Spring Cleaning

I HATE cleaning. I have always hated cleaning. For the last 8-9 years I have actually paid someone weekly to come by and clean my house. She was my first bad habit to go when I cut my hours. So now, I am the official house cleaner (with the exception of some child labor, which, while good for teaching work ethic, isn't really good for actual cleaning). I was doing some deep cleaning a few weeks ago and was again so impressed by the following cleaning product that I just HAD to share the information. A housekeeper that I had several years ago asked me to pick up some of these cleaners for her to use. I admit that I never actually used them more than once. But I remember the one time that I did use it being very impressed by its cleaning action. HOWEVER, in my cleaning escapade a few weeks ago, I was again blown away by this products amazing ease to use and it's incredible job in cleaning! Please proceed!!

This is my new secret weapon--Mr. Clean magic erasers!! Beware: the photos you are about to see may be disturbing. Viewer discretion advised. Yes, I knowingly tolerated these living conditions in my home! Hope you continue to love me in spite of it!

This yummy view is from my back porch lookin' in. The door that the children and the grease monkey use exclusively. Apparently, no one can use the door knob for closing the door!

The bottom of the porch closet. Note the cool markings that shoes thrown AT the closet will make as they hit the door, rather than the small opening that they were aimed at.

OOOH! The bottom of the bathroom door that the animals. . .er--children utilize.

The ammunition--the top sponge is unused. The bottom sponge is one that has been in the active line of cleaning duties. These sponges waste away--literally as you clean. You simply rub your mess, occasionally cleanse off the filth with water, and return him to the work zone.

OOOOOH--the bathroom door--CLEAN

AAAAAHH. The closet doors--CLEAN

Oh, my--my back porch lookin' in--CLEEEAAAANN!

So there you have it!! A wonderful product to simplify and beautify your lives! I don't know how these little devils clean so well with so little manual scrubbin'--but then again I really don't want to know either (ignorance is bliss, and ignorance doesn't cause cancer!) I do know that IF you have little guys around--you don't want them to be handling or chewing on them--much like anything else you would CLEAN with--Duh!

But don't take my word for it-RUN to your nearest store and buy one for yourself!

Happy cleaning!

Toothless

How many more teeth can a little 7 year old fella lose before hot dogs are off the menu??

I don't know, but I sure hope we don't have to find out!!

At this rate, the tooth fairy is going to have to take out a loan!

Now We're Talking!

Delicious warm air

Radiant sunshine kissing the nape of my neck as I'm bent over my work

Slight breeze rustling my curls

My favorite gardening gloves tucked in my back pocket

The warm crumbly soil under my fingertips

One kid that was interested in digging, and one that was NOT

An hour of hoeing and digging and placing plants and seeds ever so carefully!

The joy of standing back and admiring the work

Relaxing and directing a soft sprinkle of water while deeply inhaling the spring air

Inhaling?? Take a slow deep breath in. . .MMMMM

It don't get better than this!

Sisters

As I shared earlier this week, my favorite (OK my ONLY) sister and her family were here for a weekend visit. She brought me a birthday card that provoked me to dedicate a post just to her!!

The card read : "There is an understanding, a closeness, an easy kind of laughter, that only sisters share. Just wanted to remind you what a joy it's always been, and still is, having you for a sister. No matter what we talk about or what we do, being with you is the easiest thing in the world. You're a beautiful person, and I'm grateful to know you the way I do-as only a sister could."

I thought about that card multiple times throughout her visit--knowing that it was so true. We didn't have to talk the whole time and the silence was still comfortable. But if we chose, we could start a conversation in the middle of a thought and knew exactly what the other one was talking about. We "get" each other's neurotic OCD traits--inherited graciously from our paternal grandmother. We enjoy each other's company and laugh lots, occasionally quite loudly! We didn't ALWAYS get along terrifically, which I'm sure our mother will attest to--but we did spend a lot of time together and have great memories because of it. So, I thought as a tribute to my NOT dead sister, I would list off some of our greatest fun and memories---

Playing outside for hours in the summertime--mostly because our mother made us. We did a lot more things outside than my kids can dream up--bouncing on filled up tractor inner tubes, playing house in the hay barn--even making little tiny rooms by moving the bales around, riding bikes, and roller skating to the Beach Boys--Kristi, to this day I HATE the beach boys--and I'm sure you still love 'em!

Gangin' up on our little brothers. We used to tag team them and tie their tube socks together by the toes. . .while they were on their feet. We don't try that anymore, we would get CREAMED! We also made them play church with us, using the stairs as "pews."

Sharing a bedroom, which we HATED!! We spent countless hours trying to figure out how we could arrange the room so that we couldn't see one another and could PRETEND that we had our own room. Even though I couldn't see her, I could still hear her Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton album (Islands in the stream, that is what we are, No one in between, how can be wrong, sail away with me, to another world, and we rely on each other UHHH HUHH!--sorry, couldn't resist) You're singing aren't ya?

The trip that she made to visit me while I was in college in Hays. We did some party hopping and then ended up at some friends of J's just in time to watch them single handedly stuff a couch THROUGH the side wall of their trailer house, on purpose. Oh my--I just knew that I had corrupted her for life!

Many letters that she mailed to me after I went to college, while she was still "stuck" in high school. I still have them all in a box in my attic--the one that mom MADE me move from her attic to my attic--and enjoyed reading through them a couple years ago after my kids discovered my box.

She's my partner in crime in any family adventure that we might encounter--walks along old childhood roads, roller coaster rides, trips to the grocery store or worse yet. . duckwalls! Now our adventures include trips with our kids to the indoor pool. She's always game for anything!!

Now that we live 5 hours apart, I rarely get to see her. We are BAD with phones (in that we don't use them). With the novel invention of the internet, emails, and this blog--we do a better job of keeping up--and I know that if I email her, she is usually within an hour of answering--a comforting thought. And so, I am eternally thankful that I was blessed with a sister! One that is thoughtful, understanding, and fun to hang out with; one that I can be my silly self around (walking like the Fear Factor cast), or my serious self around (talking kids and mates); a sister that jumps into mischief with both feet (major gut turning roller coaster rides); a sister that I can blab into the wee hours with (depending on what we've been sipping) or just sit quietly with while watching life roll along.

So from one beautiful sister to another beautiful sister--I'm glad that we know and love each other only as sisters can!! Thanks for the birthday visit and the card that provokes a "right back at-cha double" from me! Love ya girl!

Gardener Mishap

As you all know, I started many of my garden seeds in my greenhouse several weeks ago. I thought that you all may enjoy a mishap that I encountered in my seed starting journey. I know it always makes ME feel more human when I read about other people's STUPID mistakes, so I wanted to share my stupidity with you. I am not ashamed or embarrassed, just irritated--so laugh out loud if you like, it won't hurt my feelings. I have been starting seeds in my basement for probably 7 or 8 years now, but this is the first time to start them in a different environment (AKA my greenhouse). The only real problem that I have encountered until this year was the year that I had a mouse loose in my basement. He enjoyed mowing the little seedlings down to the dirt before we caught him! (Grant was checking that trap the morning we caught him and yelled upstairs "No mouse" right before I heard a blood curdling scream of "It's ALIVE" that occurred right before the mouse jumped out of the middle of my seedlings and ran straight into the mouse trap, catching him by the foot--we don't care HOW we catch 'em, as long as we catch 'em!) Oh yeah, AND the year that C was in the hospital with RSV and J was supposed to be tending my seedlings. We were also in the process of remodeling the kitchen. He placed my flats of seedlings on the front porch to be out of the way. Needless to say they didn't survive the early March Kansas winter night when he forgot to bring them in. Any who, this spring it seems that my seeds weren't sprouting in as timely a manner as usual. That being said, I wasn't sure if it was the seed company from which I ordered, or the temp of the greenhouse. We have it set on about 70 degrees, but peppers like really warm soil. Only a few of the tomatos had sprouted and none of the peppers or coleus--so I picked up that flat and took it to the house. In the past, I have used an old water bed heater under the flats for warmth, but all I could find this year was the heater--no cord or thermometer for it. BOOOOYYYYYYSSSSSSSS! I finally settled on putting the flat in my lower oven in the kitchen. I warmed it up and then shut the door, leaving the oven light on, so as not to forget they were in there. Two days later in the excitement and busy-ness of having extra crew to cook for, I turned the bottom oven on to cook something. About 10 minutes later upon opening the oven to put my food in, I was greeted by the odor of melting plastic. You'll notice in the above picture what a flat SHOULD look like, and in the bottom photo, what my flat NOW looks like.

Don't worry Becky, the black Krims are sprouting in the greenhouse and looking good. So there you have the saga of impatience and bubble-headed-ness!! The seeds still aren't sprouted and quite probably will NOT now. Friday morning I ran out and replanted some tomatoes and peppers, thinking that they would at least bear later rather than not at all! Live and learn baby, live and learn!

Thought I would also share a little tutorial on seed starting/transplanting just for interest.

Yesterday I transplanted some of the black eyed susans and purple coneflowers into bigger pots. I broadcast multiple seeds into my flats to be sure that they germinated well. Many of them were developing their first true set of leaves--which is when you should transplant. Above you'll see the tiny set of new leaves coming up between the first big round leaves. I used a popsicle stick as a dibble to lift the plants and their roots out of the tiny cells.

Look at those big long roots that came with the leaves. Next I just put them into a larger peat pot filled with potting soil and filled it up a little. Now they will have adequate space to get bigger and will be easier to repot again if necessary before putting them out into my new flower bed. I love purple and yellow flower combos, and both of these make excellent cut flowers--not to EVEN mention that they are great native plants in my area, and are super additions to attract bees, butterflies, and birds to the yard--all of which I happen to adore!

Now we'll just keep them watered in good, until they are ready to go outside by the first of May. HMMM if I can just get that dear guy that does ANYTHING for me, to head his trailer north for another load of rocks--I gotta finish, er. .I mean start constructing the flower bed these will go into!! Nothing like counting your chickens before they hatch!

Spring Break

This past week the boys have been out on spring break. It was a fairly warm week, until Friday when winter returned. My sister's family also had spring break this week, so they drove the 5 hours here to visit for a few days! We were excited that they were coming. The difference in them coming here and us going there is that there is a TON of stuff to do in Topeka, and very little to do here. Hopefully they weren't bored. I found it immensely enjoyable to kick back and do nothing but cook, visit, and play for two days! The kids enjoyed the weather outside on Thursday, since it was nearly 70 even when they arrived.

They played on the trampoline and the swing set. Friday morning before winter hit, they launched their rockets a few times and Kristi and I enjoyed a brisk 2 mile walk before lunch. It was getting windy and cold by early afternoon, so the rest of the day was spent inside playing play dough and games on the Wii. Kristi and I played about a million games of Yahtzee (one of our favorite childhood games!) We also enjoyed scrabble one night with the guys and some Scattorgories Friday night--we let Tristan and Grant play with us after the little ones went to bed. I was impressed that they could keep up as well as they did. We highly recommend that game--if you have never played Scattergories you have 3 minutes to come up with words to describe 12 categories starting with the letter that you have rolled on your dice. TOO FUNNY!

J and Cami were checking out the big snake

We were sure glad to find very little snow when we woke up Saturday morning, because we had planned on traveling with them as far as Wichita to enjoy lunch and playing at Exploration Place.

The roads turned out to be very good. We ate lunch at Ghenghis Grill, which is fabulous--and then enjoyed several hours inside E. P. The kids played with lots of gadgets and learning stuff.

After we parted ways, we hit a few stores for some shopping. After weeks of looking and pondering, Grant spent his birthday wad on a guitar hero set for the Wii. So far they are liking that. We also stocked up on our rocket supplies at Hobby Lobby and were pleased to find the parts 30% off this weekend! I love a good deal!

We have also been gone a fair amount of today as well. We enjoyed some real cajun cooking fixed for us after church by some good friends of ours. We had a cajun shrimp boil and shrimp etouffe, as well as lemon chess pie. MMMM! Thanks Dale! As if that wasn't enough yum for one weekend, we also enjoyed homemade chicken and noodles at Granny's house tonight. So--good thing that tomorrow is back to the exercise routine! Did I mention that we have had a LOT of dessert the last 4 days?? Well, we have had a LOOOOTTTT of dessert the past 4 days. MMMMM

Not sure if the kids are ready to get back to school tomorrow, but I am thinking that it will be a good thing! The school carnival will be this next weekend, and then the track meets start. I know that in about 2 weeks school will be out for another year. I just don't know where the time goes!

The bubble man doing his thing at Exploration Place--Now that's SOME bubble!! I actually found bubble solution and bent hangers in my showers tonight--THANKS bubble man!!

Wishing everyone a blessed week!

Quickie

Just a quick little post, with no pictures, and nothing terribly exciting to say. Spring break is in full swing around our house. The boys are enjoying staying up too late, watching movies, and playing the Wii.

Saturday we got up EARLY to head for Regional 4-H day. T did his talk first. Now I have to go back a little bit and mention that we arrived a little early. We got to see the first senior talk perform. I felt a little ill when I realized that she had powerpoint slides, AND posters, as well as a number of props on her table. . .all the while thinking. . OH GREAT--all his mother sent with him was a broken BB gun and typing paper. Live and learn right? He had nearly his whole presentation memorized. Unfortunately, not long after he started, he put the wrong sentence in, which would have taken him down a path farther into his talk than he wanted to be. A sheer look of confusion and horror struck his face, which made Grant choke trying not to laugh out loud. That was it--after he re-composed and found his spot, he read much of the rest of the presentation. I was proud of him because he was little less fidgety than he was in February. The judge gave him a blue ribbon and then crossed it out and awarded him a red. T was OK with it, and so was his mom. We did have the opportunity to watch a number of other talks, which gave us some ideas, and was helpful.

G's ensemble played well and recieved a blue ribbon. They have been practicing for weeks now. Once weekly they have gathered at our house for a jam session. We all knew those songs in our sleep. We could always hear D downstairs with them tapping the metal bed frame and singing the right notes along with them--and he would let them know if someone messed up the tempo or the notes. We would usually just smile to ourselves to listen to him--though occassionally we tried to find something else for him to do. G also gave his talk. He had most of his memorized too, and did a nice job. He heard T be advised from the judge that he should look around the room at different people, rather than just talking solely to the judge. So he was going to "one-up" his brother by doing that. I could see it in his eyes. Unfortunately, he made his mistake by looking at his older brother, who was still a little bitter about messing up his talk. I still do not know if T made a face at him or what, what I do know is that G got the giggles. This has proved to be catastrophic before, because usually he can't stop giggling! It only took him a few paragraphs until he got himself back together. At any rate, he was pleased to receive a blue ribbon for his work. They were running early, so we were pleased to be home by noon!!

The rest of the weekend was spent cutting the last load of firewood for the season (J is so pleased with the amount of money we saved this winter by using the new outdoor wood burning stove) and cleaning up around the yard. The daffodils are tall, the tulips are coming up in places that I had forgotten I planted them, hyacinths are still emerging, naked ladies are showing foliage, and the iris stalks are growing! The forsythia will be blooming within the next week or so, and my new inferno strip garden planted last fall seems to be all alive still.

Yesterday was spent going through bedrooms. Much as I hate that. T and D's room was indescribable!! We finally quit asking D to do stuff and were just glad that he found some other things outside to keep him busy. T and I worked for 4 hours sorting, cleaning, and throwing stuff away! I always swear that I will not help them if it gets beyond a certain point, but I always cave, because I know that it will not be cleaned to my expectations if I don't help/oversee. I must have been on a roll because then we headed down to G's room to weed through his stuff, and finally on to C's room to price the old clothes for a garage sale. Got her closet cleaned out too. Yippee!!

With that overdue task completed, that leaves me with just one more "put-off" task left. . .my scrapbook. I have had that thing laid out on my laundry counters for nearly a month now, working on it a little bit here and a little bit there. I have had several hours to work on it this past weekend and yesterday afternoon and evening. I have everything done up to Christmas--and in a few more evenings, that will be finished as well as catching up each kiddo's book for the last year. Last night I went to bed with the feeling that the weight of the world was nearly gone. I am feeling so refreshed and blessed that the mountain of "undone tasks" has nearly dissolved, and soon I will be able to focus solely on raising my family and keeping my life caught up, instead of always coming from behind!

We anticipate the visit from my sister and her family at the end of the week. We look forward to good food, good visiting, and good fun. We are planning to hang out at Exploration Place on Saturday and enjoying the day out! Don't forget that spring starts this week. HOORAY!