So we've been outside. A lot! And now it's raining. A lot. But that's OK. Lucy is sick for the third day in a row. Just our semi-annual bout with croup which is really no biggie. No biggie because when you've been cleaning up puke for two and a half months, a cough is really like a day at the park around here.
Last week as the temperatures were rising I started to get overwhelmed with all the spring cleaning items that needed to get checked off my list. It's always a bad idea to start making a list in your head when the baby is crying to be fed, the toddler is climbing on top of the dining room table and your preschooler is somewhere outside but you're not really sure where because you can no longer see her from the kitchen window.
Ah, Summer, how conflicted I am with you.
I didn't know where to start. Brian always says, "paralysis by analysis." And I didn't want to fall into that trap. So I just started.
The porch was my first target. I cleaned the inside and outside of all 13 windows (including the front door), reinstalled all 13 screens, organized and tossed toys, vacuumed the floor and window seat and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees...because winter was long and a mop just couldn't get it all done.
Where were the kids, you might wonder. Well, here's where I'm willing to make compromises. William, of course, was at school. I got lucky with Katherine as she napped the entire time. I handed the Kindle Fire off to Lucy and she was engaged for a good while. And Bobby, at such the wonderful age of being happy to watch his surroundings yet not old enough to move around, sat and smiled his toothless grin at me from his perch in his bouncy chair which I moved around from time to time as my cleaning progressed.
When I was done I remembered, again, just how awesome it is to have a front porch. It's like getting an instant house addition, which, as you can imagine with our ever-growing family, is oh so welcome.
That night Brian and I made a pitcher of margaritas and sat on the window seat in the glistening clean porch with the iPad making a list of our other to-dos. Because don't you just feel so much more capable after starting somewhere, anywhere? And then even more capable when it's all written down for you? I do.
The rest of the week I was able to cross off the buying of the flowers (not planted yet), changing out both of the girls' closets and fertilizing the lawn.
The start of summer is upon us and I'm so excited! I mean, I think I am. I'm not sure. Mostly excited, I think.
Last week as the temperatures were rising I started to get overwhelmed with all the spring cleaning items that needed to get checked off my list. It's always a bad idea to start making a list in your head when the baby is crying to be fed, the toddler is climbing on top of the dining room table and your preschooler is somewhere outside but you're not really sure where because you can no longer see her from the kitchen window.
Ah, Summer, how conflicted I am with you.
I didn't know where to start. Brian always says, "paralysis by analysis." And I didn't want to fall into that trap. So I just started.
The porch was my first target. I cleaned the inside and outside of all 13 windows (including the front door), reinstalled all 13 screens, organized and tossed toys, vacuumed the floor and window seat and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees...because winter was long and a mop just couldn't get it all done.
Where were the kids, you might wonder. Well, here's where I'm willing to make compromises. William, of course, was at school. I got lucky with Katherine as she napped the entire time. I handed the Kindle Fire off to Lucy and she was engaged for a good while. And Bobby, at such the wonderful age of being happy to watch his surroundings yet not old enough to move around, sat and smiled his toothless grin at me from his perch in his bouncy chair which I moved around from time to time as my cleaning progressed.
When I was done I remembered, again, just how awesome it is to have a front porch. It's like getting an instant house addition, which, as you can imagine with our ever-growing family, is oh so welcome.
That night Brian and I made a pitcher of margaritas and sat on the window seat in the glistening clean porch with the iPad making a list of our other to-dos. Because don't you just feel so much more capable after starting somewhere, anywhere? And then even more capable when it's all written down for you? I do.
The rest of the week I was able to cross off the buying of the flowers (not planted yet), changing out both of the girls' closets and fertilizing the lawn.
The start of summer is upon us and I'm so excited! I mean, I think I am. I'm not sure. Mostly excited, I think.
I would either choose the demi earrings or make a charm necklace of my family.
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