We had a very interesting episode at my house this morning.  Will had a little diaper accident that ended up all over my living room floor (and let’s say it wasn’t pee!).  Not only did it smell, it was stuck to the floor (I know, I know TMI, but I could have taken pictures!)

What does a mother do when incidents like this (and yes all mothers have at least one of these with each of their kids)?  Well, first you clean up the kid involved.  I also lucked out that it was Will’s nap time, so I was able to put him down and not have him getting in the way of cleanup.

Once Will was down for a nap, that’s when the real cleaning starts.  I have always loved PineSol.  It does say on the back not to use on wood.  However, I have always used it on my hardwood floors, because it is one of the best cleaners out there on the market and have yet to have a problem.  I have yet to find anything that matches its cleaning ability either.  However, I have always had one major complaint:  the smell.  I personally could not stand the lemony smell (Courtney just corrected me — it’s not lemony — it’s pine :P).  However, PineSol has come to rescue.  They now have flavors (or is it called scents?)!  The one I used on our little accident this morning was the “Sparkling Wave”.  I love it!  Not only did the PineSol clean up the mess, it left my living room smelling awesome.  There was no overwhelming lemon — just a calming sea smell (which after the morning I’ve had, I definitely need).

I would definitely go try this out if you haven’t yet, and tell me what you think.

I am not ready to let Madison (my 4 year old) use a real fishing pole yet. Right now, I envision many hospital trips if she had one. However, we have several magnetic fishing pole sets, and they are awesome. Basically, she goes fishing in my living room almost on a daily basis. She spends several hours catching her fish and then throwing them out back on the floor. Will (my one year old) likes to get involved in the game too. He either plays with the fish or tries to pretend to be the fish and grab the end of the string. The ball pit we have is a boat so it ties in quite nicely. The only thing we are missing is one of those gps tracking devices for fish. I really need to get a picture of her sitting in that boat with her pole. It is super cute.

I highly recommend a magnetic pole until you are comfortable that your children won’t cause serious damage with a real one. I don’t think Madison is ready this summer either for a real one. However, she is completely happy with the magnetic fishing poles and we’ll keep her using those until she is ready.

This is a local store for me. I don’t think they are a national wide chain. However, if you live in the Chicagoland area, you need to stop at Darvin Furniture for your furniture needs. I am pretty sure that their sales people work on commission. However, you don’t feel them breathing down your neck while you are looking. I have never found a time when I couldn’t find a salesperson to help. The salespeople are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They carry almost all of the name brands of furniture and mattresses. They also have great financing deals going all the time. The only thing is that you need to put down a third of the purchase price. You can use cash, charge, or even money from your checking account. At this time, we have bought our kitchen table, our living room set, and today, we just bought new mattresses from them. We wouldn’t keep going back if this wasn’t a great store to shop from.

With all the money you can save with them, you can start looking at vacation packages, train travel, and cheap flights to rome. I know we were able to take our savings and use it for such things. What I didn’t know was that there are a bunch of airlines I never heard of like turkish airlines, go airlines, and spirit airline. I wonder if those are as easy to use as an
american flight schedule? Nothing is worse when you are trying to book a flight, and you can’t figure out the airlines schedules especially when you have to make a transfer.

I love grandfather clocks. I am not sure why. They just have this aura about them. While I was searching, here is one of the new grandfather clocks that I absolutely love:

This is one of the Howard Miller clocks. I love that it is dual purpose clock: both grandfather clock and curio cabinet. I have a fairly big living room, but we have a lot of stuff in it. Any way I can save space is good for me. I am sure that I am not the only on in this boat. It is also a great way to display your nice things. I personally have a few water globes that would go great in there.

One of the best sites to look for grandfather clocks is 1-800-4clocks.com. The site is super easy to navigate. It allows you to view hundred of clocks for you to choose what works best for you and in your house. The pictures are extremely detailed too. They pricing is right underneath, so you are able to figure out what you can afford as compared to your tastes. They even have a blog. One of my favorite posts has to do with all the different kinds of grandfather clocks. Before you buy your next click, check out 1-800-4clocks.com.