Keep the Memories not the Mess!

Spring is coming and that means Spring Cleaning!
I hate Clutter! It makes me feel yucky! I think clearer, and feel happier, in a neat and tidy space. That does not mean I have an immaculate and clutter-free home by any means, but I am trying to become more and more clutter-free every day. One thing I used to hang on to like crazy was knick-knacks, not because I really like knick-knacks, and I sure hate dusting around them, but people I love dearly, were constantly giving me them as gifts. And I couldn't seem to let go of them for fear of hurting the person who gave it to me or loosing the memory of that person if they had passed away or lived far away etc. So for years I held on to things like knick-knacks, and furniture that handed down to me from relatives, even jewelry and clothing from friends, that no longer fit or brought me joy began cluttering up my little cottage, and as a result, what people gave me to make me happy, was actually starting to make me sad, like I was drowning in a sea of junk. My home is no where near as scary as the houses on hoarders, but I was beginning to have nightmares that my house was on fire and I couldn't get out with all my kids because we were trapped by all of our junk. I do tend to be a bit dramatic sometimes, but in this case it is good, because it made me do something about it. So a few years ago I started to take a picture of it then put in a bag in my trunk and when the bag was full I'd donate it to Salvation army. It was a slow process and difficult at first, but now I don't even think twice about it. I still have the memory without the mess and the dusting ;) I do the same with my kids artwork. I simply can't keep everything, so I take pictures of Every and I mean EVERY little scribble, doodle and drawing and put it in a special file on my computer with each child's name and date. I Save the originals of my favorite art pieces and place them in a keepsake box designated for each child and I toss the rest. Just a little tip I thought might help if you are anything like me. (Overly Sentimental)
God Bless and happy Spring Cleaning to you all!

Laundry Up To My Eyeballs

Just an honest post, lest you think my house is always neat and perfect.

As you can see in the background my laundry is "outa control", my bedroom is a wreck and I'm still in my PJ's past noon.

Cleaning with the Basics

I love cleaning with the basics. Not all the expensive junk that just clutters up the place and is bad for the environment and your health. Plus I'm very rashy and allergic to everything and have handed that trait down to my children. Poor Kids!
This is what I have under my kitchen sink.
Paper towels,
Non Latex Gloves, Another allergy I have.
and a tote with the following chemicals:
Dish Soap, Ammonia, Baking soda, Vinegar & Bleach. That's it!
Lets start with Ammonia, I only use this to polish my jewelry, but my friend Andrea said it works great on floors.
Bleach-My hubby is immune deficient and sometimes I must disinfect with the tough stuff. I am very allergic to chlorine, so I am careful to wear gloves and open the windows. I use it mostly when the house has been contaminated by a sick member of the family or raw meat juice has dripped on the counter, you get the Idea. I also drop a 1/2 cup into our whirlpool after someone has taken a bath and run the jets and then drain the tub, to sterilize those nasty pipes. Works great! And of course bleach is wonderful for keeping my whites white.
Baking Soda-Whenever I clean the sinks, tub or shower in my house, all I use is an old rag and some baking soda. It gets rid of soap scum and gets them gleaming white again. For the toilets I will use baking soda and the brush, but for deep cleaning I use bleach. Gotta kill those germs. I put baking Soda in my laundry to freshen it. I run it through my coffee maker, dishwasher, you name it Baking Soda Rocks!
Vinegar- is great for getting the stink out of cloth diapers, and washing windows, and I also use it to wash my floors, countertops & cabinet doors.
Dish soap- the obvious-dishes, and it's great as a spot treatment for clothes stains.
I am sure I am forgetting some other great uses for these products. So write your ideas, I'd love to hear them.
I hope this has encouraged some of you to take inventory and get rid of all those nasty chemicals ( you don't really need) under the sink.
* Always Make sure you follow procedure for disposal. Yuck!
*And remember Never mix Ammonia and Bleach, the toxic fumes will Kill you!
Happy cleaning!

Spicy!

I am a stay @ home mommy and there are days where I feel like I never leave my kitchen. So I like it to be clean and tidy. I can't focus unless the space around me is in order. I don't like cluttered counter tops and sticky cabinets, crudy floors or a sink full of dirty dishes, and I can't stand a unorganized drawer or cabinet. I am a little OCD, can you tell? So I spent a little time today cleaning out the cabinets and taking an assement of our drygoods etc. I keep everything in airtight glass containers of the same size and shape. Crazy, I know but it makes me smile everytime I open the door. I buy my spices @ the indian market in bulk, It's way cheeper & I use alot so it works for me. I keep my spices in old sauce jars, of same shape and size as well. You can use old spagetti sauce jars or baby food jars depending on the amount of spice you have. It's a great way to recycle and have all your spices in the same size jars. I looked online @ the cost of glass jars for spices etc. and they had some cute ones, but I like this idea better. Saving money and the environment. And you can print out your own labels on the computer. I need my hubby for that one. Still learning all this computer stuff. Have fun organizing!

She's Super Fly!

Okay so I'm a mom and I'm totally ADD. No seriously I am. So when I got Married and started this whole "Domestic Diva" thing I found it a little overwhelming, keeping the house in order,trying to keep everyones schedules straight, doctors appointments, planning meals, grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong being a housewife and SAHM is awesome. And I am blessed. I love it when I've got a handle on it. But it took a while to get into the groove. So about 3 yrs ago I googled "Organized Moms" and found this web site. http://www.flylady.net/ It is an amazing resource for anyone, not just moms or wives. I wish I had found her back in college. And the best part it's free. So check it out. She's Super Fly! And another great tip is http://allrecipes.com/ if you join it's free and you can pick recipes for the week and it will print out a catagorized grocery list for you. pretty sweet. I love my internet.

Cold Hard Cash

I am much more comfortable with cash. Before getting married, that's all I ever used. I never had a credit card, and I never bothered with checks. I payed all my bills in cash. My rent, my car payment, everything. When I got married that all changed. My hubby was accustomed to using a credit card or debit card and online banking. He had and still has excellent credit. He is great @ managing expenses. In the past we used to put our groceries on the credit card along with everything else and payed it all off @ the end of the month. Scary! What a crazy thing to do. It's so easy to over spend that way. So we recently decided to use cash for groceries. I am so happy, because I can manage cash so much easier. Once it's gone it's gone. We put the cash in separate envelopes for each week. And I put the receipts in the envelope. It helps us to track how we are spending, and where we might need to change things. I enjoy planning meals for the week, and clipping coupons, and thumbing through the sale flyers. A note on coupons though, is only clip the things you normally buy. Otherwise you end up spending more. Coupons are an advertising gimmick and you can get trapped. I don't always have time to do the coupon thing, as many mommies of little ones don't, but I do think it's a good practice, and I am trying to get better @ it. Shopping for what's on sale certainly helps keep variety in our diet as well. It forces me to try new recipes, as I can be a creature of habit.
And I am happy to say most weeks we have a little bit leftover, which I save for the next week just in case. Kind of like rollover minutes. And that's not because we have a lot to spend. It's because I am simply more conscious of how we are spending it. Oh and I always bring my calculator. I keep it in my coupon book.
I know all this might sound like a lot of time, but time is money and in my case it's paying off.