Job Chart

Good Morning,

Nate started preschool yesterday and it's time to get him into a morning routine.  In order to get him started we made a chart on Monday to help him remember his “morning basics” that need to be done after breakfast.  He wanted a picture chart, which I normally do at this age, but instead of doing the basic clip art we decided to actually take photos of the jobs he needed to do.  I turned this part over to him and he loved it.  I gave him the camera and he took the pictures of his bed, toothbrush,  toys on the floor etc.  This gave him something to do and he really enjoyed the process.  Then it was my turn to create the chart.  He loves his new chart.  It now hangs on his door and he’s been very consistent in completing his “morning basics”. So far it's been perfect!

Things that work around here.....

My first blog post! Yeah! It didn't post on Saturday as I told it to. But hopefully we've since fixed things.

It's been a busy month around our house. School starting means I have a first grader who is learning to read (a part time job by itself!), two daughters on soccer teams, a daughter playing her last season of high school tennis (very intense for two months) and a boy figuring out what he likes / wants to do given his physical limitations. And that doesn't include the school work and college application deadlines. Your lives are equally as busy. So I wanted to share a few ideas that make things flow more smoothly around here in the hopes that it might help you all as well.

1. Laundry: I've tried many things to make this most unbearable of all tasks more palatable and I've finally come down with this: never let a load leave the dryer without folding it and always listen to a good book on CD while doing laundry. Sounds simple but not having 6 loads of clean clothes on my bed to fold at midnight has made me very happy.

2. Dinner dishes: Again, I've tried lots of charts, programs, etc. What works best for us is to have us all help together every night. A friend suggested setting the timer (usu. 10 minutes or less for us) and if we make our goal, rewarding us all with money in a jar for dinner out. The timer and dinner out was a good incentive at the beginning, but the most fun has come from Hannah's version of Taylor Swift songs, Joshua's moves while wiping off the table and the good info we get from our girls about high school romances and what happened during their day. Greg and I have learned about what's in with high school kids from music to clothes to TV shows to technology. It's turned into one of my favorite times of the day.

3. Blitz: I hate all the clutter! Those backpacks, stray socks and shoes seem to multiply. So most nights we pick a few favorite songs (Big Yellow Taxi by the Counting Crows has been Joshua's choice for a good year now, with an occasional Les Mis song thrown in) and we dance our way through cleaning up the stuff. Watching the vast difference between Joshua's groove and Greg's 80's moves is worth the nightly ritual.

Turning Antique Boxes into a Headboard: IT’S FINALLY FINISHED!

Dear Amy,
We’ve been talking about this for months. And yes, IT IS FINALLY FINISHED! When we first agreed back in January to take our tiny house off of the market and stay here for awhile longer, I was forced to find some creative space-saving solutions. We had just moved our bedroom from upstairs to the main floor. Although we now have an attached bathroom, which is nice (even if it is the smaller than the average closet), our bedroom is a mere 9’ x 11’. The master bedroom closet in our 1930s bungalow is VERY small. In fact, I think I have only a couple of shirts and a few pairs of pants in the closet. It is completely filled with Rit’s clothes. And she really doesn’t have that many clothes either. I dream of the day when I can actually keep my clothes in my bedroom. For now, there simply isn’t enough space.
I digress. So, I had to find a way to fit a queen-sized bed, chest of drawers, large dog bed and a nightstand in this tiny space. Add to that the fact that there are two windows, a freestanding radiator, the bedroom door, the double closet doors, and the bathroom door to contend with when arranging furniture. A nightstand seemed to take up too much space, but I’m a reader and I really want some place to put my many books I'm reading simultaneously, a clock, a lamp, the baby monitors, the phone, etc. Hmmm…dilemma.
Then I came up with an idea. I have long collected “stuff"…old stuff that most people would term garbage. Not “vintage” stuff, but really old stuff from people’s garages, basements and barns. And we do have a lot of barns out here in Wisconsin. I think I got my collecting gene from mom. I remember the first time she came to visit me here. She was like a kid in a candy store…looking around wide-eyed and gasping at my many finds. Yep, it’s in the blood.
I have a rather large collection of old wood boxes…beverage boxes, fruit and potato boxes, etc. I pictured a type of shelving mounted on the wall above the bed. My vision was awesome, but how to make it into reality. I assigned Rit, the family problem solver, to figure out how to firmly mount the boxes to the wall. The last thing I wanted was to be knocked unconscious by a falling box while sleeping. She came up with a great idea involving mounting strips used for closets. Two mounting strips, with a 150-pound weight limit each, are anchored into the wall and the other two are mounted along the bottoms of the boxes. We cleaned up and disinfected the boxes. And magic!

Yes, the cords are an issue. We’re working on that. And things still need to find their place, but I love the look of it. It’s EXACTLY what I wanted! and it has freed up so much floor space!
Next on the list: I just ordered matching chests of drawers. Cheap, but useable. They will replace the one chest of drawers we have. They will fit flush with each other along the short wall by the door, hopefully appearing as one piece of furniture. I’m hoping that the streamlined look of the chests won’t overwhelm the small room. That should give us the extra clothes storage we’ll need.
I’ll keep you posted! Beautiful day today! The bike trailer arrived Friday and I’m in love. We went on a ride this weekend and I swooned the entire time.
Have a great day!
Love, Kate

Metamorphosis Monday

The Great Potty-Training Experiment of 2010

Dear Amy,

We are fast approaching potty-training ground zero here in Wisconsin. D is now 29 months old and he’s expressing interest in the potty. With Michelle’s five kids, your six, Dayna’s five and David’s 2, I have heard countless horror stories. I’m scared….REALLY. SCARED. I’m trying an approach that has garnished rave reviews online. It’s called “Three Day Potty Training” by Lora Jensen. You can find it here. I realize that you and my other siblings are skeptical at best regarding whether or not I can potty train D in 3 days…over a weekend, for example. But I am taking a deep breath, standing tall and going for it.

The method is pretty straight forward and has some elements to it that really ring true with me. I can’t go into details here since she sells the method in the form of an ebook and it’s all proprietary. In preparation for the big weekend, I did some research into potties and decided to get a traditional toddler potty that can double as a stepstool to the toilet as well as a toddler urinal. I may regret the urinal, but with two boys to work with for the next few years, this seemed like a good move. Plus, the more I read online, the more convinced I was that this was a good route to go.

As part of the 3-day method, Jensen recommends having 20-30 pairs of underwear on hand. Um, hello…I had no idea toddler underwear was so pricey! CRAZY PRICEY! So, I did a little research and found a fabulous free pattern for toddler underwear online here. You’ll see on the top of that same page there is a link to toddler boxers. Are you kidding me? Toddler boxers? CUTE! So, I’m digging into my stack of retired t-shirts to make D’s new big boy underwear. I’m kind of excited to make them for him actually. Is that silly?

Jensen also recommends you have several sheets on hand for naptime and overnight accidents. D is in a toddler bed and we only have two sheets for crib mattresses. Again, they’re not cheap. So, I found a pattern online for crib sheets here. When we upgraded from a full-size mattress to a queen, I kept all of our old sheets. People think I’m crazy, but old sheets can be used to make a HUGE variety of other things. (Pajama pants are especially yummy made of old, soft sheets.) I’ll be using some of those old sheets to make new crib sheets.

Okay, so far, I’ve saved about $150 in underwear and sheets alone. But that’s not all…this is beginning to sound like one of those early morning infomercials where they keep saying, “But that’s not all! Order now and we’ll throw in a second set of knives for only $3!” Smile.

Jensen also recommends using wipes by the potty for the first little time because wiping with toilet paper can be tough at first. She makes a point of saying that these should not be baby wipes because your toddler is making the transition into being a big boy or big girl. Okay, so wipes…toddler wipes (insert eye roll here) are also expensive…and dumb. I found instructions here and here on how to make your own. Eric is still in diapers, so I think I’ll be making all of my own baby wipes from now on.

I’m pretty excited about all of my great information finds online. Thanks, Internet. You rock.

Love, Kate

Tutorial: Holey Knees Make the Perfect Boy’s Shorts

Dear Amy,

So yes, another pair of D’s pants has bitten the dust. The boy plays so hard! These were especially tragic for me to lose. I LOVED these pants. I bought them off eBay…Mini Boden brand, a little baggy, SO CUTE!

Inevitably, D’s hectic play schedule has claimed this casualty. Sad. Fortunately, though, this particular pair of pants lends itself perfectly to becoming a cutesy pair of summer shorts. Hooray! Big smiles! I neglected to take a “before” picture of said pants (due to my crazy excitement to complete the transformation), but you get the idea from this picture.

The pants just happened to have a conveniently located seam mid-leg. I cut directly below that seam to remove the legs. I then machine sewed two patches on…one on each leg, large enough to cover the holes and thinning fabric.

I wanted some STRONG patches, so I used home decor-weight fabric and double layered it. I love the look of the unfinished, frayed edges, so I left them unfinished.

I simply sewed around the edges of the patch and then sewed in an X pattern across the center to keep it securely in place. D loves his new shorts and this mama is delighted not to lose one of her favorite pairs of D’s pants. Saved the pants and re-used scrap fabric. Now that’s what I call success. Bring on the summer sun…we’re ready!

Love, Kate

p.s. Here are some projects I’m working on that I can’t wait to tell you about: toddler sleeping bags for the boys, road trip activities for toddlers, spring/summer wreath reusing old t-shirts, clothes for the Easter bunnies, and a fabulous blanket for Eric made from recycled sweatshirts.

Tutorial: Save those Kid's Pants with Patches!

Dear Amy,
Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We enjoyed the sunny (but chilly) days bundled up and playing outside. We had our first fire in the chiminea over the weekend. We played and went on walks and dreamed of summer.

Contrary to what most of our townsfolk were wearing last week when it reached 60 degrees, it’s still not warm enough for shorts (and/or tube tops, people. Take note!). I mean, come on. It’s March…in Wisconsin…they don’t call it the frozen tundra for nothing.

So, it’s still long pants for us. DeAngelo own three pairs of jeans—all hand-me-downs. (Thanks, friends and family!) Over the past month, two of the three pairs have sprouted vents…directly over the heavy play area—his knees. I hate to buy him new pairs now because he’s smack dab in the middle of a growth spurt. That sent me looking for other options. Enter THE PATCH.
 

I am not a fan of store-bought patches. I hate the look of them and they never seem to stay on anyway. So, I had to get creative.



I searched through my scrap fabric and found some decorator-weight fabric by the lovely Anna Marie Horner left over from some previous project. There are three patches in all.



I used the blanket stitch to attach two of them and a simple straight stitch to attach the other one. I did a simple straight in an X across the center of all three.

 
DeAngelo loves them. I don’t know if they’ll stay put. I don’t know how long they’ll last. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that they last a few months until I can convert these jeans into shorts. I’ll keep you posted.

Love, Kate

Tutorial: Appliqué that Stained Shirt!

Dear Amy,
I LOVE the seedlings you’ve started. It makes me realize how close summer is and how I need to get a jumpstart on our garden this year. I’ve bought some books to help us plan better, utilize our garden bounty more efficiently and use our garden space more effectively. I’m so excited! The first signs of spring make me so happy!
Here’s one more idea for how to reuse kids’ stained clothing. D received a hand-me-down shirt from a friend. The shirt was still in good condition except for some staining front and center and I loved the burnt orange color. So, I set to work trying to figure out a way to keep the shirt while covering the stain.
I had some scraps of knit fabric lying around from a skirt project (Re-using old t-shirts…I’ll tell you about that later.) I decided on a number 2 appliqué because of D’s impending 2nd birthday.I picked two colors from my scraps, a dark brown and a pale blue, and cut out a number 2 freehand from each color. I made the 2 from the darker color slightly smaller for a layered look.
If cutting your design freehand makes you nervous, I recommend finding a font or picture you like on your computer, adjusting the size and printing it out to use as a template.

I centered the larger 2 on the shirt and pinned it in place. I quickly sewed it on, careful to sew through only the front side of the shirt. I centered the smaller 2 over the larger one and pinned and sewed it in place. Knit fabric doesn’t unravel, so I left the edges unfinished so they they would curl when washed.

As you can see, I wasn’t super precise, but I love the outcome. And D loves his 2 shirt. The entire project took about 20 minutes.
What do you think?
Love, Kate

Tutorial: How to Alter & Use Stained Onesies

Dear Amy,
As you know, our two boys arrived very suddenly last spring. They were five months and 17 months old at the time…just babies.

When we made the decision to take the boys and commit to making it work, we were instantly thrown into a whirlwind of preparation. We didn’t have the usual nine months to prepare for their arrival…we had a few days.



We didn’t have a room set up. We didn’t have cribs or car seats or strollers or clothes or toys. We didn’t have anything. Fortunately, generous friends and family rallied to provide us with hand-me-downs from their children. We very quickly accumulated everything we needed to welcome our little ones.

Some of the clothing we received had been worn by more than one child already, and although still in good shape, some of the shirts were showing some staining. But I hated to get rid of things simply because of a little staining or discoloration. So I got creative.

 

I looked around for some sort of solution for discolored onesies. Enter an ingenious little product I picked up at Hobby Lobby, my home away from home. For a few bucks a bottle, you can find tie-dye in little spray bottles. It comes in a handful of colors and is super easy to use.

This time, the basement worked fine for this project. Next time, I hope to do this type of project outside during warmer weather! I placed a large piece of cardboard down to protect the surface underneath. Then I spread out the onesies and started spraying. I combined orange and red on some and blue and turquoise on others. I focused on the part of the onesies that would be seen—mainly the neck and arms. Part of the fun of this project is not worrying about the color being uniform, just go crazy and spray with abandon!



I sprayed several at once and then flipped them over and sprayed the back. Once they were finished, I placed an old towel on my drying rack and then placed the onesies on that to dry. Once air dry, I heat sealed the color in the dryer. The directions for the dye are on the packaging.


Such an easy solution and so inexpensive. This was a life-saver during the winter months as the boys could continue to wear their short-sleeved shirts all winter layered with a long-sleeved onesie.

Love,
Kate