Of Carpets and Cleaning Them

When we rented our 3 bedroom house in Small Town America, I didn't imagine having carpets that would hold tight onto every single stain like I hold onto old newspapers for the craft that may never come.
We also didn't have a carpet shampooer. When we lived in Big Town America, my Nana insisted on coming over every month or so to do it herself.
So when my Mother-In-Law bought me a new Bissel upright for Christmas, I jumped right in.
And damn, my carpet is filthy.
Today, I shampooed a spot roughly 4.5 by 4.5 feey square.
I sprinkled some baking soda on the carpet after vacuuming instead of before and then shampooed over that. The jury is still out on whether or not it actually did anything.
I think the pictures speak for themselves, though.
The first picture below is after shampooing the carpet one time through with a heavy traffic cycle, letting it sit ten minutes, and then one rinse cycle with my machine.
The second picture is after shampooing with a normal cycle and then rinse cycle, without letting it sit for any length of time. That was the point for water started coming up clear.
Gross.
However , while running my obnoxiously loud machine I had plenty of time to think. And I decided that instead of being named after a color,  carpet ought to be named after what will stain it. For example, my carpet would be called potty-training-apple-juice-and-orange-slushy.
Also gross.
The other picture that is not of dirty carpet water is off my silly ghost children playing in the sheet that was meant to cover the carpet while it dried.
At least something cute came out of my filthy carpet. <3

Clogged toilets.

So my son decided that it would be a good idea to flush a pair of plastic orange scissors down the toilet yesterday. At first, it appeared that the toilet was going to handle a scissors without any kind of problem.
Now, I know just how horribly wrong I was.
In an attempt to remove the orange scissors from the toilet, I have destroyed two wire coat hangers.
All I have accomplished after 30 minutes digging around the toilet with two wire coat hangers was...well, poop.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the plastic scissors are caught either in the S curve or near to the drain system.
Anyway, my hangers have failed to retrieve it. This now means, that I am going to have to coerce my husband into pulling the toilet off of the floor, removing the scissors by hand and then replacing the toilet.
This should prove to be exceedingly fun, because the man doesn't even unclog the toilet by himself.
But, is it better than calling the plumber? Well, yes.
Mostly because I don't want to pay a plumber an obscene amount of money to pull a toy out of my toilet.
I really do wish that I had something funnier to post or that I had something insightful and Craft related to post, but my toilet is clogged. Because of orange plastic scissors. So I don't.
I do, however, wish you all the happiest of Mondays.
Happy crafting! And may your toilet remain forever unclogged.

Introduction, April's craft goals

I debated whether or not to do an introductory post, and decided on a compromise. I'll post a few introductory things and then jump right in.
So, here are a few things you should know about me:
1. I am a stay at home mother of two - ages almost 3 and just 1. One diva, one jock. Happily married and living in small town America.
2. Definitely not a big fan of housework. But who is? I have no dishwasher, so fully expect me to bitch about it sometime in the future.
3. I make no apologies for my opinions, beliefs or the way we are raising our children. No one is holding you against your will to read what I write. If you don't like it, don't read it.
4. Feel free to leave comments or questions. Let's get some conversation going.

Now then. For the month of March, I had soml craft goals set aside. Of them, I have achieved none. Yet. There's still a week left.
At some point this week, I want to make a garland out of last year's plastic eggs, and piece together the Baby Bee's Easter baskets.
For April, I plan on finishing a crochet blanket for Boy Bee's crib. Below is a picture of one section. When it's finished, I'll post some more and the pattern.
I'll also make off with an obscene number of paint swatches from Home Depot and attempt some mobiles for the Boy Bee's and the Girl Bee's rooms.
I also want to pick up some marigold yellow paint and give my dumpster-rescue Ethan Allen dining table some love.
Of course, I'll post about everything.
Happy Sunday, everyone!