Made to clean

Ellie, Josh and Hunter have been very helpful. They have motivated me to clean. But the words "Mom, you take such good care of the house. You make it sparkle. I love having a clean floor. Thank you so much for loving us by cleaning up after us." are not words I hear from them. Their motivation comes in the form of messes.

The upstairs got a vacuum, because the kids poured their cereal into bowls. We let them have dry cereal in the morning while we are getting ready. Usually we pour the cereal. But this day they did, and of course it was an almost empty box that became a completely empty box on Josh's floor. So out came the vacuum, and the entire upstairs was dirt and dust free by 8:00 am.

Today Hunter thought he'd help motivate me to mop, by pooping then walking in it on the kitchen floor. He apparently didn't get it all out a half hour before, when he pooped in the hall upstairs. He's been having issues lately. So out came the mop and the kitchen floor fairly shines.

Last night Ellie didn't make it to the potty in time, and the floor in front of the commode needed to be cleaned. Gary cleaned that one up. I wonder if I had cleaned it up, if I would have done the entire bathroom floor. I will probably have another opportunity to find out.

Aren't my bunch so thoughtful to make sure I get the cleaning done? And right now it is eerily quiet, so I might be blessed with another mess and an opportunity to clean something up. I wish I always looked at messes as blessings and an opportunity to show love.

Cable like TV - Here we come

Well, what do you know. My parents came over tonight, and we got to talking about the digital cable box of ours that's not working. My dad asked how it was connected. We have it connected right. He asked if we programmed the channels. We asked "Programmed it?" We turned the box on, and he talked us through the process, and what do you know? We now have digital TV, and cable-like reception. We've never had TV so good or as many channels. I think we've doubled them.

Silly me. If only I looked at the book that came with the box.

The pool and swim lessons

We decided Ellie is going to take swim lessons. Last night we signed up for pool membership, and this morning we all had high hopes for Ellie signing up for swim lessons. I envisioned my darling daughter would gracefully enter the water. She would look at the life guards, smile brightly, and show them how well she handles the water. It didn't quite go like that.

First we took care of business, payment. Then we walked toward the pools. A life guard took her to the kiddie pool, which is small and only 3 feet deep with a ramp going into it. She had Ellie go down the ramp and at the bottom asked Ellie to dip her shoulders in the water. She refused. Another life guard got in with her, and still she refused. She also refused to let go of the railing. She even tried climbing it - which is a no no. She then climbed out of the pool and ran across the pool deck. She was told by several life guards not to run, and she referred unkindly to the one particular life guard who stopped her from running. More life guards got in with her as she went back down the ramp and again refused several more times to dip her shoulders, no matter what ploys the six life guards tried. I tried talking with her twice, to no avail. I finally took her out of the pool, and she started having a fit. I couldn't even dry her off, with all her fussing. I put her in a football hold and hauled her out to the car, kicking, hitting, and crying.

The life guard wisely enrolled Ellie in the beginner class, and Gary picked a swim lesson time.

Oops

Forgot to mention that the other part of our seeds not growing could possibly have been the lack of water they received. That might be something they need. But unfortunately, I'm not one for the work of watering. My house plants can attest to that.

But this time around, I laid out a soaker hose along the rows, and I have it attached to a regular hose that I simply attach to the outside spigot when it's time to water. Much simpler and easier than standing there forever holding the hose and spraying the garden by hand or trying to set up the sprinkler.

And, of course, I always welcome God watering the garden.