Shawn and the girls are having a great time in Red Bluff hanging out at The Ranch and the Town House. (The Town House is just their house that they own in town as opposed to the house that is actually on The Ranch.)

SuperChic has been out riding the quad in the backyard obstacle course. Apparently she is a natural and Shawn’s Uncle has said that she should have her own. I see a big item on her birthday and Christmas wish list this year.

Rapunzel has been having a blast. She caught her first fish the other day. Since that one fish she has taken off on her own with Shawn’s pole and gone fishing quite a few times. She doesn’t seem to mind pulling the fish off the hook.

While they have been gone I have been hanging out with my friend S and her little girl C. Tomorrow we are taking Bug and her little girl to the free movie at 10am . Tonight we went to Chuck E Cheese’s. Bug had a great time and Brenda was able to get some work done. Bug earned her night out with a new friend. The poor girl had no one to play with for 8 hours yesterday while we cleaned my house.

The house is not done, but it is so much better. I have one box to actually sort and put away in the living room, two boxes of school supplies to find a home for, and my knitting/sewing materials and supplies to put away and the living room will be clean.

Then I can rip up the carpet in front of the piano and put down the tile that we did in the rest of the living room.

I have three bins for shoes in the hallway. A green one for the shoes that Shawn and I wear frequently. Like our slippers, sandals, and sneakers. A pink one for all of SuperChic’s shoes except for her dress-up shoes. And a blue one for Rapunzel’s shoes.

Keeping the girls shoes in their bedrooms was a constant battle of never having a pair. One was almost always lost under the bed while the other was in a closet, in the dining room, in the bathroom, or in my room. Of course, we could never find more than one shoe at a time and then we never new if it was the mate or the same one over and over again. The hallway seemed like a central location where shoes got piled, I’m using that and trying to keep it contained. We’ll see how it goes once they come home.

I bought a new plastic tablecloth at Target. It was on clearance for less than $3. I don’t normally do tablecloths, especially the plastic ones, but I had to do something. Crumbs and other crap was always falling between the spaces in the table. Add to that the fact that the varnish is flaking up and you have one big messy table and floor.

I still have to finish putting away things that are on the buffet, but a good portion of it was put away too. My sewing/knitting totes are still in the dining-room. It was a central place to stack them so that I can sit down and sort through them. Having my material in with my yarn is not very practical at all.

I have a stack of DVD’s to put away; stacks of books on my coffee table; and about half a counters worth of groceries to deal with (cake mixes, flour, some canned goods); and of course more laundry to do.

My bedroom still looks like the living-room did on Monday, but I’l get there. Having the rest of the house under control feels so much better. Maybe having my house under control will help me to feel more in control myself.

I’m going to make reward* charts for me and the girls, I don’t get a sticker unless I do my chores just like them. At the end of the day we will all go over the list and see what chores were completed. That way they can see that if I didn’t do something I was supposed to that I don’t get a sticker either.

Accountability is going to play a big part in keeping the house clean. I know that I can’t maintain everything on my own and that they are going to have to help me. I’m not going to expect them to do all the dishes, but if SuperChic sets/clears the table, I will wash and Rapunzel can put away. Rapunzel doesn’t mind switching the loads between the washer/dryer/couch, then I fold and we can all put things away.

I’m crossing my fingers that this will work.

Shawn and I will discuss what type of rewards we can earn with the girls when they get home. That way we can discuss what’s reasonable as a reward and as a length of time.

There has been a definite frenzy going on around here. A sewing frenzy that is.

I have been trying to make at least two aprons a day and get them listed. I should be able to do more than that in one day, but with two kids stuck in the house because it is 107+ outside, it just isn’t happening. But so far so good.

I started a new series for the 4th of July, Summer barbecue crowd I’m calling it star spangled, and all but two (which will be photographed and listed tomorrow) of the series is available in my Etsy shop.

I’ve completed the Master Griller’s apron;

the Jr. Griller’s Apron;

the Sous Chef’s apron(s);

and one of the mini Sous Chef aprons.

I was on such a roll yesterday, but, last night, when I went to cut out another pattern, I couldn’t. SuperChic had made her bed on the floor in the living room. So instead I decided to work on a project that didn’t require full use of the cutting board. With many questions asked of Sue, at around midnight, I started. I worked without an actual pattern, instructions, or even another item to reference.

Considering all of that I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Shawn is even happier, because he didn’t have to spend money on this, this, or this, so I could have a new tote to use for BlogHer and San Francisco. And while he didn’t really understand why I wanted a new tote, he was going to let me get one, from Etsy, and not Target, where it would have been cheaper. (Though I really, really, want that cowgirl bag).

Now I know all of you are dying to know what my new toy looks like. So here she is.

I love her. She works wonderfully. I am a very happy person with lots of work to do.