Mama's Little Loves

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY

I hang out my girls clothes to dry when I wash them. Even in the winter. I just think it preserves them a little longer and doesn't put as much wear on them. But I run into the problem of still having to drythe panties and socks. So instead of running the dryer for a very small load of socks and panties, I started hanging them up like this. It works great! No longer do I have lost socks or random missing ones. No more tales of the dryer eating the socks. Not to mention I can just match them up right when they come out of the washer. And since my daughter likes to help with the laundry, she gets to pull them off the hooks and put them away and they are already paired up for her.

This is what works for me! For more great tips go to Rocks in my Dryer.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Ambry has mollescum contagiousum...or in lamen's terms, a form of warts. Caleb is gone on business. I had to work on Friday and Monday which has left my house in a war zone state of disorder. It also has developed a smell and I can't find it! Piper is getting her diaper rash again. Need I go on? I am in awe of moms who work and then come home and have kids to feed and bathe, a house to clean, and themselves to take care of. How they do it is beyond me.

I can not WAIT for Caleb to come back home to us. I pray that he will be returned safely. I don't like being this long without him. I miss him too much. I am glad now that Gerrit is living with us for the time being so I don't have to be lonely, but it is just so sad when Ambry gets tucked in bed and she asks where daddy is. Then the tears come and she wants her dad. Poor thing. She just doesn't have any concept of time yet. To her two minutes is the same as 2 days. She just doesn't get it.

On top of all of it, it is snowing like crazy over here. I'm talking big huge flakes of snow that don't look to have an end in sight. Since last night, we have gotten about a half a foot of snow out there. With Caleb not being here, there is no one to drive me around. I do NOT drive in snow. Ever. Never. I can't do it, I don't like it. So on top of being here without Caleb, I am now "snowed in"! I really hope the snow stops soon and we can go to Target and walk around with some "cockcorn and slushies" as Ambry calls it. Oh the things you look forward to now that you have little ones. :)

Sorry about all the complaining. Hope you have a good Tuesday!

Labels: Ambry pics, stuff

Since Crystal is decorating her new house, I thought I would share a cheap way to use paint and spruce up a room. The first one is in my daughter's room. I bought the canvas painting with her name on it at a craft sale. Not the cheapest, but I thought it was so cute. I didn't just want to hang it on her wall, so I went down to our local paint store and asked to see their mistints. They always have a really good supply of these in the back. I found the shade of yellow that was fairly close to what I wanted. It was just a quart and rang up at a whopping $1.50. A definite deal! I then took it and out lined a frame around the picture and painted away. I then got the flowers from Michaels. Those were $.10 cents a piece on sale. I painted those and added just a little glitter to some spots on them. For the whole 'frame' around the picture, I spent under $5.00. (Sorry about the taped off portion of the picture, but my daughter's b-day is on there.)

The next two pictures are from in my basement. I wanted something different and so I just outlined random squares and rectangles on the wall and painted then in. Then I took some ribbon and out lined them to give it a finished off look. I love how it turned out. Very different and people are always commenting on it.



For more frugal ideas, go to Crystal and check them out.

Labels: Frugal Friday, redo basement

Labels: stuff

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY...

I found this in the Press and thought that this is a good reminder for those of us who have small children continually spilling things or I suppose even the adult who continually spills things.

For a wine spill, --or for me, it is juice...you would think I should know by now to buy something with no color in it!--soak it up with liberal amounts of salt. When the salt turns red, vacuum it up. Then pour club soda, and blot the area where it was spilled with a towel or a rag.

For white rings left on tables, put a small amount of mayo onto rings and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 30 min. then lightly rub with nylon scouring pad. Make sure to work in the direction of the grain of wood.

For dented carpet, iron a damp cloth over affected areas for 30 seconds, then rub fingers through fiber of the carpet.

I thought these ideas always bear reminding. The Press in my area had some other great hints also, but I thought I would just put these in. This is what works for me, for more tips go to Rocks in my Dryer.

The ideas for this was found in the Press in my area and the writer was Jose Massady. He had a couple of other ideas but I didn't include all of them.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Labels: Piper pics

Photo boxes are a great way to store things. I use them to put my daughters 'firsts' in, for example, her first pipe, first pair of socks, first picture, birth announcement, and so on. But my favorite use for them is sorting my bills. I don't like to put them in the on-the-counter-organizer because I only like to file once. To me, that would be filing twice if I first put them in the organizer on the counter, then try to find them to pay them, and then bring them to my filing cabinet which I have in my basement. So for me, I bought four photo boxes at Michael's for $1.50 each--they are on sale there about every other week and they have some fun designs--and labeled them 'Bills', 'Pd. Bills', 'Misc.', and 'Receipts'. (This also keeps everything nice and organized since I do all my bills by my computer and my computer desk has no drawers. So this would also be a good idea for others who have no storage available on their computer desk.) So when it is time to pay the bills I grab the 'Bills' box pull them right out of there and I am good to go. My 'Misc.' box has coupons, blank cds, and other random stuff. The other boxes are self-explanatory. The nice thing is when I am ready to file the bills away, I grab the 'Pd. Bills' box, head downstairs and file away. This is what works for me. For more tips go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

So here is what I have been doing the past few days. I can't stop! I need help! I have piles of laundry, dirty dishes, beds to be made, floors to be made and yet here I sit...still. What's a person to do?

Labels: stuff

Labels: Ambry pics

Lula and Biggie playing in the balls. Ambry jumping in the "just my size" area as she called it.


Here is the view from the top of one of the slides. As you can see, these things aren't just for little kids!
Lula was smiling at me until she spotted Ambry at the top of the slide. :)

Ambry coming down the slide. I have no idea which way I was holding the camera??!

Thank you again, Esther, for inviting us to come with! That was so much fun. I told Caleb that we are definitely going to have to go there sometime together!

Labels: Ambry and Piper pics

1. 1. Boil some chicken, I usually do about a pound or so. Then shred it when fully cooked.


2. 2. Drain a can of pineapple, either the chunks or the shredded pineapple.


3. 3. Dice some celery.

4. Salt and Pepper, and mayo(You can use the lowest fat one there is, because with the fruit in it, you won't even be able to tell...or at least I can't)

5. Optional--cut up some grapes, or some diced walnuts.

Mix everything together in a bowl. The salt and pepper, add however much you like to it. For the mayo, you basically add just enough to get everything to stick together. Remember that this is where the most calories are, so don't put too much in. That is it. Very easy and makes for a low cal sandwich or a great topping for a salad.

Go to Rocks in my Dryer for more great recipe ideas!

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Goodbye...Fare thee well...

Caleb and I have said goodbye to 2 Precious Moments, a stroller, a bed, a hutch, and some books. All have gone to better homes where they can be enjoyed. And let me tell you...it is so nice to get rid of stuff and get more space. Not that I didn't like my stuff, but it is so nice to get the moola for it. We have someone looking at our entertainment center right now. That is our last big piece that we are going to have to sell right now. I have a dresser in the basement to refinish, a desk in the garage to clean, and that is pretty much it. Next, I am going to tackle getting rid of clothes and Precious Moments. So if anyone out there needs baby girl clothes or Precious Moments, PLEASE feel free to let me know!!!

I am also getting our tax stuff all ready on time this year. I was actually fairly well organized this year, so it isn't taking too much of an effort. I heard something about health costs also-that if they are above a certain amount of your income, then you get the overage back. That would be so great for us since we had so many things this year. I wonder if dental counts towards that because that would be even better! We'll have to see. I am even going to call and make my tax appointment tommorrow. I just want to get it done with as quickly as possible so I can get my filing cabinet cleared out and start putting this year's stuff into it. I love a fresh new start with things like that.

We finally had snow today! Ambry was so excited. It gave her something to look forward to when she went outside. Of course, outside time didn't last quite as long either though since she got cold in a whole whopping ten minutes. Oh well, at least she went out. She is becoming quite the little home-body. She definitely prefers staying home with momma and Piper to going out. She does love going to her cousins, but that is pretty much it. We started learning her letters today too and a little bible verse. She did pretty good. We are just going to take it really slow and see how she does, but she was so excited to get up this morning, get dressed, clean her room, and get started on "school". It was so cute. We are just doing a letter a week. I don't know if that is really slow or not, but I suppose she'll let me know if it isn't. This is where I went to get ideas on how to start with her. It is a great website. Check it out if you have time.

Labels: Spring Clean 2007

Here is what we have:

1. 6 bottles of Similac formula

2. 1 Soft & Dri deoderant

3. Move Free muscle relaxer

4. Pedia Care

5. Dove moisturizing hand wash.

6. Purell hand sanitizer

7. 3 sport Playtex tampons

8. Mario Badescu skin care (Cucumber cleansing lotion, enzyme cleansing gel, ceramide herbal eye cream, collagen moisturizer, flower and tonic mask, and almond and honey non-abrasive face scrub)

9. 2 8oz. cans of similac powder formula(forgot to put in picture)

This is all stuff that I have gotten free in the last week. Pretty cool, huh?!! I love getting surprises in the mail. There have been a few other things I have gotten as well, but they were just little stuff. So let me remind you again, Fat Wallet is a great place to sign up for things. You may not get everything that you sign up for, but as you can see, you will get quite a bit. As I get other things, I will let you know. That way you can see which companies are the best to participate with.

Labels: deals

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Don't really have anything too interesting going on here. Ambry is finally starting to get over her nasty cold, only now Piper has got it. Caleb also is coming down with something. Gerrit moved in over the weekend. I have never seen so much stuff in my life! His whole room downstairs is overflowing with stuff, our garage is filled up, and there is still stuff setting around our basement for him to put away. Unbelievable! Caleb said he even threw away a bunch of stuff. I didn't even know it was possible to have that much stuff. We are trying to sell his bedroom set for him too, so if anyone needs a queen size waterbed with dresser and side table, let me know!

Since there isn't anything else really going on, here are some links for some free stuff:

Tea
Healthy Kids Booklet
Dove samples-go to all the individual links listed and fill out the form
Address labels
A different free tea sample

So have fun getting your free stuff!

Labels: deals