Stuff I Want

Can I just tell you about something that I want?

I've seen it being given away on other blogs (and I may have entered a giveaway....Or 20) and I recently saw it being sold in a local ShopKo. It's the Sodastream.

So, what is it? The Sodastream is a machine that allows you to make your own soda in your own home. You use regular water, some soda flavoring and the machine adds the carbonation and VOILA...Soda.

Want to see it in action?

I've been trying to talk David into buying this for MONTHS....Maybe more than a year. I couldn't stop playing with it when I saw it being sold in the store. It's an amazing little device. And I think it would save us money one soda since David drinks it...A lot. And, since we can make out own sparkling water, I would love that. I don't drink soda, but every once in awhile I like to enjoy a glass of sparkling water with a little bit of lemon. I would also much rather have the small ones drink some sparkling water instead of soda. This would give me all of that, right in my own kitchen. Who doesn't want that?

Cloth Diapers: A Year Later

It's been a little over a year since I started using cloth. So, how's it going?

Cloth diapers are easier than I thought they would be. What makes them even easier? Diaper liners. My life is so much easier when I don't have to clean that up. It makes it so easy to put the solids in the toilet without mess. Sometimes the liner doesn't catch it all, but it's better than having it EVERYWHERE in the diaper.

Washing them is easy as well. Once every other month or so I need to strip them because they do happen to get a bit of a stink in them after awhile. A good hot wash and a few runs on the rinse cycle to get out all the soap build up does the trick, and they are back to smelling fresh. My only problem then is the drying. Drying a cloth diaper in the sun is supposed to be the best. The sun is a natural bleacher and having your diapers in the fresh air helps freshen them up. But, we have no clothes line. I hang the covers in the bathroom and dry the soakers on a low, tumble setting in the dryer. I'd much rather have them in the sun, but you work with what you've got.

The thing I have love/hate relationship with is the snaps. I have two velcro diapers. A Tinybots diaper and a diaper made by my wonderful friend from her Mommyx3 Monter's shop (check her out here and her etsy here). The velcro is quick and easy. The snaps though, take time to get on and that gives Grayson lots of time to wiggle and turn and in one case, get up too early and run, swinging his diaper around one foot while laughing at his naked run. The good thing is that he can't get them off. We've had only a couple of issues with the velcro, and thankfully, they weren't messy. He likes the sounds that the ripping velcro makes.

I did try to put Claire in a cloth diaper, hoping that if she felt wet in the cloth, it would entice her to use the potty. No luck. She laid flat on the floor after I put it on and screamed. I ignored it for a bit, thinking that she would stop after a few minutes. She screamed for 30 minutes...Flat on the floor...Right where I left her.

So, as of now, Grayson is still a part time cloth wearing baby. He wears disposables while we are out and about and at bedtime. He wears cloth at home and during naps. I've got my fingers crossed that even the part time will help with potty training later. Potty training Claire is.....Well, that's a story for another day.

Toddler Showdown

It's been one of those weekends. I took no pictures, so I used paint. Enjoy it.

It all started Friday night. David was getting ready for bed early as he always does since he works early on Saturday mornings. I got Claire and Grayson ready for bed. Everyone got tucked in and snuggled down. Sometime in the middle of the night...Something changed.

Saturday started as usual. I heard Claire wake up, so I opened her bedroom door and walked down the hall where I released Grayson from his crib. They greeted me in the usual way.

As you can see, I'm not really a morning person. I usually have more time to compose myself for the day while they eat.

We all headed to the kitchen, and I poured three bowls of cereal, and three hungry children sat silently and ate. This should have been my first clue that something had shifted in my house. They are never quiet during breakfast.

After breakfast was finished and hands were clean, Ethan went to his room to read and play. I washed dishes while Grayson played by my feet and Claire repeated what her toy computer said. When I was done, we all migrated to the living room, where things really went down.

What was it like, you ask? It was like someone had come into my living room in the middle of the night, set up a tiny, toddler size wrestling ring and threw my small ones into it. What, you want a visual?

Seriously, that's what it was like. You could hear fists crunching together as they anticipated a victory. And then, they were at it. There was biting. There was screaming and lots of, "No Grayson!".

Then, Grayson found his move.

This earned Grayson a time out....Or three.

Maybe it was that it was rainy out. Maybe it's because it was cold. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because Apple is evil and made this to torture me.

(source)

And, so it goes on...And on...And on. There has been screaming. Fighting. Biting. Hair pulling. And multiple time outs since Saturday. All because of an iPad.

I Can Feel Fall

Last week, it was so warm out. We had two 90 degree days. We did a little walking. We had a little fun. And we had a little water play.

Grayson was amazed by Ethan's ability to catch water in his mouth from a sprinkler.

He accidentally got splashed in the face a little bit by Claire with some not so clear water, but he didn't mind.

It was very enjoyable.

And then fall came and slapped us in the face. It's been chilly. Yesterday the low was around 30 degrees overnight. A little better considering the 24 it was just a couple of days before that. This does, however, mean that colder weather is just around the corner. Changing leaves. Cold winds. And...Snow.

This year we are prepared though. After last year's blizzard where we got dumped with almost 4 feet of snow not once, but twice, David broke down and bought a snow blower. This does not mean I am at all excited about it. It see it the firs time it falls. I think, "Wow, that's so pretty," and that's where it ends. It's cold. It's wet. I usually slip and fall all over myself in it. Awesome.

So, while I can, I'll be enjoying the last few weeks of 60 degrees. Bye summer. Till next year.

Almost Back On Track, But While We're Waiting....

I'm starting to feel a lot better. I took a small break to get some rest. I feel almost normal. I feel confident I'll be back to my workout routine but, at the latest, Thursday. I still have a not so nice cough, but I think it's almost cleared up.

So, while we're waiting for me to die in front of the TV while Jillian Michaels screams at me to do more, not stop and feel weakness leaving my body, I thought I'd do a little catching up.

A couple of weeks ago, the small ones and I were hanging around the house. Ethan was bored and Claire and Grayson were practicing their new love/hate relationship. More on that at a later date, because it's really driving me nuts.

Anyways, I have a friend who is very into Geocaching. She and her son go hiking in the mountains near her Nevada home and find them. They make day out of it, and have a good time. She's been telling me about it for awhile, and seeing the so bored look on Ethan's face and hearing the screaming between Claire and Grayson, I decided to look it up.

Now, you might be thinking, "What is Geocaching, Chantel?" Well, I'll tell you! Geocaching is like a worldwide treasure hunt. People take small boxes or other things and fill them with small items, like charms, small toys, coins, etc...As well as a small notepad to log who has found it when what date they found it on, then, they hide it. They post the coordinates to the location of it online, so other people can look up the coordinates on GPS and find it. The only rule is, if you take something from the Geocache, you replace it with something else.

I went to the official Geocaching website and signed up, then I searched for caches hidden in our area, and was lucky enough to find 3. I separated Claire and Grayson before the real wrestling match began and told Ethan to get some shoes. Two sippy cups and two bottles of water later, we were in the car to explore and hunt.

The first one was to be located at a place we drive by quite a bit. It's across the street from Ethan's school at the VFW. What's special about it is, it was in a tank. Yes, a real tank. The VFW in town has a tank parked in from with a memorial plaque on the front. We stopped and I loaded Grayson up in the stroller while Claire and Ethan ran over to Oooo and Ahhh in wonder. Then, we searched. It took a few circles around the tank before we found it. Ethan was so excited to open it.

After posing for a picture with his "treasure" as he called it, we sat on the ground and looked at all the things other's had left behind. There was a small bottle of bubbles, which caught Claire's attention immediately. Ethan opted not to take anything. I think he was afraid it was considered stealing, even though I explained the process of trading. Once he was done, we signed the log and replaced it. Then Ethan posed for a picture.

Next we headed to the local cemetery. I know, odd place. It also happens to be a memorial for men and women from Clear Lake that died in war. We got out and began our walk to look for the Geocache that was supposed to be hidden here. Unfortunately, it was no longer available. Apparently, it was the victim of the lawn mower when it fell from it's perch in a tree. Ethan opted instead to look around at all the old graves from the 1800's. While wondering around, we found the grave of Gaylord A. Nelson, founder of Earth Day. He was born and raised here in Clear Lake. There's historical signs in front of his house and also on the school.

Ethan was very interested in this and asked about a million questions. I told him to check out the large display at school that has pictures of Gaylord Nelson as well as copies of the book written about him. He wasn't to interested in that, because it involved reading and learning. Apparently this wasn't the day for that.

We headed home after that because it was getting late and I had to make dinner. After dinner, David stayed home after I put Claire and Grayson to bed so I could take Ethan and a friend to the park to look for a Geocache that was supposed to be hidden there. Unfortunately, we didn't find it. But, I did get to see the sunset.

It was a fun day. We'll be doing it again, and I really suggest it on a day when you think you have nothing to do!

Weigh In

So, I said I would update weekly. I know, I know..It's been about two weeks. We have been so super incredibly busy. We had birthday week, getting ready for the first day of school and hopefully something I can share with you all soon rolled into two weeks. It was crazy, hectic, and I was unable to work out as much as I would have liked in those two weeks.

So, I haven't been able to do much of the 30 Day Shred. I still drank my Slim Fast...Until I ran out. Birthday week is an expensive shopping week, from which my grocery budget was still recovering last week, so I was unable to purchase more. Instead it's been a food tracking kind of week or so. I have the Spark People app downloaded on the iPad and it counts calories in my foods for me.

And, this week I managed to get hit with some sickness. My whole body feels tired and my throat hurts so much. I haven't eaten much and my body hurts too much to work out, so I'm resting up and kicking it into high gear as soon as the grossness wears off.

So, where do I weight in?

Since my last weigh in, I've only lost 1 1/2 pounds. Not much. Makes me feel crappy really. Hopefully I have better things to report at my next weigh in. I'll be back next week with a report.