Fall cleaning and other details

Now that autumn is here, I am excited. Maybe its because I get fresh air blowing through the windows all day or that I'm getting ready to be inside a lot more with the cooler weather, but I have been busy as a bee nesting. While many people talk about spring cleaning, for me, NOW is the time for decluttering and deep-cleansing. This poor blog has been neglected. As you can imagine, life with a kindergartener and three (almost three-year old) toddlers is busy. Here is the quick version of what's been going on lately.


Since the girl-friend talk Will has had over two weeks of (almost) excellent behavior at school. We aren't sure if it was the girl, or the bribe that he could buy his lunch after several good days, or the fact that he missed his favorite classes the last time he was in suspension, but its all good now and we are all happier because of it.

Two weeks ago, I had a delightful day with Ben. We went to the wildlife museum and then to Einstein Bros. for lunch. He napped in the afternoon, so it was perfect!

We experimented and had a family camp-IN. We had grilled hotdogs and smores for dinner, the kids went skinny-dipping in the pond (bathtub), and we hot chocolate just before bed. The kids started out sleeping in the tent that was pitched in our living room and we even left all the lights out the entire evening, using only the flashlights and campfire (candle). It was fun for awhile, but eventually most of them were sent to sleep in their real beds because they wouldn't quit jumping on siblings. Ben is the only one who fell asleep in the tent and he stayed there all night by himself.

Will lost his first tooth, but he double lost it. After he lost his tooth, it disappeared (probably down the toilet, as he tells it.) Luckily, the tooth fairly accepts letters as well as teeth, because she came that night and left him a dollar coin.

Ben, Maddie, and Jon love to sing. It brings me such joy to hear "Jesuth loveth me this I know. For 'da Bible tellth me tho. Little oneth to him are long. They're weak and he isth stwong! Yesth! Jesuth LOVES ME!!!" and the other favorites now are Eensy-Weensy Spider, ABCs, Row Your Boat, Mary has a little lamb, and Twinkle Little Star. I love to hear them sing, and it makes us giggle to hear them correcting each others' lyrics. Just last week, we were driving home from Bible study and Jon started belting out his version of an oldie. . . "Oh, oh, oooh, its MAGGOTS!! You knoooo-ooo-oow. . . " and all these years I've been mistakenly singing "Magic." Thanks for straightening that out for me, Son.

Last week, my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) table took all our toddlers to the zoo. The weather was perfect and we all had a good time.

This weekend, Ben climbed up toy bins to get the little key and unlocked a room that we keep locked to keep the kids out. Ugh -- now to find a new place to hide the key since now that doesn't work either.

Two weeks ago, I was busy getting stuff ready for the local childrens clothing consignment sale. We cleared a bunch of space from the garage because we sold three highchairs, a Bumbo seat, the triple-stroller, and a double-stroller. I also prepped a lot of baby clothes and sold most of them. I got my check in the mail this weekend for $325 so it was worth the trouble. The money is going to be used to buy the paint and mural to do the little kids' rooms this fall.

Other projects we've completed this weekend: organizing ALL the kids' clothing and packing it to be used and not forgotten, unloading a ton of clothing and other stuff to GoodWill (finally), cleaning out the vegetables from the garden and laying down new mulch, cleaning and organizing the garage, cleaning up/organizing/getting rid of toys, reorganizing the linen closet and the kids closets. Now I have another bunch of boxes for GoodWill, but we are making progress and it feels great! The toys and kids' clothes were taking over our house and one of my new years' resolutions was to get a handle on them. I feel like I can mark it off the list (for this year) after working bit by bit over the last few months.

I still have a few projects I'd like to keep working toward. Our goal is to get the little kids' rooms done. We've picked our paint color for Maddie's room and already have the bedding. We've picked the mural for the boys' room and are waiting to get it to pick out the paint and bedspreads. We still need to find some beds for the guys, too, but that takes some effort and isn't imperative (yet). The little kids have been napping in three separate rooms so they won't play, so this bedroom project has moved to the front for now. I'd like to get a few mums for the garden and hopefully plant my bulbs. I'd like to get a few more picture frames on the wall and start thinking about how I'll decorate the playroom. My pantry needs to be cleaned out, and my craft space needs a few days of hard labor (and purging.) I have the energy now to work on it all, and I want to get as much done while I'm "in the mood."