One Christian Mom: To-Do before Christmas...

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

To-Do before Christmas...

I have quite a to-do list before Christmas. My husband has been sick, so he hasn't been able to help. He has a hard time functioning when he isn't feeling well. I also have a bug, but I still need to get this stuff done. My kids have been less than cooperative, especially the baby. I think they just want all of my attention, and I need to do this stuff. Anyway, here's my list, and it all needs to be done by 1pm tomorrow when the company arrives. I seriously doubt I can accomplish it, but I am going to try. Here it is in no particular order:
1. Clean Bathroom - I need to do everything, scrub the tub, toilet, sink, clean the mirror, all surfaces, mop the floor and vacuum the rug. Problem with that is the baby can get in the tub now, so when I am in there, I have to shut the door behind me. So that's a no-go until he is asleep tonight.
2. Clean on top of fridge - This can wait, but it looks bad, and I want things to look nice.
3. Clear off kitchen island - This should be relatively simple, I just need to take the time to do it.
4. Clean off table - ditto
5. Clear off breakfront - I want to use this for drinks, soda, cider, ice bucket, ice tea, cups, etc. Right now it houses my diaper stash and winter gear such as gloves and hats. I just need to finish the diaper laundry (I am using disposables while family is here for simplicity's sake) and find a place to hide it all for now.
6. Finish Hat (a gift) - A few more stitches should do it, but the baby keeps tugging on the yarn.
7. Finish Pillow (another gift) - I need to sew the pillow form, without a machine. Another job that I have to do after all are in bed because they can't seem to keep their hands off of it. These "new" things I have been doing intrigue them, and they get hurt.
8. Clean out hutch and put in lennox - I have an almost full lennox set that we received when we were married. It used to live in the hutch until the kitchen was re-done 2 years ago. Hubby hid the lennox and I haven't been able to find it, so I put all my pyrex, extra serving dishes, etc in there. Well, I found the lennox and it would look nice to put it back, but we will be using it for Christmas dinner whether it ends up in there or not.
9. Wrap presents - I have the kid's done, but I have to wrap all the things I made for family
10. Clean out schoolroom - my sister and her hubby are bringing an airbed and will be sleeping in there, so I want to make it a little more sleep-friendly.
11. Fold and put away clothes - I have absolutely no idea what is stopping me from doing this.
12. Bake dinner rolls - I want to do this tomorrow morning so they are fresh.

There you have it! Now that it's all written up, I will HAVE to get something done :-)
With hope to finish,
One Christian Mom

3 comments:

Martha said...: Howdy! I stumbled across your blog while searching for fellow Christian Mommies, I hope you don't mind me visiting. It's lovely! We both relate on many things already (Left Behind, Ever After, etc). I, too, am trying to restore my marriage after (a very recent) separation. I hope to hear from you soon, visit my blog anytime!

<3 Martha; December 23, 2008 6:53 PM
Martha said...: Thank you for your quick response, I'm your new follower on blogspot and I definitely can't wait to get to know you better. God bless!; December 23, 2008 8:01 PM
Mrs. Darling said...: Wishing you a blessed Christmas. Hope you manage to get your list completed!; December 24, 2008 3:50 AM

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Frugal Tips

**Still under construction - please check back for more!**

Recently, a lot of people in real life have been asking me about my tips for frugal living. I have gained quite a few of them through the years as our family grows and the cost of living is skyrocketing. This list is ever growing, so check back for updates! If you have a frugal tip, let me know, and I will add it to the list, with credit to you!

TIP #1
The first thing I did was join The Grocery Game at http://www.thegrocerygame.com/. I think it's $10 for three months, but you can save way more than that. You do need to either live in a metropolitian area, or have access to the city's newspaper in order for it to work well. I have saved between 25% to 100% off of grocery items. This works best if you have no brand preference for most items. I only subscribed for the first three months. After that, you pretty much get the gist of the savings plan, and can do it on your own. It basically follows the sales at the stores, and the coupons in the paper. When the store has rock-bottom prices on the item in the coupon, it will tell you to use it. Sometimes the item is free!

TIP #2
Another GREAT tip that most people don't do is cut back on your disposable items in your household. I wrote a post on this sometime last week, I think! :-) I am not just talking about cups and plates, but also paper towels, napkins, even things like yogurt. For the paper products, just replace them with cloth. We bought dishtowels at WalMart for $5 for a package of 6, the initial cost is higher, but you will make that back in a month or two (depending on your family). We use those instead of paper towels. For napkins, we use dishrags, pretty ones! They were also inexpensive, and they wash well. When we have company we break out the "real" cloth napkins, it just looks nicer.

For things like yogurt, milk, etc - buy the larger items, then package it yourself in smaller containers. If you like to take yogurt to work, put some in the small tupperware containers from the large container. That way, you are saving money, and helping keep the earth cleaner by not throwing plastic away every day.

TIP #3
For those of you who have babies, CLOTH DIAPERS! Here is a great site for you to learn about them: http://www.diaperpin.com. There are forums there where you can ask questions, read about others who use them, etc. They also have a rating scale on how well the diapers work for others. I, personally, went with the cheapest option, which was prefolds with covers. You can get quality prefolds for $2 per diaper (if purchased in a dozen) and covers for around $9-$11 each. So for the cost of one month's diapers, you have enough to fit your baby for at least a year. Most people will have to buy two sizes over the baby's diaper-wearing lifetime, but it's still way cheaper than buying diapers to throw in the trash! Also, washing them is easier than you might think. Dump all solids into the toilet. Store wet diapers in a wet-bag or dry diaper pail or trash can. When you wash them, put them on a cold rinse cycle. Then add detergent (home-made, preferably, which I will talk about later) or about 1/4 the amount for commerical detergents and put on a warm wash, cold rinse cycle. Dry on medium in the dryer, or hang to dry! Which leads me to:

Tip #4
Hang-dry your clothes. I can hear it already. "But my complex won't let me have a clothesline!" OK, here are some remedies for that. The first solution is to have a folding rack that you can put outside when you dry your clothes, then take it in when they are dry. Since it's not a permanent fixture, most complexes will allow this. Another solution, which may take longer, is to put your clothes rack up inside near a heater (in the winter) or a fan (in the summer). It may take longer for them do dry, but it has never taken mine longer than a day to dry, and I do about a load a day.

Problem with stiff clothes when you hang? Here are two solutions. The first is to add a few tablespoons of vinegar to the rinse cycle in the washing machine. They won't be as soft as in the dryer, but they will be softer than if you didn't. The second solution is to hang them until almost dry. Then put them in the dryer for 10 minutes. You will never know they were hung to dry, and you will save 80 minutes of drying time in the dryer!

More Tips to Come!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

To-Do before Christmas...

3 comments:

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