Have you ever heard this saying?

On a regular basis I'm reminded how true this is.

For example, yesterday I was so very proud of myself for getting around to cleaning the kitchen window.

It had sorely needed a good polishing and today as I walked though the kitchen I couldn't help but admire the fact that not a smudge was to be found on that window!

I felt like I had accomplished something great, clearing the way so the sun could stream freely in and I could look out unhindered at our snow christened birch .

Things were looking up in the midst of the deluge of my domestic duties...

Tonight supper was nearly over but Tait and I were not quite done yet.

I was pretty intent on finishing my meal up so I didn't notice that Tait had stopped eating.

"Mama, look!", she says.

I paused to look up and couldn't really decide what it was she seemed so proud about as she stood there on her chair, facing the window.

"I made a snowman with my tongue!", she declared proudly.

Sure enough - a tongue snowman now decorates my kitchen window thanks to my little oreo.

When I attended the homeschool conference this past year, I heard many good speakers and lots of good advice.

But it was a bit of an overload for this first timer.

I probably should have taken notes but with a nursing baby in tow, that just didn't happen.

Anyhow, five months later, there is one specific comment that has stuck with me from that day.

It was made by Marlene from Homeschool and More.

I can't give you an exact quote but it was something along the lines that as a homeschooling family, your home is going to be different.

The couches are going to be used a lot more, mess is going to be more frequent, your home is going to be lived in more since your kids are home all day.

Therefore, we need to view our homes differently.

They are not going to look Pinterest perfect. Ever.

Homeschooling is a lifestyle and this is part of it.

I've been mulling that over in my mind.

And trying to incorporate this simple but profound (to me) statement into my attitudes and goals for our home.

I used to be irritated by our walls being covered in art work and memory verses and chore charts.

Now I tack stuff up there proudly.

This is my children's beautiful creativity.

It may never make the cover of Martha Stewart magazine but who cares?

This is our place of learning and growing and creating.

It makes our home perfect for us.

What I am having a hard time with is letting things go.

Although I've accepted that our home may look different, I have a difficult time accepting the fact that as a homeschooling mom I can't do everything all the time.

I have this really terrible habit of focusing on what wasn't accomplished in my day rather than what was.

The living room was supposed to be dusted but it didn't happen.

It doesn't matter that I made all the beds, dressed 26 princess dolls, caught up on laundry, taught reading, math, science and Bible, nursed a baby four or five times, taught a kid to how to bake cookies, scraped playdough off the floor, and had a homemade meal on the table that evening.

Nope.

All I can think about is the dust.
And that my schedule says "dust the living room on Thursday".

I know this is ridiculous.

So I'm trying to let it go.

It's great to have a plan, a schedule for the day.

And I think I should keep striving to accomplish as much as possible in the run of a day.

But I also need to learn to let go of what didn't get done.

Instead I'm working on seeing all that I did do and take joy in that.

This all sounds so simple and small but it is so important for my well being and the peace of my family.

Natural house cleaners.

I could have cared less about them before I had children.

And then I had my sweet little babes who I'd do anything to protect.

And far too often I find myself running into stuff like this...

Now I'm on a mission to rid our home of pretty much every possible chemical that could interfere with their precious developement.

(Funny, isn't it, how kids change your view of pretty much everything??)

But....

It has to work!

A chemical free house is good and all but I'd like a clean house, too, please!

So I've already told you about how I've changed our laundry cleaners.

Would you like to hear how I've recently begun to clean our shower?

You're super excited.

I can just tell!

:)

It's a pretty simple solution:

Grapefruit and salt!



Want another confession?

I have an easier time doing the things that don't just benefit the earth but also save me money.

Am I a terrible person?
Oh well.

I 'm trying and if a little ulterior motivation is what it takes, than so be it!

Quite the intro to my save the earth/save some money post, huh?!

This one is all about laundry.

And has a whole background story to boot!

It all began when I began using cloth diapers (a story for another day).

The thing with cloth diapers is that you can't wash them with just any ol' detergent.

Thus began my search for the detergent that worked best for us.

To make a long story short, I came across EcoNuts on Baby Half Off and loved how well they worked for washing cloth diapers.
Fast forward to this winter as I was preparing for the arrival of a new baby.
I am generally a little majorly paranoid about chemicals being on my baby's skin.
I figured usng EcoNuts was the best option for washing the new baby's clothes.
But why stop there?
I began washing all our laundry with the EcoNuts.
Clean clothes, no headache inducing scents, no paranoia!



Here's how they work:




And in terms of cost effectiveness, check out this chart!
Yes, yes - they're eco-friendly, too!
You can simply throw those used EcoNuts into your compost...if you do that kinda thing...

In the meantime, I'd been looking into a cost effective way to control all the static.
I have to buy the hypoallergenic, scent-free ones since the smelly ones give me awful headaches.
Of course, they are the most expensive ones!

My search lead me to dyer balls.
But dryer balls are usually about $10 apiece and to work effectively you need 6 or so.
Granted, they last forever but I just couldn't bring myself to fork out $60 for the things!

Enter my good friend Andrea.
She was there with loads of info when I entered the world of cloth diapering and shares many of my domestic interests.
Anyhow, without me even mentioning that I'd been looking into dryer balls she had gone and made me a few!
That's right - she made them!
Here are some pics she took of the process:

Materials: an old wool sweater, wool yarn, pantyhose

And voila!

You can read more about the process here and here!

They work wonderfully and are about as earth friendly as you can get!

Give them a try!

They are well worth the effort!

Happy Earth Day, everyone!