We began work on the napkin today. One small section is finished (though there will be more decorations added after Pascha) and the rest of the napkin has it's base coat done. I absolutely love it and think that it looks even better than I thought it would!
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It was a big day of cleaning the rectory today. The little ones and I dragged lots of junk out of the attic this morning. We recycled more than five big boxes full of school papers for children who lived in this house before we came. In addition, we tossed twenty to thirty boxes from merchandise that the previous owners had purchased over the years. I'm trying to get up to the attic to get rid of things every other week before the recycling dumpster is emptied by the garbage company. Father John made the job so much easier by driving the riding mower and cart up to the porch to collect the rubbish. Without that help, it would have taken us a long time to walk the heavy boxes down the long parking lot to the dumpster.
Later in the afternoon, I came into the playroom today to announce that we could take a trip to the playground, but found that the children had made quite a mess with legos, playdough, and other craft projects. Fortunately for me, I had planned to do a big clean in there today and so we set to work together: They cleaned up their mess, I dusted, they returned everything to freshly dusted surfaces and shelves, I swept under furniture and rugs, they collected toys to be repaired, and Little Man vacuumed the rug. It was pretty painless and I plan to use my little child laborers from now on. The whole rooms was cleaned beautifully in about half an hour. It is true what they say: Many hands make light work. We'll tackle the living room tomorrow.
