Are we there yet? Trip Meter

We're getting ready to attempt our second ever drive to Florida.  Last year it went pretty well since the kids were 2.5 and 6 months.  I'm a little more worried about this trip since they're both another year older.  I'm starting to get a few things together to ward off the "Are we there yet? " questions and boredom.  

Here's what I came up with to show the kids how far we've travelled and how much further we have to go.  I took the cardboard from a cereal box and drew a "road" with about 18 meter marks along the way.  I also cut out a little car and attached it to the cardboard with a piece of dental floss.Every hour or so I'm going to move the car over a notch until we arrive.  Hopefully this works to demonstrate (at least to my preschooler since I'm not sure that my toddler will entirely understand) how far we've travelled and how much farther we have to go.

How do you keep your kids from continually asking the dreaded question,  "Are we there yet?"

Bye bye bottles!

I can't believe that I'm at this point of motherhood again. It seems like just yesterday that I was waddling around and stressing about how I was possibly going to manage a newborn wanting to nurse every 2 hours, diaper changes, and tend to a 2 year old. Now a bit over a year later, I'm packing up bottles. 

I hate bottles.   Dont get me wrong, they're a great tool, and there is no way we could have managed without them for when I was at work. I just prefer the simplicity of nursing - there are no pump parts to put together, no bottle parts piling up in the sink to wash and sterile, no liners to buy, and no need to pack bottles to send to grandmas.

As happy as I am to be done with the pumping, washing, preparing cycle, its a bittersweet realization that my baby boy is growing into a big boy.  It's amazing to watch the joy on his face when he learns something new. There's something to be said about a second child.  When Mae was a baby, I can remember being so excited to see what she'd learn next, that I was always looking to the future.  Now with Kez, I'm slowing down a bit and enjoying each step more because I know that it'll be over when I blink.

What baby item were you excited to be done with? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Homemade popcicles.. fail!

The weather is starting to get warmer and with the nicer weather comes popsicle season.  Last year I had bought the $1 diy popcicle mold and they have since broken.   We are also in the process of packing to move, so I have no clue where anything is.  When Mae asked for popcicles, I had the great idea to use plastic spoons in an ice cube tray.  She helped me pour the orange juice into the tray and we put one spoon in each of the 6 filled squares.  A few hours later, it seemed like the idea would work.   I ran some water on the plastic and the first "spoon-pop" came loose.  Unfortunately,  ir was only a matter of minutes before it popped off of the spoon.  We resorted to crunching it up in a bowl and eating it with the spoon.  Looks like I'm on the hunt for more popcicle molds... or ill have to pick up some popcicle sticks!

Drawer Dividers

We're starting to clean out our house to eventually put it on the market, so I took a Saturday morning and decided to weed through my clothes.  Two Goodwill-labeled garbage bags full of of tube tops, short shirts, and way too low cut pants that just won't work for this momma anymore, and I was left with a still full dresser and a half full three-drawer plastic bin taking up entirely too much space in my closet.  In order to make space in the closet, the three-drawer bin had to go.  To free up space in the dresser, I combine two drawers using a quick, cheap divider.

Here's one of the original drawers.  I measured the width, depth, and height of the drawer.  Mine was 15" x 13" x 5".

I scoured the basement for something that would be rigid enough to act as a wall but was easy to cut.  I decided to use a cardboard box.  For each drawer, I cut one piece that was slightly under 15" x 5" and one that was slightly under 13"x5".   (Mayleigh decided that I needed a snowman pin in the picture.)

By this point, I had 2 helpers.  Kezzie practiced his standing while Mae "clipped" and wrote her "list" on the cardboard.

I don't have a picture of it, in the middle of each piece, I cut a slit 3/4 of the way through the cardboard then merged the two pieces together and fit it into the emptied drawer.

Here's what I came up with.

It's not the prettiest solution, but it freed up one of my drawers and I was able to get the plastic cart out of the closet! 

Elephant diaper cover

This was my first attempt at a diaper cover with PUL and fold-over elastic.  It looks cute but doesn't really fit as great as I had hoped.  If I ever get around to it, I'm going to attempt to draft a bettern pattern than I used for this, but for now, his bum is covered with plain white covers.

Christmas Stockings

I've been wanting to get custom Christmas stockings, but I just didn't want to spend the money.  Last year I attempted to make stockings and it was an epic fail.  This year, I was determined to try again, and if I failed again I was going to resort to ordering ridiculously overpriced "custom" stockings that wouldn't have been nearly as cute or blended as well with my hodge-podge decorating style.

I went on a Google hunt to find a tutorial that I didn't think I would totally botch.  I came across several, and I finally settled on this stocking tutorial.

It was very easy to follow, and she even has another tutorial on how to do the appliques! Before I began, I wasn't sure how to go about making the names; I didn't feel like cross-stitching them and I don't have a machine that does embroidery.  I was excited to learn this new technique, and I'm excited to use it on other projects too.

Laundry Detergent Recipe

I'm always looking for a better way to do things.  I hate buying laundry detergent; it just seems like its throwing money down the drain.   My aunt posted something on Facebook about how much she loves her laundry detergent; so I thought I'd give it a try!  Here's the recipe, taken from the Duggar family website:

4  Cups - hot tap water1  Fels-Naptha soap bar1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda½ Cup Borax 

1. Grate bar of soap and add to pan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
2. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. 
3. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
4. The next day, stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
5. Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)


I guess there is a powder version of this too, I'll have to try that out once I get thorough my 10 gallons of detergent!