Fall Cleaning

Wow! Today is my 50th post! I'll have to figure out a way to celebrate that one! How about by getting more comments than I've ever had before! (hint, hint!) Maybe a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte! O.K., I'll quit being weird and get on with other news....

Yesterday was another gorgeous, warm day! I even opened the windows for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I wanted to take advantage of some fresh air while we still have the opportunity. Winter months create some pretty stale air around here! Joshua was feeling pretty icky with a cold, so he stayed home and slept the morning away. I had school with the kids and then we all had lunch together. It was fun having Daddy home even if he was sick! The warm sunshine got me motivated to get outside and clean some windows. Wow, did they ever need a cleaning! We have two big windows, one in the living room and one in the dining nook, that look out over the back deck. I had to wipe them 3 times over before they sparkled enough for me! The back door and screen door (both have glass) were absolutely filthy and I was embarrassed I hadn't noticed until yesterday! The previous owners had a dog and I'm sure that was dog slobber I was scrubbing off the glass! GROSS! But, that wasn't even the worst! There is a window in the basement that was just covered with a film of dried mud. You could hardly see out! I wanted to clean that window from Day1, but the reason I had not done so, was it's location. In order to get to this window from outside, you needed to crawl under the back deck! Once I got the other windows clean, I was officially in "conquer" mode! It was time to clean that window. First, we tried spraying it with high pressure water, but the dirt didn't budge! Then, I opened the window from the inside (standing on a table), and tried to reach around and clean it from that angle. That wasn't happening either! So, I'm sure you've guessed the next step! I wriggled myself under that deck, cobwebs and all, and cleaned that crazy window by hand! Once I got under the low crossbeam, I was able to sit up partially, so that made it a little easier. We were throwing out our old patio furniture cushions, so Joshua had the idea to put those down where I had to crawl. That was much more pleasant than dirt! And today, the window is bright and clear, and I'm so glad I picked yesterday to clean, because this morning there was snow on the ground! This last picture is Joshua's idea of keeping the kids occupied and out of his hair (he decided to get in on the action and organize the shed). I was cleaning the living room window and Joshua had just handed over the hose to Sara for a turn. I hear him say, "Now, stay there for a LONG time, cause the tree needs LOTS of water." I was dying laughing! He denies the forced slave labour, but I know better! :-)

I think I overdid it yesterday because today, I'm very snuffly and sniffly today. It won't be as productive a day, that's for sure! Rachel is here today, but it will be a short day, cause her grandparents are coming to pick her up at 2:30 p.m. and then they'll pick up Hailey and Dallin at school. I need to be having school with everyone, so I'd better go....

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

I am posting this video again because the previous one became unavailable on You Tube. Some of you missed out on seeing, so I hope you enjoy it! It's funny everytime!

Goodnight Moon

The moon was so beautiful last night and I just had to take a picture to share with you! This was just before 7 o'clock and Joshua was not quite home yet. (There was a lot of traffic on the way home and then I needed him to stop at the grocery store.) Yesterday was a cold, but clear, sunny day. This gorgeous moon was the perfect finishing touch!

Random Thoughts

I haven't posted in awhile, but even so, not much, other than "regular" busyness, has been happening around here. That's a change for once! Someone asked me where I've been lately.... Just trying to get into a groove with homeschooling mostly. I don't have as much time to play on the computer anymore! Sara is doing well in school. The discipline of sitting down to the books everyday, has been a challenge for her AND for me! I wouldn't say she "loves" school, but she's getting used to it, and her attention span is lengthening bit by bit. She enjoys games and songs most, so I try to find ways to incorporate those two things as much as possible! Sky joins us for about half the activity and the rest of the time he just plays by himself, does puzzles or watches Treehouse (kids' channel) for awhile. Even Rachel joins in the fun when she's here! We generally get started with school around 10 a.m. and go till lunch. Some days we do a bit more after lunch or later in the afternoon. Thursday is our no school day where we go into Calgary to see the chiropractor and do any other errands that need to be done in the city. I'm happy with what we're accomplishing in a four day school week, so we're sticking to that for now. I'll never be a rigid schedule kind of person, but at least we have a framework in place and that is working out great for us.

The kids have made so many new little friends in the neighbourhood. It seems like there's always another child playing over at our house, or my kids are over at someone else's place! Once the rest of the kids have come home from school, I hardly see Sara and Sky until suppertime! There is a playground directly across the street from our house, so I can always see what's going on through the windows at the front of the house. The other day, my kids decided to take Sky's toy doghouse out to play with at the playground. When I looked out to see how things were going, I noticed quite the stir! Every kid on the street who had a stuffed dog, had brought them outside to put into the doghouse and play "pets!" It was so cute! Then one of the little girls got a little bossy and territorial and I had to go do some damage control! One of the sweetest little friends that my kids have made, is Emily. She's a very cheerful, free spirited girl and we all enjoy having her over. She's almost 5 years old, so she makes the perfect friend for Sky and Sara, cause she's right in the middle of their ages. The three of them posed for this picture the other day! Also, here's one of Sara and Rachel, the little girl I babysit.

It snowed last night for the first time this season! We've had absolutely gorgeous fall weather and I couldn't believe the snow held off this long! It's been so warm and sunny for October. The kids have played outside so much and I've just been so thankful for the delay in winter. After a very warm day yesterday (short sleeve temps), the wind blew in with a fury in the evening and the weather changed very quickly. Right after the kids went to bed it started raining a fine mist. I kept seeing it out the window against the street light while we were watching T.V. We kept commenting on how "misty" and strange looking the rain was. When I finally got up to go downstairs for something, I looked out to the playground and everything was covered in white! It was so beautiful! We laughed at ourselves for not recognizing snow after such a nice summer and fall!

Updated House Pictures

I took some pictures of the house last week and posted them on my Facebook. I tried to post them on here the other day and it was giving me trouble. Also, there would have been a lot of pictures to scroll through! So, click on the link below to see how the house looks now! The boxes are cleared away and there are a few more pictures and decorations up. It's starting to feel more like home. It sure is a lot of house to clean, though! Enjoy the tour!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17000&l=f0d9e&id=650007186