Green Cleaning

When a Pen Explodes in the Dryer

A few weeks ago Chris sent me a text message: Apparently a ballpoint pen and a bag of slime took a spin through the washing machine and then the dryer. Mercifully, the bag of slime remained intact, but the blue pen didn’t survive the dryer. It exploded! Ugh. How was I supposed to clean up […]


Barf Bucks

The kids went back to school today after two weeks of winter break. This year’s break felt extra long (not necessarily a bad thing) for a few reasons: 1. Christmas fell on a Monday, so we just had one day between school and the holiday festivities, giving us 14 days to fill with activities and […]


My Favorite Kitchen Tool

In many ways, I fancy myself a minimalist. We might have four kids – and all the stuff that comes along with them – but personally I strive to keep the stuff to a minimum. The items I choose to keep in our home must serve a purpose. One such item is my most favorite […]


The Paper Towel Blues

I recently had to purchase two rolls of paper towels for my daughter’s PK-3 classroom. As it has literally been years since I’ve bought paper towels, I was shocked – SHOCKED, I tell you! – by how expensive a roll is! I could not believe the grocery store charges $2-$3 dollars for a roll of […]


Fruitflies: Trapped!

Ahhh the blissful joys of summer. Lazy days on the beach. Long evening walks. Splashing at the neighborhood pool. And…fruit flies! These swarmy little buggers invaded my kitchen the other day, and ever since I’ve been on a mission to eradicate every last teeny one. I know they don’t hurt and the damage they leave […]


Far From Perfect

By no stretch do I consider myself even a little OCD when it comes to my responsibilities as a wife and mother. While I definitely have my preferred ways to doing things, I have so many things on my “to-do” list that I just don’t have the time for perfection. Sometimes the realities of life […]


Here Comes the Son

I know Baby #4 is coming.  Soon. I can’t stop cleaning and tidying and organizing the house.  The other day I wiped down the blades on all our ceiling fans – something I’ve never done before!  My nesting instinct is in overdrive. Today I tackled the kitchen, but since it is a weekend all three […]


Homemade Make Up Brush Cleaner

I have a confession to make: I do not clean my make-up brushes as often as I should.  Beauty magazines encourage us to wash them like once a week. Huh?! That just doesn’t happen in my life.  Cleaning make-up brushes tends to fall to the bottom of the priority list, along with cleaning out the […]


My Most Productive Morning Ever

  It’s been a l o n g day. A bad nightmare woke Mack up at 2:45, and he stumbled into our room looking for consolation and cuddles. After I brought him back to his bed, I tossed and turned in mine for what seemed like much too long.  At 3:33 am, I decided to […]


Homemade All-Purpose Spray

With the exception of dishwasher soap and dish soap, I haven’t bought conventional cleaning products in years. I make homemade laundry detergent, and I rely on vinegar and elbow grease to clean just about everything else.  Choosing the homemade route saves us (lots of) money and reduces the amount of toxins washed down the drain.  […]


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