Autumn Cleaning!

So, what's a Mama to do in the morning while her wee one is away at kindergarten and all the other wee one wants to do is play? Why, some autumn cleaning and organizing, of course! (And write a blog while the aforementioned wee one takes a nap from all that playing.)

Toys every which way! 

Do you like the blockade? Baby gates do not work. Oh and yes, Sienna''s Lucy doll is locked away, since Forest knocked over the high chair on Wednesday and lay flat on his back with it on top of him.   

Washing his hands in the kitchen. 

 

Our blue-eyed sweetie pie.

 

Look how long his hair is getting!

Autumn re-organizing! Where is the mixer? It's Friday night pizza and I get to make dough.

September!

I also re-organized the nature table. Now, it's ready for new Autumn finds. 

And, organized the school supplies again!  

Our Autumn collection! (Not including our Halloween books. Those will have to go in another basket.) 

And, David won this very cool prize at the Benefit's Fair yesterday. My favorite color. We can't wait to try some Washington Huckleberry! 

P.S. As I'm writing this, Sienna's school is having a fire drill and I can hear the alarm from my cozy spot on the sofa. Kids are so loud! Not to worry, they are on their way back to class now. 

Spring Cleaning

There is a change in the air. Spring is arriving! Yesterday, we drove through the Skagit Valley and we saw fields and fields full of bright yellow daffodils.

And, with it I feel the need to simplify and refine our home. To purge the things that are  no longer fulfilling our needs and beautify the things that will remain.  

I began the day by taking some photos of my clothing I am planning to sell. We decided that today, we would polish our wood toys with beeswax. Sienna always enjoys this activity. I also wiped down the play kitchen with some beeswax for the first time. I love the way the wood looks after a fresh polishing and it smells yummy, too! 

Unfortunately, two of our nesting wood bowls were cracked and broken from neglect. We have to remember to care for our wood toys more often!

With more creating and crafting going on, I needed to reorganize some of our shelves in the living room and dining room. I use our dining table for all of these activities and it drives me crazy when it is cluttered during meal times.  

Our family picture wall is coming along nicely with the two thrifted frames from this weekend. Of course, we need more frames. I framed one of Sienna's family pictures she made. We are fairies again!

Sienna made her own playscape using her play silks as water and grass. All of the toys on this table were made for her by Daddy! We love him and the things he makes and does for us!  

Simplifying: Books

One of the many things I've had on the "to-do" list in my mind was to simplify our children's book collection. Most of our books were acquired during my 7 years of teaching and many were not shall we say "quality" literature. At the time, I was trying to quickly purchase a classroom library since my classroom lacked one. 

So, now I am working on sorting and simplifying the books for our little ones. Really, there are so many books for children out there, I want to make sure my little ones are exposed to really great literature and/or illustrations.

In taking on this task, it has also come to my attention that we have multiple copies of many, many books. This has prompted me to start writing down in a book journal the titles of books we already own. That way, when I'm out and about or shopping online, I can quickly see what books we already have.

  

 Sorting books! 

We have another full bookshelf in the hallway and another tub full stored away.

A few favorites.

Forest is ready for Summer!

If you would like some of our books, let me know and I'll send them your way! We already have two full bags and more to go...

Simple Living: Cloth Diapering

Choosing to use cloth diapers with Forest was obviously a no brainer for our little family. We used them with Sienna and already had them on hand. We also had quite a few diaper covers, too. You can read about the benefits from cloth diapering in lots of places all over the web, but since my husband just happens to be a geographer, here is a link from National Geographic (his favorite magazine) about the benefits. The most important reasons for our little family were the benefit to Mother Earth, not exposing our littles to harmful chemicals, and the cost.

Nana purchased our cloth diapers for us at The Skagit Valley Food Coop. (Thank you, Nana!) We have two sizes of cloth diapers. Forest barely fits in the smaller size and we will be moving him over to the bigger cloth size very soon. We also bought most of our diaper covers there. All of the diaper covers we bought with Sienna were pretty basic. They are all white Bummis Super Snap diaper covers. We have them in sizes newborn to large. Right now, Forest is in a medium, so we will probably need to buy some extra large someday down the road. Sienna was a smaller baby, so she never wore that size. 

How we store our diapers, diaper covers, and wipes. This was bought at Ikea.

This time around, we also received some handmade colorful diaper covers from Grandma. They are very cute! (Thank you, Grandma!) I would post a picture, but they are actually at Nana's house, since that is where we send all of our clothes that no longer fit Forest and Sienna. (We don't have extra storage at the garden apartment.) We also received two other diaper covers from my baby shower, which were a new brand to us. We received the Thirsties Duo Wrap in Hoot and Blackbird. They were vey comparable to the Bummis and I would recommend either of these brands to any new Mama. Unfortunately, they no longer fit Forest and he is ready for the next size up in them.  

Thirsties Duo Wrap diaper cover in Hoot.

For diaper wipes, we are using cloth wipes this time around. We bought the Bumkins Reusable Flannel Wipes from Amazon. I just put some water on them and they clean his bum right up.

A Bumkins flannel wipe.

We also use 7th Generation wipes and 7th Generation diapers for going out and about, which is mostly on the weekends or when we have family visiting. With Forest, we are using disposables at night, since I would have to be up changing his cloth diapers numerous times during the night. (He leaks during the night...) 

Caring for cloth diapers is really easy. I never even have to touch the dirty diapers again after changing a diaper! We throw the dirty cloth diapers, diaper covers and cloth wipes into a trash can in our bathroom. This trash can is just for this purpose. I then take this trash can to the washing machine when it gets full. I dump the dirties into the wash and let the washing machine fill with COLD water. I put in 1 cup of white vinegar and let them soak for a bit before I start the cycle again. Then, I let the cycle run all the way through. I think this helps with the stains and odor.

Then, I run a second wash. This time with laundry soap and HOT water. We've been using 7th Generation, but have recently switched to Ecos, which is a little less expensive at Costco. I've read lots of good reviews about using Ecos for cloth diapering, but I haven't noticed much of a difference yet. The diapers smell fresh every time with both laundry soaps! Something new, I've been trying is to add 1/4 cup of white vinegar during the last rinse cycle to help remove traces of detergent, which can be an irritant to the baby's bottom. Also, it works as a natural static and lint remover. 

One thing, I would love to try out is a wool diaper cover or wool longies. I guess I would need to learn how to knit first. Babies just look so sweet in them!

I hope this blog was helpful to anyone expecting a wee one.

Simple Living: No Paper Towels, No Problem

So, I decided to do a little series on simple living and some of the steps our little family is taking toward making a change for the better.

As many of you may know and some may not know, we've made the commitment for me to stay home and homeschool Sienna for preschool and kindergarten. We would like to homeschool for longer, but we first have to see if we can find other creative ways to earn money and support our little family. One of the things we are learning to do is be more thrifty with our money. 

It's sad to admit that we were blowing through a package of paper towels from Costco every month. Not only is this very expensive, but also not very good for our mother earth. Last month, we started using dish towels in the kitchen when we would normally use paper towels. We were also using dish towels as our napkins, too. 

But, then I remembered that we do have some cloth napkins that we would use for special occasions. So, I decided to also use our fancy napkin rings. I wouldn't recommend going out and buying these, but we already had them. They were all gifted to us by various family members. (Thank you, Nana and Aunt Mary!) 

Then, I added them to my favorite handmade basket. (Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa!) And now, it's the perfect chore for Sienna. It's her job to make sure everyone has a napkin and she chooses the perfect one for everyone.  

 No paper towels, no problem.

Pretty napkins all in a row.

In the basket, ready for Sienna.

Of course, they do need to be washed, but they can be put in with our weekly bath/dish towel wash.

May Days

Happy May!

I thought I'd share a few photos of our May days ...

Sienna is really loving balls! A fenced backyard will definitely be a priority for our next move.

Playing catch with Daddy.

A very happy Sienna.

Yay!

What Mama's been up to the last few days ...

Herbal tincture prescribed by the midwife.

Mama and Sienna are also sorting through things. Simplifying feels so good.

"Live simply so others may simply live."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Simplifying.