Vaccuums critiqued.....my new Dyson!

Women tend to have love hate relationships with vaccums. We love them for the first year or so then they lose suction and we start to hate them. A couple years ago I searched for a good, long lasting vaccuum. I would love to have a Kerby but it is simply cost prohibitive. I mean, $2000 on a vaccuum has to be excesive. I opted for a Lindhaus, commertial grade vaccuum from Don Asletts Cleaning Center.

I loved it, at first......

Yep, this summer I have started to hate it. My mom commented when cleaning our old house how poorly my vaccuum worked. I hadn't noticed.....

Without grass around our new home the trail of dirt into the house through doors and windows is exhausting. The other day I mentioned to my dear hubby that my vaccuum needed a little TLC or else I needed a new one. I had seen a Dyson get actually washed in the sink with soap and water. With my allergies this was intriguing. He mentioned for me to go ahead and get one. I figured I would watch for it to go on another great online deal (I'd seen them come up before). Saturday we headed off to Home Depot, bypassed the vaccuums and next thing I knew he had it in the cart. He played all inocent and sly but he knows how to sweet talk me! ;-) I thought I would vaccuum with both of them to see the difference but after getting my Dyson set up I couldn't help myself. "I'll just do a strip or two" I said to myself, but before I knew it I had vaccuumed the whole house and was headed down the stairs. So what did I think?

 I think I am in love again!

 This is the dirt I picked up after 2 vaccuumings! YUCK! And that was only 2 days apart! I vaccuumed Saturday evening and Monday morning to accumulate all this. Sunday was spent watching conference so not much tracked in then. Yep, I'd say my old vacuum wasn't sucking much up. My carpet is new, this is all us but I think it accumulated through the summer.

 Ahhh, clean floors feel good. Sorry Lindhaus, you are getting the boot. I have a new love- DYSON!

Yep, my hubby spoils me. Maybe I will make him some Snickerdoodles tonight!
THANKS BABE!

What's on the menu....

I am searching for menu ideas to use what we have already. I guess I need a break from grocery shopping. I love fall cooking for this very reason. I have been hitting the case lots sales and still plan to go to Macey's. Between that and my Bountiful basket bounty our shelves are full. I have lots of lettuce, tomatoes, celery and fruit. I am also thinking about putting together some freezer meals. I haven't done that for a while but there have been some days lately when I wished I had something to just pull out of the freezer for dinner.

The great thing about fall cooking is it is time to enjoy soups and chilis and casseroles again. Cooking straight from the pantry. I love it! Of course this says nothing for the pumpkin cookies, cakes, rolls and other yummy treats.

Here is what I have planned so far this week.....

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad from Jaimie Cooks it up.

Stacked Tacos from Real Mom's Kitchen

Pinwheels- my childhood favorite

Chili and cornbread

Chicken Noodle Soup- moms best comfort food!

With these meals I will only need a couple of items which if necessary I could substitute. The weekends are crazy so I am not planning for them.

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you so much to my dear Sis-in-law for this award. It is so nice to have all her wonderful ideas written down. You can find them all on her blog Tightwad Mom's Frugal Forum. And don't worry. She has only scratched the surface of all her fabulous tidbits.

There are tons of amazing blogs out there. With this blog comes the opportunity to highlight some of those blogs. Here are the rules....

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

With that in mind here are some of my favorite blogs. I have gotten great tips from these. Check 'em out for lots of fun stuff and ideas....

1- Hand Picked Freebies

2- Oopsey Daisy

3-Organize and Decorate Everything

4-Keeping it Simple

5-Latter-Day Chatter

6-Elegant WordArt

7-LDS Activity Days

8-Wendy's Activities

9-Sisterstuff

10-Shanty2Chic

11-Clean Mama

12-Everybody Loves Raymond...and Kate

13-Eighteen25

14-I heart naptime

15-LDS Handouts

I love the variety of all these blogs, from crafting to cooking to church; check 'em out for the ideas you need!

A boys room: Astronomy Style: Project 36 of 52

Our big project this summer has finally been completed. Although I have a few touches to add we are excited to have moved Josh into his room this past week. He was ever so patient but needed a place to call his own. We had talked about several different options for his decor. He likes soccer but we are not huge sports fans. He used to have fishing decor which I loved. It fit his hobbies, had a touch of family history with his Great- Great Grandfathers handmade fishing pole, and a reminder of our eternal perspective with a scripture quote art work. As we talked I mentioned options we could do with astronomy. He has a telescope and I thought we could build on that. He seemed to like my ideas so I googled more ideas. I didn't want to bust the bank but wanted to create an inviting space for a boy nearing his teens. I wanted something he could enjoy for several years. Of course a top priority was organization so that room MIGHT stay somewhat clean. Boys have hats. We have LOTS of hats! Not to mention ties and belts. So inside the closet went hooks for all these things.

 LOVE IT! Plus he can put his backpack in there too. There is room to add more if we decide to later.

We decided on 2 rows of shelves. He didn't need space for long robes or dresses so we put 2 racks all the way across. He organized his clothes with shirts on top, seperated into dress shirts and t-shirts, and his pants on the bottom. Yep, he is a child after my own heart.

We found this "Moon in my Room". It lights up the stages of the moon. You can set it for each one individually or let it cycle through them.

We painted the window wall a dark blue. I choose a semi-gloss paint because it is easier to wash. The down side is that it shows all the blemishes in our texturing. It also reflects the light. With a basement bedroom the added light is nice. I can add color, even dark color, without pulling the room down.

Then I put glow in the dark stars on in the shape of the constellations. It turned out so good. I have more stars to put up but ran out of the tacky stuff to stick them up. It's on my shopping list.

Our splurge was this globe. It's pretty plain looking in the daylight but at night it lights up and glows the constellations. I can't tell you how cool this is. It's my favorite part of his room. At least so far...

I think Josh loves it too. We surprised him when he got home from school.

We are waiting on the carpet until the other rooms are done. Then we will have carpet laid in Keegan's room, the family room and Josh's room all at the same time. For now he has some rugs to protect his feet. I think he is just excited to have a place to call his own.

Left to add: I am downloading pictures from the Hubble Telescope, making them poster size them mounting them on canvas. This will be on his wall above his bed. Somewhere I plan on incorporating these two phrases:

"Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon."

"Even the earth...yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator" -Alma 30:44

Oh, and don't forget the curtains. We found the perfect fabric at Joann's. Keep watching. I will post them when I have them done.
Sharing with....

General Conference Incentives

We are enjoying General Conference this weekend. With 4 active boys being able to actually LISTEN to the talks takes some preparation, planning and bribery incentives. For many years now we have enjoyed the conference packets put out by Sugar Doodle. She always does a great job of compiling fun packets for all ages. They even get me thinking. I copy one for each of the boys to work on while we listen.

Boys are ALWAYS hungry so a couple of years ago I discovered another tip. I fix a plate or bowls of treats. Each time they hear a certain topic they get one of the treats.

Prayer= goldfish

Temples= grapes

Scriptures= strawberries

Jesus Christ= rice crispies

etc. You could fill in whatever topics you want. I just scoured the pantry- love stocking up with coupon shopping. Since it was morning I tried to keep the treats healthy. For the afternoon session we can pull out the fruit snacks etc. This has been one of the most successful ways of getting the boys to pay attention. They can't wait to have another treat. 

This year I make a special breakfast both days. 

We tried a new recipe for waffles. They were yummy! I think Josh ended up eating 8! Yeah, he didn't have many goldfish after that! These were from Real Mom's Kitchen

The biggest comment that has stuck with me so far is to "Slow Down". We get so busy with good activities we forget the value of TIME with our family. I am really bad this way. I fill every second of the day with erronds, cleaning, organizing, crafting, bathing boys, laundry, landscaping, teaching, working, communting, blogging and so many other activities. I seldom sit down to just BE. I am going to work on shortening my "to do" list. It is always too long. I need to SIMPLIFY! I think it is ok to say "no" to something. You don't even need a reason to say no. Time with my boys, even if just reading together or watching a movie is of higher and higher value in today's life.....

Now I am off to learn more and to learn to have peace in my home. 

Enjoy Conference!