All posts tagged cleaning

On living in a toy box.

by ohdessa on March 21, 2010 in Uncategorized with No comments

I spend a lot of time in our living room. When I say a lot, I really mean it. This is mostly due to O being so teeny tiny and liking to be awake at strange hours on top of having to be awake all day. Our living room, or rather I should say, living area, is very large, and loosly sectioned off into three areas. In one area, a little nook, is the tv, coffee table, and couch. Adjacent to this is the kid area, probably the largest of the three, and the most infectious, spreading toy cars all over the place. The third is the dining area. One of my biggest pet peeves in our place is that the dining area is carpeted. This sucks with kids. It sucks a little less after buying Ryan a Roomba for Christmas. It’s like a robot dog that does not get sick (This is a cool guide to Roomba “songs”. And it actually works pretty well! B was just warming up to the Roomba after being scared of the vacuum for a long time, when I stupidly brought out the big clunky one, and now we are back at square one and cleaning up is a lot harder. But I digress. The part of this whole paragraph relevant to the rest of this blog post is the second part of the room, the play area.

The play area drives me bonkers! Because it is such an open area in a main part of our home, I want to keep it clean and organized, which feels like a losing battle. It just feels like there is too much! I put a bunch of toys in storage now, especialy ones that B is too old for and O is too young for, but it was not enough. I really really need to come up with a storage solution that looks a lot neater. I have been wanting this Ikea bookshelf for ever, but I just cannot justify the Ikea shipping. The Trofast system would also be perfect in that area. A lot of things would probably be better than the mishmash of storage I have right now. I wish I could find rolling boxes for under the Thomas table. I like that table, it seems like the perfect height and size for all of B’s car and train play. The play area feels like a work in progress, but I just want it to look better! Maybe that will be my next weekend project.

Most importantly, I have to try not to buy anymore toys! It’s easier said than done though. Looking at toy cars has become a part of our trips to the mall or Walmart. And B has a face that is hard to say no to, and I like looking at Hot Wheels with him and trying to find the coolest car. I will say that yesterday we went to both a toy store and Walmart, and left without anything or a fuss, so it can be done. I did get some art supplies, but those don’t count, they are more of a consumable product anyways, and they get stored elsewhere. So Ryan and I have declared that we will not buy anymore toys until Christmas. And then it will be good quality stuff, like one or two Plan Toys play sets instead of a lot of smaller stuff.

B is getting back into books. I think this was spurred by our new nightime routine, in which he gets to pick out any book he wants, and then I read that and two more while he sits in bed right before I turn out the lights. He is really into Bernstein Bear books right now, us having inherited Ryan’s childhood collection. The last book is always I’m Not Scared, about a little owl out in the woods with his stuffed Owlie, whom he claims is the one who is really scared of the dark. It’s a cute book for a little guy just realizing he might be scared of the dark. Later today, time granting, I am going to sew B a toy Owlie so he has a friend in the dark, I think he’d really like it

My favorite moment of the week was right before I put B to bed last night. He had found my childhood Care Bear (Bedtime Bear) that I slept with every night until I was far to old. B got the same one (but modernized) for his first Christmas, and he sleeps with it every night. When he found mine, he got really excited. He told me they were the same, and showed me all of the things they had in common, like noses, tails, hearts and hair. He then sat them on the bed to read stories with us (and he made sure they saw every page) and then fell asleep with both of them. It was precious.

Jeepers Creepers

by ohdessa on March 16, 2010 in food with 1 Comment

While I was unsuccessfully trying to organize the pantry (we’ve been here since November and I STILL have no where to put the spices I don’t really use these days anyways, which is another story all together), there was a knock at the door. Which excited B, and solicited no response from O, who was asleep in his cuuuuute owl swing (I seriously made Ryan drive me to Grand Forks to buy it and an owl-print Pack and Play). I was not really expecting anything except my new glasses, but I thought it was too soon for them to come yet. But behold! It was the DHL guy with my new glasses straight from China only a week after I ordered them. Which is the same time frame as the place in the mall, because I have bad eyes so it takes longer.

It’s the 3rd time I have ordered from Zenni Optical, and I will order again. I have been pleased with my glasses every time. And the price! Oh my. Two pairs of glasses for 29.00 shipped! That is less than the anti-reflective coating I never get because it seems to wear off. I am a happy camper. As mentioned, I got two pairs. One is a black stylized half-rim pair ordered to replace a pair that B broke a while ago, and the other a clear bright purple frame. I figured my face needed a break from all the thick black glasses. And I love them both.

Now about those spices. I really need to find some of those windowed magnetic tins for them. I have a perfect space on my fridge for them. And then they will not be in a cardboard box labled “DO NOT TIP” even though I always do by accident AND I can finally find the right ones to use. Chili Powder is no Cayenne Pepper. One of these days.


Today in the mail I got the new issue of Everyday Food magazine. I heart Superstore. OMG Joe Fresh kids clothes! They are just too cute. And a good cosmetics and home section. It is trying-to-save-money kryptonite. So as much as I love Ben and my trips to Superstore, I think that once I get it all figured out, I want to get out to places like Organza and Delucas more like we used to. Because if we are eating for less, we might as well be eating better quality. And it might help eliminate some of the junk we buy. Which B loves all too much. It took me all day to get him to put the tiniest piece of a new food in his mouth. All he wants is fruit snacks, Bear Paws, and “Ger-goni” crackers. So my plan over the next few days is to come up with a good meal plan for next week. I just need some new ideas.