Household Products I Love…

I’ve been thinking for awhile that I should post about some of the household products that we use and love in our house. Alright, so LOVE might be a bit strong, but these are definitely some favorites around our home.

Palmolive pure + clear

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This is a great dish detergent! It works great even on greasy dishes or food that is stuck to plates, etc. I really appreciate that it’s more natural than a lot of other dish detergents on the market. There are no unnecessary chemicals and no phosphates in this product. Additionally, the bottle is made from recycled plastic. If you are looking for a great earth-friendly dish product, this is a great choice. Works great and is ecologically sensitive. A+ product!
Click here to sign up to receive a coupon in the mail for Palmolive pure + clear.

Palmolive eco

palmolive_ecoThis is my new favorite dishwasher detergent. I very much appreciate that it doesn’t contain any phosphates. (However, please be aware that it does contain chlorine bleach if this is an issue for anyone.) I find that Palmolive eco cleans our dishes beautifully and doesn’t leave any residue. Additionally, this product goes a long way. We used to buy the little chalky tabs that go into the dishwasher. Not anymore. This liquid works better and lasts way longer. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this product is truly “green”, but in my experience it is more ecological friendly than a lot of other dishwasher detergents on the market today.

Murphy’s Oil Soap

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Murphy’s Oil Soap is an incredibly versatile cleaning product. The original formula cleans most all surfaces including wood, laminate, vinyl, marbel and MORE. Murphy’s is made from mostly natural ingredients and contains no ammonia, bleach or harsh detergents. It is also biodegradable which is a huge plus in my book. And, to me, the smell is incredible. There is a light, almost citronella, scent to Murphy’s which smells so clean to me without being overpowering or intrusive. Excellent product!

Clorox Green Works Products

green_works1I have tried almost all of these products and really like each one. The only one I haven’t tried yet is the bathroom cleaning spray. Otherwise, I have been very pleased with all the rest of these products. They work GREAT! These products are made with mostly natural ingredients and are safe for families. That is obviously an appeal to us. Now, again, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they are completely “green”, but I do appreciate that they are markedly better than many other products on the market today. I also appreciate that the packaging used is recycled and that no animal testing is done on these products.
Click here for a coupon for Clorox Green Works.

Arm & Hammer Essentials

armandhammer

This is another eco-friendly cleaning product that I really like. Each formula comes with a bottle of concentrated cleaner that is diluted with water in the spray bottle. This efficient packaging method produces less waste which is a huge plus. Each product contains plant based materials with no ammonia or phosphates. These work really well too. Another great eco-friendly product!
Click here for Arm & Hammer coupon registration.

Accomplished.

I have gotten a good bit done today. Now, granted, the entire house is not clean, but I still managed to get a lot done. For instance, I cleaned some of our downstairs carpet today. I did the half-bath, hallway and family room. Only the study and dining room didn’t get a carpet cleaning today. Not bad. I tried again to get the ceiling dust out of the kitchen and made more headway there. Got the dining room straightened up pretty well. Kept the kids fed and mostly happy too. Went to the grocery store and the bank branch inside the store. Even made dinner. Not bad at all. ;)

Tomorrow is going to need to be upstairs cleaning day. AND laundry day. Laundry never ever ends around here, that’s for sure. I’m also going to need to pack for the time we’ll be away in South GA. Also need to find time to get a haircut for Mariana. Whew! Another busy day ahead, it seems.

I’m also ready for warmer weather. It’s supposed to get down to freezing here tonight. Seriously. And our high tomorrow is supposed to top out at like 40. With wind. Brrrrrrr!

Hope all is well all over today,
Kelly

Spring Cleaning…

Today is a cleaning day in our house.  Hopefully I will get a lot done. I have two little “helpers” at home today because it’s Spring Break, but so far they are more interested in the play room and toys than cleaning with me. Go figure. ;) Although, to be fair, they did pick up the family room which was nice. I’m not really doing the deep cleaning associated with spring cleaning, but I am hoping to get things nice and tidy around here before we leave on Wednesday. It’s always nice to come home to a clean house. Hopefuly we’ll do that this time.

So, this is about it for my first post of today. Boring, right? But, maybe I can come back later and report that we have a nice clean house. That would be worthy of a shout from a mountain top if you ask me.

Have a great day,
Kelly

Winding Down…

  • We are winding down here after a busy weekend.
  • Yesterday, of course, was a “honey do” day with Mickey and me working on home improvement projects.
  • Mickey worked SO hard in our kitchen getting the popcorn ceiling down and then having to sand and scrap the texture that was left. That was the dustiest job I have ever seen. Seriously. I cleaned up last night and there is still dust today. But, at least the hardest part is done. We hope. ;) The ceiling still needs to be repainted, but that little project can wait for now. We may have to re-sand part of the ceiling and we are just not ready to tackle that again yet.
  • I worked in our half-bath downstairs yesterday. That bathroom had been just one of those rooms that I really didn’t like, but didn’t deal yet. The walls were this off-white/yellowish color and just look dingy to me. So, we did away with that. We repainted a nice chocolate brown on the walls and even on the ceiling. The trim is all white.  The vanity has double doors in the front and I painted the inside panel of each door brown and left the rest white. We took down the huge wall-mounted mirror over the vanity as well as the outdated light fixture and towel ring. We replaced all of the older fixtures with brushed nickle fixtures and they look SOOO good with the chocolate colored paint. Yay! I forgot to take “before” photos, but I’ll try to remember to take “afters” once we finish up the little details like touching up the paint in places it’s needed.
  • The girls spend the day with Papa & MiMi  (my dad and step-mom) at their house yesterday and had a ball. They have talked and talked about it since they got home.
  • Today hasn’t been all that busy, but it was busy enough.
  • I knocked out a Wal-Mart run with Mariana’s help. Mickey worked on mowing the lawn and Macey was here with him. Those were our biggest home accomplishments today. And, that’s enough.
  • Wait. I did try to remove some paint that I splattered on the carpet. So far most of it isn’t coming out, but I’m making progress. Does anyone know how to get latex paint (dried) out of carpet? Ideally, I’d just say let’s ripe out the carpet and put down new flooring, but…well, not right now. LOL!!
  • It was a gorgeous weekend here, weather-wise. That is changing rapidly though. It’s been rainy all around us today, but we have missed most of the rain in our direct area. However, the temps are taking a nosedive. We were in the 70s yesterday and today, but tomorrow the high is supposed to be 40-ish. And, it’s supposed to be windy. Brrr. Come back, Spring!
  • Well, it’s almost time to put the girlies to bed. Mickey and I are going to just chill out and watch a movie tonight. I recorded Baby Mama on our DVR, so we are going to watch that since there is no Amazing Race tonight.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend,
Kelly

Lessons Learned…

What I Learned About Popcorn Ceiling Today

  • Popcorn ceilings aren’t my favorite.
  • Removing popcorn ceiling material is beyond messy. It is the single dustiest job EVER.
  • We’re talking dust EVERY.WHERE.
  • I am still not a fan of popcorn ceilings.
  • But, I can live with the ones we have left.
  • The End.

PS: Our ceiling is scraped, but still not painted. That is a chore for another day. Trust me on this.

Home Improvements

Mickey and I are working on some home improvements this weekend. Our “honey do” lists include painting and sprucing up our downstairs half bath. And, of course, we have the ginormous task of scraping down the popcorn ceiling in the kitchen and then repainting the ceiling. All this on a day when it’s gorgeous outside. Go figure. ;) But, hey, it’ll be worth it. The girls are having a ball at Papa & MiMi’s, so it’s time for us to get a lot done. Wish us luck…and patience.

Praise Report!

Got a call today on the lab results from the kitchen ceiling materials. NO ASBESTOS!! Yay!!

That is most definitely a PRAISE for today!

Kelly

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday!

  • Macey’s class gets to participate in a Sock Hop today at PE. The school collected  donations  recently for a local food bank and so much food was collected that the students are getting rewarded with a sock hop. Sounds like a fun day in PE to me. :) Macey wanted to wear her poodle skirt, but it’s too small for her now. So, she’s in button-up white shirt, rolled up jeans and white socks. Her hair is in a ponytail with a pink “scarf” hanging down. Entirely too cute for words!
  • Can I just say that it is SOOOOOOOOO nice to have our hot water back. Oh my word. It’s incredible! We take it for granted every day and it is fantastic to have that luxury back again. We had a little scare last night because when we got home from church supper, the pilot light was out again. Ack!! We called the plumbing company and the dispatcher tried to find someone to come right out, but no one was available. So, we set up a service call for first thing this morning. Well, Mickey went down to try to relight the pilot himself and it worked. It’s still working. YAY!!! Hopefully that little outage last night was a fluke.
  • We are supposed to get the results back from our ceiling lab work today. PLEASE pray with us that there is no asbestos. This house was built in the mid-80s, so there is a slight likelihood that asbestos could be present, but we hope and pray that it’s NOT!!
  • The girls have portrait appointments first thing Monday morning. I am SOOOO excited about this! Now I have to decide what they are going to wear. Decisions, decisions!
  • We are supposed to get rain again today. This is the most rainy spring that I can recall in quite awhile. Not complaining, of course. Everything is SO green. Water levels up are up too. I just hope that this doesn’t trigger irresponsibility in people for them to waste water just because. I mean, honestly, lawns do not NEED irrigation when it rains four out of seven days in a week when the weather is mild.  We’ve been under drought conditions here for SO long that it’s nice to have a reprieve.
  • I should get going. Mariana is ready to change clothes for the first time today. It won’t be the last, I’m sure.
  • Please continue to pray for sweet Stellan and his precious family!

Woo Hoo!!

We have hot water again!! WOO HOO!!

Another plumber came out today and was able to fix the pilot issue.

happy

Yay!!

We are so happy and grateful!!

The state of things…

  • Good morning!
  • Well, there are is some good news to report from our home front this morning. The leaky pipe in our basement is fixed. YAHOO!! The plumber finally got here three hours after he said he would yesterday, but at least he got here and got the leak properly fixed at last. That’s great news!
  • In not so great news, the water heater is still having major issues. The pilot won’t light and stay lit. Mickey has tried and tried and TRIED, to no avail. He called the manufacturer of the water heater this morning and they said that they wouldn’t come out to look at it, wouldn’t touch it, etc. given the situation. Okay then. So, we called a local company and they are coming out this morning to have a look at it to see if it can be repaired. Maybe it can. This water heater was just purchased in December, so it’s not old at all. We would hate to replace it, but it may come down to that. If it does, well, it does. We’ll see what the day reveals. We’ll do what we have to do.
  • We were all able to get warm baths this morning, so that was nice. REALLY nice! Required a lot of water being heated on the stove and hauling it upstairs via buckets and big pots. Hey, whatever works, right? ;) Oh, it was sooooo nice to get that bath this morning. I felt absolutely amazing after that and still do.
  • Decided to keep Mariana home from preschool today. She is doing pretty well on the whole after her surgery on Friday, but I am thinking another couple of days at home would be good for her. She is still pretty tired and not quite back to 100%, so less is more for now. Her class is having their Easter party and egg hunt on Friday, so we really hope she can return for that.
  • Next week is spring break for both girls. We are probably going to head down to my mom’s for several days and be there through Easter. That should be fun! We’ll get to visit family and have fun hanging out down in South GA.
  • I haven’t been working out lately for a variety of reasons. I really miss it and I know I really NEED it, so I hope to get back on that very soon. Maybe tonight. I need to get back to Boot Camp. Stat!
  • I have gotten the nicest emails from the mother-of-the-bride from the wedding reception I photographed a couple of weekends ago. She is a preschool teacher at our church and is one of the sweetest people I know. They are absolutely thrilled with the photos and the DVD from the reception. Yay! That makes me so happy!
  • Remember, PLEASE, to keep Stellan and family in your prayers.
  • Hope everyone has a beautiful day today!

Prayers for Stellan