Ants Ants Ants

One of the many joys about Spring and early Summer time here in the South is that, as the warm air begins to embrace our magnificent area, the ants begin to hunt for cooler ground. This results in sugar ants packing up and moving their colonies indoors. And by indoors I mean they are moving inside MY doors, and I am NOT happy about it!!! I have battled these sugar ant issues for many years in many homes. I have even fought the battle with these crawling creatures when I resided on the 9th floor of a high rise condominium many years back (the younger days…oh the stories to share…wait! Wait! getting off track here). These pesky little critters drive me insane!! I am constantly wiping my entire dwelling with my Homemade Cleaning Wipes in hopes of repelling these tiny demons.


Now that I am the mother of an almost 6 month old Baby DIVA, who I might add, is on the verge of taking off in a full force speedy crawl around the floor of my home any minute now; I totally think the ants are aware of this impending scenario and are using it against me. They seem to have multiplied into the most gigantic colony on the face of the planet here inside my home. They are coming out of the WALLS!!!

I am going CRAZY! Crazy like when you step on the ant hill and all the buggies scatter in all different directions. Well I am feeling a bit like my ant hill has been mashed and I am running every which way to get it back in order.

In between my advanced scrub with my wipey techniques to abolish these beasts, I cannot help but ponder the following question. Are the ants really in a retaliatory mode against me this year, or have I just become a Pink Haired Momma who stalks every area her Baby DIVA has access to like a crazy over involved parent? Upon these ponderings I have officially decided the ants are waging war against me and I must accept the battle and conquer my Land aka my indoors!

Now I know you are probably thinking, “Okay Pink Haired Momma get some buggy ant spray and call it a day”, right? Well my friends not only am I suffering from the nothing that kills anything around my new baby syndrome, that almost all new mother have, I also have an incredibly severe allergy to any kind of bug killing product. Seriously, I do. It makes me devastatingly ill. I cannot be anywhere near any form of chemical used to eliminate creatures of this kind. We truly only use organic and non-harmful methods of elimination for these insect creatures in the Pink Haired Momma’s world.

After some extensive research by Hubbs-to-be, my Mom and myself we have come up with a solution to eradicate these pests in a non-threatening fashion. Hubbs-to-be decorated our yard and every nook and cranny around our house tonight with this wonderful and safe for me and Baby DIVA crawling creature eliminator Diatomaceous Earth. Our yard and all the nooks and crannies are now covered with a film of white powder that I am hoping in the next day or so dissolve away all my buggy problems.

I have provided here a link for you to examine this product at Amazon.com. We had a hard time locating a store here in our area of Texas that could provide us with what we wanted. Hubbs-to-be finally located a small package at a Lowes by his job and we are giving it its trial run before purchasing any more.

I sure hope to provide a fabulous report on this product in the next few days. I imagine myself saying, “Not only is organic, safe, and non-harmful for people, pets, and Baby DIVA; it also KILLED MY ANTS!!!!!”

Pink Hair Fails Housewife Test

I made a really sad discovery this morning...

My SUITCASE from Amelia's birth was still packed and in the closet...

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was born in November 2008!! Thanksgiving time people! It is now May 2009. Almost Memorial Day! Wow! I have serious issues!!!

So after the realization that this Pink Haired momma has failed entirely at being a clean housewife and mother, I knew it was time to conquer the beast and get organized. So, Amelia and I spent the entire morning cleaning out the closet. I embarked on this quest knowing that if I have gone the last 5 months without the goodies in my suitcase, then I know there are many things in that closet that can GO! I went through everything: the closet, the drawers, the cabinets, the full works. If it didn’t fit (and yes I tried everything on…somewhat of a scary adventure however also very enlightening to my new Hot Mom Bod!), if I hadn’t worn it in over a year (pregnancy not included), or it was just plain ugly (my taste and choices in ensembles shocks the crap outta me on occasion), then it went in the BYE BYE pile.

6 packed bags and several hours later, Amelia and I are exhausted but we have vanquished the beast and this is a view of our accomplishment...

And in case you are wondering, I did unpack the suitcase!!

Tuesday Tidbits

When Amelia was born my parents bought us an upright deep freeze as a baby gift. This has got to be one of the best gifts I have ever received...well besides the gift or motherhood of course!!

I am a coupon mom and watch sales like crazy. I dabbled in the grocery game and learned the skills to get the best deals on items we use everyday. Now when something goes on sale and I have coupons, this crazy pink haired mom high tails it to the store and STOCKPILES!!! Then i store it in my handy deep freeze and the cabinets I have hanging out in the Man Cave aka the Garage!!!

Woohoo!!

I recently tried out an interesting idea that I found on the internet in regards to freezing grocery items you would not normally think about freezing when you happen across them in fabulous sales!!!

Gallons of Milk and eggs.

Weird right?

Not so much, it really works.

Gallons of milk were on sale here at my local grocery and I had a coupon. I got 3 gallons and brought them home. I opened each gallon and poured out just a small amount (about 1/2 cup or so) and put the lid back on. Then I took my Trusty Pink Sharpie and wrote the date of entry into the freezer on the top of the plastic jug. 2 weeks later I needed new milk so I went to the garage and retrieved one of my frozen milk experiments and placed it in the fridge in the house. 24 hours later we were drinking thawed out frozen milk and couldn't even tell the difference. The thawed milk lasted just over a week in my fridge without spoiling after the Thaw. This is just too cool. Instead of paying almost $4 a gallon I can stockpile Milk when I can get it on sale for a buck or two!! Fab find for me!!

Now on the eggs...

I crack open the eggs and mix 2 together just like if I was going to cook scrambled eggs. Then I place 2 mixed eggs into the little hole on an ice tray. Each hole can house 2 mixed eggs. Now using this method of freezing eggs will enable you to use the eggs primarily for baking and scrambled eggs projects (I say projects because this Pink Haired mom is still learning how to cook. Every adventure in the kitchen is a total Project) in the future. In case you are wondering making sunny side up for breakfast from these eggs is probably out of the question. Ha! So then cover the egg trays really good to prevent freezer burn. I wrap in foil then place the whole tray in my food saver bag and food save it. Then I label the date of entry into the freezer with my Trusty Pink Sharpie and TADA!!! eggs that are ready to use for an extended time period past expiration!! Totally Love it!!!

So how cool is that. A fun and exciting way to stockpile and freeze milk and eggs when they are on sale. I totally love it!!!

Tea Tree Oil

I love Tea Tree oil.

I always have. This passion dates back 10 years ago to when I was first introduced to this remarkable oil as a brand new massage therapist (Yep just another hidden talent I have. I am a real life massage therapist I just don't choose to do this as my career anymore ).

I use tea tree oil for everything from brushing my teeth to cleaning the house. It is a great antibacterial, anti fungal anti anything bad and is not too bad of a smell.

I am so dazzled by this oil that I wanted to share my newest trick with you!

About 2 months ago I decided to make homemade baby wipes for Amelia. I took a roll of bounty paper towels and mixed in some water, baby oil, baby soap, and tea tree oil. The wipes came out just fine ( i did use them on her briefly)However I quickly found myself using them in a totally different manner. Don't you just love it when you embark on something and it takes you in a completely unexpected direction.

I begin to clean the counters and window sills and just about any other surface i came in to contact within my house with these wipes. I quickly begin to notice that my house smelled lovely, there seemed to be no bugs entering the house (natural repellent) and I felt germ free.

These wipes live happily under the kitchen sink in an air tight Tupperware container and they are brought out whenever I feel the need to call them to duty. The tea tree not only sterilizes but is a natural bug repellent as well, and the smell is quite pleasant. So now not only is my house super clean and disinfected, but it also is pest free. This is double great because I have a fantastic allergy to all bug repellents and chemicals and can not use them at all.

So in light of the Swine Flu and all its glory I thought that after 2 months and the success I have encountered I would share this great oil with you and you too can be disinfected and bug repelled in a cheap and easy way.

If you have never been exposed to Tea Tree oil her are some links for you to study up on:

my favorite brand of essential oils
http://www.auracacia.com/

Wikipedia says

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil

Cool and informative site

http://www.teatreewonders.com/natural-healing.html

And if you would like to make your own baby/cleaning wipes here is the recipe i used:

2 TBSP Baby liquid soap
2 TBSP baby oil

5 Drops Tea Tree Oil
2 Cups Water
1 roll of bounty paper towels (seem to work the best)

Cut the roll of paper towels in half and remove the cardboard liner (recycle using in crafts or compost)
You may want to unroll further to allow ease when retrieving wipes with ease later on

Place paper towels in a air tight container

Mix the above ingredients together until well blended and then pour over paper towels

Make sure paper towels are fully saturated

Then place the air tight lid on container and use wipes whenever needed.