The Naptime Grind

The other night one of my friends and I were going back and forth on products that we use and the other should try. SO…I decided to make a list of things I want to try over the next few weeks and see how it goes. This week I am going to try Wool Dryer Balls by Heart Felt!

Laundry balls reduce dry time by bouncing between folds of clothes, circulating hot air between the wet items. This soft friction and movement makes clothes static free and softer, without the need for fabric softener or chemical-laden dryer sheets.
 The balls preferentially absorb the moisture coming off laundry so your clothes, towels, sheets or cloth diapers dry much faster. Dry time is reduced by at least 30-40%.
 I hope this is true because even after cleaning the lint dryer vent, the one leading out of the house not the one in the machine, I have still noticed that it is taking too long to dry my clothing.

A lot of people ask me what I use to clean because lets face it, being a sahm means all I do is clean and chase around little rascals ALL day! I am not being sarcastic, that’s literally ALL i freaking do! There is always a mess and if there isn’t, I just have to do a 10sec count down and my boys will magically make one appear…haha!

My home is not the tidiest of homes but it’s not dirty. Well… at least the main living areas are always being cleaned lol. Below is my favorite cleaning tool that I use daily!! Yes, I said daily…boys are messy!!! I should make one with my favorite diy cleaning products too. Hmm…that will have to wait for another day!

Now, I use cleaning products such as Bruce floor cleaner, method multi purpose cleaner, clorox bleach but not as often as I did before. Each day we are exposed to an untold number of toxins so I choose to limit them in my household. I try to make my own cleaning supplies, use steam cleaners to kill bacteria on my floors and use e-clothsto maintain my home. It may not work for everyone and it wasn’t always for me. It wasn’t until I read that women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who work outside of the home due to a higher exposure to chemicals! That statistic was shocking and had me looking for other options to maintain my home pretty quickly!

E-cloths
AMAZING is the only word I can use to describe these! I have used e-cloths
for over a year now and I love them. The fibres break up grease and dirt by just using water!!! I was skeptical after first but they do a fantastic job on cleaning my stainless steel  appliances (LEAVE NO STREAKS…SERIOUSLY), windows and even easily cleaning my stove. What really convinced me was how easily they cleaned my gas stove. Way faster and less elbow grease than using any multi purpose cleaner or 409…seriously!! Not only that but they work so well that my 3yr old cleans my windows with them and leaves NO streaks…just saying lol!

They are a little more expensive than regular microfiber cloths but you save so much money because you don’t need chemicals when using these, only water! You can rewash them up to 300times so they last for a year which is absolutely worth it.

Try e-cloths out and let me know what you think! What are your favorite non-toxic cleaning tools/products????

DIFFERENT E-CLOTHS: (I started off with the starter pack but if you don’t want to spend as much to try them out, check out the other links below for the window pack or the stainless steel pack)

e-cloth Window Cleaning Pack, 2-Piece

e-cloth Range and Stovetop Pack, 2-Piece

e-cloth Starter Pack, 5 Piece(4 general purpose and 1 window)

More Info on how toxins affect us: ecokindness.com

This mama is a HUGE procrastinator! Last year I had the idea to make this “Night before Xmas box.” Basically you fill this box up with pjs, toys, candy, books, movies, whatever you want and have your kids open it on Christmas Eve. It’s such a sweet tradition to do with your family. I saw the idea on pinterest but I didn’t see it in time to do it so I planned on making it and having it ready for this year.

My fil made this adorable wooden box for us LAST January. I just now putting the decals on and sealed it! I mean, I did get it done weeks before Christmas but this box and the decal has been sitting in my office waiting for me to complete it.

Well… now I have to fill this sh*t with some goodies!!!! Right not I have matching dino pj’s from gap, popcorn and…nothing! I need to step it up!

GAME PLAN: Need to get a cute Christmas book/movie, some candy and print off some cute Christmas games (like xmas bingo or an xmas matching game).

So, I have to share!!! Yes, I am lame, I am excited about this but WHATEVER!!!!! I searched pinterest for some cute, FREE, xmas games I can print (links are at the bottom of the page). Seriously, there are SO many cute game ideas. I am just going to print them and use Peel N’ Stick Laminate Adhesive Shelf Liner to laminate the sheets. I am cheap and instead of a laminator, I buy Peel N’ Stick Laminate Adhesive Shelf Liner and laminate all of my kids worksheets myself! This way we can write on them and reuse them another day. It’s so inexpensive and easy to do. Seriously, check them out!

If you decide to make a Night before Xmas box, please share! I would love to hear your stories 🙂

Decal:
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Vinyl Wall Sticker – 22 Colors Available

http://www.wecutvinyl.com/html/christmas.html.

Gift Ideas for the Night Before Xmas box:

The Littlest Elf (book)

Bear Stays Up for Christmas (The Bear Books) (book)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) (Little Golden Book)

The Christmas Baby (Classic Board Books)

The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (movie)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!/Horton Hears a Who (movie)

Printable Games for Christmas:

http://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-printable-christmas-games-kids/

This one is in English and Spanish http://www.thegirlcreative.com/printable-christmas-bingo-game/

Last year we started the Elf on the shelf tradition in our household. It was really more for me than my kids since they were just too young to really understand it. My oldest at the time was not even 3yrs old yet so he didn’t care that I was moving the elf around,let alone understanding why the elf was even here. He did name him “Apple”though. It was of his favorite things to eat at the time. I just ended up keeping the name…it’s cute :).

This year…it is ON!!!!! We are on day 12 right now. Below are some of my favorite things Apple has done so far!

It really has been so much fun to try new ideas out with our elf Apple. Oh, yeah, and my son has really loves it too… hahaha!

Try some out and let me know how your little one liked it!

This year we changed things up a bit! Hubs decided to film the whole night out trick-or-treating! It was nice not to have to worry about taking a ton of pics and just focus on the kids and making memories. I loved watching him, Owen and all their little friends go around the neighborhood in their little costumes. Such a fun time, as fun as you can have trick-o- treating I guess lol.

Hope you enjoy 🙂

Thanks hub for your AMAZING editing job!

You always hear people say “enjoy the time you have with your children because it flies by”. It is so sad to think about but, as my children grow, this is becoming more and more apparent. My little ones are growing so fast and before I know it, they won’t need or want me around. As much as I say “that will NEVER happen”, I know in my heart that it will.

Days with kids can be so exhausting sometimes! They can cause a lot of chaos, mess and anxiety but they can also bring a lot of joy. It is hard to focus on the good moments in your day when there is so much to do, so little time and the kids are making messes left and right. Just try! Just try to take a breath, relax and think of one good moment you had with them that day.  If that doesn’t help, grab a glass of wine…it’s 5 o’clock somewhere right?!? haha

(Tried to make a learning experience out of balloons and crayons and it totally backfired. tried to take a pic of them laughing, balloons popped and this is what I got… haha)

Instead of complaining about all of the problems and craziness I experience, on what seems like an everyday basis. I choose to focus on the positive! Yes, my little one had HFMD last week, didn’t sleep, had diarehea several times a day that went EVERYWHERE and I got nothing that I needed to get done accomplished. It sucked but it is what it is. I dealt with it and moved on. I am not saying that it was the best week of my life or that I didn’t get annoyed because of how crappy the whole week was. I am saying, I tried not to complain about it,  did what needed to be done and tried to have a great time with my boys no matter how miserable it truly was. It just drains too much energy complaining!

It’s not only draining for me to bitch about stuff that I can’t change, but it also affects my family! My boys are a lot happier if mommy is happy. Hubs included :).

Try to relax, breathe and stay positive. The day will come when your little one doesn’t need you anymore and you will look back at these days and wish you could experience them again. At least I know I will!

This not only applies to dealing with kids but in every aspect of your life! Stay positive and enjoy life. Don’t sweat the little things. There is no point!

This week has been pretty, freaking amazing! We have family pics on Friday and of course my little one catches Hand Foot Mouth Disease. Of course he freaking did!! This is how life works right?!?

Not only is the poor baby completely covered in rash but he has a fever and is not sleeping well at all. Right now he is down for his second nap of the day which seems like its going to be exactly like the first…10min of sleep!! Ugh!! I better write this shit up fast because it does not look like he is going to sleep lol.

So, my whole point in writing this is to mention this new “hippie dippy” (hope that doesn’t offend anyone), home remedy I have been hearing about lately. It’s called Elderberry Syrup. It’s an immunity booster people take to prevent getting sick and to reduce the length of time you are sick. Basically, you can use all year round. However, in my case, just trying anything to help my little one get better quickly. Actually, maybe I will try it out this fall/winter and see if it helps keep sickness at bay!

Back to HFMD…While reading up on it, I came across a lot of home remedies. Since doctors don’t really do anything for HFMD. Well, other than tell you to give them Tylenol and ride it out for up to 10days. I hit up google and Pinterest of course, to see what I could find!

The remedies I am using right now are…

1. Tylenol
2. Coconut Oil (for skin)
3. Nature’s Way Black Elderberry Syrup
4. Anything cold to help with the sores in his mouth (ice, frozen washcloths to chew on, teething rings, frozen pacifiers)
5. Hydrocortisone (if needed)

Since I have been into a lot of homemade stuff recently, I wanted to make my own elderberry syrup. However, since “ain’t no body got time for that”,  I just went to Whole Foods and picked some up. I just wanted to get it so my little nugget could recover quickly! If you want to try making it yourself though, there is an easy homemade recipe from Happy Money Saver.  I will try it, but that will have to be for another day. Now, based off of the ingredients, I thought it would be gross, but that stuff is AMAZING! At least the store bought stuff is. It tastes just like juice!!  Hope the homemade stuff is just as good. I am going to have to give it a try and let you know!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers because I want this gone, out of our house so…we can take amazing family pictures lol!!!

Let me know if you have any home remedies for HFMD I should try!

My favorite money saving go to right now is Ebates!!! Let me start out by saying that this is AMAZING and ridiculously easy to use!!! If you are an online shopper, this is for you. With the holidays coming up, this is going to earn you some cash back for sure!

What is Ebates?

The company is an affiliate to 1,800 online stores. So, when they refer people to a retailer, they make a small commission. That’s why they offer cash back and coupons because as you make an online purchase, they make $$ too.

Here’s how:

1. You earn money back by shopping online! All you have to do is go through their website. You set up an account (it takes all of a min to do), search for the store you want to purchase from, click on the “shop now” link and it sends you right to it. Couldn’t be easier!

For example: I want to shop at Gap so… I go to my Ebates account, search Gap, click on the “shop now” button and BOOM! That’s it. As soon as you make the purchase, it sends the cash to your account.

Ways to make money:

1. They give you a $10 gift card or $10 applied to your your account for signing up! In order for it to be applied you do have to make one online purchase with the retailer of your choice. That’s the whole point of using Ebates anyway, to save on your online purchases right?!?!

2. Cash back! Each retailer has a different % of cash back. When you make a purchase from that retailers site, the cash back gets applied to your account.

3. They give you $5.00 for every friend referred!

4. Each week they send an email out with coupons for online retailers and sometimes double the normal cash back savings! Two weeks ago I saved 60% online at gap.com with a coupon Ebates provided, 40% and cash back!!

The only drawback is that you do have to wait a while for your earnings since the payout is four times a year. Other than that, I LOVE it! It truly is the easiest way to save!

Give Ebates a try if you like to save :)!

SIGN UP HERE: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=j%2Fz4GlI63aYS9XoptbjcUA%3D%3D&eeid=26471

Pinterest got me again!!! This project was definitely something I will NOT regret doing though. I am glad to announce this was NOT pinterest fail!!

It was a bit of a challenge to do this project because I wasn’t really prepared for it. This is definitely one that you need to prep for. To make the 5 gallon bucket of laundry detergent it only took me… 36min total! It was kind of a mess but definitely worth it. Not only was it pretty easy to do but it saves a TON of money and it actually works as a laundry detergent.

I found the instructions from this blog. Check it out and follow the directions because it truly works!

Products and cost:

Fels Naptha Laundry Bar $1.99

Arm & Hammer washing soda $3.59

Borax $5.79 (already had at home)

Essential Oils Orange  $8.18(already had at home)

Instructions:

Shred the Fels Naptha. Do not leave chunks because it wont melt properly.

Add the shredded soap to 4c of hot water. Stir for about 10min. (There should be no chunks left)

Fill a 5 gallon bucket halfway with warm water (40c of water).

Pour in the soap mixture.

Add in 1c borax, 1c washing soda and 1/4oz orange essential oil.

Then you stir the mixture.

Fill the rest of the bucket with warm water and stir it all together.

Then let it sit, covered, for 24hrs!!!!!

My husband came home to this 5 gallon bucket full of detergent. I thought for sure he was going to divorce me lol. Okay, he wouldn’t over something like that, but then again this isn’t my first time doing some crazy project so who knows! Can’t help it! I like saving money and I like trying different things. So, he thought I was crazy and to be honest, I totally thought that I may be losing my mind too (I mean I made a 5 gallon bucket of laundry detergent).

What saved me in the end is that after the 24hr soaking period… Yep, I had to wait 24hrs to see if I truly had lost it haha. So…after the 24hrs I grabbed a 1/2c and tried it out on a load of whites. Guess what…it worked!!!! This basically means that I have the ability to try out any nutty idea I have from now on. Right?!? That’s what I think it means at least.

Putting it into the separate containers got a little messy but it was so worth it. I filled up all 3 empty laundry containers and that drink dispenser!!! Amazing!!!

Best part is that I still have a whole box of Arm & Hammer washing soda, borax and some left of the essential oil. In total you would spend $19 give or take a few for the ingredients, which is that you would pay for just one of those containers, but you now have a lot left over to make more or to use for other projects. I actually use the orange essential oil a lot for homemade cleaning products and even just drop a little bit in the sink after doing dishes. The left over Borax can be used for other cleaning products and silly putty!! I made silly putty for the boys the other day, just need to make a post!

The only thing that I thought was strange about the detergent is that after a few days it starts to separate. Just shake or stir and it’s fine.

Seriously, if you are looking for ways to save and still have a quality product, you should definitely try this!

If you have any questions, please ask away and hopefully I can answer them ;)!

As a stay at home mom, I like to keep the boys and myself as busy as possible…mainly so I don’t have to clean lol.  Playing with little ones all the time can definitely get a little monotonous and boring though!  I mean, your aren’t really having any enlightening or intellectually stimulating conversations unless it’s your child telling you…nope, nothing stimulating! For the most part I try and get them out of the house unless it’s raining or they are sick. It’s good to be out and about, especially when you have 2 very active boys.

Since it’s sometimes hard to always have a new activity to keep them entertained, my go to is playtime in the tub!!!! After a long day of chasing the kids around, I can’t help but want to get them to sleep early haha. Instead of that, I  plan a messy play activity (painting, playing with playdoh, etc.), get them up for baths 20min earlier than normal and let them play.

Some of my go-to bath activities include blowing up balloons, with or without water, throwing in some ball pit balls, or just letting them color with bath crayons. Check out my Dinosaur diy bath crayons from the other post here if you want to try making your own crayons. Recently, I saw this post about putting mega blocks in the tub. It was genius!!! Yes, you have to get them out and let them dry on a towel afterwards but you don’t have to clean the tub of crayons :).  It was so simple and the boys loved it. Legos would prob work really well too, as long as they don’t have stickers or anything that can easily scrape off. The other really great thing about these activities is that you can take advantage that they can’t run around and u can have them work on their colors and counting!

It may seem like it is more work to some but it works for me. It’s so nice to have them and the mess contained in the tub. Plus, it makes bath time way more fun for them!!

So after a really long day of cranky kids and tired mommy, It’s either an early bath and bedtime or…

Yes…my little one is trying to drink bath water :/. Another day in the life right?!?

Hope you got some good ideas for making bathtime a little more interesting and fun!! Share if you liked it :)!

Links:
Munchkin 5 Piece Bath Crayons Set

Munchkin 10 Piece Bath Crayons (better deal)