I wish I was my Mom

This was a fun and super easy way to feed the boys today.  The salad on the bottom of the turkey rolls was leftover from last night.  The turkey was rolled with mild cheddar and held together by a new plastic pic I bought at Hobby Lobby last week.  The Chex Mix was on sale with a coupon again (yay!)  The fruit salad was a little splurge.  I normally just buy what is the weekly loss leader, but they were $.99/lb for the grapes and $3.99 for the strawberries.  The blueberries were $2 a pint which felt really high, but oh well.  My children love berries and they are the best fruit around.  The pistachio's were $3.99 a bag and I had a coupon.  I'll probably get 6 lunch sides out of the bag.

I make 3 lunches a day just in the Laptop Lunches.  Sometimes I make one for Cooper, but usually he just eats off a large plate that I doll up a bit.  Gryffin is still eating like a savage, so I don't bother with him.  I really should treat myself to a lovely lunch.  Isn't it a Mother's way to take care of everyone else and then grab a bite of whatever you can scavenge in the fridge usually while standing.  Then while you are standing over the sink, a little person comes by to mooch off of you?  This is just life for me right now.  I'm sure I'll be eating at a table one day with no one mooching off of me, but for now, I got little mooches.

Happy Turkey Day Bento

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In honor of turkey day, I made a turkey bento for my kiddos:

The turkey was a lot of fun this morning.  It's a plain old PB&J and I used my new square shaped cutter for the body and the circle shaped cutter for the head.  So it's two mini sandwiches.  The cutters I got at Hobby Lobby for $3.77 each with 3 cutter sizes per package.  So while it wasn't the best deal, I couldn't resist!  I could have easily made the square sandwich with a knife and the circle with a shot glass (I've done that before) but these were quick and easy enough.  The wattle was made with a strawberry bit and the beak was a fruit leather piece.  The eyes were made with food safe black marker and the "feathers' are just apple slices.  The upper right hand corner is my attempt at a "Nutri Grain" bar.  I made it with all purpose flour and teff flour and strawberry preserves.  It turned out well and if you would like the recipe, just comment at my blog and I'll post it for you.  I found some turkey toothpicks at Hobby Lobby for 50% off and I'm getting excited for Christmas stuff, but I'm going to wait until closer to black friday when they really discount a little better.

I'm trying to figure out how to make hot lunches in a thermos for the boys.  They love hot lunch, but hate the contents.  For instance, they love Mac & Cheese, but after a few hours in a thermos, it's pretty mushy and unpalatable.  Same with any pasta or noodle concoction.  Hot dogs in the thermos are fine (if I cut it in half or squish it into the thermos,) but then I need a baggy for a bun and a container to keep it from squishing and I don't think the kids want to take two thermos's each or two containers just for one meal.  We also have a condiment issue with my oldest.  He has sensory issues and has to have hot sauce on the hot dog.  Not a big deal, right?  Well, it's Chalulu sauce and gets everywhere because it's so thin and drippy.  Trust me when I tell you that hot sauce is not my friend.  So back to hot lunches, I'm looking for a container that does it all.  A one stop shop.  I'm going to fill out my wholesale license for Citizenpip because it looks as though I can have it all with that system.  Comment below if you know of another containment system that would work even better!

Shark Attack!

I love love love this one!

How else can you jazz up a turkey and cheese sandwich?  Turn it into a shark eating Chex Mix of course.  The turkey was Foster Farms $2.50 a pack turkey special with $1.00 clearance bagged lettuce and colby cheese I got with a ridiculous coupon.  The Chex Mix I can't remember exactly but it wasn't more than $.50 for the big bag with my coupon.  The bell peppers were clearance and the blueberry and strawberry pints were $1.50 each.  I made the teeth with my slivered almonds and the eyeball is a blueberry with a Chex Mix pretzel circle for the iris.  In the small container, I have ranch for dipping.  Riley was very excited to eat this lunch today.

Leaks not Leeks

The one question I get more than any other question since the beginning of my professional cloth diapering career is that of leaks.  Leaks are a part of the diapering experience, but particularly troublesome with cloth because there is often a reason behind it and figuring it out can be frustrating.

Cloth diapering is not paper diapering.  In cloth, you can't keep a child in a pee soaked diaper for hours on end.  It's the dark side of the equation on choosing to use cloth vs. paper.  The chemicals in paper diapers are pretty caustic to the body, but they do absorb a crazy amount of liquid.  Most cloth fanatics like to gloss over the problems of cloth diapering, but I think it's good to get it out in the open along with solutions.

I change my guys every 2 hours approximately.  But I don't think I'd let a child sit in a soaked diaper regardless of the textile choice.  Of course, I change soiled diapers immediately.  And changing a heavy diaper is crucial to leak prevention.

Why is it still leaking when I change them often enough??  It could be one of a few things.  Check your diaper for repelling.  If you pour a little water (just a few tablespoons) does the water soak into the diaper?  Or does the water run off?  If the water runs off, it means that it could be detergent build up, which I'll explain later.  If it absorbs effectively, then it could be your diaper cover.  The diaper cover is pretty much bullet proof, but the gussets that allow for stretching, contain a lot of bumps and grooves that can detergent can cling to as well.  

How to fix detergent build up.  Stripping.  No, you don't have to get naked.  You just need the blue Dawn dish detergent (1 T will be plenty) and add it to the hot wash with your diapers.  Rinse, rinse and rinse until all the bubbles are gone.  

To prevent build up in the first place, use a good detergent recommended for your diaper.  I know a lot of people who go for diaper covers for variety, but unfortunately, it creates more work for you.  Figure out the brand you use the most and go to their website for laundering instructions.  I know that Bummis has an extensive list of detergents that work really well on their diapers.  My favorite is Rockin' Green Detergent and I've never had a problem with it.  I just use the recommended amount of detergent for my diaper load and no repelling ever.  I know some people who use Sports Wash you get at Walmart, with rave reviews.  Country Save and Charlie's soap are usually recommended detergents as well.  

Also, a good rule of thumb is to dry the cotton, line dry the plastic.  So if it's an absorbing textile?  Go ahead and dry it.  If it's a plastic/rubber/PUL material?  Hang dry to keep it from wearing out faster.  Again, check the manufacturers recommended suggestion for laundering and you can't go wrong.

I have two in diapers currently.  I pretty much stick to Fuzzi Bunz and Happy Heiny's because they both fit my children the best.  I love love love Rocky Mountain Diapers and Whamies and Kanga's etc. but the two fit on the same setting for the FB and HH it's just easier to stick with those.  I have about 35 in rotation and wash every 2 days.  I use the microfiber insert from FB mostly because they are a 4 layer insert as opposed to the usual 3 layer from most manufacturers.  I have a HE front loading machine from LG.  I wash in cold with an extra rinse to get off the extra stuff I can't spray off into the toilet.  Then I put 2 T of Rockin' Green Unscented Hard Rock into the detergent receptacle.  I do the sanitary cycle with a prewash/extra rinse and that has always worked for me.  I put the inserts and prefolds I use into the dryer and take the covers and line them to dry out in the sun on the back porch.  The sun bleaches out any leftover stains.  When the diapers are done line drying (it's usually as quick as the machine drying cycle out in the Colorado sun) I stuff the diapers with the inserts and put them in a pretty cloth cubed bucket.  My other bucket has wipes and wipe solution at the ready.  When I need to change a diaper, I separate the insert from the cover and put them into the laundry tote in the laundry room.  If it's a poop, I take the laundry tote into the bathroom, toss the wipes and remove the insert and throw them in the tote.  Then I spray the cover into the toilet and toss into the laundry tote and then take the laundry tote back into the laundry room.  My laundry room is adjacent to the toilet.  I should probably just put a door hanger on the bathroom door for the tote, but I only have 2 poops a day and hate to open and shut the bathroom so much to keep the baby from running in there (he is addicted to playing with the toilet paper, sprayer and plunger!)  

That's it!  If you have any questions, just ask and go see my laundering 101 at www.diaper-dash.com for more details!