Stinky Washrags? Smelly Garbage Disposals?

Have you ever notice that your kitchen washrag starts to take on an unpleasant odor?  Well, I have.  I learned a trick from my mom on how to battle that.  Take a spray bottle and create a mixture of bleach and water (either equal parts bleach and water or slightly less bleach than water).  Then every other day or so, spray the washrag, and rinse it out.  Don't for get to use caution while spraying and rinsing or make sure you're wearing clothing that you don't mind if it gets a little bit of bleach on it.  It can happen; It's happened to me.

The other tip I received from some of the ladies in my church ward.  They said if you notice an odor coming from your garbage disposal you can freshen that up by slicing a lemon or lime into quarters and tossing the pieces into the disposal then starting it up.  I've never tried this one, but several said it works like a charm and doesn't hurt your disposal at all.

Early Christmas Shopping

Happy (belated) Holidays!  This year has been a particularly busy year during the month of December, and I was happy not to have to worry too much about gift buying.  I did almost all of my gift buying on-line before Thanksgiving, then I just let the packages come to me.  This made my December quite a bit less stressful and I was able to enjoy all the fun activities we had planned.  Some people might think buying Christmas presents before Thanksgiving is a bit extreme, but to those I quote from A Christmas Carol's Scrooge, "You keep Christmas in your way and let me keep it in mine."

What are your thoughts?  Are you an early Christmas shopper or does shopping in December make it feel more like Christmas-time (as my husband believes)?

For the Love of Autumn

Autumn is my favorite season.  I love the clean, crispness to the air.  I love the bright reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves and the way the crunch under my feet.  It's during this season I love living near mountains the most.  They look so enchanting dressed in their new colors.  It's almost like magic.  

Plus, it's starting to get cool, not cold, but cool--making it a time to get cozy in long-sleeved shirts, sweaters or hoodies.  I love curling up on the couch and snuggling under a blanket with my little ones or my White Knight to watch a movie or read a good book (it's the perfect time for reading--something about this season just encourages the imagination to soar).  And let's not forget enjoying fragrant soups, homemade bread and hot apple cider--MmmMmm.

Oh! how I love autumn!

Short Attention Span? Try Toy Rotation

Does it ever seem like there are days where your kids don't want to play with any of their toys or are constantly getting in to mischief because they're 'bored' and it doesn't seem like you can get anything done? I know mine do. Once my kids have played with the same toy for several days in a row they become bored with it and it no longer holds their attention.

So, I came up with a solution...

We've gotten a lot of hand-me-down toys from one of my brothers, and there are times when it seems like we just have too many toys. When my little Ladybug was still a baby I started rotating her toys. And I've continued the practice (she's now 3).

I divide her toys up into two-three piles, but put out just one pile at a time. Then every 2-4 weeks I rotate the toys. She gets so excited when I bring out the new toys that she hasn't played with for a while--it's like Christmas (without the extra expense). The 'new' toys also hold her attention span a little longer so I'm able to get more things done around the house a little easier.

I've started doing it with my little Moonpie as well and I feel so productive today. The only thing I have to watch out for now is Ladybug taking over all the 'new' toys. ;-)

The Motherhood Epiphany

For a while, the fact that I was a wife and mother seemed so surreal to me. (Is that weird, or what? Am I the only one out there who felt that way?)

It wasn’t until I had been married for a little over three and a half years, had a two year old, was five months pregnant with baby number two (with a miscarriage in between), and moved three times (two of the timed to a different state)--that I happily thought, while changing the sheets on our bed and Ladybug was running around in the other room, “Yeah, this is who I am. I’m a wife and a mother—how cool is that?!”

Don’t get me wrong--I was excited to get married and have a place of my own, but after the fact I felt like I was playing house. And was thrilled to have a baby, but it still seemed like—I don’t know—it didn’t feel like it was really me. I think it all might have had something to do with the fact that I quit working to be a stay-at-home-mom, which I totally love, but there was a bit of an adjustment time to get used to only having a child as company most of the day.

So, when I had my little epiphany I was in heaven. All the pieces clicked and I felt whole. I knew who I was and what I was doing. I’m so thankful for moments like that; they let me know I’m on the right track.