Cleaning Sshedule

Well, in an effort to better organize myself, have a cleaner house, homeschool, and still have a few free minutes everyday; I've decided to make a schedule for myself. I am amazed at how you can do just a few things everyday and have a clean house. I have given Mary Helen 3 chores everyday, which she loves and asks for more jobs! I only have a few cleaning jobs each day, some days are heavier than others, but I only have one thing to do on Fridays so it can be easily moved, and I don't have any jobs on Saturdays!!

We haven't started school yet, but I can see how it will fit easily into the routine I've set up. I'll even be getting around to deeper cleaning stuff instead of putting it off!

This coming week is pretty quiet, then starting next Saturday, we are busy busy busy! My dad is turning the big 5-0 this week, so we will be celebrating that on Saturday evening. Then on Monday, I am going to go to the mountains with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, her kids, and a family friend for church camp meeting. I'm sure the kids will have a blast...I'm looking forward to it too! I will come home from there on Wednesday and head out early Friday for the homeschool convention.

Works for Me Wednesday

A couple of months ago, I walked into my mom's bathroom, and there sat the cutest little contact case. I don't wear contacts, but I figured that shouldn't stop me from having that cute little thing to carry around in my purse, right? It came to me almost as soon as I saw it...I could scrape out the bottom of my favorite lipstick, and get many more uses out of it! It even has a little mirror!







Check out what works for other bloggers over at Rocks in my Dryer!

no TV update

It's been nearly three weeks without a tv, and I have to say, it's going great! I always thought it would be worse on me than it was on the girls, but it's not been bad at all. Mary Helen has spent a bit more time on the computer, especially at first. She is playing more, and her imagination seems to be soaring. She is following me around the house more, but that's something I've wanted...to talk to the girls a lot. It's not alway convenient for me, but that's my selfishness!

She's started doing chores, and she loves that. I'm sure it will pass.

Anna's begun her terrible twos. She is trying to see who's boss in this house. Parents win. She's spending a lot of time on the bathroom rug. In fact, she fell asleep there last night during a battle. She woke up and went there within minutes, then we did it again after nap time. When we get her ready for bed, and up from bed, we send her with her diaper to throw away. This week she's decided that she doesn't like that job.

Tomorrow night, I get to go out to eat with my very best friend growing up. We were in the crib together at day care (her grandmother was the leader and she saw to it that we were best friends). We took swimming lessons together, we went through puberty together, we went through the drama of boyfriends together, we fought about a boy, we made up, we rebelled together, and after highschool we drifted. We kept in touch sporadically, and last summer she got married. Now, I am not an emotional type. I don't cry at weddings or most funerals. It's life. It's happy, it's sad. But, at her wedding, when her bridesmaids started walking in, I started crying. I didn't know any of them. I should have been right by her side. She should have been at my side when I got married. When we went to her house for the reception and she and her dad danced to "Butterfly Kisses" I totally lost it. The guests at our table thought I was real nice until that moment. Then they (along with Joel) thought I was just plain nuts.

Anyways, we've been through so much together, and I can't wait to catch up with her!

Happy Birthday, Anna! and projects from the week. . .

Today we celebrated sweet Anna's birthday. She doesn't actually turn two for another week or so, but this was the only day we could work out for everybody to get together. We had a gardening theme, so the kids painted flower pots. We decided not to plant flowers, and it was a good thing because it started raining just as they finished up painting, and rained the rest of the party. I am not complaining about rain, we were glad to see it!! We had planned to be kind of in and out, we just went with mostly in! Of course, Joel had to grill hamburgers in the rain, but he didn't melt!

Here are a few pictures from the party. Notice the new chalkboard addition to the kitchen...that is going to be our homeschool zone. Under the chalkboard is a curtain rod with curtain clips to hold misc. papers and charts for school. The next to last picture has nothing to do with the party, but is a project that I've been working on for a few weeks (I got delayed by a broken sewing machine!). Also, the very last picture is what I decided to do with the back entry.

Enjoy the pictures!

















This is a laundry sorter, and I have another one just like it. I hope it will save me tons of time!!

Fun Swap!

I got my package from my swap that was hosted by Kelly. What fun! Here is a picture of what I got:



This was a favorite things swap, where we send some of our favorite things to another blogger. From left to right, here's what I got. The welcome sign because she loves red, white, and blue together and she loves stars (this sign totally matches my house, and I can't wait to hang it!! The coffee mug (that I'm already using!) is because she loves chunky mugs and funky art. The KoolAid is her favorite summertime drink (that's what Mary Helen and I are going to make in just a few minutes). She also loves cute pencils, although her collection has been turned over to her daughter. The post it notes are stars in her favorite colors, yellow and orange. Finally, the album, refill pages, and background inserts. I can even do that kind of scrapbooking!

She also sent a whole box of rice krispie treats and a bag of reeses pieces!!

You can see what everyone else got by clicking here.