Playroom Poll

It's been a long while since I've done a poll.   I've been wondering about the effectiveness of having a playroom, hence the poll to the right.  Always, sometimes, never type surveys never tell the whole story, so feel free to share what works for your family and what doesn't with the kids play spaces.  Thanks!

Packing is Messy

It feels like we've been boxing up our house since June.  Oh..lol..I have!  We had to box up loads of stuff to get our home ready to show.  That stuff we got to take to storage.  Out of sight out of mind.  Then we took a little break and spent 2-3 months keeping the house in tip-top shape.  A lot of work with 3 kids and life in general, but really nice.  A little time to do prep for the new baby.  Then we sold the house and all semblance of order fell apart.  There are boxes stacked everywhere.  Even if, between packing, Christmas-ing, and the baby, I wanted to vacuum I couldn't.  I can't find enough floor space to justify the effort. Jeff and I were talking about it.  He blamed the messiness on the kids.  With good reason.  They had left school stuff out and toys and coloring stuff, etc.  But, as I pointed out to him, take away the boxes and there wasn't much mess left to complain about. 

Yesterday I had a goal to get as much of the kitchen done as was reasonable.  With the help of Cami-a big check!  The other goal I had was to get my craft room all packed up.  I made decent progress, but ended up finishing this morning.  Of all the packed up spaces, right now this is my favorite.  It's stacked neatly, and the floor is vacuumed.  There is order. (Excuse the laundry.  That's the next batch in line.)

Now imagine the exact opposite of this room and you have the rest of the house.  ;)

Lessons in Selling a Home

First off, thanks for all the diaper bag thoughts.  I've been looking through pages and pages of different materials (so many cute choices!) and thinking about how to best incorporate pockets and maybe a few other things.  I'm planning on doing a mock-up for practice and then if that works I'll buy the fabric and get going on it. :)

Now.  Selling a house is not fun.  I'm sure lots of you know this. We've done it twice before and twice before we sold within a week. (We can attribute that to impeccable timing as the St. George market was really heating up then.)  It's been about 6 weeks.  We've had some people come.  One came twice.  One submitted an offer.  Wish we could have taken it, but it was too low.  I feel like I'm on pins and needles all day everyday waiting for our agent to call with an offer, appointments, feedback or just some random bit of business that needs dealing with.  It is an all consuming venture.  It's starting to wear on both Jeff and I some.  It's boring around our house.  At least half of our stuff is packed away in storage.  If we don't faithfully attend the library at least every week/week and a half, we're in trouble.  Thankfully the fall line-up is starting.  Sadly one of our favorites has ended, leaving us only 1 network show.  USA's season is over till November which is happily only one more month.  Anyway.  Despite this report of the doom and gloom of selling a house (and we haven't even touched the market issue), there have been lots of positive things I've seen.  And here they are in no particular order:

1.  The house is always clean.  I am just now realizing how small our house is for the stuff we have.  And how we are lacking sufficient storage (or maybe just organizational skills) to manage.

2.  If the house isn't clean, it can be sparkling in about an hour.  Without extra help.  INCLUDING: mopping and vacuuming all 1924 sq ft.

3.  The kids play with their toys more.  They only have a few things left out.

4.  Lyndsi reads more.  See explanation of #3.

5.  The kids play board games together.  See #3 again.  This one has been particularly fun.  I enjoy watching them play together.

6.  I hate to harp on the cleaning thing, but MY CRAFT ROOM IS CLEAN!  It's so much more pleasant to work in there on crafts now.  Glad I thought this room through when packing up.  I was sure to leave out a few things of the different crafts I enjoy doing the most.  There are lots of things I wish I had access to, but overall, the room is delightful to work in and easy to pick up.  It makes me really look forward to having a bigger and more fully dedicated space for my hobbies.

7.  I attend the temple more regularly.  Part of this has to do with all three kids being at school at the same time for at least a few hours a week.  But, I have enjoyed going while I have this brief opportunity before the baby comes.

8.  I pray more frequently.  Honestly, I have been surprised at what a spiritual journey this has been.  I need someone to talk to that can help me not get to anxious and to plead for help and guidance.  This is something I've been working on for a long time, but am finally now getting consistent with.

9.  I am learning to follow the spirit with more exactness.  I started noticing if I had a feeling to get the house clean and vacuumed in the morning and I followed through, usually by early afternoon our agent was on the phone scheduling appointments with me.  This lesson has started overflowing into other areas and I try to work harder on following through with thoughts that come to me.

10.  I have learned to appreciate my current house more fully.  It really is a great little house.  Especially with the new carpet.  So many great things and so many hard things have happened here.  It will be hard to leave, but it's time.  I really hope a special family/couple/person gets this house.  It has been our home, our haven and our safe harbor for 5 years.  We have struggled, laughed, rejoiced and grown while here.  It will always be a very special place for us.

Nesting

is in full swing now. 

I have some fun "1st day of school" pictures I'd like to post and write about and a few other things, but the nesting instinct is dictating life right now.  :)  Just this morning I've already washed kitchen walls and cleaned out 1 closet.  (Well, half of one.  I did the other half last week.)  I've got plans to tackle the "under the stairs" closet before lunch.  Hoping to find a bunch of DI items or throw-away items in that one.  Not that I want to wish myself a collector of such junk. It would just be nice to not feel like I need to hold on to the mess-causers that lurk within that particular closet. 

After that, I've got a list of other household projects to work on through out the coming weeks, not to mention my baby to-do list.  That one is a little more fun.  Quilts,  shopping, fun things to do with our family as it is now, more sewing, etc.  Halloween and Christmas are already weighing down on my mind.  Especially Christmas.  Mind you, this is all in addition and on top of what I already need to be doing like regular housework, training kids to clean and practice and read without my encouragement and prodding, cooking dinner (when really, all I want is homemade fresh peach pie), playing chauffer, etc. 

Well, I've armed myself with my little Sansa Fuze, a glass of water and just might grab that handy dandy little timer.  Guess I'll get to work now. :)

Not Normally

I don't clean my kids rooms for them. I don't mind helping them clean and at least (if I'm busy with something else) will give them little tasks to do like "take care of all the clothes." When that is finished, they come back for another one. That and actually being in there helping have worked great for me so far. Occasionally though bedrooms get out-of-control messy.


McKay's room has been that way for the last several days, despite our attempts to clean it together. Last night I couldn't walk in his room and decided that was the last straw. Today while he was at a friends, I went in and cleaned. I did a little organizing, threw a bunch of "special" papers away (you know-anything that has been touched by them) and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. I wondered at I was doing. I didn't feel anger at McKay for allowing his room to get this way. I really didn't mind doing it, but how could I deny my child an opportunity to learn to work and be responsible for his own things? How could I let that teaching opportunity slide right by?!

Honestly. We are all happier this way. I'm happier because now I can wash all his clothes, walk in his room and see his floor. McKay will be happier because now he doesn't have the overwhelming tast of cleaning his room weighing him down and he's not getting in trouble.

Oh! Epiphany-It just came to me-I haven't lost a learning opportunity-at least for myself. It seems this is what Heavenly Father is constantly doing for me, wiping my slate clean so I get a "do-over" to try and be better. A little bit of mercy for a daughter He loves. Now McKay gets a little "do-over" himself and we can work harder together to get the hang of keeping a room clean. I love finding little lessons in daily life.

A Beautiful Day

I am having a beautiful day and wanted to share something beautiful with you. I only wish they were real. (Can't you just imagine how wonderful this bouquet would smell?!)

I was thinking yesterday that if I have to put up with cold and snow and wind, at least I'm in Utah. The sun comes out in January here. Lots. Lucky me! I also cleaned my master bathroom yesterday. It's not big, but it hadn't been deep cleaned in a long time. It took me all morning, but it's done and sparkles. Even Jeff noticed. The best part (ok-besides now I'm not scared to take a shower anymore) is that the whole time I was able to keep the window wide opened and never got cold. Today, more window are being opened. Fresh air will be coming indoors. :)

Monday I cleaned my own room. Not as bad as i thought it'd be. Last night we helped the kids clean their rooms. I woke up to a clean main floor. Those flowers are almost as beautiful as that feeling.

Today, it's time to tackle the basement. Dust, vacuum, windex (the TV). It's all gettin done. In fact, it's all done. Except the playroom. That's next on the list.

Wonder what brought on this sudden burst of cleaning? (Because, let's face it. Keeping a neat and tidy house is just not my forte. It's ok. ) It's my vacuum. My old $60 Eureka from Shopko died. I was insistent on getting a bissell. That was the brand of our first vacuum which lived with us in all four of our homes. It was a good friend of mine. Sniff...Ahem.. Anway. We searched out different brands (trying to be opened minded) and price ranges (wanted something good that would last a while) and got our beautiful new (shiny red) Bissell. It cleans my floors wonderfully. When those are done, I am so happy I decide to move on to dusting or making beds or...You get the point.

Life is good. Have a great day. Glad you're my friends!!

I'm A Believer

I've used the Mr. Clean magic eraser before and have seen good results, but honey, I am a BELIEVER now! I have been putting off my disgusting shower because anytime I tried to clean it with other products, it took way too much muscle and toxic fumes to get any results-let a lone the ones I wanted. Last week I decided I had enough and wanted a sparkling shower again. I mulled my plans and tactics over in my head and had the thought that I have a few friends who use that little white eraser on everything. Why not? I'll try it. At least there isn't the toxicity in the air like with bleach. Ladies (and any gentleman that may drop in), I now have a very sparkly, white, CLEAN shower. Thank you, Mr. Clean. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

I also BELIEVE that I can change. The other night Jeff and I were chatting while playing a game. I confessed that I have no follow through. So, we made a list of several things I haven't finished mostly because I lost interest or got it done "enough" to get by. I am happy to say that several things just were checked off yesterday with not much effort. What a silly girl I am.

I believe that I am hungry now, so I'll go fix dinner....