The Big Cleanup

For the past two weekends, we have been catching up on all that was not done while I was dealing with bronchitis. I decided that we would really clean things out rather than just piling junk away so we could see the carpet. I made a list of the rooms that needed work and then let the twins sign up for rooms they were willing to help with. They seemed to like this idea, because they knew that they would each get a break while the other twin was doing his/her jobs. We de-junked and made a big Salvation Army pile from the twin's rooms and from the baby girls' room. It feels so good for everything to have a place and to really know what we have. It seems they have so many toys and so few of these we actually purchased for them. Anyway, both twins have worked really hard to keep their rooms in top-shape. I think Bug is excited about playing in her room, because you can walk on the carpet without stepping on something sharp or tripping.

I am currently catching up on the laundry. I didn't even attempt to make a dent in the laundry pile until I finished all the rooms. I didn't want to do anything halfway, so I focused on one room at a time. This whole cleanup process is probably completely boring to read, but I'm so excited about it that I had to record it.

Work seems crazy. My assistant got a teaching position in the beginning of February and I've been flying mostly solo since then. Hopefully, I'll get a new assistant soon. However, I'm so independent that it feels good to be by myself (with the kids) so that it can be as chaotic as it needs to be without another person imposing her own ideas about appropriate noise levels, etc.

The twins have entered two different contests in the last week. The first was a PBS Young Writer's and Illustrator's Contest. Lou Lou's story was "The Noisy Farm" and Bear's story was "The Fish Who Had No Friends". The second contest they entered was called Doodles 4 Google. They had to decorate the word "Google". They were excited about both contests and seem to think that the winner will be announced within 2 days of mailing the entries off.

One LARGE blessing of having 4 children is seeing how much they love each other. Right after school, Lou Lou wanted to play with Birdie, talk to Birdie, carry Birdie everywhere. After supper, Lou Lou and Bug began playing and even made up their own "sister" high five.

After supper, Jimmy left with Bear for Boy Scouts. I decided to sit down and play the piano for awhile while all the girls played. Birdie walked in and climbed up on my lap. She listened to whatever else I was playing for a bit, and then I played and sang "Jesus Loves Me", "ABC", and "Twinkle, Twinkle". After I finished each song, she clapped her hands and said, "Yay!"

When I picked Birdie up from school today, I was holding her and she was looking around at her friends. I wanted to see if she knew the newest and youngest child in her class. I asked her, "Where's Parker?". She pointed to her and said, "Hey!" in a high-pitched, sweet voice. She sounded just like a mother, even though she's not even 6 months older than Parker. Birdie is really into babies. She typically wants two babies to hold and love. At school, she played with a baby one whole afternoon, asking for a diaper, wipes, etc. for her baby. Her teachers graciously complied:).