First Night in the "BIG Girl Bed!"

Well, tonight is Ardyn's first night in the twin bed! YAY! She is pretty cool with it. She's been in a toddler bed since she was somewhere around 15-16 months old, so really I am not worried much about this, except that it's a longer fall. We didn't get bed rails because I am cheap most of the mom's I talked too said that by the age of 2.5-3, their kids didn't fall out of twin beds. We will see. I took EK's advice and put the toddler mattress on the floor alongside the twin, so that it would pad her fall if she hit the hardwood. It will be an interesting night. She'd better not break an arm or I will feel like CRAP.

Today was really a fairly productive day. Last night I went to one of my monthly scrapbook nights with friends (I attend two a month, each at different local churches) and I started Marek's "birth" scrapbook. I did an 8x8 for Ardyn's Birth, and am doing the same for Marek now. He's 1, it's time I started scrapbooking him, right? Poor guy! I was a little pissed perturbed that I picked up $65 of Photos from Wal-Mart (that's what happens when you procrastinate and forget to order your pics in time to scrap them, you have to pay 1 hour prices! Eeek!) and for some reason the black and whites were just "off" in color, and the edges were often torn or smudged. If I had the patience or time to deal with them and wait for reprints, I might have done something about it. Maybe someday.

Today I took all the scrapbook supplies back to mom's (where my old bedroom is now my scrapbook room!) and put them away. Marek and I got up and snuck away. Because I had Ardyn's seat out of the van and three of the stow and go's folded, I was able to also get my twin bed from mom's and load it up to bring home for Ardyn. But I realized that the protector I had for the mattress was NOT waterproof (uh-oh) and luckily I texted MIL and she was in town and could pick me up one, which she wonderfully did for me and drove it to my house so it was here when I got home. That was awesome of her.

While at my parent's house, my dad was going to take a look at my front brakes, because the dealership had told me during my oil change last week that I needed new brake pads and rotors, and quoted me $340 for the front. Holy Crap. This from the girl whose dad has always done her mechanic work and oil changes, and I just provide the $20 brake pads. Jeez!

So I had already bought 2 Brake pads and Rotors just in case we needed them, and when Dad looked at them he decided that he was just going to change them all out today. Thanks Dad. You are so awesome. You saved me like $250 bucks. I love you!

So Marek and I tried to make ourselves useful, and eat up leftovers and cookies at Grandma's. Then I stripped both spare beds upstairs and washed the sheets, and ran the vacuum in the upstairs hall and the bedrooms for her. I wanted to feel useful, and since I wasn't accomplishing anything at home, I get that itch to be DOING something. I had only brought one diaper (since we were just supposed to be running out there to put away scrapbook stuff, and ALL the diapers were in the washing machine at home) and I luckily had two spare sposies in the van.... because we were there for SEVEN hours, and Marek pooped THREE times. Jeez.

*speaking of that, let me go put those dipes in the dryer or he will be naked tomorrow!*

Okay, first load in the dryer, PUL Covers hang drying, and Second load of diapers doing their first cold rinse. I don't want to forget that I need to go back down in about 10 minutes and add soap and start their hot wash. Ah yes, Soap. Where in the HELL is my soap? Seriously? on Thursday I ordered $287 of laundry soap. I know, you are having a heart attack. I nearly did. But I was out of OxyPrime and OxyBoost, which I use for all our laundry. Never in the past have I had to purchase BOTH at the same time. Some of you may have been here a while and know that I buy laundry detergent in bulk, which saves us upwards of $100 per year, and is HUGELY awesome for our carbon footprint.... no millions of plastic bottles! We use ONE bucket of laundry soap per year, and ONE bucket of Oxyboost per year. Their weight is around 43-50 pounds per bucket (each has a different density) but they are essentially 5 gallon buckets. I originally started using Charlie's Soap and Oxyboost, but about a year and a half after using Charlie's, cloth diaper vendors started dropping it and discussing issues with buildup, rashes, and pretty much it became no longer recommended in the cloth diaper industry. I had always been perfectly happy, but because I was also wonderfully in love with Oxyboost as my stain fighter, deodorizer, and sanitizing agent for diapers, I thought I would try Oxyprime. And by "try" I mean that I jumped in with both feet and bought a whole 5 gallon bucket (that's how much I trusted their company (Natural Choices) and therefore, I made the switch instantly and have never looked back since.

So by buying the detergent in Bulk, I save over $100 a year (that's just the savings for detergent, I have never done the math for the savings I get for buying Oxyboost in bulk instead of buying OxyClean or OxyClean Baby {ca-ching!} but I know that is a HUGE price difference.)

The only downside (and I mean ONLY) of buying in bulk, is the staggering cost of the gigantic bucket once a year. It's something like $115 plus $17 UPS shipping for the detergent, and a bit more for the oxyprime. But I know I am saving money in the long run, doing awesome things for the planet (eco-safe products, one container a year, bazillions of bottles that I am not consuming from the grocery store that had to be packaged, labeled, trucked, stocked, etc.) and awesome things for my babies and their little cloth diapered butts. Not to mention that neither I (or the kids) have had any type of allergic or eczema reaction to the products like I used to have prior to switching. I had been happy with All Free and Clear, but I knew nothing else, and as soon as I started using it on my clothes, I was so happy to have no unwanted residues and chemicals on my clothes! Ahhhh. So we choked out the $287 for detergent. It never comes at a "good" time, but it has to be done. It's just one of those necessity things that we have to have.

*Down to add soap to the diapers*

Oh, and the reason I started on soap in the first place?? It's not HERE yet. Seriously. I am freaking out. I must check the back porch like 500000 times a day looking for my UPS Man. It's bad news. Almost EVERY time I have ordered the soap, it has arrived in 24 hours. ONCE it took two days. It has been 4 days. I ordered it on Wednesday. It's Saturday night. No Soap. I am freaking. We have NO Soap and laundry to do and I literally just used the last two scoops of soap on the last two loads of diapers. As I was coming back upstairs, I started to worry more about the whereabouts of my soap, and I remembered that they told me they would send an order confirmation to my email.... I checked both my email addresses.... NOTHING. Uh-oh. So, I can't check my order status online, because when you purchase that large of a quantity, you have to place the order via phone because they don't have that large of quantity on their website. So I think "I will check the bank account balance!" and then when I go look at the bank, I see that it was never charged. Hmmmmm...... something is not right here?!?! So I am a little upset and I am thinking that it's only fair that when I can finally call them on Monday, they pay to have it OVERNIGHTED to me because it apparently hasn't been charged, shipped, etc. Let's hope they agree.

I wish I would have followed my gut and called them on Friday when it didn't arrive. Now I have to wait till Monday and I have no laundry soap. Grand.

I wish I knew where the remote was for "my" TV, because I think I am missing my nightly Nanny Marathon on Nick and Nite. That's not right. Oh! I found it, it was under the bed. Ahhhh, Fran, I missed you!

So I put the twin bed in Ardyn's room when we got home from our family "Easter" dinner (evan's side had a meal tonight :) And I was super excited to get out the sheets and comforter that I bought like, hmmmm, a year and a half ago, for her big girl room. Soooo fun. She has three sheet sets (one I already had and two I bought on sale, they match her comforter) and a reversible comforter that's super cute from Target. Now I can't wait to put some underbed boxes in her room to store her spare bedding and free up some space in our linen closet! Yay! I also upgraded our towels and re-did our bathroom recently. I had such a problem, we had so many towels that I felt people were using them carelessly. I would use the same two towels for over a week, yet when I needed to do laundry, there were like THREE LOADS of towels. It's just that if there are clean towels everywhere, *some people* who live here seem to think they need to use them constantly. It bugs me.

So, I sold the shower curtain, valance, 4 rugs, and about 15 "newer" JC Penney Home Towels to a friend of mine on Facebook. I'd had the same bathroom theme for 10 years, so I figure I got my use out of it. Then I downgraded the towels we have had for 12 years to "rags" and gave them to Evan for washing cars, etc. I replaced all those towels with 10 new towels from Target, four new handtowels, a valance, and a shower curtain. It wasn't very expensive at all, especially since I picked two striped towels and two striped hand towels, and then just got the rest of them solid colored.... and bath sheets now cost $3.76, when the previous JC Penney towels were like $10-12 each just 5 years ago. I love that now they don't really sell bath "towels" in that stupid small size that won't even wrap around your body.... and all towels seem to be "bath sheet" size. It makes me happy. So anyway, By selling all the old things to a friend, I made a big dent in the cost or replacing them. And by having about 1/3 as many towels, I have less laundry, and there isn't the temptation to use towels just because they are clean. (I hope! LOL.)

Well, I still have a ton I could talk about, it's quiet here, but I should be reading, or I should watch the nanny and do some crocheting. I haven't crocheted since winter, and I have lots of things I could be doing, lots of yarn to use, a new book that I received as a Christmas gift.... so maybe I will do a bit of that before bed. :)

Next week is Marek's 1 year appointment, which I am excited about because he missed his 9 month appointment because the physician's office forgot to make one? The next night is my Pampered Chef show, the first one that I have hosted since I retired from being a consultant back in 2005. I am excited about it! The rest of the week is pretty uneventful, and I would really LOVE to do some bread baking, some pizza dough making, some sewing, and some yardwork gardening. I am *patiently* (okay, not at all) waiting for my husband to build my square foot raised bed garden. The plans are drawn up and laying here next to me on the bed, along with Mel Bartholomew's book "All New Square Foot Gardening." The recycled lumber is in the driveway, the tools are on the porch, and the site is measured and marked out in the front yard. We are putting it right inside the fence so I can be with the kids and garden at the same time, and right by the composter, and right next to what will *hopefully* be the site of a rain barrel someday soon. Can you believe it's almost May! yay!

Earth Day Terrarium Project

I saw a cool magazine article about terrariums, and making them with kids, and the first thing that caught my eye was the use of an apothecary jar just like the one that I have. I have used it for a couple of years in the nursery to hold medicine. It worked great and was so cute and functional, but now that Ardyn and Marek are "into" things, I have put the medicine up and been using the jar for non-dangerous items, but it had become more of a catchall than anything and I wasn't sure what it's next purpose was going to be. Until I saw the awesome magazine article!

We started off with our soil mixture, some pea gravel, my plants (I chose mostly succulents that are small and like warm climates) and a couple of decorations. The article calls for charcoal chips to be used in the gravel, but I didn't have any, didn't want to search forever for them, and really didn't want this project to cost a ton (I already had enough money in plants!) I washed and dried the jar, rinsed the pea gravel, and had Ardyn help me scoop it all into the jar. She experimented with different scoops, shovels, and spoons to see how much she could scoop each time. Then we added our potting soil and planted our little succulents. Ardyn added a special rock, and I added the mushroom. We put the lid on and Ardyn was THRILLED. Ardyn helped add some water, and voila! Earth Day Terrarium. Click the pics to view larger, and then click on them again to zoom to full size :)

Review: Del Monte Ready-to-Blend Fruit Smoothies

Today we tried something new. When getting groceries, we saw the Del Monte Ready-to-Blend Fruit Smoothies. There were several flavors (they make four: Mango Pineapple, Pomegranate Peach Pear, Lite Strawberry Peach, and Strawberry Peach.) We bought three of the four to try (not the lite strawberry peach) and the price really wasn't TOO bad. My friend Sarah A. had told me before that she LOVES the ones that you can buy in the frozen section (can't remember the brand... ocean spray perhaps?) and when I looked at them, I couldn't bring myself to buy them (almost $4 each) but these Del Monte cups are like $2.90 (and that was at Sullivan's) and I thought that they looked delicious. Problem was, I got them home, and then realized that I gave away my blender to a friend who's spouse had lap band surgery... And I had really NOT wanted that blender to begin with. I NEVER need a blender, and I hate how much space it takes up to store it. Well, next time I was out, I checked out the Personal Blenders that Hamilton Beach makes, which have a travel lid on top of the blender cup, so you can drink right from the cup. $15- and so I grabbed one with my babysitting money. Good news is, both purchases were worth it and I didn't have to have a giant blender. LOL.

Today when Marek lay down for nap, Ardyn and I switched the laundry, and decided to go back outside to our blanket in the grass. She was thirsty and I was in the mood for something cool and refreshing, so I whipped out the Mango Pineapple Smoothie. It's really simple. You remove the plastic wrapper (which is perforated) and then you have two separate cups... The lower one is larger, and contains your chunk fruit with syrup/juice. The top is smaller, like a fruit cup, and reminds me exactly of the fruit chillers that you can buy in the applesauce aisle, and then freeze. Ardyn loves those, and especially did before she could have ice cream (because of her dairy allergy) You dump both cups into the blender, then you fill the larger bottom cup with ice and add that to the blender. Pulse, an d VOILA! Really neat! It actually makes TWO eight ounce servings.... so what's great is that for the $3.00, you are getting two servings. I thought to myself "this is going to be one of those things where it says two servings but I would normally drink 2-3 servings as one...." but it was really generous. Ardyn and I shared and there was still some leftover. I think that the $3 would easily make enough for Ardyn, Marek, and myself. That's a great price, In my opinion.

Could I buy fruit and make my own perhaps? Sure. Will I? Nope. No time. Better things to do. Fruit might be bad before I get around to it, or I would make one and then not the rest.

So, bottom line, try them out. I have two more flavors in the fridge to test out, and I am sure they are delicious! Visit their website http://www.blendandenjoy.com/ and click "Get Coupons" in the upper right corner.... to get printable coupon that will make it even LESS Expensive to try them out!

I promise I'm trying!

WHY is it so HARD to complete a thought these days? WHY can't anyone take both of my children at once, get them OUT of my house, and allow me to find some sort of order in all this chaos? And even better, why do I have to flee the premises to get any sort of relaxation? What I wouldn't give for an empty, quiet house (with my children and husband safely somewhere else, of course... this isn't a morbid dream!) and to have it be clean so that I could crochet, embroider, read, sew, watch a movie? Any of the above. Even paint my toenails. Seriously? Whew. It's hectic in this place.

I don't understand why no one believes me when I say that my house is a mess. Apparently they have never dropped by (thank god!) and lay eyes upon the horror and clutter that surrounds me everyday. I have recently been locking myself in my bedroom. I have gates on both the doors and I can see the living room, front porch, bathroom, and Ardyn's room all from my perch on the bed. I take my laptop, my calendar, my cell phone, and my house phone and climb up high above it all and watch. I can see the kids play. I can fold laundry. I can watch the weather channel. I make phone calls and appointments, I update my calendar. I edit all the photos I take and put them online and categorize and save them to my hard drive.

The kids beat each other play together and I try to play referee supervisor and loving mother, while still accomplishing a few tasks. I feel insanely guilty, but it's the only way I can get anything DONE. Right now they are playing in the living room, in a "tent" that we made with a large tablecloth and four dining room chairs. I would have just done something over he dining room table, but it's piled so high with crap that I don't even know where to begin! cluttered. It was cute that Marek kept pulling the tablecloth down, except that every time I tried to sit on the bed and accomplish something, I was summoned and pleaded to put the tent back up again. Eventually they gave up on the tent idea and alternately hit each other with a wooden spoon (you think I am joking, but I am not) and so I am off the hook for tent assembly for now.

So, a while back I joined Mary Jane's Farmgirl Group. I am super excited about it, because they award merit badges for the kind of things that I get a kick out of. And these are NOT easy merit badges to earn. I don't mean they would be difficult for someone who doesn't do these types of crafty things on a daily basis... I mean they are so difficult for ME to complete (especially with a huge lack of "alone" time) that I am a little overwhelmed with the thought of it, and in some ways, a little nervous that I will never complete any! For example, they send you your membership badge and (just like all other badges you earn) you need to embroider the design (by hand of course) before you display/wear it. I have been telling myself for over a month that I need to get that started, but first I have to find the darn thing! LOL.

I have been seriously considering submitting some entries for the county fair. I have NEVER done this before in my life. I have considered photography, sewing, embroidery, and other crafts. But I don't even know what the categories are, and where to begin. What does seem to be exciting, is that they have FINALLY put the entry forms online for the categories. Except I don't know what belongs in what category, or what the judging is based on. I am such a novice. I wonder if Ardyn's halloween costume would qualify in Textiles? Would the toddler sized mei-tai fit into textiles? How about the dress and hat that I am going to make for the upcoming MOPS Tea Party? Embroidery is a textile or a hobby? Whew. Lots to learn.

The more I research and read about the fair categories, the more I realize I could enter. Like breads and rolls and pies and cakes. Oh My. But, will I find the time to prepare everything? Stay Tuned! haha!

The kids have moved on from the tent to a large empty cardboard box that they alternately climb in and out of excitedly.

I have been away from blogging so long, I can't even remember where I left off, or what I should say. Marek had his first Birthday. That was so much fun. I can't believe it's been a year already! Just in the last week he has started to consistently (every day) walk without assistance or holding on to anything. He has also started saying more words, instead of just Mamma and Daddy, he said shoe, sad, hat, honk honk, and his own version of "What's that?"

He is almost 20 pounds and his hair is starting to redden up. Tuesday I witnessed him take Ardyn to the ground when she took a toy from her. He wrapped his arms around her neck and took her down, and then she couldn't get away because he had her hair. I, of course laughed frowned from afar, and let them resolve it themselves. It was quite eye opening for Ardyn.

We had his party at a local community center, and it went really well. The next week was his birthday, and I took pics of him, and also did a cake smash with him. Then came Easter. We had already visited the bunny at the mall and had our fabulous photo op, and so the kids were ready. Ardyn and I started the weekend by attending the Community Easter Egg Hunt, where Ardyn was chosen to have her picture taken for the newspaper. Marek stayed at our house with Grandma Susan, because he was still battling croup and it was breezy and cool outside. They watched Grandpa Bob and Evan wrestle our old fridge into the basement.

Sunday morning Ardyn and I went to church. We decided on a church to try out, the Open Prairie United Church of Christ. I was absolutely thrilled with the people there. They were so outgoing and welcoming! As soon as we arrived people began to introduce themselves. It was so refreshing and unlike my past church. The environment was very open and relaxed, and worship itself was very laid back and fun. Ardyn had a hard time (a VERY hard time) sitting still, but for the most part, people were more entertained by her than upset. She went down the rows and asked people to stand up and follow her, this in the middle of the sermon. Eventually she had to leave and go to the Sunday school room, and another parishioner who is a retired schoolteacher offered to stay with her so that I could attend the sermon. That was great, except I missed the first 10 minutes or so, which left me a little confused and unable to really drive home the point of the sermon. Maybe Next Time? I am thinking that at the next service I will take Marek instead and just see what happens. I just know that I can't keep them both in church by myself... I am not into punishing myself. LOL.

I signed up to bring Chili for their upcoming Potato Bar. Theirs seems to be a community that I would like to be a bigger part of. Time will tell. The main worry that I have is the lack of programs and activities for children as young as mine. It's not a huge deal, but many other churches in the same community are larger, and able to provide a nursery environment for the kids while their parents are attending the service. We never had that at the church I grew up in, but there was a windowed narthex where the sermon and service were piped overhead via speakers.... so the parents that had to leave could at least still see and hear what was going on. With kids so young, I worry that I won't be able to enjoy the service much because I will always be chasing or hushing them. Although, I think that Ardyn could handle almost every part of the service with the exception of the sermon. The children's sermon was a favorite of hers because they brought in LIVE chicks that had just hatched the prior day, and she got to hold them. She was SO excited about that! That's about as "new life" of a message as you can give a 2 year old!

Our MOPS group has been in full swing. I am sad that when summer comes we won't have meetings anymore, but in their place will be weekly playdates at the park, which to me signify my one year mark with MOPS, as that is how I first became part of the group. That is also hard to believe! I do love our park playdates! This reminds me that I need to turn in my remaining Casey's Pizza Cards to Katie. I really wish I could have sold more!

I just ran into the kitchen to mix up a batch of brownies and put them in the oven. Once the kids saw me emerge it's like they REMEMBERED that I am here. Now they NEED me. Poor children. Poor poor neglected children. Time to call Evan and see about supper plans, we have porkchops that need grilled :)

Long Lost Love

Dearest Blog,

I miss you. I promise we will be together again, someday soon. Wait for me!

Love,
Meagan

P.S. It's not you, it's me. Ardyn had croup and then walking pneumonia with a blistering ear infection, which we cleared up just in time for Marek's Birthday party. Then the day after Marek's birthday, he came down with Croup and I have been sleeping upright while holding him for the past two nights, and napping with him at brief intervals each day. Tonight we finally went to the ER for what we hoped would be a steroid shot and a breathing treatment, but instead were given an antibiotic. So now he is on oral steroids, ibuprofen, and amoxicillan. Hopefully he does better tonight because I could really use some uninterrupted sleep, or at least more than 6 hours of sleep ;) That is why I must go to bed instead of blogging now, because It's already nearing 1:30 am and I stayed up late to wash diapers because I am so far behind that we can't walk through the house without tripping, we have used every diaper in the house, and there is not an inch of counterspace or clean towels in the place. Forgive me, dear Blog....

My Review of Vigoss ® Low Rise Jeans

Originally submitted at Maurices

An exciting and relaxed pair of jeans. This low rise pair by Vigoss ® features some great fading around the knees and thighs that contrast nicely with the dark wash. And, of course, check out the great embossing detail on the back pockets. You won't be able to see it when they're on, but ot...

Vigoss ® Low Rise Jeans

I get SO MANY compliments on these jeans

By dazed from Illinois on 3/28/2010

 

5out of 5

Waist: Feels true to size

Inseam: Feels true to length

Pros: Stylish, Slimming, Comfortable, Holds Shape, Flattering Fit

Best Uses: Night Out, Casual Wear

Describe Yourself: Eclectic, Casual, Bargain Shopper

These jeans are AWESOME. They are my favorite pair by far, even over all my silver jeans. I can't believe how awesome they fit, how comfy they are, AND how many compliments I get! I have people always asking me where I got them, what brand they are, etc. I am a Stay at home Mom to two toddlers (1 and 2.5 years old) and my clothes have to LAST and be comfy. I really want something that is fashionable though! When I took the kids to the pediatrician in these jeans the NURSES said they were checking me out and they wanted to know where I got them. Would buy again. Wish this pocket style was available in more color choices!

(legalese)

Random Thoughts

I fully intended my next blog post (this one!) to include pics of the dresser project, and pics of what else I have been sewing, and pics of organizing toys, but here I sit with my laptop not attached to my hard drive, (external hard drive where I store all my files/pics) and so I really really REALLY don't want to leave this cushy spot and blog from that hard chair at the desk.... so those things might have to wait.

The kids are down for a little "quiet time" - which is code for "If I don't say the word nap you won't have a hysterical meltdown and if I let you snuggle in your freshly made pajamas in your warm bed while watching some little Einstiens, you might just happen to fall asleep on your own and I can have a few moments of peace to gather my thoughts and make supper." So far, so good. Of course Marek just nursed and went right to sleep. I normally wouldn't be to thrilled with this late of a nap (it's almost 5:30pm and my kids usually nap anywhere from 2:30-3:30pm) but we have had a busy day and I know that they are both just so sleepy, and would be evil children by bedtime... so a little snooze won't hurt them (or me.)

We got up and got dressed and ate our breakfast (our current favorite is multigrain cheerios with sliced bananas and milk) and then we met our neighbors Elizabeth, Kelsea, and Jadeyn for a nice long walk (2.5 miles we believe) around town, and some time at the thawed out playground (slides and swings and merry-go-rounds! yay!) which was really awesome and it felt so good to breathe in all that fresh air. I can feel some activity has done me good mentally and my arms and legs too! The kids played well and we had a minimal amount of meltdowns and we only had to make yellow snow once (why oh why couldn't the park bathrooms be unlocked?!) so it was a pretty successful morning. We came home to lunch (soup for mom, spaghettios with meatballs for kids, which was a treat!) and then we played. And played. And played. And I made Ardyn another pajama dress (pics later, I promise. I have three more that I have made that you haven't seen yet :) and then Grandma Deb stopped by for a nice little visit between haircut and chiro. appointments.

The kids wanted a snack so we had apple slices and milk, and Ardyn requested cheetos so I gave her a little handful of those too. She was on cloud 9. Now they are resting peacefully, the dog is on the couch, and I have snuggled in my own bed to blog and perhaps watch some TV. I could be folding diapers, but the house is all picked up and the dishes are all done, so really it's not rocket science that mommy deserves a break. right?

Last night was a great MOPS meeting (aren't they ALL!?) where we had Breakfast for supper. We also had some really cute craft ideas and kids' songs and poems from Joyce, who provides us with a little monthly "newsletter" of preschool ideas (she is the teacher for the church's preschool, which we just registered Ardyn for next year. I am SUPER excited about it!)

Our group is a rapidly growing group of awesome women, and it is crazy because sometimes we don't get a chance to talk to everyone, and it can be like "Oh man, I saw you, but we didn't get time to talk!" After the meeting, I ran to Wal-mart because I had some pajamas that I needed to exchange. For years (and I mean years) if I see something I like and it's the end of the season, I buy the item to ensure that I get the size I want for the next year, and then keep the receipt and keep the tags/packaging on, and if they go on clearance, you can go back and present the receipt and the items and get the price difference. Most people don't even know you can do that apparently (I thought that was common knowledge) but it turns out that this year they have started to change their policies. You CAN return them, but the only way you can get the actual price difference is if the price is put on ROLLBACK and not on CLEARANCE. However if your items are in the correct time frame (which of course mine are) with receipt, you CAN return them and then use the money to buy the clearance items (it's really the same thing) EXCEPT some people won't let you buy the ones that you just returned. Although, last night, that turned out to work in my favor.

Because they wouldn't give me the price difference, they told me that I could return them and then go into the store and buy the ones that WERE on clearance... no problem. What I had were kids' pajamas. Ever since having kids, I have bought Gerber 2-packs of sleepers. They were $9.50 this year, but at the end of the season, they go on clearance pretty cheap. So I have never bought them at the beginning of the year... I always but the kids' clothes on clearance for the next year. While this can be a bit difficult when they are smaller, once they hit toddler sizes, they don't grow as quickly, and so it can be a great great great way to save money. It really is helpful, but Evan hates all the totes of kids clothes that we have in the attic. And now not only do we have girl clothes, but we have BOY clothes, so double what we have packed up there. I generally have Marek clothed until 2T, and have some things for 3T-5T for him as well. I have Ardyn clothed to 4T, with some bigger things here and there. Especially like finding snowpants and coats for like $2 at garage sales, I buy those in advance and just have a list that I keep of what I have and need for future sizes. I am also getting fairly good at estimating shoe sizes for the next year, although that can bite you in the ass here and there as some shoes are pretty seasonal :) But you can't go wrong with cheap tennis shoes, because we always have a good pair and at least one or two "play" tennis shoes in case they get dirty or are in the wash. And you can always use staples like black mary janes.

Anyway, I digress. When I went to go through the clearance PJ's on the shelves, there were a TON. One of the employees mentioned to me that they were going on clearance even more (they were marked at $5 for a two pack) and that they were supposed to be $3, but they had so many price markdowns to do that they hadn't gotten to them yet. So they marked down all the ones that I had in the cart to $3 a two pack. So I had purchased (previously) 4 pair of pj's for each kid for the next winter. That was 4- two packs at $9.50 each, totaling $40 and some odd change after tax. When I returned them, they put $40 on a gift card, so I was able to get 24 pair of pajamas for the same price! Whoot! I got enough for both kids to wear from now until they are in 5T. Gerber jammies run a bit small (especially over cloth diapers stuffed for overnights) so my kids are always sized up. So you should have SEEN my excitement to walk up to the checkout with a whole cart full of PJ's! Yay!

I am also happy because I know that they are starting to change the way they accept returns and they won't refund you easily, so I don't have to do this with PJ's anymore, since I have them covered up to 5T.

But, for example, this spring I will bring down Ardyn's 3T tote from the attic and there will be all sorts of clothes ready to wear, some from garage sales, and some from clearance aisles.... and I will go through and take off the tags and wash them and fill her closet. Right now I am getting ready to pull each kids' tote down and see what type of staples I might still be needing. I am guessing a few pair of short PJ sets for Marek and maybe some solid color T's for each kid. Otherwise, I should be good. I already got them each 4 pair of CROCS on eBay, Marek's were dirt cheap.... I got 4 pair for 99 cents plus shipping. Ardyn's cost a bit more because they were authentic crocs, but they are lightweight and I love crocs in the summer. LOVE them. So really we are just ready to get this time changed and the weather nice!

Last night when I got home I worked on my calendar for the upcoming month. Things are getting busy! We are getting a couple of estimates for a new furnace, EVERYONE in the family has a Doctor's appointment this month, We have the Hearts at Home Conference, we are taking Ardyn to the children's Museum, We are hosting a St Patty's Day Playdate, we are attending two other playdates, I have MOPS again, a MOPS Game night, my monthly Bunco group, The MOPS Pottery Night for moms, Two scrapbooking nights, and we need to go see the Easter Bunny and bake a cake and decorate for Marek's birthday party this month too! We have a birthday party for a friend to attend... and so the calendar is filling up FAST.

I can't believe that Marek is almost 1. It's unbelievable. It's heart wrenching in a lot of ways, this year has gone SO fast, and although I want to have more kids, I often think that there are sometimes circumstances that prevent that, and what IF this is my last baby? That just breaks my heart and I just want to hug him and squeeze him and keep him little forever. Especially when I see that he's gonna just keep getting older and bigger like Ardyn. *tear*

I bought him a few pair of shorts and t-shirts that I will wrap up for his birthday, otherwise I am hoping that people will know that we are already blessed with a zillion toys, and hopefully will get him something inexpensive to open (like an outside toy... bubbles, sandbox or pool toys perhaps) and then maybe some cash or Wal-Mart gift cards so we can get his Graco Nautilus car seat, which will carry him through many years! He might perhaps need some tennis shoes, like size 4's.... since he is just now starting to wear his size 3 New Balance shoes... otherwise he really does have all the clothes he needs for the summer! We bought him a swim trunk/flip flop/rash guard shirt on clearance at Old Navy last year, and I have a ton of clothes.... so should be good to go!

I do wonder if we will have a cozy coupe fight all summer, since we have one cozy coupe and one "other" car... and Ardyn is so attached to the cozy coupe as HER car.... It might be war! We would like to get a pool (like the turtle) with a cover over it, so that we can just leave it filled and keep the water warm and bug free. Those inflatable pools really annoy me, you can't cover them (bugs! leaves!) and you have to blow them up and deflate them, and it drives me bonkers. I just want one that we can fill and leave covered, and dump every once in a while. Seriously, I think it's probably good practice to dump it after use, and then fill it right back up and cover it so that the next time you want to use it, the water is warm. I just feel horrible sticking a baby into a freezing cold pool with water from the hose.

I can't wait for the kids to play in the sandbox, and I wonder how much sand Marek is going to eat? It will be interesting!

Quick and Funky Pillowcase (you have to see it to believe it!!)

Firstly, let me clarify that this is not my idea, was never my idea, and I have no idea what the "technical" name for it is. Someone showed it to me, another person told me it's been around for about 8 years, and I am just doing a photo tutorial because the directions I had been given were without "photos" and at one point told you to have both fabrics facing down, which made no sense to me, but since they were the DIRECTIONS I went ahead and listened against my gut instinct, and of course it came out wrong. Then I did what I "thought" was right and it came out perfectly! So I decided that although there might be a photo tutorial out there somewhere... I would just do one and spread the happiness that is a quick and funky pillowcase. Funky because even as you look at these pictures, you won't believe it. But if you do it, it will work- Trust me!

Here we go!
You need: 3/4 yard fabric (44" wide is best) for the "main body" of the pillowcase (mine is the unicorn print) - 1/4 yard for the fabric band at the edge (opening) of the pillowcase (mine is the yellow with multi-colored dots) - 1/8 yard accent fabric (this is the green strip in mine, and really is an optional and decorative piece.

Lay the 1/4 yard for the edge of pillowcase face up. (see photo below) This piece should measure roughly 9" x 44" long. Cut the accent piece (the 1/8 yard piece) to measure 1.5" x 44"- then fold it in half lengthwise with the WRONG SIDES TOGETHER (pattern facing out) and iron it. It will now measure 3/4" x 44".

Now, take the accent piece, and lay it on TOP of the 1/4 yard piece. make sure that the two raw edges of the accent piece are matched up with the raw edge of one side of the edge (polka dot) piece, and that the fold of the accent piece is facing "down" or towards you, as in my photo below. Now is a good time to baste these pieces together. This isn't a must, but it makes the next steps much easier, because this piece can easily shift and mess the whole plan up. So just trust me and go baste this together.



Okay, now that you have basted those together, lay that edge and accent piece together on the table again, with the accent piece facing up. The right sides of both fabrics should be showing and the basted edge should be facing up and away from you. Now lay the MAIN fabric piece (my unicorns) face down on top of the accent pieces. It's hard to tell from my pic, but mine is face down. Here you are going to match the raw edge of the main pillowcase body to the raw edges of your opening and accent pieces that you just basted. Here is a photo, and I have turned the corner back so you can see the right sides together (just for further clarification)



Okay, here is where it gets crazy and you are going to start to think I am nuts. Trust me. Take the bottom of the main fabric (right in front of your stomach if you are standing like I am taking the pics) and you start to ROLL it up. JUST the main fabric gets rolled/folded. Just start rolling. (see my pic) when you get to the point where you see the edge piece (my polka dots)you stop, and roll just one more time. Then your fabric should look JUST LIKE MINE below.

Let's get REALLY crazy. Now take that piece of fabric on the bottom (my polka dot piece) that just started to show as you were rolling, and fold it up OVER your entire roll of main fabric. (nuts, right?) and then carefully match ALL the raw edges and pin them together. You should have a sandwich of the pieces that were basted together, and then the raw edge of the main fabric (which was facedown) and the raw edge of the fabric (my polka dot) that peeked through under your roll and you just folded up. Now, once that is all pinned, you just need to be careful that you DON'T have any of the "roll" in the pinned area, and then you just run to your machine (this is a great time for a serger!!!) and sew a 1/4" seam along these raw, pinned edges. So you have this tube, with the roll inside, sewn on one edge, and the fabric is WRONG SIDES OUT. Some, pillowcase, eh?




Okay, now turn the tube right side out. You will suddenly have an "aha!" moment (most of us will!) and then you PRESS the pillowcase edge (my polka dot fabric) and you have this beautiful edge, with an accent piece, all lovely looking!


Okay, at this point I stopped following directions, because I was so excited that I just slapped it right sides together and serged each open edge and voila- pillowcase.

But if you are more patient, or don't have a serger, these are the official directions (not my wording) to finish the pillowcase....

Trim Pillowcase to measure approximately 42 x 30.5 inches (Mine did not measure this, but I think that the lady at the fabric store might have been drunk and cut my fabric crooked so I didn't have quite what I was supposed to when I started)

Fold WRONG SIDES TOGETHER of pillowcase (this seems wrong to me, but I am just giving you the directions) and stitch a scant 1/4" seam along the long edge only.

Turn the pillowcase wrong side out and press seam. Now sew a generous 1/4" seam along the long edge (encasing the scant 1/4" seam) and along the bottom of the pillowcase. Zig Zag the raw edge of the bottom of the pillowcase. Turn, press, and enjoy!

Sewing and Baking and Napping... oh my!

Those of you who are on facebook probably know what I have been up to, but since this blog has been around longer than facebook, I will just do my usual thing and sorry if you feel you're getting spammed, you know that you don't HAVE to read. LOL. For those of you who are my facebook friends, you may not be aware that when you see this as a "note" on facebook, it's simply being imported from my blog, Adventures in Everyday Life, and posted on facebook as a "note" because that's how facebook imports blogs. My blog address is www.adventuresineverydaylife.com and you can certainly feel free to visit there and see everything. I have been blogging since December 3rd, 2004- so over 5 years and about 1500 posts. I did very well writing on a daily basis, up until about the point I had kids. Then all hell broke loose.

So, what have we been up to lately? I could write all night. Let's see if I can hit a few high points and make some progress. Forgive me if I repeat myself.

I recently decided to grow my own sprouts. A recent article in Mary Jane's Farm magazine reminded me of the days when we used to grow sprouts at home, in mason jars with rubber bands and cheese cloth as strainers. I have always loved sprouts, especially on sandwiches and salads, and then there was the whole "sprout scare" that wasn't nearly as much of a "scare" as it was made out to be. I still bought sprouts, but they are so expensive, and really you can most trust freshness and quality when you grow them at home. I had kinda forgotten about it, and then this article talked about how Mary Jane recycles plastic vegetable cartons (think berries and strawberries from the store) to make portable and giftable sprouting trays. I just happened to have a stack of them around, and so I was intrigued. She recommended sproutpeople.com for organic and wonderful quality seeds and supplies, and I thought I would start some online research. When I stopped by sproutpeople.com, I was absolutely blown away by their selection, and their up front honesty and information about various mixes and supplies. I ordered a kid's sprouting kit, which was inexpensive and came with a really cute magnifying glass and a nice starter assortments of seeds, as well as a cool sprouter with two clear stackable trays, so you could really SEE the sprouts' progress. I decided that after my first batch, I would try to involve Ardyn and eventually Marek in the process. Ardyn is really starting to be a salad fan, and I know from experience that she is more likely to eat something that she has helped grow and/or prepare. After helping me chop veggies, she really did start eating them more frequently.

I also bought a Mother's Mix of seeds that includes delicious favorites that are high in folic acid and other nutrients, and also has fenugreek to support a healthy milk supply. (yay! how cool is THAT?!) And for good measure (and since they were inexpensive and I was already paying for shipping) I bought the assortment of stainless steel mesh lids for mason jars, so I could sprout the old fashioned way if I wanted to. They say that mason jars require more work to rinse, and I don't think the air circulation is as great in the jars, but at the same time, they are easier to shake and dance with for draining and straining than my trays. I don't like how once the sprouts start to "sprout" they start to clump and it's hard to get them separated in the trays. The directions for the sample bean mix told me to put the entire bag of beans into one of the clear trays. that seemed a little excessive to me, and I thought I would probably do better making half of them at a time (they would last me a long time) and I wasn't sure HOW they were possibly going to sprout being so cramped. So I divided the bag in half and put half in each tray. That worked better, but as they sprouted they still took up the whole tray. I think if it were up to me, for better air circulation and drainage, I would put even fewer in the tray at a time. But I was very pleased with the information that was sent with the kit, the directions, educational information on seeds and sprouting, and some really cool recipes and ways to prepare and enjoy each type of mix that I bought. I am so excited to try them. Here are some pics of the kit and my order, and then a pic of the first crop of sprouts from the Beanies Awesome Mix, which I tried first, mostly because they intrigued me (I have a new thing about beans, just ask me sometime!) and the recipe for eating it fried on top of rice or noodles, or making Beanies Awesome Sprouted Bean Burgers has me all excited!

Last week I went on a baking spree. The house was clean on Monday, and I mean SPOTLESS and by the end of the week it was trashed. LOL. I made bread (honey wheat bread is our staple around here, I make our bread from scratch. It's delicious) and then I made cinnamon rolls from scratch for the first time ever. Unfortunately, they didn't go over well. This was mostly because I think the recipe that I got from allrecipe.com wasn't all that. There HAS to be a better recipe. They weren't bad, but they weren't awesome, and I strive for AWESOME. So, if any of you have a great homemade cinnamon roll recipe to share, I am ALL ears and would be eternally grateful! They did LOOK good though!

















































I long for the day when I can cook, bake, and do canning and prep work in a real kitchen. It doesn't have to be huge, but seriously, I am really really struggling here. The counter space I have is pretty much ZERO and there is no table or place to cool pies, cakes, cookies, or breads, not to mention to actually roll out cookies or anything like that. I have to go out to the dining room to do that, which means that the table has to be clear, remain clear, and that I have to keep the kids off it, as well as then having the issue of where to FEED them when I am working on the table. We don't have enough cupboard space, let alone SPACE period, and my oven was $25 at an auction 10 years ago... and I bought it from a little old lady going to a nursing home... who KNOWS how long she had it. I have recently noticed that burners aren't as hot as they used to be, and the oven itself isn't wonderful. I can only imagine what I could do with a new oven and some counterspace. Here is an example of what my kitchen looks like after I bake bread and cinnamon rolls. It was spotless, and then, in less than 2 hours, it looks like this....

That little "L" of counter space is all I have, and half of that is the sink and the dish drainer.Add two kids clinging to your legs, laying on the floor, and or "helping" and it gets pretty hairy at times. I am very glad that when we got married I used money I received from my bridal showers to buy my hutch and pantry for the kitchen. Without them, I would be a crazy woman.

After I got the baking out of my system, I moved on to laundry and sewing. Actually I was doing laundry the week before too. It never ends. But this week I can't even begin to tell you how many loads of laundry I have done. TODAY alone I have folded 2 loads of diapers and a load of whites from earlier in the week, AND washed six loads, two of which have already been folded. the dryer isn't having an easy time keeping up with the washer (you know how THAT goes) so I have a two loads waiting for the dryer and one drying right now. Oh wait, I actually did seven loads, because I washed more FABRIC (yeah!) I started the sewing bug by cleaning the porch. It badly needed it. I reorganized the kids' play area and once that was done, I set in to find my sewing table again. Here are a few pics of the kids' area of the porch, all cleaned up. We had gotten a new play mat that has roads and such all over it, and so I put that down and they loved driving the people all over it in their cars, and putting the animals in the zoo, etc. I put the tree play tent away for a while.

After I got the porch cleaned, and my sewing table found, Marek found a new love for Ardyn's trampoline. It is like his new "throne." Tuesday afternoon he took his nap on the trampoline, and he also spent every waking moment he could either sitting on it, laying on it, or investigating it.

Wednesday he took TWO naps on it (yes seriously, both naps on the trampoline) and he LOVED sitting on it. He took his sippy cup, his blankie, and his pacifier up on it, and just hung out there. He only moved to eat and get his diaper changed. Really. Today he again hung out on the trampoline, and took his telephone up there with him. He has recently started saying "hi" and also putting phones up to his ears. He says Mamma much more frequently and *usually* on demand, and yesterday he took his first unassisted steps, hands free, towards Daddy. Exciting!

In fact, yesterday BOTH kids slept on the porch for their later naps, while I sewed. It was sweet and peaceful.

Tuesday I made lots of baby legs, which are great because BOTH kids still fit the homemade ones. In fact today Ardyn had a mismatched pair on her arms. LOL. She's just a little fashionista.

Then I moved on to Pajama Dresses. Ardyn is ADDICTED to pajama dresses. She had one last summer and she asked to wear it EVERY Night. It was a horrible dramatic situation whenever it was dirty. I found a winter one with fleece and long sleeves at a resale shop, and bought that for the winter. She had only one all winter, and would sometimes get so upset when it was dirty that she would remind me during the day to wash it so she could wear it that night. Sometimes she refused to take it off all day, hoping to keep it in sight so she could sleep in it again. I bought a pattern that was pretty inexpensive through an online mamma co-op and had plans to make some myself. I finally got around to it! I had already traced the pattern onto tracing paper and cut the pattern out, and the fabric was prepped... I made her a Scooby Doo pair and then a Dora pair, and she is so thrilled with them she wore both of them all day the past two days and at night too. I made them shorter and sleeveless, like tank top dresses, so that they would last all summer. She was so happy that I went out and got more fleece at 50% off at Joann's last night so I can now make her 4 more pair. I shouldn't have to buy her any summer jammies, and making my own is SO much less expensive. It costs me less to make my own than it does to buy them at the resale shop! If I get the fabric at 50% off, it's like $3 a yard, and it doesn't even take a full yard to make a pair. Of course most people would say that the fabric isn't flame resistant and therefore isn't approved for children's sleepwear, but I HATE that flame resistant fabric. I hate how fast it wears and gets pilly and then it sticks to itself in the dryer, and honestly, I am not keen on the idea of putting chemical laden flame retardant fabrics on my little ones. Lots of people don't even have their kids WEAR pajamas to bed... and used pajamas have likely been washed enough to loose their retardant status. At least homemade and used ones make me feel more comfortable. Here's a little reading if you want to be a little freaked out.

The pattern calls for lace at the neck and arms, so I robbed a bit of green lace from an old chemise-style pajama that I had in my "recycle" bin. It was nice and soft from years of use and washing and I thought it might be tolerable around the neckline. It also makes me happy to reuse pretty things :)

Just to help me keep my sanity, I altered the pattern to use a polyacetal snap instead of a buttoned up back, and added a size tag so that in the future (more daughters?) I am not racking my brain to determine what size this or that actually is :)

And then since the kids were sleeping peacefully on the porch while I sewed, I went ahead and made myself a skirt from a Lila Tueller pattern I had bought (I even had the fabric and charm packs all ready to dive into) and it turned out ADORABLE although it was alot of piecing and a LOT of gathering. Thank god for my Serger!

Okay, I will end this post here! Stay tuned to the next post, which if I remember, whill include info on the great toy organization of 2010, and also some pics of what I am up to sewing next! OOOH and the dresser project! I have pics of that too! Just wait till you see what we're up to!

XOXO, Thanks for reading!
Meagan