Becky to the Rescue!

I was talking to my sister Becky last Friday and I'll tell you this: the woman recognizes a cry for help when she hears one. I was bemoaning the whole "my house is a wreck" thing and she offered to come help. Becky just closed her in-home daycare on Friday so she is now a free woman. And as chance would have it, her husband Zen was off work this week and able to stay home with the three older kids. So Becky and Emma (7 months) drove up from Rock Springs (about 2 hours) on Monday and stayed till Tuesday afternoon.

We accomplished a lot in that 24 hours! Remember how nasty the kitchen was looking in my last post? Well here it is now after the Becky intervention:

It seems so big and spacious without all the crap spread out everywhere. It's so empty, in fact, that it seems like it echoes in there now! Becky had the brilliant idea of folding down the leaf on the table when the girls aren't eating to make extra space. Why didn't I think of that? Becky even brought the bouquet of flowers my Mom sent her on Friday (complete with a card that said "Happy Breaking Up". Read Becky's blog post here and it'll make sense). It really cheers up the kitchen, thanks Beck!

Here's what we accomplished in addition to the kitchen: took down the Christmas tree and stored all the decorations in the shed (Becky basically did this by herself, including repairing all the ornaments Amelia broke), picked up and swept/vacuumed in the living room, cleaned out my closet and vacuumed my bedroom (I'm not going to admit how long it's been since I vacuumed in there), put the crib together and cleaned out some boxes in Mackay's room, did some laundry, and mended some clothes (there's no "we" in this one, this was ALL Becky).

One thing I did manage to accomplish on my own last week was rearranging my scrapbooking shelves to make a changing station. I'm in love with it because ever since Amelia was a baby we've just been changing diapers on our bed or the floor. My knees and back say "thank you" every time I stand to change a diaper.

My complete lack of sewing skills has often been a source of teasing from Dan. Just the day before, Dan had shown me a work shirt with a big hole in the elbow and said, "You have two days to mend this or I'm going to Cabela's and buying something new." I responded, "have fun shopping!" Then before Becky left her house she called and asked if she should bring her sewing machine to do any mending. Shazaam! I told her that she was shaming me as a woman by mending my husband's clothes for me, but I had no problem with that.

Becky also finished a third blanket for Mackay. She made two at my Mom's house on New Year's Day. This third one has little cowboys on it and the other ones have penguins & snowflakes and stars & stripes in blue, green and yellow.

The visit was completed with a gift for the girls.

She brought them each a dress-up horsey that she'd used in her daycare. A total hit!

Thanks, Becky, for coming to my rescue! You were such a great help. I love you!