I Need A Maid

It's that time of year. Weather's getting warmer, windows are open more and the heat's off most of the time...time to Spring Clean. I figured that this was the week to do it. Even better that Bobbi and Ed are coming in on Saturday...the house will be nice and super clean.

I've been cleaning like a mad woman all week. Last Sunday, Mike took a bunch of clothes up to Goodwill so that helped clean out a good chunk of our bedroom. Yay! No more bumping into stuff in the middle of the night. I just wish the kids could do a better job cleaning their own rooms. Oh well. I was able to vacuum in them, so I guess that's a win.

Today, I finally tackled that master bathroom toilet. It's always scary when you go to turn that water back on but I did the test like the instructions said to and everything seemed to be working great. No leaks. Yay! I put the little top assembly back on so the water wouldn't come out the top like it had been when I was checking for leaks (it's supposed to do that) and the stupid water wouldn't come through. What? I took the whole thing apart and started over. Turned the water on...same thing. No water filling the tank. Ugh. I accidentally pushed the little floating thing down and the water suddenly turned on. Silly me, I had the stupid thing locked in the up position and it thought the tank was already full. I must have flushed that thing 15 times, laughing each time it worked and didn't leak. Yeah. I rock.

Now if I could just figure out how to get the stupid cover off the light in the master bedroom so we can actually see in there.

I also bought a new coffee maker today. Yeah, I've gone these last couple of months without one. I've been making coffee in my French Press, which is such a pain in the butt. This one is awesome. It has a digital touchscreen that is only on when the coffee maker is on. It also has a built in water filter and delayed brew feature. I've already got it all set up to brew tomorrow. I'm excited to wake up to already made coffee! :) It also has a brew strength button so I can make "why bother" coffee and my "strong" coffee. Yay!

Picture Day

How funny is it that on a post called "Picture Day," there are no pictures? LOL! Anyway, today is picture day for the kids. I meant to take a picture of them before they left for school but we were struggling to get out the door this morning. So, you'll have to wait until the pictures come back.

Daniel told me that he wanted to look "like a gentleman" for photos. He also wanted me to brush his hair so that he was "handsome." He cracks me up. So, he got his handsome hair and a blue button down shirt and, indeed, looked like a gentleman. Jacob told him that he "looks like Dad." LOL! I have to admit, he did!

I have been a cleaning machine this week. I even rented a Rug Doctor to steam clean all of the carpets. I am so sore and tired, but the house looks awesome. I really hope that I can keep it up so that the next time I deep clean, it doesn't take me forever.

Now, I'm going to make some of Deb's apple pie filling. I was going to do it yesterday but I walked out of the store without my apples! I did get some this morning when I dropped off the Rug Doctor. I wish I felt comfortable with my canning skills because I'd can some...I'm terrified that I'm going to kill my family with some strange bacteria because I didn't sterilize everything right, so I'm going to freeze it instead.

It's Not Easy Bein' Green

Okay...so I'm just making baby steps, but I'm trying. I think that there may be a link between how sick I've been lately and cleaning products. Today was cleaning day and I decided to try something a little different. I made all of my cleaners today. To my shock and awe, they actually worked better than the commercial stuff that's full of chemicals. The house has a slight alcohol smell from the glass cleaner but I'm quite surprised that there's no real vinegar smell. My stove is clean and shiny. The bathroom is sparkly. The best part, though, is when Hannah asked if she could help, I didn't think twice about handing her a spray bottle. Awesome. Now, I need to go make some furniture polish.

*Update* Michelle asked for the recipes so here are the ones I have. If anyone else has any that are different or are for different things, please post them (especially if you have one for a good floor cleaner)! Just put all of these things in a clean spray bottle and go to town.

All Purpose Cleaner
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water


Glass Cleaner
1 cup isoprophyl alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar


Wood Polish
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
(I halved this recipe)
Shake well before using. Spray on surface...wipe down and, with a clean towel, wipe off excess.

I also used a paste of baking soda and water to scrub my stove and sink.

A Sense of Accomplishment

I'm actually amazed at just how productive I am with the kids in school. I don't know why I don't get much done with the boys here, but it seems that nothing gets done with them here. Like yesterday...

I dropped the boys off at school and came home. I got laundry in the washer and began cleaning up. By noon, I had 2 loads done and put away, the first and second floors cleaned, vacuumed and mopped and was on my way to the grocery store. By 3pm, I had a load of towels done, groceries put away, a cake baked and frosted and the day's dishes washed.

There was a monarch fluttering around in my flowers yesterday. He was out there for a good 20 minutes and Hannah and I had a great time watching. No eggs or caterpillars yet, but there is still time.

Our hummingbird is still hanging around. He was mad at me yesterday for changing out the stuff in the feeder. He hovered where the feeder normally is until I came back out and then buzzed me a couple of times. LOL!

I'm Tired

But I think it's a good tired, and I think that it may be because I'm thinking of what I have to do this week.

After I dropped the boys off at school this morning, Hannah and I went inside to go to the room mother meeting. I found the other room mother for Jacob's class, Betsey, and we started talking. It turns out that her son has been really wanting a playdate with Jacob. We think that we're going to do something on Friday, but we wanted to see what the boys wanted to do first.

Unfortunately, we're still known as the "new family." I wonder how long that will last. It is kind of funny, though...introducing myself to people and hearing them say, "oh! You moved in the middle of the year last year, right?" I laughed when I heard them say it to Betsey, too, since she moved here just a couple of weeks before us. I do have to say that it was really nice to be walking out of the school, laughing and talking with other adults. I came out of that meeting feeling pretty good about being here. Maybe it's not so bad after all. Ask me again in another month.

I guess being a room mother also entails being available at Meet-the-teacher Night on Thursday, because we're the "face of Morse, besides the teachers." Whatever that means. Betsey and I decided to break it up a bit, but I'm still going to have to be there later than I had anticipated. Ugh. You should see the packet of stuff I got today. Class sheets, sign-ups, approved snack lists, party info...the list goes on and on. And that's just for co-room mother. The head room mothers got a huge folder full of stuff. If you ask me, it's more work than it's worth, but who am I to say anything?

We came home, I cleaned and set up the crock pot for dinner. I'm actually quite shocked that the house is still pretty clean after 4 days. The laundry's not piled up, the beds are actually made and there's a vase of pretty, pretty sunflowers on the kitchen table. It really is easier to maintain a clean house than it is to get a dirty one clean. I keep telling myself that, anyway. At some point, I'm going to have to tackle the laundry room closet and pantry cabinets. Someday.

We have Tae Kwon Do tonight and the boys should "officially" get their orange belts. Grandmaster Lee gave them to the boys on Saturday, but I didn't get pictures, so I'm hoping that Master Dave will give them again so that I can get some. LOL!

Apparently, I've been yelling at Mike in my sleep. I had no idea. Mike asked me yesterday if he had been snoring and I said that I didn't think so, why? He said that I yelled something about something being "ridiculous" so loudly that he woke up and apologized. I wonder what I was dreaming about.

What A Day

Boy, am I tired. I actually got a lot done today with the kids in school. First, let me update on the first day of school.

I go to pick up the boys and run into my whole neighborhood. I was able to dispense wisdom gained from a previous year of picking up kids in the afternoon (for example, why do the cars wait outside of the circle instead of pulling all of the way up? Answer: because the preschoolers get out 10 minutes before the rest of the school and their parents have priority parking before 3:35, except on Friday...no preschool on Friday.) I also ran into Zephan's mom...he's just as upset about not being in Jacob's class as Jacob was. According to her, Zephan read the class list 5 times looking for Jacob's name. When he finally gave up, he looked at his mom and said, "Just great. Another year without Jacob in my class." We're going to try to get them together this weekend.

Daniel was the first to appear after school was over yesterday. He looked tired but was smiling. He said that he'd had fun but his eyes were stinging. I asked him if he had seen the reading specialist and he said no. I asked again, "are you sure you didn't see the reading specialist?" He rolled his eyes and said no. I tried a different phrasing, "did you see Mrs. L today?" "Oh yeah! She asked me where all of my teeth went!" He has no idea what a reading specialist is. He just knows who she is! LOL!

Jacob came out, angry that he only gets one recess this year. He was pretty happy about being told to bring a snack to school. "She's to only teacher that has snack-time!" He was so hoping that she was the one.

So, this morning I drop the kids off at school (I just knew that Mr. L, the principal, would be the one to let them out of the car which is why I spent a good deal of time cleaning the car out yesterday. My van's usually a train wreck.) Hannah and I went to pick up some cleaning supplies and we headed home to clean. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned (I've neglected the house a bit this summer). After about 5 hours of cleaning, I was exhausted. BUT, the first floor looks awesome. There are one or two clutter spots, but I don't know what I would do if we ever got rid of all of them completely. I was actually on my hands and knees, scrubbing the kitchen floor. I went through a couple of cabinets and organized them. I even wiped down the cabinet doors and the kitchen walls. Hannah was so cute, following me around with her little vacuum. She tells me that she loves to vacuum. I wonder how old she needs to be to actually vacuum. I know that Jacob can, and does a good job. Daniel likes to chase people with it. LOL!

This afternoon, I went to pick the boys up. Hannah and I are waiting in the lobby when I see Jacob's 2nd grade teacher walk by with her new class. She stops to say hi and continues with her class. Then, Daniel's teacher from last year comes by and does the same thing. I then spot Daniel walking down the hallway, his teacher a few steps ahead. He stops, looks at me and yells, "I'm supposed to ride the bus!" I look at him and say, "No, you don't ride the bus." Mrs. H, his teacher, comes over and explains to me that Daniel was so insistent that he rides the bus, she took him out to talk to the bus driver, who reassured her that he does not (I had to fill out a form the other night that said that Daniel travels to and from school by car and she thought that maybe I'd circled the wrong thing). I think Daniel's going to give Mrs. H a run for her money!

Jacob can't stop talking about the new Spanish teacher. He and Daniel think it's hilarious that she only speaks Spanish while they are in class. I told him that that's the best way to learn it. If you want to understand her, you have to learn to speak it. Jacob then tells me a story about how the only time he understood her today was when she stopped to yell (in English) at another student for bending some cards.

On a non-school related note, we've seen some very cool butterflies in the yard lately. A monarch here and there, but there are a lot of others that have been feasting at the flowers. There was a beautiful swallowtail that was huge a couple of days ago and, today, I saw one that I haven't tried to identify yet. It hopped from flower to flower for most of the morning. Also, our hummingbird has returned. Actually, I don't know if it's the same one as earlier this year, but he's been seen every day this week. He seems to go back and forth between the feeder and the flowers. We seem to be in a very active nature season right now, and it's fun to watch!

Cleaning Day

I've been bitten by some strange cleaning bug. I mowed the lawn this morning, have load #3 in the washer (and loads 4 and 5 on standby), cleaned, swept and mopped the kitchen...cleaned and vacuumed the living room, cleaned and swept the half bath and I'm getting ready to head upstairs to clean the bathrooms and the kids' rooms. I also need to vacuum the stairs and the bedrooms. Right now, the first floor looks pretty good but I expect that it'll all be trashed by the time Mike gets home.

It Is Spring, Right?

It rained off and on (mostly on) all day and changed over to snow around 7 tonight. How strange. We've got about 1/2 inch on the ground right now and it's just supposed to keep snowing through the night. Apparently, we broke a record on this day last year at 92 degrees. Huh. I hope it warms up soon.

Hannah had ice skating again today. She's off the walker and is able to slowly meander her way around the ice on her own. The only problem is that she can't get up by herself yet, so when she falls, she needs help. But she does get right back up and keeps going.

There was a new kid in her class today. I guess the dad had signed the little boy up, wanting him to learn to skate so that he could play hockey, because the mom was pissed about her boy being in a "figure skating" class. The dad had also picked the kid up some hockey skates that were way too big for him and the mom was upset about that too. She complained the whole class about how it would be okay if she had a little girl because it's "graceful and flowing...kind of like ballet" but her kid's a boy and he shouldn't be taking this class. The other two moms and I were annoyed with this lady for the whole class.

The kids all got haircuts this afternoon. Jacob and Daniel got the standard cut and Hannah got a little more than a trim. She was mad that I didn't have the girl cut more off. Yeah, I'm keeping it short because she won't let me put it up (most days, she won't even let me brush it) but there's only so far I'll let it be cut.

For whatever reason, I got the cleaning bug tonight. I had really only intended to just pick up the stuff off of the floor but it became a full on clean. The only thing I still need to do is mop but with the yuck outside, I don't want to bring the dog in on my clean floors just to have dog prints. So, the mopping waits. I still need to put away laundry and wash towels and sheets but it looks really nice.

Cleaning Day

I know it sounds weird but with the kids home, I can actually get a lot of cleaning done. Normally, I'll get started and then I have to stop and pick someone up. When I get back, I'm usually not in the mood to clean or pick up where I've left off. It's annoying. With them home, I only have to stop to make meals, which doesn't take long and I can get right back into it.

100% of the time, I start in the kitchen. I just get so inspired when the kitchen is clean. The floor in there hasn't been mopped since before Mom and Dad came (I know it's only been a week, but I try to mop a few times a week) so it was in desperate need. It doesn't help that Oriana has been digging through the garbage a couple of times this week, either. I had been using the Swiffer mop but was never happy with the way the floor looked after. It always has a dull sheen (and yes, I use the Swiffer for wood). I don't know if there was a sheen on the floors in VA (the wood was darker) or if I just ignored it but here, it's annoying. So yesterday, I found this stuff at Target.

I've loved the Method brand of bathroom cleaner for years. Not only does it work really well, but it smells like peppermint (I actually think it's eucalyptus, but whatever). It also doesn't ruin my hands. (that's the point of the Method stuff, good for skin and lungs) Anyway, they now have a mop for wood floors. It's called the OMop. It looks like a Swiffer, but the mop head is bigger and you rinse and reuse the pad. Love that! It also came with some samples of their dust cloths. Haven't used those yet, but I will be soon.

So, I start to mop. You squirt the stuff on the floor and mop. I get half of the floor mopped and Hannah walks in to ask what that smell is. I said that I didn't know...was it a good smell? She says yes. I stop and smell. Holy cow! My kitchen smells like almond! I finish the floor and step back to see if there's a film in the areas where it's drying. No film. Looks pretty shiny to me. At this point, Jacob says, "what smells so good?" I told him that it's the floor. So, not only is my floor nice and shiny, but my first floor smells like almonds. Awesome!

I just had to share!

It Was A Good Thought...

Today, I decided I needed to clean the oven. I thought that I'd just use the self-clean feature, since I'd never done that before and I didn't have any Easy-Off. I did succeed in setting off every alarm in the house. Nice. I think I'll just settle for having a dirty oven for another day and get some Easy-Off to clean the oven. LOL!!!

It's Snowing...Again

I'm so tired of the snow. It's been snowing for the past several hours. The salt truck just went down the street, so at least they're out taking care of it. The weather's been so cold that as soon as it began snowing, the accumulation on the streets started, so it actually looks like we have more on the street than we do in the grass. At least they say we're only going to get an inch or two. That's not much at all. I'm just glad I got all of the errands done yesterday...I put gas in the car and we have enough groceries for more than a week, so we only have to go out to do the school thing.

I've spent a fun (yeah, right) day cleaning, washing sheets and baking bread. The kids love it when I make challah. I'll cut a couple of pieces off for them so that they can shape their own and have it later for a snack. They get such a kick out of that.

Speaking of cooking, Jacob's class is working on a family unit. Jacob told me that he needed a "special family recipe" for his family book. He then asked me to copy my macaroni and cheese recipe. Of course, I forgot until he reminded me as we were walking out the door to go to school this morning. I quickly scribbled the recipe out and he was happy.

Jacob was all excited yesterday because Peyton Manning, his class fish, had babies Monday night. Jacob got to name one of the babies Raymundo. He thought that was funny.

Boy, my life's gotten pretty dull here lately.

Happy Friday

Mike gets home from work last night and one of the first things he says to me is, "no new blog post today?" Nope. Jacob had been sent home sick from school Wednesday and I kept him home yesterday, too. I talked with the school nurse yesterday morning and she told me that Jacob was the 9th kid out of school that day in his class alone. That means that almost half of his class was out. Having Jacob home from school added a bit more stress to the day and that meant no new post. I do have to say that it was really nice to have that 3-4pm hour back for the past two days (since I didn't have to pick anyone up from school) and got a lot done. I actually managed to clean the first floor and got 5 loads of laundry done. Granted, the last load is still sitting in the dryer but I'm not too worried about it since it's just towels. Today, I'm hoping to do the upstairs and then steam clean the living room carpet.

A quick question...does anyone out there have TiVo? Mike and I are considering getting one (since watching Grey's on Thursday nights at 8pm has become entirely too stressful for me...the only case where Eastern time was better). Can anyone walk me through how it works?

Mike promised me a new camera as an anniversary present! Yay! The one I have still works but you have to tape the battery compartment shut and the automatic lens cover takes a full 5 seconds to open...and sometimes doesn't close. It's been a great little camera and it's taken thousands of pictures (yes, thousands), but it's time for a new one. I'm so excited!