tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59299987394959774232024-02-19T18:35:14.119-08:00Christ, Chocolate, and ChildrenThis is what I'm about. Jesus Christ is my Savior, Redeemer, and Friend. Chocolate is...well, I mean it's CHOCOLATE. And my family is just so super important to me. My children are my life. They are with me nearly 24 hours every day. I love my dear husband and wish I could spend 24 hours a day with him! Then there's my midwifing. I love it. I'm currently an apprentice and will always be a student. I love this work!Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-47183250951910048452013-12-08T07:34:00.000-08:002013-12-08T07:35:00.077-08:00Peg doll fun!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We've been busy! How about you? Our homeschool co-op had a great little Thanksgiving program. And I forgot my camera! So no photos but just know it was sweet with a handful of toddlers, preschoolers, and a few kindergartners.</div>
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We had our obligatory turkey nap at Grandpa's house.</div>
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Visited Santa at his workshop.</div>
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Fought bears.</div>
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Played in the snow.</div>
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And mostly just had a lot of family time and togetherness. And opportunities to show our individuality.</div>
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We've also between getting ready for Christmas. We're trying to focus on giving instead of what we get to receive this year. It's a though sell for kids this age, but everything takes a little practice. Yesterday, we went to the Library Station's "Holiday Store," where the big kids could spend a little allowance money on gifts for family and friends. They would even wrap the items up for the kids. Such a good experience. But kids being kids, they still wanted things for themselves. I'll let you know how the experiment works, but we already plan to do it again every year.</div>
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As for me, I love making gifts for my children. Some may need to be purchased, but there's something really special about a gift handmade by Mom. One year I made hobby horse type animals (a unicorn and a giraffe). These are still wildly popular around here. This year I found the idea for making peg dolls and I love them!</div>
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They are many for different sets of children in the family. And they all have different characters they love. Two of my girls will be receiving a set of their own and I'll probably add a doll house to at least one of them. I wanted to make a turtle van and a castle and an X-wing or something for the different sets, but I just don't have the time or energy for those right now. These are still a lot of fun anyway! My littlest caught me in the design phase and started playing with them, so I know they'll be a hit with at least one kid. ;-) The bridal set was originally all was I going to make, since my girls are really excited about weddings right now. I remember lovely weddings and brides and all, but surely I was at least 7 before all that craze, right?! Anyway, I've had a lot of fun with these! What projects are you working on?</div>
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<br />Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-24545079747606092942013-08-20T14:17:00.001-07:002013-08-20T14:17:24.730-07:00Back to Home School Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We officially started our 2013-2014 school year yesterday. What a big girl! She's been so excited to finally start kindergarten. There's not a huge difference in our routine from over the summer, except that we've added history, science, art/music, and PE, but we won't necessarily be doing all those every single day. So far, it's been going well. We're following the <a href="http://allinonehomeschool.wordpress.com/">Easy Peasy</a> curriculum still, which we both enjoy. Ms Z is doing the "Getting Ready 2" program for language arts/reading (their version of Kindergarten following the McGuffey Primer), 1st grade math, and the Year 1 elementary level program of study. Click the link above to get most of your questions answered. We'll be learning about the Egyptians for History and making connections in the Bible. Today we read about Joseph and Mary escaping Herod with Jesus to Egypt and made a pyramid and learned what they were for. We also talked about why the Egyptians would set up a civilization on the Nile River. We're building a lapbook as we learn more. For Science we're studying many things. Today we learned about what organisms need to live and learned to distinguish between living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) things. We did a little observation game where we gathered several objects, both living and non-living (and previously living) and picked them from the bag. About halfway through the game, we really got the idea of what was living (or had been living) and what was non-living. For the purpose of our discussion, we considered something made from wood as non-living, even though it was previously a tree. Here are our results. The non-living objects were a screw, a nail, some crayons, a clothespin, a block, and some rocks. The living objects were some grapes, a carrot, some leaves, some flowers, and an avocado. I considered putting a bug in the bag, but I wouldn't want to pick that up blind, so decided against it. ;)</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Some of the words in the online text are a little advanced for kindergarten, but I explain them on her level. Even if the kids don't understand everything, frequent exposure to new words and vocabulary and an inviting conversation and relationship helps them learn a lot. In math, she's been learning even/odd, skip counting by 2s, learning to write number words, and ordinal words (like first, second, third). We were doing some school work through the summer and she's really been enjoying math, so we're a bit ahead in that area. The music and art subjects are nice. Yesterday, we explored some of the "first music"--nature-- and got to use a program to make our own music compositions from animal sounds, nature sounds, instruments, and everyday sounds. We've done a bit of ballet each day, too. It's been fun and instructive and is good exercise, so we'll see how it continues for us. The girls usually stick around through the stretches and plies, then come back for some of the jumps. It's cute and I get a nice exercise. ;)</span><br />
<br />Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-76400231359802438692013-07-31T10:39:00.000-07:002013-07-31T10:49:50.971-07:00Calendar Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since we're starting up our new year next month, I decided it would be a good idea to start having calendar time. Or at least preparing for it. I searched for the perfect printable, but just couldn't find exactly what I wanted. Of course that means I had to make my own! ;) Feel free to use mine and edit it or share it around but please don't post my work on your blog. Make a link to my page, please. And sorry. I'd planned to upload the documents to google drive, but it changed my formatting. I'll work on that and see if I can upload it later.<br />
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The plan with the calendar is to color in or trace name of the month and year on the first class day of the month and color or trace the date number each day. I also want to talk about exciting things happening that week or month and put some sort of marker or sticker on the date we're looking forward to. For example, when the kids get to visit grandparents we'll put a special mark. When we're planning a field trip, we'll have a different mark. I'm hoping this will help develop an understanding of time passing.<br />
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The plan with the weather graph is to check the weather each day. We'll keep track of the weather patterns for each month and begin an understanding of making graphs. Look there! That's math AND science. I'll let you know in a few weeks how it's going!<br />
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I love homeschooling!<br />
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What are you doing to prepare for "Back to School" time?Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-20055620801885319612013-07-26T07:56:00.000-07:002013-07-30T07:43:07.980-07:00Freezer Cooking: Making a plan that works for YOUR familyDo you freezer cook? I used to try and follow someone else's plan for a month of freezer meals, but invariably had to make changes to their plan anyway. They'd either have recipes with too <strike>much unhealthy crap</strike> many processed foods or too many <strike>weird</strike> new foods for my family to try in a month. I like new foods. Don't get me wrong! But sometimes I want to sit down to an old favorite and know at least 4 of us will ENJOY it. One kid might <strike>whine</strike> grumble for a little while, but that happens no matter what we eat. So I'd end up either using only 2 of their recipes or making so many changes I might as well have made up my own plan. <br />
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Meal Starters</h3>
I've experimented, with great success, on making "meal starters" in the past. That's when you make up several packets of cooked ground beef, chopped up soup vegetables, sauces, and so on that go in the freezer. So when it's time to cook, you've already got a start and it takes less time and dishes to make dinner. This is great, especially if you KNOW you don't have time to make 18 meals in one day. It's crazy sometimes!<br />
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Double Up</h3>
Another idea I've tried successfully is to double up a recipe that I'm already making and freeze the extra for another day. It's brilliant! If you're already so short on time you can't make extra food but you already are making dinner, it takes maybe 2 extra minutes to put together the second batch of whatever since you've already prepared the ingredients for the first one. This works great for lasagna, pasta bakes, enchiladas, soups, chili, pancakes, cookies, and muffins. It's a great start. And it's helpful when you don't have much freezer space. It's still perfectly possible to do a "big cooking/freezing day" with just the freezer connected to your fridge, but it takes way more planning.<br />
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My Plan</h2>
So back to the big cooking day. I decided to just make up my own plan since I was basically doing that anyway for so long. I'm not going to post all my recipes. You probably have a favorite recipe for all or most of the family favorites I'm going to share anyway. If not, I'll post them eventually, if you ask nicely. ;) I just wanted to share my method. And, by the way, I love how this turned out. I love the food. I love that I have meals ready to go in my freezer. And I love that still have the flexibility to make dinner from scratch if that bug bites. Honestly, sometimes I LOVE to cook. But most days I'm <strike>scrambling around trying to figure out if peanut butter on crackers qualifies as a meal</strike> a little lacking in my planning. When I do plan, though, WATCH OUT! I'm gonna makes things happen!<br />
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<h3>
Make a list of family favorites</h3>
So, first step is to make a list of recipes your family likes. It helps if many of the recipes share some common ingredients, but you don't want the meals to get boring by ALWAYS having the same thing. I had a list of 10 recipes (plus the sauces I was making from scratch) and then ended up with extra chicken so I made some other meals, too. I doubled those recipes so we would have each meal twice. That makes 20+ meals. We usually have leftovers, which we eat either for a lunch or for a "leftovers night" during the week. If you're running short on ideas, consider doing what the "Food Nanny" suggests and making a theme for each day of the week. She has her own plan, but our family just does things differently. Sunday is "traditional/crockpot". Monday is "ethnic." By that we mean, it's a good night for Mexican or Asian. We might toss in Indian food at some point. We LOVE Mexican, but we also enjoy a good stir fry or sweet and sour sometimes. Tuesday I have prenatals almost all night, so we call that "Fend for Yourself" night. Mostly that means The Boy Scout makes something <strike>strange</strike> <strike>unique</strike> <strike>weird</strike> for the kids and himself while I either bring dinner or buy Qdoba while I'm at the office. Wednesday is "Italian." My husband would eat pasta for every meal, I think, if it were up to him. I'm not kidding. He has made some fantastic breakfast pasta, even. Thursday we have fish. Partly because we like fish and want to eat more of it and partly because a friend told The Boy Scout that eating fish twice a week will help with his cholesterol numbers. The other meal is usually tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. Friday we either grill out or have soup (or go out to eat on the oh so rare occasion). We're thinking if it's too cold to grill, we want to have soup anyway. Saturday is for comfort foods. Some of our favorites are stroganoff, gumbo, and jambalaya. We ARE southerners, after all. ;) When I plan my weekly shopping trips, I plan on 6 meals plus lunches and breakfasts then write out all the ingredients I need for those recipes, adding those on my shopping list I don't already have stocked up. My "shopping list book" has a long list of meals our family EVER eats. You might consider something like this.<br />
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Make a list of recipes you want to make this month</h3>
Consult your long list and pick what you want to make this time. Some foods freeze better than others. Some shouldn't be frozen at all. Some need to be frozen before cooked. Some need to be prepared then frozen. It'll take a little research and experimenting to figure out what works for your recipes, but it's worth it for the money saved and the hassle gone. Anyway, here's my list for this time: beef/turkey (red sauce) enchiladas, chicken (white sauce) enchiladas, Taco soup, cheeseburger soup, broccoli-cheese casserole, lasagna, stroganoff, chili, cabbage rolls, and meatballs. Notice how some of these contain VERY similar ingredients? It's planned that way. I also made my own spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce for these recipes. These are just the recipes I wanted to put together. We also have fish every week, but I didn't need to prepare it in any way. If you like marinated steaks or chicken breasts, those count as meals, too but all you have to do it dump the ingredients in a bag and freeze them. :)<br />
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<h3>
Make a list of ingredients</h3>
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Calculate how much you'll need for all the recipes. If your one recipe says you need 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and you're making a double batch, you should buy a new container of parmesan, since the opened container in your fridge probably doesn't have enough for both recipes. It's really frustrating to run to the store (or deal with substitutions) when in the middle of cooking all this food. The same goes for seasonings. Chili always requires more chili powder than I think it does. I've started buying it in bulk, too. In general, it's better to buy too much ingredients than not enough. You can always freeze the extras. Consider containers, too. I buy the 10 x 12 foil pans and lids from Sam's. These freeze nicely, bake nicely, and have perfectly smooth lids for writing on. Some people like to print labels. I like to use my permanent marker. You may want quart and gallon size freezer bags. It's worth spending extra on the name brand bags. Trust me. Or learn the hard way. Hard plastic containers are also nice since there's less waste. I pick mine up from Aldi when the come in. I think the brand is Sterilite, or something like that. I love them. They are freezer, microwave, and top-rack dishwasher "safe." Plus they have a little vent you can open when microwaving. You'll find the right containers for your meals.</div>
<h3>
Buy in bulk</h3>
Buying items in bulk is a huge money saver. Buying those 5# bags of cheese from Sam's club saves at least 25%, even from the sales prices. Buying those big #10 cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce saved me over 50%. Bonus: I was trying to save money by reducing the amount of beef I bought. Some recipes HAD to have fresh ground beef or turkey because they were meatballs or whatever. Some recipes could be completely substituted with a meat replacement like beans/rice. Some recipes really needed to contain some amount of meat just so we wouldn't feel deprived. So when I went to Sam's Club to purchase my meat, I couldn't bring myself to buy the huge chub of beef they had at $30+ and they didn't have turkey in stock. I went to Aldi next since their frozen turkey is so cheap and their fresh beef isn't extraordinarily expensive. Here's the bonus. In the fresh meat section, they had fresh turkey and fresh beef chuck but at almost the same price. The also had fresh sirloin that needed cooked by the next day (my cooking day!) with a "$2 off per package" sticker. This made the sirloin cheaper then the turkey! I bought 6 lbs. Happy dance time! <br />
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I also usually buy two whole chickens that I cook in the crockpot or roaster oven, depending on the time I have available. I use the meat from one chicken in my recipes to freeze and save the meat from the other for meals to make "from scratch." Depending on my plans I'll either fridge or freeze it.<br />
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Plan to spend ALL day cooking</h3>
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Planning means you have something for the kids to do, like a babysitter or a new activity that will keep them out of your hair. It also means you make any early preparations the night before. Have a clean kitchen. Crockpot your chicken or beans or whatever overnight. Have all the vegetables chopped up and ready to go. Make sure you have easy snacks/lunches available to keep everyone fed and not cranky. When you wake up in the morning, have a good healthy but fast breakfast and then get going. It's not a race, but if you're still putting dinners together well after you wanted to stop for dinner, you're going to wish you'd gotten up earlier. Expect to wash the same mixing bowls 3 or 4 times in the day. It's just going to happen, so plan on it. Clean up in between so it's less of a mess at the end of the day. Also, have flat surfaces to prepare on, to cool foods on, and to hold foods between steps on. I used my dining table and the top of my freezer for these. You don't want to put hot foods in your deep freeze. It just has to work harder to cool and then thaws some of your foods. A final thought: do NOT plan your shopping and cooking day as the same day. You CAN plan on prepping on your shopping day, but you don't have to.</div>
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<h3>
Make Like Foods at the Same Time</h3>
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I love my cabbage roll recipe. When I make cabbage rolls, I always quadruple the meat portion and make half of those into meatballs. Then I make 2 batches of cabbage rolls and 2 batches of meatballs. I cook all the ground meat either the night before or the first thing in the morning. Then I make my spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce, then put together enchiladas, taco soup, chili and lasagna (or make the sauces the night before and assemble cold ingredients in the morning).</div>
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<h3>
Here's How I Planned My Cooking Day</h3>
<div>
Night Before </div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Set chickens to cook overnight in crockpot.</li>
<li>Set chili beans to cook overnight in crockpot. (I made my from dried beans instead of buying cans.)</li>
<li>Chop all vegetables</li>
<li>Brown 10# of turkey/beef/meat substitute</li>
</ol>
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Cooking Day</div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Combine taco soup ingredients and freeze.</li>
<li>Combine chili ingredients and freeze.</li>
<li>Make spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce.</li>
<li>Make lasagnas and freeze.</li>
<li>Make beef enchiladas and freeze.</li>
<li>Make chicken enchiladas and freeze.</li>
<li>Make broccoli cheddar casserole and freeze.</li>
<li>Make cheeseburger soup and freeze half. Save other half for lunch today.</li>
<li>Make up stroganoff sauce and freeze.</li>
<li>Make up 4 lbs of cabbage roll meat.</li>
<li>Make half ^ into cabbage rolls and freeze. </li>
<li>Add Italian seasoning to other half and make into meatballs.</li>
<li>Bake meatballs in muffin tins. Cool and freeze.</li>
</ol>
</div>
It happened mostly the way I planned, except that I had to cook the chickens in my roaster oven since my crockpot was no where near big enough for two chickens. I forgot this as I usually cook one for "cooking day" and one on Sunday for my "traditional meal" night. So those were cooking in the morning while I prepared other recipes. I also ended up making the meatballs and cabbage rolls first instead of last, but I still made them together which was the point. We ended up having cheeseburger soup for dinner instead of lunch. For lunch we made up sandwiches and pressed on. Many people plan on ordering pizza the night they cook big meals, but I think that defeats a purpose. Do what works for your family.<br />
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Note: Sorry for no photos. I'll add them later. I didn't take ANY pictures while cooking, even though I KNEW I should have. But this gets you started if you're looking for a way to do a "Freezer Cooking Day."<br />
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Edit: I forgot to mention that in addition to the meals I made above, I also bought fish for a couple weeks, ingredients to make a family favorite that doesn't freeze well, and enough stir fry vegetables for two meals. We keep a decent store of foods in the house, so we fill in the empty places with other meals.Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-4559999752648857192013-07-25T13:37:00.000-07:002013-07-25T13:38:28.475-07:00Pioneer Day Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yyUyBwZrUf2DQ2wJK8QKeokmRFvppKm6es2OoZZ6ZGwa1IZrFU8e1qxoj3mrvBU7vasMNSplD8i6u9dczdPEn-ALzvqU1W31ucd4AvUCfskbEzL9R-TnNHWv6BpWV__YKe6Y9-4D93Me/s1600/Ferguson+Schoolhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yyUyBwZrUf2DQ2wJK8QKeokmRFvppKm6es2OoZZ6ZGwa1IZrFU8e1qxoj3mrvBU7vasMNSplD8i6u9dczdPEn-ALzvqU1W31ucd4AvUCfskbEzL9R-TnNHWv6BpWV__YKe6Y9-4D93Me/s200/Ferguson+Schoolhouse.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Our co-op got together today to celebrate the pioneers. For those who don't know, July 24th is Pioneer Day. It celebrates the day the first group of Latter-Day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847. In Utah, it is a HUGE celebration, perhaps rivaling Independence Day celebrations. But around here in Missouri, it's only observed by the few LDS who make a point to celebrate it. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdOujE8woFiS0dgeLnk448TCRp9qnLG_01dl-6rC2qF1UM30yk31lsE9XmxfPuiIFKMtI_3TAgAH_1tvkBPr6Lu4kiyFL05n-zH5K3fX8tHtxvfHYB2KyK62gclkIgmQTufP-F4Az_5kQ/s1600/pioneer+children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdOujE8woFiS0dgeLnk448TCRp9qnLG_01dl-6rC2qF1UM30yk31lsE9XmxfPuiIFKMtI_3TAgAH_1tvkBPr6Lu4kiyFL05n-zH5K3fX8tHtxvfHYB2KyK62gclkIgmQTufP-F4Az_5kQ/s400/pioneer+children.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids posed for a picture at our Pioneer Day picnic.</td></tr>
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We didn't do anything huge, but we wanted to introduce the children to some of our history. Mostly we sang pioneer songs, like "<a href="http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/pioneer-children-sang-as-they-walked?lang=eng">Pioneer Children</a>" and played some pioneer-style games, like "tug of war" and "jumping rope." We also enjoyed some really tasty foods the pioneers had eaten. We had potato cakes with ketchup and Swiss Apple-Cherry pie. Yum! You can find the recipes for them <a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/07/a-melting-pot-of-pioneer-recipes?lang=eng">here</a>, if you want to try for yourself. Another friend made up a recipe she found in Nauvoo for Haymaker's Switchel, a pioneer version of Gatorade. Apparently, when the pioneers would go work in the field they would take some of this drink to stay hydrated. I agree it would do the job! It was a sort of ginger root tea flavored with molasses, lemon juice, and vinegar. Two out of my three girls slurped it down. And I thought it was pretty good, too. A bit like a "real" ginger ale. </div>
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I tried to make some ice cream by following <a href="http://media-cache-ec3.pinimg.com/originals/1e/e0/90/1ee090d98d0e27353a832bc90b4d7a55.jpg">this </a>recipe, but the bag started to leak and we just poured the cold and sweetened half and half over our pie. :) That'll teach me to try things out BEFORE showing them to the kids! They were so excited about my promised ice cream that we had to have a cone when we got back from the park. We spent the rest of our morning chatting and playing in the park. It was such a gorgeous day we couldn't let it go to waste!</div>
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Coming soon: NOT Back to School Party! What would you do to celebrate homeschooling?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqyh_Gu3W_6e7NMK2i4hHDDVvVLfLx2T8ZhYqqIYEUrHfhs4kqEE77Z0oaoLvtlFcBTKU8xY6yc2SGzDVTyRaMSGHQH0Btp2KXqS9DmQs4zoL9qKTcR9Bw6uoWAuZa32Qu2rdrDZVeJEi/s1600/bouncyatpark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqyh_Gu3W_6e7NMK2i4hHDDVvVLfLx2T8ZhYqqIYEUrHfhs4kqEE77Z0oaoLvtlFcBTKU8xY6yc2SGzDVTyRaMSGHQH0Btp2KXqS9DmQs4zoL9qKTcR9Bw6uoWAuZa32Qu2rdrDZVeJEi/s320/bouncyatpark.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My girls playing while waiting for our friends.</td></tr>
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<br />Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-4832341490991501542013-07-17T13:19:00.000-07:002013-07-17T13:19:41.114-07:00Tree Ring AnalogyHave you missed me? Well I've been contemplating the words in <a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/of-things-that-matter-most?lang=eng" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">this talk</a> by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf entitled "Of Things That Matter Most."<br />
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He starts with this wonderful observation.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It's remarkable how much we can learn about life by studying nature. For example, scientists can look at the rings of trees and make educated guesses about climate and growing conditions hundreds and even thousands of years ago. One of the things we learn from studying the growth of trees is that during seasons when conditions are ideal, trees grow at a normal rate. However, during seasons when growing conditions are not ideal, trees slow down their growth and devote their energy to the basic elements necessary for survival.</blockquote>
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Nothing really huge has been going on in our lives, but there have been a lot of little things. I've had to slow down and devote my energy to the basic elements necessary for survival. I call this "survival mode." It's no big deal. Most everyone, at some time in their lives, finds the wisdom in going into a survival mode. We've been catching up on rest, eating simple meals, enjoying family time together, learning new things, re-enjoying old favorites, working on talents, and thinking on the future. We just cut back on many extras like blogging, excessive social media time, shopping, and too many extracurricular activities for a little bit. We "unplug" everyday for at least an hour or two. This sounds pathetic, but since we do most of our homeschooling online, we enjoy listening to streaming music, and much of our communication happens using some form of electronic device, you can probably understand. This time allows us to focus on more important things like enjoying our family relationships and developing talents or skills.<br />
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Have you ever gone into "survival mode"? What gets axed first?<br />
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Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-47382007344163907532013-07-04T08:27:00.001-07:002013-07-04T08:27:50.767-07:00Celebrating America and Learning about Independence Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We met with our co-op last week to learn about Independence Day. We started out by reading a few books.<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=chrchoandchi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00BJBFOXW" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
<a asin="B00BJBFOXW" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5929998739495977423" type="amzn">George Washington's Breakfast</a> was a great way to learn some interesting facts about our first president through a story. Then we got to eat some of George Washington's breakfast! If you don't know what it was, I won't ruin it for you. Wink, wink. (So sorry I didn't take photos, though!)<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Later, we read a little about from </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5929998739495977423" search="Joining the Boston Tea Party" style="text-align: center;" type="amzn">Joining the Boston Tea Party</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">to learn about what life was like for the colonists and why they would start a revolution against Great Britain. The kids got to start coloring their Boston Tea Party </span><a href="http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/boston_tea_party.shtml" style="text-align: center;">lapbooks</a><span style="text-align: center;">, which in retrospect were a little advanced for them, while I told a condensed version of the story.</span><br />
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Last, we made our own American flags and had a parade! After the parade we ate some great snacks then played in the library's children's area. We love homeschooling! Today we're reading the <a href="http://constitutionus.com/">preamble to the US Constitution.</a> We figure that's about as much as they can handle in one sitting, but it's so very important to understand. Tonight we're going to join some friends in celebrating our country's independence. <br />
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What are you doing to celebrate our country's independence?Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-59616094219264325432013-06-22T09:51:00.001-07:002013-06-22T09:51:43.289-07:00Digging at the Dinosaur Museum!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtWPBB4reGSL4ajYP8NKcuEhec2U1yTTAh3-FMnw81IncJsceeFDkztci5-jfSDZYMiAAl7YKlePNEIKdJYZMdltVE8NpmwKZQ-6q8i8UHVolsgKrOTZVc2-Swz7yD-HCM-3y_khtTMz-/s1600/Ferguson+Schoolhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtWPBB4reGSL4ajYP8NKcuEhec2U1yTTAh3-FMnw81IncJsceeFDkztci5-jfSDZYMiAAl7YKlePNEIKdJYZMdltVE8NpmwKZQ-6q8i8UHVolsgKrOTZVc2-Swz7yD-HCM-3y_khtTMz-/s320/Ferguson+Schoolhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We visited the Missouri Institute of Natural Science Tuesday and got to dig for fossils! Real ones! We started out in the museum and looked at our favorite exhibits again. Then moved to the ice block table. Dinosaurs were frozen in a big chunk of ice and the children learned how researchers have to slowly removing rock or ice or dirt from fossils so they can be removed in one piece. They showed this by allowing the children to put warm water one drop at a time on the dinosaur toys until they FINALLY came out. Some kids didn't even get one out in their time. Sometimes researchers have to pass on the responsibility, too. Good lesson here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjvMWYD_AAf8lO99F6dU4uwcaHLu7smz2s9V5PwrfmduqMjR9Suic-kChSiQjXxKKqssIMg-gXkqLBQyvDaHu0-MXkrVbBWnUMo86yLu3dJJEvnLh4x78PDGMJxy-tv7BNh0pzE0uCXDD/s1600/iceblockdinos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjvMWYD_AAf8lO99F6dU4uwcaHLu7smz2s9V5PwrfmduqMjR9Suic-kChSiQjXxKKqssIMg-gXkqLBQyvDaHu0-MXkrVbBWnUMo86yLu3dJJEvnLh4x78PDGMJxy-tv7BNh0pzE0uCXDD/s320/iceblockdinos.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzMjpaY5D2IDJ1l3GohbxZm3xwK9L_LM0n1c3RW1QPn_UnSdNl2pOSoQ5tcZHyurWYFMKwUgVD3pFxnxIrvDNOPgVa2IErqInS5bHmdTE5XovdPpuO9r1OVoBi1Rfa6TzOQEqD5lZJ6m8/s1600/crinoid+fossils+in+rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzMjpaY5D2IDJ1l3GohbxZm3xwK9L_LM0n1c3RW1QPn_UnSdNl2pOSoQ5tcZHyurWYFMKwUgVD3pFxnxIrvDNOPgVa2IErqInS5bHmdTE5XovdPpuO9r1OVoBi1Rfa6TzOQEqD5lZJ6m8/s320/crinoid+fossils+in+rock.jpg" width="320" /></a>Next, the researchers showed us some real fossils that are found in Missouri. These are called crinoids. They told us that crinoids are underwater animals that look like plants, much like coral. The segments we find are the stalk of the plant-like animal. Click <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoid">here</a> to learn more about the crinoid. Then we went for a short walk up the hill to find our own crinoids. Can you see them here? The black arrows are pointing at the donut shaped crinoid fossils in the rock. This is evidence that Missouri used to be underwater!<br />
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Next, we set to work. Here's my little paleontologist on the hunt for her own crinoid fossils. We got quite a good collection. We even found a rock that looks a lot like a seashell.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxMJc0CxJwGcgTGbgTGyHLE8s0bIJqW-Yfzvr3ToFuthLA10xfTLo5ej3kKB_vdWJhyphenhyphenszKuG6ymde99CKR8bFYUO3GWR6gboV4pVz5W0U07X61mf05zZFo06jzk3_HobEi1maBAwkfRN4/s1600/kids+at+dino+museum+K+mad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxMJc0CxJwGcgTGbgTGyHLE8s0bIJqW-Yfzvr3ToFuthLA10xfTLo5ej3kKB_vdWJhyphenhyphenszKuG6ymde99CKR8bFYUO3GWR6gboV4pVz5W0U07X61mf05zZFo06jzk3_HobEi1maBAwkfRN4/s320/kids+at+dino+museum+K+mad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids on the fossil rock at the "Dino Museum."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7eiRJZ7oQOdFh897hhMaIp1dq9Vyc2KrKBiop21T-tfLd-NxQnEGLbDxkuVoqMl5OIWgfH7us4G08QGFYtLYA9zi7Hyyf78tIcG46h4MysRPGYprhpmxqpKVau7UscSkhg9XfKEeIWsvC/s1600/fossil+hunt+erased+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7eiRJZ7oQOdFh897hhMaIp1dq9Vyc2KrKBiop21T-tfLd-NxQnEGLbDxkuVoqMl5OIWgfH7us4G08QGFYtLYA9zi7Hyyf78tIcG46h4MysRPGYprhpmxqpKVau7UscSkhg9XfKEeIWsvC/s320/fossil+hunt+erased+girl.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wandering around after our "dig."</td></tr>
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After we found our fossils we took a look around at what activities the library had for us. Ms K really enjoyed the Alphabet dig. <span style="text-align: center;"> She found quite a few letters!</span><br />
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Ms Z made a rubbing of a leaf that looked a lot like how fossil would look. All the kids enjoyed reading some dinosaur and ice age related books, making their own stegosaurus with a model and clothespins, and playing with clay and models to make foot prints and impressions just like fossils. We had a great time and learned so much! What fun things are you up to lately?</div>
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<br />Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-168518729848216202013-06-20T16:36:00.000-07:002013-06-20T18:29:57.804-07:00Field Trip Shirts and ID cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9F7Ci5Gyx9tBZGowt1H_8ELDvbqaJOOrExO4exCfceR0kz2cOFQZOBqr90sMAPie2dVgtEuDChHZ0UOVDQkciMjwdXg5cwFphd08HNAZ0e5IDc4w391zErszY23jqa4Xh4_iNeVENql5/s1600/Ferguson+Schoolhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9F7Ci5Gyx9tBZGowt1H_8ELDvbqaJOOrExO4exCfceR0kz2cOFQZOBqr90sMAPie2dVgtEuDChHZ0UOVDQkciMjwdXg5cwFphd08HNAZ0e5IDc4w391zErszY23jqa4Xh4_iNeVENql5/s320/Ferguson+Schoolhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1iFXkjIF9cNWSlyI4d2nWQc1nR2P-PAuFJgJvFyOJhQIF866m99yGcyYyxV-lXKP_GQp1r9cvcbQbXyznhYBgrQc_s1_qzdsW6EBNngdETlpP6l5v1zDBPVcEFrf2ijLPFluFl3Cp_8D/s1600/shirt+stencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1iFXkjIF9cNWSlyI4d2nWQc1nR2P-PAuFJgJvFyOJhQIF866m99yGcyYyxV-lXKP_GQp1r9cvcbQbXyznhYBgrQc_s1_qzdsW6EBNngdETlpP6l5v1zDBPVcEFrf2ijLPFluFl3Cp_8D/s320/shirt+stencil.jpg" title="Stencil cutout" width="320" /></a>Thursday is our co-op day. Since it's summer time, we expect to do even more field trips. One day on a field trip this year, it occurred to me I couldn't remember exactly what my children were wearing. What if they got lost?! It was a pretty busy day at the zoo that day and completely possible, but a lot of the children there were in large school groups with matching shirts. So I've been thinking on this idea for some time. If we had matching shirts, I could easily see my kids from a distance and could describe what they were wearing if we still managed to be separated. My sister-in-law has a cutting machine so we designed our school shirts, cut out the stencils, and painted the shirts. The kids had a nice time finger painting, too. Ms A wasn't in to it and I was, frankly, afraid to let Ms K have a try. But Ms Z enjoyed exploring paint possibilities. We just used the craft paint since we had quite a stash to explore with. And it washed off their hands easily.</div>
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I think the shirts turned out nicely. Each kid has the same front. The back has their initial pretty large on the back and their hand prints, for those who didn't mind touching the paint. I look forward to calling to the kids "Put on your field trip shirts!" and seeing the look of wonder at what adventures we would go on today. :) Bonus: I bought 5 shirts for about $8 and only used 3. I already had the paint and my sister-in-law already had her cutter and paper. That means this craft cost me about $2 per shirt and I have 2 extras! Whoot!<br />
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Said sister-in-law also has Adobe Photoshop, so we designed some pretty swanky ID cards. The QR code goes straight to our website, in case there's ever question about the validity of our school, and it lends a certain professionalism to them, I think. We'll update cards and photos each year, probably in the summer so there's little rush and excellent opportunities. Feel free to copy our design. The black bars are for privacy of our information. We had such a tough time finding a free download for a Photoshop compatible template that we designed our own. We had to leave her house before we could finish making a generic template, but once we can, I'll post it here for anyone else who wants one with all the layers editable. We plan to order these cards as photo prints and laminate them for protection. In case you don't know, ID cards are great for getting discounts at museums, movie theaters, and more. If you bring in your report cards, many companies offer free or discounted items for As each semester/term. The cards serve as identification for obtaining your own library card. There are probably other advantages to making your own identification cards for your homeschool, but these are a few that come to mind. Bonus: I ordered these from Walgreens for about 21 cents each! Extra whoot! What do you think? Do you have "official" t-shirts or ID cards?<br />
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<br />Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-5875421483864201252013-06-16T07:35:00.002-07:002013-06-20T16:40:03.160-07:00Happy Father's Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0nzo1JeRfVE0uc1GmUBBXpzMELqEbClYmnHdyfDScPsiFaOIKEbXmCJtEQ_2JNRNe-pmJ5jQmC5ZEsVtTB8w-oRpjGUFRZY3hjpNczBXMgv3CWAyB82aDO9iiin3rRT_uhDLs8KAdHxo/s1600/Crystal+at+park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0nzo1JeRfVE0uc1GmUBBXpzMELqEbClYmnHdyfDScPsiFaOIKEbXmCJtEQ_2JNRNe-pmJ5jQmC5ZEsVtTB8w-oRpjGUFRZY3hjpNczBXMgv3CWAyB82aDO9iiin3rRT_uhDLs8KAdHxo/s1600/Crystal+at+park.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a></div>
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We sure love our Daddy! The Boy Scout is quite a man. He works so hard at work then comes home and takes care of things around here, too. He is so supportive of my work in midwifery. It's my passion and he has so much patience for the strange hours required. He loves to play with the girls. They are his biggest fans. Many times he has commented how he feels like a rock star when he comes home. "Daddy!" is the battle cry while the mobs charge forth to hug him. He is one fantastic cook! There are a few things he makes extremely well. We call him the "Master of Leftover Masterpieces." I like to cook so that we have leftovers and he makes them over into something completely different and wonderful. For these and many more reasons we wanted to do something special for him, so we went to the park on a gorgeous day with a good friend and my sister-in-law, a very talented amateur photographer. The kids had a lovely time and we caught some great photos. And these were just taken on a camera phone! Can you believe it?! Anyway, she did great. Then we asked the girls questions about "Daddy" and added them to the collage. Round it out with chocolate candies and breakfast in bed and he thought this was quite a wonderful morning. :) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bonus: Walgreens was running a free 8x10 collage print! I should have shared that with you all, but I blanked out, so apologies! But I totally took advantage of that and also made a smaller collage of all of us that he could keep in his wallet.</div>
Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-8142612850804966782013-06-03T06:13:00.000-07:002013-06-03T06:13:00.233-07:00For Peace At Home<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Have you ever had a hectic day? Maybe the children have been at each other's throats all day. Or perhaps the day started out with stress. Maybe you went off track a little today, made some poor choices, and are now regretting them. Of course you want to have peace in your home! But how can you invite that peace back? Our family has been experimenting with "resets." We return to the important starts of our days. Our day is "supposed" to start with prayer and scripture study and perhaps a song or two. Some days we do this and still have a hectic day. More often, we forget and have a pretty tough time. When I notice we're having a tough moment, I call for a reset. Everyone comes to the living room or wherever most of us are, we turn off technology, and we return to our Father. We often start with a prayer, but sometimes we need a song to draw in the Holy Spirit first. Then we find a scripture to read together. Most of the time, we find a good teaching moment here. We once again feel the peace of the Spirit. We pray for more guidance in our day. As we have practiced this "reset" idea, we have been doing better about starting our day out the right way, but we also have gotten better about resetting our days in the right way. Our Heavenly Father is waiting for us to speak to Him. He has answers for us, if we'll only turn to Him. Our homes can be temples to the Lord. As we practice these little things, they can grow our faith and our testimonies. As we center our life on Christ, we can have true peace and happiness. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Simple consistent good habits lead to happiness. Are we perfect at this? Of course not! And we <i>still</i> have tough days where <i>no one</i> remembers we need a reset. But we're trying and this is helping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Where did I find this idea? Well, it's been evolving for some time, but a part of it came from Elder Richard G Scott's talk in the April 2013 General Conference "For Peace at Home." He begins his talk with these words (emphasis added):</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Many voices from the world in which we live tell us we should live at a frantic pace. There is always more to do and more to accomplish. Yet deep inside each of us is a need to have a place of refuge where peace and serenity prevail, a place where we can <i>reset</i>, regroup, and re-energize to prepare for future pressures. </span><i>The ideal place for that peace is within the walls of our own homes, where we have done all we can to make the Lord Jesus Christ the centerpiece.</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He tells us that parents are not the only responsible party here. Children can be taught to help keep the peace in the home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Children who are made to feel accountable for their actions...grow to be trustworthy citizens in the kingdom of God.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He also encourages us to be wise in our use of technology. The fact that we can communicate instantaneously with anyone in the world through the internet is amazing. We can find answers to many worldly questions, connect with loved ones, and study the scriptures and other important works. But it can also be a source of filth and distraction. We should be very careful about what we allow into our homes and what we allow to take our attention away from the most important job we can have: helping our children grow up in righteousness. I know I've been struggling to find a balance. We need "free time" just as much as our children do. But our children also need times of our undivided attention. They need to experience all the beauty that life can offer and they need us to guide them in those experiences. We need to get out more. We need to get down on the floor with them more. We need to talk <i>with</i> them and not only <i>to</i> them. We need to focus our lives in service to others. The internet can be a great tool to organize and research. But don't allow this tool to use you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On that note, I'll leave you to read or watch Elder Scott's talk yourself, while I take my children out to experience this world, after we start our day right, of course. ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Read, listen to, or watch his full </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">talk </span><a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/for-peace-at-home?lang=eng" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-82373039051039021302013-05-31T07:47:00.000-07:002013-05-31T07:47:00.270-07:00Mmm. GranolaWe are granola freaks around here. Well, I am actually. The kids put up with it when there's nothing else around. I eat it with yogurt, kefir, milk, ice cream, as trail mix, whatever! Love it, love it, love it. And it's so easy to make, I don't know why people would want to buy it. Hmmm, maybe I should start SELLING mine! Anyway, sidetracked. I've tried out different recipes over the years, tweaking them until I've found my favorite. And I may still tweak it again. And, of course, sometimes it's just nice to have a different flavor or variety. As with so many other recipes, I like a basic formula that I can adjust to my mood. You can easily use a different nut, type of oil, or use maple flavor instead of vanilla extract. Today, I'll share the recipe I made this morning.<br />
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Excuse me while I rescue my 16 month old daughter from the bunk bed. She literally climbed the ladder herself and then, when she saw me, she climbed back down. This is just plain scary! But look how pleased she is with herself!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81jd-DKlE0pUQDz87JjiyrB-hwvbkwvG2jjaWjTsxlA7JjKj1Whgg4Vh0joTVZiC1BTGufKXCHUO6rxAOEI1LLol9aXE_13QAboJcq_ck7LPEnLOdbWYc6UStAD0wUO0G0OLEpD14QjVP/s1600/Kclimber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81jd-DKlE0pUQDz87JjiyrB-hwvbkwvG2jjaWjTsxlA7JjKj1Whgg4Vh0joTVZiC1BTGufKXCHUO6rxAOEI1LLol9aXE_13QAboJcq_ck7LPEnLOdbWYc6UStAD0wUO0G0OLEpD14QjVP/s400/Kclimber.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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Anyway, here's the recipe.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8MpJj5ffYcjNBlevMEz5uCLhwvzb6k9x1NZuvEgeEq9ABtYz9qCy2eNf2-U0tWQnjTZoa1qFrh8_h5oDrfV3OfLYwFHv736aWnsdAicINibFmpYjWS3_sQQICgUe_RavUSzWk_3KNWI5/s1600/granoladry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8MpJj5ffYcjNBlevMEz5uCLhwvzb6k9x1NZuvEgeEq9ABtYz9qCy2eNf2-U0tWQnjTZoa1qFrh8_h5oDrfV3OfLYwFHv736aWnsdAicINibFmpYjWS3_sQQICgUe_RavUSzWk_3KNWI5/s320/granoladry.jpg" width="320" /></a>Granola</h3>
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Preheat oven to 275F</div>
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Combine in a large bowl:</div>
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6 cups old-fashioned oats</div>
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1/2 cup wheat germ</div>
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2 Tbsp brown sugar</div>
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1/4 tsp salt</div>
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2/3 cup pecans</div>
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2/3 cup coconut</div>
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2 Tbsp ground flax, optional</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUO3Av0GDQOf1G3kPl34l_H9lElGVq3_yXBxyFa_kGymblUnDBVZE7BDwiQwqz9T2F-gwouUwhLtCiWGtbeJNW9RTQ00h3y_ihUcPz2UMpns1BczW3WCPstkWs_uMTfM6mloewJlpuKa-v/s1600/granolaliquid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUO3Av0GDQOf1G3kPl34l_H9lElGVq3_yXBxyFa_kGymblUnDBVZE7BDwiQwqz9T2F-gwouUwhLtCiWGtbeJNW9RTQ00h3y_ihUcPz2UMpns1BczW3WCPstkWs_uMTfM6mloewJlpuKa-v/s320/granolaliquid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwqHflr6jBBWgyFTIHYCoRcZJpmM1fvPFcr8yUAJjfxp3SOgsX-WMO0ewkpgvqQMLII-Bva-zRb-h6eSTt_jjc9BRP1Mm0vzyoGPHY8AKaruQcvaEiirX4rxtq21nfKEruBvmq6U3oWHz/s1600/granolacomplete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwqHflr6jBBWgyFTIHYCoRcZJpmM1fvPFcr8yUAJjfxp3SOgsX-WMO0ewkpgvqQMLII-Bva-zRb-h6eSTt_jjc9BRP1Mm0vzyoGPHY8AKaruQcvaEiirX4rxtq21nfKEruBvmq6U3oWHz/s320/granolacomplete.jpg" width="320" /></a>In a medium saucepan combine and heat to a simmer:</div>
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2-3 Tbsp real maple syrup</div>
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2 Tbsp molasses</div>
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3 Tbsp <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/wonderful-uses-and-benefits-of-coconut.html">coconut oil</a></div>
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1 Tbsp water</div>
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1 tsp vanilla extract</div>
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1/2 tsp cinnamon</div>
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Drizzle the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir well to combine. Place on two large ungreased baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes. Stir then bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in 2/3 cup raisins. I just put mine back into the bowl I used earlier. Allow to cool completely then store in airtight container. </div>
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Mmmm. If you want to make this a trail mix, add in some dried bananas, sunflower seeds, coated chocolate candies, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and/or peanuts. So good! We took it with us on our camp out with some peanuts and chocolate covered raisins mixed in. :D<br />
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Last chance for my <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-collageitpro-review.html">giveaway</a>!</div>
Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-81244204109133160712013-05-29T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-29T07:00:01.564-07:00My weekend away<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODj4vU6Z2Aw0OOTFn67MHekz0T4Jsw_wRYcdFsRuTps0xTyyAw8me79iZYXaQe3aIqH0I3lwLFsQz3h4WLqPzYCKYPET1KBfxX1NZ53dPyjv8dmb3lNf0mFT4182wnywobLwxgJ-7d74M/s1600/lostcabins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODj4vU6Z2Aw0OOTFn67MHekz0T4Jsw_wRYcdFsRuTps0xTyyAw8me79iZYXaQe3aIqH0I3lwLFsQz3h4WLqPzYCKYPET1KBfxX1NZ53dPyjv8dmb3lNf0mFT4182wnywobLwxgJ-7d74M/s320/lostcabins.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
My darling husband knows me very well. Some days he's fairly clueless, like many men we love, but when it came to celebrating 6 years together, he did remarkable. His plan was to surprise me with a weekend away at the beach, camping. It didn't come out exactly that way, but it was pretty close. He arranged for my parents to watch our 3 girls ages 16 months to almost 5 years and then took me deep into the quiet Mark Twain National Forest. We camped at this camping "resort," which basically means it's slightly pampered camping. You could pay for the cabins, which we don't consider camping, or you could camp in the field with a fire pit, picnic table, and free firewood. A quick walk away is a covered pavilion with washing sink, next to the bathroom and shower house. Another quick walk brings you to the trading post, stocked with such necessities as sunglasses, bug spray, lighters, water shoes, and medicines. They even have small packages of cornmeal, oil, and flour if you forgot food. And of course ice and candy bars. ;) It was a true vacation for us, since we usually camp as primitively as possible: digging latrines, searching for firewood, and eating whatever camp-worthy food we could manage.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45BZLflhktLkGVbB7i4n5e9EycZ5e9-P4OosKirr4r4r1FAgzFvkHk4M2RUDZOy-BdNEtAtQl6h_d9Er2R8-q3hL6OZVy6UYb16-DdGjTSpfx2AsuFSFb97r3nQ7BfupIjzS_T1GLerlM/s1600/lcr+campsite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45BZLflhktLkGVbB7i4n5e9EycZ5e9-P4OosKirr4r4r1FAgzFvkHk4M2RUDZOy-BdNEtAtQl6h_d9Er2R8-q3hL6OZVy6UYb16-DdGjTSpfx2AsuFSFb97r3nQ7BfupIjzS_T1GLerlM/s320/lcr+campsite.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our "pampered campsite"</td></tr>
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Do you like our tent? We were so geeked-out over finding a canvas tent with attached floors, zippered windows, and a true double door at a yard sale. We got it for a STEAL of only $15! These things retail at over a thousand. It needs a little love, but it's still excellent and huge. It sleeps 8 and is tall enough for my 6'1" Boy Scout to stand up and can still reach his arms up. We hate changing clothes in a 4' tall tent!<br />
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We loved just sitting in those chairs and listening to nothing but birds, watching squirrels going through the woods, and taking in all of God's beauty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4ksZfUm_sx0fh1CSLW-S2p0LGHPCf7W7sNWoFzi6Yi1iMc2Y1W3koTbX-o_r3W82Ps3OLXzDvUkad0XYdb6rRR4mSpjgfLhFn8MHVtP7DY6maf95XMeohwKhX2Rh5xJkl8Ax61P9sxPD/s1600/lcr+camp+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4ksZfUm_sx0fh1CSLW-S2p0LGHPCf7W7sNWoFzi6Yi1iMc2Y1W3koTbX-o_r3W82Ps3OLXzDvUkad0XYdb6rRR4mSpjgfLhFn8MHVtP7DY6maf95XMeohwKhX2Rh5xJkl8Ax61P9sxPD/s320/lcr+camp+view.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from our tent door</td></tr>
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Don't you love that sweet trail there? There were so many squirrels, birds, and lizards making use of the area and we just had to explore. And this picnic table was great. We're excited about bringing our kids on another day to enjoy the fun here. There was also a playground, volleyball net, and horseshoes game set up, but I neglected to take pictures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFfgxif4NJ2lTUkkQcGyWT54vmWAS82vqT1TzkCQsS2Muw414rVPE_UDqevQgP0RO_LWm0hVYf9DEbA5i6m_NyUIbF3Ld56htrlAZonP1B8OWY_XnL45qaB7w2OVAl76dmSn5Lrar7_Tn/s1600/lcr+chickenstick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFfgxif4NJ2lTUkkQcGyWT54vmWAS82vqT1TzkCQsS2Muw414rVPE_UDqevQgP0RO_LWm0hVYf9DEbA5i6m_NyUIbF3Ld56htrlAZonP1B8OWY_XnL45qaB7w2OVAl76dmSn5Lrar7_Tn/s320/lcr+chickenstick.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Boy Scout carving a "chicken stick."</td></tr>
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On a previous camping trip, the Boy Scout brought a cornish hen to rotisserie. It was EPIC, apparently, and he wanted to share his joy with me. We started with a hike to find just the right sticks: two for the stand and one to hold the chickens. Then he had to shave off the bark.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0q0cgwW0jEVKZD5wOrnAjVKRUVZmGX2gWzP68sAHyQhzmsdC2zVdX5Cd5r0dOrJSHBG2weU5mqO8m-wRA1_ch4rIEgZtXFuJz5CW98KV3wcDu8AZkb1A7GNgS0jpwKYb2gVKCOlwAHj5o/s1600/lcr+knife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0q0cgwW0jEVKZD5wOrnAjVKRUVZmGX2gWzP68sAHyQhzmsdC2zVdX5Cd5r0dOrJSHBG2weU5mqO8m-wRA1_ch4rIEgZtXFuJz5CW98KV3wcDu8AZkb1A7GNgS0jpwKYb2gVKCOlwAHj5o/s320/lcr+knife.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">In your best imitation of </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018RA6C6/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0018RA6C6&linkCode=as2&tag=chrchoandchi-20" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Crocodile Dundee</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrchoandchi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0018RA6C6" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">, say "Now, THAT's a knife."</span></td></tr>
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Put the chickens on the stick and rotate, as needed, about every 15 minutes. We seasoned these with salt and pepper and played various games while waiting for them to finish cooking. Remember: you shouldn't walk away from your fire, even if it's in a fire pit. Just before they were done, we poured some buffalo wing marinade over one. It was awesome. I'd post a picture of the completed chickens, but it was rather dark and they were so amazingly tasty that I couldn't bring myself to take a picture. Suffice it to say, they lived up to the legend and we will TOTALLY bring hens on every camp out our family does.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEO4kqo5EUmynm7MnS9odUnkDF-czINFxm671cFOpNXQX6-22hT2SlCW6s6dT91mX5b53DdbOgEO6oltKH54FP1qu03Lw_lPUL2KsaqwppAKVggdW7xttSx6jVFLkC0Jt5-EF81F_sU-0N/s1600/lcr+chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEO4kqo5EUmynm7MnS9odUnkDF-czINFxm671cFOpNXQX6-22hT2SlCW6s6dT91mX5b53DdbOgEO6oltKH54FP1qu03Lw_lPUL2KsaqwppAKVggdW7xttSx6jVFLkC0Jt5-EF81F_sU-0N/s320/lcr+chicken.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rotisserie chickens</td></tr>
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The next morning, we got our adventure on! We went for a walk down to the "Bat Cave," then since the owners gave us permission to go off trail wherever we liked, we went on an adventure. We climbed up passed the cave and explored. It didn't take long before we were going nearly vertical so we decided to travel back down. We found some fun rocks to pose on and then took a little stroll back to our campsite.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcuTFSCT8liNqM5db5SCG_Eim-5uMqg5uzYig83SSGo1ex15oeBnqNT5JOi64udkJy1AnsMxPxB19r1zro_aiCKxhropAvQX8KTn0N5V4aCFlttE9eNBJNQwUB-yQLyZwdOsZKdI7-yMW/s1600/lcr+hike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcuTFSCT8liNqM5db5SCG_Eim-5uMqg5uzYig83SSGo1ex15oeBnqNT5JOi64udkJy1AnsMxPxB19r1zro_aiCKxhropAvQX8KTn0N5V4aCFlttE9eNBJNQwUB-yQLyZwdOsZKdI7-yMW/s320/lcr+hike.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our morning hike/adventure</td></tr>
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Next, we went to play in the river and discovered we had floated passed this very place the last few years. Don't let that calm-looking water fool you. This river has some strong current! We couldn't walk upstream, so we tried different paths and ended walking through the woods to explore other parts of the water. When we got to the "island" in the middle of the river, we found deer tracks in the stream running through there. So very cool. And so was the WATER! It was COLD! After a little while we got used to it, or maybe our legs went numb. It's a hard choice, but it was still nice to hear the bubbling stream and listen to the bird calls. There was one in particular who was quite loud, but I couldn't get a good shot of him.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKZRF62ew72De3DCxIfaOpi5PiYpSOuF_PMfpuollouJ35Wl4oofs3aBQZJvAjLSZ9Nsj95eBaLSFFYvc_uifllTDvJAdRKF3WGVPj-G6Fei3eFCGKnUDgMgxZE3RpaW1UtUusP2czubr/s1600/lcr+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKZRF62ew72De3DCxIfaOpi5PiYpSOuF_PMfpuollouJ35Wl4oofs3aBQZJvAjLSZ9Nsj95eBaLSFFYvc_uifllTDvJAdRKF3WGVPj-G6Fei3eFCGKnUDgMgxZE3RpaW1UtUusP2czubr/s320/lcr+river.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing off at the river.</td></tr>
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If you're looking for a little getaway, whether you enjoy "roughing it" or prefer cabin camping, we highly recommend "<a href="http://www.lostcabins.com/">Lost Cabins Resort</a>." They also rent canoes and tubes for float trips. They have some that only take a couple hours to float, or you can go for a few days. We weren't in the mood for a float trip, so we passed this time, but maybe next time we'll rent the family sized one!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa30UC3_BYmc96EUyBbo7QrjqlqG7Ykc1g-NViD5zsBTo8OneOnRIkcn6uOBsJqUf2tfZ6QuqPwoXNH3DnmcHOf6TFCb1TXAyGnhyp3w_vfq5kKs1PvUK1li-TKQ_rZ5AETrNEdtrM3Fz/s1600/anniversary+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa30UC3_BYmc96EUyBbo7QrjqlqG7Ykc1g-NViD5zsBTo8OneOnRIkcn6uOBsJqUf2tfZ6QuqPwoXNH3DnmcHOf6TFCb1TXAyGnhyp3w_vfq5kKs1PvUK1li-TKQ_rZ5AETrNEdtrM3Fz/s400/anniversary+collage.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing around with CollageItPro.<br />
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Don't forget about our <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-collageitpro-review.html">giveaway</a>. It ends tomorrow night at midnight!Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-24639986066025905262013-05-27T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-29T13:33:07.222-07:00My CollageItPro Review<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP11ff27d88b4bfeadd1aa9c2ef2d6ae20"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/main/pixel.png" /></a>I had a good time putting together these collages with my new CollageItPro software. It's really simple to drop in a bunch of pictures and allow the randomizer to place them around the collage. I'm AWFUL at making collages, by the way. Once things are where you like them, you can easily crop/adjust photos, switch out position, and customize frame and background. It's a pretty simple program. The free edition is good to get an idea of whether it will work for you, but you quickly realize you'll need to upgrade or find a different program. With the Pro, it really opens up the possibilities. There are several layout options. You can adjust the number of pictures to add. It has easy sharing capability to social media. One thing I think is missing is an ability to add text, but I suppose you could export and use a web-based program like PicMonkey to do that. One advantage of this program over PicMonkey, by the way, is that you have more options for picture lay out and cropping without having to save each individual edited picture.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qq9eU_SkNyvmqWd4eQeLc_sKyCw4A_qwgiwhhO0MoXCtuTmAemluJIUCHjiVvxK4Wb3P1dVnPyukqkahdPv-rYF_wNV72pfURsgrSDHSmD4_CTQp0JJWW3vYbHCkfEY7omXdl9-7N_3f/s1600/anniversary+collage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qq9eU_SkNyvmqWd4eQeLc_sKyCw4A_qwgiwhhO0MoXCtuTmAemluJIUCHjiVvxK4Wb3P1dVnPyukqkahdPv-rYF_wNV72pfURsgrSDHSmD4_CTQp0JJWW3vYbHCkfEY7omXdl9-7N_3f/s320/anniversary+collage2.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoFLpwZW57xHdSW-Jd6c8mI7upJff5OnEey52riOO9KjfmKpwD60hS-eoOi8pPk7D5YvOn61XscC_yZEvMrsBaoTkcykCOsnOU_guVBPGweBAJD6mdQsK-1XqZJXX1DYpZj7xyPoWDMV7/s1600/summer+fun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoFLpwZW57xHdSW-Jd6c8mI7upJff5OnEey52riOO9KjfmKpwD60hS-eoOi8pPk7D5YvOn61XscC_yZEvMrsBaoTkcykCOsnOU_guVBPGweBAJD6mdQsK-1XqZJXX1DYpZj7xyPoWDMV7/s320/summer+fun.jpg" width="226" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGqtHyo9QihzJ1MPjeg6_EZFsPCZoKE5vV34CLiiiHdO-8pR4KDMCYkOaAQty-8N1ioKzIa1-2DhLo7vnoaqTE6CmBlN2VTwGelT3m4_t0zf1dTAuKsSC8EqpbLGDpOl0-emvEpWH1jw_/s1600/flat+challenge+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGqtHyo9QihzJ1MPjeg6_EZFsPCZoKE5vV34CLiiiHdO-8pR4KDMCYkOaAQty-8N1ioKzIa1-2DhLo7vnoaqTE6CmBlN2VTwGelT3m4_t0zf1dTAuKsSC8EqpbLGDpOl0-emvEpWH1jw_/s320/flat+challenge+collage.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
So, do I like it? Yes! Will I continue using this program in the future? Of course. Would I pay $19.90 for the upgrade? Probably not. But the good news is, you can still get one of 20 (12 windows, 8 mac) codes for a FREE upgrade. Enter here: <a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2d8dc21/" id="rc-2d8dc21" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>. The giveaway is ending soon!<br />
<br />
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM11ff27d88b4bfeadd1aa9c2ef2d6ae20">Tomoson.com</a>. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-67552740663187634062013-05-26T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:27:57.559-07:00Flats Challenge Day 7: What did I learn?<h3>
Day 7: What did I learn/How did it go?</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNkwE2ADX8H1_ShtPJMym68RJheKWHSATznrFq5Xl7mZmwD-HllUK8bHoyck01kcj8Powlcgc2dlixJNaTBYJWKcDOdjrb51-9M-ygvCtfo9MAb0vmRLdx4nqWttEeICUk8UI8f4aRTO5/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNkwE2ADX8H1_ShtPJMym68RJheKWHSATznrFq5Xl7mZmwD-HllUK8bHoyck01kcj8Powlcgc2dlixJNaTBYJWKcDOdjrb51-9M-ygvCtfo9MAb0vmRLdx4nqWttEeICUk8UI8f4aRTO5/s320/Flats+challenge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Final day in the <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/">Dirty Diaper Laundry</a>.<br />
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Here's what I've learned so far, in no particular order.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir12lpkX6Va4eFH4TJXaWOUZqrslRBmbG5EKzPc8_9eelZPLEArJbXT4_YDJzzqsQt7iIjO1kPwncwEHE-IvjRpoo05vch8pv5iSzszMxH9B5tpsXv9Wtztlh7uuZLFZKQBfCFx2r9oQEQ/s1600/flats+stash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir12lpkX6Va4eFH4TJXaWOUZqrslRBmbG5EKzPc8_9eelZPLEArJbXT4_YDJzzqsQt7iIjO1kPwncwEHE-IvjRpoo05vch8pv5iSzszMxH9B5tpsXv9Wtztlh7uuZLFZKQBfCFx2r9oQEQ/s320/flats+stash.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<li>I was surprised to know that I had PLENTY of flat diapers for daily hand washing: 28 diapers, 6 covers, and 3 pockets! I'm going to make a bundle of flats, covers, soap, and a camp washer for emergencies and when we go camping. It's one less thing I'll have to gather for those occasions and it's so low-stress knowing I can totally do this with 2 covers and 8 or so flats.</li>
<li>Flats are way more absorbent than they look. Just because it's only one layer of fabric doesn't mean you only have that one layer between baby's bottom and the world. Depending on the fold you could have 8-12 layers of fabric just in one flat. Then you can add a pad-folded flat as a doubler and that's even more!</li>
<li>Washing by hand took a lot less work and time than I thought it would, but experimenting with the right amount of soap and soaking times was a little frustrating.</li>
<li>You can't trust the weather! I had expected to line dry everything all week long, with few exceptions. But I had to learn to roll with the punches and let things dry overnight hanging from curtain rods, hangers, and chairs since it stormed half the week.</li>
<li>If you over stuff a pocket diaper, it's much more likely to leak.</li>
<li>There are DOZENS of ways to fold a flat and each is good in it's own way. There is no one RIGHT way to fold it and very few wrong ways. So long as all the cloth is stuffed into the cover (or you're a really observant parent) it's probably a fine way to do flats.</li>
<li>I actually like flats. More than some of my other diapers.</li>
<li>Once you've used flat diapers for a week, you start evaluating all the cloth in your house for diaper potential. I look at my towels, dish cloths, and clothing differently now. During this challenge, I added two blankets and a t-shirt to my stash. This has put my husband on alert!</li>
<li>My daughter is a diaper escape artist. Snappis were not a barrier to her curiosity. Covers were, however.</li>
<li>When hand washing, a "wet bucket" was almost indispensable. You probably could get away without using it if you washed as soon as a "dirty" happened, but if you've got diaper laundry, you probably also have children who need watched and sometimes it's just not convenient to wash right then. Especially not for as long as is needed without soaking. So I change my stance on the dry vs wet bucket controversy from "absolutely not" to a "yes with cautions." I put my laundry right into the wash bucket which stays in the bath tub, except when people are bathing. While it's possible someone could still get in there and cause mischief or drown, I also keep the lid on the bucket that is nearly adult-proof and that helps me feel safer about it. I still don't let kids play in the bathroom, and I'm in there washing diapers at least twice a day, so I know it's not always full of water. I'm cautious about it. When I go back to using my washing machine and dryer I will stop using a "wet bucket."</li>
<li>When hand washing in a camp washer, less really is more. Wipes, 2-4 diapers, and a cover wash just fine. Don't even try to do 5+ diapers because you'll be rinsing FOREVER. They don't get as clean in your usual cycle, so you'll end up washing them again. And again. It's way better to plan on washing twice a day. That way it takes 10 minutes from first rinse to hanging up. And it's a good excuse to visit the sunshine. ;)</li>
<li>If I didn't have a washing machine, I could totally wash my diapers every day in my camp washer. But I'd rather spend all day at the laundrymat than try to hand wash and dry the mountains of clothes these kids wear!</li>
<li>Every time I turn on the water to wash diapers, my littlest daughter chases me down asking for a "tubby." Every time I go outside to hang up or take down diapers, my bigger girls chase me down and want to play outside. Maybe we need to play outside more often. (That was several things I learned, but they're a bit connected, you know.)</li>
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The important point, here, is that this is POSSIBLE. It's not roses and I MUCH prefer using my washing machine. But if I had an emergency, I am confident I could hand wash and line dry as long as I had to. If I was in extreme economic trouble or without a washing machine, I would be content knowing that I was doing what I could and that I didn't have to worry about buying more diapers. I would probably be looking around to "evaluate things for diaper potential" when I got behind on washing. And that's okay. Because so many things can be used as a flat. You could probably get your entire stash at a yard sale or thrift store (minus the covers unless you're super lucky!) for $10. If you knew what to look for. We need to spread the word that this is a viable solution!</div>
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So, what did you learn?<br />
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-did-i-take-challenge.html">Day 1: Why I took the Challenge</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-how-did-i-prepare.html">Day 2: How did I prepare?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-3overnights.html">Day 3: Dealing with Overnights</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-4-how-am-i-doing.html">Day 4: How am I doing with hand washing?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-5-whats-working-for.html">Day 5: What's working? What's not?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-babysitters-and.html">Day 6: Babysitter/Outings</a></div>
Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-29936475078830261332013-05-25T06:45:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:27:38.871-07:00Flats Challenge Day 6: Babysitters and OutingsDay 6: <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/">Dirty Diaper Laundry</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvxFOhlOdpJj3SpVQYfT4Co9g24W-Ubtp6sHq1zNxNFnMTffCgdf7nB0-gobSmm5mTBJJRw-Pt-DVQz1hS1ceym-YtXexEBoWfPTKUyIAfDIPlz6Ck1A3pye7dbK-GivZF4qV77T1UETk/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvxFOhlOdpJj3SpVQYfT4Co9g24W-Ubtp6sHq1zNxNFnMTffCgdf7nB0-gobSmm5mTBJJRw-Pt-DVQz1hS1ceym-YtXexEBoWfPTKUyIAfDIPlz6Ck1A3pye7dbK-GivZF4qV77T1UETk/s400/Flats+challenge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This challenge could have brought some interesting issues for babysitters and outings, so I wanted to share my experience planning for and adapting to them.<br />
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Babysitters</h3>
I'm blessed to have some great flexible babysitters and to only need a sitter once or twice a week. During this challenge, I had to be away from my girls for a prenatal visit with a client. This sitter is great. My kids adore her and her kids. They always have a great time. Plus, she's cloth diapered her kids in the past and has been following me on this challenge and knew to expect this. Even still, I wanted things set up and easy, so I stuffed pad-folded flats in my pocket diapers and was ready to go. My little lady woke up wet from a nap just before my friend was expected to arrive, so I changed her to a clean diaper and gave a tour of the bathroom and a quick overview of my diapering routine. I showed her where the diapers were kept and where to put the wet/dirty diapers. No problem. Then I found I wasn't actually gone long enough for a diaper change to be needed, so that was even better. :) The kids had a great time and knowing everyone was safe and happy meant I could focus my attention on my client.<br />
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Outings</h3>
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Normally, I reserve my AIOs for outings and babysitters because they're so simple and require no skill except the ability to snap the snaps. For this challenge, I packed two <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Q7BEh_4Ow">diaper bag-folded</a> flats and a cover and one pocket diaper with pad-folded flat insert into my diaper bag/wet bag. This arrangement was fine, except that I didn't do a good enough job stacking the flats so they would keep their shape and ended up having to refold at a diaper change. Not a huge deal for me, but the Boy Scout (my husband) probably wouldn't have loved it if he were the one doing the change and dealing with the tangled flats. In the future I'll either clothespin the flats in place or only bring pad-folds. Also, I was warned that using flats in a pocket diaper might mean leaks, but this was not my experience. I would think a heavier wetter would have a problem and we never did pockets overnight, so maybe that's the difference?</div>
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I still have two days to go (counting today), and it's important to realize we all learn as we go. So far I haven't had any poo diapers while on the go, but I do have a homemade double pocket wet bag for my clean and dirty diapers that works nicely. I usually keep a disposable shopping bag in it, too, in case of extra smelly diapers that may have to wait a bit for a wash pail.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqsAMoEtoZzbXolIP5A53QPCfw1mfvohZzjzPZbfGKh3n7uIkedJbEPI-IIgcnHQtyyNf5MBVbQvFo53YnVXSfNToOk2F2v5oEdDPkq-WLy-TaR3MNUYuIINNLyndT1_DvFaNsRPHTEejR/s1600/diaper+bag+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqsAMoEtoZzbXolIP5A53QPCfw1mfvohZzjzPZbfGKh3n7uIkedJbEPI-IIgcnHQtyyNf5MBVbQvFo53YnVXSfNToOk2F2v5oEdDPkq-WLy-TaR3MNUYuIINNLyndT1_DvFaNsRPHTEejR/s400/diaper+bag+collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some day I may give a tutorial on how I made this, but for now you'll have to be satisfied with inspiration to make your own and probably make it better. I've learned a few things since putting this one together. The white side is the PUL layer of this material I got from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. That made it about $6.50 a yard and I used a bit less than that to make this bag! The white-lined pocket is for the wet/dirty diapers and the white/flower-lined pocket is for the clean. I despise sewing in zippers, so this just closes with hook and loop, but it works nicely for a usual day outing. It <i>has</i> been used for an entire day out but that's when I augment with shopping bags for the poo diapers to keep a handle on the stink. Since it's PUL, I wash it with my diapers as needed.</div>
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What about you? Did you expect any special challenges you had to plan for? Or did you come upon a challenge that you WISH you'd planned for?</div>
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Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge! I'll certainly keep flats in rotation with my diapers, but I won't be hand washing except in emergencies and while camping.</div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-did-i-take-challenge.html">Day 1: Why I took the Challenge</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-how-did-i-prepare.html">Day 2: How did I prepare?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-3overnights.html">Day 3: Dealing with Overnights</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-4-how-am-i-doing.html">Day 4: How am I doing with hand washing?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-5-whats-working-for.html">Day 5: What's working? What's not?</a><br />
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-7-what-did-i-learn.html">Day 7: What did I learn?</a></div>
Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-49045109073146890882013-05-24T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:27:17.803-07:00Flats Challenge Day 5: What's working for me?<br />
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Day 5 of the <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/">Dirty Diaper Laundry</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To those of you who have starting following or reading along since the flats challenge, welcome! It's an honor to have you here and I'm so excited to share future posts with you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So, let's talk about what's working for me, and what's not. I'm still perfecting which folds work best with which diapers. I located a couple receiving blankets to add to my stash, so that makes for more things to play with! The t-shirt flats work very well in the t-shirt fold and the pad fold. Most of the other folds simply don't work with them because of their shape. They might work on newborns, though since they would fold down smaller. The receiving blankets work with the <a href="http://youtu.be/XyDOya48WIc">kite fold</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/aqNY4__rTSw">airplane fold</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/LAuitRxa3iw">origami fold</a>, and another fold I may have invented. I'll have to research around to see for sure! What I do is take my square flat (or make my rectangle into a square) and fold corner to corner to make a triangle. Then I do a sort of accordion fold across the crotch area, so it's like a combination of the origami and the triangle fold. Then fold up the tip a little to adjust the rise, or not. Then fold into your diaper. And bring in the wings. I do better with pictures, so try to follow along here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4Mh6GLZFosZTLy1DChqrDXebYd7v6OohLRE9r8vR3jMpPid7HlPXua02qJ3SUazSkZUChbG6jjcaXHXIKrK_kMNqBFx71aSPyDJUpL2-iHspBI5yAXeMuWyqfNfet_Ab3_IZlIgV2Hak/s1600/Padded+triangle+fold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4Mh6GLZFosZTLy1DChqrDXebYd7v6OohLRE9r8vR3jMpPid7HlPXua02qJ3SUazSkZUChbG6jjcaXHXIKrK_kMNqBFx71aSPyDJUpL2-iHspBI5yAXeMuWyqfNfet_Ab3_IZlIgV2Hak/s640/Padded+triangle+fold.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This fold is especially nice for those flats that are just not quite the right size for the other more complex folds. In the picture above, I took a very large, but very thin, receiving blanket and folded into quarters to do this fold. But I also have a flat that's too small to do anything but a pad fold, or this fold. The absorbency is as good as most folds, but it doesn't form a "poop pocket," so beware of that. And because of the padding fold, it can't be just pinned on. The waist would fall off. So, there are drawbacks, but I like that it has padding where it's needed and I already use my covers all the time anyway.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The covers have been working fine since I bought them years ago. I love that they are one size, so they can fit my newborns up to my potty-learners. For other families with bigger potty-learners or smaller newborns, they may not work the whole diapering time, but they sure last a long time. The camp style washer works great to agitate. The jury is still out on how the dish soap is working. Other bloggers suggested using it exclusively and I'm just not sure how well it cleans the poop diapers. I may try my regular detergent again on the next wash and report back to you. Line drying is working beautifully. Inside drying takes considerably longer unless there's a fan blowing right on them, but they still usually dry by morning. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised how much I really like flats. They're so adaptable to needs, which, to me, is a major bonus. A decent flat could be used as a blanket, nursing cover, burp rag, or diaper. And that diaper could be adjusted to fit a newborn, toddler, or potty-learner, with or without a cover. It could probably be used for other things I've not noticed yet. I'm so glad I took this challenge!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Being on the computer most of the day everyday to edit photos, ask and answer questions on the facebook group, write blog posts, edit blog posts, comment on various blogs and so forth is NOT working well for me. I did much better with posting a couple of times a week and sometimes even scheduling a posting ahead of time. This meant I was able to spend more time with my kids and budget my internet time a little better. The house is not in order, meals are barely getting cooked, school is a little behind. But on the flip side, I've enjoyed seeing more people visit my blog, reading more comments, and I'm learning a lot, so I recognize this as a good thing. I need to learn to roll with what I get, I guess. ;) Oh, and schedule better. Maybe only write posts during nap time or set a timer for an hour while the kids play quietly or work on school work alone.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXPsabAJXNuvPnuJQjtlohyphenhyphenKD08ajV14wZX7tScduZ9NThgWVEfLl5upIvySwF_S7LWQJVv6DcAzIIqzS8dsFbs4TFRJPD9rIrvhtXMqsrorlaWa-heiV7492fhvTaTQxpM2Li6bznBO8/s1600/flat+challenge+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXPsabAJXNuvPnuJQjtlohyphenhyphenKD08ajV14wZX7tScduZ9NThgWVEfLl5upIvySwF_S7LWQJVv6DcAzIIqzS8dsFbs4TFRJPD9rIrvhtXMqsrorlaWa-heiV7492fhvTaTQxpM2Li6bznBO8/s1600/flat+challenge+collage.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In other news, I feel like I've spent a lot of time looking at many of these views: wash bucket, line dry, change diaper, line dry, new fold, wash bucket, so I figured I take a moment to play with my new CollageItPro software. Would you like to win a code for a free upgrade? There are many different layouts, changeable options, you can crop pictures to fit, or just dump in and randomly re-order your pictures. It's a nice, easy way to make a quick collage, if you want. Or if you put a little more time into it, you can get a great customized collage, too. Enter here: </span></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"> <a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2d8dc21/" id="rc-2d8dc21" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>. There are low entries and TWENTY (12 windows, 8 mac) winners! Giveaway ends May 31 and winners will be selected June 1.</span></div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-did-i-take-challenge.html">Day 1: Why I took the Challenge</a></div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-how-did-i-prepare.html">Day 2: How did I prepare?</a></div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-3overnights.html">Day 3: Dealing with Overnights</a></div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-4-how-am-i-doing.html">Day 4: How am I doing with hand washing?</a></div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-babysitters-and.html">Day 6: Babysitter/Outings</a></div>
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-7-what-did-i-learn.html">Day 7: What did I learn?</a></div>
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</a>Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-39609435899380588872013-05-23T06:26:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:25:30.821-07:00Flats Challenge Day 4: How am I doing with Handwashing?<h3>
Day 4: How am I doing with handwashing?</h3>
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<a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/">Dirty Diaper Laundry</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvxFOhlOdpJj3SpVQYfT4Co9g24W-Ubtp6sHq1zNxNFnMTffCgdf7nB0-gobSmm5mTBJJRw-Pt-DVQz1hS1ceym-YtXexEBoWfPTKUyIAfDIPlz6Ck1A3pye7dbK-GivZF4qV77T1UETk/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvxFOhlOdpJj3SpVQYfT4Co9g24W-Ubtp6sHq1zNxNFnMTffCgdf7nB0-gobSmm5mTBJJRw-Pt-DVQz1hS1ceym-YtXexEBoWfPTKUyIAfDIPlz6Ck1A3pye7dbK-GivZF4qV77T1UETk/s400/Flats+challenge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
We're on to the fourth day of the challenge. It's actually become just a touch boring. Using flats is very simple. It's very much like using prefolds, but in some ways it's way better. I've been handwashing in my camp-style washer about twice a day. I'm still working out the kinks on using soap, but so far it looks like poop diapers need to agitate immediately then soak in detergent and baking soda. I haven't timed the soaking. I just set them in the bucket to soak and go about my day. After an hour or two, I may have another diaper to toss in, too. Then I do my usual, agitate 1 minute and drain. Add hot water and soap, then agitate 5-10 minutes and drain. Then one or two more rinse cycles. I twist the wet flats to get out the excess moisture then hang in the sun, if I can, or in the laundry room if I have to. Within 3 hours they're dry, sometimes faster if the wind and sun are just right.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAe9Dest_jfNucuOflZVMqGu7mqvB676OO4Y2StHm9KkpcekEJ64ow17_LiY3FmWMYoi4Pf5mSwn8FAhG0nqYhtXobL9OFkg49HHzAOxEusUWth6bLKQk1yo-sD1JPvPUdP6-eU16b5orl/s1600/camp+washer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAe9Dest_jfNucuOflZVMqGu7mqvB676OO4Y2StHm9KkpcekEJ64ow17_LiY3FmWMYoi4Pf5mSwn8FAhG0nqYhtXobL9OFkg49HHzAOxEusUWth6bLKQk1yo-sD1JPvPUdP6-eU16b5orl/s320/camp+washer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yesterday I had to get inventive since I had my regular clothes laundry drying in the beautiful day, too. They still dry, though it would be faster if they were hanging on the line. Luckily, I have more than enough flats and covers clean and available.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaimkMADxVXTWkvzHw-wxdtEJIYnRn2SKRSs06RhUwJbHWQXyFdGPVdQtePrmPzCQr0qLUio0UTaTzbu5lhot6gMgdpGCTZI30bI9sHNAoNO8bQsaVsg-unGSWoA11C6drisGBUqvPtSe/s1600/drying+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaimkMADxVXTWkvzHw-wxdtEJIYnRn2SKRSs06RhUwJbHWQXyFdGPVdQtePrmPzCQr0qLUio0UTaTzbu5lhot6gMgdpGCTZI30bI9sHNAoNO8bQsaVsg-unGSWoA11C6drisGBUqvPtSe/s400/drying+day.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And, bonus, I got my hubby to help out with washing when I was out one day. :D</div>
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A special note I will add is that I decided to handwash the AIOs and microfiber inserts that were stinking up my diaper pail and it was a LOT of work. They smelled awful and I think it's the microfiber. I washed them many times and when I thought I finally got them clean, I decided to just toss them in the dryer since they have so many extra layers and we've had some humidity. When they came out, they STILL smelled. That's a real puzzler for me!</div>
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Tune in tomorrow to find out what's working for me and what's not.</div>
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-did-i-take-challenge.html">Day 1: Why I took the Challenge</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-how-did-i-prepare.html">Day 2: How did I prepare?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-3overnights.html">Day 3: Dealing with Overnights</a><br />
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<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-5-whats-working-for.html">Day 5: What's working? What's not?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-babysitters-and.html">Day 6: Babysitter/Outings</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-7-what-did-i-learn.html">Day 7: What did I learn?</a></div>
Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-6110450141065964032013-05-22T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:27:03.473-07:00Flats Challenge Day 3:Overnights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvxFOhlOdpJj3SpVQYfT4Co9g24W-Ubtp6sHq1zNxNFnMTffCgdf7nB0-gobSmm5mTBJJRw-Pt-DVQz1hS1ceym-YtXexEBoWfPTKUyIAfDIPlz6Ck1A3pye7dbK-GivZF4qV77T1UETk/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvxFOhlOdpJj3SpVQYfT4Co9g24W-Ubtp6sHq1zNxNFnMTffCgdf7nB0-gobSmm5mTBJJRw-Pt-DVQz1hS1ceym-YtXexEBoWfPTKUyIAfDIPlz6Ck1A3pye7dbK-GivZF4qV77T1UETk/s320/Flats+challenge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2>
<a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry</h2>
<h2>
Day 3: Overnights</h2>
<div>
Let's be honest. When I first started this challenge, I was SURE that we would need some serious overnight help. I was determined to use just flats, though, so the first night I put two padfolded flats into her cover and put her in her wool longies, expecting a mess to clean up in the morning. Ms. K is 16 months old but on the small end for her age, but I really thought she was a pretty heavy wetter at night. When she woke up in the morning, she wanted to eat instead of a change. I'm a pretty easy going mom, so I let her, but I didn't want to push things too far so made her get a change after that. I was surprised! She had wet the first flat, but the second was only barely touched. Although it was certainly time to be changed, the first wasn't even completely soaked. I was amazed. I didn't realize just how absorbent these flats could be. So then I thought, "Well, maybe today was a fluke. Tomorrow it'll be heavier." The second night I put her in one t-shirt flat using the "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rdFsvWcPKI">t-shirt fold</a>." I expected this would get soaked through. Nope! To my surprise, she woke up with a normal wet and the shirt wasn't fully soaked. Maybe if she were older and a heavier wetter, I might need 2 but I would be surprised if she needed 3, even as an older toddler.</div>
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<div>
I just can't get over how doable this is. I wash the diapers twice a day in a bucket in my bath tub. It takes me ten minutes, tops. They dry on the line or hanging in my house. They're wonderful, soft, and absorbent. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVpkg3iE5ulfEPDhFjyGP1gOHZAjXz-_owFTWakS6aschp5a7bbrNAQZhkvu-VgqNCnAats_Y9gqHkAXkXOc4Q3wkQOC-MSJSDcpT7gjml8sRntG-VeH7TEckHu1-GKmpPctDgac_ZtC4/s1600/camp+washer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVpkg3iE5ulfEPDhFjyGP1gOHZAjXz-_owFTWakS6aschp5a7bbrNAQZhkvu-VgqNCnAats_Y9gqHkAXkXOc4Q3wkQOC-MSJSDcpT7gjml8sRntG-VeH7TEckHu1-GKmpPctDgac_ZtC4/s320/camp+washer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And look how cute! I made this diaper from an Angry Birds shirt. It matches her face at this moment. She was not thrilled with being a model, much less being out of my arms!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01M3JpR5TGefcccqrs8UOfDIv8mSeX-4zonmk4Sq3ylGC699AQtrN06OZ3I6LbS_rC6YriuQsJQ_YLqr9KCUFF0z4W5-wsVYwdapKpnjYY0NrmLF9NMvIIgL30cuyunG3NL02zOinv4Qk/s1600/angry+bird+flat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01M3JpR5TGefcccqrs8UOfDIv8mSeX-4zonmk4Sq3ylGC699AQtrN06OZ3I6LbS_rC6YriuQsJQ_YLqr9KCUFF0z4W5-wsVYwdapKpnjYY0NrmLF9NMvIIgL30cuyunG3NL02zOinv4Qk/s320/angry+bird+flat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Many people have great success using a Snappi and no cover when at home, but as you can see here, my little escape artist is far too interested in this thing within her reach. Within seconds of this picture, she was crawling away from the diaper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQX_ubWCXm6bZ3QmESyvwMqG7PrSUaikQLv0Yqofu7bHowYHjiuVw7eCywvgMKweinZzTddr5SourV7HMds5uDYzrY8ezmPzULYY2nrBvEEc6yETg4aKX3Ka6K8-zh6ZuoTVrIf6WbChN5/s1600/snappi+fail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQX_ubWCXm6bZ3QmESyvwMqG7PrSUaikQLv0Yqofu7bHowYHjiuVw7eCywvgMKweinZzTddr5SourV7HMds5uDYzrY8ezmPzULYY2nrBvEEc6yETg4aKX3Ka6K8-zh6ZuoTVrIf6WbChN5/s320/snappi+fail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
What about you? What have you tried for overnights? Have you tried flats? If not, why not?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-did-i-take-challenge.html">Day 1: Why I took the Challenge</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-how-did-i-prepare.html">Day 2: How did I prepare?</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-4-how-am-i-doing.html">Day 4: How am I doing with hand washing?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-5-whats-working-for.html">Day 5: What's working? What's not?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-babysitters-and.html">Day 6: Babysitter/Outings</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-7-what-did-i-learn.html">Day 7: What did I learn?</a>Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-19882284430947618692013-05-21T07:34:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:26:16.460-07:00Flats Challenge Day 2: How did I prepare?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNkwE2ADX8H1_ShtPJMym68RJheKWHSATznrFq5Xl7mZmwD-HllUK8bHoyck01kcj8Powlcgc2dlixJNaTBYJWKcDOdjrb51-9M-ygvCtfo9MAb0vmRLdx4nqWttEeICUk8UI8f4aRTO5/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNkwE2ADX8H1_ShtPJMym68RJheKWHSATznrFq5Xl7mZmwD-HllUK8bHoyck01kcj8Powlcgc2dlixJNaTBYJWKcDOdjrb51-9M-ygvCtfo9MAb0vmRLdx4nqWttEeICUk8UI8f4aRTO5/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Day 2 of the <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. </h3>
<br />
Well, I've <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/gearing-up-for-flats-challenge.html">already</a> told you a little about how I got ready for this challenge, but I'll give you a few more details.<br />
<h4>
Camp-style washer and clothes line</h4>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAe9Dest_jfNucuOflZVMqGu7mqvB676OO4Y2StHm9KkpcekEJ64ow17_LiY3FmWMYoi4Pf5mSwn8FAhG0nqYhtXobL9OFkg49HHzAOxEusUWth6bLKQk1yo-sD1JPvPUdP6-eU16b5orl/s1600/camp+washer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAe9Dest_jfNucuOflZVMqGu7mqvB676OO4Y2StHm9KkpcekEJ64ow17_LiY3FmWMYoi4Pf5mSwn8FAhG0nqYhtXobL9OFkg49HHzAOxEusUWth6bLKQk1yo-sD1JPvPUdP6-eU16b5orl/s320/camp+washer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my camp washer without the lid on the first wash of<br />
the challenge yesterday. Doing well so far.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I made my camp-style washer about a year ago. We are of the "prepper" mind-set, so we like to have back up options for catastrophes. I got my bucket and lid for free from Walmart bakery. I know some of them still give them free. Others charge $1-3. Either way, it's still cheaper than buying one from Lowe's or wherever. I drilled a 1 1/2" hole in<br />
the lid for my new, clean plunger handle to go through. That was a year ago, so I don't recall the price, but I believe it was about $5. I drilled 1/2" holes in the plunger to let the water flow more easily through it. I use the same laundry soap I've been making for a while. You'll use a LOT less in this camp washer. Start with about a teaspoon and see if you need more or less. Start of my preparations was testing out the washing and drying time, as well as the effectiveness of the washer. It's pretty awesome. My clothes line came with my house. It's just a simple line, but it works. The clothespins were about $1.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI38sZpShddvzhyphenhyphenk_dE8Z_6o1ggMnkUa4euJXOeVHIb06pWcwhMKRH38rfqW25bddBcBIrcvSrOTIbpPQzqgf5jpD3S1_W3WC22qdZHwE4PIqgT4Oi52yTdjG8qN08WxJxwO6UuedRF6cf/s1600/clothesline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI38sZpShddvzhyphenhyphenk_dE8Z_6o1ggMnkUa4euJXOeVHIb06pWcwhMKRH38rfqW25bddBcBIrcvSrOTIbpPQzqgf5jpD3S1_W3WC22qdZHwE4PIqgT4Oi52yTdjG8qN08WxJxwO6UuedRF6cf/s400/clothesline.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b>Total cost: about $5</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-PDAa8dN7_DNhC0Xx5rRdngmzJPD8el2Vgvt01_IEJ71lZCZjmsy2V5FUaPDYyoQLltCsJyvRQiqAPHD6weToQUgIX6jMJaQqw9jaI6cpMmYJlUQ_BJjQFGV8K3KLw9PlFNxpAKZe5m8/s1600/tshirtflat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-PDAa8dN7_DNhC0Xx5rRdngmzJPD8el2Vgvt01_IEJ71lZCZjmsy2V5FUaPDYyoQLltCsJyvRQiqAPHD6weToQUgIX6jMJaQqw9jaI6cpMmYJlUQ_BJjQFGV8K3KLw9PlFNxpAKZe5m8/s1600/tshirtflat1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my t-shirt flats. One layer of fabric. <br />
This is the back of the flat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
Flat diaper supply</h4>
<div>
I already had one cotton hemp flat that came with some pocket diapers I bought and a few Gerber bird's eye flats I bought before I knew anything about cloth. I went through a pile of shirts I was going to donate or throw away and decided I could get great use out of it. Simply cut the shirt along the sides so you have a front piece and a back piece. You can remove the sleeves if you want, but I find they add absorbency right where Ms. K needs it. Plus they make the wings extra long, so you can actually just tie them on instead of using a Snappi or Boingo. So I now have 20 flats. A friend gave me 2 Snappis. Another is loaning me a couple Boingos. <b>Total cost: about $2</b><br />
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<h4>
Covers</h4>
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<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglUBzp5cEKaw6dUjHE7u6hokpwIxIPfhiz5h8ENAJs782zKfuobfH9foIzgBD9axsyvhyIYZ3muq-XqcW0GDZs_ml_OxtVzgXinvH5rQIR5_bamO7Ns5PtTFsNaZQOUQAD3JSPtgxpq91/s1600/CD8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglUBzp5cEKaw6dUjHE7u6hokpwIxIPfhiz5h8ENAJs782zKfuobfH9foIzgBD9axsyvhyIYZ3muq-XqcW0GDZs_ml_OxtVzgXinvH5rQIR5_bamO7Ns5PtTFsNaZQOUQAD3JSPtgxpq91/s1600/CD8.jpg" width="320" /></a>I already had my one-size Econobum covers I've been<br />
using for years. I dug out my pocket diapers for the baby sitter. I decided not to use wool for this challenge. I just love my Econobums! I bought them from <a href="http://cottonbabies.com/">Cotton Babies</a> for about $4 per cover. The pocket diapers I got used for $3 (including the insert). I also have an Alva pocket diaper I got through a co-op for about $4. I saw no reason to limit my cover supply for this challenge. I'm sure I could get away with using 5 or less, but I didn't reduce my current supply. <b>Total cost: $30</b><br />
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<b>Total cost of my supplies: $37 including what I purchased in the past</b><br />
<b>Total cost to do this challenge: FREE!</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=chrchoandchi-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B004Q8JH9M&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=chrchoandchi-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00BT931YI&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
<b><br /></b>
Can you see now how this would be completely doable for someone in diaper need? For about the cost of a month's supply of diapers (or LESS), you could have more than enough flats, covers, and washer to get by.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-did-i-take-challenge.html">Day 1: Why I took the Challenge</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-3overnights.html">Day 3: Dealing with Overnights</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-4-how-am-i-doing.html">Day 4: How am I doing with hand washing?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-5-whats-working-for.html">Day 5: What's working? What's not?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-babysitters-and.html">Day 6: Babysitter/Outings</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-7-what-did-i-learn.html">Day 7: What did I learn?</a></div>
Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-73774792105360072012013-05-20T06:59:00.000-07:002013-05-29T11:26:39.323-07:00Flats Challenge Day 1: Why did I take the Challenge?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNkwE2ADX8H1_ShtPJMym68RJheKWHSATznrFq5Xl7mZmwD-HllUK8bHoyck01kcj8Powlcgc2dlixJNaTBYJWKcDOdjrb51-9M-ygvCtfo9MAb0vmRLdx4nqWttEeICUk8UI8f4aRTO5/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNkwE2ADX8H1_ShtPJMym68RJheKWHSATznrFq5Xl7mZmwD-HllUK8bHoyck01kcj8Powlcgc2dlixJNaTBYJWKcDOdjrb51-9M-ygvCtfo9MAb0vmRLdx4nqWttEeICUk8UI8f4aRTO5/s1600/Flats+challenge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
Day 1 of the Flats Challenge</h3>
Boy, I sure love a challenge! Taking on a good challenge is what usually helps me overcome some fear or hiccup. So, I'm doing the <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/">Flats and Handwashing Challenge</a> hosted by <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/">Dirty Diaper Laundry</a>. I was AFRAID of using flats! But given this challenge, I thought, "Hey, I can do anything for a WEEK!" And, like doing cloth in the first place, if I hate it, I'm not out anything, and if I love it, I'll use it!"<br />
<br />
What is this challenge? For one whole week, you use only flat diapers (a single piece of material, usually about 32" square, folded into a diaper) and some sort of cover. You also have to hand wash them. Part of this challenge is bringing awareness to those in <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/overcoming-diaper-need.html">diaper need</a> that this is a viable option instead of reusing disposables or going without food or other necessities. Handwashing takes about 10 minutes and flats are the cheapest option out there. Plus, flats line dry SO fast! On a decent sunny day, they're dry in 2 hours tops. I haven't tried drying inside yet, but with the storms due all week, I may have to get inventive!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBFHNcfO8feW2SNxzf2_cq_3f-6hFIvnxwfdB5z-EkFCKv-LydikecCSEko8u3K8PBrGgtsgipA52P4rhhTdAaYxyp9ZreEqAOFVsvWrYVb5G2C_quzWxa9CCWfHvzGzFwsaHGvaDPIOk/s1600/Flats+challenge2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBFHNcfO8feW2SNxzf2_cq_3f-6hFIvnxwfdB5z-EkFCKv-LydikecCSEko8u3K8PBrGgtsgipA52P4rhhTdAaYxyp9ZreEqAOFVsvWrYVb5G2C_quzWxa9CCWfHvzGzFwsaHGvaDPIOk/s1600/Flats+challenge2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-how-did-i-prepare.html">Day 2: How did I prepare?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-3overnights.html">Day 3: Dealing with Overnights</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-4-how-am-i-doing.html">Day 4: How am I doing with hand washing?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-5-whats-working-for.html">Day 5: What's working? What's not?</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-6-babysitters-and.html">Day 6: Babysitter/Outings</a><br />
<a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/flats-challenge-day-7-what-did-i-learn.html">Day 7: What did I learn?</a>Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-66975160165032597052013-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:002013-05-18T08:00:02.297-07:00An Invitation to Come Unto Him<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At April 2013 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Henry B. Eyring spoke to my soul. (Read his full talk <a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/come-unto-me?lang=eng#listen=audio">here</a>.) Here's a gem for you to consider for your life.<br />
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President Eyring started by sharing his experience with drawing near to the Savior. In the Doctrine and Covenants 88:63, Christ says, "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." This direction is echoed through the Holy Bible. Like President Eyring, I have "experienced the joy of coming closer to the Savior and of His coming closer to me most often through simple acts of obedience to the commandments." He shares some of His sweet experiences, but may I share mine? I have learned through experience that when we pray for answers and are in the right places at the right times, God is able to so sweetly give us those answers. Among other things, I've been seeking ways to come closer to my Savior. I started by reading the scriptures on a more regular basis, pondering the words I read, and praying for more guidance. I must say that so many times when I question came into my mind, the answer was found so quickly in the Scriptures. I would pour out my gratitude to my Father in Heaven for those sweet and simple answers. Then came <a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2013/04?lang=eng">Conference</a>. I've said <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/04/god-answers-prayersjust-in-case-you.html">before</a> how much we love watching General Conference. And it remains true. I had a prayer in my heart throughout the session that I would feel the Spirit working in me and help me find my answers. And every single talk, I felt the Spirit burning within me! Telling me that what these men said is true. I felt guided to record these feelings of revelation, to start working on certain areas, to focus on particular doctrines or actions in my life. These last 2 months I have felt so near my Savior. I've had setbacks, of course, but I have been making strides in my life again. And I'm sharing with my children my excitement for my Savior and His Gospel.<br />
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Back to President Eyring. He tells us we "are under covenant both to lift up those in need and to be witnesses of the Savior as long as we live. We will be able to do it without fail only as we feel love for the Savior and His love for us. As we are faithful to the promises we have made [at baptism], we will feel our love for Him. It will increase because we will feel His power and His drawing near to us in His service." I can testify that this is happening for me. I had been feeling overwhelmed by so many things. And while some things are still difficult, I feel lifted up. I feel encouraged to serve my friends, neighbors, family, and strangers. I feel the love of my Savior more as I draw closer to Him in prayer and in scripture study. I feel His love growing as I also feel Him drawing nearer to me. I see more purpose in my life and less drudgery in the everyday simple things. What is a mother but a servant to her family? After Christ washed the feet of His disciples, a task normally left to servants, He said<br />
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Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 3: 13-17)</blockquote>
What a blessing we have to serve God's little ones in this way! What an expression of love and service. It may sometimes feel a drudgery or unrewarding. But we are helping to raise God's children. This is not something that happens in a day or even a year. It requires a lifetime of daily service, one tiny step at a time.<br />
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President Eyring continues:<br />
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My promise to you who pray and serve the Lord cannot be that you will have every blessing you may wish for yourself and your family. But I can promise you that the Savior will draw close to you and bless you and your family with what is best. You will have the comfort of His love and feel the answer of His drawing closer as you reach out your arms in giving service to others. As you bind up the wounds of those in need and offer the cleansing of His Atonement to those who sorrow in sin, the Lord's power will sustain you. His arms are outstretched with yours to succor and bless the children of our Heavenly Father, including those in your family....There is a glorious homecoming prepared for us. We will then see fulfilled the promise of the Lord we have loved. It is He who welcomes us into eternal life with Him and our Heavenly Father.</blockquote>
I bear testimony that our Savior knows our needs before we can even express them. He is anxiously waiting to bless us. When we draw near to Him in prayer, in faith, and in service, He pours out blessings upon us. I know that when we are obedient to His commandments, we are blessed with so much more than temporal blessings. If the fullness of joy that is promised us in the eternities is anything like the fleeting times of joy I feel during this life, it only makes me more anxious to serve Him, in whatever way or place.Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-81007102130953358712013-05-16T07:00:00.000-07:002013-05-16T07:00:02.125-07:00Let's talk about PitocinAs some of you know, I'm studying to be a midwife. I want women to have their babies where they feel the safest and most comfortable, with the people they want in attendance (or none at all), and when the baby is ready to arrive. My first two children were born in the hospital, mostly because I thought I "had no other choice." I didn't like what was done there and most people would think they were really good labors. My first was actually not too bad. Not what I wanted, but for a hospital birth it was pretty good. For my second, I felt bullied, betrayed, and tortured. I'm not kidding. Good thing my labors are fast or it could have been so much worse. I will admit that each experience had their good and bad, but when I talk/think about my bad experience, baby number 2 is where I go.<br />
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Birth Story of my Second Daughter</h3>
I was induced, even though I didn't want to be, after a botched up amniocentesis (which I still can't get out of my mind was botched on purpose), and "punished" for wanting no epidural. I'd done my research and didn't want one, nor did I want the amnio, but that's another story. I felt I needed the induction, only because the doctor botched the amnio and I was worried about my baby. Without that, I would have gone home and waited it out. I don't fault people who choose or need either for various reasons, but I didn't want them. The on-call doctor insisted I would need an epidural. I held my ground. And I'm pretty sure her form of punishment was the steady increase in my pitocin. If I'd known better, I would have insisted on learning my Bishop's score and requesting a new non-stress test (although I'm certain baby was a bit stressed by this time!) to evaluate whether it was really necessary to induce right then.<br />
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If the labor was the only problem I had with the induction, maybe I could have healed from this experience faster. My daughter is 3 1/2 years old and I still have major emotional issues about it. I'm doing better every year about it, but I feel I have a mild form of PTSD from the experience. And I'm sure it contributed to my postpartum depression. I did better than with my first, only because I knew to expect it and knew how to overcome it. And I had great friends who took REALLY good care of me. But I had trouble bonding with this child. At first, I chocked it up to her being a different baby and every baby has different needs. And I remembered that with my first hospital-born baby, I kept wondering when this kid's parents would come get her. I was breastfeeding her, bathing her, changing her, rocking her, loving her, and yet somehow she didn't feel like mine until she was around 2 months old. I've since learned for myself that it had to do with the way the hospital treated her like she was THEIRS and not MINE. So, I thought, maybe this was just my way of falling in love with my 2nd baby. It would take some time. And it did. I couldn't understand her. I didn't understand her cues. I felt like she cried ALL the time. I wondered if she had "colic." While she did have yeast problems that added to her fussiness, I just couldn't bond with her. Breastfeeding was painful because of the thrush and I admit I resented that a bit. When she made achievements and developments, I was happy, but not the same way as with my first. It BOTHERED me that I didn't connect with her the same way. I knew I had postpartum depression with her, but I dealt with that so much better than before. But I still just couldn't understand my daughter: why she did what she did, why I sometimes felt so angry, and why I just couldn't bond with her. Of course, I love my girls! All of them! But my bonding was just not right. I didn't feel connected with her the way I thought I was supposed to. I couldn't understand her cries. I didn't know what she wanted when she cried in different ways. I felt like an awful mother that I didn't understand my baby! And then I made the mistake of reading about it online where there are some really supportive people and where there are people who say things like, "Well that's just dumb. Any good mom would know that without having to read this article." Yeah, that really hurt. I must not be a good mom, then, I thought.<br />
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Trying to Understand and Process My Experience</h3>
Then, various experiences happened that made we wonder if she was in the autism spectrum. She's not, don't worry, but I wondered because I started to realize she and I <b>both </b>had relationship problems. Then, I wondered if other moms who had been induced had similar feelings. And how on earth could I get them to share that information with me?! Who wants to admit that they can't bond with their child when everything around you tells you that you're supposed to be completely in AWE of your baby? So, this thought stuck with me. I found a few friends who began to accept my thinking, especially some who had also been induced against their better judgment. Often these moms had children in the autism spectrum (which from my understanding makes building relationships difficult) or were considered high needs or were diagnosed ADD/ADHD or had some form of learning disability. I often wondered if there was some correlation. I'm still waiting for research to catch up with me. I don't have a Ph.D. so I can't do the research myself, and I realize that all this so far is just anecdotal. But when people would ask my opinion of induction by pitocin, I would add that opinion to my set of reasons I don't like it. I don't recommend it for any reason, least of them being "baby in distress." Wisdom tells us if a baby is already distressed, you don't want to put him in MORE distress unless, of course, you needed an excuse to have/give a c-section. <br />
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And before anyone starts thinking I don't use doctors for ANYTHING, let me tell you. I am so incredibly grateful for modern medicine. Western medicine is THE BEST at dealing with acute, medical crises, and accidents. If a surgery is <i>necessary</i>, I'm grateful I live in a country that has some of the best surgeons in the world. If I'm in a major car accident, <i style="font-weight: bold;">please</i> take me to the hospital. But birth in general isn't a medical emergency. Some women need a c-section. It's rare to be an actual need, but when it is, I'm so grateful we have surgeons who can help. In those cases, they often save the lives of mother and child, making the 6 extra weeks of recovery worth it, I suppose.<br />
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My Break-through Arrives</h3>
Back on topic. I had trouble bonding with my second daughter until she was about 2 years old. And, miracle of miracles, do you know what also happened when she was 2 years old? I had my third daughter. At home. In my bed. With my husband, midwife, and mother-in-law in attendance. My daughters were watching a movie with their Pappy. I was able to do anything I needed. No one thought I needed an IV, or a fetal heart monitor, or continuous blood pressure cuff. No one stopped me if I wanted to move. Everyone helped me when I asked for it. I felt completely and totally supported and safe. I didn't feel self-conscious or weird asking my father-in-law and husband to give me a priesthood blessing (a priesthood ordinance of prayer, blessing, healing, and comfort) just before I went into transition. No one insisted I have a cervical exam to check my progress. And I'm convinced it would have slowed me down to be forced on my back so someone could make a clinical decision about my progress when I was so obviously working things out on my own.<br />
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And why was I suddenly able to bond with my daughter? I truly and honestly believe it's because I finally had the appropriate balance and flow of <i>natural</i> hormones, including oxytocin. There is a major difference in the way artificial oxytocin (brand named Pitocin) and natural oxytocin acts on the body. Oxytocin is the same hormone released when you fall in love, when you kiss or hug or orgasm, when you deliver a baby, and when you breastfeed. It is a natural hormone whose purpose is to help you build a loving relationship with your spouse and children. It is a defense mechanism for your baby. When you are so desperately in love with your baby, you become the she-bear you were born to be. You will defend that tiny bundle with every part of you. You understand their needs better because you have bonded and understood this baby. So with this major flow of natural oxytocin I fell in love with my new baby and I fell in deeper love all over again with my bigger girls. <br />
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ACOG's New Position</h3>
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Now let's fast forward to today. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the leading authority in the United States on medical management of pregnancy, labor, and birth. Rarely, I agree with them, sometimes I despise them and sometimes I wish they'd look at the research before making a statement. Today, I'm a little more satisfied with them. They released <a href="http://www.acog.org/About_ACOG/News_Room/News_Releases/2013/Study_Finds_Adverse_Effects_of_Pitocin_in_Newborns">this report</a> discussing a research study that finds adverse effects of pitocin on the newborn. Always before it had been about the mother and any risks or benefits to her. Now they've finally ac<span style="font-family: inherit;">cepted that it can have serious effects on the neonate (I added the bold for emphasis,):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555;">Researchers found that induction and augmentation of labor with oxytocin was an independent risk factor for <b>unexpected admission to the NICU</b> lasting more than 24 hours for full-term infants. Augmentation also correlated with Apgar scores of <b>fewer than seven at five minutes</b>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To clarify, use of Pitocin in labor greatly increased the rate of admission to the NICU, when it wasn't previously expected due to other risk factors. AND, using Pitocin to speed up labor (augment) correlated to more babies having a tougher time transitioning to life on dry land. Despite the seriousness of the report, researchers made this confusing conclusion:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #555555;">The analysis suggests that oxytocin use may not be as safe as once thought and that proper indications for its use should be documented for further study. “However, we don’t want to discourage the use of Pitocin, but simply want a more systematic and conscientious approach to the indications for its use,” Dr. Tsimis said.</span></span></blockquote>
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So they say that artificial "oxytocin use may not be as safe as once thought," but "we don't want to discourage the use of Pitocin." I'm confused. I thought ACOG's work focused mainly on<br />
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<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Serving as a strong advocate for quality health care for women.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maintaining the highest standards of clinical practice and continuing education for its members.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Promoting patient education and stimulating patient understanding of and involvement in medical care.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Increasing awareness among its members and the public of the changing issues facing women's health care. (This was taken directly from the <a href="http://www.acog.org/About_ACOG/Leadership_and_Governance">ACOG website</a>.)</span></li>
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<span style="color: #555555;">I'd say they managed to "increase awareness" and "promote patient education" but aren't doing so well in the other areas. It's an improvement, though, I suppose. And gives women more ammunition when being lead to an unnecessary induction.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555;">Disclosure: I am not your healthcare provider. This information is here to inform you of my experience and ACOG's own research. I suggest you do your research and make your choices about your body and your baby's body, then discuss it with your healthcare provider, whether an obstetrician, family doctor, nurse midwife, professional midwife, other midwife, or who ever you choose to attend you in labor.</span></div>
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Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-16813814146042132372013-05-14T10:16:00.004-07:002013-05-14T11:40:17.558-07:00Overcoming Diaper Need <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've really been thinking about this challenge and how it truly brings awareness about diaper need. Did you know "1 in 3 families in America struggle to afford diapers for their children"? <a href="http://nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org/?q=need">source</a> One-third of those families cut back on other necessities, like food, in order to purchase them. Some have even reported drying out and reusing disposable diapers or even simply dumping the poos and reusing them! Disposable diapers are only intended as one-time use. They were intended to be changed 8-12 times per day for newborns and down to about 4-8 times per day as children grow. Some of these families are forced to use only one diaper per day for their children! That's disgusting. Consider the health consequences of that! </div>
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There are diaper banks across the US and world that help supply families with diapers. With the economic state of the world right now, though, there are even more people in need and fewer resources to share, so while some get assistance, others are still struggling along. Some have found alternative ways to help, like my local cloth diaper bank "<a href="http://kyly125.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/cover-your-bum-cloth-diaper-bank/">Cover Your Bum</a>." They loan a supply of cloth diapers for a few months so you can save to buy your own supply. What a blessing! And did you know that cloth diapers hold their value better than your car? You can often sell them used for much more than half your purchase price.</div>
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Our family started using cloth with our 2nd daughter. She was about 9 months old and going through about 2 value sized boxes of diapers per month. I had been wanting to cloth diaper for some time, but my husband was leery of various aspects of it. Finally, while working on our budget I came up with an idea. We were spending about $30 per month on diapers, plus more on wipes. My idea was to spend $30 on a beginner supply of cloth diapers and covers and use them for an entire month. If we hated them, we weren't out any money and could return to disposables. If we LOVED them, we would be saving about $400 per year (after I learned to use cloth wipes)! So we did. I <a href="http://fernandfaerie.com/sewing_prefolds.html">made my own prefold diapers</a>, purchased econobum one-size covers with a small supply of prefolds, and went to work.
It was a little tough of a transition since there is a learning curve, but we were blessed to have a good washing machine and dryer and the ability to hang our clothes on the clothes line outside. I had been making my own laundry detergent for some time and decided to use that. We do occasionally still use a disposable when the kids stay with the grandparents, but I love our cloth.</div>
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After trying out the camp washer with my homemade t-shirt flats, I really believe anyone who is struggling but is willing to put forth a little effort can pull themselves out of this pit of diaper need. You could wash a day's worth of flats in about 10 minutes and they dry quicker than other materials. In ideal conditions it can take as little as 1 hour, but for us it took about 4 hours out in the sunshine. Many have reported drying indoors with a fan running under them made it much faster. I haven't practiced a lot yet, but next week is the challenge! I'll get a lot of practice in! And I've already been using my flats. I really love how versatile they are. Given a little time, you can find so many different folds to try, the simplest being a simple tri-fold. Just take your flat and fold in half. </div>
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Fold over the uneven edges.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0dtNSLVg14NhadThJ_ALkTPTKZVTFtlaGvBAQgm2ztcjoeECbdmB_q7uZ_7giPBJ1zTIbnK4c3vUUdWzLGk8B7T7t6cFY3xWEC0zoBzQ3dFMBCn2HEcMr2J1P6HwMetWZ4KysRDXBCTd/s1600/tshirtflat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0dtNSLVg14NhadThJ_ALkTPTKZVTFtlaGvBAQgm2ztcjoeECbdmB_q7uZ_7giPBJ1zTIbnK4c3vUUdWzLGk8B7T7t6cFY3xWEC0zoBzQ3dFMBCn2HEcMr2J1P6HwMetWZ4KysRDXBCTd/s320/tshirtflat3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Fold into thirds, width-wise.<br />
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Fold the rest of the way over. Tuck it in your cover and put it on baby.<br />
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With this set-up of the simple trifold, you can easily make the folds I made in my <a href="http://christchocolateandchildren.blogspot.com/2013/05/cloth-diapering-basics-part-2-how-to.html">previous tutorial</a> about prefolds. You could fan out one end and put that on baby's bottom and attach with boingos or snappis or pins. You could twist it in the middle. Then there are more complicated folds that put more absorbent layers where they're most needed. Go the <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/">dirtydiaperlaundry.com</a>, click on cloth diapers and you'll find a wealth of information. She even has videos on youtube show you how to do many folds, make your own camp-style washer, and make your own t-shirt diapers. Let's do this!<br />
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<br />Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929998739495977423.post-37193132693363687222013-05-13T10:38:00.003-07:002013-05-14T11:40:17.559-07:00Gearing Up for the Flats ChallengeAre you as excited as I am about <a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/sign-ups-open-now-for-the-3rd-flats-and-handwashing-challenge-may-20-26/">this challenge</a>? I started with one cotton hemp flat that I used exclusively as a pocket insert. I now have 19 "<a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/cheap-and-easy-make-two-t-shirt-flats-from-1-xxl-shirt/">t-shirt flats</a>," dug out my Gerber (read junky) birdseye flats, and will probably add a flannel flat or two. I have a couple of snappis already and a friend is loaning me a couple of boingos. I already had my econobum one size covers, but I dug out my pocket diapers, too. I tested my camp-style washer Thursday, just washing the 3 flats I had used Wednesday and line dried them. Washing was so fast I was seriously surprised. Drying was pretty good, too, except for the darn bird that dared POO on my clean diaper! One of the risks, I suppose.<br />
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Now that I'm looking at my calendar for that week, it should be pretty interesting. I've got a couple of places to be and we're ending the week with a camping trip. Since camping was one of the reasons I wanted to learn flats, this will be good for me, right? Right?! I'm a little nervous, but I pledged to do it, so it'll work out! I'll just have to bring my washer, detergent, and a clothesline when we go. Or wash them all before we go and after we get back. I don't know. I'll figure it out.<br />
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If you're planning to do the challenge, what have you done to prepare? <br />
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Crystal Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277906855073572848noreply@blogger.com0