Purge

This weekend seemed like a good time to purge excess clutter around the house. I was in a grouchy mood and felt like I was walking around, as well as tripping on, piles of stuff.

So I took everything out of the dining room (besides the furniture, that is), and then slowly brought it back in. By doing that I was able to see what items I didn't want in there. What items I didn't love. What items were just stuff, instead of needed/wanted things.

Therefore, I was left with a very basic, minimalistic dining room that feels more open, more light, more useful. 

(Why this picture is slanted I do not know.)

It contains my little corner shelf. My dining table. And my buffet which holds the kid's school items. That's it. 

Perfection!

One bag of stuff ready to be donated. One room down. A million left to go!

On a side note, we also cleaned out part of the garage and got rid of a pile of stuff on the curb. I'm glad someone else is able to make use of the items and glad we have some cleared space.

Dikkon Eberhart

"He was destined from birth for literary greatness."If only his father hadn't stolen all the words."As the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet laureate Richard Eberhart, Dikkon Eberhart grew up surrounded by literary giants. Frequent dinner guests included, among others, Robert Frost, Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg, W. H. Auden, T. S. Eliot, and Sylvia Plath."

I admit that I picked up The time Mom met Hitler, Frost came to dinner, and I heard the Greatest Story ever told by Dikkon Eberhart because of the cover. It was too interesting, too poetic not to read it.

Unfortunately, I only made it half way through before I realized that I didn't care about the story. Had I been a fan of, or even had heard of the poet Richard Eberhart, I think I would have enjoyed this memoir more. I would have known more of where Dikkon Eberhart was coming from.

Instead, all I felt through the first half of this book was name dropping. Frost this, Ginsberg that, and so on. Yet none of these encounters, none of these memories seem to hold substance. Yes, Eberhart met and grew up around literary geniuses, but the meetings within the book are so fleeting and seem so insubstantial. I felt like every page dropped a new name but there was no story behind it. 

Granted, I am not a big reader of poetry. So I may have been prejudiced even before I began reading.  Again, I feel like those who are poetry lovers would have felt more immersed in the reading of the book. Besides the well known poets listed, I didn't recognize the other people mentioned, so their name dropping meant nothing to me. 

Eberhart did have an interesting upbringing. His memoir does impart some wisdom and fun stories. But for the most part it didn't interest me enough to continue reading it. A poetry lover would probably feel completely different and would probably recognize each and every person that Eberhart mentions in the book. That could make all the difference for a reader!

This book was sent to me by Tyndale Publishing in exchange for my honest review.   
 

Nature Heals

The past few months my face has broken out horribly, especially on the chin area. I don't know if it's stress, hormones, bad eating, the heat, or a combination of it all. But it was bad. 

I tried everything in my cabinets. Acne spot cream, the generic form of ProActive, face masks, and more. Nothing worked. My face just got dry and peeled, along with more acne and more redness. This is embarrassing at the age of 32! All those products used to work for me but not this time.

Then I remembered the homemade deodorant in the cupboard.

 Tea tree oil and coconut oil are both powerful antiseptics and healing oils as well. I started to apply this to my face in place of all the other creams and within just a few days I noticed a drastic difference. It's been close to two weeks now and I haven't had new breakouts and the old ones are healing and close to gone! I could do without the baking soda in it (my next batch, solely for the face, with be just the tea tree and coconut oils).

A simple, cost effective beauty routine! If you don't have a source for tea tree oil or coconut oil a good place for both is Swanson Vitamins. I just restocked my supplement and medicine cabinets with several items from there and have always been happy with my orders (as well as the prices!). Use this link for $5 off your first order!  
 

Finding Treasures

The kids and I headed off to another city wide garage sale and hit a few good treasures!

My favorite trinket find was this cute globe, which is actually a little bank. For some reason I seem attracted to globes for decorating and this is the second globe to be added to my "collection".

And that beautiful quilt underneath? It's a twin sized quilt and so original (those greens and reds just scream vintage summer to me!). The woman told me that her mother made it "forever ago". I questioned why she was getting rid of it and was told that she has too much stuff. I told her the quilt would be well loved in our house. 

I didn't even take it out of the package at the sale, as I had already fallen in love with the colors and knew I would buy it no matter the condition (for $5, how could I not?!). When I arrived home and pulled it out I about gasped at how sweet it is. Hand-stitched and in great condition with just one teeny tiny tear and a few small stains.

I hope the woman never regrets selling her mother's handmade quilt. I know I'll always treasure it - it's one of my favorite quilts to date!

The kiddos had fun too! Miss Amy with her new sunglasses and a little bag of Wizard of Oz dolls (her total came to 40 cents today!).

Joe had $12 in birthday money to spend and (surprisingly!) did not let it burn a hole in his pocket. He spent $2 on a giant pirate ship and $1 on a motorized train and has the rest saved for a rainy day.

Becca bought one tiny Littlest Pet Shop and two books for a grand total of 55 cents. 

They are learning the value of a dollar and what is/not worth spending their own money on.
 

How to Love Your Neighbor

I thought that How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird by Amy Lively meant the broader sense of "neighbor", as in everyone. But she really means neighbor as in location-wise, neighborhood, right in your own backyard type thing.

 "A Woman's Guide to Sharing Her Faith While Making New Friends
Many women are comfortable hanging out at church but also long for a spiritual connection to their community. Amy Lively shows you how to love those strangers next door even when you're fearful."

Which is good. Charity starts at home, right? But I didn't get out of this book what I had hoped. I do think it would be lovely to have deep friendships within the neighborhood. I think it would be amazing to have a "neighborhood cafe" within my home where the neighborhood women can connect. 

It sounds all so out of reach for a mother busy at home with children. If I invited an elderly neighbor over my children would be pestering us with questions. If I invited another mother and children here everyone would be running amok and we would be supervising them, not having a deep and meaningful conversation. This book seems to speak to the older woman, or at least one who has an empty nest or hours child-free throughout the day.

Not only that, but what if you don't live in a neighborhood safe enough to knock on doors and invite strangers into your home? This book seems to be excluding several sectors of the public.

That's not to say that it's not a good book. The ideas and the way Lively made her Neighborhood Cafe work sound ideal. I just had to stop about half way through as I didn't feel it was the book for me in my season of life.

This book was given to me by Bethany House Publishing in exchange for my honest review.  
 

The Day Is Waiting

Don Freeman, the creator of Corduroy, was one of the most beloved and popular author/illustrators of picture books for children. After Freeman s death in 1978, colleagues and his wife decided to use his never before published artwork and make a commemorative book using his wonderful illustrations.

I'm a big fan of the book Corduroy by Don Freeman. I loved it as a kid and I love reading it to my own children. When I saw that a new book was coming out with Freeman's illustrations I had to see it! The Day Is Waiting (words by Linda Zuckerman) is such an adorable little book.

It's a quick read but there are lots to look at in the pictures. That makes an excellent book for both my toddler as well as my 7 year old son.

All Freeman fans will want a copy of this book on their shelves!

This book was sent to me by BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review. 
 

Wall Art

A month ago I bought two cute little quilt blocks at a garage sale. I think I paid a whole 15 cents for the both of them.

I had plans to make pillows with them. 

But my plans quickly changed with I decided to make some wall art with them instead. I just taped them to the wall and added some washi tape as stems and leaves. They bloom next to Amy's toddler bed and add lots of whimsy and color to her corner of the world. :)