Saturday, January 22, 2011

The greatest invention...in my book



One thing I absolutely love is learning alternative uses for different products. Some examples: The white part of an orange peel can be used to whiten teeth, coffee grounds can reduce the appearance of cellulite, Vodka removes water spots from faucets handles & disinfects surface areas, WD-40 gets tomato & lipstick stains out of clothes, and vinegar does about everything you could possibly imagine. Vinegar has to be the greatest invention in the world! Right next to the wheel and peppermint patties. I feel like the dad from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and his addiction to Windex. I carry a bottle of it where ever I go and sleep with it at night to ensure better dreams. If Matt broke his leg right now I would probably soak it in vinegar. That ought to fix it! Okay, maybe I'm not that addicted to it, but seriously for cleaning it is the best. I have always hated using chemical cleaning products to clean my house. No particular reason. I just have never liked the thought of chemicals being all over, especially since we have a dog and a tot running around. It puts my mind at ease knowing that if Livvy licked the water faucet the worst that could happen is she would be a little tipsy for a while. Also, I hate having 20 different bottles in the cupboard that only accomplish one specific use. I found one website that listed 131 uses for vinegar! Talk about a multipurpose product. And it only cost about 2 bucks for a gallon. The only down fall to this amazing product is the smell. But I've also learned, the smell doesn't last too long. 5 minutes tops. I think that pretty much wraps up my feelings for vinegar.    

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Kids + Christmas = Magical???

We had a great time in Utah this Christmas! It was so much fun to be with family and friends! I'm always amazed how fast it all goes by. We were in Utah for 10 days but it felt more like 10 minutes before we were back on the plane flying home. We squeezed in a lot of fun in those 10 minutes though! Baking, sewing, movies, games, restaurants, Parson's donuts, chatting, basketball, temple sealing, laughing, etc! The down side to the trip was that Livvy got sick a couple days before Christmas so she wasn't feeling so great for most of the trip. So the actual day of Christmas went a little something like this...with a positive, magical twist!


It started out with tears...tears of joy of course

Livvy was so thankful for her presents she wouldn't stop praising us
A Christmas scowl any mom would be proud to receive
More praising of gratitude
Overwhelmed with Christmas spirit, she laid down to contemplate the true reason for the season

Though the photos of our lovely little Livvy may not show it, we really did have a great Christmas with her. We are so lucky to have her! Even being under the weather she truly made our Christmas more special and magical!