What's that smell?

Much to Brian's dismay, this post is NOT about the Potty Wars.  Though, I promise I will do one regarding that specific topic very soon (and perhaps the title will be the same...).

As I was switching laundry today, I noticed a horrendous smell coming from the laundry room.  While I know clothes get dirty when you wear them, we only wear them once...they don't get THAT dirty (and if my kids smell that bad obviously I am not bathing them enough...though I was sure once every two weeks was enough...).

I pulled the two baskets of dirty laundry down and checked behind the washer and dryer where I found no less than 4 pairs of dirty underwear (I couldn't understand where all the new underwear I bought was disappearing to), 5 lonely socks and a shirt....none of which was the source of the smell....

I decided that the best idea was to just start washing.  Eventually the smell would come out in the...well, the wash. 

As I am loading the washing machine I grab a towel and find the source.  Somebody (KIRBY!!!!) wiped up spilled tuna juice with a towel and left it to sit. 

So now a load of laundry is running on the hottest water possible with both laundry detergent and Pine Sol (to kill whatever may be living on that god awful smelling towel).

Awesome.

To Do:

This upcoming weekend is a weekend of PAR-TAYS around here. Every day of the weekend, beginning on Friday we will be hosting guests in our home. Saturday evening there are guests coming that I do not even know...people that I have never met, coming into my home. Kirby was VERY unsure of this...and now I am wishing I had heeded his advice.

Needless to say, my home needs a VERY thorough cleaning. Thankfully, I have a number of days off this week to get it done.

One way I keep myself on task is to publish it here, holding myself accountable to the world (or at least my version of the "world" - all of you).

So today, I will accomplish the following:

• Clean and organize the kitchen.

Including:

• The stove (which IS NOT a self-clean oven...which means scrubbing and FUMES)
• The microwave
• The floor (and being that it is winter and there is a LOT of mud out there due to the snow that can't decide whether it is coming or going - this is going to be a HUGE job)
• The refrigerator (my least favorite job right after the floors)
• The table and chairs (of course, they get cleaned every evening, but A is not the cleanest eater and they need a REALLY good scrubbing)
• The top of the cabinets (this ends up being a place for little odds and ends to get placed and never returned to their rightful place)
• The top of the fridge (where toys that are taken away end up)

So that is that. Period. What a way to spend a Monday.

Tuesday will be more of that just a different room of the house...as will Wednesday and Thursday and Friday...UGH!

AND they are predicting ANOTHER snow storm on Tuesday. Have I mentioned that I don't believe my children have had a full day of school since before Christmas? Did you know that looking at the 10-day forecast they are predicting snow 6 out of those 10 days? I'm SO done.

One day this week I will be posting all about the Pinewood Derby and the homecoming of our baby girl...what an emotional day that was...pics and stories to come.

I will do my best to be by each of your blogs (especially you, Very Good Year...I am awaiting news...ANXIOUSLY) but understand, I will be VERY busy!!

TO DO:

Every day I have a list of things to do. More often than not I forget or put it off or get involved in something else until 5pm comes along and I think "WTF have I been doing all day?". Then at bed time I lie awake thinking of all the things I need to do the next day. It is not uncommon for me to grab my cell phone and start making up lists of things I NEED to remember to do. Sometimes it helps. Other times I ignore it long enough that I forget about it. I am such a procrastinator.

We have had some type of cold bug in our house for over a week. Needless to say, my house is trashed. TRASHED! From top to bottom. But today I have the day off and today is the day it HAS to be taken care of. Before I lose my mind...

So today I have a list. I am giving myself permission to hop on the computer after I finish each thing and check it off (and maybe check my Facebook too 'cause I am busy whopping Nicki's butt at Scrabble and can't let it go too long between turns).

• Make beef stew and bread for tonight's dinner
• Clean out A's playroom
• LAUNDRY (and NO this does not mean washing and drying it all to leave it on the couch - you have to fold it too)
• Wash sheets
• Wash, dry and put away dishes
• Sweep the kitchen floor
• Vacuum living room and sweep stairs
• Fill Andrew's prescription (for the stinky ear infection)
• Make bed with clean sheets
• Find A's costume for holiday play
• Bathe both boys
• Dinner done and eaten by 5
• **Edited to add** Don't beat yourself up if you don't finish everything
• Call Sarah and check in on her (preferably while you are doing one of the other chores)

I have 3 hours to complete it all before the kids make it home from school. We have their holiday play tonight so there won't be much time to do anything after they get home...

So if you try and call and I don't answer its because Newsies and Les Mis are turned up full blast and I can't hear anything...wish me luck!

**Edited** Confessions:

I did not make the beef stew because, apparently, beef left in the fridge for a week is no longer good (at least it didn't smell or look good when I opened it).

I did not actually TALK to Sarah. She was at work when I called but I told her I was thinking of her and to give me a call when she could.

The playroom will have to wait for another day...although it NEEDS to be done before Santa comes. He will not leaves presents at a house where the kids moms haven't cleaned up the messes.

I am either old or a total geek...

If you are here for the contest click HERE. The contest will end on Thursday December 11th and the prize will be mailed out on Monday. You can earn multiple entries so go forth and spread the word!

We take a break from our regularly scheduled cleaning to let you all know what a dork I am.

Can I tell you what got me motivated to do the housecleaning today (even though I am stuffy and cranky and just feel, overall, crappy)? Newsies. Don't know what Newsies is? Go here. (Christian Bale may die a little inside every time someone brings this up...after all he went from singing newsboy to Batman...a bit of a change - honestly this is when I first fell in love with him.)

Want a better idea? Watch these:







So I recently acquired an IPod (more on that in a later blog) and last night I uploaded a bunch of my old CDs including The Newsies Soundtrack and today I was a cleaning fool. Working up a sweat, singing at the top of my lungs...hope the neighbors couldn't hear me...crying at parts, dancing...I swear I could have been on stage (okay, maybe not, but my bathroom sure felt like a stage). And before I was singing from The Newsies I was singing from Les Miserables...it's my "Showtunes" playlist (although neither are REALLY showtunes...).

I feel a little cheesy and even a little more old (as if living through Sunday wasn't bad enough). Reminds me of my high school days - sitting on my boyfriend's couch, singing along (how did I not know he was gay???). We actually performed a Newsies song in chorus (yes, he was in chorus with me too...how did I not know....seriously!).

What gets you motivated? Is it something you might be embarrassed to admit to anyone? (I tell you, Kirby will NEVER see my doing that and my kids - ugh, I would never live it down.) I want to hear all about it!

Why can't they just sit down?

When I was pregnant I prayed for boys. I know what I put my parents through and I knew that my brothers were so much different. They didn't worry my parents by cutting class enough times that graduating was nearly not an option. They didn't worry them with the drama of teen love. They didn't run up phone bills larger than what I charge for an hour long massage session. And, most certainly, they did not get pregnant at a young age and make their parents grandparents before they were 50...

God knew what I could handle so he gave me two boys. God also has a sense of humor, however, and gave me a step-daughter that I helped raise from the age of 9 till she moved out at 18 (and I have to tell you, that girl drove me CRAZY from about ages 11-17).

So, here I am, living in a house FULL of testosterone (or budding testosterone as the case may be).

There are many things I have gotten use to:

• I don't get asked about my day at the dinner table.

• Nobody notices my haircuts or my pedicures.

• If I get sick I am still responsible for taking care of the children.

• I take time off to do doctor's appointments, IEP meetings, etc.

• I am the one who is responsible for making sure the family looks halfway decent before leaving the house (and as I am sure my sisters would tell you, that isn't really saying all that much).

• I am the only member of the family who does not own a pair of jeans or underwear with holes in the most unusual places (those get thrown away immediately if they are mine).

• I am the only member of the family who finds it completely inappropriate to scratch/adjust yourself in public.

I deal with it. These are things that are expected of most moms and women everywhere.

One thing I cannot get use to is the bathroom.

So I wonder:

• Why must I clean up pee around my toilet, off my toilet seat and, somehow, out of the trash can in the bathroom MULTIPLE times a week (and in all honesty, it probably does not get cleaned enough)?

• How is it that these boys are not capable of aiming their pee directly INTO the toilet?

• Why is it that they only put the seat up 4 out of 5 times (and, honestly, I could deal with a seat that was up all the time as long as it meant I would NEVER have to sit in pee again)?

• Why is it that WHEN they remember to put the seat up the pee, somehow, lands all over the BACK of the toilet?

• And when the heck are they going to STOP doing this?

I know many of you mommies out there deal with the same thing. I know many of my readers are mommies to all boys (including those wonderful, loving, adoring, PEE FILLED husbands of yours).

What's a mom to do?

Done

I finished. Late Wednesday night I read the last page of the last book of The Twilight Series. And then I cried. No, I am not joking.

The books were wonderful. Better than Gone With the Wind...I don't know. Honestly, I never read it. Just please remember that the author wrote these books for young adults.

The stories were entertaining, heart warming (and racing), full of love and passion and just plain enjoyable.

Honestly, these books are not my typical read. Honestly, I judged every last one of you that raved about them over the past 6 months. Honestly, I am a shmuck and now I am embarrassed that I, too, have hopped aboard the Cullen train!

So, if you haven't had a chance to start the series, do. The story of Edward, Bella and Jacob is every girl's fantasy....it may help you remember what you forgot that you wanted.

I won't pretend that they were the best books I EVER read (although they do come close). I don't want anyone to be disappointed and I find that when we build up expectations that is what will happen. I want every one of you to read these books and love them like I do.

Of course, now my house is trashed, Kirby is jealous (of Edward and Jacob, perhaps...but more likely over the fact that I have ignored him for the past week), the laundry needs to be folded, the floor needs to be mopped, the tub needs to be washed...all worth it.

Take a week, enjoy the books and let me know what you think!

I will be back to regular blogging soon enough...great pictures to come of our pumpkin fun and the kids great costumes!

Coprophobia

In all the SITS excitement yesterday I discovered a new blog called Parenting Pink. Honestly, I found a number of new blogs to read but she is new to the SITS family so I dropped on over to offer some SITS love. While I was there I read about this:


Coprophobia - fear of excrement


I realized that any one person that suffers from Coprophobia could NEVER (and I mean NEVER) do my job.


In between responding to all the SITS girls love, chatting with Nicki and making a KICK ASS dinner (bison stew - much like beef but with bison - and homemade bread bowls) I was cleaning up excrement. All kinds of excrement. Everywhere.


A and I started our morning by him going on the potty all by himself - so exciting!! I was psyched! I encouraged him to keep trying to be sure that he was done. He swore he was done. I told him to get a pull up and went to the computer for a minute to check my comments. Less then a minute later I hear, "Moooooooommmmy POOOP". Sure enough, there it was, ALL over my carpet!

And our afternoon started with Z yelling "MOOOOOOOOM, there's a wet spot all over the couch cushion....I think it's pee". Our NEW couch. The one that I carried up the stairs by myself...ok, that's a bit of exaggeration, but still.

Thank god I borrowed (stole) the steam cleaner from the girl I share space with. I whipped it out did the carpet and the cushion no problem. Except that I am SO tired of cleaning up excrement.

This morning...."MOOOOOOM, A just pooped all over the floor". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! SERIOUSLY?!

I'm done.

So now A is in underwear. Real big boy underwear (it's inside out but if I say anything he screams "that's how I like it" so I let it go). The timer is set for every 30 minutes. If he poops on the potty he gets gum. If he has an accident I have the steam cleaner.

This child is going to get potty trained if it kills me.

I even promised him a playdate with "Jon" once he is potty trained....

Please pray for me today. Please pray for my child. Please pray that the steam cleaner will be able to handle a day full of poop....

Honestly, if I have to clean up much more excrement I think I am going to develop coprophobia. I am beginning to fear excrement. Even the thought of it.

God help me!

Greasy, smelly sleeping

So last weekend started with a bang...or a slip, I guess. It was just an idea of what the weekend would entail. Totally stunk!

A was upstairs, playing quietly in his playroom. Or so I thought...

He was actually in my bedroom, "painting". I say "painting" because he wasn't using paint...and he wasn't using a brush, and he wasn't using paper. Instead he was using every single bottle and tube of whatever he could find on my comforter.

Vaseline, A&E ointment, moisturizers, diaper rash cream and even a few medicated ointments that I would rather not reveal to the world.

It was EVERYWHERE. The comforter was COVERED. He dumped it all over the bed and spread it all around...ugh.

Thankfully since my new found love (or something) of cleaning, the bed was made and he was only able to cover the comforter and not the set of sheets.

Of course, we washed the comforter immediately in HOT, HOT, HOT water (how energy efficient). It didn't work. It smelled like the Vaseline (why Kirby bought scented Vaseline for A's diaper rash is beyond me) and it was covered in grease spots.

Of course, they are currently replacing our furnace. No heat. And, of course, it dropped below 40 last night and I had the windows open all day. Pretty cold.

So last night we slept under a sheet, thin cotton blanket, a beautiful quilt my mother made (beautiful, just not incredibly warm) and a smelly, greasy comforter.

To anyone that may wonder why we have used furniture and never buy anything new and beautiful I offer this.

And just a heads up, I am not revealing Kirby's embarrassing story. He reads the blog (occasionally) and he told me yesterday (after he read my post) that he really appreciated that I wouldn't be sharing the story...I just can't do it.

They are at it again.

I am trying to learn how to knit. I even bought a book.

The only thing I have learned thus far is how to untangle and reroll a ball of yarn. That was after I cleaned up worms from my living room floor. Remember this story? Yeah, we had a repeat of that this morning. And now my new ball of yarn is not so nice and neat...but far out of reach.

What a Monday...after an awful weekend.

Filthy Friday...

So I have to tell you that I HATE cleaning my shower. Even as much as cleaning the shower, I HATE cleaning my fridge.

Two things that I haven't done this week...

What chores do you hate doing?

Go ahead, suck it up!

Remember the Ipod that I wanted that nobody gave me? Remember the millions of other contests that I entered that I didn't win? Well, I do. And now I know why. It's because the God of Bloggy Contests was waiting for me to enter THIS ONE.

That's right, all. I am going to win this most amazing vacuum. And you know that after my housecleaning saga I NEED it. And not like I "needed" the Ipod...really, this time I am serious, folks.

And I am going to look as hot as Mama Kat does in her beautifully photo shopped 1950s housecleaning photo when I use it.

The Housecleaning Saga

Okay, I have to admit that Kirby really freaked me out when he referenced "nesting". Got me all counting back the days, checking my "symptoms", basically freaking out.

And I have come to the conclusion that I am just trying to be a better "wife" and mom. Let's face it, the old adage is right, "a clean home is a happy home". When things are clean and not cluttered our house works better. So this has been my goal this week.

Today, I cleaned the living room carpet. WTF was I thinking? More importantly, WTF was our landlord thinking when they put light beige carpet in a 4 bedroom apartment - with carpeted stairs at the entry way...seriously!

Here is what I have managed to accomplish:

-I ran my big toe over with The Kirby vacuum cleaner

-I used an entire bottle of cleaner with (what I consider) very little result

-I have given myself blisters on my right hand (eh, SO not good ESPECIALLY when your hands are YOUR JOB)

-I wasted an afternoon on my hands and knees scrubbing or standing and pushing a steam cleaner back and forth in a "slow repetitive" motion per instructions

Honestly, the carpet where we don't walk everyday looks PERFECT. Someone could look at that carpet and wonder if it has just been installed. Of course, that carpet lives behind the TV...therefore NOBODY EVER SEES IT.

The carpet where we DO walk is another story. It doesn't look a whole lot better than it did BEFORE I spent the entire afternoon cleaning it.

The first four months that we lived here whenever we vacuumed we noticed that the bag was full of fluff - like carpet fluff. Not a little but a full freaking bag. The high traffic areas look like they have been in the house for years when, actually, they were put in right before we moved in (less then two years ago). I am thinking the carpet sucks.

I have come to the decision that cleaning carpets is not worth the agony.

On to the kitchen floor...

Nesting?

Yesterday was a day of housecleaning for me. The boys and I cleaned the bedroom, the bathroom, the living room, a closet and the kitchen. By 10pm I was exhausted and Kirby was FREAKING out...

"I've only seen you act this way two other times in your life", he said. Those "two other times" resulted in Z and A. He is a nervous wreck. I think it is hysterical. I told you all I wasn't a housekeeper - now you know how honest I was being :)

Honestly, I am not pregnant (god help me). I am going through a fall cleaning phase. That's it. I am tired of the clutter and I have begun to realize that clutter in my home makes clutter in my brain - and I don't have enough empty brain space to be filling it with such trivial things.

I have also realized that my 18 year-old step son (who does not pay money for rent but does the major chores in the house instead) is getting ready to move out and somebody has to be responsible for those things. I can't expect that Z is ready (although he BELIEVES that he can do dishes...the grime he leaves in the glasses leads ME to believe otherwise). Kirby honestly does so much (he works full time, comes home to prepare meals, baths kids and gets them to bed) that leaves me...so I better get on board.

Yesterday's "fun breaks" really worked. I just need to remember to take them myself too - and to keep my MP3 player with fresh batteries. I also need to remember that if I keep up with it I won't have a HUGE mess to deal with...

So this morning I made the bed, picked up the dirty clothes Kirby left on the floor, took the glasses of water out of the bedroom, started some laundry and started my day...It is just a matter of working it into my schedule.

And if Kirby keeps freaking out about my "nesting" I am going to highly encourage him to hire the housekeeper I have been begging for!!

Fall Cleaning

I will be the first to admit that I am NOT a housekeeper. Clutter infiltrates my life in every area...but I'm working on it! It is not a joke when I say I often have to look over a mountain of miscellaneous paperwork to see the computer screen. I have seen blogs where people take pictures of certain areas of their home each day...that could NEVER happen!

Today, this afternoon, for a couple hours the boys and I are going to do some chores. As soon as Z is done his homework we are going to get started. Problem is that we all get SO BORED with cleaning. So I am adding some "fun breaks". Every 15 minutes (as long as everyone has worked their tails off) we are going to break for 5 and have some fun!

So today I want to know how you all keep your house in order. How do you get your kids to keep their rooms clean? How do you find time to keep your house clean (between blogging and kids and work, etc)? What chores are your kids responsible for?

My sister Monica uses Fly Lady...and it seems to work for her. Do any of you have experience with the Fly Lady's approach to housekeeping?

Thank you all for your laughs the other day! There were some great jokes and great videos! I loved it!

Good news and bad news

The good news is that my kitchen floor is clean.

The bad news is that A decided that he would help me clean it by standing IN the kitchen sink spraying water all over it.

5 minutes to take a phone call. Is that too much to ask?

Like I don't have enough to do today getting ready to leave for a week...

Extreme...disgustingness?

Last night the Manchester, NH Extreme Makeover Home Edition aired. It was a very exciting night in our household since Kirby had worked very hard on the project alongside the stars including Ty Pennington.

Kirby and I had worked together on the last Extreme Makeover site in the area a few years ago when they came to Wells, ME. It was a pretty neat experience. This time, however, Kirby was there from beginning to end.

Here are some great shots Kirby got of the process:

The outside of the house:



And again:



Look up on that ladder! That is Ty Pennington!



The family finally seeing their house:



Ty practicing his lines before he heads back into the house:



Needless to say, Kirby was very proud of his involvement in this project. It was a very cool experience and he was excited to be able to share it with us last night when the show finally was aired.

Unfortunately, Zachary wasn't able to watch it with us. I'll give you an idea why...see below:















Zachary's room is a constant source of argument around here. Zachy takes after his parents. We have not been very good role models in the area of organization.

But Zach was given plenty of time to get his room clean. I told him at noon that he needed to have it done before he could watch the show. Knowing how important the show was to him I really thought it would be incentive to get it done...I was wrong.

7 hours and plenty of arguing later his room still looked like the pictures about (actually, those pictures were taken this morning). I had fought with him for about 4 hours, coaxing him (okay, now pick up the dirty clothes...done? okay, now the books...done? okay, now the...), begging him, hollering at him - finally I gave up. I told him that I was done, it was his decision. Needless to say, he chose not to watch the show - let me rephrase - he chose to not clean his room and it was totally "not fair" that he couldn't watch the show because of it.

It was heartbreaking not letting him watch the show. He kept coming out of his room saying, "it should be family time" and "can't we just make up" and "it's not fair". I had to explain to him that he wasn't there because I was angry with him, he was there because he made a choice to not clean his room. He cried and he cried...I wanted to give in, but I knew I couldn't.

This morning I decided I was sick and tired of it. I decided that, with my day off, I would take care of his room. **I need to say here that this is something I do not do. I will not be responsible for cleaning his room, he needs to learn to be responsible for his own things.** However, I wanted before and after pictures, I wanted a day without a fight and I wanted it to be done and done right.

I realized today why he couldn't do it. Even I was overwhelmed. The room was disgusting (so disgusting I can't even say some of the things I found in there here for fear that he will one day realize that this can be read by the entire world and he will either disown me or kill me). There were dirty clothes mixed in with clean, CDs all over the floor, tiny legos everywhere, a toy box full of old school work and crumpled papers, books in with the toys and ROCKS EVERYWHERE (Zachary is an avid rock collector).

I worked from noon to 6 cleaning like I have never cleaned before and it is still not completely done (all I have left to do is vacuum). I made it through Janet Jackson, Rascal Flatts, Anna Nalick and Shakira, two cups of coffee, two bags of trash, half a bottle of Spic-n-Span and nearly a half a bottle of Windex.

The end results:





Inside the toy box - amazingly enough it only has TOYS in it:









I have also labeled EVERYTHING. I went as far as labeling the book shelf with "BOOKS", should there be any question as to what goes there. The dresser drawers are labeled, the toy box and all the tupperware containers. There will never be another question about where anything goes. I will also be posting the "after" pictures in his room so he knows exactly how it is suppose to look when he is done.

He has also been told that I have taken possession of his room and all its contents. He will be working to earn his room back this week. Presently, I have given him permission to borrow it so he can sleep in it.

I am exhausted. It is had been a long day...

Part of me feels like an evil mother, part of me feels like I have done something for him that I shouldn't have...but most of all, a large part of me knows that I have made it easier for him to clean it from now on and MOST IMPORTANTLY, I know that I won't have this fight again for, at least, another week :)

A day of cleaning

I went through a bit of a "nesting" day today. Usually that term is reserved for pregnant women (which I am not) but that is what it felt like. It seems to be in the air. My friend Nicki went through it yesterday and my friend Keni-Lynn is doing the same today.

This time of year we tend to do a deep winter cleaning. We empty out toy boxes and book shelves of anything that is broken or that the kids have grown out of. I tell the little boys that they need to make room for all the new things Santa is going to bring them and that we should donate the toys and books that are still good to kids who are less fortunate.

Zachary HATES cleaning. It typically turns into more of a battle than it is worth. He spends hours in his room doing nothing when, in all actuality, it would take him 30 minutes TOPS to finish.

I am very happy to report that he finished without too much of a fight today. He even wrote a blog about it (see the previous post if you haven't already).

Andrew is incredibly unhappy with me right now. I have taken 4 plastic bags full of toys from his room. None of these toys were anything that appeared to be too special to him - mostly miscellaneous McDonald's toys or toys from Grampie's "treasure chest". However, when he saw the toys that he had forgotten about (like the Dora House with the broken door and missing pieces) he had a fit! I am not sure that he is going to forget them again - he may be asking Santa for another Dora House this year.

The next step is going through Zachary's closet. I think that is going to be accomplished while the kids are at school...I have given up on the fight for a while.

We are hoping that the presents of toys are a bit less this year. My sister and I have asked that the family not buy toys for the kids that are made in China. In light of the recent, ever growing, list of recalls, we would rather not take a chance.

Besides all that, the kids have SO MUCH! They are never in NEED of anything and when they are overwhelmed with toys, well, they are just that. Overwhelmed! And I find that overwhelming leads to boredom and that leads to mom losing her mind!

So, once the cleaning is complete we will bring the toys and books where they can be used or given to families that need them. I heard yesterday that Goodwill is not accepting toys this year (also due to the ever growing recalls). We may end up dropping them at the Hospital Street Fair barns...only for a few to end up back here next summer...ah well...what can you do?

Feel free to check out my other blogs (these blogs are completely separate from our family blog and are my own):
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&Mytoken=74F9F0AE-8294-49B6-9F3C4876EF04899E15708222

AND

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/ericabickfordlmt