Heather's Helpful Household Hints

I do not purport to be any sort of domestic diva, but in my daily battle against 2800 sq ft/3 boys/1 dog, I have picked up a few weapons.

Problem #1: Laundry Mountain!! My wonderful hubby assigned himself the task of washing and drying the laundry, and then piling it up in a giant mountain on our bedroom floor (or whatever bare spot of floor he could find).
Weapon #1: I had the husband buy a simple countertop from Home Depot and install it over the tops of our washer and dryer. I then purchased a laundry basket for each member of our family and lined them up on the countertop. Now, as he takes the laundry out of the dryer, he sorts each person's out to their basket and then (usually when the baskets are brimming over) they take their basket and fold and put away their own clothes. This isn't such a wonderful solution if your children aren't able to fold and put away their own laundry but it still helps keep things much more organized. I cannot tell you how much easier this has made the whole laundry problem!!

Problem #2: Constant crumbs and scraps on countertops, generated by children preparing their own breakfasts and snacks.
Weapon #2: I actually saw this solution on Jon & Kate Plus Eight (before they imploded). The stores sell tiny handbroom and dustpans, so I purchased one for less than $2 and designated it for counter top use ONLY. It is also useful in transferring chopped veggies to the pan and can be easily washed with dishsoap.

Problem #3: The Dreaded White Tile Kitchen Counter tops. Now, I am extremely grateful to God for our home, including our tile counter tops, but they are tremendously difficult to keep clean.
Enter Weapon #3: The semi-ugly vinyl tablecloth. I keep a vinyl tablecloth on our kitchen island and direct ALL food prep to the island. The tablecloth lasts through several months of cooking, cleaning, and sanitizing before it needs to be replaced. It is not the prettiest thing but has saved me HOURS of cleaning time because there are no grout lines for junk to get caught in or stain. So, until we are able to replace our tile with the quartz that we desire, the vinyl tablecloth will do. On a side note, disposable plastic tablecloths are wonderful to put down on the dining table when the kiddos are playing play dough, painting, coloring, etc. I will stop in to Party City a few days after a holiday and pick up a stack of disposable tablecloths for a quarter each, and let the celebration continue all year!

Problem #4: ANTS, ANTS, ANTS, I'm so sick of ANTS!! These are obnoxious little water ants who come inside in the summer and aren't considerate enough to limit their travels to the pantry, but show up in the bathrooms, bedrooms, closets. AAAHHHH!!!!
Weapon #4: My mother gave me this recipe for Natural Ant Bait/Killer and it is a very inexpensive and natural way to get rid of them for good (at least for the season)!
ANT KILLER RECIPE
1/2 Cup Water
10 oz Caro Syrup
2 tsp Boric Acid (can be purchased at any drugstore, it's used for an eye wash)
Heat over low until well blended and let cool completely. Put some drops in various places in the path of the ant trail, either directly on the surface they're on, or on pieces of paper or bottlecaps.
IMPT NOTE: The amount of ants will greatly increase for about a day as they all come to drink, but by day two the amount will have markedly diminished, and day three should see all ants gone from the area! Apparently, the ants take the boric acid laced sugar back to their nest and the colony eats and dies, thus keeping them from returning to your home. Note, this works on ants not aunts, sorry! ;0)

I hope you're able to benefit from one or more of these weapons and would love to hear about your weapons against house destruction.

Does size matter?

A new issue has recently begun to occupy some of my thought time; are bigger ears really better? Now, our culture tells us that the bigger the ears the better and I think most of us in one way or another subscribe to that notion. I myself had been endowed with fairly ample ears for most of my life and this was a non-issue to me. Now, though, the ravages of exercise and mothering 3 boys has taken it's toll and my ears just aren't what they were. Culture has gotten me thinking that my ears are now somehow inferior to the ideal.
However, a marvelous new world has opened to me, housing a vast array of wonderful new earrings that I could never wear before. There are SO many cute varieties of strapless earrings and they actually look cute and stay on my ears. Because of my smaller ears, the rest of me looks smaller-it's amazing how much bigger big ears can make a person look. I mean, look at Minnie Mouse and Dumbo, major porkers, right!?! And Jessica Rabbit; HUGE ears! There's no longer any more danger of my earrings popping open at will. I am more streamlined in the pool, much less drag!
So, to all you folks getting ready to jump on the ear-implant bandwagon, stop and consider the wonderful advantages to keeping the ears God gave ya'!
Of course if my ears start to hang down to my shoulders, I might be singing a different tune!