I want to let all of you in on a little secret - you may already know about it: There is a blog called "I'm an Organizing Junkie" (orgjunkie.com). Every Monday, Laura, the "organizing junkie," hosts "Menu Planning Monday." This means she posts her own menu for the week and invites other people to leave links to their blogs where they post their menus.
For the past few months, I have been going to this blog every Monday and I excitedly browse through hundreds of people's menus. Some people provide links to the recipes they will be using (insert drooling here). If I find something that I think Andrew and I will enjoy, I bookmark it on Delicious for future use. I love finding new recipes! So I have been mooching off this blog for a while now, and I think it is finally time for me to participate. Here is my menu for this coming week! Enjoy!
Monday - Taco salad
Tuesday - White bean and chicken chili
Wednesday - Tortellini Marinara
Thursday - Chicken and rice casserole with "Texas Rolls" (Texas Rolls can be found in the freezer section of your grocery store - you defrost them and bake. They taste fantastic and it seems like I made homemade rolls!)
Friday - Out to eat with Grandma Launceford (My mom's mom)
Saturday - Dinner in Bellingham
Sunday - Dinner in Bellingham
For more menu plans, hop on over to orgjunkie.com. You won't regret it!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Adventures in Cloth Diapering: Cloth Wipes
At one of my baby showers, my friend Samantha (who sparked my interest in cloth diapers) gave me a bunch of diapers to try and a basket with homemade cloth wipes. I began using the cloth wipes long before I used cloth diapers. They are SO easy, and they have saved us a lot of money. We recently bought some disposable wipes for a friend who just had a baby - we spent over $5 for a pack of three refills! When I bought those, I realized even more how great cloth wipes are.
The wipes we use were made by Samantha. They are pieces of flannel that are surged around the edges. She picked cute, gender-neutral fabric that doesn't show stains (for the most part). I bought more fabric to make some of my own, though I haven't gotten around to it yet. I bought 3/4 yard of three different patterned fabric (1/4 of each). I found that 1/4 yard makes about 25 wipes!
Samantha gave me about 30 wipes. This is a great amount. I wash them right along with my diapers and with the frequency of my washing, I never run out of clean wipes.
Here are some pictures of the wipes, to give you a better idea:
I also use a homemade spray to moisten the wipes. Here is the recipe I use:
The wipes we use were made by Samantha. They are pieces of flannel that are surged around the edges. She picked cute, gender-neutral fabric that doesn't show stains (for the most part). I bought more fabric to make some of my own, though I haven't gotten around to it yet. I bought 3/4 yard of three different patterned fabric (1/4 of each). I found that 1/4 yard makes about 25 wipes!
Samantha gave me about 30 wipes. This is a great amount. I wash them right along with my diapers and with the frequency of my washing, I never run out of clean wipes.
Here are some pictures of the wipes, to give you a better idea:
I also use a homemade spray to moisten the wipes. Here is the recipe I use:
1 cup water
2 T baby soap
1 T olive oil
A few drops of essential oil (This is optional. I use "Clarity" from Sensaria)
2 T baby soap
1 T olive oil
A few drops of essential oil (This is optional. I use "Clarity" from Sensaria)
To use the wipes and the spray, I spray the cloth wipe and wipe John's bum with the moistened wipe. I usually only have to use one wipe to get him clean - sometime two. Then I toss it in the washing machine with the cloth diapers. It's that easy!!
My next cloth diapering post will be about how I wash the diapers.
Related posts:
9-22-09 And the Winner is...
8-24-09 Reviews and New Diapers
8-12-09 The Sun is Amazing!
7-22-09 The Beginning
My next cloth diapering post will be about how I wash the diapers.
Related posts:
9-22-09 And the Winner is...
8-24-09 Reviews and New Diapers
8-12-09 The Sun is Amazing!
7-22-09 The Beginning
Saturday, September 26, 2009
7 Quick Takes ~ Vol. 9
Hosted at Conversion Diary
1. Tummy time: This week, when John was on his tummy, he pivoted 180 degrees! I got on the floor and crawled toward him. He smiled and started moving his legs like he wanted to crawl to me. He wants to crawl, but he needs to get some more core muscle strength. Before I know it, I'll be chasing him all over!
2. We just heard on the radio about a couple who did in-vetro fertilization and they were mistakenly implanted with another couple's embryos. They decided to bring the baby to term and give the baby to the biological parents. The biological parents were overjoyed to have their child! This made me wonder: If the woman who was implanted with the wrong embryos decided to have an abortion, would the biological parents have any ability to intervene? After all, the embryo would be their wanted child.
3. Lesson learned: I really want to get an ergo baby carrier, most of my friends with kids have one and I have heard great things about them! So we decided to get one. The nearest retailer is in Poulsbo, which is about 25-30 minutes away. I packed John in the car and we drove out to Poulsbo. They didn't have the color we wanted. Sad. This reminded me of the value of calling ahead. Especially when you are toting around a little one, you should always call ahead when you are making a special trip to go somewhere for one specific item. On a similar note, I have also learned the value of drive-through banking - what a blessing!!
4. The Front Lines: The 40 days for Life has begun! This is a campaign to end abortion that involves prayer, fasting, and community outreach. It mainly involves standing vigil at the local abortion facility. So for the next 40 days, people will be praying outside the Planned Parenthood in Bremerton from Sept. 23rd through Nov. 1st from 7am to 7pm. John and I signed up for the 9-10 hour slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Last Thursday, we had a beautiful thing happen. A man pulled over on the shoulder of the road. He got out of his car (you never know if this is a good thing...) and came over to where we were standing - another man, Michael, was praying with us, so don't worry. The stranger knelt down and put his hand on Michael's shoulder. He began to cry. Michael asked him if he wanted to stay and pray with us. He got up and said "I will be praying" and then walked away. We had the feeling that he may have been suffering from past involvement with abortion. So after he left we prayed for him and that he will feel the power of Our Lord's mercy. Click HERE to see if there is a 40DFL campaign going on in your area!
5. Brewing Beer: Right now Andrew is watching a tutorial video about home brewing beer. We are thinking that we will probably start brewing our own beer to save some money - and have some fun!
6. Postpartum Update: So I know you all love updates on John, but you may also be wondering how my healing has gone. I had an "easy" time with postpartum recovery - compared to stories I have heard from friends. After about two weeks, I felt almost back to "normal." Now that it has been over four months, I feel great! Mentally, sometimes I feel a little foggy, but that is probably because of the sleep interruptions during the night. My "baby belly" is still there a little. I was looking at my stretch marks today. They have faded a lot! Right after John was delivered, my stretch marks were bright red. Now they have faded to a light pink color. It is hard for me to look at them and see beauty, but I try to think of them as "love" marks.
7. Dinner Party: At the Our Lady Star of the Sea's school auction in February we donated a dinner night for three couples at the "Historic Manette Fire Station" with on site childcare included. It has taken a long time for all of our schedules to line up, but we finally hosted the dinner last night! It was SO fun! The adults' dinner was in my parents living area, and the children were entertained in our apartment. My parents did the cooking, Andrew was the waiter, and Becky and I did the childcare. I know I had a great time, I hope the families that came enjoyed themselves also! The kids acted out the nativity story and guess who payed Jesus? - Yup, little Johnny! =)
1. Tummy time: This week, when John was on his tummy, he pivoted 180 degrees! I got on the floor and crawled toward him. He smiled and started moving his legs like he wanted to crawl to me. He wants to crawl, but he needs to get some more core muscle strength. Before I know it, I'll be chasing him all over!
2. We just heard on the radio about a couple who did in-vetro fertilization and they were mistakenly implanted with another couple's embryos. They decided to bring the baby to term and give the baby to the biological parents. The biological parents were overjoyed to have their child! This made me wonder: If the woman who was implanted with the wrong embryos decided to have an abortion, would the biological parents have any ability to intervene? After all, the embryo would be their wanted child.
3. Lesson learned: I really want to get an ergo baby carrier, most of my friends with kids have one and I have heard great things about them! So we decided to get one. The nearest retailer is in Poulsbo, which is about 25-30 minutes away. I packed John in the car and we drove out to Poulsbo. They didn't have the color we wanted. Sad. This reminded me of the value of calling ahead. Especially when you are toting around a little one, you should always call ahead when you are making a special trip to go somewhere for one specific item. On a similar note, I have also learned the value of drive-through banking - what a blessing!!
4. The Front Lines: The 40 days for Life has begun! This is a campaign to end abortion that involves prayer, fasting, and community outreach. It mainly involves standing vigil at the local abortion facility. So for the next 40 days, people will be praying outside the Planned Parenthood in Bremerton from Sept. 23rd through Nov. 1st from 7am to 7pm. John and I signed up for the 9-10 hour slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Last Thursday, we had a beautiful thing happen. A man pulled over on the shoulder of the road. He got out of his car (you never know if this is a good thing...) and came over to where we were standing - another man, Michael, was praying with us, so don't worry. The stranger knelt down and put his hand on Michael's shoulder. He began to cry. Michael asked him if he wanted to stay and pray with us. He got up and said "I will be praying" and then walked away. We had the feeling that he may have been suffering from past involvement with abortion. So after he left we prayed for him and that he will feel the power of Our Lord's mercy. Click HERE to see if there is a 40DFL campaign going on in your area!
5. Brewing Beer: Right now Andrew is watching a tutorial video about home brewing beer. We are thinking that we will probably start brewing our own beer to save some money - and have some fun!
6. Postpartum Update: So I know you all love updates on John, but you may also be wondering how my healing has gone. I had an "easy" time with postpartum recovery - compared to stories I have heard from friends. After about two weeks, I felt almost back to "normal." Now that it has been over four months, I feel great! Mentally, sometimes I feel a little foggy, but that is probably because of the sleep interruptions during the night. My "baby belly" is still there a little. I was looking at my stretch marks today. They have faded a lot! Right after John was delivered, my stretch marks were bright red. Now they have faded to a light pink color. It is hard for me to look at them and see beauty, but I try to think of them as "love" marks.
7. Dinner Party: At the Our Lady Star of the Sea's school auction in February we donated a dinner night for three couples at the "Historic Manette Fire Station" with on site childcare included. It has taken a long time for all of our schedules to line up, but we finally hosted the dinner last night! It was SO fun! The adults' dinner was in my parents living area, and the children were entertained in our apartment. My parents did the cooking, Andrew was the waiter, and Becky and I did the childcare. I know I had a great time, I hope the families that came enjoyed themselves also! The kids acted out the nativity story and guess who payed Jesus? - Yup, little Johnny! =)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Now we are just like the Duggars!!
(Minus 18 kids...)
As I said in my quick takes last Saturday, we have adopted the same organizing system that the Duggars use. I learned about this system by reading their book.
Here are the nuts and bolts:
They use numbered cardboard filing boxes. Everything that they don't use on a daily basis goes in a box. Each box has a corresponding index card. On the index card is a list of the contents in the box. The index cards are stored in a recipe box for easy access. When you want to find something, you take out the recipe box, and search for the item by looking on the cards. When you find it on the card, you know what box it is in. All of their boxes are stored in closets.
We modified the system a little bit. Instead of using index cards, we are using a Google Doc. This will be better for finding things, because we can just do an electronic search and find the item we need right away. Right now all of the boxes we have are in our closet (we've been blessed with a big closet). We are starting out with 20 boxes and if we need more, there is room to store things in the basement. The best part about this is when we have to move again, almost everything will already be in a box!!
20 Boxes and Counting!!!
As I said in my quick takes last Saturday, we have adopted the same organizing system that the Duggars use. I learned about this system by reading their book.
Here are the nuts and bolts:
They use numbered cardboard filing boxes. Everything that they don't use on a daily basis goes in a box. Each box has a corresponding index card. On the index card is a list of the contents in the box. The index cards are stored in a recipe box for easy access. When you want to find something, you take out the recipe box, and search for the item by looking on the cards. When you find it on the card, you know what box it is in. All of their boxes are stored in closets.
We modified the system a little bit. Instead of using index cards, we are using a Google Doc. This will be better for finding things, because we can just do an electronic search and find the item we need right away. Right now all of the boxes we have are in our closet (we've been blessed with a big closet). We are starting out with 20 boxes and if we need more, there is room to store things in the basement. The best part about this is when we have to move again, almost everything will already be in a box!!
20 Boxes and Counting!!!Happy Birthday Perky!
Today is the birthday of my dear friend, Becky (who I refer to as "Perky"). We had her over last night for dinner and a huckleberry pie - the first pie from the new batch we picked in August!
Adventures in Cloth Diapering: And the winner is...
FuzziBunz!!
After trying Bum Genius, pre-folds with covers, and FuzziBunz, we decided to invest in more FuzziBunz because they are our favorite! I suppose we could try more, but we really like FuzziBunz - so I think we are done with our search for the best cloth diaper.My review of FuzziBunz One-Size Pocket Diaper:
- It is one-size, so it will fit from birth to potty-training.
- The lining on the inside is very soft! (If I had to wear a diaper, this would be it!)
- I have had no problems with stains on the pocket diaper. The insert does hold onto stains, but the sun takes care of those.
- The snaps are great!
- Seems very durable and high-quality (I should hope so, for $18 bucks a pop!).
- The diaper is one-sized because the elastic is adjustable. It isn't too difficult to figure out. I like this because it makes the diaper less bulky, as opposed to the snap system that Bum Genius uses.
- The only downside I can think of is it takes a little bit of time to adjust the elastic, so if I ever had two different sized kiddos in diapers, it would be difficult to use the diapers interchangeably with both of them.
Related Posts:
8-24-09 Reviews and New Diapers
8-12-09 The Sun is Amazing!
7-22-09 The Beginning
Saturday, September 19, 2009
7 Quick Takes ~ Vol. 8
Hosted at Conversion Diary
1. Practicum: Sorry for not posting this yesterday... I put in my first day at my practicum. I am in a 4th grade classroom that will soon become a 3/4th split! They had to cough up a teacher because they were short at another school. So now they have to divide the kids up and change everything! This will be hard because the kids are just getting use to their class and teacher - and the teacher is in the middle of training the students! Should be interesting! ;)
2. Guests: Mom and Dad St.Hilaire and their friends, Mike and Kay, came down for a quick visit on Thursday night, and they left this morning. We had a great time with them, but I was so busy with the practicum, that I felt I had no real time to visit. We will be going up to Bellingham the first weekend in October, so hopefully I will have a more relaxing visit with them then.
3. Organizing: I have adopted an organizing system that the Duggars wrote about in their book. I will take a picture and show you later. I am still working on getting everything organized, but it will be well worth my time in the end. I think Michelle Duggar said it took her about 6 months to get her house organized. I hope it doesn't take me that long!
4. Bed time: We have instituted a bed time for John. We try to get the routine going by 8:30 and hope for him to be asleep by 9pm. We have been doing this for about a week now. First, I change his diaper and put his PJs on, then I brush his teeth and sing him my "tooth brush" song. Then we say a prayer with him and Andrew reads from the Bible as I nurse John to sleep. That is the routine, I hope it sticks!
5. Clean kitchen update: Guess what... my kitchen is still clean! (Well, almost - there are some bowls on the counter from last night that need to go in the dishwasher) I did a pretty good job this week. I think there was one night that I went to bed with the kitchen being messy, but I promptly cleaned up in the morning. I do think I am getting better, so I am happy about that!
6. Cleaning the house: Before Andrew's parents arrived, we did a mad dash around the house cleaning up. It is so great to have company because we really get the house looking nice. Andrew commented that we should pretend that we are getting company every weekend. Then maybe our house would really clean at least once a week! =D
7. Update on John: John is such a great kid and he brings me much joy! When I was at my practicum, I missed him a lot, but I know he is in good hands with my mom. Sometimes I miss him even when he is napping. I will check in on him to see if he is awake yet - "C'mon John, I want to play!" This week, he has really been developing his motor skills with his hands. He has a little plush dog that he likes to hold. When I hand it to him, he reaches out to grab it! I reach for it and take it from him, and then smile and say "thank you." I am working on teaching him manners now, and to give me things when I ask for them. Obedience starts now! =)
1. Practicum: Sorry for not posting this yesterday... I put in my first day at my practicum. I am in a 4th grade classroom that will soon become a 3/4th split! They had to cough up a teacher because they were short at another school. So now they have to divide the kids up and change everything! This will be hard because the kids are just getting use to their class and teacher - and the teacher is in the middle of training the students! Should be interesting! ;)
2. Guests: Mom and Dad St.Hilaire and their friends, Mike and Kay, came down for a quick visit on Thursday night, and they left this morning. We had a great time with them, but I was so busy with the practicum, that I felt I had no real time to visit. We will be going up to Bellingham the first weekend in October, so hopefully I will have a more relaxing visit with them then.
3. Organizing: I have adopted an organizing system that the Duggars wrote about in their book. I will take a picture and show you later. I am still working on getting everything organized, but it will be well worth my time in the end. I think Michelle Duggar said it took her about 6 months to get her house organized. I hope it doesn't take me that long!
4. Bed time: We have instituted a bed time for John. We try to get the routine going by 8:30 and hope for him to be asleep by 9pm. We have been doing this for about a week now. First, I change his diaper and put his PJs on, then I brush his teeth and sing him my "tooth brush" song. Then we say a prayer with him and Andrew reads from the Bible as I nurse John to sleep. That is the routine, I hope it sticks!
5. Clean kitchen update: Guess what... my kitchen is still clean! (Well, almost - there are some bowls on the counter from last night that need to go in the dishwasher) I did a pretty good job this week. I think there was one night that I went to bed with the kitchen being messy, but I promptly cleaned up in the morning. I do think I am getting better, so I am happy about that!
6. Cleaning the house: Before Andrew's parents arrived, we did a mad dash around the house cleaning up. It is so great to have company because we really get the house looking nice. Andrew commented that we should pretend that we are getting company every weekend. Then maybe our house would really clean at least once a week! =D
7. Update on John: John is such a great kid and he brings me much joy! When I was at my practicum, I missed him a lot, but I know he is in good hands with my mom. Sometimes I miss him even when he is napping. I will check in on him to see if he is awake yet - "C'mon John, I want to play!" This week, he has really been developing his motor skills with his hands. He has a little plush dog that he likes to hold. When I hand it to him, he reaches out to grab it! I reach for it and take it from him, and then smile and say "thank you." I am working on teaching him manners now, and to give me things when I ask for them. Obedience starts now! =)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Future Rock Star?
I don't know... John looks like a natural guitar player to me! Plus he has the bonus of having a father who is an excellent guitarist! Maybe he will be a Catholic rock star - yes, I would approve of that. =)
Future Rockstar? from Andrew St.Hilaire on Vimeo.
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