cleaning inspiration

I read this on my friend Kristen’s blog a few weeks ago and have referred to it a few times and decided to start “The 30 Day Schedule” on February 1st – TODAY!  I thought it was helpful so I literally hit copy and paste from Kristen’s blog to mine to share with any of you who it might help!

Having a “cleaning day” once a week just doesn’t work for me with an almost-1-year old so when I saw the 30 day schedule I decided to give it a whirl.  PLUS, Ali introduced me to a fabulous new way to clean last week.  It was love-at-first-sight for me so I’m doing a cleaning party on February 23rd for all of you Vegas peeps who are interested in learning all about it.  Seriously, you just may fall in love with a mop and a rag like I did.  I’m excited to clean!

So anyway,  here you go – from Kristen’s blog to mine:

 

From Apartment Therapy. Click here for full article.

No one said you had to do everything at once and even when time seems short, if you can manage one task a day, things should start to work themselves out. Adjust this list as your family's needs require (those with more or less children might require doing certain activities more or less). If it's easier, take a blank calendar and fill it in accordingly so easier tasks are on days where your day is go, go, go and reserve the more difficult ones for days when things are a little lighter. Here are five tips to help make this 30 days a success:

1) Dealing With What Comes Through The Door Set up a small area by the front door to act as a "landing strip" for incoming items into your home. If you're a long time reader this is nothing new to you. If this is the first time you've heard this phrase outside of reference to personal grooming habits, then make sure to check out Maxwell's latest Home Cure video on the topic.

2) Do Your Dishes After Every Meal This will help you stay on top of your kitchen instead of having it turn into a monster! No one really wants to do them (after all, you probably cooked dinner to boot). But waiting for another meal or until you have enough to fill the dishwasher just makes things feel overwhelming and easier to put off. The same goes for take out trash as well. If you need to take the trash out, place it by the front door to go out in the morning or dispose of it that night so it's over and done with.

3) Laundry If you have a washer and dryer at home, do a little bit each day. Spread things out so you don't feel bogged down by 200 towels and stinky socks. If you take things to a laundromat, sort clothes as you go so things are easier to load up into machines when you get there. Fold them before you come home so you aren't dumping baskets out on your sofa or bed and they can go straight into drawers and closets.

4) Whistle While You Work: Those who are happiest when cleaning are few and far between. Singing, humming, whistling or turning up the stereo are all great options to keep the beat in your feet and have fun while working. Here's a few past posts on killer cleaning soundtracks.

5) Set a Timer: Most items on the list below should take no more than 20 minutes total. It's easy to rationalize 20 minutes, but it's also easy to get distracted by phone calls, emails, children and other projects that call your name as you tackle each chore. Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes (which ever works best for you) and that way when it sounds you know exactly how much time you have left. If you find yourself off task it's easy to get back on track.

1. Surface clean living room and kitchen (pick up stray items, dust, sweep, vacuum)

2. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, floors, walls, mirrors)

3. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, dust)

4. Surface clean "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)

5. Surface clean living room and kitchen

6. Clean bathrooms

7. Clean all interior windows (white vinegar and newspaper works great and is cheap!)

8. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house (don't forget stairs)

9. Surface clean bedrooms

10. Deep clean living room (mirrors, baseboards, dust artwork)

11. Clean bathrooms

12. Clean out closets (hang up clothes, mittens, jackets, hats)

13. Surface clean "extra" rooms

14. Deep clean bedrooms (organize drawers, check under bed, tidy closet, dust artwork, fans, lights, mop)

15. Surface clean living room and kitchen

16. Deep clean bathrooms (clean inside drawers, inside of trash cans, tops of mirrors, tile, mop)

17. Clean all door knobs, phones, entertainment equipment (remote controls), switch plates, banisters and other things that are repeatedly touched.

18. Clean out the refrigerator, take stock of food, organize pantry

19. Clean entryway, sweep porch (if you have one), clean out car (because they're often our home away from home)

20. Surface clean living room and kitchen

21. Surface clean bathrooms

22. Surface clean bedrooms

23. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

24. Clean linen closet, straighten towels, sheets or regular closet if not applicable

25. Surface clean living room and kitchen

26. Deep clean kitchen (scrub appliances, wash trash cans, base boards, wipe down and straighten cabinets)

27. Surface clean bathrooms

28. Surfaces clean bedrooms

29. Clean one item you've been meaning to get to and haven't (deep clean your stove, wipe down all light fixtures, tackle a particularly unruly area)

30. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house

To this list you can also add chores that are to be done monthly or quarterly. It's easier to plan for larger tasks like steam cleaning a sofa or heavy traffic hallway, then it feels like part of the routine instead of that thing you keep putting off and dreading.

Habits are formed by doing and one of the best ways to change a bad habit is to replace it with another action. So if the time spent right when you come home from work is usually filled with email reading and a small nap, try switching it out with your cleaning instead. Making the 20 minute time slot routine will build good habits and help you stay on top of the game without feeling like it's a real chore.

POTD

The doctor confirmed it this morning – Ryan has been hit with RSV. 

His poor little face is a total mess.  His eyes look like he’s dying from an allergy attack – he can barely open them at times.  His nose is gushing boogers.  And his mouth stays wide open all day so he can breath which means he drools all day.  His shirts are soaked.

But he did great with his first breathing treatment.  The nebulizer sound is second nature in our house so the machine didn’t freak him out at all.  He watched Baby Einstein and sat on his dad’s lap like a champ.

I feel so bad for this kid.  He looks absolutely miserable.

oh, what a week it has been.

[I am trying to be optimistic, but I think we’re in for another stellar week].

. Nate was diagnosed with RSV.  While it was a rough week – he wasn’t hit with a terrible fever so he was acting like he felt alright [not normal, but not a kid with RSV] so he still just wanted to play and play and play.  But his body desperately needed rest.  Especially those lungs of his.  Trying to get Nate to sit still is one heck of a challenge but we got creative with art projects, play-doh and rides in the stroller.  Oh, and of course our fair share of movies and TV shows.

. It was a boring week with just the three of us.  I quickly learned that we are not week-long home-bodies.  We like school, play dates, friends/family!  Luckily, we had fabulous weather all week so we did get outside a little bit to play in the dirt.  It was nice to get some fresh air and some sun!

. Nate’s breathing treatment medicine takes 25 minutes and he’s supposed to do it twice a day.  That’s a long time and it makes Nate WILD and CRAZY.  Wes and I are about to pull our hair out with how bonkers he gets but we quickly remind ourselves [and each other] that it’s not his fault.

. RYAN did great all week avoiding the “plague”. . . but then on Saturday we knew the RSV had made it’s way to our little man and now he is sick as a dog.  Yet another trip to the doctor tomorrow.  I feel so bad for babies when they are sick – he is absolutely miserable.  Don’t his poor little eyes just break your heart?

. Prior to Ryan getting sick, we started giving him a little whole milk in a sippy cup.  The dude is in love with milk in a sippy cup.  The transition out of a bottle may be easier than I thought.   

. Ryan had a blast the other night eating with the bowl and the spoon.  He wasn’t feeling well so we let him go at it and he loved it.  He was absolutely disgusting when he was all-done and went straight to the tub.

. Wes and I forgot how much easier it is to have a sick toddler vs. a sick baby.  If Ryan could just blow his nose that would make such a big difference!  The nose sucker is a necessary but mean device.  It’s nice that we’re at a point with Nate that he can tell us what hurts & happily blows his nose and takes medicine. 

. Speaking of Nate telling us what hurts – we’re pretty sure he now has an ear infection.

. The boys bathroom has been our steam room.  We get it SUPER steamy in there and then Wes takes both boys in the shower.  It’s amazing what comes flowing out of their noses after that!

. Other than Nate’s chest and his ears, he seems to be doing better.  His nose isn’t running [there’s still plenty of snot but it’s not coming out unless he blows his nose] and he’s not coughing.  He’s still got some serious congestion in his chest but he only coughs a few times a day.  So we’re making improvements.  I’m curious to see what doc says tomorrow.  At what point is he considered “not contagious” anymore?

. We’re very grateful to a fabulous brother-in-law that lives around the corner that dropped everything mid-house project to come help Wes give our boys a blessing.

. I have a confession: Nate wasn’t coughing at all with zero runny nose so we went on a little date on Saturday afternoon.  I figured a trip to an empty movie theatre to see Tangled wouldn’t infect anyone.  We had such a great afternoon!  It was my first time taking Nate to a movie and he loved the movie and a date with mom.  He sat on my lap and barely moved while eating his popcorn, skittles & apple juice.  It was just what we needed.

. I’m pretty sure we single-handedly kept the childrens medicine / Vicks aisle & Target Pharmacy in business this week.

. I’ve got a pretty great husband.  He was supposed to be out of town pretty much this entire next week but luckily it was one of those trips where he set everything up to meet with people and it all could be rescheduled in a week or two.  So without saying anything to me, he rescheduled all of the meetings.  I never would have expected or asked him to do that but it will sure make things easier this week.  Nights with these two are interesting – it definitely involves a two man parental team since they both seem to have “issues” at the same time!

Our fingers are crossed that Ryan’s body can fight off this sickness rather quickly.  It’s always a little scarier in babies – we hope he recovers soon!

the magic machine

I am in love with this vaporizer/humidifier. My friend Alex told me it made all the difference in the world when Harrison was sick a few weeks ago. Harrison was up for almost 5 hours one night coughing and crying and so she decided to try this thing and it totally worked for them.

And it's working for the Naters, too. It's like it lets off magic steam that instantly stops the coughing. He's sleeping much better at night instead of coughing for hours and hours.

Just thought I'd share our new favorite item from Target.

“We’ve been attacked by the SICK monster.” – Nate Griffeth

Mr. Cold and Flu has ATTACKED the Griffeth house this week.  It started with me with a massive sore throat but with alot of vitamin C, Zicam, vitamins, Halls Defense Drops & a few extra hours in bed [thanks Wes] I’m feeling okay.  Not great, but nothing to complain about.

It started hitting Wes yesterday.  We’ll see if he’s as lucky with the Airborne & vitamins.

My cute little boys, however are not so lucky.

Nate?  FULL.BLOWN.RSV.  [A first for our house, by the way.  Ever.]  He’s not doing so well.  He’s got a raspy cough that immediately turns to what we think is probably asthma but the wheezing is horrific.  His nose is gushing.  He’s got a low-grade fever.  The poor guy coughs and coughs all-night-long.  But none of this phases him – he still just wants to PLAY and PLAY.  Trying to get a 3 year old boy to hold still and rest a little more when he doesn’t want to has proven to be a challenge.

 

Ryan?  Well, he started the low-grade fever today and has been whining for 24+ hours so I’m pretty sure he is the next victim.

I STRUGGLE with day after day stuck inside the house.  We do get out a little bit – but the weather is FABULOUS and we just want to run and play outside.  But I’m pretty sure that will just about shut down Nate’s lungs so we’re staying low-key.  But day after day of feeling crappy without friends, cousins & school is a little rough on us! 

We’ll survive, I guess.

Nate’s first college basketball game

On Saturday, Nate went his dad to his first college basketball game – UNLV vs. New Mexico.

Nate was pretty excited to go and had a great time.  He loves “special” outings and an afternoon with his dad is always a hit.  And you know Wes loved it because it involved college sports and his little dude.

[when a 3 year old is done watching basketball, they make funny faces].

There will be many more sporting events in our future, for sure! 

Ryan is 11 months old

We’ve got one month left until he turns ONE.  That’s just craziness.

Our little [or not so little] boy has quite the personality these days.  He is a joy to have in our family and either makes me crazy or makes me smile all day long.  He’s a destructive little boy – the bigger the mess the better.  He pulls just about anything over and climbs anything he thinks he can climb.  Today he pulled our big garbage can over and it landed right on him.  I got about 15 minutes of cuddle time after that one.

Speaking of cuddling, Ryan can be quite the cuddler.  He loves to snuggle in and give loves.  I absolutely love this about him.

 

Ryan at 11 months:

. He still will eat anything & he never stops eating.  You just have to cut him off.  He gets really mad if he’s sitting in his highchair and there’s even 30 seconds without food being offered.

. He loves his mama [and his dad].  When I walk in to a room he stops what he’s doing and with a big smile crawls right over to me.  He will do the same to Wes when he’s been gone for a while.

. He’s got 7 teeth.

. He still has not mastered the sleeping thing.  He sometimes just cries and cries for no apparent reason.

. Speaking of sleeping, most of the time he lays ON his lion and holds a binky while he sleeps.  Lately when he’s mad in there he throws everything out of his crib and then cries even louder.

. He weighs 23 pounds.

. Loves being outside.  He loves going on walks, playing in dirt, crawling around in the grass, climbing on playgrounds, etc.  If he’s outside, he’s happy.  I think this summer will be fun when I can get out some water toys!

. He HITS!  Seriously!  He will whack you and pull hair on purpose.

. He loves to play but also still loves to be held.

. He’s been crawling for 5 months and walking around things for almost 4.  But no sign of walking yet.

. He had his first haircut today.  He was starting to grow a mullet so before anyone could say “look at that baby’s mullet”, we cut it off. 

. He loves music.

. He’s slightly better in the car.

. He will lay right on Nate and just roll over him and give him big hugs and kisses.

. He’s got a great smile.

. He can throw quite a tantrum.

. He HATES getting dressed and un-dressed.  The only time this isn’t a problem is when he’s standing next to the bathtub as it’s filling up with water for his nightly bath.  He LOVES getting in the tub so he will cooperate with getting his clothes off.

. He still takes two naps.  They usually aren’t great naps but he’s getting a little better.

   

We love this little boy of ours!