I remember my mom spending lots of money on fancy shampoos, to try to strip the green out of our hair, but last year I was talking to my hair dresser and she gave me the best tip for how to get rid of green pool hair. She told me that the best product to use is actually a clarifying shampoo. So I headed to Target and, for about $2.00, bought Suave Clarifying Shampoo. To be honest I was a little skeptical because it seemed too good to be true but after using it all summer on Malea’s hair we never had any problems with her hair turning green!

This year, a week into summer, I noticed her hair had already started to turn green, really green! (Why does it do that!?) So I headed to Target to buy my trusty Suave Clarifying Shampoo, and within 2 days of using it, all the green was gone!

I don’t know why it works, I don’t know how it works, all I know is that it works, and it’s only $2!!! I kind of feel guilty because I know the stuff my mom bought was way more expensive, but not guilty enough.

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post but if you purchase through them you will not pay a cent more than you would otherwise. Thank you for supporting Ask Anna!

The post How to Get Rid of Green Pool Hair appeared first on Ask Anna.

It’s starting to get hot here so we threw a swim party and downstairs, in our newly made over space, I set up a photo booth and some refreshments for them.

I also made them cupcakes because what kid doesn’t enjoy frosting cupcakes.

After the girls were done swimming they came in to frost their cupcakes and enjoy some refreshing “fish bowl” drinks.

After the girls were done frosting their cupcakes, filling up on snacks, and doing what kids do best – making a huge mess, I cleaned up with these fun Bounty prints featuring Disney•Pixar’s Finding Dory paper towels, because what’s a Finding Dory party without Finding Dory napkins and paper towels?! The 80’s kid in me, who loved Pac-Man, loves these Bounty paper towels because you can fold them so it looks like Dory is eating whatever you’re cleaning up.   (Haha!)

After I was done cleaning up I snapped a bunch of fun pictures of the girls in the “under the sea” photo booth, man these girls love the camera!

And when they were tired of posing for the camera they headed out to swim!

Tell me, are you as excited as we are about the new Disney•Pixar’s Finding Dory movie? Seriously if it’s 1/2 as funny as the first, I’ll be happy.

Disclosure: I am writing this sponsored post as part of the Bounty Quicker Picker Upper Crew and all opinions are my own.

The post Finding Dory Party Ideas appeared first on Ask Anna.

We currently have two little ones in diapers. Ugh… and I have been working on this problem since long before we had our second baby. We discovered some things along the way that helped; but I just recently solved the entire diaper stink problem. Let me explain.

First of all, and this is the most important thing I am going to tell you – you may have purchased/registered for the WRONG diaper pail.  I haven’t looked up to find out which diaper pail is the most popular, but I would take a guess that it’s the Diaper Genie.  I mean, it is all in the name, right?  BUT, the Diaper Genie is a stink factory – literally.  We had one for the first baby and part of two babies in diapers (the first time around) and we just assumed that diaper pails in general make your house smell like a baby waste factory,  BUT it’s not the fact that you have a diaper pail, it is the fact that you have a Diaper Genie.

So, which diaper pail should you buy/register for instead?

The Arm & Hammer Munchkin Diaper Pail, it’s rated #1 in Odor Control (in laboratory tests). Well, the experiments done in our own “laboratory” confirm their conclusions – this is the diaper pail to help control diaper stink in your home. What’s different about the Munchkin, that makes it better, is the construction of the pail itself, and the bags that go in it.  The pail is made to twist “closed” at the top each time the lid is closed on the pail.

This effectively cuts off the stink residing in the bags while the diaper pail is closed.  And the bags themselves are thicker than the bags that come with the Diaper Genie. They are also easier to use because they have a locking system at the top (instead of the cut-and-tie method with the Diaper Genie).

Did you notice that I said help control the stink?  There’s a reason for that, and I have some tips for how to use your Munchkin Diaper pail to maximize the stink-reduction in your home.

Use baking soda often

One of the reasons the Munchkin works so well is because it utilizes one of the most natural odor-reducing products available – baking soda.  The Munchkin pail has a reservoir for baking soda that sits in the lid.  So every time you open and close the lid (put a diaper in the pail), a small amount of baking soda is released into the bin, which helps to neutralize odors quickly.

In order for the baking soda to do its best work, you should change out the reservoir at least once a month, AND in between reservoir refills, I recommend that each time you change out the bag, you sprinkle a little baking soda into the bag before you put any diapers in it.

Clean the diaper pail as often as you clean your garbage cans

I am not sure how often you clean the garbage cans in your home, I tend to do it quarterly. When you clean the garbage cans, clean the diaper pail, it makes it easy to remember when you did it last. A good cleaning includes scrubbing with soap and water, I recommend doing in the bath tub. Make sure you remove the baking soda reservoir before you clean the pail! Use a small brush or an old toothbrush to really get into the nooks and crannies of the pail.

Once you have the diaper pail clean and you have changed out the reservoir, you are ready for the last of my tips – further odor reduction.

Control odor with an air neutralizer

One of the common misconceptions in homemaking is that air fresheners actually help to freshen the air. But what the commercials don’t say is that instead of actually refreshing the air, you end up with stinky-flowery smells instead of just stinky smells. What you really need, instead of an air freshener, is an air neutralizer. I just recently found one that takes away any residual diaper stink, for real.

I was shopping the aisles of Target (sipping my Starbucks and soaking in a few minutes of retail therapy. Don’t you just love it?) when I came across a new product in the air freshener aisle. Since diaper duty is never far from my mind (even in Target), I checked it out and decided I would look it up when I got home. After doing a little research, I purchased the Fresh Wave Odor Removing packs.  And let me tell you, these things WORK.

We keep our diaper pails (plural, for the plural kids in diapers) in my baby’s room and in the laundry room and usually after the diaper pail is about half-way full in our laundry room, there’s a certain “smell” greeting us upon entry to our home. I popped one of the Fresh Wave Odor Removing packs into the bottom of our Munchkin last month and I have not smelled a diaper stink upon entering my home since! For those of you with sensitive noses (I have one, too), I seriously, cannot smell the diapers inside my pail! There is a door that locks shut on the Munchkin.

Are you currently in the diaper changing season of life, or are you about to be? If so, I highly recommend that you get/register for the Munchkin pail and pick up a pack of the Fresh Wave odor removing packs. Trust me, your nose, and the noses of your guests, who come over to coo over your little one, will thank you!

Leah

Simple. Home. Blessings

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post but if you purchase through them you will not pay a cent more than you would otherwise. Thank you for supporting Simple. Home. Blessings. and Ask Anna!

The post How to Completely Eliminate Diaper Smells!!! appeared first on Ask Anna.

Now that my fear of germs is out in the open, let’s talk about how dirty going back to school can be. Every day when we get home the first thing I make my daughter do is wash her hands really well. When you pack 18 kids into a classroom there are a lot of germs floating around. It’s easy to wash her hands and give her a bath but what about all those other gross things that come home, like her lunch box, the homework folder, her backpack, ahhh!

Last year we switched over to a metal lunch box because I just couldn’t handle how gross the fabric ones would get. Last year I would toss her metal lunch box in the dishwasher to sanitize it but then the sticker started to peel off. Lucky for me, Bounty introduced their new Bounty with Dawn paper towels this year so now I use one of those to clean Malea’s lunch box.

Bounty with Dawn is water activated with lasting power of Dawn and new ultra durable Bounty. They make it so easy to wipe the lunch box down and I know it’s getting clean because I can see the Dawn bubbles working.

I also use the Bounty with Dawn paper towels in the mornings to wipe down the counters after making her lunch and clean up her shoes, before she puts them on (when I notice they have mud on them from the day before). They are so handy to have around the house when I need to quickly wash something.

Obviously you can’t use a soapy paper towel for everything, sometimes you just need a durable, absorbent paper towel. I don’t think Malea would appreciate me wiping her down with soap, so it’s nice to also have regular Bounty paper towels on hand. I use them to wipe down my daughter, clean up spills and so many more things around the kitchen, especially on those busy school mornings!

I know it can seem like a lot to always have both sets of paper towels on hand but once I tried both of them I quickly realized there was no going back, I had to have both to keep things clean and to do it efficiently. I’ve had them both stashed under the sink, next to each other, but Bounty just came out with a limited edition dual roll holder which has made it easy to keep the rolls organized and on hand for when I need them!

Today I’m giving 50 of you the opportunity to take one home too! Bounty wants to know how YOU are refreshing your routine and keeping your home clean this back to school season. Fill out the form below and let me know, and you’ll be entered in the drawing to take home a limited edition dual roll holder to your kitchen!

Disclosure: I am writing this sponsored post as part of the Bounty Quicker Picker Upper Crew and all opinions are my own. The limited edition dual roll holder will be provided by Bounty.  I have included affiliate links in this post but if you purchase through them you will not pay a cent more than you would otherwise. Thank you for supporting Ask Anna!

The post Tackling Back to School Germs with Bounty appeared first on Ask Anna.

Click HERE to print the Rocket Ship chore chart

Click HERE to print the Princess chore chart

My kids have chores they are expected to complete because they live in the house and it’s a big job to clean up after five people.  I have been busier than anticipated the last few months and my house has quite obviously suffered.  My goal over the next six weeks is to get things organized and decluttered and get my house back so we can enjoy this summer.  So, I want to get into this routine with the chore charts now so it’s nothing new when all of a sudden the routine shifts.  Maybe this will be the constant stability they crave?  Ha, I doubt that, but wouldn’t it be nice!?

I have two styles of printable chore charts available for you to download today: A fun rocket ship theme and a pretty princess theme.  These are formatted to an 8.5×11″ piece of paper.  You can print them right at home and they are high resolution so everything should be nice and crisp.  The colors may vary a little, due to monitor and printer settings, but it should be pretty close.  Click the images to be taken to the download link.  You’ll need to download the file to your computer and then you can print as many as you want from there.

If you want to be able to re-use the charts, you can laminate them and then use a wet or dry erase marker to write on them.  My boys think they are hilarious and erase all the things I write in dry or wet erase markers when I’m not looking.  Since there’s a reason I write these things down to begin with… I’ve gone back to the traditional pen-and-paper method for now. Oh, ya gotta love them!  Until next month…

Krista

While He Was Napping

Check out this great post from Krista for how to get your kids to help clean!

The post Free Printable Chore Charts for Kids appeared first on Ask Anna.