Character Challenge for mom - Sweep with bare feet

Sweep with bare feet sometime in the next week and ponder the topic of "Integrity" while doing so.

 

Proverbs 10:9 "He who walks in integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will be found out."

Something that has come to my mind lately is how the true test of integrity can only be judged ultimately by God Himself. If you are a person of integrity you make right choices even when no one else is looking, but God sees all and He is the only perfect judge of your ways. Measure your ways by His standards as He truly is your only 24/7 audience.  We do good deeds because we are grateful for His Grace. Integrity is a natural outpouring of gratitude of a person saved by grace alone.

Homemade planner

I shared recently about how I found www.motivatedmoms.com.  Here is what I chose to do with my planner pages.  All I used was decorative 8 1/2 x 11 paper, decorative brads, scissors, a whole punch, and a marker.  

Homemade Planners

I decided to do the rest of the year and make a book for each month September through December.

The first thing I did was fold all the pages so it would be a true book with print on both sides of the page.  Then I punched the holes using my cheap 3 hole punch, which conveniently had a ruler on it so I would punch in the same place every time. 

I cut my decorative 8 1/2 x 11 paper in half and punched holes in them to make a cover and back. Then I placed all my pages with holes punched out on the cover and place the back on top.  Then I put the brads through the holes,  wrote the month on the cover and voila! My very own planner!

It is much more fun to get my list out each morning when it is ready for me in my cute little book. I find if I don't get my list done in the morning it is hard to motivate myself later in the day.

Here's to lists! Cheers!

Finding that daily cleaning routine

For the beginner housewife/mom it can be really hard to keep up on housework. There have been MANY days that I just completely give up on it all and sit down at my computer. Those who know me know that I am way too black and white about these things. If I can't do it right I don't want to do it at all. So my husband sees me going through these spurts of being either on or off. Lord bless his soul for putting up with me.

One day I was lacking motivation. (A regular occurrence around here.) I decided to type into google "motivated mom" to seek out some inspiration. To my enjoyment I found motivatedmoms.com. They have a selection of daily planners to help you stay on track. You can't go wrong for only $4 for a whole year of daily planning lists.

I bought the half page daily planner with a suggested bible reading, box to plan meals, and appointment time list. It really has helped me stay focused on my housework. Now all I need to do is put it in a pretty binder so I don't have papers flying all over the place. I still have my unmotivated days, but when I do my list in the morning it only takes me one hour or so to get everything done!

Of my 5 years of marriage I have found the trick to happy homemaking has a lot to do with doing a little bit every day and having a "neatness" mind frame throughout the day. (which is really hard for my personality.) So if I take my shoes off, I should immediately bring them to our bedroom closet. If I don't, before I know it there are 4 pairs of shoes hanging out by the door.

motivatedmoms.com has really helped me become more of the woman I desire to be and my house is starting to look pretty good too!

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My vacuum story

We all have a story of the many vacuums we have used over the years. Here is mine.

My first vacuum experience as a child was a scary old hoover that wouldn't quit and that newer Hoover mom bought that worked like a charm for years. So, growing up I only knew 2 vacuums. Since I have been married I have owned a total of 5.

Vacuums since we were married in March, 2005:

#1 - The Roomba- The robotic vacuum. We had some fun with it until we bought our pooch 7 months later.  I can't speak for the newer models, but the one we had could not keep up with the dog hair. I have met someone who absolutely loves their Roomba, but they don't have pets. I might buy a newer model like this if we were pet-less again someday.

                                                          

Until then I need to keep up with the dog hair this cutie sheds (Dachshund/Lab if you were wondering):

Vacuum #2 - Hand me down Hoover. This was a cheaply made Hoover wind tunnel. We acquired it from the summer camp we worked at the first summer of our marriage. This vacuum made us not like bagless vacuums at all.

This is where tell you about when we were introduced to the Rainbow by a friend who did presentations in the home. I drooled over it hoping that someday I would have one. This, my friends, is the vacuum of all vacuums. (If you can call it a vacuum. They don't like it when people call them vacuums.)  The water filtration cleans the air and keeps all those unhealthy dust particles out.The only downside is emptying the water and maneuvering all the attachments. If you can afford it, this really is the healthiest choice for a family.  Unfortunately, even a used one on craigslist is out of our price range.

Vacuum #3 - We bought a cheap bagless vacuum for $40.  I don't even remember the brand nor do I know why we bought another bagless. It was small and easy to use, but still smelly when it came to vacuuming dog hair.  We ended up giving it to a friend who was living with us when she moved into her apartment.

Vacuum #4 - The Rainbow knockoff - For my 26th birthday I received a Hydro-Pur Filtration Vacuum from my husband. I was elated and excited to have a water filtration system.  It worked well, but the thing that sort of ruined my party was the fact that the canister is poorly designed.  It was impossible to clean it out and became moldy because I could not reach certain crevices even with my hand.  The suction was also not good enough to pick up all the dog dander.  Just like the Roomba it might not be so bad for a home without pets, but it is not my first recommendation.  I used it for a year and a half and then decided to go for an old fashioned bagged vacuum.


Vacuum #5 - Bissell PowerGlide Platinum Upright vacuum, Bagged -  This spring I did some vacuum shopping because I was tired of A.) dog hair everywhere B.) The difficulty of getting the vacuum in and out of the closet and up can down the stairs. C.) The bad smell from burning dog hair.  I really enjoy this one and I hope it will live a few years at least.  I think the price is good for what you get, but they just don't make them like the old hoovers I had growing up.

What is your vacuum story?

What I clean with my Shark... hood vents

I love my Shark premium portable steam cleaner and look forward to showing you what I'm doing with it.

Today I bravely took on the dreaded hood vents(insert scary voice), microwave, and stove. I am saving the oven for a future date.

The hood vents have not been cleaned in the three years we have lived in this house and I'm not totally sure if they were cleaned much before that either.

As you can see the Shark loosened up the grease very well. I still put them in soapy water, but did not need to work hard to get the grease off.



The Shark will make it easier to clean my hood vents more often without the need for any procrastination.