A City Life For Me

Years ago I used to follow a blog that hosted a "Works-for-me-Wednesday" blog party.  I learned a lot of homemaking tips!  This one has stuck for years... If you want to keep your shower and tub soap-scum free, just fill a dishwand scrubbie with half vinegar and half blue dawn dish soap.  When you are in the shower, use the wand to give your tiles a quick scrub.  It makes it very easy to get the grout clean too!  Because you don't have to drag out a bunch of cleaning supplies and get on your hands and knees, I find it is easier to be consistent in keeping things shiny!  I would put the dish soap in first, then the vinegar.  Store it upright like pictured below so the soap doesn't drip out in between showers.  Give it a quick shake and scrub away! What's your best homemaking hack!

I have always had a list posted in my kitchen of my daily, weekly, and monthly household "chores."  It helped to keep me on track so I didn't forget things, and the goal was also that it would keep me from overdoing it all in one day.  When I was a mom of just little people (I had four under three years old when the twins were born), it was a sanity saver.  I work better and relax better in a clean and organized environment.  But sometimes my desire for cleanliness makes me a little "OCD" as my mom says.  Trying to do all of the jobs in one afternoon usually leads to a crying breakdown right about the time dinner needs to be cooking... Some days with little people feel as if the cycle will never end.  The kids make a mess.  You clean the mess.  Or you don't clean the mess and it eventually drives you nuts.  But recently I have entered a "sweet spot" where my kids are able to help with the chores.  Now, many times it still feels easier...

Last week was one of the busiest, overwhelming weeks in a long time.  I’m still trying to figure out the best schedule/order for homeschooling four kiddos on three grade levels, plus the addition of a precocious two year old who intervenes every 3 minutes.  We hosted a five-day Bible Club for the kids in our neighborhood, and we continued our free-coffee Friday outreach.  Saturday we had Bible Study, and Sunday was a full day at church.  Somewhere in there I need to fit piano lessons, Patch the Pirate Club devotions, art class, and monthly grocery shopping trip.  Not to mention that for the last nearly ten years the biggest place we have lived is 1,000 square feet…now we own a house with twice that plus a basement, porch, garage, and back yard.  (Huge blessing…huge responsibility!) We really did have a good week in Bible Club, but there was a lot to prepare and do for each day.  On Saturday I was sweeping and mopping the floors in preparation for...

:: World’s Best Dishcloths. My mom put me onto these, and since I had a house-warming gift card to spend, I went ahead and bought a six pack. I love them! I ditched everything else I had in my kitchen – even my homemade ones! I still change them frequently, but they don’t stink as often. They are soft, sized right, and do the job well!  :: Chore Charts . We are finally settled enough to establish some regular chores. I revamped the chore charts in my scrapbooking program, and the kids have done well staying on track. I am also enjoying the extra help of my now-much-bigger-little-people. Elaine washes the breakfast dishes and sweeps the back porch. (We live on three levels and have lots of drains…so if they’re not kept clean we’ll have a plumbing bill!) Nolan sorts the recycling for me and keeps the front patio in order. Liberty is fantastic at organizing the mudroom, and Nehemiah is learning to vacuum the steps! It’s worth teaching your kids to do chores! :: My house! So many of ...

I’ve seen a lot of frugal hacks for liquid hand soap going around Pinterest.  Most of them involve grating a bar of soap, adding water, and voila!  You have a ton of liquid hand soap to use as a refill.  However, since there are no preservatives, you are inviting a bunch of bacteria to live in your gallon of liquid hand soap for several months until you get around to using it all up.  I actually prefer foaming hand soap to straight liquid soap, but either way it’s pretty expensive…especially with five kiddos.  I sometimes wonder how we have so much water and soap sitting on the bathroom counter every time I go in there.  It’s like…could they have even gotten any of it on their hands?!?!  So – we definitely needed a frugal hand soap refill option. I make small batches of homemade foaming hand soap refill.  This is how I do it… I use Dial foaming hand soap dispensers.  I’ve tried several brands, including Bath & Body Works, but none of t...

  I started (and completed!!!) a study in Psalm 91 from the Doorposts blog.  This is the first time I have completed a Busy Mama 30 day study in…30 days!  Henry loves his new glasses! Labeling some stray tracts with our new church logo! The kids enjoyed some quiet reading time while I had morning devotions We found strawberries for $1 a quart and made 16+ pints of strawberry jam! Spring snow storm…to the kiddies delights I have always favored the McDonalds Shamrock shake, with its rich mint flavor only available in the month of March.  My budget couldn’t follow my cravings, especially when the kids got a taste of the deliciousness.  So…we made our own!  They had chocolate chips in them, the only thing lacking from the Mickey D’s version!     I started cloth diapering again with Henry.  Grandma & Grandpa Fezzie came to help us with a St. Patrick’s Day blitz, and Henry enjoyed wearing Grandpa’s boots. Bubbles!  I brought h...

I was blessed to have a Mom who taught me to do a lot of homemaking chores and tasks, and how to work and cook in the kitchen.  I’ve been married nine and a half years now, and I have picked up a few favorite recipes and tricks for things that I prefer to do “homemade” instead of “store bought”.  These things are simple to make, often more effective than their store bought counterparts, and usually a bit cheaper to DIY than to buy. :: Cream Soup Substitute – easy, cheap, and certainly more simple/healthy than the gloop that comes out of a can!  My friend Danielle shared an excellent recipe on her blog, and I’ve been using it ever since. :: Chocolate Chip Cookies – I settled for Toll House dough when we were on deputation, but I love to whip up a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies.  My tip is to pull them out when they look just barely cooked, and then leave them sit on the pan for 5-8 minutes to “cook” a little longer.  Best, chewy cookies ever!  I...

::Elaine’s First Pie – Blueberry!    :: Mustache Men :: Nehemiah’s Watermelon – picked clean! :: Nolan at the Eye Doctor – great vision! :: Nolan LOVES playing on his top bunk! :: This is how twins do book time…

I have used many different methods of meal/menu planning since I got married.  My “style” changes with what is going on in our lives, the budget, and where we live.  When I was a new wife with no kids I did the menu one week at a time.  It was easy to shop at 4-5 different stores to get the best bargains on whatever we were wanting to eat.  I went through a phase where I didn’t want to be restricted to a menu plan.  So I made a list of meals, had the ingredients on hand, and at supper time we picked what we wanted to eat from the list. Now that I am without a vehicle most of the week, can’t walk very far, and have two toddlers that make dinner prep difficult, I have reverted to planning my meals a month at a time.  It’s one less thing to think about.  I plan a little flex into my schedule…leftovers, easy meals like soup & sandwich, and have a few back-ups just in case I really don’t want what’s on the plan. In February I did a lot of freez...

We feel pretty settled into our new apartment.  Everything has been unpacked, and the last of the boxes sent to the recycling today.  Pictures are hung on the wall, and everything seems to have a place.  I’m still “rearranging” little spots here and there, like kitchen cabinets and drawers.  The kids room will get some more work done closer to the twins’ arrival – when we get bunk beds for Nolan & Elaine. But for now, it’s all good. I am much more happy with my picture wall in this apartment – and there is room on the sides to add two more kiddos in a couple of months! I really like my new rug…one of the few things we own from IKEA.  {Ben hates IKEA, but he picked this out}.  I have been enjoying having my devotions on the couch in a cozy spot.  My plants seem to be doing better with more sunlight, too. We eliminated a bookshelf and everything fits nicely on these two.  Still working on the tops – they are a little cluttered...