For the Record

I rant enough about my less-than-stellar house-cleaning and my children's mess-making abilities that I thought I should put something down for the record. Yesterday I mopped my entire hardwood floor on my hands and knees. (It is a REALLY big floor... it usually takes me two sittings, er, moppings to get to it all.) Although, now that I say that, the fact that me mopping my entire floor is an event of note is rather more incriminating than otherwise.

Dave went to Korea this week and got back around lunch today. I managed to use this as motivation to get Jared and Camryn in action and we were able to clean the entire main floor of the house before Dave got home. Maybe it was just excitement that daddy was coming home, but Jared and Camryn really sprang into action. They helped with the dishes, I wiped counters and swept, Jared vacummed, Camryn picked up toys and Jackson... well, he supervised. :) Actually Jared and Camryn have emptied and loaded the dishwasher every day this entire week. Some prodding was required, it is true, but still, that isn't bad for a seven-year-old and eight-year-old. And at the end of the day, the main floor was still mostly clean. Not too shabby! (Not too typical, either, but hey- we take what we can get.)

Also, today we finally got a good-sized bike for Jared. We've had too small and too big. This one is just right. He's been able to ride for a while but was still a little uncertain in his abilities. He got some good practice in with dad racing around the block to that point that he feels really confident. Then we took the training wheels off of Camryn's bike (Yes, my children are late bloomers when it comes to bike-riding-- rack up another point in the "No, she's certainly not super-mom" category.) and before the end of the day she was riding around the block by herself.

Meanwhile Addy watched the proceedings from her Exersaucer while Jackson spent the whole afternoon outside on his trike with a huge grin on his face, trying to keep up with Jared on his bike. I don't know if I have ever seen someone happier than that little boy conquering the world on his Big Wheel.