So the other day I was in the office working hard on various things for my store while the two youngest slept. Time is super precious these days because the baby is a bit congested so extended naps are not common. In the mean time, the girls were playing so nicely with each other. I love hearing their stories of pony adventures and daring rescues. So play time that day was no more unusual than any other.
As I was hard at work, my mommy sense began tingling. (Some days I really do believe mommies are super heroes because of our ability to know that something is going down.) My 4 year old was running back and forth from the kitchen to the play corner (not very unusual) except for the fact that she was doing it as quietly as possible. Then I heard whispering. Clue #2 that something was going down.
It was then that I questioned if I really wanted to investigate (after all time was ticking down to when the boys were going to wake up). I walk out to see the ever so sheepish grins on their faces and white flaky stuff all over the floor and toy boxes in the play corner.
With my frustrations quickly rising, I simply asked, "What are you doing?" To which my 4 year old replied, "We're making snow!" *sigh* From the vent in the floor, flakes of Gerber baby oatmeal fluttered down to the carpet. Snow, they wanted to make snow. My 4 year old has been asking about winter for weeks now. She has been so excited about snow coming. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer.
It was inevitable, I now had to take more time (30 minutes to be exact because I had to pick up toys and move everything around) to vacuum the floor and toy boxes of all the flakes. And of course when you vacuum, you can't just stop at that one area. Nope, the whole floor has to be done which in our house includes the living room and dining room. When all was said and done, the house looked good, the toy corner was re-arranged, and the "snow" has been cleared.
I'm tired today, super tired. There is so much work that needs to be done in this house. I just can't seem to get myself up and going to get it all done. I have managed about 3 times to pick up the floor to vacuum.
During my process, I was straightening up and putting away the numerous items that were on the washer/dryer in the kitchen. (No there is no logical order to my cleaning). I pack some items into a Wal-Mart sack to take to my mothers and set it on the dinning room table. "Mmm," I thought, "that smells good. It smells like The Laundry Tarts detergent. I guess I should go put it aw.a......" And it hits me. There is nothing to put away because I did that a week ago! Quickly I follow my nose and there on the floor in front of the diaper pail is my little 2 year old happily sprinkling the Root Beer scented Bon Bon Shaker all over himself and the carpet.
Naturally, as soon as my eyes beheld the scene I wanted to growl at him because vacuuming is now inevitable, but first I must once again pick up all the toys which were tossed out of the toy box. Reason quickly took hold and I first grabbed the camera to capture the incident. His response upon locking eyes with me? "No No?" *sigh* "Yes son, no no."
This was not the first Bon Bon Shaker incident. A few days ago it was being liberally sprinkled all over himself while sitting on the piano with his 3 year old sister.
I had just received my Bon Bon Shaker to test it out to see if I want to sell it in my store. I knew it was an all natural product, but the mommy in me wanted to be sure that it wasn't toxic. To the glorious Facebook community I go seeking out my answers. My initial assumption was correct in that in fact, it is not toxic. However, a couple fellow Laundry Tart retailers spoke of other ways people have used the Bon Bon Shaker. This spurred on the idea of 101 Uses of the Bon Bon Shaker.
So here you go, use #1 carpet deodorizer.
Awhile back I did a little write up about cleaning your washing machine and the importance of washer maintenance. Okay, well it really wasn't an actual write up about how to do it, but rather my thoughts on it. I did, however, link to some great blogs about how to do it. So if you are interested you can look into them yourself.
Anyway, since that post, I have come into possession of a new washer and dryer. Once again, I love my machines. The only draw back is that with their incredible gigantic load capacity, I feel like I can never keep up on folding the laundry. Washing laundry, no problem; folding laundry, Mount Washmore cascading in my living room.
Okay, so my point of this post is to inform all of you who were waiting on pins and needles that I did indeed invest in Affresh and have been using it clean my washing machine. I'm all about promoting products I believe in (thus my ownership of a cloth diaper/baby boutique store), and Affresh is definitely one that I believe in.
I've been trying hard to stay on top of cleaning my washer. I like to do it once a month at the beginning of the month. I do this because I know there is a lot if ickiness that runs through my machine. And with it being a FL HE machine, I know there is not a lot of water running through it, so buildup is going to happen. Fortunately, my machines are a new model so I do have a very convenient setting "Clean Washer with Affresh" (Whirlpool isn't bashful in product promotion either). I simply toss in the cleaning disc, set machine and press Start. In just over an hour the machine is clean. Easy peasy.
If you don't have that function, simply toss in the machine, set on "Normal" and hot water and ba-bam, off you go.
Now there is a blog maybe it was even from Pintrest which went over how to use bleach and/or vinegar to clean you machine. I had it bookmarked at one point in time, but with the death of my previous computer I no longer have it marked. So, I'm sure if you set out to find something of the sort, you can come across some great blogs explaining how to clean your machine if you don't want to buy Affresh. Personally, with as simple as throwing in a tab of Affresh can be, I'll be happy to bypass the various steps of using bleach.
I just came across a great article by one of my favorite bloggers, Jennifer Fulwiler. As moms I think many times we put undue stress upon ourselves because of our own expectations of what we think is right for our family. I know I do this many times.
As a single woman in college, I used to thrive on stress and deadlines. It pushed me. I felt in control because I was goal oriented. A mere 14 months after graduating college I became a mother and my whole world went into a tail spin. What is it about motherhood that can make a person so stressed? Then a short 11 years later we have 6 children move to a new town and I start up a home business.
Stress/chaos and I are NOT good bed fellows anymore. It has become so hard to integrate the needs/wants of the kids into my own "schedule". The oldest two are now at an age that they are trying out various activities on top of assigned homework. I never realized before how much involvement was required of me for my school aged children. Now my two middle children are in preschool and the parent notes abound. They need this, they will need that..... *whew* My head spins.
Okay, so where am I going with this? It's a common theme in some group discussions I have been having. There comes a time when you have stop, step back and take a good, honest and hard look at what is going on around you. And in that moment, you have to find an inner peace and quiet. I call this "Me Time". Some moms will say that it's not necessary, but I think it is when something is stressing you out every day.
Jennifer Fulwiler's article 6 Simple Tips For When You're Utterly Overwhelmed gives some great ideas for how to re-group and re-fresh from stress. Now you will notice that it is coming from a Christian/religious perspective, but I feel that anyone (religious or not) can glean something from Jennifer's insights.
The tip that hits home the biggest is #2: Ruthlessly make time to get away. Wow, this is so hard to do on a daily basis. I totally have the, "Pray continuously" down pat because I am constantly having "conversations" with God, but I know that it is a one way conversation. I can't hear what He has to say if I am constantly on the go or holed up in my office typing away.
So as I prepare to get my day started (which started off in chaos already because I over slept and didn't get the kids up until 8:10 and school starts at 8:20) I have to remember to keep a tight hold on the reigns so that I can stop and refuel to ease the load of any stress that may come my way.
Whew, so I've been working my tail off trying to transfer my site to a new host that I have totally put the blog on the back burner. Thankfully in this world of modern technology there are about a thousand other great blogs to occupy your time with. After all, I know you have been waiting on pins and needles to see the next literary masterpiece that I am going to write.
I don't know about some of you, but this summer totally zipped right by me leaving me in the dust. Every day was filled with good intentions.
So with that said, I look forward to the new winter season coming. There is something so delightful about watching children exploring the outdoors when several inches of snow has hit the ground and has transformed their world into something completely new.
