Friday/Saturday

 The boys were with Cheryl today, so they set up a "surprise" birthday party for me.  The secret was spilled before it was going to be a surprise, but it turned into a surprise because the boys were so excited.  There were balloons!  streamers!  decorations!  children yelling surprise! And children just being really excited to do something for my birthday.

Then we watched the Tulip Time fireworks.  They apparently didn't get the permit in time, so couldn't have them during Tulip Time.

Saturday was a pretty normal day.  We did some chores and Legos.  Tornado found his lovey again.  It definitely is his favorite toy.  I went to the store for school supplies and groceries.  I think I'm going to admit it: it would be nice if I could just give some money to the teacher for supplies and she could just get what is needed.  I know there are several problems with that and it might add to the workload.  (Although taking apart one twenty pack of glue sticks must be easier than ten two packs, right?)  But then I don't have to guess if thick black markers are needed or thin ones.  What size the sketchbook should be.  There were many specifics on the list, but they don't get all the specifics.

In other news, I was walking from school supplies to groceries and passed a rack of masks.  I've been looking for more masks but they're hard to buy.  Anyway, I glanced at the sign and it said $.50.  I looked again.  Yup, fifty cents.  Normally $10, $9.50 off.  I grabbed a pack.  Then I grabbed another pack, because at fifty cents even if they don't work it isn't a big deal.  It turns out they fit Joshua well, but are too small for Isaac.  It was actually just the kind I wanted for Joshua, although I'm not sure he needs ten.

Thursday: birthday

Happy birthday to me!  I'll admit, I was expecting a rather normal day.  It ended up better than normal.

It started with a big dentist appointment to fix Joshua's tooth.  The tooth had some serious problems, so they ended up pulling it instead of putting a crown on it.  So it was a good thing that Joshua chose the "extra sleepy" medicine.  There were some whale sounds while they were pulling it out, but it was not a traumatic experience.  And since it is a baby tooth, it really isn't a big deal.  He chilled for the rest of the morning watching a show on Netflix.

Joshua and I then met Cheryl and Isaac at the pool.  We didn't stay super long, but it was nice.

When I got home from the pool there were flowers!  Ben and I also went out to eat at another new restaurant, Seventy Six.  It was also delicious.

Wednesday: playground tour

We went to another new playground: Pinecreek Elementary 

Isaac: 8 - it was fun to climb

Joshua: 3 - the climbing ropes hurt his hands

Amanda: 4 - nice and shady

It was nice and peaceful.  And it made my heart ache for those in Afghanistan who are experiencing an absence of peace.

Cleaning

Now that I almost have regularly scheduled time without children, my goal is to clean and declutter the house.

But where to start?  Every place needs so much work.

Guest room - this is actually where I'll probably start, because that second bed needs to be functional again.  It's also a disaster.

Main area - this is where any guests see.  It doesn't need a ton of work, but some.

Master bath - this is where I always think about what I'm going to clean first, so it would be good because of that.

Master bedroom - it has some big pieces of clutter that need to be dealt with.  As I've been looking at it more closely it has a lot of little clutter too.

Upstairs closets - slightly lower priority, but they need to be gone through

Laundry room - should be fast, which could be nice

Upstairs bathroom - slightly lower priority, but it has stuff that can disappear

Joshua's bedroom - I'm going to take down the loft frame.  I know he should be responsible for his own room, but it really needs an adult.

Isaac's bedroom - it needs an adult, even though I feel like he should be able to do most of it himself.  This will probably be near the end, in case he grows up enough by the time I get to his room to do it himself. :D

Office - this is a disaster and is higher on the list.  We're hopefully getting it painted this fall, so do I clean it ahead of time or right before?

Downstairs bathroom - this will probably be the fastest room, but needs a little work.

Large basement room - Stuff has been piling up on the edges that I'd like to deal with

Small basement room - not too bad, but needs some TLC

Small storage room - Just needs a little bit of work, but will probably happen near the end.  I'll figure out what needs to be in it by cleaning the other places.

Large storage room - This needs a lot of work.  The question is do I clean it near the beginning and end (so there's actually room to put stuff while cleaning) or just wait until the end?

Garage - this needs to be done around October

Comments?  So where do you think I should clean second?

Monday: instructions for care

Joshua finished his bad guy Lego set today.  He also made instructions for Ben and I on care for it while he's gone later this week.

 

Check: High places that cats can't reach
X: Do not let the cats chew on the banners
X: Do not let the cats knock over it.

We went to Captain Sundae's for some ice cream.  Joshua especially enjoyed his chocolate monster ice cream cone.

This evening was day one of exercise without karate.  They did a few karate exercises and then ran the cul-de-sac and back for 17 minutes.  Isaac got an extra lap done, but also walked the last one.  Then I poured cold water on them. :D

Saturday: laundry

Joshua was working on his Lego set this morning so I postponed chores and worked on my Lego set too.  Then Isaac and Ben joined us working on their project and it was a nice family morning.

Tornado really likes this box.  I find him in it all the time.

I got a bilge pump for the beach.  The boys have spent hours lugging water in buckets, so this should be a good purchase.  It worked well.

And finally, sometimes you look at mountains of laundry and sometimes the laundry looks back at you.

Or, as Ben put it, "Sometimes you look into the laundry and the laundry also looks back into you."

Friday: Monday

 It felt like Monday all day today!  Usually we come home from Fort Wayne on Sundays.  Basically, I got messed up a lot.