Tuesday Tip

Problem: Food has boiled over, burned and become encrusted on your stove.

Solution:
All-purpose cleaner
Comet
Soft Scrub
Pampered Chef scraper
Burning it off
Scraping with fingernail
Oven Cleaner

Maybe it seems like an obvious solution, but it took almost a week of having a big ugly burnt-food spot on my brand new stove, and trying every cleanser and method of scrubbing and scraping, for me to discover it. Just spray onto the offensive spill, let sit for around an hour (depending on intensity of spill and burnage) and voila! It wipes right off. Works every time.

Summer is a Little Busy for Me

It looks to me as though Andrea won last cycle (unless someone hasn't sent in their tallies?).

I'm sorry I am so late getting things posted. I have decided I need to just do the best I can this summer, but spending time making time with the kids are the priority. That means that we spend most mornings away from the house and most afternoons on the beach. I will try to get my daily things done, but can't promise I'll achieve any of the challenges. That being said, maybe someone else can be in charge of keeping track of who has assignments this week? I would appreciate it. If no one cares to do it, I will try to keep up. I think since everyone had an off week last week we will go with Andreas idea and keep the weekly and 5 minute challenges the same this week and rotate next week. That means, I suppose, that I need to come up with another tip. I will think about it and let you know.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

A New Incentive Program!

So here goes. I need a break from cleaning. I have been so busy the last few days, weeks, months that I have not done anything that I like to do. It has been going going going and when I get a break from the going, I do housework. SO.....I want to make some jewelry. I LOVE to give away the stuff I make so here is the new incentive program for this next cycle.

If you get 1 week with a perfect score you will receive-----a pair of earrings!

If you get 2 weeks with a perfect score you will receive-----a matching necklace!

If you get 3 weeks with a perfect score you will receive------a matching bracelet!

If you get all 4 weeks with a perfect score you will receive------A SECOND SET!

This is not just for the winner with the most points. I will do this for ANYONE who qualifies! I am super excited to get my stuff out and do some jewelry making so PLEASE work hard and do GREAT this next cycle!

(and no, your jewelry will not have diamonds in them.....keep on dreaming!)

A Game for my Tip

This is a keep kids busy/ fun family night type post. I had never heard of this game before we moved here, but it is a tradition at our school. It is called tennis baseball. Tennis baseball is played like regular baseball only the bat is a tennis racket and the ball is a tennis ball. It makes it easy to pitch, even Joseph can hit it sometimes, and requires no gloves. I played it with Ryan's class the last day of school and it was so fun, we went out and got tennis rackets to play at home.

I like that we can play it with just our family at a local park. It is also perfect for classes (the kids played it all the time at school) or church groups. Even uncoordinated people like me hit the ball. The whole time we played, I never saw someone strike out. It is really fun and you should give it a try.

5 Minute Challenges

Sorry for the delay, I wrote 4/5 on Monday morning, then left the computer to take care of something and never made it back. Here they are, finally.

1- Vacuum edges of carpet (at least one room)

2- Clean all mirrors

3- Deep clean high chair (or equivalent)

4- Clean inside & outside of sliding glass door (or equivalent)

5- Read one Ensign article

Garage

Really???? The Garage???? Do you know how busy I am this week!!! There is no way I can get to the garage!!! I don't have a garage!! What in the world are you thinking saying the Garage????

OK, there I said it, not only did I say garage...but I listed all of the bad things you are thinking about me too. Don't worry I am thinking them too. I am insanely busy right now, but I think that the garage has to be done. So here is how I am defining it:

1. If you are really busy you only have to spend at least 1 hour in the garage working

2. If you don't have a garage then clean out the closets or spaces where you store your "garage items" such as camping equipment, tools, etc.

Good Luck, you can't have it worse than I do, I promise! To prove it here is a sneak peak at my

garage.

Last Week of Cycle

I was doing great last week, until I got really sick. To make matters worse, I found out the hard way my carpet cleaner was broken. I still managed to get my daily cleans done until the last day when 4 days of yucky illness got the better of me and I didn't do it. Anyway, I am feeling better now and am hoping for a better week.

Here are the assignments this week:

5 Minutes: Andrea
Weekly: Brenda
Tips: Charlotte

Happy Cleaning!!

Weekly Challenge

I have been MIA on this blog for awhile point wise, sorry. I really don't know my point totals for the last few weeks. I'm going to get my act together and join back in the fun for July. I'll be ready to handle things by then, hopefully.

The Weekly Challenge this week is carpets. If you have a carpet cleaner, then you can pick one room and clean the carpet. If you don't have access to a carpet cleaner, then you can spot clean in several different rooms. I know that I really need to spot clean a couple of places, but I think I'm also going to do my entire front room. Ken did the hallway last week one day while I was at Tami's and it looks so nice, but now I feel my front room looks terrible!!! Good luck!

5 minute challenges

1. Sanitize door handles/stair railing
2. Dust out light fixtures
3. Make Grandpa Bodily a father's day card and mail it
4. Wipe off top of fridge
5. Sanitize outside of garbage cans

LEMONS

Here is a tip I picked up in my cooking class at BYUI. After running your garbage disposal (or garbarator for those Canadians out there) simply drip in a piece of lemon, or even just lemon peel if you have used a lemon. This leaves your sink smelling great and the acid in the lemon helps to clean the disposal so that it doesn't smell bad from residual food in it. I have only done it a couple of times, but it makes the sink area smell great. (you could also use orange peels, but they don't work quite as well as lemons.)

Weekly Challenge- Done!

I was surprised how bad my fridge had gotten. Some of the gems I uncovered in there included a single piece of bread, some leftover potatoes from who knows how long ago, and a bottle of chili sauce that expired in March 2007. (That means it survived 2 moves!)

Assignments this Week

5 Minutes: Tami
Weekly: Kim
Tips: Brenda

Tuesday Tips - Kids Journals.

Sorry this took so long to post, but better late than never, right? So, I really like to have a journal for my kids of their young lives. They say and do so many cute things and learn so much everyday and it is easy to forget. I found that I was not consistent in writing in the journal that we bought for Abe though. So, I bought a bunch of cheap, small spiral bound notebooks from WalMart and put them with a pen in places in the house that we spend a lot of time (kitchen, Abe's room, toy room, car, etc). Then when he does or says something I think I would like to remember, I just jot it down with the date in the closest available notebook. Every couple of months or so, I transfer the entries into Word and voila! instant journal!

Weekly Challenge- Charlotte

I clean my fridge out almost every week on shopping day. Sometimes it gets pretty bad, but usually it isn't too bad. My freezer, however, just gets stuffed fuller and fuller. It is SO small and my family is SO big that it looks crowded all the time. I even have an outside one that is also full. Ever since we bought the cow and stored it outside, my freezers have been a mess. So I pulled it out and organized it. Surprises: 3 bags broccoli, 4 bags strawberries, 15 small bags mozzarella cheese (I buy big bags and store them in smaller ones and must have accidentally done it 2 or 3 times thinking I was out), and 3 opened bags of hotdogs. I'm saying that this REALLY needed done. To make room I moved all the meats to the outside freezer.

Weekly Challenge

Clean out your fridge, and your freezer if you have time left over.

Wipe down the shelves, the drawers, the doors, and throw away those moldy leftovers.

5 Minutes

1. Organize hung clothes (I thought I would continue the theme. If you did the floors last week then the closet rod this week and then the shelves another week, you have a clean closet)

2. straighten broom closet (or where ever it is you keep the brooms and cleaning stuff)

3. electronic screens (mine need it again)

4. straighten computer desk

5. table/chair legs

Mas bonus points, por favor!

By Saturday I hadn't had a second to even think about the weekly challenge. But when I finally got a chance, I realized there was nothing for me to do!

So with my 2 minutes I straightened the snack-food shelf:

And cleaned up some sugar that spilled:

Here's the rest of my cupboards:

Watch out, ladies. I might actually be a threat this month!

Next Week assignments are:

5 Minutes: Charlotte
Weekly: Andrea
Tips: Kim

Weekly Challenge completed- Charlotte

I finally had a weekly challenge that wasn't a huge deal for me. I keep my cupboards pretty much the way I want them. However, after a year I had decided to move some things around so I did. I cleaned out the cupboard that was messy (left) and moved my pans and bowls from a cupboard to a drawer and the plastic storage from the drawer to the cupboard. I also threw away any containers without lids or lids without container. I decided to store the big containers with their lids and the smaller ones I stacked the containers and grouped the lids into a drawer.

For some reason my before and after words didn't upload. The top is the before and the bottom is the same shot after. You can see how I switched the pans' and containers' places. After I took the pictures I decided to store the big turquoise bowl with the other large bowls.

Until I posted this, I had no idea I had a passion for kitchen organization, but apparently I do. Maybe because it is one of the few places the kids can't mess up?

Weekly Challenge

So this was one of my goals last month and I didn't do it so now I'll make you all do it! Hahahaha. Okay so clean out/organize your kitchen cupboards. For me this includes getting rid of old dishes we never use or are rusty, making everything have a right place, and wiping down the bottom of the shelves. I always seem to have the one cupboard that I just stuff our treats or candy in or that I just throw tupperware I can't find a place for in.

So there you go. Good luck and happy cleaning!

Tuesday Tip

Think about why you are cleaning!

When I know I need to clean something just because I "have" to, my motivation is at -12. But if I decide to have a specific purpose for doing it I am able to get going and get so much more accomplished. Maybe points are the only thing that motivate you, or the look of surprise on your husband's face when he comes home, or, like Brenda said, having a more "refined" home.

Sometimes I try to remind myself who I do it for- to set a good example for my kids and show my husband that I love and appreciate his hard work.

Although- my motivation might not always be positive (yesterday I worked SO HARD so that I could prove to Barlow that I could get more done in half a day than he did in the 10 days I was gone... but that's another post.)

Whatever your inspiration, think about it this week as you get ready for summer!

5 minute challenges

Before I list the challenges I wanted to share part of what I read in June's Ensign last night from a talk by Elder Douglas L. Callister of the Seventy:

President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, owned few things, but he took care of them. He was fastidious in his appearance. He pressed his dollar bills to remove the wrinkles. He allowed none but himself to pack hi s overnight bag. He knew where every article, nut, and bolt of the household was, and each had its place.

Would this be true of the environment in which you live? Is it a house of order? Need you dust, clean, and rearrange before you incite the Spirit of the Lord into your home? President Lorenzo Snow said: "the Lord does not intend that the Saints shall live always in dens and caves of the earth, but that they shall build fine houses. Wen the Lord comes he will not expect to meet a dirty people, but a people of refinement.

I thought this a fitting quote for our blog. I am going to try a little harder this week. Hope it inspires you too. The entire article is called Our Refined Heavenly Home. And the text can be found HERE.

Here are the 5 minute Challenges this week:

1. Straighten a Cupboard (or 2) in the Kitchen

2. Clean wood on coffee or end tables

3. Wash Kitchen walls

4. Fix one Decorating item (either hang something up that you have been meaning to get to, or paint something that needs a touch up, or rearrange a picture arrangement)

5. Straighten your closet floor (and vacuum/sweep it if you get time)

Lets start again

I was talking to Brenda, and we were thinking that after the week off, we should start a new cycle. If anyone has a problem with that, let me know. After all Brenda is the only one who kept track of week #3. SO anyway, the assignments this week are:

5 Minutes: Brenda
Weekly: Tami
Tips: Andrea

Happy cleaning!