My Favorite Room

My favorite room in the house is our family Room. This is where our family spends most of our time laughing, playing games, and snuggling together on the couch.
Dina Furnish

My favorite room is our kitchen/family room area. The areas are open next to each other. It's my favorite area in the house because that's where everyone gathers. After school, the girls grab a snack and talk, they do their homework at the kitchen table, and of course, for family meals we gather there as well. It just seems as if everyone gravitates to that area of the house and I love having them all around. Even when the kids' friends come over, they gather in the kitchen (something to do with us providing food for hungry teens?) and talk and laugh before heading off.
Gail Collins

Mine is the upstairs guest bedroom. Each wall is a different shade of blue, and in that room, I can relax. When I am up there I can also pretend I am a teenager and talk to friends on the phone. When my husband calls for me I say “What? JEEZ! What!”. Just kidding. I am as kind and pleasant as I always am! When my husband snores too loudly, I go there to sleep instead of spending all night kicking and pinching him in my sleep.
Emma Kalinowski

It seems that when you have a toddler your favorite room is one with a locked door. When your kids are older, you like to hang out with them in the family room! Send me an email to have your favorite room in the MOPS newsletter (Emma_ntja@sbcglobal.net).

Get Organized

I am sure that getting organized is one of your New Years goals. Here are some ideas.

1) Mark incoming bills with payment date 7 days before due and put it in your bill slot in date order to ensure timely payment. Put PAID bills in another slot with date paid and check # for referencing.

2) Get a white board and chart your family's calendar. Use fun colored wipe-off pens. Put the board in a heavily trafficked area. Include things like errands, baths, etc. that are easy to lose track of.

3) Organize your pantry or dry goods shelves by food type: snacks, breakfast foods, side dishes, canned fruit, canned veggies, baking items, spices, sauces, canned/jarred ingredients and so on. It makes things super fast to find and easy to make a grocery list.

4) Organize your grocery list by where things are in your store. Keep a running list on the fridge. Meal-plan by looking at recipes and write down any ingredients you don't usually keep at hand.

New Year’s Resolutions

I ask Ava at the end of the day to tell me one thing that made her sad and one thing that made her happy today.
This really helps in getting to know about her day and how she feels about certain things.
Danielle Behlmer

I usually do not do New Year's Resolutions, but something I have really tried to make more of a point to do in past years is to take more pictures. Photos are one of the most significant ways to hold onto all of the special memories in life, and not just the big stuff like birthdays and holidays, but all of the everyday things like riding bikes, playing in the backyard, building forts out of blankets, baking, and just hanging out. I want to remember those important moments that shape my kids' childhood and capture their personalities (not just posed smiles). Thanks to digital cameras, we can delete the ones that do not turn out, so I try to "snap" away.
Karla Holdcraft

Your Upper Level, Danielle Behlmer, Prayer and Care

I had a friend over recently and I found myself feverishly cleaning our lower level to make sure it was spotless. Now, the upper level of our home was, and is, an entirely different story.

What would I have done if my company found herself with a headache and needed a place to lay down for a bit? Would I have denied her a place to rest because I was afraid of what she would think about my messy upper level? Of course not! I would have shown her the way upstairs and put her into a quiet room.
How many of us show our "lower level" to all of our friends and feverishly hide our "upper level" messes? Sometimes, it's in your friends’ best interest to show them your messy side. They can - and will - find comfort in that. If you find a friend needing to see someone who also has messes, invite them to your upper level, and give them a place to rest.

GO THERE! Emma Kalinowski

When the Christmas presents lose their shiny luster and the four walls of your favorite room start to close in on you, don’t repaint your living room bright fuchsia… GET OUT OF The HOUSE!

Go to the Indianapolis Musem of Art. IT is free and they provide free cool strollers for kids. If you have a toddler, you can go to the Star gallery on the 1st floor, which has a craft workshop for kids… also free.
Explore a mall on the other side of town or in a different town. The mall at Keystone at the Crossing is a great place to let your toddler run because it is nearly empty during the day.

For a change of scene invite a friend over or go to her house. Join a week morning Bible Study. Get a trial membership to a new gym every week! Maybe you will even get a membership. Maybe…

Take your antsy toddler to the Bounce Zone or gather friends together to share the cost of two hours at Recreation Unlimited. Go to play-a-lot. Check out the Children’s museum or Chuck- E – Cheese. Just remember, there’s a reason Chuck-E-Cheese sells beer.

Do you have other cabin-fever beating ideas? Email me at Emma_ntja@sbcglobal.net .