Handling the overwhelming pile of children’s clothes!

I just went on a shopping spree yesterday and picked up these marvelous outfits for the kids.  I am having a feeling it is the hormones at the very end that just encourage me to spend without the desire to hold back.  So back to my shopping spree. I went to a Family Thrift Center in the “city”.  I am going to call it the city, because it is much larger than the county I live in, but it is mostly just a large county with a bunch of people that give rise to these awesome thrift stores with brand names.  In my county, the thrifting is donated by a majority of full time and seasonal retired folks.  They make up over a majority of our populations, so finding good children’s clothes is not worth the time.

So I picked up 6 dresses for #1, 3 dresses for #3, and 2 long sleeve shirts for #2 and a set of the hard headbands for under $30.  Now when I went in, I was on a mission.  #1 had a growth spirit and her legs grew about 6 inches, turning her everyday dress collection into minis.  So I went in with the intention to just replace those dresses, #3 is not in need of anymore dress, but I couldn’t help myself.  Well, I can’t leave my little man out of the equation.  SO this is what I ended with.

Now, for the first time ever, I knew what I had and what I could use.  A large THANK YOU goes to a post I read at www.raisingolives.com

Kimberly is expecting her 10th child and writes a ton of articles within her blog about keep order in it all.  The most inspirational and the one I could implement immediately, most for the shear need of it was limiting the clothing.  Here full article is located here.

http://raisingolives.com/2009/03/laundry-clothing-limits/

Now I had spoken to a friend about this, or more, she kept telling me to pair down the clothes.  My children’s clothing method was anything that came we came across that fit went into the drawers.  For my children I had 12 dresser drawers and 8 feet of hanging space and clothes piled on the surfaces.  And they could never find anything to wear.  Everything was the wrong item for the occasion.  Play clothes were on for Sunday morning service and then I would catch them in church clothes digging in the yard on Tuesday afternoon.  I swore that I just need to get it organized.  I couldn’t consider ever getting rid of the clothes because they were so pretty and nice.  TRUTH!  After reading her post, I had way too many.

After reading her post: This is what I did! 

1. Wrote down a list of what is needed for clothing.

Based mostly on what works for her, We consolidated down to 10 pairs of undies, 2 pajamas, 1 bathing suit, 5 play clothes (everyday) outfits, 1 painting clothes (I never know what my husband will get them into), 2-3 nice going out outfits, 3 church outfits.  That is it.

2. Pulled all their clothes out, one child at a time.

Now, being prego, I mentally reminded myself I had 7 days to start and finish, not 1.  My normal self would expect this done in 1 day and went into a complete turrets breakdown for it then being out.  So I got the laundry all done for the most part and then took out every article of clothing for #1 and everything out of my size 5 box for her.  I laid it all out by each of my categories.  Anything that did not make the cut, that I was holding on to, to just have because I have it, went into a large black garbage bag for a clothes swap.

Then I had her stand in front of me and we checked seen what fit.  from here, if it did not, it went into the sized bag for the next girl.

3. Shopping for her clothes.

Now once I got the piles of appropriate clothes that are the right size, I laid them out by category.  Note, I only had in the pile the things I liked.  Next, I called her in and said, you get to go shopping.  You can pick out 3 dresses you want for church from this pile, it is all your choice.

Ohh, this was nice.  She had a huge grin on her face, knowing she had control of her clothes.  I did this each time and when she was done with each category, I had her hang up the few items and put them away.  The remaining clothes went to storage.

4.  Determining what is really needed.

When we were finished with the process, for each child I knew what was lacking.  One needed pajamas, because it was all flannel nightgowns for summer.  This is my #1, during the picking process, I really began to see what is it she likes.  And she likes the old style girly-ness. So I knew I needed to make her a cotton nightgown. ( I will have to show them to you later).

Also as time went on, I was able to see that she had outgrown here everyday dresses.  So I knew, that we were in need dresses.  All because of having limits.

 

Benefits!

• All their clothes now fit in 6 drawers, if that. 
• The hanging space required is about 4 feet, so now everything is spaced and can easily be picked through.
• Laundry can go to the point there are no clothes and it only takes 5 loads to have everything put away.
• Everyone is always looking nice and put together each day, appropriate for each occasion.
• No more fighting over what they are wearing.
• I know get to SHOP with a purpose, not just buying something on a limb.
• My house doesn’t look as cluttered from all the clothes.

~trish

Laundry helpers

Is there a minimum age for laundry?  This is always a well dialoged topic among friends.  This is my 5 1/2 yr old and my 2 yr old, helping me with laundry (generally known as, #1 and #3 within my blog).  I have enlisted fulltime help from them on this job, since in these latter days, I can no longer bend over to get the things in and out of the machine.  So the two of them have been most helpful, along with my son, #2. 

Now let, this Momma have a little pride.  #1 can load the machine and put the detergent in, all by herself!  And she loads the dryer and turns it on also!  This is really, her daddy’s training.  I personally would have never thought to teach her that so early, but he did.  Now this is not something she does everyday or once a week.  But ohh, what a pleasant surprise, when I have asked here to put the basket from the bathroom into the washing machine (especially the days, I did not have to ask 400 times) and to walk out there 20 minutes later to start the machine and realize it is already going.  Better than any Hallmark card!

A little background on my “laundry room”.  I do not have one.  We moved into this house and in the garage was a washing machine hook up in a kinda bathroom set up and the dryer was on another side of a wall that separated the bathroom from the garage.  With this marvelous accommodations, I also received the original double washing tubs.  Like I have said before, my house was built in 1952, we bought it from the 2nd owner, who had lived here for 52 years.  So the “laundry room” was an afterthought.

My washing machine and dryer sits on the back porch (screened in) with the constant shuffle of toys from under my feet.  I enjoy it much better.  At one point, we “temporarily” had them in the kitchen.  I say temp, because my husband considers 3 years temporary to have gone through the trouble of putting them there, to only move them later.  Even though, he only extended the pipes through the wall to get them through the porch.  We have much discussions on “temporary”.

Little things I do want to point out.  See the white 5 gallon bucket, that is my homemade laundry detergent.  Behind the white vinegar, is my 2 year old bottle of ALL that I refill with my homemade brew.

I hope this picture gives you the feeling of comfort in your own laundry room.  Atleast my girls have me a bit more comfortable with their love.

~trish

Graffiti Learning

So in an attempt to give my children a creative outlet as I continue to move ever so slowly through my day, I had them take the Benderoos out.  Well, if you do not know what benderoos are, they are literally colored wax string that you can twist into all kinds of things.  To the delight of my children, they soon discovered that they also stick to the walls.

My initial self was “PLEASE DON’T”  Thinking of we is it that they must make more work for me, but I was soon overtaken with, maybe it will be peaceful for the next hour.  As they went to town plastering wax balls all over the wall, it was mommy look, mommy is this a letter, did I make a word.  Well, hmm, my homeschool portion said, lets let them do a little learning while we are at it.

So left over Abeka mini alphabet flashcards were soon taped to the wall, so that they could see each letter.  “D” had a melt down.  For most of the flashcards, they stayed up, but I do have a couple that have fallen.  I guess 2 sided tape doesn’t work well on concrete coated walls.  I do have plans to put a large bulletin board in this spot in my kitchen.  I hope it will act as a sound absorber. The unfortunate of a concrete home with concrete coating on walls and ceilings is that everything is loud.  And with 3 small kids, I mean it is loud.

By the way, this activity gave me about 2-3 hours of entertainment and the wall was cleaned off by dinner.

~trish

FOOD, INC

I heard a little bit about Food, Inc from some friends, but I did not give it much mind.  I happened to catch the show midstream on TV.  I just found a link to the show, so you can watch it from your computer.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1472879887/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs

I will say, after first viewing this.  Our food shopping will take a new focus.  My previous focus was cheap!  After watching, the utmost desire of cheap is what has helped drive our food production to where it is.  I will take less options, but true food.  I am willing to buy less, I already do, and cook from scratch.  This will be a slow process, but I believe we will be converted almost a 100% to decentralized food sources over the next year or two.

After watching, the strong need for this was awaken. My father died from non-hodgkin’s Lymphoma due to environmental exposure that he received earlier in his life.  His cancer first showed up in his early thirties and finally ended 6 months before turning 50.  Environmental factors that can cause his type of cancer is solvents, pesticides and herbicides, and agent orange.

As you watch, you can avoid many of the negative impacts by buying Organic.  Well, I am not about to take on that large investment, especially with this growing family of soon to be 4 children.  I do know, to limit the amount of NON-FOOD ingredients (all those ingredients that you can not pronounce), just cook from scratch.  And I like cooking from scratch, it is cheaper.  I have a great blog that has helped in a lot of bulk shopping/ cooking from scratch.

www.hillbillyhousewife.com

She has some amazing recipes.

Day by day, we will wean ourselves from all the prepackaged altered food and clean out our kitchen.  The first step will be meat.  No more meat buying from the groceries.  I plan to use a local butcher/slaughter house.  By directly from them or buy from a ranch to send there.  I also have a wonderful local seafood wholesale market.  So I know I will still be buying in bulk, on a large scale, if I can not find another family to go in with us.  So I will have to be diligent in tracking my inventory in my freezer.

I wanted to make sure that I could share this with you.  Please leave me a comment if you are having any of these same thoughts or not.

~trish

Sweet Treat Dinner!

Alright, at 9 1/2 months pregnant and exhausted and tired, dinner is getting a little relaxed around here.  So our dinner last night was in a huge thanks to my mom who went to IKEA the night before.  She brought us back 2 packages of their yummy, marvelous cinnamon rolls.  If you have never had one, you must make it a point to have one if you see the huge blue box.  I promise they are in the deli in the first floor, right at the door. So you would not have to go far in.

Now being a “good” mom, I could not just feed my children cinnamon rolls for dinner, so I added some baked apples.

I use an apple slicer toss them in the bowl that I sprayed.  I add butter or country crock, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  I put them in the microwave for about 8-10 minutes.  I do not cover them, but I bet they would be more like cracker barrel’s spiced apples if I did.  I would just pause and mix them several times.

My husband had a good laugh, he wanted to know how butter-sugared apples was the healthy part.  He has a point, but it gave me the warm and fuzzy feeling that I was adding a fruit/vegetable to the meal.

 

The rest of the story!

Well, it was not as if I had only given them sandwiches for lunch and then had this for dinner.  My lunch that I served was left-over fried chicken from Publix.  I made a chicken gravy and poured it over the top of the left-over fried chicken and put it in the oven to warm thoroughly.  I also made a pot of white rice and heated up the left –over green beans.  So We had smothered fried chicken over rice with green beans and dinner rolls.  All I had to make was the rice and gravy, the rest was left overs.  Oh, my husband was in happiness.  The perfect napping kind of food.

 

As I said, we have had a few relaxed meals, thanks to my wonderful husband.  We had a night of fried chicken from Publix (I used the opportunity to pick up a second box, just for the smothered fried chicken).  We had another night, that we did the big soft taco, hard taco, and bean burritos combo for $10.  We had these at the park by the river and it was a wonderful change.  So in these last 2 weeks, things are getting non-normal and yet, being cherished for their charm.

~trish

Reaping more for what you Sow!

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html In our garden, I have had no success in planting corn. I do not think that it is the area, since my neighbors successfully had planted corn before they rebuilt their home.  We did a pH test to check to see if our soil is sweet or sour for growing.  Thankfully, we have been blessed with a neutral soil, pH = 7.3.  So we are thinking that soil just needs more nutrients. Well, with all this RESTING!  I have been watching a lot of gardening shows, especially the Victory Garden.  One thing I do love is all of the focus on Organic gardening, by using natural processes to grow successfully.  I like the idea of organic garden, because I am not all that thrilled about spending money to make my garden grow.  In my previous garden, I had industrial compost brought in, unfortunately, it was filled with broken glass. In my “research”, I learned about pairing or “companion” plants together to help each other.  For example, corn and green beans are really good together, because green beans like to store nitrogen in the soil and corn really want that nitrogen.  I am not going to get into all the science in this, but I did find this awesome chart. Table 1. COMPANION PLANTING CHART FOR HOME & MARKET GARDENING (compiled from traditional literature on companion planting) CROP COMPANIONS INCOMPATIBLE Asparagus Tomato, Parsley, Basil   Beans Most Vegetables & Herbs   Beans, Bush Irish Potato, Cucumber, Corn, Strawberry, Celery, Summer Savory Onion Beans, Pole Corn, Summer Savory, Radish Onion, Beets, Kohlrabi, Sunflower Cabbage Family Aromatic Herbs, Celery, Beets, Onion Family, Chamomile, Spinach, Chard Dill, Strawberries, Pole Beans, Tomato Carrots English Pea, Lettuce, Rosemary, Onion Family, Sage, Tomato Dill Celery Onion & Cabbage Families, Tomato, Bush Beans, Nasturtium   Corn Irish Potato, Beans, English Pea, Pumpkin, Cucumber, Squash Tomato Cucumber Beans, Corn, English Pea, Sunflowers, Radish Irish Potato, Aromatic Herbs Eggplant Beans, Marigold   Lettuce Carrot, Radish, Strawberry, Cucumber   Onion Family Beets, Carrot, Lettuce, Cabbage Family, Summer Savory Beans, English Peas Parsley Tomato, Asparagus   Pea, English Carrots, Radish, Turnip, Cucumber, Corn, Beans Onion Family, Gladiolus, Irish Potato Potato, Irish Beans, Corn, Cabbage Family, Marigolds, Horseradish Pumpkin, Squash, Tomato, Cucumber, Sunflower Pumpkins Corn, Marigold Irish Potato Radish English Pea, Nasturtium, Lettuce, Cucumber Hyssop Spinach Strawberry, Faba Bean   Squash Nasturtium, Corn, Marigold Irish Potato Tomato Onion Family, Nasturtium, Marigold, Asparagus, Carrot, Parsley, Cucumber Irish Potato, Fennel, Cabbage Family Turnip English Pea Irish Potato http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html

So I planted 2 rows of a mix of corn and green beans and one with spaghetti squash.  Now I used bush green beans and not pole green beans.  This is mostly from my days of FFA, when my favorite high school teacher, Mr. Lynn, would plant the bush green beans with the corn.  SO the bush will grow like a bush and the poles will grow up a pole.  So simple, it is often over looked.  Now this is also something you can try in a large pot, if you are not about to till up your yard. 

 

I also found some great resources for pest control. My carrots got invaded by ants that made it very painful at times to harvest and clean.  I did not want to put the ant killer on it, because all I could think of was that I would poison my family when we ate the carrots.  I just found this website: www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com.

Here is a table on some of my common problems.

PEST	Remedy	HOW
Ants	Borax mixed with peanut butter or something sweet, such as honey.	the ants eat it and take it back to their nest to share with other ants, hopefully poisoning all in the nest.
	Boiling water can then be poured on as many ants as you can reach (as long as it's safe and away from plants).	Boiling water can of course be poured down an ant nest to kill the queen — if you are lucky enough to find an easy to reach nest, but usually they are very deep and constructed to stop rain and flooded water going in.
Aphids	Pour boiling water over crushed rhubarb leaves then leave to soak for several days. Strain, add a good squirt of detergent and dilute enough so that it looks like weak tea and spray over pest infested plants. Repeat every 10 days or so.	Rhubarb leaves are semi-poisonous to us, and a tea brewed from rhubarb leaves poisons smaller critters, such as aphids, mites, white fly, caterpillars etc
Snails	Beer in a shallow pan in the garden to trap snails and slugs overnight. Vinegar in a shallow pan will do the same thing.
	Put a band of fine sand about 1cm (1/4") high around the garden edge or base of plants	Snails dislike sand, which they do not like to cross.

 

garden pest control mixtures consists of and how they work:

• Smell: Garlic, tobacco, rhubarb, fish and other strong smelling substances that are used to repel pests.
• Gases and odor molecules: Many plants give off natural odors or have volatile oils which some bugs find unpleasant. Often these odors or oils are a warning to bugs that the plant contains its own built in insecticide. Concoctions made from these plants will deter pests.
• Heat or fumes: Chilies, kerosene, methylated spirits, salt etc, will burn, harm or kill pests.
• Oil: Mineral oil, vegetable oils and proprietary oils, such as those made with cottonseed oil, will suffocate soft-bodied pests.
• Soap: Natural vegetable based soaps or detergents are added to sprays in small amounts to make them stick to plants. Many insects dislike and are harmed by soap also.

 

The GOOD BUGS!

LADY BUGS:

Any faithful ladybugs you have are true beneficial insects and devour aphids, scale, mealybugs and other small soft-bodied insects. They soon clean up the aphids on a plant... if fact you can carefully move ladybugs around your garden if you wish. As long as they are well fed, they will stay true to you.

Parasite Wasps

These are tiny wasps quite unlike big yellow-striped bullies that sting. Parasitic wasps are divided into many species and the adults feed on nectar and pollen, therefore planting flowers near your vegetables encourages these little winged creatures.

The family of Chalcid wasps include Trichogramma which kill the eggs of the moth species Lepidoptera, such as codling moth and others which turn into ravenous caterpillar pests.

The bug information on the good and the bad ones, all came from www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com.  For extended information, please visit them.

So I am excited to see things grow.  Here is my favorite evening view.

This is an evening picture, so it is a bit blurry.  I am excited to have my summer squash in bloom.

happy sowing!

~trish

SUCCESSFUL?

A short conversation today, got a small fire stirring up in me today.  Being Successful is all that could come to mind.

Background:  A pit stop at my husband’s office led to a conversation with one of the other employees, male.  Having a good dialog about homeschooling and the opportunities given to us by the State of Florida, or more of lack of insane restriction and qualification.  The comment was made that my formal training is an Engineer. 

Yes, my friends, I will let you know.  I am an engineer.  No, not the train operator, but boy I would love to drive a train.  Nope, I was the calculator toting, scale in hand, designing stormwater control structures and detention ponds with all the permitting and calculations required.  I ended it just over 2 years ago to stay at home with my 2 kids and pregnant with the 3rd.

On top of this, my husband and I worked for the same firm.  We were a powerhouse of ability and still fresh and green in the circuit.  I mean, we had the world by its tail and was confident in the success we were going to have.  I still have a fleeting feeling of the suits, I once wore and the million dollar clients.  I am saying this, as both my husband and I are tapping away on own laptops, he working and researching for his job, me working and researching (well, tell you) for my family.  Looking so industrious.

So lets just say, my world compared to my working life is far from different hemispheres, if not planets.  I went from take out meals to meals from scratch.  Suits and shopping sprees to hand me downs and homemade threads. Gym membership – gone.  Six week hair appointments – to cutting my own hair after a shower.  Bi-weekly messages to only when it is medically necessary.  The hot mocha lattes and frozen cappuccinos to a hot cup of Foldger’s coffee with some good creamer. LUNCHES!  I treated myself to wonderful lunches, now I eat left-overs.  I declared me time, for my exhaustion that was never budged.  My book budget, ahh, memories, now I just pay for book fines from the library.  Let me tall you, I would not go back.  None of that is worth, what I have now.

 

About a month ago, my husband asked if I missed work?  Well, at first I did desperately.  I missed the challenges and the fellow workers, and getting the gratifications of getting a job done right, a client happy, fixing the impossible.  Two years later, please do not strap me to that ball and chain called work.

Financially, if you need and I mean NEED to work that is one thing.  I spent the first year at home, trying to learn to live on what we had, yes, it took that long to do it.  Well, for the past year and half, not only do I live within our financial ability, I thrive on it.  I have learned to thrive on $150 a week with 3 kids, a scrapbook and sewing hobby, homeschool supplies, indulgences, and fun.  It can be done.  So to go to work just to have money, seems awfully greedy, especially since it would be at the expense of the peace and harmony of my family.

Something to do! Well the next reason to go to work is to just have something to do.  Well, I have plenty to do and IF I had my kids in school, there is still plenty I could find for myself to do.  I can garden, organize, volunteer.  You name it. Going to work when you do not need to, is just because you did not know what to do with yourself. 

SUCCESS: Well, my short conversation got me thinking.  With my wonderful pieces of paper in the expensive frames crowning my achievement within the college world.  Where is the best use of my abilities and where would those efforts bring me the most success? Hmm.

I drove and thought about this for a little bit and then it just started flooding my mind. (I should have stopped to write them down).  First, my desire to constantly learn and improve has benefitted my family.  I have used my skills to research and LEARN how to be thrifty, crafty, simple, and self-reliant.  Alright, I used my college degrees to pursue to be the best homemaker I can.  I consider that a step towards feminine freedom, (even though my previous college professor would disagree.) My education just allows me more opportunities than if I did not have it.  No matter what, it is my choice on the opportunity I take.  Having my educational background, to me, strengthens the notion and importance of how important a homemaker really is.  This is a snickered at and overlooked career path by the general public.  I am always being justified that my decision/forced retirement to stay at home was because of outrageous daycare bills. Not so.

So to me, success for me is the fact that I am working diligently to provide my children

• a strong knowledge and love for our Lord.
• A comprehension and knowledge of the power of money, good and bad.
• the ability to live and thrive with less, so they will not be bound by the NEED of money.
• to learn how to learn, this self teaching ability came at the end of my college career.
• a solid foundation to give them to the our world as self reliant, independent, responsible adults.

What could be more successful than that?  Making money, having promotions, being looked to for your career success can end with a budget cut or retirement.  My success will produce fruit long pass retirement age.  My fruit will be my companions at the end of my life.  I will see and watch with pride as their fruit is strengthen and fortified, just as they were.  I will enjoy the blessings of their love.  Now that is success.

Even more so, is the hope that I have, that God will use me to teach other moms to have success and that my fruit will do the same.  To show that being a steward of what God has given us, will bring blessings of abundance.

I am succeeding and I will be successful.  God will use what ever education I have when HE intends for it to be used in that way.  I have no worries.  Sometimes, that education is used just on my husband alone, who is an engineer also.   Many engineers are often concerned about how 2 could live together.  It can be done.

~trish

(I am really sorry, I got one chance to review this and decided to post it, instead of letting it sit as a draft.)

Days shy of 37 weeks

 

Well, I will be 37 weeks on Monday.  I went to my last appointment, this past Wednesday and found out I was already 50% effaced.   Alright!  I am excited to have a baby that is not going to make me wait too long to see her.  This is so far the quickest that I have progressed for birth.  The last one I was induced and had not dilated or effaced by 39 weeks.

I am keeping up my normal routine, with the exception of not running to the phone when it rings and staying home for the most part.  At home, I am still in full mode, laundry, cooking, picking up here and there, and sewing.

Well, I am hitting the point of being uncomfortable.  This morning the belly is miserable.  Tight all over, pressure, but no contractions yet.  I have only naturally started birth with my first one, my other 2 were induced.

So in many ways, this is still a raw experience, untamed by the multitude.  My experience with the first was Miserably uncomfortable around my back and at my belly button.  What is now known to me as pre-labor contractions with back labor. 

I still remember at the time, sitting at my desk at work wanting to cry, because I just did not feel good/right and no idea why.  I have to laugh, because just understanding what was going on, would have stopped my whining (somewhat).  I had no idea, I was a newbie and I was unsure of it all.  Now, it is a little laugh, my eyes closed, and I quietly breathe.  Knowing each bit of pre-labor contraction is a sign of it coming.  Well I finished that day of pre-labor at the Dr office, saying what is going on, am I in labor?

My answer, ”NO!  Honey, you will know when you are in labor and there will not be a hint of smile on your face.”  (Can you believe after that I still stuck with him all these years and babies!)  I love my doctor even when I am chastised and boy does he have to get onto me now and then.  SO he sent me home, said relax and start your maternity leave today.

That was not much fun!  We had just moved into our first home and everything was in boxes through out the entire house with just a path.  All I had was a glider, a phone, and the mindset that I was too pregnant to do a thing.  Now that is one I have to laugh at now.  So I called every girlfriend I had, to catch up on and spent the day running my mouth.  BY the way, that first home was in the middle of no where.  Look on a Florida map and find the location that has the least amount of roads per square inch and that was where I was at.  It was an hour to WALMART and at least 30 minutes to town for the grocery store.

I couldn’t take it by 3 pm, I was off to my moms.  An hour drive down 1 road.  SO her and I went to a scrapbook class.  Me, being the miserable daughter I know how to be from time to time, taunted her that if she wasn’t nice I would have this baby tonight and not go to my baby shower the next day.  I am sure at the time, the only thing she was doing wrong, was stealing a little of the spotlight from this all about me, soon to be new-mom.

So we ended the evening and I made the long drive home about 10 pm.  That entire day, I felt fine and had no lingering symptoms of the day before.  So no big deal.  Until just after midnight, for the ritual pee journey.  I waddled out of bed, stood up and swish!  I thought I had peed myself and would have left it at that, except I then sat down and went pee.   Being the clever first time prego I was, I realized that if I had peed myself, then I shouldn’t have to still go pee. DING, DING, DING!

Woke the honey, took a shower, and excitedly headed to the hospital 1 1/2 hrs away.  Hence, contractions had not started yet.  Oh, the contractions did start about 20 minutes into the ride and they were BAD!  I was having back labor.  Oh, And I did not take a single birthing class or watch a single movie.  (Too much effort to have the energy after work to deal with any of that.)  So I am screaming.  Note to newbies, the Triage Nurses do not deal well with screamers, especially when you are only 1/2 cm dilated at 2 am.  I was told to go home, Me no way, not without my drugs!  So I was sent to walk.  I hollered through that hospital lobby for almost 4 hours, That was when I made it to 3 whole cm.  I think they fudged it to get me out of there!

After that, 3 hours later, my first born was here.  I am skipping that excitement.  My attitude only got better and I believe my mom left there shaking with fear and shock at the beast that can really come out from my inner-self.  And of course, I did not make the baby shower.

So here I am on baby #4.  Knowing that all cramping and discomfort are a good thing.  Anxiously waiting for a bloody show, and comforting myself that it could happen when My water breaks.  Really, lets just get this show on the road and reminding myself that it still can be next week before it happens.  I am ready for it to happen NOW!  but I am wanting to be patient.

I will have to see where the day brings me.

Take care, and hope for a few good contractions for me.

~trish

All Flannel diapers

I hope I am not making you feel a little pooped.  I should be ending my series on clothe diapers soon.  If these topics are not for you, just hold on and I will be done nesting and move onto nursing, LOL! – Which, you probably will not care for either.  NO, I have a ton to talk about all the time.  So hopefully, I will be clear of other things to go back to other subjects.  Until then, ONTO DIAPERING!

I made the all flannel clothe diapers and they are lovely!

I did go girly!  I enjoyed the different flannels to make the outer layer.  These diapers are for the 10-22 lb baby and not the older ones, hence, they are girly.   I ended up creating them with 3 layers and the terry clothe (old towel) absorption layer.  I have not added velcro, because quite honestly, I am not sure how big.  For the moment I am planning to leave them pin-able.  I figured I can go back to put the velcro on later.

I plan to make these all in one diapers.  After realizing, that I can make 6 diapers in a day with company visiting for half of it, 2 loads of laundry, and the rest of my chores, i.e., cutting out during the morning learning shows and sewing during the naps.  I plan to make them all –in-one diapers, instead of trying to just change inserts.  I figured I might get my stash to 20-30 diapers with the inserts.

We will see how time is.  I should have about a month before my disposable stash is outgrown or dissolved.

~trish

More home made diapers, size large

Like I said earlier, I need bigger diapers.  So I made some.

This is completed with velcro straps.

Isn’t it cute, being modeled by #3.

 

Here are a few pictures I took, as I made this pattern.

These are the measurements from my purchased 22-45 lb diapers.

This is what my pattern looks like.  After the fact, I brought the corner down an inch before connecting to the crouch points.  I did this so that I don’t have a point at the top.  I found this helps with the hem at the top, but is not mandatory. Here is a better view.

 

What I do want to show you is the vinyl after washing.  I am a bit disappointed in it.  The one on the right has been washed in my white/whites Hot cycle, because this is the best cycle for me to wash diapers.  This is not the best cycle for vinyl. Live and learn.  The Vinyl is still attached at all the seams, but it is no longer fused with the fabric.  In all aspects, it works AND my daughter wears it comfortably, but I do not like the look or the sound.

So I decided in this adventure, I am doing all flannel and no leak barrier, WOW am I brave.  I am going to get a good microfiber insert and learn to be aware of dampness.

~trish

Making my 2nd round of Laundry Detergent!

I hit the bottom of my 5 gallon bucket of detergent today.  I think I made it the 1st of June, but it might have been the end of May.  Anyways, as I had stated in my 1st post about making laundry detergent, it cost me about $10 to make. 

To make this round, I only needed to buy the pure soap.  The other bars of Ivory soap mysteriously was used in the past couple of months.  I also decided in this round to find an actual bar of laundry soap, instead of the pure soap.  From my internet searching there are 2 common forms: Fels-Naptha and Zoats.  Today, I found the Fels-Naptha.

When it comes to laundry soap making, Publix has what you need: the washing soda, Borax, and the laundry soap.  If this is your first time making it, I suggest getting the 5 gallon bucket and lid from Home Depot, they are less than $4.

So the original recipe is here:

http://midnightcrafters.blogspot.com/2009/08/laundry-detergent-recipe.html

 

To find the Fels-Naptha at Publix, go to the laundry boasters part of the aisle and look up, it is on the top shelf.  The Washing Soda and the Borax is in that section too.  Now I bought a 2nd Bar of soap to use as a pre-treatment.

I have been reading up on detergent and found out that you can wet the bar and then rub it into the stained area and then throw it into the wash.

Now the part of grating the bar of soap, IS the part that I do not like. I did try a suggestion from another blog to use my blender with a mason jar.

Did not work well.  I think I actually heated up the thing to burn out.  It could be because of 2 reasons,

1 – My blender is old and no longer has the power behind it to get the job done.  My husband did inherit it about 10 years ago from his grandmother.

2 – The soap it somewhat soft and mushy almost like monster cheese instead of a hard parmesan.

I think if I would have had a good food processor the job would have been easier.  So I ended up just cubing it.  I did use a colander to get any bits of dissolved pieces out to reheat them.  Not to worry it is not rocket science, just laundry cooking.

Now another thing about this bar of soap, is that apparently it helps to use it, if you end up in some poison ivy.  Hmm, good to know!

Well, I really wanted to bring this back to you, since it has been a wonder to my budget!  The last batch of laundry detergent hit every aspect of childhood messes and came out clean.  Even doing cloth diapers.

If you do run into lingering smells in your laundry, add borax or even white vinegar.  Please for budget consideration, buy it in the gallon bottle.

I use a front loading HE and some ill effects is that the machine will smell moldy and with a few rounds of pee pee clothes, it has an odor to knock your socks off.  Well adding 1/2 cup of borax to every load will take the smell out, at that point, Just do every other load or as needed.

If you have a top loader, you can make a round of powder detergent instead.  This is not an option for the HE.  You can do a simple web search of laundry recipes and will be blown away by all the information!

Have fun and keep clean!

~trish

Making Diapers

I am back to clothe diapering!  I started going through my stock and realized it would be a good time to start building stock for #4.  I have plenty of newborn disposables, thanks to 2 diaper cakes.  I only have 5 cloth diapers for the 10-22 pound range, I need about 15 to 20.  The diapers I have I got online and cost me about $10 a piece, OUCH!  Although, they were pricey, the diapers recouped their expense within a month.  Well, I need more and I am not willing to invest that much.  So I went blog crawling!  WOW!  There is actually a forum for clothe diaper addicts who sew their own.

I have a couple of spots I have been to and have even downloaded and printed the free patterns, but yesterday I think I found the best sight of all! http://webpages.charter.net/rhamley/diapers/diapertext2.htm

So I set off to make a pair, to see how they would turn out.  For my pattern, I used one I had.  I made a pattern template and cut out a cotton layer and 2 flannel layers and an absorption pad.

Let’s talk cheap, right off the cloth.  The cute lady bugs is some remnant someone gave me, FREE!  The flannel is from a clearance bedding set at walmart, $5. (I will have plenty to make diapers for my household and maybe a few gifts.  The terry cloth is a wore out towel that I had been patching, FREE!  (ohh, I am so happy to find usefulness for these towels, otherwise my husband would hoard them forever.)  Now you will notice the ladybug cotton has a shine.  Well, I found some awesome stuff at JoAnns that is an iron-on vinyl. Whew! I will cloth diaper, but I am not about to deal with pee pee soaking me. 

This is the vinyl iron-on.  It cost $5.99 per yard, I used my 50% coupon and got 3 yards for $2.99/yd.  I am using about 1/3 yd per diaper, so about $1 of vinyl per diaper. Worth it!

Making my pattern was hard at first.  I was trying to get the curves and making myself crazy.  Instead, I measured the length and the widths at each end.  Next, I went to the crouch; measuring the width and where the crouch began from each side.  I used these measurements and drew a straight line to connect the dots.  NO CURVES.  Why?  I figured naturally when I sew, it would turn into a gentle curve, and it did. 

I made the pattern in half, because I couldn’t find enough paper.  I did use my stampin’ up graph paper to make my template.  I also added 1 inch to each measurement for the seam allowance.  Here is what the pattern cut looked like.

So I sandwiched everything like smart mama said to do, but I had a problem.

I was not getting the gathering around the legs.  This could be a big problem, I do not want little poops falling out around the house.  I was thankful, my husband decided to get involved and inspect the example and mine.  I had even attempted to add elastic to the inside with a zig-zag stitch to get more gather, but it seemed as though the elastic could not over power the vinyl strength.  I thought I was doomed for leak control! Then we figured it out and got the seam ripper out!

Instead of zig-zag stitching the entire length of the 1/4 inch elastic at the legs of crouch, I could just stitch the ends and let the middle part be unattached.  So I did and this is what happened!

What a difference!  Me and my husband sat in shock before bed.  It worked!  Now, I know I took the adventure to make something, but sometimes I have no idea if it is going to work.  This is one of those times, I really had no idea.  I still need to add velcro to the front and make the flaps to stick it.  I am going to head to JoAnns today with another 50% coupon to see if they have the softer velcro called Aplix.

Now let me gloat here!  I just love how cute it is!!!!  Look at the other one, pretty plain.  I have a few with cars on them, but nothing very girlie.  I am also excited that I did not have to pay a fortune to buy flannel and because I have so much of it, I plan to use my extra cotton stash to make the outer protective part and give it some cute distinction.  I do believe that the vinyl and this velcro are going to become a staple to my closet.  I am also happy to find a new use for all these little scraps.  Just wait until I make a few pairs of booties!  Ohh, and the flannel inside, is just lovely in texture.

What I am realizing is that I might need to make a few more for the next size up.  #3 is potty training but uses about 5-7 a day and #2 still needs 1 at night.  Well when you have 10 diapers, you are often reverting back to a disposable.  So I think I am going to get on to making the next size up, as soon as they are clean.

Let me know of your experience!  If you are one of my locals and would like to make some, lets get together and I will show you step by step.  I was even imagining race cars and dinosaurs, but I do not have a boy coming.

~trish

It is fixed!

WOW!  Do I love it! YES!

I hope you like it.  I made my header today and my button.  I wish I could figure out how to fine tune it, but a little at a time.  I am thankful to have it back to reflect my personal style.

 

Let me know what you think?

~trish

Free CM Digital Template

I have been creating digital templates for the Creative Memories Storybook Creator 3.0, as I have time.  I am using the older scrapbook magazines for the design. 
I have this one for free, just download both pages at:
http://www.4shared.com/file/AKhImJFV/CK112003p2.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/weBQeKr9/CK112003p1.html
enjoy!
~trish

I am sorry!

This is really a picture for some good laughs.  I want to say I am sorry to my 3 companions that are with me through thick and thin, pain and joy.  Me, Myself, and I, I am so sorry!  I am moving to the end of this pregnancy and realized I might not have given my closest companions some slack.

This fourth  pregnancy was a rough ride.  I have accused my age, my body, my mind, and soul for my misery.  Through this misery I have openly whined and projected my grief on anyone and everyone! 

Well, God gave me an epiphany during this past week.  I am a little strong headed, so He has to start slow and reveal his purpose to me one strand at a time.  I have a hard time keeping my own chatter to Him quiet, so I can listen to Him.  SO, He showed me.

THAT.  This is one of those years that it was time for my body to have a few problems.  During the last 9 months, I have dealt with 4 sinus infections, a tooth infection that led to a tooth pulled, and a bad fall.  Well, I believe probably everything but the fall, would have happened pregnant or not.

So I realized it was not the pregnancy that made me miserable, it was just that I had a pregnancy during a bad year.  And on top of that, I have not adjusted my mindset that I have 3 kids.  Three kids under 5 when I got pregnant.  Now, somewhere in pure kindness I should have adjusted my thinking and expectation of Me, Myself, and I.

Just as an example of my personal expectation, take a look at the picture.  I had been up 2 hours before the rest of my family.  I am making pancakes and getting the cakes mixed for my son’s birthday.  Each hand is on a different task, as if they are different independent minds.  I am not sure if this is really what God has intended for me, myself or I.  How could I be so inconsiderate.

Me, Myself, and I – I am sorry.  I should have been more considerate of the tasks required to be a wife and mother to 3 children as you took the physical toll of growing another blessing.  I am sorry for not having patience as the weather changes of these past few seasons took a toll on you.  I am sorry for looking for quick and easy solutions that took your focus away from God’s ultimate plan for you, that were not.

I have learned from this, that although I do not feel like our family is large, I think we are on the big size of a medium size family.  In the past 5 years, we have jumped from 1 to 3 kids and soon to be 4, within the same home that we figured we would be in for only a few years.  SO we lived and continued to live as if we were a small family in a “normal” size house.  Well, like it or not we must live as though we are a large family, no matter what size I consider us to be.

My mantra will be: less is more!   I will have several blessings walking around my home, I do not need to fill it with stuff.  So I am reading blogs from women who have many children and I am trying to find any techniques to incorporate in our home that will help us thrive.

I hope you accept my apology as I do better to you, that will ultimately make my family better!

~trish

Making Bias Tape

I have so much fabric that I try to make my bias tape from my stash.  Now I had that little funnel gadget that cost about $14 and I can never get it to work.  What I have found is that it is easier to make the tape with the use of straight pins.
1.  I cut my fabric into strips.  For this one I cut my strips 2 1/2 inches wide.
2.  To make the length, I sew them together at an angle.  I found that sewing them straight across creates to much bulk at the the seam.  So creating a diagonal seam allows the bulk to be dispersed.
3. Iron tape in half, from end to end.

4. Unfold the tape.  Next, on each side fold to meet in the middle as shown. Now this is when I use the pins.  I actually get the fold started and then pin it.  From here I can just pull it through and iron it, as I go.  I only have to do minor adjustments as I pull it through.

5.  To make it even more efficient, I use one more pin and fold it in half.  Now it is about 1/4 of the width that I cut it out.  Now I am ironing it  and getting multiple folds with minimal efforts.

Here is what it looks like on my ironing board.

All done!  This is actually close to 15 feet of bias tape. 

I had made the bias tape for my table clothe.  This table is a small table and with the placement of the benches, having a long cloth hanging over always allows the children to pull it off as they get in and out.
When I went through my stash, I had this red stripped denim fabric.  I actually had enough to cut into 2 pieces.  Well, I am not in the mood to hem it.  So I decided to use the bias tape and add a little flair to it.  So ta-da!

I hope this encourages you to even make some of you own basic products when you can!

I hope all is well!
~trish

My pets makes me breakfast!

This is the true reason I have chickens.  Back to being the ultimate cheapo! 

I have a free range hen and she likes to hide her eggs.  But we found her. 

She is a bit of my challenge.  She went free range about 8 months ago.  Since then, she has been laying eggs for my neighbors, frustrating me, since I am feeding her and she is feeding the neighbors!

Well, we found them!  Yeah!  Especially, when eggs can range about $2.40 a dozen, this was sure glee!

I was so excited!  We had them for breakfast already and I must say, yum!  She lays us eggs that are half yoke! So even when you dilute them with milk, the scrambled eggs still are yellower than regular white eggs scrambled.

I am not sure what type of chicken she is and she likes to hide from me.  She has extra toes and has a bit of a fluff style to her. I am not sure if it is her bread that creates these eggs or is it the benefit of good organic free range eggs.  Either way, she is a great pet.

~trish

Making Re-useable Baby Wipes

well, not for the faint of heart.  No I would not want to scare you, it is really not a big deal.  I have had many times, in a pinch, that I just went for a wash clothe when I was out of wipe.  This cheapo, sometimes needs a little courage to spend the money I have on something to throw away.  I despise paper towels, paper plates, disposable diapers, wipes,  paper cups, you name it.  It seems like a huge waste of money.

Now there was a day I did live by these things.  Well with a 4th coming, there better be a well justified convenience.   So we are using paper stuff, for now, because I am prego.  It has probably been at least a year since paper plates were in my house, except for birthday parties.

On my little blog crawling I was telling you about, I found a neat little website about making baby things.  One of which, was home made washable wipes.  These things are a snap to make.  I used flannel fabric I had and an old t-shirt. Eww, all my old treehuggin’ friends would love the reuse.  I pumped 10 out in about an hour and a half, while I was saving the chicks from the curiosity of a new 4 year old and calming the fires of sibling rivalries (all in a days work of super mom).

They are 8 inches by 8 inches, 2 flannel squares sandwiches between a square knit (this is where the old t-shirt came in).  I used this flannel, because I have a lot of it and I thought it best to keep the wipes to one design to make them easier to pick out in the wash.

Now I had to make them with finished edges, because I have become very obsessed with my edged in the past year.  I guess the growing maturity in my stitching.  Usually I do not care.  My mom and I have a joke, she makes things pretty and amazing and I just get my stuff done.  So She might have these amazing items she has made, but I have a ton more stuff finished and in use.

Here is the blog that I was inspired by:

http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/cloth-diaper-wipes.html

She has a lot of other tutorials that I plan to make use of.   I actually have already considered them for washing my face, they have a wonderful softness to them.  as I go through old t-shirts, I will make more for my stash.

Hope this is helpful or just another insight to my craziness!

~trish

What has happened to my layout!

I have no idea!  I thought I would do something pretty and it changed the entire size of how my postings are shown.  I have no idea if this is making you crazy, but for the type A as I am, I am going nuts.  It is taking the fun of re-reading them away.  I hope you are not going nuts-o. I keep trying to get it set up right again.  I believe I will have to take a chance and seek help from a professional blog designer.  Know of anyone?

Getting Ready!

I have been a little missing, but I have been very busy.  At 34 weeks, I woke up having contractions.  Well, this was just what I needed to get things in order.  I am happy to say that the contractions have stopped.  As I was cleaning and washing all the little things that go with a baby, I was struck at the preciousness of her clothes on the line and could not help but share it with you.
This past week has been an absolute blessing for my heart and mind.  #1 had a week off from Pre-K and we were able to feel like we were in our old routine again.  By the end of the week, my longtime passion and desire to homeschool my children had returned.  I have so many reasons to want to, in the beginning it was a large desire to shelter my children until they have grown mature enough to handle the day to day influences that are not always favorable for their moral and character.
Now I have come to understand, that I desire the calmness that comes with not being demanded to be everywhere with everyone, multiple times a day.  The fun and excitement from exploring the things around the house and within our community.  The peace and connection that stays within my young children to be together, through kicking and biting and laughing and playing.
So for the past week, I have been reading and reading, exploring and putting my house in order.  I have found some wonderful thrifty, homemade sites that I can not wait to share with you as I begin newborning again.  We will be back to clothe diapering soon.  I am excited to be back, although a little daunting, it frees up so much money in the budget.  I have found a few website to make diaper covers and I am excited to give them a try.
I am in the countdown of 5 weeks to the due date and by then I should get to go back to my “old self” with energy to do the things I love to do in this home.  So be prepared for a bit more sewing, less bentos (Pre-K ends in 13 days), a lot about baby, and a journal of our homeschooling journey. 
Also, I have been having a wonderful time digital scrapbooking.  I have made a few templates to share with you.  I am also excited that my friend, Tracy Croy, will be starting a digital scrapbook club. 
Have a blessed day!
~trish

I am a DCWV Design Challenge Winner!

Here is the page I submitted for the March Design Challenge.  I just got notification yesterday that I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited.   I used the City Critters Kit for $7.  As always, I love the paper packs by DCWV and became crazy excited to know they were digital.

I have already used this template twice for other pages.  I have this template downloadable to use in the Creative Memories Storybook Creator 3.0, free for you to have:

http://www.4shared.com/file/236155047/d926460f/DCWVChallange32010.html

 

I am so excited to get to pick out free product!  I will be posting the template again for the next Design Challenge by DCWV!  You visit them at www.300dpi.com

The files are easy to insert into the Creative Memories Storybook Creator.  I did have to set up the alpha as an embellishment and not an alpha.  I believe the alpha feature within the Creator is an exclusive benefit of using  Creative Memories content.  I am excited that Creative Memories has a wonderful program that has allowed me to import content from other providers.

I look forward to using more DCWV Content!

~trish

I am a DCWV Design Challenge Winner!

Here is the page I submitted for the March Design Challenge.  I just got notification yesterday that I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited.   I used the City Critters Kit for $7.  As always, I love the paper packs by DCWV and became crazy excited to know they were digital.

I have already used this template twice for other pages.  I have this template downloadable to use in the Creative Memories Storybook Creator 3.0, free for you to have:

http://www.4shared.com/file/236155047/d926460f/DCWVChallange32010.html

 

I am so excited to get to pick out free product!  I will be posting the template again for the next Design Challenge by DCWV!  You visit them at www.300dpi.com

The files are easy to insert into the Creative Memories Storybook Creator.  I did have to set up the alpha as an embellishment and not an alpha.  I believe the alpha feature within the Creator is an exclusive benefit of using  Creative Memories content.  I am excited that Creative Memories has a wonderful program that has allowed me to import content from other providers.

I look forward to using more DCWV Content!

~trish