natural all-purpose spray

Tried and tested and loved. Tea tree oil is a natural solvent and kills germs and bacteria. They actually use it to clean hospitals in Australia. You need to make sure it isn't diluted. It should be very pungent and come from the melaleuca alternifolia plant.

32 oz plastic spray bottle
2 cups water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure castile soap
3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil
20 drop of lavendar or lemongrass essential oil

Fill a large 32 oz plastic spray bottle with water. Add the vinegar, castile soap, hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil, and lavendar or lemongrass essential oil. If it is hot outside or you have a bug problem you can add 10 drops of citronella essential oil, it is a great insect repellent.

The fruit fly wars

I know, I'm a bad blogger. In my defense, it's my busy season with photography and I'm trying to potty train my almost 3 year old. Plus all the other stuff moms with 4 kids have to do. And it's a lot.

Anyway.....

One thing on my list is to KILL THE DANG FRUIT FLIES! It's bad. And gross. I'm having serious fruit fly rage.

So I heard this would work.



Just put apple cider vinegar in a container (jar, cup, water bottle, whatever) and top it with a funnel. They can get in, but not out apparently.

Well, it works... although, I've found that fresh vinegar works faster...once it's pretty full I drown them with hot water (leave the funnel or they'll fly out before they drown and then refill with vinegar and a new funnel) but they just keep multiplying anyway.

So today, I'm attacking them with aerosol hairspray too. It actually is working pretty well.

I WILL kill them.

The Maid

I'll admit to not being terribly consistent with this, but I imagine if I was it would work nicely. It certainly does the trick when I mention that The Maid is coming though!

Who is The Maid, you ask? Well, let me tell you. She is a fictional third person to transfer the bad guy persona to so Mommy can save face.

She comes in the middle of the night and "cleans" the toys that were left out. Except, instead of cleaning, she just takes them. What she does with them is up to you. I know some Maids who get rid of the toys forever (good will, trash, whatever works) and I know others who allow their children to earn them back with good behavior or keeping their things clean for "X" amount of time. I...uh...I mean "The Maid" at my house is more in favor of the earning things back method. Rewards for good behavior and all that. She just replaces the missing toys in their room in the night when they've earned them.

favorite cleaning tool...by rachel

I do not like sweeping. In fact you can be safe to say that I hate sweeping. I also have hardwood floors, which require alot of sweeping. My savior in this hatred is my Black and Decker handheld vacuum. Its very powerful, gets the dust bunnies like a champ and I complete my job in half the time.

On Stains....by Misty

That is Fels Naptha. Only the best stain remover ever. They knew what they were doing back in the day. Rub this stuff on the stain with a little water, let it sit briefly and wash. Voila! No more stain! Seriously works on everything I've tried it on so far. Mixed with hot water and a bit of rubbing, it'll even take out infant poop stains on white onesies!

It's rumored to also be good for poison ivy treatment, making home made laundry detergent, to rid plants of pests and remedy black spot fungus in roses.