When Homemaking Is Not Your Strong Point

If you're like me, you have to shake your head sometimes at the women who seem to be so natural at all things domestic. I sure love being a homemaker, but I don't really feel like I'm good at certain parts of it.

Do you ever feel that way?

Maybe you look at that person who always has a clean house even if you drop in unannouced and wonder how in the world they do it?

Or you see the lady who is so incredibly organized and wish you could even spend one day that organized?

Maybe you have a running list in your head of stuff you wish you were better at: cooking, cleaning, mothering, or even spending more time in God's Word and prayer.

I know that when I start thinking about all of the areas I frankly stink at, it can be discouraging.

I'm determined not to beat myself up over areas where I'm not perfect, but yet I'm detrmined not to just settle in where I'm at either.

I want to watch others who have mastered a certain aspect of homemaking and learn from their strenghths. What can I glean from how they are doing things that will help me improve in that area?

I hope that if you're discouraged about not being very good at certain aspects of homemaking that you will determine the same thing. Don't beat yourself up! Even those who we look up to as being “model homemakers” have their own struggles that we can't see from the outside.

Don't be discouraged, homemaker!  You are doing a great job because you are improving!

My Secret Weapon for a Cozy Fall

With shorter days and the kids being inside all the time, the house is bound to get dirty! Although I’d rather curl up in my bed with a book than spend hours scrubbing, I still want my house to be a clean, inviting space to spend time in.

Enter Grove Collaborative: my secret weapon for making my house feel warm and welcoming.

With Grove Collaborative, I can stay at home instead of dragging my kids around the store.

Grove delivers the best natural products right to my doorstep, on my schedule. They remember my favorites, and remind me when I’m about to run out of hand soap or shampoo.  (Exactly what this scatterbrained girl needs!)
Plus, Grove introduces me to great new products that I never would’ve found at my local grocery store.

Two of my fall favorites: Mrs. Meyer’s seasonal scents in Apple Cider and Mum.  (My kids have voted the Apple Cider scent as their favorite.)

With Grove's exclusive offer for my readers, you can experience Mrs. Meyer’s seasonal scents for FREE!

The matching hand soap and dish soap in this free set are such a fun way to treat yourself as well as any guests that you might have.

The soaps are hard-working, but still gentle and non-toxic. I love that they come in festive bottles to make my kitchen instantly feel like autumn.

Isn’t this kitchen towel wonderful, too? It looks beautiful in my kitchen and is super absorbent for drying dishes.  I've had several of these for a while and they are my favorite kitchen towel ever.
You can get this set for free, in your choice of Apple Cider or Mum scent, when you sign up for Grove Collaborative using my link:

• Free Mrs. Meyer’s fall seasonal hand soap
• Free Mrs. Meyer’s fall seasonal dish soap
• Free Mrs. Meyer’s fall seasonal multi-surface spray
• Free Grove Collaborative Kitchen Towel
• Free 60 Day VIP trial

To take advantage of the offer, your order needs to total $20. You can put whatever products you want into your basket, but this is just an idea:

Grove Collaborative 70+ hour all natural soy candle $12.95
Grove Collaborative walnut scrubber sponges $3.95
Yes To Coconut protecting hand and cuticle cream $5.99

Once the free Mrs. Meyer's set is added on, you'll end up with around $80 worth of stuff for a little over $20!

If you’re already a Grove Collaborative customer, you can get the Mrs. Meyer's set at 50% off when you use my link. Don’t forget to take advantage of the free 60 day VIP trial! My VIP membership has paid for itself with free shipping alone, but I also get perks like price matching, exclusive sales, personal service, and free gifts!
You don’t even have to leave your couch to sign up — but you do need to hurry.

There are only a limited number of sets available and they always go quickly! Here’s how to get yours:
1. Sign up for Grove Collaborative here. You will receive the Mrs. Meyer’s offer for free when you sign up!
2. Answer 4 quick questions about your home that Grove Collaborative will then use to customize your first basket.
3. Once you’ve answered the questions, you can add or remove items from your basket.  Grove will put suggested items in your basket, but you are not obligated to purchase them specifically.
4. Once your order totals $20 or more, the free Mrs. Meyers set will automatically be added on to your order. Choose the combination of products and scents you love and receive in your first box.
5. You made it! Click Finish & Pay and place your order.
Tip to save: Once you’ve submitted your Grove order, be sure to sign up for the free 60 day VIP trial. You’ll get free shipping, free gifts, price matching, exclusive sales, and personal service.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Grove Collaborative and includes affiliate links. All opinions are my own & I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will enjoy.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to email me or chat with the customer service at Grove Collaborative.  They are super helpful!

Win Over $3000 Worth of Homeschool Curriculum!

The annual Build Your Bundle curriculum sale begins next week (I'm just a tad excited!), but the organizers thought they'd kick it off with a huge giveaway.

They're giving away ALL the curriculum that's in the sale (over $3,000 worth of digital curriculum!)

If you're already familiar with the Build Your Bundle sale, and you're looking forward to it as much as I am, use the green button to speed along straight to the entry form.

The Build Your Bundle curriculum sale will be offering bundles of digital curriculum at 86% to 96% off.

This is not a joke!  I have purchased hundreds of dollars worth of curriculum the past couple years for pennies on the dollar, and am so excited for this year's sale!
There will be a number of different bundles available, including:

• Character training resources
• Elementary curriculum
• Charlotte Mason curriculum
• Upper level curriculum
• And More!

And if you'd rather pick and choose your own sets, you can Build Your Own Bundle and still get everything at about 90% off!

Plus, everyone who enters the big giveaway gets a coupon.  Seriously…a coupon for stuff that's already 90% off – that's my kind of sale!

Can't wait to see who wins this one!

Free Mrs. Meyer’s Spring Cleaning Set (Limited Time!)

Something about spring always puts me in the mood to get my house freshened up!

I'm sure you're starting to feel that spring mood too, which is why I'm so excited to be teaming up with Grove Collaborative to offer you a FREE set of Mrs. Meyer's spring scented products!

I got some really good feedback last time we did this from so many people who ended up finding some new favorite products.  It's a nice little way to pamper yourself without spending a fortune to do it.

The FREE set includes the following:

• Mrs. Meyer’s spring hand soap
• Mrs. Meyer’s spring dish soap
• Grove Collaborative glass spray bottle
• Grove Collaborative walnut scrubber sponges

Haven’t heard of Grove Collaborative? You might know it as ePantry, the online store that delivers the best, effective and affordable natural household and personal care products right to your doorstep. Grove Collaborative is the same great company with a new name!

I’m a longtime fan of Grove because they make creating a healthy, beautiful home effortless and economical. I don’t have to worry about running out of toilet paper or rushing to the grocery store to buy over-priced laundry detergent with indecipherable ingredients because Grove always has me covered. I also love that shipments are customizable and on a flexible schedule.

Something tells me you’re going to be a huge fan of Grove too, especially after trying this Mrs. Meyer’s Spring Cleaning Kit!

Grove is one of the first retailers to receive Mrs. Meyer’s limited edition spring scents and trust me, you don’t want to miss out, as it sold out last time. It’s a lot easier to feel inspired about spring cleaning with non-toxic products that smell amazing!

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Here's how to get your FREE spring scented products:

1. Sign up for Grove Collaborative here. You will receive the Mrs. Meyer's spring seasonal offer for free when you sign up! (This is for new customers only. If you're an existing customer, scroll down to find an offer for you.)

2. Answer 4 quick questions about your home that Grove Collaborative will then use to customize your first basket -- this takes under 30 seconds!

3. Once you’ve answered the questions, you can finalize your basket of products to suit your household needs by adding or removing items.

4. To receive this offer, your order needs to be a minimum of $20. Choose the combination of products and scents you love and receive in your first box.

5. You made it! Click Finish & Pay and place your order.

Already hooked on Grove Collaborative? Existing customers click here to get a free Grove Collaborative glass spray bottle in your next order.

Don’t forget this special offer is only available until April 3, 2016 or while supplies last! (It sold out last time, so grab it now!)

If you suffer from decision-making paralysis like I do, here's a shopping basket you can copy if you like. It will get you close to the $20 that you need for your free cleaning kit, and it’s a great deal besides! If you priced this all out at a store it would cost over $50!

Happy spring!

Do I Really Love My Family?

"Mom, my legs hurt.  Can you rub them?"

"Ugh," I thought to myself.  "I don't want to! He's gotta be faking anyway.  He just wants to stay up.  I'm sooo tired and I'm already half asleep.  He just needs to go back to bed."

​But I heard a whisper in my soul.  "What is love?"

• Is love serving my family only when I feel like it?​
• Is love taking care of my own desires and fitting in other people when it's convenient?
• Is love doing the things for my kids that make me happy and ignoring the rest?

I knew the answer.

"Come here, bud.  Mommy's legs used to hurt like that sometimes when I was young too.  You must be growing."  And I rubbed and rubbed those little legs until not only was my little boy happy, but I was happy too.

"It truly is more blessed to give than to receive."​

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I don't know why I'm so selfish.  But I am.  It's one thing to say that I love my family.  It's another thing to show it by my actions.

The Bible sure does have a lot to say about what real love is and it has nothing to do with what makes me happy.

I find that to truly love my family I must:

• Serve them  (Galatians 5:13)
• Lay down my life for them (John 15:13)
• Be longsuffering and patient with their mistakes (I Corinthians 13:4)
• Be kind to them (I Corinthians 13:4)
• ​Not allow little things to get under my skin (I Corinthians 13:5)
• Die to my own desires (I Corinthians 13:5)
• Treat them the way I want to be treated myself (Mark 12:31)

We may say "I love my family!" but I think what we often mean by that phrase is this: "My family makes me happy!  They are so precious!  My kids make me smile, and my husband is so good to me!"

How subtle!  Loving our family is often all about us and we don't even realize it.  Look at how many me's and my's are in the statements above!

Loving our family has nothing to do with how they make us feel and everything to do with laying down our lives daily for them.

Click to Tweet

Granted, selfless service generally creates an atmosphere of peace.  Our families will generally reciprocate to some extent and we probably will feel happy.  But what if that doesn't happen?  

We are still called to love - to sacrifice and to die to ourselves.​

So whenever you catch a glimpse of your "I love my family!" bumper sticker, ask yourself,  "Do I really love my family?" 

I guarantee it won't be a one time decision.  It's a day-by-day, moment-by-moment choice to lay aside all that pleases ourselves in order to serve others.

But it's a choice you won't regret.  It truly is more blessed to give than to receive.

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One Year of Done for You Meal Plans!

Have you heard about the new feature from Build a Menu?

I have always loved using Build a Menu because it gives me the freedom to pick and choose what meals I want to make as it simultaneously creates my shopping list and estimated grocery total for the store of my choice. (ALDI included!) (You can see how it works in detail if you'd like.)

But they've added a new feature that I really like too - the DONE FOR YOU menu plans -- and for a limited time they are free when you buy the regular meal planning service (regular price = $30!)

So, what you get is:

1. Access to the classic menu planner as I described above, where you can pick and choose which meals you want to make. There are options for every kind of diet needs (Trim Healthy Mama, Gluten Free, Paleo, Normal People :), etc. )
1. Pre-made menus delivered to your inbox each week. If you happen to be disorganized one week and don't log in to create your own meal plan, you've automatically got a pre-made menu arriving as a a back-up! AWESOME!

I got the Done4U plans several months ago, and I'll admit that I rely on them much more often than I should! But as long as my family is getting fed I shouldn't feel guilty that someone else is planning my menus, should I now?

Buy the classic plan now for $35, and get a full year of Done for You Menus FREE!  (Be sure to use the coupon code BAM12for35 when you check out!)

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The $35 price and free done for you menus are only available through January 31st, so don't delay!

Update: Although this particular sale deadline has passed, you can try it free for 2 weeks by going through this link.  If you love it as much as I do, you'll be able to take advantage of the next sale that comes along! ​

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Don't forget to use the coupon code BAM12for35 when you check out!

Buy it Now!