Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #345

Messy Messy Fail - My succulent arrangement were so lush and vibrant when I first created them.  I'm just not sure what I did wrong, cause almost all are now dead.  I'm talking inside succulents by the way.  Am I the only person on the planet who can kill an air plant?  I think so.

Tidy Victory - I have finally gotten my boys on board with helping out with the chores in the house.  I wish we had started this earlier with them, but better late than never!  The 3rd grader enjoys vacuuming while the 1st grade is really good at organizing, so he is often on shoe sorting duty in the mud room.  It is SO helpful when they chip in - less for me to do and then they feel good about helping out!

60 Best Halloween Movies

Messy Messy Fail - Besides doing dishes, wiping off surfaces is my second least favorite chore.  Maybe it's because there are constantly streaks, spills and crumbs everywhere and there is NO satisfaction in the chore because what you do is undone so dang quickly.  Do you wipe down surfaces constantly or just once at night?

Tidy Victory - I ran to my fav local shopping mall - the DG (Dollar General) - and found a box of white allysum seeds to plant in my garden for 30 cents.  That's AMAZING!  However, I generally don't have much luck with planting seeds, so I'm hoping for the best :D 

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #344

Messy Messy Fail - Why can't I put the clothes away after I wash and dry them?  Seriously.  When it comes to doing laundry, I KILL the game!  But then it sits around in piles or in laundry baskets for QUITE some time.  Anyone else?

Tidy Victory - I continue to go through and get rid of more clothes every week.  Perhaps making more room in my closet and drawers will help my Messy Messy Fail above!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #343

Messy Messy Fail -  Is your reusable container drawer/cabinet out of control?  Do you just have awkwardly stacked piles of mismatched containers and lids?  If so, we are #twinning, and thanks for admitting that along with me. 

Tidy Victory - Typically I let the gardens go around now and just cut them back in the spring, but that can be quite the mess.  I decided to get ahead and take care of everything BEFORE it snows this year in hopes of less spring cleanup - we'll see how it goes!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #342

Messy Messy Fail - Last was the week to beat all weeks - if it could go wrong, it pretty much did.  I can't go into specifics - it would make this blog post multiple pages long - but it's OVER and I'm ready to move on to the next week!

Tidy Victory - I FINALLY get to start teaching virtual string lessons to my students - I HAVE MISSED THEM SO MUCH!!!!!  It's not ideal but we are going to make the best of it and make it a great year!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #341

Messy Messy Fail - The inside of my car is embarrassing - anyone else??? I blame the fact that I am towing the kids everywhere, their food wrappers, their trinkets they hide in my car.  I even have a little plastic bag that I tie to my armrest - it just hangs behind my drivers seat - that the boys accidentally ripped open, spilling the garbage everywhere.  They were like - "Mom, why is their garbage everywhere in your car????".  Because of YOU, I responded.  

Tidy Victory - Last family camping trip for the 2020 season this weekend and what a good season it was!  We ended up going camping on 5 trips including Allegheny State Park, Evangola State Park, Lake Erie State Park, Letchworth State Park and finally Camp Chautauqua (all in New York state).  We are soooooooooo lucky that we purchased our trailer last fall - here's to a great summer!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #339

Messy Messy Fail - Well, the veggie garden was a pretty solid fail overall this year.  The only good that has come from that is several notes, but most importantly, put tall plants in the back of the garden, not the front.

Tidy Victory - I love finding inexpensive books to read - picked up three at our local libraries sale for $1 each AND THEN another in the bargain books bin at our local groccery store for $5 - so inexpensive!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #339

Messy Messy Fail - I have to know - who keeps a neat fridge?  Cause I simply cannot seem to do it.  Things get shoved in, anywhere they fit, leftovers get lost in the back, and containers inevitably spill.  Who has a tidy fridge?  

Tidy Victory - By some miracle, even with being gone camping more than half of the summer, I have managed to keep my hanging basket on the front porch alive.  I decided to try New Guinea impatiens on the porch which is mostly shade all day and they did quite well!  I have NEVER had hanging baskets survive a whole summer anywhere, so this is truly a miracle in every sense of the word!  Someone call the Pope.......

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #338

Messy Messy Fail - Being gone camping for as long as we were over the summer, the flower and veggie gardens have become over-run yet again with weeds.  I'm trying to spend just an hour or so every night ripping out weeds and cutting back over grown flowers.  It's slowly getting back to normal but MAN weeds grow fast.

Tidy Victory - I stopped at a local Mennonite-owned grocery store to see what they have (lots of almost expired, over-stock, etc.) and they had a BOX of Sally Hansen one step nail-polish bottles for $1 each!  What did I do?  I TOTALLY bought a bottle in every color - $7 for seven new colors, let's see how long it wears for!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #337

Messy Messy Fail - After a summer of camping essentially, all of the gardens are a mess of weed and overgrown nonsense again.  Also I discovered a vital mistake in my vegetable garden layout - tall plants like tomatoes should go in the BACK of the garden where they won't cover up all the other plants, not the front :D. Maybe I'll get a pepper this year - woot woot!

Tidy Victory - My youngest and I are on a geocaching kick!  To date we have found 28 caches since July 27 and we are loving it!  My goal this fall is to set up some caches of our own - there are not a lot in this area but we have so many amazing spots to hide one!  Not sure what geocaching is?  Check out their website and join in the world's largest treasure hunt!  

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #336

Messy Messy Fail - As I am a big donator of clothing, I have a pile of boys clothes that has been sitting on our dining room table since January.  I had the best intentions of going through them but then March happened. I do hear that Salvation Army is open again!

Tidy Victory - For whatever reason, I am more motivated THAN EVER to get nonsense in this house IN ORDER before schools starts.  Next up - the dining room!  

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #335

Messy Messy Fail - I LOVE getting my nails done - either gel or dip - but when they start to grow out and chip on the ends, WHAT A MESS!  My hologram nails looked great for camping, but now, just ratchet.

Tidy Victory - We came back from camping and the veggie garden has EXPLODED (figuratively, not literally, in a good way!).  I've been giving away cucumbers because there are TOO MANY and we couldn't eat them all if we wanted to!  Here's to lots of homegrown veggies!