Honey, do we have any 5/16ths drill bits?

This has been the week of "finish up" projects. By the weekend I hope to have all the flowers planted and the majority of my yard landscaped (my big project for the month). Also, mental note to self to organize medical records.

In addition to my big projects, I've been focusing on finishing up those little projects that need just one more thing.

For example:

See my walls? This is on the short term to do list. I have the paint and everything.

I got this dresser for $15 at a yard sale. It's a nice solid wood one. Unfortunately, it's so old that they don't make handles that fit it anymore.

This is why I wanted new handles:

If these were metal, they would be fine, albeit a little banged up. However, they were some weird plastic-y thing and some of them were warped.

So I bought knobs when Menards had some ridiculously low not-quite-free-but-almost rebate:

However, as so often happens, it was a straightforward project that went all wrong. First, the holes were too small (hence the above referenced phone call to my husband at work), then I drilled them too big, necessitating wood putty. Finally, I learned that I had five of one finish and one of a similar but different finish. So it's back to Menards I go. Fortunately I have errands in the area and I might be able to just do an even exchange rather than paying the $2.79 full price. Oh well, it beats paying $2.79 per knob I suppose. I'm just glad they still have them in stock.

"No, you may not eat a shriveled up green bean off the floor" and other parenting phrases.

--"No, you can't be a twin when you grow up."

--"No, I'm not going to remind you how to get ready for bed. It has been the same routine for the last five years and there are only three steps."

--"The bank is actually in the money business, not the lollipop business."

--"Your sister is not a toy."

--"Please take the (insert noun here) out of your sister's (insert facial body part here)."

--"Because I said so."




--"You are one of the best gifts I've ever been given."

--"Mom and Dad love you very much."

--"God loves you very much."

--"Jesus died for you."

--"Yes, Heaven is real."

Memorial Day Miscellany

Okay, this has nothing to do with Memorial Day other than the alliteration but here goes. Since this blog is technically supposed to be about food, I figured I should throw in some recipes or some recipe-ish things once in awhile.

This week I made peanut butter. No, this is not particularly money saving as it takes 30 minutes (including blender washing time) and saves roughly 69 cents. But it does taste amazingly good, and for that, it's worth the 30 minutes of work. All I do is blend peanuts with a little bit of oil. No salt, no sugar. All deliciousness.

Then again, they may not be. Nothing like conviction, I always say.

Note for the gluten intolerant: Aldi peanuts do carry a warning that they MAY be cross-contaminated with wheat so proceed accordingly.

I also made this salad to go along with some GF pizzas:

No I didn't mean to drown my salad. I just get carried away with dressing sometimes.

I used to eat a salad at Fazoli's that contained ham, pepperoni, salami, cubed mozzarella and olives with balsamic vinaigrette. They have since changed the ingredients of this wonderfully good salad and I haven't been back since my first attempt at eating the new (and quite unimproved) Italian chicken salad.

This was decent. I kind of threw it together on the spur of the moment so I didn't have any olives, but I did add tomatoes, shredded Parmesan cheese, diced pepperoni, and topped with vinaigrette dressing. I think next time with the addition of some salami, olives, and possibly hard boiled eggs, I might have a winner for the summer recipe collection.

Making monkeys and prayers for Oklahoma

First off, I want to say that Oklahoma has been in my mind and on my heart, as I'm sure it has much of the nation's. I was born and raised not too far from all the destruction and I'm heartbroken for those who have lost so much.

I tried to write a post about it but everything I wrote sounded trite and meaningless. All I can say is that I pray for the families rebuilding and that I'm so grateful for all the financial and material donations that I've seen pouring in.

My five year old and I were discussing it the following day and I asked her what she thought the kids who lost their homes would want us to send. I thought she would say something practical like food, toothpaste or  diapers for the babies. Instead, she said "If I lost my home I would miss Illabelle." This refers to a stuffed monkey my mom crocheted for her second birthday. For her fifth birthday, she received Jubilee (boy monkey) and after a whirlwind courtship of one day, they were married. I have it on good authority that Baby Jubilee will be joining the family in due time (he's already hidden in my mom's closet).

Anyway, Big Girl is quite attached to her monkeys, so she told me she wanted to make monkeys for the children who lost all their things.

I got right on it and recruited help from my knit/crochet group at church. I'm not sure how many monkeys we will end up sending but I got a huge positive response to the idea. Of course, along with monkeys will go many prayers for healing and recovery.

Monkey in progress. I used this pattern from another blogger. Although after taking this picture, I realized I sewed it together wrong. Genius.

Keep Calm and Limp Along

Last week I abandoned all thoughts of getting my dining room ready for painting. Seventy degrees? Yes, please.

So I decided to plant some flowers in the backyard. Side note: I discovered I have a chipmunk who has burrowed a hole under my garden. This in turn has attracted the neighbor's cat who I think has permanently terrorized the poor chipmunk.

Anyway, back to last week: I had gotten out my garage sale wagon to load it up with mulch and plants, but as I went to put it away when I finished, the garage door stuck. I reached up to pull it down, tripped, stepped on a nail, and therefore ended my brief but illustrious career in gardening (for a few days at least).

Thankfully I had gotten a tetanus shot recently and was able to keep myself and my five year old calm, no small feat considering her empathy toward anyone bleeding or hurt in any way. Also thankfully, the baby slept through everything.

But don't my flowers look nice?

A cloth diaper how-to

I always planned on using cloth diapers starting with the birth of my oldest daughter in April of 2008 but it took me the last five years to really figure out a system that works for us now.

Ever the cheapskate, I figured cheap prefolds and covers would be just as good. In reality, they sent me running for disposables for four months. Leaky diapers on top of severe post partum depression just did not equal cloth diapering success.

Starting when the Big Girl was four months old, I worked my way through most types of cloth diapers and the following is our current stash and what I would recommend to someone deciding to go with cloth.

1. Nine Bum Genius diapers with snaps. These are the yellow and pink ones pictured above. Some were bought new for my baby shower while most were bought used. I love these for nighttime. Stuffed with an outgrown prefold and a hemp insert, Little Girl stays dry in these for up to seven hours. I'm not sure how much longer they would stay dry without another insert because she never sleeps that long in between wakeups. I used to have ten but one of them started leaking so I gave it to Big Girl to use on her doll.

2. A dozen Bum Genius with velcro fasteners. I got these in a trade from another local CDing mom and while I like these, I don't reach for them first. I find it hard to get a good fit around the legs for active daytime wear. However, for babysitters and trips where I need a compact system, these are great. I stuff them with a microfiber insert (included with diaper when purchased new) plus a tri-folded microfiber towel like you use to dust the furniture. I tried putting two inserts in and found it too bulky.

3. About two dozen prefolds and four Thirsties Duo size 2 covers. The prefolds are by far the oldest diapers in my stash. They are seconds that I bought five years ago and most are still holding up today. The ones that do have holes are frayed where the Snappi (my favorite brand of fastener, used in place of pins) grips. While it's the most complicated diapering system, prefolds and covers are my absolute favorites. I can't say enough good things about Thirsties covers. The Duo covers are new to me and I'm not sure I would be as into cloth diapering without them. I have had maybe two leaks in ten months.


Things I tried last time but skipped this time:

1. Wool. I need ease of washing and I never really got the whole wool washing system under control. I would always forget when I had washed last and then the covers took forever to dry. I just needed to streamline. Plus, I had this paranoia of breaking my daughter out in a rash because I didn't use super expensive wool (I knitted the covers myself).

2. Fitteds. These look like a diaper without a waterproof cover. You velcro this diaper on, then add a cover. Again, I found this to be too complicated, plus the velcro was a big lint catcher.

3. All-in-ones. These look similar to the Bum Genius diapers I use (in fact, BG makes an all-in-one) except instead of stuffing absorbent material in a pocket, it's already sewn in. I made three of these to send to the church nursery and while they were useful for that purpose, they were limiting because you couldn't customize the absorbency, plus they took a long time to dry.


Storage and wash routine:

I made some big drawstring bags out of this vinyl material that is waterproof on one side and fuzzy on the other. It was dirt cheap and ugly but it gets the job done. I use it like a trash bag in a kitchen size trash can.

I wash every other day: once on the delicate cycle to get the diapers wet in my front loader, then again on the bulky cycle. I love when the weather is nice because I can hang them on the line to dry, which helps with stain removal and keeps the diapers fresh smelling. I try not to use bleach very often but sometimes I have to, like over a long winter. Some components specifically say not to use bleach so always check your labels.

I have three of those canvas bins that sit on my changing table shelves: One small one for covers and snappis, one for overnight snap diapers, and one for the velcro pocket diapers. My prefolds hang on the changing table in a diaper stacker.

Bottom line (no pun intended) Even though it can be overwhelming with so many choices, I'm glad that modern cloth diapering has moved beyond pins and plastic pants to make it easy for parents today.

Gluten-free Pit

I wanted to play a game with the Big Girl tonight but I am SO sick of Princess Monopoly and Connect Four. I found the game Pit but it is recommended for ages 8 and up.

Considering how much she loves Go Fish, I got the bright idea to take four of each kind of grain, leave the Bull and Bear as wild cards, and play that way. It was a good reading and number recognition lesson. Plus, Little Girl got a real kick out of playing with the bell, keeping her distracted long enough for a game.

I find it a little strange to own this game, considering my grain restrictions. As we played, I cataloged all the grains: Barley (no), Oats (only certified GF), Wheat (uh, no). Hay (I'm not sure this is meant for humans in general).

When she went to take her bath, Big Girl looked at me and said "My tummy hurts because I drew the wheat card." Nice try, dear, but I don't think anyone is that sensitive.

 I am half tempted to make a GF version of Pit featuring quinoa, teff, and rice. Kidding of course. A new project is just what I need. Instead, I guess I'll iron clothes and mop the floor.

May goals

My goals:

1. Be more up to date on current events
2. Shop my craft closet
3. Organize our medical history
4. Make more of my own bath products
5. Be better about grocery budgeting
6. Organize my recipes and menu plan
7. Learn how to take good pictures

and ongoing: 


Read one fiction and one non-fiction book a month
Complete one major renovation project a month





So I said I would be back tomorrow and I am...if you consider "tomorrow" to be a term that loosely defines anything between 24 hours and one week.

We just got back from a road trip and during the approximately 26 hours we were on the road I think I met my reading quota for May, June and July. But I still want to try and read two additional books anyway. Overachiever here.

My goals for the house are to finish laying the floor (!!) and I would love to paint my dining room. We removed a damaged chair rail and patched the holes (of which there were many) about half a year ago. All that remains is sanding the patching job and painting so maybe when my floor is finished I can be single minded about getting that done.

I think I want to tackle the medical history this month. We have several doctor appointments coming up, plus Big Girl starts Kindergarten this year, so I think it would be helpful to have this organized soon.

Although this is a yearlong to-do list, I only made myself 7 monthly goals, not counting the ongoing ones, and I did two of them in one month in April. I think this is good because it leaves room to play catch up and also gives my list a chance to evolve and grow where necessary. I was thinking about adding on another item for consideration down the line: organizing my closet. Now that I'm out of the weird cycle of pregnancy-weight gain-birth-weight loss-baby spitting up constantly, I need to go through and see what fits and works for my present lifestyle. I tried to put away all my winter clothes the other day, only to have to pull them all back out. Hopefully by June this will not be an issue.