I'm Tackling a Mountain (of Laundry, that is) **Giveaway**

If there is one domestic chore I am terrible at staying on top of it's laundry. If I told you how many times I had to dig for clean clothes for every member of our family you would be horrified. Truly.

In fact, just this morning my husband scoured the house for a clean pair of khakis because I'd apparently forgotten to wash anything but dark clothes for the last, oh, 4 loads. True story.

And if you saw the mountain of clean clothes on top of the washer and dryer? Yeah, you'd probably think I'm the worst housewife ever. (And, I'm not sure you'd be too far from the truth.)

The thing is, I don't actually mind doing laundry. In fact, I like the actual process of washing/drying. But the putting away? That is the part that throws me off every time. And I end up dreading the putting away process so much that I avoid laundry altogether.

I'm trying to get better. Really. And today I'm tackling the laundry. All day. I'm not stopping until it's under control. But, I'm wondering if maybe you can help a girl out?

I just recently got a chance to try a bottle of Sun Burst Laundry Detergent to help me out in my laundry endeavors. And they want you to have a chance to try it, too!

First, though, I'll tell you a little bit about what I thought about it. My favorite thing about it? It's cheap. I mean, inexpensive. Because I totally hate spending money on soap. I mean, after all, isn't that literally throwing money down the drain? But I also hate clothes that don't smell/feel clean. So, when I discovered that this stuff did a great job, smelled good, and was super cheap? I was sold on it. It's even HE compatible which is awesome.

So, if you'd like to give it a try here's your chance. I've got 5 coupons good for one FREE 45.4 oz bottle of liquid detergent or one 49 oz box of powder detergent in any scent. And all you have to do to enter to win is help me with my laundry. No, really.

Leave me a comment below with your favorite and most helpful tip for getting laundry done or staying on top of laundry and you'll be entered to win!

So, go ahead, give me your best tips for controlling the laundry monster.

For more great projects, head over to Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom!

***This giveaway (and all comments) will close Friday, July 10th at 2 p.m.***

Packing my bags...

So, you know how you're supposed to have your bags all packed somewhere around the 35th week of pregnancy? Actually, when Kai was born I'm fairly certain I packed them as soon as I entered the 3rd trimester. My bag sat by the door waiting expectantly to be whisked to the hospital in the middle of the night at the slightest pang of labor.

It never did happen that way.

With this pregnancy I've waited until the very end to pack. In fact, I only got most of my stuff together this past weekend and tossed it in the back of the van. Since it is pretty clear at this point that my womb is like a vault and my babies are evicted against their will I just don't see the point. But, since I'm going in for my C-section Wednesday I guess I'd better have it done with pretty soon.

So, that said, I need some advice 'cause even though this is baby #3 I never know quite what to pack in these things. The baby's bag is packed. That one is a piece of cake. It's knowing what I'll need that always stumps me. Thus far I have:

Digital camera/video camera
Two horrible Pollyanna nightgowns
One gag-tastic floral robe
Knit booties with skid free bottoms
Face wash, lotion, deodorant, and shampoo
Boppy Pillow (thanks, Laura!)
Various Balms and soothing lotions for breastfeeding
Nursing bras
Extremely forgiving and stretchy outfit to go home in

...and that's it. I mean, of course I'd never go anywhere without my laptop and Blackberry (I'm hyperventilating at the very thought of it) but other than that I don't know what else to bring. Is that everything I need?

Have any of you actually taken Thank You notes and done them in the hospital? Do you have any hospital must-haves that you recommend? 'Cause as much as I love my husband (and, Thomas, I do love you) once I leave the house it's likely he'll never be able to find whatever I send him back to get for me.

So, ladies, help a blogger out. What am I forgetting? What should I bring that I would never think to take a long?

For more Tackle It Tuesday, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check out what other moms are taking on this week!

The Big Switch, Continued

I mentioned a while back that we were switching out Family Room and Dining Room. And, in the process, we decided to change our dining room decor up a bit. We didn't really have much of a decorating scheme in the Dining Room before. It was more of a combination of funky pieces we'd found at antique stores and junk shops. Have I mentioned my love of all things funky, cheesy, and junky? That may be it's own separate post...

Anyway, when we switched things out, we ended up working my love of religious art into the room and used it throughout the room. We're still in the process of collecting enough pieces to give the room the right flavor (if you've ever been to the Pope Room at Buca Di Beppo you've seen where we're going with this) and it might take a while to get it complete. But, in the meantime, check out my favorite part of the room.

My Dining Room mantle:

Before
(when it was actually a Living Room mantle)
Not the best before picture, I'll admit. But, you get the idea.

After

I am pretty excited about the way it turned out. The candles are the $1 candles from Kroger and when lit they smell absolutely heavenly (no pun intended, I swear!).

So, there you have it. My Tuesday Tackle. Go see what other folks are tackling out there over at 5 Minutes for Mom!

And we have a nursery...

I've blogged before about the fact that it was taken me WAY longer to finish this little one's nursery than either of my girls. Partially because things are crazy around here with a pre-schooler and a kindergartener and partially because the boy thing was really stumping me.

But, we finally picked a "theme" and are getting the nursery almost finished. It isn't quite complete and we've still got to add some artwork that Thomas is designing this week, but it has come a LONG way!

Keeping in mind it's still a work in progress, I wanted to share what "we" (read: Thomas) accomplished with painting. Check out the before and after pics:

Before - Kai and Ivy's bedroom

After - T's almost finished nursery!

So, that was my tackle this week. Go check out what other people are tackling for Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom!

Wish I were here...

Today instead of spending my time on a tropical beach drinking fruity cocktails and watching my children frolic in the sun, I am tackling my least favorite household project:

Cleaning the kids' playroom/bedroom

I can't tell you how much I loathe this job. It will include (but not be limited to):

• Picking up at least 1200 kids books and arranging them on the bookshelf by classification (soft cover vs. board book) and size only to have them all end up on the floor by 5pm.

• Finding at least one discarded pull-up under the bunk beds after ranting (yet again) that all diapers go in the trash every single time with no exceptions thankyouverymuch!

• Discovering that Barbie and her stylish friends own more shoes than everyone in my house combined. And that none of them are a complete pair.

• Throwing away no less than 3 dismembered Dollar store "Barbie" bodies and worrying about why it is my children insist on murdering their dolls in this cruel way.
  

So, what I could use now is your tips for cleaning playrooms and keeping them clean. Got any nuggets of wisdom to make my job easier when I tackle this in the future??

To see what other folks are tackling this Tuesday head over to 5 Minutes for Mom!

Spring Fever

The recent warm spell here in Georgia has brought out the Spring fever in our house. Couple that with the euphoria that comes from the massive boost in egg production from our chickens and we've caught the self-sustaining bug again. And that means it's time to get our garden started.

Despite our currently blissful weather pattern, this is Georgia we're talking about and we've been known to get a random snow in February and we can't quite risk getting the garden into the ground quite yet.

(image from www.burpee.com)

So, this weekend we picked up one of the Ultimate Growing Systems and a plant growing light bulb from Home Depot and we're getting our garden started in the basement so we can plant it outside once the weather becomes a bit more predictable.

We've got room in this kit to get 72 plants growing and since it magically self-waters the plants all we have to do is make sure they get the right amount of light and when our official spring season arrives we'll have our garden on the right track.

So far, here's a list of our 2009 garden plans. We'll be growing:

*Radishes
*Garlic
*Corn
*Onions
*Tomatoes
*Carrots
*Green Beans
*Zucchini
*Peas
*Banana Peppers
*Spinach
*Bell Peppers
*Lettuce
*Squash

To find out what other projects moms across the blogosphere are tackling this week, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom's Tackle it Tuesday!

All Cooped Up

When we have a long weekend and no fun & exciting getaway plans we always end up doing the same thing. That is, we always end up getting around to the boring, yucky, no-fun tasks that get lost during the hectic weekday shuffle.

This weekend we tackled the chicken pen. And by we I mean, of course, my husband and kids. They had coop duty and I was there to document it all. You know, for posterity. And also so my hands were too full to actually help scoop chicken litter out of the boxes.


Chickens, we've found, are no more messy than any other animal you might have as a pet. But, they're no less messy either. And luckily (or not) all their mess gets concentrated in one specific spot.

On a bit of a side note, I have just one thing to say to you all: Clean your eggs.
(Okay, so the ones you buy at the store are most likely bleached and sanitized, but Lord knows I will never be able to think of eggs the same way again after seeing where some of our girls end up laying theirs.)

What does it take to keep a coop in good shape? Glad you asked.

We clean out the chicken boxes (I'll spare you a before photo) and put the litter in our compost bins to decompose into some nice healthy soil to use in our Spring garden.

We put down some fresh wheat straw in the boxes to keep the chickens warm in this super cold winter weather.


Finally, we spread the remaining hay stray all over the coop for the chickens to pick and scratch at.



All in all, it's not that bad. Kind of like cleaning a big cat box. But, actually, a bit less disgusting and perfumy smelling.

Thankfully, our ladies (and Rooster McLovin) now have one lovely freshly cleaned coop to lay all those beautiful brown eggs in. And if we're really lucky it will stay that way for at least a day or two.

That's what we tackled this week. To see what other folks around the blogosphere have been tackling visit Tackle It Tuesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom!

And just so you don't think we spend our days forcing our kids into deplorable child labor conditions, here are a couple of pics of them actually enjoying (I promise!) spending the day outside with their chickens.

Bring on the Waldorf

Part of my New Year's Resolution was to get better about our homeschool structure and curriculum. So, I set out to find a schedule and structure that would work for a family that didn't really do structure and schedule. Turns out that is harder to find than I thought. Most of you homeschoolers out there have it way more together than I do!

The Waldorf-Steiner educational philosophy has long been something I found fascinating. I love the emphasis it places on the role of imagination in learning and it's focus on the coordination of education with the rhythms of everyday life. If I had my wish (and money was no object) I'd have them enrolled in the Atlanta Waldorf School in a heartbeat. I really truly think this philosophy of education breeds imaginative, innovative free thinkers with a love of learning. And that is an approach to education I desperately want for my girls.

Since we're not ready for fork over $10k for Preschool/Kindergarten right now, I set out to find an inexpensive (or free!) Waldorf style curriculum to use for our homeschool trial. Since Waldorf doesn't really emphasize a strict curriculum for pre-school and Kindergarten I found a site that has great information on Waldorf philosophy as well as some of the stories, fingerplays, songs, and crafts that make up it's early curriculum.

I'd been avoiding tackling this project but with the help of the links I've included above I've managed to create a great Waldorf style rhythm that works for both girls.

Part of Waldorf is having days of the week being designated for specific activities. Which means Mondays are now Baking Days, Tuesdays are Watercolor Days, and Wednesdays are Clay Days. This gives the girls a chance to know exactly what creative exercises we'll be doing on what days and allows for a bit more structure and predictability in their schedule.

Since it just seems impossible for me to fully commit to a schedule, Thursdays are "Wild Card" Days and Fridays are Field Trip Days. I need just a little wiggle room in our schedule so this seemed like the best compromise.

I feel great having finally gotten this part of our life organized, structured, and down on paper! I can't wait to see the difference it makes in our homeschooling weeks!

To see what other moms are tackling this week, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom for more Tackle It Tuesday!

The Big Switch.

Ever since we moved the girls' bedroom into the playroom we've had a bit of a dilemma. Our flat screen was mounted over the fireplace and the new bunkbeds made it all too easy for Kai peek into the family room and watch tv from the top bunk of her bed.

So, my dad (who is shockingly helpful with interior design) suggested we do a little moving around in our house. His recommendation? Flip the family room and dining room.

And switch we did.

The Dining Room Before
(it should be noted that the section beyond the wall divider on the left was turned into a sewing room a looong time ago and doesn't factor into the whole dining room layout)

Same Space, Different Use

The best part? Our new dining room is looking beautiful! Our old family room was bigger and has an awesome painted brick fireplace. So perfect for entertaining friends and family at our dinner parties. In fact, I can barely resist the urge to get this table. I'll be posting pics of it as soon as I get our new cupboard from Eddy West!