Purge the toys!

Last night, the last straw was drawn. I am so tired of toys everywhere in my house. I would be fine if they could clean up after themselves, or after the many times they are asked to. So, this morning, every toy in the house was gathered up. 2 trash bags full were put in the back of our truck and will go to Salvation Army this weekend, 1 trash bag went in the garbage, then the rest went into plastic crates in the locked storage room. That is right. My children do not have any toys to play with. They need to learn how to appreciate what they have been given. As soon as they can start taking responsibility for what they have left, pens, pencils, crayons, and paper to write on, then they will get 1 toy back. After that there will be other requirements decided on, in order to obtain more toys. I have also decided that there will not be any more junk toys coming into our home. If they get anything as a present, it must be educational. My children should have known that this would happen. I have been threatening this for the past week or so. If I say something, then it will definitely be done. If you are my child, you do not disobey me, or there will be consequences, period!

Lemon (or citrus) vinegar

Somewhere along the way. in the past month, I came across lemon vinegar, to help clean those stubborn greasy messes. I decided to try it and now I just have to share it with my readers! I usually just clean with straight white distilled vinegar that I get in bulk at Sam's Club, but this stuff rocks.

It is so simple.

Make lemonade (well, that's what we did...)

stick the lemon peels, cut into sections, into a quart canning jar
pour white vinegar over these
put a lid on
let set for 1-2 weeks on top of your fridge or in a cabinet (don't forget about it though)
strain into a spray bottle
use it on everything!

If you don't like lemon scent, then you can try it with oranges or even grapefruit too!

I would recommend using organic, so they don't have all those yucky sprays and pesticides on them.

So, there you go. Easy homemade cleaner that really works.

20 Benefits and Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide article

I thought this was an important thing to share.

http://www.realfarmacy.com/20-benefits-and-uses-for-hydrogen-peroxide/

I also use vinegar for cleaning. I myself do not use chemicals in the house for cleaning, although my husband does, but he is the one that cleans the heavy duty stuff anyway.

"Spring" Cleaning

Well, yesterday was an unexpected day that ended up getting a lot done around the house. We decided to go through everything and check expiration dates, which led to organizing the cabinets, getting everything out that we haven't used in quite a while and putting it in the storage room "baking section" (what I am calling it now). That led to cleaning out and organizing the hall closet and turning it into another pantry. After that Eric went outside and finished the raised bed boxes and cut out a shelf to hopefully finish the kitchen cabinets, so we can store the larger dry goods that we buy from BJ's.

I am very happy at what we accomplished.