Stinky Dipes again...

Back in September I blogged about stinky diapers in my 'What's that Smell?' post.

Between stripping those diapers then, and then needing to switch Nora to a larger size, we've not had a problem again. Until recently.

Seems this stinky diaper dilemma is a regular occurence for most cloth diapering families.

I'm going to try a different method this time. I've recently learned about a laundry additive called RLR Laundry Treatment. Apparently this stuff works wonders in removing the deposits that build in cloth diapers and cause stinkiness.

So Will, Nora, and I will be loading up and heading to the store then to Mom's. First we need to see if I can find this RLR stuff at the grocery store. Then we're going to Mom's because she has a top-loading washing machine, which will make the whole process a LOT easier.

Another snow day

Man, this winter seems neverending! We woke this morning to another snow storm. The weathermen are predicting 3-5" for our area. Not bad, until you factor in that it's supposed to switch from the lovely snow we've got now to freezing rain then to (possibly) all rain. Not a good combination.

So the big girls got the day off from school. They're both outside playing in the fluffy whiteness right now as we speak.

I'm hoping to get the three big kids working on Valentine's themed crafts this afternoon.

Nora's fussing in her activity seat right now. I'm thinking she's ready for a nap.

And William is begging me to get him 'Newtons and crackers, please PLEASE PLEASE'

So I guess I'll leave this nonsense post as it is. Nonsense.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow!

Project 365

The next installment of my photography project. You can see I'm flip-flopping between documenting our daily activities with simple photographs and getting a little 'artsy' in my pictorial depictions.

Knowing me, I'll continue to flip from regular pictures to strange ones on a regular basis. It'll depend on what catches my eye at the time.

Thursday, January 22

Friday, January 23Saturday, January 24 Sunday, January 25 Monday, January 26

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold...

Yesterday was the first time Nora tried peas. I don't think she likes them...

I have the answer!!

For those of you who didn't read the comment that my step-mother-in-law left in response to my Inauguration Day post, you can find the post and comment here: Inauguration Day Post

I was very curious about Pauline's mention of the last President to wear a hat to the Inauguration Ceremony. Mom and I talked about it a bit today, as a matter of fact. We discussed which Presidents it could possibly be, but never really decided for sure.

But it's still been something on my mind.

So I googled it.

Does anyone else wanna know which President Pauline was referring to????









Huh? Do ya??







It was President John F. Kennedy. From Smithsonian.com:

Last to Wear a Hat1961 – John F. Kennedy was the last president to wear the
traditional stovetop hat to his inauguration.

You can see this and other interesting Inaugural factoids here: Inaugural Firsts .

Thanks for giving my curiosity and brain a boost, Pauline!

Project 365

I recently read about a photography project that caught my attention. It's called 'Project 365'. The whole premise is to sho0t a photograph every day for an entire year, to sort of document Life photographically.

I was intrigued.

I was inspired.

Just what I needed -- to add another THING to my to-do list. My life is crazy enough with all that I do. So I decided to give it a shot anyway. Even though I'm starting it mid-January.

I figure I can share these photographs with y'all once a week or so. Here are the first few I've taken:

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Monday, January 19, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 (Inauguration Day)
Wednesday, January 22, 2009

Happy Half-Birthday Baby Girl!!

Can you believe that Nora turned SIX MONTHS OLD today?!?!? I sure can't! Here are a couple of shots I took of our baby girl today....

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

The comfy-est way to watch a movie??

Inauguration Day

Today is a day made for the history books. I will be sitting the big girls (and Will, if he's willing) down to watch CNN's coverage of the Inauguration Ceremony. We will discuss what this means for the country, how our history has made this possible, and where our current ways could maybe change more to allow more moments like this to happen regularly. I can't wait!!

Nora's growing right before our eyes!

Tonight Nora and I went to Mom's house for our weekly coffee and craft visit. While there, Nora was gnawing on my thumb knuckle. All of a sudden I felt something sharp! Upon closer inspection, I was able to confirm that Nora had indeed cut her first tooth.

No wonder she's chomped down on me a little harder than necessary recently....

And then, as if cutting a tooth isn't progress enough, Nora surprised me by using sign language!!

I've been using the sign for 'milk' whenever I ask Nora if she wants to nurse. Tonight I thought I caught her doing the sign as I was getting ready to nurse her, but I wasn't sure. My suspicion was confirmed when she did it again just before we were getting ready to leave Mom's.

Boy we have such a smart almost-six-month-old little girl! She'll be earning her Ph.D. before we know it! ;)

Thankful Thusday

Today I want to take a moment to acknowledge a few things for which I am thankful. Just to keep the proper perspective in Life, if nothing else.

I'm thankful for Will's enthusiastic view on Life. And his determination that things will be as he says they will be -- because he said so! Like when he looks out the window at a very obviously dreary and gray day and says, 'It's going to be a NICE, SUNSHINEY day today!' with such conviction that I wonder if he knows something that the rest of us do not know.

I need to remember Will's bright outlook when I'm having a rough moment. No need to be grumpy -- the power of positive thought is a strong one for sure.

I'm thankful for Gordon's neverending support. No matter what crazy thought or idea I come up with, he is always so very positive. He supports each and every one of my endeavors, even when I start to question whether it's a smart idea afterall.

And those times when I deem my idea a bust, Gordon is right there to comfort me. He helps me to assess the situation and dissect the good from the bad and the ugly. He gives me his honest opinion on changes that may have resulted in a more positive outcome.

Best of all, Gordon never ridicules or taunts me in my downfalls. He just continues to support me in spite of them.

I'm thankful for the never-ending accumulation of dustbunnies in my house. No matter how much I try to eradicate them, they just keep multiplying! Though I despise dusting every surface in my house, because it's such a thankless task, I'm thankful. I'm thankful that those very same annoying dustbunnies have so many different surfaces to cling to. We are certainly very blessed to have all that we have, and though I gripe about having to clean it all the time, I truly am thankful that I have them. And am, therefore, thankful that we have the dustbunnies to remind me!

There are plenty more things for which I am thankful, but that's all that I'm going to list for now.

projects everywhere

Gordon and I are both guilty of having great intentions and laying great plans....on TOO MANY THINGS AT THE SAME TIME!!

I think we both need to sit down and write up a list of all of the projects we've got in mind.

Then we'll need to pick ourselves up off the floor. Just looking at all of the daunting tasks we've got in mind should knock the breath out of us at the very least.

Next we'll need to reorganize said list by order of priority, price, and do-ability.

Maybe then we can feel some sort of accomplishment. We'll be able to finish one project before going on to another. We'll also have the visual benefit of being able to physically cross things off the list as they get done.

.....but doing things in an orderly, logical fashion isn't always all that it's cracked up to be....maybe we should keep wandering around aimlessly, doing various household projects as the mood and/or inspiration strikes us....don't they say spontaneity is the spice of life?? ;)

Yeah. Spontaneity offers us the ability to enjoy our family so much more, I think. Scratch all of the previous musings.

Mom, there are cows in the backyard...

I bet it's not a common occurance for most of you out in blogger-land to have stray cows in your backyard. Around here, it happens every now and again. Here are some pictures from this afternoon to prove it.

Yes, it was just two cows.

No, it was not the first time we've ever had a stray cow or two in our yard.

We believe they belong to the farmer who lives behind us, but we don't know his name so we couldn't call him. They don't do much, just wander a bit and munch on the vegetation. The last time one left a couple of cow patties, but that doesn't always happen.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Of course I can't let it be a totally wordless post!

I finally gave in to Grace's pleas and let her change Nora's diaper....she hasn't asked to do it again since! ;)

Nora enjoying her new Johnny Jumper for the first time. (Thanks Aunt Rita!!)
We've instituted a 1/2hr reading time for the girls before bed. I saw this as I was coming up the stairs last night. It totally melted my heart!

The end of an era

Today was the last day I will ever carry a baby of mine in an infant carrier.

Carrying Nora in that bucket-style carrier has become such a workout for me -- some times I swear it weighs a TON. Add to that the fact that Nora has reached the recommended height limit. It's no longer safe to use the infant seat any longer.

So it is now time to move on to the Britax carseat we've had stored in the closet for Nora.

Nora is simply growing too fast! I wish I could keep her my littlest baby forever.

Such a bittersweet yet momentous milestone...

Back to normal -- sort of

Today we return to our normal schedule.

Gordon has already started his regular work week, heading to work about a half hour ago.

The big girls will return to school today. They've got a 90 minute delay first -- icy conditions are making the roads unsafe.

The younger two and I will hang around the house. I've got a couple of loads of laundry to do. I think Will and I will do some baking together today too. I've got 5 very ripe bananas gracing the kitchen counter. We'll probably also bake some pumpkin muffins so that I can finish off the pureed pumpkin I've got in the fridge.

Gosh, it feels *so* good to be back to regular life and not have holiday things demanding my time and energy.

Off to a 'friendly' start!

With four children, it's not often that Gordon and I get the chance to go out as adults. We've been fortunate enough to have found a few very good babysitters that we trust implicitly (thanks, Em, Marli, Abby, and Nathalie!). But it's difficult to find the time to go out. Plus, with Nora being such a little thing who still nurses almost exclusively, I've not felt like we could 'get away'.

Last night we bit the bullet and went out.

I had asked Emily and Marli if they were interested in 'tag teaming' on a whim last Sunday. They both excitedly agreed that they'd LOVE to! So we quickly figured out which night worked best for everyone.

Once we had a night scheduled, I asked Lisa and Mark if they'd like to go out with us.

After a little discussion, we all agreed we'd like to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. The food was YUMMY, as always! The dinner conversation never lagged. We enjoyed chatting so much that when we got back to Mark & Lisa's house to drop them off, I didn't want the evening to end yet! Mark invited us in, so I quickly called home to see how the kids were. Once I got a good report from Marli, we accepted Mark's invitation and went in to enjoy more conversation.

Thanks for the lovely evening out, Mark and Lisa! And THANK YOU Emily and Marli for keeping our brood safe!!!!

Belated New Years

Wednesday afternoon the kids and I were supposed to go to Grammie's house. Laurie P. and I were planning a special New Years celebration for the kids. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas -- I didn't think it'd be a good idea to be driving on the snow-covered roads during the storm if I didn't need to.

So we rescheduled.

Today we'll be heading to Grammie's house to celebrate the New Year with the kids. I bought some Happy New Year tiaras (wish I'd known we'd be doing this AFTER the New Year, I bet they'd have been real cheap post-holiday!) and some noise maker thingies. The kids will be able to ring in the New Year at noon today.

Speaking of ringing in the New Year, both of the big girls decided they wanted to try to stay up on New Year's Eve. Though they tried valiantly to stay awake and alert, neither made it to midnight. Grace lost the battle around 10:30ish while Dianna hung in there till just after 11pm.
Me, I gave up at 11:45 and went to bed. I simply was toooooooo tired to really even care about seeing the ball drop.