I'm loving all the cleaning tips! I just got into cleaning with vinegar, myself, and I have to say, aside from the initial smell, it does a great job! I am, however, a sucker for citrus scents, so I tend to find myself buying cleaners with that, then I clean my counters just to smell the citrus. If Febreeze had a citrus scent I would be so on that! Don't tell me if they do, though, I don't need to buy any.
Here's something for pet owners...we have no carpet, so I don't have a vacuum, and we have leather couches, so for the most part, pet hair isn't a huge issue. BUT I have one couch that is dark brown, cloth, and attracts the hair of our white dogs like a magnet. I have the lint roller things, but I go through about a roll every time I clean the couch. It's gross. It drives me crazy. What do those of you who have pets do to keep the hair off your furniture? Like I said, I don't own a traditional vacuum because I have no carpet.
_______________________
So I'm 29 weeks today! That's exciting. The official post will have to come later...I am going on a quick trip out of town tomorrow and I didn't get a chance to take a picture today because the day was just insane. We had homeschool in the morning, where I taught, literally, the strangest history lesson ever. It was about 1) continents and 2) Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims, and every time I asked the kids if they knew what a continent was, they corrected me for saying "consonant" wrong. No matter how many times I told them I knew what I was saying and I was talking about continents and not consonants, they didn't buy it and they thought I was incredibly stupid. It was great. They also all want to move to Antarctica where, apparently, there are crazy ants who can live in the freezing cold. Aaand they might possibly think the Pilgrims and the Vikings are the same thing. Yeah, these kids are going to go out into the world really well prepared. I know. What can I say? We taught history last, they were wired and goofy, and they went off on a tangent every five seconds. Also, they were really funny, and I just couldn't help going with some of the silly stories and joking with them. Luckily they're all in kindergarten and they have tons of time to learn.
This afternoon we did chores and mopped and rested and did laundry, and then the kids' dad came to visit, and apparently they were just terrible today. They're normally pretty well behaved kids, but lately they have just had their dad on the ropes, which is too bad, because then he thinks they're just hooligans who are badly behaved all the time, which isn't the case. It's frustrating. Anyway, tonight they snuck out of bed before I got home and I guess they were swinging on the towel rack in the bathroom and it came out of the wall and Ava totally bit it and fell onto her back. She's got a scratch on her back and a bump on her head and she totally had the wind knocked out of her and wanted me, so I came home a little early.
She was pretty banged up, but after some ice and cuddles she seems to be recovering okay and I don't think she'll be swinging on anymore towel racks anytime soon. She'll probably have a pretty good headache tomorrow, but her pupils were doing all the right things and she was coherent enough to do a bunch of addition math facts to show off, so she should live. Unfortunately, the wall where the towel rack was didn't fare quite so well, and I don't think the Magic Eraser, while it is definitely magical, is going to help with that one.
Now I'm watching Days and packing and feeling incredibly proud of myself for fitting all of my stuff into a carry on bag so I don't have to check any baggage and freaking out a little bit about being away from my kids for a few days. I really, really, really don't like being away from them, but I'm really excited about visiting Advanced Bionics again and doing some cool stuff there. We have been so blessed to have a wonderful company behind Seth's implants that helps us out whenever we need it and I am thrilled to be able be a bigger part of it all. More on what's going on there later!
Now I've got to go sneak in and cuddle with my kids because I'm already going through withdrawal. While I'm excited about staying in a hotel (you know how I love hotels!) and sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG, I am sure I will be dying to get back as soon as I leave.
Hope everyone is having a great night!