Only with God's help

Moreover -- let us also be full of joy now! Let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.
--Romans 5:3 (AMP)

Spring Cleaning: Part One

Look! It's a miracle! There's no laundry on the Laundry Sofa!


Oh, wait. That was Saturday, after five straight days of laundry washing, folding, sorting and putting away. Don't look now... there's another load about to land!!

I was so inspired by Stephanie's spring cleaning post in March. But I couldn't go there yet. This weekend I felt it was finally Time. The garden is getting along. Outside commitments are getting fewer. And the clutter and grime were starting to drive me crazy. We've had a couple dust storms recently, and our drafty house lets all the dirt in. Blech!

Plus Simple Mom is having a Spring Cleaning Party at her blog. She makes it sound so FUN! But I can't commit to anyone else's schedule. I just have to make my list, and find the time as I go.

So, here's the list (I did all the cobweb vacuuming first, because I borrowed my mom's vacuum cleaner.) ...

Boys' room:
Declutter big boys' clothes and organize dresser.
Vacuum cobwebs from windows.
Clean windowsills.
Pick up all toys from floor, and sweep.
Mop.
Clean ceiling fan blades.
Clear off dresser and dust bookshelves.
Clean window glass.
Wash blinds in bathtub.
Declutter closet.
Clean under trundle bed.

Living room:
Vacuum cobwebs from ceiling and windows.
Vacuum dead bugs behind curtains. (How did they get there?!)
Purge magazines.
Dust bookshelves and other furniture.
Mop.
Dust picture frames.
Clean ceiling fan blades.
Wash curtains.
Vacuum couches.

Dining room:
Vacuum cobwebs from ceiling and windows.
Clean ceiling fan blades.
Wash blinds in bathtub.
Dust bookshelves.
Declutter and dust computer desk.

Kitchen:
Declutter cabinets and counters. (Is it cheating because I did this a month ago?)
Clean kitchen window.

Main bathroom:
Clean toilet.
Clean mirror and sink.
Mop.
Vacuum cobwebs on ceiling and window.
Declutter medicine cabinet.
Wash window blinds.
Scrub shower.

Master bedroom:
Wash all blankets and sheets.
Dryel woolens and put away.
Pick up around bed and under dressers.
Mop.
Vacuum cobwebs on ceiling and window.
Sort littlest boy's clothes and donate.
Purge unnecessary cloth diapers.
Clear dressers and dust.
Clean ceiling fan blades.
Wash window blinds.

Side room:
Declutter.
Declutter s'more.
Dust.
Sweep and mop.

Second bathroom:
Take pity on Uberdad and clean it.

Wow. When I look at that list, I realize how much we accomplished in two days! (Uberdad helped remove clutter from the house. And the boys picked up their toys and put away laundry. Thanks, guys! I love you!)

I'm already halfway there. I can do this.

But first, we have a field trip tomorrow. All work and no play makes miserable chil'ens! (Today we did no extra cleaning. Just lots of stories and cookie baking. They deserved it!)

Have you had your Vitamin D today?

Well, I saw my doc again yesterday, and guess what?! I'm not going to need any fancy meds to fix me up!

Turns out my thyroid numbers were a little wonky, like he suspected. But not because my thyroid wasn't doing its job.

My vitamin D level was low, which was messing with other things. (My T4free was high and my T3free was low, if you have any idea what that means.) Doc said it was a conversion problem related to the vitamin D deficiency.

So, I'm popping some pills for a while. But it's not permanent, and only the vitamin D is a prescription.

I remember hearing Dr. Oz talk about vitamin D on Oprah a while back. And he's not the only one. I figured I was okay, since I've spent more time in the sun during my last year of gardening than I did the previous five.

But after 8 years of pregnancy and breastfeeding, I'm not caught up yet. I burn really easily, so I'm usually covered or using sunscreen.

And I found this fascinating (from The Miracle of Vitamin D):

"The ultraviolet wavelength that stimulates our bodies to produce vitamin D is UV-B. It is sometimes called the "burning ray" because it is the primary cause of sunburn (erythema)...

The reason it is difficult to get adequate vitamin D from sunlight is that while UV-A is present throughout the day, the amount of UV-B present has to do with the angle of the sun's rays. Thus, UV-B is present only during midday hours at higher latitudes, and only with significant intensity in temperate or tropical latitudes. Only 5 percent of the UV-B light range goes through glass and it does not penetrate clouds, smog or fog.

Sun exposure at higher latitudes before 10 am or after 2 pm will cause burning from UV-A before it will supply adequate vitamin D from UV-B."

That means it's really difficult to get enough vitamin D from 30 minutes of watering my vegetables while wearing longsleeves and/or sunscreen.

I also don't eat much on this list except the eggs and butter. Though I'm happy to see pork fat on there... Now if only our organic CSA would start offering grass-fed bacon!

When I'm finished with my prescription, I may try the dreaded cod liver oil. In the meantime, I'm following doctor's orders. (I know, that's so unlike me.)

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was a basic spaghetti and breakfast-for-dinner kind of week. Nothing fancy. (Unless you count my kale, sausage and rice soup, which miraculously got my two older boys to eat their greens. Littlest and his daddy were harder to convince.)

So this week, I've got some cooking to catch up on. I roasted a chicken tonight, so I can restock my stock. And I'm looking forward to trying some new tricks out of Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook.

Now, it's not my style to lie to my children about what's in their food. My older two are foodies, anyway, so it doesn't work on them.

Tonight I threw in some turnips from our csa box along with the usual potatoes to roast. They looked the same on the plate, but when Eldest bit into one, he noticed the difference. "This potato doesn't taste right!" "You probably got a turnip," I answered. "Oh! Well, okay, if it's a turnip, I like it. It wasn't very good as a potato."

However, Littlest is too young to have opinions about what goes into a dish. He judges based on the look of things. If it looks like it contains a flour product and/or cheese, he'll probably eat it. If not, good luck. (He does like cooked carrots and broccoli, in small portions.)

And, to be honest, he probably gets his pickiness from his mother.

So Jessica's idea of adding pureed vegetables to kids' favorite dishes sounds brilliant to me! Who wouldn't eat spinach in the form of a brownie?! Remember my chocolate beet muffins? MMMMM!

We'll see if my energy holds up to my puree-ing ambitions...

MONDAY (skate day)
Eggs & toast
Pizza at the skating rink
Chicken noodle soup w/root veggie puree (Deceptively Delicious)

TUESDAY
Sweet potato pancakes
Lasagna w/sweet potato and cauliflower puree (D.D.)
Brownies (D.D.)

WEDNESDAY (field trip)
Oatmeal or cereal
Fried tilapia, asparagus and German potato salad (w/dill)

THURSDAY (garden, Bible study night)
Frittata w/swiss chard and bacon
Tacos w/sweet potato (D.D.)

FRIDAY (bake)
Soda bread w/strawberry jam
Spaghetti w/sausage and carrots

SATURDAY
Hamburgers w/cauliflower and carrot puree

We'll be eating snap peas fresh from the garden all week, too! We just discovered they were ready this afternoon! And I have a big box of strawberries that I might have to turn into jam this week... yum!

Go find more menus plans at Organizing Junkie!