Spring Cleaning Part 1 and Part 2

This year I am taking my Spring Cleaning seriously.
I usually sort of clean things, but not deep clean them.  Except the window screens.  Every year I take those off and clean them in the shower. 

PART 1:  Bathroom
I have been spending about a week on each room. 
I am not that far along.
I started with the bathroom. 
I took everything off each shelf in the closet and cleaned it.  I went through everything in there and was able to throw away a bunch that we didn't need.
The girls were really helpful.  Not really helpful, but really cute!

I've never washed the walls before, but I felt like it needed to be done.  One morning before school I told Ariel that she could help me was the walls.  Annabelle was really bummed and asked if we could do it when she got home from school.  So we did.  All three girls really enjoyed helping me wash the walls and they did a surprisingly great job.  We were done in no time.

 

Yes, Ariel is wearing a swimmy diaper (2 of them actually).  She found them in the van when we were cleaning it out and decided to put them on.

 

PART 2:  Laundry Room

I only spent one day on the laundry room. 

I cleaned out all the cupboards and got rid of a bunch of stuff.

I dusted the top of the cupboards, which was actually more of grabbing a pile of dust and throwing it away.

I super clean the floors, even under the machines where I usually ignore.

I ran the cleaning cycle on the washer. 

 I cleaned the lint trap in the sink.  I unscrewed the lint trap inside the dryer and cleaned that all out.

Then I had James move the machines.  I knew I had some lint back there, but I had no idea what I was in for.

So in this picture you can see that area to the left.  That is where the machines aren't, so I can sort of squeeze in there and clean.

It appears that I have 5 years worth of lint back there. 

I don't think that lint tube thing was attached and the lint just stayed in my laundry room.  I was also able to find some great treasures.

I wasn't sure how to go about cleaning this. 

I thought I could just dust bust it up, but it was actually stuck to the ground. 

I had to get a wet cloth and scrub it up.  I also had to scrub the walls.

Now it is nice and clean.  I hope to clean behind there a little more often. 

I would imagine a clean laundry would be a good selling point someday.

 

 

My grandpa made me this board to go over top of the machines so that stuff (like new packages of tissue paper) wouldn't fall behind.  I have had it for one day now, and I really like it.  I put some of those things you put on the bottom of chairs on the bottom so it would protect the machines.

 

Arianna is always helping me with laundry.  She loves to switch it over, hang up the clothes to dry, and turn it off mid cycle so I find damp, stinky clothes. 

 

I have these (what I like to call) old people oak cabinets in my entire house.  My mom painted the bathroom ones (stayed tuned for that, you will feel like you are looking at pinterest!)  I am thinking a bright color for these cabinets would be fun. 

 

Happy Earth Day

I just wanted to take a few minutes to remember my tree that lost its life on Earth Day last year.

I had this beautiful flowering tree.

Then one day there was a piece of something tied to it. 

There was also a huge, ugly rock in our landscape.

I thought my grandpa brought it for the girls to play on.

Annabelle asked if she could take it off.

It was a little chilly, so I told her it was fine.

Little did I know that that little ribbon would determine the fate of my precious tree.

A few hours later, I heard this horribly loud noise.

Much to my dismay, there was a many hacking down my tree.

I could hardly believe my beautiful tree was gone.

When we bought the condo, the tree was overgrown.

I took a saw and cut off all the branches myself.

I have enjoyed its flowering beauty every May.

Now, it is gone and replaced with a rock.

I actually lost sleep over my tree. 

I had trouble sleeping for a few nights as I mourned the loss of my tree.

I never realized I was a tree or nature person,

but know I have a great appreciation for the beauty that God made for us to enjoy.

The girls do enjoy playing on and with the rock, but they do miss the pretty tree too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy Earth Day!

Even if you aren't a eco-friendly person like me, maybe think about what you can do that's is eco-friendly today.

God gave us this beautiful world, we need to look around and appreciation all the beauty he has given.

Today I will honor our Earth and remember my tree by doing these things:

Recycle things that are easier to throw away

Bring donations to Goodwill instead of throw them away

Bring my own bag to the store

Reuse the plastic bags I got at Meijers yesterday

 

Did you notice I really really loved my tree?  I will plant one for each of my children and my next house.  And maybe 5 for myself :)

 

 

 

My computer has been really touchy about uploading pictures, which limits my blogging.

Once I get that problem resolved, I will be back to blogging more often.