Bringing Down the Wall!

The forever hated WALL is coming down!!  I have waited for this for many years and it's finally happening!  Cory and I have been talking about it the past couple of weeks.  I thought maybe we would start tearing in to the project, literally, in March, but on Saturday morning Cory looked over at me, told me he loves me very much, then told me that I drive him nuts, then he looked at the wall.  Suddenly I knew that the time had come.  The wall was coming down.  Neither of us said anything more.  We grabbed some tools and started demolition. 

All of these pictures were taken with my phone.  We seriously dove right in to this project.  There was no time for fancy camera pictures. 

Here is the view from my dining room before demo.

 This is the family room before demo.  See that big giant blank wall that is two colors?  The bottom of the wall doesn't line up with the top of the wall.  It's about 1/4 - 1/2 inch off depending where we measure.  This will get blended by the end of this project.

My dad came over on Saturday to give us a hand.  There were surprise support posts in places we didn't expect them.  There were also 7 lines of electric running through the wall.  Cory and my dad drilled holes in the floor.  Disconnected the electric.  Then hooked everything up under the floor in the basement ceiling.  I was never a fan of the drop ceiling in the basement, but Cory told me that we would be happy to have the access to everything between the floor and the basement ceiling.  I guess he was right... yup, you were right honey.  Good call.  ;-) 

Ethan was an awesome helper.  He used the heavy drill to get the screws out of the studs.  He took out about 20 screws all on his own!   

This picture is seriously blurry, but it's the only one that I have of all four guys working together. 

What a crew! 

Here is a peak at our new opening.  Isn't it lovely?! 

We can see in to the dining room and kitchen now from the family room and front entry.

 The boys love the opening and ran lots of circle around it on Sunday. 

Hey look, I helped too.  Actually I was the tool runner, kid watcher, and mess cleaner the entire weekend.  Demo makes a huge mess... Ethan is awesome by the way.  This little man did everything he could to help. 

Here is a peak from the kitchen.  My dining room is no longer a dead end space with no natural light.  It's actually a room that we will enjoy using.  There is still a large wall dividing the two spaces.  We have plans to open up more of this, but haven't figured out how we will do that yet.  We might make the opening to the right about 3 feet wider.  Or we might cut two look through openings in the remaining wall.  We would love to remove the entire wall, but there are two major load bearing supports running through the wall that we don't want to mess with.  We plan to work around them and open up as much as we can. 

Another look from the family room in to the dining room and kitchen area.  Fabulous!  I am so excited about this.  I have been waiting years for this to happen.  Thank you hubby! 

The best surprise of all is that I can see out the front window in our entry nook from the kitchen. 

Love. Love. Love.

I owe this project to the most amazing husband ever.  Cory, I know I have been making your crazy for years over this wall.  I am sorry about that, but you love me and you show me that every day.  Opening up our floor plan means so much to me.  It's not just about the layout and extra light.  It's also about keeping our family together while we are home.  It's about helping the kids with school work at the kitchen table while we clean, cook, and play with the kids in the family room.  It's about being connected under one open space.  Being together in our home.  Thank you for loving me so much.  You are my hero. 

So Excited!

Remember this post about the Norwex party that I had?  Well, now I am joining in on the fun and becoming a consultant!  Yup, that is how much I love this stuff!  I am so excited to tell everyone about the fabulous products!! 

Nesting

Not because I'm pregnant, because I'm not!  I am nesting because everyone around me is pregnant.  Mix those hormones that are floating through the air with some major spring fever and BAM, nesting. 

Well, nesting and the fact that I LOVE reading other people's blogs about organizing.  I know, I've been repeating that a lot lately, but I can't help myself.  These blogs and these women are so inspiring.  So inspiring in fact that this weekend alone I cleaned and organized my laundry room, some of my kitchen cabinets, and Ethan's closet.  I pulled out tons of stuff for selling, donating, and tossing.  I am loving this less-is-more-and-everything-in-its-spot feeling. 

Speaking of cleaning... I had a Norwex party at my house on Friday night and my goodness, I am in LOVE with the products.  My party was a huge success.  I am going to have a spotless, chemical free, toxin free home, and I made a new friend out of it!  Amy is a fantastic consultant for Norwex.  She is a mom, a nurse, and loves the Norwex products.  It definitely shows.  She made my oven sparkle in minutes.  I never thought this was possible.  And... she did it without harsh chemicals.  Score!  You should definitely have a Norwex party in your home. 

Back to organizing. 

I started with our laundry area.  Under the washer I put anything washing related and the lint brush.  Under the dryer I put all of the dog supplies.  Most of the medications are in a hard-to-open plastic container.  The rest will also be in a container soon.  I don't want those meds in reach of little hands. 

Next, I tackled the cabinets above the washer and dryer.  These were full of extra exterior lights, dust, and a ton of randomness.  I cleaned them out.  Arranged them by shelf; candles, light bulbs, outdoor items, locks and siding extras, and more house extras.  This is a "progress" picture.  Still, a huge upgrade from where things were before.  I am learning.  

Notice all the cleaning supplies above the cabinets?  I put those up there last October when I drastically reducted cleaning with chemicals in our home.  My husband made me promise we'd keep them for a year just in case we needed them.  We haven't touched them yet and I have no intention of using them. 

Maybe I'll paint the cabinets next and get some fun decorative knobs...

My next big project was our medicine cabinet.  I got rid of a bunch of expired meds and made room for the basket with sunscreen and bug spray.  Also made room for Carter's nebulizer and supplies on the top shelf.  Put a couple dosage notes up on the door with tape.  I plan to add a small cork board to this area for additional notes.  Maybe I'll paint it a fun color or wrap it in material. Again, "progress".

I took a before shot of this horrible mess... might possibly be blurry on purpose... okay not really, but I am glad it is.  This was a drop zone area for arts, crafts, and candles.  They really had no business being in the same cabinet.  So, they were moved out and replaced with....

Simplicity... ahhhh.  Lunch bags and cooking supplies in easy reach.  Before these items were mixed in with my overly-packed-too-small-pantry. 

But now, my pantry looks like this!  Extra items and a ton of pasta on the bottom shelf.  Oh I love when things are easy to find.  It makes me shiver with happiness.

And then my last project for the weekend.  This is Ethan's closet after.  I didn't take a before picture, but it looked something like the craft cabinet above.  I pulled out a ton of stuff for Craigs List and donating and ended up with this.  An organized space.  I love it.  Thank you organizing blogs for all the inspirations. 

Oak Trees, Mold, and Dust Mites

On Wednesday we took Ethan to an allergist for testing.  He hated the tests.  He screamed and shook and screamed... it was horrible.  He was terrified.  I don't think the tests hurt nearly as bad as he made it seem, but he was scared.  Cory and I were both there trying to calm him down the best that we could.  Heartbreaking, but I am glad we did it.

 The results were worth the trouble.  Turns out he does NOT have food allergies which we are very thankful for.  Instead he is allergic to oak trees, mold, and dust mites.  Dust mites are the worst because they are everywhere.  I enjoy a clean house though, but some times lack motivation.  Now, I have complete motivation.  This weekend we'll pick up pillow covers and a bed cover which should help eliminate dust mites.  We also moved our dogs outside over a month ago.  That is supposed to help a ton.  Dust mites populate in areas where people sleep and where dogs sleep. 

So, my question for my readers is: What products should I use for dusting?  When I cleared out all the toxic sprays for cleaning my house and switched to Method cleaning products and vinegar, I also switched to dry dusting with a microfiber towel.  Well, I read that dry dusting is 93% less effective with removing dust particles and getting rid of dust mites.  That is a huge percent!  So what type of toxin-free product do you suggest for dusting? 

Recipes for Cleaning

I changed this post a bit.  I found many recipes for laundry detergent and went with the one that uses 1 cup borax instead of 1/2 cup borax. 

I did it!  I made my own laundry detergent this weekend and it was super easy, fun, and made my kitchen smell really fresh!  Here is the recipe I used (taken from this website):

Homemade Laundry Detergent


Most homemade laundry detergent recipes out there contain the same ingredients:
1. 1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap
2. 1 cup of Washing Soda
3. ½ cup of Borax powder  1 cup Borax powder (cleans really well)

To make a powdered detergent, cut the soap into small pieces and then powder it in a food processor or blender (I use my Pampered Chef cheese grater and then put it in a food processor) . Mix this with the washing soda and borax. Use 1-2 tsps per load depending on the size of the load and the amount of soil.
Super cheap and super yummy smelling!  I've read that you can use different types of bar soaps instead of the fels-naptha if you prefer. 

The next recipe I'll try is for homemade dish detergent (from the same website):

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent


Ingredients
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1 cup borax powder
• ½ cup salt
• ½ cup citric acid

Mix all the ingredients together and store in a glass canning jar. Use one tablespoon per load. For best results, use white vinegar in the rinse dispenser.

Ethan helped me make the laundry detergent.
And... Cory is completely on board because its cheap and smells delicious.

Trying to Create a Healthier Household

I am not by any means completely naturalistic or holistic, but I would like to say that I am trying to do more of that little by little.  Recently I had a conversation with my family about trying our hardest to cut out fast food and soda.  This will be easy to do for Cory, Ethan, Carter, and myself, but Mariah may be a bigger challenge.  She is able to buy and drink whatever she wants while at school.  They have a full cafeteria that is open the entire day.  The kids can stop in there between classes and fill up on snacks, soda, artificial juices, something called a milk shake that is just really thick milk loaded with sugar, cappuccinos, the list goes on.  So, since I can't completely control what she eats while at school, I can control what I buy for home meals and snacks. 

Getting away from processed foods sounds like a great idea; however, its close to impossible.  Just about everything we buy is processed or highly sprayed with chemicals.  We eat all these chemicals on a daily basis and then complain about our increase in allergies and other health issues.  Then we go to the doctor for medicine to try to balance the imbalance in our bodies.  As easy as that sounds... it is not healthy at all.  I would like to think that by making a couple little changes with cutting out fast food, soda, and the highly processed foods... that maybe, just maybe, I can make a difference in my families health.   

Another harsh thing that we do to our bodies is surround them with cleaning chemicals, toxins, and pesticides.  This is in addition to the world of pollution around us.  While I can't control the environment, I can control what comes in to our home.  I can do my best to reduce the use of chemicals and toxins in our home.  I have found a million ways to use white distilled vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda for all of our household needs.  I am yet to try all these ways; however, the fact that my husband hates the smell of vinegar might be a bit of a road block.  Hopefully he'll understand the benefit and jump on board soon. 

This article alone was enough to make me understand the benefit: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/11/earlyshow/health/main20052745.shtml

"This is so important. Unfortunately, the statistics are pretty scary when it comes to childhood obesity. Today's generation of kids may be the first to not outlive their parents, because we're seeing diseases in kids that we normally see in adults," Sass says. "From type 2 diabetes to high blood pressure and even heart disease. In 1976, five percent of children in the U.S. qualified as obese. Today it's 20 percent, or one-in-five kids.

I don't want to obsess over this like a fad diet, but instead I want to make some lifestyle changes with hopes that my children will carry these lifestyle changes with them.  My mom made everything homemade when we were kids.  We used cloth diapers, bought local honey, grew most of our own vegetables, made apple pies from hand picked apples from trees that weren't sprayed with chemicals.  We rarely ate fast food, never had soda in the house, and ate a lot of farm fresh meat and eggs.  So, I grew up this way, but some where in the busy world and busy way of life, I lost a lot of those values.  The harm didn't affect me so I didn't think about my poor choices.  Now I have a three year old son with possible allergies, and a rash that makes him itch like crazy.  He takes allergy medicine daily and uses a steroid cream to reduce the dry itchy skin.  I don't want this for him.  He's only three and shouldn't be filled with medicine.  I don't want Carter to have these issues either.  Luckily for Mariah I didn't use a pesticide in the house every three months, I didn't feed her as much fast food and processed foods, and I didn't let her drink soda until junior high. 

Life gets busy, we forget, and we pick the easy road.  Ads are confusing, misleading, and truly makes all the bad foods look amazingly delicious. 

My next step will be considering cancelling my pesticide contract... this will be the hardest change for me.  I hate bugs.  Terrified of bugs.  Want nothing to do with bugs and spiders and centipedes.  However, I love my family and their health is more important.  Maybe allowing pesticides outside my home and not inside will be my first step. 

The other thing I want to do more for fun than anything is to make my own laundry soap.  It's pretty natural, it's fun, it smells good (I've been told), it's extremely cheap, and it's very gentle on clothes and skin.  These are a lot of changes at once and I'll send my family in to shock if I make them all instantly.  So, I'll slowly make a couple of these changes and hopefully my family will find it fun and jump on board. 

Last night we had raw carrots for dinner along with mac-n-cheese (yup, highly processed - I'm not perfect or crazy) and strip steak with tortillas.  The big change was introducing the raw carrots in to the meal instead of canned vegetables.  We loved eating the big raw carrots and the best part was teaching Ethan how to peal them.  He LOVED it.  He couldn't stop talking about how mommy taught him how to peal a carrot. 

I love seeing him so proud to learn.