surprise cleaning

This is another post that is more for me than you. I feel like if I put it out there, it's a real plan, not just an idea that will never happen.

I may have already posted this way back when I started this blog. Well a lot has happened since then and I need to get back on the cleaning wagon. Addie will be 6 months soon and I am ready to start making a real effort to keep the house clean(ish). Dan really loves a clean house and he has been so patient while I haven't really been able to clean much. He has been doing a lot of the cleaning lately. So this is for him mostly... but I am always up for a good challenge. 

I LOVE to clean out closets, clothes, cupboards etc. I LOVE to organize and put stuff in order. I HATE to deep clean. It's no fun. I wish I loved it. Mya loves it. I hope she still does when she's a mom.

Okay so usually, I try to do some laundry and dishes throughout the day, sweep and pick up the downstairs mess before I go to bed. Well, that leaves a whole rest of the house to be cleaned, like deep cleaned. Mya picks up her room and Winter's room pretty often so that's nice. A friend suggested this system a few years ago and I tried it and it is kind of fun and makes keeping the house clean pretty easy if you actually do it.

Choose 20 areas that you can break up into around 5-10 minute jobs. That way everything gets cleaned once a month. It would be great to get everything cleaned more often than that but I'm not Superwoman. Is there a Superwoman? Wonderwoman... anyway, I'm neither!

Then you write them down on 20 different pieces of paper (or one cut up into 20 pieces) and put them in a hat or jar or whatever. Monday through Friday, pick one each day in the morning and tackle it. I like it because it's a surprise and kind of a game. It's fun to do with the kids too. I used to let Mya pick them for me and she loved it. I totally put them back if I really don't like that job :) but eventually I'm going to have to do it right? 

Here are my 20 jobs:

vacuum upstairs hall and office
vacuum upstairs bedrooms
vacuum upstairs bathrooms
vacuum downstairs (rugs & bathroom)
vacuum stairs
vac under couches and hard to reach places
Windex upstairs 
Windex downstairs 
dust upstairs 
dust downstairs
master toilet etc.
master bathroom
master shower
kids' shower
kids' toilet & counters 
wash and change master bed sheets
wash and change kids bed sheets
wash dog beds & upstairs rugs
sweep & mop - this one is nearly impossible, but hey it could happen (ooooh maybe I can put the baby in the Bjorn while I mop?)

okay I can only think of 19 but I'm sure I will come up with 1 more later on :) Less work for me!

I'm also going to start marking the following on the calendar to do once or twice a month. If it's not on the calendar, I won't do it. 

File paperwork
Wash car
Take dry cleaning in
pick up dry cleaning

(Laundry is also A LOT easier if you do a load first thing in the morning each day. Going to start that tomorrow too.)

Well it's May 12. I'm starting late for May so I'll have to do two jobs a couple of days. Ugh. Wish me luck! This is exciting! Okay, here I go!

I will keep you updated each week to let you know how I'm doing and how it's working with the 3 kids... and 2 dogs. 

may kid quotes

Winter: (to me) - i'm NOT gonna get a spanking! i'm gonna spank YOU!

My mom was helping me out on Easter by wiping Winter's hiney in the bathroom. Winter bent over and my mom commented on a cute decoration. 
Mom: Oh look at that cute Easter egg.
Winter: That's not an egg grandma, that's poopoo!

Winter: I'm gonna get another orange.
Me: No, you've already had 3
Winter: Okay I'll get one more and then I'll have a time out.
(What do you say to that?)

Winter: (on our drive home) Mama it's soooo tired in here.

Winter: Can I go to sleep in your bed tonight? 
Me: No
Winter: But your bed is in my heart...

Mya: Knock knock who is it?
Winter: Happy birthday come in my house!
(Makes no sense)

Mya: (giggling histerically and trying to say the blessing) Dear Jesus...I'm too silly to pray! I caaaan't stahahahahop hahahahaha!

Mya: Mommy why are you so fusserstated?

Mya: Mommy, when you are trying to go fast, you should go slow so you don't forget stuff. (Profound)

Mya: (saying the blessing for breakfast) Please help baby not to cry anymore and please don't let her bite mommy's boobies anymore too.

(Mya opens the door and joins me in the bathroom)
Me: Can I help you?"
Mya: (with a smile) Yes. Ummmm...you can help me color...

about me

This is a paper Mya filled out for Mother's Day at Preschool. Here's what it says for those of you who don't have a magnifying glass :)I've highlighted her answers.

Mya's mom is Beary Special!
My Mom is 3 months years old.
She has grey hair and blue eyes.
My Mom is the prettiest when she has a bay shower or wedding.
My Mom likes to make crafts for friends.
My mom loves to eat salad at Max's.
My mom always says we always have to listen to her.
My mom is funny when she is not funny.
My mom loves to make crafts for birthdays.
I love my Mom because she loves me. 

Obviously she has no concept of time. Not sure why she thinks my hair is grey and my eyes are blue.  That would be Dan... I have brown eyes and very proud to say not a single grey. I do tend to dress up for baby showers and weddings and there have been several lately :) I don't really make crafts for friends but that's a lovely idea. I do order a salad every time we go to Max's and I don't like to share it. And I certainly tell her to listen to me, probably about 50 times a day so I'm glad that's sinking in. She doesn't think I'm very funny. Thanks. Bite me. I do make cards for birthdays so that's half true... and I'm glad she knows I love her. This is such a revealing little paper. It really shows how Mya perceives me. I'm going to have to work on a few things to get a good review from Winter next year.

exhausted

We went out to dinner with our friends, Bill and Karla. They chose not to have kids. They just put up with ours now and then instead. We hunted down a bar/restaurant (with mostly elderly customers) that had Time Warner and went out to dinner to try to watch the Dodger game. Of course it was rained out that day. 

Sometimes we get a babysitter and go out to dinner without the girls. Sometimes we take them with us and are reminded of why we should always get a babysitter.

The baby was fussy so I had her on my lap while trying to entertain Mya with the restaurant crayons and carry on a conversation with Karla. Winter was bossing Bill around while Mya asked Karla endless questions. 

We finally got our food. That kept the girls busy for about a minute. Winter thought Karla could use a slice of lemon in her wine and quickly put one in before anyone could stop her. Meanwhile, Mya was offering her pieces of honeydew melon an inch away from her eyeball. I didn't even notice that the game was rained out or that all the old people were watching us, smiling. Dan was trying to have a conversation with Bill but rarely got a sentence out before telling Winter to sit down or get out from under the table. After the 5th trip to the potty, Dan sat down and said, "Is anyone else EXHAUSTED? I raised my hand. 

wedding #2

After the first wedding I posted, we had a 2nd wedding 6 days later. At least this one was local, even though it took an hour to drive 20 miles... only in LA. The groom is one of Dan's buddies from work. The ceremony and reception were both so lovely. The bride looked stunning. Unfortunately I never remember to get pics of the ceremony. I get so happy for the bride, I lose focus. Next time. Here's one I stole from Facebook:

I have some other funny pictures but they are slightly inappropriate so I opted not to post them. All I have to say is Firefighters are a special breed. 

Another photo booth :) It's not as much fun without the baby but still fun.

yum

My new favorite summertime snack. It's not technically summer yet but it is in SoCal! 

Very toasted toast with hummus, avocado & tomato with a little S&P :)

It's super healthy too!

around the house

Snoozing Winter style

Some light reading (Dean Koontz)

Helpin' a sista out

This is the face she makes when she is playing "tiger" or when she is not happy with something you've said. She calls it her mean face.

I can count the number of times I've cleaned Mya's room in the last year on one hand. This is not because I don't clean. Well that wouldn't be a total lie. But she cleans it herself. These days, instead of going to bed, she cleans. Fine with me! After I put the girls to bed yesterday she cleaned her room, Winter's room (quietly while Winter slept) and downstairs. It's like having a 4-year-old maid. And she loves it. And I love it. 

Winter always falls asleep with tons of toys and random things in her bed. It's fun to go in her room after she's fallen asleep and see what's in her bed. Below she's snuggling a hat. A week ago she had a Costco size bag of diapers on her legs. Weirdo.