A Productive Day!

What a productive day it has been! I have spent most of the day adding to and completing items off of my new TO DO list. With this new direction I have it has made my day much more focused and as a result I have been way more productive than days past. I am happy to report that I completed the item at the top of my to-do list today: Make a cleaning schedule.

What a task, first I had to analyze my needs around the house and then determine when and how often I wanted to get these things done. It is not rocket science, but I feel I have made one small leap for the sanity and cleanliness of my home today! So, in its first published edition, The Sain Family Cleaning Schedule:

Daily
Make the beds
Wipe kitchen counters
Dishes
Pick up clutter

Monday DOWNSTAIRS
Dust downstairs
Vacuum
Swiffer/mop kitchen, bathroom, laundry room & playroom
Clean kitchen counters, appliances & table
Take out trash

Tuesday UPSTAIRS
Dust upstairs
Vacuum
Swiffer/mop bathrooms
Clean desk

Wednesday
Change sheets
Laundry
Vacuum stairs

Thursday
Clean bathrooms – up and down
Disinfect phones and remotes
Disinfect toys
Take out trash

Friday
Cut Annabelle’s nails
Water plants

Monthly
o Dust baseboards and stairs
o Spot clean walls and doors
o Dust blinds
o Dust ceiling fans
o Take the pillows off couches and chairs and vacuum them
o Move and clean under and behind big pieces of furniture
o Wash mattress pads and blankets
o Clean the oven (as needed)
o Wipe out refrigerator
o Sanitize trash cans
o Clean out mail baskets
o Wash rugs

I know no one really cares but it makes it much more real when it is in writing and someone else knows it exists!

All growing-up!

Tonight Hannah and I sat down to go through the rest of her birthday toys from this weekend. I have been pacing her so that there was no huge influx of toys in my house. We need time for these new things to overtake our home gradually!

Hannah loves all her toys but her favorite of the night is a Disney Princess Purse complete with pretend make-up, car keys, cell phone, and various other princess necessities. With three boys at our house all week long (the Richards are here from Tucson and we have loved their visit!) Hannah has not really had a lot of "girlie time" to play with everything she wants to play with in peace. Since all the boys went to bed early she has had free reign tonight!

Her favorite game of the night has been to walk around the house with her shopping bag (a birthday sack), her purse, and an old pocket planner that she calls her "shopping list" and purchase things from us. "I need to give you my moneys," she says as she has you swipe her credit card. She has now successfully re-acquired all of her new birthday presents by "purchasing" them from us. She cracks me up!

One of her newly reclaimed birthday presents is a set of clip-on earrings and a princess crown. After clipping her earrings on, my baby girl looked about 8 years old. It just about broke my heart. She cannot be growing up this fast. I sent her over to Chris to show Daddy her earrings. He, of course, said that the earrings made his little girl looked so grown up. Hannah responded by saying, "Daddy, I'm still growing up!"

I never thought that it would take my growing-up child to remind me that she still has growing-up to do and is not as big as she seems sometimes. When things do get stressful or irritating around the house it gets very easy to wish my life away; hoping for a day that things will go better or everyone will behave properly. It is my goal to stop and take mental pictures and to make the memories. After all, the memories will be all I have to hold onto after my baby is all grown-up.

Mini-Me turns Three!

Boy, how time flies. It seems so long ago and yet it seems like yesterday that Chris and I found out we were pregnant with a baby girl. I have to admit, I was a little scared and nervous about having a little girl. I had grown up with all brothers and I knew I could handle a little boy, but the thought of raising a girl just made my head spin. After the notion of having a girl sank-in I really did get excited about it. Who wouldn't? Dresses, bows, pink, purple, little frilly socks, ... hormones, puberty, boyfriends, weddings... Wow, exciting and overwhelming all at the same time!

I remember driving home from the doctor the day we found out our firstborn would be a girl and Chris looking over at me and saying, "Boy, you get ready, you are about to get a dose of your own medicine!" What? No! Surely, this wonderful creature will be a perfect combination of both Chris's and my best traits! Right?!?


Hannah's birth came with a bang and she surprised us by coming into the world three days before she was due. This should have been my first indication that she was so much like me... Jen need always to be on time but early is preferable!

Hannah has definitely been a daddy's girl from the beginning but for the first few months she was not only pro-Daddy she was anti-Mommy. Chris and Hannah have that bond that will never be broken that I so wanted. At about 15 months Hannah finally came around and decided she would keep me around. It was so beautiful to get to grow closer to my daughter who would finally crawl up on the couch and cuddle with her Momma!


It is very clear from the confrontations that do come up at this house on occasion that Hannah has my "strong-willed spirit" as Chris so lovingly puts it. She and I are so similar. We both like order, things must be cleaned up and have a place to belong. She enjoys cleaning the house with me. She can have a mean streak in her on occasion and can reason her way through ANY situation. Though there are times that Hannah and I do clash the good times far outweigh the rest. How can you stay upset with someone who looks just like you anyway?!?

I look forward to the challenge of raising a young lady. I look forward to seeing her grow into a beautiful woman of God. I cannot wait to see what is in her future. I just want to take one day at a time, soak-up as much as I can and find the joy in every moment with her.

So what have we done today to celebrate Hannah Grace?

Diana, Christopher and, most importantly, Zachary have come into town for a long visit!

Cupcakes for Breakfast!

Train ride with Zachary, Petyon, Lucas, Caleb & Christopher!

McDonald's for lunch! YUM!
On to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

My Precious

I just returned from a wonderful outing with my beautiful Hannah! Her birthday is on Friday and I figured three would be a good age to go with her to have our first Mommy/Daughter pedicure. So, in true "Jen-fashion" we started celebrating her birthday several days before (and we will continue to celebrate for many days after her birthday)!

"I want my feets in the water just like Momma."

"I love getting pedicure with you Momma"

"Pink with pink flowers!"

The entire drive home and as I write Hannah is saying "I love my pedicure," "I had fun at my pedicure," "Thank you for my pedicure Momma."

This is absolutely a night I will never forget. My baby is one step closer to becoming a young woman. (in the far off future... er... right?)

To My Precious: Thank you for the wonderful "girls-only" pedicure tonight. I cannot wait for all the things we will get to share together. You fit perfectly into the Hannah shaped hole in my heart! I LOVE YOU!

Hello Again!

It has been a while since I have felt like posting. With the surgery recovery and so many additional pressures on our family it has just been easier to hole-up and keep it all in.

Things are going well around here. Chris has started a web design company called Bear Creek Technology Solutions. Check it out! I am so proud of him and all his hours of balancing family, church, his full-time job and of course caring for his favorite brain surgery patient. He is working toward his dream of entrepreneurship that he has had since high school and I can't wait to see the places he/we will go!

For today I want to share my favorite moment from a very long and busy day around Casa de Sain:

After winding down from a lovely dinner and baths, the kids were doing their best to destroy the recently picked-up playroom. Hannah calls to us in the livingroom to come see what she is working on. Here is what we saw when we went to the playroom:

My daughter, with her apron on, had laid out a baby blanket and was ironing her "fabric." She said, "Look Daddy, I am like Momma, I'm getting ready to sew."

Looks like I won't have to push my hobbies on her. She will become a Domestic Diva on her own!