Duvet Roll

You guys, this is a life-changing trick:

You're welcome.

Purse Purge

It's my busy season for weddings so it's only natural that my purse gets weighed down with all sorts of random stuff. It also must be symptomatic of being a mom as I can recall my Mom pulling some pretty weird goodies of our her bag when we were young. You never knew when you need to hand a grouchy kid a juice box, right?

After reaching into the bottom of my purse to search for lost keys the other night I came out with a handful of crumbs, two pieces of loose gum, a broken bobby pin and no keys. A purse full of crumbs pretty much says it's time for a full fledged purse purge and here's what I found when I emptied it out:

Two pairs of sunglasses, a makeup kit, a sewing kit, 3 reusable shopping bags, a change purse, my wallet, 1 plastic spoon, a small silver wand, business card holder, my company name tag, a pack of gum, a bag of zip ties, hand cream, two packs of expired bunny gummies, 1 note book, iPhone head phones, a phone charger, 3 hair elastics, 3 bobby pins, a rainbow hair clip, a Peppermint Patty, 1 pack of raw sugar, 2 Band-aids, 2 stamped and addressed letters, 1 chit for the shoe repair shop, and a pile of random receipts.

It's no wonder the thing weighs 10 pounds.

Clean Freak

I'm not afraid to admit that I am a bit of a nut when it comes to cleaning. Chris often says, "You're cleaning again?" to which I answer, "Yup, and you can vaccuum."

Since I apparently spend so much of my time cleaning Eloise is the first to alert me when she notices dirt or dust or a spill. When I am sitting at the computer working she'll come over to me with a strained look on her face and say, "Oh no, its dust," as she presents me with a clump of Granby's hair from under the sofa. Outside with Chris this afternoon there was a bit of earth dumped on the pavement and Eloise looked at him and said, "Daddy made mess! Mama keen (clean) it!" Sure, let me add it to my list.

I'm all for having a cleaning buddy one day - it's going to mean less work for me - but I am a little worried that Eloise is beginning to develop my 'special' cleaning habits. My mom says I was about the same age as Eloise when she heard my piercing scream coming from the stairway. She raced over to me, worried I'd fallen down, or worse, but instead found me standing above a dust bunny with a look of terror on my face. Here we go again, Mom.

Crayons

Crayons are Eloise's favourite and she spends hours scribbling in the pages of her colouring book with "cayens". Fun as they may be, I've also figured out that crayons are quite messy. They break easily, scattering the carpet with soft, colourful shards, and washable or not, they are a pain to get off the floor and painted surfaces. And don't even mention bath crayons - they are the WORST.

Eloise certainly seems to understand that crayons are for the colouring book only but that doesn't stop her from doing a few extra scribbles elsewhere, especially when I'm watching. Unfortunately, it's become a game. She scribbles on the floor and I remind her to colour only in the book and she jumps up, runs to the pantry and points to the cleaning supplies. It turns out that teaching Eloise to "keen up" when she draws on the floor is as much fun as the drawing itself.

Would it be more of a lesson if I didn't let her clean up her scribbles?

The Wonders of Vinegar

I used to be a bleach girl. I swore by bleach for everything from scrubbing grubby bathrooms to whitening my whites and getting grime off the kitchen sink. There's no denying that bleach is effective stuff, but as an irritant to our skin, eyes and respiratory system I knew that I didn't want it around the house with young children. Not to mention that bleach is terrible for the environment. So, in an effort to green our lives a little bit more, we used the last of the chemical cleaners about a year ago and switched to natural solutions.

Vinegar: not just for fish & chips!

My favourite of these is good old white vinegar. An all-natural disinfectant, vinegar kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold and 80% of viruses, making it a perfect choice for cleaning all over the house. In fact, I use vinegar to clean the toilet, tub, tiles and faucets in the bathroom, wipe out the fridge, stove, microwave and sink in the kitchen. It works wonders on stainless steel appliances, glass and my ceramic tiles have never looked better!

Here are a few other uses for vinegar around the house:

• Unclog a drain with 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup hot vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes and then rinse with hot water. 
• Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards by wiping with full-strength vinegar.
• Wash floors with a solution of 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon warm water.
• Get soap build-up out of the dishwasher by running a cup of vinegar through a whole cycle.
• Eliminate airborne smells by placing a bowl of vinegar in a central location or heating some in a pot on the stove.
• Remove stains from clothing by soaking the stain in vinegar before washing.
• Get rid of lint by adding a half cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle of your washing machine.