Every Second Counts

Being a working mother of two, it gets difficult to find time to work on my book, AKA my dream of becoming a published author.

When we get home from a long day at the daycare, I try to spend as much time with him as I can before he goes to bed. Once he's asleep, my oldest son craves one on one quality time with his mom, too. By the end of work and family time, I am just ready for bed.

Some nights, I try to force myself to stay awake, to get at least a couple pages typed. Unfortunately, I have found that my imagination is quite lacking when I am extremely tired, so that method doesn't work well.

I've come up with a new game plan. I scribble as much on paper as a thirty minute lunch break will allow, hoping to get it typed up that evening. It seems to work much better, the 3:30 slump hasn't hit yet, so my brain is still working well, and I can get a lot of ideas out.

I don't leave the house without my notebook, in case an idea comes to me at the most inopportune moment. Is it weird to pull a notebook out of your bag at the grocery store? Yes.

But its worth it.

Bucket List

Well, I have been on a quite lengthy hiatus from the blog that I started last summer. I ended up having to give up my Stay at Home Mom title, and go back to work. Now, I'm a teacher of toddlers and a mom. I think I am finally learning how to budget my time, so that I have a little time for myself, and still a lot of time for my kids!

This year, rather than making a New Year's resolution that would probably never get resolved, I decided to work on something that would leave me inspired and proud, rather than the silly "take better care of myself" type resolutions, such as losing weight, quitting smoking or joining a gym. Because, frankly, aren't we supposed to take better care of ourselves anyway, without a New Year's resolution?

So, I resolved to cross some things off my bucket list. After all, I'm not getting any younger! In order to start crossing things off, I actually had to create a bucket list. And even though, I already had dreams, hopes, aspirations, goals, etc., I never made a list. So here it is:

    April's Bucket List

1. Start and complete writing a novel. And by complete, I mean PUBLISH.
2. Become best selling author.
3. Take a long vacation with my kids and the man.
4. Buy a house
5. Watch my kids grow into men.

Well, number 4 is already crossed off, because I closed on my house over a year ago, but it was something that I had wanted to do before I died, and I did it. 

So that brings me back to number 1. Since January, I have been working somewhat diligently on my very first novel. I have been so excited! I've wanted to be an author since I was a kid, and I'm finally, hopefully going to fulfill that dream. 

I had written about 16 out of 33 (planned) chapters, when I decided that I wanted to change the point of view. This meant a rewrite was in order, which was the best thing I could have done! Now, the book seems to flow so much better, and I'm even more excited than I had been before! Right now, I am in the process of rewriting chapter 14, so I'm almost ready to start writing more of the story.

I originally had created this blog as a tribute to being a SAHM. Now, it's going to be a tribute to a full-time employed, full-time mom who has a dream.

I am hoping to keep it up to date.

DIY Laundry Detergent

I am constantly surfing through the DIY section of Pinterest. And, like many others, I pin things that I want to try or want to make. The kicker is, we pin them, and rarely do them. So, I'm starting a new board on Pinterest: DID IT! It will be my own virtual way of marking them off of my "to do" list.

DIY Laundry Detergent: CHECK!

So, I scanned through a few different recipes for this stuff. I didn't want to do liquid detergent on my first go around, because frankly, I don't have enough confidence in myself that I won't blow up my kitchen or ruin my pots and pans doing so. I decided the powder form was my safest bet, though I don't usually use powder detergents, because they tend to clump up on me at times. Many of the pins called for the same products. Some said that you could used any type of bar soap that you wanted, other pins named bars of soap specifically. I decided to take my chances, and use something that I knew smelled good.

So here's my shopping list:

3lbs7oz Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda: $3.24

4lbs Arm & Hammer Baking Soda: $2.16

Zest 3-pack: $1.98

Purex Crystals: $4.76

3 lbs OxyClean: $7.52

I already had the 4lb box of Borax, and can't remember how much I paid. I believe it was about $7.00, so we'll go with that. A grand total of $26.66. Fantastic! If this doesn't work, at least I didn't break the bank to try it!

I pulled out a 5 gallon bucket to start mixing everything. One suggestion I have for you, that I will definitely do differently next time is to either mix the ingredients outside, or use a mask. It does tend to create a dust cloud, which irritated my nose a bit. I decided to layer the ingredients 3 different times to make mixing a little easier. So I poured about 1/3 of each ingredient into the bucket, and stirred. I also grated the Zest soap one bar at a time, so ADD didn't get the best of me, and so my arm wouldn't get tired! 

Grating the soap was not as miserable as many pinners had made it seem. It didn't even take 5 minutes to grate an entire bar. Many pinners made it seem like it took an eternity. However, it is the most time consuming element of making the detergent, sans mixing the ingredients. 

It's a little hard to see in this picture, but the concoction made almost 2 gallons worth of detergent. Using approximately 2 tablespoons of the mixture per wash load, that should give me... eh, you do the math. I don't have enough coffee in my system just yet. But I am pretty sure this is going to last me a while. At least I hope so!

Once all my ingredients were mixed, I quit for the night, and went to bed. It was late, and I needed to let my gallon jugs that I was going store it in dry.

When I came downstairs this morning, my entire first floor emitted a wonderful aroma. It smelled like fresh laundry throughout my house! This sort of concerned me, I don't want my clothes to smell that strong. Hopefully, it is just because it's such a large batch. I scooped some of the mixture into the bottle that the Purex Crystals came in, I'd rather have a small bottle to work with regularly, than a large bucket, tub, jug, etc. It's a lot easier to keep gallon jugs stored, and having a small bottle to work with in my multi-purpose laundry room. 

And, so it begins. I started my first load of laundry. I followed instructions from Pinterest, and used about 2 tablespoons, which takes you to the middle line on the measuring cup that attaches to the top of the Purex Crystals bottle. I tossed that into the washer, started the cycle, and shoved in a few towels. Tick Tock, Tick Tock. Yay! The washer shut off! (Please keep in mind that I have NEVER been excited to do laundry until today.)

I opened up the washer, and the smell was not nearly as strong as it was throughout my house. Whew! Thank goodness! I pulled a couple towels out and smelled them. They smelled clean, and the smell was not overpowering at all! I shoved everything into the dryer, and started the timer. Tick Tock, Tick Tock. This is so ridiculous. I usually groan when the dryer shuts off. This is actually a better depiction of my normal laundry logic:

I opened the dryer to find: Fluffy, soft, clean towels! They smell clean, but not much of a perfume smell at all. Awesome! Now, is this going to be worth it financially? It truly depends on how much of an avid couponer you are, and if you stockpile bottles of detergent for mere pennies. I guess I ended up having to do some math after all:

1 US Gallon = approximately 256 tablespoons. Since I have two gallons, and it takes two tablespoons per load, instead of doing the math, I'm using my common sense, and it tells me I'll be able to do approximately 256 loads of laundry with my concoction. 

Right now, Marc's has Tide liquid detergent on sale 100oz of liquid detergent for $10.99. This does approximately 48-64 loads. 256/64=4. You would need at least 4 Tide detergents to match the amount of loads that the DIY detergent will do. $10.99 x 4=$43.96 I paid $26.66 for all of my ingredients.

$26.66 < $43.96.

Now let's look at a less expensive detergent. Giant Eagle has 100oz of All liquid detergent on sale for $6.99. This bottle does 56-64 loads. 6.99 x 4 = $27.96. Still just a tad cheaper.

Oh, and I don't have to by stain remover. Or fabric softener. SCORE!

So one bottle will do the trick. I'm sold. We'll see how long it lasts. The one concern I have is using it with Toot's clothes. I don't use baby laundry soap normally. Maybe I'll do an extra rinse cycle with his clothes, just in case. 

Happy Laundry Day!

.

Popsicles for Breakfast?

K-man is constantly complaining because I don't keep enough treats in the house. My logic for not keeping very many snacks in the house is just this: As soon as I buy them, they're gone. Not to mention, I'm not a fan of rotting out my son's teeth with candy and other junk food. 


So considering that junk food is pretty much a rarity in my house, it's always good to surprise my son every now and then. And it's even better when it looks and tastes like junk food, but is good for him!


I decided I was going to make Popsicles. Easy enough, right? Poor some juice in the Popsicle mold, and freeze.


Well, I decided to make them a little different.












I decided to mix some pineapple chunks into the juice. Silly me, I only had pineapple slices. Easy fix though, I just Slap Chopped them into small little chunks. I used 4 slices worth, one pineapple slice per compartment on the Popsicle mold. I dropped equal amounts of pineapple chunks into the mold.

I poured Apple Raspberry Juicy Juice into the mold, saturating the pineapple chunks. There was some bubbling, from air escaping from underneath the pineapple.










I used a fork to pull the pineapple to the top. I didn't want it all to settle at the bottom of the mold, resulting in the top of the Popsicle being mostly pineapple. I wanted the fruit chunks to be tasted throughout the Popsicle. Then, I topped them off with a little more juice, and placed the caps on.



I froze the Popsicles overnight, wanting to make sure they froze completely solid. Not to mention, I came up with this fantastic plan at about 10:00 in the evening, and I wasn't going to surprise K-man with them in the middle of the night. Instead, I opted for breakfast. Popsicles for breakfast never hurt anyone, right?

When I took them out of the freezer, I set the Popsicle mold in a bowl of warm water for about 10 seconds or so. I wanted to loosen the popsicles from the sides, to make it easier to pull them out, without pulling the stick right out of them. The Popsicles slipped out perfectly and effortlessly.




My son's reaction?

"Well played, Mom."

Mommy's Instinct

My youngest son, who has been coined "Toot" because of his ability to clear a room with his gas, had a pretty rough entrance into this world. During the last leg of my pregnancy, I came down with a cold, which turned into a severe case of bronchitis. I was coughing so hard, it was causing me to vomit. I didn't have morning sickness at all throughout my entire pregnancy, so to start vomiting at the very end was so frustrating! With all the extreme coughing, I ended up cracking a rib, on my birthday! Two days later, Toot ambitiously arrived, after being at the hospital less than an hour. He must have decided enough was enough! When he was exactly 3 weeks old, he had his first cold, and I felt horrible because I couldn't take it away! He was too little to have such a horrible cough and stuffy nose! It took a couple weeks, but he was finally better, and everything was good again. 

Just as I had begun to file away the guilt from him being sick, another nightmare hit. Almost a week after he turned 3 months, Toot woke up, and just didn't seem like himself. The night before had been an uncomfortable one, because we couldn't get the central air working properly. He woke up with a red ring around his mouth and scratches on his face. He had a terrible habit of squeezing his face with his fingers when he was mad, and unfortunately he did so before I was able to clip his rapidly growing nails, again. The redness around his mouth, I thought could have been from it being so hot in our house, and friction from sucking on a pacifier. 

It looked like this:

The redness around his mouth was pretty faint. But my the afternoon, there was a lot of progression, it just wasn't adding up to me, so I took him to the ER that evening. This is what he looked like in the afternoon:

He had spots forming on his face, his lip seemed extremely chapped, and had split open. He was very irritable, and had a hard time falling asleep. At the ER, the doctor found that he had scratched his eye when he scratched his face, and chalked the redness up to bottle irritation. The doctor was very rude, and treated us as if we abused our child. Considering the spots on his face, there was no way this was bottle irritation! So the next morning, I took him to his pediatrician's office, where a doctor there diagnosed him with Impetigo. That diagnosis was more believable. It did look like Impetigo. We took the prescriptions home, and began treatment right away. We were extremely cautious, washing hands constantly, keeping his hands away from his face so he didn't spread it, but the next day, he looked like this:

The redness around his mouth had become crusty, he had several lesions on his face, and he had yeast in his armpits, and the odor that came off of him was extremely foul. He was absolutely miserable. He was a trooper, rarely cried, but you could tell it was very uncomfortable for him to be held. I felt completely helpless, I continued treating him for Impetigo, and deep down, I knew there was something else wrong. My oldest son had Impetigo before, from wrestling, and it didn't spread at all like this was. 

On Monday, I loading him carefully into his car seat. I couldn't tighten the car seat straps, I was afraid of them hurting him. He was secure, but it was extremely loose. I had receiving blankets wrapped around him so I didn't have to touch his tender skin. I took him back to the doctor's. A different doctor was stumped, and highly concerned, and sent us to Akron Children's Hospital. 

At Akron Children's, Toot was diagnosed with Scalded Skin Syndrome. I had never even heard of it! Apparently it is a form of staph infection, that entered his blood stream, and his body reacted as if it were severely sunburned. This explained why he was so sensitive to touch. It is impossible to know how he contracted the infection, but my assumption is that it entered his blood stream from the scratch on his face. 

Once the doctor stated that he would be admitted, a team from the burn unit came and bathed him and wrapped him up from head to toe to protect his skin. I thought for sure that I was going to be absolutely mortified by seeing my little baby wrapped like a mummy, but I was so thankful. I was overwhelmed with love for people that I didn't even know, because they were helping my son feel better. They considered admitting him to the burn unit, but later decided to put him on the pediatrics floor. The doctor's put Toot on a morphine drip for his pain, and pumped him full of antibiotics and fluids to heal him. 

As much as I hate the fact that my son was so uncomfortable, and in so much pain, I am actually grateful for this experience. I learned so much about the power of prayer. I mean, most of us pray. If not routinely, we pray at some time, begging God to help us. I prayed for God to carry us through this ordeal, to heal my son, and to keep me strong for my kids. Literally, hundreds of people were praying for us, people we didn't even know! I was completely overwhelmed by how everyone pulled together for us. And one question/comment that I kept receiving was "How are you getting through this, I'd be a mess!" When I was faced with those words, it dawned on me just how powerful prayer is. 

I was so strong for my little guy. Now, ten years ago, my mom had to go with me to the ER with my oldest, who needed stitches, and I couldn't handle it, I couldn't be strong for him. During Toot's hospital stay, I was so hopeful the entire time. I just knew he was going to heal. Even when he was wrapped like a mummy, and I should have been so scared, I was brave for him. When I should have been full of worry, I was overwhelmed with promise. I constantly saw the silver lining. Even when he looked like this:

I saw that he was no longer bandaged like a mummy, which meant he was healing. I saw that he was puffy from all the fluids, which meant that he was being nourished. I saw wounds healing, which meant that the antibiotics and prayer were working. I did not see my son who was sick. I saw my son who was getting better! 

But, the award for "Bravery and Strength" goes to Toot, hands down. He was such a trooper through the entire ordeal. He rarely cried. He didn't communicate his pain with his voice, you could see it in his eyes. You could also tell when he was feeling better:

After a 72 hour hospital stay, Toot got to go home, and I made sure to spread the word as much as I could about Scalded Skin Syndrome. Though it is rare, I thought everyone needed to be able to recognize it. It is a painful infection, and babies just shouldn't go through that! Not to mention, it can be fatal for adults.  You can see pictures of Toot's illness, from the very first symptom, until he was sent home from the hospital here. 

Though it's been 2 months since his discharge, I still feel the need to spread the word about Scalded Skin Syndrome. Parents need to be informed, in case it happens to their children. Though I had no idea what was going on with Toot, I knew something just wasn't right. Mommy's intuition, it's a miraculous thing.

Toot Today, 2 months after SSS

Turning Something Old into Something New

I have always hung pictures up in my house. Probably 98% of them used to be my oldest son. That has changed slightly, since we have more walls and another son to show off. Now, I have pictures everywhere you turn, and not all of them are of my kids, just most of them! 

When hanging up pictures, something that is somewhat of a necessity, are picture frames. And if you want the really nice ones, they can get quite expensive. Then, if you change your decor, they no longer match, and then you're stuck spending more money on more frames, and the old ones collect dust in the attic. 

Rather than wasting money... REVAMP! Here's an example:

I bought this picture frame, oh, probably five or six years ago, and I couldn't even tell you from where. Probably, either the dollar store or Wal-Mart. My son was 6 or 7 years old in those pictures, and he is now getting ready to turn 13, so obviously, I was terrible at switching out the pictures in it! I felt that it needed to have black and white pictures in it, to keep up with the contrast of the frame and mat. Not too mention, years ago, I would have never even gave a second thought to revamping something!

Well, I decided to give it a whirl. I haven't had this frame hanging up, I'm actually planning on hanging it either in my upstairs hallway, or in my bedroom, once I get them painted. But I thought I'd give the frame a makeover, and have it ready to hang. So I took the back off of the frame, and got to work.

There was Styrofoam that created the sunken look for the "HOME" label at the bottom of the frame. I set that aside and planned to use that later. I decided I wanted to mod podge my work. I wanted to make a collage of designs, ultimately using one color family. I used several scraps of blue printed paper. I fit them onto the board, not worrying too much about wrinkles and creases caused by the mod podge. I knew what my intentions were, and I knew you wouldn't see those blemishes later...

I fit scraps in between the letters, let me tell you, that was challenging, because I tore all the scraps, I didn't want any smooth straight-cut lines. so I had to tear pieces that would fit well around the lettering. I think it turned out ok!

I then began my picture placement. I placed to pictures, spaced from each other, directly onto the board. I angled them a bit, rather than giving the boxed, straight appeal. I layered scraps on the corners, to make them appear "framed" by the scraps.

So far so good! When adding the other two pictures, I wanted them to pop off the page, rather than being flat against the board with the others. I used squares cut from the Styrofoam, and hot glued them to the board, and glued my pictures to the Styrofoam.

Great! Now, all that's left, is to put this back into the frame! However, now that the styrofoam isn't filling the frame, I knew the glass was not going to stay in place, and I hot glued it to the frame to give it a little more stability. Then I put the back on, and...

Not too bad, if I say so myself! I think I am going to get four smaller frames, about 3 1/2 x 5's, and attach ribbon to them, and then hang them from the hooks. I can't wait to hang this on the wall!

Now, I'm wondering what else I can revamp in this house?!

Craft Wars!

Move over HGTV, we're tuning in to TLC! Tuesday night was the premiere of the new competitive reality show, "Craft Wars". And let me tell you, I can't wait until next Tuesday!

"Craft Wars" is a show where three contestants compete to win $10,000 as they create various crafty items for a panel of three judges. It's "America's Got Talent" meets Martha Stewart. 

And can I just say, I WANT THAT CRAFT CLOSET! They had everything you could possibly need or want to create any and everything you could imagine! I would get lost in there for hours! 

This show challenges master's of their crafts to think outside the box, at very high speeds! I think it gives viewers the opportunity to look at items in a whole new way, which will give them the ability to create even more fantastic masterpieces.

The first challenge was for the three contestants to make a bag for sporting equipment, using sports equipment. The women had really great ideas, and had they not been on a time limit, they could have really perfected their masterpieces. Unfortunately, the crafter that I thought had the best final product was eliminated.

The second challenge was even more complex. The two remaining crafters had to create a play house for children to play in, using school supplies. Both playhouses turned out pretty good. If you took the outside of one of them, and the inside of the other, and put them together, you'd have a great play house! 

In the end, the judges choose the best final product, and that crafter receives $10,000! 

If crafting is your hobby, I would definitely check out "Craft Wars" next Tuesday! It's definitely worth the watch!