Five Minute Project- Hair Bows

I am starting a new series this year called "Five Minute Project".  It recently dawned on me that a lot can be accomplished in five short minutes.  Decluttering and simplifying can seem daunting, but a lot can get done in short spurts.  I will be showing my own Five Minute Projects and I hope I can inspire you to tackle you own!

The first Five Minute Project that I tackled was my daughter's hair accessories.  Her hair accessories were getting out of control.  She receives so many bows as gifts, but only uses a certain number of those bows.

First I dumped out all of her hair accessories from the drawer.

I only kept the hair ties and clips that we use regularly in the basket in the drawer. Next, I sorted through all of the headbands and fancy bows and decided what to keep based on what my daughter actually wears.  I displayed her bows on an accessory organizer she received as a gift.  I hadn't gotten the accessory organizer hung on the wall, but this project spurred me to hang it up and put it to good use!

The organizer is an adorable way to display Miss. E's bows and the basket in the drawer is now orderly and easy to navigate.  I donated the bows that we weren't using so that someone could get use out of them.

High Five for Friday- 26.01.18

Hello!  I am happy that it is Friday.  Hubby doesn't have work today so I am looking forward to a relaxing day at home.  I am linking up with Tif, Katie, Della, and Becky to share 5 highlights from my week.

1.)  We ventured out of the house twice last weekend.  I have been pretty much housebound since we got home so it was fun to get out.  We went grocery shopping on Saturday and to church on Sunday.

2.)  My best friend and her children came to visit the other day.  We had a good visit and the kiddos had a blast.  She also spoiled our latest addition with some adorable outfits

3.)  Miss. Em had her first checkup this week.  She is doing well and gaining lots of weight. 

4.)  I went to the phtotographer's this week to choose our newborn photos.  I love our photographer and her work.  I was extremely pleased with how our photos turned out.  I am excited to get my prints back!

5.)  I celebrated the end of my no-spend-year by replacing my lounge pants that were looking rather tattered.  I am trying to be intentional with my purchases and I definitely needed to replace those pants!

To read some great blogs, check out the lovely ladies above.  Have a great weekend!

2018 Goals and Resolutions and My Word of the Year

I love the symbolic fresh start of a New Year.  I like evaluating the previous year and making goals for the coming year.  This year was no different.  I worked on my goals as the 2018 approached.  Today I am going to share those goals with you and my word of the year.

1.)  Send more happy mail.  I love getting mail.  I don't mean bills and flyers, but actual mail.  Texting and email has sadly replaced much of the 'happy' mail that used to come by post.  I understand the change.  Snail mail is expensive and not nearly as convenient as technological communication.  I do miss it, though.  Miss. E has really started to take interest in our mail and she loves making pictures for our family and friends.  She often requests that I send her pictures and 'letters' in the mail.  This year I decided to just that.  A card or note with an adorable drawing from a 3 year old might bring some sunshine to our loved one's day.

2.)  Catch up photo books.  I am ashamed to say that the most recent photo book that I have put together is from the Easter before Miss. E's 1st birthday.  I just never seem to get to making new photo books.  I plan to catch up this year.  I would like to have all of our photo books up to date by the end of the year.

3.)  Upload photos monthly.  I made this resolution to help me stay on top my photo books from now on.  I am pretty good at dumping my photos on my laptop, but they don't get any further than that.  I plan to upload my photos to a in-progress photo book monthly.

4.)  Organize Blog and Implement Schedule.  I have some structural changes and a few ideas that I would like to bring to the blog this year.  I have also worked out a schedule that I think will work for the blog.   I want to bring these changes to the blog and settle into a routine this year.

5.)  Embrace frugality.  I want to work on being more frugal with our money this year.  I have taken an 18 month maternity leave from my job.  We will have less income during this time so I want to focus on being intentional with the income that we do have.  I am also hoping to put away some money for some family purchases that we would like to make.

I have also chosen a word of the year for 2018.  This year I chose the word adapt.  We have experienced some big changes this year and I am definitely going to have a couple learning curves to navigate.  I want to learn to be flexible this year and embrace the changes coming my way.

What are your goals/resolutions for the new year?  Did you choose a word of the year?  Leave a comment below!  I would love to hear all about it.

High Five For Friday- 19.01.17

I haven't done a link up for a few weeks.  I am going to share 5 highlights from the last few weeks.  I am linking up with Katie, Becky, Tif, and Della.

1.)  The arrival of Emelia!  We welcomed our second daughter on January 2, 2018.  You can read the announcement here..

2.)  One of our neighbours brought us buns and cinnamon buns after Emelia's arrival.  We were very thankful for the gift.  Food is always welcome after a new baby!

3.)  Elizabeth has been doing quite well with the new baby.   She loves to help Mommy and Daddy, which is really nice.  She is happy to run and grab something you need.  She also loves to get the new diaper out for the baby during diaper changes.  It has been so sweet to see her interact with her baby sister.  She sings songs for her and loves to tell her how cute she is!

4.)  My parents were so very helpful while we were in hospital.  With Emelia's NICU stay we were in the city for a week and my parents kept Elizabeth during that time.  It was difficult being away for that time, but we knew she was safe and happy with her grandparents.  They also checked our house and kept our dog.  We really appreciated all the help!

5.)  We are so thankful for the well wishes and prayers we received during the last few weeks.  It was uplifting to know that people were thinking of us the whole time and praying for our safety and good health.  The support has been wonderful and we are thankful to have received it.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  Check out the lovely ladies above to read some fabulous Friday posts!

Our New Addition

Our daughter Emelia arrived just before midnight on January 2, 2018.  We are absolutely thrilled to have her join our family and are so thankful for her safe arrival.  Elizabeth was enamored with her baby sister from the start.  She has been very busy making up songs to sing to the new baby and helping Mommy and Daddy. 

Emelia spent a short time in the NICU for breathing difficulties. Those resolved after a few days and we were able to bring her home.  We were blessed to have wonderful doctors and nurses caring for us during our stay in the hospital.  The NICU nurses were exceptional and Emelia's doctor was wonderful.

We are slowly settling into our life at home with Emelia and Elizabeth.  The newborn stage is always interesting and changing so we are doing our best to maintain a routine with Elizabeth.  Hubby was home for a week after we were discharged, so that helped immensely.

I am working to get new blog posts up as we settle into a routine in this new stage of life.  January will be a learning curve and I hope that you will bear with me.  For regular updates you can follow me on Instagram.  You can follow me @peacefulsimplelifeblog .

December- Goals and The No Spend Year

Happy New Year!  2017 is over.  I feel like the past year whizzed past.  I am going to do one last recap of last year's goals and resolutions.  I am trying to carefully consider what I want to work on 2018.  I will share that in a post soon. 

1.)  Complete a No Spend Year

I did it!  It was a great year and I really reined in my spending.  There were a few times that I broke my no spend year, but when I did break the rule it was carefully considered.  This was a fabulous resolution and I am glad I did it.  It has made me much more aware of my shopping "triggers", made me much more resourceful and taught me the importance of self care.  I do have a short list of items that I want to purchase, but I managed to put off the purchases until 2018.

SUCCESS!

2.)  Establish a Self-Care Routine

My self-care routine is going strong and it greatly contributed to the success of my no spend year.  Self care has made me a much calmer person.  In general, I have been better at dealing with overwhelming situations and I have more 'tools' at my disposal when I am stressed.

SUCCESS!

3.)  Say Yes to Family Time

This goal has gone really well.  It was easy once we set our family boundaries.  Making our rules made it easy for us to turn down other demands.

SUCCESS!

4.)  Start school in September.

This goal was put off due to my pregnancy.  I will revisit this idea in the future, but for now I have my hands full.

ON HOLD.

5.)  Learn more about traditional prayers and incorporate them into my prayer life.

This goal went well.  The end result is different than what I thought it would be but I am happy with how I have been able to incorporate the traditional prayers into my life.

SUCCESS!

6.)  Establish a routine for the blog and stick to the blog's vision.

I did make some progress with my blog this year.  I got my own domain and I was better about trying to stick to my posting schedule.  I had hoped to do more with my blog this year, but at least I have taken a few steps forward.

WORK IN PROGRESS.

2017 held so many wonderful moments and surprises for me.  I am happy with how my goals went this year.  I am looking forward to 2018.  Thank you for following along!