Bubbles and Suds

 

Mike went out of town for a golf retreat last May, so the girls and I decided to head to Meijer for some car washing supplies and wash the cars!

 

 

We texted Daddy this next picture so he could see what was going on while he was away :-)

 

The cars were pretty waterspotted when we were done and still needed a professional wash, but we had a lot of fun and kept cool on a hot day!

 

After we were done with the cars, we had a little lunch and spent the day playing outside!

 

 

Such a fun summer with these girls!

 

I'm participating in the Nester's 31 Day Challenge!

 

Shanterest: DIY Fruit and Veggie Wash

Day 7: DIY Fruit and Veggie Wash

Source: aprettylifeinthesuburbs.com via Shannon on Pinterest

So, I came across this pin and thought it was definitely in need of a re-pin.  I super simple way to clean fruit and veggies, not to mention a way of getting rid of that ugly white wax look.  I eat fruit daily and so I thought I'd give it a shot!

The fruit still had the wax look to it.  I was pretty bummed because this process was so easy! Oh well :o)  You win some, you lose some!

I'm needing some more ideas! Let me know if you are on Pinterest so I can follow your boards.  If there is one pin that you have been wanting to try but haven't, let me know!  I'll be your guinea pig :o)

I did something yesterday that I said I never would...

I paid someone else to clean my house.

I never understood why people did this.  Surely they were capable of doing it themselves, so why spend money having someone else do it?  Now, I understand.  The past couple of months have been so busy for us!  It seemed as though we had something different each night.  We get home from work around 5:00 and then I immediately jump into dinner.  By the time we are done eating, we have about an hour or so before we have to start baths and bedtime preparedness.  When the girls are in bed (and finally asleep), we only have about two hours before we head to bed.  At that time, I want to crash.  I want to be able to wind down and relax a little bit before waking up and doing it all again.  I don't want to spend my free time giving my house a deep cleaning.  Keep in mind that we generally keep a clean house.  We always have things picked up and put away.  The girls know that they can get anything out to play with that they want, but they are responsible for putting it all away before they go to bed.  We also vacuum and sweep regularly.  So, I'm not talking about cleaning mess and clutter.  I'm talking about dusting and window washing and mopping the floors and scrubbing the bathrooms.  I'm talking about the deep down, nitty gritty stuff that peels the first layer off the fingertips.  That business takes TIME!  Usually, Mike and I designate the second week of the month to cleaning.  That means, in that hour after dinner and the two hours after bedtime, we split the jobs and clean the entire house every night throughout the week.  For six years, it has been a great system.  But, we are now in a bigger house and have a lot more going on.  It's hard and exhausting!  We talked and talked and talked... and decided to give a cleaning service a chance.  We shopped around and found one that definitely would not break the bank AND they used their own supplies! Coming home yesterday to a SPARKLING house (not exaggerating at all) was heaven.  They picked every single thing off of every surface and cleaned it all. They vacuumed the furniture. They first vacuumed the hard floors and then scrubbed them by hand. They washed the windows and vacuumed the blinds. Everything looked SO good!  It was so relaxing.  Now, this will not take the place of the regular pick-up and touching up that Mike and I do each day, but I have to say, that probably won't be the last time we have it done.  It's like when you highlight your own hair... Frost & Tip looks good and gets the job done, but every now and then, you gotta splurge for the salon treatment, right?

Like I said, it was worth it.  It was less stress and more relaxing for us!  We used CottageCare.  I'm pretty sure they are located all over.  They give you a quote based on how many rooms you have, the type of flooring, the number of people in your house, and the number and type of pet.  They give you a price for the first time cleaning and then a lower price for return service.  They did an amazing job :o)

I'm real... like Jenny from the block

I've recently read a number of posts by other bloggers on the appearance of perfection that is perceived through the blog world. Typically this from mom bloggers.  Do I think my life is perfect?  Yes.  I think that I have the perfect life for me. I know I am not a perfect wife or mom but I do what I can for my family and love them to pieces.  I like to do crafts and yes, when I'm not pulling my hair out trying to get ready for the Home & Garden Show, I usually do at least one craft a week.  I like to cook and since I'm the only one in my family that knows how, I do it quite often.  I try to make a home cooked dinner for my family every night.  Do I always have a new elaborate recipe?  Nah... Sometimes we have Hamburger Helper.  One thing that you can be sure of, our house will always be clean.  We have a great routine that makes housework seem like not such a horrible task.  Also, Mike is slightly obsessed (in a good way!) about it... which has rubbed off on both of my girls. 

Yesterday, I was getting Jaden's breakfast for her.  Thanks to Taylor, I was only half awake.  I totally knocked Jaden's full cup of milk over and of all places, it spilled down the crack between the counter and the stove.  Jaden immediately asked if she needed to go get Dad.  Um, pretty sure I can handle this one.  I needed to pull out the stove.  Before you look at these photos, let me just say that we have lived in our house for coming on five years.  We had two cats for over 3½ of those years; now just one.  We have NEVER pulled out our stove.  Ever.  Not even to paint (which we did before we moved in).  So bloggers, here is the behind the scenes of my "perfect" life:

Cat hair, dust, spider webs, milk carton rings, goldfish crackers, spilled milk, other random spilled nastiness on the side of the stove....

"Uh-oh! UCK!"

Thanks to my trusty pals, the mess was cleaned up and smelling fresh in no time!

Check out the third cat I swept up!

Ah... much better.  I should have grabbed the yellow paint while I was back there.  Oh well, maybe when I pull it out again in five years... KIDDING.