ABC's of Homemaking

I LOVE this idea!! I first saw it on Making Home, but A Gracious Home is the originator!! :)
I am going to answer here.

Aprons – Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like?
YES oh yes!!! And I found the PERFECT one! especially for kids. I so did not like my kids always asking to be tied and untied. And for the price (for the quality of the fabric as well as the workmanship) $5 an apron, you just can't make one for that price with that quality of fabric! Check them out! Kitchen Wears Aprons. Goto the WHAT'S NEW and then goto the bottom and click on SALE. Last time I looked she still had some CUTE CUTE Christmas fabric aprons. She has women's ones on sale too ($12). You will NOT regret it!

And we wear our aprons all the time. I love seeing my girls in their aprons! And I love wearing mine too!!!

Baking – Favorite thing to bake
PIZZA!

Clothesline – Y/N?
OH I so wish we had one. I really do want to hang up our clothes to dry. A friend of mine has the CUTEST clothesline that has a lower one for her daughter to be able to help her!

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Well, it depends on what you consider a donut. Do you remember those balls your using to make in Girl Scouts? They were very dounutish. :) And I made them ALL THE TIME! :)

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day
Shine my sink! (Any other Flybaby's out there??)

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
No. :( Soon though! We are saving up!! :) And I am looking on Freecycle. (If you do not know what freecycle is, it is basically a way that people prevent landfills from filling up by giving unwanted items away for FREE! Check yahoo groups for one that is near you. They are in most every city!) You can get stuff you need and get rid of what you don't! :)

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Couldn't live without one. Although now we are going to be doing the All New Square Foot Gardening this season, I will be putting it all in the compost pile! (If you checked out SFG in the past and thought it was a great idea, but too much work, check out the ALL NEW SFG. MUCH less work and you can do this anywhere because you MAKE your OWN soil rather than using what is there - I LOVE this new method!!!)

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
The internet! There are so many great articles and blogs out there! Unfortunately I spend more time READING about homemaking than actually DOING it. :(

Ironing – Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
LOVE it, but can never find the TIME for it.

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
Yes and no. I have what Flylady refers to as hotspots. I have little collections all over the place of "junk." :)

Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme
Oh I am SO not good with colors. We have a dark oak finish on the cabinets and the counters are blue-green (can you tell I am not good with this?) and the title is the same blue-green color with white tiles. Hardwood floors.

Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Creating a home for my family. A haven.

Mop – Y/N?
I am not sure how to mop these floors without damaging them, so I have not mopped, but usually spot clean and do LOTS of sweeping. There is some weird coating on the floors (reminds me of the stuff they put on the gym floors in public schools).

Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
What are nylons?? Seriously asking here. :) Pantyhose? I am thankful enough that I have a handwash cycle on the washer, so I can now wash just about anything in there. Although I will admit I do miss washing by hand. I LOVE washing things by hand.

Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check?
I don't trust the window! I open. :)

Pizza – What do you put on yours?
Olive oil slathered on the crust. Sprinkle with garlic and onion powder. Mound mozzerella shredded cheese on top. Sliced roma or heirloom tomatoes on top (nothing else will do it justice). Sprinkle a little salt on each tomato. Cover liberally with chopped FRESH basil. Bake until cheese melts. This is divine!

Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Read, scrapbook (digital scrapbooking takes up so much LESS time than paper), or blog.

Recipe card box – Y/N? What does it look like?
I so wish that I had gotten into recipe card boxes. I really don't even know if people use these anymore (unless they are really old). I have a few books that I reference all the time so I know where my favorites are. And I also keep recipes on the computer. So much easier to search through them on the computer than through all the clippings from magazines and such.

Style of house – What style is your house?
Can you tell that I am just NOT good at this? LOL!! It is a two story (really it is a three story if you count the basement, but they never count the basement).

Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N?
Oh yes. It is so much easier to replace the tablecloth than to replace the table! LOL!! We have a table cloth that is vynil that we use for crafts, then we have a few cheap cloth ones that we use for meals. Then of course we have a TON of cloth napkins that we use. Cheaper than buying all the paper ones. Do they match the table cloth? Not always. LOL!! As the tablecloths and napkins wear out, I plan on making ones that will match each other (color wise) but not necessarily pattern wise. So one napkin will match three different table cloths.

My MIL has a lace table cloth on her table, takes it off for every meal, and then after the meal and table is cleaned, she puts the table cloth back on. That way, the table looks nice but the cloth never gets ruined with food.

Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland?
Almost barren! Only a few paper towel rolls and then the dishwashing soap in under there! SO NICE!!!!!

Vacuum – How many times per week?
Ideally three in the high traffic areas and once a month in the basement and bedrooms. I know - HORRIFIC! LOL!!!

Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
Enough. LOL!! Mondays I do the children's clothes. Usually 2 loads - darks and lights. Tuesday is dishtowels and cleaning towels. Usually one-two loads. Wednesday is adult clothes. This can be two-four loads depending on if I have any delicates. Thursday is napkins and tablecloths - usually one load. Friday is towels and sheets. Usually three-four loads. Weekends are for family! :)

X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
Yes and no. When I have things planned (like errands) and such, then yes. I even cross off when I do what was planned for that day even if it was only one thing (attend birthday party). With the computer allowing me to enter in things to do (even what bills to pay on what day) I usually enter everything in there (even what laundry days are and what cleaning days are) and then I click DISMISS once I have finished what I was supposed to do. The only bad thing about doing it this way is there IS a SNOOZE button! LOL!!!

Yard – Y/N? Who does what?
Well, it really depends. I have recently starting taking up more responsibility in yard keeping. Read the article Why Momma Mows The Lawn to find out why. :)

Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
I agree with Making It Home. Lovin' my man off to sleep!! Making sure he has good thoughts before going to bed (rather than complaining or nagging about all that went wrong that day).