Well, it's been several days since I have posted anything and I really don't have time to be blogging today, but I do not want to get out of the habit.  We were out of town for several days over Spring Break and then once we got back we've been trying to get back in the swing of things with school, etc.  My whole family is exhausted.  The past two nights at supper we've almost fallen over in our plates, counting down the minutes until bedtime (well, not sure the kids were as excited about bedtime as I was).  Anyway, hopefully by the end of the week, the laundry will be caught up on, the house will be clean, and I will have to time and energy to blog again regularly.

Tomorrow the adoption specialist comes to meet us and have a walk-through of our house.  From my understanding, this is so when a child comes into the system that is eligible for adoption and their criteria matches with ours, the adoption specialist will have a better idea of who we are and whether she thinks our family would be a good match for that child.  All that to say......today Carson and I are cleaning house!! :)  His room was a disaster, because when he plays in his room, he plays hard.  He pulls out everything and has the biggest time.  Yesterday he had a friend over to play, so there was two little people in there to create a wreck.  They stayed very busy having fun, though.  We had to drag them out when it was time to eat lunch and then time for him to leave.  :) 

When Carson's room gets really messy, he has trouble figuring out how to clean up.  I think the mess is just so overwhelming that he doesn't know where to start.  If I stand in his room and give him step by step instructions, then he can clean it himself.   You know, focus on one thing at a time.  He is still not able to master that ability since he is only four.  I was needing to be tidying elsewhere, so I came up with the idea to draw him a map (since he can't read) of the steps that he needs to take to clean his room.  He did a pretty good job!

This is the before picture........yikes!!!

Here is Carson's map.  I called it a map, because he likes maps and I thought he would think it was cool to have a map! :)
Step #1:  Make bed, put stuffed animals on top and then place clean clothes basket on top
(I'll have to put up the clean clothes)
Step #2:  Find all dirty clothes on floor, pick them up and take them to the dirty clothes hamper in the bathroom.
(I even drew underwear! ha,ha,ha!)
Step#3:  Find all your big toys and put them in the tubs in the bottom of your closet.
Step #4:  Find all your dress-up costumes and put them in the blue bag on closet door.
Step #5:  Pick up all the little toys off the floor and put them in the container on the shelf.

He was very proud of his work and called for me to come look..........

He did a pretty good job...I did find a few things stuffed under the bed and a dirty sock he'd put in his sock drawer, but overall a passing score.  Now I can come in and do the vacuuming, dusting, etc.  Think I'll make his bed again, but I'm very proud of his good attempt. 

I slipped his map down in a clear protector, so that he could mark off when he finished a step with a dry-erase marker.  Then we can erase it off and use it again the next time his room becomes a disaster.......because I'm sure there will be a next time.  :)

That's all I have time for now.  I want to post about our fun camping trip last weekend, but that will have to wait.  I have this uncontrollable urge to make my house look perfect for when the specialist comes tomorrow.......God forbid that she realize we are real people with a normal life and normal clutter.  :) 

(For all you clean freaks out there, I would like to clarify that Carson's room is not always that messy.  :)  It can go from clean to wreck in minutes and the toys get cleaned up almost every night.  Just don't want you to think that there was anything growing or living in that mess or something.....it was all clean clutter that just needed a few minutes of attention.)