Beautiful Homemakers

1.  Practice silence in the car.  Turn off that radio.  Or have a child read out loud.  Or get books on tape.  Adventures in Odyssey! Or old radio shows.  Silence helps your children to talk to you, and if alone, for you to think deeply.  Or introduce your child to one classical piece of music each day.  It always grows on the child.  It's brain food.  It's also calming.  And they will begin to recognize it all over the place.  Learn together.  My favorite: Pachelbel's Canon in D.  2.  At home - turn off the TV.  Turn off the music.  What do you hear?  "Be still and know that I am God."  When was the last time you were still? 3.  Practice Peace.  A quieter home - just people living, candles (real or battery).  Listen to the quiet sounds of home.  Choose family books to read aloud.  Begin with a Children's Bible storybook, such as The Rhyming Bible for little ones, or Uncle Arthur's Bible Story set.  It's the best!  He also has a set of "

A. Sarnoff Health has to do with food, water, sunshine, laughter, smiling, alcohol, drugs, smoking, love, sleep, stress, clutter, fat, exercise, soda, snacking, and work.  We have a bigger say in our health than we care to admit.  Try one of these each week. 1.  Create a pantry.  Choose your largest cabinet.  Hire someone to put in shelves if you can't do it with wire risers from Big Lots or Bed Bath & Beyond.  You also need risers for cans, so that you can see them 3 or 4 deep.  Can be found at BBB or Home Goods.  Probably Container Store or online organization stores as well.  You need air-tight bins for flour and sugar and oatmeal or cereals.  Tape the directions, recipe, ingredients to the front and keep a measuring scoop inside if possible.  Label shelves if you can't see at a glance what is there.  2.  Buy BAMBOO cutting boards.  You need 3 to 6 of them.  Toss your plastic boards. A  University of Michigan study  found that "those using wooden cu

1.  Clear the clutter.  Begin with YOUR bedroom.  Then bathrooms.  Front room.  Kitchen.  Dining room.  Guest room.  Children's rooms.  Hall closets.  Front Door area and porch.  Garage.  Backyard and patio. Try to finish in just one week.  If you can't, that's okay!  Just begin!  Make a plan.  It can be interchangeable.  Get some bags/boxes and put them into a closet and every item to be donated goes in.  If you need inspiration, I've got it!  Read my posts on organization. 2.  Create a serene area to read, pray and encourage yourself.  It will have your prayers and your plans.  3.  Do not subscribe to magazines.  They create discontent.  Instead, go to many different libraries over the year and check out books on decluttering, organizing, and making a house a home.  648.5 is the section in every library.  When you find pictures you like that are doable, snap a picture for inspiration.  But they must be doable - clean, clear, cozy spaces - not unaffo

We all need one.  If you are single, then it all falls on you.  But if your hubby is working, can you find a way to work less, and live on less?  The majority of people actually can, but won't.  That is up to you.  Where there is a will there is a way kind of thing.  If you want to work, that is fine.  I'm not trying to get you to quit.  Just keep in mind that the "Research shows that women who work 41 to 50 hours a week are 1.6 times as likely to develop heart disease and 1.5 times as likely to get cancer compared to those who work 30-40 hours per week (averaged over a 32-year period).  The more hours you toil, the higher your risk."  Allard Dembe, Sc.D., Good Housekeeping, Jan 2017. This is mainly because once you get home, your work doesn't end - it's just beginning.  So your life is nothing but work.  And I'm concerned about the women I see who work themselves to death.  End of speech. So here goes:  Begin with where you are and budget.  I

A. Sarnoff The "Do It All Perfectly" Year.  Isn't that what we wish for every New Year's Eve?  Isn't that the phrase that gets us to buy magazines and say we need to get organized?  I just wish I could do it all... and perfectly.   The word I kept hearing over and over in Christmas marketing this year was "Impress."  "Impress your friends and family with...."  Really?  That isn't what I choose for my life. A. Sarnoff I guess I felt the need to impress in my earlier years, but not now, because I learned the secret... no one wants to be impressed.  They just want to be comfortable in your presence.  They don't want their clothes, home, food, children's manners, etc. to be judged.  If you are living to impress others, then they aren't really your friends.  Find true ones!  Now, what do you REALLY need in your life?  Please just quickly jot it down, right now.  Let's see if we come up with the same thi