Handy Multi-use Cleaning Tool

I keep a handy, multi-use cleaning tool in my dish drainer -- an old toothbrush!  It has come in handy for cleaning those hard to reach places that I can't get as clean as I would like with a rag or scrub brush (like behind the faucet, or in the ridges of the fridge's water dispenser tray), and it's easy to clean when I'm done using it.  Sometimes soap and hot water is all it needs, but sometimes it gets a bleach bath just to be safe.  :)  I let it air-dry with the bristles up so it doesn't get gross.  

This week I discovered another use for it -- I squirted dish soap on it like I would toothpaste and scrubbed out all the little bits of turkey and herbs that were stuck on the inside of my baster.  :)

Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesday at tammysrecipes.com yet?  Go visit!

Christmas Challenge - Part 25

25 - A Final Christmas Challenge!  We celebrated Christmas today far from our extended family, and with an integral part of our immediate family away from home as well, and it was a JOYFUL, HAPPY Christmas!  For our family, it does not matter who we are with on Christmas Day (or who is with us!) or where we celebrate.  

Christmas is a joyful reminder that GOD, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, chose to send His only son to earth, not "just to visit" or "be a good example" or "spread peace and goodwill", but He came with a purpose:  to die for us and save us from our sins!  What a reason for us to celebrate, no matter what our present circumstances may be!

So, from our imperfect circumstances to yours...JOYFUL CHRISTMAS, everyone!!!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 24

24 - Making Memories.  It's Christmas Eve!  I wonder if the kids will remember much of what we did today, but I have no doubt that I will!  I wouldn't say we "made merry" or did anything special, but we definitely made some memories!  We made a Walmart run for milk, eggs, wrapping paper, tape and crayons on a very windy day, and we came out of the store into a torrential downpour.  It was wonderfully warm rain, pooling up to my ankles in the parking lot, and we were soaked to the skin by the time we got to our van, but we laughed all the way, and my four-year-old caught raindrops on her tongue...and her eyes, nose, face, and hair, too.  :)  What a memory to keep!  This evening the kids unwrapped their pajamas from Grandma by the light of the Christmas tree, a bunch of candles, and a rarely lit fireplace.  (Note to self:  next year, don't light the advent candles when the fireplace is lit...although the spectacularly melted-down candles really impressed the girls.)  More memories...  :)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Challenge - Part 23

23 - Christmas Lights.  My like-minded neighbor and I were talking today about how much money it takes to decorate the outside of a house for Christmas, for just one month out of the year.  We came up with a fairly simple, Scrooge-ish solution...skip the decorating, and enjoy the neighbors' displays!  :)

So, enjoy the Christmas lights...courtesy of our neighbors!  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 22

22 - Cinnamon Dough Ornaments.  We made these last year as a school project when my two oldest were in Kindergarden.  We (yes, all six of us!) were living in a hotel room, and we didn't have a lot of decorating options, or space!  I got some cookie cutters at the thrift store for .25, and we made these ornaments.  They smelled wonderful, and we made a bunch to mail to grandmas and aunts for Christmas presents.  We kept the Baby Jesus we made, though.  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 21

21 - Christmas Card display.  It had to be cheap, easy, out of my way, and definitely out of reach.  So I stuck two push-pins in the top of the trim (where the holes won't show) and tied an elasticised ribbon to them.  I hang up the cards we receive with plastic coated paper clips.  It is cheap, easy, out of my way, and definitely out of reach.  :)

And next year I'm going to skip the elasticised ribbon and go with something a little less, well, stretchy.  :)

Christmas Challenge - Part 20

20 - Procrastinators get what they ask for...  namely, long lines at the post office!  Most years I am so organized that I have Christmas gifts wrapped up and ready to be mailed to far away places shortly after Thanksgiving (which, by the way, really saves on shipping costs!).  Between the recent upheaval in our household, our bouts of sickness, and those well-laid plans I had for Christmas gift baskets NOT working out as planned, well, let's just say that procrastination became my byword of the month.

The five of us spent the first part of our morning at the post office...twice.  We got there shortly after they opened and took the first load in (there was NO line!), mailed some stuff, bought stamps and got boxes, then went back out to the car to assemble the boxes.  The girls put stamps on our pile of Christmas cards, Mr. Adorable read books and played, and I packaged, addressed, and promised myself that this WILL NOT HAPPEN next year.  We went back inside and got in the kinda-long line, and mailed the rest of our stuff.  By the time we left, the line was humongous, and I can only imagine how much it grew as the day went on!

All these words, just to say, "Plan ahead, don't procrastinate, and you'll save yourself a bunch of money, without the last-minute headache!"