Ever have one of those weeks? I started off the week getting sick. It hurt to breath but otherwise I felt fine (besides being a little worn out). Well, that is over. Now, I’m fully sick. Sore throat and a runny nose. Joy. At least I don’t feel as if a bunch of construction equipment has parked on my chest.

We also had some gutter covering company come out last night. Holy cow is that stuff expensive. Our quote was over $1800! I told Bill for $1800 he could keep climbing up on the ladder. We don’t have trees with leaves. However, we do have pine trees, so our issue is pine needles. There aren’t a whole lot of products on the market that keep those out of your gutters and do it well.

I’m also trying to get a ton of reviews up on Lisa Reviews before Christmas. I would much rather climb under a blanket (and I still just might). Lots of great giveaways coming over there too! (Hint: DS games for girls!).

I also have a ton of presents I need to get wrapped still for my kids, we still have to decorate the house, and we don’t have our tree up either! I’m seeing a super busy weekend in my future!

What are your weekend plans? Have you managed not to get sick yet?

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We cut one of the trees down in the front a couple of weeks ago. You couldn’t see our house, it was overgrown, and nothing was growing in the front because nothing could get light. Here is the before:

Here is the after:

016, originally uploaded by Lisa Family.

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That’s my goal for the next week or so. Now that we’ve done the siding, I want to pretty up the yard. We are talking about taking down one of the trees in the front of the house (the guy is coming on Wednesday to give us an estimate. We’ll see about removing said tree. LOL It’s about 90 ft tall so it’s not going to be cheap). We added a shed last winter. I’ve taken a couple of landscaping classes, so I’m hoping to make the yard look a lot better.

I also want this:

I found this at Backyard Discovery.  I want it.  It has everything I could want in a swingset.  We currently have a Step 2 playset and my kids are outgrowing that.  The things I love with this playset:

1.  It has a sandbox.  We currently have a turtle sandbox.  That’s not fitting the kids too well anymore.

2.  It has a picnic table.  The kids have their own table instead of using or patio table.  That would be awesome.

3.  A slide is a must have at our house.  My kids love slides.

4.  It also has two spots for swings.  Both my kids love to swing, so I need at least two.  This set delivers.

I don’t know anybody with one of these sets, but it looks super awesome and my kids would love this!  Actually, I’d recommend several of the playsets that I found at Backyard Discovery.  Any one of those sets would go great in my yard!

Bill’s sleeping right now, but I’ll see if I can hit him up for a new swingset in the morning.  I have a feeling he’ll say no, but I’d love to hear your ideas about where to find new playsets.

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How do you clean up after the holidays?  For us, it is a tad more interesting.  Madison’s birthday was yesterday (she turned 5!), so we always have the quick cleanup that needs to be done from the time we get back from visiting Wisconsin and her birthday party.  I usually get about a week if we are lucky.  Since we have the basement now, Bill let me keep up the Christmasy decorations, but we did pull down the Christmas tree.  I need as much room as we can get, and this is pretty much the only way I was going to get it.  I figure everybody will hang out downstairs for her party just like they did for Christmas Eve.  The sad thing is that we are the only one on the block who still has their outdoor lights up.  Now, we don’t leave them up till June or anything, but it seems that it is kinda odd that on 8th of January that everyone has packed up everything already.  Now, I’ve slacked this week, and I have to get all my cleaning done tomorrow with the kids underfoot.  This should be interesting.  My sister is arriving tomorrow, so its not quite the end of the world if she’s the only one who sees my non-clean house.

How do you clean up?  Do you have a set plan?  Do you just do a little bit each day?

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Now is the time of the year to talk with your kids about fire safety.  With many of us stuck in our homes (see the post before this about being snowed in) and having real Christmas trees, this is a talk we all need to have.  Even if you don’t have a real tree, your kids definitely need to know what to do if a fire would happen to break out.  I know that everyone thinks it won’t happen to them.  However, I am sure that the people who have house fires think that also.

Liberty Mutual has a great website dedicated to being fire smart.  This is a great way to start a conversation with your kids.  There are some great forms on this site that help you develop your fire plan and to just help you start the conversation.  Even though my kids are still pretty little, this is a conversation we started having with Madison last year already.  They even have sections especially for children, parents, and educators.  You are also able to search your local firehouses and learn about them too!

Be safe this holiday season and make sure you check out BeFireSmart just in case.

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