Just what my bathroom needed

After our massive house clean overhaul last weekend, my ensuite needed some love. As a contact wearer, I always have my solution, case and glasses on the counter. And some other random necessities. So I did a search on pinterest, took a trip to IKEA and this is the result.

Sorry for the lack of before shot. All I got was two short glasses, one tall one and two tealight holders. Oh and the flowers and vase. So much easier to put stuff away and it looks so much cleaner.


Now to figure out which room to do next.

Fresh Start....again

All it took was a weekend.  A long weekend, in fact.  And was it ever long.  In between trying to celebrate Canada Day, we did a HUGE clean up in the whole house.  Re-organized almost the entire upstairs.  And there are still a few little areas that need to be finished up, but it looks a TON better.

Sometimes I just need to power through it, get it all done, and then the maintenance on it is much easier.  I've also set up my new app and if I can remember to check it everyday, or perhaps a few times per day, and can take a few minutes to get those tasks done, then I should be able to stay on track.

Here's hoping that I have a clutter free summer.  And some good weather.

Back to the basics

Well it's been a crazy month!  I know, excuses, excuses.  But really, it was my birthday, then a crazy busy few weeks for the store, then baby K's birthday and first birthdays are a BIG deal.  Now we're getting close to the end of the school year, M has a little preschool graduation coming up and then it's SUMMER!  Well, if the weather would cooperate.

So since it's been so busy over here, I had been somewhat slacking with my showering routines.  NOT to say that I haven't been showering.  One day, I didn't want to take the time to do the Oil Cleaning Method on my face before getting into the shower so I broke down and used the face wash I had from before.  BIG MISTAKE.  The next day, I had broken out.  Now in the 6 months since I had started using the Oil Cleaning Method, I can count on one hand the number of zits I've had (I'm pretty sure it's only one, MAYBE two, I can't remember).  That's not bad, considering I've been using OIL to clean my face.  Well if I wasn't already convinced that it worked great, and I was, this did me in.  I will never use soap to clean my face again.

I don't really have much else to report right now.  We did a MASSIVE house clean for baby K's birthday so I just have to work at maintaining it, and I'm trying out a new app.  All I have to do is make sure I use it!  I will report back on that once I've given it a good trial.

Oh, and I just have to add that I'm SO happy that FINALLY the weather here is looking nicer.  If we can spend more time outside, the house will be easier to keep clean!

So I'll leave you with the party favors from baby K's birthday.  Thanks for swinging by!

Spring Cleaning-Busy Busy!

Over a month. WOW, that's a long time. But I have to say that good things have happened over the past month.

To start, I haven't posted about in on here before but I run a work at home business. Yup, I'm the face behind Mommy Loves Maddy. I make cloth diapers and accessories, and other baby items like bibs, burp cloths and just started making some fun art things. I have more information about my products on my Facebook page. Things with my business have started to really take off! I've had a lot of custom orders, and am trying to keep my store stocked, but organic bamboo diapers are REALLY popular. Not that I'm complaining or anything!

It really is a good thing that the store is so busy because a few weeks ago my maternity leave ended (thank you Canadian government for giving us ONE YEAR!) and I made the difficult decision to quit my job. We had made changes in our budget so that things wouldn't be as tight, and with daycare being so expensive for two kids, it really was the right decision for our family. Since I've been so busy, I've had to find a balance between work, family and housecleaning and I'm not completely embarrassed to say that most of the time, my family comes before the house. We've had a few barbeques and gatherings over here, and that forces us to clean up the house, but the day to day maintaining has been put on the back burner. I try not to completely ignore my kids so I can get my work done, and most of it happens while baby K is asleep and M can come downstairs and watch Dora (who said Netflix couldn't be a business expense?). So if I can't tidy or do something quickly while the kids are awake, it doesn't get done as soon as it should.

 But I have found a few new cleaning techniques that I need to share with you guys!

The first one is for Diapers! While we do have a diaper sprayer downstairs in the utility sink in the laundry room, I've been using the removable shower head in the bathroom again. It's easier to spray the dirty diapers right away and not wait until I have a few minutes to run downstairs. I always spray with COLD water. But instead of throwing the sprayed diapers right into the diaper bin, I leave them in the tub. Then the next time I have a dirty diaper to rinse off, I re-spray the last one and that removes any leftovers that wouldn't rinse out before, and most of the time, any leftover color in the diaper. Enter no stains!

The next one is for a homemade air freshener, mostly due to those diapers! I found this on Pinterest! Take an empty bottle (the Pinterest link used a jar, but I didn't have any with a lid, so I used an old sport drink bottle). Poke holes in the lid. Fill the bottle/jar 1/4 to 1/3 full with Baking Soda and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, I used Lemon. The baking soda will absorb the smell and the EO will lightly scent the room. IF you notice the smell is stronger, simply shake the bottle a bit. Super easy with items I already had, and smells great. And WORKS! I rarely notice any smell in the bathroom, where we keep the diaper pail. I also found a link where you can use this same Baking Soda and EO combination to freshen up your mattress. Simply shake over a kitchen sifter onto the mattress and leave for an hour or so before vacuuming up.

The baking soda helps draw up any moisture and deep dirtiness. It deodorizes and leaves the mattress smelling fresh and clean. I also love the faint scent of lavender left by the essential oil.

A few weeks ago I noticed a bunch of ants outside our front door. Ugh. I hate bugs inside the house and unfortunately I live in the boonies (ok, not QUITE the boonies, but we have green space next door where BEARS live, and bugs, EVERYWHERE! So I took M outside and we drew on the cement outside the front door with CHALK. Simple and FUN! And ants HATE it. I actually drew a circle around one ant and it would take a few steps onto the chalk and then move backwards, and strategically tried to find a way out without touching the chalk.

And finally, I found a new app. It was recommended to me by a fellow blogger mom, Jeni from Joy and Woe (Hi Jeni!) The app is called Home Routines. I haven't used it much yet, but so far I like it. It's linked with FlyLady and gives you the same zones that she uses. And it's very user friendly and you can set up your own lists, your own tasks, etc. Looking at it now, it has timers, routine reminders. I haven't looked at how to use those, but setting it up was super easy since you synch your phone with your account on the computer and typing on the computer is MUCH easier than setting it up on your phone.

Wow, I need to update more often, this got long! Ok, kids are done eating, time to go build some train tracks and make some chocolate chip cookies! YUMMM!

The Real Parenting Experts

As a parent, and especially as a parent on message boards, I'm aware of parenting contests. The whole 'my kid's walking' or 'mine can say mama' or 'mine has 6 teeth' etc etc etc. All this at only a few weeks old sometimes! Just as every parent has their own situation, they also have their own parenting philosophy. A big issue is sleeping through the night. Every parent has their own way to solve that 'problem', which to some, isn't even always a problem. Just as every parent has their own solution, they also have a book. Some 'experts' say you should let the baby cry. Other's offer a no crying solution, or any number of methods in between. You can find a book that will offer you a solution that is exactly what you're comfortable with, what you're willing to do, and how much time you're willing to put in.

Now, I've read many of these books, and they are very well written. The solutions make sense, they are evidence backed, and are filled with testimonials. And I could get into how it's easy to find evidence that supports any hypothesis or theory that you want to prove, or that you have to look at how the tests were done, or manipulated, etc, but I won't. Or maybe I just did a little bit, oops. Instead, here's what I'm going to say:

YOU are the perfect parenting expert for your children.

There. Said and done. It's super easy. Basically, after reading all those parenting books, I feel that I could write my own. Take ideas from the ones that worked for me, and leave out the parts that didn't work, or that I don't feel are necessary. Enter the (not so) clean mommy parenting solution. I know my children fairly well, and am aware of what will work for them. I know what my husband and I are willing to do. This is why M was sleep trained using 'cry-it-out' at 7 months old, and baby K, at 10 months old, is still waking up 2-3 times to eat every night. I know the kids, I know our household and our situation and I've figured out the best way to be a parent for my kids.

Come to think of it, I AM writing my own parenting book. It's hard work, and will take YEARS, but it's totally worth it. I'm actually writing two books. They are at different levels of completeness. One is almost 3 and a half years in, and loves to swim, jump and play. The other one is 10 months old, and melts my heart when he smiles at me. Each book takes 18 years to write and then is off to the world to test my parenting theories. If they work, I will be the mother of two smart, confident, successful children and the world will ask me for help with their own parenting books (I can hope).

Now, just because I've decided to write my own books doesn't always mean that I know what I'm writing. Sometimes I get writers block. Sometimes I have to try out new ideas and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. But my failures can be a testament to my readers. Tell them what worked and what didn't. And of course they can test my ideas in their own books. My failures might work for someone else and what works for me might fail miserably elsewhere. It's all part of being a writer, and is what will make all our books unique and special.

I must now leave you all and get back to writing my books. Well, not writing, but preparing the supplies. I'm out of paper and need to sharpen my pencils--or just laundry and vacuuming. But it's all necessary for a great book.

I can't wait to read your books, I'm sure they will be fantastic!

What Kids Need (and want)

I read a fantastic article this morning and now know why sometimes I consider myself a crappy blogger. While I'm sure you faithful readers are constantly on your toes waiting for my next post, I'm either busy DOING the things I write about, or, more importantly, I'm ignoring the house and spending time enjoying my children.

Last week, a good friend and fellow mommy blogger wrote about this on her blog, She Will Amaze You. There are days when I'm online all day, or downstairs sewing. And then there are other days when I ignore the work piling up, and ignore the house and just spend time with my kids, and those days go so smoothly.

Then today, I read another article written by The Power Of Moms. Another great reminder that our kids need, and want us. The house isn't going anywhere. The dishes and laundry will be right where I left them. But kids will grow up, and this is the time to just enjoy them. This is the time where being with them will shape who they become.

So now I'm signing off and will get to the house later. Baby K is napping and M needs some mom time!

WOW, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've written in here. I really go through stages where I'm ON IT and post often, and also, interestingly, my house is cleaner, and then there are periods where I don't post very much, and my house is an overwhelming disaster. Interesting correlation. I guess when I post more, I feel more accountable for the state of my house. We did have a few weekends with a bunch of visitors, and that definitely helps me keep it tidy, but I hate that I can't just do it for myself. I deserve to have a neat and tidy house, don't I? Why do I only clean up for other people?

So what's gone on over here in the last few weeks? Well I tried the vinegar and blue dawn shower cleaner trick. People claim that this kills soap scum. I heated up 1/2 cup vinegar in the microwave and them mixed it in a spray bottle with 1/2 cup blue dawn. As claimed, it did turn into a gel. I sprayed it in my shower, waited a few hours and then wiped it off. Well, the glass parts didn't come THAT clean. I mean they did, but I could still see water marks when I squeegeed them. I was more impressed with the baking soda paste I used a few months ago on the glass walls. But what this mixture did do was kill the pink stuff that grows in the grout. It's been well over a week since I cleaned it and the pink stuff is NOT coming back yet. THAT impresses me. The fumes were a little overwhelming, so I had the fan on and stayed out of that bathroom while it was soaking.

To continue my spring cleaning, I've been purging some of our household items. I went through my kitchen cupboards last week and got rid of some bakeware we don't use. I have some pregnant friends and will be lending/selling/giving them some of the old baby stuff to clean out our playroom and the kids closets. It's crazy the pile of clothes I have in baby K's room that he's grown out of already. I've also gotten together some of M's art from the last year and will be putting it in a scrapbook to keep it organized. No more random paintings floating around the house.

On top of all the deep cleaning that I've been doing, the most important part of keeping the house organized is really simple. Tidy every day and STAY ON TOP OF LAUNDRY. The most overwhelming task is catching up on overflowing laundry baskets, dirty clothes all over the house, etc. Even if it's one load every day, something to keep it going.

Hope you are all enjoying nice spring weather where you are. Here's a cute sign I need to make for my entryway.

courtesy of Etsy via Pinterest.