Why didn't I think of this Earlier?

I finally got our pantry organized the way I like it. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this earlier but before I had some strange things taking up our cupboards in the kitchen, like a fondue pot we never use and a bunch of dishes that came with the house. Yet I had kept our Tupperware in the pantry as well as toaster and hot pot. It was always a pain to get in and out of the pantry without Calvin following me in. I'm much happier with this new system and it's amazing how I infrequently I opened this door today. Hooray for efficiency.

Cleaning Break

I'm taking a little break from cleaning the kitchen so I thought I'd blog. I'm procrastinating a bit because it's a mess and I also want to reorganize a few things, but just not up to it yet.

Speaking of cleaning up things. I let Calvin play with his plastic eggs outside and he loves to throw them. Well last week I was making dinner and I had a recipe that called for eggs. I left the carton on the counter and all of a sudden I hear, Oh Oh. Calvin was throwing the raw eggs, yep that was a mess, I guess that is what I get for leaving them out. Well I get them all cleaned up, and one unbroken egg had rolled where I couldn't see it and again I hear Oh Oh. Another one bit the dust, 8 to be exact. Silly boy.

On the sewing front I'm so so excited to make a few children's aprons. Here is some of the fabric I bought on Friday. I need to make a trip to the store before I begin this project to get a few more supplies. I haven't exactly figured out how I am going to make them but they will come around. I'm feeling the need to get a little more organized before I begin this project, so it might be a week but I hope to post pictures when I'm finished.

Calvin's weighing in these days at 24lbs and is 31 1/2 inches long. He's still around about 20% for his age, here we thought he was really growing. His doctor found a slight heart murmor so we go to a cardiologist nextweek to get that check out. He hasn't noticed it before so he checked his iron levels and it came back that he was a little anemic. The lucky little boy gets flintstone vitamins, they are the closest thing to candy that he has had and he loves them.

Here's a video of our little guy at the park. He loves the slide and did very well on his own. It was so windy, he was running at one point and couldn't stop, it was a cute. He's still a busy guy.

Beautiful Day

Friday was one of those beautiful days you never want to forget. It was beautiful in so many ways, and the funny thing is I was dreading it. It was day 2 of Marvin doing a prison outreach which meant there would be no break from the caring for Calvin duties (I don't know how single moms or military moms do it, they must be super moms!) The day started off great because Calvin woke up happy and full of hugs, he even gave me kiss on the way to breakfast. He has started eating at the big table in his booster seat instead of his high chair so it's fun to eat breakfast together now, and he's started to eat cereal with a tad of milk. I'm so not a morning person, and even if I do get myself out of bed to make breakfast Calvin always wakes up, and when he is awake it means he is HUNGRY. He doesn't want to wait for breakfast to be finished and he most certainly doesn't want to wait until it cools off.

Our day was so much fun. Calvin and I had a good run to the library and then we made a stop at Hobby Lobby and then the park on our way home. We had so much fun playing together, enjoying the gorgeous weather. He was pretty exhausted by the time we got home. I had to actually wake him up from his nap. It was 4:00 and he was still sleeping and I wanted him to be tired for bedtime. I could barely do it, isn't this too sweet!

But we got the best news after Calvin woke up. Marvin called and some eternal chains were broken while he was doing the prison outreach. He was able to see some fruit! Isn't that awesome on so many levels. We we are one step closer to going back home!

This is why I love garage sales

I love garage sales, I can't believe I used to hate them. I've been hoping to give cloth diapers a try. In fact I already bought the material I needed to make them, I just haven't gotten around to sewing them. But today I hit the jackpot. 19 Mother Ease diapers w/ 10 inserts & 6 covers for ....you won't believe it.............. $50! What an amazing deal, since I had been researching cloth diapers I know how expensive they are and the best part about the Mother-Ease Diapers is that they fit from birth until you don't need diapers anymore, you do have to order different size covers. I'm so excited. Half of the covers are too small, so I'll need to order a couple more covers Calvin's size. I looked online today and each of the diapers are $12 and the covers are $12.25. I have several packages of size 3 diapers to use up before we make the big switch, but this will give us time to get a diaper sprayer and to order a few more covers. I haven't decided between ordering the snappy covers or the Velcro kind. It's a wrestling match already changing Calvin's diaper, so I think the Velcro kind will be a bit better, even if they won't last as long as the snappy kinds.

So I guess I will need to find something to do with the fabric I bought to make these diapers. It looks like I'll be busy this weekend.

Sewing the days away

I've had a blast creating recently, and by the looks of my house I need to do a bit less creating and a little more cleaning. Oh well that's what tomorrow is for.

These fuzzy towels are on their way to their new home.

I had a request for an apron so I whipped this baby out yesterday. I also discovered I love aprons and now have so many ideas swirling through my brain, but I need to get my Etsy shop going first. I'm almost done taking pictures, now I just need to spend some time editing them, and then I can post them. It's a lot of work.

And if I didn't already have enough to do I spotted the perfect fabric to make a new bag this weekend, I've been wanting to make one for a while. It has several pockets, practical and cute. I'm excited to have a cute bag again. I'm sure our backpack will enjoy a little rest.

My favorite part of my new bag is the covered button. I saw this idea several months ago and tucked the idea away and during Calvin's 3 hour nap today I had the brilliant idea to add a button. I am so glad he took a long nap because it gave me time to finish my bag.

I'm working on a tutorial on how to make this bag. I hope to have it up next week at Effortless Savings.

Boots fit for a Boy

These are my new 'must haves' for little boys who love mud & puddles, rubber boots! I love them and so does Calvin. We've had his boots for less than a week, but he certainly understands what wearing them means, fun in the mud. He's gotten better at walking in them and has even picked up the pace. I finally gave up on avoiding the mud because there must be a magnetic pull that just pulls my son in.

Calvin got to wear these quite a bit this week because Marvin would drive to work and then we would jog over and get the car(it's just over 2 miles). It was a great system because it forced me to run rather than put it off and then there is no time.

I decided a while ago that I wanted to run a couple of races while we were in the states (Carrie what can I say, you inspired me). I figured it would motivate me to get into shape and since my mother-in-law gave us a jogging stroller I could work out with Calvin and kill two birds with one stone. Since we had some crazy snowy weather a couple weeks ago it set my training back a bit.

When it was cold I didn't want to get out with Calvin and well my body has felt the effect. This week was rough at the start but by the end of this week I felt I was in a good groove. I'm going to run a 2 mile at Riverfest on May 9th and hopefully by the end of the summer a 5 or 10K. My goal is to run the entire 2 miles without stopping. Right now I am at the point where I can run 1 mile, but then I have to walk, so I have a ways to go and I only have 3 more weeks to train, yikes! Any tips for this novice jogger? I'm trying to have rest days so I'm aiming for 4-5 runs a week, should I step it up?

Oh and my shop is very close to opening. I guess I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I want things to be just right, I can't wait.

A Wonderful Weekend to Celebrate

We had a short week last week, I think I barely got all our laundry finished before it was time to pack again. I was trying to get sewing projects done for my Etsy shop that is now officially named From Head 2 Toe. I even have a cute logo. This week I need to get some good pictures taken and hopefully everything will be ready for my shop to open next week. (I know I've been saying that forever but I'm getting close.)

Make sure you check out my new blog Effortless Savings because I'm going to give away a pair of baby shoes, to kick off the opening of my Etsy shop (I hope you saw the pun in that).

This weekend we headed to my grandparents' farm. Marvin helped the guys pour a new side walk, but it wouldn't have looked so professional if my cousin's husband wasn't overseeing the project. It looks great. After it had dried a bit all the little ones and my grandparents put their hands in the cement. I am thankful that they now have a good side walk to get to their garage. Since they are getting older falls are more of a risk now, I'm glad the broken path is a thing of the past.

Here we are waiting on our instructions:

Calvin's turn

Calvin had a blast playing with his cousins. I'm always thankful when he has other kids to pal around with. He needs to work on his social skills and can gain so much from older kids. He followed his cousin Susie around everywhere. If he wasn't following her, she was following him.

This weekend was the first weekend I had helped work on my grandparents rental house. The woman who had lived in it for several years was evicted since she hadn't paid rent for over a year and the place was NASTY. I'm kind of glad I didn't see it before, apparently it stunk like you would not believe and was so filthy, they found rodent nests all over the place. The sad thing is this lady had a daughter living with her, poor thing.

It still smelled a bit but they got new carpeting and new tile laid in the kitchen and bathroom and after we cleaned the walls of the back porch it smelled much better. Hopefully they can get it rented to people who won't destroy the place. My family has put a lot of work into it.

Calvin loved hunting for eggs, he got the hang of it pretty fast after he saw the other kids hunting. Only grand kids unmarried get to participate in the hunt, but we have a running joke with my brother because we always hide his eggs in places he has already looked, so he's always the last one finished. Well this year my grandma forgot to put his eggs out so he was searching for nothing. He did get his prize after it was all over. You don't want to miss out on grandma's hunt because it's very profitable. Today I bought Calvin a pair of goulashes and some color wonder markers with some of his money from the hunt. He even got to test out his new shoes while we waited for Marvin to finish up with work. There were some pretty good splashing puddles out today. I have a feeling those shoes are going to be well loved. Here are some pictures of the great hunt 0f '09.

Trying to figure out what was inside the egg.

Easter didn't start off so well. Calvin woke up at 6:30 in the morning begging for his milk and he was up for good. I was hoping he would sleep in because he didn't nap well and didn't get to bed till late. Thankfully Grandpa was willing to entertain him while we slept another hour. When I woke up I asked Marvin what he did with our Easter clothes. He said, "I haven't seen them since they were on our bed at home." Oops I put them on the coat rack and forgot to load them and all I had were scrubby clothes. So I rushed off to Wally world, and found a few things. I was there and back at my parents in about 40 minutes. It was some fast shopping. So this cute little outfit will just have to be worn next week. I do hope to get some pictures of him in it. I'm debating about getting some professional pictures taken again or taking them ourselves. I'd rather not deal with high pressure sales but they do take great pictures and the price is hard to beat. What do you guys do?

When Brilliant Ideas...Aren't so Brilliant

Do you even have those BRILLIANT ideas, but don't think them through completely. Well here's what happened when I had the brilliant idea of letting Calvin play in some flour while I baked this afternoon.

It's all fun and games until your toddler puts the pan of flour on the floor.

The next thing I knew this is what happened.

Apparently he's not ready for unregulated sensory play. But to be fair, he did "help" clean up.

Make sure you vote for the name of my Etsy shop. I'd love your opinions.

Good Times

We had a great weekend and I had an even better computer fast this weekend. It was beautiful and a much needed break. It was great to see Marvin's family and we sure wished we lived closer.

Calvin's been having a rough time falling asleep these days so Friday night was a little rough. We finally gave up trying to make him sleep in the crib around 1:00, the rest of night was filled with lots of him rolling over on my face and plenty elbows, knees and legs in our sides. We love that he sleeps in his own bed, I don't think we'd get any sleep if we hadn't encouraged him to sleep in his own bed.

Calvin went on his first tractor ride this weekend and loved it. He didn't want to get out. He was so busy playing with all the toys at Grandma's house and enjoyed some time with his aunts and uncles and cousins. He tired himself out and thankfull slept through the night, it's the first time in a while since that has happened. Teething is no fun for anyone involved!

I think I've set some unrealistic expectations of myself with this Etsy shop. Doing things during Calvin's naps and after he goes to bed really limits me. So I'll have those ideas up tonight after I make sure none of the names I've thought of violate any tradmarks or copyrights. I know you all can't wait to vote.

Here are some favorite pictures we've taken of Calvin recently.

Oh My!

Wow has this has been a long week. I really love my child, but there have been moments recently where I have had to choose to love him. We have had a nice little break in his behavior problems. Last week he woke up so happy, even Marvin commented at how happy he was. His cold finally went away and he was well rested. We had a blast playing together, it was wonderful. Then something changed. He has been very irritable and has had trouble sleeping. The other night he was up probably half the night and was awake at 6:15! Another molar is trying to push through, so we are hoping this is the culprit of this irritability. The batteries in his little crib toy also stopped working so he was very mad about that. He'll often wake up in the middle of the night and press it and go right back to sleep, so I think that has added to the funk. (Thankfully we got batteries yesterday and he finally slept through the night.)

He's also getting very frustrated when he plays. He loves containers and I recently gave him some peanut butter jars and he would get so mad when he tried to take the lids off, because he had twisted it on and it couldn't open it. I pulled out some new toys this week and among the "new toys" I put an egg carton and some plastic eggs out. He loved it until he found out they opened and that is all he wanted to do, open and close them. The only problem, he couldn't close them. I really thought I was a patient person but it seriously has taken everything I have to be patient with him when he gets so frustrated.

But we have had some fun times. Here are a few pictures of my little sweet guy from the weekend. I am so thankful that the Lord has entrusted him to our care.

Putting all the stickers on his shirt. He now knows what to do with stickers. They will entertain him for hours.

He love to stack things and I looked over at snack time the other day and he had stacked his bananas. How cute.

On a completely random note, I am so ready to be finished with this package of Luv's. I bought these probably in October and they were on the bottom of the stack. I finally decided to open them and oh my goodness we've had so many leaks. I've had to change Calvin's pants at least once a day. Thankfully I only have about 10 left, so 2 more days, max! Also on the diaper front, we had thought about switching to cloth diapers this summer, to help transition to potty training. I was so pumped last night to find out you can make your own! I'm going to try it out! They look like regular diapers you just have to get a cover and snappies, but I may try to attach velcro. I am really excited. I had looked into using prefolds but these look much easier. If you google making your own cloth diapers, you'll find several free patterns. I am so pumped!

We had a great weekend. I slacked a bit on my sewing, so I'm behind schedule, but it's looking promising right now. I've had to set a schedule for myself, which has helped get me to bed before midnight, I'm naturally a night owl but when you have a child to care for that doesn't work. I now have a list of things I'd like to finish for the week and deadlines for each item. It has pushed me to stay focused. I'm still thinking of names. I hope to post a poll on Friday. I need to get on Etsy and check to see if the names I have thought of are taken.

My parents came down on Sunday and Calvin had a blast around them. He certainly knows how to work my mom. She'll hold him anytime he asks. Calvin thinks my dad is pretty funny and always laughs when he says hello boy by. We had a good time with them and they bought him an adorable little Easter Outfit. I can't wait for him to wear it. It was crazy at the selection of little boys stuff vs. little girls clothes. There was only one rack of nicer clothes to choose from vs. about 10 of sweet little dresses.

I am very excited to see my inlaws this weekend. Calvin and I haven't seen Marvin's parents since Christmas, that's way too long for being in the same country, but they've been busy and we haven't traveled in a while to save some gas money. I am sure they will be shocked at how much Calvin has changed. We're hoping for good weather, Calvin would love to go play on the farm.

This turned out longer than I thought. I hope you guys have a great day!