A Clean Home is a Happy Home

We've all heard that saying right?  A clean home is a happy home.  Well my home is almost always a mess...and I'm not happy about it.  I did what all of us normal people do and looked on Pinterest for a magical cleaning schedule.  I read 3 and took a nap because I  was so exhausted just thinking about maintaining those daily routines.  I had to make my own REASONABLE cleaning schedule.  If you are like me and my family (real people with messy houses), feel free to steal this!  I laminated ours and it's hanging on the fridge.

I kept the daily schedule pretty light but this is what needs to be done daily or else the house gets out of control fast!  Each day of the week, I added one task.  Clean the bathrooms every Monday, wipe down appliances Tuesdays.  Wednesday I will mop & vacuum and Dave does his laundry.  Thursday, I do my laundry with Ella's and while it's washing, I sort through the week's mail.  That's also the mow the lawn day so we are all set for the weekend!  I want my weekend to start AS SOON AS POSSIBLE when work ends Friday so I left no "chores" for Friday.  I tried to keep this schedule as quick and easy as possible so that it's still doable when we have busy weeks (like this week when we have a vet appointment Monday, Tuesday I am tutoring plus we have soccer and shopping to do, and Thursday I have a book party to run with tons of follow up to do for it on Friday).

We do our grocery shopping on the weekends so I'll make our list/menu while Dave cleans out the fridge (and shouts out things we need to add to the list).  I'll also wash sheets and towels...I find these the easiest laundry to do and put away so I don't mind adding it to my weekend.  But that's it!  Friday-Sunday is family fun time (and house reno time if we are doing big projects).  

When the seasons change, we take 1 weekend to do a deeper clean on things like windows and mattresses.  And annually, it's a good idea to clean the dryer vents, clean gutters, etc.  but for the most part, this is our new motto when it comes to cleaning the house:

In the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more about how this is going and how we are getting organized once and for all!   Let us know in the comments if you have a similar cleaning schedule or if you think we missed something important!

Ella Turned 2!

My sweet baby girl turned 2 this last month (way behind on posting!).  I can't believe how time flies!  I absolutely loved setting up her birthday party.  I am sticking with book theme parties until she is old enough to fight me on it.  Last year the theme of her party was Peter Rabbit.  It was such an adorable theme.  This year, I did a Goodnight Gorilla theme.  It is one of our favorite books and one of the first books I read to her when she was born.  And she loves animals so it just made sense.

Goodnight Gorilla is full of vibrant colors, animals escaping the zoo, and keys so that is what I tried to recreate with her party!

I throw balloons in her crib when she waks up on her birthday.  She LOVES this tradition! 

Sources: Crates and keys (we spray painted them), mason jars, and small plastic animals - Michaels, glass jar with gold lid, gold #2 balloon, plates, napkins, table cloth, party hats, wire basket - Target, Cupcake Stand, Lion Plush, Giraffe Plush, Gorilla Plush, Cupcake Toppers, Ella's zoo sign - handmade by dad :) 

Mini zoo cages with small animals, gift bags, and drinks...I covered the glass in this cabinet to hide all of our things and to add an extra decorative element.  I also replaced all of our pictures with printouts from the book.  

The mantle also had zoo animals in party hats. 

I drew an elephant, giraffe, and gorilla on pink party bags with a gold pen.  Each child got a toy giraffe, a color matching game, retelling sticks, and animal crackers in their bag.  

I printed out a picture of each animal in the book, cut and laminated them and then taped them to sticks.  Ella loves sitting wtih me and finding the animals in the book.  The color matching game was found here.

Kid Act

I put colored playdough in Ella's sensory table.  The patchwork pattern mirrors some of the cages in the

Ella and her friend are using the basket of animals to make animal footprints in the playdough

The Seseme Street pop up tent was a hit...not related to the theme though.  I tried to bring her play house inside for the zookeepers house BUT it won't fit through the siding doors...oh well!

One of my favorite things were these animal party ears!  I got them on Etsy here. They made the perfect photo props for the girls!

It was such a fun day!  I'm glad we could share it with you :)