I bought the Oxi-Clean

Yesterday Calvin and I went out shopping. 

There was this mondo tub of Tide Oxi Clean for $8.99.  It was enough for 8 million loads.  Or 108.  Either way, it was a lot. 

So I decided to buy it.  When I got to a place that actually had cell reception I googled it and found it is selling for $25 at several stores. 

Holy Yoinks I got a deal, y'all!

I was so super excited. 

I got home and it had all of these things you could do with it.  See, it's not just for clothes it explains.  You can use it on soft surfaces, hard surfaces, and laundry. 

May I just say that trying to look at your house through the eyes of hard surfaces and soft surfaces is just weird to me.  It takes me some thought.

Anyway...

My house was going to be super clean.  This was the missing piece to our household.  People will rave about how spotless all surfaces hard and soft are.  I'll be in the newspaper...

So I took the mondo tub of Oxi up to the bathroom and decided I would clean the tub. 

That's a hard surface for those of you trying to keep up ;)

I made the solution as the package said and got to scrubbing.  That's when my eyes started watering and my head started pounding.  When I was done my nose holes (nostrils to the common man) felt like they were raw.

Now I haven't tried it in the laundry and maybe I was just too close to the mondo tubs solution that I whipped up but something in it didn't like me.  Or vice versa. 

I went out of the bathroom and back in.  It smelled so laundry fresh clean.  All I could think is that I was breathing in harmful phlebates or phosphates or whatever the heck those harmful chemicals are.  But it smelled nice and my shower was clean so I decided to breathe it in, dying contentedly.

And as I cleaned the sink I scrubbed along thinking how Oxi Clean kind of represents the rest of my life. 

Did I mention there were fumes?

What I mean is, I am always trying to find that elusive missing puzzle of my messed up life.  The one that will change everything.  That will make me stand out.  The one that will help me to finally not feel like such a screw up at this mothering and homemaking thing.  The one where I will finally get it right. 

But here is what I know and as I am getting older I know this to be true...

There's a perfect piece and God already nailed it on a cross so I don't have to get it right. 

It's already right.

And when I try to take life back and say, it's not perfect enough, let me try some more, well that's just sin talking. 

God lives in me.  I need to rely on Him and His Holy Spirit to fuel me, to empower me, to enable me, to remind me that this isn't about me.

It's not about how clean my house is or how well I can be a mom. 

I no longer need to look for a missing piece.  I am made whole and complete through asking Jesus into my heart all those years ago.

With all of my fume induced life thoughts coming at you please allow me to leave this verse with you:

“5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

— Romans 8:5-6

I pray that you will be filled with God's spirit today and that you set your mind on what God wants for your life: a life of peace.  And if you don't know God it is never too late to ask Him into your heart.  You can read all about how here.  He's the missing piece that has made my life whole! 

Now I just need to remember that and stop chasing lofty goals.

Now, back to the fumes... ;)

Cleaning the Ins and Outs of Me and the House

As Summer has crept in I have noticed my laziness growing.  After all it is hot and humid and these are supposed to be the days when you are out of school and able to throw some of your grown up inhibition to the wind, right?

Unfortunately I also find that my wanting to be a free spirit somehow contradicts itself.  I don't want to go to the gym because I don't want to be kept indoors when it is so beautiful outside. I don't want to go running because it is too hot and sticky...see what I mean about contradictory?  I don't want to clean because there are so many more fun things to do with the kiddos but then I don't go outside with the kiddos as much as I should because there is just so much to do around the house.  Grrrr.

However I find that during quiet time I sit down at the computer to pinterest away at pinning: cleaning tips for cleaning I am not doing, workouts I am not doing, and recipes I am not making.  And before I know it my free time is gone and I have accomplished very little to feel satisfaction about.

Yes I know  I sound lazy because in these past few weeks I have been incredibly lazy!!!!

So today it hit me as I was playing with the kiddos outside and working out in the yard...

What would our yard look like if I took just 10 minutes every day to work out here?  Weeding, picking up sticks, and in general tidying up may not be so daunting if I did a little bit every day.

And in that I thought what if that and my cleaning (which I also felt convicted to do after applying my few minutes a day rule to cleaning roo) were my workout too?

To test it out I cleaned the  bathroom today.  And in doing that I am not talking my normal cleaning of I got out a clorox wipe and dabbed around a bit but that I did a hard core cleaning.  Scrubbing the walls, toothbrushing grout, I was all over the grossness of getting the grody out of the loo.  And in doing that I found myself panting, sweating and using muscles that haven't been used in July yet.

So that is my plan for the summer.  Cleaning up the inside and outside of this house to get myself cleaned up.  We'll see how this goes :)  I think it's going to be a messy job!

Dirty Old Pee Mattress

I got some question as to how I clean a mattress when it has been peed on.  It took me a while to figure out how to do this.  Thankfully our mattresses have never stunk after accidents but I never felt thoroughly satisfied with how clean they were after mishaps...

 

until the joy of Pinterest found it's way into my life and I found this method. 

 

So sorry but I have no idea where I found this technique/method or I would totally credit that angel of a mother for helping a brother out. 

 

If that mom is you, please let me know and I will lift your name high on a pedestal and we will all celebrate you! 

 

Anyway, here's what I do...

 

 

 First strip the bed of the grossness.  Then I thoroughly spray the mattress with Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products.  I highly recommend Mrs. Meyers because it smells amazing and is a natural product.  But you can use whatever...

 Then toss on a few towels.  There aren't your fancy towels.  These aren't your guest towels.  These are your hardworking everyday towels.  They'll get washed and will be okay.  I promise. 

 Next you need to toss something on there that is weighty enough to smoosh the towels into the mattress.  Otherwise the liquid loveliness will just soak deeper into the mattress rather than up into the towels.  I have found that laundry baskets of clothes seem to work well.  I tried books but ended up with some throw-away books as the liquid (let's just say it, pee) soaked through the blankets.  With the baskets if the towels get soaked through you can just clorox wipe the bottoms of the baskets and be good to go. 
*Couple of notes: look at all of those clean clothes!   I promise they are clean!  I am SOOOO bad about getting those folded. And two smooshy is totally a real word...moving on.

 After the baskets have been flowerpressing the towels for an adequate time (I waited about 6 hours), I then sprinkle on Baking Soda or this lovely product seen above.  It's basically baking soda with a nice smell.  I then vacuum it all up.  I then sprinkle a little more on the mattress before I put the protector back on.  Just a little factoid...bedbugs hate baking soda!  If you are a spaz like me who is terrified of getting bedbugs you can sprinkle it on your bed, or around your bed when you stay at a hotel.  No, I don't do that...that would be insane! 

And where were the children while I was doing all of this? 

 Well, right here of course!

 And here!

And here!  Together!  Having a grand old sleeping party! 

If fairy tales converged this would be "Sleeping Beauties" and "Cinderella" combined!

Hope you now can feel better about cleaning your mattresses too when you have little oops moments in life!

Serving in the Home

Photo courtesy of Beth Mann

Who doesn't feel this way sometimes?  I know I do.  Sometimes it feels as if there really is a chance my precious angelic children are out to sabatoge me.  In fact just this morning I discovered that there's either a barbie head or a peach pit in the drain of the downstairs bathroom sink.  I'm not finding out...I'll let Nick :)

I came across this verse this morning in my devotions:

"If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11b

Now, I've read this verse before but it spoke differently to me this time. Don't you just love that about the word of God?  It speaks to us differently and shows itself new and in different ways. 

Anywho, this morning I read this verse in regards to serving my children and family.  In regards to serving in the home. 

Rather than complain about the piles of clothes I sometimes muddle through or the beds I find with toys shoved under them, I should take care of the mess in a godly way and do it with a serving heart. 

I want everything I do to bring glory to God.  Whether anyone else can see it is irrelevant...because God can see it.  He knows my heart behind things. 

I also love the part of the verse that talks about the strength God provides because honestly there are a lot of times when I am just sick and tired of cleaning the same things over and over and over and over...day in and day out.  But I know that it is God who gives me the strength to do it.  And I know that He's there that I can reach out in times when I feel desperation and anxiety creeping in. 

Mildew doesn't take care of itself you know :) 

Let God be your strength today.  Lean on him and He'll stand you upright :)  And if things seem HORRIBLE and you just can't go on, try looking at things with new eyes...you are taking care of your little blessings and your home which God has given...take care of things for Him. 

Our Humble Home

http://mypaintinggallery.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/thomas-paintings/kinkade/

"Thank God, O women, for the quietude of your home, and that you are queen it it.
Men come at eventide to the home; but all day long you are there, beautifying it, sanctifying it, adorning it, blessing it.
Better be there than wear a queen's coronet. Better be there than carry the purse of a princess.
It may be a very humble home.
There may be no carpet on the floor. There may be no pictures on the wall.
There may be no silks in the wardrobe; but, by your faith in God, and your cheerful demeanor, you may garniture that place with more splendor than the upholsterer's hand ever kindled." 

--Reverend T. DeWitt Talmage, D.D

I love this little snippet of inspiration that was spoken by Reverend Talmage (1832-1902).  Last week and the week before I was feeling a little blue.  I wouldn't say it was a full-blown depression, but I just was feeling mopey and uninterested in anything for no good reason.  Does anyone else ever feel this way?  Ugh, sometimes there's just no good reason for it.

I'm so glad that I have a loving Heavenly Father who makes sure to snap me out of it before it spirals out of control.  And I have a husband who is on me to talk about it and do whatever it takes to feel like myself again. 

So I talked to Nick about it.  A lot.  I remember him telling me that I am the little heart of this family.  Isn't that just the most precious thing???  He went on to explain himself: that when I am sad and mopey that is the general feel of the whole house.  Everyone waits to see how I am reacting.  Our home's warmth and feeling reflects my own.

And I guess that is somewhat true.  So when I read this quote above the other day, it really hit home. 

I desire a home that is quiet and peaceful, and no maybe we don't have the most stuff or the nicest things in the world but the job God gave me is to work with what I have to make our home welcoming, and inviting, and my family's safe haven. 

So my prayer is that in the coming months I may offer my family a place of warmth, and refuge, physically and spiritually.  This goal has brought me out of my slump, and when I think of it, I take the time and make the effort to stay up a little later than normal to get the kitchen completely clean, or wake up earlier than I prefer to fold laundry and tidy our little home. 

My prayer:
May all who enter our home leave feeling better than before.

God bless you and your home today...

Coffeemaker Cleaning Time!

 Just a friendly reminder to clean out your coffee pot!  Mine had become a little slow.  I realized that I was a little late in cleaning it so I did it the other night. 

If you use tap water like I do (and your city water stinks, like ours does) then over time the inside gets a little calcified and needs DE-Calcified.  Have you ever done this before?  It's super easy! 

Take your coffeepot and mix half water and half vinegar.  I used 3 cups vinegar and 3 cups water. Put that in your water reservoir. 

Turn on. If yours grinds beans like mine, make sure to turn that feature OFF before you do this or bad things will happen to you.  Bad things.

Let it brew away on the vinegar concoction and when its about half way done, turn it off.  You want to have that vinegarry water all throughout the tubes and machine so its sitting in there cleaning everything out.  Let it sit for half an hour then turn it back on to finish brewing. 

After that throw the gross water away, fill the pot with fresh water and brew fresh water through it.  Then do this again, just to make sure that the vinegar taste is out.  After all who wants vinegar coffee?  Bleh!

Then in the morning you will have a wonderful coffeemaker experience with super fast brewing and wonderful taste.  I hadn't realized that my coffee was tasting, well, different.  I don't really know how to describe it, the taste was just a little off. 

So there you have it.  How to clean your coffeemaker. :)

conjumbilation

My counter space in the kitchen is a relatively clean work environment. I don' keep mail on it. I don't use it for shining my shoes (gross). I like to keep every day household things off of it to allow room for the fun things in life...cooking, baking, cleaning.
No for shizel dizel, this mama likes those things.
Promise.
I ain't lyin' dawg.

Okay sorry for that. Snoop Dogg had taken over my body. I'm back. Weird.
Anywho...there is thie weird wooden counter that is in my kitchen though and that is where things seem to "end up"
See what I mean????
Scroll down carefully as this may be harmful to your health...

"eeeeekkkkK!" you scream!
See what I mean?
The weird thing is those socks you see?
I looked everywhere for them yesterday.
Apparently not everywhere. But I looked everywhere where it seemed that socks would be.
Yes those are mine.
Yes, irresponsible is my middle name, got it.
Yes those are clean.

You all have piles of kaaaa-wrap that isn't home there right?
Right?
Hello?
You know, you could just LIE to make me feel better.
But that is LYING...refer to 10 commandments.

Where were we? Oh yes, the random crud. And speaking of crud on your counter tops, have you seen my countertop? Does anyone with a history major or wild passion for interior decorating know why one would have a wood countertop? It is not fancy butcher wood that would actually be useful, oh no.
Plain old wood.

So yes, just wanted to show you this clutter and let you know that this is my life. Fortunately I have the counter clutter mostly confined to this small area.
Which houses canisters.
Which reminds me of a super cute story.
Cal, Em and I were making cookies the other day and Cal pushed all of the canisters together.
"Buddy What are you doing?"
"Look Mommy, Daddy vun, and Mommy vun, and Sister vun, and braaaader vun"
"Cute bud"
"It's us Mommy!" clapping! "It's our family"
Makes me tear up. That's us, just a family of canisters.

Stink List

1. Coffee...why is my coffee soooooo much better on Monday mornings than any other time? Hmmmm???? Little elf people maybe. maybe. I'm serious dude, the coffee rocks my socks.

Coffee is one of those words I have to keep typing because it looks weird to me spelled right.
And wrong.
So then I have to figure out which is right. And which is wrong.
You know what I mean right?
No?
You stink.

2. I smell of garlic. Not some oh gosh you remind me of my plumpy grandma making baked ziti smell. Nope. Rather a oh my gosh, what were you rolling around in, some type of garlic aoli all night long?
We ate at Bonefish last night for dinner.
We hardly ever eat at bonefish so really I am kind of a fish out of water ordering there.
Pun intended.
Laughing ensues...
thank you, thank you.
Wheer was eye? oh yeah...so I ordered some devil dish and the next thing you know I am warding off vampires or something.
ugh, I stink.

3. Our house is trashed. I mean, college boys came over from animal house, trashed my house and then moved on to the next one, trashed.
I'm unclear as to how this keeps happening.
Except for the fact that my kids think I am some type of maid.
What was the maid's name on the Jetson's?
Rosie?
Reebok?
Reebox?
Roseanne?
Hmm...it was something with an R.
This stinks.

4. The kids do in fact think that I am a maid. Now that I theeenk of eeeet. Shoot, gotta stop that somehow. Wasn't that a brilliant deduction? I'm certain they think of me as a maid because this is how mornings work:
Wake up, shuffle, shuffle, yawn, shuffle, shuffle
Emma comes down stairs
Calvin comes to the stairs..."momma! get me!"
Momma says "no buddy, just come downstairs"
Repeat last two lines in your head 47,000 times
Cal comes down stairs.
Sits on couch.
Yells (no matter how close I am btw): "Snack and drink!"
Repeat last line 52,000 times.
So maybe they don't think I'm a maid as much as Cal thinks I am a maid.
Which I am not.
I must disengage this behaviour.
I put u's in words sometimes to seem cool. Behaviour. Saviour. Colour. See? You think I am smart-like.
Anyway, what was I saying?
Oh the maid thing...
Yeah, being a maid stinks.

5. I have to workout this morning.
Hate working out this morning.
Or afternoon.
Or evening.
Or any other morning/afternoon/evening combo you can swip-swap at me.
This stinks.

6. I am thinking of not sending Emma to school today. I told Nick about that yesterday. Me being the world's weirdest mother doesn't just decide to skip school. Nope, gotta plan. That's me. I'm a planner.
Anywho, I told Nick I was thinking about not taking Emma to school and he asked "why not?"
And I said "because I don't feel like it."
And he said "uh huh"
These are very deep convos we have.
Don't you ever want to just stay holed up in the world and feel like you are missing things just to be together?
We just keep runnin' and runnin' and runnin'.
And that stinks

7. Dog puke. Yep, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the dog puking. Nice, huh? Cinderella awoke to singing birds. I awake to the sound of Snots working up a bone. Thanks a lot. Being the ardent house cleaner that I am (see #3) I put the pillow over my head and went back to sleep. When Nick woke up I think I managed to mutter "watch where you step. The dog puked!"
Nick didn't find it but I did. On the rug. With no socks on.
Gross.
That stunk.

8. The cat peed in my dressing room! How disgusting is that? It was last week and So the kitty has been living in the bathroom. She goes in this week to the doc to see why she did what she did. Apparently kitty's don't pee for no reason...excuse that double negative. I'm not quite believing that. I think she's secretly out to destroy me. To me it doesn't stink. I think I got it cleaned up in time. And cleaned up and cleaned up and cleaned up. But for God's sake if you come to my house and my house stinks, you have to tell me. Got it? I don't want to be THOSE people.
I think I'm going to go clean it again.
Just to make sure it doesn't stink.

Haven-making is a Serious Job

Here...read this, its wonderful! I can wait until you finish reading. I'll just sit quietly here....and hum to myself. are you done yet? Nope? okay. How about now? Nope? Still not done? How about....NOW? Well geesh silly, its about time! So do you agree that we should treat our jobs at home like actual jobs? I know I do. When I am at home I think it helps immensely to wake up early, get dressed and get things around that I need to have a productive day. For example I often times will get the kids breakfast made in advance as much as I can: oatmeal in the bowl ready for water, vitamins on the table, babyfood and spoon ready for the opening. Taking care of our homes really is the most important job. We need to take it seriously to make sure we are having serious fun. We need to make our home a haven for our loved ones. They should WANT to be at home. The other day Emma and I were away from home for a long time and by the time we were almost home she was saying that she wanted her bed and Calvin and Daddy. She was yearning for home and I loved that. Does your family yearn for your home? If not what can you do to make it more haven-ish?

Schedule Recap

My new schedule is going splendidly. I have not gotten the laundry started every day at 4 am as originally hoped for but even not, I still have ample time to get it done, folded and put away throughout the rest of the day. I am an avid reader of simple mom’s blog and she says to just clean it up when it happens and you won’t have such a mess. I know this is so simple and yes I knew it before; I think I just needed someone to slap me upside the head and show that to me again. So I am trying to get that into my thick skull. I am a huge piler: I’ll make piles downstairs of what needs to go in what room upstairs. Then I will take everything up and just throw it in the room it belongs in…not a good idea. I have been trying to not make any new messes and also whittle down the messes that are still there from before. I think it is working fairly well. The weekend was coming last week though and I was anxious to see how I would do. The weekend is a big time for me to feel bad about not being with the kids 24/7 so I just put everything off to be with them. Then Sunday evening comes around and I am in tears that the house looks like a tornado hit it. But this weekend went well. I'm not going to say that we are better off but we definitely didn't have the massive piles of junk to pick up come Sunday evening. I think the new schedule is actually working!

The original/semi-new me

Photo courtesy of girltalk.com

Back from the weekend I decided to have a new outlook on life, or rather Nick kind of forced me to have a new outlook. I am going to go to bed at 10, not an option anymore. I am not going to be a slave shackled to the washing machine all weekend, and I am not going to worry so much. My primary problem lately has been that I have been so tired. Going to bed at 11:30 and getting up at 4ish is not a good idea for a busy mom. So 10 I will be in bed. I did it last night and amazed at how renewed I feel. My other complaint has been the house…it is just so dirty and messy. So no more to either one of those. I have a monthly cleaning calendar in place to make sure every part of the house is covered and is adequately cleaned. My third problem has been the laundry. I have been trying to cram doing a week’ worth of laundry into Saturday. My problem with that is that it hardly ever gets done: we are either running around somewhere or I am just too busy with the kids. What then happens is that I wake up Sunday to clothes in the living room where I was folding the night before. And I am really bad at all or nothing: I either do it all in one day which is what I want to do or I do nothing and the clean laundry will sit around the house all week rather than be ironed and put away. My mom when I was a kid had a system where she washed one person’s laundry a day. I have decided to try this technique. Unlike my mother I however will not have the rule that if you don’t bring your laundry to the washing machine it won’t be done…that’s just mean, kids forget things. I started this yesterday and I think I am going to like it. I had Nick bring his basket down the night before and the next morning when I woke up I sleepily shoved the first load of laundry in the wash. When I came home from work I got that drying, put the next (and last!) load in the wash and was done! I had all of his clothes folded for him by 6:00 and I was able to play with the kids while he went and put them away. Another one of our problems is that even when the laundry does get done and folded we just get too busy with the kids to put it away. Those of you with kids can attest to how they love to pull things out of the laundry baskets…who cares if its already folded? So that’s my plan of action…how are things in your neck of the woods?

Let's get some laundry done

So I know that this is probably the stupidest thing that someone could spend weeks contemplating over, but I am thinking of switching up my laundry routine and I am just wondering how everyone else does laundry. I have always been a one day laundry type of gal. I don't want to feel enslaved to the laundry room so I always try to get it all done Saturday. It worked pretty well when it was just Nicholas and I but since the kiddos have come along, well, the process has kind of stretched out a bit. And when you have things to do on Saturdays that makes it even more difficult. I tried to get a head start and get all of my laundry done on Friday which resulted in clothing being strewn throughout the house as it never seemed to put itself away. I know some people do laundry every day and I like the idea of that in theory but I am wondering how it works...do you just do one random load a day? Do you do one person's laundry a day? And when do you fold and put it away...the same day or the next day when you are doing the other laundry? So I know I am now officially a freak but I am just dying to know how everyone else does this.

Firsts Around Here

Emma got her first tricycle for her Birthday and this past weekend she took it outside and took it for a spin...she did pretty good and was so excited and proud of herself. It was just too cute!
Another first this past week was that Calvin began eating cereal! He didn't seem to like it very much at first but has since seemed to warm up to it more as the week has progressed. He is just so cute! Emma didn't like the idea of Cal sitting in her high chair until...We introduced her to her new booster seat! Check out the pink! She is doing so good in it and really seems to enjoy eating at the actual table. Another first this past weekend was that I got my sink shiny as the flylady plan suggests. As you can see I am such a dork that my pink kitchen does in fact have pink dish soap and pink hand soap...I know, I know, I'm pathetic!

Spring Cleaning

Amy Clark, the writer of momadvice.com has a terrific blog up about Spring Cleaning that you should read...it is wonderful to know that I am not the only one getting the Spring Cleaning bug! While you are over there you should peruse the rest of her website...she has an amazing site for busy moms and women. Fridays are my favorite time as they are Amy's Frugal Friday's; on these posts she posts freebies available online that you can sign up for...who doesn't love free stuff? Amy and I live in the same area and she does television spots on WSBT, our local news station. So when she talks about deals at Martin's or the like, I know what she is talking about...just being able to keep up with people's conversations, let alone relate, gives me the warm fuzzies (like hey I'm not an idiot after all!).

Anyway this weekend I have big spring cleaning plans...not sure what those plans are yet, but plans nevertheless. So lets all get our fab rubber gloves on and get cleaning this weekend. You never know what you may find in, around, behind, under the couch. Maybe enough change for a manicure! But now is the time for Spring Cleaning as Spring isn't here enough to be outside but you just want it to be spring soooo bad. This will put you in the mood and then all of the crappy jobs will be out of the way for when the weather is nice enough to be outside. Happy Cleaning everyone!