A few of mommy's favorite things...

Being the mom of two boys and two dogs only means one thing....I have quadruple the cleaning to do in less than 1/4 of the time I used to have before kids. So when we got our tax return back Wesley let me splurge on a few things to help make cleaning easier and faster and I just had to share how awesome they are with you! 

Cleaning the floors are usually on the top of my list of things to clean everyday. With the dogs (and Penn) constantly coming in and out of the dog door I always have little muddy paw/foot prints on my floor and the thought of dragging out a bucket of water and mop is just too much. There is never a good time to mop with little ones running around, there are always streaks and footprints left behind because I have to hurry. And not to mention keeping the boys off the wet floor is impossible. So I was finally able to get a steam mop! And I LOVE it! I got the Shark Professional Pro Steam Pocket mop and although I have only used it once I know it is going to become a tool I use everyday! There are 3 different settings depending on how dirty your floor is and it comes with 2 pads that have one side for dusting/light cleaning, and the other side is for scrubbing and deep cleaning. It also came with a carpet glider so you can steam rugs and carpets to sanitize them. It was so easy to use and did such a great job, plus the floor dried faster than my boys could walk across it to make little footprints. Definitely a must have if you have little kids or dogs. I am feeling much better about having a crawler again knowing the my floors will be clean and no chemicals have to be used.

 

 I was also in the market for a new vacuum since mine decided to die all of a sudden with no warning! I use my vacuum at least once every day for something and have to go over my whole house at least every couple days. Wesley and I had bought several vacuum cleaners and had terrible luck with them before we finally found our Eureka Pet Vac. It never got clogged, it cleaned our carpets great, got dog hair up really well, was okay on the hard surfaces, and was really easy to empty out and clean. So when it died I was a little upset, but we went and ahead and started looking at new vacuums and I decided on the newer version of our Eureka that died. It is called the Eureka Suction Seal Pet Vacuum. Let me just say this is the best vacuum I have ever had! Of course I have never owned a Rainbow or Dyson but for the money this vacuum is awesome! It still has the feature I liked about the last one (the pet power paw, brush, crevice device, and easy dump canister) plus much more. My favorite thing about this new vacuum is how it has the ability to turn off the brush for hard surface floors. The thing I hated most about the last vacuum was how it spit the dirt out the back of the vacuum when I went over hard surfaces, but now that you can turn the brush off it sucks up everything! Plus they added new suction seal technology and it really works. You never lose suction and it adjusts to each type of floor. Another thing I really like is the cord rewind. You just push a button and the cord rewinds by itself! Needless to say it is the little things in life!

The last toy I bought was not for cleaning but has quickly become one of my favorite things! And that is my new double stroller. We bought a double stroller before Croft was born and I absolutely hated it. I think we used it one time and I knew it just wasn't going to work. It was huge and bulky and hard to steer, not to mention the front chair for Penn was way too small. So with spring coming up I knew we needed to look into getting another stroller so we would have something that both boys could comfortably ride in and this is what we found. It is the Kolcraft Contours Optima Tandem Stroller. It is super easy to steer, goes around the sharpest turns with ease, has a huge storage basket and is super versatile. Both of the seats come off and can be turned either forwards or backwards and it has an attachment for the infant carrier that can go on the front or the back. There are so many ways your kids can sit and my two boys have loved it! Both seats recline and both have footrests that can come all the way up (bassinet style) or down. Plus the umbrellas are huge! The pictures below are not the best but you can see a few ways you can use it. My boys love being able to look at each other and they keep each other occupied for more peaceful grocery shopping..haha!

So I have shared a few of my favorite things, if you have something that has become one of your favorite things I would love to hear about it!!

Courtney

Backyard Overhaul

Ok...so I am going to try my hand at this blogging thing again. I know my life is super busy with both of my boys but I am hoping this can be a place where I can come and share exciting things that happen each day or vent...depends on what kind of day we have I guess..haha!

Yesterday was a GREAT day! Wesley and I have been planning a backyard overhaul all winter and this past weekend was the perfect beautiful weekend to get started! Some of you may know that we tried our hand at above ground gardening last year and LOVED it...and I have to say we were pretty successful, so this year we expanded a little and decided to add a few fun features for the boys and for ourselves since living on a budget is going to require more summer nights at home then out and about. 

First we made a list of all the veggies we wanted to grow, drew out our plans and off to Lowes Hardware we went. Penn was very excited and "helpful" when it came to picking out all our seeds. We tried to tell him a vegetable that we knew he would recognize and let him find the packet. Giving him jobs and keeping him busy really helped the trip go smoothly. Since he has hit the terrible two's ventures out have been extremely limited...but he really did well at Lowes. Anyways we got all our supplies (after 2 trips) and started working.

Here are a few pictures of the progress. Three boxes have been built and we are debating on adding one or two more. Plus we added a lattice wall for cucumbers and prepared underneath the wall for lots of lettuce!

Penn helping Daddy measure out one of the boxes.

 

All the seeds Penn helped pick out.

Lattice wall with shaded area underneath for lettuce.

 Can't wait to see this crazy mess turn into a beautiful backyard!

Part of sprucing up the backyard was making some fun features for the boys. First we made a fun sugar snap pea tee pee. I have a feeling this will be one of Penn's favorite places this summer when the whole tee pee is covered in snap peas. Not only will it be fun to play in but he can sit and snack on a healthy veggies right off the vine! Since snap peas are a little hardier than our other seeds we were able to go ahead and plant them and Penn helped water the seeds.

After building the tee pee we decided to take some of the wood we had used on our old headboard and reusing it to make a fun place for both boys to play. We were able to make a dirt box, balance beam, and basketball goal. We knew Penn would really want to "help" in our garden boxes so instead of making a sandbox we went ahead and filled his box with dirt like Mommy and Daddy's boxes so he can do gardening or whatever he wants in his own box. Yesterday he decided it was the perfect place for a construction site.

Dirt box and balance beam

Mini basketball goal Daddy made for Penn.

Of course it is too early and cold to plant most of the other plants so I will have to update you when we are able to continue the gardening and show you a few other plans we have for making our backyard a fun place to be this summer.

Courtney