Saturday, September 16, 2006

Sorry it's been so long.

Ok, I realize that many of you have checked my blog a few times now and found nothing new. This is not due to a lack of activity around the house to blog about, but rather a lack of ability to sit down and tell you about it. So I'll give you a basic synopsis of some interesting events recently- which, due to the short nature of the post, will not do justice to the experience, but you will KNOW about it.

Activity 1: We went on a family hike last Saturday. Up the mountain...all of us...and made it to the tree line. (I should have some pictures to follow up on this one, but I'm too lazy to go upstairs and get the camera and come back down and load them.) We had a great time and I was only majorly sore the next day instead of incapacitated. It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the tree line for a view and then we stopped and had lunch- muffins, cheese, and pistachios, oh...and plenty of water. Then we came down and that was about an hour and a half. How did we get up there you ask? Well, Brandon carried Jeff a lot of the way in a pack on his back and I carried Rachel in a Snugli (a baby carrier) on my back. Jonathon carried the muffins in a little back pack most of the way up and the rest of the water and food I carried in a back pack on my front. I'm sure we were quite the site, but due to the slow pace we took, I hardly ever was close to short of breath. We spent a lot of time looking a critters and old trees and sticks that resembled sling-shots, and seeds, and rocks. Yes, Jeff especially liked the rocks. In fact, when he was walking he wanted to climb to the top of every rock sticking out of the ground and jump from it. For those of you who have taken the Dublin trail before, you will know that this was an extremely time consuming procedure as there are many rocks every foot of the way and he was determined not to miss any. So, we hiked and they loved it and I came home invigorated, yet tired, and a happy mama who had spent some great quality time with the people I love most!

Activity #2: I cleaned house this week. I've been working on getting some clutter out of the way for a while, but always it seems that I accumilate it faster than I can get rid of it. So, for the last 3 weeks I've been working on various areas of the house trying to get them to look a little more tidy. Then, this week, I ordered a cleaning video- partly to watch again and partly for the Bible School- and watched it to remind myself of all the good tips on how to thoroughly clean something fast. I was reinspired and found myself reorganizing the cleaning supplies, ordering some new ones, and of course, cleaning the house. I dusted and scrubbed and by Friday, things around here were shining more than they had in a while. Some of you may think...A cleaning video? Well...I can only say that I watched this video when I was about 12 and found myself so inspired that I asked for cleaning products and tools for Christmas that year. It really is a helpful tool and I enjoyed being excited about it all over again. The particular video is put out by The Clean Team (www.thecleanteam.com) and they have some great methods and tools to help speed things along and still do a great job. Sometimes I wish that they had a program like Pampered Chef or Tupperware or something so I could sell their products to people because I would! But, alas, they keep all the money for themselves- and I suppose that since they don't have a bunch of middle men, it makes the prices more reasonable, so that's good too. Anyway, it any of you ever want to get excited about using a toothbrush on the toilet seat, this is for you. I honestly believe this is the closest anyone can come to "loving" to clean the bathroom! ANd if you want encouragement to clean, just get me started on the subject and I'll have you inspired in no time!

Activity #3: We had a relatively normal week in which Jonathon came home with 13 caterpillars in his shirt pocket one day, asked me to help him catch 2 snakes he found another day (I did NOT help), and came in with a bucket of wild apples, for me to make pie another day. James only went to the bathroom outside 3 times this week that I know of- and both he and Jonathon learned to read a few little words this week. Jeff is still trying with all his might to be potty trained and thus takes his pants off at any given moment and then goes looking for a potty. Brandon says this routine will cause him social issues later in life, but I'm hoping that we'll conquer the problem before it's seen as a social issue. Rachel is babbling lots of sounds lately that sound like they should be words and she thinks they are. She will come up and say some sort of sentence that no one can possibly understand, but then look at me expectantly as if I'm to answer her question logically. Actually, Jeff does the same thing, but I do recognize his words occasionally.

Ok, so that's some of the happenings for this week and hopefully I can come up with some for next week soon.

7 comments:

ahappywife said...

great post... I love the last bit... kids are so great

Smiles said...

You didn't help Jonathon catch the snakes?! What a great science lesson it would have made! Well, maybe next time. :o)

ljm said...

Do you have the apron? Interesting site...I'm thinking about making one of those little aprons myself to use.

TripleNine said...

After 'spring' cleaning fairwood in the middle of winter, I don't think I'll ever be able to be excited about cleaning; not that I would want to be. :)

I guess the real question is, who will have more social issues Jeff or James?

Looking forward to seeing ya'll during the feast.

maldrich said...

I DO have the cleaning apron that The Clean Team promotes on their site. Well, actually, I have a homemade version, but it's falling apart and I just ordered the "real" thing. I think it does make things go faster if you use it long enough to get familiar with it. The trick is to make yourself get it out and use it, but I've used one since I was a teenager and I think it makes a big difference in time. I also just ordered a small one for Jonathon in hopes that his cleaning bugs would be inspired. We'll see... Anyway, ljmax, if you want some measurements of the actual size of the apron and pockets and such, I'll be happy to send them your way. My homemade one has lasted for years and worked great.

lis said...

Hmmmm....the Clean Team video sounds tempting.

ljm said...

Thanks Mary, I'll let you know when/if I get inspired enough to do it.