For the last week, we’ve had six extra people in our home for spring break.  (Have I mentioned that yet.. yes? Ok, then).  This morning at 7 a.m. they left to head back to California.  They have a long, probably not-so-fun day ahead of them, while we are left behind to grieve over their leaving.  (Well, my children are doing most of the grieving – I am just looking around my VERY QUIET HOUSE and trying to decide what I want to do first).

During the last week, there was LOTS and LOTS of fun being had, so I’m not sure I’m up for much more fun today.  My kids have been on overload, between the extra cousins, all the activities, Martha’s birthday party on Saturday, and a big Easter hoopla yesterday.  ALL three of my children fell asleep during worship services yesterday morning, so that tells you just how tired they (we) all are!

So, it’s a recycled idea, but we are having a PAJAMA day today, while Mama does loads of laundry and attempts to put things back where they belong. (There were lots of cooks in my kitchen this week!)

Oh yes, and Mama will also be making a big boatload of egg salad for sandwiches all week, since we have three dozen colored eggs in the fridge!  We have a ton of leftover ham and potato salad from yesterday, so dinner tonight is easy.  And of course, there is all the CANDY everywhere.  I’m sure we’ll have a LITTLE fun with that!

What are YOU doing for Monday Funday?  Be sure to visit Ann and tell her (and us) all about it!

I don’t think I’ll have time for fun today. Wow, that sounds a little sad, doesn’t it? You see, my To Do list is long, and my kids have been fussy lately so I haven’t been able to finish anything, and I have family coming to stay for a week. The family arrive tonight – all six of them – and I still have several things that need to get done. Or rather, that I THINK need to get done. They probably could NOT get done, and no one would notice. But, I set myself up to get these things done, and if I don’t mark them off my To Do list, well.. I’ll know they didn’t get done.

Yeah, sounds like it’s all fun and games around here, huh?

But, this is what I do – often. I set myself up to be frustrated, disappointed (in myself), tired and stressed out over things that really don’t matter that much to anyone but me. I mean, sure, my house could be cleaner and more organized, but will that stop the cousins from having a fabulous time together this week? No. Will it stop my sister and my mother and I from baking some yummy things for our family this week? No. Will it really affect the visit in a serious way? No, nope, not really at all.

So, maybe I will plan something fun today after all. I’m not sure yet what it will be, but it might include some down-time to read a book. I’d love to take an hour to work on a scrapbook layout or two. Or, maybe I’ll play a game with lil Allan while Martha is napping. Or maybe I’ll just SIT STILL and RELAX and TAKE LOTS OF DEEP BREATHS. (And enjoy some ice tea and some fresh bread that I baked this weekend). It’s simple, but it sounds like fun to me!

And when my family arrives tonight? The fun? It will REALLY begin. We’ll have 11 people in our house for an entire week, plus four more occasionally throughout the week for various events. Yep, it’s about to get FUN around here.

What are you doing for Monday FunDay?

Um, I think I did this one already – turning cleaning into fun? Yes, my life – it’s such a blast!

But I seriously need to get some cleaning done this week, as we have six houseguests coming for an entire week next week. My sister and her husband and two kids haven’t been to our new house yet, and we want to impress them have things in shape when they arrive. My folks, well, they’ve seen the house, but it’d be nice if it were clean for them too.

So, here’s my plan. I need to tackle the boys’ room, and the bathroom today. I’m going to get the timer and set it for 60 seconds, and lil Allan and I are going to see how many toys/clothes/trash items we can pick up from the floor in their room. Then we are going to re-set it for another 60 seconds, and rinse and repeat until we get the room clean. (It’s not in THAT bad of shape, so probably two or three minutes will do it, especially if I move FAST, and provided lil Allan doesn’t work against me, as he is known to do).

After the FUN bedroom cleaning, we’ll move on to the bathroom. And I’ve got another FUN plan. I’m going to run a great big bath with lots of bubbles, and throw in tons of toys, and get lil Allan to take a bath while I clean up all around him. The bathtub itself isn’t needing too much attention, so he can play and splash and have fun while I scrub the toilet and vanity and probably the floors. I even have some FUN soap that he hasn’t ever seen that I’ll pull out for him to use.

And after we finish cleaning the bedroom and bathroom, the boys aren’t allowed in those rooms all week, so I can keep them spic and span clean. Oh wait… that probably won’t work, will it? Phooey…

Now, if I can just figure out how to make LAUNDRY fun. That’s also on my list, but so far I haven’t come up with a FUN plan for that chore.

What are YOU doing for Monday FunDay?

Ann Kroeker has another encouraging Monday FunDay post for you to check out on her blog. I am saving my original idea for today’s post until next week, and I’m revising my plans for this week’s Monday FunDay. And it’s all thanks to Ann – although I’m sure she didn’t expect to inspire me.

Today, I plan to get out my collection of Carpenters CD’s (of which I have quite a few) and listen to them ALL DAY LONG.

I’m pretty sure lil Allan hasn’t heard any of them before, and it’s really about time already (he’s almost three, for goodness sake!). As for Martha, she LOVES music, and she already is showing an ear for good music, so I know she’ll have fun with Mama listening to Karen Carpenter.

Now, my mother is still in town visiting with us, and it may not be HER idea of a good time, but she’s listened to enough Carpenters over the years with my dad, my sister and I all being big fans. She’ll live with it.

My only regret is that Samuel won’t be here to enjoy our All Carpenters All Day Long Monday Fun Day! I may have to do a repeat and have All Carpenters All Day Long SATURDAY Fun Day this next weekend, so Samuel can enjoy the easy-listening love-song goodness with us.

What are YOU going to do for Monday FunDay? Head on over to Ann’s blog and let her (and the rest of us) know!

Ok, so funnily enough, I started doing some “fun day” stuff with lil Allan BEFORE reading Ann’s Monday FunDay post today. I was thinking in my head how I was going to word a post about turning cleaning into fun with my almost three year old. Then, I sat down for our quick bite of lunch and my “blog time”, and what do I find? Ann recommended finding the fun in the UN-fun tasks. Ok.. been there, done that today – and that simplifies my post!

I have a really, really, REALLY long To Do list for this week, as we’re gearing up for a surprise visit from my mom a.k.a. Mema, (well, I won’t be surprised when she arriaves, but the kids will be surprised, if Allan and I can manage to keep it a secret for two more days), AND Samuel’s big 6th birthday carnival party on Saturday. We’ve invited several people who have never been to our home, so I’d like to have it as presentable as possible.

If you know me at all, you know that I like to have To Do lists from which to work, BUT if they get really, really, REALLY long? I start to hyperventilate a little and occasionally shut down and then nothing gets done! So, I spent some time this morning breaking my really, really, REALLY long list into manageable lists for each day of this week.

That was fun (for ME), because I’m weird and like re-arranging To Do lists.

Then I proceeded to tackle my To Do list for TODAY. The dish washing went well – I managed to do that alone while the kids were busy with Daddy and breakfast, and I had a few minutes to think my own thoughts (which is FUN for this mom who is always getting interupted mid-thought).

However, by the time I moved to sweeping and mopping the kitchen, I had a little almost three year old sidekick. Daddy suggested that we use the handy-dandy bucket/broom combo thing he bought recently.

(Side-note – my husband is the coolest man alive. He likes to buy the “fun” things that I see in the store but am to “practical” to purchase. Like this awesome, bucket/broom combo thing. I would see it in the store, think how fun/cool/neato that would be to have, but then I’d talk myself out of it because I already have a regular broom/dustpan. Hubby? He sees it in the store and says, “yep, we NEED that, because it’d be fun/cool/neato/helpful”. We have a lot of fun/cool/neato things like this bucket/broom combo thing.)

And in case you were wondering – this is kind of what it looks like, although ours is red and is the bucket is bigger AND better. (Because my husband buys quality, even when he buys the “fun” stuff).

So, back to the FunDay story. Lil Allan and I swept and swept and swept and then used the bucket dust pan to pick up all our little piles. He had so much fun he had a little temper tantrum when I told him we were done. (That wasn’t so much fun, but thankfully his tantrums last about 35 seconds, and then he can be redirected by fun things like candy and such). Now, did it take longer to sweep the kitchen with his “help” than it would have without him? Of course. But did he have fun? You betcha! And so did his Mommy!

And if you made it this far, congrats! Now, go check out Ann’s post and see what others are doing for Monday FunDay!

Have you seen Ann Kroeker’s MONDAY FUNDAY? I’m joining in this week…

I love the idea of turning Monday into a FUN day. I always have mixed feelings about Mondays, because while it’s the beginning of a new week, and I always like the feeling of NEW… it also means my hubby goes back to work, and that’s no fun at all. I like having him around, call me silly.

Anyway, since Valentine’s Day is almost here, I decided that we’d celebrate love all week long, and today we’re going to have some FUN, making valentines for our family and friends. (Because if we don’t get them in the mail tonight, we’re going to be late!)

Lil Allan has discovered a love for scissors, so I’m going to give him some pink and red paper and the scissors and a glue stick and some stickers, and let him have some FUN with some pre-folded card stock! Samuel will probably enjoy this too, but he would probably like to get on my computer to make some hearts in my graphics program, so that will be part of his FUN day. We’ll print some of his creations and go from there, with the cutting and glueing and decorating.

And Mom will have FUN cleaning up the mess afterwards!

Be sure to visit Ann’s site to get links to more MONDAY FUNDAY posts.