Odds & Ends

Here are a few odds and ends from last week that I finally got uploaded from my camera.

After living with a bare bulb for almost 2 years, we finally got a new light fixture in our living/dining/computer area. I like it!


Crazy kids after eating blue lolly pops. Miles thought the blue tongues were hilarious!


Mocha is growing like crazy. Here she is asking for attention at the back door.

And sleeping with Peaches. They tire each other out.


The cloth diaper experiment is a success so far. I think it may turn out to be something we will do for the long haul, and for any future children. I ordered a few Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers (expensive, but very trim fitting) and I like them, but I think I'll stick with prefolds for everyday use. I do like the snaps on the others though. Maybe I'll order some covers with snaps: I need a few more covers anyway.

And finally, story time. The kids' favorite!

I'm Still Here

Thanksgiving was wonderful: mountains of delicious food, a crowded house full of relatives, chatter, games, love, and laughter. The official start of the "holiday season". Yep, Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday, and this year was everything I anticipated. Hope yours was great as well.

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. It's been a full, busy week. I'll try to get some pics up later today, now that everything has slowed down and we're taking a day at home to catch up on laundry and sleep!

Popcorn Tradition

It's become tradition around here to have popcorn for supper on Sunday night. Kaylee looks forward to it all week. Every Sunday afternoon around 3 PM she starts asking when we can have popcorn. So at suppertime, Daddy gets out the old old Stir-Crazy popper and makes popcorn, and she "helps".


Kaylee's favorite popcorn seasoning recipe? Butter and Parmesan cheese, of course. Miles thinks it's pretty tasty too.

Going Crazy With Cloth

Yesterday morning my when I got up my husband looked at me and said "You've lost your mind. You've completely lost your mind." That's his initial assessment of my new venture at giving cloth diapers a try.

I've had some old flat diapers and covers around for some time, but could never get them to fit right. Then, thanks to Jenni's post last week, I purchased some Cloth-eez prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers (www.greenmountaindiapers.com).

I mainly did it to have a backup around when we run out of disposables, since we are 20 miles from the nearest place to buy diapers, and it's just not practical to run to town if you suddenly realize that you've put the last diaper on the baby and there are none in any cupboard or diaper bag. But since trying them out on Miles, I may just have to switch completely. These diaper service quality prefolds are made wider and shorter than the traditional prefold cloth diapers, and much thicker, softer, and more absorbent than my old cheap flat ones. They can be pinned, snappied, or just folded and put inside a diaper wrap.

I used a Bummis wrap with the diaper folded inside, and I couldn't believe how well they worked together. No leaks!

Washing was no big deal, and the diapers came out super soft and fresh-smelling. Plus, Miles came and wanted changed when he was wet. How cool is that?!?! Cloth diapers may be my new potty training secret (maybe I should put them on Ian!!).

The only drawback was that the size I got was too large for Miles: I had to fold them under to get them to fit in the wrap, and that makes some extra bulk in the front. But he'll grow into them. So I ordered a second dozen in a smaller size for everyday use now, and maybe we can try the big ones at night. I may just become an avid cloth user yet!

I did some web research, and was amazed at all the cloth diaper options out there. I haven't tried all the types, but I really like these prefolds with wraps, and it turns out they are one of the most economical ways to diaper. They cost about $30 a dozen, depending on what size you buy, and the wraps are about $10 each - plus they come in cute patterns and colors! I figure I'll need about 3 dozen diapers and 5 wraps, which brings the total cost to around $140, plus tax and shipping. That's 6 boxes of disposable diapers. We buy one box (Huggies 88 count , size 4, about $25 at Walmart) about every 2 weeks. In 3 months, the cloth diapers will pay for themselves, and after that, they'll save us $50 a month. That's $600 a year! If we have another baby, we'll be able to use them for him/her too. Of course, we'd have to invest in the newborn size at that point, but in the long run it would still be much cheaper. I'm also going to try cloth wipes, using my terry baby washcloths, washing them with the diapers, and making my own wipes solution (Lavender Chamomile, smells wonderful and works great!). That saves another $10 a month or so.

Of course, I had tons of questions regarding switching to cloth. Here are a few of my observations.

Aren't disposables more convenient? Yes, a little.

Don't they leak? Not if they fit right - I have yet to have a leak on Miles!

Is the extra laundry a hassle? No, not really. I do laundry all the time anyway. What's another load every other day?

Does the diaper pail smell nasty? No - I'm using the "dry pail" method, rinsing poopy diapers off first, and sprinkling with baking soda - no odors yet!

Will it work for us? I'll never know until I've really tried it! My plan at present is to use cloth at home, but keep a few disposables around for trips and such. I'm currently still using disposables at night, but as soon as the smaller size comes I hope to switch at night too. I figure if I spend the money, I'm obligated to at least use the diapers until they pay for themselves. After that, I'm saving money. In the meantime, I'm not filling up landfills with diapers. I"m putting only 100% soft cotton (no chemicals) against my baby's bottom, and he's learning to recognize when he's wet.

Is it worth the extra effort? Have I lost my mind? What will we do with the $700 I'm saving a year? I"ll keep you updated.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

I did some searching this morning for a tasty recipe to use up my cooked pumpkin, and I found this. It sounded like the best of both my cheesecake and bar cravings so I tried it. YUMMY!! The only thing I would change is the nuts: mine weren't very finely chopped. Next time I"ll use the food processor.

Here it is, for your enjoyment:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup finely chopped pecans

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground allspice

1. In a bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans; set aside 3/4 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixtures into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool slightly.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Punkins

For those of you who need their daily picture fix, here's a picture I took last Friday of my 3 little punkins. It's the only one out of about 15 where all 3 are looking at the camera and not making silly faces. They were clapping - notice Ian and Kaylee's hands. Anyway, I think it's pretty cute.


Super smiles!


Speaking of punkins, yesterday I cooked a pumpkin to make pie, and I have all this extra pumpkin that I need to use. Anyone have any great recipes for pumpkin bars? My sister has one, but she says it's not very good. Or pumpkin cheesecake? Both those things sound pretty good about now! Actually making anything will have to wait until tomorrow though. I spent the whole day cooking and doing laundry for my sister. I"m tired. I think I"ll go to bed.

Busy Bees

Life is getting busier around here. (Is busier a word? More busy? Can't decide!)

Mom leaves tomorrow for Houston to be with my brother-in-law during his high-dose IV chemotherapy treatment for the next 5 days. My sister has school, so she can't go. He seems to have responded very well to the whole-brain radiation, so now they are going after the other spots in the lungs and lymph system. This type of chemo has had good results, so they're quite hopeful about it. I can't imagine what this has been like for my baby sis, to have her new husband so sick, but things are starting to look up. They are always in our prayers...

Starting tomorrow, I will be going into town to watch Ian at my other sister's place 2 days a week. She is getting near the end of her pregnancy (33 weeks) and has had some trouble with preterm contractions so I decided to give her a bit of a break. I'll try to get some laundry and housework done while the kids are napping, and maybe even cook up some things that she can just pop in the oven for easy dinners and such. If she can make it one more month, she'll have Christmas break, and the baby can come any day! Hopefully this will help.

And here I was thinking that I needed a project to keep me busy!