Note to self

For a more natural way to clean a wood laminate floor, get a spray bottle and mix it to the top with 1/3 water, 1/3 rubbing alcohol and 1/3 white vinegar. Spray in sections and wipe it down with a damp towel as you go.

We love natural, homemade cheap cleaners, so this is just one more recipe.

We usually clean with vinegar/water mix. We polish wood with lemon juice/olive oil mix. Scrub with baking soda (Or salt if it's really bad, learned that one working at a bakery, reduces smell as well as decreases flavor affects from cleaners)

That's pretty much all we clean with!

Dh got a little bonus...

So I got a little something extra for the garage....like another gorilla rack. I really love these sturdy things! We had three already (two for dh's tools and house fixin' stuff, one for assorted storage), and bought two more. The cabinets above the freezer I demo'd myself from the kitchen. Dh hung them up out here, they were our first pantry. Now they hold our 25 lb bags of flour and rice to keep the critters out. See the ladder? The kids use that to get to the top shelves when they want to get a snack. Yellow topped buckets and tupperware is to hold opened beans, rice and flour to keep out critters. 

The far left shelf is now nearly all camping stuff, including coolers and camp chairs, while the middle will be holding kitchen stuff we don't use often....the 24"x24" cake pans and the cotton candy maker, for instance. We're still figuring stuff out so you'll see some blank spaces. The far right rack has paper goods, cleaners and bags, trash, ziplock, paper...and storage on top of all three for memorabilia.
I really like to be organized, and having appropriate storage is the first step. The racks really aren't expensive, I think $60 each? I like them better than built ins because they are easier and rearrangeable. Note I did NOT take pictures of dh's side. The tool bench is a little wild with all the tasks he's set himself for lately. He'd love a Saturday with nothing on the agenda so he could service the power tools and put them away in their special places. :-)

Big trash day

Was today. Kind of embarrassing to be the only house on the block with a pile this big. Our neighbors had a broken door and a cooler with no lid. Dang...white trash city. You see our truck is buried...that's how big the pile was. You can't even see the mustang.

You'll see the rails from our remodeled front porch, yep, from a year ago. Dh was sure they'd be useful for something. Yep...housing mice and possums. Old lawn mower that Josh got LAST big trash day from someone's pile that he was going to 'fix'. Green wood is the train table we built for Josh when he turned one. Awwww...There's also the first dining room table that dh and I bought, four years ago it lost 10 inches of each leg to become a play table for kids (when we bought our new dining table) LOTS of lumber from the deck. Pieces of wood from redoing the swing set. Busted out monitors from big trash day. Trampoline frame (can't order the mat anymore) Torn up gazebo tent. A toilet that dh let Breanna smash to pieces (her favorite verbal stim is 'who broke the toilet?' And who knows what else. BUT IT'S GONE FROM MY YARD!

I'm sure the neighbors appreciate it. The wildlife does not, except the feral orange cat that has been feasting on escaping mice and young moles. 

Previously mentioned bookcases....

Here are dh's homemade bookcases, with puzzles and games

And our new-t0-us desk, loaded with our overly tall classic books. In the background is the toybox my dad made for me about 33 years ago. It has all of our textbooks and references.

And just for fun, turned a bit more to the left, more books, mostly Dr Suess and easy reader paperbacks. Past the spiral staircase, those are movies. 

Yard work Proof!

Dh mows the lawn, uphill...both ways! 

(seriously, with the ditch in the middle, it feels like that!)

Josh swept off the basketball court so the girls could chalk it up again

Looking for tomatoes and peppers, we have SO many coming in

Funny, since most of August seemed to kill the bushes, they are

coming back in force!

Probably found three snakes, two praying mantis',

a mole, two turtles and about a hundred squirrels. 

Rachel's trying to find the littlest snake