I forget to Photograph

I have lots that I could be posting on, but I don't really like posting unless I have a picture or a video to go along with it. The problem is I always focus so much on having great fun with my son that I forget to stop and set down the project to take some photos.

Lately we have made butter, bird feeders, bread, and art. We have gone to farmer's market in which he picked out his own heirloom tomato and then squeezed himself a large mess. He has been helping me do lots of chores around the house. But I forget to take the pictures!!

A lot has been going on though so I haven't uploaded pics in a little while either. That I will get on later this week and I will post a few things based off those pictures. After that I am just vowing to try my best to photograph what we do. Then I can post more eHow articles as well.


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Crafty Days.

It all started last week when I decided I wanted to make as much food around here as possible from scratch. Not only for better health, but also better taste. Food these days is just nasty. I already became addicted to farmer's markets a while back. The fresh fruits and veggies there have so much flavor and nutrients left in them that you feel like you are eating something foreign almost, and yet, you are saving the planet (or us rather) by buying local. The markets have fruits and veggies that are shipped before they are ripe and chemicals are used to give them the color they are supposed to have. It's really disgusting and seems to be fine for many people out there. I want the best for myself, my family, my son. I want us all to taste these lovely gifts from the earth and I want to avoid anything "man made", humans are slowly killing themselves.

Anyway, I have been very lazy with cooking since we moved in here two years ago. I have never been proud of it, and I finally woke up last week and decided that I have no excuse. Since I do not work, I have nothing but time. I should be utilizing my time to make sure our bodies are at maximum health in and out. I wanted to start with spaghetti sauce. I have been using jar sauce and adding random ingredients, yet it never tastes that wonderful. I finally organized my recipe book and located my three spaghetti sauce recipes. I cooked all three in one day and froze them all. Which gave us 6 meals that are as easy to make as any of the convenience food we've been eating. It is my mission to find a great recipe and stick with it, so that eventually people will say, "Wow, your spaghetti is so good! I love the sauce!!". Tonight we are eating the second recipe. We ate the third last week and will try number one later this week.

I got excited about making the sauce, and re-discovered how easy it is to cook food, and actually I am very good at it. I vowed to stop being lazy and kept looking for ideas. Butter came next. I found a wonderful article on eHOW and set sail. Butter was SO easy to make and it came out delicious. I used organic cream so I have some lovely organic butter sitting in my fridge. I gave some to the in-laws as well, but they are pretty far from making any kind of switch such as this like I have. I doubt they will eat it, they like margarine. Oh well, It's so easy, I'll make lots more for sure. This week I will also test for the perfect bread recipe to find one that will replace our store bought type. Fresh bread and butter each week, how luxurious.

So, back to today. my son and I got up and decided to make some friendly bird feeders. We did the simple style of smearing some peanut butter all over a pine cone and two toilet paper rolls. Then we rolled them in birdseed (which my son LOVED) and we added a string and hung them. I don't know if it is our unkempt yard/house or the fact that we live on a busy street, but birds don't visit us too often. I hope some discover the feeders which are on the slightly calmer side of the house. I told my son they were for he birdies and I really would love if he gets o see them eat it. I once hung a birdhouse and they came by and trashed it, but at least they came by ha ha.

After that we cooked up some cornstarch finger paints and make a couple Fourth of July finger paintings. Followed by me making some almond meal for my face/body scrub. Then I gave him a Pirates of the Caribbean tattoo on his arm right where both Mommy and Daddy have one. Finally we both decorated some paper plate Sunshine.

We had a very crafty and fun day, my son have a blast, I felt great about everything, and we are all happy. Funny thing is when my Husband came home for work he finally sewed up the torn pillow on the couch. and then our son made his own art out of his apple juice and the freshly washed bed sheets. Maybe there is craft in the air today.


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Cloth Diaper Obsession

I would like to start off by saying that today during lunch my son stuffed a raisin up his nose.

In other news, my son has been going pee pee in the potty every night during naked time right before his nightly bath. He is very proud of himself, as much as we are of him. I set out his potty and strip him down. While I take his clothes off I tell him that is he needs to go pee pee he should go pee pee in the potty. Then when he has to go he does so. After he goes pee pee we go into the kitchen and he gets to place another kitty sticker on his potty chart that we keep on the fridge. He loves kitties and he is thrilled about that. Only twice in the past two weeks he had any accident during his naked time. Once it seemed as if he simply forgot about it all because he started to pee and I said, "Oh, go in the potty baby" and his face lit up like he just remembered about the potty then he ran to it and finished in it. The second time he just didn't make it to the potty quick enough and some got on the carpet right next to the potty seat.

Now, on that note I'd like to talk about diapers. I feel Like I already have, so if this is all repeat news bear with me... I am obsessed.... with cloth diapers. I cannot get enough of them. I love how much money we have saved by not using disposables. I love that we aren't harming the environment. I love that they are more natural and give him less diaper rash. What I haven't done is find the perfect diaper to use and so I have tried quite a few. I still haven't found one and I am hoping to try a few more in the next few months because ideally I would like to find a great diaper before my son gets out of them so that when we have our next child, I will now right away which ones to buy and how many and so on. The trouble with that plan (which is good trouble) is that as with all other things my son is moving along quickly and on his own, so I am worried he might very well be potty trained before my search has ended. But that's OK too, then I wouldn't have to worry about diapers for a while.

We started out with the most popular BumGenius 3.0 One Size. The One size idea is wonderful, however, I learned that after only a few months time (and mostly line drying) that the PUL wore out and they began leaking. I didn't like the idea of the plastic being there to begin with, but then it wasn't even doing it's job so what was really the point? We ended up using some cheapo Gerber plastic pants to hold us over until we bought more cloth diapers. Please do not ever use those. Ew! They were loud, and hard to work with for a toddler, they were plastic obviously, and they made his butt look and feel nasty and huge under all clothing. I will never recommend these.

We finally got in our shipment of new diapers. Kissaluvs unbleached with Bummis Super Snap covers. I quickly threw out the BumGenius pocket diapers (and kept the inserts) and the Gerber pants. Kissaluvs unbleached to require quite a few washing before they reach full absorbency, especially due to the oil in the natural fabric. I like them, one thing to keep in mind with all cloth diapers is that they do not hold as much as a disposable so you HAVE to changed them more often and bring extra clothes in case of leaks. WE are still learning to remember to change them, but I am always carried changes of clothes for our son. The covers work pretty well. They still have plastic, but at this point I cannot afford the natural option of wool. I will soon though. The best part about them is that they snap, and that is a wonderful thing to have around a curious toddler. Almost any mother will tell you about how easily their child can take off a Velcro diaper.

A few weeks later I decided to try gDiapers because I still loved the convenience of disposables for when we went out, and he still needed that extra absorbency for overnight. gDiapers gives you that option without harming the earth. I did fall in love with them right away. I bought a starter kit at Whole Foods and later I found a great gourmet shop on Abbott Kinney that had tried to sell them without much luck and had them all 50% off so I took all they had. That left us with 6 gPants and a lot of inserts plus I bought a case of inserts on eBay. Over the next few weeks and washings I learned what sucked about gDiapers. You can put cloth inserts in them which is wonderful and the cotton babies one size which I had ordered with my Bun Genius fit perfectly in there with the small setting. But, cloth or gDiaper insert, the pad will bunch up in the crotch area and become bunching uncomfortable, plus when they fold like that they are prone to leaks around the legs. My other, and bigger, complaint is that the liners which snap in stretch after only a few washings and they get harder to use. All of this is hard to understand unless you try them and see what I mean. To make that long story short... I fell out of love with them and am looking once more for good cloth diapers. Since we only have 4 Kissaluvs I still use the gDiapers a lot but I really don't like the microfiber inserts we have either.

So..... what I am looking to find is a cloth diaper made of natural materials that absorbs good enough yet isn't too bulky and is fitted with Velcro closure. One Size would be ideal. I want an all natural cover as well, wool is best, that snaps or pulls on and fits very well. I want good absorbency inserts also made of a natural fabric that works with my diaper choice and works overnight as well. What I do not want is PUL. I do not want a pocket diaper. I do not want plastic. I would also prefer a diaper that is all the absorbency in itself and extra pads are only used for longer time periods or overnight. The search continues.....


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