Three Things Thursday

Thing One: A first--house cleaning
Anyone who's ever lived with me would agree that I'm pretty neat and clean. But having kids sort of redefines "clean," if you know what I mean. Like my house is never all clean at the same time anymore. And wiping down the blinds, washing windows, and vacuuming under the furniture? I've pretty much given that up entirely. I chalk it up to "being human." BUT. There's nothing like having company over to get your butt in gear on these kinds of things, so I hired a couple of ladies to deep clean my house before a baby shower I was hosting (I figured it'd be the only way to have my whole house clean at once, since less than an hour before everyone came, my toddler was crushing his pancake into the floor and the toy box had inexplicably exploded in our living room).

Y'all. Worth. Every. Penny. They spent nearly SEVEN hours in my little house. The canisters that hold my flour and sugar looked brand new. My fridge was cleaned out. I actually felt good about my kids eating off the floor. The inside of my freaking fire place was shining. Best cleaning job I've ever seen and now the latest addition to my yearly budget.

Thing Two: Two Moo conversations
ME: Do you want to go on a walk, bud?
MOO: No, want to go on an adventure.
(So, naturally, we went on an adventure).

As we drive by McDonald's: "Mommy, there's Old MacDonald's!"

Thing Three: small changes, bit impact
After four years of living in this house, nearly a decade of marriage, and two kids (and their toys), it was time to get rid of some college furniture and make a few changes so that our living room a) looked like adults lived it in, and b) didn't look like a toy box had just vomited everywhere. So, a few lamps flanking the sofa and pieces of storage furniture later, I'm really pleased with how such small changes really make the room more inviting. I even had people the baby shower (see #1) compliment my decorating, which was hilarious to me since I've always said that I missed that expected part of womanhood (decorating). My secret: make friends with people who are good at it, steal ideas from their house, and ask them lots of questions when they're at your house. Apparently I can be that person for you now. (But not really.)