Cassidy's Crayons.....the beginning of a long day

Please Note: the above picture is only a partial rendition of the massive amount of clothes I had stuffed in the washer and dryer the day the incident mentioned below took place.
Wow...I can't believe she is turning 5 years old next week!
Here is sweet Bailey who was spayed yesterday, posing in her "No Lick Necklace"

The best way to share the following story is by giving you an outline of how it began........

Synopsis of Wednesday, November 7th:

4:30 a.m. – wake up with horrible cramps……Aunt Flow makes her triumphant arrival
7:00 a.m. - crawl out of bed late with only 15 minutes to get Harrison breakfast, make his lunch and get him off to school
7:05 a.m. – Poor Bailey (our Lab) who was spayed yesterday has gotten sick from the anesthesia and thrown up yellow slime in several spots on the floor. Luckily, she was locked out of all carpeted areas, so the cleanup wouldn’t be too bad. But still YUCK……..
7:05 – 7:15 – Harrison breakfast, Harrison lunch, Harrison sweatshirt, Harrison backpack, Harrison goodbye, Jeff Goodbye
7:18 – Check on Bailey
7:20 – Evaluate mess to determine best clean-up procedure
7:25 – Put clothes washed the previous evening in the dryer. Please Note: Today is the day for packing for the Maryland trip, so the best “dark” items owned are being placed in the dryer in preparation for packing (jeans, sweatshirts, shirts, Jeff’s work shirts to wear while I am gone)
7:30 – Proceed to clean up Bailey's mess

7:40 - Cassidy awakes

7:45 – Look at clock.......think to myself "must leave for volleyball in one hour"
7:50 – Cassidy breakfast
8:00 – Frost cupcakes for Cassidy’s preschool class since she will be in Maryland on her birthday next week
8:20 – Check on Bailey and offer her water
8:25 – Get clothes out of dryer to fold before volleyball
8:30 – Burst into tears and call Jeff after realizing Cassidy had red, green and orange crayons in her pocket which were now melted all over our best jeans, sweatshirts etc. and we were leaving for vacation the next day (maybe I should add another verse to her poem) :)

8:31 - Oh how I wish I had not stuffed so much in the washer so I could get it done in one load!
8:35 – Search the Internet for ways to get significant amounts of melted crayon out of clothing
8:45 – Call sister-in-law Jodi to see what it says in her Queen of Clean book
8:50 – Check on Bailey
8:55 – Jeff calls to tell me that at least I will have a good entry for my blog!
9:00 – No volleyball for me today!
9:05 – Ask Cassidy to go out and feed the horses for me
9:08 – Get an e-mail from Jill (in Maryland) telling me it is very cold and to be sure to bring jeans and sweatshirts……I had to laugh.
9:10 – Check the Internet for ways to clean melted crayon out of the dryer
9:20 – Start to clean melted crayon out of dryer
9:30 – Begin experimental melted crayon cleaning procedure on a pair of jeans
9:40 – Check on Bailey
9:45 – Call from renter in valley – they are moving out in January because they bought a house
9:50 – Leave with Cassidy and cupcakes and go to preschool
10:05 – Check on Bailey
10:10 – Clean bird poop off rug that was put outside and sprayed off after Bailey threw up on it last night
Wow……did I really only get out of bed 3 hours ago or has it been the whole day yet?
10:20 – Try to figure out how to get to the valley early enough on Thursday to shop for new jeans!

11:00 - String a clothes line along the back porch to dry clothes. The dryer is still leaving pink splotches.

By about 11:30 I had figured out the best way to salvage our clothes. It was very time consuming, but it did work! Here is the recipe if your four year old ever smuggles crayons home from Pizza Hut in her pocket and you don't think to check them before washing:

Take one to two items at a time and soak them in the washer in HOT water using a mixture of 1/2 cup Spray & Wash, 1 cup Borax, and laundry detergent. After soaking for 20-30 minutes, run the cycle. Next, take items to the counter and pour bleach safe for colored clothes directly onto color splotches that remain. Let sit for a few minutes, then scrub them with a small brush. Next, soak again for 15 minutes in HOT water in the washing machine mixed with 1 cup bleach for colored clothes. Add detergent and do complete cycle. Finally, hang out on handmade clothes line on the back porch (if you don't live in the boondocks, don't worry about the last step).

Yes, it has been quite a day. It is now 9:30 p.m. and I feel like I have been doing laundry since 8:30 am this morning! Again, I think to myself "why did I stuff so many clothes in the washer and dryer?" and "I guess I need to check pockets before washing". But all is now well. There is wet laundry hanging all over my house (I had to take it off the porch because it is too cold now to dry outside), but the kids are happily snoozing, Jeff is happily playing xbox 360 (I assume he just couldn't wait to get started on his week long xbox free play while the kids and I are gone), and I am happily going to bed to have sweet dreams with NO crayons, color or laundry. Good Night from the Boondocks!