Domesticity

....Ahhhh, can I just admit I LOVE TO CLEAN!  Phew, I feel better now that I have that off my chest.

I know some people find it stressful, and just another thing they have to add to their ever mounting list of things to do.  But despite the fact that you just have to clean it over again sometime in the near future, I still love to clean.  It relaxes me, and makes me feel productive.  And I find my mind can focus better in a clean house.

Now you can laugh, because you know I have 3 kids, ages 3, 1 1/2, and 0... so you know I am in a sinking ship... and cleanliness is not on the top of my list, but its not at the bottom either... I would rather give up shaving my legs, and that is the complete truth.  Don't believe me, come feel my legs.  Although I must say simplicity is the key.  Domestic simplicity... domesticity.  So I simply love to simplify!!! And my cleaning routine is just that, pretty basic.

In the past, I felt like I couldn't clean unless the children were asleep, and as they progressively got older, the less time I felt like I had to clean (because they slept less... anyone else having this atrocious phenomenon plaguing their household??).  Now, I didn't feel they had to be asleep so that I didn't feel like I was neglecting them... it was the noxious fumes.  I didn't want my kids around when I cleaned because breathing that stuff is ICKY... it is potent stuff.  And the more potent, the more I loved it... I liked my house to smell of pine-sol, and bleach, and windex.

But as some of you know, the crunchy bug bit me a few years back... and I like things pretty natural now.  So over the course of this year, somehow my cleaning cabinet (full of all those pretty bottles I loved so much) became increasingly empty.  And I didn't replace it!  I started using other things I had on hand.  And guess what?  They worked... and they worked so great, I didn't go back!  So here is the all powerful list of AMAZING CLEANERS, that you can use while your little tot is on your hip... in fact let them have a rag too... that's what I do!

Vinegar!- This little piece of magic diluted in some water is the perfect disinfectant for every surface... did you know it is so great at killing all the microbial action that the UofA meat lab uses vinegar to disinfect their kill floor because it is so powerful... yet can be ingested... so they don't have a liability of some nasty chemical tainting their meat.... heaven forbid your meat have a little vinegar on it, it might be a bit more tender!

Baking soda - perfect scrubbing action, but won't scratch the surface of what you are cleaning.  Non toxic, and also ingestible... just in case your toddler gets the munchies while your cleaning.

Dish soap - gentle, yet effective...everywhere... bathtubs, cars, carpet (don't ask how I know this... it involves a very full tub of crisco and a 1 year old, and it makes me cry when I think about it), and of course dishes... among lots of other things.

Washing soda - Now this one is new to me... and man can I say amazing!  Dissolved in a bit of water, I have never used a better degreaser...  it removes virtually everything! It truly is a magic eraser.  Try it, you will never ever use anything else again!!!!! And it's all natural.

These four things conclude my cleaning arsenal... oh, and lots of rags, and a pumice stone... and an old toothbrush.  And these four things have cut through hard water build up, messes in the bottom of my oven.... grease, stains... they are pretty cool.  And I think it's even cooler that my kids don't have to be around any toxic chemicals! Makes me feel like a good mommy!

Cleaning without chemicals makes me feel so happy inside... seriously, it makes me want to clean even more than I already do, because at the end of it, I am so stinkin proud of myself!  And while I am on cleaning can I  venture onto a tangent?  I love vinegar... like LOVE it!  Cook with it, clean with it, use it as dishwasher rinse agent instead of jet dry, use it as a fabric softener in my laundry, use it in my chickens water to prevent parasites in digestive tract, and prevents algae growth in their water tank, and I pour it in my kids pool during the summer to keep the water cleaner for longer (as I don't dump it out except for every 4  or 5 days) I have even heard of people using it as conditioner... there you have it.  I'm sure there is more, but I can't think of it off the top of my head.

So go, be free... free of chemicals!  And save tons of money while you are at it.  And try washing soda... you will thank me.

Cookie Cutters and Rubber Stamps?

When I had just two kids... I got this alot:  "are they twins?" or "oh my goodness they it looks like you just took a rubber stamp and" insert stamping motion on both my children's faces, or I got a cookie cutter comment (as in cookie cutter children, like cookie cutter houses : ).

But my children are not stamps, nor are they cookies... but they are darling cute.  And now that I have three kids I get people ooohing and awwwing over the baby, and then the inevitable comes.... "and she looks just like the other two!"

So I thought maybe I would take a walk down memory lane to see if they looked so much alike to me... and this is what I found:

What do you think?