Spring Cleaning: Jennifer Delaney Style

Those who know me best would say I am a Type-A personality. I am driven to perfection when it comes to almost any task. Lately, that task has been spring cleaning. I cannot stop myself! And unfortunately for Dan, I seem to have dragged him into my project. That seems to happen to him a lot. Being the wonderful man he is, however, he just goes along and does what he can.

Our latest and greatest projects have been...

...shelving for our outdoor storage room. Dan put the shelves up and did a GREAT job! We have been able to organize and inventory all of our home improvement stuff. Who knew we had so much?

...getting rid of old college books. Seriously, why did I keep them, especially after I stopped teaching? I kept a few that would help me as I prepare for homeschooling, but everything else is gone!

...tossing the old unmentionables. Why do we keep that stuff anyway?

...getting our DONATE/THROW AWAY piles from every room. A great way to keep yourself from having TOO MUCH STUFF is to go through every room with a trash bag and a storage bin. Find 10 things to put in the trash bag, and find 10 things to put in the storage bin and donate to charity.

...weeding the flowerbed. Sure is hard work, but it is worth it. I am almost 2/3 done. I have to wait for the trash pick-up tomorrow before I can resume this project because we have generated way too much trash with cleaning during the last week.

...organizing our utility room, pantry, closets, and office. Now I actually know what I have and where it is.

And I think that finishes off our list. It sure does feel good to get all of this stuff done. I am going to have to post some pictures when we're all done. I cannot wait!

What do you say to that?

As Emma has been growing more and more in her understanding of God and who He is, we've been slowly trying to teach her that there are things that make God/Jesus REALLY HAPPY (when we share, when we're nice to people who are sad, when we help others), and there are things that make God SAD (sins).

And just like many complex concepts you try to explain to three-year-olds, we're not always sure how much she's understanding. For instance, after telling her that Ethan came out of Mommy's belly, she told our friend Amy that her little white Care Bear came out of her big white Care Bear's belly. I guess she got the basic idea.

Anyway, Emma was asking for a snack out of the pantry today. As she was looking at her options, she looked down and noticed that we had a Sierra Mist (which she calls Ginger Ale) sitting on the pantry floor. She then said, "Mommy, you say-ed we not have Ginger Ale. That make Jesus sad." To be honest, I had totally forgotten it was there. But otherwise, I was BUSTED by my preschooler.

Wow...

More goings-on in the Delaney house...

I know it's time to blog when my anti-blog husband says I need to blog! Here is some of the latest and greatest from our family:

Our big boy Ethan is now rolling over, AND he ate cereal for the first time last night. I am not kidding, but that boy acted like he was born to eat from a spoon. He didn't do the thing that most babies do at first when they push the food back out with their tongues (because that's what they have to do to get milk from a bottle or Mommy). He scarfed it down and I had to make more. So cute!

Emma has also learned to write her name. I need to post a picture of it--it's super cute. Sometimes she makes five or seven horizontal lines on her "E" instead of three, and she usually puts the line on the "a" on the wrong side, but otherwise she's got it. She loves to learn to do new things, and she is so proud of herself for every accomplishment. She's also been working on spelling some new words. So far, she can spell STOP, DOG, and EMMA.

Other than that, life is life as usual. I found a great website for those, like me, who are SO STINKIN' TIRED of all of the depressing news: www.happynews.com. It's just nice to see happy stories in the news instead of stories about the recession, political corruption, and the like. And just as I was starting to get depressed this morning, I saw this verse in my Inbox:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35, 37

Amen.

So now that January is over...

I guess it's about time for me to get back to blogging. For a while, I had a hard time getting around to blogging because I was so busy "Facebooking", but I haven't been on FB for almost three weeks now. I have to admit that I'm not missing it too much, but we'll see if that changes next week.

We added a wonderful new addition to our family this month. My brother is a proud daddy of little Ella (picture below). She is absolutely beautiful! We got to meet her on Saturday for the first time, and it was a little weird seeing her next to Ethan. It reminded me how quickly they grow up.

And here's a great picture from our dinner Saturday night. It captured the mood of the whole evening. Ella was sleeping, Ethan was squirming, Emma was being a silly three-year-old, and my Mom was laughing at the whole thing. Sadly, we tried to take this picture about eight times, and this is the best one we got. Love it!

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet around the Delaney house. We've been busy last week and will continue to be busy this week with doctor/dentist appointments and car issues/shop visits, but there are otherwise no complaints. Just taking it one day at a time.

Back to reality...

Phew! The craziness of the holidays is over. I feel like I barely rested between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. We had a wonderful Christmas with our families and were blessed to see my grandfather get married just two days after Christmas. Then, I had the opportunity of seeing my sweet friend Angela get married on New Year's Eve.

We are slowly getting into to groove with 2009. We've worked on our budget, talked about some family goals, and spent some time in prayer. I felt there was one verse (actually, two verses) that God was leading me to as I learn and grow this year.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

So, Happy New Year! And here are my two favorite Christmas pictures...

What are your traditions?

I know that many of the families who might read this blog are like us--families who have a young kiddo or two at home. Or maybe there are people who read this blog who are a little older and have kiddos who have left the nest. Either way, I hope that you leave a comment and respond to this question:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FAMILY CHRISTMAS TRADITION?

It can either be a tradition that you have leading up to Christmas, on Christmas day, or after Christmas. (For instance, one of ours is to buy/create an ornament for our children every year so that by the time they have their own Christmas trees, they will have years of ornaments AND memories to hang up on it.) I am asking mostly out of curiosity, but I also love to hear about the family traditions and legacies that others are sharing with their children.

Thanks for responding!

Christmastime is here...

families drawing near.
Oh that we
could always see
such spirit through the year.

Such a great song! And one that my fellow Troubadour alumni would know. :)

We are in full-swing celebrating Christmas in our home. It took us an entire week to decorate, but we finally got it finished. Emma has been SUPER-excited about getting up the treeS (emphasis added on purpose), the garland, and the other random decor--which includes a toilet-seat cover, mooing cow, and a Christmas village that we've had since I was about 10.

We're also baking, crafting, and sending out Christmas cards. It has been so much fun, and the house is a total wreck at times! We have learned to cut back this year and not go overboard with tons of gifts, parties, and everything else that can take time away from the family. Living on b-u-d-g-e-t has reminded us that this is not a time to get stressed, but a time to rejoice. There is so much going on, but I am always trying to remind myself the reason that we are celebrating.

Come and behold Him
Born the King of angels
Oh come let us adore Him
Oh come let us adore Him
Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord

This is such a wonderful time of year because we can remember the hope that was given to Earth on that first Christmas.