make disciples of all nations
Sneak Peek of just SOME of the projects you'll get to see all next month:
Before the $1.00 lamp facelift
During dresser refinish
Almost complete "Big Betsy"
New princess bow hanger for the princesses' room
During the laundry room makeover 
Master bedroom dresser BEFORE
Operation Play/School Room Organization 
New WOODEN Pantry Shelving 
Hint about the "boy's room" who will be sharing with new lil sis, ELLIE!
This is a compensated guest post from the Instawares Kitchen Supplies Blog. I hope their thoughtful Time and Money saving ideas for your kitchen are helpful for you!
Three easy payments do not guarantee a time saving or necessary gadget. Even masters of the kitchen like you can fall victim to flashy marketing that over-promises and end up with a product that under-performs.
Below you will find a list of five kitchen items to avoid. Save yourself time and money by steering clear of these foodie foibles.
1. Any Garlic Gadget
Do not fall for the hype and think that some swirly-twisty thing or silicone tube is going to produce perfectly peeled and minced garlic. All the clever cook needs is a knife. Give a single clove of garlic in the skin a good whack with the flat side of a knife; the husk is easily removed. Use a microplane or knife to chop or mince garlic. Even better, add a little coarse salt and crush the clove into a paste with the side of the knife.
2. Tiny Appliances With Single Uses
Doughnut makers, hotdog warmers, mini-cupcake bakers and the insurmountable pile of other single use gadgets are only good as gifts for office holiday parties. Your precious counter-top real estate is better employed by performance powerhouses like a stand mixer and a regular old toaster. You have come a long way since baking a single brownie with a light bulb when you were ten years old, do not backslide now!
3. Knives That Can Supposedly Cut Through a Sedan
Get a chef’s knife. One. One chef’s knife will be one thousand times more useful than ten knives that tout dubious claims. If you need to cut through a sedan you can always get a plasma cutter.
4. Specialty Pots
A strainer is a must in any cook’s kitchen. Since you are a cook and have said strainer, you can bypass the pasta pots and weird microwave contraptions for cooking noodles, right? Right! With a strainer and a metal lotus steamer tray you can bypass nearly all the specialty pots out there. Double boilers, pasta pots and steamer pots are all just space wasters when you have a well outfitted kitchen.
5. Anything that Does a Single Task
Everything in your kitchen should work in multiple situations. That is the true test of good kitchen equipment. Gadgets and gear need to earn their keep in your cabinets and drawers. Your thermometer should work for candy, oil and meat. Your griddle can handle panini, pancakes and burgers. With a few exceptions, like a separate identifiable cutting board for raw meat, everything in your kitchen should be able to complete more than one task.
Kitchen space is at a premium in homes everywhere, so make sure your gear works as hard as you do. Take back your space by ousting expensive gadgets and gizmos. Simple is usually best and the rest better earn its keep!
If you enjoyed this post from Instawares Kitchen Supplies Blog, you can find new articles on the latest in restaurant and kitchen equipment on their blog.
Nearly a year after listing our home for sale, it's finally sold.
You know, I wasn't really happy about that. Now that its been over a year after writing "How to Stage Your Home to Sell" and "5 Ways to Advertise Your FSBO Home", I wanted to do a follow up post. You can read about the 7 things I learned while on this journey on the Homemaker's Challenge today.
I have been told that after this weeks blurp of raininess again, the weather is supposed to feel like spring...from here on out. We'll see. It is Arkansas.
What better way to kick off spring than with the windows and doors open {before the bugs find out its nice out there} and kicking the nasty dust, dirt, and grime out of the house, along with the kids, into the yard?
To celebrate spring and help get you in the cleaning mood, 31 Days to Clean is on sale this month.
It’s got a mini-devotional type reading plus two challenges for each day – a Martha challenge (your home) and a Mary challenge (your heart). It’s 70% off this week, making it only a $1.50 (PDF only), so if you’ve been wanting to read it/take the challenge, now’s a great time to get on it.
You can BUY IT HERE, use code: SPRING
Mother’s Day & Graduate Cards
All Mother’s Day & Graduate Cards are Buy 2 Get 1 Free . The lowest priced item is given free.
Celebrating Friendship
DaySpring has created a Special Section with their most popular Friendship Cards & Gifts. All marked 30% Off.
Good Things & Walk in Grace Collections
These collections – Good Things and Walk in Grace – make great Mother’s Day gifts, and are 30% Off this month with coupon 30MOM
Jewelry Sale - April 8-21
All Jewelry will be 25% off April 8-21 with code GRATEFUL25! Over the next week we’ll be adding new items to the Lisa Leonard Collection, as well as several other new jewelry pieces.
These said they were March Monthly Gift Specials but they are STILL marked down:
57633 – Redeemed Makeup Bag – Reg $26.99, Sale Price $9.99
73306 – Redeemed Pillow – Reg $24.99, Sale Price $9.99
73441 – Courageous Framed Print – Reg $79.99, Sale Price $19.99
Each Thursday I attempt to be thoughtful by share something helpful. It could be a fun new project I tried, organizational idea/system, yummy family friendly recipe, gadget I like, bla bla bla. You get the idea. I started this as a link-up but that's a lot of work and I didn't have a whole lot of interest. I would still LOVE to have you share your thoughtfulness in the comment section. Maybe someday I'll do a link-up again. Glad you're HERE!
Two years ago, Matt and I decided to dress up our house in Christmas decor early, we're talking the weekend Before Thanksgiving.
I were prego with our third baby who was due in January. We wanted to enjoy our the festiveness yet get it all clean up right after Christmas. Being in the "nesting" phase of pregnancy, I needed to clean the entire house, cook way too many freezer meals, and move our entire bedroom downstairs because I'd be coming home with our handsome Benjamin after my 3rd c-section and wouldn't be allowed to climb the stairs. Wow, that's a long explanation of why this has become a habit since Christmas 2010.
I LOVE the Christmas season. The thoughtful shopping. The family hang-outs. The charming decorations. but...when the birthday party has passed, I like to clean up Right way. Wash the dishes. Pack away decorations. Reorganize the fun new gifts to function in our house. In shorts... I need order. When my Christmas awesomeness is covering my home it feels like vacation. We lounge and enjoy one another like we're on a true school holiday. Anybody? When all this relaxing is going on things get a little too lacks. Nothing gets accomplished. Soooo, my poor hubs, who loves Christmas and everything that it entails, got until December 30 with our fun decorations this year.
5 ways to packed up Christmas stuff this year in case any of you have waited until this weekend to put yours to rest for another year.
What are some of your favorite ways to clean up Christmas and get an organized start to a new year?
Looking for more thoughtfulness? Follow my Pinterest Boards!
The Valley Church was planted on Easter 2013. Our church was NOT destroyed by the tornado because the church is a people not a building. Our meeting space may be gone but we will continue to be a light for Jesus in this community!
Clicking the image above will take you to our fundraising site. 
