Showing posts with label 9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9. Show all posts
Thursday, June 29, 2017
April 9 Truman Time
Just a quick update on my biggest boy, since Cecelia already got a post and Porter has one coming.
Truman is getting so stinking big, it's just ridiculous. He and Tony went and got hair cuts together this week during Truman's spring break. I about died when I saw how GROWN it makes him. Literally ten years old to me all of a sudden.
We've never done the spikey-with-hair-product thing for him but I think this haircut makes it a necessity!
Also, I think Truman looks more like me at age five...
(this picture was obviously taken more than 7 years ago)
But then I compare these two pictures at Lois's house and hmmmmmmm. Okay, maybe he looks a lot like both of his parents.
One day a few weeks ago, I had a cancellation and got off work a few hours early. I came home, Tony left, and Truman and I got to spent a solid two hours together. Alone. No siblings. Just us two. And it was glorious.
We worked on his April 'family' homework together and he was so proud of his kite.
Then he wanted to send a thank you note to Memaw, because she sent the kids the book 'Mr. Messy' in the mail. She read the book 'Mr. Silly' to Truman's entire class at school when she was visiting for T's birthday. The teacher invited Memaw and also Tony to come in and read to the class, and Memaw's pick of Mr. Silly was a hit. Mostly because of the word 'nincompoop' in the book----a bunch of four and five year olds were rolling on the ground at that one, of course!
So not only did he decide to write Memaw a thank you note for the new 'Mr.' book, but he sounded out all of his words by himself, wrote them out the way he hears them, and then my heart exploded. This is something they are doing in school---stretching out their sounds and we aren't supposed to worry that nothing is spelled correctly at all.
You can kind of read, 'Thank U Memaw For (my) Book.' The 'KM' is a little perplexing, but I think the K was because he wanted to re-write the K in 'Thank' and the 'M' must be 'My'. So proud of my Truman for learning to sound out his own words!
And like I said in my DiTL post, he can read, too! This is seriously so mind blowing to me. One day when we were driving by a road sign he hadn't seen before, Truman said, 'Hey! That sign said ''zoo'' on it.' And it did! What a fun milestone.
Another picture he drew that I adored: 'This is me skiing'. Not the magic carpet and the STEEP hill. LOL. He did ask me to tell him which letters to use here, as you can see.
Something else adorable? Truman said he found the bath letter 'J' laying on the floor one day. So he put the 'J' on my bedside table, grabbed an 'N' for Nate's table, but a '5' on his bed and a '2' on Cecelia's. Then he put a 'P' in Porter's room. Such a thoughtful guy and really into his letters (and our family).
Truman is starting to love drawing, painting, and crafting when he was not at all into these activities prior to school. I'm hoping he continues to love all sorts of crafts.
Do you remember these awesome water paint pages?
Two of my favorite crafts he made at school for their 'spring party.' LOL.
Oh, and Truman went to his first Brewers game with Nate this week! It was a group of four dads from the neighborhood and their oldest kids at the game. I made Truman nap this day so he could stay up late for the game and he had a BALL (no pun intended) with his daddy. I know they didn't watch a lot of the actual game, but at least they had fun and got to experience the ballpark. Truman informed me after that 'At the Bucks game, I did this game when I ran so fast, it was about 18 miles an hour.' Which of course, it was the *Brewers* game (baseball, not basketball, dear) and he did some sort of *throwing* game when he pitched the ball at 18 mph. Close enough!!
The dudes.
And the siblings weren't too torn up about being forced to stay home with mom. Which was probably because I took them to get frozen yogurt right when the guys left, and right before bedtime. I call this picture: Four baseball hats on the most adorable people I know;)
And finally, these two boys of mine are too much. When I see how much Truman genuinely loves his baby brother, I can't help but picture them in another ten years. I hope they continue to love each other and I believe Truman will always be a fantastic big brother. He and CC have their own sweet/intense relationship, but I adore watching the brothers together, too.
Truman told me the other day, 'I really miss Porter when he is at Lori's. I just love him so much, he is so small. The smaller he gets, the more I love him.' I told him that Porter is not getting any smaller, and he corrected himself to say, 'The *bigger* he gets the more I love my brother.' Gah.
Nate and I say this to each other often: "Truman is just such a good kid." And he really is! Love this first born, sensitive, sweet boy so much.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Aug 9 Help Me Choose Part 1
If you follow me on Instagram (MrsJuliaGoolia), you might remember that a few weekends ago I roped Nate into hanging eight picture frames on our dining room wall. This whole measuring and leveling and planning thing is right up his alley and totally not up my own. I prefer to guess and hammer a nail wherever my eyeball so desires. And since I knew I wanted these eight frames to be centered and symmetrical, I knew my husband was the correct choice for this project.
We used to have two canvases on this wall and it recently started to bug me because this wall is huge and the two canvases just didn't fill up the space well enough for my tastes. I knew I wanted a lot of BIG photos on this wall and am really into the repetitive look of identical frames hung at the same distances, as opposed to a variable pattern like we used to have at the duplex.
(This is the best picture I could find without searching my Flickr for years. Kind of love this one of Truman with me and my parents, when Nate graduated PT school. Over two years ago!)
ANYWAY. Enough reminiscing.
I am really into the clean, symmetrical look on my walls now. So I bought these eight white frames from Michaels, after looking seriously at Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn. Nate told me to 'splurge on nice frames for a change' but I just couldn't do it. Because these from Michaels are not total crap, they were BOGO FREE, and $35 a pop. The ones I really loved from Pottery Barn were $40 and not buy one get one. Michaels speaks to my inner tight wad, I suppose.
The photograph is going to be 11x14 and the frame itself is probably 13x16 or something. Pretty huge. And I'm really excited to pick out my eight images to hang in these babies. I decided to go all black and white after some debate and all of the images will need to be verticals, of course.
This is where I need your help, my friends.
I can only choose eight pictures. I want one of those to be a wedding photo and I cannot, for the life of me, choose which one. I had a lot of fun pouring over the thousands of images we have on DVDs from our photographer. Probably a little too much fun, actually. Gah, over six years ago!!
Which one do you like the best?
A: From when we first saw each other in the hotel room, before the ceremony. Would convert this to black and white.
B: In the hotel still, before we left on the trolley for pictures (all before ceremony). Love this one.
C: From the 'around the city' shots we did before the ceremony. Would convert this one, too. Very posed but still pretty classic.
D: The Kiss!
E: The first dance. Love how we are laughing and so happy here. Such an amazing day in our lives.
F: Another first dance shot. It's blurry but it's always been a fave.
G: In front of the red brick wall that is gray here;)
H: Kissing in front of said wall. I would lighten this one up a bit. Not sure why it's so dark.
I: Another posed one, would need to convert.
Opinions on the wedding picture to be hung on our wall???
Monday, May 29, 2017
Large Family Laundry Strategies – How I Keep 9 Kids Clean and Why That’s Valuable
- About our laundry facility
- The frequency that I do laundry
- Stain/soil removing strategies
- Time-saving strategies
- A Mistake-saving strategy
- Our strategy for last minute cleaning in public
- The value of overall cleanliness for kids
It’s a sad but understandable fact I suppose. I’ve personally noticed the difference in others responses to me when I’m in public with clean kids, vs. when I’m in public with not-so-clean ones for varying normal reasons. *chuckle* I always strive to have the kids clean before we go out, but sometimes I’ve had to scoop up all the kids from the back yard to take one kiddo to the doctor suddenly, and they look like they’ve been having fun in the dirt, which they have been – but they are not their shiniest right then for by people who don’t know us. *chuckle* Our family of 11 has become known at places where we frequently shop, and smiles, friendliness, and clean kids does effect our reputation, and therefore our effectiveness in having a witness for the Lord; our ability to draw others to us, and entice them to wonder what makes us different from the rest of the world. What makes us smile...
People have asked for my tips for doing laundry for so many kids, I suppose thinking that if clothes can experience all that they do with 9 kids and still be clean, surely there are some valuable tips to be had! *laugh* One friend asked out of curiosity, “So… does your washing machine just run all the time?” No. *smile* Not at all! With a good plan and a few good cleaning strategies, laundry and clean kids can be accomplished fairly easily. So I thought I’d take time to share my simple yet ON PURPOSE strategies with you.
Facility –
Here is a photo of our small laundry room. So far it’s perfectly adequate for the 11 of us, and simply but purposefully supplied.
Here is a photo of our small laundry room. So far it’s perfectly adequate for the 11 of us, and simply but purposefully supplied.
Our front-loader washing machine is energy-efficient, and easier on the clothes than the top-loader we used to have was as it does not pull the clothes around but rather tosses the clothes as it washes them. It also uses far less water than our top-loader did. We chose the largest capacity washer we could fit in our laundry room and was available to us, so we can fit large loads in every time. And the front-loader gets our clothes very clean.
Frequency –
So here's my plan of attack. *smile* I do 2 loads of laundry, 4 days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I gather our 2 laundry hampers in the house (one in our master closet and one in the children's closet) and sort all of those clothes into two piles, white and colors. Over the course of the morning I rotate those through the washer and dryer, and then two of our children fold one basket each and put those clothes away for us.
It's also valuable to recognize that we as moms can greatly effect the amount of laundry our children produce. For example, my doing laundry only 4 days a week at 2 loads per day is also manageable because our kids wear only one outfit per day (unless there’s a genuine need for another one). We do not allow multiple outfits just because it strikes someone’s fancy. *wink* *smile* This would double or triple our laundry quantity, and waste our time, energy, and finances (by using a lot more laundry detergent and fabric softener needlessly).
So here's my plan of attack. *smile* I do 2 loads of laundry, 4 days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I gather our 2 laundry hampers in the house (one in our master closet and one in the children's closet) and sort all of those clothes into two piles, white and colors. Over the course of the morning I rotate those through the washer and dryer, and then two of our children fold one basket each and put those clothes away for us.
It's also valuable to recognize that we as moms can greatly effect the amount of laundry our children produce. For example, my doing laundry only 4 days a week at 2 loads per day is also manageable because our kids wear only one outfit per day (unless there’s a genuine need for another one). We do not allow multiple outfits just because it strikes someone’s fancy. *wink* *smile* This would double or triple our laundry quantity, and waste our time, energy, and finances (by using a lot more laundry detergent and fabric softener needlessly).
Stain & Soil Removing Strategies –
- I use detergent from Costco because it works great and is inexpensive per load (but not Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand - that doesn't clean well enough for me) – I use a few different brands: All, Clear, and Gain. However I don't use Tide as it wears clothing out fast (I suppose it works so hard on stains that it actually removes color after just a few washes, and breaks down fabric so that it looks thread-bare and worn-out really fast in my experience).
- I use Downy fabric softener, also from Costco, because it smells so nice and fresh (but not the Kirkland Signature brand of softener as that just doesn’t seem to work) and is the best price I have found for large quantities. I’ve often had people tell me that our clothes and kids always smell so nice! And my husband’s co-workers in his office have commented in the past that his clothes always smell so nice. *smile* It’s worth the very minimal cost to us.
- I use Shout spray for most really noticeable dirt: from the yard, from baby spit-up, dirty sheets, food on clothes - general things I want to be sure to get out. I spray it and then let it sit in a white dish tub on top of my dryer while I sort the rest of the laundry; if it's more deeply dirty then I'll let it sit with the stain remover on it while I wash a load of whites, for example, and then wash that colored item next with the colored clothes next. So sometimes stained items sit for about an hour before going in to the wash. I wash them on the temperature appropriate for each item (whites in warm - unless there's a stain to remove then it gets cold; colors always in cold).
- For really bad stains I use a spray called Zout (I get it at Wal-Mart) for blood, red sauce, diaper stains, chocolate, ink, food grease. I spray it and let it sit for at least an hour. My mom has a friend who uses Zout at her bed and breakfasts and she claims that it takes out everything. Then I wash those items in cold always, as warm/hot will set the stain.
- When there is a deeper stain like blood I treat asap. I’ll strip that shirt off of the child, treat the stain and drop the shirt in to a dish tub on top of the dryer, and give them a new shirt. I just let the treated shirt sit in the dish tub in our laundry room until I do laundry again (every other day), and it pretty much always comes out if I got it treated right away, and usually even if I wasn't.
- I also love Tide Pens. I carry them in our van and keep one handy at home! If one of the children spills something really noticeable like red sauce during a meal then I try to treat it real quick right then and I don't worry about washing it until next time I do laundry and it comes it beautifully because it had been treated immediately. *smile* My sister has even done this for a few guests at her restaurant (she’s was a waitress) when they’ve spilled something like wine, and it’s taken the stain right out. Amazing.
- I buy bleach pens (from the grocery store) for treating small stains that just need bleaching, or I couldn't get out of white items, or on items that are a light enough color where even if the color is removed from the garment it’ll still look better than having a black ink mark there. Bleach pens (they have a gel bleach in them) are nice because they control the bleach and don’t let it go where I don't want it to on a clothing item. And it can't splash onto me while I'm working.
- I use diluted liquid bleach (mixed 1:1) in a spray bottle for larger items that need bleaching (white tee-shirts, little girls’ stretch pants that have been in the yard, sometimes sheets). Once I’ve accumulated 3-4 items that need bleaching then I’ll wash a load of those together to prevent bleach from transferring to items that I don't want it on. I let bleach from either the pen or the spray bottle sit for a few minutes while I baby sit it (*chuckle* - can't leave it unattended with kids around) and so that it doesn't "eat" the fabric due to being left on there too long, and then I throw those items into the wash as a group, bleached items together.
Time-Saving Strategies –
- I have a white, zipping mesh laundry bag (12x18-inches or so) for tiny or delicate items, so that they don’t get lost or pulled out of shape (i.e. bras, camisoles’, nylons). This also helps me identify these items from the wash when the load is done so that I don’t accidentally put them into the dryer, but rather hang them to dry.
- Feather down items (our kids’ twin comforters, my down vest, down pillows) do not have to be taken to the dry cleaners! *beam* My mom and I have washed items like this for many years. *smile* My mother taught me this, and for years I’ve been enjoying washing down. I wash the item on cold, sometimes on delicate, with half the usual detergent amount, and no fabric softener. Then I put the items into the dryer on low heat for 2 hours, and with 3-5 dryer balls or tennis balls. This punches the laundry as it tumbles, fluffing-up the feathers.
- Many unusual things can be put in to the washing machine that people might not usually clean there: tennis shoes, canvas lunch coolers, car seat covers, pot holders, men’s hats (although these keep their shape better – which is important to my Honey – washed in the dishwasher)…then I let those air dry.
- I try not to buy things that need to be hung to dry or laid flat to dry; I just don’t have time or space for that. I do hang the items mentioned above, plus jackets if necessary (most of them tumble dry on low), and church dresses made of rayon or something similar, but that’s about it.
- I don’t buy clothing that can’t be thrown in to the washing machine. Once I nearly purchased a child’s jacket from Costco that said “spot clean only” – Ha! Ya, right, with throw up, mud, food, and urine? No thanks - didn't buy that item. I even wash items that say “hand wash only” on the “hand wash” cycle on our front loading machine and that’s been totally fine.
- I try to take some clothing items out of the dryer while they’re still hot and either fold them or hang them on a hanger, letting them cool flat (or hung up) when I desire for them to look pressed. I take, for example, my husband’s and son’s button-down shirts and church slacks from the dryer and hang them on a hanger to cool (the slacks are wrinkle-resistant, too). I don’t even have to iron them then and they still look smooth. (We like a pressed, creased look, but I just don’t have time for that in this season of life, and my husband has graciously excused me from ironing much while we have so many babies and toddlers *chuckle*.)
- If an item has a small part that really should be pressed for church, but the entire clothing item doesn’t necessarily need to be pressed, then I just put an ironing mat (or a folded-in-half hand towel) on the bathroom counter and use the iron on that collar, or bent-upward chest pocket. This takes just about 3 minutes and is a quick clean-up.
My Mistake-Saving Strategy –
- I keep a tablet of paper and a pen in the laundry room so that I can write down any items in the wash that I need to remember to check at the end of the cycle, to make sure the treated stain came out (so the heat of the dryer doesn’t set a stain), or to hang them instead of putting them into the dryer. It is easy to be preoccupied, especially for large family moms, and then those infrequent items that shouldn’t go in to the dryer; and once they did go through the dryer the stain was often now permanent from the heat, or the item was damaged because it was supposed to be hung to dry. Now I check my tablet when moving a load from the washer to the dryer, and there are no more mistakes, and with little effort! *smile*
Last-Minute Cleaning of Children in Public –
- I keep a package of baby wipes in the car to use for cleaning kids noses that got messy while we traveled, or for kid’s faces that were missed before we left the house. Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand wipes are by far my favorite, as they’re a nice texture (not slimy, like some are), they’re a nice thickness so I only need to use one, the whole package is always wet and doesn’t dry out, and they’re inexpensive. I’ve even taken baby wipes and wiped/scrubbed a toddler’s hair if they’ve gotten food in it. And I still buy wipes now that we don't even have any children in diapers! *laugh*- I periodically purchase a box of “Boogie Wipes” (*laugh* - Isn't that an awesome name?!) Which are individually packaged handi-wipes (I get them from Wal-Mart) so that I can put a couple of the little packages in my purse for use on really goopy noses while out and about or if someone gets sticky hands. I hardly ever need to use them, so they’re not a substantial expense, but when they’re needed, they’re needed and very appreciated (probably by others as well as by my self! *laugh!*). *smile* They’re also handy for the children’s fingers that have gotten chocolaty after the free cookie some grocery stores give to children.
- Again, those Tide Pens are a great tool to have in one’s purse to disappear bad or dark stains.
Overall Cleanliness –
- I make sure to bathe the children on a regular basis, washing their hair really well (and I do teach them to clean their scalp and make sure it’s not oily or have dandruff), and weekly clip their finger nails and toe nails so that they’re short and cannot collect dirt easily. This may seem like it is unnecessary to mention but I’m telling you, people do notice when children’s nails are unkempt. I also git rid of "bed head" and take a squirt bottle and a brush to their hair every morning as part of getting ready for the day, right after brushing teeth. Children's hair that is really tangled or "bed-head" really doesn't look clean, but just misting their hair with a tiny bit of water and combing it out gets rid of the "bed-head" and they look shiny, smooth, and clean again. It's good that I know they're clean (most of us know that our kids are generally clean) - but it's important for others to see that our children are clean as well.
It may seem like I’m constantly cleaning the kids, but really I’m not. With some proactive strategies and intentional cleaning, it’s not too hard to maintain. Basically I just make sure they are clean every week (or more if they're a teen *wink*) and that their clothes get cleaned well when we do laundry, and sometimes there is a little touching-up to do when we’re out if someone has a cold or a baby is teething and their nose is runny. But just like most things, if we’re proactive and have a good routine in place, cleanliness isn’t hard – but it is very valuable.
Blessings on your efforts!
You may also enjoy some of my related posts:
"Raising Real Men - Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys" - a book review.
Living Life on Purpose - "Isn't it exhausting?!"
Managing My Time, Part 1 of 2
Scheduling and Routines: You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat it, Too. Part 1 of 2
"Raising Real Men - Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys" - a book review.
Living Life on Purpose - "Isn't it exhausting?!"
Managing My Time, Part 1 of 2
Scheduling and Routines: You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat it, Too. Part 1 of 2
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Mels Must Have Baby Products 6 9 months old
It's time for another post about Mel's Must Have Baby Products.
I started this series because have gotten several emails from readers/friends who are pregnant with their first babies (or just had their first babies) and they wanted my advice on baby items.
I started this series because have gotten several emails from readers/friends who are pregnant with their first babies (or just had their first babies) and they wanted my advice on baby items.
You can see my Newborn-3 month post here.
You can see my 3-6 month post here.
Luke is our 3rd (and final) baby and since he was born almost 4 years after Claire, I had given away ALL our baby stuff. ALL of it.
I wanted to be mindful of what I got for Luke knowing that it would only be used for him & then given away/donated. I only wanted to get the absolute necessary things to avoid lots of clutter in my house. I just can't handle clutter.
Here are my 6-9 month must haves:
Bibs! 6-9 months is when most babies have their first foods and so bibs are a necessity. I love these bibs from PBK. They are easy to clean & have a pocket to catch the food that doesn't go in his mouth. I call them the cherrio collector!
Also around 6-9 months is when babies start sitting up on their own and taking a bath in the regular bath tub. We love these bath toys, in fact, the girls STILL use this net in the bathtub. They think it is so fun. I have to remind them that it's Luke's now.
I start giving my kids sippy cups around 7-8 months so that by the time they are 11-12 months old they are totally done with the bottle. I like these sippy cups because they are easy for babies to learn on & they don't leak (that much) I have found that all beginner sippy cups leak a little bit, but these were the least leaky & Luke is a sippy cup master now. No more bottles...ever!!!
Next is one of my favorite & most versatile baby items. This travel high chair. We got this one when we had Kate. It is perfect to keep in your trunk. We have used it when we go to friends for dinner, I use it for when our friends (or Jack) come over to our house and we need an extra high chair. I bring it with us to Tahoe and on other vacations. It folds up & stores easily...and the tray is dishwasher safe. Best $25 spent! Go get one!
A thermometer. For some strange reason, we never got a thermometer when we had Kate or Claire. We just used the ghetto one that we got when we came home from the hospital. After almost 7 years, it was on the fritz, so I finally got one for Luke that was digtial & all you have to do is swipe it across the forehead. Life changing! Ha! We love it!
Glo worm!!! We had a pink one for the girls and I got the blue one for Luke. We stick it in his crib at night and naptime and he loves it. It lights up and plays lulabys. Luckily, it survived the Poop-a-poolza! ;)
Shopping Cart Cover/High Chair Cover. I am a germ a phobe, so these are necessary, in my opinion!
So many cute designs and they add comfort to the shopping cart & high chair at restaurants.
Pedipeds are my absolute FAVORITE shoes for babies. I don't really have my kids wear shoes until 6 months or when they start crawling and pedipeds are by far the cutest and the best for their feet. When I had Kate I bought her 6 pairs of pedipeds...can you say overboard?!?! They were just so cute. Luckily, they are good quality shoes and I was able to use them for Claire (in fact, I still have them, so if Luke would have been a girl, they would have lasted for 3 kids) I showed self control with Luke and I have only purchased 1 pair of Pedipeds for him so far. They are perfect for begnining walkers because they have soft soles. Another good shoe for early walkers is Robeez, but they were too wide for my kids (my kids have narrow feet) So, we are a pediped family :)
Ages 6-9 months is one of my favorite stages because their little personalities are staring to show & they start "playing" with toys. Luke's nursery is a Sports theme, so I got these cute plush sports balls to put in his toy basket. At about 7 months he really started playing with them. They are so soft & he loves to roll them around. And, the girls love to throw them at him (and eachother) but they are so soft, they don't hurt. Love them.
Kate got this gumball machine toy for her first Christmas and it is SO cute. The girls loved playing with it and Luke loves it also. It is perfect for a baby who can sit on their own & play with toys. Love, love, love this gumball machine.
Another favorite is the stand up activity table. Luke loves the piano part. Keeps them busy for soooo long. Perfect for when they are learning to pull to a stand.
The classic little tykes swing. We have the red one. We had one for the girls at our old house & hung it from the tree in our front yard. For Luke, we put it on our swing set. He LOVES to swing. This swing is a classic.
Strollers:
Luke is still in his infant seat, so I use the Snap n Go if we are in a hurry or if he is asleep in his car seat. But, now that he is older, he likes to be able to sit up & see stuff while in the stroller, so I use this stroller that I got when I had Kate. I love it.
Maclaren Single Stroller
It is light weight, easy to fold up and runs super smooth. Not bulky and folds up small. It has lasted through the wear & tear of 3 kids and still runs smoothly!
When you have more than 1 kid, a double stroller is also key.
I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my double Bob. We have the navy one. It come in navy or orange. I got it when Claire was a baby.
We love to walk downtown to the Farmers Market or to the Bagel Shop or Starbucks & this stroller rocks.
BOB Revolution Duallie Stroller
What I really love about it is that even though it is a Double Stroller, it fits all 3 of my kids.
Claire & Luke sit in the seats & then if Kate gets tired, she hops on the foot rest area. This is what we brought when we went to Disneyland for 3 days and it worked out perfectly! For a double stroller it is so smooth and not heavy. We have had ours for over 4 years and it is still in great shape because they are made so well.
Any must have items for 6-9 months that I left out?
Hope you are finding these posts helpful!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)