Theresa's Mixed Nuts: September 2013

Sunday, September 29, 2013

This Is Halloween!

Awwww, yeah! It's that time of year again! As much as I love Christmas, my favorite holiday of the year to decorate for is Halloween! Our Halloween decorations could rival most people's Christmas. We do the lights in the yard and all, so when you turn down own street it's like BAM! In your face! While we get a ton of compliments from the neighbors, I'm sure some of them grumble under their breath about the eyesore at the end of the street. But I love it, so up it goes each year. You can see those in the post I put up about them last year HERE. We've added a few more light up trees this year, and hopefully will have even more next year if we find them on clearance after the holiday.

We spent all day Saturday pulling out the decorations and getting them set up. This year Allison really got into helping decorate, so I let her do a lot of the indoor stuff, with just a little help from mom :)




And a very special yard display this year...



I've been thinking about it Pat. The truce is off.


Have you put your Halloween decorations up yet?

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Library Art

Since the girls have started back to school, I haven't had much time for crafting with them. I saw our local library had painting scheduled this week, so I decided we'd check it out. I told Allison we were going to go leaf painting at the library. I couldn't believe her spoil sport attitude when she exclaimed "That sounds boring!" Tough cookies, you are going.

Of course, once she got started, she was like "This is so fun! We need to do this more often!" She liked it so much, she painted 2 pictures. Kids.... Such crazy little creatures!



We hadn't participated in any of the crafting activities at our library before this. Now I'm wondering why not? Free art supplies and THEY clean it up! What's not to love about that!? I checked next months schedule and there are a ton of fun things we will be doing. Making Halloween masks is on Allison's list of must do, and Mariah is really excited by the Harry Potter party they will be throwing, since she gets to go in costume. Fun times are definitely ahead at the library!

Does your library offer free community art events? If so, do you attend them?

Home Right Multi Purpose Steam Cleaner Review & Giveaway!

I take pride in running a clean, organized home. If something is dirty or out of place, I don’t function well until it's cleaned or put away. While I love a clean home, I don’t love spending a lot of time getting it that way. I am always on the lookout for products that simplify the cleaning process so I have more time to enjoy my family, and less time worrying about dirt and grime. I also am a huge fan of cleaning with natural ingredients. Being a mother and a pet owner, I don’t want to use products that are going to cause harm to my children or pets. Last year I sprayed Febreze on my carpets, and within minutes one of my boxers had an allergic reaction, her face swelling so bad we could hardly recognize her. 



I made the decision then and there to eliminate the cleaning products with harsh, dangerous chemicals. I make a lot of my own products now, but sometimes they just aren’t as effective at getting the job done. When I heard about Home Right’s Multi Purpose Power Steam Cleaner, I knew this was a product I needed!
The Steam Machine uses pressurized, high temperature, steam to loosen and dissolve dirt, grease, grime and kill bacteria.


Home Right Steam Cleaner Features:
  • It is chemical free!
  • Sanitizes and cleans floors, stovetops, ovens, bathrooms and grills
  • Kills 99% of all germs and bacteria with no chemical residue.
  • Pressurized, high temperature, steam loosens and dissolves dirt, grease and grime.
  • It comes with several different attachments – a wallpaper steam plate, floor steam mop with microfiber cleaning pad, brass brush, two nylon brushes, jet nozzle and squeegee 



I love the extra attachment storage right there in the lid!

When I received the machine, I was thrilled to see that it was ready for use almost immediately after taking it out of the box. There wasn’t any difficult assembly. All I had to do was take off a few protective wrappings and I was ready to go! The machine is small, lightweight, has 2 wheels and a large handle, so it is very portable. It came with many attachments, so I knew it was going to be able to tackle many household areas. Simply unscrew the cap on the top of the machine, fill with water, plug the unit in, and within minutes you are ready to go.



I decided to start on the underside of kitchen counters. My kids like to eat there, and I noticed that instead of eating like civilized humans, they were using the underside of the counter to wipe their hands. YUCK! Apparently they don’t believe in using something a little more sanitary, like a napkin. For months I have been trying to get it clean. I have used many degreasers, scrubbing pads, and steel wool with no luck at getting it clean. After a few good swipes with the Home Right Steam Cleaner, it is now back to looking like it should!


Gross! This is after months of trying to scrub it clean!


After using the Home Right Multi Purpose Steam Machine
I admit, I am not that good at keeping the trash can clean. Dirt has been building up in the crevices, and scrubbing with a toothbrush does not appeal to me, so it has a good year's worth of buildup on the inside. After emptying out the lose debris and using the straight adaptor, my trash is clean, shiny and sanitized!



 
I moved on to the bathroom we haven’t remodeled yet. The stand shower disgusts me. I am pretty sure it is almost as old as the house is, and the previous owners never cleaned it. I have scrubbed it many times, and the dirt does not budge! Using the straight adaptor, I was able to blast away all the built up dirt from the metal tracks. It was like magic just watching it all melt off! I used the large cleaning brush and pad to swipe over the walls, then the squeegee to go over the glass. I am proud to say that the shower is now sparkling clean!
 





We remodeled the girl’s bathroom 2 years ago, so it is pretty much spotless. However, I was able to use the straight adaptor to blast out the built up gunk from the drain. 





And with pets, they tend to leave a nasty mess wherever their mouths land. Every week I am scrubbing the walls by their food bowls. It usually takes a while because that stuff sticks! With a few swipes of the Home Right Steam Machine, the mess dissolved without any issue.



I am very impressed with the all the messy tasks the steam cleaner was able to handle and how simple it was to use! The machine holds 40 oz. of water, which will last for about 45 minutes. I was happy to see the safety feature, which will not allow the water receptacle lid to open until the machine is fully cooled down. I have had my fair share of burns with other products, so this preventive measure is very much appreciated! But what I love most is the chemical free clean and sanitation I get by using the machine. The peace of mind I get knowing my family is safe from harmful chemicals and vapors makes owning this machine worthwhile.  The Home Right Steam Cleaner has an MSRP of $99.99, and can be purchased at major online retailers like Amazon and Home Depot. Or, you can check to see if it is available at a store near you with their handy product finder tool on Home Right’s website.



Home Right also carries a wide selection of products that will make tackling any home improvement project a breeze. Paint sprayers, heat guns, and deck brooms are just a few of the items they carry that will help reduce work time so you have more time to actually enjoy your home!


WIN IT!


One lucky Theresa’s Mixed Nuts reader is going to win their own Home Right Steam Cleaner! The giveaway is open to residents of the US, 18+ (No PO Boxes will be accepted). The giveaway will run through 10/11. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email or a new winner will be selected. Please enter on the Rafflecopter form below.
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway



*Disclosure- I received the above mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was provided. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.
 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Wordless Wednesday~ Grasshopper


Allison's new friend. She calls him Stinker.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Thistleberry Farm

Every year we take the kids to Thistleberry Farm. They offer hay rides, pumpkin patches, a petting zoo, corn mazes, and a huge playground for all the kids. The playground was $8 for unlimited play, which I think is a pretty good deal. Mariah thought she was too old to play on the playground stuff this year, but Allison sure had a great time!     


  

                   
Apparently she wasn't too old to try a tight rope walk :)  
                                      The air pillow is the best part of the playground though!

                Of course, you can't leave without getting your picture in all the fun character cutouts!





 Will you be visiting a corn maze this year?



Monday, September 16, 2013

Falloween

Last week I saw a banner on the side of the road that caught my eye. In big print it read "Falloween!" Anything that has to do with Fall and Halloween is definitely going to grab my attention. Combine the two and I'm pretty much hooked. From what I could gather from the banner, a local high school was going to put on a fun fest type of deal that weekend, so on Saturday we headed over to see what they had to offer. As we pulled up, I felt DUPED!


Yeah, that's a carnival/fair kind of thing going on there. Some of you know that I am not fond of these kind of things. But it was a nice day out and we did drive quite a bit to get there, so we stayed. I am glad we did because this was NOTHING like the county fair. Parking was free, entrance was free, and most of the stuff was beyond cheap! Local farmers were there selling food. I loaded up on green peppers for 25¢ each! Wristbands were $20 each to ride the rides, which was about fair price, but with how cheap everything else was, who could complain?



Ok, I do have a tiny complaint. If I am paying $1.25 for a fried Oreo, I better be buying the Oreo that was advertised. Not the knockoff Kroger brand.


Who am I kidding? It was a cookie, it was cream filled, and it was fried. It was delicious :)

Does your school put on carnivals or fun fairs?

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Hesston Steam Museum

Not too long ago we loaded up the kids and took a small trip to the  Hesston Steam Museum.


There you will get to see and ride on old steam trains.




 
                                                                                                                                    Tickets Please

Here they got to see more than just trains. They got to see a real working saw mill, and got to blow the train whistle.
There was even a real life blacksmith on hand.


We were there for hours riding the trains and enjoying the sights. Admission to get into the steam museum was only $5 for adults, and free for children under 12. The train rides did cost extra, at around $3 a ride for children and $5 per adult. We plan on going back at Halloween for their haunted train ride (suitable for all ages) as well as at Christmas for a train ride with Santa!

The Hesston Steam Museum is located at 1201 E 1000 N, La Porte, IN.
  
Do you have any old train stations near you?

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Getting Muddy at Warren Dunes!

We decided to skip a family cookout on Labor Day, and opted for the brilliant idea of going to the beach. Apparently 5 million other people had that idea too. When we got to our favorite beach they turned us away because they were out of parking spaces. My husband didn't drive almost an hour to be turned away and was determined he was spending his day at a beach. We ended up going down the road a few more miles and landed on Warren Dunes in Michigan. The line to get in was super long, and I though they would make us leave too, but once we made it through the gate we were home free baby! We've never been to this beach before, and I'm kind of glad we had the opportunity.

As we sat there, I kept seeing people walk by covered in mud. Kids were running around with big balls of clay mud, and since I hate being out of the loop, grabbed Mariah and told her we were going to find the source of it.

We ventured off the beach, walking through a little stream into the woods.


 Getting there was a bit of a challenge. There were a few obstacles to get around.


But we hit the jackpot within a few minutes of walking time. Remember those obstacles? You need to watch out for the roots in the water too. Mariah tripped over one and fell in, getting soaking wet. Being the great mother I am, I laughed and laughed at her. Karma didn't like that because I tripped and fell in on the way back :)



Of course, the best part of digging all that clay mud up is putting it on! I even brought a stash home to use for myself. What could be a better beauty treatment then clay mud straight from the earth?


How did you spend your Labor Day weekend?