Back on Friday the 13th...

 ...we spent 3 hours cleaning and organizing Jake's room.  There were dust bunnies that resembled actual life size dust bunnies under his bed.

Sadie was completely impressed.

 I was too until I walked through the rest of our house....The living room wasn't too bad but it needed to be vacuumed and dusted.

The dining room needed some work....

The kitchen...needed work.  You can see the corner of the sink and those are clean dishes...but they were completely dry and should have been put away a day (or two)before...


Notice there are no pictures of our bedroom.  It was in laundry chaos.  How can our closet be full and there still be 2 baskets of clothes folded that needed to be put away.  Plus the load on the hope chest at the end of the bed that needed to be folded...We need to weed out.

 But the real point of all this is, about a week before I took this picture of our living room and posted it to Instagram saying how happy I was that the whole house was clean except Jake's room.  Fast forward a week and the only room clean was Jake's room....You see the problem right?  Ugh.  I got to work but the whole house never seems to be able to be clean at once.  It is going to happen though...soon.  Very soon.  I am getting back to my mission organization.  Room by room...drawer by drawer...every inch will be clean and organized at the same time for at least 5 minutes....

But that is the same day my Valentine brought me my favorite flowers home on that dreadful Friday the 13th so I was over it.


The dust and stuff will still be there for me to worry about the next day...and the next day....etc.

(I already posted this picture but I don't care)

Spring Cleaning

It has finally and officially begun: Spring Cleaning. I used bribery to get Jake to help. Yes, he would have helped any way but he wants money for his upcoming field trip and I wanted to accomplish a lot. I told him I would pay him $3 an hour. I am a nice mom, right? Let me tell you that is the best $6 I ever paid anyone! He earned it and we completely Spring cleaned the living room-including washing, drying and rehanging the curtains and everything! Thanks Jake for your help! I have to work 9-2 tomorrow, so while Aaron is asleep I have some more Spring cleaning projects for Jake to do while I am gone...Cleaning the outside of the kitchen cabinets, cleaning the baseboards, cleaning the doors (you know all those smudges...), cleaning the french doors...I am sure I can come up with a few more tasks to occupy Jake's time. :)

Jake had his own window cleaning technique: 2 sprays, wipe, 1 spray, wipe again...It was effective, but slightly time consuming...I may...or may not, have gotten a little aggravated. I was paying by the hour! That piece of tape is on the inside and is left over from our Valentine's day hearts...


This is what under the couch cushions looked like...You can barely see the quarter hidden in all the crumbs! This is Jake's favorite place to sit so I am blaming it all on him. :)

We thought we were done...but we hadn't cleaned the Nativity (we keep it out year round because I love it so much).
Jake is the Nativity arranger. It was a great last step in Spring cleaning the living room! Now on to the next room...

Highs and Lows...

High: I am feeling less stressed since my house is picked up.
Low: I think the cleaning products affected my vision because it really isn't as awesome as I thought it was...Bummer.

High: Even though it isn't as picked up as I deluded myself into thinking it was, it is still soooooooo much better. Also, I have time to finish the job today!
Low: I don't really want to though...But I will. Right after we take our crazy puppy on a walk. We are going to see if she can walk a whole mile today. :)

High: The Pine Wood Derby is on Saturday!
Low: The procrastination of actually making the car must end. Aaron and Jake finally started it last night...They cut it out last night. Sanding happens today. Painting tomorrow. Along with wheels and weights tomorrow night or Sat. morning. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! I have nothing to do with this though. This is totally a guy thing.

High: It really is feeling and looking like Spring around here!
Low: That means 100 degree with weather, without access to a pool is only a few months away. :(

What are your highs and lows of the week so far? Link up over at: Memoirs of Mrs. Harris

Simple Pleasures: #1- Nice People & #2- A Clean House

I was so excited to have the day off yesterday...until I didn't...I had a plan to tackle every room. Then the phone rang and I looked at it and it said Bi-Lo...I knew what answering the phone would mean. That I would have to flush my wonderful cleaning plan down the toilet, when I all I really wanted to do was clean the toilet!...What did I do? I answered it and my glorious day off was vaporized...I was talking to a friend at work (...maybe murmuring a little that I had to be working...) and I said "Why did I have to answer the phone and say yes?!". To this she said: "Because that is who you are. You are nice. You want to make people happy." Why was she saying nice things to me?! I was trying to be grumpy and she was making it very difficult. Then I remembered it was Wednesday and at Bi-Lo that is Senior Citizen discount day. That means all the sweetest and nicest old people come in to shop and talk. I joked with my friend by saying: "Geez! I wish they would all stop being so sweet and nice! Don't they know they are ruining my bad mood?!?" :) We laughed. I felt better. So, my #1 simple pleasure is: Nice people...As I sit here thinking of nice people Marjorie Pay Hinckley popped into my head, so I went to the book shelf and took out "Small and Simple Things" by this sweet lady. I flipped through it and came upon this very smart thing she said: "Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." My battle was being grumpy yesterday. I am thankful for all the nice people that were kind to me yesterday-even when I wasn't really deserving of it. :)

AND...I am happy to report: If you were to knock on my front door I would let you in! I would let you go in any room you wanted...I may not let you open all the closets, but I only had half a day people!!! My #2 simple pleasure today is a clean and tidy home! YIPPEEEE!!!! No it is not perfect, it is so much better than it was. I could feel the stress leaving all of us. I am a happy camper.

Check out other peoples simple pleasure's over at Cocoa's blog.