Cub Scout Day Camp

Spencer spent July 7-11th with his pack at Camp Snyder. It is such an amazing camp. It was built 2 years ago and is the only camp in the US that caters to cub scouts. This years theme was "Travels Through Time." He had a blast. He spent his days swimming, learning archery and how to shoot a BB gun, going on archeological digs to find clues to a treasure map, hiking and going on nature walks, experiencing the "Wild, Wild, West," doing arts and crafts, and so much more. He had crazy skills with the BB gun and was called the "marksman" of the group. He came home absolutely exhausted every day. I went up with the boys on the last day of camp. The staff put on a crazy scavenger hunt. Each pack was given a list of approximately 40 employees who were hidden somewhere in the 350 acre campsite. We had 2-1/2 hours to get as many signatures as we could. Although it was HOT, it was neat to be there during this so Spencer could show me all the different areas of the camp. After lunch, each pack performed a skit. We did the classic JC Penney skit. Although it was extremely HOT, muggy, and tiring, I am so glad that I got to spend this time with him. He turns 10 in a couple of weeks and I have felt him slightly pulling away these last couple of months as he grows older so I am jumping at any moments I can steal away with him. Here are some pics from the day:




And one pic in color so you can see just how beautiful the trees are:

Sunday Summary

Covering the last few weeks -

1. I survived both cub scout day camp and girls camp! Nothing like camping in Maryland mid summer. Heat, humidity, snakes, mice, teen drama, a trip to the ER, and a whole lot of fun! I'm so sad it's over but have already started planning next year's crafts. Yep, I've been roped in to being the stake's craft lady next year. Good thing I LOVE girls camp.

2. Ella has turned into quite the little fish. It's amazing how quick kids progress with private swim lessons. She jumps right into the pool every morning even though the water is freezing. Spencer is looking forward to starting swim again tomorrow. He only had 3 lessons before scout camp. I was impressed that he remembered everything from swimming lessons two summers ago. Ella loves to watch him during his lesson. She tells me she will "swim like Spencer soon."

3. We got two kittens yesterday! I have been both dreading and looking forward to their arrival (did I mention that I'm slightly allergic to cats??). The kids have been working hard all summer to prove that they are responsible enough to care for pets (I'll have to post the cat contract they had to sign later). I never thought of myself as a cat person but I have fallen for these kittens hard. They are so incredibly sweet. Spencer's kitten is black with white paws - she is named Indy after Indiana Jones. Ella's kitten is grey. Her name changes every hour, so far she has been Rainbow, Garfield, Cinderella, Luigi, Ariel, Roxie, Donkey Kong, etc. If I had known the endless hours of entertainment that kittens provide a preschooler, we would have gotten them months ago.

That's all for now . . . too tired to go on. I will post pics of our adventures soon. I'm glad to be staying put for awhile :)

A day in the life

How NOT to renew your license:

Drive 20 minutes to DMV.
Stand in long, long line with 3-year-old.
Me: Hi, I need to renew my license. Here are all my forms.
Nice DMV lady: We are going to need to see your marriage license.
Me: You mean the paper I was holding and decided not to bring?
Nice DMV lady: Ha-ha (courtesy chuckle).
Me: Okay, I'll be back in about 45 minutes.

Drive 20 minutes home, 3-year-old has fallen asleep.
Carry sleeping 3-year-old inside house and put on couch, run up 2 flights of stairs grab marriage license.
Come back down the stairs and realize your child is missing.
Run up and down all flights of stairs looking for child.
Open front door and find her sleeping on the porch (why, why, why???).

Drive 20 minutes back to DMV.
Get out of the car and pick up forms.
Realize your old license is not with the forms anymore.
Search the entire car while silently cursing VA heat and humidity.
Go back into DMV.
Wait in LONGER line with 3-year-old.

Me: Hi, I'm back. This time I have all my forms but no longer have my old license. Did I leave it here?
Nice DMV lady: Let me check. (She looks everywhere.) No, we don't have it.
Me: Do I absolutely need it?
Nice DMV lady: Yes. I'm so sorry, I've had days like this before.
Me: I'll be back in about an hour.

Retrace earlier steps to see if the dang license dropped somewhere.
Check Target customer service.
Get suckered into buying a toy for cute 3-year-old.
Check Mall Lost and Found. (Our DMV is in a mall accessible through Target).

Drive 20 minutes home.
Search car again and find license in the crack between seat and floor.
Wait 20 minutes for other child to come home from scout camp so they can share in the fun.

Drive back 20 minutes to DMV with both kids.
Stand in HUGE line.
Me: I found it! Do I have everything?
Nice DMV lady: Yes, take a seat and wait for your number to be called. (I was hoping for more enthusiasm - doesn't she know how much will power it takes to keep dragging kids back and forth from the DMV?).

Start time: 1:15
End time: 6:30

What a day . . . thank goodness I have 8 years before I have to do this again.

WFMW - Laundry Tip

I love this product. So far I haven't found a stain that it hasn't removed. Ella's clothes are ALWAYS covered in marker, food, dirt, etc., so I usually have to carefully pretreat everything. Not anymore. I hardly pretreat any of her clothes, I just let All Small and Mighty do its magic. We have used it now for about 2 weeks and I can't say enough good things about it. Never thought I'd be raving about detergent.

We usually use All Free and Clear because of my kids eczema. I think we have finally outgrown that stage - they haven't reacted to the change in detergent. But if you have kids with sensitive skin, there is an All Small and Mighty Free and Clear. Wow - that's a mouthful.

(Quick disclaimer: I just realized this sounds like an advertisement. I'm in no way involved with All or have any family members on their payroll - just super excited about something that has been cutting laundry time in half :))

Fantastic new laundry detergent is what is working for me this week, for more wonderful ideas visit Works for me Wednesday hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon
Safe Plastics
5 Ingredients or Less

Just don't tell Dr. Oz

As I sit here typing this, Spencer and Ella are upstairs in Spencer's room having dinner and watching a movie. I enticed them there with chicken, potato chips, bananas, soda, and the promise of a popsicle. Great dinner, huh? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today. Girls camp is next Tuesday and it just dawned on me today that I am responsible for crafts for 109 girls and need enough stuff to fill up approximately 10 hours of time. I'm pretty much ready but panic mode has set in. There are some minor things that I should've been working on the past couple of weeks but kept putting it off. I am the queen of procrastination.

So, why, you might ask am I sitting her blogging instead of working on crafts. Well - I just walked through my house and it looks like a bomb has exploded. Every. Single. Level. I have crafts all over the main floor of the house. When Spencer came home from scout camp today all the neighborhood boys rushed right over. Upstairs is filled with legos, bionicles, action figures, and xbox controllers. Ella hit her room at some point today and tried on various ensembles, which of course resulted all of her clothes being dumped out of her drawers. The basement got the same treatment, all the dress up clothes are out and scattered everywhere. Spencer's robot has been given a dress, hat, and shoes. I wouldn't care so much except I had cleaned the entire house this morning so the craft mess I made wouldn't bother me.

Ella (bless her cute little heart) just really wants to do ALL the crafts with me ALL the time. I was counting on Lance coming home and taking over. So Ella and I braved the Virginia heat and humidity and went bike riding this afternoon to fill up time until Lance came home. When we came home, Lance was in his scout shirt and walking out the door. Ugh! I forgot it's scout night.

Which brings me back to dinner. I excitedly told my kids "Let's have a fun movie night! You can eat dinner in Spencer's room! I'll give you chips with dinner! and soda! You can even stay up late!" They are both still young enough that they don't realize I am just buying myself some free time to work on crafts uninterrupted.

Earlier in the day when I was organizing beads, Dr. Oz was on Oprah(a repeat of an episode I hadn't seen). He was talking about kids and weight. He said the upcoming generation will be the first generation in history to have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation because of the nation's obesity epidemic. That really surprised me. He said it is not just diet, it's also lifestyle. He asked the audience how many people walked to school when they were kids and almost every hand went up. He then asked how many of them let their children walk to school and I saw only one hand raised. He had some great suggestions. One that I have already been trying to implement is to get more fiber in the kids diets. What I didn't know, was that he thinks we should try and get most of their daily fiber intake in the morning. That way they will concentrate better and be able to focus while at school. I really should rewatch this so I can explain it better - but I really don't have time. My SIL Michelle added flax seed and spelt to waffles when we visited her and the waffles were great - so I might start trying this in the morning.

But here's the kicker, his #1 suggestion for kids/weight was to not let them eat in front of the TV. While watching the show, I was smugly thinking about how we never do that, we have family meals around the dinner table. About 15 minutes ago, I realized that not only were my kids eating while watching a movie, they were eating mostly junk. Score one for mom. But it's summer so it doesn't really count, right????

If you don't see any posts the next couple of days, just know that I am knee deep in beads, hemp, lip gloss, jewelry, candle stuff, leather working, and paint supplies over here.

Oh happy day!

One day of scout camp did what almost 10 years of parenting could not do - SPENCER ATE AN ACTUAL SANDWICH! Gotta love peer pressure. Those of you with picky kids will understand. Spencer's normal sandwiches consist of jelly and white bread. No peanut butter. Nothing else. He has had a jelly sandwich every day in his school lunch since he started kindergarten. We have begged, pleaded, and bribed him to try other sandwiches but the kid wouldn't budge. But the first words out of Spencer's mouth when he came home today was "Mom can you start making me ham and cheese sandwiches? They're great!" I don't think I've ever been so surprised.

So I used that leverage with dinner tonight. We were having potstickers and rice. Spencer was disgusted (as usual) by the potstickers. I reminded him that we had been telling him for years about other sandwiches and how he had missed out by not trying them. He then surprised me again by eating the potstickers and asking for more. It was a happy happy night tonight.

Unfortunately, the same reasoning did not work with apple pie. Wouldn't even try it. Go figure.

Oh - he is having a blast at scout camp ... archery, bb guns, swimming, water slides, archealogical digs, time machines, paddle boats, what more could a 9 year old ask for?? I'll be at the camp with him on Friday and will take some pics.

Unfortunate news

I got a haircut.

I now look like this.



With a lot more frizz.

And a lot more bangs.

The end.

On my radar

1. My mom and I went and saw Mama Mia at the National Theater in DC last night. What is is about Swedish pop music that makes me so incredibly happy? By the end of the performance I realized that my face had been in a permanent smile the entire time. Such fun. I was so glad for the encore numbers because I just didn't want the night to end. Unfortunately for my kids, we bought the cast recording which meant on our 1-1/2 hour drive today they were treated to me belting out ABBA songs as loud as I could. Ella said "mama stop the singing," and Spencer begged for anything else but I just tuned them out . . . afterall it was ABBA!

2. Color Coded Nature Walks: Isn't this a brilliant idea? I think it would be so much fun for the kids. I'm going to try and incorporate it into next week's schedule. Fun, cheap, educational - just my cup of tea.

3. Blog Nosh Magazine. I am so excited that they have finally launched. Their tagline is "satisfying your craving for fresh voices and delicious content." They have totally delivered. I have enjoyed almost every article I have read over there and have been introduced to some very fun blogs. Head on over . . . you won't be disappointed.

4. Laughed out loud reading this post about Wii Fit (scroll down past all the white to read it). My Wii Fit is mean to me too. Yesterday it told me that if I encouraged other people in the house maybe they would work out more. A little passive aggressive, dontcha think?

5. Which movie mom are you? Saw this on somebody's blog this week (don't remember who or I would totally give you the credit). I am the mom from My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Maria Portokalos. Love it.

Great Craft

We did a craft last week that both kids loved so much I had to go back to Michael's and pick up some more. Let me tell you why I love these little suckers:

1. They are easy enough that Ella can do them with minimal assistance.

2. See the little squares all over their bodies. You have to peel each square off and stick them on one by one which takes forever. That means I have a lot of time to get stuff done while the kids are occupied.

3. They are $1 each at Michael's.

4. Both my 9-year-old and 3-year-old love these. It's not often that I can find something like that.

Here's what the box looks like in case you want to pick some up:

These pics are from a couple days ago. Yesterday they both made blue mice. I got a migraine halfway through craft time so Spencer helped Ella finish hers and then cleaned up the whole craft mess (we did other crafts today as well). He was so sweet, when he was done cleaning he told me he would take Ella upstairs and play with her so I could rest. He is turning into such a responsible young man. Thanks Spencer!

WFMW - 5 Ingredients or Less

I have been looking forward to this weeks Works For Me Wednesday, it is a themed edition: 5-Ingredients-Or-Less. I love simple fast recipes so I can't wait to see what everyone contributes.

This is my go-to recipe when I need to cook something fast and easy, or when I haven't made it to the grocery store because I usually have the ingredients for this on hand. My husband "invented" this a couple of years ago. It is so yummy! I don't have a name for it. Sometimes we call it Mexican Chicken (but it's not really Mexican), Spicy Chicken (definitely not spicy), or the more usual title "that really good chicken dish you make with diced tomatoes." Without further ado, here's the recipe . . . . . (posted a la Pioneer Woman style minus the ranch, amazing kitchen, great photos, and witty remarks).

Ingredients:

You need 3-4 FROZEN chicken breasts (do not defrost), approx. 1 cup shredded cheese (whatever you have on hand) , and 1 can Del Monte diced tomatoes - Zesty Mild Green Chile flavor. We have used other types of diced tomatoes in a pinch, but this is our favorite.

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place frozen chicken breasts in an oven safe dish that has a lid.

Step 2:

Pour can of tomatoes over frozen chicken. Spread around with spoon so all pieces are covered somewhat.

Step 3:

Put lid on dish and place in oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Usually closer to 45 minutes. Take dish out of the oven. I usually cut one of the chicken breasts in half to make sure it's fully cooked. Sprinkle cheese on top and place back in oven with lid off until cheese melts. I went a little heavy with the cheese in these pics. Here's what it will look like done:

See all the juices from the chicken and tomatoes - the chicken is so incredibly moist.

Step 4:

Serve over rice. My sweet husband took this last picture for me because I had a migraine and went to bed. If I had made side dishes tonight, there would have been only half a chicken breast on top of the rice. I also put a lot more sauce on my rice than he does, but that would have been a very ugly but yummy picture. I'm off dairy, so when I make this for myself, I don't include the cheese and it still tastes great.

So there you have it - our favorite easy dinner.

Here's a shorter version of the recipe -

3-4 frozen chicken breasts
1 can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes - Zesty Mild Green Chile flavor
1 cup shredded cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place frozen chicken breasts in oven safe dish. Put lid on. Bake for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Remove lid and sprinkle cheese on top. Put back in oven just long enough for cheese to melt. Remove and serve over rice.

Easy recipes are what works for me this week, for more wonderful ideas visit Works for me Wednesday hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon
Safe Plastics

Lazy Days of Summer

A couple of months ago I started to feel like I needed a game plan for this summer. It was right around the time both kids were home sick for a week driving each other (and me) crazy! Hmmmm . . . coincidence? Anyway, I came up with a schedule that has really worked well for us. The kids still feel like they get plenty of free time and I don't feel like we are wasting the summer away. One of the main obstacles when looking at summer activities was price. There are some really neat camps offered in our area but the cheapest ones start out around $200/week. I ended up finding a ton of stuff for us to do for free. I think the best part is that instead of sending them somewhere, I am doing the activities with them. They are growing up so very, very fast. During the school year, I really only see Spencer a couple of hours a day. So we are making the most of this summer. I'm posting our schedule along with some great resources I found for planning the summer - just in case you're interested :)

Here is our basic schedule:

Daily Schedule -

9:00-10:00 - Swimming Lessons - we lucked out and found private lessons for both kids for a good price.
10:05-10:20 - Snack
10:20 - 11:00 - Chores (most days don't take that long)
11:00 -12:00 - School (I'll explain below)
12:00 - 12:30 - Lunch
12:30 - 2:00 - Free Time
2:00 - ? - Afternoon Activity (see below)

After this the kids spend the rest of the day riding bikes, playing with friends, exploring the woods behind our house and the creek, watching TV, playing on the computer - whatever their hearts desire that doesn't require me.

Rotating Schedule of Afternoon Activities:

Monday: Library/Plan Family Home Evening/Choose recipes (I get out the cookbooks and let the kids pick what they want to learn how to cook on Thursday).

Tuesday: Crafts (I went to Michaels and for approx. $100 got so many fun crafts and activities to keep us busy all summer and longer, if I only had preschoolers this would have been a lot cheaper but finding stuff an almost 10 year old boy would like to do was quite a challenge).

Wednesday: Educational Outing (i.e. free museums/historic sites/zoo/nature walks) We live in the metro DC area so there is lots to do. This is also the day I try to schedule summer concerts, children's plays, etc.

Thursday: Cooking

Friday: Letterboxing (See here and here).

That's our basic plan. It's pretty flexible and often gets switched around but so far so good. There are other events sprinkled in here and there on the calendar (childrens theater, library events, Spencer's viola lessons, free summer movies for the two weeks they aren't in swim).

Resources for cheap summer activities:

VA is for Lovers Check out your state's tourism website. I found all kinds of fun family activities on here. I think my favorite is the Old Town Scavenger Hunt. For $4 we are given a list of items that lead us around Old Town to some historic George Washington sites. I know the kids will love it. Thanks Irene for pointing me in this direction.
Public Library Most of the library's budget each year is allocated for summer programs. We found crafts, demonstrations, magic shows, bingo, dances, puppet shows all for free in libraries near us.
Works for me Wednesday - Mom I'm Bored Edition This blog carnival has so many great ideas for kids for summer vacation.
Wonderbrains - 50 days of Summer Activities They have stuff posted for each day of the week. I get great ideas from here.
Children's Theater I put a link to one of our local theaters but most theaters offer children's programs for a fraction of the regular cost.

Explanation of our school hour: During this hour Spencer works on scout achievements and I am teaching Ella to read using this program. I wasn't planning on starting this until next year but she is so frustrated that she doesn't know how to read. When we read scriptures at night we used to whisper the words in her ear on her turn. Now she doesn't let us do that. She says she is "reading" and tells us stories about Jesus going shopping, having swimming lessons, watching TV, or whatever else she has done that day. She is trying so hard to teach herself. My friend recommended this program, I'll let you all know how it goes.

We are also studying one country a week. We just started this today and are doing Italy. We picked up some books on Italy from the library tonight. My plan is to talk briefly each night at dinner about anything we learned that day about the country. I am also going to cook a couple of things each week from whatever country we are studying.

Wow - typing this all out makes it seem much more complex and structured than it actually is. We are usually go with the flow kind of people but I am really liking having a plan. Everything seems to go smoother. I would love to hear everyone else's summer plans. Are your days really structured? More laid back?? What is your favorite summer time activity?

Best Buds

The other night we let the kids stay up late and have movie night in Spencer's bedroom. We popped popcorn and set up the room all comfy. This was a big deal to Spencer because he always has to go to bed at 7:30 with Ella and always begs to stay up late. When I checked on the kids about 20 minutes into the film, Spencer had gotten in bed and was asleep. Ella was on the floor riveted to the movie. I would occasionally peek in to make sure she was doing okay (i.e. not destroying the bedroom). I was downstairs when I heard "Pencer, Pencer, missin it! Pencer!" I ran upstairs to find Ella on the bed shaking Spencer. I came in and told her to stop and that he was sleeping. I told her he could watch the movie tomorrow. She kept insisting on waking him up. She finally said, "Not movie, he missin staying up late!" Her concern for her brother was so cute. As they've gotten older they have become better and better friends. Spencer is always looking out for Ella. If she falls or gets hurt, he is usually the first one there. Ella always wants to hold Spencer's hand when we cross the street (not mine).

Ella literally looking up to Spencer:

Natural pose:

A couple with dad:

Babywearing 101 - Wraps

My sister Brittany asked me about a month ago for all my babywearing knowledge/links. So this is a first in a series of posts about Babywearing.

I discovered babywearing when Ella was about 5 weeks old. She had developed colic and I was desperate to help her through it and stop the crying. I was reading the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and came across a part where he talks about a culture where the babies hardly ever cry. He believed that because the babies were worn (carried in a wrap) on the mother's body all day, the mothers were able to respond to their babies needs quicker and were more in tune with each other. That made sense to me so I set about researching baby carriers.

The only carriers I had seen up to this point were the Baby Bjorn type things (don't even get me started on how uncomfy they are) and ring slings. When Spencer was a little over a year an acquaintance of mine gave me a ring sling and suggested I start carrying him in it (without giving me any instruction whatsoever). The memory of trying to cram his body into that sling makes me laugh today. So with Ella I started out researching ring slings and quickly found the message boards at The Babywearer. I was thrilled (and a little intimidated) by the many options available that I had never seen or heard of. I met a group of really nice moms who helped steer me in the direction of what would work best for me. Thus started a babywearing addiction. I was amazed by how comfy these carriers were and how calming it was for my daughter to be close to me. So in the next couple of weeks I will be talking about the different types of carriers available (wraps, mei tais, ring slings, pouches, and structured carriers).

Since this is my first post on babywearing I'm going to include some informative links on the benefits of babywearing (in case anyone is interested).

Great Things About Babywearing
How Being Carried Affects Babies (translated from German)

How to choose a baby carrier:

Choosing a baby carrier
Choosing and Comparing Types of Baby Carriers This is a forum where you can ask questions and read about how to choose a carrier. The ladies at The Babywearer are just lovely and very supportive.

My first carrier was a stretchy wrap from Hug-a-Bub.

Stretchy wraps are great for a newborn. They are easy to learn how to use and they are great for tying onto your body and then popping the baby in and out when you need to. I used this carrier almost exclusively for the first three months. My favorite stretchy wraps are from Hug-a-Bub(HaB) and Moby. If I had to pick one, I would go with the Moby. I have tried both and I can't tell enough of a difference to warrant the expense of a Hug-a-Bub.

Stretchy Wrap Instructions
More Stretchy Wrap Instructions

The most important thing to remember with any baby carrier is that you want it tight. You want your torso to be holding the baby up - not your shoulders. That's why most structured carriers are uncomfy and you can't wear them for hours at a time - because they rely on your shoulders and back - instead of your abdomen.
Personal Note (I wouldn't recommend doing a back carry with a stretchy wrap).

When Ella was about 4 months I switched to woven wraps. Oh my! What fun. If I had to pick just one carrier from my stash, it would be a wrap. They are the most comfy, versatile carriers. The downside is, they take a while to master. You can read about woven wraps HERE.

Red Leo Storchenwiege:


Pink Eva Didymos (Won off of German E-bay!) Hip Carry tied with a slip knot:

Blue Leaves Didymos (sent to me by a friend). The ugly scrapes on my face were from when I was chasing Spencer and tripped. Ella was on my back and was perfectly fine. I can't imagine how she would of been if I was carrying her in my arms:

Iris Didymos (One of my favorites):
Back wrap cross carry -

Rucksack -

Silver Waves Didymos (horrid picture):

Hoppediz (can't really see the wrap in this pic - but you can see a cute baby!):


Instructions for Woven Wraps:

Comprehensive list of different carrying instructions at The Babywearer - This has links to pictures and videos of the different wrap styles. It is really helpful.
Amy's Rucksack Instructions - This is a tutorial that I did with Ella. It is listed in the link above also. There is also a link in the directions with a forum discussion about my instructions.

There are many different woven wraps - the two main ones are Didymos and Storchenwiege. Didymos is considered the gold standard of wraps. I actually preferred my Leo Storch for the rucksack carry (which was by far my favorite carry). Ella and I are featured in the picture gallery on the Storchenwiege site (click HERE if you want to see us).

There is quite a bit of sticker shock with the price of woven wraps. I know Lance almost had a coronary. A new one costs $100+. I only bought a couple wraps brand new. The Babywearer has a For Sale or Trade (FSOT) board where you can buy used carriers. In my opinion, wraps are best broken in. I had fun with the FSOT board, when I would get tired of one of my carriers, I would sell it and then buy another one. This link explains why wraps are so expensive. In my opinion, they are definitely worth the money.

I didn't wear Ella 24-7 but she spent many hours on my back while I cleaned the house, walked to Spencer's school and back, prepared meals, went shopping, went on hikes, etc. Without the carriers she would have spent a lot more time in the stroller, Exersaucer, swing. When she started crawling, she would get carriers out of the closet and bring them to me. Whenever she was fussy, I would throw her in a carrier and she would calm down almost immediately. Right after we moved into our new place, Ella had a meltdown. Nothing would work to stop her crying, she was overtired and in a new place. It had been over a year since she was last wrapped but in a last ditch effort, I got out my Leo and put her in a front carry. Instantly she stopped crying and went to sleep - I know she remembered it from when she was younger.

Whew!!! This was a long post. Looking at these pics makes me want two things that completely contradict each other -

1. My skinny body back!
2. A new baby to wear.

I hope this helps Britt - and anyone else interested in babywearing. Look for another post in the next couple of days about Mei Tai's (my next favorite carrier)!

WFMW - Safe Plastics

(Jump down past this paragraph to go straight to the plastics tip)

Tonight has been crazy! We had a ward activity at the church assembling the food part of our 72 hour kits (more about that later) and during that I had to duck out and jump over to a Wallet Watchers meeting where I was asked to be a guest speaker and present The Grocery Game. So I was going to be good and go to bed and not post my tip until tomorrow but then Ella woke up and started vomiting. My Ella is the only child I know who immediately after vomiting tries to help clean up the mess. It was the saddest sight over here, her huge crocodile tears, flushed cheeks from her 103+ temp, and my sweet little girl trying to help out. She is now laying beside me asleep and I'm trying desperately to stay awake until her fever goes down. Enough with that and onto my tip:

SAFE PLASTICS

I have avoided learning too much about safe/unsafe plastics over the past couple of years. I learned the basics and knew to avoid #3, #6, and #7 but have to admit that I didn't always check the numbers. I knew if I researched it I would go full throttle into removing plastics from my house/life/kids life and it just seemed that I already had too much on my plate.

Last week, after talking to a friend, I finally felt ready. She pointed me in the direction of two articles that are easy to read, short, and to the point. The first article explains the dangers of the different types of plastics, tells which plastics to look for, and gives easy steps "for safer, more sustainable food use of plastics." The second link is a guide showing common household plastic products and their numbers. I had no idea Reynolds Wrap was a #3. Yikes!

Here's the links:
1. Smart Plastics Guide
2. Quick Start Chart

Maybe now that I have blogged about it I'll actually do it!

Easy info on safe plastics is what works for me this week, for more wonderful ideas visit Works for me Wednesday hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon

Letterboxing #1

Here are some pics of our first letterboxing excursion this summer. It was my week to plan so I chose a park very close to our house. It was so much fun to follow the clues and then actually find a box that most people weren't aware was there. The kids loved stamping the log books and then carefully re-hiding the box so it wouldn't be disturbed or found.

Ella was convinced that we were actually going boxing. When my friend Irene showed up, she treated her to some of her boxing moves. When we were done with our hunt and were heading back home Ella said "What about the punching?" I think she still believes we missed out on a crucial part of letterboxing.

Here are some fun pics from this week's adventure: