Safer Products - Shower Cleaner

Bathroom Multi Purpose Cleaner Recipe

1 Cup White Vinegar
1 Cup Dawn Dish Soap
*I added a little water to my solution.

Mix in a spray bottle. Spray liquid solution all over the shower and tub, letting it sit for 30 min. Then take a wash cloth or sponge and start wiping down the surface. Use a scrub brush for the extra difficult ring around the tub. But for the most part the surface should be easy to wipe clean, and soap build up free! Rinse with clean water and your shower should sparkle again!

*There are several recipes found on the Internet for this solution. I found this recipe via Pinterest and will link to the original post soon. Thanks!

Children's Book Review - Simple and Educational

K's favorite books right now. Okay, I'll admit, they're my favorite books to read to her right now.

1. Sesame Street ABC's and 123's

I've been teaching K the ABC's recently and was having a hard time finding something that clearly described the letter with a picture in a fun way that I know she'd enjoy. I came across this book at Hastings over the weekend and so far it has been a perfect book for this activity! It clearly shows the letters and includes lots of fun different pictures with the typed word that starts with that specific letter. She loves the bright pictures throughout the book and has started to repeat the letters after I say them and show them to her. It's also perfect since she's really into watching Sesame Street on Netflix right now.

2. My Little Animal Book

We have a couple books that include different animals and their names, but this book is FULL of different types of animals from all over the world! It's great! Real Photographs of animals (not cartoon drawings). I've been able to show K all the animals, include some sounds or signs with each animal and she's finally starting to point out which animal is which if asked. There are alot of different books teaching animals, however this seems to be the one with the most pictures and variety in it that I've found.

3. Dear Zoo

A family friend passed this flip book on to us recently and K loves it! It's a cute little story about writing a letter to a Zoo asking for a pet. The zoo sends a variety of different animals but each one just isn't a good fit, until finally at last the right one is sent at the end. Each page has a fun flip cover to reveal the different animal. K has learned what the animals are and the sounds they make by reading this book.

4. The Me Book

K's really into learning what her body parts are and this is a fun little book that describes the body parts and their actions. It has a vintage cartoon theme throughout the book. It's cute and creative.

Bathroom Storage

Spent a little time cleaning and organizing the storage in our bathroom this week.

Before:

 After:

 

I had several small storage containers (pictured above with the blue lid) that weren't being used. So I put all of our extra dental products and my "lady products" in three of those containers. This helped to cut down on clutter and multiple cardboard boxes taking up space.

Maybe next week I'll tackle the storage in the other two bathrooms.

Update on Goals 2012

Here's a little update on the progress I'm making on the goals I/we set for this year. Goals that have been completed or continued will be italicized and colored red so that you can easily see what's completed. Enjoy!

GOALS FOR 2012

Family/Financial Goals

Berry Picking at the local Blue Berry Patch – June
Guard our days/time away from work as much as possible.
Pay extra on our monthly car payment
Read the bible to Kendall at bedtime.
Potty Learn Kendall by her 2nd birthday - October - if she starts to act ready

Personal/Spiritual Goals

Read a chapter a day/week out of selected books
o the amount and book will change throughout the year
o Spring - Chazown for Small Group (weekly chapter) - January
Self promote/advertise my freelance photography. Schedule at least 2 seniors and 4 families for the spring/summer.
Host a scrapbooking Crop - April & October
Host a “Girls Night” once a quarter, a.k.a. “Pinsperation Night”!
Complete K's scrapbook of her first year
Give my hobbies up to two hours per week (Photography & Scrapbooking).
Meet with a friend for Coffee once a month.
Monthly dinner/game night with Friends.

Health/Fitness Goals

Cut back on eating out.
Continue Meal Planning on a weekly basis.
Purchase only the foods listed on our meal plan (some snacks are acceptable).
Eat more whole foods and less processed
NO SODA *I drank 2 sodas in January! Ordered by mistake, completely out of habit! ugh!
Work out at least three times a week
Gym Membership - Anytime Fitness - January

Family Travel Goals

Elmo Live in Kansas City - January
Pumpkin Patch in Iowa - October
Christmas Vacation in Florida
Visit Grandma Dorothy in Illinois

Marriage

Date Night once a month out of the house
Date Night once a week at home (after Kendall goes to bed).
Continue to pray for & encourage each other daily.
Weekend get-a-way for our Anniversary

Household/Yard Work Goals

Spring Clean & Organize Basement - January  Host a yard sale in the spring
Clean the oven!
Keep, Sell, Donate, Throw Away Toys twice a year. (keep ‘em organized!)
Install a clothes line in the back yard – cut down on the use of the electric dryer.
Make a database of Kendall’s clothing for the next year - January
Keep living room & kitchen 30 min. to company clean!
Create a recycling center in the garage.
Paint at least one room in the house (these white walls are making me crazy!)
Garden (Spring and Fall)
Plant a tree for the front yard

Fabric Portraits

We have yet to decorate (which really means "paint") most of our house. Everything, except for the three bedrooms, is still construction white from when it was first built. I found this adorable idea on Pinterest. The original post from The Purl Bee gives the instructions. I found these four hoops at the Salvation Army for $2 and the fabric I already had in my stash from a previous project.

These four hoops are now hanging in our daughter's bathroom. Eventually we'll get around to painting the walls, but for now these will add a cute pop of color.

Pom-Pom Sorting

This activity is best for children 15 months - 2 yrs. With adult supervision!

Supplies:
1 Bag Pom-Poms ($1 at Dollar Tree, craft section.)
1 Ice Cube Tray ($1 at Dollar Tree.)

My daughter sat with this for quite a while sorting the pompoms into the different sections of the tray. Great tool for teaching colors, matching, and pattern making.

Bean Sensory Box

 

This activity is best for Children 2 yrs or older.

Supplies:

• 2 Bags Dried Beans ($3 from Aldi's - you can use more if you'd like.)
• 1 Flat Plastic Storage Tote (the type that slide under the bed are nice - I already had one that was empty!)
• Nic-nack toys! (Trucks, spoons, little people, bowls, plates, animals & bugs, balls, etc.)

The boys played at the table with the bean sensory box for an hour and a half! They loved it!