Family Binder

Ok, I first got the idea for a family binder from the FlyLady book I got from my mom for Christmas 2 years ago. I ended up disassembling it and now that our family is getting bigger I thought it would be a good idea to stay organized.

For me this contact to therapist page is a good one because I started contacting therapists years ago and forgot about them until recently. Until I find one I think will work with our family this will be a good way to keep track of who/what/when type of thing.
Contact to Therapists Family Binder

This is a good one for the first 2 years of life. Babies go to the Dr. for a lot of appointments and it is easy to lose the information or forget it, when it is in one place it can be looked at for reference and can later be transferred into the baby album.
.Baby Appointments Family Binder

Ok, my older 2 have behavioral issues and I did temperment things on them when they were younger. The temperment pages were very long and time consuming, so this is kind of my version. I would highly recommend this if you notice your child has behavioral issues (besides normal behavioral things kids go through) to track them and bring them up to the Dr.
Behavioral Issues Page 1 and 2 Family Binder

My state does not require a yearly homeschool report, but for me, this is helpful to make sure I remember what they did throughout the year and what books/workbooks they used. It also allows me to show progress they have made and things they could use some work on.
Homeschool Yearly Report (elementary years)

With so many news stories about missing women, kids, people, these ID pages (one for each member of the family, even adults- hay you could even make one for the pets by tweaking it a bit) are very handy.
ID page family binder

I know for myself, having had my older 2 children on medication in the past, I do not remember which one was on what stuff at what dose and how long they were on it. I was recently asked and couldn't remember, so for me this page is a good one to have in the binder because I can look at it to reference it later as needed.
Medication Family Binder

Ok, again with the baby tracking page, when you are pregnant, whether or not you have other kids, you tend to forget a lot of things, having this sheet allows you to keep track of your appointments and save it for reference. Once baby is born you could shred it or save it for the baby album.
Pregnancy Tracker Family Binder

Ok, over the years I have had my kids (esp. my older 2) to several specialists and I have no idea who or what or when. I thought this would be a good page to have as a reference.
Specialists Seen Family Binder

I have been keeping on top of appointments lately and trying to schedule the needed ones (eye dr. and dentist appts) and it is very hard to remember everyones information of when they last went and when they are supposed to go again. For me, this will be a huge help having in my family binder.
Yearly Appointments Age 2 and up Family Binder

This one is good when the little (or big ones) are sick, because if you have had sick children and you take them to the Dr. you know they ask what meds have been given. If you give them tylenol or ibuprofin to help with fever, it is a good reference to know the dose and time right on the page without having to not only worry about your sick little one but try to remember what you gave when.
yearly I'm sick form family binder

These are just some of the pages I made for my own binder. I also made a calendar with appointments, a list of important phone numbers (but I couldn't get the formatting right to add it on here!), and an exercise plan to try to keep myself on track until delivery.
I also plan to include much more in my family album, as one album I saw on pinterest had birth certificates for each family member, social security cards, family photo page (then and now), family emergency plan, etc. Really the posibilities in a family binder are endless. I hope if you decide to create one you have as much fun as I am!

Car Seat Recover Before

Ok, so it has been 5 days since my last post. My plan to post everyday seriously went out the window this time! I have so much I could blog about and just didn't feel like writing anything so I didn't. Anyway, my newest project that I am working on is recovering the carseat I used for G. By the time my lil princess is out of it, it will have about a year before the seat itself expires so I figured I might as well get more use out of it before then, but I didn't want a boy pattern for my one and only girl.

So, I got so far as taking the cover apart. And I pinned it to the new material as a pattern and cut the new material out and got it all sewn together, but now, I am questioning my material choice. So back to the store I go to buy some different material. After I take it all apart again I will be ready to try again, I will post more pictures as I do the next steps.

Tips for a good visit to the park

Tips for a good visit to the park:

Whether you walk or drive, make sure to bring water. Kids will get thirsty from running around and so will you. Even if you think it is going to be a quick stop, it is always smart to pack some.

Make sure to lather up with sunscreen! Even if there is no sun, kids (and you) can still get sunburnt.

Wear appropriate clothes. If it is supposed to be hot, don't bring extra stuff that can get lost at the park. same thing in the cold make sure to dress warmly enough but not too hot. And watch what shoes you wear, my boys wore socks and sneakers and took them off when their feet got hot- this could have been a big loss for us if we had left them at the park.

If your kids like basketball, bring one with you. Some parks have basketball hoops and you and your kids might wish you had brought one to play with for a while when the playground equipment gets boring.

Make sure to go to the bathroom before leaving the house. All parks should have a public restroom, but don't always. It might be a good idea to know where the nearest convenience store is in case a bathroom is out of order or one is not available at the park.

Know where the closest emergency room is in case your child gets hurt while at the park. This way you don't have to waste time driving around trying to find one if someone gets hurt while playing.

No matter how tempting it is for kids to bring favorite toys to the park, it is always a good idea to leave the toys at home. It is just another thing that can get lost or left at the park and cause a meltdown later.

An idea for fun at the park is to buy a cheap bag of army men or other small toys like dinosaurs. While the kids are playing bury them in one area of the sandpit/rocks and have the kids dig around to see if they can find them. If they don't find them all, the next kids who like to dig can find them.

Try to choose different parks in your area to go play at so the kids don't get bored with going to one park all the time.

seat belt pillow tutorial

I origionally found the seat belt pillow on pinterest and pinned it, but there was no tutorial, only a link for where to buy one...me and the kids were going with mom on our road trip and I hated seeing S's head all cocked to the side and me driving not being able to do anything about it, so I thought the pillow was perfect. I made S one with spiderman material, since that is what he likes, his turned out a little different than this. This one I made for my mom since she is going on another road trip to my cousins wedding. I made it in less than an hour.

 Supplies:

batting

fabric

velcro

sewing machine

thread

scissors

The first thing I did was cut 4 pieces of fabric the same size. I did not measure how big or how wide, I just cut how long I thought would be good and how wide I thought would be good once all my stitching was done.

Then I double layered the batting and cut it smaller than the fabric. I wanted the pillow to be thicker than one layer of batting, but not thicker than two layers.

I put 2 pieces of fabric together and stiched up the length of them. Then I sticked down the side, but not all the way to the end, I left a little bit unsewed. Do this to the other pieces of fabric as well.

Turn the material rightside out so the stitches can't be seen. Take one piece of velcro and place it near the seam that you stitched lengthwise. I stitched it down, over, down and over to make a long rectangle. Do this on the other piece of material as well. Make sure not to sew it both sides of the material so that you can place the batting inside once you are done.

Place the batting inside and turn the piece of fabric under and then stitch down lengthwise close to the edge of the fabric. Do this to both peices.

Place both pieces together like shown in the picture and stitch down.

Still stitching down. Cut the excess fabric and turn it rightside out.

Wa-La!

Cleaning and Laundry Tips

One of the best laundry tips that I have found is to put your load of laundry in the wash in the morning and then as soon as the washer stops put the load in the dryer. As soon as the dryer stops, put your load of laundry away. I just got done putting away 2 huge baskets full of clothes that have been piling up (clean) for the last 3 days. It is always easier to put one load away rather than having to put 4 or 5 loads away at a time.

My favorite laundry soap right now is powdered Gain (regular scent) and the purple Purex Crystals fabric softener. If you haven't tried the Crystals, you really should!

The biggest tip for cleaning that I do is keep things clean on a daily basis. Every day I make sure that my dishes get done, even when I don't feel like doing them, the house is straightened and vacuumed. The most important rooms to me and the kitchen and living room since these are the rooms in the entry of the house that people who come to visit see. I can alway shut the bedroom doors if we have company over.

I made my own all-purpose cleaner by filling a spray bottle with vinegar, dish soap, and water. I put a little bit of dish soap, about 1/3 or 1/2 with vinegar and the rest with hot water. I found that this cuts grease, cleans mirrors and windows, and basically every surface that I normally clean. I found one on pinterest where you put hot vinegar and a lot of dawn dish soap, but for me the vinegar smell is overpowering and it leaves too many suds. Adding water cuts down on the suds and the vinegar smell. (plus the vinegar is a disinfectant).

I always recruit my kids to help clean up. They do not always participate willingly or cooperatively, but it helps me out as well as teaches them that cleaning is a part of life. I have them help clean up toys in the living room and pick up little things that get thrown on the floor. I will also have them vacuum sometimes, but more often than not I do this.

For paper clutter I try to keep the excess mail that I know I don't want right in the paper shredder and shred it when the box gets full. I normally let a stack of papers gather on my tv stand and then put them away on a day that I don't like looking at it anymore.

Basically the thing to do is a little everyday so you don't have to spend hours a week cleaning and scrubbing things.

A really great website to check out is:

www.flylady.net

Rummage Sale Tips

Ok, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE rummage sales and finding good deals, whether it be at a rummage sale, goodwill, or second hand store, good deals always make me feel great about my buy.... today I went to about 10 sales with my kids and let me say, the more sales I go to, the more I learn about having a sale of my own (which I have done several times as well! But how the heck do I find my good deals sitting around selling good deals??)

The first and biggest thing to do is to advertise, advertise, advertise!!! When I had my sales I put them into the 2 local papers (this can get spendy so be careful about this avenue of advertising). I also put it online on craigslist and I made posters and took them around to nearby towns and hung 2 of them up in each town (if you live in a big enough area, you can just hang a bunch around town) make sure to ask the business first, most don't mind, but some will tell you no.

(also check your local area laws because some places make you have a license, my area does not, but some do- or so I have heard)

The next biggest thing is on the day of your sale, put out signs!! We found a sale in the paper we wanted to go to, on a road we had never heard of and it took us FOREVER to find it. There was one sign in front on the house. Most other sales had signs at the end of the road or in several areas pointing the way to the sale. This is a huge help whether you live right off the main road or you live in a remote area- your customers will thank you for taking the time to hang the signs. Don't forget once your sale is over to go take your signs down!!

A huge gripe I had at sales today was clothing. A lot of the prices were unreasonable- to me, and at some sales recently the quality of the clothes+ the price was definately off. If you have clothes from your children that are 10 years old and look it, most people will pass them over and not pay even 50 cents for them. As a buyer at sales, that was a big turn off. It was also a big turn off to have clothes marked 2 and 3 dollars per piece (for children's items) that were not of top quality. If it had been Nike or Addidas or some other big brand (GAP, oshkosh, etc.) and in good condition (no rips, stains, etc) then that would probably be undermarked for the clothing. But as a deal hunter I was looking for kids clothes that was 25cents to 1 dollar. For older children's pants I would have considered paying 2 or 3 dollars as well (maybe this makes me sound cheap, but it is something I have learned going to really good sales- good prices= good sales and happy customers).  Another thing about clothing is to have items marked or a sign hanging up if everything is the same price. The sizes should all be together as well. When I had my sale I put the same size pants in one section, same size short sleeve shirts and same size long sleeve shirts in one section. At one sale today it was very hard to look for adult clothes. They had one table that said Plus Size and then all the clothes were folded, piled up. I would probably have bought something if all of the size L shirts were in one pile, XL shirts in one pile etc. and I was able to find the size and type I was looking for. Instead a lot of things probably got passed over. Another thing I find that helps is to put a label on the table or on each clothing piece (with masking tape) that says the size and price of the piece of clothing. This was customers don't have to mess up the piles with looking inside each piece at the size.

All the toys should be placed together and clearly marked how much they are. As a seller it is easier to take the ticket off the item than to think about how much you priced it at. And as a buyer it is easier to know how much you want for the item right off the bat.

My mom told me that she read an article where one woman said not to price anything because sometimes someone might offer more for the item than you think it is worth. I don't agree with this. As a seller and as a buyer this is very confusing. I like to see how much an item is and if I think it is too high I will not buy it or will try to get the seller to lower the price (more times than not I will just not buy it)

Keep all items that are of real value- electronics, DVD's etc. in clear view of the paying stand. I had a cheaper ($20 new) mp3 player (still brand new in the package) stollen from one garage sale that I had. One minute it was there along with the customer and the next it wasn't.

Make sure that you set up your sale early. Items should be clean and priced before your sale and set stuff up days before in your space so on the morning of you can just open the garage and pull tables or furniture out of the garage. Organizing the items and having lots of table/shelf space is a must. I don't know how many sales I have passed over that might have held awesome finds that looked like a mess from the street so I didn't even bother to get out of my car. It is your job to entice the cusomer to pull over and get out of the car and spend their money on your items.

Make sure if you have music playing in the background it is something that most people might like. You wouldn't want music with lots of cursing when people might come with kids. This is also a turn off.

When your rummage is over, instead of saving items, you can donate them or try selling something of bigger value on craigslist or in the paper.

All in all, have fun. As a buyer or a seller, rummage sales should be fun. While throwing one can be very stressful it is a great way to get rid of things you not longer use or need. Don't be afraid to let things go, doing so will help your house feel better and look nicer. It might also help someone in dire need of your item as well.

A lot of sun and a little fun

So yesterday was my dr appt. I got to drink the nasty stuff for the diabetes test. They asked if I wanted orange flavor or cola flavor and I said cola thinking it would be like coca cola. Yeah, no. It was just as sugary and nasty as the orange flavor one, but more so. Someone should really change the rules and give donuts or a huge sugar filled candy bar instead of that stuff. Either way, it came back fine. All is good. And I didn't gain any weight in the 5 weeks since my appt! For someone my size that is nice-pregnant or not!
We also cooked out last night- or well V started the grill and I cooked on it. Corn, hot dogs (veggie dogs for me please!) and potato salad. The potato salad turned out pretty good for my first real time making it without mom!
Today I made a cleaner I found on pinterest, cleaned the house, did tons of laundry, spritzed the beds off with a de-odorizing/de-urineizing spray I found on pinterest (and it worked!!!!), did a few loads of dishes, made cookies that V has been asking me to make for a while now, took mom's cat to the vet to leave her overnight to get her infected tooth pulled tomorrow, and then made supper and went and played basketball at the park with B while N, S and G all rode thier bikes around the court.
All in all it was a productive day!

Here is the link to the cleaner I made:
http://www.food.com/recipe/tub-and-shower-magic-434275
I didn't use Dawn dish soap and I used about 2 oz of soap instead. It made some bubbles but not overwhelming amount. The vinegar smell was kind of overwhelming when spraying so make sure you keep that in mind if you use it. It cleaned REALLY well, windows, counters, shower/tub, bathroom floor, mirrors, etc.

Here is the link to the spray I used on the bed:
http://www.inspired-housewife.com/2012/03/30/how-to-get-pee-stains-out-of-a-mattress/
It is still a little damp where I sprayed it, so ideally it would be great to spray it on right away in the morning and then let it sit all day and make the bed right before bed. It works amazing though!!