Where'd you go?

My motivation. Have you seen it?

Anyone ever feel like they're lacking motivation? (You can't see me, but my hand's raised. Really high.) For the past few weeks I've just been slugging along (and nope, not preggo). Lack motivation to blog, motivation to clean, motivation to run around. I still do all those things, I've just lost. my. motooooo....you get the point.

So, I've decided to become more organized! After reading about Jessica's system at Our Family for His Glory, I decided I needed a system, too! I tend to get overwhelmed all at once and then try to clean my house all in one day! Then I get sidetracked by something and end up missing tons of chores. So, organization...Here I come! I, like Jessica, need to break things in to days so that things are done daily and then deep cleaned every few months. Obviously some things get done every day (sweeping the kitchen, dishes, wiping out the sink, etc), but the bulk of it just needs a set day. That way I don't have laundry coming out my ears with the floor needing to be vacuumed and dust starting to pile up. Here's what I decided and if all goes well, I'll update you on my progress. This may not go smoothly this week since we leave on Wednesday for a wedding in New Orleans and I did a lot of cleaning today (hence this epiphany I'm having). And why yes, I am a little bit anal about having a clean house.

Mondays: Bathrooms, Laundry (towels/bedding)

Tuesdays: Deep cleaning of one room

Wednesdays: Mop kitchen floors, clean porch

Thursdays: Dust, clean windows

Fridays: Vacuum, stainless steel wipe down

Saturdays: Laundry (clothes)

Sundays: Day of rest!

Diaper laundry gets done every 2 or 3 days so it gets in there, too. Picking up gets done EVERY day and since the Farmer takes care of the trash, it's not on the list. I'm really looking forward to this!

Do you have a system? How do you make it work!?

Thanks, Jessica for the great ideas and inspiration!

Going Green Tip of the Day: Ditch the Paper Towels

Going Green Tip of the Day: Ditch the Paper Towels

Oooh, this is a hard one. We use paper towels...A LOT. We use them as napkins, to clean up spills, to dry our hands, to clean up Sweet P and to make Sweet P's wipes. But I do have a solution. And I'm slowly moving toward doing this and getting rid of paper towels except for what we use for wipes.

My friend Sarah told me about these Eco Friendly Cleaning Cloths. And they didn't disappoint. You can buy them online from the company or Amazon, but the best place to get them is at Costco. You can pick up a pack of 10 for around $8. Definitely beats the online prices, but if you don't have a Costco...I still think they're worth it. They are made without chemicals and made out of 99% recycled materials. I like them because they are soft and thick so they clean up spills and Sweet P's face really well! You can machine wash them with towels or other rags, but I do not recommend drying them. Keeping them out of the dryer keeps them soft. They even work great as a napkin.

So go pick some up and lay off the paper towels why don'tcha?

Going Green Tip of the Day: Cool It

Going Green Tip of the Day: Cool It

Have you ever wondered if washing your clothes in hot water really mattered? I can tell you, unless you have heavily soiled clothing, it doesn't. The Farmer and I wash almost all of our clothing on the cold setting and still have clean clothes. Your cold water setting and the power of your detergent will do the work helping you save money and energy.

Your washing machine uses most of it's energy on heating the hot water cycle. So if a regular batch of laundry (not heavily soiled) is washed in hot water, energy is actually being wasted. Using less hot water (and saving energy) can lower greenhouse gas emissions (which is what we're really after).

I can also tell you from personal experience that the less work your water heater has to do, the less you are going to pay on your energy bill. The Farmer and I learned this last year when our water heater broke and was running constantly...causing our energy bill to sky rocket (over $120 dollars more than normal). I'm not saying you have to bathe in cold water, but it wouldn't hurt to use it on your clothes.

Going Green Tip of the Day: DIY Cleaning Products

Going Green Tip of the Day: DIY Cleaning Products

Making your own cleaning products is easy and inexpensive! Most of what you need you probably already have in your kitchen. This may not be new for a lot of people, but if you know about it and don't do it...you should! What you need:

Baking Soda

White Vinegar

Lemon Juice (optional)

I clean my kitchen (my sink cleans up fabulous!) with this including the kitchen floor! All I do is sprinkle baking soda where I want to clean, drizzle white vinegar (and lemon juice if I'm using it) on top and let it fizz. After sitting for 2-3 minutes, use a wet or dry cloth and scrub a dub dub! The one downfall is that you may have to go over it again with another cloth to make sure you cleaned up all the baking soda. It can get gritty. My challenge is to start using this in the restrooms. Are you up for the challenge? Remember it's easy and inexpensive!

Product Review: Babyganics

A few weeks ago I ventured into BabiesRUs. They were having a pretty big sale (unfortunately, it was pretty picked over) and I found Babyganics for BOGO free. I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for BOGO free deals. Not BOGO 50%, not Buy 2 get one free, but BOGO free (you don't see it much any more). I'd never tried Babyganics products before and was looking for a wipe to clean up Sweet P's spot at the counter. I wasn't disappointed.

Babyganics were made by 2 dads who were pretty much germophobes. I bought The Grime Fighter wipes (which is where the Babyganics link will take you). Here is the list of ingredients per their website: Plant Based Cleaning Agents (Coconut, Palm Kernel, Corn and Sugar based surfactants), Soy Ester (Soy based), Filtered Water, Water Conditioning Agent, Preservative (less than 0.05%)

Those are ingredients I can pronounce! The wipes work great on counter tops (kitchen or bathroom), table tops, high chairs, cribs and more. They did a good job cleaning up the food that turns to cement when it hardens (like bananas) and made me feel like the table top was really getting cleaned...without harsh chemicals. While these are fragrance free, the only negative I have is the smell. I'm not particularly fond of it, but I'd trade a not so great smell for chemicals any day!

What's in your mouth?

Oh, the words I utter 100 times on a daily basis to my child. Also on the list:

"Keep it out of your mouth."

"Leave it out of your mouth."

"Leave that alone."

"Biting hurts mommy."

"Careful." (this one is said about 1000 times).

I try hard not to say NO to Sweet P alot because I don't want it to be her first real word. I also try reeeeally hard to keep negatives out of the statements I use when I don't (see it's hard) want her to do something. It's tough! That's why I have resorted to "leave it alone" and "keep it out of your mouth" instead of "don't put that in your mouth." I do say "Stop," so my luck "Stop" will be her first word. But that sounds a lot better to me than NO!

I read somewhere that their brains don't really process the negative part so they only hear "put that in your mouth." I've heard this before in regards to self-talk. By saying "Don't forget the grocery list," it gets put into your brain as "forget the grocery list" and then, well, we all know what happens.

So the most used phrase around here has become "What's in your mouth?" I no longer have to vacuum my house because Sweet P does it for me. She also enjoys vacuuming friends houses as well. Just call her Hoover (let me know if you need to borrow her for your house cleaning). So far I have caught her with a corn chip crumb, carpet, thread, and a vast number of pieces of lint. And a few of those things actually made it into her mouth (and the fishing out began). The kid can find and pick up something I can't even see! I guess I better start vacuuming every day!

Note: Please know that I do not use my child as a vacuum. This post is supposed to be humorous.

PS. The Sleep Challenge is going great!

How to save $25

Yesterday I vacuumed my bedspread. No, really. I did.

We have a sliding door in our bedroom that is not sealed (trust me, we've already told the apartment manager). Because of that, a lot of dust comes into our bedroom (yummy, huh?). A lot of hot air in the summer and a lot of below zero air in the winter. It got so bad last winter that we slept in the guestroom until the Farmer duct taped window sealer over it. Supposedly, the apartment has to call a contractor to fix the entire door. I digress. This post is about saving money, remember?

Our bedspread was disgusting. I could hit it and dust would fly through the air. It reminded me of PigPen from Charlie Brown. I wanted to wash it, but the tag said DRY CLEAN ONLY. Oh the dreaded words. I was going to ignore it, but remembered we don't have the most trustworthy washing machine in the world and nixed that idea.

I called a drycleaner and asked how much it would be and she said it depended on the size and quality. I said it was a Queen and she said those started at $25. $25?! Now, I know $25 is not a lot of money. But when you're trying to save money, it is. So after my sister mentioned it, yesterday I vacuumed my bedspread. And it worked just fine and dust doesn't fly up when I hit it anymore. And I have $25 in my pocket.

Ok, it's not in my pocket, but you get the point.