Cleaning

Kelly's Korner is doing Show Us Your Cleaning Tips. I should really have a lot of these because I come from a long line of "Cleaners". They have a sickness, I mean gift. If I was to clean my kitchen table I would spray it with disinfectant and sweep/ mop under the table and dust the chairs. My mom would disassemble the table scrub the parts with bleach water, use a toothbrush on the bolts, steam clean the ground under the table and then reassemble the table. I'll be honest I don't iron. I hate it. I only iron if I HAVE to. But, my sweet Mimi on the other hand irons her sheets. That's right, sheets. I love being in their homes because they are beautiful and immaculate. I'm a "picker upper". I try to keep everything picked up and I clean frequently but, I am not good at the DEEP CLEANING. I put off cleaning the blinds, light fixtures, and baseboards. But, here are I few things I learned from my mom:

1. Don't go to bed until the house is picked up. Items need to be returned to their "home".
2. Straighten the couch pillows before bed.
3. Make your bed everyday.
4. Vacuum your house very often. I don't do as good as her on this one, mom has been known to vacuum on her way out the door to work.
5. Put bathroom supplies back in the cabinet as you get ready.
6. Put laundry away when you pull it out of the dryer. I hate to do this step so my dry clothes sometimes spend a night in the dryer until I can just do it and get it over with.
7. Put dishes in the dishwasher after you are done with them.

and something I learned from Keepers of Your Home Bible study: clean your sink every night. All this cleaning makes me want to be a boy.

Kristin Cook took pictures of the babies a few weeks ago. I love how they turned out. She is so talented. Here are a few that she took.

Stephen is OLD!

Stephen turned 30 this week! I took the babies to his work and we had lunch on his birthday. We went to this hole in the wall place called Jimmy's. It is really an Italian grocery store but, the deli sells amazing sandwiches. You can go behind the kitchen to this secret room to eat. I am pretty sure several "hits" have been made in this back room. It is pretty mob. After lunch we went back to GuideStone and saw his friends. Poor baby Charis had a major diaper malfunction and her genius mother forgot to bring extra clothes so she ended up looking like a Wal-Mart baby (no offense Nelson).

This is our other set of twins. I found these great shirts for the guys and think they look so cute. Blue Bell is posing too.

I asked Stephen if he wanted a party or anything for his big 3oth birthday but, all he wanted was to smoke a brisket with Marcus. We went over on Friday and spent the day at the Watson's and then ate their delicious brisket that evening. Dina was sweet enough to get Stephen a cake. I hope Stephen had a great 30th birthday. He deserves it! He has been such a wonderful husband and Daddy. He is a huge help when he is home from work. I am thankful for all he does for us!