So, it’s Saturday night (or maybe Wednesday) around 6pm or so and you can probably find us gathered around the bath tub with three little boys and water all over the floor.  That’s right, bath time.  Bath time and I have a love-hate relationship.  My boys love splashing and making a huge mess and I hate cleaning it up!  But it’s a necessary evil.  Okay, it’s not THAT bad, but it’s not my favorite.

Anyway, our bath tub has no shortage of toys to entertain my little water babies.  It’s a half-hearted hope that my boys will play with those while I’m washing the other one instead of splashing and pouring water over the other one’s head.  Eh, it doesn’t always work.

Those toys spend a lot of their time in the water… soapy, sudsy, dirty water.  Very dirty water.  Three boys.  Super dirty water.  They also occasionally find themselves in the mouths of one or more of those boys.  Ick.  So, I want to make sure that these toys aren’t crawling in all kinds of gross germy bugs that are going to make us all sick.  Sick kids are the worst.

We have two kinds of toys: foam toys and plastic toys.  I employ a different method to clean each type.  Cleaning bath toys is so easy and only take a few minutes of your time.

Foam Toys:
These would fly all over the dishwasher if I put them in there, so I fill the sink with hot water and a cup of vinegar to soak all those foam letters.  The vinegar kills any germs and it’s so much more safe for my kiddos than, say, bleach or something.  Soak them for 15 minutes (or more…) and then set them out on clean cooling racks to dry.

Plastic Toys:
The simplest way to clean plastic toys is in the dishwasher.  The hot water will sanitize the toys and you can just set them in there, turn it on and let it go.  I don’t use the dry setting, just let them air dry.  If I catch it, I’ll prop the door open a sliver while it’s still all hot and steamy to help them dry a little quicker.

I do these cleaning routines once a week.  My boys usually get baths 2-3 times a week, depending on our activities.  The best way to keep the toys clean between these washings is to make sure they get picked up after bath time and stored in our mesh bath net.  This way, they have a chance to dry and don’t sit in icky leftover water after bath time.

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Can you feel it?  The chill in the evening air.  The nip at your nose in the early morning.  Autumn is on it’s way.  We’ve stopped getting up into the high 90’s routinely during the day and the other morning I seriously considered making myself a cup of hot herbal tea.  Since “summer” has come to mean more along the lines of “entertaining three kids inside all day because it’s too hot to play outside” and less “sunbathing at the beach”, Autumn is probably my favorite season.

But there are some things that just make Fall a little bit better, am I right?  These are my Fall Fashion Must-Haves:

Cardigans – I love me a good cardi.  They are perfect for chilly mornings and brisk evenings, you can dress it up with a comfy maxi skirt or down with your favorite jeans, and they are easy to layer with.  I have only begun my cardigan obsession, but I have probably a dozen or more.  And I love them all!

Striped Cardigan and Boyfriend Cardigan via Amazon

Comfy Boots – Boots you can wear with jeans and skirts, that you can walk a decent distance at a decent pace, boots you can chase the kids in that still look fabulous.  It seems there are two kinds of boot people – the “you get what you pay for” people and the “I’ll only be wearing these for a few months, I’m not dropping that much money on a single pair of shoes” people.  Can you guess where I fall?  I’ll give you a hint, if I have to choose between shoes and diapers, it’s diapers.  I have these in tan.  I love them.  They are still in awesome condition after almost daily wear last year.  If and when they fail me, I will feel like I’ve gotten my $25 out of them.  And I may buy another color this year…  If you buy, these are pretty true to size.

Top Moda COCO Boots via Amazon

Cute Boot Socks – Those awesome cute boots need an adorable little accent, don’t you think?  These adorable socks have] lace and bows!  You can try to DIY a pair yourself… it’s on my to-do list this season…  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Via TangRenTang on Etsy

Sweaters – The only thing I love more than a good cardi and some comfy boots is a comfy sweater.  Not the cute little thing you wear to your holiday parties.  But a warm, snuggly, soft sweater in which you settle down with a cup of cocoa and a good book.  Don’t you just wanna cuddle up on the couch?!  Hoodies are also acceptable.

Long Sleeve Knit Pullover Sweater and Cowl Neck Pullover via Amazon

 

Scarves – These are perfect for the aforementioned cute little sweaters (or a sweet sweater dress) you wear to more formal occasions.  The perfect accessory that won’t hide that adorable sweater, but will offset and compliment it.  You can go bold or keep it classic, depending on your style and the occasion.

Elegant Solid Fringe Scarf and Cable Knit Infinity Scarf via Amazon

Basic Tee Shirts or Camisoles – Fall is all about the layers.  Pack ’em on, girl.  With warm days and cool nights, you’re gonna want to be able to take some of it off if you’re out in the sun all day (or running after children) and put some more on if you’re hanging around the fire pit with friends on the weekend.  These are a great way to add color to your outfits.  Find what looks great on you and add those layers.  I can’t wait until it’s climatically acceptable to use layering to hide the muffin in top I can’t seem to shake (dang breastfeeding).

Deep Round Neck Tee Shirt and Active Scoop Neck Tee Shirts via Amazon

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

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