Tips for Cleaning Ceramic Tile

Whether you are in the midst of the after holiday cleaning, or about to start, cleaning the ceramic tile in your bathroom has been tops on your list of things to do, right?  Here are some tips for cleaning ceramic tile.

One of the areas on ceramic tile that is really tough to clean is the grout. It’s a really yucky area that attracts the most horrible dirt and grime in your bathroom, right? Okay then, put on a pair of rubber gloves and let’s get to it!

If you have a small bathroom, you may want to turn on the overhead fan; keep the doors open and wear a mask if you have to. It tends to get quite hot in there when cleaning.
Use a cleaning solution and hot water, start cleaning the grout. This will require some kneeling and scrubbing, so ensure you place a pillow or soft cushion to kneel on.

Stop and take a look.  Does the grout look clean? If not, you may have to resort to more desperate measures. Do not use chlorine bleach!  It is not safe and if you are allergic, it can cause breathing problems, and the fumes can be hazardous to your pets as well.

However, take heart! After scouring the web for the best product, there is one that is non-toxic, and is perfect for grout cleaning, it’s called oxygen bleach.  It comes in powder form and when mixed with water it removes all of the stains to produce a clean and undamaged group. Moreover, there are no fumes or toxins to contend with. Simply apply the bleach and let it sit for thirty to sixty minutes. Then scrub the grout lightly and Voila! Behold the miracle!

If you have ceramic tile in your kitchen or counter top, you can use the oxygen bleach there as well. Users have raved about this product, so make it easy; chemical free; and pain free during spring cleaning and utilize these tips for cleaning ceramic tile.

The love that one of my children showed/shows for the other! 

I think all  mothers have teared up over our children doing, saying or displaying something that left us speechless.  Well today my 16yo daughter Isreal did just that.  She came home today, plopped at the PC and said she was adding the finishing touches to the Black History month paper where she had to write just a short page about an African American that inspires her. 

Well please allow me to share….

Isreal Jean Holland

February 11, 2008

AP English III

Period 2

The Person Who Inspires Me

      People would usually choose to write about Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, or another African American from the history books to write about when it comes to inspirational African Americans, but I choose my little brother. Isaac Thomas Williams was born on December 27, 1999. He is now eight years old. Isaac attends XXXX Elementary School and is currently in the third grade. In addition to him being in the third grade he has his red belt in Tae Kwon Do. There are many reasons why my brother is my inspiration

      To begin with, my brother is the only person I love more than myself. I would do any and everything to see him happy. The reason why I do what I am supposed to do is because I want to be a good role model for Isaac. Even though he does not know it, I look up to him. He loves me no matter what and unlike some friends and some family members he never stops loving or caring about me.  He tries hard at everything he does and always has a smile on his face even when things are tough.  When I hear people say that they are alone and nobody is there for them, I am thankful that my eight year old brother is my knight and shining armor. He is my sun, my moon, and he is the air that I breathe when I wake up. Isaac inspires me to do great things with my life. My brother is my best friend.

      To sum it up, my hero and my living inspiration is my little brother Isaac. He is my life. Without him I would not be who I am now. He is my everything and I love him to death. I believe that any other African American hero is no greater than my own little brother Isaac Thomas Williams.

She read this to Isaac as I was in the room.  I teared up immediately while Isaac sat there grinning from ear to hear. After she was done, Isaac said “REALLY, Isreal?” and she said “yup, really” and he hugged her like there was no tomorrow!!

Does your family have the winter blues? Get them moving with some fun outdoor activities! Here are some ideas for you to try:

Outside Workout
Gather the entire family and go outdoors for a family workout. Mom or Dad can lead the group in a fun outdoor exercise routine. Or better yet play a game of tag football.

Jogging/Power Walk
If you’re tired of being stuck inside, get outdoors for a good jogging or power walking session. Jog around the block or walk a mile or two. You can add light hand weights to work your arms while you’re walking.

Ice Skating
Ice skating is a fun form of winter exercise. When lakes are frozen, ice skaters come out of hiding and get out on the ice for lots of fun. Most kids really enjoy ice skating too.

Snow Shoeing
If you’re tired of jogging and walking, trade your sneakers for snow shoes. Snowshoeing works your leg muscles even more because you have to really lift your legs to be able to walk around.

Hiking
Many people associate hiking only with the summer months. However, winter hiking is a totally exhilarating fitness activity. Don’t forget to bring along your digital camera so you can take pictures of the beautiful winter scenery as you explore!

With the countless negativities the world brings about, how do we keep motivated?

A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do.

C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides.

D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel.

E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.

F – Family and Friends – are life’s greatest ‘F’ treasures. Don’t loose sight of them.

G – Give more than what is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place at work? At home? At school? When you exert extra effort in doing things.

H – Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force.

I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t let other people to get the best of you. Stay out of toxic people – the kind of friends who hates to hear about your success.

J – Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

K – keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees a harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement.

L – Learn to love your self. Now isn’t that easy?

M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game.

O – Open your eyes. People should learn the horse attitude and horse sense. They see things in 2 ways – how they want things to be, and how they should be.

P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn repertoire and ways on how can we recover from our mistakes.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark.

S – Stop procrastinating.

T – Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jives synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement.

U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second.

V – Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land.

W – Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!!

Quick and Easy Breakfast Ideas for Kids

Most of us have heard the saying “Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day” and it’s certainly true especially when it comes to children.  Studies have shown that children who eat a balanced breakfast are more alert in school, perform better and in many cases are less prone to bad behaviour than children who skip breakfast.

Here are some quick and easy breakfast ideas for kids:

Give them Eggs – Eggs are versatile and nutritious, plus most kids like them.  Start their day with simple scrambled eggs, you can add a little chopped ham, cheese, chopped tomatoes or mushrooms.  Boiled eggs with slices of toast will down well too.

Bake Ahead Muffins – Muffins aren’t always the most nutritious meal, but if you bake your own muffins you can use mashed banana and a little honey for a naturally sweet breakfast muffin.  You can also replace half of the amount of white flour for healthier whole wheat flour.  And don’t just stick to sweet muffins, try a savory bacon and chive muffin or cheese and ham.  Bake them the night before for a quick and healthy breakfast.

Don’t forget the Fruit – Try a fresh fruit salad with a yogurt and cheerio dip.  Using a rolling pin mash a handful of two of whole grain Cheerios in a plastic bag and transfer to a bowl.  Fill another bowl with yogurt and let your kids dip the fruit pieces in yogurt then in the cheerio mixture.  Whole grain Cheerios have a lower sugar content then many of the cereals on the supermarket shelves.

Pancakes in a flash – Prepare a basic pancake batter the night before, cover and refrigerate in the morning.  In the morning all you need to do is heat the grill and your whole family can enjoy delicious homemade pancakes.  Serve with a little maple syrup or jam and some fresh fruit on the side.

Try Pizza for Breakfast - Split a couple of bagels in half, top with a little pizza sauce, grated cheese and some chopped ham. Place under the grill for a few minutes and you have a nutritious breakfast pizza. You can also use English muffins or pita bread.

Breakfast Burrito – Wraps are a great alternative to toast and cereal.  You can make a scrambled egg breakfast wrap with a little bit of ham or cheese added to it or you can add a little cream cheese and turkey or even make a breakfast pizza burrito.

Remember breakfast doesn’t have to always consist of the traditional toast, cereal and eggs you can experiment a little to keep things interesting.  And don’t put too much pressure on yourself to always make the perfect family breakfast.  If your kids really aren’t hungry at breakfast time a simple banana and a glass of orange juice will give them an instant boost. 

The most important thing is that your child starts the day with one or two nutritious foods.

When is the last time you cleaned out your medicine cabinet? If you are like most people, it has been a long time. 

Well, once you follow these simple tips, you will feel better and get this, you  won’t have to do it again for a year.

Take everything out of the cabinet and put them into a box. Clean the inside with white vinegar. Sit at your kitchen table and go through each item one by one. Check your medicines first. Throw out any outdated prescriptions. Remember to remove the label on all of them.  The general rule of thumb is to throw out anything that is old, since their effectiveness is diminished. Perhaps you have accumulated two or more of one product. Check the expiration labels and keep the newest one and throw out the old.  After you have finished going through the box, it’s time to put back whatever is left. The good news is now is the perfect time to organize your medicine cabinet.

Depending upon the size of your medicine cabinet, you may want to prioritize those items you use on a daily basis, such as: deodorants and razors, which you can keep on the first shelf. You may want to use plastic cups to keep your Q-tips in; or disposable razors as well. Arrange all ointments and creams on another shelf, such as Neosporin and the like. Medicinal products can be put on the top shelf. It depends on your preference. Glass bottles, however, should be kept on the first shelf. Replace whatever creams or ointments you threw out, and any other necessary items you need to have on hand. For example; over the counter antacids; vapor rub; cough syrup; toothpaste; toothbrushes, and the like.

Having to clean out your medicine cabinet can be done on a yearly basis as long as you replace or throw out those items which are outdated or no longer useable during the year. It isn’t so bad, right?  Ensure you have enough band aids; ointments; and other necessary items you may need, especially if you have children.

Grab more great cleaning and organizational tips HERE

How Using a Timer Helps Keep the House Clean

One of the main reasons that many moms dread cleaning the house is because it is so time-consuming.  It often seems that there just are not enough hours in the day to get the house as clean as we want it, and that can be very discouraging.  How do we overcome this obstacle?

Giving ourselves permission to work for a specified amount of time can help.  We may not be able to clean the entire house in an hour or two, but we can make a significant amount of progress.  And if we commit to spending a certain amount of time on housecleaning each day, our houses could be in the shape we want them in before we know it.

How Can I Use a Timer?

A technique touted by many experts is to set a timer for a short amount of time, usually 15 minutes.  We then concentrate on one room for that amount of time, doing the task that we feel needs the most urgent attention first.  When the timer goes off, the time for cleaning that room is up.  Then we move on to the next room and set the timer for the same amount of time.

This approach keeps us from getting stuck on one room for too long.  It forces us to work on every room a little bit each day without spending enough time on cleaning to get burned out.  We may not get one room deep cleaned very quickly at this rate, but we can keep chipping away on each room each day until they are all really clean.

If you want to tackle larger tasks and get the whole family in on it, you could assign each person a task and set the timer for an hour or hour and a half.   Then each family member can work on his or her respective task for that amount of time.  When it’s all said and done, the house should be much cleaner than when you started.

How Does Using a Timer Help?

When you set a time limit on something, it tends to put you in gear to work more quickly.  That means that you can accomplish more in a short time than you would if you had no time limits.  You may not realize it consciously, but your subconscious will be telling you to hurry and get as much as possible done in the time allotted.

Using a timer also lets us know that there is an end in sight.  This further motivates us to do the best job we can, because we know that it won’t last forever.  And when we’re setting the timer for a short time for each room, it also lets us know that we’ll at least get something done to every part of the house by the time we’re done.

Think small! Yes, I know we accustomed to being told to think big, but for just a few moments, I would like you to think small. Take a moment to look at yourself. Not just the outside, but also on the inside.

Look at your life, your personality, your habits, home, etc. and just think of one (or a few) small positive changes that you could put into action today and do it. So, if your change is to simply walk to the post office instead of driving there, start today. If your change is to eat more fruits and vegetables, do not put it off, start today.

It is amazing how just one or a few small positive changes that we make can transform into very positive habits for our future.

Today, make a list of some positive changes that you can make in your life and start to incorporate them into your daily life. Keep adding new and positive changes and be sure to take notice of how these changes make you feel.

For A Clear-Cut Step-by-Step Action Guide Is Here To Help You Claim The Happiness That You Deserve take a look at Journey to Joy

I’ve never been the type of mom to “Sweat the Small stuff”. I mean, with all the trouble that can come to a teen and that a teen can chase after, why sweat the little things? 

Well last weekend Isreal (my 16yo)  asked me if she can cut and dye her hair. My answer was a simple “As long as you pay for it”.  Then when she told me she would pay for the cut and then have a FRIEND dye it my answer was again a simple “Well, if it falls out I will NOT pay for a WIG”.  

Well she happily trotted off to  The Hair Cuttery and got the cutest cut and it fits her face perfectly. Then that same day she invided over 2 friends and locked them all into the bathroom for what seemed like an eternity.  So, behind the closed bathroom door with loud rock music playing and a lot of teenage giggling she emerged with this this new look:

I’ve been asked my parents and even TEACHERS why I allowed my child to do this. Hello? Its hair people. It will grow out & grow back and honesly she is on the honor roll and a good kid so a Mohawk would be ok in my book!! LOL

Question:  Did you mom sweat the small stuff?  Do you consider this to be small stuff?

Let’s face it moms, we are busy! There are only 24 hours in a day, but you’d give anything to be able to squeeze in one or two (or maybe ten) more just so you can enjoy some quality time with the family each day!

In The “Real Life Guidance to Finding More Family Time Report“, you’ll discover EXACTLY how to find more time for your family AND get everything else done too!

The number one complaint I hear from moms is that they feel guilty about not spending enough time with the family. It’s not because they don’t WANT to, but because they are just so busy that they can’t find the time to get everything done. That is where the guide comes in.

Here’s just a bit of what you’ll find inside:

- How to set REASONABLE Expectations - Family time doesn’t have to be “picture perfect” to still be quality time together.

- Balancing Work and Life - Whether you work at home or outside of the home, you’ll see how you can strike a balance between the two.

- Organization - You’ll find out how being organized will free up a lot of time in your life, leaving you more time for your family, including tips for getting and staying that way.

- Routines/Schedules - Even if you are a spontaneous family, you’ll find ways to easily incorporate a bit of routine into your life, freeing up more time to spend together.

- 20 Activities - Suggested ideas to help you decide what to do with your newfound family time.

And…lots more information to make finding more time to spend with those who love you!

That’s Not All…

You’ll also receive the following 3 bonuses…at no extra cost!

Here’s to more quality family time.