Wanted: hampers

Hampers for dirty clothes.
Exciting, no?
I need 3 hampers. We sort as we go. Lights, darks, whites.
I'm doing my very best to remove all piles from my life.

They can't be ugly.
They have to be durable (as they will most likely be crawled in, kicked, and otherwise tortured by the boys). They need to be strong enough to hold massive amounts of dirty clothes.

I like this one but I'm not sure it would withstand a swift kick.

Do you have a favorite hamper or dirty clothes containing solution?

To solve all my house cleaning woes?

I saw the Sargent Steamer on TV. Pricey, but does it really work as awesomely as they say it does? Does anyone out there have a steam cleaner? Should this be on my When-I-Come-Into-Some-Money-Wish-List?

Is it really the ultimate in green cleaning? I must say, I'm a little deterred by all of those attachments. Who has time for attachments?

Ike and I are the same

We feel the same way about folding laundry:

And would prefer to blog about it instead:

How to be disorganized and unproductive... as seen on Simple Mom

One of my favorite bloggers, Simple Mom, is posting a series she calls "The 6 Keys to a Disorganized, Unproductive Day at Home". It's excellent reading.

Found - Spring Cleaning Inspiration

I've finally picked up my first bottles of Method cleaners from Target!

Being pregnant has been the perfect excuse not to clean. But it's getting gross... SO - I decided to try the less toxic route and TA DA!!! New cleaners that actually work and smell wonderful!







I have no idea why I've been using such harsh chemicals to get things clean. I was sure that I'd have to at least use a scrubby sponge on my tub - but no.. the filth just wiped away with a rag. The cleaners aren't that much more expensive than normal cleaners and they didn't leave any streaks or residue. I was so excited about how clean my bathroom was that I actually cleaned my second one as well! The glass cleaning cloth works perfectly - now I don't need to buy paper towels.

I also picked up my first Seventh Generation product. I'm feeling so earth friendly today...

Today, today...

We're just hanging around at home today.
My project is to put away all of the food storage I bought at the case lot sale. Simple? Well, in order to put it away I have to first clean off the pantry shelves in the laundry room... but before I do that I need to clean off the shelf above the washer and dryer to make way for some of the STUFF from the pantry shelves. Being unorganized is such a WASTE OF TIME!

P.S. Don't use milk jugs to store liquids. I just found a gallon jug of car cleaning soap that disintegrated... luckily it had been placed in a cleaning bucket so it's massive soapy mess was contained.


I also want to devote some time to Charlie's blue dresser which sort of got abandoned in July... it turned out too streaky.. so I'm trying to decide what to do next. Buy a new dresser??? Maybe. I'll let that be plan B. Plan A will be to try painting it again with a sponge brush. We'll see how far I get today. I'm always too ambitious in my plans.

Promise of a PRODUCTIVE day...

I popped out of bed this morning at 6:59am... I totally felt like I'd overslept. Although I had heard Jack calling out for a treat and "where'd my lovey go?", he'd fallen back to sleep. I ran down to the computer and started working--- it only took 29 minutes. It's 7:45 and the kids are still sleeping! I'm going to make Greg a lunch and sandwiches for me and the boys while I have the stuff out.

I think it's going to be one of those very productive days...
I'll keep you posted about all the very productive things I do today. It'll be interesting to see where the day goes from here.

7:00am
-Worked

7:30am
-Woke up Greg, checked e-mail.

7:45am
-Made lunches and scrambled eggs for breakfast (and blogged)

8:00am
-Charlie woke up, sent Greg off to work.
-Jack woke up. Got the boys dressed, fed them breakfast, and they started playing.
-Cleaned up the dishes from yesterday, loaded and started the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor.

9:00am
-Showered, got dressed, did hair & makeup
-Cleaned the bathroom
-Stripped the beds, sorted the laundry and got it started (7 loads today-- sheesh!)
-Started cleaning out dresser that's going to be painted (it's been making a good hiding place for piles I've stashed).
-Took the drawers in the backyard. Borrowed the neighbor's dolly to move the beastly, heavy dresser. Filled some of the drawer handle holes because it's apparently impossible to find handles the length of 3 3/4 inches. And while I was at it, filled some holes by my front door which I'd like to repaint when the weather is a little cooler.
-Changed the laundry loads.

11am
-Cleaned out Charlie's old dresser (which is going to become Jack's new dresser/changing table).
-Ate lunch (and worked while we ate - only had another 1/2 hour of work).
-Unloaded the dishwasher, switched laundry loads and started folding.
-Put away folded laundry in my room from last week.

1:30pm
-Put Jack down for his nap.
-Started sanding the dresser and realized it's just going to have to be primed.
-More laundry-- yipee!
-Took a little reading break. *Sigh*

After my little break, I decided, to clean the bathroom downstairs, dust, sweep, mop all the tile, vacuum and then call Greg and tell him we were going out to dinner.

When we got home from dinner we wondered into the backyard and somehow got locked out. All of my brothers who can pick locks were unavailable... and trying everything else we could think of short of breaking the window or door jam, we called a locksmith. It took him less time than using a key to open our front door-- oh, that's very reassuring. It cost $45. OUCH! Greg needs to change professions. For a few minutes of driving and one minute of work-- nice. The locksmith tried to reassure us that there's no guarantee that it wouldn't have taken him longer-- right, right.

We watched Last Comic standing.. I hate to see funny people not get picked. Greg would switch to American Inventor during commercials but that show is TRAGIC - I hate it! People spend THOUSANDS of dollars to come up with that? So sad!

So that was my very productive day. What am I doing tomorrow? Well, maybe I'll go buy some primer, but probably not a whole lot of anything else.

I know I'm crazy but......

I know I'm crazy but I'm just itching to clean stuff up and de-junk around here. I know it's not that bad, but I've been finding myself lately opening cupboards and drawers that make me want to scream. There's just a little too much stuff everywhere... especially as far as the boys toys go. They have some that I know they would play with more if they were a little more accessible.

So, we'll see what I do this week.

I might pick up one of my favorite clutter books at the library this week for inspiration.

It's called Clutter's Last Stand by Don Aslett. It's great. It always helps me start to notice what things are really cluttering my life.

I'm also going to go back to a website my friend, Genny, introduced me years ago. FlyLady is all about helping you take baby steps towards getting your home to be the way you want it to be.

But I only have this week to putter around. Next week is Katie's wedding week - I'm so excited! I just need to buy shoes for my dress and I'm all set. And I love buying shoes! Maybe I need 2 or 3 pairs to switch them throughout the day. I just want to make sure all my bases are covered.

SUPER PRODUCTIVE SATURDAY!

While Greg is in Wendover doing his dives for his Rescue Diver certification Charlie, Jack, & I are cleaning the house this morning... doing the real Saturday cleaning - they've done a really good job this week of helping me keep their toys picked up.

• I cleaned the bathrooms while they were watching their favorite Saturday morning cartoon, Blue Dragon.
  
• Then I swept the kitchen floor & started washing it while they played with play dough. They were kind enough to help me dry the floor. While we were drying it Charlie said, "Wow! We're really working hard today! Daddy will be so PLEASED that this is all clean. I'm going to be thankful for Jesus." (I love his random train of thoughts.)
  
• I vacuumed the living room while Jack chased a ball around with a bat & Charlie played golf.


• Then I made apple pancakes for breakfast... one of our weekend favorites. Cleaned up the kitchen.... and all of this before 10am. Not bad!

*****
After taking our time to get ready for the day & everyone got a pedicure (but I'm the only one who ended up with red toe nail polish), we picked up all of Charlie's toys in his room & relaxed. We turned on Monster's Inc & did some drawing. Jack was ready for lunch by 12 & went down for his nap by 12:30. Lunch was simple today: apple sauce & cottage cheese & ham & cheese roll ups. (And unfortunately, as I'm typing this, I hear Jack crying... a 45 minute nap-- not good. Not good at all.)

*****
This afternoon I cleaned out my closet & dresser. I ended up with a giant garbage bag of stuff to take to DI & another big box to take to the consignment shop next winter. I love getting rid of junk. One of my favorite books about getting rid of junk is called Clutter's Last Stand. It's probably about time for me to read it again.

Jack also decided to show his very first interest in sitting on the potty like Charlie. He didn't go, but he sat there for several minutes and was very proud of himself for doing so.

I also cleaned out Jack's dresser & went threw all of his 18 month clothes & pulled out the ones for the consignment shop & the junky ones & boxed up the rest. I did the same for Charlie's 3T shirts & 2T pants (which I cleaned out of his dresser yesterday). One of my least favorite projects, but it's all done.

We just got back from the park and taking a walk & we're about to sit down to Spaghetti for dinner. We'll just take it easy the rest of the night, but I really feel like I got a lot done today. And I still have another day left in the weekend. Ahhh....

How do I get so much done in a day???

Here's how. I decided these two little monkeys can't just sit around eating animal crackers watching Curious George all the time... they need to start pulling their weight already! (Luckily they still think it's FUN to help mom. Shhhhh.. don't tell them it's not!!!)



~Yes, Charlie is wearing his apron (that he usually only wears while he's painting)... before doing the laundry he was pretending to cook. The ladies are gonna love this kid!

"Do we have bread?"

I just started a new book, Confessions of a Slacker Wife, by Muffy Mead-Ferro. It's promising to be very funny and articulating all those thoughts & feelings I've had while trying to figure out all this mom/wife stuff. This is my favorite excerpt (so far) - she's talking about how jumpy, irritable, & even unreasonable she sometimes gets.

"Case in point: My husband exasperates me sorely from time to time by asking such questions as "Do we have bread?"

"I realize from an intellectual standpoint that this is nothing to get irked about. I am aware that from my husband's straightforward viewpoint, "Do we have bread?" is a yes-or-no question as to the status of a simple material fact. "Do we have bread?" does not, in his mind, warrant a reply such as the following from me:

"Do we have bread? Am I to understand, from your question, that you are saying you do not know after the five-and-a-half years we have spent in this house where the bread is kept? Or should I simply infer that you are too lazy to look in the bread basket? And is it also the case, since you would never be expected to keep abreast of what the bread supply is or, God forbid, actually go to the store to replace the bread that we've eaten or let get moldy, that it is my job and my job alone to know what the bread inventory is and to do what's necessary to make sure it is maintained at a level where you can eat bread whenever you feel like it? Or is this just your irritatingly indirect way of asking me to get up and get you a piece of bread?"

"Not that I would ever, ever let loose with that kind of a sarcastic diatribe. Besides, if I did, the only point it would make with my husband would be that I was grouchy. And he'd be right. But sometimes I do feel grouchy. Because keeping us supplied with groceries is just one of the many thankless if not completely invisible chores that it seems i have on my list simply because I am the wife."

Amen, Sister! She also talks about wondering aloud, "When can I get my own wife?"--- WHICH I'VE BEEN SCREAMIN' FOR YEARS!

I really love my little family, and I'm proud of my position in it but it sure is good to hear that other people have felt the same way you do from time to time. And I love it when people admit their imperfections & admit to being REAL people. We're all just trying our best here, folks.