Cleaning Frenzy!

It's spring time again! We all know what that means, right? Taking down the drapes, cleaning out the closets, decluttering the kitchen. Right? Well, not for me. That's right, I have taken a vow to SPRING CLEAN NO MORE. Why? Well, first of all, let's face it, unless you are "B.O. (born organized)" it is NOT going to get done. And if it does? Well, it's not going to make much difference b/c by next week it's all going to be right back to where you started! So what's my point?

Rather than planning on doing it one weekend, a year, why not plan on doing it ALL THE TIME! Stay with me here . . . No, I'm not crazy.

If you've ever heard of Marla Cilley (a.k.a. the Fly Lady), then you know just what I'm talking about. She has devised her own system (taken from several different systems and mixed in with her own genius) that takes away the need for "spring cleaning".

It's all about the baby steps. What's a baby step you may ask? Well, a baby step is EXACTLY what it sounds like. Rather than jumping right in and cleaning your entire house from top to bottom, Marla has shown us how to do smaller chunks of things, one at a time. And it all begins with shining your sink. But that's just the beginning. For the fist 28 days, you have a new task to try. Everything from the ridiculous to the mundane. But by the end of it all, your home will look better than it has ever looked.

The secret? Don't do more than you can do in small chunks of time. Got 15 minutes? Do a declutter in one of your messiest rooms. Only got two? Put out a hot spot. Get the point?

One of the Fly Lady's mantras is "You can do ANYTHING in 15 minutes". How true this is. From cleaning a desk to scrubbing a bath tub. It might not be DONE in 15 minutes, but it will surly look better than it did before you started!

And DON'T try to shoot for perfection. WHY? Well, because frankly, it's pretty much unattainable. In her book "Sink Reflections", Marla tells us "We are imperfect beings and PRAISE GOD FOR OUR IMPERFECTION" (15). The only perfect being that ever walked the earth was Christ himself. Although as Christians we should strive to be Christ like, we cannot attain it - which is why He paid the ultimate price for us. Not to mention the fact that the need and desire for that perfection is what got our homes as messy as they got to begin with.

SO, if you have a home that is frankly, embarrassing, then DO something about it. One 15 minute segment at a time.

Incidentally, my own mantra combines the wisdom of the Fly Lady and the catchiness of Geico - "15 minutes now may save you an hour or more later". And it is so true.

So, go. Meet the Fly Lady at www.flylady.net. And while your at it, go pick up a copy of Sink Reflections. I promise you, she will change your life. She changed mine!

When your child is underfoot . . .

Do you ever have issues with your children being underfoot when you're cleaning? I have a solution. It's not a new one, mind you, and I'm sure I probably heard it somewhere myself. But I know for a fact it works.

In the kitchen/bathroom: Give your child a spray bottle filled with water. You can add a drop of vinegar, essential oil, or bleach to give it that "cleaner" smell. Now give them a rag and tell them to "have at it". They LOVE to spray down cabinets, floors, walls, doors, baseboards, appliances . . . You name it.

In the living room: If your child is five or older, allow them to vacuum (with supervision, of course). Smaller children can "dust" (make sure any sacred breakables are put up and out of reach, first) with an old rag. Older children can dust knick-knacks.

This is what will happen - either 1) Your child will get REALLY into helping, so you gain an assistant or 2) Your child will botch at having to help (this is usually the older ones) and go retreat to their rooms. Either way, you get what you want!

Elbow Grease

You know, Aimee, my best friend of well over 20 years (we won't say how many so that we don't age ourselves, here, LOL) once told me that to get something REALLY clean, all it took was "a lot of really hot water and elbow grease". After using cleaner after cleaner and never really being satisfied with any of the results, I grew to embrace that philosophy. And I still hold to that.

Store-bought cleaners are nothing more that money making schemes and chemicals that are harmful to us, our children, and our pets. I made a promise that I would stop buying those that are not certified to be "green" (and am holding to that) but I also started to make a plan to make many of my own. Not necessarily to "clean" - let's face it, you can't GET much cleaner than scrubbing a counter for three or four minutes with soap and hot water. No, these are more sanitizers than cleaners. Now, we can buy a bottle of chemical sanitizer or buy those cool wipes (which I, admittedly, use on occasion), but why waste money and add chemicals to our home when we can make our own that is safe?

Generally speaking, I use two types of household sanitizer - I use a food-grade one for the kitchen and a bleach-based one for the bathroom (mostly bleach). The recipes are so simple - simply one part vinegar or bleach to four parts water. That's it. I mix these up in bottles and keep them in their prospective places. The food grade one is great for counters, cutting boards, sinks, etc. The other is perfect for toilet areas, bathroom sinks, and bathtubs or showers. Incidentally, you can switch out the vinegar/bleach for ammonia, which works great on glass!

So that's it - to get anything really, REALLY clean, all you need is some soap, hot water, and a sanitizer.

Oh yeah, and some of Aimee's elbow grease . . .

I'm BAAA-AAACK!!!

School has started again. After all the hussle and bussle of the holidays, I am so glad to be in near-silence once and for all. Of course, Jake isn't exactly the quiet type . . .

This year is going to be all about new beginnings. Healing and hope. Love and laughter. 2010 is going to be a wonderful year, I can feel it!

My goal this year is to finish what I start - that includes everything from weight loss to organization to cleaning to - yes, even this - blogging. This blog will start back up with at least weekly updates. The tips and recipes will start coming again too - I still have so much to share! Now all I need is followers to share it with (hint, hint . . . )

Supermom Tip! Meal Kits

If your family is like mine, you have a few days a week that are extremely hectic.  Those are the days that we tend to run to things like microwave dinners, pre-packaged meals, or even worse - the dreaded fast food.  We all know that these items can be loaded with extra fat, sugar, preservatives, and sodium.  How can this problem be solved?

Robin Miller of the Food Network has the best solution I've heard:  Home Made Meal Kits.  The intention is simple:  Time saving and healthy meals for you and your family.

Here's what you do:

First, you chop all the veggies you need for separate meals.  Let's say you're making meatloaf one night, chicken stir-fry one night, and chili another.  Chop all the onions you need and separate them into bags - one for each meal.  Chop all the celery, carrots, bell pepper, etc. and place them all into the "veggie  bags"  (you might not have ALL the veggies you're chopping in all the meals your prepping for.)  Once you have them all chopped and separated, seal up your veggie bags and set them aside.  

The next step is to chop/slice all your meat.  If you're using ground meat, take it from its package.  Now, put your meat into separate bags - again one for each meal.

The final step is to put your veggie bags into the meat bag - right on top of your meat!  It's okay - the veggies are sealed in plastic, so there's no need to worry about cross-contamination.  Now seal up your bags, and place them in the fridge or freezer to use when you need them (remember if it's going to be more than a couple of days, freezing is the best option).

The night you need to use them, pop them out of the fridge (or freezer - don't forget to thaw before use!) and right into the pan.  Since all your prep work is done, dinner only takes a fraction of the time it normally would!

Want to know more about meal kits?  Watch this video:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/sensational-stir-fried-chicken/451.html

I hate daylight savings time . . .

Why, why, WHY do we have this tortorous tradition instilled as an international "have to"? Why can't we just let God do what He does best? Now, I'm all messed up, my kids are all messed up, my husband is all messed up, I'm sure my fish are all messed up . . . and why? So that we can have a few extra hours of daylight? And the thing is, now when it's bed time the kids don't believe it because it's still light outside! "Momma, it's not bedtime - see? Mr. Sun still wants to play with me!" Uuugh . . . It's going to be hard to get them up this morning.

Five year olds and Soccer Balls

We're Kickin' It - "Pre-School" Style!!

These kids were so fun to watch. In between throwing the ball the wrong way, getting stuck in soccer nets, and pouting when they missed the ball or had to go to the "back of the line", there was fun and frolicking, and a TON of laughs!

This is Emily's best friend from school, Nathan. They were SUPPOSED to be practicing throwing the ball back into play by throwing it to their coach. Nate missed. He may have hit a bird or two, though . . . we're not sure.

My beautiful princess. She is loving this soccer thing!

Lance, Nathan, and Emily. We have no idea what Nathan was telling Emily, but apparently it was HILARIOUS because right after this picture was taken, they both started laughing hysterically.

The Rockets!! Boy . . . what are we in for?



Soccer is great fun. I never in 1,00,000 years thought that I'd be in this place. I always thought that I'd be alone and raising 50 cats by now. But God had other plans for me. He brought me an amazing husband, and granted me not one, but two beautiful children of my own. Not only that, but he blessed me with two "bonus" kids that are equally special!!

Thank you God for my blessings!