I Love Lists

I really do.  I have lists of my lists.  There is a sweet giveaway at one of my favorite blogs, Passionate Homemaking.  It is a subscription to LIST PLANIT!

Check it out here if ya want. 

Feed Me: Dr. Suess

Linking up with The Adventures of Motherhood to share some favorite Suess books!

Of our Dr. Suess books, my son likes Are You My Mother? best.

The journey of a baby bird searching for it's mommy is sweet and cleverly introduces other animals.  But what my machine-loving boy likes the most is the "Snort."  This crane-type machine saves the day.  For a while lots of machines we saw were called a Snort.  His Nana even got him construction jammies because he told her he wanted some with a Snort on it.  And you know Nanas can do anything... so she made it happen! 

Another top contender is Put Me in the Zoo.  I particulary like the flow of words.  And it is a good message about thinking you want something, but there is a better thing waiting for you.

Now, the one that makes me sound like I am just learning to read myself because I always trip over the words...

The Lorax. 

Maybe I should practice when he's not around.

Happy Friday!

Spring is in the air...

Even though this seems like one of the longest winters ever, spring will be here before we know it.

I brought some clipped branches in and the flowers bloomed! 

I am excited for spring for several reasons:

• 
  
   warm weather = playing outside more
• 
  
  pretty flowers blooming all over the yard (I have no idea what many of them are!)
• 
  
  vegetable garden
• 
  
  checking out the hiking trails
• 
  
  family picnics
• 
  
  spring festivals
• 
  
  student graduation (happy and sad...)
• 
  
  and... spring cleaning!

I am so ready to start spring cleaning.  A treat day would be for Jeff to take the boys for a Daddy date and let me have a few hours to crank up the music and get to work.

Here's my list so far:

Living Room

Clean windows, inside and out

Scrub fireplace stone (blackened by years of smoke)

Clean out fireplace inside

Vacuum all crevices, corners and ceiling

Dust all surfaces

Clean picture frames and glass

Clean baseboard heater

Dining Room

Wash baseboards

Touch up paint on walls

Pressure wash rug

Wash & polish foor

Clean glass on hutch

Dust all surfaces

Clean and polish table & chairs

Clean windows, inside and out

Clean baseboard heater

Vacuum all crevices, corners and ceiling

Kitchen

Wash window valences

Clean windows, inside and out

Scrub floor (I have had the hardest time getting old dirt out of the linoleum!)

Wipe cabinet fronts and handles

Clean out fridge

Wipe down appliances

Disinfect all surfaces

Bathroom

Wash valence

Clean window, inside and out

Scrub tub and toilet

Wash walls

Clean baseboard heater

Clean out under sink and cabinet

Wash mirror

Disinfect counters

Bedrooms

Wash curtains

Wash linens

Vacuum all crevices, corners and ceiling

Clean baseboards

Clean baseboard heater

Dust all surfaces

Clean picture frames and glass

Vacuum closet

Hallway/Office

Dust shelves

Organize books

Purge craft supplies

File papers

Basement

Have yard sale!

Organize tools (hubby to do!)

Wipe out closet cabinets

Put all holiday stuff together (waiting on leak in closet to be fixed)

Reorganize camping supplies

Wash curtains

Wash linens

Vacuum crevices, corners, celing and closets

Dust all surfaces

And that's just inside!  I am working on making some homemade cleaners for these jobs.  And by "working" I mean copying recipes, but I hope to have some made by the time I start cleaning! 

Maybe I should enjoy winter for a little longer...!

Ode to a Climber

The first child respected barricades and strategically positioned furniture.  He did not climb chairs, tables, ladders, stools, boxes or any stacked thing.  And it was good.
Enter child number 2.  He thinks the world is his playground and all is fair game to explore.

It makes cleaning out cabinets more interesting.

Bouncy seats are apparently not for sitting.

But coffee tables are...

And what good is an end table if you can't sit on top and play with the touch lamp?

Notice the toys underneath.

And an all-time favorite...

And these are just the ones where I happened to have the camera handy.  We won't talk about finding him on the dining room table, hope chest and top bunk.

And all this mischief makes for a tired boy.

Thankful for everyday adventures.

Try and Tell- Indoor play

Linking up to learn some new ideas here!

A couple of years ago we had some students come over for dinner.  We had one of those big sub sandwiches (yum!).   When I was cleaning up the big, plastic platter was in the trash.  It was so sturdy and had raised sides, I decided there must be something I could do with it. 
Now, Sean had a great Sunday School teacher who had a rice bucket she would pull out from time to time for them to play with.  I was not feeling up to that mess, so I thought dried beans would work.  A couple bags later mixed with some toys and I had the best activity our home has ever enjoyed- before or since!
I have graduated to use an underbed storage tub with wheels.  This Christmas we got him 2 construction vehicles and several bags of little rocks from the dollar store.  For his recent birthday party I mixed in 3 big cans of oats.  That was a hit with the kids!  Here it is back at home:

The oats can get a little messy if they spill out.  On the other hand they are good if you are worried about little ones putting the peices in their mouths.  My favorites have been the rocks because he likes to play construction site with them.  I got the shiny, colored glass stones at the dollar store, too.  Little girls would probably love playing with any of it!

When play is over, just put the top on and store away!

Recap of filler:

1.  Dried beans- they will break down over time, but still get lots of play out of them (beware your trip down the bean aisle at the grocery store will never be the same!)

2.  Rice- it can get messy if they spill over, but with close supervision this is great

3.  Oats- feels great to run your hands through and perfect for making piles

4.  Rocks/Stones/Shells- easiest to clean up, nice and chunky

Use with sand toys, cars/trucks, dishes, you name it! 

I know what I'm doing this weekend... kitchen clean out!

I came across the craziest video (forgot where I saw it as I was hopping here and there online earlier).  But when I did a search for it, I was able to pull up the link.  It is a Space-Saving Kithen model from 1949.  I think it gets to the actual kitchen at a little over 3 minutes in.  But seriously... I L.O.V.E. the organization in there. 
I have a nice sized kitchen, but not very well planned for practicality.  I have pretty much had everything in the same place since we moved in over a year ago.  After seeing this video I am inspired to look at it with fresh eyes and get it set up to work for me. 
I did say 1949... I actually like her dress, though I'm not too sure I could get away with it.

I did a quick search of 1940's kitchens and found some cute images.

http://artvisualizer.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

Here are several cute pictures from a catalog.  It has other stuff from around that time, too, but still interesting.

Here is a pic from a  retro blog I found (looking for pictures).  Seems there are a lot of blogs dedicated to retro design.  Of course, there are blogs dedicated to just about anything, so this should be no surprise.  I will check it out more later.  Something about the simplicity of that time calls to me!

Anyway, I guess I could spend the day looking around.  Time to get into my kitchen!!

  

Show Us Your Ministry Link up!

I wanted to throw out a quick blurb for the Show Us Your Life link at Kelly's Korner.  This is the first time I have linked up with her blog.  I thought it would be fun to meet any other minister's wives!  My husband is the Campus Minister at the Baptist Student Union (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) at our local university.  We have been in ministry to students since before we were married.  It has lots of ups and downs, but always worth it!

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