You know it's good when...

You know that you've picked out a great kind of soap when your husband comes out of the bathroom smelling his hands.  Then you curiously ask, "What are you doing?"  He then replies, "What's this soap? It smells good."  If I can get my husband to like a product that's pretty much all natural, but a little girly looking and vintage...then it's a win.

Thus I present to you another way to go green, plus a product that is down-right wonderful (and husband approved!)

Yes, it's a little pricey.  But it smells amazing, and I have to give credit to a company that makes things that are designed to be natural and safe.  Especially since I have a very curious young man at my home who is into everything.  And I have a baby.  Besides, once school is out I'm going to try out a tutorial on how to make my own refills of Mrs. Meyers soaps on the cheap.  But more on that later.

Who left the mop running?

First I must include a picture from my FAVORITE Disney movie.  (Note the quote)

But anyway, this is about a new mop that I love!  It's one of my goals to become more environmentally friendly.  I think of it as all a part of being a good steward of what I have, and that includes taking steps to keep the Earth clean.  Plus, it's really embarrassing when you have tons of trash outside your house for garbage day.  I know.

Nobody is giving me any money to write this, though I could sure use it!  : )  But I love the O-Cedar spray mist mop.




It's great because you can refill it with any cleaner you want (just make sure to dilute it), and you can use whatever mop pads you want as well.  If you want to go disposable, you can.  If you want to use some reusable Shark mop pads or the O-Cedar ones, it's up to you!  Today I used the Shark one, and then two disposable.  I know the disposable isn't green, but I had them for a Swiffer mop that I had that I didn't like.  I just wanted to use them up.  I always pick up so much dirt on them that I immediately get concerned that my floor before was filthy!  Does anyone else do that?  But then I get distracted and I don't think about it anymore.

Check it out, it's amazing.  Plus, if you missed Celebrity Apprentice, you should see The Hulk dance with this mop.  So funny.

Hello, Gorgeous

What is this new thing of wonder?  Why, it's my new sewing machine.  By new, I mean that I got it for Christmas from my in-laws, but have yet to post anything about it.  But all that has changed.  It quilts without those tiny little annoying snags!  It adjusts tension!  I can chose the needle down feature!  All of these things are things the other machine didn't do.  Plus, I read the entire manual from cover to cover, so now I know what everything does and how to use it.  Did I mention that it came with a zipper foot and a walking foot?  Oh the joys of this machine.  The only down side is you have to choose which speed you want on a dial for slow, med, and fast.  But the nice thing is that if you accidentally push the pedal too hard which I always never do, then you don't have any accidents.  I have already used it to alter our high school's tin man costume.  This brings me to my next point.  


Person who made the costume in the first place:

WHY ON GOD'S GREAN EARTH DID YOU USE SILVER TISSUE LAME'?  DO YOU HATE ME?  IT'S EXACTLY LIKE SEWING TWO TISSUES TOGETHER!  ONE SNEEZE AND THE COSTUME IS IN PIECES!

I'm sorry to type in that tone of voice, but I really do feel better now.  Phew!  But seriously...never again with the tissue lame'.  I hate that junk.  NEVER!

Pintrest To Do List

Gotta love Pintrest.  Here is my Pintrest to-do list.  Hopefully it will soon be a done list!

 

Chevron Quilt

I love this quilt.  Chevrons are so popular right now, and this tutorial makes it seem pretty easy.  Love to do this for the boy!

Baseball Quilt

I'm thinking that this would be really cute for Gavin's first birthday party...But it needs to be backed in a Cubs fabric.  

Baby Shadow Box

 I have baby boy's going home from the hospital all clean and ready to put in here.  It was a very cute outfit...which he HATED. 

Adorable and unique baby pants

I've made these rugs before.  My grandma used to make them all the time for us.  Now those rugs have all seen better days.  It's been a pseudo goal for me to try and replace some of them.  I can't replace the memories with them, but I can carry on the tradition.

But I CANNOT do anything until school is over.  Right now my plate is full.  Maybe I'll get some stuff on Etsy as well, who knows?

To be continued...

What a Steal!

My garage sale haul (part 2!).  See part one here.

The day was extremely cold and rainy.  But I bundled myself and Gavin up in our warmest comfiest clothes and we headed out to a subdivision.  The selection was a little surprising, considering how nice the mansions homes were.  Maybe I've lived in an apartment too long...but I saw a bunch of junk there!  I walked off with some of the best of it.

The Gavi-tron will have dress shirts to wear to church in EVERY size until he moves out...and I'll have gotten them for a steal!  Plus, I got him a sweater vest.  It's soooo cute.

Look how cute that little polo is!  It's so soft!

But don't go thinking that I only bought stuff for Gavin.  I managed to score myself a pair of jeans (Gap) for $10 and 2 shirts at $2 a piece.  Yesterday, I wore one of the shirts to work with a skirt that I got from a garage sale as well!  Total price of skirt (Jones New York) and top (Target) = $5.  Paired with some Target clearance tights, I felt like a frugal gal!  But I'm pretty sure no one else noticed, since I received lots of complements.  But if you know me in real life, I paid full price for them and I've never worn anything from Target.  They were designer labels.  

How about you?  Any garage sale scores or hauls?  Please share.

God Intervenes

Today I was reading a new blog (all about a family of 6 living under $28,000 a year!), when I found this page.  The author quoted the Message:

^27-29“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference?

Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.

People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Matthew 6:29-33

Wow.  I'm in awe.  The idea of simplifying our lives and living on less has been heavy on our hearts.  By our, I mean my husband and me.  I have a great job that has wonderful benefits-insurance wise, but it leaves a lot to be desired in the benefits-family area.  For the past month, it's been 12 hour days and me feeling like I never see my kiddo.  I guess it's really good to know that not only does God care, but he's actively involved in taking care of my family, me, and our situation.  ThePeacefulMom, thank you for the reminder of the blessing we have in Him.