Exciting News!

While cleaning yesterday, I found the manual to my steam cleaner.  I thought maybe there would be a troubleshooting section.  There was, and there was only one issue that they troubleshoot.  Thankfully, it was the exact problem I had been having.  After following the directions and beating the cleaner on the floor in different directions, I now have a working steam cleaner!  scratch that off my list.

Not in my house!

When I first realized we had a flea infestation, and the doctor confirmed the Bobos were covered in flea bites, I was sure that I was the worst housekeeper and mother ever.  I knew they had come in on our cat Callie before we had her put down.  I remember clearly the time she came in and was so filthy, something very unlike her, and one of the first signs that it was time to consider euthanasia.  But to have them in our home bad enough that the boys were bit all over, I had to have won some sort of award for my inadequacies.

Then, when I posted such thoughts on Facebook, my eyes were opened.  So many people came forward telling me about their battle with fleas.  So many, that I realized, this isn't something to feel bad about or ashamed of, it is something that many people deal with.  Many people deal with, and few discuss.  That's where I come in.  I discuss it.  So, let it be known, we have fleas in our home.  I'm still fighting them.  It's not an easy battle.  The doctor recommended using a bug bomb.  I have problems with that.  Number 1, I don't like the idea of spreading poison all over the house.  Number 2, everyone I've talked to, and everything I've read says that the bomb doesn't do it.  You still have a ton more work.  So I researched our options.

I researched and opted to spot treat all the remaining cats.  I also bought pesticide for the carpets, but they can only be used in limited rooms, at limited times because we have 4 kids and 4 cats.  So I treated the Bobos room, as it is one of the worst, and have been using Borax on the rest of the carpets and vacuuming often.  We will win our battle, and I won't be ashamed that they are living in my house.  The little bastards will die!

I have to wonder though, how many things do many of us live with, and hide for fear of being looked down on?

Repurposing a Saucer

I have this pretty little saucer that my Granny gave to me.  I like that it is floral, without being too girly.  I used to use it for candles, and I think that is how it originally came to my office.  But recently, I found a new and much more useful purpose for it.

It's much prettier than the plastic paper clip holders, and much easier to grab a clip from.


Do you have anything pretty that you have made useful?

Frivolous Spending or Investment in the Future?

I admit that I've always felt magazines were a frivolous expenditure.  Spending $3-6 to read a bunch of ads seemed like a waste of money, and besides I have several magazines I receive for free through different survey websites.  However, recently I've altered my view.

It was about 3 years ago that I went through the Lou Tice Investment in Excellence course.  What I learned there, is in order to change, we must see what we want as the norm for our life.  Therefore, if you are always running late, you cannot continue to say, "hey, that's me, I'm just a late arriver."  Instead  you must tell yourself, I'm an on time person.  I plan ahead so that I can arrive on time to my committments.  You can't just say it, you also have to visualize it.  The more you do so, the more you will strive subconciously to be that person.

That is why I have begun to purchase Real Simple magazine.  I love the organization tips, and the easy recipes.  I looked at it once and thought, "I wish that was me! I want to be the organized person with a clean house, and great meals."  It finally donned on me, that by reading that magazine, and envisioning myself being that person, I could become that person.  I also receive Shape and Martha Stewart Living (for free) and plan to read those with a whole new outlook.  I'm not an observer of those lifestyles, that is my lifestyle.

I look forward to becoming the person I want to be!  And if I can't find Real Simple for free, the $5 a month investment is well worth it!

The Ugly Truth

That is a photo of our front room.  No matter how often we pick up, it always ends up looking just like that.

 These are two of the cutest culprits, I've ever seen. 

I'll leave what the floor underneath them looks like to your imagination.

Our home is a work in progress.  Lots and lots of work, for just a little progress.

Back into Shape

Not my body, no I'm still carrying 10+ pounds of twin weight on me, but my house is back into shape.  It started last week when my mom and aunt came over to help out.  They cooked, entertained the kids and picked up the kitchen.  Somehow that gave me a little kick-start.  By Saturday, I was feeling well drugged enough to clean the whole house up before we had guests over. 

It is now Tuesday, and miraculously my kitchen is still clean, the dining area is clean, and the front room is as clean as can be expected with 4 kids living in it.  It really hasn't been difficult, and yes I know that really that is only 2 full days of keeping it clean, but we did have a huge pile of dishes after our get together Saturday night.  At the end of the day, I'm tired, I'm sore and the last thing I want to do after fixing dinner is dishes.  But I did it last night, and I'm making it a habit of rinsing most things and putting them in the left side of the sink, so it's easy to catch up.

I also have been following a menu plan.  This is helped by the fact that we were given meals for both Sunday and Monday nights.  Tonight we will hopefully have leftover Olive Garden from the Board Meeting, and I have food planned for the next few nights. 

I'm really not sure what has come over me, but maybe this broke rib is a good thing.

Bounce Dryer Bar Review

Another free item I received after having the boys was my Bounce Dryer Bar from Viewpoints.com.  I admit to being unsure about using it.  Someone I know had a bad experience with the bar not sticking to the side of her dryer and it banged about inside during drying.  I decided I could live with that.  Then I smelled the package... Whoo!  It was strong.  I am sensitive to smells and typically avoid even walking down the detergent aisle at the grocery.  Did I really want to wear that smell?  I was also hesitant to dry Brendon and Bryce's clothing with such a strong scent.

All of those hesitations are long gone.  I really like the bar.  It is still stuck to the side of our dryer.  And, while the bar itself has a strong smell, our clothing does not.  The clothes come out with a faint scent that is just right.  Our air has been cold and dry, yet there hasn't been any static on our clothes. 

I haven't kept track of the number of loads of clothing we have dried, but it has been in use for 6 weeks and we wash at the minimum 3 loads of laundry a week, but we have done extra now that we have urpy babies that only have a few outfits that fit.  So I anticipate that we've washed 25 loads of clothes and there is still some bar left.  I'm not sure the cost of the Bounce Dryer bars, but I hope they are a good price.  It is wonderful not to have dryer sheets floating all over the house, or worse finding them balled up in my pants mid-day.

It doesn't take much

I was thrilled today to open my email and discover that I was one of the respondents chosen for a free Bounce Dryer Bar from Viewpoints! We don't use fabric softener in our house, and only on certain loads of clothes do we use dryer sheets (Dana's work clothes, dish towels, and cloth diapers). I'm excited to see how the bar does and determine how long it lasts! I will definitely let you know what I think.

What I did this weekend. By TJ

What I did this weekend:

• Watched the movie Hancock. Loved it too, although don't ask me about the 10 minutes toward the end where I dozed off. I woke up in time for the ending, and that's what counts.
• Felt the babies kick for the first time! I felt the baby on the lower left side, Saturday afternoon. Will call the left baby Fric. Then later on Saturday, I'm pretty sure I felt the other baby. That baby is more to the center of my right side. That one can be Frac. (Dana nick-named them a week or so ago)
• Dried two loads of laundry at my parents house.
• Enjoyed not teaching Sunday School and just being the helper.
• Helped Dana turn the front room into our tv room and our tv room into Mo's bedroom/playroom. Mo loves his new room and is so proud of it, and we're enjoying the coziness of our new tv room.
• Gave in to my OCD. While converting the rooms, I began putting my books onto bookshelves. I realized soon that I had religion books next to health books, and novels in between. I told myself just to get all the books downstairs and onto shelves, then organize later. That lasted all of one more trip. I couldn't stand it. Very quickly I had the craft books on the shelf above the cookbooks. Then the homesteading, preserving and gardening books next to the craft books. Those books flow in to my Hollywood biographies and TIME coffeetable books. Then another shelf houses all the religion, christian fiction, and devotional books. Then all my pregnancy, endometriosis and general health books. Finally we have novels. I felt so much better after that.
• I grew! I may have to take a new belly photo tonight. Between Friday and Monday, I got way bigger!

Garden Planning

Container cucumbers, jalapeno, and green onions.

It's the end of March, our ground is finally thawing, and it is time to start preparing the garden for spring planting!

I didn't do a very good job prepping the garden this fall, so I have my work cut out for me. This weekend I plan on de-weeding the garden. So far we have daffodils and lillies coming up. The mum that died right after I planted it last year, is already growing again. The crocus are in full bloom, and some of the ground cover is looking nice already.

This year I plan to plant much of the same items, and hope to do a better job. Each year provides a lesson. Last year, I planted container cucumbers, and they did well, but I think they would do better in the garden. The 1 jalapeno plant that I planted in the container did excellent, while the 3 that were in the garden barely produced. So I will use the containers for jalapenos this year, and lots of them!

The container tomatoes I planted did terrible. They had blossom end rot, and nearly all of the tomatoes were composted in the garden. (they are in the brown planters on the steps) I think I may try lettuce or spinach in the containers this year. It will allow me to move them around to shadier and cooler spots as needed.

My garden tomatoes had mixed results. One variety was outstanding. The tomatoes were good sized, had excellent flavor and had a good yield. The variety was Oregon Spring. I suspect that it is meant for growing in cool springs, and it seemed to thrive while the roma tomatoes and early girls struggled. I plan to buy almost all Oregon Spring plants this year.

Yes, I know that buying plants may not be the most frugal way to start, but it is where I've had the most success. I buy them from the local nursery. Local as in, I can see the greenhouses from my garden. I like to buy them local, because I know that the plants they sell will do better in our climate. Also the employees are knowledgable on the plants, pests and weeds in our area, unlike in the big hardware stores or at Walmart. So I do pay a little more, but I feel the results are worth it. To help save money, I don't buy the huge plants, and I buy them a little early in the spring. I have always paid less than $1 a plant for the tomatoes and jalapenos.

I'm hoping to add some squash to the garden, and peas would be nice too. I'd also like to give corn another try. I have a nice place to plant it, but ensuring it gets enough water is the problem. The raspberries didn't make it, but if I keep up the water I think the corn would do well.

What garden plans do you have?

A Day of Rest

Yesterday was a busy day! We loaded up the truck for a dump run. Of course we had to unload it at the dump. Then when we got home, we went across the street to pick up the wood Dana told the neighbor we would take. Then we stacked it up against the fence, so we are ready for camping. After that we reloaded the truck with all of the recycling. Then it was dinner and getting the kids to bed.

I'm a little sore, ok a lot sore, and very tired. I'm looking forward to resting today, although that rest has to include laundry and a quick trip to the library. One highlight yesterday was rocking out to Taylor Swift and Def Leppard together on Crossroads. Check it out! You won't be sorry. Dana found this last week, and we all love to listen to it.

Start a Streak

One thing I have learned from SparkPeople.com that I have found extremely helpful is when you want to make a change in your life, don't start big, start small. Take that small thing and turn it into a streak. Do it every day. Pretty soon you can add more small things, and before you know it, they are all a regular part of your life and they move you toward and become that big change you wanted.

I started a streak in my housekeeping. I cleaned the house on Saturday. Clean enough that I would not be embarrassed if someone stopped by unexpectedly. In order to keep it up, I chose one thing that I needed to do each night. I chose my least favorite chore: Dishes. Every night I would empty the dishwasher and reload it. I would also make an effort to keep up on the pots and pans, by washing them when I was running the dishwasher.

I am happy to say I'm doing quite well. Right now there is my big pot, a colander and the pan from dinner all soaking in the sink, and the dinner dishes are in the dishwasher. I'll run the dishwasher tomorrow evening when it is full. I just do the dishes right after dinner. I'm exhausted, and really want to leave them til tomorrow, but I know tomorrow will be the same, so I do it. Having the dishes picked up inspires me to be more mindful of what's on the counter too. Our counter top and bar become the junk repository each week, and I'm hoping that it will be my next addition to the streak.

What would you like to change in your life that starting a streak might help?

Start Small

In my attempt to clean the house this weekend, I began to get frustrated. I'd pick up some things off the kitchen counter, walk into the other room to put them away, and end up picking up something in there to put away. The result was that things were getting done, but it didn't look like a dent had been made. That's when I decided to start small. I'd tackle the one room I knew I could have clean in a short time, and that accomplishment would give me some motivation as I moved on to the next room.

So I started in the upstairs bathroom. First was the counter top. I have too many haircare products, all of which I use, and all of which were sitting out on the counter. I had a nice wire basket to try to arrange things in, but it's slats on the bottom meant things would fall through and get caught up. Then there were the toothbrushes. There isn't enough room in the medicine cabinet for them, and so they end up poking out of the basket or just all over the place.

First thing I did, was get a tote bag. I remembered a friend of mine kept all of her hair stuff in a tote. So when it was time to do her hair, she just got the bag out. I rounded up the straightening iron, curling iron, blow dryer, rubber bands, smoothing serum, hair spray... I could go on, but you get the picture. I put them in a cute green tote bag (the zipper is broken, so it isn't a very good tote anymore) and stashed them under the counter.


Next, I evaluated the wire basket. I thought maybe if I put a cute towel or washcloth in the bottom it would work. That's when I remembered that I had a turquoise washcloth from Christmas 2007. I had purchased a few packages of them to wrap my homemade soap in. It would be just the thing. When I went to grab it, I looked at the great turquoise tote it was in (it had held a tea set I received for Christmas that year). I decided to ditch the basket, and put the soaps, dental floss, and other small things in it, with the washcloth in the bottom. I unwrapped the soap first and put it out for hand washing. Why not enjoy some of the soap ourselves? Also notice the nice faucet. My parents gave us their old faucet when their bathroom was remodeled. It is so much prettier than the old one we had.


Last was the pesky toothbrushes. I was thinking that a toothbrush holder would be nice, but they rarely hold kids toothbrushes, and I didn't want to buy one. So I thought maybe if I had a nice cup. That's when I remembered that after my grandma died, I received 3 of her coffee mugs. They held many memories, as she always had a cup of coffee with her. Unfortunately, within a few months at my house, 2 of the mugs handles had been broken off. (I'm guessing this was due to age, as all of our other mugs are fine.) And my favorite of those mugs just happened to be turquoise and green.


I'm happy to report that the bathroom has stayed clean for over 3 days, which is a record in this house. I love that it looks pretty, and was redone with things already in our home, so the only expense to the new look was the glass cleaner I bought to scrub the mirrors.

Lazy Days

Not this weekend, although I wish it could be. No, there is plenty of housework to do, Sunday school to prepare for, and laundry. Lots of laundry. Our dryer is fixed with a price tag of $100. A zipper off one of the kids sweatshirts (I'm guessing since we found a tiny zipper piece) broke off, and destroyed the thermal fuse. The part was only $13, the rest was labor. But, the dryer is fixed!!!! And the price is far less than a new dryer.


That's just a part of the mess I'll be cleaning this weekend. Hope you get some rest!

Office Fun

Our office has cleaners come in each Monday night to, well clean. Now we can debate this in our office based on what does and doesn't get done, but the fun part is some of the things they do.

We recently had a note saying we had the wrong paper towels. Well we didn't. We had changed the paper towel dispenser in the kitchen, so that it would take the same style of paper towels as the other dispensers. The multi-fold towels do stick out nicely for you to grab, but the restroom dispensers were designed for C-fold and when you would try to take just 1 multi-fold towel, you'd end up with 5 or more. It was messy and wasteful, but the kitchen dispenser couldn't dispense C-fold.

This was an easy $30 fix, and we quickly put it up. For some reason the cleaning staff felt that because the towels didn't stick out, they were wrong. So they didn't fill the paper towel dispensers and left us the note. So the next Monday, my coworker put up a very nice note asking them to please fill the dispensers, that we wanted that style of paper towel.

Apparently they took offense to that. They left a note to let us know the towels wouldn't stick out, but they would fill them anyway. My coworker came in to find her desk wiped down and her stack of rubberbands sprinkled across her desk. Now we've always laughed about how much stuff around our desks move after cleaning. But this wasn't just moving something to clean.

After a few weeks, my coworker came in to find her phone turned around, her picture frame laid face down, the adding machine cock-eyed and more. We knew that this was deliberate. We had a good laugh, because they weren't doing that to anyone else's desk.

So the next Monday as we were picking up so that they could wipe down desks I said to her, "Why don't you move everything to where it was when you came in on Tuesday? See if they leave it, or put it back." So she did. And next morning, everything was put in it's rightful place.

This Tuesday morning, her computer, which had been turned off Monday night, was on. Everything is passworded, so they didn't go into her PC, but they had to have turned it back on. Tuesday mornings are fun now, just to see what's been done this time. Do you have any crazy inside jokes or games that you play? Or are we just wierd? Or both is an option too.

What the kids did this weekend

1. Pulled all of my cooking utensils out of the drawer in the kitchen, and scattered them through the TV room. The pizza cutter was on the window sill, rubber scrapers on the floor, scissors in the doorway, and a rolling pin on the couch.
   
2. Made a "nest" of blankets and pillows in the middle of the TV room floor where Kaia promptly fell asleep.
3. Dumped all of the Fisher Price people out, and the art supplies too, on the first floor.
4. Destroyed the bed, after Dana had just finished making it.

And I wonder why I cannot keep the house clean.

Giving Thanks for Family

Oops, I had no idea how dirty my wall is, until I took this photo.

Kaia singing the Turkey Song.

I'm participating in Kelli's Giving Thanks week, and today, I am thankful for family.

Saturday night my mom came over and helped me pick up the disaster area we call home. I didn't feel good, had very little motivation, and just couldn't figure out where to start. In the short time she was here, we managed to clean the front room and dining room and vacuumed. All that's left is the TV room, and I can handle that.

Mo spent Sunday night with Dana's parents. This way, I can take Kaia to school and then Dana and I will head over to the hospital for his surgery.

I'm thankful our families can help us at this time. I'm also thankful for all the prayers and well wishes from all of you. I cannot believe my favorite holiday is just days away. It has been so hectic around here. I am excited to see all of the Giving Thanks posts, and get ready for this wonderful holiday.

Laundry Lament

Thanks to all of you for commiserating with me on my lipsticked laundry. Taking into consideration Art's advice, and doing some looking online, I chose to try a dish-washing detergent and laundry detergent combo. I didn't want to attempt to treat each and every article of clothing, so a soak in the two above seemed like a good way to go. I put everything back into the washer (minus 2 pair of my jeans and some of Kaia's underwear) and added hot water for a little bit, then warm water. I put in both detergents, mixed well with my hands, and let it soak for an hour or so. Then I added more laundry detergent and washed.

A few things came out clean, but I'm not sure they had lipstick on them in the first place. What you see in the photo is the clothes that still need more treatment. Now it's on to painstakingly applying Grandma's Secret Spot Remover.

Do you think it's time for a new laundry basket?

Clean Sunday Morning

Mo is enjoying a clean couch and his organic maple yogurt.

Yesterday we busted some dust bunnies in our home. (I hope they didn't all move down to see you Jen) Now we have the last 2 days of the long weekend to just enjoy!

We had mom and dad over for barbeque last night. Hamburgers on the grill (chopped jalapeno, onion and cheddar cheese mixed into the beef before making patties), corn on the grill (basted with a seasoned butter while grilling), BBQ Jalapenos, coselaw (mom brought), chips and dip, and blackberry peach pie for dessert. I'd love to show you the pie, but only 2 slices are left. Those are going to Grammy and Papa's today since they are kid sitting while Dana goes to the firing range with his brother and I go to a movie with the girls of the family.

Can you believe this dish was free at a yardsale?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dance Party

Dana is riding his ATV today with my cousin. Kaia is at Sabbath School. Mo and I are supposed to be cleaning up. I am, he's not. It's been a great morning! I found out first thing that I won the give-away on Kelli's blog! Even more reason to get the house in order, new towels and apron are coming my way (along with some more great things!). Then I saw that Jen gave me a friendship award! So why not take a quick break from cleaning for a little dance party?