Making the Most of Milwaukee

My house is almost always in some state of mess. Even if the main floor is clean and tidy, the laundry is probably piled up. Or the kids' rooms look like a tornado blew through. Yesterday morning, my friend Amy shared an article of things clean people do regularly to keep their houses looking awesome. I could make all sorts of excuses why my house doesn't stay in tip-top shape, the main one being that I have 4 little kids, but it's time to put my big girl pants on, and admit that I'm a slob and I need some serious self-discipline. I edited and added to the list to make it fit me and my family better, and here it is: 1. Make beds every morning  * Make own bed  * Teach kids to make their beds 2. Practice the one-minute rule throughout the day  * If something can be done in one minute or less, take care of it right away 3. Put things away after use  * A place for everything and everything in its place 4. Put shoes and coats away immediately after walking ...

December is always such a busy month, but I'd be lying if I didn't kind of like the hustle and bustle. I mean, don't get me wrong: I really dislike when Christmas becomes more about commercialism and materialism than about celebrating the birth of Jesus and spending time with loved ones. I've done almost no shopping so far for anyone, including our kids. I suppose I should get on it soon, huh. And by "on it," I mean "on Amazon" of course. ;0) One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is baking (and let's face it, eating) Christmas cookies. Every year several moms and their kids make and decorate Christmas cookies for our annual church Christmas party. Other years we all spread out in the church basement with our already baked cookies for the children to joyfully (and messily) decorate loads of cookies and treats for the party. Well, this year there were a bunch of sick kids so the event got cancelled. So I did what every sensible m...