Fall Favorites

It's nearing the middle of November, and while everyone else seems to have decorated for Christmas already, I'm still fully embracing Fall! If there's anything having five children has taught me, it's to quit rushing things, and enjoy the moment. I love everything about the holiday season, from Halloween to New Year's Day, but I'm still enjoying pumpkins, Fall decor, and our Thankful Tree! And on Thanksgiving night, you will find all of us in Christmas pajamas!

If you read my last post from last month, you already know that life has been very chaotic around here. I just haven't had time to blog, and I had to fight through the guilt and realize that I would get back to it when I had a chance. Life has changed even more since I wrote that post three weeks ago. I now have a teenager at home with me every single day, doing cyber school. I'll share more details on the why and how soon. It's still very new to us!

Currently, my nap-protester is actually sleeping, my sick self is stuck on the couch trying to get rest, and my kids are off school for the next two days. It's surprisingly calm in my home for 8 PM on a Sunday night. It's the perfect time to share a few of my favorite things this Fall!

8 Easy Ways To Deal With Pet Messes

This post is sponsored by The Libman Company but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Like many pet owners, we believe our pets are valuable family members. Our already large family of 7 also includes a gentle giant - an English Mastiff named Ella - and 3 indoor rabbits. Our home is loud, chaotic, and crowded, but full of so much love! And even though our beloved pets bring so much joy to our lives, they also make messes!

With five young children, a 150+ pound dog, and three 12 pound rabbits, there is pretty much ALWAYS a mess to clean up! (Remember that time our rabbits had babies? See the picture above!) If I don't stay on top of it, cleaning can quickly become very overwhelming. I'm not one of those people who can spot a mess and ignore it - instead, it will bother me until it's cleaned up.

Now that it's Spring AND shedding season, the mess has doubled! If I'm not sweeping up chihuahua-sized hairballs from my giant dog, I'm sweeping up freshly mowed grass and mopping muddy footprints/pawprints that are tracked through my house. What does a (fur) mama gotta do to keep things clean around here?!?

I'm teaching my children to clean up their own messes (or at least help), but that doesn't quite work with our pets! Here's how I tackle those pet messes...

Spring Cleaning 101: A Master Checklist & Must Have Supplies

This post is sponsored by The Libman Company but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Warm weather is just around the corner, and we are getting ready to start Spring Cleaning! There's just something so refreshing about opening up all the windows after a long, cold winter, and starting the season off with an extra clean home. And now that baby #5 is here, we want to disinfect everything and make sure we have a healthy home!

Spring Cleaning can seem so overwhelming, especially when you have a family. I totally get it! There's so much to do already, and deep cleaning is probably not high on the list of priorities. Stocking up on new cleaning supplies can help build motivation, and breaking up the list into manageable blocks of time definitely helps. Plus there's definitely a great feeling of satisfaction as the tasks are checked off one by one!

Here's how this new mom of five is tackling the Spring Cleaning this year...

10 Awesome Household Cleaning Hacks Using Bleach

This post is sponsored by The Clorox Company but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

As my due date for baby #5 approaches, I am nesting constantly, and in full cleaning mode! I wish I could bottle up this unstoppable motivation, and keep it for the rest of my life. I just want to organize all the things and make sure everything in our home is sparkly clean!

I grew up with a mom who loved to clean, and she swore by the power of Clorox bleach. It’s no big surprise that it became one of my household staples once I owned my own home! And with four children constantly making messes, Clorox gets used every single day! I absolutely love being a mom, but I’m not going to sugar coat it - Kids are GROSS!

A lot of people assume bleach is just for the laundry room, but that’s far from the truth! It actually has so many convenient and creative uses within the home. Now Clorox has two innovative bleach products that make my life as a mom SO much easier!

Here are the ten awesome ways I use bleach within my home...

A Few Of My Favorite Things

                                  DISCLOSURE: The bag and the games were sent to us for review. I only share the items I love the most!

Happy Friday, my friends! We are getting ready for a really busy weekend. My brother's wedding is tomorrow, and Mother's Day (and Lexie's soccer game) is on Sunday. It's going to be a weekend full of celebrating! Before the chaos begins, I wanted to share a few of my favorite things with you!

5 Easy Ways To Get Kids To Help With Spring Cleaning

As you can probably imagine, living with four kids, four large rabbits and a very large puppy is ridiculously messy. I spend most of my time cleaning up messes, so trying to fit in yearly Spring Cleaning is a huge undertaking. In order to tackle this job, I have to enlist the troops!