Things I Like

I realize that all these things have to do with cleaning, but it seems like that is a big portion of my life right now.

1. Our new vacuum cleaner. I had asked for one for Mother's Day, but Jared came home and surprised me with it a week before. It's just a standard bag-less Hoover Windtunnel, but it is waaaay better than our last vacuum. After just doing two area rugs there was so much dirt and hair in there that it had to be emptied out. What I'm saying is that all that vacuuming I'd been doing before did nothing! We've needed it for a long time. I love that you can see what you've vacuumed up and easily empty it every time. I am so grateful for this new addition to our cleaning family. It actually makes me (kind of) want to vacuum more.

I left the dirt in the vacuum in the picture. Also shown is the new paint job in our family room. One of my friends came over to help me paint the bottom (she actually likes to paint and would have been really mad if I'd done it without telling her) and another friend came over to watch all the kids. Thank you! That night Jared and I did the top. It looks better than it has since we moved here 7 years ago. I wasn't sure about the blue, but Jared and I both love it so I guess it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It's just fresh and clean and no longer has holes all over the place. Ahh...
2. My Hoover Floormate. We got this machine almost a year ago, but the magic hasn't worn off yet. I still love it. We have a lot of tile in our house and I have always hated mopping all of it, until now. You use way less water and way less soap than normal mopping and you are never mixing the dirty water with the clean water. There is a scrubbing mode, a wet pick-up and a dry pick-up, but I usually just do the wet modes. The best part is that it sucks up almost all the water so you don't have to worry about drying the floor or kids slipping on slippery tile. I used to always wait until nap time because of it, but now I can do it any time. I definitely mop way more than I did before, at least twice a week. Or I'll just do a quick mop in the kitchen after I finish the dishes. It's not the greatest for wood floors, but I would absolutely recommend this for tile. Another perk? It's just loud enough so that I can't hear my children crying or fighting. Just a few minutes of solitude is always nice.

Does this picture look like I missed a spot, because I just mopped. Side note: yesterday Erin was so proud of herself because she cleaned her whole room by herself. Then that evening we had two friends over who helped reverse the work she did. She said, "Hey, I just cleaned this room and now look at it!" Yeah, I know the feeling.

3. Our new dryer. This is another one that we have needed for a long time. Our old one always "worked", sort of. A few months ago it started making a loud noise, but it still dried, sort of. I had researched different dryers throughout this time but then one day it completely stopped drying. I had a huge load of whites (like all sorts of little socks and underwear) in the dryer AND a load in the washer when it died. I had clothes hanging all over the house, like on the curtain rod, on the chairs, on the edge of the crib. I made a comment about it on Facebook and a few minutes later my neighbor came over to dry all the clothes. Yet another reason to love Facebook, and good neighbors. Thanks! That was it for me. After all, I don't live in Argentina anymore (I used to wash my clothes in a bucket--but I also wasn't washing for a family of 5). That night Jared and I went out and bought this beauty. My only needs were to have an extra large capacity and a moisture sensor. I love it! This is the first time in years that I haven't had to check to see if clothes were still wet and then start it again... and sometimes again. I just turn it on and it automatically dries it for as long as it needs. I don't mind doing laundry at all now, but I am not volunteering to do anyone else's. I have enough.

I guess Jared should be on this list because without him bringing home the bacon we could never have these new cleaning luxuries that make my life so much easier. Thanks Jared! Now, if there were only something that could magically cook all our meals for us...