Summer To-Do List

My summer "bucket-list":

*Pick berries (not just buy them...actually PICK them) and make jam.

*Trip to the ocean at least TWICE. (We prefer, and always recommend York Beach, Long Sands)

*Trip to the Friendly Farm Dublin, NH. We already did this once, last weekend, and we are definitely going back!

*Camp out in the backyard. If it works well...

*Camp out somewhere besides the backyard! (My daughter is two...so we will see if this happens!)

*Cape Cod girls weekend!! This is already planned for August, it's a bachelorette party for my best friend! So excited for this one!

*Do at least ONE craft or repurpose per week.

*Post more often on my blog!

*Take family pictures. My daughter is two, and we do not have more than a handful of pictures of our whole family. This is SAD!

What is on your list for summer?

Woman's best friend

I haven't posted in a few months, and boy, it comes with good reason. Shortly after my last post, we were forced to make the decision to put our beloved dog to sleep.

Our spunky, lab/shepard mix shelter girl, who had just turned 14 on 2/1, will certainly be missed. My husband is absolutely lost without her. He has had her since he was a teenager, and I always joked that her loved her more than me (even though I really wasn't joking, because I knew it to be true).

We were forced to come to this decision unexpectedly, and suddenly. Her liver was failing, and we couldn't be selfish. Of course, things like this always have to happen on a weekend, when limited medical care for animals is available in the area we live in. We are unsure exactly what was going on with her, whether cancer, or something treatable, but she became very sick very quickly, and probably wasn't strong enough for surgery, even with a best case prognosis.

A special thanks to the doctors and nursing staff at the Capital Area Veterinary Emergency Services, in Concord, NH.

We are lost without her. Katie, you are always in my heart. 2/1/1996-2/26/2010

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his." -John Grogan

Oohwanamoo

I always thought it was interesting when a toddler would speak, and no one would understand him/her except the child's parents. I would gaze in amazement at the person who just translated that gibberish into a sentance.

Now, I am that translator. Kendall has this language, and its somewhere between English and Chinese (seriously). She loves to cut words down to one syllable, add a few G's and L's, and add Oohwa in front of everything.

Here are a few translations from her language:

Oohwa (or sometimes oohwana): I want

Oohwago: I want to go.

Nack: Snack.

Nunee: Hungry

Moo: Movie

Used in a sentance: Oohwagobyebye. Oohwanack. Oohwanamoo. Oohwanunee.

When my husband gets home, she talks a hundred miles an hour to him, and then looks at him expecting a response. He looks over at me with the "What the heck did she say?" face, and I proceed to translate the whole recap of the day she just gave him. He always stares at me in amazement, as I articulate every detail of our daughter's words.

I love to blow him away with my skills.

PS: Check out the shoes in the picture above, my daughter is very fashoinable, and picked this outfit herself :)

Put on your mommy pants...

Has anyone seen these things on TV?? They are called PajamaJeans...GENIOUS!! Why did I not invent this?

Basically, they are yoga-ish pants that are designed to look like jeans. So, moms (like myself) who dream of living in their yoga pants, can do it, and not feel like a total slob!

HOWEVER, they are selling for about $40 on the website. That seems a little much for glorified sweatpants...I don't even pay $40 for a REAL pair of jeans. I'm just waiting for them to hit Target's "As Seen on TV" section, so I can try them on, and see if its worth it. I doubt I would pay $40, but if they are on sale for $15-$20, I'm totally in!!

I'm the woman that changes into jeans 10 minutes before my husband is expected home from work! I like to look half-decent when he walks in, and I also feel kind of bad that he's been working hard all day to provide for us if I'm still in my PJ's when he gets home (even though, as you moms all know, we work JUST as hard). Seriously though, why bother wearing anything other than PJ's when you are getting drool, puke, snot, etc. over you, all day.

You're What?!

I'm starting to try to be a little more "green", and a little more economical.

"How?" you ask.

I'm switching to cloth diapers. Tomorrow.

"You're what?!" Yes, I know, this is what I have been hearing a lot of lately.

It all started when I switched the brand of disposible I have been using. They are so expensive, so I decided to use a store brand for the first time ever. The second day of using them, my daughter, K, got a rash. Now, she is not the type to get diaper rashes. She is 18 months old, and has never had a reaction to anything. I change her often and her skin is not extremely sensitive, so I was floored when this happened. After a DAY!

This got me to thinking, there must be some lovely stuff in disposibles. Now, I'm not stupid. I know they are terrible for the environment. I know they are full of chemicals, plastic, etc. I just never really, REALLY thought about that stuff thats been sitting on my daughters skin for the last 18 months (minus bath-time), and probably absorbing INTO her skin. I'm the same mom that won't use fabric softener sheets in my dryer because I know they leave a chemical residue on clothes that absorbs into your skin. Why did I not think about this?

As a result, I have decided that cloth diapers are the way to go. They are, in the long run, a much more economical choice. The start up costs, however, are a little higher than what I want to drop for the week. We are a one income household, so dropping $80 for ten diapers just isn't in our budget.

I scoured craigslist.com and posted an add on freecycle.com and just so happened to get some awesome results. First, for those of you that haven't heard of craigslist or freecycle, I'll explain. Craigslist is a free online place to post items you have for sale (among other things). You chose the state (and in some cases city) that you live in, and shop away. Freecycle is basically the same thing, but everything you post has to be FREE. You can also list wanted ads if you are looking for something specific.

I posted a wanted ad on freecycle, and a lovely woman is giving me about 3 dozen diapers and a few covers. GREAT! This will get me started. Then, I found an add on craigslist for another 8 all in one diapers (which means these ones don't need covers, the waterproof layer is built in) along with 15 inserts (which are like extra padding you can put inside diapers for more absorbancy, and a few extra covers for $30. This is about 1/4 of the price I would pay for this stuff retail.

Now, the only thing I need to buy is some Charlie's Soap (http://www.charliesoap.com/), which I found at a local "Green Goods" store, and I'm ready to go. This is the easiest to find (and cheapest) soap that I have found that all the cloth diaper companies recommend using.

I'm still planning on using disposibles at night, and for outings, but imagine how much I will be saving on these (which will make it possible to buy the more expensive ones that don't react with her skin), and how much LESS chemicals will be sitting on/absorbed into her skin until she is potty-trained (which I have heard happens much sooner with cloth diapered children, BONUS!)

Wish me luck! If you have any tips on cloth diapering, I'm open for suggestions!