Ten Minute Cinderella Cure

So, one of my friends has this incredible blog, Cinderella Duty She is so cute. One day she posted a challange, the Ten Minute Challenge. The Goal was to see how much you could clean up in 10 minutes.

Well, I have little kids running around, and it seemed that after I spent an hour cleaning, in ten minutes they could destroy it all again. (kids are amazing and quick like that) So I figured, if they could destroy it in ten minutes, why couldn't I clean it in ten minutes.
So, on the days that I am not deep cleaning a specific room, I will give it a ten minute cure. Cinderella worked all day, but I refuse too.

Here is my Living room before pictures. (I did not make it messy, this is how it was, I promise)

I set the timer for 10 minutes....

To make my point, I STOPPED at ten minutes and took the picture. It took just another 2 minutes to finalize everything. I did this with each of the main rooms in the house (kitchen, living room, bathroom) in all it took me 33 minutes (because I added in the hall) and my house looked great!
Now, this is not a deep clean, so I still have one room I deep clean on each day of the week. This really helps so that I don't spend all day cleaning, or spend all day thinking I should be cleaning.

We are moms, our time with out little ones is so precious. We have the pleasure of spending our days building forts, fighting dragons, and coloring outside the lines. BUT, we can also have a clean house in the process.

Hope you are having a great start to your week. I am off to help an amazing couple birth their third baby. I love what I do when I am not at home being a mom.

NEXT WEEK: Bonding With Baby, Before s/he is Born.

Thrifty Thursday

Sorry I forgot to post last week. Things may have been a bit crazy! I have been trying to think of what thrifty tip I have for this week. I was thinking about little things I do to save a dollar or to have healthier/safer items around my house. 

The one thing I thought of was making my own laundry soap. When laundry soap went up to $6 a bottle I refused to pay that price. Even with coupons and a sale I was maybe getting it down to $4 a bottle. 

Then a friend of mine told me she was going to make her own soap to help clear up her daughters bad eczema. The poor little girl had it so bad she couldn't stop itching. Once my friend starting using this soap it cleared up the problem. 


Soap Recipe (I usually double it and it lasts me around 4 months and I do about 10-12 loads of laundry a week. I have found all the ingredients at Smith's marketplace)


1 bar of felsnaptha soap
1 1/2 c of Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 1/2 c of 20 mule team borax


Grate the bar of soap and then mix with the washing soda and the borax. I think like to run the whole mixture back through the food processor to chop the soap a little smaller. 

Use 2 TBSP pure large load

Workout Anywhere!

Happy 24th of July (yesterday)!  I started my day off with a 4 mile run with the sisters, then headed up to Kaysville for a 20 mile bike ride with the brother in law.  This was the 3rd time I've ridden my bike and I totally got a flat!  Frustrating!  Good thing bikers are nice people, we had multiple people stop and offer us assistance, and someone gave us a new tube.  Thank you kind man!  Such a lifesaver!  

After the bike ride I decided I wanted to get in my GPP workout.  I know what you are thinking, man this girl works out too much!   This may be true.  But what else are free days for, but doing what you love the most.  So I took advantage of it!  

I then got to thinking, what about all those people who are out of town?!  What would I have done if I need a good sweat session while not at home.  Then I remembered this workout!

Burp-O-Rama! You do 10 burpees every minute  for 20 minutes.  200 burpees?!  Yeah...I know!  This is a calorie burner for all the potato salad and desserts you snaked on this holiday weekend.  I love this workout, but it's a hard one!

Hopefully you all did something fun and active for your Pioneer Day!  

Thoughts:  What is your favorite "go-to" workout when you are out of town or just can't make it to the gym?  Did you spend some time with the fam for the day off?

Slacked due to the holiday

Sorry this wasn't posted yesterday. I thought about it twice during the day but because I didn't stop at that exact moment I didn't get it done. So here you go. Last night as part of our holiday celebration we made homemade ice cream. What is better than that, sitting outside on the front porch eating it together as a family and chatting with the kids. It was wonderful.

Here is the recipe.

No Cook Chocolate Ice Cream

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
2 c chocolate milk
2/3 cup chocolate syrup


Whisk the above ingredients together. Then cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Pour mixture into ice cream maker and follow your machine's direction for making ice cream.

It took our machine about 45 minutes. Also this only made enough for about 8 decent servings so you might want to double it.
I thought it was a little too sweet so next time I might either cut the chocolate syrup in 1/2 or add 1/2 chocolate milk and the other 1/2 regular milk. I also want to try some add ins like almonds or oreos or peanut butter cups!

This recipe is from myrecipes.com

ENJOY!

Ok, Cinderella will have to wait.

Ok, my Cinderella post will have to wait. I have been running around all day super excited because......
Today I get to go pick up MY Prince from the airport. He has spent the last few days in Portland with his sister.
So, today's motherhood moment, enjoy life! Spend a little extra time with your family.
Time is precious, time is fleeting, and time with your family is some of the best time in the world.

So, I am off to the airport!
Happy Monday.

Mountains to Climb

Charisse is in Cali for the weekend, so you get to hear from me (Melissa) once more.  Charisse went to the homecoming of her Mission President.  So fun!  She is having a blast.  

Today I wanted to touch on the "Mountains to Climb" talk by President Henry B. Eyring.  You can find the whole talk here. It is a wonderful talk that I have read multiple times since it was given in April. Yesterday in Relief Society we talked about this talk.  

But before I get into that I want to touch on how incredible out sacrament meeting was.  We had our second counselor's mother and sister talk.  First his sister spoke of her challenges when she was a young single adult.  Hers of course were similar and different than ours.  She was born with Cerebral Palsy and has used a walker or crutches her whole life.  She talked about how she wanted so bad to be a wife and mother.  She told of her struggles, but how eventually she found someone who loved all of her and how she was then able to have 2 children and adopt 2 children.  She had the most incredible spirit about her, I loved it!  She mentioned at the end that the Lord really does know us and knows what we are capable of, and that we shouldn't let fear or insecurities or handicaps hold us back from becoming our best self.

Next her mother spoke of how by the age of 26 she had lost both her parents, two children, and her husband.  She was left to raise a special needs child and a son all by herself.  But she spoke of how we are never alone and that prayer is where we can turn for everything!  She was an amazing lady who has been through some very trying times.  

Now to the talk...I love this talk!  He begins by talking about Pres. Kimball and how he had prayed for mountains to climb.  He had prayed for challenges!  As if life isn't hard enough already.  He then goes into talk about how he did the same, and how much her learned from the challenges that were ahead. 

Some of my favorite quotes from this talk:

"Our choosing the right consistently whenever the choice is placed before us creates the solid ground under our faith. It can begin in childhood since every soul is born with the free gift of the Spirit of Christ. With that Spirit we can know when we have done what is right before God and when we have done wrong in His sight.

Those choices, hundreds in most days, prepare the solid ground on which our edifice of faith is built. The metal framework around which the substance of our faith is poured is the gospel of Jesus Christ, with all its covenants, ordinances, and principles."

"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

Hope you all enjoyed your Sunday!

Field Trip Friday:
Today my son and I went to "the farm". There is a historic farm in our area that is open to the public - Wheeler Farm. And my son LOVES to go and see the animals...best part is it's free! We went early before it got to hot and saw the animals and feed the ducks - a highlight in his book.


"The farm" is a great field trip; not only is it free - unless you go on the hayride or milk the cows, but they aren't too expensive - you can stay as long or as short as you'd like. There are plenty of picnic tables and grass if you bring a lunch and lots to see and do. You can play in the tree house and talk to the blacksmith. There is old farm equipment to play on and of course all the animals to see. If you go in the spring you'll get to see all the baby animals too.The best part is kids love to go and you can go several times a year and it's always fun for them. 


So if you don't live in the Salt Lake Valley I'd suggest doing some investigating to see if there is a farm open to the public in your area and let your kids explore the wonders of farm life.