Before baby K was born, I was in a fantastic routine. Daily things got done every day. Weekly things got done every week. But after having a new baby, I've had to do a whole lot of readjusting. So laundry and dishes get done mostly because they have to. The laundry lately has been done when all three laundry are overflowing and I can't find any clean clothes for M or myself buthey, it's still getting done! Weekly tasks get done when I have a few minutes to spare and enough energy to not sit on my butt watching TV while scarfing down some food.
So I decided to do a massive clean of the house before M starts preschool and rearrange my weekly schedule to take advantage of her being at school twice a week. K's morning nap does fall somewhere during the time she'll be at preschool, so I should be able to get into a routine that allows this.
BUT before all the actual house cleaning, I just did some cyber cleaning and EMPTIED out my email inbox. Ok I still have 50something emails in there, but they are things I need to keep. It always feels fantastic to have one area of my life organized. Maybe after the kids are in bed tonight, I'll work on some more organizing. Although baby K is still napping and it's 6:30. He might not go to bed at 7 like he always does.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
The Power of the Sun: Product Review
To someone who uses cloth diapers, stains are a big deal. Not only do you want your diapers to stay cute and adorable, but you want to be able to sell them for as close to what you paid for them as you can. So you want to keep stains away as best as you can. I've tried soaking in OxyClean and while it does work, it can take a long time. Another reason why someone would use cloth diapers is to be as nice to the environment as possible. So I've found a stain remover that doesn't hurt anyone at all, AND makes taking stains out of diapers super easy, which is something a cloth diaperer is always looking for. It's THE SUN!
Lately, we've had fantastic weather up here and I really want to reduce my OxyClean use as much as possible, even though I really love the stuff. So when I have diapers with stains, I've been sticking them on the patio. And I'm not even kidding, when I'm checking them, all stains are gone within a few minutes. The diaper is still soaking wet but the horrible yellow spots have vanished. It is really amazing. Sometimes I hope that there are a few horrible stains just so I can keep checking out this new stain remover and it never lets me down. Sometimes it isn't even that bright outside, or it's partially cloudy, but it still takes the stains out.
So, as someone who wants to reduce my impact on the environment (and my hydro bill) I'll just leave the diapers out there to dry completely and skip using the dryer. And yes, I do love my brand new, energy efficient, jumbo dryer, but who doesn't love some time in the sun? After being stuck on a baby bum containing all messes thrown at them, it's the least they deserve.
Lately, we've had fantastic weather up here and I really want to reduce my OxyClean use as much as possible, even though I really love the stuff. So when I have diapers with stains, I've been sticking them on the patio. And I'm not even kidding, when I'm checking them, all stains are gone within a few minutes. The diaper is still soaking wet but the horrible yellow spots have vanished. It is really amazing. Sometimes I hope that there are a few horrible stains just so I can keep checking out this new stain remover and it never lets me down. Sometimes it isn't even that bright outside, or it's partially cloudy, but it still takes the stains out.
So, as someone who wants to reduce my impact on the environment (and my hydro bill) I'll just leave the diapers out there to dry completely and skip using the dryer. And yes, I do love my brand new, energy efficient, jumbo dryer, but who doesn't love some time in the sun? After being stuck on a baby bum containing all messes thrown at them, it's the least they deserve.
Friday, August 12, 2011
My new addiction
Hi, ny name is Ashleigh and I'm a Swag-a-holic. The first step to healing is admitting you have a problem.
But HOW is getting free stuff (INCLUDING PAYPAL CASH) a problem?
I don't think it is so I'm not going to get better. Between doing laundry and hitting refresh, naptime goes by pretty quickly!
What's Swagbucks? It's a free points system where you earn points-called swagbucks- that you can redeem for prizes, including paypal cash and amazon gift cards. But it's been around for awhile so you probably already have it. (but if you don't and you want to sign up, click here)
But you don't have SUPERPOINTS! It's similar to swagbucks but in a way it is easier. You can earn points by doing NOTHING! Here's how:
you sign up using one of my invitation links below (they're one time use only, so if they're not valid, send me a quick message asking for a new one). You fill out your profile and verify your email and BOOM you're a basic member with bonus points and 30 clicks on the Super Lucky Button.
What's the Super Lucky Button, you ask? It's a button that you click on and get free points. Yup, you read that right. Click=free points.
But that's doing something. How do I get points by doing NOTHING!
Well, you get your own invitation links and send those out to your friends. Once you get two friends who are basic members, you've become a Gold member and start earning points when they do. That's right, go to work, come home and FREE POINTS! Take a nap...FREE POINTS!
There's more, but I'm out of time I've hit refresh too many times, and clicked on my Super Lucky Button and now the kids are going to wake up soon. So I have to have a shower really quick.
What did this post have to do with cleaning? Uh, a shower? And FREE POINTS! Um, and I just did a load of laundry.....
Here are the links. They're only available for 7 days so grab them quick:
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/93mwz8
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/0yp84s
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/zz4q41
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/q6jw4x
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/ryxbci
But HOW is getting free stuff (INCLUDING PAYPAL CASH) a problem?
I don't think it is so I'm not going to get better. Between doing laundry and hitting refresh, naptime goes by pretty quickly!
What's Swagbucks? It's a free points system where you earn points-called swagbucks- that you can redeem for prizes, including paypal cash and amazon gift cards. But it's been around for awhile so you probably already have it. (but if you don't and you want to sign up, click here)
But you don't have SUPERPOINTS! It's similar to swagbucks but in a way it is easier. You can earn points by doing NOTHING! Here's how:
you sign up using one of my invitation links below (they're one time use only, so if they're not valid, send me a quick message asking for a new one). You fill out your profile and verify your email and BOOM you're a basic member with bonus points and 30 clicks on the Super Lucky Button.
What's the Super Lucky Button, you ask? It's a button that you click on and get free points. Yup, you read that right. Click=free points.
But that's doing something. How do I get points by doing NOTHING!
Well, you get your own invitation links and send those out to your friends. Once you get two friends who are basic members, you've become a Gold member and start earning points when they do. That's right, go to work, come home and FREE POINTS! Take a nap...FREE POINTS!
There's more, but I'm out of time I've hit refresh too many times, and clicked on my Super Lucky Button and now the kids are going to wake up soon. So I have to have a shower really quick.
What did this post have to do with cleaning? Uh, a shower? And FREE POINTS! Um, and I just did a load of laundry.....
Here are the links. They're only available for 7 days so grab them quick:
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/93mwz8
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/0yp84s
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/zz4q41
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/q6jw4x
http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/ryxbci
Product review and giveaway: 'Natural Household Cleaner Recipes' ebook by The Peaceful Housewife
When my daughter was born, I had the wonderful opportunity of making some fabulous friends online, who also had children the same month. These friends live all over the world and have many different backgrounds and interests. One of them was Captain Fussybucket's mom. She started a blog and recently introduced me to another wonderful blogger, The Peaceful Housewife. Now The Peaceful Housewife just released an ebook called 'Natural Household Cleaning Products'. So what better product to review and offer for a giveaway? I'll do the product review first. Please read the rules for the giveaway before entering.
Product Review: 'Natural Household Cleaner Recipes' ebook
As a mom with two small kids and two annoying cats, it's important to have cleaners that both work well and are safe for my family. Being able to make them myself with products around the house is a huge bonus since it offers a huge savings. The Peaceful Housewife's ebook is fantastic. She offers recipes for laundry products, household products, even a makeup brush cleaner and pest spray. So I decided to pick a recipe and try it out, and I chose the carpet cleaner. Now you all know we recently bought a house. And this house came with horrible, stained, faded and PINK carpets. K and I like carpet since our kids are little and it's better for crawling, falling, etc. So we've always planned on just keeping this floor and installing hardwood once the kids are a bit older. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about the way they look. So I chose a stain just outside the kitchen and decided to give it a go. I'm pretty sure this stain was not caused by our cats and was here when we moved in. So it's been there for at least 6 months.
I used the carpet cleaner as directed in the ebook and the stains came right out. It was so easy, using a top secret combination of baking soda, vinegar and water. These products are already in my pantry and are super safe for everyone. Sorry I can't post the recipe, you guys gotta buy the book! It's only $3 through The Peaceful Housewife.
OR....enter my giveaway!
So here are the rules. Read them carefully, this is my first giveaway and I want to make it really easy!
This giveaway is open to: EVERYONE!
Giveaway open until: Monday August 22nd. I will draw a winner at 9am PST. So you have 10 days to enter.
Mandatory Entry:
Comment on this post telling me what kind of natural cleaning product you would most like to try out. Make sure you include your email address so I have a way to contact you if you win!
Additional Entries:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Like The (not so) Clean Mommy on Facebook
3, Follow The Peaceful Housewife (http://thepeacefulhousewife.com/)
4. Like The Peaceful Housewife on Facebook
Each time you make an additional entry, make sure you comment below again telling me that you completed those requirements. You could receive up to 5 entries. I have TWO copies available to giveaway so spread the word.
Product Review: 'Natural Household Cleaner Recipes' ebook
As a mom with two small kids and two annoying cats, it's important to have cleaners that both work well and are safe for my family. Being able to make them myself with products around the house is a huge bonus since it offers a huge savings. The Peaceful Housewife's ebook is fantastic. She offers recipes for laundry products, household products, even a makeup brush cleaner and pest spray. So I decided to pick a recipe and try it out, and I chose the carpet cleaner. Now you all know we recently bought a house. And this house came with horrible, stained, faded and PINK carpets. K and I like carpet since our kids are little and it's better for crawling, falling, etc. So we've always planned on just keeping this floor and installing hardwood once the kids are a bit older. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about the way they look. So I chose a stain just outside the kitchen and decided to give it a go. I'm pretty sure this stain was not caused by our cats and was here when we moved in. So it's been there for at least 6 months.
I used the carpet cleaner as directed in the ebook and the stains came right out. It was so easy, using a top secret combination of baking soda, vinegar and water. These products are already in my pantry and are super safe for everyone. Sorry I can't post the recipe, you guys gotta buy the book! It's only $3 through The Peaceful Housewife.
OR....enter my giveaway!
So here are the rules. Read them carefully, this is my first giveaway and I want to make it really easy!
This giveaway is open to: EVERYONE!
Giveaway open until: Monday August 22nd. I will draw a winner at 9am PST. So you have 10 days to enter.
Mandatory Entry:
Comment on this post telling me what kind of natural cleaning product you would most like to try out. Make sure you include your email address so I have a way to contact you if you win!
Additional Entries:
1. Follow my blog!
2. Like The (not so) Clean Mommy on Facebook
3, Follow The Peaceful Housewife (http://thepeacefulhousewife.com/)
4. Like The Peaceful Housewife on Facebook
Each time you make an additional entry, make sure you comment below again telling me that you completed those requirements. You could receive up to 5 entries. I have TWO copies available to giveaway so spread the word.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Kicking it up a notch
So I'm ready to take this blogging thing to the next level. I've started a Facebook page and have a product review and GIVEAWAY ready to go. That's right, GIVEAWAY! I've also started a list with the next few topics I want to write about, so I don't forget them anymore and can hopefully start writing more often. I'm aiming for a few times per week if not everyday. I have a few more product reviews to type up and am trying to get more giveaways. The best part: all my giveaways will be open to CANADIANS! That's right. I find too often that I'm not eligible to enter because I'm not a US citizen. Well not over here, my friends.
So fasten your seatbelts and grab a cloth. This ride is about to get a whole lot more exciting. I mean clean!
So fasten your seatbelts and grab a cloth. This ride is about to get a whole lot more exciting. I mean clean!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
6 Months Later
The month of August marks 6 months that we've lived in our new house. I can't believe how fast it's gone by. And we've already done a TON of work on it.
First the ensuite bathroom needed to be re-tiled due to moisture behind the shower walls so we hired our contractor to do that.
Then, both kids rooms needed to be painted.
M's new room
K's new room
For the outside of the house, we had drainage issues with the backyard so we had that completely redone.
Then there was problems with the window trim and some trim around the roof and we just got that finished last week. It looks fantastic!
And finally, remember how I organized our whole basement at the townhouse? And We threw out a ton of stuff, both recycling and to the dump? Well there was some boxes that never got sorted and I just did that this past weekend.
I've also done a great job of maintaining the inside of the new house. Laundry and dishes get done everyday along with a quite tidy of each room. And the bigger stuff gets done almost every week. It really is amazing the progress we've made.
I found an old memory card that I thought I had lost and it had pictures from last summer. It was great to go through them and remember some good times with close friends and family. But I was also embarrassed for myself. I never thought the house was that big of a mess, unorganized, yes, but dirty, no. What a wake up finding those pictures was. Our old house was a disaster. It really helped me to see that I have changed and grown a lot in the last 6 months. I can be good at this.
My house isn't perfect but I can finally say that my house is clean and know that now I really mean it!
First the ensuite bathroom needed to be re-tiled due to moisture behind the shower walls so we hired our contractor to do that.
Then, both kids rooms needed to be painted.
M's new room
K's new room
For the outside of the house, we had drainage issues with the backyard so we had that completely redone.
Then there was problems with the window trim and some trim around the roof and we just got that finished last week. It looks fantastic!
And finally, remember how I organized our whole basement at the townhouse? And We threw out a ton of stuff, both recycling and to the dump? Well there was some boxes that never got sorted and I just did that this past weekend.
I've also done a great job of maintaining the inside of the new house. Laundry and dishes get done everyday along with a quite tidy of each room. And the bigger stuff gets done almost every week. It really is amazing the progress we've made.
I found an old memory card that I thought I had lost and it had pictures from last summer. It was great to go through them and remember some good times with close friends and family. But I was also embarrassed for myself. I never thought the house was that big of a mess, unorganized, yes, but dirty, no. What a wake up finding those pictures was. Our old house was a disaster. It really helped me to see that I have changed and grown a lot in the last 6 months. I can be good at this.
My house isn't perfect but I can finally say that my house is clean and know that now I really mean it!
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