Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak...

Last weekend I was upstairs folding laundry and running around like the usual maniac that I am on a Saturday afternoon.   As a working mom, I catch up on all of the cleaning and laundry on the weekends.  It is a busy life but we are in a rhythm as a family. While I was upstairs, Aaron (my husband) was downstairs with the little ones.  

It was almost nap time so I asked him to straighten up and bring them up for a nap.  By time he did that, I would have their sheets changed, clothes put away and room straightened up.  I cleaned up and waited for them to come upstairs.  When they didn't come up, I went downstairs to see what the hold up was.

I walked into the kitchen and saw a huge mess.  I did not remember  James 1:19...

I did not stop and listen to what they had to say about their mess.  I just started yelling at my husband for not cleaning up and not bringing them upstairs for their nap.  I was tired and cranky but I should have been slow to speak.

There was a mess because they were using the cookie cutters to spell out a message for me in Play doh...

As it has before, my bad mood affected my words.  I immediately apologized and realized that I need to loosen up on the weekends and be kinder to my family.  Yes, it is important to have a clean living space but it is more important to excuse the mess when the kids are having fun with their dad. 

I may need to tattoo James 1:19 onto my forearm to remind me to hold my tongue.

2013: Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

One of the benefits of blogging for me is that I can look back at old blog posts and see where my life was a week, month or year ago.   When I look at where I was at the end of 2012, I see that I am in a much different place now.   2012 was the year of the good, the bad and the ugly.  2013 was very different,  the year of many changes.  

 

1. Aaron lost his job at the end of 2012 and in January of 2013 he got a new job. 

2. I went from being a cancer patient to being cancer free!

3. I went back to teaching after spending three years home with the babies. 

4. My kids grew a lot!  I know- they do that.  It just seems like such a difference from last year. 

It was a really good year and our family has much to be grateful for.  I look forward to seeing what the Lord has planned for us in 2014!

 

 

Christmas House Tour (busy mom style)

 

Have you seen the blogs that joined the Christmas House Tour movement?  These bloggers post tours of the Christmas decorations in their homes.  If you haven't seen one of these posts, you can check one out at at my sister in law Hilary's blog.   Most of these bloggers, like my sister in law, are people who have an eye for design & decor and have a knack for DIY.  

Their homes are gorgeous and can sometimes make a regular homeowner like myself feel a bit inadequate.  So if you are feeling  abit overwhelmed too, I will make you feel a little better about yourselves.  I am posting a tour of my Christmas decor.  

Some homes have a "theme."  My theme this year is "child friendly."  With three small kids, all of my decor has to be either child friendly or edible.

 These are Nativity scene magnets on the inside of the front door.

We decided to skip the full sized tree this year and go with a smaller tree that fits on the dining room table.  This stops the two littlest Delmantos from messing with the ornaments.  The table is in the front window so the tree can also be seen from the street and gives the appearance of a full sized tree.

Advent Calendar hanging on the hall closet door.

We hang our Christmas cards on the kitchen cabinets. 

I love to use artwork made by the kids as Christmas decor.  Sydney made this 5 years ago and I hang it up every year in the front hallway.

I have an 8x10 portrait of each child hanging in the hallway downstairs.  We made Christmas lights to hang under each of their pictures.

We each have a matching stocking hanging on the staircase.

Sydney loves to create decor to hang on the walls.

 Did you decorate for Christmas?   Do you have an eye for design?  Share a link to your blog if you blogged about your house this Christmas!

Back to School!

In our house, it is not just "Back to School" for the kids!  After being a stay at home mom for the last three school years, I have gone back to work.  I am teaching middle school science at the Christian K-12 school where I graduated from back in.... you get the point!

Here are some pictures of my new classroom:

This is the top of my desk. 

View when you walk in from the hallway

Word wall for middle school science- you can print it for free here

Door decor

Science tools decor hanging through the lab.  You can purchase these as part of a packet here

Since I have about 100 students, I need a system for when students are absent. You can print this sign for free here

Lab Team Roles bulletin board- You can print these for free here

Scientific Method bulletin board- you can purchase these as part of a bundle here

Interactive Science Notebooking bulletin board

Science cursive alphabet- I know that it is a little elementary but I couldn't resist since there are exactly 26 cabinet doors.  You can print it for free here

Each lab table had a basket of supplies- you can print the labels for free here

If you haven't noticed- I love to be organized.  You can print the labels for free here

I  love these "grade, copy, file" labels for the sterlite drawers on my desk.   You can print these for free here

What is the start of a new year without a new teacher bag?  I love this one that I got from "Thirty one gifts."  My BFF sells them if you would like to have one for yourself.  You can check them out here. You don't need to be a teacher!

As you can see, I love the Teachers Pay Teachers website.  I love that teachers share their ideas there.  Many of the downloads are free or very inexpensive.  It is nice to know when you do purchase one that the money is going to another teacher.

A childhood friend of mine just opened her own store on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Stop by and check it out!