Wednesday, July 20, 2011

How to Reuse Swiffer Wet Jet

I was stuck in a bind yesterday.  I was elbow deep in dirt and grime and up to my eyes in dirty laundry.  In the thick of cleaning (and looking quite haggard I might add) I remembered "oh no I'm out of swiffer cleaner!!"  I thought to myself how in the world am I going to mop since I'm sure as heck not getting cleaned up just to go to the store to buy cleaning solution.  Enter what I thought was an original idea of refilling the Swiffer bottle with my own cleaning solution.  I tried as hard as I could to get that darn cap off the bottle.  It wasn't going to budge.  Then I thought "I cannot be the only person to wonder about this" so I Googled it!  Here is a video of how to take the cap off! Who knew it only took like 15 seconds in boiling water!?

It worked perfectly! Then I went in search for a homemade cleaning solution.  I used my own concoction but loosely based on the one posted here.  I had a smaller bottle to mix in which was only 12 oz and put in about 1/8 cup white vinegar and 1/2 tsp baby shampoo fill the rest of the bottle with warm water (not sure if it's important to be warm or not but I think it helped to dissolve the baby shampoo).  It worked like a wonder!  No streaking or anything on the tile floor! Linoleum looked good too.  

Now seriously, I can't believe I bought these before now and didn't know I could do it myself!!  I am going to use up the Costco size box of the pads that I bought back in Virginia but as soon as they are gone I'm going to use the tutorial here on turning a cloth baby diaper (I used them as burp cloths when Hayden was a baby) into a pad.  Seems super easy!  Or on Tipnut they have a whole slew of knitting and crochet patterns (which of course appeal to me! ha) Why spend money on things that you can make yourself! And so simply too! :)  Hope this is helpful to you!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Running my first 5K

My friend Lisa encouraged me to sign up for the San Diego Blood Bank 5K.  Even until I got there I had no real intentions on running it and planned on walking.  Something amazing happened when I got there.  Maybe it was the other motivated people or maybe it was a spark of a little friendly competition.  Whatever it may be, I started it running and ran the first 2 miles non-stop.  Now, let me just mention that I have NEVER enjoyed running-EVER!  I can speed walk with the best of them, but running-eh, I'll pass.  So I really am not sure what happened but I loved it! My first 5k time 31:45 which for not being a runner I'm pretty happy with.  It gives me a great goal to do better next weekend!  After the race there are a ton of restaurants and companies handing out free food and drinks and coupons for restaurants.  It was great!  We sat in the grass and enjoyed our Subway lunch and soaked in the sun.  This is the first time I'd ever felt endorphins like this!  My whole body was alive! I couldn't believe it!  This is why people love running, not because it is fun to do but because of the way you feel after! I get it now!  I signed up for the Spartyka Wounded Warrior 5k.  (I hurried and signed up for another one before I felt how sore I was so I couldn't change my mind! LOL).  This is a picture of me and Lisa before the race :)  BTW-I am SUPER sore today but it was worth it! 

Friday, July 8, 2011

CFA Cow Appreciation Day 2011


 Monkey and I designed cow costumes for today's Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A.  We both got free meals for dressing up! Here is my take on DIY cow costume.  I took an old crappy t-shirt that was in my junk pile and cut out felt spots and hot glued them on.  The felt I had in my stash but it came from the Dollar Tree.  I did the same thing for her Hayden's costume only I used a white tank that we had.  I used Dollar Tree headbands and cut out felt ears and hot glued those on.  For Hayden's I added a crochet flower just for a cute touch :) Enjoy the pics!
(It's hard to take pictures of yourself lol.  Here is the best one I was able to get!)


Her face here cracks me up! It's like "C'mon mom...let's go already!"

Here is Hayden with our free meals :) Such a ham!  I'd love to see your pictures if you have any! :)

This is later tonight after an entire day with no nap...falling asleep during dinner lol.

Parent's Magazine Subscription for $4


As I am part of the Purex Insiders I am able to share an exclusive deal.  Purex is partnering with Parents Magazine to offer a one year subscription for only $4.  That is only 33 cents an issue! 


Go to Purex.com and fill out the form and enter this exclusive code: PX1010 to get your year of Parent's Magazine at the discounted price!  Feel free to pass this code on to all of your friends on Facebook and Twitter that might be interested!  I get the magazine because of the great articles and also they sometimes have amazon diaper discount codes! :)


Thank you Purex Insiders for the discount!

Vacation Pictures-The Bakers

Despite Hayden getting sick and me having some freak allergic reaction we had a great vacation to visit the family in Sacramento.  I've compiled a few of my favorite at my dad's house.  I'll post some of the rest of the family in the upcoming days :)

My dad and Hayden swimming.  The cutest picture EVER :)

Hayden and mommy swimming

Grammy and Hayden having a great time 


Grammy teaching Hayden how to swim

Time with Aunt Jessi

I just love my chunky monkey :)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Visiting Grandma Lois

While we were in Northern California we were able to make it to see my husband's grandma Lois while she was visiting a friend.  Normally we would never get to see her because she lives up in Washington.  So glad I was finally able to meet her!
My handsome Hubby with Grandma Lois

Mimi Penny (my Mother in law), Hayden and Grandma Lois


Me with Hayden's cousin Troy

Hubby with Troy.  He is the cutest little boy!

All of us after our wonderful lunch.

America sign at Lemon Tree Creations

I found this super cute idea over at Lemon Tree Creations.  I would have never thought to use paint swatches to make an adorable sign! SO cute! Check out the post here with more pictures!

I like to think I'm creative but I don't think I would have EVER thought of this! Very creative!