Tax Time!!!

I love tax time!!!  We are lucky that we get a pretty good return every year.  We use that money each year to get things we can't normally afford to get during the year because they cost a lot up front.  Last year everyone got new beds and bedding.  Here are our plans for this year....

• First, we are hiring a maid company to come out and do a deep clean on the house!  This is the thing I'm most excited about!  Our lease is up here at the end of Feb but we've decided to just stay here another year, work on our credit and hopefully buy when that year is up.  But the house is pretty messy.  I haven't been doing a good job keeping up with the housework since I got pregnant with Preston.  Right now it's basically clean but it really needs a deep clean that I was dreading having to do plus had no idea when I'd have the time to do all of it.  So we have a company that is going to do it, yay!!!  It's kind of expensive but I really think it's worth it.  We will have the house completely picked up then they will come in and do all of this:

Throughout Entire Home

- Vacuum All Carpet; Sweep/Mop All Ceramic Tile Throughout Home

- Dust All Counters, Tables, and Furniture Throughout Home

- Dust All Blinds and Windowsills

- Clean Inside Glass of Windows

- Dust All Baseboards and Fans (Must Be Within Reach of 3 Ft. Stepladder)

Kitchen

- Clean and Sanitize All Counters, Countertops, and Sink

- Clean Inside Oven and Microwave

- Clean Top of Stove

- Wipe down all appliances

- Dust Cabinets

Bathrooms (2)

- Clean and Sanitize Inside and Outside Toilet

- Clean and Sanitize Sink Area

- Clean and Sanitize Tub and Shower

- Clean Mirrors (Streak Free)

- Dust Fixtures or Cabinets (If Applicable)

We have a pretty big house (a little over 2300sq ft), 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 living areas.  All bedrooms and living rooms are carpet but the rest of the house is all ceramic tile.  It really is a lot to clean so I can NOT wait for them to come do this.  I really think it will help with the stuff I was talking about in my previous blog because me feeling like I'm never on top of the cleaning just adds to the stress.  

• We are repainting the whole house, woohoo!  This we are doing ourselves...I think lol...but it needs to be done.  There are handprints all over the place and Hayden has taken pencils, pens, markers, crayons and even nail polish to numerous spots all over the house.  Can't wait to get all of that covered up...I think he might finally be done doing that type of thing...I hope.  
• We are getting a new couch
• We are going to spend some money to decorate the house a bit.  We've been here 2yrs and everything is just...plain.  We have no pictures on the walls, nothing like that.  So we are going to print some pics and buy some frames and put them up, frame our family rules that Nikki is making for us. 
• We are also going to buy some organizational things...I feel like one reason it's so hard to keep things clean around here is everything doesn't have a place.  I need some things to make it function better around here.  I've found so many great ideas on Pinterest I want to try, I'm not very creative but Mark is so hopefully together we can do some of it.
• Then we are going to buy Mark and I some new clothes which we need, badly.  We are going to buy Preston's next size of clothes and start the boys summer wardrobes.
• Then we are going to sign Landon and Casen up for spring baseball!!!!!  I want to do a sport for Hayden but I really don't know what yet, he really misses gymnastics so I'm thinking about enrolling him in one of their boys only classes to see if that one works out better.  He would also love to play soccer again but last time he really didn't play, he just enjoyed having something that was just his.  I really don't think he's ready for tball yet, though he's old enough now, he just isn't ready for that type of thing...especially not with as competitive as it is here.
• Then of course pay off some on bills and save the rest for a family vacation this summer :)

Sooooo what's everyone else doing???  Anything exciting?  Hurry up Feb 1st!!!!!