Pledge

Did you know that Pledge has all kinds of uses?  Seriously!  It can clean stainless steel, wood cabinets, baseboards, leather, sealed granite and marble, and (of course) wood furniture.  It also claims to help remove allergens in dust, a plus if you have allergies.  Personally, I have not used Pledge in years.  I had been buying the Method version of it to clean our wood furniture, because I loved the smell of it.  However, we have a problem with dust in our house (we live in an older house, so not an uncommon issue in an older home), and in a desperate attempt to battle the dust I bought some Pledge the other day (the swiffer and method cleaner where just not cutting it anymore).  I am so glad I did!  As I was reading the bottle in Target, I noticed that it said it would clean stainless steel.  I was very skeptical about this claim.  So, when I came home I quickly tested this claim out on our stainless steel oven.  If you have stainless steel in your house and have small children that love to put their hand prints all over everything, then you know how hard stainless steel can be to keep looking clean.  I have two stainless cleaners, but only one of them works well for cleaning (the other one leaves streaks, yuck!).  I have to tell you that I was amazed at how well Pledge cleaned the stainless steel oven.  I will not be buying stainless steel cleaner anymore!  I can save money by just using Pledge, which works so well for stainless steel, and use it to clean other areas in the house.  I wish we had granite or marble counter tops, as I am curious to know how well it works on those surfaces.  If any of you readers are brave, please test it out for me and let me know if it works for those surfaces and if you like the results.  Well, I am off to Pledge my house and remove all that dust!

Quick and Simple Laundry Hint

Some friends came over this past week to help me sort and wash baby clothes.  We had lots of fun  talking and sharing, as we always do.  We were able to get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time, and I now feel comfortable and less stressed about baby #3's arrival because everything is ready.  After they left, I was removing the last load of laundry from the washing machine and putting it in the dryer when I noticed the detergent cup was with the load (still trying to use up all my store bought detergent to continue making my own).  At first I thought my friend had lost her mind...I mean why would the detergent cup be in the washing machine?  Then the bulb went off in my head.  I realized my friend was brilliant!  What an easy way to clean out the cup and not waste any detergent!  I had been buying the huge bottle of detergent, but refilling a smaller bottle because I hated washing out the cup to the huge container (plus I felt like I was wasting small amounts of detergent each time I rinsed the cup).  I wish I had thought of this hint.  Maybe some of you already do this.  I just never thought to think outside the box...I just always poured the detergent into the dispenser of the machine.  So to my brilliant, wonderful friend (you know who you are)...Thank you, thank you!!! 

Flour Sack Towels

Does your family go through lots of paper towels?  It seemed like every time I turned around, I was replacing the paper towel roll.  All those paper towels in the trash...adding to the landfills...ugh!  Not to mention the cost!!!  So, I decided to try a friend's recommendation of using flour sack towels rather than paper towels.  At first, I was skeptical because all I could think of was how much it was going to add to my laundry pile (I have two kids, I have enough laundry!).  My friend has three kids, so I thought if she could do it then so could I.  I bought my towels at Wal-mart, I think I got 5 towels for $4-5.00, and bought 10 towels total.  I washed them and placed them near the paper towel roll, and told my husband (who rolled his eyes) to try to use them for everything (spills, drying dishes, etc.) rather than the paper towels.  We still use paper towels on occasion, but have quickly adapted to not using them.  It really was not a bad transition.  In fact, I prefer to use the flour sack cloths for just about everything.  They are very absorbent at cleaning up spills and drying dishes, and dry quickly.  We have been using these towels daily for the last few months, and I have barely spent any money on paper towels (I love being frugal!).  While we have not entirely gone paper-less, we are definitely using less paper towels and not adding as much to our landfills.  You really should give this a try!

DIY Shower/Bathroom Cleaner

As you may have noticed, I have been missing in action the last few weeks.  I am going to blame it on being 31 weeks pregnant and having what my husband calls the third trimester blues.  I haven't been feeling the best, the baby is getting bigger (ergo, I am getting more uncomfortable) and more active (especially at night), and chasing the other two children has made me very tired.  I am currently working on future posts so that when the baby does arrive, I will have some unpublished posts handy to post post-partem and will hopefully not get behind again. :)

Now for the BEST shower/bathroom cleaner...it really is better than Kaboom at removing soap scum and it is safer!  I found this recipe on Pinterest from http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/, but I know that there are other pins from various blogs that also have this recipe.  You can mix up as much as you desire, and keep it stored in a spray bottle for as long as you want.  I usually make my batch and store it in the bottle for up to a week or two, depending how often I wipe everything down and how big of a batch I make.  I have been using this cleaner for our showers/tubs, the bathroom sinks, the toilets (the seat and outside parts), and the kitchen sink.  It really is great and safer than many bathroom cleaners out there!  Here is the recipe:

-Pour 1 cup (or less if making a smaller batch) of vinegar into a microwave safe cup (I use my Pyrex measuring cup).  Heat the vinegar for two minutes.

-Pour vinegar into a spray bottle.

-Pour 1 cup of Dawn (the original blue Dawn is the best!) into the spray bottle. Gently swish and mix. 

I usually let the cleaner sit a few minutes before I put the lid on so that there is not too much pressure within the bottle from the vinegar being heated.  Super easy!  To make a smaller batch, just simply mix equal amounts of vinegar and Dawn.  As you can probably tell from my picture, this batch of cleaner has been used to clean our bathrooms a few times this week.

Now you are ready to clean!  I will warn you that this makes lots of bubbles, and a little amount goes a long way.  Also, if you don't care for the smell of vinegar, you will want to have the windows open, the vent on, or light a candle.  Frankly, I use vinegar in almost all my cleaners so the smell does not bother me.  I actually like the smell of vinegar because to me it smells clean.  I am sure you could add a few drops of essential oil if you prefer to smell the vinegar.  This cleaner will make all your fixtures sparkle, and remove all your yucky soap scum.  Happy cleaning!

My Review of Mom Connection: creating vibrant relationships in the midst of motherhood

I feel like I have made a new friend after reading this book.  A friend who can stop over for a cup of coffee while our kids play,  who will not judge me for having a laundry basket with clean clothes sitting in the middle of the living room, but who will listen to me and offer the support and friendship that is needed.  From reading Tracey Bianchi's written words, I have felt encouraged, supported, challenged, and reminded that I am not alone in this motherhood thing.  Throughout this book, she shares personal stories about her life, her friendships, and how she shares God with others through her relationships.  She encourages and strengthens us, the reader, to find the rhythm in our lives and to make meaningful, vibrant relationships with other mothers/friends, our spouses, our families, and our extended families (while setting and keeping boundaries!).  She challenges and encourages us to pursue these relationships not only for our benefit and because God made us to have relationships, but to help, encourage, support, and share our rhythm and faith with others.  She reminds us that we, as mothers, need to take time for ourselves so that we can explore and discover our gifts and talents.  She believes that connecting and creating deep relationships with others, while making time for ourselves to pursue our gifts and talents, will help and strengthen us to become better mothers.  I have to say that I agree with this sentiment. She provides helpful tips and resources at the end of each chapter, which are helpful, practical, and worth doing.  I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and did not want to put this book down when the kids woke up from nap. Thank you Tracey for writing an entertaining, encouraging, soul strengthening book to let us moms know that we are not alone, and that we can develop deep, meaningful relationships while rearing our young children.  I just have one question for you...may I please have the recipe for that wonderful looking cake on the cover of your book?








 I shared this book with our MOPS group today, and I feel like I did not represent this book well enough.  It truly is the best MOPS book that I have ever read, and I am so excited that we will be using this book for our "curriculum" next year.  I think many of the moms in our group will enjoy reading this book (it really is quite entertaining), and hearing from Tracey on how to connect and create deep relationships with other moms who need the same encouragement, support, and friendship that we do. If you are not a part of a MOPS group, I hope you will consider picking up this book, especially if you feel like you are alone in this motherhood thing.

And the winner of this book is.....Kay Giddings (it's close to midnight, does this constitute for the 15th?)!!!  I will send you a message on Facebook and see how you would like to get your book. :)

New Rules in the House

So, in my attempt to simplify my life, I have created new rules in my house.  These rules help me keep my house clean and clutter free, which in the end simplifies my life and makes me feel calm at home.  I thought I would share my rules with you because it truly was like an epiphany when I made these rules up, and maybe these rules would help simplify your life in some way. 

Rule #1...Only do one load of laundry at a time.  I know what you are thinking.  Doesn't that waste time?  I mean you could have one load in the washer and one load in the dryer to get the laundry done faster, right?  Very true.  This simply does not work for me.  I am very good at putting laundry in the washing machine and in the dryer, BUT I am very bad at actually putting away the clean clothes.  I finally had to make up this rule when the five piles of clean laundry in the living room, and the two piles of clean laundry in our bedroom sat in their places for almost a week.  Let me mention that my kids thought the piles of laundry were fun to jump into,but it seemed more fun to scatter all the clothes around the room as if a tornado had touched down right in our living room!  I, on the other hand, felt "stressed" and bogged down by all the laundry piles.  Now don't judge!  For those of you that have kids, you know that when you have little ones parading through your house it is simply hard to get anything done, and when they are in bed you are just too tired to do one more thing.  At least that seems to be my case.  Unfortunately, I am not "supermom" (does one actually exist?) nor do I have more than two arms to get more done (sometimes I wish I did).  So, after a cry session and feeling sorry for myself because I do not have a housekeeper, I decided to make up the rule of only doing one load of laundry at a time.  This rule means that I have to wash the load of laundry, dry it, and immediately put it all away before starting a new load.  This rule works well for me, and alleviates the "stress" of having clean laundry piles all over the house.  I think that my kids miss their "jumping" piles though. 

Rule #2...Do at least one load of laundry a day (if needed).  I never realized how much laundry one tiny little baby can make until the birth of my first child.  With two kids in the house, it is easy for the laundry to pile up (Can you imagine the Duggar's laundry piles?).  In fact, until I started this rule, my husband would jokingly state (well, the obvious) that "Mt. Laundry has erupted again."  Since I established this rule a couple of weeks ago, I have not had to worry about Mt. Laundry erupting.  And with two little ones, I easily have enough dirty clothes or towels to wash a load per day. 

Rule #3...Follow a household cleaning routine/schedule.  Before the birth of my second child I had the cleaning down to a "T" (well so I thought).  I followed the Real Simple cleaning schedule from their cleaning book, and was able to keep up with weekly cleaning and deep cleaning of our house.  Before my second child was born (I was literally 8 months 2 weeks pregnant when we moved), we moved to a new city.  I only had 4 days to "set-up" my house before our induction day (thank God for fabulous mother-in-laws!).  After her birth, following a cleaning schedule was the furthest thing from my mind.  I was focused on taking care of her and a toddler at the same time, and was in "survival" mode (mommas you know what I am talking about!).  Making sure they were fed and alive at the end of the day was a pretty great accomplishment at that time (a shower for mom was a 15 on a 10 rating scale).  Slowly, as we all settled into a routine together, I attempted to develop a type of cleaning schedule but was never quit successful.  I then tried to get all my cleaning done on my husband's days off, but then I was missing out on time when we were all together.  I recently found a cleaning routine from the e-Meals blog ( I used to follow this meal plan but now use Sunday Set-up, which I will blog about very soon) that was posted on Facebook.  It is a weekly cleaning schedule that is super easy to follow, and allows you to check off what you have done.  I laminated it with clear contact paper, and posted it on my fridge so that I can easily view what needs to be accomplished each day during the week.  I did adjust the schedule to work for me and my family (for example I do not usually grocery shop on Thursday), but this is a great tool to see that by the end of the week I have cleaned the whole house.  Yea!   :)  In addition to this weekly cleaning schedule, I do follow the Real Simple spring and fall cleaning schedule (you can find these on their website).  Here is a link to e-Meals weekly cleaning schedule. 

 
http://blog.emeals.com/2012/04/daily-housekeeping-schedule/

Rule #4...Try to keep dishes out of the kitchen sink.  Did you notice the word try?  I really do try to avoid having any dishes in the sink before I go to bed.  However, I am comfortable having a few dishes in the sink if the dishwasher is full and is running a cycle.  I am not comfortable in having a sink full of dishes or pots and pans left out at the end of the day.  It makes my morning overwhelming because I feel like I started the day behind with my list of things to do, which can make me a bit grumpy.  I feel better when I do not have dishes in the sink, and it makes me feel accomplished at the end of the day.  For the most part, I am able to keep up with this rule but there are times when I go to bed with a few dishes in my sink. 

I am sure you have rules similar to these that you live by in your household.  When we choose to follow these rules it helps us to simplify our daily life, and allows us create a peaceful, clutter free environment for our family.  I hope that in sharing my rules with you, you may either be able to use them within your own home or be inspired to create ones that will work for you and your family to simplify your life. Blessings!

Mom connection: creating vibrant relationships in the midst of motherhood

This is my second time in writing this post, apparently I did not save it correctly on my husband's iPad (which I am currently using because I was kicked off the computer so he could play his game-minor vent). So, here we go again! As some of you readers may know, I am currently the MOPS coordinator for a local group. MOPS, or Mothers of Preschoolers (conception through kindergarten), is an international organization that is a Christian based (non-demoninationl) where all mothers can come together, find support, strengthen and develop their mothering skills, and draw closer to God. I joined my local group in 2010, and became the coordinator the following year. I enjoy having the opportunity to fellowship with our mothers, make friends, get support, share mothering struggles, and be encouraged while strengthening my relationship with God. I saw a Facebook post from MOPS International last week that was looking for mommy bloggers to review their upcoming "curriculum" book on their blog. I quickly sent them my info, but honestly did not think they would consider me since my blog is so new and I have few posts. I was super excited when I received my books in the mail on Monday. Yes, books! They sent me two copies, one for me and one to giveaway. So, let's have a contest! If you would like to win a copy of Mom Connection: creating vibrant relationships in the midst of motherhood by Tracey Bianchi, simply engage me here on the blog or on my Facebook links about this blog. I will put your name in the running, and then I will pick one lucky winner on May 15th. I'll post the lucky winner's name on this blog, along with my review of the book. Who knows, maybe I will send you a batch of the DIY Natural Laundry Detergent or a sample of the Almost Natural Dishwasher Detergent! Happy blog reading everyone!