Clean Car!

I cleaned the car on Monday. I mean, CLEAN. Vacuumed. Seats cleaned. Mats washed. Now only the outside is dirty. =D

NORWEX!!

I just received my Norwex order today and I'm so excited! Wanna see what I got???

Cleaning paste - This is an all natural Soft Scrub alternative. I might be most excited about this. It should last about 2 years, according to the consultant and everything I've read.

Liquid Dish Detergent - I thought I'd give this a try, and we'll see how I like it, but about 2 days after I ordered this Leif found an environmentally friendly liquid dish soap at Costco. So I'll do a comparison of the two and see what I think.
Laundry Soap - I've used a sample of this and it works really well. Plus, I only need a teaspoon (yes, a TEASPOON) to wash an entire load of clothes in our high efficiency washer.
Spirisponge - This is a scrubbing sponge.

Spirinets - These are abrasive scrubbers for use on glass or other hard surfaces.
Dry Mop Pad - This is part of the mop system which I wanted SO BADLY! =D And now I have it! This is the dry mop pad that's basically used for sweeping. I've tried it out already and I think it works pretty well! It's machine washable and velcros onto the mop base.

Mini Mop Base - Also part of the mop system. This is the velcro base the pads get attached to.
Wet Mop Pads - These are the wet mop pads that are part of the mop system. Also machine washable and velcro onto the mop base. They are naturally antibacterial and all you need to use with them is water. Clean floors with no chemicals!
Telescoping Mop Handle - The last part of the mop system. This is the telescoping handle that makes it easy enough for a short person like me to mop the floor and dust the ceiling all in the same cleaning session. =D
Silver Care Dental Floss

Microfiber Face Cloths

Polishing Cloth - I got 3 of these! These microfiber cloths really polish windows nicely! Thanks to these cloths I will never use Windex on my windows again.

Microfiber Cloth - I got 3 of these, too! They clean better than any cloth I've ever used. They get dried on toddler food crud off my dining room table. They get hand print smudge marks off the doors and light switches. These are what first sold me on Norwex. Because they have silver in them, they are naturally antibacterial, too.

Travel Microfiber Cloths - A set of 4 travel sized microfiber cloths.

Kitchen Cloths - lightweight microfiber cloths perfect for washing or drying dishes.

The best part about getting my Norwex order is that because I hostessed a party I got ALL of the above for less than it would have cost me to buy the mop package alone. Isn't that awesome?!

I'll individually review items as I have a chance to try them out in a few different scenarios. I'm excited about the products and I can't wait to see how they work!

Shampoo Solution

I have a big event at my house today, so last night I was determined to get the stains out of our carpet and shampoo it (at least the living room) so it looked nice and fresh for our guests today.
Problem #1 - I'm out of my magic Kirby carpet spray!! I've got to find a local dealer for it, because I need it! No time to do that last night, so I settled for trying to remove the stains the natural way... with vinegar. Not as good as my carpet spray, but it at least lessened them and I'd hoped it had loosened the dirt enough that the shampooer could take the rest.
Problem #2 - I'm out of carpet shampoo solution!! Of all the times to run out of both! So I did a quick search online for homemade carpet cleaner solution and found a few recommendations for vinegar again! Well, it's better than nothing, I figured... So I gave it a try. Ran the shampooer like normal, substituting vinegar for the cleaning solution.
Then I let the carpet dry and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, guess what? IT WORKED! We opened the windows to let the vinegar smell dissipate the rest of the way and it cleared out quickly. The carpet looks great and it was a cheap solution!! I think I might just be doing that instead of buying more carpet shampoo. It doesn't smell like lavender, but it works great!

(And just for the record, I also already mop my hardwood floors with vinegar, and that has seemed to work just fine, too. Plus it's safe to have around kids and it has naturally disinfecting properties. Ah, the glory of vinegar.)

For the first time in a long time....

... my house is clean.

The upstairs is clean, at least. There are some dishes in the sink, but I will get to them in a bit and then they won't be there anymore. But my house is clean.

Eliana decided to take a nap today, so I took the opportunity to pick things up around the place! The bed was already made, so I just had to put away the shoes and dirty clothes in the bedroom. I put away all the stuff that was out in the kitchen and I wiped down the counters. I cleared off the table and put a tablecloth on, and cut some flowers from the garden to put in a vase for the centerpiece. I straightened the rug and dusted the furniture, including the door frames! I even dusted the ceiling fan blades in Ellie's room. Of course, then there were nasty dust bunnies on the floor, so I vacuumed her room. I lit candles in the living room and kitchen, something I really haven't done in a long time. But it feels like home. Nice, relaxing home. Oh, and I tidied up the front bathroom and cleaned the toilet in there.

And it all took less than an hour.

One, glorious, uninterrupted hour.

++Double Plus!

I just did some math and figured out that if I do an hour of housework every day I can lose 10 lbs in 8 weeks**! Sweet!!!

Not to mention that my house will be VERY CLEAN! No wonder those stepford wives were model thin!

**(okay, so this isn't entirely true since an hour of housework WILL burn 200 calories, but 55 of those I would be burning anyway, just by being alive.)

... on a completely different note, I shined my sink tonight, for the first time in a while. And I cleaned the guest bathroom while Ellie was taking a bath. And I am working on decluttering the countertop in the kitchen. It's good stuff.

Progress...

It's not even 10:30 yet and I've already made more progress than I made all day yesterday. Hooray!

I'm about to head into town to get stuff for tomorrow's class at the scrapbooking store, and as of right now the sheets on my bed have been changed, the bed has been made, I've got the dishwasher running, the washing machine is running, and Ellie and I are both up and dressed. I've even blogged this morning (on MIM and our family blog, in addition to this one).

So I'd say it's a good day so far!

Off to town with us!

How does it happen so quickly?

It seems like every time I get the house clean it gets dirty again!

I was going to go into Belgrade and buy groceries so I could make a cake and some frosting for Taylor's shower on Saturday, but Leif took the car with the carseat today, so I won't be going anywhere.

Instead, I'm using the time to catch up on the little cleaning projects I've been neglecting lately... You know, dishes... laundry... And because Ellie's diaper leaked on our bed this morning, I'm changing the sheets, washing the comforter, and I might even vacuum the mattress and rotate it while I'm at it! All of the rooms need to be vacuumed - for real, too. Not just a Roomba job. It's time for the Kirby.

So maybe I can get those things done this afternoon when Ellie goes down for her nap. The dishwasher and washing machine are running right now, but I'll put another load in the washer and empty the dishwasher when they're done. I also need to go for my C25K run as soon as Ellie goes down, too. Maybe I can get a load in the washing machine and let it go while I run. Then when I'm done I can pull out Kirby!

That's my plan, anyway... we'll see how it goes.

Kirby, oh Kirby....

For the first time in a long time, I pulled out Kirby yesterday. Not to vacuum (I've been letting Roomba - or 'mba, as Ellie calls it - do that.) but to shampoo. Yes, ladies and gentlemen... I shampooed my living room carpet. Wooo-Hooo!!!

A new day...

Well, the Claridges won't be coming to visit this weekend, so the guest beds didn't get made and I didn't get my craft room completely cleaned up. And then I was cold last night, so I climbed into bed to warm up and didn't get anywhere with my evening routine. Silly me. It means I have a mess of a house today, but I don't really have any plans, so as soon as I get Ellie finished with breakfast, maybe I can get started on cleaning up the kitchen / dining room. She's pretty messy, though, so she's gonna need a bath. Gotta LOOOOVE cottage cheese and strawberries for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, I haven't eaten yet...