Spring Break = Spring Cleaning?

What do you do with your "Spring Break"? Do you leave town and get break from the everyday? Spring clean your entire house? Get a jump start on yard/garden clean up? A 'Staycation' perhaps?

At my house it is going to have to be a combination year. I am grateful the kids have a full week off for their spring break. I'm ready to not live and die by the schedule of school. I know my daughter is ready for the break too. (Unfortunately we are not morning people, we try to fake it September thru May.)

Are you leaving town? If we get to take off it will only be for a couple of days to Grandma & Grandpa's in Salt Lake. I don't know about you, but we do not get enough time with extended family and we love time spent with them. (The fact that it is a cheap getaway is a bonus!)

We will be spring cleaning!!! Working and keeping on top of the house work is not a talent that I possess! Closets, cupboards, drawers, laundry room, baseboards, windows, walls . . . are you getting the picture? It is amazing how much house work can get done in the first couple of hours after I wake up compared to double the time in the afternoon. (Am I the only one like that?) Being home in the mornings is going to ROCK!
I found CLEANMAMA.BLOGSPOT.COM this week. She has a great plan to get through the spring cleaning job, step by step. I am going to get started on Week 1 now and we'll keep working on the other weeks during the break. You can follow her plan too if you like:
Week 1 of Clean Sweep
Week 2 of Clean Sweep
Week 3 of Clean Sweep
Week 4 of Clean Sweep

She has MANY helpful tips on her blog that you can check out. Because this blog is about savings I am glad I found Clean Mama's blog to help me save time!!!

Weather permitting, there will be yard/garden work going on as well. I really like the My Square Foot Garden blog with all of her helpful tips. I have not a successful garden once in my life. I have plants that grow great with many others that don't even sprout. This year is going to be different! I need my garden to survive during this tough economic time. I have loved being able to go to my storage room and take bottles of yumminess and feed my family. My tomatoes did not flourish last summer, I have wonderful neighbors and friends who gave me tomatoes to bottle last fall. My hope is to have enough from my garden to be able to share this year.
I live in a blue color area. The color system lets you know when is the best time for planting each plant in your garden. Learn your color here. Read through her many postings that will guide you through your gardening.

Our 'Staycation' will consist of turning off the phone and the world, because we wouldn't be answering it if we were not home, and doing some of our favorite activities.
We love books, my daughter wants to start a book club with her friends so this will be a great week to get it started. We'll slao be enjoying some good reading time.
We love playing games, keeping track of who is winning is important, and eating our favorite treats. There will be at least one afternoon of this fun.
Baking is also something we enjoy doing together, it makes the house smell so good too.
There are so many crafting projects that have been half done or put off because of time that I'm feeling there will be some time spent crafting.
Who doesn't love simple relaxation in front of a good movie, with the popcorn and milk duds? A movie marathon in pjs is my kind of fun.

I know this is a lot to do on a 'break', but let me stress that I will not schedule it! It will happen because it is what we want to do. I will push for a lot of the spring cleaning to be done in the next week and a half before the break begins.