Fail(ure) Blog(ger)

I'm not very good at keeping everybody updated on my ever so exciting life, am I? I'm sorry... I have actually been pretty busy and I really should be keeping you all informed as to all the fun I am having. I failed.

Let's see...

Last weekend Jeff and I went to Minnesota to visit my sister and her family. She is married to a farmer (a very nice guy- we all approved of him right away), and they have 6 adorable children. I am amazed every time I go up to visit them... usually they have added another child to their family (tee hee... okay, so not usually, but sometimes that is the case). Their routines and organization never ceases to amaze me.

Once I was up visiting and saw that she used file trays to sort things such as (but not necessarily): To read, to file, to mail, etc... I loved the idea and came home and did the same. Our trays are: Sarah's things to deal with (aka bills), Computer games/software, to file, and Jeff's things to deal with. I loved the idea and it keeps clutter down.

They also always have had very organized chores. After meals, all the children hop up and start moving their chairs... one child sweeps under the table, another loads the dishwasher, and another washes off the table. WOW! I was impressed. I think I should probably hire little elves to help me do those types of things. What do you think? I learned this past visit that those are called "Table Chores."

So... lunch ended and we all sat around chatting and being silly... Katie (my sister) put a CD in, and I started enjoying the music. But all the "big kids" (Laurel, Jackson, Peyton, and Olivia) all jumped up and shouted "TABLE CHORES!" Whoa! Scared me half to death! They knew that when that song played, they needed to get going on their table chores. But I didn't know exactly what they said, so I mistook it for "TABLE TALK!" Of course, I was ready to continue sitting and talking! They laughed at me.

But I did quickly catch on, and I was the one shouting "TABLE TALK!" after every meal from then on. And I shook my finger, put my hand on my hip, used middle names when calling them, and felt very sophisticated. It was a blast, to say the least. I'll share some photos with you...

Laurel feeding her pony.

Jackson putting away dishes.

Laurel and her mom (Katie) making breakfast.

Well, that's all for now... I'll post more about that visit later. And then I have other things to talk about too! I'd better go play "catch-up," though.