tackling today's tasks

norwex...part 5

2012-02-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

I know that some of you reading this are actually going to a Norwex party soon and have asked what I recommend. So, to end my spiel on Norwex cleaning products, I want to give you my honest opinion on all the products I've tried.

1. enviro cloth: this is the most basic cloth that you can buy, and I highly recommend that if you can only buy one thing, buy this. It's so multifunctional that you'll get a lot of use out of this cloth.

2. window cloth: this is the second most basic cloth that you can buy. So, if you can only buy TWO cloths from Norwex, buy this along with the enviro cloth. (They even sell these two cloths in a set for a lower price.) This will make all your windows and mirrors streak-free. (I even cut my cloth into pieces and keep a piece of it in each bathroom.)

3. enviro cloth travel pack: If you have multiple bathrooms, this is a convenient way to keep a small cloth on-hand in each bathroom. If you have kids, this product is also a must! Keep one in the car and one in your purse/diaper bag. I use it all the time to clean stains off my clothes when I'm out of the house. (The other day it cleaned mud off my jeans and spit-up off my shirt/pants. It completely took both stains out.)

4. dusting mitt: I got this mitt for free with my hostess package. This mitt is not a "must buy" in my opinion, because you can use the enviro cloth to dust with. It's a "fun" cloth for my son to help me dust with, but it would not be high on my list of products to buy from Norwex. If you dust A LOT and like to dust blinds and other hard to reach places, then you might find it helpful.

5. lint mitt: I also got this for free, and I actually have not used it yet. I don't clean lint off my clothes very often.

6. body pack: If you are allergic to a lot of soaps/smells, then you might want to consider going soap-free and using this antibac cloth instead. My husband doesn't like to use a wash cloth, so he still uses bars of soap. This comes in a three pack, so split it with a friend...or use the other cloths in the kitchen to wipe down your kids.

7. baby body pack: A MUST BUY IF YOU HAVE KIDS! I love these! I use them for my kids' bath and during meals. You can also throw one of these in your purse/car to use on-the-go instead of the enviro travel pack if you wish.

8. turban: Like I said before, this product did not impress me. I actually saw one at the Dollar Store the other day. I wish I would have given that one a try first before spending money on this one.

9. kitchen cloth set: If you are looking for some cloths for your kitchen, I'd recommend this one the most. It comes in a three pack, so share with a friend (you really only need one or two).

10. kitchen scrub cloth: If you are looking for something to replace your bacteria-infected scrubby sponge, this is the one to buy.

11. dish cloth: Since you can't use dish soap on the kitchen cloths, I recommend this one for washing your dishes. For $6.99 it's worth it.

12. cleaning paste: This isn't essential (I'm sure you can make a similar paste with baking soda, etc.), but it gives you some extra elbow grease when scrubbing the sink, tub, etc. I've read several different places that this little tub goes A LONG way.

13. makeup removal package: You only need one of these, and since it comes in a three pack, split with two friends. You can also use the body cloth or baby body cloth instead. (In my opinion, the travel enviro cloth = soft, the body cloth = softer, the makeup removal cloth = softest.)

14. wet mop pad: Essential if using the wet mop! LOVE IT, and worth the price!

15. dry mop pad: You could get away with NOT buying this if you vacuum your floors before mopping. But I've read on some review sites that other Norwex users found this dry mop to do a far superior job picking up dirt/dust than their vacuum cleaner.

16. mop handle: essential if you want the mop.

17. mop base: essential if you want the mop.

18. rubber brush: I feel that this is essential to use with the dry map pad and the dusting mitt. Since the microfiber material is meant to "grab" the dirt and does a great job of keeping it inside the cloth, this brush is great for brushing the dust/dirt out of the dry mop and dusting mitt. I also love it for cleaning up hair out of my carpet. If you have hairy pets, it's a must-have.

19. car cloth: I got this for free and haven't used it yet.

You might be thinking, "Holy cow! That's a lot of products!" Yes, it is. But I got it all ($491 worth) for only $34. I quickly learned that there are a lot of perks to hosting a party! As a disclaimer, I have to say that I've heard the average hostess gets about $200-$250 in free products. I basically turned it into a mini part time job for one week in order to get all the free benefits that I did. I wanted to tell all my friends about it because I believe these are products that moms everywhere should be using.

If you are interested, here are some sites that I came across while I was researching Norwex and their products:

Honest Norwex Reviews

Norwex Scam?

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

Antibacterial Effects of Silver (what's in Norwex's antibac cloths)

You Tube videos on Norwex products (here's a good one that explains the mop if you're interested)

If you want to buy any Norwex products, you can go to my friend's Norwex website and purchase them online, or contact her to host your own party (if you live in my area).

*I didn't get paid or receive any perks to write about these products. I just really love them and wanted to share them with you all.

norwex...part 4

2012-02-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today is my second-to-last installment in my Norwex spiel. It was going to be my last, but tomorrow I want to sum up my Norwex experience and give you my honest "buy this, not that" opinions. Today I want to talk to you about their mop set and travel cloths.

Mop set (mop handle, wet mop pad, rubber brush, dry mop pad and mop hanger) and Travel-sized Enviro Cloth

The mop. Oh, THE mop. Before I dive in to the details of this mop, let me give you a little background on my mopping skills. I hate mopping. I lived in my house almost a year before I mopped my kitchen floor. Yes. Gross. I am a very clean person, and mopping my kitchen floor (I have carpet everywhere else in my house) was too big a task with three young kids. Clearing the kitchen floor, filling a bucket with water and soap, finding my mop, mopping the floor, keeping my kids off the floor while it dried, re-mopping areas where the mop didn't pick up the dirt, then re-wiping over spots on my hands and knees, then putting all the kitchen furniture back in place...it was TOO much for me. It intimidated me. So, I just pretended that my floor was really not as dirty as it really was and went about my day.

Then the Norwex mop entered my life. As a Norwex hostess in January, I received the mop package for free! So, the mop and all it's attachments showed up at my door, and I gave it a shot. The bottom line? It took me only TEN minutes from start to finish! TEN minutes to clear the chairs out from my kitchen, go over my kitchen with the dry mop, go over it again with the wet mop, and give my kids a snack as they watched me do all this from the sidelines.

The best part? Not only was my whole kitchen mopped in ten minutes, it was DRY, too! My kids were literally standing on the edge of the kitchen floor asking, "Now, Mommy?" Within minutes the floor was dry, and they could walk on it again.

Their mop is antibac, so (again) you only mop with WATER. First you attach the dry mop pad (the orange pad in the above picture) to your mop base/handle and mop your floor to get all the crumbs, hair, dust, etc. off the floor. I was really impressed with what a good job it did. Then take off the dry mop pad and use the rubber brush to get all the dirt off of it. Next you run the wet mop pad (the blue one) under water and wring it out. Attach it to the mop and mop your floors. When you are done, rinse the wet mop pad out and hang to dry. You are done! I was really blown away by how clean my floors were. They looked and felt different. They were so clean!

They have a large mop and a small mop. I was given the large mop for free with my package, but since I'm only mopping a small area (my kitchen) I could get away with the smaller one. If you are mopping a larger area, like hardwood floors all over your house, you probably want the bigger one.

The rubber brush can also be used to brush areas of your carpet to remove hair, dirt, etc. I use it on the carpeted area by my sink where I dry my hair. It picked up so much hair that the vacuum missed! You can also use it on carpeted steps or to remove pet hair from furniture, etc.

Below is a picture of the mop I was using before getting my Norwex mop. I had only used it 2 or 3 times, and look how dirty it is already! Every time I mopped, that dirty was just being spread around my floors. The mop is now in the trash can.

My last product review is on Norwex's travel enviro cloths. They come 4 in a pack. They are just like the regular enviro cloth, but smaller. (I took a picture of it beside a toothbrush so you could get an idea of its size.) Since I have three bathrooms in my house, and they are all on different floors, I have one of these hanging in each bathroom for quick clean-ups. I use these EVERY DAY. I hung a 3M hook in each bathroom and hung the travel cloth on it. When the sink needs a quick wipe-down, I grab this, wet it, and wipe. Instead of grabbing for a lysol wipe, I grab for this instead.

I use it to clean up the sink after my kids have washed their hands (a.k.a. flooded the whole sink area), give the toilet seat a quick wipe after my son pees on it, wipe down the floor if it gets peed on, wipe down the mirror and the door handle, etc. If you don't have multiple floors to your home, just having the regular-sized enviro cloth in a central location would be suffice. But I like having the travel one on-hand so I can give my bathroom the once-over while I wait for my kids to finish their bath, etc.

I keep the 4th travel cloth in my diaper bag so I can use it on-the-go. I've been using it every time we come out of a store to wipe my kids' hands (since my daughter is a thumb-sucker) or if we leave a restaurant, etc. I use it before my kids eat a snack in the car, and after they eat to clean them up. It gets a lot of use in the car. Someone usually has a water bottle with them in the car, so I just dump a little water onto the cloth and wipe!

Tomorrow...a run-down of everything I've covered the past few days.

*I didn't get paid or receive any perks to write about these products. I just really love them and wanted to share them with you all.

norwex...part 3

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Time for part three in my little "Norwex series." I first shared with you some of the basic "all-purpose" cleaning cloths. Then I shared with you my kitchen cloths. Today I'll share some of their body products that I've been using.

Body Pack, Baby Body Pack, Turban, Makeup Removal Cloth (green)

I don't have pictures of all of these (just the makeup removal one). But here are my explanations of them.

The body pack comes in a three pack. It's a wash cloth that is antibac, so you can wash without using soap! Crazy, huh? I have been using it to wash with in the shower, and I find it to be very effective. Just dampen with water, and wipe all over your body. No more buying body soap. These cloths come in bright or neutral colors.

The baby body pack is the same thing as the body pack, they are just smaller and easier to use on kids. Like I mentioned yesterday, since they come in a three pack, I use one for my kids' faces at meal times and the other two I use to wash them off in the bathtub...using only water! No more buying soap for my kids. I stick them in the bathtub, rinse them off with water, and wipe them down with the baby body cloth. This cloth is great to use on my 6 month old. I don't give him baths too often, because I lay him on the changing table and wipe him down with this cloth. No more smelly baby butt or spit-up smells. He smells and feels like he just crawled out of the bathtub! I use it a lot in the mornings if he wakes up with a really wet diaper and just smells like pee. It's quick and convenient. I'm considering buying another pack of these so that each kid can have their own cloth to use as a "napkin" at meal time. I've heard that others have done this. It would save me money on napkins, since my two-year-old likes to use about 5 at each meal time.

The turban is one product that I was super excited about using, but failed to deliver for me. My hair is REALLY thick, and thus takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to blow dry. I was hoping that wrapping my hair in this turban after showering would eliminate the need to spend 15 minutes drying my hair. It hasn't. Norwex claims that "after 10 minutes this turban absorbs approximately 70% of the water, resulting in less time needed to blow dry your hair." I haven't really seen a decrease in drying time, but then again maybe my hair is SO thick that the turban can't soak up any more water from my hair. I do think that it soaks up some water, but not enough that I would recommend spending the money to buy one again. BUT, I'd like to see someone without such thick hair try it and see what happens.

The makeup removal cloth does just that...removes make-up using just water. You can use the body cloth to remove your makeup. This cloth is just softer and less abrasive on your face, which is great if you have sensitive skin. I use it every morning and evening. It takes all my makeup off, and I don't use a face wash anymore (since this cloth is antibac). That's another cost that I eliminated from my budget. It comes in a three pack, but you only really need one. So, split it with a friend. I hang it up on my bathroom mirror using a suction cup and can grab it when I need it. It drys really quickly when hung here.

Tomorrow I'll finish off my Norwex spiel by telling you about their mop and travel cloths.

*I didn't get paid or receive any perks to write about these products. I just really love them and wanted to share them with you all.

norwex...part 2

2012-02-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I told you about three of the main Norwex cloths that I use, the window cloth, enviro cloth and dusting mitt. Remember, you don't use any soap to clean with their antibac cloths, or that will make them not as effective. You just use water. Today I'll introduce you to some of their kitchen cloths that I love.

Kitchen Scrub Cloth (blue), Kitchen Cloth (orange), Baby Body Cloth (yellow), Dish Cloth (white mesh)

I use the kitchen scrub cloth to clean pots and pans and to get burnt food off of my stove top. (I actually just used it to clean my stove top right before I snapped this picture...that's why it's covered in brown spots.) This cloth is NOT one of Norwex's antibac cloths, so you can use soap with it. I used the cloth along with their cleaning paste to clean my flat stove top.

The orange kitchen cloth comes in a three pack and is the kitchen cloth that i use most often. It is an antibac cloth, so I don't use any soap or cleaner on it. I use it to wipe down my counters, kitchen table, appliances, inside of fridge, and sometimes the kids' faces after a meal. It's really soft and kills bacteria while I wipe!

The yellow baby body cloth actually came in a three pack. I keep one in the kitchen to wipe my kids down after meals and the other two are in the kids' bathroom. I use them during their baths (more on that later). This is THE BEST cloth to use for kids during meal time. I just recently started feeding my youngest child baby food, and it's always a messy process. I started using a regular cloth with him (before I received my Norwex order), and the food would just smear around on his face, and each time I would re-wipe with the same cloth, it would just smear the food back on his face that I already wiped off. With the Norwex baby cloth, each time I wipe with it, it's like using a new cloth! The cloth absorbs so much of the food, and I can wipe my baby's face plus my other two kids' faces with it before rinsing it out. I love it! I use it at least 3x a day.

The last kitchen cloth that I use is the dish cloth. I also use this cloth VERY often. All it is is a netting made of nylon. It may look odd to you, but it cleans REALLY well! I wash my dishes with it and wipe down my counters when I'm cooking with flour/dough. I use it with dish soap (it's NOT an antibac cloth). When I'm done cleaning with it, I just rinse it out (all the food falls right out of the holes in the netting) and it's ready for next time. If the food is really caked on, then I use the scrub cloth. But this cloth cleans most of the food off.

After reading this, you may be thinking, "It looks like you need a manual just to keep all these cloths straight! There are so many to think about!" At first glance, it might seem that way. But think about the various cleaning cloths/sponges you have at your kitchen sink. I used to have a kids' rag, a regular kitchen rag, and a scrub sponge. I replaced all of those with the above three cloths, and added the dish cloth. So, it's not very different. You can see in the first picture that I hang them all up right above my sink using 3M hooks from Target. The cloths are supposed to be hung where they can dry (and thus killing the bacteria inside of them).

Tomorrow I'll talk about a few of the body cloth products.

*I didn't get paid or receive any perks to write about these products. I just really love them and wanted to share them with you all.

norwex...part 1

2012-02-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I was introduced to Norwex cleaning products. A relative gave me one of their cloths to try. She couldn't say enough good things about the products, so I gave them a shot. Now I can't say enough good things about them! I decided to contact one of their sales reps and host a party at my house because I wanted to learn more about the products.

The basic premise of Norwex cloths is the innovative use of silver particles integrated into synthetic microfiber cloth, which means you only use WATER to clean with them! When used with water, they kill all the bacteria on a surface. No more lysol wipes. No more windex. No more bathroom cleaners. No more carpet cleaners. No more kitchen cleaners. They save you time & money, improve health, and move towards creating a better environment.

Here's a glimpse of some of the products I have and how I use them...

Window Cloth (pink), Enviro Cloth (green), Dusting Mitt (blue)

The window cloth allows you to clean windows, mirrors, jewelry, and shiny surfaces with only water. I wipe down my windows, mirrors and faucets with a damp enviro cloth and then wipe the water off with the window cloth. It leaves the surface streak-free! No more windex. It's so easy and quick to clean my bathroom mirrors, glass shower doors and finger-printed windows now!

The enviro cloth is Norwex's "basic" cloth. You can use it to clean almost anything. Here are a few ways that I use my cloth when it's damp:

--to clean the bathroom sink, bathtub, toilet seat, mirrors, floor (basically anywhere you would normally use a lysol wipe, I use this instead now)

--to clean stains out of carpets (This cloth removes more stains than Spot Shot does! I haven't found a stain that it hasn't removed yet...including pee out of the carpet.)

--to get stains out of clothes

--to clean windows

--to clean the inside of my car

--when it's dry, I dust with it

And remember, this cloth does all of this WITH ONLY WATER!

The dusting mitt is pretty explanatory. You use it dry to dust with. My son loves to put it on and dust for me. No more smelly pledge that my husband hates.

*I didn't get paid or receive any perks to write about these products. I just really love them and wanted to share them with you all.

stay awhile

2012-01-31T15:20:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to gather ideas for our entry way ever since we moved into this house. It's a decent sized entry way, and I wanted to make the most of it. We've been needing some coat hooks for guests coats as well as lower hooks for kids to use.

A few weeks ago I went to Ikea and found these black hooks that I liked for guests' coats for only $9.99.

I grabbed two of them, giving me ten hooks total. I knew that I wanted some kind of artwork above the hooks because the coat rack itself was thin and the wall was tall. A few days later I was in Michael's. I found myself wandering down their sale aisle and instantly became giddy when I found these tin letters for $2.00 each! I happened to be shopping without any kids that day, so I plopped myself down in the middle of the aisle and began playing around with the letters until I found a combination that I liked. "STAY AWHILE" ended up being the winner because it didn't have many repeat letters, giving me a good variety of colors and styles. Plus, it's a message we want to convey to our guests..."Hang your coat up and stay awhile!"

As if that wasn't exciting enough, in the next bin over I found matching coat hooks with letters on them for $2 each to use for the kids' hooks! I wanted to have five hooks for the kids, three for my kids and two extra for guests.

Before we hung the hooks up, the walls where the hooks were going to go needed painted. The previous owners painted the entry way two different shades of beige. I used the leftover paint that was still here when we moved in to give two of the walls a fresh coat. It didn't take me very long. Gene released me to paint it one night after the kids went to bed while he had some Callan-Daddy time.

Price break down:

Ikea hooks = $9.99 x 2 = $19.98

C-O-A-T-S hooks = $2.00 x 5 = $10.00 (-15% teacher discount) = $8.50

STAY AWHILE letters = $2.00 x 10 = $20.00 (-15% teacher discount) = $17.00

TOTAL = $45.48

Now I'm on a search for a new rug (the one in the above pictures was left from the previous owners), and Gene wants me to make small curtains for the windows beside the front door. You can see right into our living room from the street at night.

l-a-u-n-d-r-y

2012-01-27T11:13:00.001-05:00

Wash. Dry. Fold. Put away. Repeat. Wash. Dry. Fold. Put away. Repeat....

Laundry.

It's my least favorite task. That and emptying out the dishwasher. I've been brainstorming ways to make the never-ending laundry process go faster. Last week I was standing in Big Lots admiring a whole aisle of various colored bins and baskets (I have a bin obsession) when an idea struck me. I grabbed three, medium-sized, different colored bins and headed home.

On laundry days, there are two things that take a lot of my time, and they both happen to be things that the kids can help me with. I use the bins in two ways. When I wash the kids' clothes (I do all three of their clothes together in one huge load), I have Kinsley and Callan take the clothes out of the dryer for me and sort them into the three bins: Callan's clothes in the orange bin, Kinsley's in the yellow, and Finn's in the green. Then they take their own bin up to their room (I made sure to get small bins with handles so they could carry them), and I fold it and put it away. It saves me so much time to not have to sort through everyone's clothes by myself. And it makes putting it all away a breeze.

I also have C & K use the three bins to help me sort the cloth diapers after I wash them. I have three baskets under the changing table where I keep the outer covers for the diapers, the long inserts and the short inserts. So the kids sort them into the three bins in the laundry room and carry them upstairs. Then I dump them into the baskets, and it's done!

don't cry over spilled milk

2012-01-24T17:07:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, one of my kids spilled a whole cup of milk on our couch. The tag on the bottom of the cushion said not to wash it in the washing machine but to take it to an upholstery cleaner. Yep. Not gonna happen. So, I had my husband buy an upholstery cleaner spray on his way home from work. That did not work. I tried cleaning it by hand with a mild detergent. It got crusty and looked awful.

A day later, I was at the end of my rope and got onto the computer to look up where the nearest upholstery cleaner was. At the same time I just happened to come across this blog post, appropriately titled "How to Clean Microfiber Furniture." This method worked WONDERFULLY! I highly recommend it.

I've had the opportunity to use this method twice now. Once with the spilled milk incident and today again when one of my kids peed behind the couch and then crawled over the couch with their wet clothes. It was not a pretty site. But, once again this cleaning method worked beautifully!

No more crying over spilled milk...or pee stains.

book slings

2012-01-22T21:00:00.004-05:00

My mom reminded me that I never posted about this project...

I made book slings for Kinsley's room. They were really easy to make. I followed this tutorial and spray painted the ends of the wooden rods red to match her room. You can make them any length to fit the space that you have. I love the fabric, too!

a dream bed

2012-01-19T07:50:00.002-05:00

So, this would be the most awesome bed ever for Callan and Finn. My friend emailed this picture to me since she knows we love hockey. I said that the only problem is that my husband would never want to sleep in our bed anymore. I'm sure I'd find him sleeping on this bed along with our two sons, or maybe he'd be the one driving and using the built-in radio.

homemade detergent

2012-01-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a homemade detergent that I like for awhile now. I have a husband who hates the smell of any detergent, and my kids can be sensitive to it, too. I came across this homemade version. After buying the stuff to make this, one of my good friends told me that she had just bought the stuff to make this same recipe, too. She's been using it for awhile now and loves it. So, that gave me confidence to give it a try, too.

Even though the ivory soap has a smell to it when you mix it together, the clothes don't seem to have any smell to them when they are washed. My friend uses it to wash her cloth diapers, too. So after I finish my tub of Charlie's Soap, I'll probably just use this homemade soap on my cloth diapers, too.

I've been using it about a week now and it seems to be cleaning the clothes just fine. It was really easy to make, even though my husband was very confused when he saw me using my cheese grater to grate bars of soap! As The Sleepy Time Gal states, it's cheaper and very easy to make.

a homemade Christmas: roll-up feltboards

2012-01-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

I altered my original feltboard design to make these roll-up ones for two gifts for Christmas. They were super easy (well, they should have been if my sewing machine would have been cooperating that day).

Just take a piece of fabric and sew it to a piece of felt (right side of fabrics together) with two pieces of ribbon sewed in between on the one end. Leave a hole when you sew it so you can flip it inside out. Sew the hole shut, and you are done!

I also made a set of capital and lowercase felt letters to go along with the boards. I printed off the letters onto cardstock, laminated them, stuck them onto a piece of sticky-backed felt, and cut them apart.

They roll up and can fit inside your purse to take to doctor's appointments, car rides, etc. I think I'm going to make some for my kids!

a homemade Christmas: tag blankets

2012-01-09T16:14:00.000-05:00

For Christmas I needed three baby gifts and one gift for a baby shower, so I decided to make these little tag blankets. My sister made one for Finn when he was born, and he now loves chewing on the pieces of ribbon. Here are the instructions on how to make one. They are very simple. If you know how to sew a straight line, you can make these.

Here is the BOY version and GIRL version that I made...

a homemade Christmas: kid toolbelts

2012-01-07T21:19:00.000-05:00

I saw some cute tool belts on Etsy and used them as inspiration to make my own as gifts for the three boys on my Christmas list this year. I'm really proud of how they turned out.

1. Cut and pin fabric, inside out.

I used some heavier fabric that someone gave to me that was already cut into rectangles, so I just used those dimensions (13 in x 15 in).

2. Sew all the way around the perimeter, leaving a 2-inch gap.

3. Flip the fabric right-side out.

4. Fold the top down an inch and a half and sew it, leaving the ends open so you can put the belt through.

5. (optional) Iron on letters.

If you choose to iron on letters, I found it easier to iron them before sewing the pockets.

6. Pin up the bottom of the fabric so you can sew the pockets. Sew 4 straight lines to form the 3 pockets.

7. (optional) Iron on a patch.

If you choose to sew something on the pockets, you'll have to do this after step #5.

8. Follow directions on belt package to feed the belt through the buckle and sew the end shut.

9. Give to a 3-year-old boy to wear proudly.

a homemade Christmas: FMH's stocking

2012-01-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

I made another homemade stocking this year for Huston #5. I chose this cute boyish fabric to make little Fintan Michael's stocking. (Read this post to see how I made it.)

watch your thoughts

2012-01-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

An interesting thought as we begin 2012...

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits..

Watch your habits; they become character.

a homemade Christmas: personalized feltboard

2012-01-03T13:02:00.000-05:00

For Christmas I made several gifts for the kids on my list. Here's a peek at one of my favorites...a homemade personalized feltboard and Daniel and the Lions' Den felt set for my nephew. For instructions on how to make it, see this earlier post.

M-I-A

2011-12-21T20:07:00.000-05:00

I've been MIA from this blog lately. It's not because of a lack of stuff to post here. It's because I've been too busy finishing my tasks before Christmas....and then I'll post them here. I've been making a lot of homemade Christmas gifts, so I won't be posting those until after those gifts have been given out. Don't want to ruin any surprises!

So, lots to post. But not until after the 25th!

felt ornaments

2011-11-23T14:17:00.001-05:00

'Tis the season...for ornament making! Last weekend Gene was on a church retreat with some other guys, so all the wives got together to make some Christmas ornaments. Six of us gathered around the coffee table eating 'smores and making these fun felt ornaments...

I got the idea from here. They were super easy, but just a little time-consuming (cutting around each letter, sewing them by hand, and stuffing, etc.). Callan helped me stuff them. His little 3-year old fingers were the perfect size.

Here's a picture to show you the thickness of each ornament.

I can't wait to get our tree and hang these puppies up!

always wash yur hands

2011-11-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

After sharing about the hooks that I created for the kids in their bathroom, I said that I still needed a piece of artwork to finish off the space. We had a blank canvas lying around leftover from our etsy projects, so I used it to paint this (with the kids' help)...

I was doing some finger painting with the kids the other day and had Callan and Kinsley use the blue and red paint to make their handprint on the canvas. (With Gene's help, I tried to put Fintan's prints on, too, but he wasn't being cooperative. Someday when he gets a little older, we'll get his little green prints on the bottom right-hand corner to finish the piece off.)

I free-handed the words on the canvas with dark purple paint (which turned out to look more black than purple). I love how it turned out and how it brightens the space up even more (and it was FREE, none-the-less).

Here's some updated pics of the space (with the new towels I got at Target for $5 each). Now each kid knows which towel is theirs since they each picked a color.

pinterest accomplishment #8: "marriage wall"

2011-11-11T13:21:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned before, our master bedroom has been lacking pictures on the wall for some time now. I've been pinning lots of stuff lately as inspiration for some artwork for the room. Here are a few pics that caught my eye on pinterest:

{www.kikicreates.blogspot.com}

{www.littlebitfunky.com}

{www.ohdeedoh.com}

In addition to the Hershey Kiss picture frame, I also created a wall space for Gene for our anniversary. It's a collection of quotes devoted to marriage and loving your spouse. The whole project was only $6.00! I found all of the frames on sale at Target at the end of an aisle one day. They had all different colors. I randomly picked up two packages...one of 8x10 frames and another of 4x6 frames, both in teal. Each packet was only $3.00. I figured that I'd used them somewhere someday, and if I didn't like the color then I could spray paint them. So, when I got the idea to do some homemade artwork on this wall and wasn't sure what frames to use, I happened to glance over at this Target lamp that we have sitting on our desk in our room...

...and realized that it was the same teal as the picture frames that I randomly picked up at Target. Since they were both from Target, they were the exact same teal color. So I grabbed my cheap-o frames and printed a few things out on my computer, and created this "marriage wall:"

I-LOVE-U

our wedding vows

an important quote to remember

love this

I love this idea of using a dry erase marker to write a message on the glass of the frame.

homemade bread...and more!

2011-11-04T14:47:00.001-04:00

In addition to pizza and granola bars, another homemade item that I've been baking recently is bread. We eat a lot of bread at our house, and making it has saved us a lot of money (and a lot of trips to the store). I make about 1-2 loaves a week. It's so easy with my bread machine it's insane.

I timed myself the other day, and it only took me 7 minutes to get all the ingredients out of the pantry, measure everything out, put it into the machine and clean up. SEVEN MINUTES! I can't get all my kids' shoes on in that amount of time in order to take them to the store to buy a loaf! This recipe has been a favorite lately (along with the cinnamon honey butter recipe found in the same blog post, which is TO DIE FOR!).

My mom just shared this video clip with me from Good Morning America about the money you can save by making your own food from scratch. I think I'll have to get a hold of her book.

By the way, the other day Callan kept asking me for a chocolate granola bar. We used to buy the Fiber One chocolate granola bars, which he loved. So, I just altered the above granola bar recipe and used chocolate chips instead of nuts and drizzled melted peanut butter on top of the bars before cooking them. They turned out so yummy! The kids and I love to eat a bar for an afternoon snack.

pizza! pizza!

2011-11-02T21:00:00.000-04:00

I've been making a lot of meals from scratch lately. I'm trying to make some changes in the way we eat, so I started by making a list of foods we eat most often. I'm trying to make these foods from scratch instead of buying them (which is healthier and cheaper!).

One of those foods is pizza. We like to eat pizza about once a week. It's an easy meal to grab a frozen pizza out of the box and throw it into the oven. BUT, I've stopped buying frozen pizzas and began making my own...which is just about as easy as frozen pizza! It's SO easy to make the dough in my bread machine. I just double the recipe and freeze half the dough for the next pizza dinner. We've made pesto chicken pizza (I cooked a whole chicken and used the chicken for several recipes), eggplant pizza (using eggplants from our garden) and last week I made chili pizza (using leftover chili from another meal). I just spread some leftover chili onto the dough and topped it with cheese. It tasted great and was very easy and quick!

What's your favorite pizza topping?

pinterest accomplishment #7: hershey kisses art

2011-10-31T12:07:00.000-04:00

An empty frame has hung above our bed for more than several months now. Since it hangs above the quote, "Always kiss me goodnight," I decided that I wanted to do something related to the word "kiss."

I pinned this photo, which inspired me to use Hershey Kisses somehow.

That's when I came up with this idea...

I used two Hershey Kisses to represent Gene and me. I made a Predators pendant because of Gene's love for this Nashville hockey team, and I used a little piece of pink ribbon to make a "headband" for the girl Kiss. I had the pictures hanging in the frame yesterday as a surprise for our anniversary.

pinterest accomplishment #6: personalized bathroom hooks

2011-10-26T12:31:00.002-04:00

I have been wanting to put some more hooks in the kids' bathroom so they could all have their own hook for their towel. I pinned these two ideas recently:

I liked this photo frames with the kids' pictures in them because it's an easy way for kids to recognize which towel is theirs. {Timber and Lace blog}

I also loved this kid-friendly frame idea using those foam-like bath letters (which we have tons of). {Bower Power blog}

So, by combining both of these ideas together, I came up with this:

I got frames at the Dollar Store and painted them white. Then I put a yellow piece of paper in each frame and glued the kids' initials to the front of the glass. I found these cute rubber hooks at Ikea for $1.99 each. So, for just $9 I had personalized hooks for all three kids. I love how colorful it looks against the gray walls.

Forgive the awful picture that makes it look like everything is hung crooked.

Gene wanted me to arrange them to say "KFC", but I went for oldest to youngest. I think this might have been the first time I realized our kids' initials spell out a chicken joint.

These hooks look like the back end of an animal. I love how colorful they are!

More cheap art for the kids' bathroom coming up soon!

homemade granola bars

2011-10-10T07:28:00.000-04:00

Here's one more recipe for ya'll that we've been lovin' around here. Another snack that the kids love are granola bars. I've been wanting to make my own for some time now, knowing that they can be an expensive snack to buy at the store. I've found a million different recipes to make granola. It pretty much depends on what you want to add to your bars (dried fruit, nuts, etc.). The kids really enjoy this recipe...

INGREDIENTS:

2 c old-fashioned or instant oats, uncooked

1 c flour

2/3 c dried cherries, blueberries, craisins, raisins, etc.

1/2 c chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc.

3/4 c packed light brown sugar

1/2 c toasted wheat germ

3/4 c ground flaxseed meal

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1/4 c vegetable oil

1/2 c honey

2 c finely chopped apples or pears (optional)

2 t pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grease very well a 9x13 metal baking pan. (The recipe said that glass works, but the bars are a bit harder to cut. I actually dumped the large rectangle of bars onto a cutting board and cut them there. Much easier.)

2. In a large bowl, using a spoon, mix together the oats, flour, dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar, wheat germ, flaxseed meal, cinnamon and salt until well-combined.

3. Stir in the oil, honey, apples or pears (optional), vanilla and egg until blended.

4. Get your hand damp and use it to pat the mixture into the baking dish.

5. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until the edges turn pale golden.

6. Cool completely in the dish on a wire rack.

7. When cool, cut into bars and wrap the pieces in plastic wrap or foil. Put bars in zip-block baggie and freeze.

8. To eat, unwrap, place on a microwave-safe plate and thaw at high for 1 minute.

chocolate banana bundles

2011-10-08T13:14:00.000-04:00

I mentioned that I made cinnamon ice cream for friends that we had over for dinner the other night. I also made these easy banana bundles that we ate with the ice cream. The whole thing was incredibly delicious!

{image from Tasteofhome.com]

INGREDIENTS:

2 T butter

1/4 c packed brown sugar

2 medium ripe bananas, halved lengthwise

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

4 oz semisweet chocolate, melted

ice cream (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.

2. Stir in brown sugar until blended.

3. Add bananas; stir to coat. Remove from heat; set aside.

4. Unfold puff pastry, and cut into four squares.

5. Place a halved banana in the center of each square, and overlap two opposite corners of the pastry over the banana. Pinch tightly to seal.

6. Place on parchment paper-lined (or foil) baking sheets.

7. Bake at 400* for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

8. Drizzle with chocolate, and serve warm with ice cream.

pinterest accomplishment #5: homemade cinnamon ice cream

2011-10-08T11:24:00.000-04:00

Another homemade treat that I've started making recently is ice cream. It's so easy to make using my KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment. I don't think I'll ever go back to store-bought after tasting homemade. Last night we had company, so I made cinnamon ice cream. I had pinned this recipe, which was so easy, quick and delicious! Callan loves to help make it, too.

(Theses pictures were from the Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup recipe we made last week.)

pinterest accomplishment #4: homemade bagels

2011-10-06T08:07:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to think through what foods our family enjoys often and attempt to bake/cook it myself instead of buying it from the store. One recipe that I wanted to try was homemade bagels. I pinned this photo the other week and decided to give this recipe a try.

They turned out better than I expected! I especially loved the one bagel that I covered in Penzeys Garlic Salt before baking. Yum! I'll be making these again. They were very easy! I'm off to eat one right now...

pinterest accomplishment #3: fall wreath

2011-10-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

I pinned a few fall wreaths the past couple of weeks and had a hard time deciding which one to make. I loved them all. I finally decided on this one from Story Crafting with Joy:

I used it as inspiration for my wreath. (You can find her instructions here.) I loved the burlap and the pinwheels. (Pinwheel instructions here.) My mom was here visiting, so we both worked together to create this one, which now hangs on my front door:

I wrapped a straw wreath in burlap, made pinwheels out of orange burlap and printed felt, and created a F-A-L-L banner using more printed felt and stick-on felt letters. We used hot glue and straight pins to hold everything together. Here's the price break-down:

14-inch straw wreath = $2.99 - 50% off coupon = $1.50 (Joann Fabrics)

1/4 yd. orange burlap = $1.00 - 15% off teacher's discount card = $.85 (Joann Fabrics)

I only used a VERY small amount of the orange burlap for this project. I anticipated using more, but didn't need it. That's why I used my leftovers for this project.

1/4 yd. brown burlap = 1.00 - 15% off teacher's discount card = $.85 (Joann Fabrics)

I had JUST enough fabric to cover this 14 inch wreath...meaning my last little cm of fabric covered the last little cm of wreath. If I had it to do over I'd probably buy a little more fabric.

1 piece of printed felt = 1.09 - 15% off teacher's discount card = $.93 (Joann Fabrics)

straight pins, hot glue, felt letters = FREE (already owned)

TOTAL = $4.13

Funny story...my mom and I never do things half-way. Meaning, when we went to hang up the wreath on the front door, we noticed that my front door/patio was very much in need of a wash. It was basically black. We couldn't hang our pretty wreath on a dirty door! So, we got out the hose and started to wash everything down and tore down the spider webs with the broom.

While we were in the process of doing that, we noticed that the water was going under the siding and leaking into the garage. Ugh.

So, I had to haul out the kids' toys from the garage and sweep out the huge puddle of water. An hour or so later we were finally left with this...

I'm hoping to get some more mums to display here. My husband brought this one home for me the other day. I love mums. So pretty.

pinterest accomplishment #2: fall words collage

2011-10-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

My second Pinterest accomplishment was creating this fall collage of words to frame for my entry way...

I pinned the above picture via Antsi-Pants blog. She is actually allowing you to download her fall collage for free here. I used this picture as inspiration to create my own collage of words using Microsoft Word. I wanted to pick words that are meaningful to our family...

I used some leftover orange burlap that I had from another fall craft (more on that tomorrow) as the background. I printed the collage off onto white paper and framed it on the burlap. I already had the frame, which was just gathering dust in a closet. So, the whole project was FREE!

The frame is displayed in my entry way along with some other fall decorations that I already had. I love a mini makeover that I can pull off for zero dollars and zero cents.

Another Pinterest project tomorrow!

pinterest accomplishment #1: baby shower cupcakes

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

I pinned these cute cupcakes, which are made out of a onesie and receiving blanket, a few weeks ago from the Little Birdie Secrets blog...

Then I received an invitation to my neighbor's baby shower. I knew these "cupcakes" would make a cute gift. They were really easy to make. The only thing that I would do differently next time is see if a burp cloth would work better than a receiving blanket. For me, the blanket made the cupcake really fat, so I could only get two cupcakes in one box instead of all four. It wasn't a big deal, but I'd like to mess around with the materials more next time to see if I can get them to be a bit smaller.

You can find the step-by-step directions here. Basically you wrap a receiving blanket around a onesie, place it in a coffee filter, tie a bow around it, and put them in a cupcake box. I bought my cupcake box at Michael's (using a 40% off coupon). They had several different decorative boxes to choose from. There were three boxes in a package, so it made them super cheap.

Here's how my cupcakes came out...

pin fever?

2011-10-02T13:33:00.000-04:00

Do you have pin fever? Do you mindlessly find yourself clicking the "Pin It" button on your computer more than a multiple times a day? I love all the inspiration that can be found on Pinterest. I've been bit by the Pinterest Bug, and I know more than a few of you who have, too.

Last week I found myself getting depressed at all the cute crafts, recipes, diy projects, etc. that have been pinned to my boards that haven't been turned into reality in my home. So many pins, so little time. But, I found a few pins that were easy to accomplish over a few days, and I purposed to complete them this past week.

Over the next week I'll reveal to you my Pinterest Accomplishments. I'd love to hear from any of you who might have recently turned a Pin into a reality in your home, too. Leave a comment if you have one you'd like to share!

green bean casserole & pulled pork

2011-09-17T15:23:00.002-04:00

I tried this new green bean casserole by PW last week along with this dr. pepper pulled pork recipe. It was the first time I ever made pulled pork. It was so easy! Why hadn't I tried it before?! We loved both recipes, and they tasted great together.

baked oatmeal recipe

2011-09-17T15:19:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine gave me this recipe last year. I don't know why it's taken me so long to make it. It was delicious! I made it for breakfast when my parents were here this week. They loved it! It tastes like a half-baked oatmeal cookie. Yuuuuummmmmm!

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 c quick oats

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c milk

1/4 c melted butter

1 egg

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 t vanilla

add-ins (optional)....we thought this would taste awesome with some things baked into it, like bananas, chocolate chips, blueberries, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all ingredients with a mixer.

2. Spread evenly in a greased pan.*

3. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

4. Serve warm. (Tasted great with yogurt or milk or fruit, etc.)

5. Store in fridge.

*For a bread loaf pan, follow directions. For a 8x8 casserole dish, double ingredients. For a 9x13 casserole, triple ingredients.

productive

2011-09-15T09:13:00.000-04:00

I love productive mornings! I've been up since 5:30am. It's only 9am, but I've already gotten all these things crossed off my to-do list for the day:

--nurse Finn at 5:30am

--make my family a hot breakfast

--make homemade raisin bread in breadmachine

--clean kids' bathroom for my parents to use tomorrow

--get shower

--all kids dressed

--wash towels

--change & wash the kids' sheets

--take the trash out

--get homemade ice cream machine out and ready to use later

--get ingredients ready to make my dad creamy shrimp bisque & breaded scallops for his birthday dinner

--clean kitchen, do dishes, vacuum

--nurse Finn again

every drop has its order

2011-09-03T21:35:00.000-04:00

This morning Kinsley got up at 4:30ish. At 6:15am Fintan peed and pooped all over our comforter and sheets while I was changing him. Then he spit-up all over his new outfit after I changed him.

By 6:45am the washing machine was running full speed, and the peed part of the comforter had been hand-washed and was hanging over the top stairwell with towels strategically placed to catch the dripping corners. When Callan woke up Gene said, "Look! Mommy made a fort for you." Yeah. I woke up at 6:45am to make a fort for my kids constructed out of a wet comforter. I don't think so.

After the morning drama, I caught a few minutes of quietness to open up Morning and Evening. This was today's post...

“The Lord trieth the righteous.” Psalm 11:5

All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God’s ordinance the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, and armed with weapons of war. All providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies, like roses, have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high, and our valleys are not too low for temptations: trials lurk on all roads. Everywhere, above and beneath, we are beset and surrounded with dangers. Yet no shower falls unpermitted from the threatening cloud; every drop has its order ere it hastens to the earth. The trials which come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces, and so at once to illustrate the power of divine grace, to test the genuineness of our virtues, and to add to their energy. Our Lord in his infinite wisdom and superabundant love, sets so high a value upon his people’s faith that he will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened. You would never have possessed the precious faith which now supports you if the trial of your faith had not been like unto fire. You are a tree that never would have rooted so well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro, and made you take firm hold upon the precious truths of the covenant grace. Worldly ease is a great foe to faith; it loosens the joints of holy valour, and snaps the sinews of sacred courage. The balloon never rises until the cords are cut; affliction doth this sharp service for believing souls. While the wheat sleeps comfortably in the husk it is useless to man, it must be threshed out of its resting place before its value can be known. Thus it is well that Jehovah trieth the righteous, for it causeth them to grow rich towards God.

~from morning & evening (evening sept 3), emphasis mine

I wouldn't exactly call a wet comforter a "trial", but it was an inconvenience that I would have loved to do without. BUT, God did have these encouraging words planned out for me to read on this particular morning, and they did remind me that "worldly ease is a great foe to faith." I love the picture that this passage painted of a shower with threatening clouds where God is giving the raindrops orders of when to fall.

The next time you find God "showering" you with lots of raindrops, remember that he has ordained each and every one of them...even if they happen to fall at 4:30 in the morning.

mothering quote

2011-09-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

"Mothering is a profoundly sanctifying vocation which cultivates the graces of love, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control, selflessness, humility, dependence, prayerfulness, and joy as none other." --Mark Chanski

I was featured!!!

2011-08-12T20:05:00.000-04:00

Before the craziness of having Baby #3, I submitted pictures of our playroom to the blog called Design Dazzle. On Design Dazzle, they feature mostly playrooms and kids' bedrooms that have been submitted by their readers. Most of the pictures and rooms submitted were done by professional designers. Being far from a professional, I still decided to submit our playroom and just sit back and see if I got any feeback from the Design Dazzle blog team.

Well, after only a short few days, I got an email from them today saying that our room was featured on their blog today! How awesome is that!? You can check it out here.

one way to ensure early labor

2011-08-02T15:52:00.000-04:00

I have been keeping my eye on this picture on Pinterest...

I love the onesie with the birthday circled. So, today this 38 week pregnant mama decided to make one for Baby Numero Tres...

Since we have our induction date set for next Tuesday, August 9th, I went ahead and printed the calendar with the date already starred. You know what that means, right? One of four things WILL happen:

1. I will go into labor early and the 9th will not be Baby Numero Tres' birthday.

2. My induction will take much longer than anticipated and will last until August 10th.

3. My baby will come out the size of a small toddler and will not fit into this size newborn onesie.

4. Since I did not take extreme care to make sure this onesie can be washed (I just wanted to whip it up quickly so that I can put it on the baby, take a few pics, take it off the baby, and stash it away in their baby book), the baby will inevitably spit up all over it as soon as I put it on them.

So, there ya have it. This onesie is the reason why my baby will now NOT be born on August 9th. (Good thing it cost me $0 to make.)

p.s. If you are interested in how I made the onesie, I followed the same steps that I did here when I created the felt pieces and printed them out on my printer.

If you are interested in buying one of these cute onesies, ones similar to mine are being sold at this Etsy store.

jaw-dropping

2011-08-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure which thing was more jaw-dropping for me...

--the fact that Sherry & Katie made personal contact with Emily Henderson

--the fact that this is the cutest diy clothespin lamp and diy mirror that I ever saw!

Read all about the Pinterest Challenge chaos here, here or here!

That's a lot of links for ya'll. It should keep you busy for awhile...

moving things around....again

2011-07-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

After having our last living room arrangement for a few months, we decided that the arrangement didn't really fit our needs. When our church Care Group would come over, it was hard to fit all 12 of us in the room. So, before our July CG meeting rolled around, Gene and I decided to move things around again to open things up.

The verdict? We both LOVE the new arrangement. It makes our living room seem twice as big and the kids have a lot of room to run around the play, too. It's also easy to host a large group.

Here's the new layout, minus most of our artwork or pictures on the wall.

We also changed our photo wall above the couch from this...

to this...

We updated our pictures to give it a fresh new look. I like the "H" in the middle for Huston. It's amazing what a little switcheroo can do to change the mood of a room!

crossing more off

2011-07-27T15:29:00.002-04:00

The past few days we added some more things to our "to-do" list, but we were also able to cross some more off! We've certainly packed in a lot of FUN this summer as a family. It's been wonderful!

~~1. Have Callan and Kinsley visit all the cousins from both sides of the family.~~
~~2. Go out with my mom and sister....alone without kids.~~
~~3. Go to Knoebel's Amusement Park.~~

~~4. Go to the Splash Park in Germantown.~~

~~5. Pick strawberries.~~
~~6. Ride the train and carousel at Wheaton Regional Park.~~
~~7. Go mini golfing.~~
~~8. Go swimming at the neighborhood pools.~~

9. Have a picnic with the neighbors.
10. Use the kids' sprinkler in the backyard.

~~11. Visit Lake Tobias.~~
~~12. Spend time with Mimi and Poppop.~~

~~13. Set up our Etsy store.~~

~~14. Play at the Germantown Adventure Park.~~
~~15. Go to one of the Mommy and Me events at the Rockville Town Center.~~
16. Go to one of the summer events at the Rio.
17. Go boating at Black Hills.
18. Go to one of the free events that the library is holding.
~~19. Grow a garden.~~
20. Have a baby!!

~~21. Take Callan on a Mommy/Son date night.~~

~~22. Get my hair cut and colored before Baby comes.~~

~~23. Go out for afternoon tea (without the kids) at Tea on the Tiber with my three wonderful neighbors.~~

Open for business!

2011-07-25T15:27:00.000-04:00

It's official! Our baby has been born! No...not that baby. That baby is due to arrive in two weeks. Today the other baby that we've been waiting for has been born...our new Etsy shop: Toucan Tango Designs.

Our current inventory has been added, and we're hard at work creating more! We hope to be able to create personalized, custom made art for our buyers in the future, but we'll be laying low until Baby Huston is born. We figured having a newborn around the house will add enough excitement for the next few weeks.

my little devil

2011-07-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

I wanted to introduce you to my new favorite household item...my Dirt Devil Red Versa Power Stick Vac from Target. We were in the market for a new hand vac. We go through hand vacs like nothing. I use a hand vac 1-3 times daily to clean up crumbs in the kitchen and our chinchilla's cage. Ever since Callan learned how to turn the hand vac on at an early age, it's been his chore to use it to clean the cage and the floor. He LOVES it.

Well, our old hand vac was starting to lose suction and was ready to hit the garbage can. I told Gene that maybe we should look into getting a hand vac that had a handle on it so that I didn't have to be on my hands and knees 3 times a day cleaning the corners of my kitchen. We started pricing them and found out that they were very comparable in price to regular hand vacs without handles.

We were looking for (1) a hand vac with a handle, (2) a bagless vac and (3) one that possibly plugged in, because our battery-run vacs die out quickly because we use them so hard.

Then the other day we made our way into Target with a $20 gift card in hand. That's when we found the Dirt Devil Red Versa Power Stick Vac for only $17.99 (it's on sale on Target.com now for $15.00!). I was skeptical about how much power this "cheap" little vac would have, but we went ahead and purchased it (for free with our gift card).

The verdict?? I LOVE IT! More importantly, Callan LOVES it and asks to vacuum for me daily. It picks up all crumbs and even larger pieces of dirt off my kitchen floor as well as cleaning my carpets, too! I use it to "spot clean" my carpets in between hauling out my larger vacuum. It's so light that even Callan (3 years old) can haul it around the house easily. The handle comes off, so it can be used as a hand vac, too.

I highly recommend this little Devil! It's perfect for your kitchen or for a small living space, like a dorm room.

the Red Devil in action

"Look, Mom! I carried it up the stairs for you!"

"I'll put it away for you, too, Mom."

"All done!"

It's so skinny it fits perfectly into my pantry for out-of-sight storage!

summer to-do list

2011-07-20T21:20:00.000-04:00

We've been crossing things off our summer to-do list!

~~1. Have Callan and Kinsley visit all the cousins from both sides of the family.~~
~~2. Go out with my mom and sister....alone without kids.~~
~~3. Go to Knoebel's Amusement Park.~~
4. Go to the Splash Park in Germantown.
~~5. Pick strawberries.~~
~~6. Ride the train and carousel at Wheaton Regional Park.~~
~~7. Go mini golfing.~~
~~8. Go swimming at the neighborhood pools.~~
9. Have a picnic with the neighbors.
10. Use the kids' sprinkler in the backyard.
~~11. Visit Lake Tobias.~~
~~12. Spend time with Mimi and Poppop.~~
13. Set up our Etsy store.
~~14. Play at the Germantown Adventure Park.~~
~~15. Go to one of the Mommy and Me events at the Rockville Town Center.~~
16. Go to one of the summer events at the Rio.
17. Go boating at Black Hills.
18. Go to one of the free events that the library is holding.
~~19. Grow a garden.~~
20. Have a baby!!

using every inch of space

2011-07-20T20:53:00.000-04:00

Wow. Almost a month has gone by without one word from me on this blog. I can explain my unintentional leave of absence in two words...THIRD TRIMESTER. These last few weeks of this pregnancy has left me with little to no energy every day. Even after taking naps in the afternoon, I still feel weak and unmotivated.

There have been several little things Hubby and I have done around the house that I've forgotten to blog about. First up is the playroom closet that we made-over when he was on spring break in April...

The closet BEFORE was just a coat closet with wasted space. It only had one lousy shelf, which didn't maximize the space. As you can see, it was just a junk closet.

We also had to decide whether or not to keep the door or remove it. I figured that since I was going to use the closet as extra playroom storage, then I wanted the kids to be able to get at the things inside the closet as easily as possible. I still might make a curtain with fabric to semi-conceal the space. So, the door is now gone.

And we are left with this...

We used some leftover paint that we still had from Kinsley's room to give the inside a fresh coat of paint.

We used the same "shelf-making-method" that we used for the laundry room. Easy and CHEAP. These were leftover pieces of MDF from the laundry room project. Did I mention this project was super cheap?

Now all of the kids' art supplies and games are organized nicely in this closet. It's a MUCH better use of space for this closet that was completely under-used.

summer events for kids

2011-06-22T11:16:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to plan out some summer events for the kids before Baby #3 arrives in August. Today I put together a list of activities that we want to try to hit up in the next few weeks. If you live in the Montgomery County, MD/Washington DC area, here are a few cheap or FREE summer events for kids (and a few for adult date nights, too):

SUMMER EVENTS FOR THE KIDS:

Miniature Train and Ovid Hazen Wells Carousel at Wheaton Regional Park

http://www.montgomeryparks.org/enterprise/park_facilities/trains/wheaton.shtm

2002 Shorefield Road

Wheaton, MD 20902

HOURS THROUGH AUGUST 28:

M-Th = 10am-5:30pm (1^st train = 10:30am, last train 6pm)

F, Sat, Sun & holidays = 10am-7pm (1^st train = 10:30am, last train 7:30pm)

Train does not run when tracks are wet or slick. Call 301-942-6703 for train information.

Tickets are $1.75 each (children age 2 and younger with a paying adult ride FREE), and are good for one ride on either the carousel or miniature train. Standing adults require a ticket on the Carousel. Use BOGOF coupon in Washington Parent magazine.

Black Hills Boats

http://www.montgomeryparks.org/enterprise/park_facilities/boats/blackhill/blackhill_boating.shtm

20920 Lake Ridge Drive

Boyds, MD 20841

HOURS THROUGH LABOR DAY:

T-F = 10am-6pm

Sat, Sun & Holidays = 6:30am-6pm

Closed Mondays (except for Monday Holidays)

With the BOGOF coupon ad, you can rent a canoe, kayak or rowboat for an hour for $8, and get the second hour’s rental free. Or for two boaters, rent one boat for $8, and the second boat (rented at the same time) is free! Offer is good Monday through Friday during normal business hours, except for holidays. Two-for-one rentals must be same day and concurrent. Offer not good with any other discount or promotion, and expires September 2, 2011.

Germantown Splash Playground and Mini Golf

http://www.montgomeryparks.org/enterprise/park_facilities/south_germantown/splashplayground_minigolf.shtm

18056 Central Park Circle

Boyds, MD 20841

HOURS JUNE 13-AUG 28 (and Labor Day weekend):

Open daily 10am-7pm

Splash Playground: $5.00 per person, ages 2 & up
Miniature Golf: $5.00 per person, per round
Splash & Golf Combo: $7.50 per person; includes one round of golf and a full day's admission to Splash Playground.

Bring the Washington Parent ad with you to South Germantown Splash Playground, and $5 will cover admission for two people instead of one! At South Germantown Miniature Golf with the ad, two people can play one round of golf for just $5, or one person can play two rounds for $5. Regular price $5 per person per round. Offer good Monday through Friday only (excluding holidays), and cannot be combined with any other discount or offer. Offer expires September 2, 2011.

Cabin John Train Rides

http://www.montgomeryparks.org/enterprise/park_facilities/trains/cabin_john.shtm

7400 Tuckerman Lane

Rockville, MD 20852

HOURS THROUGH AUGUST 28:

M-Th = 10am-5:30pm (1^st train = 10:30am, last train 6pm)

F, Sat, Sun & holidays = 10am-7pm (1^st train = 10:30am, last train 7:30pm)

Train does not run when tracks are wet or slick. Call 301-765-8670 for train information.

Tickets are $1.75 each (children age 2 and younger with a paying adult ride FREE). Use BOGOF coupon in Washington Parent magazine.

Rockville Town Square Events

http://www.rockvilletownsquare.com/news/events.php

--Mommy & Me events (3^rd Tuesday of every month, 10am-12pm)

--Free kid shows (every Tuesday night until Aug. 23, 2 shows…6:30pm and 7:30pm)

--Wine Tastings, free food samplings & music (every Wed night until Aug. 24, 6:30-8:30pm)

--Free Concerts (every Thurs through Aug. 25, 6-8pm)

Washingtonian Center (The Rio) Events

http://www.washingtoniancenter.com/events.cfm?id=5

Visit website. Miscellaneous events throughout the week.

Glen Echo Park Summer Events

http://www.glenechopark.org/calendar?field_event_type_value=All

Tiny Tots @10:00

June 25 – “Bunny Business” – Sat., 10 a.m.

June 26 – “Animal Crackers” – Sun., 10 a.m.

June 29 – “Bunny Business” – Wed., 10 a.m.

Presenter: the Puppet Co.

Location: the Puppet Co. Playhouse

Admission: $5

Contact Phone: (301) 634-5380

www.thepuppetco.org

The Puppet Co. presents “Tiny Tots @ 10:00,” a program designed for our youngest theater patrons (ages 0 - 4). The shows are shorter, the lights stay on, the doors stay open, and everyone has a great time! Running time is 30 minutes. Pre-Purchases or No-Obligation Reservations are strongly recommended.

"The Great Dinosaur Mystery" Puppet Show

June 9 - July 17, 2011

Thursdays & Fridays - 10 a.m. & 11:30 a.m.

Saturdays & Sundays - 11:30 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Presenter: the Puppet Co.

Location: the Puppet Co. Playhouse

Admission: $10, group rates available

Contact Phone: (301) 634-5380

www.thepuppetco.org

The Puppet Co. presents “The Great Dinosaur Mystery.” The story is set in the basement of the Natural History Museum. Dr. Vander Plastercaster is about to give the audience a behind the scenes tour of a new dinosaur exhibit, when she finds a mysterious box. “It was supposed to be filled with fossils, but it was empty!” What’s going on? It’s all part of the great, great, great, great, Great Dinosaur Mystery. Recommended for PreK – Grade 4. Running time is 50 minutes.

"Charlotte's Web"

June 24 - September 5, 2011

Tuesday - Friday - 10:30 a.m.

Saturday & Sunday - 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. *See website for additional show times.

Presenter: Adventure Theatre

Location: Adventure Theatre

Admission: $17

Contact Phone: (301) 634-2270

www.adventuretheatre.org

Adventure Theatre presents “Charlotte’s Web.” E. B. White’s popular tale of love and devotion takes theatergoers to Zuckerman’s Farm, where the delightful runt pig Wilbur appears headed for the dinner table — as a main course, not as a guest! Yet he is saved by the remarkably crafty spider, Charlotte, and the whole town begins talking about it. Some pig! Appropriate for ages 3 and up.

crossing my fingers...

2011-06-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

...that I'll randomly get picked to win this giveaway on Design Dazzle! I always find great design ideas on this blog, and I hope to soon be wearing a piece of Lisa Leonard's jewelry. Be sure to check out her stuff online!

Menu Mondays: strawberry bread

2011-06-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

I had never had nor heard of strawberry bread until my neighbor made us some last year as a "Welcome to the neighborhood" gift. With all the strawberries we picked this year, I decided to find a recipe for this bread and make some. Callan and I followed this recipe the other day to make a loaf. It was really moist and yummy!

Funny side note: While I was adding the ingredients into my mixer, Callan asked, "Mommy, when are you going to add the bread?" He thought since we were making bread that I needed to add bread to the recipe. Sounds logical, right? haha

pantry organization

2011-06-08T15:38:00.000-04:00

Last week I finally got around to organizing our pantry. It was driving me nuts. I could never find anything that I wanted, and I never knew what food was lurking behind the tall boxes of food that crowded the front of each shelf. So, I grabbed some plastic containers that I had in the garage (along with my label maker, of course) and organized this tiny space for $0.

Here's an "after' shot. I forgot to snap one before I began tearing the closet apart.

a section for baking supplies

cereal

a bin for crackers and one for snacks

these yellow stacking bins work great for holding little things that often got overlooked in the big pantry...like nuts, granola bars and other little snack food

The orange bin all the way on the right is for condiments...so that Aunt Lauren can easily find them when she baby-sits. :) The other bins are for pasta, canned goods, and food designated for the freezer meals.

And the bottom shelf is used for garbage bags, napkins and the parts to my Magic Bullet...

...and coffee/tea and other drink mixes.

There was plenty of room on the floor to store some of my larger appliances that don't fit in my cabinets.

a foil feast on the grill

2011-06-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

I found some great grill recipes in the Family Fun May magazine issue. You stuff your meal into a foil packet and grill it for 10-15 minutes...and then your whole dinner is done! If you go here you can see the different variations you can make (chicken, shrimp, kielbasa and hamburger). And here is where you can find the "flavor boosters" to add to each packet. We made the "Mediterranean Coast" meal with chicken & veggies. I love that the whole meal (veggies and meat) is cooked within 10 minutes. Here's the recipe that we used from the magazine:

INGREDIENTS:

boneless chicken breasts, cut up into "chicken tender-sized" pieces

red potatoes, sliced

broccoli (or other veggie....we used green beans)

feta

red onion, sliced

Vinegar Splash flavor booster

Parsley Pump-Up flavor booster

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut 18-inch square sheets of heavy-duty foil (one for each member of the family).

2. Assemble all the food onto the middle of the foil (chicken pieces, potato slices, veggie, feta, red onion slices).

3. Sprinkle 2 t of Parley Pump-Up and drizzle 1.5 t of Vinegar Splash onto the packet.

4. Seal the packets (roll the foil as close to the food as possible for quick cooking) and label them with each person's name.

5. Grill the packets (with the grill lid closed) for 10-15 minutes, until the meat is cooked through on a 400 degree grill.

I'm also dying to try another foil packet that they recommended: "South of the Border." That one consists of hamburger, black beans, red onion, zucchini, grape tomatoes, corn, Pepper Jack cheese, and "Tex Mex" flavor booster.

Menu Mondays: homemade chicken nuggets (with veggies)

2011-05-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

I checked out Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook from the library the other day. I wanted to try some of her recipes to see if I could squeeze some more veggies into my kiddos (since her cookbook is all about using vegetable purees in each recipe). We tried the hamburgers with carrot puree. Yucko. We didn't really like them. Then we tried the chicken nuggets with sweet potato puree. This one we all really liked.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c breadcrumbs

1/2 c flaxseed meal

1 T grated parm

1/2 t paprika

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t onion powder

1 c sweet potato puree (or you can use broccoli, spinach, or beet puree)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 lb boneless chicken, rinsed, dried and cut into small chunks

1/2 t salt

cooking spray

1 T olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.

2. In another bowl, mix the puree and egg with a fork.

3. Sprinkle the chicken chunks with the salt.

4. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs.

5. Next cook the chicken in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray and hot olive oil until the chicken is crisp on both sides and cooked through. (I also cooked a batch of these in the oven the next day.)

as if $1 isn't low enough for a dvd rental...

2011-05-16T11:43:00.000-04:00

...you can get 10 days of Redbox deals by texting "DEALS" to 727272 every day from May 16th (TODAY)-25th to get a new code to use towards a redbox purchase that day. Discounts will range from $.10 to $1.50.

kids' bathroom: after

2011-05-03T15:43:00.000-04:00

You saw the "before" shots of the kids' bathroom. Here are the "after" ones...

In this picture you can see the sink area, which we painted a light gray (Behr's "Sparrow"). You can also see the mirror that we framed, just like the one in the half bath.

I think I'm going to add a curtain in that open space below where you see the white trash can peeking through, like the one I sewed for the half bath. That way I can hide some larger kids' bathroom stuff under there, like the newborn bathtub that will be making it's debut again come August.

We got rid of the large towel rack that the previous owners had on the wall and replaced it with a much-needed small hand towel rack.

Freshly painted white trim. Yum!

In the other part of the bathroom (tub & toilet), we used a slightly darker shade of gray (Behr's "Anonymous"). We went with gray because the tile is yellow, the shower curtain is white, and I liked the idea of a gray-yellow-white color scheme. Since we're not tearing out the '70s yellow tile any time soon, we have to work around it.

We hung a new hook on the back of the door to use for the kids' bath towel. We also rehung one of the large towel racks back on the wall behind the door (must not have snapped a picture of that) for our renter to use.

Just a few more tiny touches to this room (one door trim still needs some paint, scrub previous owner's paint off of yellow tiles, sew under-the-cabinet curtain, hang artwork) and 2 out of 3 bathrooms in this house will be complete!

kids' bathroom: before

2011-05-01T14:53:00.000-04:00

In March we found out that we were going to have another friend come live in our basement for a few months. Since she was going to be sharing a bathroom with our kids, and since the kids' bathroom was one of the only rooms left in the house that hadn't been touched since we moved in (it was clean just not updated at all), we decided to patch all the holes and give it a new coat of paint.

Here's the sink area of the bathroom (which is separated from the toilet/bathtub area).

You can tell by all the white spackle that there were a lot of holes to patch. There were actually two towel racks hung in odd positions with big holes patched beside each rack. We started by taking everything down and starting from scratch.

I really wanted to get rid of the medicine cabinet. There were just too many mirrors competing with each other. But Gene wasn't quite ready to deal with a big hole in the wall. He talked me into keeping it...for now.

This is the other part of the bathroom. I included this picture to show you how discolored the "white" trim had gotten. You can see that it's really not white at all when paired up next to the white wall.

Lovely yellow tiles and more holes from another towel rack to patch up.

I hate sloppy paint jobs. This house is filled with them. You can see they failed to use painter's tape around the tile.

Tomorrow I'll show you some AFTER pics.

mirror, mirror on the wall

2011-04-30T13:13:00.000-04:00

Over Gene's Spring Break we tackled a small project in our half bath (and in the kids' bathroom). We decided that instead of trying to take down the huge mirrors that are in all of our bathrooms, we would try to make them look a little more "custom made" by adding trim.

Here's the BEFORE-BEFORE (as in, before paint and before trim):

And here's the AFTER-BEFORE (as in "after paint but before trim" that we revealed to you here):

And here's the After-After-After...as in, after paint and after trim and after I learned how to use my camera's white balance so I could give you a picture that shows you more of the true color of the paint:

measuring the trim

Trim all cut and glued onto the mirror! (We tried cutting it at Home Depot but weren't getting a very clean-edge because the saw was very dull, so we used a friend's saw to cut it.)

We also did the same thing to the kids' bathroom (and painted it). Pictures of that make-over coming soon.

dinner party, anyone?

2011-04-29T15:37:00.000-04:00

I have been tempted over the past year to just go out and spend $30+ per chair to buy new dining room chairs. I knew, though, that if I waited I could make-over second-hand chairs for a lot less.

After searching craigslist and second-hand stores, I finally came upon these chairs from the 1950's on craigslist. The woman was selling them and a matching dining room table (which we didn't take) for $50. When Gene went to pick them up, the woman said she'd sell the six chairs to us for just $30. Unfortunately, nobody had any change, so we walked away with the 6 chairs for $40. (Mental note: take smaller bills next time)

Here's a look at the chairs before their make-over:

two chairs with arms, four without

"lovely" rainbow colored seats

It was really easy to unscrew the seats to reupholster.

all ready for their first coat of paint


We decided to skip the sanding step and buy a $17 quart of Adhesion Primer from Sherwin-Williams. My mom used it on her kitchen cabinets and still raves about it. It was well worth the $17 bucks to not have to sand all those nooks and crannies of all six chairs.

While Gene painted, I took care of the rainbow.

I decided to leave the previous fabric on and used a friend's staple gun to staple my new fabric over top.

Gene talked me into buying an antique-like fabric that has the Gettysburg Address on it. It actually looks great alongside our old Antarctica map that hangs in the dining room.

the finished product (we used the same color paint on the chairs that my mom used when she painted this for us...since this table is also in the dining room)

the price break-down:

CHAIRS = $40

FABRIC = $12

PRIMER = $17

TEAL PAINT = $14

TOTAL = $83

PRICE PER CHAIR = $13.83

Time to schedule a large dinner party!

free bowling & cute teacher thank yous

2011-04-28T13:49:00.000-04:00

Here's a mismatch of some things I found in blog-world that I wanted to share with ya'll:

1. FREE bowling for kids (and cheap adult passes, too). I just signed-up at Kids Bowl Free. Check it out to see if there is a bowling alley in your area that participates.

2. As a "retired" teacher, I would have loved to have gotten something cute like this instead of another bottle of lotion:

Click here to download the "a latte" template.

Let me reintroduce you...

2011-04-28T09:15:00.000-04:00

Remember this?

And this?

And certainly you remember this, too, right?

Capital G-R-O-S-S spells GROSS. And more grossness. And even more grossness.

Well, after two days of patching, painting, cutting, hanging, and laying flooring, this is what we now have. Let me reintroduce you to Mr. Laundry Room. (Or maybe it's Ms. Laundry Room. I'm not sure. I think the light blue, though, causes me to stick with Mr.)

Did you hear that? That angelic sound that came out of my laundry room when I opened the door? Yeah, I hear it every time I open it now. It's beautiful. We tell Callan that the angels rejoice when he obeys Mommy and Daddy. Now the angels rejoice when I step into this Sherwin-Williams "Watery" oasis. (We used the leftover S-W "Watery" paint from our Master Bedroom to give Mr. Laundry Room a good clean coat. I painted the trim white, too, to cover up the throw-up orange color that was currently covering the trim.)

I've also been wanting to build shelves in the laundry room. Anything would be better than this piece of off-centered crappiness:

That's when Katie Bower came to the rescue in just the nix of time. She had just blogged about putting up super-dooper cheap shelves in her craft closet using MDF. So, we bought a $20 piece of MDF at Home Depot and even had a nice man in an orange apron cut the huge piece of MDF to the shelving sizes that we needed for all 7 pieces (3 pieces were used here and the other 4 we used in our playroom closet...more on that later). Gene used his new circular saw to cut the support beams for each shelf. We bought some primer and set out to roll about 50 coats on each shelf, as Katie blogged that their MDF soaked up the paint so much that it took about that many coats to get it looking white. BUT, we seemed to luck out 'cause Gene said he rolled on about 2-3 coats of primer and stopped there because it looked great! We didn't even put a coat of white paint over top like we had planned because the primer looked suffice. The shelves were going into a closet after all, so it wasn't like they needed to look "living room wall worthy."

I think the pictures explain it all. Just a few screws here and there, and the shelving was up! We also bought some peel and stick flooring for just under $30 at Home Depot. It took Gene and a friend just a few minutes to peel and stick it down.

Much better than this stuff, don't ya think?

And here's a final snapshot of Mr. Laundry Room getting all filled up with cleaning supplies, ironing stuff, and a whole extra shelf up top for extra paper towels, toilet paper, etc. I'm grateful to be able to walk into the room without having to step over my cleaning supplies and even more grateful that they are not on the floor anymore where Kinsley can take a hold of the toilet brush.

I told Gene at the beginning of this project that we could do this make-over for next to nothing. Here's the breakdown:

paint for walls and trim = $0 (already had it)

MDF shelves = about $10 (since we split a $20 piece between the laundry room and playroom closet)

vinyl tile flooring = $30

primer for shelves = $9

TOTAL = $49

lots crossed off

2011-04-26T13:22:00.000-04:00

There's nothing I love more than crossing items off my to-do list. Because we had 6 days without the kids last week, we got these things crossed off our "Home To-Do List":

--clean and paint laundry room

--hang shelves in laundry room

--clean out and paint playroom closet

--hang shelves in playroom closet

--cut, paint and hang trim for around mirrors in half bath and kids' bath

--paint dining room chairs

--reupholster dining room chairs

--vacuum Gene's car

--clean mysterious orange gunk off the inside of Gene's car

--pull weeds outside in garden

--"mow" our 5x5 piece of "yard"

--kill ants that had taken over our kitchen

--go on a three day get-away with hubby and forget about home tasks

Pictures coming soon!

Let me introduce you

2011-04-19T18:33:00.000-04:00

There is one little itsy bitsy space in our home that I frequent often (besides the bathroom....hey, I am pregnant after all). This itsy bitsy space has gotten even more visits from me lately since switching from disposable diapers to cloth. Yep. The laundry room. And, there isn't one space in the house that I hate more than that dreadful laundry room.

It's the one spot in the house that hasn't been painted or cleaned since the house was built in the 70's. The amount of yellowish-orange stains on the walls and the yellowish tint to the trim would make anyone put "laundry" on the bottom of their to-do list.

So, when Gene asked me what project I would like to accomplish this week with the kids gone, I immediately cheered, "Laundry room!" It came as no surprise to him. The space had some awkward things going on, it was dirty, and the walls were screaming, "Please paint me a pretty color!"

Let me introduce you to our Laundry Room...

Meet our Laundry Room...awkward shelf placement and all.

Notice the awkward bag holder with the plunger on top? Yep. Been there since we moved in. Awkward.

I would also like to introduce you to our '70s flooring. Isn't it pretty?

Here's an up-close-and-personal view for ya'll.

And this awkward shelf. Oh, Mr. Shelf. What was your owner thinking when he screwed you into that wall to hang there off-centered by yourself?

And the wall stains. Well, I think they speak for themselves.

And then there's Mr. Shelf #2. His placement is a little less awkward, but it still puzzles me to think how the previous owner chose these two positions to hang these shelves.

And here is where I stash all my cleaning supplies. It's a very safe, child-proof place...right there on the floor in front of my dryer. Not once did I see one of my children trying to put the toilet brush in their mouth or catch Kinsley running around with my bleach pen. Nope. Never had that happen...

This "gift" left by the previous owner is just too funny not to capture in a picture.

Here's Hubby getting ready to remove the washer and dryer so we can clean and paint the room. I hope he doesn't get a disease from being behind there. Ya know....it's the place that hasn't been cleaned or touched since the '70s.

See what I mean?


Me: I've gotta clean that floor before you paint, Babe. Hubby: I wonder if I can just rip up the floor.

Answer: Yes. Quite easily actually.

And this is what we're in the middle of working with right now. Bare bones. Bare ugly bones.

Here's one more glimpse of the putrid yellowish-orange stain on our wall. I know you wanted a close-up to see it better.


And here's where our washer and dryer are living happily until their home is cleaned and repainted.

One year

2011-04-19T15:10:00.000-04:00

We've officially been homeowners for one year now! We've learned a lot in just a year. We've also been able to do a lot to the house in just a year, too. I can't believe all that we've accomplished:

-- painted the playroom

-- painted the living room

-- painted the half bath

-- painted the master bedroom

-- painted the kitchen

-- painted the basement

-- painted Kinsley's room

-- painted Callan's room

-- painted the kids' bathroom

-- bought a new dining room table and chairs

-- bought all new kitchen appliances

-- bought a new washer and dryer

-- created a garden on our patio

-- tore out all the bushes and redid the lanscape

-- got a new AC system

-- organized and cleaned the garage

-- added new window treatments to almost every window

-- created an office in our master bedroom

-- turned our basement into a bedroom (so we could have a renter)

-- put in a new sliding glass door in our basement

-- put in new french doors in our living room

After this week hopefully we'll be able to add "painted and added shelving in the laundry room" to our list.

Here's to more diy projects in 2011!

a $99 table for $4

2011-04-15T14:27:00.000-04:00

For Callan's birthday we really wanted to get a kids' picnic table for our back patio to use this summer. Our other table isn't large enough to hold our whole family plus guests, so we figured getting a smaller picnic table for the kids to sit at would be perfect.

I really liked Step2's (green/beige) Naturally Playful Picnic Table with Umbrella. I began searching on craigslist to find a used one ('cause these suckers are expensive to buy brand new). After a few weeks of searching, I did manage to find one or two, but we would have had to drive over an hour away (meaning over 2 hours round trip) just to pick it up. The nicer ones on craigslist were selling for just a little less than the store price, and when you add in 2+ hours of gas, we decided that buying a new one might actually save us money!

Well, I felt that the $100ish price tag that came with this new picnic table was too much to pay. I decided to try to find a way to get the price down, to at least 1/2 off. I searched online to find the best price. Most stores were selling it for around $99 + shipping, but Sears was selling it for just $79 on sale! And, at the time they had a promotion where you could try out ShipVantage for free for 30 days, which gave me free shipping on my picnic table. I just had to cancel my ShipVantage trial membership before the 30 days was up (with no penalties). (I already canceled this, and it was easy to do.)

So, spending $79 was a lot better than $100, but it still wasn't good enough. I decided to see what things around the house I could sell to make money to put towards the table. I dug around and found some girl clothes to sell. I sold them on craigslist for $10. Then we cleaned out our basement to make room for a new renter and decided to sell an old tv stand we weren't using. I sold that on craigslist for $40. (Funny story...I actually knew the couple who replied to my anonymous craigslist ad who ended up coming to pick up the tv stand! Small world...) Then finally I saw that we had some credit card reward points to use, so we got a free $25 check in the mail.

Here's the final breakdown:

INITIAL COST OF PICNIC TABLE FROM SEARS = ~~$89.99~~ $79 on sale

$79

- $10 (girl clothes sold on craigslist)

- $40 (tv stand sold on craigslist)

- $25 (free money from credit card reward points)

TOTAL COST OF PICNIC TABLE = $4

When I told Gene that he said, "You didn't really pay $4 for it. You just found other money to use towards it."

Well, true. But the important part is that I found $75 of "free money" lying around our house (that probably wouldn't have been found otherwise) and put it to good use. I'd say that's pretty good considering my initial hunt online to buy this picnic table started at $99 and ended with me paying $4. I'll take that kind of savings any day!

Here are some pics of our new $4 on our patio:

Love the way it looks like real wood even though it's not.

our countdown to easter is underway

2011-04-14T15:38:00.001-04:00

As you might remember, I'm trying to utilize the big blank wall beside my kitchen table to hang stuff for the kids (since I find myself sitting there staring at this wall with them 3x a day for 30+ minutes at a time).

In December & January I hung Christmas cards that we received from friends and family. In February I hung these hearts to help Callan learn what the Bible says about love (1 Corinthians 13). In March it remained blank for most of the month until I hung a birthday banner for Callan's 3rd birthday.

This week everything came off the wall to make room for our "14 Day Countdown to Easter." I used this kid-friendly bible story site as well as the ESV bible to create 14 crosses and coordinating pictures, which told the Easter story (from Jesus' Last Supper all the way to the empty tomb on Easter).

(Side note: I LOVE the kid-friendly bible site mentioned above. Their stories usually match the ESV bible almost perfectly!)

Here are some pictures of the 14 cards I made (and the clip art my husband found to go with each story):

Each card is labeled with the Day (Day 1, 2, 3, etc.), the title of the day's post ("The Last Supper", etc.), the scripture reference, and the kid-friendly story. I glued each cross to scrapbook paper and laminated them so they'd last year after year.

I decided to include a picture of the main person/thing/event in each story to help the kids remember what each story was about. We're only on Day 4, but so far Callan (age 3) is doing a great job of retelling the Easter story to me by looking at the pictures and telling me what the picture represents.

What do you think? How do you teach your kids that Easter is more than just hunting for plastic eggs? Anyone have any other ideas to share?

After Easter I have plans to create some posters about "Table Manners" to hang. I have a 3-year old who loves to take food off others' plates, not eat his food on his plate, and do laps around the table during breakfast, lunch and dinner. So, table manners is my plan of attack for May.

P.S. If you are interested in me sending you the above Easter documents to share with your kiddos, email me and I'd be glad to send them your way!

peanut butter dip

2011-04-14T10:09:00.000-04:00

Just made this snack dip yesterday for the first time:

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 c low-fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 c reduced-fat peanut butter

1/3 c raisins

1/2 t cinnamon

Dippers: apple slices, celery sticks, pretzels, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Stir together the ingredients.

2. Serve with the dippers.

"buffalo" smoothies

2011-04-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

In my quest to find some form of any vegetable that my daughter will eat, my one friend recommended a green smoothie recipe. I made them last night, and Kinsley inhaled an 8oz glass! Callan drank his portion, too (because they turned out sort of brownish in color so I called them "buffalo smoothies"), but today he refused to drink one. I loved them, too, but Gene wrinkled his nose up when he tasted them.

Here's the recipe:

BLEND TOGETHER:

--2 cups baby spinach
--1 frozen banana
--1 cup frozen strawberries
--about one cup of water or unsweetened juice, or just enough to blend to desired consistency (I used 1/2 cup OJ + 1/2 cup water the first time and 1 cup V8 Fusion the 2nd time...both good!)
--raw agave, honey or stevia to sweeten (I used about 2 teaspoons of honey)

This recipe yielded enough for both my kids & me to enjoy!

great mommy poem

2011-04-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

Just read this on Sarahjanestudio's blog. Love it!

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

-by Ruth Hamilton, 1958

another "turning old into new" idea

2011-03-30T08:40:00.000-04:00

I got the following message in an email, but you can actually find this helpful tip on the blog Re-Nest.com:

(read the whole blog post here)

Zip-top bags are great, but sometimes you buy something in bulk and you're stuck with an unsealable bag. Home-centric blog Re-Nest shows us an easy way to give these bags an airtight seal with an old water bottle.

All you need to do is cut off the top of the bottle and take off the cap. Push the bag through the bottle neck, fold it over the edges, and twist the cap back on. Now, your bag has an air and water tight seal, and you didn't have to waste the bag.

{photo taken from Re-nest.com}

one last closet redo

2011-03-28T14:03:00.000-04:00

I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats just wondering where all those orange bins went that were in our master bedroom closet. I just relocated them to our hallway linen closet. This closet is HUGE for a linen closet. It's very deep, which means to best utilize the space we need to add some shelves on the side (it's on my "someday it would be nice if this got done" list). But for now I just shifted around a few things, moved a few things downstairs to another closet, and made room for all of our extra bathroom items. They've all been relabeled, of course, with my handy-dandy label maker. Just love that little machine. Have I said that before??

kids' luggage on top along with extra sheets, orange bins, extra towels, extra blankets, and gift wrapping supplies on bottom

It only took Hubby 4.2 seconds yesterday to find something that he needed:

HIM: Babe, where are the band aids?

ME: In the bin labeled "Adult Meds."

HIM: Found 'em!

Mission accomplished!