Sunday, January 25, 2009

Wonderful Daughters

We just came through a very wonderfully, productive week. And I have my daughters to thank for it. My awesome husband drove down to Southern California with our son, helping him to move down there for a new chapter in his. While he was gone, the girls and I decided to over haul the house. We literally cleaned every room and rearranged each one.

We first started with what had been our son's bedroom. We turned it into our new school room/sewing room/soap supply room. I was able to move ALL of my sewing supplies (which are MANY, and that is an understatement) out of the master bedroom and closet and hall closet. We moved a book shelf down stairs for the girls' school supplies and put their double desk (which their daddy built for them when we first started home schooling them 7 years ago) in the room. We moved all of the soap making supplies out of daddy's den and the upstairs hall closet. By emptying out the master bedroom of all of the sewing "stuff" I was able to make a wonderful haven for my dear husband and myself.

The next day, we worked on rearranging the girls' rooms. They decided that they didn't want their own bedrooms any longer and since they had a trundle bed we would be able to just fit the two beds in the same room. (there is about 6 inches to spare between the bottom bed, when it is pulled out, and the wall). We then turned the "extra" bedroom into their own little "living room". They each have a book shelf and their toys in their. They get to see what it will be like to be responsible for two rooms now, plus their other chores. They love the freedom to be able to sit in there and play, work on a puzzle, read or whatever they decide to do in their spare time (which isn't much). I found them the other day reading the Bible together and discussing what they were reading. It was an awesome thing to over hear. We also cleaned all three of our bathrooms and reorganized them.

The next day, we empty out all of our kitchen cupboards and the pantry, scrubbed them and reorganized. They even alphabatized our jars of herbs (which are plentiful).

The last day, we swept and mopped all the floors in our three level home (we have all hardwood and tile floors) and cleaned the baseboards. Then we spent the rest of the day baking for daddy and waiting for his call for us to come pick him up.

I am so thankful for daughters who are such hard workers. They didn't complain even a little bit. They didn't wish they were doing something else. The oldest one even said that it felt like we were having a retreat together with daddy gone. It just goes to show that you don't have to leave home to retreat with your family.

8 comments:

Becki said...

Lanita, the girls' rooms sound cool! I think it's great for sister's to share a room anyways. I shared with my sister until I was 16. We were closer when we shared our room, though we did have trying times as well, since she is 6 years younger than I! Great job on all the cleaning and reorganizing!

Anonymous said...

We had put them in seperate bedrooms because we didn't think that we would be able to open the door with both beds in there, but Hannah and I measured and decided that it would work, then had to figure out how to get in there without tearing it apart. It took us about 30 minutes to get it figured out. It looks great now. Hannah pushes her bed under Alicia's during the day and folds her blankets and puts them on top of Alicia's bed. They have it all worked out and able to keep both rooms neat and clean, which is a huge plus.

Rachel said...

You gals were so productive. How fun for everyone to enjoy the time together and reap the benefits of all that hard work! It's inspiring to me--I need to do my house again.

Carrie said...

WOW Lanita,

That sounds FABULOUS...maybe I need to have you all come and help me out! My school room is out of control!!!!
I am glad that you all got SO much done and I am SURE that your husband appreciated the effort as well.

Anonymous said...

I am very impressed with what all you and your girls accomplished in just a few short days! I would love to have a week like that. I could be so energizing and inspiring! Do you gals hire out? :)

What a blessing to have girls who are willing to work, and stay with a task until it is done.

Heather

Anonymous said...

I am so blessed to have daughters who are such hard workers and very eager to learn. Carrie, we would love to come give you a hand sometime. Heather, we don't hire out, but we do love to help our friends. We have gone to people's homes on many occasions and given them a hand in getting organized. It is something we LOVE to do. Maybe the next time we come over the mountains we will have to give you a hand:)

Jennifer said...

Lanita, how do you do it??? Just minutes before reading this I was saying that we need to go through the house (AGAIN!) and start weeding out.

I guess, realistically, if I had two girls her age and no little ones making messes behind us (and in front of us, and next to us...) it would be do-able in a few days.

Someday I hope for a troop of helpers - I need to follow your example and train them all so that they are hard workers when they get there.

Thanks for the encouragement in looking after the ways of our households!

Anonymous said...

It has taken me years it get to this point. It does take lots of training and retraining and it is a lot of work. I love things organized and knew that it would never stay that way if I tried to do it all myself. Plus, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't train my daughters to be able to clean a house from top to bottom and keep things orderly. My future son's-in-law wouldn't be very pleased with me.:)