We are moving...tips for packing up a house

I know, I know...I went MIA again. I am sorry. I ment to post some updates but we had so many things going on. Here is the scoop. We sold our house after it being on the market for 519 days. woohoo! We were going to rent a home while our house was under construction. Well, one day we were driving past our land and a house just 3 doors down was for sale. The house was beautiful and foreclosed. We made an offer with the hopes of being able to either remodel it or live in it while we build our dream home. We will not make a final decision in a year.

So we have been going crazy trying to pack and get geared up to move. We close on our new home next week. Our house is crazy right now, I mean crazy. Here are some pictures

Here are some quick moving tips.

Have 1 miscellaneous box. You know when you are packing up all of the DVD's you tape the box and then you find 3 or 4 random DVD's just minutes after? Well, my dad gave me this great tip. You have a miscellaneous box that all of the random junk that missed it's "designated" box goes into. Right now I have puzzle pieces, DVD's markers...pretty much a junk box that you can open at the end of your move and organize. It works GREAT.

Use garbage bags to move your clothing. I make a small hole at the top of the bag and pull the hangers through. Then I shove all of the clothing into the bag and tie it off. This works great. It's cheap and protects your clothing. If anything falls off the hanger it falls into the bag and not onto the ground . Here is a junky cell phone picture. A friend said you can reverse the bag and put the strings at the top, then you can reuse the bag.

Last tip, label the boxes at the top and the side. If someone is moving a smaller box they can just read the top of it. If the box is in storage you can always read the side of it. It's all about labeling here people.

I will be MIA for another week, maybe two. I look forward to giving you a lot of new decorating tips.

So simple, yet so fun!

My baby boy goes to preschool one day a week for 2 hours. The teacher is ah-mazing. We love her and all of her great ideas. When I picked up little man up from preschool he was excited to show me his "helping cloth". It's an Ikea washcloth with his hand prints on it. Simple huh? The teacher took it a step further and ... attached a cute little song.

Now when I need help around the house I ask little G to get his helping cloth to help me clean up. It's so much fun for both of us! I hang it on his chair in the kitchen so he can grab it whenever he needs it. Big G liked it so much he threw a fit that he did not have a cool helping cloth. I think we will be making one or two for each boy. Here are the pictures. They are cell phone quality but hey, you get the point!

The song is to the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot"

I'm a special helper, yes I am!

God made my hands, watch them help.

I'm a special helper, God made me.

To help my friends and my family

where did the week go???

Hey everyone,

I am sorry that I did not get a post up this week. I had so many great ideas but of course did not get to it. I will have a new post in 2 weeks. I won't have access to my computer for an entire week. Ack, what am I going to do? Oh well, it will be worth it in the end.

Snuza Review

Yeah, I know. You are wondering what in the world is a Snuza? Right? Silly name, huh? Well, as silly as this product may sound it's the most AMAZING product ever. I just love it. Okay, okay, enough already. You want to know what it is. The Snuza is baby movement monitor. It's small, uber small in fact. It clips onto your baby's diaper and detects movement. If your baby stops moving an alarm sounds and alerts you.

I am one of those crazy mom's that checks my little ones while they sleep. I have to know if they are breathing. SIDS makes me so nervous and I needed some peace of mind. I love that the Snuza can travel with your baby. It's totally mobile unlike some other baby movement monitors. It's also small which I love. It's on the pricey side which almost scared me away. I was not sure if I wanted to put up the cash if this baby is going to be my last. I have to say that it's well worth the cost.

If you worry about SIDS this is the monitor for you. I use it during naps and at night. I put the Snuza on the baby's diaper and am instantly at ease. I sleep better and love that I don't have to worry. If I had a child in daycare I would ask them to use the Snuza. I just can't imagine having a baby and NOT using this product.

I will admit that I had this for a good 3 weeks before I ever used it. I don't know why but I could not get myself to clip in onto my little one's diaper. It is pretty silly when I look back, ha. The only negative about this product is that I am not sure how it will work when my little one starts to roll in her sleep. I am going to have to simmer on this...

Bread! You can do it!

I love to cook, bake, craft you name it. The one thing that always failed though was bread. I had tried to make it a handful of times and it never worked. I watched a ton of youtube videos and even then...fail. Well, I came across this recipe and thought I would give baking bread one last try. I mean, why not? I was used to failing. I could do a tutorial but hey, it's already been done! woohoo. Here is a link to the recipe AND a tutorial, what a bonus.

Easy Bread in 5 minutes

We have not bought bread in months. This is all we eat. I make two loaves each week. One loaf is sweet and the other one is for sandwiches and things. You can add anything to this bread. The sky is the limit. I have added cinnamon, sugar, cranberries, walnuts, ugh the list could go on and on. I also use 1/4 whole wheat flour, 2/4 unbleached flour and 1/4 regular white all purpose flour.

Last week I started the bread, went to the gym and then did not have time to bake it. I stuck the bowl in the fridge and figured I would get to it later. Well, 2.5 days later I got to it. I let the bowl sit out for 40ish minutes and then made the loaves. Guess what? It still turned out. This stuff is ahhhhmazing. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I am in love and will never buy bread again!

Back to School!

I still can't believe that summer is over and school is back in session. You know what Back to School means??? It means a lot of papers coming home with your kiddos. What do you do with all of those papers? Set them aside? Misplace them? Organize them away only to never find them again? What about those late nights when you are looking everywhere for the field trip form? You know, the form that needs to be turned in first thing in the morning? As a former teacher I know all about the panic, phone calls, and emails about lost papers. Here is my solution

A couple years ago I was cruising the Target isles. I love looking at the end of isles for great deals. It was around October and there it was, an organizers dream. I found the mother load of three inch, three ringed binders. I felt like the angels in Heaven were singing. I paused and looked at the little red sticker. They were....twenty five cents. Can you believe it? twenty five cents. Needless to say, I bought every single one on the shelf. I had no clue what I would do with all of them but knew I had to have them.

Once my oldest started preschool the papers started to flood through the door. What do I do with all of these papers? ugh, the papers were driving me bonkers. Then it hit me, I had a bunch of three ringed binders begging to be used.

I place the monthly calendar in the front of the binder. It works perfectly. All I have to do is glance at the calendar the night before (errr the morning of) and see what needs to go to school with my little guy. Inside the binder is an organizers dream. The front pocket holds any papers that need to go to school, all of the supplies needed to pay the monthly tuition (yes, even a pen), and things that I have put aside to mail to the grandparents (AKA the projects that I don't have the heart to throw away). The rings hold the plastic page protectors. The first page is the classroom monthly news letter. Everything that comes home normally makes it into the binder. The class list has it's place and the art projects fit perfectly. The glitter even stays in place with the page protectors.

Here are some pictures. The pictures are not great. The name of the school was plastered all over every.single.paper. I did not want to share my son's preschool so I took some funky pictures.

The monthly Calendar

Monthly classroom letter

Year at a glance

One of the many art projects that I saved

I will be using the same binder for 2 years of preschool and hope to get another grade or two squeezed in. My hope is that one day when my little guy wants to look back at grade school he will have everything neatly organized away. We will see if it really works that way, ha

I'm BACK and have a paci clip tutorial

Wow, it's been forever. Life has gotten busy around here. In the last year so much has changed. I lost my best friend in November. My grandma was my world. Life will never be the same. . We are slowly getting used to our new normal without my grandma around. She will forever be missed.

In April we welcomed baby number #3. We will call her Baby "G". She is the best baby that we have had. She sleeps and eats so well, we really enjoy her. I will have to post about her birth later this month.

Here is the plan for the blog. I hope to keep up with 1-2 posts each week. I will try to continue to post on Thursday afternoons. If there is anything you want me to post about let me know!

Up first, a paci clip tutorial. It's pretty easy. Here goes!

~Find the fabric that you want to use. I embroidered the letter "L" on fabric.

~cut out the fabric and assemble onto the button. I bought the largest buttons I could find at the fabric store. The button had a wire on the back of it but I took that off.
~Glue the paci clip onto the button. I found the paci clips on Etsy.com
~Sew the ribbon onto the paci clip
~use some fabric glue to attach velcro to the ribbon
~Sew the velcro to the ribbon
~All done! I love these so much. They make great gifts for friends too!

Breakfast made easy!

We try to avoid processed foods around here. I am always looking for easy ideas for quick and easy breakfast foods. This one is my favorite

Steel cut oats in the crock pot.

This can be divided in half for a smaller batch

*2 cups of steel cut oats

*8 cups of water

*1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil

*1 cup of dried fruit

*brown sugar to taste. We use 1/2 cup

Place all of the ingredients in the crock pot and give it a stir. Cook for 4-8 hours depending on the texture that you and your family like.

I store half of this in the refrigerator and freeze the other half. To freeze, let the oatmeal cool and fill 2 ice cube trays with oatmeal and freeze. After 4 hours take the oatmeal out of the ice cube trays and place in storage bag.

This is so easy. I just heat as much as we are going to eat. It stores great and is soooo yummy! Enjoy!

WAHM Wednesday!!!

You have to check out this WAHM! She has amazing wipes and other products.

Here is her shop

This is a tid bit about the shop

Welcome to Little Lily. I am proud to be a Canadian shop, hand making all of my products right here in Northern British Columbia!
Aside from being gentle on our Earth, bamboo's wonderful silky softness is gentle on your family. And it's hypoallergenic, and naturally antibacterial, so it's perfect for bath products...which you'll find lots of here!

Why use Bamboo?

*Bamboo is a natural, green, eco-friendly plant
that is biodegradable
*Considered a sustainable natural resource
*Has natural properties that wick moisture
*Naturally anti-bacterial
*Repellent to harmful UV rays
*Hypoallergenic
*Breathable
*No chemical additives
*Lightweight
*Strong
*Naturally soft
*Holds 3 times its weight in moisture
*Produced Organically

**I am currently shipping once a week, on Mondays. If you need your order in a rush, please let me know and I will be happy to accommodate you!**

**Are you a repeat customer? Please remind me at checkout, and enjoy 10% off your purchase!**

Blog on hold!!

Sorry followers, the next 3 weeks are going to be a tad crazy. I guess it's how summer goes. I will be back soon and will get WAHM Wednesday up and going!!

Have a great couple of weeks.

No Poo...first attempt

If you are following my new journey of "No Pooing" the link to my first entry is here

Tonight I took the plunge and gave the no poo a try. I mixed the baking soda and water before getting into the shower. It looked like cloudy water. I poured the freezing cold mixture over my head and started scrubbing. I was not overly impressed with the salty taste of baking soda entering my mouth. I have to admit...it was nasty.

Here is what I will do next time for the "cleaning" process.

I am going to used just enough water to make a paste next time. I think the paste will be so much easier to work with.

Conditioning....

This was not any better than the cleaning process. The vinegar smelled so bad. It was just so gross. I want to feel clean after my shower. Whatever, I sucked it up and kept moving it around my head.

Here is what I will do next time for the "conditioning" process

I am going to use way less vinegar. I will start with 2 tablespoons. I am also going to use apple cider vinegar because I think it will smell better. The last thing I will to do is add a couple drops of tea tree oil or coconut oil to the mix.

Results:

My hair feels so squeaky clean. It really does squeak. When I got out of the shower I was afraid to brush it because it felt icky. You know that feeling when you get out of the water at the beach? The salty, dry, icky feeling? Well, it's the same feeling. But...as soon as I combed my hair it was silky soft. My scalp was tingly and it felt really good. hmmm there might just be something to this "No Pooing"

No Poo

No, this is not a post about pooping. It's a post about not shampooing your hair. It's something that I ran across and was very intrigued by. I thought "hmmm, why not give it a try".

It's just another thing that would put me into the "crunchy" stereo type. But pfft I don't care. I want to try this. I want to know if it works. Now, I bet you want to know how it really does work. Well this is what I understand about it.

All you are going to need is vinegar, baking soda and water. Easy, right?

Time to clean that head of hair.

~ Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 1 cup of water. Apply it to your hair starting with the roots and working your way down to the ends of your hair. Once your hair begins to feel smooth you can go ahead and rinse it out.

Condition

~ I have read a bunch of different ratios for this. I am going to try 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of water. Start at your roots and work your way down. I guess you can add essential oils to the mix as well.

Style your hair as you normally would.

I read that your hair can go through a transition process and it can get nasty. I am telling y'all right now. If I hit that point I am going back to the curly girl method of washing my hair. The curly girl method is pretty similar except that you use store bought products that don't contain "cones" or "sulfates".

I am going to update after my first wash! eeek I can't wait to try this!

We have a winner!

I want to say thank you for everyone who participated in the giveaway. It was so much fun and I look forward to doing more in the future.

The winner is.....

Elly!!!

Congratulations! I can't wait to see what you pick out!

WAHM Wednesday!!! Giveaway today!

Name Art 4 Kids.

Are you looking for the finishing touch to your child's nursery or room? Are tired of bringing the same old gift to baby showers? Do you want something unique that will blow people away? If you answered yes to any of those questions this product is for you!

I was so excited when I got my Name Art in the mail. The packaging is outstanding. There was no way the precious works of art were going to get damaged or bent. The colors were bright, colorful, and uber cute. The art was everything I expected and more. The boys names turned out beautiful. I am so excited to find the perfect frame to put them in. The process of ordering the creations was easy. The hard part is going to be finding a frame that will do them justice. My goal next weekend is to continue the hunt! I looked this weekend and did not find a single thing. I am going to be patient...sigh...

Do you want to see the boys Name Art? okay here goes.

***Note , I edited the boys full names out of the pictures***

How cute are these? They are going to look adorable once I get them framed and in the rooms. I am going to update this entry as soon as I find the frames.

Maryanne, the owner of Name Art 4 Kids is a joy to work with. There are so many options for these cute creations. Maryanne always returned my emails in a timely manner and it was apparent that she really loves what she does.

Here is a small informational paragraph about Name Art 4 Kids:

Beautiful pieces of custom artwork that make the perfect addition to any baby or child's bedroom. Although there are other Name Art companies, there is nothing as unique as Name Art 4 Kids.

Originally hand painted, every letter is truly unique. Each Name Art is custom tailored to the child it’s being made for. From the themes included in the artwork to the personalization added below the artwork. My top priorities are making sure each customer absolutely LOVES their Name Art and keeping it affordable.

As for me, I’m a mom of one awesome 15 month old little guy. I consider myself a SAHM even though I’m very busy running Name Art 4 Kids. I honestly enjoy designing every single Name Art and I get such pleasure out of hearing from customers after they receive their artwork.

The details

Sizes are 11x14 or 8x10

Prices range from $23 to $17

Shipping & Handling is $3.50. Discounts available for multiples.

Name Arts fit into standard sized frames.

Turnaround time is two weeks or less.

Giveaway Time!

Here is how you can win your very own customized Name Art.

Remember I am not going to use your information for anything at all. This is just for fun.

LEAVE a comment for every entry!!!

Earn extra entries

• Post a link to my blog on your Facebook, blog, or Twitter and then come back here and post a comment with the link. (can be done once per day)
• Become a fan of Name Art 4 Kids on Facebook . Leave a comment saying you are a fan of Name Art 4 Kids
  
• Visit Name Art 4 Kids here. Leave a comment with your top 3 favorite Name Art 4 Kids letters.
• Follow me on Google. Leave a comment letting me know that you follow my blog
• Enter this giveaway in a giveaway linky on another blog. Be sure to leave me the url to the linky you posted the link to! (Can be done twice - Good for 2 extra entries each time)

**NOTE: Leave one comment for every entry. You must have a visible email address in your Blogger Profile, otherwise it needs to be listed on every entry!!**

Wow, y'all have a bunch of opportunities to enter to win one of these beautiful pieces of art. I am so excited to see who wins! Good Luck everyone.

This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Friday, May 21 at 10:00 pm CST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted . Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. Please contact Name Art 4 Kids upon winning nameart4kids@gmail.com
Special thanks to Greek Mama for allowing me to use her giveaway format and rules!

Cloth wipes

I feel like I have been explaining how to make my cloth wipes a lot lately. I thought I would add a tutorial because let's face it, some things are sooo much easier to understand when you can see it!

If you are not interested in making cloth wipes here is a link to my homemade

disposable wipes.

You are going to need a container for storage (some people use old wipes containers), wipes, baby wash, and coconut oil.

You know those thin receiving blankets that you got as gifts? The ones that are sitting on the shelf not getting any love? Well, it's time to put those blankets to work. I cut two blankets up into squares the size of my hand. I fold the wipe twice to make sure it will fit in my container. I did not sew the edges. The edges did fray the first 10 or so washes but nothing that I could not handle.

I have some wipes made from receiving blankets, a handful of store bought wipes, and a couple old baby wash cloths. What you see here will last one week.

Pour 2 cups of hot water into your storage container. While it's still hot add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Stir until the coconut oil melts.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of baby wash. I like California Baby because it does not contain harsh chemicals. I add around 1.5 tablespoons of wash. It's all about preference.

Split your wipes stash in half. Place the first half of the wipes to the solution and push them down. Once the wipes are wet pick up the wipes and add the second pile to the solution. Press those wipes down until they are wet. Place the first batch of wipes on top of the batch that is in the container. Push all of the wipes down. My wipes are not soaking wet at this point. They are damp and feel similar to the store bought disposable wipes. I think if you get these too wet they will mold. Keep that in mind. I have never had a mold problem *knock on wood*

I have some really exciting news. Starting next week I am going to feature a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) and her business. There will be a lot of giveaways so make sure to check it out. I am hoping to feature 2-3 WAHMs every month. It will be called WAHM Wednesday! Spread the word because it's going to be fun!

Cloth Diapers

Here is a great article on cloth diapering.

http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/category/cloth-diapering/

Prefolds, Flats, Fitteds, Covers

Pocket Diapers

All in One Diapers

Overnight Diapers

More laundry room organization!

I had an ugly shelf in my laundry room that needed to look better. We are selling our house and I want everything to look perfect. Yes, it would have been fine the way it was but I was not 100% happy with it.

I looked around for large baskets that would hold our extra paper towels, toilet paper, light bulbs, and storage bags. I could not find anything for under $20. I did not want to spend a total of $80 on baskets. I tried to settle on some that were $10 but the just were not big enough.

I went to our local craft store with a coupon in hand. I was going to find something! I looked the entire store over and nothing caught my eye. I was walking out when the unstained wood grabbed my attention. They were the perfect size containers for my laundry room. They were even on sale. I picked them up for $4.99 each. Such a bargain. I figured I could paint them with leftover paint I had laying around. I did the entire project during nap time. The project is so easy.

Here is the before picture. I placed the new boxes on the shelf to see if they would fit..woohooo they are perfect!

I painted a quick coat of white paint on all of the boxes. I was going for a rustic look so I did not try to cover the wood.

After I painted all of the boxes white I added a touch of blue. The white paint was not dry. I took a dry brush and a small amount of blue paint. I wanted a weathered look.

Woohoo, the finished product. I cut some scrap book paper and printed off labels.

I love it!

1 Ingredient Ice Cream

Yes, you read that correctly only ONE ingredient. Anyone with a blender and make this creamy ice cream. The only catch is you have to like banana flavored ice cream.

I ran across this in another blog (I wish I could remember the name) and had to try it. Little G has diary allergies and I thought it would be a good alternative to rice ice cream.

Step 1

Cut up a ripe, but not over ripe banana. I would suggest freezing 3 bananas

Step 2

Freeze the banana overnight or for 6 or so hours

Step 3

Blend the frozen banana. You are going to want to add liquid..but don't. It will work. Trust me!

Step 4

Refreeze the blended banana for 3-6 hours. You can stop at this step and serve if you want. It's very similar to soft serve ice cream at this point. If plain banana ice cream does not sound good try adding something to it. I chopped up some left over Easter chocolate and added it to Big G's batch before I refroze it. Add your extra ingredients before refreezing. MmmMmmm I think nuts would be divine! Maybe peanut butter, pretzels, and chocolate!

Step 5

It's time to eat!

Potty Learning!

Yup, you know you want to do it. But how do you go about it? I talked to many been there done that moms and had great success with their tips. We started around 18 months with Big G. A little young but he really wanted to give it a go. We ran with it and it was a breeze with these tips.

Here is a link to a potty learning readiness checklist...start with this.

*Start by bringing your child into the bathroom with you. Let them watch you go and learn about the whole process.

*Read them potty learning stories. There is also a great Elmo video out.

*Stay home for 3 days. Have your child go without underpants on the entire 3 days. Well, at night they can wear some! But no diapers or pull ups. During these three days push liquids. You want them to learn the feeling of having to go potty. Have them drink very often.

*Put them on the potty every 30minutes to 1 hour. I know, it's a lot of work but worth it in the end.

*At night have them go potty right before bedtime. Then wake them up to go when you go to bed. They will sleep through the entire thing. Trust me! I would also take Big G around 3-4am. Yeah it's work but it saves you from having to clean up pee. We did this for around 3 months. He now sleeps all night long and goes to the bathroom when he wakes up in the morning.

*Have them sleep in fleece PJ bottoms. Carters makes great fleece pajamas. They are amazing. If they have an accident the pee is absorbed into the pajamas and not on your sheets.

*Once the child is going consistently you can stretch out the amount of time they go in between. We told Big G when to go to the bathroom for around 3 months. He went when we told him to go. Eventually we gave him more and more control.

*There will be accidents, they happen. Regression happens too. Just stick with it and you will be so happy that you did.

Big G is fully potty trained, even at night and during naps. It's the most amazing feeling ever. He now tells us when he has to go to the bathroom. We have such a new freedom.

I am sure I missed something. Do you have a tip? Please add it!

Happy Easter!

In honor of Easter I thought I would post how to make your own

Chocolate Easter Bunny

I bought a plastic bunny chocolate mold at the craft store

Melt down chocolate. I melted around 2 cups for this project. It took around 80 seconds. I started at 60 seconds, stirred. Then melted another 20 seconds

Stand the mold up and pour the melted chocolate into the mold. Once it's 3/4 full start to move the mold around to cover the entire bunny. You can make a solid bunny by filling the entire mold with chocolate.

Place the mold in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Here is the finished product. I store ours in clear plastic candy bags.

I also made homemade peeps. I will have to post those next year. I thought about posting them this year but missed taking pictures of some important steps. Off to dye Easter eggs with the kiddos now! Have a great Easter!