How often do you change your kitchen sponge? Recently I’ve started using sponges again. Before when I had used sponges, I would use them until they got completely disgusting and then would be so grossed out that I wouldn’t want to use sponges for a while. But I really think a kitchen sponge is very useful to do dishes and to clean up the kitchen.

I just tossed the old kitchen sponges today and replaced them with two more. The dishes just seem cleaner like how my husband swears we get better gas mileage right after an oil change. The old sponges were looking pretty bad and were beginning to smell – a sure sign that it was time to toss them or at least out of the kitchen.

Apparently that old kitchen sponge can still be useful for other household tasks like cleaning the bathroom. According to some(Internet at large), you can sanitize a sponge by soaking it in vinegar.

So for now it seems a kitchen sponge lasts about a month before it becomes completely disgusting. I will try to clean up my old kitchen sponges to use to clean around the house since they are still in good shape and it would be a shame just to toss them.

My daughter’s birthday is October 4th and practically everything she wants is something she first saw in a commercial. She’s a little young(she will be four) for most things like Bendaroos but it doesn’t stop her from wanting it. She does want a ‘swimming puppy’ that we figured out was the Rescue Pets Swim to Me puppy.

It’s not only the toy commercials that catch her eye either. She never ate an Oreo cooking until she hear it was Milk’s favorite cookie on a commercial. Milk is her favorite beverage so if Oreo is a friend of milk’s then that is good enough for her. Now if I could only convince her that broccoli is milk’s favorite vegetable and apples are milk’s favorite fruit. She also has told me how Clorox laundry detergent ‘helps your shirt clean off.’

I remember watching commercials as a kid and being disappointed especially with toys that looked so cool on the commercial but just didn’t live up to expectations. It’ll be interesting to see if these commercials that obviously leave an impression on her will translate into her using the products when she is older. She is like a sponge – soaking up information. It makes me even more aware of how important it is to watch TV with her and to monitor her TV time.

Is there anything more fun than playing with play dough? I picked up a Play-Doh Magic Bloom Flower Garden. I thought it’d be fun for my daughter and I could play with the molds with polymer clay. She had a lot of fun creating flowers and I got to test it out with polymer clay. It worked really well with polymer clay, too. Well, the molds did as I didn’t try the actual flower making part with polymer.

The set comes with three containers on Play-Doh. You use the fence mold to make strips of Play-Doh and then roll them together. Then place the rolled Play-Doh in one of the yellow flower makers. Then place it on the green stem and put the pink flower on top of it. Then press down on the pink flower to squeeze the Play-Doh through the slots to create the flower. Use the scissors to shape the flower and then place in the garden.

Playing with play dough made for a fun afternoon for the whole family. I can’t wait to buy more molds and play some more.

I was watching “Red Eye” last night on the DVR so I guess it was Monday’s night program. Anyway they had the host of the A & E show “Hoarders” on there. He was talking about how some people are compelled to buy a certain item and gave an example of a woman who has 500 pair of scissors.

Now I love to buy measuring cups but my “collection” is not nearly that large. In fact, it’s under 10. But having multiple measuring cups make meal preparation just a little easier. I can measure out several items at the same time. Also I don’t have to clean up a measuring cup to re-use it immediately for another ingredient. The downside is that there are a few more dishes to do. But it’s a trade off. I’d rather do a few more dishes if that means that I can get done cooking faster.

I usually pick up measuring cups at rummage sales and thrift stores especially if they are in good condition. So I wouldn’t say I’m compulsive about buying measuring cups. Right now I have plenty. It really does make cooking easier to have more than one measuring cup.

Last night we went to open house for my toddler’s pre-school program. She starts next week which means life is about to change for all of us. It’s exciting and we are all looking forward to it.

This summer I tried to get some stuff in order like all of our clutter and to blog more. I’ve done little with both tasks, so here’s hoping that with this new routine that I will be more productive. I always have a lot of optimism at the beginning of anything. Too bad it usually dissipates before it truly becomes routine.

Anyway this week is all about that start of pre-school and getting ready for Saturday’s rummage sale. My goal is to get rid of at least half our stuff in storage. If I can do that then I might forgive myself for all the summer hours I wasted on Facebook.