After a short break my dear hubby helped me by finishing up the dishes and being a go-for. I just did the kitchen tonight and it took me over an hour to do the floor, bottom cupboards, and baseboards. I have a very small kitchen but there was alot of buildup along the edges, in the crevices, and on the baseboards. It took a butter knife to get some of the places and even then I couldn't get all of it. Some of the spots seemed to reappear on the cupboards as soon as they dried. Well after getting the dishes all done and the kitchen cleaned I found a few more dishes. Our cups and a plate and knife from my son's bread and jam snack. Isn't that the story of my life though. LOL As soon as the job is done there's a start to it needing to be done again.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
STRAWBERRY JAM AND A CLEAN KITCHEN
Today after church we grabbed a quick bite to eat through the drive thru and then hurried home. I had strawberries from Friday morning to make into jam and thought I'd get started on some of that deep cleaning. The Jam turned out well and I ran out of jars and lids before I ran out of pectin, strawberries, or sugar. I decided to call it good and clean up.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Swimming Lessons
Our children all took the free swimming lessons at the Y this year. Our middle child seemed to get the most enjoyment out of it, learning rapidly, so we purchased her some weekly lessons. She just finished and is most of the way through the long list for Progressive 1. She's done very well. We are so happy for her. She wanted to take the surfing class, so I figured we ought to start with learning to swim first. LOL She's like a fish in water, which is not surprising since she loves animals of all kinds and tries to emulate them. She got to dive, ride in a canoe and learn swimming safety. With all the swimming she's been doing for the last 2 weeks her new swimsuit is very faded.
SUMMER CLEANING?!?!
So the school year was coming to an end. We had just got back from the Brewster camp out. The laundry was finally caught up, and then we got a 24 hour inspection notice. Needless to say our apartment wasn't quite as clean as it could be. We explained our situation and assured them that we would be working on it over the weekend and it would be clean by Monday morning.(HUD inspection day) Sure enough it was clean by Monday morning with freshly mopped floors and all.
We waited for the notice on our door or in the mail because of it not being ready the 1st time the manager and maintenance man came in. It didn't come, thank God..... Well when they came in on that Monday they replaced the doors on our hall closet, and inside storage. Our hot spots for clutter. The doors we kept closed even when we swept and mopped. Our coffee table seemed to be in the way at one point and I offered to move it. No they said, it was Ok.
Well about 2 weeks ago we got a 30 day notice to move if we didn't have things cleaned up by the 1st of July. The notice was for the day that our apartment was clean.....so I was trying to rack my brains over what the problem could be. My husband even asked the manager and she just said some general stuff and to look at our agreement. The notice said access filth, clutter, and unsanitary living conditions. All we could think was that we needed to get rid of some extra items (the coffee table went for one). By the time we got the notice the inside storage had already been cleaned out, so we did the hall closet. We found our rental agreement and sure enough it said nothing about "clutter".
I asked a dear Mother in the Faith to come and help me rearrange my furniture (She's very good at that). I was in the middle of washing down my dining room chairs when she arrived. With love, compassion, and charity she said, "Let's tidy first, arrange the furniture and then clean." When she left we had tidied and arranged the dining room, living room, and kitchen. And guess what it looked clean.......... Even if we knew it hadn't been deep cleaned. She told me to finish tidying up and then get in there and clean after everything was tidied. I felt sooo much better about it.......And I hope and pray that that's what they're looking for.
Another dear Mother in the faith came yesterday with her steam cleaner and helped me steam clean 2 of the carpets that needed it. She was so patient to go over the bad spots many times slowly, with one of us getting the scrub brush after some of the tougher spots.
Well, what I hadn't mentioned yet is that my own dear Mother came last Friday on a mission to help me clean. She washed down my 2 littlest ones bedroom walls, and the upstairs hall walls. Using up at least one, I'm thinking 2 of those magic erasers. Our walls are textured and my baby has finally got out of the "coloring the walls" stage. She would do it any time I was busy schooling the older 2, or any time she thought she wouldn't be caught.
So today and tomorrow I'm having a yard sale and everything that doesn't get sold will be donated or put on Ebay later. But only one small box of Ebay stuff.
So that is what I've been busy doing since school has ended. We had planned on "Spring Cleaning" gradually over the summer. I guess we just had to get it done in a shorter amount of time.
I'm so very thankful for all of the "Mothers" I have in the faith.
My husband and I decided when our 1st child was ready for school to home school. At one point I lost a nights sleep on 2 different occasions wondering if we where doing what was best, if they would get the education that they needed. At some point after that I asked my dear husband what he thought. He said that he felt that homeschooling was the right choice. Just as matter of factly as anything, with no doubts. I've tried to do my best with some short fallings along the way. One of the big things is the housework.. It has been strongly suggested that I think about sending my children to Public school so that I can better take care of my home and so that my daughter can get the help that she needs. This fall my daughter will finally be getting the help that she needs, and I'm afraid I will be fighting another 2 years to get her the help that she needs, while she gets further behind. My son is at the age where he can get up of a morning and get his chores, and shower in about half an hour. When he applies himself he can really get his schoolwork done in short order. I'm afraid that he'll go to school, be a "good 'ol boy" and bring all his work home to do anyways.
This suggestion was made out of concern for us losing our home, the only one that we can afford. Also out of concern for my daughter who is having difficulty with reading. She's at least 2 years behind.
I feel confident that this year is the one that will really work for school, especially when we get our schedule down over the summer. We've lived here for over a year so we know when the HUD inspections are. Right at the busiest times for us of course. With prevention and maintenance, staying on top of every aspect of the housework we shouldn't have a problem there either. Also if the one maintenance guy comes over to work, (the one that we get written up after), I may ask for a few minutes to tidy up. Its hard though because he is older and I hate to ask him to wait.
It is so embarrassing and humiliating to be found short in your housecleaning. Its not easy on your pride to ask for help, advice, or guidance.
We need prayers that we could seek God's guidance. We want to do his will above all else. I'm most certainly not perfect and I'm afraid that my short comings will be a detriment to my family.
We waited for the notice on our door or in the mail because of it not being ready the 1st time the manager and maintenance man came in. It didn't come, thank God..... Well when they came in on that Monday they replaced the doors on our hall closet, and inside storage. Our hot spots for clutter. The doors we kept closed even when we swept and mopped. Our coffee table seemed to be in the way at one point and I offered to move it. No they said, it was Ok.
Well about 2 weeks ago we got a 30 day notice to move if we didn't have things cleaned up by the 1st of July. The notice was for the day that our apartment was clean.....so I was trying to rack my brains over what the problem could be. My husband even asked the manager and she just said some general stuff and to look at our agreement. The notice said access filth, clutter, and unsanitary living conditions. All we could think was that we needed to get rid of some extra items (the coffee table went for one). By the time we got the notice the inside storage had already been cleaned out, so we did the hall closet. We found our rental agreement and sure enough it said nothing about "clutter".
I asked a dear Mother in the Faith to come and help me rearrange my furniture (She's very good at that). I was in the middle of washing down my dining room chairs when she arrived. With love, compassion, and charity she said, "Let's tidy first, arrange the furniture and then clean." When she left we had tidied and arranged the dining room, living room, and kitchen. And guess what it looked clean.......... Even if we knew it hadn't been deep cleaned. She told me to finish tidying up and then get in there and clean after everything was tidied. I felt sooo much better about it.......And I hope and pray that that's what they're looking for.
Another dear Mother in the faith came yesterday with her steam cleaner and helped me steam clean 2 of the carpets that needed it. She was so patient to go over the bad spots many times slowly, with one of us getting the scrub brush after some of the tougher spots.
Well, what I hadn't mentioned yet is that my own dear Mother came last Friday on a mission to help me clean. She washed down my 2 littlest ones bedroom walls, and the upstairs hall walls. Using up at least one, I'm thinking 2 of those magic erasers. Our walls are textured and my baby has finally got out of the "coloring the walls" stage. She would do it any time I was busy schooling the older 2, or any time she thought she wouldn't be caught.
So today and tomorrow I'm having a yard sale and everything that doesn't get sold will be donated or put on Ebay later. But only one small box of Ebay stuff.
So that is what I've been busy doing since school has ended. We had planned on "Spring Cleaning" gradually over the summer. I guess we just had to get it done in a shorter amount of time.
I'm so very thankful for all of the "Mothers" I have in the faith.
My husband and I decided when our 1st child was ready for school to home school. At one point I lost a nights sleep on 2 different occasions wondering if we where doing what was best, if they would get the education that they needed. At some point after that I asked my dear husband what he thought. He said that he felt that homeschooling was the right choice. Just as matter of factly as anything, with no doubts. I've tried to do my best with some short fallings along the way. One of the big things is the housework.. It has been strongly suggested that I think about sending my children to Public school so that I can better take care of my home and so that my daughter can get the help that she needs. This fall my daughter will finally be getting the help that she needs, and I'm afraid I will be fighting another 2 years to get her the help that she needs, while she gets further behind. My son is at the age where he can get up of a morning and get his chores, and shower in about half an hour. When he applies himself he can really get his schoolwork done in short order. I'm afraid that he'll go to school, be a "good 'ol boy" and bring all his work home to do anyways.
This suggestion was made out of concern for us losing our home, the only one that we can afford. Also out of concern for my daughter who is having difficulty with reading. She's at least 2 years behind.
I feel confident that this year is the one that will really work for school, especially when we get our schedule down over the summer. We've lived here for over a year so we know when the HUD inspections are. Right at the busiest times for us of course. With prevention and maintenance, staying on top of every aspect of the housework we shouldn't have a problem there either. Also if the one maintenance guy comes over to work, (the one that we get written up after), I may ask for a few minutes to tidy up. Its hard though because he is older and I hate to ask him to wait.
It is so embarrassing and humiliating to be found short in your housecleaning. Its not easy on your pride to ask for help, advice, or guidance.
We need prayers that we could seek God's guidance. We want to do his will above all else. I'm most certainly not perfect and I'm afraid that my short comings will be a detriment to my family.
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