My Thoughts and Random Musings
Friday, January 09, 2015
Give a Soccer Ball
Friday, March 30, 2012
New Dishes
Yes, I am in love with Bar Keepers Friend. My Mother-in-Law introduced me to this miracle product many years ago. I have found so many uses for it. Let me show you what I discovered today.
See this plate.
I love my mismatched Pfaltzgraff dishes. With one exception . . . the little silver marks that have shown up on my dishes over the past 12 years. I have been wanting new dishes because these were really starting to look pretty bad.
Add a touch of Bar Keepers Friend.
Look at how it is actually working on my plate!!!
Can you see it? Or maybe I should say that you can no longer see the marks!! Look how great my plate looks now.
I will admit that there are a couple of lines that just would not come out. But, they are hardly noticeable. I wonder if I had been keeping them clean this whole time what they would look like. Maybe no marks at all? It did take me about 2 minutes or so per plate. Not a quick process for someone who has 20 regular dinner plates alone!! But, I am hoping now that I know my trick. I can keep up with my dishes before they get so bad. You may have already known this or have been doing this if you are an avid Bar Keepers Friend user. But to this addict, I was super excited to discover this dish-changing technique.
I would love to hear or see pictures of your "new" dishes.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Diapering
This is part one of my nursery break down. You can read all about the "big list" here for more information.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
The Baby List and the Plan of Attack
I am due in the middle of May 2012. I was going to the bathroom in December of 2011 (yes, sometimes the only place I can hear my own thoughts or reflect on anything in silence). While there, I was praying/thinking. It really came over me so strong. "Do not wait until the last minute." My mind started racing. "God, is my baby going to come early? Why do I need to have everything done early?" Ok, in fairness, my husband and I know we are procrastinators. Anyone relate? After praying for a while, I got nothing else. All I know is that I was supposed to prepare early. So, I decided I would do it.
I made my plan of attack. I would make a list of all the things I needed to buy and do. I would divide it up into 4 to give myself a month to make a portion of the purchases and get a portion of the things done. It would divide the work and the money from all the purchases as to not over tax us at any one time. Side note: we got rid of all of our baby stuff. We pretty much needed everything. Well, not exactly everything, but LOTS of stuff.
Here is a look at the progress that I have made over the past two months (ok, actually almost 3 months since I am almost done with the purchase part of my March list):
I didn't try to knock out a single category at a time. I tried to divide up some of the big stuff so it wouldn't be so pricey in a single month. I did research and went shopping. As I found things I thought I wanted from my list, I would purchase it. I did an attic sweep to find any and all things that we still had from our previous two kids (some usable - some not). If I reclaimed something from the attic, I took the time to clean it up, repair it, or get it back to 100% operational. I made it a goal to have 20 things purchased or "reclaimed for use" each month.
Now that I have talked about getting myself prepared, you probably want to see the big list. Here is a straight copy and paste of my list:
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sweet Daughter's Closet - Part 1
Well, my daughter has a shoe problem. Or rather there is an opportunity to come up with a better way to manage and store her shoes.
Here is what I walked into a few days ago:
I couldn't find anything. Every time I pulled out a shoe I thought she would want to wear, 5 or 6 came crashing down on me. It was miserable. No wonder it takes her 10 minutes to pick out shoes every morning. There HAD to be a better way.
I went off to Target and they had this shoe shelf on sale for $10. So, I snatched it up. There were also some small canvas bins on sale for $5. So, those found their way in my basket as well. Here is what the shoes look like now.
Oh, my! So much more manageable! It isn't a perfect solution. Yet. But it is heading in the right direction. She is still left with 22 pairs of shoes. Most of which are flip flops that have a new home in the two pink canvas bins off to the left.
So, now I can sleep just a little better at night. Now to tackle the mess above the shoes hanging in her closet. And then the mess lingering below the shoes.
Friday, May 20, 2011
My Review of Barbie Sing-A-Long CD Player
Originally submitted at Toys R Us
The Barbie Sing-A-Long CD Player lets you sing to your favorite tunes in Barbie style. Be at the height of fashion with your newest Barbie accessory! Live your rock star fantasy by singing to your favorite tunes.
Barbie Sing-A-Long CD Player features:
- 2 microphones Sing with your...
Great for its intended Purpose
Pros: Easy To Setup, Crowd Pleaser, Easy Controls, Doesn't Skip
Cons: No Line In Jack
Best Uses: Kids
Describe Yourself: Practical, Movie Enthusiast, Tech Savvy
Was this a gift?: Yes
I bought this for my 4 year old daughter. It has been a lot of fun to use. We have all enjoyed singing our favorite songs together. The controls are simple enough for her to use on her own. It is really nice to have separate volume controls for the music and the microphones. It also has some sound effects that we weren't expecting. She loves to sing and then hit the applause button when we clap to make it sound like a crowd. My 7 year old son likes to tell jokes and then hit the laughter button. This has been fun and a crowd pleaser for sure.
There is only one small speaker on this device. So no, the sound quality is just not that great. My kids don't seem to mind at all, but it is still rather dismal when compared to say a proper CD player. Surprisingly, the microphones do work rather well though.
Despite feeling that it felt cheap initially, this has really stood up to much use. So far, so good (it has been about a month now).
My biggest complaint is that there is no line in jack that would allow you to hook up an MP3 player. I knew this when making the purchase and thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal as the kids still have lots of CDs. However, I find it poor judgement in this day and time. I have had to burn several CD's of music for her which isn't a big deal. I just find that it should be easier by plugging in her MP3 player.
(legalese)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Does Cinderella Have a Car?
She continues, "How else does she get to her castle in Florida?" Yes, my brilliant daughter has figured out that we just saw her in California, but her castle is in Florida. She is trying to reconcile it all in her head.
As cool as a cucumber, I simply stated, "A princess would never drive to Florida. I am certain she would fly." We both laughed - I at a innocent, bright-eyed four year old; she at the thought of a princess having to fly.