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I completely realize I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I love it…it just makes me happy, maybe some of you can relate. One of my FAVORITE things is the pesto from Saucy Sisters! Not from the Rogue Valley??? You might want to make the trek to try some…their sauces are THAT good. My only complaint…there is no drive thru service:):)
The past few weeks have been challenging with our boys and yesterday was no excpetion…it was a “Saucy Day” if there ever was one! Just thinking about their pesto with bread and red wine made things better:) So anyway…yesterday, Sawyer (our oldest) was having a rough day. I got to school to pick him up and as I was walking up the side walk I heard his scream…not a good sign. His teacher ran out and said, “Sawyer saw you pull up and isn’t happy because we told him he could wait for you on the steps…so wait here.” As I waited another teacher in his class told me it was no big deal but Sawyer had pulled his pants down and peed on the playground at recess… such a proud moment… (Hey we live in the country it’s OK to pee outside…apparently I just forgot to tell him it’s not OK to do in public:))
After getting over the frustration of me messing up the schedule he had in his head, we got in the van and headed to blockbuster to get our movie for movie night. The problem was I knew we had to change things up once again because instead of having Friday Night Movie Night like we do every Friday, we were going to my nephew’s graduation party. And alomost equally important…I was DYING to sneak in a visit to the new farmers market to get my pesto . So as we were driving home from the movie store all three kids were crying (the babies because they were sick of being in the car) and Sawyer because he was overwhelmed at my explanation of the night’s schedule. I found myself having an out of body experience…not because of the extremely loud chaos taking place in the back of the van…but because the farmers market was getting closer and I was trying to figure out how I could turn the melting kids in the backseat into presentable human beings long enough to park and grab the pesto. Everything I said made the situation worse, I started sweating, the turn off was approaching and I there was no way I could stop. I wanted to join in the drama and throw my own little fit!!! In my head I was screaming…”PESTO…I need PESTO!!”
Needless to say mama didn’t get pesto…Sawyer continued to melt and made a grand entrance into the graduation party by flinging himself on the ground and then telling everyone to stop talking and go home. I tried to fill the pesto void in my life with two glasses of my favorite red wine…it was good but pesto makes everything better and Saucy Sister’s pesto + bread + wine makes the world a better place.
I am making a picture cue to add to our picture schedule for next Friday…and the world will be right again.
Do you have a favorite thing that just makes life better??? I want to hear about it!
PS if you live in Southern Oregon you can try Saucy Sisters out at Redrock Restaurant or the Armory Farmer’s Market on Thursdays and now the Roxyanne Farmer’s Market on Fridays from 3-7 pm.
Sooo…for any of you who may have laughed or rolled your eyes at the idea of me…(the MESSIEST, MOST UNORGANIZED woman alive)…researching tips and tricks to make life easier for your family…don’t worry it was just a momentary bit of craziness. I mean really??? As my siter in law would say, “I don’t even have time to poop.” TMI? maybe…but seriously I don’t know what I was thinking.
The best tip I can give anyone reading…don’t do what I do:):) I literally move from one mess to another throughout the day. On top of the everyday clutter, laundry, dishes and desperate need to vacuume … I live with three of the grubbiest, grimiest most mischievous little boys God ever made…God bless em:).
The other day as I was just getting finished cleaning up the baking soda Thatcher had dumped out over the entire bathroom (don’t ask:)) when I heard my mom saying, “Uhhh you’d better come look at this.” I raced down stairs to see what mess awaited me. Thatcher had poured out an entire pot of coffee and was laying on his stomach in the middle of the mess pretending to swim. I didn’t get a picture of him swimming but I took a picture of the aftermath. What you don’t see is the puddles it left in the bottom of our cupboards all over dishes. Good times…
And … Tip #1 from the McPhail Book of Madness:
Dump out any remaining coffee from the pot after you’ve had your morning fix. Little monkey fingers can make a mess when you least suspect it.
PS We had to use good ole amonia to clean up a mess of this caliber…don’t judge…just love:)
I’ve decided my house should be a test house for cleaning manufacturers to try out new products on (all natural of course:)…because if it can clean the sticky, grimmy mess my three boys leave behind, it can clean any house.
Two nights ago my little monkeys…I mean boys were eating dinner. I ran up stairs for a second (because I was crazy enough to think I could actually go to the bathroom alone for once) and within about 30 second blood curdling screams were coming from the kitchen. I ran down to see who was hurt and it turns out they were actually screams of joy. The boys were having their first organized food fight. It’s not unusual for one of them to lob something they don’t want to eat on the floor. But this was the single biggest food mess my kids have ever made. While it probably would have been better for me to take a picture and laugh it off (as my husband who was not there to clean it up did)…I was FURIOUS! It had already been one of THOSE days and I was not amused! I went around and scolded each of them while muttering about the fact that C.J. has so conveniently missed out on the messy event.
As the dog was helping me clean the melted plasticky vegan cheese and garbanzo been bread off of the floor (maybe that is why they decided to throw it instead of eat it:)) I wondered how many germs he was leaving behind with each lick of his tongue. Now a good mother would have put the dog out and cleaned the mess up to perfection, but it was the end of a long hard day and I appreciated the help:) Anywho, The commercial for the Seventh generation cleaning products popped into my head. There is a part where they talk about the “five second rule” as a mother bends down to pick up her baby’s pacifier off of her very clean and oh so “green” floor. I wondered if her dog had helped lick up any spills or messes that day…probably not:)
I have done a little research and I have some suggestions for natural cleaners:
*Basic H: Went to their website and liked what I saw…it looks like Oprah gave it away as one of her “Favorite Things”. That’s great, but it’s hard for me to imagine Oprah on her hands and knees scrubbing cheese and dog siliva off of her floor. I think I will order a bottle though. It looks like it is soy free and it is gluten free too which is huge for anyone with kids on the autism spectrum.
* I bought the seventh generation all purpose cleaner last night. It smell good, it’s all natural and it cleaned up the honey Sawyer smeared all over the kitchen counter this morning.
Honestly I think a lot of the natural cleaners out now would be good choices…but they are also more expensive than bottles of ammonia and bleach. Sooo, being the budget Nazi that I am… I just spent like $8 and bought a book on do it yourself natural cleaners from amazon.com. I just read an excerpt on what you can do with lemons and I was sold!! I’ll let you know how it goes!
* 66 All-Natural Cleaning Solutions – AOL Home.
You may be asking why in the heck a natural cleaning product is any better than the heavy duty chemicals….I don’t really know that they are, but I do know that I am looking to simplify life. That means buying things with fewer ingredients, and not purposefully bringing harsh chemicals into my house and in contact with my oh so crazy enough children. There are so many chemicals and things I can’t pronouce in EVERYTHING from food to soap, to make-up and cleaners…I just want to see what life is like without them. And if our house can be peaceful and zen like it is in the stinking commercials…Ok that’s a stretch but maybe we will at least be a little less crazy:)
I am always looking for great organizational tips, healthy recipes and natural beauty treatments!!! So keep em coming:) While I never know what I am going to write about….planning ahead would take way to much organization for this girl…I will keep it in the areas of cleaning/organization, laundry, meals, and ahhhhh me/you time:):)
Just so we’re clear…I have no business posting a blog today. I have laundry (clean and dirty) up to my ears, the house is a disaster and my kids have been sleeping with no sheets on their beds for the past three nights because I just haven’t gotten around to putting them back on after washing. (Seriously, their just going to wet the bed as soon as I put them on…I know it.) Hmmm I’m wondering if I should really share that…oh well:)
Anyway, I just wanted to write a quick note to say I am going to start blogging again…it’s been on my heart for a while now…so as I like to say, it’s time to put on my big girl undies and do it:) This time I am going to focus on tips to ease life with kids. I MUST get some sort of order around here before I eat my children…I mean so I can be a better mother:)
So if you’re at all interested in reading about me being a test dummy for lots of tips and tricks to make a happy household stay tuned…I’ll try them first so you’ll know what you’re getting yourself into.
First subject…cleaning the house with natural/homemade products…is it really as easy as some people say?? AND will it get my house….one of the dirtiest…as clean as the bleach I douse everything in now… I will check it out and report back.
If anyone has any EASY…CHEAP tips, feel free to share. I’m not afraid to try anything at least once:)
Just to prove I'm not lying...the rest is on my bed:)
