Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Labor Day Review

Happy Labor Day weekend, fellow Americans!  In the spirit of the holiday in which we celebrate hard work, I am writing this review of cloth wipes made by my friend & fellow Mama, Amy.  These wipes will soon be for sale in her Etsy shop, so keep a keen eye out!

I wrote about our experience with cloth diapering already, & I had indicated that, in lieu of special cloth wipes, we had opted to use cheap baby washcloths.  We have 24 assorted colorful washcloth wipes folded up in "pop-up" style in our Oxo wipes case on the changing table.  We liked how one side of the washcloth was smooth, & the other slightly scrubby, but still gentle on baby skin.  We also liked that it was a cheap option that was easy to replace should something happen, like loss or damage or some other unforeseen & rather unlikely scenario.  We used one cloth for pee diapers, & 2-4 cloths for poo diapers, depending on how intense the situation was.  But we had plenty of cloths on hand, so it didn't matter to us.

Then Amy sent Rue a gift of cloth wipes!  We loved the stamps on the packing envelope.  It was like a quilt's patchwork of cute art.  Then we smiled over the sweet little ribbon tying our new wipes together.  Amy also included a really sweet note.

packaging

I put the wipes (already stripped & treated with Rockin' Green detergent by Amy) on top of our usual wipes container, essentially making it impossible to miss the new wipes if you auto-piloted to the old ones.  These wipes are made of two layers of soft, absorbent flannel, with a serged edge.

double ply side view

They were obviously super-cute.  Amy had made the "Rue exclusive" camera print for us, but included some of her seconds for me to try & review.  These were in three different patterns, & some were not perfectly symmetrical, but they lose no function!

pattern details
patterns

The camera print wipes that were made for Rue are perfectly symmetrical, as would be the wipes bought in her shop.  We were surprised at how durable & strong these wipes are!  A massive poo, which used to require up to 4 wipes, was cleared up with a single wipe.  Rue seems to like how they feel on her bum; super soft fabric probably is a nice sensation after sticky poo!  haha

scale

They are just the right thickness; just thick enough to be strong & keep messes on one side, & thin enough to fit in my Munchkin travel wipes case.  This case is intended for store-bought disposable wipes, but can hold 4 of these cloth wipes.  Considering the case is only 1" thick & the wipes have to be doubled over, that isn't too bad.  We are hardly ever out longer than one or two diaper changes, anyway!

Of course, the beauty of cloth wipes is that they can just be tossed into the diaper bag, as they will not dampen or stain everything.  They can easily be popped in with the diapers without being in a case.  No worries.  I just tried the case out to give you a better idea of scale.

These wipes earned the highest rating available in my house: Ted likes them.  A lot.  He admits that, if I were not so persistent, he would have given up on CDing long long ago, so when we find something about the routine that he likes, it's like striking gold!  So, Amy's wipes get the Daddy Seal of Approval!

Happy Labor Day to one & all!  Keep working hard out there.  As for me, I am working on organizing some mini-sessions for the first two weekends of October for Halloween & autumn portraits... so if you are local, keep your calendars open those Saturdays!  There will be 9 slots per day, first come, first serve!  Details to follow.


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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Day

We usually spend Christmas Eve with my family & Christmas Day with Bear's. This year was no exception.  I don't have any photos to show for Christmas Eve... I only took three & none of them came out.  But I do have a few from Christmas Day with Bear's extended family to share.

Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Christmas Day

That helicopter was apparently a hit among Bear's cousins!  Next year, we will have our own baby to add to the mix.  It's a little unbelievable!

How were your holidays?  We spent time with loved ones, enjoyed delicious foods (even though baby has me enjoying a vegetarian diet these days), relaxed together, read aloud to baby, sang carols, attended parties with friends, & received thoughtful gifts we are bound to get much use out of (including the beginnings of a baby stash).

See you all in 2013!

xo
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Monday, December 3, 2012

Well, I have been quiet, but...

Recent Happenings...

The holidays are super special to my little family!  First, Bear proposed Christmas morning 2010.  Then, we were married January 6, 2011, amid festive lights & family & friends.  Now, we get to announce our family just in time for the holidays!

It's a little early for holiday wishes, but I couldn't wait any longer!

Squiggle will be here, in the open air, June 2013 (currently due on Father's Day!).  We are so excited!

xo
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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Holiday Spirit

It's difficult for me to focus on the holidays... I've been so busy with wedding wedding wedding I realized I have to get on holiday gifts!  Oops!  To get me back on track, I am stealing this little questionnaire from Patchie's post today!  Happy December 1st!

Engagement Mistletoe



1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?


Hot chocolate, I guess... but honestly, I prefer coffee and cognac. Yum.


2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?


Santa always wrapped presents unless they were really big things, like bicycles or Playmobile sets, in which case they were set up and ready to wow!


3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?


I prefer white lights, especially the cool white LEDs. If there are colored lights, I prefer blues.


4. Do you hang mistletoe?


Yes! We have this mistletoe from Bear's past that we always forget to tack up, and then it manages to stay up until June... right between the living room and the kitchen. Lots of kisses for all!


5. When do you put your decorations up?


We usually try for Black Friday, but this year is so hectic... we're hoping to get things decorated before Christmas!


6. What is your favorite holiday dish?


Ham and veggie bundles (carrots and green beans wrapped in bacon and baked in a brown sugar/butter/garlic glaze... ohmyyum!).


7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?


When I was in eighth grade, my family and I went to Williamsburg for Christmas season, and were coming back home Christmas day. My brother is three years my junior, so he was still a Santa fan. I was totally concerned how he would handle coming home to a bare tree since my parents were with us... no way "Santa" would be able to make it! When we got home I rushed inside, trying rather unsuccessfully to beat my brother up the stairs. His Santa enthusiasm gave him super strength! I was bracing myself for the tears and a long explanation, but instead heard the usual Christmas morning "Santa came! Come on, Santa was here!" I climbed the stairs and low and behold, the gifts were all under the tree, festooned with "Santa" tags. It was like a Christmas miracle! (Later I found out my parents had given some friends the gifts and keys to the house, and their family spent the time we were gone wrapping and setting up our tree for my little brother... awesome!)


8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?


I was in the third grade. I liked to help out in the library after school (some things never change) and I was super excited about the Christmas season that year. Someone in my class told me Santa didn't exist, and I determined to research the matter and prove them wrong. What I found after finding "The Truth About Santa" in the card catalog broke my heart. There was the approximated lifespan of St. Nicholas, and a photograph of a gravestone decked out in holly by the locals. I cried for DAYS. My mom explained that Santa is real, but he's more a frame of mind than a man. She also let me be an "elf" that year. I got to put together my brother's big Santa present. Watching him get excited over the Playmobile castle I helped build the next morning made it all okay that the library book told me Santa Claus was dead. That year I learned that seeing my brother happy like that was magical enough for me!


9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?


Yes, ONE gift. It's usually from my godparents. Now, we get Christmas night pajamas, a tradition in Bear's family.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?


Currently, we are using Bear's grandmother's white tree. Last year we did a silver and blue theme, with blue and ice white LED lights. This year, I am thinking of layering some fun colors in a rainbow effect...

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?


I love to look at snow and catch flakes on my tongue... but it gets old really fast! I hate driving in it, because I tend to get lost in my Star Wars soundtrack... it looks so much like lightspeed from Star Wars or Star Trek! Cool... but not easy to focus through...

12. Can you ice skate?


I haven't tried in so long, I have no idea. I have a pair of ice skate I bought from the Local Theatre a few years back that wound up too big for me (and probably still are). I am the master of skate-skate-fall-flail-wait for someone to rescue me.


13. Do you remember your favorite gift?


Every year Bear and I split Christmas between our families. We go to Christmas Eve mass with my family, return to their home and open presents, and go back to our home so we can wake up early and have Christmas morning with his family. Last year, Christmas with my family ran a little longer than usual and Bear was getting antsy. I figured he was exhausted and maybe even a little angry that we were going home so late. When we got home I went to put a few things away and came back to the bedroom where Bear had gone. Our Christmas tree is in there since we have cats and try to keep them away from the tree. He was standing next to the tree with his arms open. I walked into his embrace and he professed his love... a little odd but cute. Then he got down on one knee and proposed. My ring I guess is the gift in this situation, but I think more our future life together was the real gift I received.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?


Family. Spending time with those you love and showing your appreciation for them.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?


Gingerbread, Scottish Shortbread, and Snickerdoodles!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?


Every year, we watch those Christmas stop motions; Rudolph, Frosty, Baby New Year, Father Time, Eon, the Island of Misfit Toys, Hermes the Dental Elf... these are all well loved friends this time of year!

17. What tops your tree?

My parents have an angel. Bear's parents have a star. We change it up every year.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?


I love giving gifts and see the recipient's face light up! But... getting things is pretty fun too!

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?


YUM.

20. Favorite Christmas show? Show or movie?


Holiday Inn and White Christmas, both starring Bing Crosby. I love Bing... we listen to his holiday songs on 45s every year while decorating!

21. Saddest Christmas Song?


Blue Christmas or I'll Be Home for Christmas.

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?


White Christmas. Hands down.
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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Patriotic Weekend

Here in the USA, last weekend was a holiday weekend as we celebrated the 4th of July.  I am not a very patriotic person, but I do enjoy the extra day off and the fact that I still get paid!

We took the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, and Patchie and I went to the Uncle Sam Jam in the National Harbor... and The Wailers were going to perform!  I was super stoked about that when I figured out what was going on!  Anyway, Saturday's shenanigans will be my Photobomb this week, so be sure to check back Friday to see some awesome photos from the National Harbor!


The rest of the weekend was kinda low key.  We went to a cast party at Patchie's Boy's house and slept in in the mornings, went shopping for food, and cleaned the house.  The ants this year have been INSANE and I am at a loss to find something that will finally kill them.  We have so many traps around the house for them, I bet we'll find some next Spring in the Big Clean because we definitely have lost track of where some of them are hidden!


On Monday my Mom came over since my Dad went to Michigan to visit my Opa and Oma (Opa's not doing too well, he is increasingly forgetful which may be dementia... and Oma had polio when she was young and they live on a huge farm, so Dad and his siblings are going to help out with what they can).  The in-laws made ribs, sweet corn bought from the Amish community, and pasta salad with veggies.  We all ate and talked and laughed and went through Tori and Doug's honeymoon photos and video, and family friends Phyllis and Joe went through the photos I took from the engagement as well as Ben and De's wedding album.  Later, we met up with Patchie and Her Boy at a local seafood/tiki bar for drinks and skipped stones on the water.  We had a pretty ridiculous thunderstorm and small rain showers all weekend, so we headed back to our house for wine and video games like the classy adults we are!  Tada!  Weekend in a nutshell!



How was your weekend?  Did you do anything special?  I'd love to hear about it! Keep tuned... I've been asked to write a guest blog post for a friend about subject matter I rarely get to write about!


PS- Look at the baby birds from the back porch!  They went from shy fuzzy cotton balls with beaks to miniature empire penguins in no time flat!

Have a happy Tuesday!

xo

PPS- Don't forget to enter Patchie's Giveaway!  Only three days left!  The lucky winner will be announced on FRIDAY!
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Friday, July 1, 2011

Photobomb Friday: Wedding Weekend

Happy Friday!  Here in the USA, it's the 4th of July holiday weekend!  Wooo!  While I am not the most patriotic person alive, I have to say I appreciate having my Monday off work and still getting paid.  It's basically wonderful.

So today I am sharing with you all the weekend that was Bear's sister's wedding weekend!  I am saving the actual wedding pictures (except for my Wedding Wednesday sneak peek) till after the happy couple gets to see them.  Fair's fair.

This is a collection of images I took of our other shenanigans over the weekend leading up to the wedding day!

First, we went to a small local pancake joint...


And I was up early enough to learn that morning glories actually do have blooms and don't always look sad and dead like they do when I usually see them...


Elvis the bird got a beak trim from my sister-in-law who works at a zoo...


We stalked local strays and felt sad we couldn't save them...


We made a wedding crafts station and created decorative flower cones...


We had nature sightings....


We went and got a pedicure and giggled because we all have ticklish feet...


We had a bonfire and crabs, sausage, and hamburgers... 


And we had a PJ Party and saw funny things at Safeway!


Hope your weekend is a great one!  Happy 4th if you live in the USA!

xo
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

As Promised... a Lack in Posting

As I mentioned before, this week is crazy, so I won't be posting as often as usual.  I hope you lovely readers will stick around anyway!  I promise a big reveal of all we've been up to... it's gonna be a virtual tour of our apartment!  Yay!

Today I was pleased to discover my LibertyBelt I bought from Etsy arrived!  I am so excited about using this for the wedding... it's even one of the wedding colors!  Since I will be wearing nice dress pants with shallow, useless pockets, this will provide me storage for extra batteries, filters, SD cards, and lens cloths... and other small necessities.  I am so excited to use it!


I ALSO received my cat nip felted fish from Claire of Nothing Happens Unless We Dream!  Sinful Cynthia and Zia Maida gave the fishy a trial run... Zia was completely perplexed, but Cyn was in love.  In fact, we decided we have to keep the fishy away from them unless we supervise their playtime, since Cyn is determined to eat the fishy up!  She was adorable while attacking, though.  (Please excuse my bedroom... it was a catch-al while we were cleaning, and is the last room to get organized!)

haha, she was so hard to capture in her crazy cat nip frenzy!
Father's Day this past weekend was wonderful!  I escaped the weddingness took some time to treat my parents to brunch on Sunday and spent some quality time with my dad.  Mom took the best picture of us to date, I think!  I am so happy with this shot!  I can see that resemblance people always told me about in the past...



Then Bear made steaks and fries for his dad for dinner, and Tori made some veggies.  We picked up the quarter keg for the new keggerator, so draft beer was the beverage for the meal!  It was a good day all around!



Keep tuned... this week will feature a series of posts giving you a virtual tour of our newly purtified apartment!  In the meantime, I am working while these focused helpers work around the house... see how attentive they stay?  Clearly, they never get bored or distracted...

Even our nephew-kitty Trot is on the job!  Or... sleeping on the job.

 Hopefully, Bear is a better supervisor than I!  Haha
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Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

To all you mamas, expecting mamas, grandmamas, great-grandmamas, great-great-grandmamas, and fur-baby mamas out there, I wish you a lovely Mother's Day!  I wish you relaxation, a treat or two, lots of love, and smiles.

I didn't post my 365 Grateful on Friday because I left my brain next to the bed when I woke up, so here are last week's gratefuls:



And 365 days a year I am grateful for this lovely lady who gave birth to me overseas in a German hospital while nurses coached her in a language she didn't know entirely: my mom.  She homeschooled us as kids, drove us to soccer/baseball/theatre/dance/gymnastics/libraries/American Girl clubs/Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts/voice lessons/piano lessons/trumpet lessons/everything, listened to our problems, gave advice, put band-aids on boo-boos, put up with Power Rangers, made the chicken pox/broken bones/strep better with cuddles and Disney movies, and basically sacrificed her own interests for ours for so many years.  I am so lucky and grateful to have her as my mom!

My Mom on her wedding day!  So beautiful!
Have a wonderful Mother's Day, and tell your mom how much you love and appreciate her if you can!

xo
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Thursday, March 17, 2011

St. Paddy's Day!

I am a good part Irish, so I always celebrate St. Patrick's!  That being said, here are a few things I HATE about the holiday in America:

*green beer.  What is the point in green beer?  Ew.  I will never comprehend that.

*stupid costumes made to look like Leprechauns or giant green... people.  I can't fathom why dressing like the Lucky Charms guy makes you so very Irish.  That whole iconography was created by a cereal company.  It's not all that Irish.

*people who think red hair is an Irish thing and make a big deal out of it.  It was a mutation in genes and originated in England.  Some of those people happened to colonize in Ireland, and over time blended with the Irish and the red-head gene was incorporated.  I think I learned this in my biology class.

*How crowded the pub gets with drunk people who all feel they have to scream instead of talk.

Anyways, here are things I LOVE about the holiday:

*Guinness.

*Friends who come out to the pub with us.

*An excuse to wear green (which I don't really need, as I own a lot of green clothes).

*An excuse to drink on a weekday.  Even though I have work tomorrow morning.

*The music.  I often listen to Celtic music anyway, but it's nice to see some local bands that try to play some tunes, or hear recordings in public places (which is funny because I get lots of accusing looks when I listen to Celtic music in my car any other time of year.  This is the one day people actually try to find Celtic Pandora stations and whatnot).


So, on Saturday, I will be singing some Irish tunes, mostly of the drinking assortment, with some lovely people.  Here are the YouTube versions of a couple (both are renditions by Gaelic Storm, because they are upbeat and fun):





(I didn't make the videos, they are not official videos, either.  I just found them on YouTube HERE and HERE.)

Happy St. Paddy's Day!  Avoid green beer and drunken "Leprechauns", have a Guinness or Smithwick's and listen to some good music!
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