A Few Favorites

First, I have to start with Bethany. She's definitely a favorite, but she is actually modeling a favorite meal. This is one of very few meals, apart from Pizza, that all four kids actually enjoy: Chicken and Dumplings! Yummy!! I think Bethany even ate more than Aiden - which says a lot!

And isn't she just too cute!

Just trying to get that yummy food to stay on the spoon is a task..not to mention getting as much as possible actually to one's mouth! (I don't think the entire spoonful ever made it to her mouth tonight!)

And another favorite that I cannot believe has taken me four kids and seven and a half years to purchase is a sweeper. I honestly have no idea if that's what it's really called, but that's what we call it. It cost me $20, I think, and can be up right like the picture, or take the handle off to make it shorter, and you can take the bottom off to make it a dust buster. And it only weighs about six pounds so all the kids can use it easily! Such a lightweight tool to have all three older kids learning how to vacuum (without using the regular vacuum which has to weigh at least 50 pounds, it seems) and take more responsibility for keeping the house clean.

Tristan, by far the least experienced, has the chore of vacuuming the dining room and kitchen after breakfast. Mikayla, an okay sweeper, has the chore of vacuuming the two rooms after lunch. And Aiden, who does a pretty good job with it, vacuums after dinner. So by the evening, both rooms are in pretty good shape. It's amazing how much nastiness is on these floors after any given meal. Ugh! I would seriously recommend that anyone with at least one kid or animal get one of these things! They aren't that expensive and are so simple and quick to use on a regular basis. Easier and more thorough, I believe, than a regular broom, and so much lighter and easier than a normal vacuum. Definitely a new favorite cleaning friend of mine.

Another new favorite of mine does not come with a picture. My absolute (I think) most hated job when it comes to cleaning my house is showers/baths. I HATE cleaning them. I would do a houseful of windows and toilets before cleaning one shower. I just hate the mess, getting wet, the reaching and stretching, the soap scum that never seems to want to come off. Not. Fun. At. All. This past week, though, I got the breakthrough idea (at least for me - I'm slow sometimes) to bring my cleaning supplies into the shower with me when I took a shower. I was already going to be wet and right there up close and personal to the scum, so may as well try to scrub it off. Oh, so much easier! I have my water supply right there and I don't have to keep turning it off and on, or worry about water going down my arms and getting me and my shirt wet, or getting water all outside the shower/tub area. Why did it take me how many years now of cleaning my own bathrooms to figure this out!?!? Don't get me wrong. I still don't know that I enjoy cleaning a shower, but it's infinitely better than the old way. I guess I'll have to start taking a shower every once in awhile in the kids bathroom, too though, so their's gets cleaned sometimes, as well. Such are the sacrifices. But like I said, it's better than the old way. :-)

Okay, that's enough favorites, at least for now. Keep an eye on the blog, though. I have a short series coming that I will begin posting shortly.