~Puppy Love~

Puppy love has struck at our house! This sweet little girl is the reason you haven't heard from me for the past few weeks.

We've had two mini schnauzers for 11 years: Iris (11), and Raley (15ish-a rescue dog  the vet estimated to be 3-7 years old when we got him 11 years ago).  Raley was the sweetest, liveliest dog up until the day we had to put him down in January.  It was so painful for all of us, and we still miss him.  Iris had a terrible time missing Raley, so after several months we decided it was time to look for a new dog.  The *plan* was to get an adult dog, maybe a few years old so we wouldn't have to deal with puppy training, and to get a schnauzer mix, not a purebred. We looked and looked, and just couldn't find one that would fit with our family.   Then we found her.  Puppy.  Purebred.  Out the window went The Plan.  We all melted and couldn't resist her puppy charm. 

Her name is Tulip (continuing with the flower theme), and she is now 12 weeks old.  She is a purebred toy/miniature (not sure which yet) schnauzer. She is such a love.  The first week or so was very time consuming and we didn't get much else done aside from taking care of her, but now we are into a semi-routine.  It is like having a newborn in the house!  She is sleeping about six hours a night, with plenty of naps during the day.  She gets me up early -5 a.m. I am NOT a morning person, but there is no resisting her!  She is quite spoiled already, which is very easy to do when you are so cute and snugly!!  Iris is tolerating her presence, and things have gone better than any of us expected.  We have all smiled and laughed so much in the past two weeks, and taken lots of pictures!! 

This is just the beginning-I'm certain there will be plenty of puppy shenanigans to share with you as Tulip grows up!

31 Days to Clean-Day 31!

The 31 Days to Clean challenge is over.  I only posted one other update, at the end of week 1, so I pretty much dropped the ball on updates.  I started the challenge May 1st through Joyful Mothering.  So, here's how I did:

 I did read the entire book (quick, easy read if you read it all at once, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a small chunk each day).  I pretty much stuck to reading it one day at a time. The daily Martha challenges(cleaning, organizing) were great, but I got behind as we were having some work done in our house during the challenge. Then after the workers left, we had company.  So I didn't do everything, but I did the majority of it, just not in the order given.  The daily Mary challenges were the best part of the challenge.  Once again, I dropped the ball here and there, but at the end of the month I did go back and make sure I attempted something towards doing all of the challenges. 

What did I come out of this month with?  I have a detailed weekly cleaning schedule that has daily assignments, a new chore chart for the youngest kiddo, and a posted menu plan for the week.  Most importantly I learned that I need to stop obsessing over having a perfectly clean house and instead focus on having a home full of love that is a haven for our family.  This does include cleanliness and organization, but not to the extreme that Mom is stressed and grumpy over cleaning.  I need to delegate more, and enjoy making a comfortable 'nest' for my family.  What a special role in our families we have as wives and mothers!

Book Review: 'The Promise of an Angel' by Ruth Reid

Anyone who knows me well (or has been reading this blog for a while) knows I enjoy Amish fiction.  'The Promise of an Angel' was the first book of Ruth Reid's I had ever read.  I assumed it would be a typical Amish fiction story, but I was wrong!  This story still contained the principles, setting, and language of an Old-Order Amish story, but it was unique-it incorporated angels in the storyline. 

Judith Fischer's lifelong dream was to marry a boy in her Old-Order Amish faith and raise a family with many children.  She was in love with Levi Plank, and it looked as if her dreams would come true.  Then a terrible accident happened, and an angel appeared to Judith to send her a message from God.  Her community did not believe her story and turned their backs on her. Her only supporter was Levi's cousin, Andrew Lapp.  'The Promise of an Angel' can be summed up in one word: Faith.  The characters are likable and genuine, and the book was fast-paced and hard to put down.  I am looking forward to reading the next book in Ruth Reid's 'A Heaven on Earth' series, due in 2012.  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

And the winners are..........

The winners of my first giveaway, for a coupon for a free full-size bottle of new Purex Crystals are.......
Comment #16  Kristen S.
Comment #4  Amy C.
Comment #11 Stephanie S.
Congratulations!  I will be contacting each of you.   For those of you who didn't win, I encourage you to try out this product anyway-it's awesome!  Also, I have two new giveaways coming up this month-another Purex giveaway, and a book giveaway!