Two birds with one stone

I promised I would devote this week to Easton, but I have something else exciting to blog about too!!! (I promise it will tie in, just bear with me). I just recieved my new vacuum! I even ran out to meet the Fedex man in my driveway. Is it totally lame that I am excited about this? Anyway, with a new house, and new carpet, my $70 Hoover that we bought with gift cards for our wedding, just wasn't cutting it anymore. It couldn't pick up fuzz, hair, and I know it wasn't getting all the sand that was finding its way into my house.

I researched long and hard to find this vacuum, and even got responses on facebook for everyone's favorite vacuum. Lots of suggestions for Kirby's and Dyson's, but I just don't have that kind of cash laying around. Someone suggested the Eureka Boss Smartvac, and I had seen it had gotten excellent reviews from consumer reports. I went with it because of all the good things I had heard, and also it only cost $135, compared to $500+ for other vacuums.

As soon as I got it into my house, I unwrapped it, put it together, and gave it a whirl. OH. MY. GOODNESS! I had no idea what I had been missing. Did you know that vacuums with great suction actually self-propel themselves forward, and then you PULL them backwards? I could hear the dirt disappearring from my house. Every little grain of sand being sucked up sounded like the world's tiniest popcorn machine. The best part, was when I was done, and I checked the bag. It was almost 1/3 full, and it was clumpy with dust mites, sand, and hair all lumped together in one little goody bag for me to treasure. I am in love!!!

Anyway, back to Easton. He is also my clean freak. This wonderful little boy of mine, after breakfast each morning, goes to his room and gets dressed and makes his bed perfectly without me even asking. It does get a little compulsive from there, though. Anytime he got wet when he was younger, he would have to be changed IMMEDIATELY! He still does not like the feeling of being wet, or touching wet and gross things. He does dirt and other gross stuff, just not the combination of wet and gross/dirty. In preschool his teachers finally found a way for him to participate in finger painting. He would not touch it with his hands, but he would drive little cars and other objects through the paint. Even as a very young infant/toddler, he always ate with such precision and never had a problem with utensils, because he just couldn't stand to be all dirty and yucky. He is such a wonderful little helper, and I can always count on him to set the good example when it is time to start cleaning up, or to pick up his toys out of the way so I can vacuum. Hopefully, this trait will always stay with him, because it is one that I really appreciate as his mother.