A Nice Weekend

Saturday morning, we took our pizza stone (we only use it for cooking pizzas) and the Red Baron out to Nana Ardie's for lunch. Matt worked on the lights in the barn for a little bit and then did some chainsawing on some trees/branches and stuff. It was cold and too windy for Aiden to be outside, so I stayed in and played the Wii. My arm is sore from too much tennis and power bowling. I did knock down 78 pins at once! The Wii is so much fun!!

We left Aiden to spend the night so Matt and I could go to the fire department dinner. We stuffed ourselves silly on prime rib, steak, baked potatoes, salad, and all sorts of yummy desserts! They had door prizes and Matt and I both were fortunate to win some useful prizes. My ticket won a gift certificate to Walmart, which promptly was used the next day to buy some diapers. And Matt won a gift certificate to one of our local hardware stores. He says he'll use it to buy a sledgehammer to use for splitting the BIG logs that are out in the backyard. The go-devil is just not heavy enough to get through the wood. He needs more mass, so with his accelearation, his swing will provide greater force... Force=mass*acceleration. OK, physics lesson is over for today.

We watched the Superbowl last night. Aiden stayed up for almost the entire game, but he didn't sleep any later this morning! He didn't get to bed until almost 10, and he was up by 7. I hope he takes a nice nap today. We also need to get ourselves to the Y this week. Aiden's nose isn't nearly as runny now, so I think we are safe to go. Also, my toe isn't hurtins nearly as much now, so I'm safe to walk on it now.

I hear my washing machine beeping at me. Time to put in the next load of sheets. I bought some Vanilla and Lavender Downy Simple Pleasures to use on our bedding. It will make our sheets smell super yummy!

Working Wednesday

My to-do list for today:

1. Clean up the kitchen from last night's quesadillas - (poor Matt had dinner at 10:30
2. Fold towels from last night's laundry session.
3. Vacuum floors.
4. Clean bathrooms.
5. Bring wood up to the house - (so we have enough to last us through Friday or so. Ice is forecast for tomorrow).
6. Start clothes laundry.
7. Work on my Goodwill donation.

And, Aiden peed on the potty AGAIN last night! Go Aiden! I went to change him before bed and noticed his diaper was dry, so I asked him if he wanted to go potty. He said "Okay," in his little 'okay' voice (if you've heard him say 'okay' you know what I'm talking about). Within 30seconds to a minute I hear a little tinkle! I'm so glad he seems to finally be understanding what he's supposed to do on the toilet.

Off to fold some towels and wait for Aiden to wake up.

Have a great Wednesday!

Yearly Resolves

I normally am not one to make New Year's resolutions. However, 14 days into 2007, I have decided that I should at least attempt a few little overhauls into a few aspects of my life.

Firstly, I need to read my Bible more. Too often life gets busy, complicated, what have you, and things get pushed aside. I'm afraid to admit that too many times, this is one thing that gets pushed aside that shouldn't ever be.

Secondly, I desperately need to get back into my weekly household chores routine. With all of the photo sessions I allowed myself to take on last fall, the cleaning routine went down the drain. So, Accountability Partner, if you are reading this, help me get back on track! Accountability Partner, you know who you are!

The last resolve is a fun one! I really want to work on my photography skills this year. I want to be unique. I want to have a definite style. I want people to see my photos and say "WOW!" I want to take my time at taking on clients this year and really focus on my skills. I'm ready to crank the photography thing up another notch!

Potatoes are in the oven, ribeyes marinating and will soon go on the Egg. Now I need to pick out a vegetable for dinner.

Tomorrow morning is back to the old grindstone! I'm looking forward to accomplishing my Monday goals.

To Do List... Ugh!

This is what I NEED to accomplish today.

1. Clean up the kitchen... I should be so ashamed.. ;)
2. Get unpacked from this weekend.
3. Start working on the laundry.
4. Vacuum up pine needles.
5. Put the furniture back to pre-Christmas tree positions.
6. Quick mop the tile floors.

That doesn't seem that bad or overwhelming. We have a birthday party at 3pm to attend, so I need to get this stuff done!

Have a great Tuesday!

A warm spot by the fire

So, we started using our wood burner insert in our fireplace. Matt built a cozy fire last night and it heated up our living room so well. When we went to bed last night, the temperature in the living room across the room from the fireplace was 75! Fireplaces are messy and dirty, but there is something so comforting about a fire in the fireplace. :)

SO, I got up early this morning to do a little computer work, and I decided that I should try to hone in on my fire building skills. I just can't do it... my fire keeps going out. I think I do it just like Matt did, but it's not just like Matt's.. Oh well.. I guess I'll get the hang of it one day. There is a good reason why there is man's work and woman's work sometimes.. at least as far as I am concerned! :)

It's almost 9am and my child is STILL sleeping. He hasn't taken a nap in over a week I think, so he's probably playing catch up with his sleep. I should be busy proofing client pics right now, but instead I just sit here and peruse the internet... I'll get started on them soon enough!

I should close and find some yummy breakfast to eat. I think maybe tomorrow morning it will be a baked oatmeal day! :) This morning will just be cereal...

So...

I didn't get it ALL done, but I got the big stuff done, and I'm still doing the laundry. But everything is all put away. Yay!! The house is shining again! :) Dishes are in the dishwasher, the kitchen is clean, the floor is swept, and everything is where it should be. My hard work paid off!

Oh, and I had a chocolate muffin for dinner! What more could a girl ask for?! ;)

The Saturday To Do List

Matt is working today, and will be working who knows when for the following 3 weeks or so.. Anyway, since I believe I am mostly done with proofing pictures, I need to get caught up on my house! I figure if I post my list here, it will make me a bit more accountable, and make me get a lot of work done that has been neglected!

I did, however, clean the windows on the outside of the house on Thursday! What a yucky chore that is. I am just floored by the amount of bugs that get caught between the screens and the window glass itself.. SO yucky.. I vacuumed out all the bugs(ICK!!!), took out the screens and hosed them down, and then hosed down the outsides of the windows. I windexed the ones that I could reach.

SO, I'm setting my goals high today... This is what I NEED to get done, and this is in no particular order... If I actually had to order the list, I'd be here all day figuring out what order things need to be in to make my day most efficient.. I don't have time for being efficient.. LOL!!!!

1. Take care of the laundry. Wash what is dirty. Put up what is clean. Catch up on ironing if there is time.
   
2. Clean the kitchen. Wash dishes, clean counters, clean appliances, throw out old stuff from the fridge.
3. Clear the clutter! Stuff has been piling up EVERYWHERE. Clean off the clutter from the catch-all place on the kitchen counter. Clean off dining room table so more than three people can eat at it. Remove all of Aiden's toys and my stacks of papers from my desk!
4. Vacuum - hard floors and carpets!
5. Mop the tile and wood floors.
6. Clean the inside windows since outsides are now clean! :)
7. Dust THOROUGHLY... I did dust on Tuesday, but it was a really quick dusting job!
8. Clean bathrooms. Wash bathroom rugs, and make sure all that is in the dirty towel hamper gets in the laundry.
9. Sort through Aiden's fall clothes, so I can assess what we need to buy for him this fall.
10. Straighten up Aiden's toys.
11. If possible, take some garbage and recycle to the dump. Not the easiest thing to do when you are alone with a two year old. - Matt took care of this for me! :)
    
12. Sweep off the front porch.
13. Weed the flower beds in the front yard.

OK... whew! I need a good breakfast if I want to do all this today! I better get crackin! :) I'm going to cue up some music in the old mp3 player and sing and dance all day while Aiden and I clean.

I'll check back in later to evaluate what I have accomplished!

Ready! Set! GO!!!!! :)

Happy Saturday!

Copy Cat

I did a bit of light dusting this morning before sitting down at the computer to do my blog entry for the day. I got my little duster out for Aiden to play with because of course if I'm dusting he needs to 'dust.' I was dusting the kitchen/dining room and I came around the corner and found Aiden standing on a stool dusting his Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home with his little duster. It is amazing to see just how much he soaks up at this age and how much he enjoys copying the actions of the people important to him. He pretends to talk on the phone, substituting many different objects for a phone, for example, a sliding measuring spoon we have. He helps to wipe down appliances. He likes to 'wash' the dishes at the sink. He likes to sit and 'read' books. He will open up any book and sit there and mumble in baby-ese while he turns the pages. It's so neat to watch their little imaginations grow and develop.

Today I'm meeting a friend for lunch and to deliver her print order to her. I hope she is pleased. :) It is always nice to go out for a meal so I don't have to THINK about what I'm going to prepare.. I just have to think about what I want to ORDER... :)

It was quite chilly this morning! When Matt left for work I asked him to close the windows. It was so cold I did NOT want to get out of my warm bed when it was time to get up. But Aiden insisted I get up, so I did. My toes are still a little chilly, but soon Aiden and I will get a shower and bath and that should help warm us up. My cup of hot tea also helped.

I'm going to work on some pictures and hopefully get them uploaded to the photoblog either this afternoon or this evening. So, be patient... pics will get there as soon as I can get them there!

Have a great Tuesday!

Other happenings...

Last night I had a hard time sleeping. I noticed my throat felt raw when I went to bed last night, and I remember waking up a few times during the night snoring. I still have a raw throat this morning and bit of a headache, so I got up around 5 or so to get some tea (Earl Grey!!) and do some computer work on some pictures I need to print. Hopefully, I'm not coming down with anything. I will try to get my floors mopped in a hurry today and I can lay down and rest while Aiden is sleeping.

Galen comes to stay with us this evening. Matt's mom will be out of town today and tomorrow, so Matt is going to pick him up from school this afternoon after Galen's track practice and he will spend the night, and then he and Matt will get up super early to get him to his school on time (about 45 mins - 1 hour away!). I like having Galen over. He's a fun kid, and for being a 'little punk' teenager, he does really well with Aiden and helps to keep him entertained. Aiden loves playing with him too! He loves his Uncle Galen! :-)

Tomorrow we will meet up with a friend of mine who had her baby a couple months ago. Of course I will be taking the camera and of course I will be taking more pictures. I need to call her today to finalize plans for tomorrow.

We just had another little thundershower. We have gotten so much rain over the past few days. The rain is much needed and luckily we are not getting deluged, but we are having nice soaking showers.

I suppose that is all for now. I think I will get another cup of hot tea.. it's chilly here this morning and the hot tea feels wonderful on my raw throat.

Here is verse to think about today...

If you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even "sinners" do that.
Luke 6:33

Have a wonderful Thursday, and continue being a blessing to ALL others! :-)

The Cleaning Schedule Part IV... Thursday's Goals

Today is my last NECESSARY day of cleaning. Today I mop floors, wash laundry as needed, and iron as needed. It's nice to get all of the cleaning out of the way in 4 or 5 days and leave the weekends free for relaxation and doing fun things together as a family. My husband works 4 days/week so I try to get all of the household work done in 4 days so that leaves us our 3 day weekend to not worry too much about what has to be done around the house. Although, now that spring is here and the grass is growing, that means more yardwork on the weekends for Matt, but that works nicely because we let Aiden play outside, and help with the work if he wants, while Daddy is working in the yard (unless if it is mowing or something like that of course!)

Today, I mop my kitchen tile, bathroom tile, the laundry room, and our wood floors in the living room and hallway. For the tile and linoleum I normally use diluted Lysol all-purpose cleaner followed by a hot water rinse. Then I use white vinegar and water on the tiles to clear up any dried water spots. My tile is a dark green color and it is glossy, so spots show up like a neon sign on my floor! The vinegar/water solution takes care of that problem, and leaves the house with that fresh vinegar clean smell! Reminds me of dying easter eggs :-)

I then move onto the wood floors where I normally just go over them with the vinegar/water solution. If the floors are starting to look a little dull, I will go over them with Murphy's Oil Soap. I only do this once in a while as I believe the oil can buildup on the wood surface if you use it too much.

While I am waiting for my floors to dry, I work on any ironing that needs to be done. I only iron when Aiden is in bed; I don't want him underfoot while I have a HOT iron out! And throughout the day I am washing/drying/folding any laundry that needs attention. I've made a rule for myself that I don't start another load of laundry unless the previous loads are folded and put away. Otherwise, I tend to end up with a mountain of clean, dry laundry on my couch that grows and grows and grows and grows and ... you get the idea!

And with that, I have completed my cleaning goals of the week, and I take the weekends off! On the weekends, I just do regular maintenance, such as keeping up with the dirty dishes, and puttings things away, and the occasional load of laundry. But other than that, my workweek is finished! :-)

Natural Entertainment!

God put on a nice light show for us last night! We had some thunderstorms move through the area in the earlier parts of the evening, so Matt and I decided to sit on our front porch and watch the lightning. Eventually the rain started pouring on us and blowing in on the porch sideways, so we went inside. I love to look at lightning, but I get scared too easily. If the crack of the thunder is too loud, I get so worked up and scared!! Just like I did when I was a little kid. It's funny the things we don't seem to outgrow. Aiden isn't fazed in the least by the thunder. When he hears it, he looks at me with a look on his face of "What's that Mama?" and I just tell him it's the air pushing together loudly causing the thunder. Then he says "Thunder!"

Speaking of Aiden and thunder, we had some LOUD cracks of thunder last night with the storms after Aiden had gone to sleep, but he slept right through it all! Aiden took a nap on our bed yesterday afternoon so I used the opportunity to get pictures of him asleep. Now my quiet little camera shutter would cause him to twitch and every so often open his eyes! The kid who can sleep through a thunderstorm can't sleep through mommy snapping photographs of him while he sleeps. By the way, check out MY PHOTOBLOG, for those pictures and more!

Today is supposed to be a cool and rainy day. I will cook a ham and bean soup in the crockpot, and accomplish my cleaning goals for today, and I imagine we will just hang tight here in the house. Today would be a good day for a kid friendly movie... I just have to think about what I would like to watch that Aiden would enjoy too!

The website I mentioned has been fixed to include all of her many articles on cleaning and tips for organization. Her new site is: http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/

Well, I should close now and finish my morning internet rounds. Have a blessed Wednesday! We're halfway through the week!

The cleaning Schedule Part III... Wednesday's Goals

So, I'm doing great staying on track this week for getting the house clean. Since I do all the cleaning in FOUR DAYS I am almost through this week! Woohoo!!

Wednesday is my day to vacuum and take care of the bathrooms. I vacuum my rugs and carpeted floors in the morning while Aiden is up. He enjoys helping me push the vacuum around from room to room. When I finish one area, I'll say "Next room, please!" Aiden enthusiastically obliges while pushing the vacuum to the next room on the vacuum circuit, calling out "Next room, Next room!" He's helped me vacuum so many times now and I go in the same order each time, he knows exactly where to go each and everytime! I normally move smaller furniture out of the way to vacuum, but larger items remain in place. I don't work myself crazy by getting out the attachment to clean the corners and edges of the carpet perfectly, but as soon as I notice an area that needs attention, I do go ahead and tend to it.

Bathrooms are cleaned while Aiden is in bed for his afternoon nap. The cleaning chemicals put out some vapors and I don't want Aiden underfoot smelling those. I like to use Tilex on shower curtains as it removes and prevents any mildew from forming on them. Some people say to just through them in the wash if they start getting icky... but when I can use Tilex once a week and they stay perfectly clean, I'd rather not undo the curtain from the rings. That's a pain in the neck. I spray the shower curtain and shower itself down with Tilex and let that sit. When I've done that I put some bowl cleaner in the toilets and I let that sit. While all that is sitting, I use some Soft Scrub on the sinks and fixtures. Once the sink is clean, I make sure the counters are cleaned and things are put away. Then I attack the bathtub. I rinse off the Tilex, and then I go to work scrubbing. I normally use full strenght all-purpose Lysol cleaner to clean the tub and shower wall. If I notice lots of water build-up, I will use Soft Scrub on the entire tub and shower surface. Once the tub is clean and rinsed, I move on to the toilet clean the inside of the bowl. Then I take a handy-dandy Clorox wipe and wipe down the seats and exterior of the toilet. And, voila! The bathrooms are clean!

The Cleaning Schedule Part II... Tuesday's Goals

Since I decided to put a link to that website yesterday that offers all of the tips to keeping your house clean and running smoothly, she had to up and change her website address. She moved her blog over here to the Blogger.com site and now most of her wonderful articles on cleaning and organization are gone! I certainly hope she has them backed up and that she will find a way to get them back up on her site.

So, today's goals for the house are dusting and wiping down countertops, doorknobs, light switch plates, and tables. I also clean all mirrors and glass cabinet doors in the house, as well as TV screens and computer monitors. For laundry, I make sure bath and kitchen towels are clean, and then of course any extra laundry that needs to be done. I call today my 'easy' day because this work seems to go rather quickly for me, so that leaves me more time to get other things done, either here around the house, or taking a break and getting Aiden to a park to do some much needed climbing and sliding!

For laundry, I try to get a load of bath towels or the kitchen towels in the washer when I first get up in the morning. I just make sure that all of these are washed, dried and folded by the end of the day. And then I work on the extra laundry as time permits throughout the day.

For dusting, I have a duster on a long extension pole so I can make sure to get the corners of the ceiling in all the rooms and to clean off the ceiling fan blades. It's important to keep those clean as the blades act like a magnet when they collect dust. It builds up SO quickly. The rest of the dusting is done with just a little hand held duster. Dusting... what else can be said about dusting? Not much, dusting is self explanatory. If you haven't dusted in quite a while, it might be beneficial to pull out your vacuum after you dust and vacuum up the dust bunnies that now are most certainly flying around your house.

For doing the wipedowns, first I go through the house with a container of those Clorox wipes and wipe down the lightswitches and doorknobs. Then I go through the house again and clean the glass and mirrors in the house, including TV screens and computer monitors. If I notice a window is particularly dirty, I clean it now too. I don't clean all the windows at once.. I just clean them as needed and this seems to work pretty well. I then make sure all of my tables, end tables, bathroom counters, kitchen counters are clean and free of clutter, and then those get wiped down. I mainly just use vinegar and water for that, except for the kitchen counter I use Clorox Clean-up. It's one of my favorite cleaning products! And with that, the goals for Tuesday are completed!!

One thing I need to get back in the habit of is making sure the floors get swept EVERYDAY! We have hardwood and tile in most of the house, so any dirt that comes in on our shoes gets spread all around, and you feel it on your bare feet when you walk... eeeewwww. I do try to make sure I have most if not all dishes clean or in the dishwasher before I go to bed, but I don't make myself crazy over having it done. The evening is the only time we are all together as a family, so most times I prefer spending time all together playing instead of working in the kitchen cleaning, especially if it's not that big of a mess... that is what tomorrow morning is for! :-)

Well, so much for my little guy sleeping in as late as he did yesterday! It's already 7am and I hear him making noise in his room. I was going to get some laundry folded while I waited for him to wake up, but I guess I will now fold laundry while he plays after breakfast!

Uh-oh, he wants his mama in a bad way... must close! Happy Tuesday!

The Cleaning Schedule... Monday's Goals

I originally attempted to post this around 7:30am today, but Blogger seemed to be having some issues. Hopefully things will work smoothly again now.

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Since this week I have NO PLANS all week long, I will take this week to make sure my house gets a very thorough cleaning. We've all been so busy recently that I've only been doing the necessary stuff to get by with keeping my house decent, but certainly not presentable at all times! I'm mainly doing this to help keep me more accountable to insure I get my goals accomplished for today, and hopefully it will inspire others to get more organized with their household duties. This cleaning schedule is one of the many tools that can be used to insure you are blessing your family. A clean home is a happy home, and happy are those who are in it!

I had orginally called each task on my cleaning schedule a 'chore.' I thought about that, and the word 'chore' has such a negative connotation, I have decided to call the tasks 'goals.' A goal is something you work towards. When you achieve a goal, it gives you a sense of accomplishment. The word 'chore' just evokes the feeling of drudgery and burdensome. If I think about the work I do as a goal to help keep my family blessed, and also if I think of each goal I am working towards as a blessing in itself ("Thank you God that I have towels to fold!"), I find I am much happier working my way through the daily to-do list! It's all in your mindset.. think that you are blessed, and you will be blessed! :-)

The inspiration to devise my own cleaning schedule came from this site:
http://genuineprofit.lifewithchrist.org/
On the left hand side, a link to the master cleaning schedule, as well as more in-depth day-specific cleaning guides, will be found under the "Organization" section. While I am not able to fully agree with all of her ideas and beliefs, this woman offers many helpful tips for household organization.

So, here is a TO DO LIST of GOALS for Monday:

1. Bedding Laundry - Since Aiden is still in bed, I have the sheets from our bed washing right now. I'll wash and dry his as soon as he wakes up so they will be ready for his afternoon nap. I TRY to get the bedding all done before lunchtime, but sometimes my dryer seems to take forever to get some things dry, especially king size sheets with extra extra deep pockets! But I normally am not far off from my goal.

2. Kitchen - Mondays are my days to attack the messes that were left in the kitchen from the weekend. Our kitchen counter is a catch-all place for anything we walk in the door with, so I make sure what is on the counter that shouldn't be there, goes to it's correct place. I make sure all the dishes are clean, or at least loaded in the dishwasher which is waiting for a full load before I run it. I do a quick wipe down on appliance surfaces as well. I also pick one appliance a week to clean thoroughly, inside and out. This week I will do the microwave, next week the stove top, the following week, the refrigerator, etc. This might vary from week to week depending on how dirty and appliance is or how full the refrigerator is. I like to let the contents in the fridge dwindle down a little bit before I give it a good cleaning.

3. Additional laundry - Once the bedding laundry is all finished, I will get any other CLOTHES laundry started. With a husband who does all sorts of work outside, and work on his truck, and a toddler boy who enjoys playing in the dirt, we end up wtih tons of laundry to get done, and it is an ongoing task, keeping the laundry from piling up too much.

4. Project - I try to spend about 15-30 minutes a day on a certain project I want to get done around the house. I think my project today, and probably the entire week, will be going through my closet and getting some clothes together to take to Goodwill.

Throughout the day, I have Aiden 'help out' with whatever task I am doing. He enjoys helping me move items from the washer to the dryer. I also let him help fold some laundry. Whatever I do during the day, I try to keep him BUSY. An idle toddler leads to a cranky toddler, and even little toddlers want to feel needed and useful! So, yes, I put my toddler to work for me! We talk about the colors of clothes we are folding. We count the number of socks we pull out of the dryer. I just try and keep him busy, doing things with me throughout the day.

The most important thing to remember is to not get bogged down in your cleaning work. Only doing a few tasks each day on its assigned day makes sure you stay on track for the week, while also working in some relaxation and fun time for you and your family.

My cappucino is gone, and I believe my sheets are nearly finished in the washer. I must close now and get started on my goals for today.

Set some goals for yourself today, and be a blessing to others!

A late night with Yankee Doodle Dandy

As I was lying in bed last night before going to sleep, I was flipping through the million and one channels we have through our cable. I came across one of my favorite movies Yankee Doodle Dandy. It's a life-story of the Broadway legend George M. Cohan. Apparently several liberties were taken with the screenplay, to make his life a little bit more dramatic for the big screen, but the film did capture Cohan's spirit, liveliness, and sincere devotion to the United States.

Watching all the patriotic flag waving, and listening to those old Cohan songs, such as Over There and Yankee Doodle Dandy can make one realize just how blessed we are here in the United States. My how times have changed since the days of the World Wars! I started thinking about all the people nowdays who bash the President, or American-born citizens who are so disgruntled with the state of affairs in our country they would rather live somewhere other than the U.S. When did our immense pride for our country get tossed out like yesterdays garbage? I understand there are many problems in our country that need attention, but is it really so bad as needing to disown the U.S.? No other country in this world offers more freedoms and more opportunities than ours. Instead of having our own citizens focusing only what is going wrong, perhaps we should all take some time to pay attention to what is going RIGHT, and once again, be proud of being a citizen in the U.S.

Off my patriotic soap box... We have a gloomy start to our Wednesday. It is raining as I type and there are some rumbles of thunder. Today is a busy cleaning day, which is nice since today is calling for showers off and on all day. I need to vacuum the carpets and rugs and clean the bathrooms, and of course do more laundry.

I still need to figure out dinner for tonight. We ate a few slices of our huge 10lb ham... I imagine we will be eating quite a bit of ham for the next little bit. I should look up some ham recipes and get creative with what is left. Aiden ate some of the asparagus I sauted last night. He enjoys biting the tops off and moving on to the next piece. At least he's eating ASPARAGUS of all things!

Oh and I have a couple of EXTREMELY ripe bananas, so I was planning on making some banana nut bread today too! I've set myself up for a busy day, so I better get started on it. Aiden is finally waking up.. he has been sleeping so much recently, but I am in no way, shape, or form complaining! I know he's a growing little boy who needs tons of rest.

Now, to let my day begin... Happy Wednesday!

A Clean Start to a New Week

Finally, for the first time in what seems like weeks, I am starting Monday like I am supposed to! I'm caught up on chores. My house is sparkling clean and we are all on the road to recovery from our colds. I still have congestion and Aiden's nose is still runny, but we all seem to be feeling about as close to 100% as we can! I'm excited to get back on my schedule and blessing my family through all the things I do.

Another thing to look forward to for this week is the rising temperatures. The forecast for the weekend has temperatures up in the 80's! Yay!! After the sleet last week, and below freezing temperatures we've been waking up to for the past few mornings, more normal spring time temperatures are very welcome!

Tomorrow morning I have a photoshoot for a new friend I met from my local mommies group. Her son is 13 months old, but I am going to do one year portraits for her. It's exciting yet terrifying to take pictures for other people like this. I put so much time, energy, and creative thought into capturing just the right shot. It is scary putting that out there for someone else to criticise!

Wednesday, Aiden and I will take a drive to SC to visit my grandmother. Her birthday is 3/29, and she will be 88! I can't believe it. I don't think she can either!! This will be the first time she's seen Aiden in quite some time, so I'm sure she will have a wonderful day spending time with him.

New pics have been added to the photoblog. They were taken this weekend. Dare I say it, they are adorable!! Check it out at Cat's Photos, or follow the link to the right, under the Photography section of links.

Must close now, and get started on the Monday chores, and have some playtime with Aiden.