Happy Cleaning!

Have you ever found that it much more fun to clean a house that you love? Maybe it's just the novelty of it, but I just mopped the floor and cleaned the walls and loved every minute. Greasy little finger prints a little above knee-height everywhere...sigh. All I could do was smile and wipe them away.

Seriously though, I get the vacuum out and I'm smiling. I wash a window (also greasy about knee-height fingerprints) and I'm pleased. Maybe after a little bit of time it'll wear off...?

I don't like using a lot of chemicals when I clean. I don't like the smell of them, and I don't like the residue they leave behind. Today, I mopped my floors with vinegar and water, and I used that same solution to clean my walls (other way around...I did the walls first). Mental note, vinegar and water is not strong enough to get the greasy fingerprints off my walls. At least not the grease that my 4-year-old creates! Or I need more vinegar. Any thoughts on how to wash my walls?

Like I said, I had a smile on my face while I was washing the walls. I kept thinking, "One day, my boy will be on a mission and I won't have evidence of him all over the place. In just a few weeks he will be at school 2 days a week and I won't have any evidence on those days." How can I begrudge my little boy who has so much excitement for life that he can't help but jump everywhere and bound off the walls. I'm obviously feeling sentimental today and may feel differently another day. But for today I am grateful for a good attitude.

It also helps that my kids are at a birthday party with their dad and Logan is sleeping. Cleaning in a quiet house that isn't getting messed up AS you clean is a beautiful thing!

The kid's are home...they had a great time. The birthday party was at a petting zoo. They loved it. Lucy rode on the pony and got to check out the chicks. Apparently she spent most of her time there.
There aren't many pictures of Max. Apparently he didn't pay much attention to the animals. They got awesome loot-bags, which they are spending their down-time now checking out. Really cool blow-up balloons (Lucy's popped and she was incredibly disappointed - a little overdramatic tells me she is a bit tired). Lucy also got a face-painted kitty cat on her arm (which is a bit smudged from wiping her tears).

We also set up Lucy's pretty pink princess bed this morning because our new mattress arrived. Pretty much perfect!
The mattress and box spring are just lying on the floor right now because we don't have a bed frame yet. But we will, once we make a trip to Ikea. I'm still undecided whether we should paint the room pink as well. Would that be too much? (Is that possible?)

This evening we're heading to a BBQ at one of Tyler's co-workers. They have a swimming pool. Should be fun. I made cookies. They didn't turn out AS well as usual, so I picked out the best looking ones to take with us.

Tomorrow I'm playing a piano solo in church. I'm incredibly nervous. I haven't done a solo in a really long time. And usually it's in front of a crowd of mostly family. Oh well. I'm sure it'll be fine...right? Maybe the perk will be that it's summer and a lot of people will be away.