Blitz Week - Day 2

It's SUNNY.  We hardly know what to do with ourselves!  But still pretty cool and damp (heavy dew) in the morning so we started inside.  Sometimes it's hard to keep all three of the boys busy at the same time in the same room, but I needed them together to help move the furniture.

We started in the living room and dining room (kind of one big room)...

1.  Picked up Valentine decorations

2.  Took down lights from the arch (dining room / living room)

3.  Wyatt started spackling all the pin holes and gouges... LOTS of them.

It's not as if this is ever going to be a crisp corner, but it was really gouged up.

4.  Moved furniture away from the walls

5.  Wiped/dusted all windowsills, shelves, baseboard trim, door frames and furniture.

6.  Cleaned windows with vinegar/water - all sparkly

7.  Vacuumed all the nooks and crannies, not just the center and put furniture in a different arrangement

We may be having my one-and-a-half year old niece for a visit, and we obviously want to keep her away from the window!

8.  Sorted out the magazine basket (only keep most recent issues)

9.  Cleaned out coffee table cubbies

10.  Sprinkled some Easter/spring items around.

11.  Repotted a few houseplants

My hens-and-chicks is already "having babies".

But my jade plant is really pathetic.

Won't stand up.

Just drapes over anything nearby.

Suggestions?

Any of you know what's wrong with it?

In the back bathroom...

12.  Cleaned the toilet

13.  Cleaned the shower (quick rinse, nobody uses it)

14.  Wiped/dusted window sill (and top), light fixture, picture frames, etc.

15.  Cleaned counter and sink

16.  Scrubbed floor

And the bathroom off the kitchen...

(yes, a bathroom off the KITCHEN, one of the dubious benefits of a 100+ year old house)

17.  Emptied the "closet" under the stairs (in the bathroom) of everything but the hot water heater

18.  Swept and reorganized that space

19.  Sanded the inside of the door (used to have towel hooks)

20.  Cleaned the toilet

21.  Cleaned the counter and sink

22.  Wiped/dusted everywhere dust collects

Then we moved outside...

In a fit of insanity one year, I planted Shasta daisies.  See them along the front, under the window?

Yes, they're pretty.

But they spread like crazy.

And they smell like urine (not so great for cut flowers, y'know?!)

23.  Dig out shasta daisies

24.  Cut down hemlock branch that shades the clothesline

I realize in places like Australia, or maybe Arizona, you might want shade over your clothesline.  Not so much, here...

I noticed something when I checked the boys' work in the flower beds.  Do you see what I see?

What would have been lovely purple spring flowers have been nibbled down to the nub.

The deer are back.

This means war.

25.  Weeded (part of) Chickie's garden - our neighbor is loaning us her garden space this year.  Major win for us - it's already successfully fenced to keep out deer (yay!) and the soil is beautiful.

26.  Planted peas.  Yes, I know I'm late... Washington's birthday is long gone, but we'll hope for the best.

27.  Rewarded the boys with pizza for lunch.

28.  Rewarded myself with hyacinths from Chickie's garden.  I love how their sweet, spicy smell fills the living room. :D

Today didn't feel quite as wildly productive as yesterday, but then many of the jobs were bigger - like weeding and planting and digging out daisies.  Still, we all worked hard and we're making great progress!

Such a change from the early years, when the boys were little.  (The years of dirt, decibels, and destruction... ha ha.)  Kids are a lot of work.  But now... NOW!  Now I get a lot of work out of them

And when I give them a twenty minute mid-morning break, you know what they do?  All three of them?

Build things with Lego.