Clean Garage

Chad spent the day pulling out tools, bicycles, yard machines, and general junk to sweep out and clean up the garage.  Winter is the best time for this because the humidity is WAY down and the air is cool.  A breeze is actually refreshing in the winter and if you work up a sweat, it doesn't stay with you until your next shower.

The garage looks great and I can get out of the van without vainly attempting to suck in my gut.  Thank you, Chad.  I appreciate your hard work!

It looked like we were having a garage sale for a little while as our belongings were strewn about the driveway.  I'm surprised no one stopped to shop!

One of Life's Greatest Mysteries

There is a broom in my family room.  It shouldn't surprise me.  But why must I suffer such mysteries?

It might make more sense if we swept the family room floor.  We don't.  (What am I saying?  There is no "we".)

I don't sweep the family room floor, even though it is mostly bare concrete.  The vacuum is for the family room and the broom is for the kitchen.

Maybe a witch left it there.  She is trying to entice me away with a speedy getaway.  I am tempted, but there would be no one left to ponder the great mysteries around here.

3000 Words

If one picture is worth 1000 words, 3 pictures must be 3000 words. Right?

I've got the pictures...I'll just add a few more words. :)

My little Sarah is growing up so fast! Is she really big enough to sit at the table? Even Leah won't sit when she's at the table. (Joseph is watching for the bus.)

I braided the girls' hair before bed. It was a little kinked, but by the time Rebekah got home about 4 hours later, you could barely see a wave. Poor girl...she has her mother's hair.

I was vacuuming the floor in Joseph's room and heard a clink then smelled a burning belt. Turns out this little Lego guy got stuck between the belt and the pin that turns it. He broke my vacuum belt and lost his eye in the process. Now it looks like he's winking. Do you think it was premeditated?

Spring cleaning the closet

I recently went through the closet and cleaned out all of my old bags and purses. I was surprised at what I found! I have switched fashions and needs several times over the years and in an effort to "de-clutter" I have not always taken everything out of the old bag. Whoa. What a trip down memory lane this created.

You can see that there is quite a pile here. Included were nursing pads (definitely don't need those anymore), some tampons (a necessity at times), expired medicine, hand sanitizer, pens and pencils, business cards, lotions, lip stick, a For The Strength of Youth booklet, temple schedules from 1999 for the Provo, Jordan River and Las Vegas temples, some hair accessories, a grocery bag, toys, receipts, breath mints, floss, fruit snacks... and several more things. Wow. Some of those things were over a decade old! Maybe I should attack some other closets.

And Joseph tried to be very helpful this morning. Here he is changing Sarah's diaper on his bed. He had just gotten the dirty diaper off. I can't believe Sarah is staying still for him!

Joseph is at the age where he FEELS "big", but can't seem to convince the rest of us to let him do the things he wants to do.

No, I don't usually trust this little job to a 3-year-old. On the other hand, Leah is VERY helpful in this area.

Work of Art

It's Nathan's job to do the dishes this week. We're lazy parents...doing the dishes just means rinsing them. We're working on loading the dishwasher, but the complaining has scared us off (just as it is probably meant to do).

Nathan may have enjoyed himself a little bit this evening. This is what the sink looked like after he walked away.
The top cup is full of silverware.

If you look very carefully, this masterpiece has "nine-year-old boy" written all over it!

Crayons

I was trying to straighten up the living room this morning (though I can't figure out why I keep doing this fruitless task) and was gathering up the crayons strewn around. After I got all of those, I reached down into Sarah's onesie and pulled out a handful.

There are some things that are only experienced by caring for a child. And it made me smile.

A quick note

I know...I've been MIA...again. I've been busy, so maybe that will mean something interesting to read soon. (ahh...something to anticipate)

I just wanted to share something funny Joseph said this morning. (He comes up with some real gems, some days.)

We were downstairs and I was cleaning up. It's cold down there... it's almost impossible to keep it warm on our budget. Joseph said he was cold and asked if I was, too. I said I wasn't cold because I was working. So he thought he'd give it a try.

He bent down, picked up a 3" piece of train track, threw it in the bin and said, "No."

Yeah, that probably didn't get the heart pumping too much.

I should set a better example

I was just wiping down the china cupboard with a wet rag (I don't know what splatters more than milk, unless it's blood and I -thankfully- don't have much experience with that) when Rebekah came up to me and asked if we were selling it.

Is that the only time she notices me clean something? I think I need to be a better mother or housekeeper or SOMETHING!

ACK!

Where has the time gone?

I have been busy with various things, including trying to clean my house.

I spent a nice morning on the floor of the kid's bathroom scrubbing toothpaste off their carpet. I realize that I have a propensity for exaggeration, but believe me when I say that you wouldn't have been able to find one foot in any direction without coming to toothpaste. Whether it dripped from their mouths or fell straight from the tube, there was toothpaste from one wall to the other, on the shower stall, on the walls, cupboard fronts, mirror and maybe even the ceiling (I did find dried toilet paper wads up there).

I have vacuumed countless cobwebs and then found more again after the vacuum was put away. We have so many spiders out here!

We can now walk through the storage room without using any contortionistic moves. That has been nice!

There used to be a 2 1/2 foot high pile of stuff on my sewing table. I can now see the cutting mat in most places. I still have two pairs of pants to sew for the girls and Christmas pj's to cut and sew.

Among cleaning and organizing, life has been chugging along its usual pace. We've had Pack Meeting, got the studded tires on the van, gone grocery shopping, done homework, had FHE, shoveled walks (and then shoveled them again), driven carpool, gone to meetings, been sick, etc.

I will post pictures and share some of the better memories as I can. After all, it's Thanksgiving tomorrow and we have a few things we need to do for that!

I hope you all are having Thanksgiving with someone you care about and that you travel safely if you travel at all. Be careful in that crazy snow we've been getting in Utah and Idaho!

I need...

I know I need to blog. I want to blog. But I HAVE to clean up around here. I'd really like to take a nap since the little ones are sleeping and the older ones have been sent to their room (now you know what kind of morning it has been).

I need a friend who has no other obligations and can come visit with me while I clean.

I need to change my blog background. Is that in the cleaning category?

I need to cut my fingernails so I can type better. Not quite cleaning, but grooming is close.

I need to lose about 35 pounds...that is internal cleaning. (And then I need to keep from restocking the fat stores!)

I need to finish sewing Christmas stockings. That would help clean up my sewing corner.

I need to get to work.

Sarah's First Year

I almost dropped a real tear as I was completing this LO. Sarah's first year is over. She has grown so much and brings us so much joy. And now that she sleeps through the night, I can enjoy the joy even more!

I pulled up Rebekah's first year LO to compare the two girls and realized how much I am going to miss capturing these beautiful baby faces. And I'm also looking at how much I can see 5-year-old Rebekah in the face of 12-month-old Rebekah. So then I started staring at Sarah's 12-month-old picture here, trying to imagine what she will look like when she's a few years older. That's a really tough task at 10:30 at night!

BTW: I only have one more LO to go before I finish 2004. It's that 4th of July one that I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a new kit for. (I probably will end up buying it, but if I wait, maybe it will appear that I was being careful with my money!)

Even so, I did get through Leah and Rebekah's drawers and pulled out the clothes that were too small. And then I cleaned their room, hauled out a whole bag of garbage (like I end up doing every time I go in there) and vacuumed the room and hall. It only took me two hours since I had to CONSTANTLY pick up Sarah and put her back where I could keep her out of trouble. That was a less effective way to work! I also cleaned 1/2 the bathroom. Why half? It was the most obvious part of the mess. :)

So I didn't just sit and scrapbook yesterday. I was a good girl!

1x+7n= ZERO

I'm doing a little math here. It's likely you'll need me to show my work. I'll use this post as my "scratch paper."

x = an organized person. This is a person who puts things away, knows where they go and repairs them when they get broken. This person buys weed killer AND uses it. This is a person that throws things away when they are empty or otherwise at their limit. This is a person who is willing to spend money on something new and then care for it to keep from having to replace it again. This person is a little uptight and less likely to relax.

n = an UNorganized person. This is a person who leaves things out indefinitely. This person doesn't usually know where things go and often has to ask an organized person where to look for what they want. This is a person who decorates the yard only with things that aren't usually yard items; and leaves them there so long that eventually, they decay or get lost in the grass (that can't be mowed because this thing is in the way). This is a person who is expert at garbage stacking (it's best to start with the garbage can in a corner for the extra support), can't smell the garbage to know when to take it out, and often doesn't realize that the things around them ARE garbage! This person often doesn't know what color their carpet is. This is a person who uses the garage to hide their junk pile...only leaving a big enough space for the car (so that the organized drivers won't throw a tantrum). This is a person who is generally content with the way things are (except for the uptight organized people they have to live with).

In my experience, 1x+7n = ZERO. One person who WANTS to be organized has no chance. The organized person, to survive, adopts some (many) of the unorganized characteristics. In the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," the organized person starts pulling laundry out of the basket instead of getting it folded and put away. They mow the lawn/weeds in very erratic lines because they don't have time to clean the yard AND mow. They step over the messes left around the house because in the list of things that MUST be done, a pile of magazines shredded and strewn around the house ranks very low.

And so our house is a mess. I'm the only one who cares - it seems. I guess 1 out of 8 unhappy people is actually a success. Right? Ugh.

One step forward...

You know how the saying goes. I've been driven this morning to get as much cleaning done as I can. I've mopped and done about a 100 loads of laundry. My list is still long, but at least you can SEE that I've done something.

Amidst my cleaning efforts, Joseph has has a lot of requests. His latest one is to play with the electric train. He emptied his marble cup to make it a legal request. Too bad he emptied the marbles illegally! To get some peace, I decided to ignore his method and just give him the train. Unfortunately, that train is better suited for a 7-year-old. So while Joseph is playing with the train, I am, too. That wasn't something I was hoping to accomplish!

Now Nathan is sick. He hobbled back to bed, buried himself in his blanket and went to sleep. He's been there a couple of hours, at least. I've got Daniel an afternoon appt. with the TMJ doctor. I'm hoping he doesn't show obvious symptoms of this germ until AFTER we leave the office.

How do I get more time?

Argh! It seems like as soon as I get one thing crossed off my list, two more get added. Who keeps writing on my to "To Do" list?

I REALLY need to spend some time in the heap of clothes that's been growing in Sarah and Joseph's room. (Pamela, did you get my email?) And the kitchen isn't getting any better. That needs a good 90 minutes of my time (which I don't want to do because it makes my heel hurt.)

I have several church things that I need to do.

The kids have had a run of doctors appts. We were out of town for 5 hours yesterday taking care of that. And tomorrow is the dentist.

The bathroom still looks like it blew up. I need to climb in there around all the construction materials and power tools and try to vacuum up/sweep up sawdust and drywall chunks.

I have more weeds in my flower beds than flowers.

It's my dad's b-day in a week and a half. I still haven't made his Father's Day gift for him (on my list for today) and now I need to get ready to mail everything at once.

And on top of all that, my family still expects to EAT!!!

Sarah's second tooth has come in. That should explain her behavior lately. (I must be feeling English...I tried to spell behavior ...behaviour.)

And now, Nathan has scouts in 30 minutes. I guess I should wake him up.

I haven't showered since Thursday last week.

I thought that title might get your attention. It's the truth, too.

Last Thursday, Chad's brother (we'll call him 'Greg') came to town. He needed a place to stay while he was here and offered to help us do any projects we had going while he was available. He may never offer again!

We bought a cast iron bathtub 2 - 3 months ago and it has been sitting in our garage since then. The task of replacing a tub is really best tackled with more than one guy. So we decided to take Greg up on his offer.

I showered Thursday morning...

...they ripped the tub out that night.



You can see that I jumped right in there to help out. I did help move some stuff out of the way after taking the picture, but my biggest job was to keep Sarah out of the way. That was not an easy task!

The tub spent 2 nights in the front yard before I sold it to someone for $25. What a bargain!

While Greg was busy with meetings on Friday, Chad stayed home from work to prep the area for the replacement tub. I took the kids out for the day. (That's how I helped on Friday.) The two of them (I don't know who to really credit) came up with an idea to build shelves into the wall of the tub surround. Chad did that. You can see them if you look for the red-papered insulation. The blue paper is the original wall. That little hole in the bottom of the wall on the left is the old pump access from the jetted tub. That is going to need to be patched up. Talk about a privacy problem!


By Friday (late) night, the 'new' tub was in and holding water. More specifically, it was holding water for my bath. It was a little strange to sit in the tub and look through the wall straight ahead of me to the toilet. And it was difficult to not splash any water out of the tub. I never even thought of that hole behind me. Good thing the kids were in bed by then!


We do have a 2nd bathroom with a shower stall. It's the kids' bathroom and I haven't been able to lower my standards far enough to use it, yet. I only used the toilet 3 times on Thursday because it was covered in drywall chunks and I didn't want to to go upstairs. Petty, I know.

Their bathroom is so disgusting and a total waste of time to clean, that I try to pretend that it doesn't exist. Why can't they keep the toothpaste with a foot of the sink? Even two feet would be a huge improvement. What is so hard about getting the pee IN the toilet? And again, why do people carpet bathrooms? Yuck, and DOUBLE YUCK!

Chad has not been as snobby about it as I have. He has had no baths. I've had 4.

Last night, he got all the plastic up and is ready to nail up the cement board. I would love if he got it done by the weekend, but realistically, next weekend would still be something to be grateful for.

I'll post pictures of that when it happens. :)

One at a time

You know that little safety feature on minivans that doesn't let you open the sliding door once the gas door is open?

I wish I could improve upon that idea and put it to use in my home. With my idea, the toys would only function one at a time. If you didn't put the last one you used back, you would be unable to access the next one.

How do I make this automation work? I'm really getting frustrated with the growing messes and the apathy that everyone has toward them.

Tantrums and Tears

I threw a tantrum tonight. It was a controlled tantrum. I ranted, but I didn't rave. I didn't raise my voice (I think), but I complained and threatened a lot. And I made Leah cry. I felt bad about that.

I was in the library feeling completely overwhelmed by the mess of books on the floor and those threatening to fall to floor. I started saying that I should just get rid of all the books. And then I zeroed in on Rebekah and Leah because they were the unfortunate souls in the room with me.

I asked them if I should just get rid of all the books. They both agreed and then Leah started to think about it and got very quiet. Meanwhile, Rebekah was too young to be affected by my tyrannical mind game and asked me questions about which books I thought I'd get rid of. She always agreed that I should go ahead and get rid of them.

I had a HUGE pile of books that I'd swept from the unorganized shelves. And it was only half of the books...half of the kids' books, that is. And I saw unshed tears in Leah's eyes.

I admitted that I wasn't going to get rid of the books. I was just angry that no one seemed to care about the books. But I wasn't going to get rid of them because I thought they were important and we needed good books to be able to read.

That's when Leah's tears came. She was so relieved and I felt (again) like a terrible mother. She'll need psychiatric care for sure after this one. I just keep recording these stellar parenting moves so that when the kids are spending hundreds of dollars on therapy, they'll have something to refer to as "the moment."

I never did find the missing book that originally set me off. The payoff? I can walk safely into the library now. It doesn't seem as if it was worth hurting Leah.

ALERT! ALERT! It's no big deal.

I'm trying to get the kids ready to leave the house. You'd think it was Sunday with all the problems we're having.

Anyone know where Joseph's sandals are?

I sat down to feed Sarah real quick and Daniel starts shouting, "It's flooding!!" My first thought is the canal's flooding. Of course, he doesn't offer the info. I have to ask. Nope. Not the canal - the toilet. He comes all the way down the hall to sound the alarm. I tell him to get back in there and start plunging. "But it's flooding!" Yes, and that is why this is a GREAT time to be plunging! Get in there and start plunging.

Then I don't hear anything more.

He comes out from the bathroom and walks into the kitchen. I see the back hems of his pants are wet. Is there water on the floor by the toilet? "Yes." Then get back in there and clean it up!

Wait a minute, Mom. He needs a drink of water. WHAT? You're taking a break to have some refreshment? Did all that water make you thirsty? Are you really thinking there's nothing more for you to do?

When I get in there to check on the clean up progress, I see A LOT of water. He's tracked it from the toilet to the bathroom door...at least 12 feet...across carpet. (WHY in the name of sanitary conditions do people carpet the family bathroom?) And he's now soaking up water with hand towels. When he gets out of the shower, he's 90% drier than the floor is right now and he uses over-sized bath towels for those moments! It's like lighting a single match to roast your hotdog.

I stepped in and demanded bigger towels (which became immediately soaked) until we were nearly out of anything dry. Then I noticed that the little hand towel on the wall was a bit damp. "Did you stop to wash your hands while there was water on the floor?" Silence.

Seriously. Didn't he...? Seriously. *sigh*

Quote of the Day

Rebekah: "Is it Earth Day?"

Me: "No."

R: "Why are you cleaning?"

What? Do I only have to clean on Earth Day? Only once a year? Why hasn't anyone told me this? I could have saved myself a lot of guilt and energy.

Dirty

I used to think that my house was clean, but just really cluttered and unorganized.

I now change my claim. My house is dirty.

I am prepping the dining room for a paint job (green of all things...on St. Patrick's Day!) and have only removed the curtains and washed the windows and sills. Already, I've made the decision that my house is dirty.

The curtains are in the washer. I may find out that they aren't the color I thought they were. I cleaned a lot of fly poop off the window sills and cobwebs off the tops of the window trims. I was wiping down the china cupboard. It's going to need more than wiping down. This is only one corner of my house.

I've never been a spring cleaner. (Or a fall, summer or winter cleaner, either!) I didn't grow up in a house that used that method. I may be reprogramming myself here. Of course, the kids have no idea what is in store for them! I may not get much productivity out of them while they're still small, but the training might as well begin!

It can only end up being a good thing, right? I'll find stuff I forgot I had, be able to organize as I go and end up with a healthier home. After all, Daniel does have a confirmed dust allergy. It really is no wonder. It's a miracle we don't all have one!