Tools of the Trade

When you are a full-time mom, you spend a lot of time with cleaners of various kinds.

Yes, it's true.

Maybe not one of the most exciting parts of the job....but it's got to be done.

Washing dishes, wiping countertops, mopping floors, scrubbing toilets and showers, and we can't forget the LAUNDRY!

With one mommy (who gets spit-up on quite a bit), one daddy (who works around grease and out on the farm), one two-year-old (who's learning how to use the potty), and a baby (who spits up) - we do quite a lot of laundry. And I didn't even mention the laundry I do for our cloth diapers (and training pants).

Last month I tried a new laundry detergent that has really improved the chore of doing all that laundry. This stuff is amazing. Clothes that had stains on them previously are coming out of the wash clean, and without any extra scrubbing on my part!

Possibly the most amazing thing is how it's significantly decreased the amount of time I spend on laundering the diapers. I used to have to run them through two washing cycles: once with baking soda and vinegar on all cold water, and then again with detergent with hot water. Without that first step, the diapers would come out still smelling like....well, DIAPERS, and that's not a good thing! So now that we've switched brands, I just run the diapers through with our new laundry detergent on hot water and completely skip the first cycle. And they smell fresh!

Maybe not a big deal for some people, but this saves me time and water on the diapers, and gets me cleaner clothes all around....and for the same money! Not bad, if you ask me!

Cora's First Haircut, and Room Pics

So this is Cora and her animal pillows. I made the zebra, elephant, and giraffe, the monkey was deeply discounted at Joann's. Also visable is the quilt I made for her bed.

We found those wall stickers at WalMart on clearance - there is a tiger, a parrot, a couple of monkeys, and some tree frogs. Cute, and Cora LOVES them! They're made to stick on teh wall, and you can peel them off and reposition easily without damaging paint.

This is the valance I made from scraps leftover from the quilt. I still haven't bought a light blocking blind for this window yet.

And now for the haircut.

After her bath yesterday, I was having a TERRIBLE time trying to comb through the tangles at the ends. I said, enough of this - we are going to give you a haircut! So I combed as far down to the end as I could easily, and cut the tangled part off. It ended up being about 2-3 inches. Really it was only the front that needed it, but I trimmed some off the back too.

It's pretty obviously not a professional's work, but it's a lot easier to comb her hair now, and it is clear as can be my Cora girl is pretty pleased with her new 'do! (in process she actually kept telling me to "cut more".....I think I better keep the scissors hidden away carefully!!!!)