Pics of the kiddies.

Tipping Tuesday

Keep your drains clean and clog-free. Once a week I pour about a cup of baking soda down all the drains in my house. Follow it with vinegar. It will bubble up like crazy (remember making volcanoes as a kid), but it's supposed to do that. It's cheap and a lot less gross than digging the hair out of your tubs drain with your hands. Sometimes I finish it off with boiling water and sometimes I don't, either way the only time my sinks or tub gets clogged up is when Bear (my 2 year old) decides to stuff them with toys, or toothbrushes, or clothes, or change, or keys, or a whole roll of toilet paper complete with cardboard roll at once. In which case, baking soda won't work.

I have 3 wonderful little boys, 2 of whom are potty trained. I thought I would be smart and teach them to sit and use the potty. One day my sister took the oldest out and not wanting him to sit on a public toilet told him to stand "like a big boy". That's all she wrote. They must now stand which means I am mopping my bathroom floor about once a day. Who has time, right? Instead of trying to find the time, or assigning the kids an extra chore, I fit it into our bedtime schedule. Now in the evening, I put the youngest boys in the tub, wash them up and then let them play. While they're playing I clean my bathroom. I use lavender scented Comet (my favorite) or baking soda (cheap and just as effective) so they aren't overwhelmed with fumes and I take 10 minutes or less to wipe out the sink, swipe the toilet bowl out, wipe down the mirror and spot mop behind little boys who haven't quite perfected their aim.
For those of you with wee little ones, it can sometimes feel like you're always cleaning up after them, what are some things you do to keep it managable?

The kids and I try to do a movie night every Saturday night. Wouldn't this be great. A new movie to watch and popcorn too!

How can you not love something with this name? And my picky eaters just might eat this version.

CREATIVE POVERTY LASAGNA
Serves 8
1 pkg lasagna noodles
3 8 oz cans tomato sauce
3/4 can water
2 lbs ground beef
1 pkg spaghetti sauce
2 large pkgs mozarella
2 large pkgs cheddar
Powdered parmesan cheese
Brown hamburger. Add tomato sauce, water and seasonings - bring to boil, then remove from heat and set aside.
Cook noodles for 20-30 minutes. Add lots of salt or oil so it won't stick together. Drain.
In 9 x 13" pan, spread 2 tbsp sauce in bottom. Layer noodles, sauce, cheeses. Put parmesan in every other layer. End with sauce and cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes @ 350 degrees.

I'm still working on ways to live a much simpler life and I'm including money in this. I have made and used homemade baby wipes in the past. There's no reason why I don't use them now. The hardest part of making them is cutting the roll of paper towels in half because I really do need sharper knives.
In the past I've just reused empty baby wipe containers, but you can use RubberMaid containers, or any type of plastice container you have around the house.
I don't know why, but for some reason Bounty are the best towels to use. Other brands are either too weak or sort of shrink when you use them. It's still cheaper than regular wipes and you can use the pretty smelling lavender baby bath that I love so much.

Homemade Baby Wipes
1/2 roll of Bounty paper towels
2 tbsp baby oil
2 tbsp baby bath
2 cups of water
Cut roll of paper towels in half, remove center cardboard; place in plastic container. In a separate bowl, gently mix liquid ingredients and pour on top of paper towels. After about an hour or so, if you use an air-tight container, you can turn it up-side down to wet all of the paper towels, or gently turn the paper towels.

Of my 4 children I only named 1. I picked Bubba's name because I always thought it was a strong, male name. His middle name just naturally flowed with his first. Others obviously think the same because I know of a couple of others with the same name. It's a common name without being popular or trendy. Perfect. Since my husband and I are separated, the naming of this child falls on me and I'm lost. If it's a girl, she will be named after a wonderful poet and cool 70's TV star. If it's a boy, I might be in trouble. Any suggestions for good boy names? I'm not into trendy names like Hunter, nothing too out there like Mandingo, but something strong, yet calm.

I have 3 boys ages 5, 2 and 1. These will definitely come in handy.

Ice Packs
Mix 3/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol in a zippered storage bag and close. Place inside of another bag and close. Freeze. It will turn into a slushy mix good for covering the many scrapes and boo-boo's little boys get.

I am pregnant with my 5th child. When people see me on the bus, walking, at the store wherever with my kids ages 10, 5, 2 and 1, most comment with, "You sure do have you hands full."
I sure do, full of God's grace.