Making my kids clean the house. (And a giveaway!) / March 25, 2013 by jen geigley

Kids are never too young to help out around the house, am I right? But I'm not about to let my kid run around spraying chemicals around our living room or eating surfaces. (No!!)

My good friend Jen has introduced our family to Norwex microfiber cleaning cloths. What is Norwex? Their mission is to improve quality of life by reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning. With the Norwex Microfiber System, you do not breathe, touch or ingest chemicals. And the cool thing is that they offer a set of microfiber cleaning cloths made just for kids.

So, I put Lo to work. Now, at first, I will admit that my girl was a bit dramatic when I asked her to help me clean up the house a bit. (Gasp! "Mo-om ... you want me to clean this whole table!?) But that's when things got fun.

We put the cloths to the test. The butter test. (Jen suggested we give this experiment a try.) And so I gave Lo a partial stick of butter and let her rub it all over our glass dining room table.

And the drama quickly faded away.

"This is fun. Am I going to get in trouble for this mess? You're seriously letting me do this?!"

And then the test! Using nothing but water and the blue Enviro Norwex cloth, I asked her to clean the butter off the table. And in no time at all, the butter was completely gone.

Seriously. Gone. Then, she did a little extra polishing with the orange Window Cloth.

Not a single streak or smear of butter was left. My table top was clean and shiny. It was kind of amazing! The whole process took about two minutes flat. And we didn't use any chemicals or sprays.

In no time, my kid was running around finding more glass to clean and polish.

And the dusting mitt is super fun, too. Who needs a maid when you have a child who's totally enthusiastic about using her very own dusting mitt? I'm totally going to have to 'borrow' that. So quick and easy.

Would you like to win your own set of Norwex Kids Cloths? They're pretty cool, right?

Here's what you could win:

Multipurpose Microfiber Enviro Cloth. This cloth cleans washable surfaces. Use it dry for dusting, damp for cleaning walls, tiles, bathtubs, counters, metal surfaces, car interiors, etc. Between laundering simply rinse, wring out and hang to dry. Available in four colors allowing you to color-code for different purposes or room.

Window Cloth. This cloth allows you to clean windows, mirrors, jewelry, and shiny surfaces with only water. First, clean the dirty surface with a moist Enviro Cloth and polish with the Window Cloth for a streak-free shine. For lighter cleaning needs, simply spray water on the surface then polish with a dry Window Cloth.

Microfiber Dusting Mitt. This mitt has a thick, terrycloth-like texture and is used for quick and easy dusting. It is excellent for dusting throughout the house including blinds and other areas that are difficult to reach.

Here's how to win:

Just jump over and 'like' my friend Jen's Facebook page. Then leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner on Monday, April 1. The winner will receive the Kids Cloth set pictured above.

If you're interested in checking out the other products Norwex offers, click here. (Thanks and good luck!)

life at our house. / March 24, 2013 by jen geigley

This kid is on the move. And into everything.

This girl has been making some amazing artwork.

We hung out with a giant T-Rex named Sue.

Bo has a new (old) Vespa project to work on in the garage.

Our Leopard Gecko, Banana, turned all white and cloudy this week. He was ready to shed his skin! So cool ... and so weird.

He's all bright and colorful again now. It was quite fun to watch.

Bo and I had a Weeds marathon to finish up the last season. (I love the Sharpie intro.) We tried to spread it out through the week as best we could. I'm going to miss the Botwins.

Bo saw G. Love play a few nights ago and got this rad autographed print.

I stayed home with the kids, so I missed out on the show. But G signed some special sauce for me. Nice, right?

We've been on spring break this past week, and what a cold and snowy week it was. (It's snowing buckets again right now as I type.) Lo made lots of art projects and it's been a (mostly) relaxed and chill time. Just hanging out at home and having some family time. I've had a bunch of creative deadlines and small projects to finish up, which is always fun, too. What have you been up to?

** Want to see more? Follow me on Instagram. **

Jumping over from HeyJenRenee? I am so glad you're here and I hope you'll continue to follow along on my new adventures at MAKEXDO. (What's the story behind the new name? You can read more about it here.)

Now would be a good time to update your RSS Readers to the new url:

http://www.makexdo.com/

eggshell seedlings / March 18, 2013 by jen geigley

Around here (i.e. the Midwest), we have been experiencing a very snowy month of March. Snowstorm after snowstorm. Sigh. We are on spring break this week and felt the need to do something spring-ish while we wait for the snow to go away. And if you're itching to do the same or need an easy activity to keep your kids busy during these no-school days, try this. Plant some eggshell seedlings.

Planting your garden seeds in eggshells is exciting (I almost made an egg joke there) for many reasons. First of all, you can save 80-90% on your gardening costs when you sprout your own garden plants from seed instead of buying store-grown plants in the spring. The entire eggshell starter pot is biodegradable and contains calcium and other earthy nutrients.

Step one: Crack the eggs. Somewhat carefully.

You can just crack them in half like your normally would or poke a hole in the top with a knife and pull away small pieces of shell until you have a nice eggshell pot left. I tried to only take off the top third of my eggs. Save the insides for omelets or cupcakes or whatever!

Step two: Wash the eggshells and then boil them for 2-3 minutes to kill bacteria.

Step three: Let them dry.

Step four: Label the eggshells (if you want) with a food-safe marker or crayon. I used a Wilton Food Writer.

Step five: Fill them with organic potting soil. Your kids can do this with a spoon.

Step six: Plant those seeds!

Step seven: Water the soil. I gave my kid a spray bottle so she wouldn't accidentally over-water. These shell pots are pretty small, so you don't need a ton of water. You can also poke holes in the bottom of the shells with a thumbtack if you want them to be able to drain.

And in a few days, you get this. Yay! When it's finally warm enough outside to plant these babies, you can actually plant the entire eggshell along with the plant. Just crush it in your hand a bit to break up the shell and plant the whole thing into your garden. Fun, right? (Give peas a chance.)

This is my new blog, MAKEXDO (formerly HeyJenRenee.) Confusing, right? ;)

If you haven't already, now is an awesome time to update your RSS Readers to the new url so you don't miss anything.

http://www.makexdo.com/

I am so glad you're here and I hope you'll continue to follow along on my new adventures at MAKEXDO. (What's the story behind the new name? You can read more about it here.)

movin' on ... / March 16, 2013 by jen geigley

Ahhhh, the time has come! I'm saying goodbye to this little space on the web and moving on over to a new place with a new name.

Please do come over and visit my shiny new blog. It's called MAKEXDO.

Don't worry ... all of the content from heyjenrenee has been magically transported over to the new blog, so you won't miss a thing.

Now would be the perfect time to update your RSS Readers to the new url:

http://www.makexdo.com/

Also! Perhaps you've heard the news, but Google Reader's RSS feed is saying farewell to all of us starting July 1st. So once again, now is a great time to update your RSS Reader so you don't miss out on what's ahead. I personally love Bloglovin' and have heard good things about Feedly as well.

Wherever you choose to read your favorite blogs, I hope you’ll continue to follow along with me at MAKEXDO.

xoxo,
Jen

P.S. What are you waiting for? Jump over to see what's new.

hello and welcome! / March 16, 2013 by jen geigley

YAY! You made it. Welcome to MAKEXDO.

If you have a sec, take a look around! I've been working hard to update and re-organize all of my content so it's easier to find the things you might be interested in. I have created menu tabs in the navigation bar above to help you find blog posts about knitting or crafts or music or what-have-you. I have also added a 'design' section where you can find some of my freelance graphic design work.

If you're new here, check out the 'about' page. That's the place to find more info about what this blog is all about, along with some of my favorite posts.

Looking for something specific? Click on the 'archive' tab above to see my most popular posts (with thumbnail photos, so they're easier to find.)

Don't worry ... all of the content from heyjenrenee has been magically transported to this new blog, so you won't miss a thing.

Now would be a good time to update your RSS Readers to the new url:

http://www.makexdo.com/

I am so glad you're here and I hope you'll continue to follow along on my new adventures at MAKEXDO. (What's the story behind the new name? You can read more about it here.)

featured in Juice / March 1, 2013 by jen geigley

This is kind of fun! Our home is featured in Juice this week.

If you live in the area, pick up your copy and check out the 'Style/At Home With' section to see our smiling faces. Or you can see the the photos here and read the whole story here.

** Awesome job and thank you, Bethany!

bearz in the hood / February 27, 2013 by jen geigley

The latest thing to jump off my needles is a project for Lo that I've been meaning to knit all winter. This is the Burton Bear hoodie by Heidi May. I seamed it up today and found a big pink button to sew on that matches her coat. I knitted the 'child' size and it's a little bit big for this girl. But it's okay – room to grow! It was a super speedy knit and really well-written. Best of all, Lo loves it and can't wait to wear it to recess. Since we've been slammed with snowstorms lately, this will be sure to keep her a little bit warmer out there.

little dragon / February 26, 2013 by jen geigley

This song (and video) is beautiful. Little Dragon is one of my new favorites.

Also, this one. Check out Brush the Heat, too. (Thanks, Hayter.)

just Jen. / February 24, 2013 by jen geigley

I don't know what is going on lately. Shit is weird. Maybe it's because Mercury is in retrograde. Or maybe it's the full moon. Both of my kids were awake at all hours of the night last night, so I know something is up.

I'm sure no one else noticed, but last week I had a moment of 'I'm kind of over being this 'heyjenrenee' person online' and the next minute I had typed a new domain name into Blogger (just for fun) and wham!! Before I knew what I had done, I had accidentally managed to delete my entire blog.

And I couldn't get it back. There was no amount of Google/Blogger help boards that could fix what I had done. If you typed in heyjenrenee.com, all you would get is a big blank error page. Gone! And after writing here for all these years (since 2006, to be exact) ... I had a moment of 'Huh. Maybe I'll just stop blogging.'

But that felt weird, too. So, for two days I fought to reclaim my domain. So to speak. I had to get it back. I didn't want it to end. And after two days of reading all about 404 errors on Google + CNAMES on help boards, I figured it out. I held my breath, plugged in a bunch of numbers that I didn't understand, waited an hour for my DNS settings to activate and I was back. I was stoked. I got my blog back.

Why am I telling you this? I've been asking myself why I'm blogging. Again. (I've done this before.) I'm re-evaluating things. I'm going through a major re-design of this lovely space that I lost and then worked so hard to get back. It's going to be better. And eventually, HeyJenRenee may redirect you to a new blog with a new name. Or it may not. Either way, it will still be me. Just Jen. Still here. Why am I here? Because I enjoy being here. Because I can't stop now.

Sabrina Ward Harrison said it far better than I ever could.

'I believe we must create what we most need to find. I don't aim for pretty, I aim for release. We have to make room for our life in progress. As women, we must be heard along the way. We must share how it really feels, what we know but can't place. We must take a deeper breath and let go. Trust yourself. Leave ripples.'

randoms. / February 20, 2013 by jen geigley

How's it going? What's new? I've been feeling a rush of creative energy lately; I'm just not entirely sure what to focus on. I have a lot of little ideas in my head ... but they're just marinating for now. Life is a little scattered around here, so I'm sure things will fall into place eventually. Here's what we've been up to.