THE REAL DEALThis is my kitchen window, as seen from the man shed. I was sitting in Matt's chair the other day, printing out something, and suddenly my kitchen window struck me as quite a lovely little thing. I love that there are real shutters, with working shutter dogs. The shutter dogs were one of the first things I noticed when we came to see the house, and they still delight me.

The real thing is just so much more satisfying than an imitation, isn't it? And I am not just talking about shutters. Real friendships with deep connections. Real food, made with healthy, natural ingredients. Clothing made out of natural fibers. Hardwoods floors. Reading a book, instead of poring over a computer monitor.

During these last few months, I have been taking the path of least resistance in many areas. I am thankful for the convenience that fast food, prepackaged items, TV, etc. have offered during a difficult time. But now that I am feeling better, I am craving things that feel more authentic and have a stronger connection with the natural world.

More time outside in the sun, less time in front of a computer or TV.
More fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, less food that comes in a bag or can.
More clothes drying on the line, smelling like the sun, less using the dryer multiple times for the same load (to get the wrinkles out, AGAIN!).
More books and play dough and legos, less Wii and playstation and DVD player.
More friends over, less instant messaging on Facebook.

JUST A FEW QUICK THINGS......before I head out the door to homeschool co-op for the day. There are several things I have wanted to write about in the last few days but they will have to wait a little longer.

I was the featured mama on Andrea's Mama Mondays. She is so lovely and has become a great blogging/facebooking friend. I hope that we will someday be real life friends. I was very excited to be her featured mama yesterday. If you have the time and inclination, you can check out my interview here.

Also, we found out last week that baby #4 is a BOY. I don't know why but I was VERY surprised. It took several days for it to sink in. Now that it has, I am very excited to welcome another sweet boy to the family. As I have said before, I always envisioned myself with a houseful of boys.
So, now I know which direction to go with the nursery. I admit, I am less motivated to decorate it for a boy. Poor baby. Y'all stay on me about that, OK?

I have several pictures to post, as well as "My Space"...hopefully tomorrow (though you can see a little glimpse of it in the picture above). Have a lovely Tuesday!

DECORATING THE NURSERYNext week we find out the sex of baby Sauls. I feel more anticipation over finding out this time than I think I have with any of the others. Are we going to have four boys? Or three boys and a girl? Four boys just seems so crazy. I mean, four boys...that's a lot of testosterone. On the other hand, having a girl would totally shake things up around here. Either way, the nursery needs a facelift. We moved here when Landing was ten months old. For the first few months, there was a lot of shifting around.
We started out with Caedmon and Landing sharing this small bedroom (now the nursery) and the master bedroom was in what is now the boy's bedroom. That didn't make a lot of sense for us, and eventually, we moved to the downstairs bedroom and made the largest bedroom in the house the boys room. Anyway, so the boys shared the nursery for a few months, then it became the nursery for Bauer when he came along. I have done zero decorating to this room. I would really like to get it pulled together for this baby.

This is already a really great room. Lots of interesting slopes of the roofline, the little alcove where the bed is, and this fun little hidden room in the corner.
All the furniture will remain in here. The green desk and the armoire were in my room as a child, and I finally begged long enough to get them. I will be repainting the armoire, but the desk will remain green. I am thinking of doing a mostly white nursery, with accents of the green from the desk. If it is a girl, I will probably bring in a teensy amount of pale pink. For a boy, some other accent color. Not sure yet. Any suggestions or ideas?
I really love the inspiration from Sanctuary and Toast. Really simple and clean with a few pops of color. Anywho, I am hoping to get started on this room soon and would love any suggestions.

I HAVE A PLAN(My new mortar and pestle that my inlaws gave me for Christmas. I love it!)
I have a plan that involves getting a grip, pulling it together, acting like an adult, and doing the next right thing.
In short: I am going to clean my house.
I am almost 13 weeks pregnant and feeling a little better every day. The blood clot is still present, so I am still technically "taking it easy" but this house is Out. Of. Control. My loose plan is to spend this week restoring my house to order, which involves lots and lots of laundry and dishes, picking up and putting away random stuff, changing sheets, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, etc. It will also involve at least one trip to both Goodwill and the recycling center. I am not going to be going crazy and clean for 12 hours a day or anything. Probably just 15 minutes or so out of each hour. That should be doable. The other 45 minutes of each hour will be resting, reading, playing with the boys, teaching Caedmon his lessons, and such.

Then, next week will be the fun week. House project week. Oh yes. Painting the boys beds, sorting through children's clothes, starting to organize/paint/decorate the nursery, an art project for above the mantel, planting herbs, and even more decluttering. It could be great. But I can't get to the fun stuff while my house is in chaos. Plus, my hubby has been unbelievably sweet lately. Like, looking for his ulterior motive sweet. So, this will be a nice way to bless him. The poor man does love a clean house. For the record, he is the one who wanted a houseful of kids. Sorry, sweetheart, you can't have it both ways. And the kids are here to stay (for at least the next 18 years or so). But the house could be a lot cleaner than it is now, there's no arguing that.

So, here is what I am hoping to do today. I know how y'all love some before and after pics, so I will post some of those in awhile, so you can gasp in horror at my house.
-Ironing. The dear man has no pants to wear, and hasn't for days. And he hasn't complained once. Getting some ironed pants in his closet is a top priority for today.
-Laundry. Literally, I couldn't put Bauer to bed last night until I had done laundry. It is that bad. I am rewashing the load in the washer for the third time right now, b/c I keep washing them and leaving them so long that they smell bad and have to be rewashed. I am just being honest.
-Dishes.
-Picking up clutter.
The rest of the items on the list will probably not get done today but am listing them just in case.
-Changing the sheets. I have been eating saltines in bed and sleeping in crumbs is starting to drive us both crazy. This is a top priority for Tuesday, if it doesn't happen today.
-Cleaning the boys room. It is GROSS.