I’ve always wondered about Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. To tout the name of magic I think a product must really be fantastic in order to live up to the expectation.

But oh, boy do they live up to the hype.

When we moved in I had planned on doing the old baking soda/water paste approach on the grout in our kitchen.

It’s nice looking grout, but that’s not the color it’s supposed to be. I know this because the grout in the pantry is a drastically different shade. Less of a dark gray and more of a taupe.

But I just happened to have a HUGE package of Magic Erasers to clean all the dingy spots on the walls throughout the house (of which there were many). I’m not judging, trust me. It only takes us about a week to get everything good and dingy.

So I decided to just try a Magic Eraser on the grout. I had heard. I had heard that they work wonders on grout. I was curious to be sure. After all, it would be quicker and easier than making a baking soda paste, letting it cure for 5 minutes, scrubbing it with a toothbrush and then cleaning the baking soda/dirt off. But I was concerned that I would burn through so many Magic Erasers that it would get to be too expensive. But here’s my first attempt:

Observe.

Dirty grout.

MAGIC. Magic, I tell you. Do you understand the gravity of the information you’re getting right now?? GO BUY MAGIC ERASERS RIGHT NOW AND SCRUB YOUR GROUT WITH THEM.

At this point I decided that it didn’t matter how much they charged me for these glorious little magic sponges, this was the only way it was going to be. The grout does tear up the erasers fairly quickly but I only used three on my good-sized kitchen which only ended up being about $3 since I got them in a super-pack. Well, to be honest, Mr. Georgia Leigh bought the super-pack at Home Depot so props to him for making this all possible.

BEFORE

AFTER

It really took no time at all. I’d say an hour and a half total for my whole kitchen (which again, is good sized) plus the area that’s supposed to be a breakfast area. I mean REALLY, do I need TWO dining tables to clean every day? I think not.

Now I just need to seal it before anyone as much as breathes on it.

In order to really understand the full depth of this post I must first start by showing you what our library looked like back in Utah. It was housed in the old Brigham Young Acadamy, which is the original BYU. The building was restored magnificently and is a source of pride in the historic nature of that city.

I stole that image. Just sayin. Here’s a link to their website just so I don’t feel so bad: Provo Library Website

The children’s section of that library is the ENTIRE lower floor of the original Brigham Young Acadamy building. It is beautiful and filled to the brim with books. When we would do a science unit, I would literally check out 15 books on the topic (usually specific like clouds or solutions or the circulatory system). I was spoiled, although I didn’t fully understand it. Yet.

Fast forward to our new cute community just outside of Austin. Our first trip to the library was. . . memorable.

I knew it was small before we ever went. I tried to prepare myself.

The checkout counter is one person. No big deal, I thought to myself. We signed up for a card and were told that we could check out five whole books! WoW! Next time you graduate to 15. IF you bring your first five back on time, of course. Okay. I told myself to breathe.

We explored a bit and found out that the entire library is one big room. Very barn-like. I held it together until I found the juvenile non-fiction section. It is two rows of books. All of the dewey decimals in two rows. I ran from the building screaming and flailing my arms like a crazy person.

Okay, maybe not. But I did cry on the way home, I’m not going to lie to you. But there were so many people coming and going! What were they doing there because it certainly wasn’t to CHECK OUT BOOKS.

I gave myself a week to cry it out and decided to give it another go. We found out their bi-annual booksale would be this week. Great! I love library book sales! I didn’t have a lot of expectations, so I figured we couldn’t lose.

I was floored by the sheer number of quality books. One thing about the Provo library is that is used by a LOT of people. The money was well spent. So the library book sales are usually really picked over. And so crowded that I’d rather drink Drano than bring the kids with me.

This book sale was totally manageable. I was very pleased in that regard.

This was the wall of kids books. I could have taken them all home and been happy with them. (Okay there were a couple weird ones, but not many).

And SO CHEAP. I filled a bag full and they only charged me PER BAG. $10 for all these books.

Penny kind of got kicked out of the stroller. And it was busy, but not crazy. My kids were mostly the only kids there. No one got lost, no one got told what to do by another adult, and everyone was happy with what they picked out. Overall a winning outing for me. I may just go back! Except that we have no bookshelves since the Provo house had built-ins.

Minor details.

AND YES I DID BUCKLE HIM BEFORE I DROVE AWAY. Thanks for not asking.

These were two of the books Eli picked out. When he got in his seat he asked, “Can I have the bag book?” And after I gave him one he said, “Can I have the nudder (other) bag book?” Absolutely, cutie.

One of Juliet’s books actually turned out to be a poster about mammals. She was thrilled.

A really nice older lady was doing check-out at the sale. She looked at all my books and said, “Do you homeschool?” Haha! I laughed and said, indeed I do.

I was really excited about this find:

All about the major cities in TX! Yeah!

And Bob Books!

I’ve been trying to buy a used set for what seems like forever.

I’ve always thought that every place has its pros and cons and I think it is good to remember when some things really bug you. For instance, everything in Utah is really crowded. I avoided free days (of anything) like the plague. So I’m glad to remember that about this new place of ours as well. The library isn’t great, but they’re expanding it as we speak. Plus, in four months time I can use neighboring libraries as well. All is not lost and I found a real gem in the book sale to look forward to.

Here’s hoping you’re enjoying spring wherever it finds you. Or fall, as the case may be.