Updating With Normal Stuff

So things are calming down a bit in Chaosville (**knocking on every available wooden surface**) and I thought it was time to tell you about some of the more mundane things that have been going on lately. First things first, Pattie is potty-trained!! Just like her brothers before her, she decided to use the potty one day and has never looked back. She has Princess undies that she loves and has done well, even when we are out and about. It is a little different having a little girl (DUH!!) because she still needs help with the clean-up, unlike boys who at most needed to be reminded to lift the seat (but she doesn't miss, so it balances out). Because of this, I am a little more involved than I was with the boys. Pattie knows exactly how to get my attention. I may be busy with something when she asks me to come play, or change the channel on the TV but if she says, "I need to go tee tee" I come running.
I have noticed of late that I get a little overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning the house. It's summer and things are a lot more relaxed, but also we are all here all the time, making messes. Back when we lived in our two-bedroom apartment in Germany, I had a chart I kept called "Room of the Day". Each day I would thoroughly clean one room in the house and things stayed pretty nice. Other rooms were picked up as needed. I abandoned the "Room of the Day" several years ago, but recently I have decided to bring it back. Yesterday I used my mad crafting skills to create this:

Let me zoom in for you:

I went over it with the boys, showing them that their room was not on my chart for the simple reason that it was their job. They got to pick one day when they would do a big clean in there and if it happens that day every week with no fussing and fighting, they will earn a prize (yep, I'm a firm believer in bribery of the clones). I also let them know that they will be required to help with their bathroom, the living room and the kitchen. I may ask for their help in Pattie's room too since they have started to play with her in there from time to time. After our long weekends (Jayme is off every Monday) our living room can sometimes resemble Normandy after D-Day so Monday we will all (Jayme included) get it back in order. This will include moving the furniture to vacuum underneath. One of the main reasons we have breakfast so late on the weekends is the kitchen is a mess from Friday night's dinner. So the kitchen has become Friday's job. The counters will be cleared off, floor mopped (anytime it needs sweeping during the week it will be done), etc...

Finally in garden-related news, we have harvested our first watermelon!!

It may have been a day or two early but it was sweet and juicy and WARM from the sun and we loved it. We ate our first corn from the garden last week when my parents were here. One of the ears was a little over prime but the fun factor was high and we can't wait to eat some more. Jayme and Raley ate some jalapenos from the garden last night with our Chicken Enchiladas and said they were nice and hot and very tasty. I think we will have to proclaim our garden a success for the most part. We planted our pumpkin seedlings a couple weeks ago so hopefully around Halloween I will have a big pumpkin post!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for my 100th post!!!!