ones (aside from Sunday, or when looking nice is important, he chooses his own clothes). I learned he prefers jean and not "brown" short because they "embarrass" him ..who knew? That helped eliminate several pairs of shorts that would have otherwise been taking up room :)

* Every pair of jeans we started out the fall with have holes in them now :) ..that means we now have that many pairs of cut off shorts for the summer. These are perfect play shorts, and as we have learned ...gives Ty more options for "not brown" shorts :)

* Because these boys are growing SO fast, I am keeping a basket in their closet or on my dryer (its on my dryer right now) for putting things away that are outgrown or need to be goodwill/garage sale'd. I have found that having a basket close by, it cuts down on the dreaded clothes overhaul every few months.

This was a great week for decluttering and simplifying!  ..cant wait for next week!

{One are we area simplifying is our BUDGET ..check out our PearBudget GIVEAWAY !}