The Outnumbered Mommy

Wordless Wednesday: Flats Challenge Edition

2012-05-23T13:21:00.001-04:00

Flats Challenge: Wrapping that Bottom

2012-05-23T13:00:00.001-04:00

and it has been working wonderfully.

I took some pictures this morning just to visualize how I use the blue towels.

He likes smiling for the camera, what a ham.

And on a bright note:

WE HAVE SUNSHINE!

Which is awesome, because hanging in the shower was taking forever!

Hop on over to DDL for more fun!
Day 3

Flats Challenge: What's in my stash

2012-05-22T09:56:00.000-04:00

I spent the last two weeks preparing and planning, I started out with 10 cotton flannel receiving blankets, 8 cotton flour sack towels, 20 blue hospital towels, 10 homemade fleece soakers, 4 homemade wool soakers. The receiving blankets were all gifts, four years ago, so they are well used, the flour sack towels were in my kitchen, I used them to filter fruit juice for jelly making. The blue hospital towels were free from my Mom. I made the fleece covers from old blankets and clothes. The wool soakers were made from thrift shop sweaters. It probably cost me $5 in materials to make the soakers. I am using all items I already had for washing and drying.

Now entering the second day of the challenge, I have found the biggest challenge is getting Jacob on the potty in time. He has been wearing receiving blankets and flour sack towels, kite folded, with a blue towel pad folded inside, pinned, with a fleece soaker. Although it is very effective as a diaper, it makes potty training impossible. Today we are switching him to gDiaper covers with pad folded blue towels, which should make potty time easy and also means less to wash. WIN!

Dominic has been doing well in a blue towel, angel wing fold, with a snappi and a cover. We have been alternating between fleece and wool soakers. I prefer the wool because it doesn't need to be washed as often.

Washing. I have been rinsing after every change, then washing twice a day, I have been using the sink, to wash, then soaking in a bucket, then rinsing and wringing in the sink. It's tedious, but it did get my gardening hands amazingly clean. I need to devise a better indoor drying solution. I am using pants hangers in the shower, so there is no circulation. I was relying on my clothes line, but the weather has not been cooperating.

I like the fleece soakers, they are convenient and easy to wash. They don't dry as quickly as a pul cover, but the fact that they cover enough to be worn as shorts is awesome, especially in the summer. I think fleece covers are an excellent solution for families trying to cloth diaper on a budget, they can be made very easily using the Katrina Pattern. I just cut out fabric to make 10 more yesterday, out of old fleece blankets that have just been taking up space in the closet. By the end of the week I should have all of them sewn up and ready to be donated along with the 10 others I have been using. I am planning to have 25 covers ready to ship to Giving Diapers, Giving Hope by the end of the challenge. Hopefully I have time after all the handwashing!

BTW, Mother Nature, I am doing my best for you, a little SUNSHINE would be great right about now!

My clothes line looks miserable and lonely.

Hop on over to DLL for more challenge fun.
Day 2

And I leave you with a cute fluffy bum in a poorly folded flat.

The "OR Flat" Experiment: Toddler

2012-05-21T08:32:00.002-04:00

I am participating in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. In support of the challenge I am testing the feasibility of reusing the throw-away hospital towels in a diapering application. There are families that can not afford disposable diapers, maybe using everyday items that can be found in a closet or acquired for free, a family can can cloth diaper at least part time to ease the financial burden of disposables. I already posted results from my infant trial here.

For this experiment I used a kite fold on a receiving blanket with a pad folded towel inside, the intent is that a blue towel is less bulky then folding a full size flat and still significantly more absorbent than just the blanket and because free stuff is awesome.

Jacob is 31 months and 25lbs, he wears 24mo size clothes and he had plenty of room in this setup. It would easily fit on a larger toddler. Out of my three boys Jacob is my 'supersoaker' the only combination that works on this kid at night is a hemp fitted, with a gCloth as a soaker and some of our cushiest wool pants. I figured he would make a good test subject. If only he would just pee in it already.

Jacob was a very good sport about sitting still through all the folding and pinning. He even smiled for a picture before announcing that he had to go potty.

Jacob spent the entire morning getting pinned and unpinned to go potty. I can't argue with progress, so I put him in underwear for the rest of the day. Jacob got lots of praise and plenty of stickers, but I had no results.

I tried again the next day to good results for the blue towel, less exemplary results on the potty.

The towel absorbed well, it bunched up a bit after being wet while he was running around, but no worse than any other pad folded flat would. The combination of the receiving blanket and the blue towels, took everything Jacob could throw at it, with good reliable results, I covered his bum with one of the homemade fleece soakers I made and the total cost per diaper change was next to nothing. Once all the layers are separated it was a breeze to wash in the sink and since everything is single layer it dries rather quickly on the line. We used this same combination at night, but with a thick homemade wool soaker. In the morning he was a little damp on the outside, but the bed was dry.

The only downside is changing time, when he had to use the bathroom is was difficult getting him out of everything in time. I did put him in underwear quite a few times, but honestly, when thinking of affordable diaper options, no diapers is probably the most awesome. I could streamline diaper changes using a square flat as the outer, with a snappi and an aplix pul cover, but I was testing the more affordable options. As an alternative to buying disposables, this is a easy, cheap option. Even if you can't make your own fleece soakers, there are plenty available used on diaper swappers for $5 shipped, and can be found for as little as $8 new.

At the end of the challenge I will be donating all the fleece soakers I made for the challenge to Giving Diapers, Giving Hope.

Visit some other crazy handwashing Mamas...

Deep Breath

2012-05-14T09:08:00.000-04:00

For a couple seconds I was completely terrified.

I saw the car.

I realized he didn't see me.

I had three choices and no time to weigh the options.

Left, right, straight.
We were traveling at 50mph,
Directly in front of us was the side of his car,
To the left was double yellow lines, no oncoming traffic,
To the right, soft dirt shoulder, trees, utility poles.

I went left, his car hit my passenger side door, a glancing blow but the explosion of glass scared the hell out of me. My Jacob. I moved so fast, next thing I knew I was in the back seat with him, checking every inch of him, he was terrified, silent, and completely untouched. I could see outside past him through the space where the door was. It looked bad. But he was ok.

I took a deep breath, we were all ok. Not a scratch. Well maybe a couple scratches, but nothing worse than what Dominic can inflict with his terrible claws.

We have so much to be thankful for.

Like the ability to go right back to being silly after getting stripped out of their glass covered clothes.

DIY Diaper Covers

2012-05-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

While I was wrapping Jacob's unwilling bum in a receiving blanket with a OR towel stuffed in it I was proud of how thrifty I was, until I reached over and grabbed my $17 Kissa's Marvels cover.

Yeah, sure I did get it used, but still, what if I didn't have that cover?

Could I make my own?

Could I make my own out of stuff I already have?

After a bit of research I found the Katrina Soaker Pattern, it's free, it's printable and it is highly recommended. I do not own a sewing machine, but when I mentioned to my family that I wanted to do some sewing I managed to have three sewing machines dropped off at my house. A good used machine can be acquired on Craigslist for under $50 if you can't borrow one. It could be worth the cost if you really make it work for you. I made 10 fleece covers in one day with what I had on hand, I think my machine earned her keep today.

I printed out the pattern, taped it together and traced it onto a larger,

tougher paper, so I can reuse it a million times.

Wait. Is that sponge bob?

Then I searched my house for old, worn, pilly fleece blankets, sweaters and scraps.

I laid out all of my fleece and keeping in mind the direction of the stretch,

I cut out as many pieces as I could out of what I had.

I tried to make a matching small and medium...

because it makes me all warm & fuzzy inside when my boys match.

First thing I did was sew in a fleece doubler, I just used a zig-zag stitch all the way around.

Then I folded the diaper with wrong side out and just did a straight stitch up the sides.

Take the waist and leg pieces and fold the nice side in and straight stitch into a loop. I didn't measure a seam allowance, I just used the edge of the presser foot.

Now fold the wrong side in and match up the outside edges.

With the diaper still inside out, tuck the leg band in and line up all of the raw edges together. The leg band will be smaller than the leg opening, so you will need to stretch it as you sew.

Now do the same with the waist band.

Now turn it all right side out and you have a nice new soaker!

Wordless Wednesday: Dominoes

2012-05-09T09:59:00.002-04:00

The "OR Flat" Experiment: Infant

2012-05-09T08:35:00.000-04:00

In preparation for the Flats and Handwashing Challenge I was experimenting with materials I have on hand to see what works. Which brought me to these...

100% cotton blue sterile hospital towels.

These towels are packed in bags, once the bags are open the towels are no longer sterile. Sometimes one towel is used for a surgical procedure then the rest of the bag is thrown away. The hospital can't reuse them because blue = sterile and I am sure we would all prefer not having mistakes made in that department.

But do they need to be sent to the landfill?

I have been using these as unpaper towels for years, they clean up anything, are super duper absorbent and they wash up beautifully. My inner hippy is very pleased.

Now the real question, can they be used to diaper a child?

OR towels are small compared to most flats, which is both a blessing and a curse. Measuring in at 14" x 21" after shrinking, they are comparable to a gerber flat in size. I love a good origami fold, but that isn't going to fly with these, my first application was with a simple angel wing fold and a snappi.

Don't mind Dominic's horrified expression he just felt exposed without his cover.

I covered him up with a simple PUL cover and set him free to roam.

See all happy now :D

I wrapped his little sensitive bum in towels all day, one towel, angel fold, snappi, cover. I added a second towel pad folded inside for absorbency for naptime. I changed him every 2 hours, his skin was dry with no signs of irritation, the towels were wet but not completely saturated, the cover was clean and dry. Now, how about #2... well if you have an exclusively breastfed baby, you know their poop is special, like a watery, mustard explosion. Dominic likes to do the majority of his business at 3am, because he secretly likes torturing me. I have not done overnight with the towels alone, I LOVE my mattress, so within the guidelines of the challenge I stuffed my favorite poopsplosion containing pocket with a single pad folded towel. At 3am the poop was gusset to gusset, all the moisture was soaked up by the towel, no leaks. I put him back in the two towel/cover combo for the rest of the night and he woke up happy.

Overall the results for diapering are positive, for a low income family this is a great alternative to flats, the smaller size makes hand washing and line drying easier, and the fact that they can be acquired for free makes them a great choice.

I will attempt to do the entire challenge using only these towels, I am working on getting a couple dozen more to share with a few other challenge mamas. I will see how many I can get 'new' and send them out free for shipping Monday (5/14) so they can be washed and ready for the challenge.

Send me an email if you are interested! outnumberedmommy@gmail.com

Today I will be attempting 24hrs in towels on my 2 year old. I'll keep you updated!

Here is a quick preview of what I am attempting on Jacob...

Flats & Handwashing Challenge 2012 - WHY?

2012-05-03T10:11:00.000-04:00

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This year I will be participating in the Dirty Diaper Laundry flats and handwashing challenge, a week of using flats (single layer cloth diapers) and covers.. and washing them all by hand.

Why would anyone ever sign up for that??!??!

This is a reality for some families, diapers are expensive. I was spending $50 per month on diapers. Disposable wipes were an additional $10 per month. I was spending as much on diapers and wipes as I was spending on food (not even good food because I needed to save the money for diapers). I don't have disposable income, and well, I really was tossing $60 a month in the trash. These numbers can be even higher, especially for families in cities or shopping on a limited income, so buying in bulk isn't possible. I decided to use cloth because it made sense financially, but the $100-300 start up can be more than most struggling families can spare. I was lucky to get some support from my family and friends, but others are forced to make it work the hard way.

I have chosen to take this challenge to help spread the awareness that diaper need is an issue. I will share how even the most simple materials can be used to diaper a child, freeing us from the financial obligations of purchasing diapers. I will not be purchasing anything for this challenge. I have some cotton birdseye flats, some old flannel receiving blankets and tee shirts. I will use wool covers I made from thrift shop sweaters and waterproof covers made by other moms. I will continue to use cloth wipes I made from cut up shirts. All the laundry will be washed by hand and hung to dry. I will not be using any expensive specialty detergents.

I will make this work, because there are no government funded programs to help babies in need of diapers, so we really do need to do this on our own.

Want to help without all of the mess?

You can sign a petition to get cloth diapers or cloth diaper education covered by WIC- a government funded program that assists low income families by supplying food and other baby needs but not diapers. Sign it!

Or sign this petition to show support for the DIAPER ACT (H R 3134) that could help get more babies access to diapers (cloth and disposable). Sign it!

Washing Woolies

2012-05-02T14:51:00.003-04:00

Using wool diaper covers is awesome... until it is time to wash and lanolize them. I am hand washing today as practice for the Flats & Handwashing Challenge, might as well. I use Northern Essence wool wash and solid lanolin. All of my wool is upcycled from sweaters, so it is a bit tougher than knit woolies, you won't want to do as much squeezing on your knits.

I don't use my sink to wash my wool, because that would require doing the dishes first and well... I would prefer not. So I have a baby tub and a random toy bin. I use two because I prefer separating my light colors and dark colors.

First fill both buckets with warm water. Add your liquid wool wash.

Place each woolie in the water and squeeze until fully saturated.

If you have any areas that need to be spot cleaned, now is the time to do that.

Just rub the soiled area with a wool wash bar.

Make sure all your wool is submerged

Let soak for 15-30 minutes

Gently wring out all of the wool and rinse,

you can see above why I separate color.

Squeeze out as much water as you can.

Now prepare your lanolin bath.

Fill one of your buckets/buns/tubs with warm water again.

In a mug heat up some water,

hot enough to make tea.

In another mug break up some wool wash bar and a spoonful of lanolin.

Stir in the hot water until smooth milky white with no floating bits. If the surface looks oily add a little more wool wash to help emulsify the lanolin.

Now add your lanolin mixture to your warm water bath. The water should be cloudy with no visible lanolin bits.

You will want to turn your wool inside out for the next step.

Take your wool and individually dunk each piece in the lanolin bath

once all of the wool is in, weight the top to keep everything submerged,

let sit for another 15-30 minutes.

Once your wool is all lanolized you will want to get it all dry.

This can take 24-48 hours depending on weight and how well you squeeze out the water.

Take all your wool and squeeze out all the extra water.

Then take some clean dry towels and roll up each one and press out any additional moisture

Now lay flat to dry. I use a gate section for some of them and have some suspended wire shelving for the soakers, anything that helps airflow reduces drying time. Open some windows, turn on a fan.

Always lay wet wool flat to dry. The wool I have hanging on clips is just airing out between uses.

I wash half of my wool stash every week, so I have enough dry to use and

everything gets washed at least once every two weeks.

Wool Dryer Balls, DIY.

2012-04-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

I know as a cloth diapering mommy that fabric softeners are bad, which leaves me with a Husband complaining about static. I determined the solution would be wool dryer balls. Wool dryer balls help cut drying time and eliminate static, but it isn't easy justifying the purchase of a $10 ball of wool to Daddy, especially when I was proposing the purchase of four or five of them.

So I decided to attempt to make them, I have wool.

I started with a skein of 100% wool yarn and a couple wool scraps

from some longies I made last week.

Roll up some scraps and tie it up like a little gift

(then try to convince the peanut gallery it isn't a gift and it is not Nana's birthday)

Then roll that yarn into a ball

(infant assistance is not recommended)

Once you get to a reasonable size (or run out of extra yarn)

loop the yarn around your thumb and tie a knot

Take the tail and turn 90 degrees and repeat,

so you have 2 loops knotted, think gift wrap.

Now the only thing that is going to hold this baby together

Felting.

Get your water nice and hot and get the ball saturated.

Take the ball out of the hot water and turn the water to cold

Squeeze some of the hot water out and once the tap runs super cold

get the ball saturated again, roll it around, massage the fibers,

let the wool get nice and fuzzy.

I added some wool wash to my felting procedure,

It smells so yummy and makes my dryer smell delicious and makes me hungry

(maybe picking the honey almond smell was a bad idea)

Fuzzy is good!

Ready to bounce!

Ready to do this DIY?

Learn from my experience:

It costs about $5 per ball in wool yarn, so unless you have scraps, it may actually be more cost effective to buy them.

Blisters may have been involved.

It took about 40 minutes each ball, and mine are still fairly small.

It is not fun at all when one unravels in the dryer.

They do work well, so if you have some wool, time and patience to spare, give it a go!

Do you have wool dryer balls? Where did you purchase them?

Movies with Toddlers

2012-03-25T09:40:00.004-04:00

Going to see a movie with these three monsters sounds terrifying doesn't it?

It wasn't! Yesterday we went to see The Lorax with the boys and it was so much fun! We packed up our van and headed to the Drive-in. We went to the drive-in to see WALL-E when Chris was three months and he pretty much slept the entire time. This time having toddlers we weren't sure what was going to happen. It turned out perfect.

Admission was $18 ($9 per adult and kids 3 & under are free) and we spent $10 on popcorn and drinks. The admission pays for a double feature, we only stayed for one because the drive-in is a two hour drive for us. We parked our Minivan with the tailgate to the screen and we all sat in the hatch among the pillows and blankets. Chris happily sat and watched the entire movie, Jacob got a little antsy but it was nothing a Daddy hug couldn't take care of. Dominic either nursed, sat on Chris's lap or slept on my chest. We loved the movie, the atmosphere was great and the kids had a great time.

A family movie night that is toddler friendly is hard to find, the drive-in theater delivered. The drive-in we went to is the Delsea Drive-in, in Vineland. The Delsea is the only drive-in theater in New Jersey. Sadly the number of Drive-in theaters has been on the decline because of the cost of getting the movies from the studios. The only thing that keeps theaters like this open is the concession stand, so make sure to stop in and pick up some popcorn to help keep it going. For a $28 family night out we had a great time, saw a great movie and managed to survive, so even if you are outnumbered, this is a fantastic outing.

Is it March?

2012-03-21T08:25:00.000-04:00

75 degrees and sunny, in March. It's a little crazy but definitely awesome. After such a mild winter I am not very surprised that spring came extra early. I have been taking the kids out in the yard as often as possible. It's just too nice to stay inside!

I have been working on some sewing projects lately, I made Dominic a car seat cover because it was cold and windy and keeping a receiving blanket over him was difficult. It figures that it would warm up the day after I finished it.

Nothing Like a Sunny day

2012-03-10T09:29:00.002-05:00

To air out your unders...

When the boys are sick..

2012-03-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

When the boys are sick...

...they all are sick at the same time.

...they will only sleep on someone.

...tylenol will be recalled and generics will be out of stock.

...they will forget about being potty trained.

...they will refuse to eat everything.

...they will blow their noses on your shirt.

...there will be poop and it will be evil.

...they will cough and sneeze without covering their mouth.

...they will refuse pedialite (honestly can you blame them?)

...they will feel better, the same day you get sick.

...all while the Daddy is completely useless on the couch.

Don't worry I'll be back to daily posts when we are all feeling better!

Wordless Wednesday - Cuddles

2012-03-06T23:05:00.000-05:00

The Lonely Crib

2012-02-29T12:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Daddy asked where to put the box of spring clothes he dug out of the attic.

"Just toss it in the crib"

Then I wondered how the pretty crib we spent weeks picking out for Christopher ended up just being an oversize laundry bin. I has been 4 years since it was assembled in the nursery with a pretty crib bumper and fancy mobile and I can't honestly remember any of my three boys spending an entire night in it.

Christopher was not a good sleeper, he spent most nights being rocked in his little bassinet at our bedside, we would be up in hour or so shifts, just rocking him. After so many sleepless nights I was too tired to take him to the rocker to nurse at night so I started feeding him in bed. It wasn't long until I realized that if I fell asleep while nursing him he would sleep peacefully at my side for hours.

Hours.

That is how we ended up cosleeping, It was either that or no sleeping and seriously there just isn't enough coffee in the world to make that decision. I read the baby magazines at the doctors office, I felt like I was being accused of being a bad mom for not just putting him in his crib, shutting the door and letting him cry it out. I never told anyone that we couldn't get him to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time and most of the time less than an hour. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but I was, I thought if I told you my baby doesn't sleep well that you would judge me for it. I told people "he gets up once or twice" when I really meant he gets up once or twice an hour. I refused to listen to him cry, it just seemed wrong, so I picked him up and brought him back to my bed and snuggled with him until he fell asleep, sometimes I would put him back in his bassinet, other times I would just keep him with me all night. When Chris was 9 months and walking we put the day bed side on the crib and put it at the foot of the bed, he would sleep there for a few hours and somehow eventually end up in our bed.

When Jacob was born we pulled out the bassinet and put it next to the bed, I would nurse him in our bed and put him back in the bassinet to sleep. Once he was rolling over and pushing up to crawl I had him sleeping in the crib until he woke to eat and then just kept him in the bed.

If you are keeping count, that is four of us in one Queen sized bed.

Once Jacob was weened at a year, we picked up a toddler bed and put it at the foot of our bed next to the crib, the boys would fall asleep there and still eventually make it into our bed at some point.

Then came Dominic. While I was pregnant we moved a full size bed into the nursery for Chris & Jacob to share, finally I had enough room to stretch out my cramped legs.

Now I sleep in the Queen bed and Dominic sleeps in the pack & play in the same room. Daddy sleeps with the boys in their bed so he doesn't get woken up every time Dominic gets up. Dominic nurses every 2-4 hours at night, sometimes he goes back in the pack & play, sometimes he stays with me. The crib is full of laundry that needs to be put away. The toddler bed is disassembled under my bed. I have learned not to worry to much about how much they sleep or where they sleep. We are happy, healthy and well rested and that is all that matters.

Wordless Wednesday - Jacob & Dominic

2012-02-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday - Wishing for Snow

2012-02-21T23:50:00.001-05:00

Cute Overload! Deal today on Totsy.

2012-02-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

Curious Baby: My Curious World

Soft? Check.

Crinkly? Check.

Mirror? Check.

Ribbons? Check.

Everything Dominic Loves!

In a lovely little book with a message Mommy loves!

The price: $5 on Totsy with free shipping! AWESOME.

Looking for books for your Big Kids? Totsy has those too!

What is Totsy?

Totsy is an online shop that offers 48-72 hour sales on brand name

Mommy & Children's goods at up to 90% off retail.

How do I sign up?

Just click here and sign in with Facebook, EASY!

What about spam?

Totsy will send one daily email with a sampling of current and upcoming sales

so you can jump on the best deals before they sell out!

Yes, I am being compensated by Totsy (per facebook allow, not per purchase)

but seriously I love Totsy and I am happy to share the deals with you!

Become.com Adventures in Informed Shopping

2012-02-16T08:20:00.001-05:00

I'm a Mom, a busy one. So when it comes to shopping, I just don't have time to research the best products and prices. This is where Become.com comes in. They offer everything you need to get the best deal; buying guides, comparison shopping service, product reviews, articles, forums, and other useful shopping information. Become is the only fully integrated Web-wide product search and comparison shopping site on the Internet.

Become.com is fast and easy to use - great for Super Mom's who don't have time between refilling sippy cups and fingerprinting. Become.com helps you make an informed purchase at the best price without the hours of research. What exactly do they offer you ask, here are some of my favorite features:

Relevant search results - no spam!

Focus on what you want - choose the button that displays the results you want; all results, product reviews, buying guides, discussion forums, or product details.

What’s in the AIR™? AIR (Affinity Index Ranking) filters out the thousands of irrelevant results that other sites produce no more useless clicking through irrelevant pages.

‘No surprises’ price feature - Become gives you the total price including shipping and taxes, so you know the lowest price is really going to be the lowest price.

What exactly do they have? On Become.com, you are sure to find what you are looking for - they have everything from circular saws with dust collection and clarks artisan black woven leather slides to console cup holders and jogging strollers.

Post brought to you by your friends at Blogsvertise & Become.com but I really do think it is pretty awesome.

Am I Feeding Toddlers or Monsters?

2012-02-15T13:19:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like the kids know you are exhausted

so they are intentionally bringing out their inner monster?

I had one of those days this week, but now, I know why.

The kids got up extra early, 5 am, bad start to a bad day. I brought them downstairs, put them in underwear, put on a movie, gave them each a sippy cup full of apple juice and a snack cup of cereal, made my coffee and settled down on the couch. Within an hour every toy had been strewn about and I had to preform multiple boo-boo kisses because they kept tossing each other off the couch. My head was pounding and my coffee was getting cold. Both kids are hungry again, so I go to the kitchen to get some refills and reheat my coffee. I hear a thud, Jacob's daredevil leap off of the table to the couch went wrong, more boo-boo kisses are distributed. I spent the rest of the morning running kids back and forth to the potty, cleaning up accidents and issuing timeouts. My headache was getting worse, my coffee is still in the microwave.

Lunch time rolls around, the kids are begging for food so I throw together peanut butter and jelly, quick and easy. They devour it. Sticky fingers are wiped. Then they ask for more. Back to the kitchen, reheat coffee again, cut up apple slices. Another thud, rush back, more kisses issued, another timeout. Just noticed Sonic the Hedgehog is on, when did they learn to use netflix? More craziness ensues, from 5am to 5pm, messes everywhere, didn't prep dinner, didn't do laundry, no crafts, no reading time. Poor Dominic is having a bad day, he hasn't had a single uninterrupted meal all day. I haven't eaten at all. I chugged my cold coffee.

What went wrong?

What can I change?

The next day 5am happens again, not cool. Bring the kids downstairs, Chris gets his underwear, Jacob gets a cloth diaper, skip the movie and hand them each a book. I am tired, but today I am going to play my best Super Mom roll and make breakfast. I scramble eggs, cut them into stars, serve with toast and a sippy cup full of milk. The kids sit and eat every last bite, I feed Dominic, then have some coffee. The kids are civilized, no boo-boo kisses, cars are everywhere, but they are playing with them not throwing them at each other. We have cheese and grapes for a snack. I get some chores done, we design felt robots, do some color sorting games. They even clean up so I can vacuum the playroom.

Lunch time rolls around, I cook up some french toast, because it's what they asked for. I add some yoghurt to dip in because kids like to dip, the food is eaten, sippy cups are filled with water. The kids are happy. We dance to some Less Than Jake and act like a bunch of goofballs for a bit.

Early afternoon we turn on the TV, I put on Bob the Builder, Jacob falls asleep, Chris watches quietly then asks me about making compost piles, so we talk about where garbage goes while I feed Dominic. Jacob gets up and they both play nicely while I prep dinner, Dominic naps peacefully.

What was the difference?

Food. They ate good nutritious, low sugar foods and drinks on the good day and Fruit Loops on the bad day. Did you know the first ingredient in Fruit Loops is sugar? Avoiding sugar eliminates the crazy sugar highs and lows. They focused on their tasks instead of just tearing things up and bouncing off the walls.

Quality activities. We didn't start the day with the TV, we started with books, they were still sleepy so they happily curled up on the couch with their books. The nutritious food made them more focused so they actually participated in craft time and enjoyed it.

Cloth trainer. Jacob is potty training, he has good days & bad days. He knows he is wet, he asks to go potty, they go on and off like underwear and I'm not cleaning puddles all day, cloth is a good transition for kids who aren't quite ready for underwear.

Do you find what your child eats influences their behavior? What foods do you avoid? What else do you have in your routine that helps keep chaos at bay?

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Wordless Wednesday - Having Fun

2012-02-15T07:29:00.000-05:00

Valentines Craft - Felt Roses

2012-02-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

So if you want to show off your craftiness on a budget, try out this fun craft.

This would make a great Valentine for Mommy or Grandma.

This one isn't very kid friendly in my house,

but if your kids are old enough to use scissors they can do this.

All you need to make a dozen roses is two sheets of red eco-felt,

a package of green pipe cleaners, scissors and glue.

Cut each sheet of felt into 6 squares and round the corners.

Now you have 12 felt (almost) circles.

Take each piece and cut a spiral, about 1/2 wide to the center.

Don't be too neat, imperfections add dimension.

Clip off the little pointy end, Just because it makes the next step easier.

Then take each felt strip and roll it up from the outside to the middle and fold under the center part.

As you roll it let it get a little more loose on the last couple rounds.

Now to hold together all of your pretty roses, just flip them over and glue the underside.

I used hot glue, but white school glue or tacky glue would work fine if you are doing this with kids.

Now the stems, twist a 1" diameter circle into the end, then fold it in half creating a figure eight, twist once or twice to secure. Glue around the figure 8 shape and press onto the bottom of the rose.

Once dry assemble your flowers into a bouquet and give to your Valentine.

Cost: under $2 for the supplies. Win!

If you think this craft is too lengthy to try...

It took me just under an hour, to make a dozen roses,

While nursing a baby, supervising crazy toddlers and taking pictures.

Just sayin.

Crafty Valentines Cards

2012-02-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

We love any excuse to pull out the glue sticks and make a mess, so today we have a special installment of craft time with toddlers, Valentines cards!

When I told the boys we were making cards for Nana & Grandma they were so excited!

I dug through my bag of craft scraps and pulled out every piece of pink, purple and blue I could find. I cut these into shapes, hearts, dots, butterflies and flowers, I dug through some old scrapbook supplies for some love quotes that were appropriate. Then I folded two pieces of card stock in half, grabbed some appropriate colored crayons and glue sticks.

Then let the terrible two take over with their own creativity and chaos.

Sat back and took some pictures.

Finished Projects:

Cute, and tons of fun!