Stuck on a Plane for 4 hours, with no Air Conditioning? I don't think so.

I have decided that no laundry is worth wading through the basement to do tonight. Did I mention we had a storm? Oh yeah. I know it wasn't like a Katrina type storm with Katrina type flooding, but all the same, it was not pretty. 3 inches in 35 minutes. The lights were surging and flickering and we ended up turning things off to protect them. I was baking Chocolate Chip cookies for tomorrow's playdate and I was in the kitchen. I said to Evan "It's raining SO HARD that it actually sounds like it's raining ON the back porch" (Which is right off the kitchen.) I opened the door to the porch to peek out and OMG it WAS Raining on the back porch. Through the ceiling. Yep. We've been here 10 years and the ceiling on the back porch had never so much as dripped, and it was POURING through the beadboard like you wouldn't believe. (That roof is flat and it is an addition, and it will be peaked this summer/fall I believe. What a mess!)

The basement was taking on water, quickly than I think we have ever had, and it was seeping through the floor and the foundation, so quickly that it was actually AUDIBLE and the water was running down the floor drains within minutes.

The front yard was completely standing water, and it was just unbelievable. This weather, I tell you what... is something else. It scares me because I just keep thinking that "the end is near" and by the end I mean like we screwed up and ruined the earth with all our disposable products and smog and now global warming is increasing so quickly that the effects are irreversible and the weather is measurably worse and more unpredictable and violent each season. Soon I see no fall and spring. Soon I see Drought or Flooding or Ice Age. It makes me panic, so as soon as I explain how much I hate talking or thinking about doomsday, I will change the subject. And don't tell me that God will save me. I believe that, but the actual "dying" part will still suck, and it would still break my heart into a thousand pieces if I had to see the world end. Especially now that I have children to protect. (drama!)

So. Not doing laundry. Another reason to not do laundry? Mine is all clean :) Diapers are all clean. Towels are clean. And then there's that little fact that I have THREE LOADS of laundry to fold and put away right now, and they slept with me on my bed last night, and stared at me all day today, and I am going to HAVE to take care of them tonight. Plus there is another one in the dryer that I need to get to, so as soon as I find my waders and my headlamp, I will head down there with my laundry basket in a life raft and swim it up the stairs. (drama!) Since my bed is full of laundry, I am blogging on the floor of my bedroom. The weather channel is on and cycling through it's "local on the 8's" and I am really going to have to get motivated soon.

Tomorrow is a VERY Busy day. I have cleaning people coming (yes, I have them. yes I know I don't have a full time job outside of the home. yes, I know you hate me for that. Get over it, that's a whole different blog post.) and so I have to have everything picked up, which everyone knows is the greatest challenge with two lil kids running around. The weather may be unpredictable, but you can be sure that there are two tornadoes in this house every day! (double drama!) I did get Marek's bedroom cleaned and reorganized, which was a MAJOR ordeal because it involved re-arranging. That was so major because that room has a bit of an odd layout (it's completely square) but there is no closet so there is a big armoire in there, and then there's the whole "Two windows and one door" issue, so it has limited places where the crib can go. I re-arranged it like FIVE TIMES (no exxageration) before I decided, fuck it, I am going to put Marek in a toddler bed. Yep. Just like that. I was home during the weekday with the kids, and I took the whole crib apart BY MYSELF and then carried it to the 120 degree attic BY MYSELF and then carried the toddler bed down from the 120 degree attic BY MYSELF and got everything arranged. I went through the entire cube unit and all of Marek's dressers, changing table, and armoire drawers. I sorted through diapers and covers and wool. I packed away crib bedding, bumpers, receiving and baby blankets, burp rags and bibs, bottles... you name it. I organized all the clothes into categories in the armoire. I organized shoes, packing away too small ones and sorting bigger sizes into clear drawers with labels. the entire cube unit was converted from diapers to TOYS so that there was a place for his books and his bigger trucks. He really really really loves trucks. He really loves Usborne's books about Trucks. He is also really into the Shake n Go Racers. My sister got him two for Christmas, and my mom got Marek and Ardyn one Diego Shake n Go for Christmas too. Then last night Liz dropped off a #88 car that isn't a shake and go but is very similar. he loves them. He is really getting into "shaking" them himself now, and I have been stalking eBay auctions for a used Shake n Go track for him in the future. After all this sorting and reorganizing, I had to get three more totes to pack stuff in before we take it to the attic- too bad two of those totes were used in an emergency to catch water in the back porch. Ugh.

So anyway, it took me all day on Tuesday and a good portion of today to get his room all straightened around. It has been gone through with a fine tooth comb, so that makes me happy. Ardyn's closet needs some attention next. Lots of outgrown shoes and jeans to pack up for her. If anyone has some 3T girls jeans they want to part with, let me know. I have one pair for her, and would like another two pair before fall. I like those with the waists that adjust inside with the elastic and buttons (Old Navy, Osh Kosk, Etc.)

I also have this dilema of dust jackets. LOTS of my kids' books are hardbacks with dust jackets. Um. Why do kids' books need dust jackets. I dunno. I take them all of before I give them the books. SO I have this stack of them that I keep moving and shuffling around.... should I just throw them out? I guess I was just going to keep them, but today that suddenly seemed stupid. Thoughts? WWYD?

Today we brought the pink pony down for Marek to try out before bed. It had been in the attic since Ardyn outgrew it, and he LOVES it. Especially all the noises it makes. It plays Camptown Races too, which I just love.

I just heard on the news that an airline had issues with a plane that had no Air Conditioning and passengers sat on the plane for FOUR HOURS while temperatures inside the plane climbed to over 100 degrees. The six hour flight became a 12 hour flight. Oh HELL no. I am all about security and safety, but this crap with keeping people on planes for hours is getting RIDICULOUS. There has GOT to be something to do! If you want to prevent violence, then don't leave people on planes while you try to pull your head out of your ass and figure out what is wrong?! Jeez! Am I completely crazy? Can you imagine if you had your children on that plane for 4 extra hours? What if you were pregnant? Or elderly? Or just plain NORMAL?! That's ridiculous. Uncalled for, and in lots of cases, I would classify that as being held against my will.

Well, I seriously should get going. Although I did want to say that Marek's jump to a toddler bed went well, and he has been sleeping great. Longest naptimes he has had in about two weeks, and slept for 13 hours last night no problem.

Happy Moments of the day:
Ardyn washing Marek's face for him in rhe barhtub. Marek pushing Ardyn in doll stroller. Marek climbing up to kiss Ardyn goodnight. My storm photos being featured on WQAD News channel 8.

Happy moments over the weekend:
Ardyn and Marek going down slide at park together (at once). Family Teeter-totter time on Father's Day. Watching Grandpa Dave give the kids a "shave" with his cell phone. watching Grandma Deb give Marek a walk on Roxy's leash. Eating Lunch with grandpa Bob and Grandma Susan.

You know it's been a good day when you never once wore a bra, and you only wore pants from 7pm to 3am.

Review: Sprightly Soaker Pattern by Little Comet Tails

Today I finally got out my Sprightly Soaker Pattern. I absolutely LOVE Little Comet Tails Patterns, for their fit, their ease of sewing, the fact that the pattern is actually PAPER instead of the tissue/pattern paper crap that I always tear (especially when I use it alot with pins!) and because every one I have used has fit my kids (both of them- and they are built SO differently!) exceptionally well. The mamma that runs the show over there is also very nice, and I have purchased home sew labels from her, which I can attach to the items that I sew for my kids, and add size tags also. This eliminates a lot of guesswork as to which ones are which, and whose are whose, and it's important when you have more than one in diapers.

I have made both the Little Comet Tails Stellar Transitions Trainers, and the Little Comet Tails Crescent Moon Yoga Pants (although I don't do the crescent bum, but the standard pants variation) The ONLY downside I have found to any of the patterns, is that I personally MUST have an internal soaker in the wetzone for any covers I have out of fleece, and the pattern does not include a cutout or suggestion for a soaker. However, with a little creativity and common sense, it's quite simple to fashion something. (for me that is) and I think that if you have sewing ability or experience, you could get along easy enough.

For the pants, I have also converted them to board shorties and also added leg bands for contrast (my own design) and I add an internal pant soaker that is sewn in just at the waistband and allows for extra protection to prevent compression wicking (sitting on grandma's lap, buckled in the carseat or stroller) and also makes them suitable for naptime and nighttime over a good fitted.

For the Sprightly soaker, I cut out a soaker that is in the traditional curved hourglass shape, and used a stretch zig-zag stitch to attach it permanently to the wet-zone of the soaker body BEFORE sewing anything else. These steps are so easy that I have to say it would be a simple and amazing addition to her regular Little Comet Tails Patterns.

When I bought the sprightly soaker, I have to admit I was wary. I have made soakers in the past, and to be quite honest, I really suck at them. For some reason, the leg bands give me LOTS of problems. In fact, I won't even sew a newborn or small soaker for that exact reason. The legband opening is sooooo tiny that it frustrates me and is difficult to stretch and serge while catching all three layers. I long ago gave up on serging them, and started to just sew them. I was still having issues here and there, and so I pretty much purchased all my soakers after that. I had preferred the fit of a Inspiration Cover, especially those made by Michelle at the Pea Chic Nest. But after Ardyn, I had some Gender Neutral covers left, but usually the kids fit different sizes in opposite seasons, so all those cute boyish longies won't do me a bit of good in the summer. And then, because I loved those covers so much, I kinda left her in a medium for too long and stretched them out, so they don't have their original shape anymore.

Of course, Marek's bum seems just as, if not more sensitive than Ardyn's, so I have him in wool and fleece as often as possible and now most definitely at night time in the summer. Even with the air on... because the kid sleeps for 10-12 hours consistently overnight, and I hate the red raw bum that comes from tooooo long in PUL covers or PUL Pockets.

So when I saw this pattern, and had been delighted in just how well her other patterns have worked for me, I thought "why not?"

And then I didn't get to it. FOREVER. I have have the fleece sitting there and today I was inspired when I saw Natures Fabrics post some new instock interlocks on their facebook page. Why oh Why had I never considered sewing my own interlock covers? Seriously? They cost a fortune! I love babyology covers (but I buy them from Canada to get them cheaper), and I have two for Marek right now for nighttime, but I had never once considered sewing my own interlock. Perhaps that's because I had so many problems getting a good fit with previous soaker patterns (Katrina's Soaker Pattern must be made for someone else's kids, or someone else's DIAPER?!) and I had been so frustrated with leg bands in soakers that I just gave up. Why would I ever consider screwing up a cover made of EXPENSIVE interlock wool fabric if I couldn't even get a cheap fleece one right?

Well, I thought I had better give this another try.

I had a hard time deciding on size. Marek can still wear the board shorties and pants in a size Medium, but with a bulky fitted, I am thinking it would be wiser to get him in a large.... except that he is SO skinny and long, that he might not be able to keep them up. So I traced and cut out a medium, and fashioned a medium hourglass soaker, and got to sewing.

Now, I am not going to lie. The legbands were making me cranky. For a moment, I thought WHY am I DOING this to myself again. But the pattern was pretty cool. The legbands are more narrow than any I have made before (which means you have less room to screw up by serging and re-serging while trying to catch all three layers) But I have to say that it actually worked out well enough that I made an entire soaker on the serger (a new serger makes a whole lot of difference - especially since I went from a $200 Singer "nicknamed Satan" to a $1200 Janome model) with the exception of zig zag stitching the soaker in.

When I finished, I finally saw a soaker that looked like UNDERWEAR! In fact, I could get it (the same Medium fleece soaker) on the 30 pound 2 year old (not in a diaper) and think I will try making her something that might work for her as panties or even as an overnight cover, although I will try a large for her.

I was in awe that a fleece soaker could be so TRIM. It's beautiful and it looks GREAT on the skinny lil man. Now, I did decide that while it fits well over a prefold, it would be a stretch over a goodmama fitted. SO I have decided to upsize to a large for him.... for room to grow and room for bulkier fitteds. He kept smiling when I put it on him.... and walking around all goofy and proud. Too cute. Now I have two more to make for him and try to perfect the soaker legs and be confident that I can sew some out of interlock.... because you just don't want to mess up $25 a yard fabric!

UPDATED: Made a Size Large. The second time around was much better and legs and waistband were even easier. The Large is a little baggier on him, but would fit well over a bulky or heavy wetter fitted, and gives him room to grow without being so large that it falls off. I adore it!

Dinner in 29 minutes or less? Reviewing the Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker

I do want you to know, that despite the fact that I was a Pampered Chef consultant for 3 years, this is a completely un-biased review ;)

At a recent Pampered Chef show I hosted, I got a ton of cool kitchen gear. I can't remember if I shared pics here or just on Facebook, and of course now I can't FIND the pics. But anyway, I digress. I got the Deep Covered Baker, which is a $69 glazed stoneware piece, and I adore it. I also got one of the "29 minutes to dinner" cookbooks (I already had the other one but hadn't made anything out of it yet) and the quick little recipe cards, I think they are Dinner Done with One meaning a one pot recipe. Anyway. The baker was on backorder because it was so popular, and so I received it in mid-May and then while camping over Memorial Day weekend I planned some meals using the recipes that would work in the baker. I got groceries for all the ingredients... and this week I started. We have had three meals in the baker, and so far I have had a great experience. Let's break this down by recipe!

Easy Tortellini Toss- Weekday Dinners, Done! Recipe Card Collection
This recipe calls for simple things like a slice of precooked ham (think the big oval ham slice that has a bone in it, and is wrapped in plastic) frozen cheese tortellini, and fresh spinach. Then you add garlic, flour, butter, milk, parmesan, pepper, and chicken broth to make your "sauce." It's really really quick and awesome tasting. What's great about many of these recipes, is that while the one ingredient (often the meat) is cooking in the baker, you are prepping and combining the other ingredients. Then you often add everything to the baker and cook together for another short amount of time and you have your meal. The tortellini toss was a HUGE hit. I will definitely make it again, although next time, I will probably double it, because it would be nice to have leftovers of, especially for the kids' lunch the next day.

Orange Glazed Sticky Ribs- 29 Minutes to Dinner Volume 2 (cookbook)
This recipe was a completely new experience for me. In the 12 years that we have been together, I have never made Ribs. Ever. I have never made ribs in my life. I had only EATEN ribs for the first time about a year ago. I, as a rule, do not like BBQ sauce, and because all the ribs I have ever seen are BBQ, I have avoided slathered up ribs like the plague. I had an interesting time picking out Baby Back Ribs at the store. I was excited to try. I love how these cookbooks have a neat little blurb on the righthand side of each recipe that tells you a little bit about the ingredients (especially if they might be something you have not used before) and gives you little tips about the recipe in general. I always learn something from them. The tips are titled "Chef's Corner" and this recipe described how to remove the membrane that is under the rack of ribs, which I didn't even know EXISTED. This was the most difficult part of the entire recipe. That and the fact that ribs smell TERRIBLE when raw and when cooking. And remember, you are talking to the girl who spent her college years touring slaughterhouses and packaging facilities, and being surrounded by butchers and fresh hanging meat. I don't understand why the ribs smelled so terrible, but my husband agreed. It was almost bad enough that I couldn't eat them.... almost ;) I rinsed the ribs THREE TIMES with cold water to try to get some of the smell to go away. Ick.

Basically you remove the membrane, separate the ribs, and cook them in the baker. This is the recipe that I ran into trouble with cooking times and meat temperatures. Because my mom is in food service and has a sanitation license, I have learned to be a stickler for how well my meat is cooked, and to check temperatures. Using TWO different quick read thermometers *one by Pampered Chef and one NOT by Pampered Chef* I repeatedly tested the meat's internal temperature while continuing to microwave the ribs. I had to nearly TRIPLE the cooking time that Pampered Chef recommended before I got the internal temperature to 160 degrees. This made me nervous, especially with the smell of the ribs. The last thing I wanted to do was poison us.

The glaze consisted of Orange Zest, honey, apple cider vinegar, spicy brown mustard, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper. The ribs were also coated in cayenne pepper, and I *may* have overdone that part as the ribs were awfully spicy (but certainly DELICIOUS!) My husband ate a ton of them and even the kids ate them. Marek's entire forehead and around his eyes turned red with the heat of the first few bites. When I look back at the recipe, it says to use 1/2 tsp to coat the ribs and I think I missed that part because I just picked up each rib individually and coated it with cayenne. LOL. No wonder they were hot!

The recipe calls for Cole Slaw, but I despise slaw, and the kids don't really eat it either, so I made Fresh Buttered Asparagus (which I also steamed in the baker- YUMMM!) and Angel Hair Pasta. This recipe was a huge hit. The prep was actually lots of fun, because I love recipes with zest and I especially appreciate any excuse to use my Micro Grater. I adore that thing. The coolest was explaining to Ardyn what Zest was. She climbed up on her stool and I described how an orange has a peel and when you rub the orange across the grater, it shaves off the peel and the fine pieces that result are called Zest. She was thrilled.

Overall, a great dish, we WILL make this again, but I was only upset by the tripled cooking time of the ribs. It still only amounted to about 28 minutes of cooking time, but the recipe is supposed to be start to finish in 28 minutes, and I don't know if the problem is that my microwave isn't brand new or what. I also wasn't a huge fan of having to grill the ribs in the grill pan after already cooking and glazing them in the baker... but the result was awesome. To me it was just another dish to dirty, and I was trying to also get side dishes made (since I didn't like the slaw) and so I had Evan come in and do the grill part for me while I proceeded to the sides.

And aren't they pretty?

Glazed Teryaki Meatballs and Noodles- Weekday Dinners- Done! Recipe Card Collection
This was a great recipe. Ardyn's favorite part was rolling meatballs. It was great for her hand eye coordination, and she was so pleased with herself. She counted them as she made them, and was so excited to actually eat them. There were a few things about this recipe that I did not like, and that I will change next time I make it.

For starters, you make your meatballs- egg, bread crumbs, raw ground beef, onion, and Pampered Chef's Asian Seasoning Mix (which I happen to have.) This is all fine, but it takes TWO TABLESPOONS of Asian Seasoning Mix. This is a large amount in my mind, especially considering the price of the seasoning. Evan thought the meatballs were too spicy, and while the kids and I seemed fine with them, I think that next time I could cut that amount almost in half and still be satisfied. The second thing that I wasn't thrilled about was the "prepared teriyaki glaze" in the recipe. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to MAKE that, or BUY that... but I decided that I would just get the bag of stir fry veggies that comes with the frozen pouch of teriyaki. that worked fine. Except I think there wasn't quite enough. I think there was enough in the pouch, but I don't know that it was really enough to coat the noodles and veggies to our taste. The other thing was that I couldn't find veggies with teriyaki glaze unless there were lo mein noodles frozen in with them. I didn't really realize that at first, but when I was making my spaghetti noodles (which were to be substituted for the lo mein noodles that you would traditionally find in a chinese recipe as such) I was disappointed in how sticky they were. They weren't coated with enough teriyaki, and I had to dirty TWO More pans in addition to the Deep Covered Baker in order to boil the noodles and then "fry" the noodles with the garlic and the sauce. So you are looking at FOUR large dishes/stoneware/cookware items that are dirtied, plus your measuring cups, and the food chopper.... I was not thrilled with the "ease" of this part of the recipe. If I were to do it again, I WOULD buy the Lo Mein noodles with the frozen stir fry veggies and the Teriyaki packet. I would then cook the whole thing in the baker (meatballs first, then add the veggies/noodle mix and the glaze) and avoid the spaghetti altogether (both for the mess, the ease of prep, and for the fact that the Lo Mein noodles taste better anyway!) I would ALSO be sure to cook the meatballs thoroughly before adding the veggies to the baker. The recipe calls for cooking the meatballs alone for 5-7 minutes until the outsides are browned, and then to add the veggies and cook the whole thing 4-6 minutes until the meatballs are done to 160. Well, I did 7 minutes, and then another 6 minutes, and although they browned on the outside, after that time the veggies were done, but when I checked the meatballs (especially those on the inside of the baker) they were not even to 100 degrees yet and the insides were still pink. I cooked them for another 12 minutes on high before they were DONE inside and by then the veggies were a little overdone. I don't think that was the best way to do the recipe. Why not make sure the meat is completely finished before adding the veggies? 4 more minutes on cooked meat isn't going to ruin the dish, but having to put the veggies through 12 more minutes of microwaving certainly could ruin them.

So, overall the recipe was delicious but could use some tweaking and again- some longer cooking time for the meat. My microwave is a Kemore, it is about 9 years old, and it does have a turntable. I have never in any other recipes had an issue with cooking times, but have been consistently having issues with the meats in the Pampered Chef recipes that I have been testing out.

The baker was overall a very awesome purchase. I have stressed to my husband that I want to take exceptional care of the baker, being sure that it is hand washed immediately and that it is not dropped or chipped, because not only does it cost $69, but it is now a hostess ONLY item and so therefore I could only replace it if I hosted a new show (or checked eBay!)

I have also had the Rush Hour Chicken Fajitas in the baker, but because I didn't personally make them either time, I can't exactly review the recipe except to say it was easy looking and delicious. :) More to come perhaps, as I have several more to try!

Pictures speak louder than words... but let's do both!

Oh shit. I do have a blog.

Wow. How long's it been? Let's go check.... well, not as long as I thought. I think. he.

What have I been doing? You know, for the life of me I don't even remember. I think it's that lethal combo of child-rearing and laundry and dishes and well, summer in general.

Evan did get the Square Foot Garden (which I will from this point forward refer to as the SFG as it should be) finished and I then got the garden planted THE very next day. If you are not familiar with the SFG method, you should check out "The All New Square Foot Garden" by Mel Batholomew - just get it from your library or the inter-library loan system. That's what I did, and I loved it so instantly and so thoroughly that I used my swagbucks to get a copy sent to myself immediately from Amazon. Wow. It's so SIMPLE yet so complete and revolutionary. It's easy to start, easy to follow, and I am already so excited!

The signs of spring and soon to be summer are all around! I am really enjoying the new D3000 and the lenses, and am getting some cool pictures of the kids and also some nature here and there. We enjoy time at each set of grandparents, and some of these photos were taken on the farms.
Some days we get pretty ambitions and do things like making double batches of delicious crunchy coleslaw (Ardyn loves to crunch up the ramen noodles in the ziploc) and Ardyn also recently painted a birdhouse and helped me to make Recycled Bugs (from Milk Jugs) similar to (better than?!) those featured on the recent cover of Family Fun Magazine. We put them in the SFG, and they are adorable, except after the first rain the googley eyes slid right off, because I guess Tacky glue is not water resistant :( Oh well. Next we will have to repair them with super glue or hot glue. They are too stinkin cute!
We've really had a great time getting together with friends at the park and for playdates at different houses. There have been lots of great moments and funny "caught on camera" moments... lots of swimming and cozy coupes and sidewalk chalk (more eaten than written with!) and it's only mid-June!
I was pretty impressed this past week, we had a rainy day and it cooled off considerably, so we opened up the house and Ardyn and I baked Tollhouse Cookies. I used a modified recipe, decreasing the sugar and increasing the bown sugar... which makes for a moister and chewier cookies. They are DELICIOUS! So awesome in fact that I have practically eaten a dozen a day. Uh-oh! What was great? Watching Ardyn chop walnuts with an antique chopper like the one we used to "help" my mom with. She was SO excited to chop, but even more excited to stir in the chips and walnuts, and scoop the cookies onto the baking sheet. We used the opportunity to discuss how many cookies we would put on the sheet, and she learned what "a dozen" is. What really floored me? When I asked her to count the cookies, she counted to 13 without even flinching. When did she learn 11, 12, and 13? Something on TV I bet... Dora usually doesn't count that high... but Ardyn learned it somewhere! A Baker's Dozen!
Poor Marek. Right before we went camping (another post altogether!) he had this screaming fit that we unexpectedly tracked to a poopy diaper. And this poopy diaper was like no other poopy diaper.... well, except that it was EXACTLY identical to Ardyn's "allergic reaction to dairy" diapers. I was floored. Complete with burning red bottom that was instantly cracked and bleeding, and a rash that still hasn't completely cleared up- and that happened 15 days ago. He had several diapers that would incite immediate murderous screams... and then he officially went from a "once a day" very solid pooper, to a SEVERAL times a day, very loose diaper, red sore bottom pooper. And it hasn't let up yet. It's gone through several phases, but it still isn't right.

This spring and summer he has had a real issue with drinking standing water. Seriously, I knew that it wasn't GOOD but that kid can find water in the most unexpected places, like the plug in the base of the little tykes basketball hoop... the lid to the sandbox, that compartment in the back of the cozy coupe.... It got so bad that as I was running around the yard emptying all the water, he was running around drinking what he could get to behind my back. It was futile, so I started taking pictures. Over a couple of months, I got quite a few. Between shoving every stick, rock, leaf, and clump of dirt in his mouth, and drinking every bit of water he could find... I just figured it was a boy thing and that I was wasting my time trying to prevent it. My mom, however, made it clear that it was dangerous, that he could get salmonella or eColi, and that I should be parenting instead of taking pictures. Ah. Moms. So... when the whole diarrhea started, I worried that he had something... and the nurses at the pediatrician's office confirmed my worries by giving me an order for stool samples (x3) and specimen jars, and I quote "I am positive that he has some type of parasite. You can not drink standing water without getting something." So. Mom starts to feel like a terrible parent (but still a good photographer, thank GOODNESS!) and starts happily collecting stool samples and running them to the hospital lab. And then, the results came back CLEAR. Yep. No parasite. Not such a bad mamma after all, eh? (seriously, just lucky or mom's intuition?) It's not like he was drinking out of dirty PUDDLES. Just plastic toys that hadn't had the water standing there for more than like 5 hours after the previous night's rain. What I discovered is that not only will he drink from toys, but he prefers to drink out of the pool instead of getting into it, and if I fill the pool or water the plants and get water on the sidewalk... he will crouch down, bend over and drink the water OFF the sidewalk. There really isn't much that will stop him. Now, check out my fab photography skills, which also showcase my terrible parenting skills ;)
Get that Kid a DRINK!!!! So next we will take him back to the allergist to see if we can have him tested for more things (food) that he could possibly be allergic to. I don't want him to have an allergy, but 15 days of unexplained diaper rash and diarrhea that is EXACTLY like Ardyn's has me worried!

Conversation with Ardyn at McDonald's: "mom, can I have a bite of your cheeseburger?" Sure Ardyn. She chews... "mom that burger tastes kinda slimy!" I said "yeah? Good slimy or bad slimy?" Ardyn looks up in the air and taps her finger on her chin "let me think about it." A couple of seconds later... "work with me Mommy!" I laugh and she whispers "I think bad slimy!" *pause* "Can I have another bite??"

Today.... and a Review: Family Tools PEGS system

I love typing when a 1 year old is trying to jam the tines of a fork into the keyboard on my laptop. Fun times. It's kinda like our own version of 5-finger fillet (where you stab the knife on the table between your fingers. Ick.)

It's a little dreary outside, but not really. Basically it's nice, but not sunny. It's only 10:30 though, so that could still change. Yesterday was SUCH a busy day. It was fun, but today I am sore and tired and did I mention SORE?!

We headed to Princeton for lunch at Pizza Hut with my friend Dorene. We used to run the Princeton Computer User group together. But now we both have other interests and commitments and it seems that the group itself is slowing and potentially disbanding. But I still love Dorene and was happy to see her and eat with her. We talked horses and all sorts of other things.
Then we met my friend Stacey to take pics of her tutus and hair clips and dresses, which she sells at Guys and Gals Salon. I had just recently created a Facebook page for Guys and Gals, and Stacey wanted one for Bows by Stacey, so last night I set to work on that. It turned out GREAT (check it out and see what you think!) The fun part about this is that instead of being paid to do things like this, my friends and I swap services. So I get things like free tans, free haircuts, and free bows for doing a little work for my friends to help them out. I don't have any problems promoting their little businesses, because they both do AWESOME work and they re so nice.
Everything Stacey makes is so durable and she has impeccable taste and an eye for color. Kelly is the most awesome hairdresser! She is the only person on the planet that I trust to say "do whatever you want" and it always turns out FABULOUS. I have never been disappointed in a color or cut she has given me.
So after working on Stacey's Facebook photos, the kids and I came home and started working in the yard. Elizabeth and Kelsea and Jadeyn stopped over for a while and the kids played while EK and I chatted. I started dumping all the bags of my square foot garden "soil-less" mixture into the bed. Evan recently started the garden for me, after what seemed like FOREVER of planning and waiting for it. The soil-less mixture consists of 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 compost. Then the compost itself is made up of three "thirds" of different types of compost. I have Mushroom Compost, Manure, and Compost. So that was alot of work to carry, open, pour, and mix 10 cubic feet of planting medium. Ardyn helped by watering it down for me and then I would stir, then she would mist, and I would stir. It went surprisingly well. I did a few things differently than the SFG book recommends, but I wasn't about to mix it on a tarp and drag it over to it's location. Duh. So I just dumped and mixed it in the box, and it turned out great. I would say the consistency is very similar to Jiffy Mix, with compost added :)
Then we watered all our containers and our steppables that we have planted, and Ardyn helped me to plant two windowboxes. I had planned on hanging them under the kitchen windows, and I would be able to see them and enjoy them from the kitchen sink, as well as open the windows and just water them with the sink sprayer.... but I realized late last night that the Pussy Willow Tree is covering half of one of the windows. Doh! So I am not sure what to do about that. It gets trimmed each year, and it hasn't been trimmed this season yet, but I am not sure we can trim it back THAT much without it looking ridiculous, and the last thing I want to do is draw attention to it with a gorgeous flower box!
It's funny, but I feel like we have a sort of "compound" inside our fence. The front yard has everything inside the fence, because then I can work on things with the kids in close proximity, and safe. Inside the fence is the patio furniture, the sandbox, and all their toys, and also the clothesline, the SFGarden, and my composter. It's a little silly to most people I suppose. But it has to be close or I would never be able to get any of these things done with kids around. I have tried to make naptime be the time in which I work on flower beds OUTSIDE of the fence, and it worked well so far, except that the past week and a half I have had so much sinus and allergy stuff going on that all I have wanted to do is nap with them. So I have a ton to do on the east and west sides of the house but haven't gotten to it. I did get all the dead stuff out of the back side and the northwest corner, and filled all that with new mulch, before the sinus crap really started in. That's good. I also got landscape barrier laid on the west side, and Evan mulched it, but there is nothing planted there. I don't even want to think about the status of the pond and the east side of the house.

I do have a good handle on laundry these days, because I got rid of my mesh laundry sorters (I have always hated those stupid things, they fall apart and don't hold enough for this family) and replaced them with white hampers. I saw that they now make "sorting hampers" but they are only $1 less than a regular hamper, and they are much smaller, too small for us. So a couple of weeks ago I bought EIGHT hampers, all rectangular, and labeled each one (sharpie marker on colored index cards, adhered with clear packing tape) and they are working AWESOME. They work great for sorting, and when the load is clean, I can carry it up in it's designated sorting hamper, fold it, and put it away. Of course as I say this I have a hamper of diapers to sort and fold, a hamper of towels and rags to fold, and two baskets of kid clothes to put away. But I do have a good handle on laundry these days. :)
Another thing we have been doing is called P.E.G.S. When at the Hearts at Home Conference, we saw a booth for the Family Tools PEGS system and I was instantly intrigued. For some reason I couldn't get them to give me a PRICE on anything, and a friend said later that perhaps the people working the booth at the time didn't KNOW the price. Well, I found out later that my friend Sarah had purchased one, and she recently started using hers and raved about it. I decided to check it out and we got one too, and I also got the Choose a Chore and the Pick a Privlege Jars also. PEGS stands for Practical Encouragement and Guidance System. Basically you get several sheets of round circular "chips" that have holes in the top, and hang on the pegboard. (which is included in the kit)
There are circles for various chores, including basic things like making beds, brushing teeth and hair, and getting dressed. Because we bought the two-child system, we received duplicates of all these chips. There are then blank chips to make your own chores/responsibilities. You receive "clock" chips which you can customize to have things done by specific times. For example, I have made a "naptime" and a "bedtime" chip, and really no matter what time nap and bedtimes turn out to be, the chips will continue to work for me.

There are also jobs that are considered "household" jobs, and you get one of each of those chips, so that the jobs can be assigned and rotated between siblings as necessary. Things like getting the mail, taking out the trash, recycling, taking care of pets, shaking rugs, setting the table, etc.

Then there are "A B and C" chips. A is for Attitude. B is for Behavior. C is fo Communication. There are Red "NO" chips that are circles with a slash through them, and then there are green "Good" chips. I can use these chips to show how their ABC's have been throughout the day.

Now, let me start by saying that I haven't read the manual yet. Typical me. Start the process however I damn well feel like it. Basically I haven't had the moment's peace to sit down and read it. It's in my "to read" stack. (ugh.) So there are many ways to approach this, some probably better than mine.

For us, I use it to show Ardyn that there are things we are expected to do on a daily basis, WITHOUT ARGUING and WHINING. It's working. She does not cry when I brush her hair. Because she knows that it has to be done. It's routine. The chip is on the board. I had been trying to discuss this with her for MONTHS and it never got through to her that you just have to brush your hair every day. When the board went up.... it was instant. She has learned and added lots of new chores. She sets the table. She picks up her toys. She puts her own shoes away and hangs her coat on the hook designated with her initial. She makes her bed. She puts all her dirty clothes in the hamper. Many of these things happen without prompting. Putting dirty clothes in the hamper and putting shoes in her closet shoe-holder are becoming natural to her, and she automatically does them, most of the time without even being asked or reminded. Sometimes she reminds ME!
It has also made "naptime" or quiet time much nicer, because she knows that she has to first go potty, then climb into her bed. She flips the chips and there are NO arguments. Bedtime is great too.

Now, about the ABC's. Basically if she gets into behavior that starts to head towards a time out, we warn with "do you want a red X?" and she does NOT want one on her pegboard. If she gets a time out, she gets a red X first, in the appropriate ABC category, and then she sits in time out. When she is done with time out, she is very very upset and generally wants to "get that red X off the board" as soon as possible. This is where the "choose a chore" jar comes into play. She picks a chore disk from the jar, and we hang it next to the Red X. (it's not really an X, but that's what we call it.) If the chore can be completed immediately, she usually does. If not, we leave it up there with the Red X until the chore is completed. When the chore is done, we replace the red X with a green circle to show that she has corrected her bad behavior with a chore. These are "additional chores" and she has recently done chores like "disinfect all the doorknobs" and "clean the fronts and tops of the washer and dryer." Another one that was my favorite was "check and fill all hand soap dispensers" which came at just the right time as ours were all empty! She of course feels very important and enjoys it. You should have seen the grin on her face while we filled the soap pumps and she returned them to their designated sink spots. Thrilled. (and mom was thrilled too!)


It helps me to instill responsibility in her. It helps her to realize that she has things that she needs to do in order to be a part of this family and help things run smoothly at home. And it really does take a load off me when I don't have to run around gathering up shoes and coats and toys all day long. She is a big help.

The pick a privlege jar is important, and I feel badly that we haven't used it enough yet. It's got things like "go for ice cream" or "watch a movie" or "paint or color" or "get out the playdoh." These are things that we might do now and then, and it's easy to use them as rewards because she enjoys them so much. There are things like "go for a walk" or "ride your bike" and these are all things she loves to do.

So, the Family Tools system is pretty cool. :) I am loving it. Ardyn calls it the "Keep Mommy Happy Game." And I NEVER said that to her. That's entirely her name for it. LOL.

That's all for now friends. I am sore from all that lifting and squatting and mixing of dirt yesterday. Oy. Off to get a few things done today I guess!

Ready to Ride!

We are working on family bike riding. Our first problem was that no one but Ardyn has a bike. The second problem is that my dad received a hand-me-down bike trailer for us, but we have never been able to use it, because we don't have bikes to pull it.

I have been doing bike research, and was just going to buy the cheapest cruiser that I could find locally, but after reading reviews, I discovered that most of them didn't last a year, several of them had manufacturing defects very consistently, and pretty much all of them around here that were cheap had the problem that we have with Ardyn's Tricycle, the Schwinn "we don't make them like we used to" issues - like immediate rusting and fake chrome that is like foil and bubbles out of the box. (I recently added a review and photos of the Schwinn Roadster Trike on Amazon)

So anyway, after doing all the research, I decided that it was silly to think I was going to get a decent bike at a price that cheap. I would have to make a slightly bigger investment. So I started searching more online, because if I am going to spend money on a bike that is going to last me, I want it to be reliable, be purchased from a place I can rely on for service and support, and to be stylish and reflect MY personality. Is this impossible? nope. I finally found one, and I have a bicycle dealer near me trying to acquire it right now. Keep your fingers crossed!It might be hard to tell, but it is a black/copper brown color with leopard print seat, handlebars, fender and other details. The tire tread is flames!! Whoot!

Then I found bike helmets for the kids.... :) They both have Mohawks, Marek's helmet is black and Ardyn's is white. Aren't they cute?!?!
Now I just have to hope that I can PULL the bike trailer, or that Ardyn starts to pedal soon so that I can use a front bike seat with Marek and let her ride her own bike!

A FREE Internet Scavenger Hunt? Count me in!!

Sign up for FREE to be a seeker in the Internet's GREEN Scavenger Hunt. Great Green Prizes, including items like cloth diapers and mamma cloth. Check out the website at www.GreenQuizQuest.com

And also find them on Facebook- just search for Green Quiz Quest.
You know you want to!

Review: Little Beetles "Little-To-Big" OS Organic Wool Cover (snapping)

Well, long long ago, in the land of diapers (that's my house, dontcha know?) I was looking for some wool that was gender neutral and would work for both kids, but was unaware that such a fabulous thing existed. I came across the news that Little Beetles had JUST released a new cover, the Little Beetles OS Wool Cover.... and that it was available in snap or aplix! How cool!!! I was so excited! Marek was still a newborn (ish) and Ardyn was just starting to do some potty training, so I was wary about dumping a chunk of change into anything, and this really was a chunk of change at near $40 for one cover. But in the name of research, and of finding what might be the perfect solution, I bought one, back when I also bought two pair of little beetle learners- training pants for Ardyn.

When it arrived it was SUPER cute. I promptly hand washed and lanolized it (according to directions, don't fear, this isn't my first pony ride.) Then I decided to start trying on the babies!

First I started with Ardyn, because Marek was sleeping, and he was still not quite 2 months old...

It was a really good fit for her. She was wearing 24 months or 2T size and this picture was taken when she was 20 months old and just beginning potty training. I liked the fit overall, and it was trim and I could see wearing it under clothing. These pics are over a Goodmama fitted, so it adds some bulk of course.






I love how nice and trim it looks from the back. Fast Forward two weeks and Marek was almost 2 months old, and I decided to try it on him. I had used it about 2 times on Ardyn, because she was PLing it really wasn't necessary because I had her in trainers almost full time.... but she did wear it overnight once just to test, and there was no leaking whatsoever. Very nice.

Well, per most OS covers, well, really most OS diapers in general, it fit Marek, but was WAYYYYY Bulky (he was after all, still young- not quite 2 months old in fact, it was May 2009.) I knew that he wouldn't be wearing it under ANYTHING and my main goal was to also find a wool diaper cover that was smooth and thin enough to wear under clothes. This was a no-go for someone still so small, but honestly I was not surprised. Here is a pic of him in the cover- Basically it was a try-on session and we took it right back off. :)



One thing that I really did NOT like was the way the snap configuration was on the front to allow for wing overlap. It didn't seem to lay right no matter how I tried, and I am a wing professional, especially since we've been using Goodmamas for 2+ years. I don't quite know why the wing overlap is wonky, but it added unnecessary bulk that was not only unattractive, but confusing.

Overall, I knew that when Marek got bigger, I would like the cover. So we used it about 4 times, had only washed and lanolized it that one initial time.... and then a few months later I pulled it out when Marek was wearing Goodmamas consistently and I felt he would fit the OS cover nicely. And he DID! So we tried it on, and it was great! I was so excited, and then the next time I went to put it on..... What's this? SERIOUSLY?!?! The fury. The sadness. The regret. The LEG ELASTIC!!! OMG you are kidding me. The leg elastic in one leg had completely given out. I was SO upset. How does a $40 cover get washed by hand once and worn a max of 5 times, and then have no leg elastic left? By this point in time, my 30 day "one wash" warranty was over by about 5 months. What a horrible experience!

I don't know what caused this, perhaps I purchased a lemon? It was when the covers were first released. I kept meaning to call the company, but it was one of those things that got put on the back burner, and so now I have this EEEEEUC like new, barely touched, beautiful, soft, bulletproof, organic, one-size, snapping, LOVELY wool cover.... with elastic in one leg. Well. So much for good ideas on my part.




I look forward to hearing experiences from others with this cover. I am unsure if the leg elastic issue is isolated to me, or if it happened to anyone else, but it made me very sad. I keep telling myself that I will just rip the seam open and peek inside, to see what type of elastic is in there and try to determine what happened..... if I ever get to that I will try to repair and let you know what I find by updating this post!

So, I really wish I could provide a better review on the quality and longevity of what I initially thought was a great product, but I just can't give this one the stars that I so desperately wanted to.

Day at Niabi Zoo

I really need to get to sleep, it's already 1am and I have just two days to start and finish my dress for the Mother's Day Tea, and also to get my hat ready! Whew! It's been a busy two weeks and I can't wait for what's next!

Here is a collage of some of my favorite pics from the ZOO Today! It was so cold (we could see our breath!) and it was rainy and windy... but we made it through the whole thing, including our train ride, before it started to rain. That was a bonus!

Hope everyone is well and hope to post more later!

Overnight Soak with OxyBoost does Wonders!

Well, I recently decided to try out an overnight soak with Oxyboost on some clothes. I have always had a tough time with stains on kid clothes, and I have posted several times before about that. One of my favorite products was Shout Advance, but you really have to let the stain fighter SIT on the clothes for a long time, and that doesn't always mesh with my laundry groove. I LOVE the natures source stain treatment, but I already went through my first bottle, and I just thought that I should explore more options with the OxyBoost that I already use for cloth diapers. I hadn't really had time to read up on the other recommended uses, and so I was thinking there must be a way to make a stain fighting paste or something with it. In the past I have done overnight soaks on diapers (especially when Ardyn had real poo issues when she was having the dairy allergy problems) and they had done wonders. So I read the bucket (novel idea, eh?) and they recommend a soak with 4oz to every 2 gallons of water (I think that's the ratio, anyway, what do you care? LOL. Read YOUR Bucket!) and I put in four shirts of Marek's. Three of the four were brand new ones that he destroyed on the first wearing, one was WHITE with spaghetti sauce all over it, one was striped with chocolate ice cream, and the third was orange with mashed banana ground into it. I had washed all of them on warm with color safe bleach, two of them had been washed TWICE and none of the stains had come out. One of them (the striped one) had actually been washed AND dried at least twice since it got stained. I grabbed a 2 gallon bucket that I used to buy OxyBoost in (when I wasn't buying in as MUCH bulk as I do now) and that little bucket was the perfect little handy size. I added hot water and my oxyboost and used my little whisk that I keep in the laundry room (for tie dyeing, mixing, and tasks such as this.) and stirred it well. Then I dunked and soaked the shirts, and put the lid on the bucket (for some reason the shirts keep bubbling up OUT of the water otherwise) and I literally came back in two days (I was sick so it wasn't overnight as I had planned) and washed them with a regular load of my clothes, and EVERY SINGLE STAIN was completely gone. Completely! Even the chocolate ice cream stain that had been set by the dryer a couple of times! Miracle? I believe so. So from now on, no more wasting money on additional stain fighters... I will just stick with the oxyboost for an overnight soak! For those of you who have been asking, OxyBoost and OxyPrime, and many other green cleansers and home products, can be purchased via http://www.ecogeeks.com/greenstore/ The large quantities that I buy need to be purchased via telephone.... and if you want that information I would be happy to provide it :)

Busy week Ahead!

I should be doing SO many other things right now. I AM working on laundry, thank god, because we are all out of clean clothes, towels, diapers... pretty much everything is dirty. I did two loads of diapers already tonight, and have a load of wetbags to do yet, and I am on load #2 of kid clothes.

Basically, we were without laundry detergent for a week and a half, which seems like an ETERNITY (it was, really!) and so now it's time to play catchup. The laundry room is so full of laundry that I actually can NOT put all the dirty clothes in it. When washing and drying I am literally standing ON dirty clothes down there. Not pretty. So I went ahead and sorted two hampers out in our room instead, and am taking them down by the load. Icky.

What happened you ask, that we would just "not" have laundry detergent? Well, I buy detergent once a year. My detergent is environmentally safe and safe for cloth diapers. About 2.5 years ago, I did the math and determined that by purchasing detergent in a 5 gallon bucket, I could save around $80 a year over purchasing All Free and Clear at Wal-Mart, which is what I had been doing for as long as I could remember. I started out buying Charlie's Soap, and loved it. With the Charlie's I used a product called OxyBoost, which is made by Natural Choices. It worked better than OxyClean, is environmentally safe, and cost me less money because I could buy it in bulk. I started buying it in 5 gallon buckets also, because it is better for the environment when it comes to packaging and it's overall carbon footprint :)

For some reason, Charlie's suddenly became taboo in the Cloth Diaper industry. I am not sure why, because I never had a single rash, buildup, or stink issue and I used it for over a year straight on all types of diapers and on all of our clothing as well. I still believe that if you are using the proper amount of soap, and if you are doing your double rinses, you shouldn't have an issue with the soaps. But after the place that I used to purchase Charlie's dropped it, and recommended OxyPrime (made by the same manufacturer as OxyBoost) I decided why not give it a try. So I started to use both OxyPrime and OxyBoost and haven't looked back since.

So anyway, I order a 5 gallon bucket of each, usually the soap comes due once a year, and sometimes the Oxy Boost is closer to twice a year. Well, this time for some reason they were both empty at EXACTLY the same time. Convenient, except that means $260 of laundry detergent. At one time. So I waited until I had the cash and I ordered it. And was told that it would ship that same day (per usual) and since I am close to the company, it should be here in 1-2 days (per usual... it has ALWAYS arrived in 24 hours!) And I waited. For 5 days. And never saw the soap. Never saw an email confirmation. So I called, and they found out that the entire order was on hold because they were waiting for the OxyBoost. She assured me it would ship that same day. Whew. So I waited 2 more days. And called again. And "whoops!" they are still waiting on OxyBoost. At this time I have to say I was getting a bit cranky. You just do NOT go without laundry soap for a week with 4 people, two of them being miniature disasters, and one of them wearing cloth diapers. it is not advisable. I stressed to her that I NEEEEEEDED that soap LAST WEEK and that I didn't understand why they were holding the whole order for the OxyBoost, because they could have shipped at least the detergent, especially because I have to pay shipping for each bucket separately because they can't package them together for UPS shipments anyway.

I was again assured that the soap was coming and they found out that the OxyBoost 45 pounds were being made that very moment. And the next day, Voila! Soap on my steps. A whole LOT of soap. I drug it inside and had Evan carry it to the basement to the laundry room for me, and today I cut it out of the boxes, tore open the buckets, and scooped it into my stainless steel canisters and started some laundry. All this drama over soap. Seriously.

So, despite the fact that I have all this LAUNDRY to do, I also have all this YARD WORK to do, and so yesterday and today I have been working in the yard as much as I can, and naptime has become "work outside the fence" time where I bust my ass to get as much done as I can without two little people to manage. Yesterday Evan and I worked in the space between the garage and house, and along the west side of the house, pulling out dead leaves, hosta leaves, and the old clematis growth. We had a trellis that got destroyed by a storm last year, and we had to take it down and unwind all the old vines, and put up and secure a the new trellis that we had purchased last fall and never got to. There are SO many things that we never got to last fall. Ugh. So after cleaning all that up, we trimmed suckers off the dwarf flowering crabapples. I adore those little trees but the fact that they are grafted onto other tree's rootstock is rather annoying because they get so many suckers so quickly. Ick. Then we trimmed a bit of the old fashioned lilac bush, and pulled a bunch of creeping Charlie. Our old landscape lights along the sidewalk are almost 1o years old, they don't work, and the plastic is cracked, so we pulled those out. I cleaned out all the weeds starting on the west side of the house and lay down some landscape fabric along that side. I planted two containers and the hanging basket on the front gate, and added a flowering perennial (viola) to the bare space inside the planting around the stop sign in the front yard. I also measured and staked out the 4x8 area where Evan is going to build my raised bed garden, and then cut and lay weed block down in that area to prepare it for the bed. Once it got dark last night I put out 6 new solar landscape lights along the back sidewalk, which makes it much less treacherous.

Today I started by pinning down the weed block fabric with landscape staples, and then I lay 10 stepping stones (wetcast flagstone) over in the area by the raised bed. The stepping stones give me a pathway into the far northwest corner of the fenced in yard, and lead in several directions. Now I can "step" my way to the clothesline, the back side of the raised bed, the water spigot on that side of the house, and to my composter. It makes me happy. I am hoping that VERY soon, the 10 "steppables" that I planted in that area will start to spread and hopefully (Rapidly!) start to cover the ground around all the stones. I did choose steppables that are suited for the highest traffic allowed, and that are the rapid spreaders.... but that old dirt is so dry and crumbly, that I don't see them getting too excited to go ANYWHERE yet. I tell myself they have barely been in the ground for two weeks, and they look perfectly healthy and are flowering too, but I really am so impatient!

This afternoon I also lay 6 BIG bags of cypress mulch in the back where we trimmed bushes and pulled up old leaves and things.... and we really could have used 7 bags but I made it work. Tomorrow I am hoping that it doesn't rain (although I think it's still supposed to) because I have a whole BUNCH of salvia, lilies, and grasses that I want to plant on the east side of the house (in the area that I freshly weed-blocked last summer but never got planted) and a whole other side of the house that needs the weed block stapled down yet, and then planted and composted. And this doesn't even TOUCH the cleaning and filling of the pond. Ugh. I know I have the whole summer ahead of me, but I HATE working when it gets so unbearably hot outside. This is the time of year to get as much done as possible, and this includes weed block in my book because I HATE to pull weeds and I have much better things to do.

We also have the native prairie signs to get into the ditch before some jackass comes along and sprays or mows it. Once Evan gets that raised bed built, I can plan and start the Square Foot Garden. I also need to read my Worm book because I am considering adding worms to my composter this year.

This is going to be a REALLY busy week! We have playdate, park playdate, and then MOPS to start off the week, and I am taking the kids to Wisconsin with friends (other moms and kids) to stay at a lake house for a couple of days. Very excited to have this opportunity and REALLY hoping that Ardyn's 2 year old attitude improves and she starts listening better. I also have a 31 party to attend this week, and a massage, AND a scrapbooking night! I also think that there is a chance my Pampered Chef Show will be coming in sometime towards the beginning of next week! I had a show that was OVER $1200! I am so super excited, I am gettting SO MUCH STUFF and I am really thrilled! Remind me to take pics of it all once it gets here. I counted the other day, and I have 26 pieces of stoneware already, and two more on the way. I got a second pizza stone and the Covered Rectangular baker that makes all those microwave dishes and weekday dinners. I also got the whole knife block and professional knife set, and the double burner griddle!

Next week I MUST cut and sew my tea party dress for the Mom's Tea the following weekend. My Brother-In-Law is letting me borrow Grandpa Warren's Mustang Convertible to take to the tea. No minivan for this mamma! Whooo! I also have to finish attaching all my fabulous feathers and flowers to my tea party hat! So much to do, so little time! I do have to say that I love this time of year! The days and months just seem to be flying by already! Once the hot days of summer hit, I think we will be a little more laid back and get into our "by the pool" mode... although I hate the heat and pretty much have to be IN the pool to tolerate it!

Well, it's time for me to switch laundry again. If I could find the remote I would be watching the Nanny on Nick and Nite.

Everyone have a great Monday (if that's possible!) and Enjoy this nice weather before it gets too hot!

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!