MANIC MONDAY- SUMMER

It's another Manic Monday and the kids are beyond exhausted from a weekend of late night excitement. Drive in movies, yard work, splash pads, concerts, and going out to dinner. Today's mania is filled with mounds of swim related laundry that accumulated over the past week. Swim suits, hats, swim diapers, towels, towels and more towels, and more swim suits. Also my floors have not been properly mopped in months. Ever since my steam mop decided to take an early retirement (after less than a years work- mind you), my floors have been haphazardly swifferred. And the swiffer just aint cuttin it. So today I hand mopped all hard surfaces of my house and I feel much, much happier.

Kday worked tirelessly last week to put in a sand box and washing station for the kids. His hard work was much appreciated and the kids have been spending hours upon hours outside in their new haven. Despite the fantastic washing station and my attempts to keep the sand out of the house, their little beds seem to still be filling with remnants of the fun they had outside. Those darling little toes of theirs seem to hide millions of grains of sand, only to be emptied while they slumber and dream of their next excursion.

The biggest "issue" that the sandbox has created... I can't go to bed at night unless the sand toys have been rinsed and dried and the sand must be raked. Prepared for good clean fun the next day. Beyond wrong, I know. But I just can't stand laying in my bed, looking out my window and wondering if the sand has been left in messy piles or unleveled across the box. So I rinse and rake and in the morning we start over.

And we're all happy. Thanks for the zen garden, I mean, sand box Kday.

PRODUCTIVE FLOC'ING

*** preface***

to the darling friend that stopped by today and saw Lady camped out in her bumbo chair in front of the TV watching a "baby sighning times" video... I promise I don't use the TV as a babysitter. One day a week when the schedule is jam packed I allow her to watch 10-20 min of a sighn-language video while I try to get our life in order. Max. Just had to get that out so you don't think that's all we do at our house :)

(Because no post is complete without a pic- 

this is me, peeking in on Lady while she sleeps)

Onto the super duper efficient day today. And before you get all excited to leave a comment about how awesome I am for doing all this... days like these are a dime a'dozen around here. Yesterday included nothing but making a mess of the house and lounging at The Hill. And I haven't made dinner in weeks... yes, WEEKS!

Today: In no particular order

Washed- Folded- And put away 6 loads of laundry
Vacuumed
Mopped
Cleaned the Bathroom
Washed the dishes
Took Kashi and Lady for a walk
Delivered 90% of Lady's birthday invitations
Made 3 batches of Chicken Enchiladas
Delivered dinner and dessert to 2 neighbors - new mothers
Called Activity Day secretary
Hosted Lemonade Party for Activity Days
Went to 2 nephews baseball games
Packed a lunch for Kday
Watched 2 episodes of "The City"
Changed 4 diapers and kept an almost 1 year old fed and clean
Showered - blow dried my hair (if you're a mom, you understand why I felt the need to mention that :)

AND MY HEART WAS HAPPY ALMOST EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I freaking LOVE summer.

KIT Summer Cleaning

In my hasty cleaning frenzy last weekend I got a little carried away. It started with cleaning the cupboards of baby stuff and it turned into re-organizing and deep cleaning a few rooms. The majority of the house still needs it's annual deep clean but that will have to wait until I get "the itch" again.
My spring cleaning never quite got completed.... or started. But my summer cleaning is off to a great start.

It all started with creating a place for Layla to "safely crawl" about her room.

I put all of the baby toys into storage... then I got "the itch"

So I started cleaning all of the new "big girl" toys that Layla's sweet cousin gave her.

And somehow that led to cleaning out the "junk drawer"

Next I moved to my closet top

Then the closet bottom

And last but not least we finished off cleaning out the bathroom drawers.

I also cleaned the blinds in the master bedroom, the baseboards in the bathroom, and created a new place to store Layla's toys in the living room. Gah, it felt so so so good to have the cleaning itch. If only it would come back soon and on a day that I have a lot of time to accomplish the rest of the house!

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

Spring fever? Maybe.

 Seasonal Affective Anxiety? Maybe.

Feeling Overwhelmed? Yes.

Had a few really busy weeks that have left my life, home and daughters eating and sleep routine in complete disarray. 

Absolutely. 

I am feeling like organized piles are multiplying like easter bunnies around the house and the winter mess is catching up to our little abode. The snow has finally melted and revealed a soggy wet list of things to do to get the yard somewhat presentable.  And I've finally come to the reality that I have fallen into accidental encouragement of Layla's poor napping habits. She is a breeze to get to sleep and stay asleep at night. But her daily naps leave a lot to be desired.  So the pair of us are at a turning point. Next week has been dedicated to "nap - sleep training" and there needs to be a game plan involved. I'm mentally prepping for the heart wrenching minutes filled with the sound of her learning to sooth herself to sleep and stay asleep longer than 45 minutes... I need a list to keep me focused and busy. Last spring we had 6 short weeks to prepare our home to welcome Layla. It was awesome. I washed almost every square inch of the house with a toothbrush. The vacuum was vacuumed and the drawers were all organized and the label maker was labeled. This year she is inspiring me once again. Next week will be the perfect host for our spring cleaning and organizing event while she learns to organize her sleeping habits. 

So, I'm reminding myself before spewing out this list that I need to take a deep breath in..... and slowly let it out. Here goes.

*Basic Once Over on each room (vacuum, mop, dust all surfaces and objects in room. Wipe down walls and baseboards and any light fixtures and doors.)

*File the "To File" drawer full of papers

*Organize and label current "To Do" folders

*Revise Monthly Budget Forms

*Read "Positive Discipline - the first three years"

*Read "Child of Mine - feeding with love and good sense"

*Make a rotating meal plan and hang on the fridge

*Plan Wasatch Back Training Run Schedule and hang on fridge

*Organize and de-clutter Layla's toy bins

*Plan 6 months of Family Home Evening

*Sew Layla and I matching summer hats

*Finish and hang Vision Board

*Re-design Sdayrunning website

*Re-Label all file folders for 2010 and rotate out 2009 files into Long Term filing cabinet.

I'm sure I won't have time to achieve all those projects. But it gives me an idea of what I need to get done in the next few weeks. That way we can relax and enjoy watching the spring flowers bud and trees blossom on our daily walks. My theory is bust it all out in 1 week and enjoy the rest of the year!

FEEDING THE "FLOC"

( Side note) I'm writing this while I sit in Layla's nursery rocking chair and listen to her try to fall asleep in her crib without her beloved and oh so loved "swaddle" or binki.

Anyway, as I was scrubbing the door to my oven this afternoon I got to thinking... that's the problem with cleaning. I think too much when I'm elbow deep in scrubbing bubbles. However, I came across a realization that everyone tolerates different levels of cleanliness and that is OK. For example, I get comments on my blog all the time from fellow mothers telling me that they just live amongst the mess and keep going without focusing on it. Mothers who say they despise cleaning and don't have the patience to keep their house really clean. Another example, I have two dear sister-in-laws who keep the most spotless homes I've ever been inside, even down to the tiniest detail. Whatever the level of cleanliness, it's a personal moment between feeling functional and feeling like you're going to lose your mind if you see one more spec of dust.

I'm calling it your "FUNCTIONAL LEVEL OF CLEANLINESS." My FLOC is different than your FLOC, and we must tend to our own floc, not someone else's. I am able to function well with a disorganized closet and dirty mud room, but I can not even begin the day unless the bed is made and the kitchen is clean. I can tolerate lots of "organized piles" on the kitchen table and a somewhat clean bathroom, but I can't tolerate dust bunnies on my hard wood floors. I have a really hard time dancing around her nursery together when all I can notice is the dust beneath my feet. So as long as the floors are vacuumed, then I can enjoy all the dancing we can squeeze into a day. And someday when I have carpet, I won't have to vacuum as much! Other people must have a perfectly bleached bathroom 24-7 but could care less about making the bed... get my point?

As much we would all love for our houses to look like the inside of a P0ttery Barn catalog, I encourage you to find the level of cleanliness that you tolerate well. The level at which you feel comfortable accomplishing the day to day tasks without feeling like your being swallowed in clutter and dirt. And there is no judgment on your FLOC! That's the beauty of it!

So remember this, the next time someone comes over to your house and you jump onto the apology wagon for your house not being as clean as theirs... stop and remember that your house only has to be as clean as you need it to be in order to function without focusing on the mess. Then invite your guest in, make her a yummy snack and enjoy the conversation and company without feeling guilty or embarrassed :)

(P.S. Layla fell asleep about half way through writing this post! Holy miracle)
*** update: 2 hours later she woke up screaming and wouldn't go back to sleep until I swaddled and binki'd her. We'll try again tomorrow...

PROUD.... I GUESS?

So I tried REALLY hard the last two days to not clean. Kday was nice enough to get up early yesterday and do the dishes for me. He knew it was my achilles heel and that if I sat around long enough I'd give in. So with at least the dishes done I made it through two and a half days of not cleaning. It was hard. But it was nice. I really enjoyed laying on the floor under the christmas tree with Lady and reading books. We re-organized the blankets in her room (that is not cleaning! and she helped) so now the blankets we use daily are more accessible. We took naps on the couch together and read lots of books. *DON'T GET ME WRONG... I'VE ALWAYS DONE ALL THESE THINGS WITH LAYLA BEFORE. I JUST SQUOZE IN A LOT OF stress filled CLEANING DURING HER NAPS. Now during her naps I spent time reading books about starting her on solid foods and what to expect developmentally over the next few months of her growth spurts.

So I guess I am proud that this is what my house looked like at 3:30 pm today. Keep in mind that you aren't seeing the endless loads of laundry in our closets and the dog fur floating around on the floor, or the cat's dirty footprints on top of the washer by his food dish. And also the splattered spaghetti sauce inside the microwave.... I haven't been keeping tally have I?

I can't take it anymore though. Layla is asleep and I've got to get it cleaned up so that tomorrow we can have a stress free day. The agenda: visiting with Grammy and Nana, both of which returned from vacationing out of the country recently, playing dress up, and going for a walk with the joey wrap. Which by the way I still need to post about. Don't let me forget!

CLEANING IS CHEAPER THAN THERAPY

I used to eat when I was stressed... Now I clean.
Before: (FYI: this is NOT what my kitchen looked like before I cleaned... it's what it looked like WHILE I cleaned.) My kitchen is usually clean... just not meticulously.




After 12 hours of cleaning, bleaching, organizing, and wiping out the inside of every drawer and cupboard, behind the stove, inside the refrigerator and freezer, window seals, and replacing all items to a conveniently clean home.






A clean house is a happy house!
Next... the Bathroom!