No showings today, if you please.

It is not that bad keeping my house clean. Now that it's clean. One of the kids noticed how much easier it is to keep it clean than it is to get a messy house clean again. Yeah, funny how that works. But I have to look at things differently now to keep it show ready.

What would bother someone if they came through our house? Well, it would bother me to see someone else's garbage, dirty laundry or toothbrushes if I was looking to buy their house. I wouldn't like toothpaste splatters on the faucet. Or unmade beds.

So after we clean each morning, and if there is going to be a showing, we make all the beds, take out all the garbages, make sure there is no dirty laundry in sight, and hide our toothbrushes and wipe the splatters.

But today is a little different. Today, there are no showings!!!

Why? Because I decided that if anyone calls, I will tell them we can't today. It's winter break, and my kids have not been able to sleep in or veg one single day. So that is my gift that I'm giving to them. And myself. I slept in til 9 and it felt awesome!!!

They still have to make their beds and clean up first, simply because it's a nice routine now. But I don't have to hide garbages or vacuum:) Yay!

Henry's job was to water the flowers out front. Funny to see such lovely flowers in February, isn't it? And don't you love the AM on the side of the house? A remnant of Anne Marie's 5 year old tendency to write on everything.





Charlie gets to do what his heart desires A LOT lately, play Minecraft. He even cleaned the bathroom without complaint in order to receive this privilege. And if you notice, there is still no TV. I love it.



Anne Marie is the ring leader of all fun games. The girl has a mind that goes non stop in the "lets do something" category. It's lovely to behold honestly. And she takes Henry and Nora on her imaginative journeys and they come back happy and full of child like excitement.



This is how teenagers like to spend their mornings-getting up late, staying in pajamas, searching Facebook and Pinterest. Or in Julia's case, Howrse.com. Its a site about taking care of your virtual horse. I love that she loves that. I love that my 13 year old is more enamored by horses than boys.



And I love that my kitchen is clean. It was easily cleaned, it only took 5 minutes to tidy up after breakfast. I in fact, love having to keep the house clean. It reminds me of my life many, many years ago. And I realize it's not as hard as I think on the days when there is no one coming to see the house. I get a little stressed out when people are coming. But when it's just keeping it tidy for us, it's not stressful, just joyful.



And Kate is here today. But she is getting ready to go to the mall with her friends. That sentence astounds me. She is supposed to be wandering around with a tippy cup still. Go back to bed baby Kate. You're not allowed to be so old and independent. I really don't mind. It's just a weird place to be in. I'M supposed to be a teenager going to the mall with her friends. I'm not supposed to be old enough to HAVE a child doing that. sheesh.

I hope if you're in the middle of mid-winter that you are enjoying your time together and your family. I love my family so much.