laundry tips

Of course I got this tip from another mom. I don't remember who but it makes so much sense in my house.

Instead of putting dirty clothes in individual hampers, I just skip that step and throw them straight into the washer. I stopped sorting colors a long time ago unless there is something super white that I need to stay white... can't think of anything right now. (I pretty much stopped wearing white after baby #1) But if I have super whites or delicates I care about, I can put them in their own hamper. Everything else can go from my body straight into the washer. I wait until it is full, then start the load. I use shout color catchers to keep colors from running too. They aren't expensive. Probably a couple bucks for 20. There are clothes all over my house from dirty socks downstairs to dirty jammies in the girls room. I just collect them when I see them and throw them in the washer. If I'm downstairs, I throw them on the stairs then collect them when I go upstairs. The washer is upstairs. Every house is different but you get the gist.



And to save myself from hours of folding, I just lay the clothes flat in my girls' drawers. I fold mine and my husband's but I find that those little shirts and pants don't need to be folded. The girls dress themselves so even if I bothered to fold them, they would be unfolded in a day from all the little hands rummaging through drawers.

I need to save time and energy where I can!

 

Another thing that has helped with the laundry process is my clothes line right above my washer and dryer. I had my husband hang it for me. I'm sure anyone could do it with a couple of hooks and strong string. It has helped tremendously. When I don't want to dry something, I just hang it up above my head. I don't have to take a step away from the washer. So convenient. I highly recommend it.

 

 





little techies

My husband and I rarely let Mya use our phones because that little stinker manages to figure out how to do things we wouldn't want her to be doing like downloading games, erasing pictures and important notes etc. She figured out how to use the voice text and sends embarrassing texts to random people that say things like "mommy, daddy, peepee poopoo." It's usually at 6:00AM when I'm not awake enough to notice she's hijacked my phone again. Sometimes we make exceptions and she is happy for hours. 

Technology has officially taken over the world. This is what happens when there are no kids invited to the wedding but the flower girls and ring bearer. I would expect the same from a couple of teenagers but a 1 and 3 year old? They are cute though. =) 

3 things

I remember a time when I could write a to do list consisting of about 30 things and manage to get every single thing on that sucker done by the end of the day. Or I would set out to clean the whole house and actually manage to clean the whole house. Those days are long gone and I have no idea when I will see them again. My guess is somewhere around retirement.

The thing is, kids are masters of time suckage. Just getting the daily stuff done is hard to accomplish sometimes. Things like feeding the dogs, watering the plants, emptying the dishwasher, getting the mail, bathing the littles, bathing myself  rarely ever ALL get done. I would say about 80% on average.

I am still up for the challenge of a to do list, however. I have discovered that if I don't make a to do list, those other important things that come up just never get done. So I came up with a way to make myself feel better about my accomplishments for the day. I know that being a full time mommy and wife are huge accomplishments and this is the job that God has given me but I have always been the kind of girl that needs to see concrete evidence of my work. I need to check things off and feel that sense of pride that comes with completing a task.

Obviously a 30 item to do list is out of the question... unless it is 30 time-outs or spankings. I could do that no problem. I have whittled my list all the way down to 3 things. Yes, 3 is the magic number for me. I pick my top 3 things to get done during the day and strive to complete all of them. This is not as easy as it sounds. Yesterday I set out to make 3 phone calls and only managed to get 2 done. I'm okay with that because my cell service was down at my house so I had to make them while driving. Most days, I can complete the 3 things I set out to do. Obviously, I can keep going and add to the list if I feel super energetic and ambitious that day. But 3 is a good place to start. Here's my list for tomorrow. It is on a magnetized sticky pad on the fridge where I can't miss it. I even get to check the box beside my tasks when I have completed them. =)

the haystack

This is a haystack:

 

 

This is how you make a haystack:

 

Layer the following from bottom to top. Fritos, pinto beans, ground beef (or meat substitute), shredded cheddar cheese, chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, sour cream, salsa and avocados (or guacamole). That's the basic version. You can add things like cucumber, corn, cilantro, bell peppers, nacho cheese or ranch dressing.

 

I just had to share this meal because it is so easy to make. You really can't mess it up. And it pleases the whole family from toddlers to hungry teenagers and dads. If you don't like something you just leave it out. Each person makes their own haystack so it is to their liking. 

 

Haystacks are a staple in my home. We also serve them when we have big get-togethers. My sister's family makes them every Friday night. We grew up Seventh-Day-Adventist and SDA's pretty much invented the haystack. There are lots of vegetarians and vegans in my family so haystacks please everyone. Try it! I guarantee you won't be disappointed =)

velcro

Velcro is really an amazing clever invention. It isn't as popular as it was in the 80s but I'm a huge fan. I thought I would share a trick that makes my life a teensy bit easier. As I've mentioned before, I use several magnetic note pads on my fridge. I use velcro to fasten a pen or pencil on the fridge right next to the pad. You just peel off the sticky part and stick one on the fridge and one on a pencil or pen. It saves me from looking for a pen and it encourages me to make lists, an extremely helpful tool in my crazy frazzled mommy world. You can get velcro at Michael's or Joanne's Fabric for pretty cheap. I think it's like a dollar or two.

meals and containers

My church is big on taking meals to those in need. You can sign up to take a meal to anyone who just had a baby, just had surgery, a death in the family or anything big going on that is making it hard to get dinner on the table every night. Having a church family is awesome like that :-)

There is so much baby making that you can pretty much guarantee someone will be having a baby any given month of the year. I usually sign up because I enjoy making people meals. It's easy and they really appreciate it when it's hard to cook for themselves. If you've never made a meal for someone, try it. Think about the people you know. Do you know a family with lots of little ones? Maybe someone is going through a separation or divorce or maybe they have a lot going on and could use a night off from cooking. It means so much and it is really not that much work. I usually make something I make all the time for my family like enchiladas or pasta with meat sauce. It doesn't have to be amazing.

We had meals brought to us when my husband's mom passed away last year. It was so nice. We felt loved and supported. We were eating lots of take out and fast food and were craving home cooked meals but just couldn't do it at the time.

Plus, I got ideas from people who brought us meals. One friend reused cottage cheese containers to put spaghetti in and a sour cream container for green beans. So brilliant. I am all about thrifty. Now I save all containers that can be reused like Tupperware. That way you don't have to worry about getting them back from people and you don't have to keep buying new ones. Anything plastic with a lid works. Just throw it in the dishwasher and reuse it. Things like margarine, large yogurt containers and sour cream containers work great. I label mine with a sharpie when I use it to take a meal to someone. You can put a plastic bag inside to seal whatever you are putting in it too. (If I'm taking something like enchiladas or pasta and salad, I like to use those disposable aluminum pans you can get in bulk at Costco for pretty cheap compared to regular stores)

I love having such a large community of fellow moms. I've learned so much from each of them.

grandma's house

Every couple of weeks, the girls and I visit my 89 year old grandmother. The girls call her Grandma Snow. She lives with my mom and aunt. They kind of all take care of each other in a way. It is kind of a crazy house to visit. I'm used to it and always leave with a smile because there are so many funny amusing things about our visits.

I grew up in that house. I was always there after school and on summer vacations. My grandparents helped take care of my siblings and me. They helped to take care of everyone really. Now, things are a bit different. Everyone kind of helps to take care of Grandma. That is the way it should be after all.

I took over her finances a few years ago when she started losing track of things and couldn't really keep up anymore. My mom moved in recently and will probably take them over once I have the next baby. But my grandma likes for me to come over and do her bills. It keeps me coming back so she can see the girls, her great-grand daughters. They do liven the place up. My mom watches them so I can go through grandma's mail, balance her checkbook, pay bills and file. I also do my aunt's finances because she needs help with that kind of thing. My grandma has always done it for her.

It's so chaotic once we get there. The girls are running around screaming, grabbing things they shouldn't touch like prescription pills and grandma's teeth. (Winter likes to bring them to her so she can eat a snack with her) If grandma is awake, the TV is blaring because she is deaf. She's always yelling at my aunt to bring her something because she can barely walk with her walker. My aunt has to yell back so she can hear her. My mom is going crazy from it all. She is used to her peaceful apartment where nobody yelled and it was quiet all the time. She does have a pool so that's good. The girls get to swim during the summer time.

Last time I was in the middle of balancing two checkbooks and I could hear grandma say that it was time for her show in a few minutes, "The Young and the Restless." She turned on the TV and "Jerry Springer" was on. I was in the kitchen so I couldn't see her or the TV. I'm not sure why but she left Jerry on for what seemed like 20 minutes but I think it was probably about 5. There I am trying to add numbers with "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" in the back ground CRANKED UP. The TV speakers were distorted it was so loud. I am NOT a fan of Jerry. Never have been. It makes me cringe to watch some baby mama fightin' some other baby mama because they got the same baby daddy who doesn't have a job and for some reason they both want him. Ugh. I tried to just ignore it and keep going. Then she changed the channel or tried to but she must have hit the wrong button because all I heard was static... BLARING static. It was just about as pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard. I was semi-releaved because I didn't have to hear Jerry anymore but this wasn't good either. She has about 8 remotes so I wasn't about to attempt to help. After about 5 minutes of static, she yelled for my aunt to come and help her. They were yelling at each other because they couldn't hear anything with the blaring static in the back ground and grandma can't hear anyway. At that point, I was wishing I was deaf. They finally gave up and turned the TV off. Wow. I finished up and went outside to swim with the girls.

It is quite amusing when you can see the humor in it but if I lived there I'm sure I would feel differently. My poor mom :-)

Here's Winter in her favorite spot with grandma in her recliner.