Life as a Leach

I'm a scheduler and a planner.  I can't help it--it comes honestly from my mother.  My calendar is on my phone and literally every. single. thing is written down in it...including when I need to call doctors at the end of the month to schedule pre-op appointments for May because they aren't booking that far out yet.   Ahem. So I like routines.  But I also like snow days.  When those two collide, I schedule up our snow day.  But don't worry--it's still fun!  We enjoyed some time outside, for sure! For the schedule, I have a pocket chart with wipe-off cards and clock faces on them.  Then I write out the schedule for the day accordingly.  For example: 9 a.m. breakfast 9:30 a.m. chores/clean up 10:00 a.m. cup activities 12:00 p.m. lunch 1:00 p.m. rest time 2:00 p.m. cup activities 4:30 p.m. school time (we practiced math facts, did Dreambox on the computer, practiced sight words, practiced the trumpet, etc.  It depended on...

I've been thinking about doing infused water ever since I first saw this picture on Pinterest: Don't they look delicious?!?!  Plus, I know that I need to drink more water and less soda....my caffeine headaches tell me that! My sister finally made some, and all it took was somebody "real" saying it was good for me to try it myself.  I floated through the produce section, picking various fruits and a few veggies to try in my infused water. I got recipes from here and here  and then just sort of made my own combinations.  These were my first three flavors:  From left to right, citrus blend, raspberry-lime, and cucumber-lemon The raspberry-lime was my favorite of the three, but the citrus blend was also really good.  I didn't like the cucumber-lemon, only because I couldn't handle the cucumber seeds that kept sneaking into my cup.  I guess I could have strained it better, but it just annoyed me. Since then, I have also made peach, bl...

At Abby's awesome preschool program through our church, they did some adorable footprint butterflies.  I absolutely loved it!  When I went to hang it in her room, I realized that the best place was next to her mirror...but being the symmetrical lady I am, I couldn't hang it on one side without something on the other side!!  I have had this picture pinned for quite some time with plans to make it "sometime."  This was just the motivation I needed! "You Are My Sunshine" is a pretty special song to me.  I sing it to Abby all of the time before bed or right after she wakes up and is all snuggly.  And one day I will get through the last line without tearing up.  Maybe. Abby was super cooperative during the handprinting, and she was super excited that "her hands" were on the picture.  The whole thing really only took 15 minutes or so.  In retrospect, I probably should have painted the canvas and let it dry before doing the sunshine...

I've been threatening to make my own laundry detergent for quite sometime now.  Matt has been less than thrilled, picturing stained clothes coming out of the dryer, never to be clean again!  My friend Stacy (the same Stacy who is doing the Thirty One fundraiser!) posted the recipe she has been using and shared how much she loves it, so I decided to just go for it. But then my local stores didn't have any of the ingredients I needed. Dagger. My equally frugal sister also decided to make her own laundry detergent, without us even talking!  She went to the Super Walmart and found everything we needed.  Score! This is SO easy.  I don't know why I waited so long to make it! Materials:  4 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, Borax, and Lavender oil. Some people put a little baking soda in too, and some use the baking soda in place of the washing soda.  I didn't put any in mine...just the washing soda.  I think it's kind of ...

If you've ever bought finger paint, you know how expensive it is.  Plus, someone inevitably squirts a large amount out on the paper and wastes it!  Abby doesn't like the consistency of store-bought finger paints , but will use the Color Wonders finger paint.   I found this easy recipe on Pinterest and used some of our many baby food jars to store them!  The "cooking" process only took about 10 minutes, and then it became the consistency of the Color Wonders finger paint.  Guess what?!  She LOVED it!!!  Abby painted for over half an hour and really liked the different colors.  She mixed them a bit after getting colors on her fingers and then dipping them in other colors, but that's ok.  Bonus:  This didn't cost me anything!  I already had the salt, sugar, corn starch, and food coloring! What a cheap alternative to store-bought finger paint!

Alright, I might call myself vinegar obsessed at this point.  I use it everywhere, for everything.  I learned some new uses recently, and wanted to highlight some of my favorite new ideas.  You can read the entire list here.    I haven't tried any of these new suggestions yet, but I would love to hear if any of them have worked for you!  I'm definitely trying out the frost barrier this winter! *   Kill grass on walks and driveways.   Pour full strength on unwanted grass. *  Kill weeds. Spray full strength on growth until plants have starved. *  Eliminate animal urine stains from carpet. Blot up urine with a soft cloth, flush several times with lukewarm water, then apply a mixture of equal parts vinegar and cool water. Blot up, rinse, and let dry. *  Keep car windows frost free. Coat the windows the night before with a solution of three parts vinegar to one part water. *  Take 1 ...

My mom shared with me this idea she found on Pinterest (Yes, she is now officially a Pinterest junkie!!) and I tried it out for myself. It's a time out bottle designed to help kids not only sit in time out effectively, but to calm down as well!  Caleb can get kind of nasty when he is sent to time out (not my son!), which sometimes leads to bigger issues.  This is one of those, "Can't hurt, might help!" ideas, so I figured why not??? The complete directions are found at the link above, but basically, I added a little clear Tacky Glue, about half a tube of glitter glue, some glitter, and some water.  I didn't measure anything, but less is more.  I added small amounts until the glitter fell to the bottom in about 5 minutes, using my microwave timer to test it out. The key is to use HOT water.  I put it in the microwave for about 4 minutes to get it boiling.  The heat helps to melt the Tacky Glue, or else it will clump.  So make sure your wate...

It's no secret that I love vinegar.  We use it all over our house as a safe alternative to traditional cleaning products.  You can go here to see some of the ways we use it.  Our house may or may not remind you of eating crabs, but whatever! This is a new trick that I recently learned, though.  Mix equal parts of dish detergent and HOT vinegar.  I heated mine in the microwave for 2 minutes before pouring it in the spray bottle.  This mixture can be used to clean the bath tub, and it works really well to get the water spots off!  I spray a thick layer on the tub and walls, then let it soak for an hour or two.  It does an amazing job on the grout in the tub, so I figured I would try it on the tile floor as well.  Success!! This mixture can also be poured into the washing machine, along with a regular amount of laundry detergent, to wash the shower curtain liners.  I don't know about you, but I HATE scrubbing them, and they never get cl...

I give a lot of gifts to teachers, therapists, and our nurses.  I believe in the power of a thank you note and a little thinking of you  every now and then.  As a teacher, I know how much it means to me when someone remembers the job I do.  Teachers (and therapists and nurses!) work super hard for not a lot of money, so I think it's important to say thank you ...and often!!!! Thank you, Ms. Nancy and Ms. Karen!! Thank you, Ms. Katie and Ms. Amy!!  For an end of the year gift for Caleb's teachers, I made each teacher a set of clothes pins magnets.   I originally heard the idea when we made them at MOPS, but I decided to keep the ones I made!  :)   Most of these were made with craft supplies I already had.  I did buy some ribbon so that they looked more like a set.   The cool thing with these is that Caleb was able to help with them.  He picked out the ribbon color and the flowers for each one, although I d...

I'll admit it.  I have developed a Pinterest problem.  As much as I try not to get sucked in, the wonderfully crafty ideas are just too much for me to handle! So I went right to Pinterest to look for some gifts for Teacher Appreciation Day.  We have a lot of teachers these days:  Caleb's 4 teachers, Abby's 3 therapists, and her 3 nurses.  They're all teachers in their own way, and we like to say thank you with little gifts every now and then. For Caleb's teachers and Abby's therapists, I made Emergency Chocolate pull-tab cans based on this post.   I found this quite some time ago and have been saving the tin cans that Caleb's mandarin oranges come in ever since!  The pull-tab stays in tact because you open the can of oranges from the bottom using a can opener!  Cool, huh? I typed up a little narrative explaining when the chocolate was to be used...in case of emergency only!  Abby's and Caleb's are slightly different. "The cont...

Ready for another Pinterest-inspired activity?   Think Sunday School felt boards from your childhood.  So fun!  I have had my eye on this one for a while and made it just as soon as I bought some felt at Walmart! I got one package of felt and let Caleb choose two colors to be used as backgrounds. I glued the two pieces back to back and let it dry for a few minutes. Then I simply began cutting pieces of felt into various shapes.  I chose to use plain, organic shapes like rectangles, squares, circles, and triangles.  The original tutorial used craft scissors, which turned out really cute too.   I cut a small hole in the background, threaded a ribbon through the hole, and tied a few knots so that the ribbon would stay secure.   Caleb has absolutely loved this!  This is a tree, the moon, and some sticks.  Since  this picture was taken, he has become much more creative and prides himself in using every sin...

Yes, this is another Pinterest-inspired activity! My sister actually pinned this off of a blog we both frequent , and I thought it was a great idea.  You take plain old Ivory soap (you know, the stuff that floats?!) and put it in the microwave. Yep, the microwave!   I'm not sure who thought to do that, but it is pretty stinkin' cool! ***Note:  apparently, it DOES need to be Ivory soap.  I haven't tested it myself, but several readers said other kinds of soap burned in their microwave.  I can't imagine that burned soap smells a whole lot better than burned popcorn, so I wouldn't advise using another brand.  Plus, Ivory soap is cheap! Basically, it forms this humongous cloud that Caleb then played with for quite a long time.  You just have to watch out for hot spots.  I let it cool a bit before I let him have at it.  Then, I just gave him a big tray and let his imagination run wild!!  I'm terrible at taking pictures of the proces...