My baby girl did it...she went and turned the BIG one year old on me!!! I am torn as to how I feel about this! On one hand I am oh so close to no diapers and getting to go outside for as long as I want!!! Yay!!! Bare feet and dirt for everyone! But on the other hand my baby is growing up...all of my baby cuddles, the baby giggles and the need for me are all too soon lost! It seems like yesterday that my son was born and now he is five and I am filling out kindergarten round up paperwork :( My oldest daughter is going to be going into her second year of preschool :( And my Tater Bug is going to be going to preschool :( Where does the time go? Just another reminder for us all to slow down and cherish what we have. To quit rushing through our days and quieting and calming our childrens' curiosities. They will all too soon move on to bigger and better things. They will have their own friends and their own hobbies and I will be wishing for all these chaotic days back!!
For my baby girl, most likely my last baby, how I wish I could slow time and spend every minute of the day holding, playing and cuddling with you, your sisters and your brother! You all have no idea how badly you were wanted and what we went through to get you here....and everything that I would do tenfold to get you again!! You four are our everything!! Because of you all I am a better person. I am more patient, more understanding I have learned to learn all over again. It is the most amazing gift to watch each one of you learn something new everyday!! To each of you I wish the world! Always know that nothing is out of your reach and you can do anything!! With all the love in the world forever and always ~ Momma
Sorry for all the sappiness....Disclaimer this may happen up to four times a year :)
On a happier note. I am so proud of my husband!! He teaches Building Trades at a local high school. In this class they build a home from top to bottom. They dig the footers, set the block, frame it, do all the electrical work, plumbing, drywall, roofing....you get the picture. They are soon to finish this year's house. It is a habitat home and will soon be turned over to a deserving family. It is a very nice house on 12th street across from the high school. You should check it out!
Along with finishing up the house, two of his students recently competed in a carpentry competition at Vincennes University. His two students finished first and second out of their region! Earning them a trip to the state competition. The student who finished first also received a one semester scholarship!
What a teriffic program to ready these students for the workforce but also give them the oppertunity to earn college credit and scholarships!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
Babies, Babies, Babies
Having 4 kids that are five and under you can imagine the amount of diaper wipes and diapers I have gone through and the money that has been spent on them!! For about the past 9 months I have been making my own diaper wipes. They are so simple to make and are very cost effective! I take a roll of paper towels (I generally buy the Great Value brand from Wal Mart or the Member's Mark Brand from Sam's Club) and cut it in half. Then I remove the cardboard from the center. I pour 1 1/12 to 2 cups of water into a plastic container that has an air tight seal and add 2 tablespoons baby wash and 2 tablespoons baby oil. I put the paper towels into the mixture and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Pull from the center and you have homemade baby wipes!! There are a few things to keep in mind when making the wipes. First you do have to choose a good quality paper towel. I use to buy the cheapest ones that I could find. However, when I put them into the liquid they would fall apart and not hold up very well. So I upgraded to the store brands and have been very pleased!! For the Great Value rolls I only need a cup and a half of water but for the Member's Mark rolls I need the full 2 cups. This is something that you will just have to judge for yourself depending on the absorbency and thickness of your paper towels. The most important thing is your container. I went to Wal Mart and bought a $4 container from the clearance aisle. I think that it is suppose to be a canister. It is a rectangular plastic container with a removable lid. It has a latch on top that suctions to the container itself. Although, I have made and carried the wipes in just a plain ziploc bag. You know those times when your kids have played with the wipes and mysteriously lost them in only a place that you will find 2 weeks from now!! :) For times like that the Ziploc bag always works!
As my youngest is right at a year old now we will begin potty training within the next couple of months so my days of diapers may be dwindling! Thanks goodness!!! Five years of changing diapers is a long time :) However, if we were to have another baby...NOT saying that we will or that we will not have another but if we do, I will so do cloth diapers! I wish that I would have done them with all of them! You can buy them new or used or you can make your own. I think that I will try to make my own. There are so many websites that offer free patterns and many blogs that coach you through the dos and dont's of cloth diapering! The initial cost may be pricey but I think that it would definitly save you money in the long run. The Parents Choice size 4 diapers come in a case of 124 for $19.77 and you can buy a case of 700 wipes for $11.97. Let's just say that you would go through a case of each every month (in reality you would go through more!). That is $237.24 a year for diapers and $143.64 a year for wipes. I would have saved $1904.40 (probably more than that...I had 2 in diapers at once for about 5 months) over the past five years if only I would have been making my own diapers and wipes!
As my youngest is right at a year old now we will begin potty training within the next couple of months so my days of diapers may be dwindling! Thanks goodness!!! Five years of changing diapers is a long time :) However, if we were to have another baby...NOT saying that we will or that we will not have another but if we do, I will so do cloth diapers! I wish that I would have done them with all of them! You can buy them new or used or you can make your own. I think that I will try to make my own. There are so many websites that offer free patterns and many blogs that coach you through the dos and dont's of cloth diapering! The initial cost may be pricey but I think that it would definitly save you money in the long run. The Parents Choice size 4 diapers come in a case of 124 for $19.77 and you can buy a case of 700 wipes for $11.97. Let's just say that you would go through a case of each every month (in reality you would go through more!). That is $237.24 a year for diapers and $143.64 a year for wipes. I would have saved $1904.40 (probably more than that...I had 2 in diapers at once for about 5 months) over the past five years if only I would have been making my own diapers and wipes!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Pinterest & PJs
Once a year all the women on my husband's side of the family try to get together for some fun. Last year we all went to his cousin's house and did crafts with our little girls. We had a lot of fun but the moms really ended up doing all of the work. So this year we thought we would get together and do some crafts with the girls but we were going to focus on crafts for us!! Yay!! I LOVE doing anything crafty...this was right up my ally!!!
This past weekend was our "Pinterest and PJs" night! Those of us that could went to my husband's youngest sister's house. We all brought food, pjs and all the craftiness we could muster up and had a great time! We started at 3:00 in the afternoon and I am not sure what time we finally quit but sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning :) Although we got to her house at 3:00 we did not stop eating and gabbing until around 5:30...the hazards of that many women together at once!
We knew that the little girls would tire quickly of the crafts and want to go back to the basement to play so we started with their stuff. They painted sun catchers, did their fingernails, made door knob hangers and we made "stained glass" hearts for the windows. This was a super easy and cheap craft that they all seemed to like. We took wax paper and cut out hearts. Then shaved a whole box of 24 crayons. I found the best was to shave these was by using a potato peeler. Although I think if you had a pencil sharpener that would be the easiest with the least amount of waste. We then laid a newspaper on the counter, put down one wax heart and let the girls sprinkle the crayon shavings onto it. Then we put the second heart down and covered it with another newspaper. I ironed it on a low heat setting for maybe one minute. You will know when to quit because your crayon shavings will become smooth. You have to let them dry probably 2-3 minutes. We brought ours home and hung them in front of the window. Very pretty! I wish I would have taken a picture of it earlier. It became an easy target for a 5 year old boy with an arsenal of Nerf guns!!
Everyone did something different. Some were helping to make bridesmaid bouquets for one of the cousin's wedding. They turned out beautiful as I am sure the entire wedding will! Some made their own grocery bags from old t-shirts. I am in love with this idea!!! I shop alot at Aldis and as you all know you have to provide your own grocery bags or be forced to buy theirs, plastic, paper or canvas. They were so easy to make too. You cut out the sleeves and neck and sew the bottom together. How easy is that?? And so much cheaper than the bags you can buy!! Some were also making very fashionable scarfs from old t-shirts. While I never really got to see how these were made they were whipping them out pretty quickly so I am sure it was pretty easy! One made a really cute headband holder. She wrapped a cardboard tube with binder twine until she got it the size she wanted it and then covered it with the leg off of a pair of blue jeans. She cut out and painted flowers for each end and hot glued them on. Easy and she had everything that she needed so NO cost! She also bought the first letters of her girl's names and painted them. She hot glued two ribbons coming off the bottom of each one so that she could hang all their barretts! It was all simple and super cute!! Another made a basket from newspaper. It looked easy enough but was also tedious. She took some red ribbon and wove around the center of the basket and hot glued a silver ribbon around the top. It turned out really cute as well. I think it would be cute to do for a bridal or baby shower to use as your basket. Several also made chalkboards for their kitchens. Someone had went to a St. Vincents and bought all their platter dishes. Then they primed them with a white coat and painted them with chalkboard paint. Very easy. One thing I seen while they were doing this was to use very thin coats of the chalkboard paint. If you put a thick coat on once or twice it left ridges on the platter. But if you did several thin coats it seemed to leave a smoother surface.
So what does a mom of four do on a night like this (side note I only had one kid with me as my two youngest daughters went to stay with Papaw)?? I catch up and try to get ahead. I filled out all their Valentine's Day cards, filled out the paperwork for my son's kindergarten round up and picked out paint colors for my kitchen and bathroom :) But I did find time to squeeze in some crafts as well!
First I followed the others lead on their chalkboards. My mother-in-law had brought a cute kind of rutic looking board with her that she thought she had gotten from one of our barns. So I primed it with the white and painted it with the chalkboard paint. I plan on adding some binder twine to use as the hanger and maybe some of the small screw in hooks at the bottom to hang keys on.
I pretty much did the same thing for my next project. I made a stand to sit beside my kitchen sink for all of my dish soap, rag, hand soap and whatever other pilfer I can find. I took a slightly taller candle stick and glued a salad plate to the top and "voila" my sink stand!
The rest of the night was spent crocheting one of my son's Easter gifts. This is a very simple stitch. For anyone who has been wanting to learn to crochet I highly recomend www.craftyminx.com. She has a crocheting school that teaches you step by step every stitch. I was able to watch her and learn this in about ten minutes!
It was a very fun night for all who could attend! We had alot of laughs, a really good laugh of which was provided by a certain video clip of a Just Dance 4 competition that may have ended up on Facebook for a few short hours!
This past weekend was our "Pinterest and PJs" night! Those of us that could went to my husband's youngest sister's house. We all brought food, pjs and all the craftiness we could muster up and had a great time! We started at 3:00 in the afternoon and I am not sure what time we finally quit but sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning :) Although we got to her house at 3:00 we did not stop eating and gabbing until around 5:30...the hazards of that many women together at once!
We knew that the little girls would tire quickly of the crafts and want to go back to the basement to play so we started with their stuff. They painted sun catchers, did their fingernails, made door knob hangers and we made "stained glass" hearts for the windows. This was a super easy and cheap craft that they all seemed to like. We took wax paper and cut out hearts. Then shaved a whole box of 24 crayons. I found the best was to shave these was by using a potato peeler. Although I think if you had a pencil sharpener that would be the easiest with the least amount of waste. We then laid a newspaper on the counter, put down one wax heart and let the girls sprinkle the crayon shavings onto it. Then we put the second heart down and covered it with another newspaper. I ironed it on a low heat setting for maybe one minute. You will know when to quit because your crayon shavings will become smooth. You have to let them dry probably 2-3 minutes. We brought ours home and hung them in front of the window. Very pretty! I wish I would have taken a picture of it earlier. It became an easy target for a 5 year old boy with an arsenal of Nerf guns!!
Everyone did something different. Some were helping to make bridesmaid bouquets for one of the cousin's wedding. They turned out beautiful as I am sure the entire wedding will! Some made their own grocery bags from old t-shirts. I am in love with this idea!!! I shop alot at Aldis and as you all know you have to provide your own grocery bags or be forced to buy theirs, plastic, paper or canvas. They were so easy to make too. You cut out the sleeves and neck and sew the bottom together. How easy is that?? And so much cheaper than the bags you can buy!! Some were also making very fashionable scarfs from old t-shirts. While I never really got to see how these were made they were whipping them out pretty quickly so I am sure it was pretty easy! One made a really cute headband holder. She wrapped a cardboard tube with binder twine until she got it the size she wanted it and then covered it with the leg off of a pair of blue jeans. She cut out and painted flowers for each end and hot glued them on. Easy and she had everything that she needed so NO cost! She also bought the first letters of her girl's names and painted them. She hot glued two ribbons coming off the bottom of each one so that she could hang all their barretts! It was all simple and super cute!! Another made a basket from newspaper. It looked easy enough but was also tedious. She took some red ribbon and wove around the center of the basket and hot glued a silver ribbon around the top. It turned out really cute as well. I think it would be cute to do for a bridal or baby shower to use as your basket. Several also made chalkboards for their kitchens. Someone had went to a St. Vincents and bought all their platter dishes. Then they primed them with a white coat and painted them with chalkboard paint. Very easy. One thing I seen while they were doing this was to use very thin coats of the chalkboard paint. If you put a thick coat on once or twice it left ridges on the platter. But if you did several thin coats it seemed to leave a smoother surface.
So what does a mom of four do on a night like this (side note I only had one kid with me as my two youngest daughters went to stay with Papaw)?? I catch up and try to get ahead. I filled out all their Valentine's Day cards, filled out the paperwork for my son's kindergarten round up and picked out paint colors for my kitchen and bathroom :) But I did find time to squeeze in some crafts as well!
First I followed the others lead on their chalkboards. My mother-in-law had brought a cute kind of rutic looking board with her that she thought she had gotten from one of our barns. So I primed it with the white and painted it with the chalkboard paint. I plan on adding some binder twine to use as the hanger and maybe some of the small screw in hooks at the bottom to hang keys on.
Next I made a fruit stand. My kids would rather eat fruit than any kind of junk food, thank goodness!! So I always have fruit laying all over my kitchen. I don't even remember where I got the idea but I found it and decided to make one. I used a dinner plate at the bottom and then glued a candle stick to the top. Next I glued a salad plate to the top of the candle stick, then glued another candle stick to the top of that. Then I finished by glueing a bowl on top of the second candlestick. It turned out great and only took about 5 minutes to make. However, it takes along time for the glue to dry! I made mine on Saturday and it is Tuesday and they are still not all the way dry.
I pretty much did the same thing for my next project. I made a stand to sit beside my kitchen sink for all of my dish soap, rag, hand soap and whatever other pilfer I can find. I took a slightly taller candle stick and glued a salad plate to the top and "voila" my sink stand!
The rest of the night was spent crocheting one of my son's Easter gifts. This is a very simple stitch. For anyone who has been wanting to learn to crochet I highly recomend www.craftyminx.com. She has a crocheting school that teaches you step by step every stitch. I was able to watch her and learn this in about ten minutes!
It was a very fun night for all who could attend! We had alot of laughs, a really good laugh of which was provided by a certain video clip of a Just Dance 4 competition that may have ended up on Facebook for a few short hours!
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