An exciting morning

Nothing like a little panic to get the morning off to a good start.

Let me explain. Remember when I talked about my new adventure in scheduling back in December? Well, there were a few (major!) hiccups with it around Christmastime and in January when we were all so sick, but I've been back at it now for the past month or so. And life is so much better because of it. I'm totally not (naturally) a scheduled kinda girl, so mine is really minimal so far, and consists of a list of activities for each day. So you could really think of it more like a to-do list, if you prefer. The items are just repetitive on a daily or weekly basis.

Anyway, all this has very little to do with my story, except to say that Monday is the day to change sheets.

So, after Drake got on the bus this morning, Levi and I went upstairs to change everybody's bedding...and put away some mountainous piles of clean laundry that had accumulated, and declutter and vacuum upstairs...you get the idea. I took the sheets off our bed and was putting the clean ones on when I heard Levi playing in our bathroom (directly connected to the bedroom). When I turned around, I discovered he had locked himself in! And I quickly discovered the doorknob was completely smooth on the outside - no little hole or line or anything at all to stick a screwdriver into. Completely smooth.

What were they thinking when they installed that kind of doorknob in base housing? I guess they were thinking that they want to get calls from distraught mothers when their toddlers lock themselves inside bathrooms, and that's exactly what happened. Well, actually, I wasn't all that distraught about Levi being stuck in the bathroom. He wanted out, so I knew he'd be hanging out near the door and not drowning in the toilet or something. You know what I was more distraught about? The fact that some housing maintenance guy was making an emergency trip to my house that very moment, and not just to fix a leaky kitchen faucet, either. He was going up to my bedroom to get my kid out of my bathroom. Oh yikes. I had a couple of minutes, and you should have seen the stashing and dashing going on. Putting my clean underwear away was my first priority.

It only took him a couple of minutes to show up, and he rescued Levi with a big putty-knife looking thing that he jammed into the crack between the door and the frame. He got some serious crowbar-type action going on, and I thought the door frame was going to be really messed up when he was done. (It didn't turn out too bad.)

So after thanking him profusely for releasing my baby, I decided to make an inspection and see if there were any more doorknobs like that one throughout the house. And I found that the rest of them are different. (Levi has locked himself countless times in the downstairs bathroom, but it just takes a screwdriver to open - no big deal.) But because of that one weird one, we might be making a run to Walmart or Lowe's in the near future to do some doorknob shopping...

Homemaking sentiments and cute portraits!

Okay, so I have allotted myself only 15 minutes to blog this afternoon, and I'll tell you why. I am on a schedule. Yes, me, on a schedule! To cut to the chase, I have been challenged by current life events and conversations, and also by a book I'm reading. The life events have been constant disorder and frustration, and the book is called Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney - highly recommended, by the way!

I've had a change of attitude recently regarding the hot topic of homemaking! In a nutshell, I previously viewed a homemaker as a woman with no outside occupation, who stays at home to raise her kids...not a bad idea! However, my view was centered on what she was not doing - not sending her kids to daycare, not bringing home a paycheck, not using her education, etc. I have been challenged recently to view homemaking as an active pursuit, not a passive state. It is to be my calling, my career...maybe even my passion. That makes all the difference in the world, and here's why: instead of feeling inferior for never finishing my degree, instead of feeling unfulfilled as the world goes by without me, instead of just biding my time at home with my kids, I need to be actively learning and growing in my calling as a homemaker! I never thought I was very "good" at home management...but is that a valid reason to chuck the idea out the window and focus on something else? NO! Managing my home well is my God-given responsibility! I am called to do my very best, and if I feel I could use some improvement in certain areas, I need to begin some "career enhancements"!

So anyway, this week I started following a basic weekly schedule. That's nothing to many people, but for me, it feels a little foreign, to say the least. I must say, however, that I am reaping the benefits of scheduling already! This is just the beginning, but it has been a very useful first step.

Well, the time I've allotted for today is running out, but I wanted to post this picture while I'm on here. We had a portrait fundraiser for MOPS about a month ago, and because I helped out with coordinating it, I ended up getting $100 worth of free portraits from the company! Wow! It was totally unexpected, but I'm so grateful...being the photo junkie that I am. So without further ado, here's my favorite one:

So are they totally adorable, or what? I gotta go for today - I'm already a couple of minutes over. I'll post again soon!