Paper Plate Wreath / Triangle Lesson

Another Oldie, I remember doing these as a kid in school. We were also having a triangle lesson that day so I incorporated the triangles in with the craft project. I cut out different shapes and had the kids pick out only the triangles from the pile to decorate their wreath. Now I have to find another project to use up the other shapes. Ha

-One Paper Plate
-Construction Paper
-Green Paint
-Paint Brushes
-Paint Shirts (optional)
-Small piece of ribbon to hang your wreath.

The Finished Product

We started out fairly clean

Getting sloppy!

"Getting Messy Is the fun part!" said X

Weekly (Bi-Weekly) Letter and Number Lessons

Xzavier and Lennox really love coloring pictures so the best way for me to get them to learn things, lately, has been for me to draw pictures of things I want them to learn about. Needless to say I'm getting quite the drawing lesson. I have a large book of sketch paper and I found a writing pad at the Dollar Store that has the big fat lines to teach writing letters/numbers and spacing. So far its been really great and interesting for them but they become bored so fast with my lessons I have to keep changing things up.

Learning the Letter A and Number 1

This was also a visual exercise to remember a rhyme... One Little Flower, One Little Tree, One Little Brown Bear Smiling at Me! One is the Number I like You See!

Learning the Letter B and Number 2

Learning the Letter C and Number 3

Yes... as embarrassing as it is... The Pigs are pooping... Boys :)

Cloth Diapers

Since quitting my job, to stay at home with the kids, my husbands income has needed to be stretched much farther then before. It has become my job, as the household shopper, to make sure that we are ALWAYS getting the most for our buck. I'm becoming quite the coupon clipper and I'm slowly mastering the art or double and even triple deals but even with all that saving we needed to find somewhere else to cut the budget and cloth diapers seemed like a great idea considering the amt of money we were spending, especially having two kids in diapers. I had no idea where to even start when it came to this subject so I wanted to post this blog with all the research and trial and error I've been through to help others thinking about going this route.

My first step was to ask around and find out just how much work this was going to be and exactly how other people felt about using and cleaning cloth diapers. I was surprised to find out that it wasn't as bad as I originally thought. Using a disposable insert made the job much easier and not as messy as I feared so I was excited to start my search and get going on my new venture.

I found a lot of used diapers on ebay for a great price and after researching the best type for my needs and family I chose FuzziBunz Onesize Elite Diapers. These are made of a soft fleece inside and waterproof PUL on the outside. It has a pocket inside where I can fit an absorbent pad. I also found that using a Viva Paper Towel as my disposable liner was going to save me a lot of money too and it works great when cleaning a soiled diaper. (I just dump the waste in the toilet and toss the liner in the trash). For my infant I was nervous that he was still a little small for even the smallest setting on the snaps so I use a Flour Sack Towel (found at Walmart in the Kitchen section), also come in organic, as an additional "soaker". I watched a bunch of Youtube Videos to learn how to make an "Origami Fold for a flat diaper". This is the best one I found, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-cuAfnBwMU.  This additional wrap also really helps with leaks since his poo is still quite runny.

Diapers Stuffed and Ready to Go

Waterproof PUL and Snaps for Multiple Sizes around the waist and around the legs.

Soft Fleece and Removable, Resizable Elastic around each leg makes for a perfect fit.

Soaker Insert Pad

Viva Paper Towel as a Disposable Insert

Cute, Dry, Happy Baby. Make sure to tuck in all fabric to avoid leaks.

My last question was "What do you do with the dirty diapers between washes?". Some people said to put them in a trash can with a lid and others to soak them in a wet bucket with water covering them. These did not sound like a good way for me, the wet bucket would definitely end up being dumped by my two yr old and the closed trash can just sounded too stinky. The best was for us has been to rinse the diaper and inner pad in the sink with cold water right away and place them in a bucket that I keep on the counter. Smell has been at a minimum and it gives me plenty of time to get a full load together before washing.

Washing; My diapers came with washing instructions but I also did a lot of reading on removing stains and smell. First I run the load through a cold rinse cycle (no soap), then a wash load on Hot with All Free Clear Detergent. Be sure to use only a small amt since soap buildup will mess up your diapers absorbency and the soap buildup also causes your diapers to smell. After the wash cycle I run the diapers again through a cold rinse but I also add a 1/4 cup of White Distilled Vinegar to help cut down on soap buildup. *NO fabric softener, it will take all absorbency out of your diapers. Make sure even your detergent doesn't have softener (like Dreft).

Dying; I dry on low heat. *NO fabric softener. Hang dry in the sun once a month to help bleach out stains. I have found that the sun is a great way to stain fight these diapers since I don't want to be using bleach on something so close to my babies skin (and such a sensitive area).

After washing and dying I always fold and stuff my diapers so they are ready to go when I need to change someone. I keep all my, prefolded, Flour Sacks and, prestuffed, diapers in a basket next to my changing station.


Cost Charts:

I hope this helped anyone considering cloth diapering. Please contact me with any questions you might have... Happy Diapering!

Learning Letters, Numbers & Colors

Xzavier has been working hard to learn his letters. I made this flash card board since he loves matching games. I made two cards for each letter and glued one to a poster board. Xzavier matches the other card and we make the sounds and say words that begin with the letter as a celebration for finding the match.

We have also been using a Weekly Theme program to learn letters, numbers & colors. I downloaded a 26 week program from www.letteroftheweek.com. The curriculum consists of a Weekly Theme, Color or Shape, Letter, Number, Vocab Word, and a Song or Rhyme. I created a Theme Board and posted on my laundry room door to help us remember to incorporate the themes in our daily life. Sometimes I don't change the theme out every week. Once I feel we have gone over the weekly items enough then we move on to the next Theme. 

The best thing about this program is it can be for any age group and for any house hold. It's what you make it. Another thing I love about the program is that it gives you something different to talk about with your kids instead of the same old stuff; "Trucks", "Trains", "Dinosaurs".  This will in turn help your children broaden their vocabulary by learning about things not encountered in daily life.... Teaching them about the BIG WORLD out there.