An Easter Photo

Clara loved the little marshmallow bunnies I made for our table's centerpiece! She held this one for a long time and played with it, then she finally started to nibble his ears, and before long... he was all gone!

More about homemade cleaners

Go ahead and skip the ammonia that was listed as an ingredient in the homemade cleaners. It is a very volatile chemical with fumes that irritate eyes and lungs and is especially harmful to anyone with respiratory problems. All of the vinegar cleaner recipes work fine without the added ammonia.

Commercial cleaning products are among the most hazardous products you will find in your home. They contain chemicals that are toxic, corrosive, flammable, radioactive or act as irritants. The Consumer Product Safety Commission focuses only on the immediate effects a product can have, but ignore the possibility that they can have devastating effects over time. And that's how we are exposed to cleaning products... over time, daily, for years... and we forget they may be dangerous to us!

Non toxic cleaning can be done with very few ingredients, which are simple and inexpensive. For example, Clara decided to try out her artistic side with crayons on my tan colored footstool that goes with the glider rocker. Very pretty! I poured a bit of vinegar in a bowl, added some lemon juice to it, then scrubbed the crayon marks with a dish cloth. The crayon marks came out and the footstool was restored to its previous non-artsy look!

Make Your Own Cleaners!

I bought a big 'ol jug of white vinegar and have been using these recipes to make my own cleaners. They don't just work, they work WELL! And think of the money you can save by not having to buy those expensive cleaners in the store! My main reason for switching to a vinegar based cleaner was to begin the process of getting toxic chemicals out of our house. You might think that all you will smell is vinegar after you use these cleaners, but the amount of vinegar is relatively small and we barely notice a vinegar odor, if at all.

Mirror Cleaner
This recipe calls for ammonia, but I have had wonderful success using only the vinegar and water.

Mix together 1 tbsp. vinegar, 3 tbsp. household ammonia and 2 cups water. Pour into a spray bottle. After washing the mirror, wipe dry with a paper towel.


Wood Cleaner
We are using this in place of dusting spray and I really like the results. It is good for routine cleaning of wood paneling, doors, furniture, and cupboards. It is not a spray.

Mix together 1 quart warm water, 1 tsp. vinegar, and 1 tsp. olive oil. (I actually whisk this to get it all mixed up.)
Dip a soft cloth into the mixture and wring it out. Use this cloth to wipe the wood surface. Polish with a soft, dry cloth.


All Purpose Cleaner
This formula works for all sorts of general cleaning chores. Put it in a spray bottle and it's ready to clean when you are.

Mix together:
1/4 cup household ammonia
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp. cup baking soda
4 cups water


Floor Cleaner
I use this on our ceramic tile and linoleum and it leaves the floor clean and sparkling!

Use about 1/2 cup white vinegar to 1/2 bucket of warm water.


(SAFETY NOTE: Remember to never mix bleach with household ammonia because it creates a toxic gas. Even ammonia by itself can be toxic if you breathe it so make sure you have good ventilation when you do use it.)

Boxes + Piles + Luggage = Moving

Well, the movers come tomorrow and Wednesday to pack us all up! We're about as ready as we can be for this, our 12th move since we have been married. (Several of those moves were house to house in the same city, like moving on base, or like we did here, having to be at one house for the first 6 weeks before the other one was availalbe!) I can't wait for the packing to be all over with and the boxes out of here because that is much better than living with the piles I have all over the place now. Piles of stuff to go in the express shipment, piles of stuff that can't be packed because it belongs to the house, 10 pieces of luggage lined up in the family room, and lists a mile long to help me remember all those things I used to forget when we moved!

We'll be in Croatia several more weeks and then home to Missouri for Christmas! After Christmas, we'll head down south to our new home....

TEXAS!!!

A Spoon Lickin' Good Time

I remember when I was little and my mother would give me the spoon from the mixing bowl and let me lick it. It is a joy to do things for my daughter now that my mother did for me way back when. I still like to lick the spoon myself, but now I have to share it with my children instead of my brother!

Clara's New Table

We finally finished making a table for Clara! We've been working on it for probably 2 months! We bought the round wood table top at a store that is similiar to a Home Depot. The legs are actually plumbing tubes that are attached with caps onto the bottom of the table. They are easily removable and we can attach taller legs as Clara grows taller. Hubby did all the shopping, the labor of building it, priming it, and painting the blue sky and the yellow sun. He did a great job and I'm so thrilled to give Clara something that we created!


I did the detail work... the bees, the sun's expression, and painting the legs. One leg has Clara's name on it, entwined with a vine and flowers. The other three legs have a butterfly and a flower on them.
Here's a closeup of the table top:



The border says:
"God made the sun, God made the bee,
God made the flowers, And God made me!


And this picture was just too cute not to post....