Time to Clean the Oven

Every 3 months I like to rip my oven from the wall and give it a good talking to.  Well, more like a good cleaning, but this cleaning time was a bit more tedious than it had been before.

I have been traveling a lot lately and 3 months for the oven cleaning just didn't fit into my schedule this past 9 months, so it had been awhile since I gave the ole' oven a good cleaning inside, out, and underneath.  But, the job did get done this past weekend and it looks a whole lot better.

Behind and underneath the oven was a bit embarrassing.  Not sure how it gets like this, but over the course of 9 months I guess it's possible. 

We vacuumed underneath and behind the oven.

Cleaned the side walls.  This house is pretty old, so any type of cleaner out on the cabinets and the floor has to be nonabrasive so it doesn't "eat" away at the finish.

Terrible!

And the cleaning began!

I CAN NOT stand the smell of oven cleaner nor do I allow such horrible cleaners into my home, so we used J.R. Watkins All Purpose Cleaner for the entire oven (inside and out), but there are many other cleaners on the market that can give you just the same amount of cleaning power without the harsh chemicals.

I made the boys get in and help me too!

The Magic Eraser works wonders on all things sloppy with the oven.

Even the vent on the back was dirty.  *hangs head in shame*

When we were all finished........

.....We stood back and were pleased.  Now it's time to go out and look for a new oven.  :-)

    

Green Tea: Great for your skin

I've been an avid green tea drinker for the longest time and I always seem to drink about 5 cups a day out of habit.  Green tea has been one of the most popular teas drank worldwide because it goes through a minimal processing.  The minimal process is a good thing because of all the beneficial antioxidants (polyphenols) the tea still contains once it's steeped into your hot cup of water.  The great tea has been proved to help ward off certain types of cancer, help with glucose levels with Type 2 Diabetes, and green tea can also boost your metabolism and encourage weight loss.  (1 to 3 cups daily is recommended)

Green tea isn't only great internally, it is also a great thing to use externally too.  It can be used to soothe sun burns, insect bites, and even puffy eyes due to lack of sleep or allergies.  Furthermore, green tea is great for the skin.  It helps improve your skin tone and texture.

Pour your daily cup of green tea, steep, and then drain the tea bags.

Save the tea bags in a small, air-tight jar in your refrigerator and use every night before bed to help rejuvenate your skin while you sleep, or use every morning after a hot shower to help tone the skin for the rest of the day. 

To get the added benefits of green tea, look for cosmetics with green tea added.  Or just add green tea leaves or liquid straight to your current cosmetics.  

Or try this recipe to make your own green tea facial cream:

• 2 tbs. Shea butter (1 tbs. for oily skin)

• 1 tbs. bees wax

• 1 tbs. coconut oil

• 1 tbs. cocoa butter

• 3 green tea bags 

• 1 cup of water

• Green tea essential oil (optional)

Steep green tea bags in the water and allow to cool completely.  Meanwhile, melt together the Shea butter, bees wax, coconut oil and cocoa butter in a double boiler.  Remove from heat and add the green tea and whisk.  Allow to sit for about an hour till a thickness begins to form and begin whisking vigorously until desired thickness is achieved.  Add your oil at this time and whisk together.  Place face cream into an air tight, dark tinted container and use nightly before bed.  

To purchase face cream already made please visit BeeSpa.

    

How to make a Cereal Snack Necklace

Back a few weeks ago I talked about a project we did called the "Board of Great Things."  Where we wrote down all the things we wanted to get done over the 90 days of summer break.  One of the things that we added to the board was, make cereal snack necklaces.  So one night, during a movie/game night we decided it was the perfect time to make some, and boy was it fun!  And they are super easy to make.  Here's what we did.....

We took some colorful cereal.....

Some scissors and hemp twine.......

Poured our favorite cereal in a bowl and began stringing it up.

I made one of the cereal loops be my starting place and to help tie it on once it was all put together.

Every few inches Skylar got on the twine, he ended up eating.  Ha!

Using the same cereal loop as before, tie the other end to the opposite side of the round.  

He made a pretty good color pattern once he stopped eating them all.  :-)

Skylar wanted to wear his necklace in the pool though.  

We then had us a bowl of cereal and hung the a few out for the birds to have too!

I think these snack necklaces would work great with other items as well.  Similar to the one below...

Photo source:  Blondie and Brownies

Lots of fun!

    

Hermit Crabs have made great pets

Skylar had been begging and begging for the last year for some sort of a turtle for his room.  I grew up in Arkansas were turtles ran around all day long and you see about 5 of them in your yard on any given week, but not here in Oregon.  Oregon is the place you go to Petco and see a turtle being sold for over $100.

You read that right, $100 FREAKING DOLLARS!  FOR A TURTLE!  Apparently these turtles, according to the worker are, "very rare and require special maintenance."  WHAT!?  Yeah right, we aren't buying that turtle.  What kind of special maintenance would it require, it doesn't have fur, you don't brush its teeth, what in the world kind of maintenance could this ugly thing possibly require?  Throw it in a box with a warm rock and you're done!  Besides that, I am not paying $100 for a turtle.

Sooooooo..... we settled on a few hermit crabs.

These things are actually pretty neat to watch.  They are pretty smart about what's what and all you do for care is spray them once or twice a day, refill their food when needed and also refresh their fresh water and salt water daily.  We enjoy watching them crawl around the kitchen floor too.  Skylar takes them outside on warm days and lets them crawl all around.  They make great pets for kids and also teaches them responsible.

Skylar names his hermit crabs Yoda, Wicket, and R2!  

Much better choice than a turtle, don't you think? :-)