I'm Kissing Kitchen Clutter Goodbye - For Good!

Disclosure: Thanks to Viva® Vantage and Walmart for sponsoring today's discussion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Today, I want to talk about something that affects all of us as moms.

At least, I hope it does. If I'm the only one...then heaven help us all.

What, you ask, is this irritating topic?

KITCHEN CLUTTER.

Piles of dishes. Piles of towels. Scant pickings of produce that got buried under the piles of dishes and towels and may have gone slightly rotten. Oh, that's just me? Awesome.

I'm what a lot of people would consider a granola or "crunchy" mom. I cloth diaper. I try to reuse as much as possible. I haven't been purchasing paper towels lately because I figure...I have all of these perfectly good washcloths. Why can't I just be responsible and use those and wash them daily and never have a smelly pile of towels fermenting on my counter?

Hello! I'm the mom of a toddler and a preschooler. That's just not going to happen. So when I was given the chance to try out Viva® Vantage Paper Towels and thought...okay. We'll give it a shot and see if some time can be saved.

Sometimes, it's okay to just admit that as a mom, I cannot do it all. I can't keep up with a house, a blog, a couple of side businesses, the needs of my family, and do excessive laundry because I won't ever get to sleep. And sleep, my friends, is quite important.

Cleaning messes with Viva® Vantage has become my new normal. Do you know how much easier it is to wipe up a disgusting mess and then just throw it away? Yes, please. I'll take that as my new normal.

Viva® Vantage Towels are not your average paper towel. They are stretchy and allow for maximum cleaning in all the little crevices where grimy things like to hide. They are designed uniquely with V-Flex Weave - which is what gives them that extra stretchy scrubbing power.

I am sold on Viva® Vantage and have on desire to encounter a pile of smelly washcloths on my counter ever again! Have you tried these paper towels? What messes would you clean with them?

Thanks to Viva® Vantage and Walmart for sponsoring today's discussion. All opinions expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.

Waverize It: Creating a Reversible Tote with Waverly Fabric and Jo-Ann

Disclosure: I received fabric from Jo-Ann and Waverly to facilitate this post. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

It's National Sewing Month and Waverly's 90th Anniversary - and I am so excited to be sharing a project that I made in celebration of the Waverize It! Contest from Waverly and Jo-Ann! What, you may ask, does it mean to "Waverize" something? It's easy and fun! Waverly has created a line of wonderful home decor fabric that is available at Jo-Ann. Stop by your local store, pick up some fabric that suits your style, and start creating. The sky is the limit!

For my Waverize It! project, I was torn. I wanted to do something special and unique - but I also have limited sewing time since Addie doesn't sleep. We've been visiting the Farmer's Market a lot lately, and I've been trying to remember to use my reusable grocery bags when buying household necessities. I don't always remember to bring the bags, though - and I think that's partially because they are not very pretty or exciting. I decided I would feel much more motivated if I had a one-of-a-kind bag to use for my purchases!

Jo-Ann sent me some amazing Waverly fabric and as soon as it arrived, I was just itching to get started! I found a reversible tote bag tutorial (from where else - Pinterest!) and set to work. Addie was determined to help me, as shown in the photo above - but she ended up playing in her bouncer while there were pins and scissors scattered about the floor!

The tutorial says that this bag should take around an hour or so to complete. I can attest that when you are sewing while taking care of a toddler and a baby, that time is multiplied quite a few times. Still, it was a fairly quick project (for me) and I love how it turned out!

The pattern is for a reversible tote - I wanted it to be all the same, so I just used this gorgeous Waverly fabric for both the inside and outside layers. I've already received compliments on it. I have grand intentions of high-tailing it to my Jo-Ann store to find more Waverly fabric - there are so many more things around here I could Waverize! I think I want to make another clothespin bag - I need two of those, right?

After the bag was finished, I couldn't resist using a strip of extra fabric to whip up this ruffly flower. It doubles as an accent on the bag and a baby hair accessory! One day, you will probably find some flowers like this in my Etsy shop (whenever it finally exists).

Are you inspired yet? If you are dreaming up some projects that will Waverize your own life, make sure you check out the Waverize It! Contest. Now through September 22, you can enter your project for a chance to win $1,000 in Waverly fabric plus a $250 Jo-Ann gift card!

I want to know - what will you create for the contest? What's the most unique item you have ever created with fabric?

Disclosure: I received fabric from Jo-Ann and Waverly to facilitate this post. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

When It Rains.....

It doesn't just pour. No, it actually comes cascading down in a torrential storm and tries its very, very best to drown you.

Lincoln is healing pretty well. But neither child is sleeping. Our master bath shower is falling apart (tile falling onto the floor...how does that even happen?) and most ridiculous, we have not had Internet service since last Thursday at 11am. 

I am slowly going crazy. Supposedly someone will be coming to fix it today, but I have heard that story every day this week.

I had a fun week of posts planned. Guess I will just catch up when I can! I hope your week has been better than mine!

How Do You Like Them Potatoes?

Note to my children: if you think life as a toddler is tough, just wait until you're all grown up and expected to be able to manage a household while making sure no one gets seriously injured by a door frame or a staircase.  It blows your meltdown about not getting to play with your toothbrush for an extra minute right out of the water.  

So, this week we decided to have some sweet potatoes with our dinner.  We're trying to be healthy, keeping our eyes open for new dairy-free recipes, and thought this seemed like a good idea.  While the baby played in the exersaucer and Lincoln ran circles around her one afternoon, I hastily peeled several sweet potatoes and threw them in the oven so that they would be ready approximately by the time Daddy got home.  I piled dishes in the dishwasher, found at least part of the kitchen counter, and washed the peelings down the sink in an attempt to make the house look like it was not dwelt in by banshees.

And then I turned on the disposal.  It worked great...for like 5 seconds.  Then, suddenly - there was water spurting up all over the place, it was making weird gurgling sounds, and the kids both started to look like they were going to freak out.  I did what any clear-thinking woman would: turned it off and waited to tell Andrew about it when he came home.

As it turns out, you're not supposed to put potato peelings in the disposal....ever.  Apparently the magical combination of peelings + disposal + water turns it into some sort of lovely slushy mashed potato concoction, which sticks to your pipes and clogs up the sink.  Yay!!!

After much googling, a box and a half of baking soda, a half gallon of vinegar, and enough hot water to make me cringe thinking about next month's water bill - the aforementioned mashed potatoes nicely melted away and let my poor sink go about its business.

New method to catch potato peelings:
PAPER TOWEL.

Maybe this is a common knowledge type of thing that I should have been aware of, before something like this occurred.  But as far as I knew - a disposal exists so you can dispose of food scraps.  Am I right?!

I'm pretty sure when you buy a house, it should come with post-it notes stuck to every surface, letting you know the proper way to care for everything to avoid anything falling apart.  But regardless - lesson learned.  I'm just happy we didn't have to take the sink apart.

So, give me your knowledge. What else am I not supposed to put down my disposal?

i know i promised photos BUT...

Really, most people just don't understand what I mean when I say I am too busy to do anything. They assume I'm making excuses. Or I'm just lazy. But really - really - I am that busy.

I'm reading this book right now (in 2-minute snippets). The chapter I read last night said that I need to determine what I want to do more than anything else in the world...and stop saying "yes" to anything that does not support accomplishing those things. So, you might ask, what do I want? That's kind of the problem. I want a lot of things. I want to have a beautiful, happy family, and be an uber-cool, all-the-neighbor-kids-love-me, Godly mommy. I want to throw all this midwest nonsense out the window and live in a tiny little 10th floor apartment in NYC and sing on Broadway for a few years. I want to work out more than once a week (my sad average so far this year) and actually feel like I am in shape. I want to write a book...or 20! I want to continue AGDT and have it grow to the point of actually needing a studio. I want to be caught up (or at least have a fighting chance at being caught up) in my scrapbooking endeavors - and I want to think up new and interesting techniques and submit them to CK and see my layouts published in their articles. I would even love to be on the Dream Team, or work as a contributing editor! How cool would that be? I would also really like to just be able to think of a different meal to cook every single weeknight...and have it on the table when the hubby gets home from work.

So those are my biggest goals in life. They're so varied, it's pretty difficult to imagine all of them coming true. But I can try. I'm setting my New Year's 2010 Goals a bit early this year. Maybe if I have time to meditate on them before the year actually arrives, I'll be able to get a better handle on them. The 2009 resolution list is looking pretty sad and neglected at this point. But - the new year is on the way. And I am hopeful.

In other news, the Twilight Ball was an amazing success!! We had 90 people attend the program - probably more than at any program hosted at this library other than a summer children's event.

AGDT's fall performance was a couple days ago. The kids were awesome, as usual. Kayte came to do everyone's hair even while she was not feeling spectacular - what an amazing friend she is!! While I love teaching, and love watching those girls perform, and just generally love spending time with them - I am not sad that I have a 3-month break before a new set of drama classes begin. I realized yesterday that I did 4 semesters in a row this year - Winter was Little Princess / Secret Garden at BSCT, then Spring, Summer, and Fall were AGDT. I have directed 10 plays this year. My little dramatic mind needs a break!! I am going to offer a Christmas Crafts Club to the AGDT girls - but it will just be crafts. No drama. No props. No costumes. No set pieces. No crazy performance day. 4 weeks of crafting fun. I think I can handle that. ;)

My hubby fixed the toilet in the master bathroom yesterday. You have no idea the joy this puts in my mind. That toilet has been broken for like 3 months. At least. I can't even remember!

Next big project on the list is the MCPL Homeschool Expo on Wednesday this week. I am dressing in full Civil War attire (chemise, corset, and the works) and doing a demo on women's fashion in the 1860's. Basically - I'm letting an army of little girls try on some hoop skirts. Hopefully they'll think it's cool! The good news is, the Expo is at the MGC, where Andrew works, so I will get to spend at least the morning/lunch with him. :)

That's all the news of the day. Someday I'll have time to actually post pictures of things. Really. Maybe when people start reading the blog I'll make more of an effort.....