Kids are messy.

So am I.

Which ends up meaning my house on wheels, the van, (aka the prison bus) gets really (REALLY) dirty very frequently.

A whirlwind of running around and a very festive July which included 4 birthdays within a month, a national holiday, a camping trip, Lake Michigan sand dunes and another beach outing made for a very sandy, sticky (because eating ice cream in the car is a MUST when it’s hot!), filthy car.

When I looked at the upholstery that hadn’t be cleaned (other than a quick vacuum) for MONTHS I almost talked myself into buying a new vehicle. But then it dawned on me that NO one in their right mind would want to sit in this thing, let alone buy it looking like this.

(gag)

I thought that with the amount of staining and the time elapsed since it was stained (who KNOWS how long that was there) I would have to rent a mobile carpet cleaner. But I am cheap frugal.  So, why not try to DIY with good ol’ soap and water.

I normally keep a bottle of cleaner mixed up for cleaning anything and everything so I grabbed it. Sometimes it is LOC (from Amway), other times it is Basic H (from Shaklee) and sometimes it’s just plain Dawn. Today it Dawn and water. If I was to guess I would say I dilute about 32 oz of water with a teaspoon or two of Dawn.

I sprayed the seat pretty thoroughly and scrubbed it with a dry terrycloth cleaning rag (just a cheap Walmart bar rag, but any wash cloth or rag would would work). I used a dry one so that it would aid in drying the seat as I scrubbed. AND. IT. WORKED. I have used this method before but it was really bad this time.

But it really did wonders. It didn’t ALL come out, but come on now, it’s Dawn not magic fairy dust.  And I am not planning on driving around royalty. Unless, of course, you mean the 4 year old with the crown and wand that sometimes sits behinds me and sprinkles food on the floor…

So I guess I am NOT getting a new car. Which is kind of a bummer because I have been eying the shuttle bus that the local nursing home uses. Don’t laugh; I am not joking. It’s awesome. And roomy.

So here are the before and afters:

Back in February I instragramed this photo:

My parents bought a sweet little red farmhouse that had sat empty for years.

The one RIGHT next to us… as in a hop, a skip and, quite possibly, not even a jump away from us!

This old four square a few hundred feet from our home once belonged to our neighbors who became dear friends. We were so sad to see them go. They had become almost family and I still miss their everyday presence from our lives. But God moved them onward and there sat their little red farmhouse. Built in the early 1900’s and solid as a brick-you-know-what-house. It had a few outbuildings that accompanied it and a GORGEOUS Georgian basement topped with a wrap around porch.

It finally went up for auction in February and my parents literally STOLE it. I am so happy the did. It has been such a blessing to be just a short walk from my parents and the kids are enjoying being able to visit “Gramma and Papa” easily.

{To Grandmother’s house we go… literally!}

So here’s a little video footage on our trip to grandmother’s house:

So I have made the decision to jump on the wordpress bandwagon and I am COMPLETELY over my head. But like most things in my life I will figure it out as I go.  I am planning on doing “Throwback Thursdays” and posting old blog posts from my previous blogs for you to enjoy and adding new blog posts (hopefully weekly). Bear with me as I get used to the new format!