There was Crying Over the Spilled Milk

See that white stuff?  That is a whole gallon of milk spilled on my newly purchased groceries and and freshly mopped kitchen floor.

Clara was trying to help me put away the groceries.  She picked up a gallon milk and was trying to bring it over to the fridge when she dropped it, blowing out the side of the carton.  I quickly ran over and grabbed the still gushing gallon, but it was too late.

When it first happened, I felt myself boiling, I could feel myself about to explode.  I looked at Clara who had retreated to bury her head in the couch.  I took a deep breath and grabbed my camera and snapped the above picture.  

Even though I lovingly reassured my baby that I knew it was an accident and that I wasn't mad at her, she cried.

I asked Amelia to run and get our stack of beach towels.  Isaac and Amelia helped me to pick up the wet groceries and sacks and set them on the towels.  Normally I keep the sacks to recycle for our garbages, but not this day!

I wish that I could say that I remained calm during the whole clean-up process, but unfortunately I didn't. There was a little bit of yelling when Isaac picked up one particularly soggy sack and walked across the kitchen floor - milk dripping the entire way.  There were also some exasperated and cross words when Amelia only brought 1 towel to clean up the mess.

I am not hoping for more spilled milk (there is still a foggy residue left on my kitchen floor even after mopping 3 times), but I am hoping that if there is a next time, I will handle my emotions better for the clean up.  I am hoping that I can speak more clearly about what I need so that my other kids, (the ones who had nothing to do with the mess, but are willingly trying to help clean it up) aren't getting chewed out for not following directions precisely.  

And really, there isn't any use in crying over spilled milk.  There isn't any good done by yelling at the kids who are trying to help.  It just took a little time and effort to clean up the mess.  It was an accident and I have good kids who wanted to help make the situation better.  I need to remember that a little more next time.

A Quick Under-the-Sink Fix Up

Friday evening, I was looking under my kitchen sink for some cleaner and I got fed up with how it looked.

I pulled everything out from under there and wiped it down with a wet rag and some cleaner.

This is what it looked like:

In the back was the worst part.  Our sink had an undiscovered leak for a while and this is the damage it had done when we finally discovered and fixed the problem.

I knew Nathan had some sticky-tile in the garage from a project he did a couple of months ago.  (You can pick this stuff up at Lowes or Home Depot or get a box from here.)  While the cupboard dried, I went out to the garage and rounded up 6 of the sticky tiles.

Starting in the front, I laid one whole tile down and then worked my way across the front.  They I went to the back.  This required cutting the tile a little bit.  I actually started in the middle because one tile would fit between the two pipes that come up through my cupboard.

I didn't concern myself too much with lining the tile up on the back row like I had done with the front row. My thoughts were that it was in the back and no one would really see it back there but me.

This is the tile that covered most of the damage.  Even though there are some gaps in the tile, it will still look tons nicer and be easier to wipe out and clean.

I neglected to take a picture with everything organized and put back in there, but it seriously looks so much better.

If you don't have sticky tile laying around, you could use contact paper as well.  If you live relatively close to me, I still have a whole bunch of this sticky tile in my garage you are welcome to come and take a few pieces.

A Wet Game & Sick Kids

Nathan, the kids and I went to a very wet, cold game on Saturday to cheer on our team.  We left at half-time since the Cougars were so far ahead and our little ones were getting chilled to the bone.

Mental note for me...  Remember that next time it is raining, put on the ponchos before getting out of the car and walking to the stadium.  Don't wait to get to the stadium to put them on or everyone will already be wet. Wet=Cold.  Duh!

Probably as a result of the cold from the game and a lingering congestion from the week before, Jared and Clara were pretty sick on Monday.  I told work that I would be working from home that day and I kept them both home with me.  They slept and cuddled under blankets on the couch while I worked and played nurse.

I also made these for dinner since I had a lot of time to make the dough.

I could do that everyday!

Later that evening Clara found a balloon and tried to figure out how to blow it up.  I wish I would have gotten video of her.  Her poor little cheeks looked like they were going to burst.

The next day we were back to work and school as usual.  Bring on the week!