This and That and The Kitchen Sink Too.

Today I am linking up at Like Mother, Like Daughter. Leila is going through a homemaking series and one of our assignments was to make our sink area pretty. Leila is so wise and practical in what she says. She has a beautiful home, but it much more than that. You can feel and see the love of their family when you go to her blog. Her home looks like the kind of place you could walk into, be welcomed graciously, sit awhile, and never want to leave.

Yesterday around three my niece, Mrs. Jennifer, came over and I told her about the challenge. At that point I really didn't want to do a serious cleaning. She encouraged me to go ahead and do because I would love the feeling of waking up to a clean sink empty of dishes. Hey, aren't I supposed to be the wise old AuntMamaHen?

So I basically just loaded the dishwasher, scrubbed it down, and moved a couple of things around. So, here you go. Before and after.
Dirty dishes, my hubby's go-jo hand cleaner, and yes, that is a rifle bullet propped up on the windowsill. I would love to say that is is rare occurance that my sink looks like this, but actually it is sometimes much worse.

Ah, much better. My counters are not yellow in real life. They are white with browns specks in them. A clean shiny sink. Here is hint for cleaning your sink I learned a long time ago. After you have washed and rinsed it off, take a dry rag and dry it. It will make you sink shine and not have water spots. I removed the bullet and added one of my great-grandmother Sally's chicken figurines. She is the one of the burning the yard fame. I love my dishwashing soap dispenser which has chickens on it. Rebekah got it for me a couple of years ago. Oh, you should go check out her blog. James is going to have TWO new playmates!

Okay, Leila, what next?

In other doings, Abbie and I are marching in the Leeds Christmas parade with the American Heritage Girls. Ya'll, it is going to be super-cold. I will be the one wrapped up like a short very round snowman and Abbie will be the skinny tall one all wrapped up. And then tomorrow morning we will be out ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. Again, with the cold.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I am looking forward to a quiet movie night at home with Mark and the kiddos. Instead of cake we are having key lime pie. My favorite. I will have to think of a good Christmas movie to drive them all crazy with. You can bet it will not be Rudolph. I just cannot deal with Rudolph. I can handle Charlie Brown and sometimes Frosty, but I have a confession to make. The snowman on Rudolph scares me. As in bad dreams scares me. I think something tragic must have happened in my childhood and somehow the snowman was involved. Momma, do you remember anything? As you can imagine, Mark and the kids think this is hilarious and like to bring it up any chance they get.

Jill and I got into a discussion Tuesday night as to whether I will be turning 38 or 39. You know you are getting older when you can't remember how old you are. And Rachel, tomorrow is the day you are supposed to have Noah. Remember? Cause I really want to win the prize. I just wanted to remind you. :)

Off to finish decorating my dining room and then to get bundled up to face the freezing weather. But my girl will be happy so I will be too!