Tuesday Cleaning Tip--Removing Ink Stains and other stuff

I found this tip for ink stains years ago and have been using it since then. It really works well.

Ink Stains: The best way I have found to get out ink stains is to put rubbing alcohol on the stain - it disappears! This must be done before washing.

For ink on the wall, you can try using alcohol. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't work as well. Perhaps it depends on the ink. When the alcohol doesn't quite work I will wipe the ink marks with bleach and they disappear.

If you have run out of alcohol, try using a baby wipe to remove the ink stain. Baby wipes usually have alcohol in them.

I've also used hairspray when I had run out of alcohol. Hairspray also has alcohol it in and works well at removing ink stains.

If you've tried everything to get ink off the wall and it just won't budge, then your last resort may have to be to re-paint that area. Be sure to prime the spot first though. If you do not use a primer the ink may just bleed through the new coat of paint.

Things have been a wee bit hectic around here. We had Christmas at my mothers on Saturday and it was a blast. Then David had a 23rd birthday party at his house on Saturday night. Sunday I took Stephanie and Samantha down to Bowling Green to shop at Steve & Barry'. The store was closing and it was their last day. We got some mega awesome deals. I bought 5 pairs of jeans, 3 shirts, a skirt and a purse for Rylie and only spent 11 dollars. Wooohoooo! Then the girls and I went shopping at the Goodwill where we found some more great deals.

Yesterday I took my car into the body shop. It was hit while it was parked on the street about 2 weeks ago. Luckily, it was hit by an honest person and they had insurance. I should have the car back at the end of the week. In the meantime, I am driving a Buick Lucerne that the insurance company is paying for. I love this car...I wonder if they'll take my ole Bonneville instead and let me keep this beauty. LOL

Rylie is doing much better. She still has a head cold that just won't go away. She is using it to her full advantage though and getting away with murder with her father. The past 6 months of her sleeping in her own bed has been thrown out the window by her (insert sarcastic voice here) ever intelligent father. He's created this problem by allowing her to climb into bed with us and now expects me to rectify the situation. Of course, as usual, he allows her to do whatever and spoil her and then makes me be the bad guy and put my foot down to fix his "bleep"-up. Grrrr! I am more than a little annoyed with him at the moment.

Other than that...things are just peachy. LOL
Have a beautiful day.
Jill Marie

From Our Family to Yours...

Homemade Glass Cleaner

Good Morning! I thought since I was making my own laundry detergent I would look for some other cleaning "recipes". Here are a few that I found for making your own glass cleaner.

Home Made Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing alcohol, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon vinegar
OR for non toxic glass cleaner you can try the following
one fourth cup vinegar to one quart of water (one tablespoon of corn starch is optional)
OR
one cup vinegar to five cups of water
OR
one eighth cup vinegar to one cup of water or
OR
one half cup vinegar to one gallon water.
OR
You can also do a mixture of one cup vinegar to one cup of water with a few drops of lemon juice mixed in.
OR
1/2 TSP Liquid Castile Soap, 2 C Water, 1/4 C White Vinegar, Essential Oils (optional)

Re-use your old spray bottle for your homemade cleaner.

BTW...It's the day before the night before Christmas and I'm being really, really good. LOL Any other ole farts out there that remember that song?

Well, I ended up taking Rylie to the ER yesterday. Her doctor isn't IN this week...grrrr. She was doing ok, but she went to take a drink of room temperature 7UP and within minutes she was tossing her cookies again. Except she didn't have anything in her tummy to toss. Poor baby.

I got worried that if she just kept throwing up and couldn't even keep liquids down that she would get dehydrated real quickly. She even started to throw up while they were doing the initial check of her vitals, but there was absolutely nothing in her tummy. First, the doctor gave her a dose of zofron and then gave her a popsicle to see if she could keep it down. If she hadn't, then they were talking about giving her an IV. Thank God she was able to eat that lil' green popsicle without puking. Basically, they diagnosed her with "acute gastritis", gave us a prescription for zofron (expensive chit!) and sent us home.

She slept almost all day. She was awake for little spurts here and there. She may have been awake for a grand total of 7 hours and that includes the 3 hours in the ER. Poor thing was just so lethargic, it was just pitiful and broke my heart to see her that way. Then about 8 pm, or so, I realized that she had only tinkled once all day long. She had drank a few sips of soda here and there, but I couldn't get her to drink much at all. Finally, I got her to drink a few more sips of soda and eat a popsicle and she peed a lil' bit.

If I can keep getting the liquids into her and keep her tinkling, keep her fever down and she doesn't throw up...we may be good. I hope. She has waited so long for Santa to come and visit, I just hope she gets over this quickly and is able to enjoy the day. Right now she is just miserable and I feel terrible for her. I'll be sitting there rocking her and she will start mumbling in her sleep and I know she is in pain and feels just awful and then I feel the tears welling up in my eyes. It's hard when your child feels so bad and there is nothing much you can do to help.

BTW...I wanted to post a picture of David when we first saw him, but my luck ran the same as usual. When we spotted him coming down the stairs...my camera battery was dead. So no picture. Aw well, at least he is home. He does still have some visual reminders of his "clinch drill" two weeks ago. A fading black eye. The clinch is when they had to go 4 one minute rounds with, I think it was berets or something. They could only defend themselves. Sheesh...the craziness they go through. But David is really loving it and talks well of the group of guys he is working with. Most of them anyway...you know there are always a few who thought it would be easy and they don't work as hard and end up getting the whole group in trouble.

But my baby is home and the whole family will be together for Christmas. (Hopefully, everyone will be healthy too.)
Well, I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to get back on here again, so I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Stay warm and safe.

Hugs!
Jill Marie

Monday Recipe

Hey, just got on quick found a tasty little recipe at BHG and gonna run back out of here. Rylie is really sick today and I want to keep a close eye on her. Fever, tossing her cookies, Doc say's just a stomach virus, but the poor thing is just miserable.

Almond Sweets
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 recipe Almond Icing
Small multicolored decorative candies (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl combine eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool.
5. When cookies are cool, spread with Almond Icing. If desired, sprinkle lightly with multicolored candies. Makes about 60 cookies.
6. Almond Icing: In a medium bowl stir together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and 1 to 2 tablespoons milk to make icing of spreading consistency. If desired, tint with food coloring.
7. To store: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store iced cookies at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze undecorated cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw cookies, then decorate.



Have a good day and hopefully Baby girl will be feeling better tomorrow and I'll be able to spend more than a few minutes on here.

Have a great day and stay warm.

Jill Marie

Finally, some good news

I've won something again. That makes it twice now that I've won something online. How cool! I can't remember ever winning anything before and now twice within the past 4 months. The other prize was the Wave Petunia's that should be arriving in a few months. Maybe the big Publishers prize is next for me. (((crossing fingers, knocking wood and throwing salt)))

Today I won a prize from the Disney Community. Just for posting my homemade gift recipes on their boards. It's a Tinker Bell DVD. Perfect because my girls and I love Tink! My nickname for my oldest daughter is stinkerbell. LOL Don't worry, Rylie has a nickname too. I call her Mimi because she is a mini-me.

Here's a link to the Disney Page announcing the winners if anyone is interested... http://family.go.com/community/secret-santa-giveaway/

Besides that the best news of all is that David is coming home tomorrow. As of now, his flight is due in to Detroit at 11:40 pm. Grrr, the weather and roads really stink right now. He is gonna try to see if they can change it around and get him directly into Toledo.
Have a good night.
Hugs!
Jill Marie

Colds, coughs and asthma relief remedies

Here are a few home remedies you may find useful.

Cough relief-
Soak almonds overnight. Remove their skin. Make a paste of these almonds with little butter and sugar. Very useful for a dry cough.
Hot tea with lemon and raspberry jam, drink as much as possible
Drink hot milk with honey at bedtime for cough relief.

Asthma relief-
Express the juice from garlic. Mix 10 – 15 drops in warm water and take internally for asthma relief.
Drink a glass of 2/3 carrot juice, 1/3 spinach juice, 3 times a day .
Mix 1 tsp. honey with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and take it at night before going to bed.

Common Cold relief-
Garlic juice made by adding few drops of garlic oil to a teaspoonful of onion juice and diluting it in a cup of water is helpful for common cold.
Ginger tea or a teaspoonful of ginger juice taken with equal quantity of honey brings relief from common cold.
*(Found this one too...) For dry and stuffy nose, try normal saline or salt water nasal drops made by adding 1/4 teaspoon of table salt to about 4 ml lukewarm water. Make a fresh solution every few days keeping it in refrigerator. Use a clean dropper to instill 1 to 2 drops in each nostril about 3 to 4 times daily for common cold. (However, I cannot imagine putting cold drops in my nose. You can buy simple saline nose spray at the pharmacy, if you don't want to use cold drops.)
Recipe for a cold and flu soup-
Sauté 6 crushed cloves of garlic in 1 tsp. vegetable oil until golden. Pour in a quart of beef or chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and whisk in 2 egg whites. Beat together 2 egg yolks and 2 Tbls. distilled white vinegar; pour this mixture into the soup. Season with salt and pepper and top with croutons, if desired.

Has anyone ever heard of a fella named Edgar Cayce? If not you may want to click on the link and read a bit about him. Apparently, he came up with many remedies and a lot of them work. I don't know where you would find a lot of the things that go into these remedies, perhaps a health food store or something like that. Here is a link to a recipe for a herbal cough syrup he came up with...Cayce Cough Syrup Recipe.

Well, I was writing a whole lot more, but decided this was not the appropriate place for that. I'll have to think that out elsewhere.
7 days to go.
Have a great day.
Jill Marie

Tuesday Cleaning Tip--Gum and a little something FREE

Good Morning. Just nine days until Christmas morning and for me, just 4 more days until David gets to come home from basic training for Christmas. I am so excited! I can't wait to see my little boy. In the meantime, I'm sure we all have lots of cleaning to do before the 25th arrives. What? You found gum stuck in the carpet? Here's a quick tip to help:

1) Place a bowl of ice over the gum and let sit till the gum becomes hard, take a hammer and hit the gum. It should break apart and come off the carpet.
2) I've used peanut butter to remove gum from hair...and I've read it works on the carpet too. Of course, then you will have to get the peanut butter out of the carpet. Better than gum I guess. Do I need to tell ya'll that I use the creamy peanut butter? LOL
3) When I was out of peanut butter one time (I know, how could a mommy not have peanut butter in the house?) I decided maybe it was the oil in the p.b. that got the gum out of hair. So I tried veggie oil and it worked! So try rubbing some of that into the gum and see if it comes out.
4) If the none of those tips work, try dry cleaners solvent, pour a small amount onto a rag and rub over the gum, it should come right out of the carpet.

Of course, if you've used anything, other than plain old ice, on the carpet you will want to be sure to clean it well afterwards.

Ya'll are waiting to hear about the FREE thing aren't ya? When is she gonna stop yapping and tell us how to get something for FREE? LOL I said a "little something" remember...it's not a real big deal.

It is MP3 downloads from Amazon. I collected my Pepsi Points and used them all on songs. I also signed up to receive the newsletter and right now they are doing something called the 25 Days of Christmas. Giving away a free song every day until Christmas. Today's free song is "Angels We Have Heard On High" by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. They also have a section that they keep all the time on their Special MP3 Deals page called Featured Free Songs. When you go to the page scroll all the way down and you will see the Free Songs section.

Have a terrific day and stay warm!
Jill Marie