Renewed Soul!

You know, your prayers must be working, because I woke up this morning feeling so much better than the past few weeks.  It was as if my soul replenished completely and I was ready to face the day.

I don't even know how, because I didn't get much sleep the night before.  You're probably getting sick of hearing that, but truth is, as Bella is getting older she has become extremely restless at night, and being the mom that I am, every little stir, movement or huff and puff wakes me from a deep sleep.

Some nights she's fine, others she is as restless as my soul has been.

Last night was one of those.  I don't think she knew exactly what she wanted, she would lay down and then start panting because she's hot and get up and walk to the other side of the bed and ask to get down.  I would wake up, put her on the ground, and she would walk around to the other side of the bed and go scratch by my husband's side to ask to be put back up on the bed.

And so it went, all.night.long.

Just when I thought she had settled in, my hubby's alarm clock went off at 6:30am.  I'm usually a morning person but today I really could have done with a few extra hours.

Now mind you, I could have stayed in bed but I have always gotten up with my husband and fixed the morning coffee and his lunch, and seen him off to work, so I am not about to change that.  Even on those days where I'm running on empty.

Once I was up and had some breakfast in me, I was ready for the day. Today's breakfast consisted of coffee and some Cinnamon Roll Toast for Nicholas and I.  So yummy, if you want to try it for yourself, you can find the recipe over at the food blog.

I got dressed, I started the laundry and then got busy with cleaning.

The fireplace area was needing a sweeping and dusting.  I also dusted every picture, shelf, area that needed it.

I love this stuff and the smell is divine, but then, in my opinion, anything Lavender and Vanilla is amazing.

No matter how tired I may be, there is a rhythm to homemaking that I really enjoy, and once I get going, I quite like all the chores that come with keeping a home clean and cozy.

After dusting, I swept and vacuumed and then moved into the kitchen.  Why is it that no matter how hard we try, the counters seem to catch all sorts of random stuff and end up looking untidy and messy all the time?

I try so hard to keep it clean and clear but it doesn't work, I turn around and there's stuff all over again.

There are a few things that I like keeping in the kitchen, mainly my menu plan book and my budget book because I tend to use those quite often.  Also my tablet, mail that comes in, a few jars to catch loose change and some pens and pencils.  I don't, however, like seeing everything all over....and that is how it had been for a while.

This morning I dug out one of my many baskets and packed it all neat and tidy, it now sits on my counter and I can just reach in for whatever I need without having things strewn all over the place.

I also had an extra apothecary jar that was sitting in the pantry, so I pulled it out and it now holds all my chargers. When my husband needs to charge his phone, he just pulls out the charger and charges it right there, and when he's done it goes back into the jar. I do the same with my Kindle and Tablet chargers.

It's great not to have to hear "where is my charger?", all the time.

While I was doing all of that organizing, I also poured out my change jar and started counting the money in there.  I have two jars, one that holds all the pennies and random dimes and nickels, and one that I add dollars to, as I count them out.

So, for example, I gather 4 quarters to make a dollar and pop it into that jar, any extra quarters that don't make another dollar I pop into the other jar with the other coins.  Every week, I reach in, count out a few more dollars and add it to the Dollar Jar.

You know loose change is something we all have, and so many times it gets thrown on the bedside table or on a desk and forgotten about.  With money as tight as it is at the moment, and with Christmas fast approaching, I am trying to make money from wherever I can, and so far we have over $30 just in change.

Once my Dollar Jar is full, I will take it to the bank and exchange it for bills, and it will go into a Christmas Envelope.  It will definitely help.

Fall continues to rear it's head around me. I'm starting to see a lot of leaves on the ground, and the trees are turning all shades of red and yellow and orange.  I do think Fall is one of the prettiest seasons of all.

Since we're speaking of this beautiful season, I did go ahead and make Laura Ingalls Wilder Gingerbread, this afternoon.

The kids dove into it as soon as it was done.

I just love the rich dark brown color and the flavor of all those spices, it makes it the perfect pairing for a hot cup of coffee.

I think that is what I'm going to go have right now, I may just have made myself crave a bit of that Gingerbread with some coffee.  I'm just thankful that coffee doesn't keep me awake, or I may have been contributing to my no sleeping issues tonight.  HA!!

Tomorrow I need to run to my storage to grab the Halloween decorations and some of the Fall ones too, I think I still have a box or two in there.  I am mostly wanting to track down my fabric pumpkins that I made a few years ago, but if I can't find those I may quickly whip some up tomorrow.  Just hope I have some fabric that will work, maybe some reds or browns?

The crochet pillow is coming along great, I will have to take a picture tomorrow to show you.  I know some of you thought it looked complicated but it's such a simple pattern, it couldn't be easier, honestly.

Alright, my husband wants to sit and chat a bit before we turn in for the night, so I am out of here.

Blessings, hugs and lot of love to you all,
Sandra
xoxoxo