Slight problem is, we don't have a washing machine or a vacuum right now. Both of ours are out of commission at the moment, which makes the "completely spotless clean" more difficult.
We borrowed Rhonda's vacuum, and I had Andrew come over this morning--he watched and entertained the kids (took them outside to play on the swing set, run around, etc) while I cleaned the kitchen. The one room took me nearly 3 hours!! Well, technically the kitchen, dining room, and front entry hallway. But still. That's a lot of cleaning.
The good news is that now it is clean. The bad news is, you can barely tell--you look at it and think "that's the way it's supposed to look", which is perfectly correct. I guess the reason it took me so long is that I sanitized everything--cabinets, walls, floor, appliances...plus, I cleaned and organized the pantry, fridge, freezer, and front hall closet, as well as moving the fridge and curio and cleaning under both.
After that, pretty exhausted, I had Emerald help me make lunch (burritos and tostadas), and we all three crashed for much needed naps.
Last night, the kids had gone to bed and Michael and I were just turning in when we hear Emerald sobbing in terror. As best we can tell, she had a nightmare last night that really shook her up. When I got to her, she was trembling from head to toe, and was only calm when I was holding her. I went and laid down with her for a bit, but anytime I moved away from her, she started shaking again and then would start wailing. Unfortunately, I don't sleep well when with her. She kicks, her room is chilly, and too brightly lit. But that's how she likes it, so....anyways, I got a very poor night's rest, with her checking to make sure I was still there at least every half hour. Then, at 6.30, she decided she was up for good and wanted to go watch t.v. At least I finally got to crawl in next to Michael...for a half hour, ugh.
After nap, I took the children back outside to play--Gabriel and I pretended we were on the Spaceship Wearden, and he was Commander Gaby that would save us all. Emerald and I pretended she was hang-gliding over the rain forest of Mexico, and she told me about all the "animals in trouble" she saw, before she would speed off on her tricycle to save them.
After they started getting bored with that, we took out the fingerpaints Oma got Emerald for her birthday and we fingerpainted some pictures for Daddy. Gabriel mostly liked the feeling of the paint on his fingers, but Emerald told me all about her pictures:
"I drawing Grannymom and Dad-Dad"
"It's Glo and Pawpaws--they hugging"
"I is a superhero!" (really? What are your powers?) "All of them"
Unfortunately, I said the B-word (bath) and Gabriel heard, so he ran off to the house wanting to get clean. Luckily, them bathing so sweetly gave me a chance to straighten up the bathroom just a little. Since it is a small bathroom, I can always keep an eye on what they are doing.
Now we are eating Kettle Corn and watching "Hercules" and snuggling. They are both as worn out as I feel, and the house still looks terrible since I haven't done the living room yet. -sigh-
~Andie~
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