Organise My Home - Week 9

A bit of an easy one this week again - phew!  I am still trying to work out how our office can be better!

Week 9:  Cleaning products

Have you been through your cleaning products lately to see exactly what you have???  Do you need to condense them down so you only have a few??  Here's a tip all you really need is white vinegar and baking soda!!  Yip that's it.

I use the glass cleaner recipe below for everything - windows, benchtops, floors, bath (spray then sprinkle with baking soda).  It is great.

Drain Unblocker
Sprinkle two thirds of a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by 200ml white vinegar and leave for 10 minutes. It will form a gas that will clear the blockage. Flush with water. If there is still a blockage, repeat, but use washing soda instead of baking soda. Keep repeating until blockage clears.

Mould and Mildew PreventersSpray1 – Fill a spray bottle with 2 cups of water then add 20 drops each of lemon, lavender and tea tree oil. Shake and spray where mould and mildew are likely to grow. Don’t wipe or rinse off.

Spray2- This removes mould from bathrooms and outside on wooden decks Mix quarter of a teaspoon of oil of cloves into one litre of water. Just spray on and leave as long as possible. Repeat if necessary.

Oven CleanerMix together one cup each of washing soda and baking soda. Sprinkle the bottom of the oven to cover. Spray with water until very damp, and keep moist by spraying every few hours Let set overnight. In the morning scoop it all up along with the grime and rinse.

Glass CleanerFill a spray bottle with 2 cups water and 1 cup white vinegar. Add a few drops of liquid detergent and a few drops of lavender oil. Spray windows, wipe with rag and finish off with scrunched up newspaper.

Foot OdourInto every pair of shoes, sprinkle inside liberally with some baking soda. Followup with a few drops of tea tree oil and leave overnight. In the morning shake out the powder. Do this once a week.

Soak the feet as often as possible, even just once a week, in a bucket of warm water with 2 tablespoons of sea salt and 2 tablespoons of baking soda added to it.

Mix 50ml of base oil such as olive, almond or jojoba. Add to that 10 drops lavender essential oil and 10 drops tea tree essential oil. Rub this oil into the feet, preferably in the morning before you put your socks on, as a deterrent to fungi and odours.

Blueing powderMix 3 cups of baking soda with half a teaspoon of Prussian Blue powder(available from art supply stores.) Store in an airtight container. For one set of sheets , add a teaspoon of the mixture to the final rinse of your wash, making sure the bowl is fill first. If you are washing more than a set of sheets, increase the amount accordingly. If you hang your sheets out in direct sunlight, this will work even better.

These recipes are from Wendyll Nissens book Domestic Goddess - it has oodles of helpful tips and recipes in it.  Or check out her website

Having a moment........

I had one of THOSE moments today - you know a 'mother' moment. 

I wanted to

• pull the car over, get the kids out on the footpath and drive off without them,
• squish my sons face in his dinner cause he didn't want to eat it
• sit on the floor of our office with the door closed and rock slowly while humming softly to myself
• walk out!

Crazy 1 has reached that stage.  I am nearly 5, Mr Independent, painted on ears, arrogant stage.  I know you are thinking but how can someone with big eyes and long lashes like his be like that - well he just is!

There are 23 more sleeps until D-Day (first day of school) and I am excited.  Not because it means someone else has to deal with him or I will have some spare (?) time, but because he is SO ready to learn.  Everyone who has kids aged 5+ kept telling me they reached a stage where they were ready but I didn't really pay attention.  Well now I am - he is ready.

The other Crazy, the clown crazy is just in LOVE with pushing the boundaries and has a favourite pass time of tantrums.  It is just peachy! :)  He seems to have contracted a case of verbal diarrhoea - most of it is decipherable but others I find I just sit there and go 'oh yeah', 'oh wow', 'really?'  Its super cute but tiring at the same time.

It all got a bit much this afternoon on the way home in the car - the squealling, the talking, the yelling, the fighting, that I decided to make up a game.  I said to them 'lets play who can keep quiet until we get home' (brilliant).  It worked really well for about 100m (if that).  Crazy 2 gave in with a classic Shrek 2 (?) moment - the one where Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey are in the carriage on the way to visit her parents and won't shut up, so Shrek says 'can you just be quiet for 5 minutes'.  So he then starts making POP noises with his mouth.  Crazy 2 did this!!!!!  I couldn't help it, I absolutely lost the plot laughing and had a timely reminder that they are just young, full of energy and just wanted to talk.

Now as I look at them sleeping in bed (and listen to Crazy 2 snoring) I have shed tears over how nasty and self centred I was today.  My kids are fantastic and I love them to bits.  Bring on tomorrow and a chilled out mother!

Organise My Home - Week 8

I'm back!!!!  So I decided to have two weeks off for the school holidays and I'm a day late - whoops!

Anyway, back into it...............

Week 8:  Home Office

1.  Declutter your home office
2.  Organise and clear off your work space
3.  Organise your office supplies and equipment - you don't need to store 4 reams of paper ON your work space.

Pretty small and simple this week.  However I am also still working on the whole filing system as well - that's why there aren't any photos from last week.

I love holidays

I have decided that Mr W has THE best job, or at least works for THE best company - why??? as their office shuts down for a week after Easter.  It is fantastic.

This year we decided that we would go away for a family holiday seeing as in a weeks time Crazy 2 will be 3 and off to kindy, and in a months time Crazy 1 will be 5!!!!  (Eeeckkk I know what will I do with my time!)  We finally decided on Rotorua (lots to do, and not too far to drive).

We I was slightly nervous about hitting the Napier-Taupo road following this trip at Christmas time, but we made it with no tears.  Instead this time we had 'a bad Ben10 and Transformer as New Zealand has some bad animals' in the back seat.  (in the boys words!)

We stopped off in Taupo for lunch and a play at the domain which was just 'peachy'.  The boys weren't remotely interested in lunch and just wanted to play, so there were tears and tantrums.  In fact Crazy 2 had a mega tantrum as we told him he needed to heat 3 sausage rolls and then could go an play.  When he finally sat down he progressed to eat through the remaining ones and walked off as if nothing had happened!

I think the rest can be said in photos...........

Te Puia over the back fence

Taking it all in

Stoked about Hot Chocolate for breaky

Caterpillar Museum

Luge racing

AmazeMe hedge maze

Maze losers walking the plank

Goon

Mini golf on the hardest course we have been
to

Haka time

Saluting the soldiers

Dad was on bath duty!!!!

Enough said!

Lowlights:

• Seeing a naked farmers wrinkly white bum cheeks
• Myself and the 2 Crazys were unwell (with colds) so lots of coughing and spluttering
• The tourist attractions are ridiculously expensive (RIDICULOUSLY)

Highlights:

• While we were looking in a clear water pond in the Redwoods, an English tourist Dad asked his daughter if she had farted, to which she replied 'no Dad, that's Rotoruas bum!'
• Crazy 2 thought Crazy 1 kept pushing a button to make the chairlift stop from the bottom of the luge back to the top.
• At The Warehouse Crazy 2 jumped out screaming at a teenage girl - just because....... 
• On the luge Crazy 2 would scream at anyone we passed
• Our accommodation was 2 story so we had heaps of fun sliding down the stairs on our bums
• Crazy 1 squeezing my leg as we left the top in the gondola - you can see the building roof under you and then it just drops away
• See a big red button - must push it!!!!  At least this seems to be Crazy 2s idea.  He saw a red button at the top of the luge chairlift ride, so pushed it - yip it was just the emergency stop button for the whole chairlift!!!!  Thankfully it didn't stop for too long.

And the best thing.......  you can do a silent and violent you know what and those around you are non the wiser!!!!  :)

About Me........

I saw this posted in a few blogs and thought I would give it a go, seeing as I don't have anything fantastic to write about!

A. Age: 32

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore that you hate: Drying dishes and mopping

D. Dogs: None but asked every day for one.

E. Essential start to your day: COFFEE and strong.

F. Favorite color: Red.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver.

H. Height: 5'7" I think.

I. Instruments you play: I have played in the past piano, guitar, bass guitar, flute - couldn't do it now though.   Does singing count??

J. Job title: Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.

K. Kids: 2.

L. Live: What is usually known as the sunny Hawkes Bay but this summer it has been hopeless.

M. Mother’s name: Mrs C

N. Nicknames: Hmmmmmmmmm don't think I have one

O. Overnight hospital stays: Have had a couple.  Tonsils out when I was 5, car accident when I was about 9-10, think there was another but can't remember it.

P. Pet peeves: FLYS!!!!!!

Q. Quote from a movie: "To infinity and beyond!" - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story.

R. Right- or left-handed: Right.

S. Siblings: 2. One of each

T. Tattoos & Piercings: One piercing in each ear.

U. Underwear: Um, yes?

V. Vegetable(s) you hate: Mushrooms and most cooked veges (don't worry I do eat the cooked veges for my boys sake!).

W. What makes you run late: Kids!

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, wrist x2, knees, foot, shall I keep going???

Y. Yummy food that you make: Lasagne and Pizza!

Z. Zoo animal: Giraffe.  They absolutely fascinate me.

Home @ 67

4.13pm Waiting for Dad to come home

Organise My Home - Week 8

Just realised it was Monday!!!!!  Ready for another weeks worth of challenge???  This one isn't too strenuous (well hopefully!) and might turn up a few surprises.  What is it.............??????????????

Week 8: Filing system

1.  I guess the easy part - sort out where you are going to store/sort/file your home documents.
2.  Decide how you are going to file all your documents (what groups you need) - we have bank statements, credit cards, invoices, Family Trust, insurance, sundry, and a file each for the boys.
3.  File any documents that are in your 'filing' pile (or if you are already seriously organised your intray).
4.  Sort through your old documents and remove anything that is older than 6 years (bank statements, invoices etc) and discard.

Hope you have some fun with this one.  I am trying to think of something new to sort and store your documents as they are currently in 3 places - as seen below.

The 'In-Tray' complete with someones tee shirt!

Current system that I think needs updating to something
more crafty