Starting FlyLady

Today starts a new year but also a new month.  I guess since it is the first month FlyLady starts at step one.  That's right Shining your sink.  Go to her site FlyLady.net, I believe, to see all her stuff.    Every month has something to work on the entire month.  Shining your sink is also Baby Step one.  So no matter when you start sink shining will be your first challenge?    I have copied straight from her site on how to do it.  I will be shining my sink tonight after the kids are in bed and I know there will be no more dishes. 
I posted about this before I believe.  Tons of people get a rush of some sort from shining their sink.  That never happened to me and I could not understand how they got so happy about it.  That is until I did a detailed clean of my stove/oven one day.  The thing shined like new and I was so happy every time I saw it.  So I understand.
Have fun and join me! 

Shiny Sink 101

Dear Friends,
I want you to smile from ear to ear when you gaze upon your shiny sink. I have heard every excuse in the world. Even old sinks can look new again with a little elbow grease. Here is how you do it:
Note: Be sure to rinse well between each step!

1. Take all the dishes out of the sink.
2. Run some very hot water into the sink and fill it to the rim. If you have a two-sided sink, only do one side at a time. Then, pour a cup of household bleach into the hot water. Let it sit for one hour. Now, pull the plug with a pair of tongs. If you don’t have tongs, then scoop some of the water out of the sink into the other sink and use your hand to pull the plug. Make sure you wear gloves so the bleach doesn’t irritate your skin, and don’t get the bleach water on your clothes.
3. Rinse your sink well.
4. Use some powdered cleanser (Comet, Ajax, or baking soda) and scrub your sink. Be sure to rinse ALL of the cleanser from the sink.
5. Take a sharp edge, such as a butter knife, and clean around the rim of the sink, just like you would clean dirt out from under your fingernails.
6. Clean around the faucets. You may need an old toothbrush or dental floss.
7. Now, get out your window cleaner; I use Windex. Give it a good shine.
8. If you still don’t like the way it looks, then you can try some car wax. Just know in your heart that you have cleaned it very well now, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Our perfectionism is what got us in this situation in the first place!
9. Every time you run water in your sink, take your clean dishtowel and dry it out (I lay out a clean one every night as part of my before-bed routine). Before you know it, you will be doing this everytime you leave your kitchen! The rest of the family will, too. No more water spots. You will have a clean and shiny sink.
10. Don’t have a fit if someone doesn’t take as much pride in your sink as you do. It is very easy to fix. You have already done the hard part; you will never have to go through this process again. Daily maintenance will keep it looking this way all the time. Nasty, hurtful words are not as easy to repair. Just be sure and tell your family what you are trying to do. They will think you have gone crazy.
11. If you don’t have a dishwasher, don’t worry. A dishwasher is just a dirty dish disposal. Clean out a place under your sink and put a dishpan in there. Teach your family that instead of putting their dirty dishes and glasses in the sink, place them into the dish pan. Get into the habit of putting your dishes away as soon as they have been washed and are dry. No more leaving the dish-drying rack on the counter or in the sink. Put it away under the sink when you have finished. If your old one is nasty, you may want to soak it in the sink full of bleach water at the same time you soak the sink, or go buy a new set.
12. To insure that your family remembers this, put a note in the sink. It will get their attention and remind them where to put the dishes. Be patient! They have never been taught, either. It is going to take some practice.

Now if you have a stainless steel sink, I recommend all of the above directions with one extra instruction added: after you soak your sink, rinse well, and use SOS pads to scrub it. This will buff the finish. It will look like new.
If you still can’t get it to shine after the Windex, put a light coat of lemon oil or olive oil on it. I mean just a tiny bit on a cloth and rub it. This will make you smile. Some people have had very good results from Bar Keepers Friend.
Go Shine Your Sink!
FlyLady
Last note: Be sure you don’t mix cleansers like Comet with Windex (or other ammonia based cleaners); you can create dangerous gases! It is worth repeating: rinse well between each step!

Hello 2012

Last year I didn't make resolutions.  However, throughout the year I kept finding myself making these promises of things I wanted to change or do.  That's a resolution right?  This year I decided why not?  I'll keep them about as well as anything else I would vow to do during the year.

Here are the things on my list (that I can think of right now anyway):

- Lose weight.  I know how very original but a few years ago I was doing well.  I'm not sure where I derailed or why I couldn't jump back into it.  I am now 60lbs heavier than when I moved here 4 years ago.  I need to do it not just to look better by public standards but to set a good example for my girls.  Also to help lower my LDLs and improve my heart, energy, and stamina.

- Read a book a week.  I achieved this in 2010 but last year only read a dozen.  I'm thinking the online gaming and Facebooking helped me stray. 

- Read AT LEAST one chapter of scripture a day.  I am going to start with The Book of Mormon as I have been a member for almost 16 years, and have yet to read it from cover to cover in order.  I know I have read it all but thats from institute and sunday school.  Just want to do it in order to get the fullness.  Does that make any sense?

- I am also going to actively rejoin Flyladys program.  Again a few years ago I was doing great.  I know I will be put outside of my comfort zone and have to get rid of much stuff (you can't clean clutter).  This is another area I have issues.  I am almost afraid to get rid of things.  Money is a bad subject for us and I want to keep everything so I don't feel the girls are going without.  This has lead to lots of junk (lets be honest thats what most of it is) going to waste and causing stress since there is no place to put it all.

- I also have a goal to blog everyday.  Even if the entry is only a few words.  Really, why have a blog if I never really use it?

- I also need to clean up the language.  I guess I am so used to hearing "spicy language" used that I don't really notice when I use it.  Plus this is one of the things I can control.

- I also plan on starting a scripture journal.  I love the idea of it but honestly am not sure what to do with it.  So if you have any tips, ideas, etc let me know.

-  Finally, I want to be a better mommy.  Too often I used the phrase "I busy right now"  and though that may be true a times most of the time I just dont want to.  Then I realized how that must feel to the girls.  So once a day I will say yes to them.  "Do you want to play with me?"  "yes"  I can always get back to whatever I am doing later. 



I truly hope that I do well with these.  They are all pretty important and can only help me.  May all of you also achieve in this new year. 

Goodbye 2011

I can not say that I am too broken hearted to see the year end.  By see, I mean knowing that when I wake in the morning it will be a new year.  No staying up for this mommy. 

With that said here are a few things that happened this year:

- My girls are both officially in school.  Ava in Pre K and Katherine in Kindergarten.

- We cleared the house of the toddler cups.  You know, the ones with straws that pop up.  We also packed away the toddler forks and spoons.  I still can't part with them though.

- Ava is pretty well potty trained though we are still working on it.  She is a strong headed little girl and we are trying to get her to makes sure she pottys ALL the time for EVERYTHING. 

- I learned to whistle.  Yep, it took until I was 30 to learn how. 

- We took the girls to the movies for the first time this summer.  Katherine hates loud noises and we were worried she wouldn't do well in a theater.  She did great. So did Ava.  Katherine's first movie was Cars 2.  Ava was Smurfs which we all went to see on my 31st birthday. 

There are many things that have happened and continue to happen that are not good.  I just don't feel like seeing them in black in white.  Besides, who wants to read a blog with a bunch of sadness?

May 2012 hold much more of the good and skip the bad for us. 

Frosty the Snowman

I remember seeing this playing at night when I was 5 years old. I just found these online this year and wish I could somehow record them.
I am so happy to be able to share these with my girls now and see them enjoy them as I have. Something about this video just makes me smile and puts me in that Christmas Spirit that seems to get dimmed as I grow older.

May you enjoy!

A Mommy's Girl

This is how I found my 4 year old one night.  After putting the kids to bed, as most parents I go downstairs to do other things before I go to bed.

Also like in most homes, I hear little feet upstairs after tucking them in.  Now usually when Ava looks for me and I am not in my bedroom she will come downstairs.  When I heard her get up I thought she was just going to the bathroom since she didn't come down.  When the door to her room didn't close I thought she wanted to leave it open a little like Her big sister does.

Imagine my panic when I walked past her room on my way to brush my teeth and she wasn't there.  I actually thought she went with Katherine.  When she wasn't there I panicked a bit.  Then I found her on my bed like this.  Her toy horse she loves next to her face.  Not covered up.  I had to take a picture.

The next day she told me she wanted to sleep with Mama.  So little one just lay there waiting for me to come in.  I just hope she always loves me and wants to be close to me. 

Snow in October

Yes, first the first time in many many years (before I was born in 1980), it snowed in October.  It was actually very beautiful seeing snow on the autumn colored leaves.  Though it did pose a problem.  The trees still have their leaves and the snow happened to be a heavy wet snow.  This caused many people to have power outages which is to be expected.  Luckily we did not have one at our home.

All in all for where I am, in my town, it wasn't really that bad.  A couple inches and most was off the trees by nightfall.  If you were on Facebook though some people took it like the end of the world.  Now some of my friends live close but higher up on the mountain and did see substantial accumulation.  These however were not the ones that complain the most.

People complained because they were not prepared.  This snow was not a surprise or shouldn't have been since many people posted the night before on Facebook, it was on the radio stations, and just the fact that any talk of snow circulates like crazy in our area.  They even blamed the power companies for not restoring power fast enough. I guess in their world the company only has one line and can flip a breaker to make power come right back on. 

People panicking about what to do with the kids because they couldn't be on computers, watch tv, or play video games.  Kids were bored.  Now, I have my girls and I understand they can say they are bored while standing in the middle of a room of toys.  This just bothered me when I saw it.  I can think of half a dozen things to do right now.  This is a time to get kids to read, make art, choose toys they no longer love to get rid of, play board games, etc.  It just seemed like the parents also were saying they were bored. 

I knew there would be power outages and was actually surprised we didn't have one until last night while we were asleep.   I however thought quickly to prepare myself as much as I could.  I started by charging my phone. That way if there was an emergency I would still be able to call for help.  Next I planned different meals I could make and snacks I had for the kids if I couldn't cook.  Luckily we have gas heat (trust me I do not say that when the bills come) so I didn't have to worry about that.  Finally I thought of the rooms with the best natural light to go to for playing board games or reading. 

I'm not trying to preach or sound like I am better than another.  It just bothers me that instead of planning ahead or taking a minute to think things through people used their phones to go online and complain and blame anyone or anything else.  I am hoping they took this as a chance to become prepared.  To maybe change their dependence on electric. 

A New Obsession

What is the new site that has been passed throughout my friends?  The site that has become an obsession to I think everyone but one that I know of?  A site that has ceased the disposal of many seemingly unusable items? 

PINTEREST!!!

You can search anything and find results.  Tons of ideas for crafts, decorating, kids activities, recipes, quotes, and much more. 

As we know, I am a book lover.  I am making a clutch out of an old book.  Now cutting apart a book was hard for me but as luck would have it some patrons of the local library donated some really old books last week.  The librarian said I could take whatever I would like and so I found one that is actually falling apart a little already.  Now I just need to find an old clutch to glue in the middle and some scrap fabric to cover some tears already in the spine.

My mom isn't even on Pinterest and is supplying me though.  : )  She gave me her glue gun and a hard case wallet that is the right size to make it.  I can't bring myself to use the wallet though.  It's so nice and new.  Plus it is purple and my 5 year old loves it.  So my search for a clutch continues. 

My mother also got the wick I need to make a candle in a mason jar.  A friend and reader of my blog loves Mason Jars and I was thinking of making the candle for her birthday.  (Don't worry I already told her about it).

The point is, if you haven't tried it yet you should.  I just sent it to a friend from high school this morning and she is filling up her pins already.  : )