Spring is here! 9 spring cleaning tips!

Spring is in the air (except maybe in New York where it is so cold today!) and it is time for spring-cleaning! Can a house ever be clean enough is the real question, right? I was telling my boyfriend yesterday that our closets are bursting and we really need to give our apartment the 1-2 and clean up!  Here are some quick tips because, hey, we are all short on time, but love a neat and tidy home:

1. Restock your cleaning supplies!
2. Dirty panes are no problem when you use rubber-edged squeegees, which are quicker and more effective than cloth or newspaper. They come in a variety of sizes — and a screw-on extension will let you reach high spots.
3. Unscrew light bulbs and polish the bulbs with a microfiber cloth dampened with water (avoid wetting the metal screw base). Clean the bulbs in recessed ceiling fixtures with a dry Swiffer duster – they work wonders!
4. Once or twice a year, wipe wooden blinds with a few drops of gentle wood cleaner on a nearly dry sponge.
5. The best way to get rid of lime buildup around the faucet it is to lay paper towels over the fixture, soak it with vinegar and let it set for an hour. The deposits will soften and become easier to remove.
6. If drapes are looking drab, take them out of the window, remove the hooks and run them through the air-fluff cycle in the dryer along with a wet towel (to draw off the dust) for 15 minutes. Hang them back in the windows immediately.
7. Clean the blades of a ceiling fan by covering them with a coat of furniture polish. Wipe off the excess and lightly buff.
8. Sometimes comforters, blankets and pillows don’t need to be cleaned, but they do need to be aired out after a long winter in your closed-up home. Take them outside and hang them on a clothesline for a day.
9. Clean out the refrigerator – scary. I know. This task is a daunting undertaking; make it more manageable by breaking it down.

Steps to Cleaning the Refrigerator:

• The first step is to wipe up spills immediately so surfaces won’t become stained.
• Make it a habit to throw out old food once a week.
• Every few months, wash the interior with a solution of two tablespoons of baking soda for every quart of warm water. Wash removable shelves and drawers in the solution (let glass shelves come to room temperature first so warm water won’t crack them).
• Loosen hardened spills on fixed parts by wetting the area with the solution, allowing the residue to soften. 
• Use a toothbrush to scrub crannies. 
• Twice a year, vacuum or brush dust from the condenser coils to keep the system from overheating.

Read Full Post »

Le Top Tip: Out with the Old and In with the New

Kids grow up fast and seem to fly through clothing with their constant growth at lightening speed. If you’re like me, you’ve received some hand-me-downs and you pass down those clothes that are no longer needed. For the kids clothes that have been handed down to me (or that I’ve bought from work) that are within 6-12 months away from fitting my daughter, I try to hang them in her closet on the far end of the rack. I’ve found that if I leave them in a box in the garage, I forget about them and by the time I think to check – half of them no longer fit. If I leave them in her closet, it reminds me to check for them more often and she won’t miss out on that too cute outfit!

To help clear clothes out, I keep a pop-up basket in her closet that I regularly throw clothes into that she has outgrown. When it gets full it’s time to sort them and give them to the other moms I know with kids younger than Lilah. I send the heavy coats to a friend who lives in the coldest weather and the lightest clothing to those that live in the warmest weather. At that time, it’s also good to look through the closet and drawers for clothes or shoes that (for some reason) your child just doesn’t wear or are the wrong season and you realize they no longer fit. I think that’s about half of my daughters clothes. Kids are who they are – there is not much you can do about it!

Read Full Post »

Heigh Ho – Heigh Ho…It’s off to Spring Cleaning we go!

Yes, it’s THAT time of year again…time to clean out the accumulated ‘junk’ that has made its way into our life during the winter and have a fresh start for spring.  It can be a daunting task as you survey closets, garages, and storage spaces that cry out to be purged and deep cleaned – especially when all you want to do is play with your kids!  Why not include them in this spring rite?  Make them part of the process – spend some quality time, AND get things accomplished!  No, they can’t do everything – but you can put together a simple list for them to undertake while the adults deal with the big stuff – you can get through the necessary chores a little quicker and even make it fun.  For families with more than one child it can become a spirited competition to see who finishes the fastest or gives away the most. In my household it always seems that when the whole family helps clean, the house stays sparkling longer and there is a tendency to know where things are instead of mom having to ‘find’ everything. Here are some ideas for little one to tackle.

Kids to Do List:

Go through toys and books, separating what is no longer used to give to charity.

Strip or make the beds.

Clean the sink (I remember being assigned this task by my grandmother when I was a child) – there is satisfaction when the fixtures shine.

Dump the small trash cans (or at least place them near the larger one.)

Go through the house and find anything that belongs to you and return it in your room.

Dust the floor/furniture/window sills.

Play some fun music and the time will fly. Praise children for doing a great job and stress how helpful they are (even if they can’t do it as well as you.)  At the end of the project reward yourselves with a fun experience – a movie night with popcorn and ice cream or some time at a park. Happy clean-up!

Read Full Post »

A Weekend of…Sleep and Appreciation

Looks like Grandma also took a little nap!

Every year my uncle throws a start-of-summer party in Paso Robles, CA, and it’s always a good time. The week leading up to it, my husband was very sick and just didn’t have the energy to make the three hour trip. Instead of us completely canceling, my parents offered to take Lilah with them. It’s always hard for me to be away from her, but she was so excited to see her grandparents, great grandparents, and other extended family that I couldn’t say no, so I dressed her up in le•top’s Butterfly Wishes top and striped capri pants (party festive!), packed her up and met up with my parents.

Once I dropped her off I realized that my husband and I had the weekend to ourselves. We immediately made plans to go see the new Star Trek movie since we’ve only seen about two in an actual movie theater since her birth (2 ½ yrs ago). On Saturday we did the regular chores but they went so much quicker without our little one around that I had a chance to mop the entire house! I know, the exciting life of a mom, huh? We got in some cat naps, worked in the garden, saw a great movie, and zzzzz slept in zzzzz Sunday morning until 9am. I don’t think we’ve gotten so much sleep since the last time she went out of town which was close to a year ago. Sunday was pretty similar except we managed to watch two videos too. It was heavenly.

Lilah gets doggie kisses

Don’t get me wrong, I thought about her the entire time and every time we did something that she would have normally made a funny comment about or done something crazy, we talked about it and her. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have the time to appreciate her instead of just being in the thick of it.

I was soooooo happy for Lilah to come home on Monday. I heard all about her adventures with her grandparents, and I’m still hearing about how her grandma painted her toenails and put flowers on them. I guess she partied so hard that she slept in the middle of the party for five hours. Part of me wishes that I had been there for those fun times, but most of me is happy to have caught up on some sleep.

The five hour beauty nap, painted toenails and all!

Read Full Post »

What do you do with your child’s outgrown clothes?

Miranda's already outgrown her fall le•top clothes!

The weather is getting warmer. It’s almost spring time…and my daughter is growing like a weed! When Miranda put on these pants (from le•top’s Flower Power collection from last fall) I knew it was time to start going through her clothes to see what I can put away. You might think that I’m still nesting, but this has become a ritual in my house ever since Miranda started outgrowing her baby clothes. I saved EVERYTHING! Well, almost everything. Stained or worn clothes went in a pile for donation. Torn or ripped clothes became either cleaning rags or were recycled. (Yeah, I’m green like that.) And now that Baby #2 is on the way, part of me is hoping for a girl so that I can pull out all of Miranda’s old clothes and put them on the next one.

Just out of curiosity, what did you do with your children’s outgrown clothes?

Read Full Post »