Friday Things #334
1. A couple of weeks ago when I took Isabelle to her swim lesson, my husband helped the boys build this massive castle with Picasso tiles. Amazingly, later that day or the next day, the boys rebuilt it almost exactly all on their own. I was astonished (and so proud)!
2. Isabelle loves, as in, seriously LOVES bubbles. She loves to blow bubbles and if we read a book that has bath bubbles, she gets SO excited, screaming, “bubbles! bubbles!” Love this little girl.
3. Does anyone use Stasher bags? I keep seeing them pop up and wonder if they are worth it?
4. Loving these “eat balanced” shirts – it’s pretty much how I approach eating (and the proceeds go to a good cause!)
5. This story about a man taking his grandma to all the national parks makes my heart so happy, and also makes me miss my own grandma so, so much.
6. Loving this list of 50 non-sandwich lunch ideas for kids… even though I’m not packing lunches regularly yet, there are some awesome ideas for switching up our rather predictable lunches here at home!
7. I saw someone share this on Facebook and I relate 100% (although I couldn’t eat that many Oreos and my dessert of choice would be more like chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cheesecake, or Lindt truffles):
8. Talk to me about cleaning routines… I’ve been trying to be more organized about it over the last couple of months, but would love to know how often you do different cleaning tasks. Haaaaaaalp me :)
9. We started watching Line of Duty this week and got so, so into it… we seem to always enjoy a good British police/crime drama. Excited to binge this one!
10. TGIF! Everyone is excited when we get visitors!
https://cleanmama.com/ is a great website.
Also check out
https://www.instagram.com/resetmyspace/
https://www.instagram.com/houseonelm/
I’ve used my own “version” of stasher bags…their called empty little plastic containers from deli that had macaroni salad in them lol. I stash vitamins for work, small snacks. Paying 15 dollars for a reusable container hurts me..I already have containers😊 isabelle looks adorable and the pic of the boys w doggie looking out the window is soooo cuuuuuute. Little Dominic is using the ledge as a step. Cleaning routine? I esteem to get a serious routine squeezed in. Sometimes it feels like I’m hanging on by a very thin thread. But I know He’s got even this. Love your blog. What a true blessing.
Line of Duty is amazing. Looking forward to the next season. Love British crime shows, there are a whole lot of them on Netflix and I’ve watched most of them. Try Doctor Foster, The Fall, Scott and Bailey, The Five, Shetland, Broadchurch, Marcella, Collateral, Father Brown, Safe, River, Thirteen…
The Slasher bags are intriguing me. Now that I’m retired I have no cleaning routine😂. It’s wonderful! I do try to vacuum, wash floors and change my bedding roughly once a week. I do laundry randomly, usually at night and hang it up ASAP after washing to avoid ironing. I have not opened my new iron that I bought 2 years ago😂. My T-shirts get folded á la Marie Kondo and my shorts lay flat on top of each other in a drawer. My dresses are of fabric that doesn’t need ironing.
Check out Clean Mama.. she has this awesome attack plan to keep the house clean. And tons of great other ideas!
I think your kids have grown over the summer. So, so cute! Definitely going to check out that mystery on tv if I can get it on my Roku. Thanks Michelle.
I’ve been curious about the Stasher bags too (and other brands) as I keep seeing them pop-up and can understand the benefit in not sending more plastic into our world. I’d love to hear what people who’ve used them say. On a cleaning routine – I pick what’s important to me to have cleaned and how often and then pick a day to do that thing. For example, I do laundry every week and would prefer to have it done in 24 hours. I work M-F so on Friday night, I sort the laundry and start sending it through the washer and dryer while I make dinner/pick-up stuff/whatever. I usually have two loads washed, dried, folded, and put away by the time we go to bed (sometimes both loads get folded right before bed!), and my last load (bleached, always last!) washes while we sleep. Saturday morning it goes in the dryer while I start my day and then I fold it before we go to bed (at the latest). I vacuum once a week and before guests come over (cats). Honestly, just pick a good day to vacuum in your schedule and if it alters by a day or two don’t beat yourself up. It’s okay to spread stuff out in a fashion that fits your schedule or to simply designate several hours on a particular day to knock it all out. My friend does it that way. Her first day off, she starts a load of laundry, cleans one room, changes the laundry, cleans the next and when the house is all clean she folds all the laundry and puts it away – that works for her but I prefer more of a piecemeal approach. I’ve found if each task is assigned a day it helps make sure something isn’t missed. One last note – bedding. I know it’s a controversial subject but I wash our sheets every two weeks. My husband has PTSD from childhood on sheets getting washed multiple times a week whereas mine almost never were – so we compromised on every two weeks. I find it easiest to count from the “first of” the month when doing non-weekly tasks, and don’t be shy about adding those to your calendar so you can remember when X thing is. Also, grouping those odd items together can help. If you have 3 things that you do every two weeks, do all 3 together instead of giving them their own day. Hope that helps!
I use Stasher bags. I store cooked rice and raw meat. Things that don’t come out of a Mason jar easily. They seal well and wash well. Plus they stand up in the freezer, like books. I would buy more, I like the ones I have.
For me, the cleaning schedule on ofthehearth.com works great. You can modify it to suit your home. It’s a nice visual and doesn’t feel overwhelming on a daily basis.
You might have just changed my life (and saved my sanity) by sharing that ofthehearth.com cleaning schedule. Oh….my…gosh….THANK YOU!!!
I have Stasher bags and love using them when I can. I feel “green” when I do 😁 They are expensive though. FYI they’re currently having a back to school sale. I just got the email yesterday. 20% off an order over $95 with code BACK2COOL 😉
I love the reusable silicone bags and have been using them for a few years. Not “stashed” brand, however there are various sizes and brands available on Amazon and from The Grommet, where I first purchased mine. Love the reusable part and I use very few ziplock bags. One critical comment is they are hard to close sometimes. Still, the overriding benefits of these bags outweighs the small inconvenience of closing the silicone bags. There are also bowl covers you can get that are fabulous and reduces use of plastic wrap!
Those stickers are so funny and pretty much sum up my life lol!
I have a Stasher bag and, while I love the idea of it, I’m not a fan. They are very difficult to open enough to put something like a sandwich in (I have the sandwich sized bag) and are difficult to clean for the same reason.
In my other life as a kindergarten teacher, I loved doing bubble activities with the class…especially during the hot days of mid -June when we were all just waiting for summer vacation to begin. I set up some big tubs homemade bubble liquid out in the recess yard and made a bunch of different “tools” for the kids to use. The Boston Children’s Museum has an amazing bubble activity area so I tried to replicate some of the activity areas. The best bubbles were the giant sheet bubbles that would catch wind and expand as kids ran through the recess yard…so much fun.
You boys look more grown up with each Friday post…especially Joseph!
Have a great weekend.
This is a new thing, but your menu bar is obstructing part of my iPad screen about 1/4-1/3 of the way down and it’s distracting and difficult to read things. Otherwise, always enjoy your blog.
Clean mama is my favorite blog for cleaning routines. Lots of free printables.
I recently found her site too and am loving it!
https://cleanmama.com/
I love Line of Duty! So far I’ve only seen the 1st season, I’m saving the rest for the fall when I make the switch from running outdoors to running on the treadmill. Did you know that it’s by the same folks who did The Bodyguard?