much ado about nothing

- The peonies are in full bloom and as beautiful as ever.

- The backyard pond frogs are basking in the sunshine.

- My closet is out of control again. I desperately want to tackle it.

- Inspired by my half marathon running friends, I went out on Monday and bought some new gear. 

You cannot go to an event like that and not get inspired. I ran 10k on Monday and again today. 

I tell you this because I was one of those people that couldn't run, or so I believed. 

I am not an athlete. I never have been. I am not naturally talented at sports.

I don't love every minute as I run. 

I do love when I am finished. I do love that I can push my body 

forward with my mind and do something hard. I do love the inner confidence that comes with 

achieving something you thought you could never do.  

How long will I keep it up? 

I don't know.....

It doesn't really matter. I am not in a competition. I am training my mind to never say never.

pots and pans and porcelain

I found this dish scrubber last time I was in Pots and Paraphernalia. Since I was due for a new one I bought it, even though it was $4 (I thought that was kind of pricey). If you have white porcelain dishes you will know that you cannot scrub them with anything too aggressive or metallic as you will be left with little grey scratches everywhere. But when I got home I tested it out on my white dishes - not a scratch! This little scrubber does the job of a stainless steel wire scrubber (it will take the skin off your knuckles if you aren't careful!), but it will not scratch your delicate dishes. 

It was worth every penny.

Just thought you ought to know!

How I get my house clean again after the kids come in looking like this :

Norwex. 

I am a believer.

I truly do love these products, so I just thought I would share. 

Here are some of my favorites.

 The window cloth. I use this one to dry windows, mirrors, my stove top, and anything else glass. 

No streaks left behind. 

The dusting mitt. I use this to dust with of course, but this makes the job so easy. 

I especially appreciate it when I clean the blinds.

These are great for using as you would your magic eraser, but without any chemicals!

This! This is one of the products that I love the very most. I clean everything with this. I use it for tubs and showers. I use it on appliances, walls, and floors. I use it to get scuff marks off my cupboards and sticky labels off glass. It takes off grease and scum (I have scum sometimes) amazingly well. (It does have some precautionary directions as it is an abrasive, but so far I haven't found that it scratches anything, or leaves a dull mark, but that would be something I would suggest that you figure out for yourself.

 The toilet brush. Everything you need is right here, all together and ready to use. 

You push down on the handle of the brush and cleanser is released into bristles. 

It works great and smells even better.

The laundry detergent! I do laundry every single day, at least once a day, usually more. 

This little bag, which costs about $30, lasts me at least 6 months, 

even though I have been informed that I am using way to much. 

Apparently you are only suppose to use a teaspoon per load when you have a front loader.

I don't even know what this one is called, but I LOVE this cleaning mitt. 

I use it to do the bathtubs and the tile floors in the bathrooms. 

It has an abrasive side and a softer microfiber side. 

If I could only pick 2 products it would be this mitt and the cleaning paste.

I do care about having chemicals in the home, especially with young kids. We all know that it is just better to try and have as little of that as possible around them, and us. But this is not the reason I use them. I use them because they work. The bonus is that they work without chemicals.

I do not sell Norwex. I am not getting paid to say these things. The items I have shared with you are only a really small selection of the products they have available. If you would like to know more though, I do know someone you could talk to. She resides in Blogland here.

Ring around the bathtub

This is the most fabulous cleaning tool! {a present from my sister-in-law} I was done scrubbing the tub in 1 minute! So I continued on with the cupboard doors and the floor. The whole bathroom took about 5 minutes. Thanks again, Julianne.

  I love it!

Holy Fruit Flies, Batman!

This is a repost from last year. Because I am AMAZED with how well this really works I thought I would post it again for those out there who may need help with unwelcome summer house guests and who may not know about this. I must say that I am not one who enjoys the smell of apple cider vinegar, actually there isn't much I like less. Every time I walk into the kitchen I think, WHAT is that smell? EVERY TIME! But very quickly I remember. I would rather put up with the smell than the flies. Enjoy!

So, we have fruit flies. EVERY YEAR! I have tried in vain to rid my house of them (and I am pretty tidy). Yesterday while all of our family was over for Thanksgiving dinner, my sister-in-law, Tracey said, "So do you know how to get rid of fruit flies?" and I said, "No, do tell me please!" She said to put out a little mug of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap mixed in. So this morning I did just that. I will not post a picture, but I will tell you 1 hour later when I went back to check, I was more than surprised- it worked disgustingly, amazingly well!! I could not believe it. Thank you Tracey.