The Unwanted House Guest

Last weekend, we found out that we had an unwanted houseguest.  He was only about 3 inches long, but he sure did cause a stir.  And most of the time, we didn't even know he was there.  Sure, he was quiet.  He mostly ate what ended up on the floor.  He kept to himself most of the time.  Regardless, he was NOT wanted in my home!

So, upon the first time seeing him (Friday night, running across my kitchen floor), we set up the trap.

It was a good trap, so I thought.  We'd used it many years ago and it did the job well.  But this guest would have none of it... or maybe it was allergic to peanut butter.  Needless to say, I thought we'd have this guy caught the first night, setting the trap under the stove.  Nope. 

Saturday, while we were watching TV after the kids were in bed, our guest decided that what was on the tube was particularly frightening and ran under our couch.

Out came the trap once again.  This time in our living room.  Thankfully, this is the sort of trap that I don't have to worry about with the kids as it does not snap, and no little fingers would be hurt.  It went behind the couch.

I swear, this guest was against peanut butter.

Sunday we baked brownies, and I decided to put some in our trap, and we set it under the range once again. 

He doesn't like brownies either.

Monday afternoon I noticed, to my chagrin, that our little houseguest started snacking in my pantry.  Also, to my horror, that he had a higher reach than I thought possible.  Not just the bottom shelf (there was nothing for him to snack on there, anyway), the second shelf had dessert for him (he got into my white chocolate melts... nothing else was touched as it was all in plastic containers or unopened bags and I suppose he wasn't interested either way), the third shelf... well... that was a mess.  We just bought a new bag of popcorn, and there happened to be a hole in the bag when my husband purchased it (I remember that distinctly... it was just large enough for one kernel to fall through).  Our guest made the hole bigger and proceeded to munch away at a number of the kernels.  Had a feast there.  I was thankful that almost everything was in plastic containers at this point (all my baking goods... I love me some Tupperware).  Next shelf up was a different set of doors, and fortunately for him, my cabinet doors are so old that they don't close properly. 

I think I want a new kitchen.

I trashed everything that was open in the upper cabinet... which wasn't too much, thankfully, and most of those things were candy or mostly eaten already, so it wasn't a terrible loss.  Wasn't happy about the hole he made in my egg noodle bag. 

The vacuum came out, the cleaning cloths, the extra plastic containers, and I went to work scrubbing down my pantry.  It is really nice and organized and clean now!

I then went to work under the oven and fridge.  Well, it was no wonder our trap hadn't caught him, he didn't seem to like going under the oven.  There were telltale signs of his visit under the fridge, but our trap wouldn't fit there... so we grabbed one of the more 'traditional' traps and set it up after the kids were in bed.  With cream cheese.  Because we figured with all that popcorn and chocolate, he might like some cream cheese to give his belly the taste of 'cheesecake' and all that.

Not half an hour later, we heard a SNAP!

So, the houseguest overstayed his welcome (which was never there to begin with), and we took him to visit the cats.  The story isn't all bad, though.  I now have a clean pantry, trashed a number of unhealthy food items, and my floor is clean under the fridge and range.  Also gave the one cabinet that is missing a door a good cleaning, but it doesn't look like he found that area interesting, thankfully.

I then felt the need to scrub the garbage can, vacuum everywhere, and dust all sorts of things.  I still wish to scrub the floor with vinegar.

Bottom line... don't overstay your welcome, or you may become cat food ;)
(but I'll get a cleaner house out of the deal)

By the way, we left our traps in place in case he has family or friends that figure they can party... they just might have a 'smashing' good time. 

Overdue

So, it has now been 4 days since my due date has come and gone, and I'm ok with that.  Baby will come when baby is ready (and it feels like it will be soon.  I've got the lovely pelvic pains, Braxtons, and baby was squirming so much last night I was convinced she'd break my water!).  However, I am finding myself in a place of exhaustion coupled with longing to organize everything, put up shelves and picture frames, and do all the things that I do not really need to do while ignoring those I should (like farm bookwork... year end, how I hate thee).  I'd rather bake mini cupcakes to bring to the hospital for the nurses when I inevitably go in.  Or calculate how much wood I need to build shelves/picture ledges for our bedroom.  Or go to Ikea and just buy said shelves since it is cheaper than using real wood (and that is what I work with, not that mdf stuff) and get my hubby to put them up so we can put our collections out and about in our room instead of having empty bland walls and collections in boxes in the closet.  And hang cute little baby clothes as well.  Sigh.  I love little baby girl clothes.


I'm still getting up at 6:30am each morning to make sure everything is ready for school (and only going to bed close to midnight it seems... can never get to bed early... might explain my need for naps).  Yesterday I decided to do a little extra something in my fridge to help my daughter with packing her school lunches.  On Sundays I prep and bag 5 each of a snack, protein, veggie, fruit, and bread product (well... not always 5 of those as I don't think sandwiches sitting in the fridge all week are much fun).  I took a clear shoe box I recently purchased in a pack of 10 on sale (yay sales!) and made card-stock dividers to place each of the food items into (last week I just had them all sitting in one corner of the fridge... not very contained, and M was having trouble determining what she should put in her lunch).  This is what I came up with.

She is thrilled.  Hasn't used it yet as she had already packed today's lunch, but I'm convinced this will make things much easier over the coming weeks.  And I must say, those little snack baggies are fantastic for prechopped apples and other fruits.  I like using containers, but who has 25 tiny little containers kicking around?  Not me!

Now if only fruit wasn't so expensive!  I would love to do something besides apples.  I do 1/2 an apple per day, and usually one other fruit besides for the other 2 or 3 days (like berries, grapes if they were on sale which they haven't been, cantaloupe if on sale, which it recently was, etc).  Veggies... basically just celery and carrots.  We haven't had peppers or cukes or anything in the house for  a long time, and she has been asking for broccoli now.

Speaking of organizing, I also recently organized and labelled my pantry containers (trashed a bunch of old stuff), and this morning I went through all my lids and got rid of a LOT of them.  The cabinet is so nice and clean in there now!  Got rid of some jars, too.  I should just put the jar lids on each of the jars and get rid of the rest of them.  I think I have twice as many lids as jars right now.  And last week I organized my recipes!  So happy!  The recipe box was overhauled and I made dividers for it.  Trashed at least 1/3 of what was in there.  As for the binder, I have no idea how much I got rid of, but it was a considerable pile.  Now to get rid of recipe books... except that I like them so much.  :(

I love organized kitchens!  

The Kids Rooms - DIY Done!

Christmas day, and part of what we did was put up a bunch of the kids wall stuffs, since it had now been a month and the walls were ready!  Stickies, letters, and some of the items we bought and gave to them as parts of their Christmas gifts... all went up in the next few days.  Here are their rooms now (and yes, there will likely be more shelves and such that will go up.  I have some old shelves from when I was little that are perfect for a girls room that I think we'll be finding space for on M's walls)

 

 We found in among all our bedding supplies a few things that we forgot we had.  There was a twin Star Wars sheet set that my husband had as a kid that my son now has for his room.  Also, this huge double sized blanket that lends itself nicely to things.  We bought those hanging plush organizers from Ikea for $5 each and they are wonderful (especially since these rooms already had the hooks on the ceiling from the old 70s style lamps they used to use).

 Got these three shelves and their brackets from Ikea also for $15 total.  Nice.  And they look great!  I had my old lava lamp as a kid packed away, just waiting for the right time to give to one of my kids, and Bram got it for Christmas this year.  He's thrilled!  It is such a fun little thing!  We put up his old clock as well (and now M is asking for a princess/fairy clock).

 Got some wall stickers on a great deal at LW before it shut down, and they look fantastic on the walls.  Want to get some cars ones eventually... but those things are pricey!

 M's room got new sheer curtains that have such a pretty texture of flowers and vines on them... so girly and gorgeous!  She loves them.  They were on sale at Ikea for $16. 

 I made her some butterflies with my die cutter and old pop cans.  Yes... pop cans.  I love the iced tea ones with the flowers... green tea or something.  Cannot remember the name.  I kept the flowers on the outside for those, and the rest I showed the silver portion of the can.  They are lovely, and she is so happy to have them!

And here  is her teddy organizer... in pink.  I was disappointed they didn't have red ones for Bram's room, but the green looks nice, too!  The kids are so happy with their new things!  Who knew that doing bedrooms for them would be such a fun Christmas gift?

And no worries... A got her own little bedroom makeover.  I made her name in foam and put it on her door (because otherwise she'll pull it off the wall and eat it if it's at the right level for her) and I reorganized all the stuff that was already in there (especially since she has a whole lot of new toys from Christmas). 

I am wanting to go on another Ikea shopping trip for our own room now... shelves, maybe those picture frame shelves to go all around the top of our room for our collections, books, and photos... some hooks for baby clothes as they would get lost in our closet... perhaps take some art from the nursery and move it into our room for awhile, maybe add a 'canopy' to our bed to make it more 'private' (although I don't think the baby will care.  M would just love it, though!). 

I love Ikea!  At least, I love their organizing things.  ;)

A Mudroom Switcharoo

This week I focused on the entryway again.

Remember what I was saying about storage?  Yeah, we have lots of stuff that should be in a mudroom of sorts, but it was in the basement, making things a bit more difficult for me when we need to find winter items during spring/fall, or spring jackets after the weather has cooled.  I loved the way our entry looked with the nice metal framed shelf, the flip lidded 'grass' box, the picture frames on the wall... but it wasn't functioning the way it needed to any more (and this is actually moved around a bit, too.  The bench was on the wall under the frames before, with the shelf/box against the wall the bench is now at).

This is how our entry way was.  The kick in the pants for me was when the kids hooks came out of the wall.  Ripped the drywall right out, in fact.  We had some nice solid metal anchors in there that were supposed to be able to support 20lbs each... and there were two of them.  I guess the drywall just couldn't handle it anyway.  So, there you see a pile of jackets on the infant car seat that is actually expired now (sniff... need to buy a new one for baby #4.  But we got some good use out of this one!).  The wire shelf has been housing my diaper bag, which is really quite heavy and makes the shelf sag when I set it down on there.  Otherwise, it was mostly only holding trinkets and pretty things.  The black hooks/shelf is something I built a number of years ago, when we finished the renovation that gave us an entryway of sorts.

Well, that was the before.  Here is the after.

 

Ta-da!  Welcome, storage!  And lots of it!  I'd have preferred it on the back wall, but that wall was just 3 inches shy of allowing these bookshelves to sit there, side by side (and I'd have to remove my hooks as they go too close to that wall to slide a bookshelf behind).  I haven't yet rehung the picture frames, and the tops of the bookshelves need some decorated diaper boxes to house out of season jackets and whatnot (there's a whole two feet of emptiness up there).  But I pulled up two boxes of outdoor gear from the basement, plus the stuff we already had, and put them all into their boxes.  Each child has a box for their jackets/ski-pants.  There are at least 5 or 6 empty boxes in those shelves, and I need to make the labels for each one yet.  I still want to see if I can have proper shelves that fit at the back instead as it would look and fit nicer than having the bench way over there, but for now, this is a nice change.  I may just make my own 'built ins' as I cannot seem to find anything to fit properly.  Although, the Ikea Billy Bookcases might fit... I'll have to check their measurements again.  They are also much deeper (15.5 inches deep vs. these ones at less than 12 inches deep).

And now there is a nice place to put my bag where my daughter cannot reach it (and play with keys, and remove items that need to stay there so when we need them I'm left searching for something that is back at home... on the floor... in the living room).  The basket under the cowboy hat I plan to use to put extra diapers, wipes, bibs, things of that nature for when we need to replenish the diaper bag.  I even have a bin for all our grocery bags.  When we head out, we just put them back in the van!

All I spent was about $25 on baskets and bins (how I love Dollarama).  We already had the bookcases in our bedroom which we emptied as we need to move stuff downstairs with the bedroom renos anyway.  It is kinda fun to rearrange what you already have to see what you can do with it.  This is not our final, permanent, solution, but it is much easier than it was to find what we need.  I really want to find something that will look prettier (like it did before with that beautiful wire shelf we've now relocated into our bedroom as there aren't any other walls I can think to put it on), and I should put the picture frames back up on the other wall, too.  I'll work out a 'built ins' solution eventually.  But for now, this will work nicely.

I love having all the stuff we need for outside right here in our entryway!!  :)

Organizing Closets

Nesting has been kicking in (or just the urge to purge... and make things more workable in this house since I feel like I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached).  I have been wanting to reorganize the entrance so badly, in addition to our basement renos, the bedroom renos I wish to yet do, living room changes I am so wanting to accomplish as well, I can go on.

 

It isn't that I'm not thankful for the house that I have.  It is serving us well, and I am glad to be living here.  I do like to make changes to accommodate our growing family a bit better, though.  ;)

 

This weekend my husband finally had some time off from the farm, so we did some shopping.  I was disappointed when the store we went to in order to purchase two items I really wanted for our entry area (a space I aim to turn into a mudroom of sorts) were not in stock in that store (he checked online inventory and they said they had them, but whatever they had was gone by the time we got there I suppose).  Disappointed, we went home, and I tried reformulating something that we could do to help.

 

Enter, the bookshelf.

 

Walmart had a deal on some bookshelves for under $30.  The tall 5 shelf ones.  We have 3 already and I like them.  Since our 'entrance' closet houses so many boots, gardening supplies, etc without having a proper storage for them (think bins piled on top of each other and shoes stuffed into whatever cranny I could place them.  I couldn't find what I needed in there and it really didn't house a whole lot), I came up with the idea of using a bookshelf as a 'bootshelf'. 

 

It worked fantastically!

 

Here my husband is building the shelf, and our youngest is helping him.  He gave her the screws/bolts to hold and when he needed them, he'd ask and she'd give.  She also needed to hold the extra screwdriver, and periodically would attempt to put an invisible screw into the board.  ;)

After it was built, I removed everything from the closet, vacummed it, cleared out and put into our mcc box a number of items, and pulled boxes from the basement storage that made more sense to have in here (namely, more shoes and car seat/stroller parts).  I do not have a before pic (so wish I would have thought to take one), but here is the after...

I just used what boxes and such I already had nabbed from sales, reused the bins and such that were already in the closet storing things, and the large diaper box is my 'mcc' box that stays in there so we have a place to put the things we wish to remove from the house.  It needs to be emptied again.  ;)

I am loving those pink boxes.  Picked up the set on sale for I think $2 at the LW about 2 years ago.  They weren't being used for anything, and I'm so glad I have them now.  Those are all the kids shoes that were grown out of by the older two, that the youngest will be growing into.  Sandals, girly shoes, runners, boots.  I have shoes the oldest two are growing into, sandals in one area, winter boots in one spot, and rubber boots, cowboy boots, etc.  I am so thrilled that now we can actually see all the footwear (some of these things need to be purged eventually, but with how much we need rubber boots here, we tend to keep those).  I actually need to take the 'gardening box' out to the shed, but I liked having those things in here for doing the flower bed right next to the house, so I'll keep them in the house entrance for now.  It was always easier to just go out and do some work when what I needed was at my door rather than outside the back of my house.  :)

Now to finish the 'mudroom' section of our entrance.  I'm thinking of using 2 bookshelves that we already own and cleared out.  They are just the right width to put along the one wall together.  And I managed to buy a number of containers from the Dollar store that will make the job of organizing all our hats, scarves, mitts, winter and summer things, etc.  I'm not sure how many containers I'll need, but I do think I'll probably need to get some shoeboxes eventually.  I look forward to posting before and afters of that!  And of the basement.  Really wanting some afters of the basement.

Speaking of, my dear husband got the old copper pipes off and out now!  I'm so happy!  That much closer.  Just that much closer!  :)

Morning Already?

Anybody here a morning person?  Anyone?  Anyone at all?

Is it just me, or are mornings tough?

I am most certainly NOT in the morning person category.  Sure, once I get up and get going, mornings are the times I can accomplish the most in my day.  However, I'd rather stay up really late instead of going to bed early enough to get things accomplished properly the next morning.

Since school started yet again, and now my daughter is in grade 1 (seriously... in school all day... sniff.  Where did the time go?), I have to make lunch for her in addition to the regular morning breakfast (can't start the day without a healthy meal.  Well, I suppose one can, but she has made it clear that breakfast cereal does not agree with her tummy.  She is just like I was, no joke.  I had the same tummy issues each morning I had breakfast cereal as a kid... and even still).  That means breakfast takes a good 20-30 minutes just to make each morning.  In addition to that, it is virtually impossible for me to make breakfast in a messy kitchen.  Impossible.  I see dirty dishes and immediately feel the need to clean them (doesn't help when the pot or pan I need is in the pile).

So, I've made myself a new night time and morning routine.  :)  I've been doing this successfully for a month now, and I am loving how much more productive I feel in the morning!  Want to get a snippet of what it looks like?  Sure you do!

First... this is an example of what my kitchen looks like before bed on a Sunday night... I didn't have time to unload the dishwasher in the morning, and it wasn't unloaded until now, so everything got piled on the counter (which is really no different from normal, except that during the day I usually put any stray items into the dishwasher whenever I'm in the kitchen).

 

Yeah... imagine waking up to this...

 

 

*shudder*

 

So, rather than dread having to enter my kitchen in the morning, my night-time routine involves a checklist that I look at each night.

 

My 'good morning' starts before bed.  I make my daughter her lunch and put it in the fridge, wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.  I prime my sourdough starter (which still hasn't quite gotten to the 'breadmaking stage', but I'm using the stuff you would otherwise have to dump in other recipes anyway, so at least I don't feel wasteful), and make sure I have the utensils and stuff out for breakfast the next morning.  Any meat needed for the next day gets pulled out and into the fridge.  The dishwasher is loaded and I set it to run (it is on the checklist because you have NO idea how many times I load the dishwasher and forget to turn the dial.  Seriously.  It is such a frustrating thing).  I vacuum the dining room and kitchen (kids plus rice plus floors don't mix) and pick up in the house for about 10 minutes (or less... the kids job before bed is cleaning up their toys).  I make sure I've checked M's agenda for school, put it and the things she needs in her bag, and if I need to bring things for church, I put it all by the door.  The kids and I have our clothes picked out for the next day (I had no idea how long it takes a 6 year old to choose her clothes until I had one.  Really.  It is insane.  After all, the socks must color coordinate with the shirt...).  And then I can relax.

I SHOULD get to bed early... but I don't.  Yeah, the early to bed thing just doesn't seem to be working for me.  Anyone have any ideas?  I tend to stay up until I just can't stay up anymore and THEN head off to bed.  Not helping in the sleep department, that is for sure.

Anyway, here is what I will wake up to tomorrow morning.

 

MUCH nicer than that disaster of a kitchen from earlier (which would make me stress and likely start my pregnant self crying first thing after getting up seeing as both my 'oatmeal pots' were made dirty during supper).  Oh, and the crock pot on the stove has lunch in it, cooking on low already (starting soup stock for tomorrow since we had chicken for supper and I had the bones out already).

 

Anyway, the next morning is much easier!  I start my day with oil swishing while I read the Bible and journal (it is a nice slower start to the morning where I can sit in bed for a little longer instead of 'jumping' out of bed).  I pop the already prepped breakfast on the stove (well... you can't really prep scrambled eggs.  But oatmeal you do.  I soak mine 24 hours with some lemon juice and flour to remove as much phytic acid as possible, so I have my sieve, pot, measuring, and my soaked oatmeal waiting for me).  While it is cooking, I clear the dishwasher and drying rack, get the kids (who are awake and dressed) to set the table (and put their lunch into their bag if it is a weekday), put a load of laundry in the washer, and of course take care of A.  After we eat (and M is on the bus), I prep for lunch or supper if needed, I try to exercise and attempt my daily cleaning task.  After exercising I am usually so exhausted that I sit down for awhile, and then my morning plans go out the window.  :)  Darn that facebook/pinterest.  At least I have started laundry and my kitchen is all clean!

I actually made myself an organizer that sits next to my phone.  I use it to check off how much water I've had (because otherwise I won't drink enough), put in my daily and weekly tasks, and it is so satisfying to tick each one off.  Then I have a monthly dry erase calendar above it where I can see all my appointments and anything that may need more of my attention.  You have NO idea how much this has helped me lately!  I have become so scatterbrained that the constant going back to this schedule to see what I have done and have yet to do is invaluable to organizing my household!  And I actually feel like I've accomplished something, even if it IS only the normal weekly tasks, because believe me, there is a lot that needs doing each week to keep a house running (I'm sure you understand).  Laundry and food are two really big ones.  And I think they take up most of my time, too.  Oh, and yeah... pic of that as well.  ;)

I still need to work on this whole 'sleep' thing.  You know, going to bed at a reasonable hour so that one can get the number of hours sleep that one would need to properly function the next day?  Yeah, that.  If I can somehow get that to work for me, perhaps I wouldn't need mid-morning naps so often.  You know, because putting a load of laundry into the washer is so taxing.  ;)

For now, I think I want to go play some Farm Heros or Candy Crush.  Just 5 minutes... 
um...
yeah...
(where DID that hour get to?)

Sewing!!

I finally did a project (or 6) that has been on my to-do list for almost 1/2 a year!  Sewing! 

 

For the last few months, my daughter has been bugging me to finish adding straps to her summer dress so she can wear it.  She got this adorable tube dress from my parents last time they went to Mexico.  It needed straps.  I promised myself I'd finish my craft/sewing table first, and then I'd be able to do this rather simple project (after all, I needed a reason to build this table so I would have to finish it).  My daughter's bugging and bugging finally got me to get this thing done! 

 

And so, pictures!

 

First, here is a dress I made from one of my old tank tops.  I can't wear it anymore (body shape just never got back to the way it was before my first baby), and I love the pattern of this shirt... so I made it into a cute lil dress!  M loves the super sparkly button I put on the front.  I even used my die cutter to make flowers from leftover toile.  You can't really see them on the pic.  

 

The next dress I fixed from a garage sale find.  I made it into a Strawberry Shortcake dress for Christmas 2011, but even though it's a size 4 (and she's in that size, almost into 5) it hangs so low in the front I'd be ashamed to have her wear it in public without a shirt underneath (which she abhors).  So... I sewed a piece of lace underneath.  It looks perfect!  I also sewed the fabric together between the two top buttons since it pulls even though it's baggy.  Did that after taking this picture.  You can see it pulling... although there is nothing pulling it.

This is the dress she's been bugging me about.  I love the striped ribbon, and so I used that to make straps.  Don't worry, it's not cheapo ribbon.

And here is the craft table I was working on since January.  Well, not really.  It only actually took about an hour of my time from start to finish, I just got so interrupted (tool wouldn't work, didn't have the right saw, ran out of screws, kid needed feeding, etc).  I even made a little shelf for on top and I organized my craft storage unit and sorted all my tools, ribbon, stamps, etc for easy access.  My sewing machine is plugged into an extension cord which is ready right where it needs to be (ok, the machine itself is not plugged in, but it's foot peddle is.  It is super easy to take out and put away now).  I finished the table on Saturday... and the extra shelf on Monday.  I organized everything on Tuesday (I used up a whole bunch of clear shoebox bins and labelled them and everything.  I am so thrilled, I can find everything so much easier, and I have room, too!  Before, it was cluttered and took so much to find what I wanted, even with it being organized the way it was).  And yesterday I did another sewing project along with the dresses...

 

Before...

 

After!!  (I really wish I had a before photo of the way things were organized prior to having this table built and put in...)

 

A curtain... sort of.  I need more stick on Velcro, though.  I used regular masking tape for the picture for now.  It actually holds surprisingly well.  Would you believe I used an old bedsheet I picked up years ago from the thrift store for under a dollar?  And that sheet has been used for all sorts of things already (and there is more still!  I think it'll make some great doll bedding for M's larger dolls).

 

SEW happy (snicker) and proud of myself (for finally doing something that was super simple and should have been done ages ago... oops).

 

In other news, Baby A is rolling onto her tummy!  She did so for the first time early this week, and is getting better and better (doing so daily now).  Poor thing is so tired today after we went to the parade.  So am I, actually.

 

I suppose my other work can wait.  I think I'll take a nap.

The month that FLEW

This month just flew right by... I never had a chance to post what the challenges for the month would be!  Hark, is that crickets in the background?

This month I really focused on getting the outside ready for winter (although I did do things inside, too)... here are a number of things I wanted to do... some of which did not get done, and will hopefully happen in October.

- scrubbing entrance
- pressure wash house
- set up stone area
- finish fire pit
- fertilize lawn
- spray lawn for weeds
- spray other areas to kill grass and weeds
- trim trees
- get rid of dead trees
- cover a/c unit
- check/fix any weatherstripping
- service heater
- painting outside where necessary
- cleaning windows (exterior)
- fixing patio (shifting stones back into place)
- fixing sidewalk (uncovering it)
- draining and putting away hose
- putting away all outside lights that cannot be out for winter
- going through clothes (mine and the kids) and swapping out seasonal stuffs.
- use up those other square bricks on the yard (tired of a 'pile 'o bricks' in front of our vehicles each year)

It's a long list, but it needs to be done.  I've been working hard this last month, and hope to do more shortly.  It's kinda fun to watch the leaves change color as I work on my yard.  I haven't prepped for fall much in previous years besides the absolute necessities...

We'll see where I get this next week.  I am not looking forward to the windows.  I want to have a bonfire on Friday.  Was going to have it today, but it's been raining all week and the fire pit is currently a bit waterlogged.  Sigh.  Well, so is the rest of the yard, but the fire pit area didn't grow the grass seed I planted (bad seed equals loads of work with no reward... grrrrr), so it is worse off because of it.  Hoping for dry weather this week so we can pull off a bonfire on the first!  I want to decorate a birthday cake, haha.

Later, gaters!  :)

Seriously?

Has it been 2 weeks already?  My goodness.  I've not been blogging much (spending too much time playing petville on facebook... crazy addictive games...).

So, last week my zone was the bathroom, so in keeping with that, my relaxing challenge was to soak in the tub (which I did on Saturday, haha).  I never did go swimming the week prior. We were going to go camping, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we planned to go to the local pool, but it was booked solid and packed (no good with two little kids), so it didn't happen.  Maybe during the week sometime later in the month.  It will have to be a weekday.  The pool is packed on weekends.  Anyway, this week (bedrooms this time) I challenge myself to go to bed earlier than 11pm.  Would seem easy enough... but funny how that is actually quite the challenge.

On another note, my potty training hasn't happened yet, although M is noticing when she needs to be changed much more so now.  I still have to ask her sometimes, but she stops, takes note if she does, then if so she says 'yes' and heads for the change table.  Or the potty.  She likes the potty.  Yesterday at my parents house she actually fell into the toilet, haha.  She was sitting fine, but I guess she moved backwards a bit, then 'splash'.  She wasn't too thrilled.  I'm sure that was some cold water! 

Today I spent some time and effort on the bedrooms.  Rearranging furniture!  Serious!  I moved a bookshelf in our room so we had room for the crib, took the crib out of M's room and set it up as a nursery in ours, then put her mattress on the floor for her to nap on (which she did great, by the way.  Stayed there until I got her up from her nap, too!  Crazy!).  I have her toddler bed washed and sanded, I just need to buy some primer and paint.  Maybe I'll finish that this week.  Oh, we moved the rocking chair into our room too, and placed a NON rocking chair (the one that was previously in our room) into her room... it's much safer in the long run.  It's fun to move furniture! 

Oh, another thing I'm proud of... I cleaned our old fan.  I moved it into our bedroom last night (yes, during the night, 4am, as Bram decided he was hungry and I was sick of having 'hot flashes' due to exhaustion).  I'm not sure what is up with me, but when I am over tired, I get extremely hot at night.  So, I found the fan and put it in our room.  Thing is, it was filthy.  So, after dusting our room, I pulled the thing apart and cleaned it.  Now it's black again.

I feel like a tired ticking time bomb.  Bram has been waking up at 4am every night for the last week... after having been sleeping 10-11 hours at night previously.  I don't feel like he's eating properly during the day, and am exhausted with these wake ups at night, not to mention the fact that I myself am getting overheated during the night and that is keeping me up as well.  I napped today with the kiddos.  Couldn't handle it.  I'm seriously dizzy, eating all the time (I eat when I'm tired... which isn't good), and I feel bloated and blah.  Then I look at the things I want to do yet, and freak... and go take a nap.  Hahaha.  Hopefully we will have him sleeping through the night now that he is in a crib which means more space for him instead of the cradle which he was quickly outgrowing... I can't believe he's 3 months already (I guess I haven't posted his 3mo pics yet, neither!  Or any pics for a long time, actually!).

Anyway, yawn, it's time to hit the hay!  Have a great week!

Challenge

I forgot to post last week... ah well.  Life has been busy and last week was no exception.  I only had one day where I was home all day.  Every other day I was out... either for the morning or all day long.  Which is fine, seeing as hubby is on the field.  All week.  This week too, it sounds like.  Although, I think I'll try to do a little less around town this week and spend a bit more time at home.  It is a scorcher.

That said, for the month of August, I figured I'd take a break from the challenges... that is, have 'restful' challenges.  The kids will be going back to school next month (for those of you with school aged children, that is), and summer just flies away so fast.  So, last week my challenge for myself was to do something hobby related again (I scrapbooked one page in my daughters first year album).  This week I challenge myself to go swimming.  I still want to finish some projects, so for the whole month of August, my challenge is to finish my firepit.  Modify that for yourself in whatever way you will.  If you have a large outdoor project to do, work on it... you don't have to finish my firepit (although I'd welcome the help, haha).

I have a lot of outdoor related things to do, as well one major indoor project.  What is that, you ask?  Repainting a toddler bed!  I wish to move my daughter into a 'big girl' bed shortly.  I may transition her to a mattress on the floor for starters, but I think it's time.  She slept on the couch at my parent's house like a big girl during her nap time, and there were no problems.  She didn't even get up until I came to her and 'gave her permission'... or so it seemed.  She goes upstairs herself when I say 'nap time' and heads right for her crib.  This way, she may go to bed all on her own.  Or not.  At least it will make potty training a bit easier later on this year.  I think I'll attempt that soon.  I'm still reluctant for some reason... so for now it is very laid back.  She sits on the potty and is rather proud of herself.  Last week on Monday she told me "I poop", so I placed her on the potty while getting her bath ready, and she pooped in the potty!  (well, sort of.  It was a tiny teeny little bitty bit, but it's still something).  She's been on the potty 4 times since then, just sitting.  On Saturday she sort of pooped again (I say sort of... it's more like wet farts... yuck...).  I'm thinking of attempting the 'training in a day' method given to me by a friend and a book I read a while ago, but I'm not ready to do that yet.  I think I want to make sure some other things are going to be easier for her first (like a bed she can climb in and out of herself), and give her a bit of time to get used to that before moving on to potty training (too many new things at once may NOT be such a good idea). 

So, what are your challenges for the month?

Today is Tuesday

Boring title? Yeah... I agree. Ah well, my creative juices aren't flowing very well lately.

So, what is this post about? Actually, it's the challenge for the week! This week, the challenge outside is to rid the sidewalk/patio stones of weeds. Since the indoor zone for me this week is the bedrooms, my challenge is to go through the clothes. Something I decided to do with my clothes is to hang them all 'backwards' in the closet. At the end of a month (or two... depending when I get back to my normal size), whatever I have not yet worn will still be 'backwards', and will go to the local charity. I see no point in keeping things I won't wear. I already got rid of a few items that I know I won't wear again anyway.

As for last week, how did you do on your challenge? I was happy to get the van clean, it looked so nice (even though it only lasted a day or two). As for the decorating in the bathrooms, I love the bit I did. It wasn't much (I got new liquid soap containers, and trashed the downstairs bar soap holder which was hideous, and just cleaned the upstairs one, then put the soap on the bar soap holder upstairs, and downstairs I grabbed my new bamboo holder to put it on... so nice and clean looking).

To Do: Bedrooms: June 20-26
- regular weekly chores
- exercise (did Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri (just a walk))
- dust bedrooms
- clean diaper pail
- flip mattress
- gardening (rid patio of weeds, do regular weeding)
- go through clothes (my own, find new place for Bram's stuff)
- level yard/ work on fire pit (weather permitting... which it doesn't seem to be doing right now)
- scrapbook
- work on costumes for July (hee hee)
- finish knitting purse
- finalize album pick pics, plan pages (did for months 1-6)
- print pics/announcements (just need to pickt them up)
- plan/invite to Bram's party (smile)
- cake (bake, decorate)

Yeah, I am finally going to do a party for Bram this weekend. So, I have to plan it. Which won't take much. It's gonna be very casual. The only real work I want to have to do with this one is making the cake. Otherwise, snacks are gonna be chopped veggies, popcorn, crackers... things like that. Easy... right? No games, nothing but 'drop in' for cake and to meet the little (or not so little, now that I look at him from his newborn pics) guy.

I haven't been keen on doing much more than the basics lately. Meals, regular cleaning, that sort of thing. I want out of the house, but the weather has been terrible, so that means going shopping, which means spending money, which I don't want to do too much of. My lawn is looking long... rain loves us this year (as do the mosquitoes... they are terrible), and getting out to do any yard work is near impossible lately. The second the sun is shining, I need to be out there, otherwise I will get nothing done. Really. We have one sunny day a week, then it's rain again. Sigh. At least I don't need to water the plants, right?

Anyway, good luck to you on your tasks for the week. I can hardly believe this month is wrapping up so soon. And I hardly did anything on my 101 tasks. I need to review those again very soon.

Update

Ok, so I haven't done the 'lists' post in two weeks. Expected, right? Well, I actually DID make lists for myself (prior to having our little boy), and since I'm weird, I actually did most of the items on last week's list (note... it was rather short, and most of the items were laundry anyway, and since said son creates a lot of dirty laundry and we didn't have a lot of clothes for him to wear, I had to do laundry regularly. I remember this being harder with my daughter, however...). Oh, and the previous week? Got it all done (except mother's day gifts for some reason)

So, my challenge for last week would have been to clean things you normally wouldn't in your bathrooms and laundry room. Suggestions: bath matts, shower curtains, run a cycle to cleanse your washing machine, things like that.

To Do: May 9-16

• sweep
• vacuum
• mirrors
• laundry
• exercise (went on a few walks)
• farm books
• personal books
• meal plan
• bath baseboards/trim
• dust bathrooms
• dust laundry room
• scrub tub (this is what started me doing this list. M needed a bath, and I took a look at the tub... blech. It doesn't take long to look rusty)
• sinks
• toilets,
• wash shower curtains
• wash bath matts
• wash office blankets
• wash cup/toothbrush holders
• scrapbook
• clothesline
• run vinegar/baking soda through washing machine

And now, for this week.

The challenge is to clean extras in your bedrooms. Things like all the pillows/bedding, curtains, vacuuming under the beds/furniture, etc. I will also include the items I didn't finish last week... you know, in case I ever get around to them this week.

To Do May 16-22 (bedrooms)

• sweep
• vacuum
• bathrooms
• laundry (we're up to 4 loads)
• exercise (tues, thurs)
• farm books
• personal books
• scrapbook
• meal plan
• baseboards/trim in bedrooms
• dust bedrooms
• diaper pail
• flip mattress
• vacuum underneath furniture in bedrooms
• wash curtains
• wash ALL bedding
• vacuum spare room
• organize a little in spare room
• clothesline
• run vinegar/baking soda through washing machine
• gardening (did 1 hour on Wednesday)
• write letter to Gospel for Asia child

Ok, so I know I'm crazy even making a list shortly after having a baby, but to be honest, I need to feel like more than a milk producing, dishes doing, toy tidier. And naps? I only really have one opportunity during the day for that (and that is right now, and hubs is napping in my place, which is fine, since we have our son's first doctor's appointment shortly and I am in charge of waking everyone to get there on time).

Anyway, that's all for now, folks! Now to update my Project 365 and stuff. That one will be cute! Baby pics, anyone?

Now I SO want to do a newborn photo session with my one week old. Has it been a week already? How time flies!

Nesting Paranoia

Did you miss me? No, no baby yet. We're still waiting. I guess he/she finds it comfy for now :)

How did you do last week? I managed to get everything done except making mother's day gifts. I don't know why that's so hard this year. Perhaps it's because I have something in mind and I don't know if I'll get around to it. I'm sure our mom's won't mind if they get their gift a bit late, though (*smile*).

This week's list is a doozy... again... because it's Kitchen week (and I threw in the office for good measure, as if I don't need more to do anyway, ha ha).

Our challenge for the week is to clean something we normally wouldn't. Some ideas to help you get started would be: washing garbage cans, wiping out/organizing the pantry, cleaning the freezer, organizing/wiping bookshelves, the computer/mouse/keyboard, kitchen drying board, any counter top appliances, any decorative knickknacks... etc

To Do - May 2-8 (focus; Kitchen and Office)

• sweep
• vacuum
• mop
• bathrooms
• laundry
• exercise (did Sun,Tues,)
• farm books
• personal books
• meal plan
• shine sink, clean microwave (include fan vents), fridge, counters/cabinets, stove, toaster, drying board
• dust (kitchen and office)
• clean toy organizer in the office
• baseboards
• clean decorative kitchen bowl
• clean/org pantry
• clean/wipe fridge freezer
• wash kitchen garbage can (wait till garbage day)
• scrapbook
• Dr Appointment Friday (M's needles)
• mother's day gifts
• prep preg album pics for printing (that's a lot of 'p's, ha ha)
• try knitting 3+ days this week (did Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed,)

I'm so happy with how much I got done on my list today already. My husband had some farm errands to run this morning and he took M with him (she had a ball! Got to run around a bit at the mall and some of the other places he went, which made it a lot easier to put her down for her nap just now as well). That meant I had the whole house to myself and did not have to worry about anyone getting in my way as I cleaned. And boy, did I clean... for 2.5 hours straight! Yes... I'm a bit tired now! I did laundry too, just not all of it (2 out of 3 loads ain't bad...). I'm thinking of finishing up the last two mundane tasks that I can today (bookwork), and then I'll be happy happy happy! Although I am happy already...

I was kinda hoping all this cleaning would put me into labor... ha ha... although exercising for 40 minutes yesterday didn't put me into labor either. Why am I wanting to go into labor so bad this time? Hmm... I wasn't this anxious with M... I went 5 days over with her and was perfectly fine with going even farther if it would have been that way. I'm only 4 days over right now...

Hope you all have a great week!

New List

It's Monday again! I'm so pleased with how last week went. I wasn't planning on actually doing all my regular exercising, but I did it anyway! And the cleaning in my entrance made me SO happy! The boot mats and shoe rack looked so clean and new when I was done! Of course, it doesn't stay that way for long, but it's gotta be cleaner than it was before I did it, right?

My favorite accomplishment last week was the change table! It was an old freebie we got from a friend of a friend. It was white... scratched up, well used, and not very fancy. A change table... they usually aren't. It had these pastel colored plastic covers over the rails which we removed so I could just paint the wood. My husband switched two shelves around (the top 'shelf' for the change pad was cracking a bit, so we swapped it with the middle one), and I proceeded to give it a scrub. The thing looked so much better after just scrubbing it! Then came primer... and it looked like this!

Finally, I took the remainder of my black paint (yes... the remainder. I scraped the very last of it out of the pail so I could finish this thing), and I painted it. It looks SO nice. It's a new piece of furniture!


All I need to do now is scrub the change pad itself and make/buy change pad covers. I can buy 1 meter of fabric and make two covers for this thing (need elastic too, of course), and it doesn't look hard, so I may go that route. I want to go for a nice color that will work well in our living room. And the baskets? I bought 2 in chocolate brown as well, but since they are so tall, M has a hard time pulling her toys out of them, so I used other baskets we had for her toys instead. The brown ones will find homes in our bedroom.

Now, on to the new week!

This week I am focusing on the Kitchen... and I added the office in there as well. The challenge of the week is to clean the kitchen and office light fixtures.

1. sweep
2. vacuum
3. mop
4. bathrooms
5. laundry
6. exercise? (did on tues, thurs, planned for Saturday, but I'm sick, so a walk will be good enough)
7. farm books
8. paperwork
9. shine sink
10. clean microwave, fridge, stove, toaster, drying rack
11. wipe clean the counters/cabinets
12. dust in kitchen
13. clean kitchen light
14. clean office light
15. dust in office (include baseboards)
16. meal plan for the week
17. disinfect bottles/pump
18. work on income tax return
19. work on 2010 farm plan (did a little more so far)
20. make birthday card
21. Dr Appointment on Fri
22. make cake/cupcakes for birthday party
23. take down Easter decor
24. scrapbook 2 pages

Look at that... half crossed off already! I'm so happy! I managed to get enough of a break today that I was able to get even more work done. I'm thinking of working on that card later... or if my husband will relinquish the couch, a nap sounds good too. :) Yes... M is napping right now.

My 'get ready for baby' list is coming along nicely as well. Found out the cradle is refinished and just needs to be reassembled. Blankets are made, most of the remaining items are on lists for the next few weeks. I can't believe it's less than a month till my due date! Aaack!

I had a 'scare' the other night (going into Easter Sunday, would you believe). Being half asleep, I had Braxton's and thought I was in labor (never had them while laying down when pregnant with M before... actually, I don't remember really having much Braxton's with her at all...). I remember praying, "Lord, not tonight... we don't have enough workers on the farm and my husband won't be able to be with me... please not tonight" and hearing "It's just practicing... don't worry... drink some water". I did, and they stopped. Trying to drink more water again... I've been neglecting it for some reason the last couple of weeks.

Anyway, how was your week? Do you feel good about what you did? Do you think I'm insane like just about everyone I've talked to for continuing in crazy huge lists? (don't worry... I think I'm insane too).

Good Luck this week!

It's in the Plan

Yup, another list. I like posting these because it keeps me accountable. :)

Last week I didn't get everything done on my list. The cradle wasn't finished yet, so I didn't set it up or make the mattress. Everything else got done, though, so I'm pretty happy. (I make my lists at the end of each month for the entire month, so I assumed the cradle would be done already and was wrong. Ah well. By the sounds of things, I might be able to get those things done next week!). My biggest accomplishment was finishing the quilt! I'm so happy I have THREE photos for you! I love it!

If you look closely in the next pic, you will see that I zigzagged all the seems on the quilted side only. Yes, every seam was ironed open, and then zigzagged to stay that way through multiple washings (hopefully).

I'm so proud!

Guess what? It's a new month! And that means a completely new challenge! Aren't you excited?

So, for the month of April, the challenge is... cleaning the light fixtures! This week we are focussing in the living, dining, and entryway (and halls/stairs in my case). For me, that is a LOT of light fixtures (7 to be exact), so I'm doing 4 and getting my husband to do the other three (since 2 of those are upstairs in the hall and I don't find them easy to take apart, and the other requires a ladder).

To Do - March 28-April 3 (focus: Living, Dining rooms, entrance, halls)

• sweep
• vacuum
• bathrooms/mirrors (my daughter slimed a whole bunch of them already)
• laundry
• exercise (Mon, Wed, Fri)
• farm books
• personal books
• put infant seat in vehicle
• start packing bags for the hospital
• scrapbook 2 pages
• dust baseboards/trim
• super-crazy-extra dusting
• clean entrance boot mats (and shoe rack)
• refinish change table (clean, sand, prime, paint, set up)
• bake buns
• clean light fixtures
• plan meals (m-shrimp stir fry, t-burritos, w-teriyaki chicken, th-spaghetti square, f-tuna burgers)
• scan/send amended T4's to accountant
• bake white cookies
• decorate cookies
• decorate for Easter
• make M's Easter eggs
  

I'm pretty happy with how much I managed to do today. Mondays are the days I seem to get the most done (but many of them are not huge tasks anyway... and M naps really well on Mondays due to being out all weekend). I'm trying to put as many things as I can on these early lists to get ready for baby so that the lists closer to my due date will be much easier. I've made them already. They are MUCH shorter (and I am REFUSING to add to them)!

So, how did your week go? Looking forward to cleaning light fixtures, or dreading it? I actually don't mind too much (except maybe the rooms that have stipple... not liking those rooms so much). They look so much nicer when clean (my dining room fixture looks black again... no more dust, and no more bugs inside by the bulbs... yech). Good luck this week! :)

Work, work, work...

It's a new week, and therefore, a new list! (do I hear groans in the background? I know I'm sort of groaning inside).

Last week went well for me. I got everything done that I wanted to, including a rather large project... the kids book. This week is my last cake decorating class, which means that my lists will decrease even more in that regard (now if I have baking on my list, it'll be for freezing for the month after baby is born). I'm also planning on changing things for myself a bit in April... seeing as I'll be 8-9 months pregnant at that time and not in the mood to do as much exercise and 'hard' work. There will still be a few items on my lists that will be more strenuous, but not as bad as my previous lists have been.

So, for March 21-27 I am focusing in the bedrooms. The challenge... to clean the bedroom windows!

To Do

1. sweep
2. vacuum
3. bathrooms
4. laundry
5. exercise (Mon, Wed, Fri)
6. farm books
7. personal books
8. windows/mirrors (all dirty mirrors, and all bedroom windows/mirrors)
9. baseboards/trim (bedrooms)
10. dust (bedrooms)
11. diaper pail
12. organize in bedrooms (under crib, bedside tables)
13. flip mattress/swap bedding
14. make cradle mattress
15. pick up and wash crib
16. is cradle done? Set up
17. scrapbook 2 digital pages
18. make a few paper scrapbook pages for preg album
19. finish quilt
20. complete cake for class 4
21. start making meals to freeze (casserole (meat on mon, potatoes on tues,make on sat), meatless lasagna x2 (thurs), homemade mac n cheese (wed))
22. pull out 0-3mo clothes
23. espress mail camera out to be fixed (back already!!)
24. 'purchase' book proof
25. bake biscuits (do double batch; some pigs in blankets, regular, and cinnamon rolls)
26. sew church blanket

I went a bit crazy on the windows this week already. I haven't been doing our outside windows (due to needing a ladder for most of them, and it being too cold to clean them properly anyway). Today was beautiful... above 0 deg C! So, I opened the two bedroom windows that are on the second floor and proceeded to clean the outside from the inside. Don't worry, the only part of me that was actually 'outside' was my arm (and a quick-made apparatus for reaching the farther corners of the windows). I cannot reach these windows from outside anyway. They haven't been properly cleaned in years now, due to that fact. The ladder we have doesn't go high enough (and it goes pretty high) and I am not comfortable on it when it's completely stretched to the limit anyway. So, this is the first time in years I've seen these windows completely clean! And I am thrilled! Let the sun shine in! Oh, and as for dusting, since I needed my stepladder for the windows anyway, I used it to get the top shelves of our bedroom bookshelves... they look so nice and clean, now (even though you can't see them anyway, ha ha).

So, how did you do last week? Did you get most of your list done? Did you make a list (sometimes it's nice not to bother... although I haven't done that now for sooooo long... I'm SUCH a planner)? How much more sun do you feel you get with the windows getting cleaned room by room (I SO want to do all my windows outside now... they look SO much better... I wonder if I can just go buy a squeegee to do them with...)?

Good Luck this week! :)

Counting Down

I can hardly believe it's only 6 weeks until my due date! I have so much to do to get ready... which includes making sure my daughter will be taken care of and ready as well. Some of the things I wish to do aren't completely necessary, but I know it will be a long time before I will get to them again after the baby is born... so I'm putting them down as 'to do's' on my list.

Yes... there is another list. This one will be making it's way in bits and pieces onto my weekly lists, but it's good for me to make a 'master' list so I know what needs to be done (and what needs to be put on my weekly lists in general besides my basic cleaning and paperwork items).

To Do Before Baby Arrives (6 1 week and counting)
1. Finish quilt
2. Pack bags and put major one in van (mine and hubby's, M's, baby's)
3. Make a 'mattress' for the cradle
4. Finish cradle (mom is almost done this one!)
5. Set up cradle/bedding
6. Refinish change table for main floor
7. Put infant seat in vehicle (already washed and ready)
8. Get and fill out hospital papers (beginning of April)
9. Sort out 0-3mo outfits (neutral, girl, and the 2 boy I had from ages ago)
10. Disinfect bottles/pump (mid April)
11. Get meals into freezer (21/20) plus buns, bran muffins, cinnamon biscuits, cookies, apple muffins, cake for a party?
12. Pick names we like (yippee! Done!)
13. wash baby clothes (mid April)
14. get a crib mattress

I've started putting some of these items on my next few weeks lists, and yesterday I was bored so I went through the baby clothes. M thought that was lots of fun... started putting some of her old clothes on her head, ha ha.

Does anyone have ideas for easy freezer meals? Preferably something I can make where I can eat part 'now' and put the other part in the freezer for later? I have meatballs in the freezer right now, and I'm planning on doing lasagna and spinach lasagna, a hamburger potato casserole, perhaps shepherds pie, pigs in blankets, burgers, maybe some soups of sorts, and perishky (not to mention baked goods like muffins, cookies, buns...). I know I did a bunch of 'dump chicken' meals at one time, but I need to really plan those again and they take awhile to sort through (since I have to do them all in one day pretty much). I'm hoping to find a few really easy crock pot meals that just require throwing everything in without much prep. I was out of commission for quite a while after M was born, and I want to be prepared in case that happens again (I didn't clean my house for weeks... that oughta tell you how 'out' I was, ha ha!).

I've been rather exhausted as of late... not sleeping well at night and all that. I tried to nap yesterday, but M woke up from hers early and took to trying to climb all over me while I was laying down. At least I know I can lay down with her being awake and not worry too much about her. She likes to stay nearby... either in the living room where I am, or the dining room which is right next to the living room. That'll make things a bit easier when I NEED naps after baby is born. Both M and I were a bit 'off' yesterday. I didn't realize it for myself until I started crying over... well... nothing. I wasn't upset about anything in particular, my husband had just come in and we were making supper, and I started to cry. M was clingy and crying quite a bit yesterday too. I figured it was because she woke from her nap earlier than usual.

And this baby loves to kick... mostly on my left side, which doesn't help in the sleep department. :)

I've been working through a 'My Pregnancy' album I purchased from LW for $5. Filling in all the info. Need to print pics for it and insert them yet. I figure I want to make a few extra pages for M's preg album that were in this new one... things like showers and gifts and such, newspaper clippings and the baby announcement, designing the nursery, things like that. Especially since some of those things I'm not expecting to have with this kiddo (since it's not my first... generally you don't have showers for your second).

Would it be rude/inappropriate to plan my own baby 'party'? You know, come meet the baby, no gift required, kind of thing? I'm sure people would feel inclined to bring a gift anyway (which is not what I want), but I just want to have a party for this little one, too. It feels kind of sad to only have for the firstborn, and not for the others. Do I sound strange on this?

Anyway, that's all my pregnancy thoughts for the day. We're hoping to go to the city later so I can pick up more thread and a backing fabric for the quilt I want to finish (yeah... ran out of thread... sigh). And maybe visit the conservatory. I haven't been there for ages, and M would LOVE it!

Later, everyone. Have a great weekend!

EDIT: April 23 - my list is basically done! I just need to finish setting up the 'bedding' aspect of the cradle (which is fun, and won't take long)! I'm thrilled! And with only one week until my due date!

The Dreaded Bath!

Ok, so I'm trying to get creative with the titles of these list posts... I'm not sure if I'm succeeding or utterly failing. Ah well... something different.

Last week I got everything done on my list that I wanted... except sewing. I did not know if I would get to that one or not anyway, and I did do all my prep for the quilt portion of sewing, so I figure I did some of that one. I just didn't actually take out the sewing machine. Which is why this is back on the list for this week. My biggest accomplishment would have to be my kid's book. It is completed... except for formatting a few pages to upload... then I can publish it! I am SO looking forward to that being done!

This week I will be focusing on the bathrooms and office. Our weekly challenge is to clean the windows/mirrors in the bathrooms and office spaces. Not hard. At least, I don't think so... I have to admit that my stomach is getting in the way of reaching into harder-to-reach areas already.

To Do March 14-20: Focus- bath and office

1. sweep
2. vacuum
3. bathroom mirrors and windows
4. laundry
5. exercise (Mon, Wed, Fri) - I'm almost thinking of just cutting this out already. I'm bushed.
6. farm books
7. personal paperwork
8. clean office window/mirror
9. dust baseboards/trim (office, bathrooms)
10. scrub tub
11. scrub bathroom sinks/faucets
12. scrub toilets inside and out (don't forget the base)
13. dust in office and bathrooms
14. clean bathroom drawers
15. reorganize anything necessary in office
16. finish 2009 Historical Farm Analysis
17. work on 2010 Farm plan
18. ice cupcakes for decor class 3
19. prep cake for class 4(bake it, and make icing)
20. publish kids book prior to 16th
21. finish 2 scrapbook pages
22. sew (so far, just the 6 strips of 6 squares are done now)

Not as long a list as last week (thank goodness), but still a lot of computer stuff. Sigh. I'm looking forward to being done all the computer stuffs. Especially the farm stuff (although that never seems to end anyway). And the cake class ends next week Monday. That's my last class! Where did the month go? So my lists will hopefully be getting shorter and shorter. I really can't handle having so many unfinished projects hanging over my head like a cloud, threatening to break me into tears at any moment. Really. I need to finish these unfinished things to rest my busy mind, but I need a break as well. I took one on Sunday, but still.

There always seems to be work that needs doing.

So, how did your week go? Did you accomplish something that you are super proud of? Are there any items that keep making their way back onto your lists week after week (I hate those items, ha ha)? Sometimes I find I just need to kick my butt into gear and sit down and start on those things, then they almost seem to do themselves (almost... not quite... would be nice if they really DID do themselves)!

Good luck, this week!

File Anxiety

Lacey at Don't Make Drugs made me painfully aware of how important it is to back up your computer (if you haven't yet, check out her blog)! I do... at least I try to... regularly. Much of the important stuff is backed up as I save to close the item down (on a memory stick). Pictures I organize once I have about 4GB and place onto a disk. However, it's the 'in-between' times that I kinda worry. I have a LOT on my computer that I would be devastated to lose.

One of those things (besides all the photos I haven't yet backed up) would have to be the children's book I've been working on.

I've spent HOURS on this thing. Literally, loads of time hovering over my bamboo, drawing and coloring away on Gimp, waiting for the program to load my enormously huge files before compressing them into something a little more manageable for the program so I can proceed to make them bigger yet again... I've spent far too much time on this thing... and I would be DEVASTATED to lose it.

Sure, I've got a hard copy (aka, really old paper copy of this book I made 12 years ago in pencil and pencil-crayon), so it wouldn't be completely lost, but I've spent soooo much time on this thing already. The pages are made, the gimp files are still there so it's easier to edit anything if I need to, the cover I completed today, I've got my ISBN and my bar code... it's almost a complete book already. So, to lose it all... well...

I'd probably cry for weeks.

Anyway, on that note, I took her suggestion, swallowed my penny pinching ways, and we went out and bought an external hard drive. Took us long enough. I really don't know why. Nice thing was, when we got to Future shop, the Iomega one we wanted had an even larger one on sale! 1TB for $99! And we had a $25 gift card, too! So, for just under $90 (after tax and all that) I now have a huge storage unit for all my files... files I don't have to spend hours upon hours organizing and paring down before dragging and dropping them in and backing them up. I can just throw them right on the drive!

Talk about nice!

So, I no longer have as many worries about losing all my pictures and files. No, instead I worry about fires and all my hard drives going berserk at the same time. Hmm... I think I need to take a lesson from Proverbs and 'be anxious about nothing'. Worry doesn't help... worry doesn't help...

Yeah. Deep breath. My files are safe... for now!

Kitchen Week

So how did everyone do on their lists last week? I'm pretty happy to say I actually did everything on mine! I didn't think I would, but in the end I managed to pull off the last few things on Saturday! Mainly sewing, working on the book, and printing a few pics to put into my daughters frames (she had 4 really small ones that had no pics in them yet... now they do!).

One thing I didn't manage to finish was the letters on my walls. I didn't have the right paper to do it, and I don't wish to paint them on since I may want to move them later. So, I put up a 'preliminary' set, along with the two frames I'd been wanting to mount up for the last few months.

I'm thrilled with how it looks! Now to find some craft paper that is clear and sticky (preferably). I'm thinking if they have such a thing as printable wall cling paper, that would be what I want. We'll have to check later on.

Anyway, on to this week's challenge: The kitchen window!

I know... doesn't sound that impressive. The kitchen week for me is always such a huge one though, since there are so many appliances to scrub. Anyway, here is my list for the week. We'll see if I finish this one.

TO DO: Focus in Kitchen and Laundry room.

• sweep house
• vacuum house
• mop house
• bathrooms
• laundry
• exercise (Mon, Wed, Fri)
• farm books
• personal books
• shine sink
• clean appliances (microwave, toaster, fridge, stove, oven (scrub racks too), dishwasher)
• wipe counters/cabinets
• wash drying board
• kitchen dusting (remember top of fridge)
• kitchen window
• find space for course baking supplies
• dust, sweep, vacuum laundry room
• wash bassinet items
• clean diaper pail
• ice/layer cake for class 2 (and prep stuffs)
• prep for cake class 3 (bake, make icing)
• start on a meal plan
• work on book (bugs&shells, bubble numbers, text, cover, other pages)
• finish payroll (and redo SOP's)
• sew? (So far I've cut my pieces for the quilt and arranged them to start sewing)
• 2 scrapbook pages

I know... it's long... again. And I tried making it shorter looking by putting all the appliances under one line. Sigh. At least I got a lot done today. And the class stuffs is kinda required, so I know I'll do that.

Why don't my lists get shorter? At least next week's looks pretty short (in comparison, ha ha).

Oh, and on the fitness front, I'm pretty impressed! I lost 1.5 kgs over the last week... just by cutting out so much sugar! I didn't eliminate it completely, just limited myself, and voila! And I was expecting to gain weight, seeing as I'm pregnant and all that. At least I know the weight I'm losing is the 'bad' weight! As for the number of steps, I averaged about 8000/day. There was only one day I was below the 7500 mark... which was a strange day to say the least. I was expecting to hit at least 8000 (my workout day) but for some reason barely got 6500. I think my pedometer probably reset sometime during the day. Who knows. I generally get 10000 steps on workout days.

Anyway, I've just gotta finish up the last 'coat' of icing on my cake, make supper, change, and I'll be ready for class (it starts in 1.5hours). I'm so glad my in-laws live next door. They are more than willing to care for Baby M during those 15 minutes that neither my husband nor I are at home. Grandma and Grandpa LOVE their granddaughter! :)

So, how does your list look this week? How did you do last week? I'm glad I made the challenge 'windows'... they aren't too difficult and I've got so much else on my plate that I don't think I could handle a tough challenge this month (ooh... wait till next month, ha ha).