Fall Cleaning

Well, We did school on Labor Day & some Tues. morning & then we put the books aside for the next week or so. I have been cleaning like a crazy-woman these past three days. I have come to the conclusion that I do my 'Spring Cleaning' in the fall..........before the reunion & before Aunt Vada & them come to visit. I did a room each day dowstairs for the past three days...starting with the kitchen & finishing up in the living room today. I mean MAJOR cleaning.....like ceiling fans, washing/soaking all my ceramic stuff & my Coke collectables, wiping down walls/baseboards, washing curtains, etc. In the midst of all this, Clay noticed yesterday that we had a leak under the kitchen sink. Water had been running up under the floorboards. So, we had to pull tiles up....that was Michael's job & I think he actually had fun doing it! Then we put the fan blowing on the bare floor so it could dry out while they went off to Mason's to work on cutting/welding the pipes they needed to fix. By supper time (late supper time, that is) we had the pipes fixed & the water back on. But with the floor project, Clay's intentions of painting went right out the window! Oh well........at least everything is clean. Now, if it could only stay this way. It nearly killed me tonight to have to fry those deer steaks on my nice shiny clean stove!

When I told the kids that we were going to do Home Ec for the next few days....I began to reminisce about my HS days spent in Home Ec class...kind of pitiful, at best. Ashley goes, 'You actually got graded for that?!' So, with those thoughts running through my head, I jotted down just a little of what the kids LEARNED in Home Ec the past few days......

Jon & Michael both helped Clay alot fixing the leak in the pipes. Michael did the pulling up of the flooring & Jon helped with putting the pipes back together & holding stuff while Clay welded. He knows where & how to turn the water on/off to the house, etc.

Tonight, Jon & Clay cooked the deer steaks for supper. He learned how to cut the steaks & was taught how to tenderize the meat. He's even been known to peel & cut up potatoes too.

During their 'down' time...Clay also helped Jon put up a ladder stand over by the old smoke house so he could practice shooting his bow from a tree. He learned about how to use the safety harness & put some of his recent class-room knowledge to work. Now he's practicing shooting his bow from the stand. Michael is anxious to get a bow of his own now too....he's still just shooting with the one Mason gave him. But you can tell he's got the 'fever'!

Seems I don't have as much to report on the girls....but I think that's because all of what they've been doing is just the usual cleaning stuff that us girls do all the time anyway. Maybe just on a larger scale. Ashley used my 'Webster' & got down all the cobwebs & did some vacuuming. Not to mention all the little cleaning/decluttering/organizing she did on her own. And Alli even was moved of the spirit to clean her Barbie corner in the living room. Everthing was picked up so I could vacuum & very neatly displayed. If only it could stay that way.