Cleaning products as painting tools part 2 of 2

Cheyenne was promised a purple room in our new house and she got it! Next, it was Harlee's turn to get her pink room. 

She originally wanted a light pink room with one darker pink wall. After seeing Cheyenne's room she wanted a textured wall, only with more texture and a little different.

I found a reusable duster at walmart for only a couple of bucks and thought it was worth a go. The result was ultra fabulous.  Once again, I washed the duster out and I should probably go dust something with it, I should of let the paint dry on it.  I don't like to dust.

It took me about 45 minutes to do this wall, but Harlee LOVES it, she wishes I would do it to all of her walls.  After we put all of her stuff back in her room she said it was good with just one wall like that.

If you haven't already see cleaning products as painting tools part 1.


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Cleaning products as painting tools part 1 of 2

I love it when things turn out better than you thought it would. I love it even more when that project that turned out better than you thought it would, also was easier than you thought it would be.

Before we moved to North Dakota, I asked Cheyenne what color she wanted her room to be. "Purple'' and she waves her little finger at me with a stern look, "not yellow." Which is funny because her room in our Colorado rental house was yellow, she didn't show any indications that it bothered her in the slightest.  But I guess it was terrible.

Every time I have painted something in the past I have painted just plain colors and I wanted to spice it up this time, but I was a bit nervous.  Especially since if it turned out horrible, I knew I would be the one painting over it. I. Do. Not. Like. To. Paint.

Somehow I end up doing it a lot though.

We let Cheyenne help pick the paint, and she picked out a very dark purple. Can you imagine a whole room in that dark of a purple? Ugh.  Thankfully, she was agreeable to it being an accent color.

I wanted a nice stiff brush, I'm not sure why, but I did.

Nice stiff brushes are not found in the painting aisle. And hey, wouldn't ya know it, brushes are cheaper in the cleaning aisle anyways.

I got the stiffest brush I could find, again I'm not sure why, but that's what I wanted and I get what I want...at least when it comes to cleaning tools. Oh please, oh please, can I get my way somewhere else sometime...like at Cabela's?

After finally getting her room painted light purple, I nervously dipped my brush in the dark purple and gave it a try.  Not to bad I thought, so I kept going.

10 minutes later I stepped back and decided that adding more would only ruin the effect.

10 minutes!!!

Let me say that one more time. It only took me 10 minutes to texturize that wall.

I asked Cheyenne how she liked it "I LOVE it, it's not yellow." Yup the yellow bedroom was an epic failure.  She still likes showing off her purple room, best 10 minutes ever spent painting!

And if you are smarter than I you won't clean out the brush so well after your done painting.  I'm sure I'll be forced to clean something with it now.

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A day in the life of an oilfield wife

My husband is up before dawn, and gone within five minutes of waking up.  I'm left alone laying in bed with the familiar pit in my stomach.  I'm alone, again.  It's not long before I'm up to.  I have the normal housewife chores, the mom chores and the household chores.

I also have the honey-do-list.  I would love to make a honey-do-list for my husband.  I would love to have more help with things around the house.  But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

That's not to say he doesn't help; because he does.  Yesterday he worked 18.5 hours.  That doesn't leave much time for a honey-do-list.

Honey will you please mow the lawn?....you're kidding right.
Honey will you please find the smoke alarm that is chirping and fix it?....do it yourself.
Honey will you please carry that really heavy bookshelf downstairs?...find a way to get it down there yourself.
Honey will you please take out the trash?...put on your big girl panties and do it yourself.

I have been known to take apart pieces of furniture (like bookshelves or dressers), carry the pieces downstairs and put it back together. Sure that can take me an hour or more and it would take him five minutes.  But I know that that five minutes is five minutes less that he could see the kids, and they need him even more than I do.

We are wanting to buy a generator for backup heating in the cold North Dakota winters.  So finding an electrician and researching generators...my job.

Figuring out what homeschool curriculum to use...my job.

Finding a place to take the car in to get some work done...my job.

Honey-do-lists are for only the things I absolutely, positively can not do myself.  As time goes on and my power tool skills grow, this is less and less.

You may be thinking right now that this is crazy, and you're right.  You may be thinking right now that he should help me more, but there you're wrong.  When he has days off he is willing to help me with anything I desire help on.  But the thing is, that we need to just hang out with him.  The kids need to play with their dad, they need to catch bugs with their dad, they need to talk to their dad.  And I need to cuddle on the couch and watch TV with him, more than I need him to take out the trash.

The kids and I have long days.  He doesn't have a regular schedule; he isn't home at 5:00 sharp everyday; we don't know what time he will be home til he walks in the door.  Some days it could be 2:00 but that is rare.  Most of the time the girls and I eat dinner without him.  Most of the time he is here to help put them to bed. Sometimes he isn't.

Our lives are unpredictable. We could move somewhere new at anytime.  He could go out of town for work and be gone for a week or two, or even three. Some oilfield men are gone for months at a time.  We could get a call saying there has been an accident on the rig at any moment.

I hear so many people say "oh the money must be great".  Yes, it is a good paying job, so I can go buy a brand new extra large plush couch...and sit on it alone.  That good paying job comes at an even higher price.

My kids are good, loving kids but some days they whine and kick and hit each other like crazy.  Much like any other kids I'm sure.  But when they start acting out of control 99.9% of the time they haven't seen their dad much lately.  And it breaks my heart that they miss him so much.  It breaks my heart that I can't even tell them how much longer it is til he comes home.

By now, you probably think we would be nuts to live this life. You may be onto something there.

The oilfield, like it or not, runs America.  Your car needs gas and you probably use things like shampoo, shaving cream, nail polish, hair dye, lipstick, lotion, and band aids.  In your house you probably have a refrigerator, paint, pillows and trash bags. Your kids probably play with balloons, crayons and footballs.  You probably take aspirin and antihistamines. You probably wear clothes and shoes. And all those things need oil to make them. (see more things made with oil here)

You can not even ride a bike to avoid supporting the oilfield, cause those bike tires are made from oil.

There is a certain sense of pride that comes with knowing you're part of something that runs the greatest country in the world. My husband is supporting his family in the way that he knows best, and he loves the oilfield. We love him.  He is oilfield through and through. We are an oilfield family.

We wouldn't have it any other way. We are oilfield proud.

My husbands rig.

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Dave Ramsey money envelopes

Once I saw these Dave Ramsey money envelopes I just knew I had to make a pile for myself.  Before we were just using regular paper envelopes and every other second I was switching one out because they were getting all haggard.  And since your on a budget these can be made entirely from scraps. 

 1. Cut two squares (matching or not!) 7 3/4'' by 7 3/4''

2. Apply medium weight interfacing to one of the squares. I save my scraps just for this.

 3. Sew the squares, right sides together, leaving a hole to turn it right side out.  Clip the corners.

4. Turn and sew along two opposite sides of your square. 

5. Fold the square in half, bringing the seams together. I like the piece with the interfacing on the outside, but I have made them with the interfacing on the inside fabric and it doesn't make much of a difference.

6. Sew the other opposite edges.

7. Stuff with money.  I also put in a index card where I write what the envelope is for and how much goes in each month.

8. Go forth and multiply.

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How to clean a pack and play

This post has moved. CLICK HERE to continue to the new post with even more pack and play cleaning information.

Also, I no longer blog at Redneck Soccer Mom, please check out my new team blog with my mom, sister, and I.  It's even more FUN.  Check us out here.

trash to fabulous - all purpose cleaner

Spending good money on cleaning products is lame.  I mean it's not like they are fun or exciting.  I have seen this all over pinterest and decided to try it.  Orange peels in white vinegar.  Let it sit for two weeks or so and then drain it through a coffee filter.

This stuff works better than anything you can buy in the store, and for much cheaper too.

It's so nontoxic you could drink it.  If you ever run out of oj just serve this up with your morning oatmeal. I'm not saying it will be good.  But I bet next time your at the store you won't forget the oj.

I have a batch of grapefruit going now and I can't wait to try it.  I also wanna make lemon and lime cleaner.  Cause a girl needs options.

The curse of the clutter

For the past week I've been living like a minimalist.  A really serious minimalist.  See we just moved from Utah to Colorado and most of our stuff is still on the moving truck.

We packed up a small pull behind U haul with all our home canned goods that can't freeze...which it defiantly would freeze, being on a truck for a week in the middle of winter.  We brought a bit of clothes, some toys for the kids, Cheyenne's crib, Harlee's mattress, and an air mattress for us. We have a card table and chairs for eating, and I brought my sewing machines...cause ya know they are too important to be on a freight truck.

Now I really miss my couch, and would love to stop sleeping on the floor, and I would kill for my crock pot.  Other than that I love it. OK my ironing board and a can opener would be pretty cool as well. BUT I have so much more free time for playing with the kids and sewing and writing!

I'm already thinking about things that are on the moving truck that I want to oust.   I aim to get rid of a whole truck load of stuff...or at least a Yukon XL load.

I can't believe how much freer I feel.  I never realized how much time I spent taking care of stuff.  Moving it around, organising it, cleaning it, fixing it, thinking about it, etc.

Tomorrow the mover boys come to unload the truck.  This mama is ready to clean house. Before I put anything away I'm going to look at it with a critical eye.  I'm going to find the Salvation Army this weekend and I'm going to drop off a lot of junk.

I will break free.  Clutter this is your official notice, you are being deported.