Fun with Birthday Gifts

Disclaimer: Tobias's name prediction is totally his own (well, it may be a shortened form of Hallelujah) and not based on any name discussions or gender knowledge of ours (we have none).

Conversations

In the first conversation, Tobias practices the names of some of his favorite people. In the second conversation, he nearly falls asleep while eating a peach; is he worn out from being goofy with David all morning, or because he got up at 6:00 a.m.? Who knows.

Toddler Backpack "Winging it" Tutorial

What is a "winging it" tutorial, you may ask? Isn't that an oxymoron? Perhaps it is.

While searching for directions or patterns to make Tobias a little backpack for his birthday, I found several very cute backpacks and the directions to make them. None of the patterns looked quite like what I was thinking, and I'm a little scared of doing zippers. So I ended up "winging it" and making my own pattern.

I took pictures of what I did so that I would be able to finish the second backpack (for his friend). Here are some simple instructions of how I did it so you can make one too, in case completely winging it isn't your style.

You will need an unspecified amount of canvas (I used misc. scraps), 2 buckles or sets of D rings, an unknown amount of webbing, and some elastic. The seam allowances for the main seams of the body and top flap are 1/2 inch. Pockets and details have smaller seam allowances. Use a heavy duty needle for canvas or denim, or be prepared to go through a lot of needles.

1. Cut 11" x 6" rectangle of canvas or sturdy cloth for the bottom of the backpack
2. Cut 35" x 14" (or desired height plus 2 inches) for the body of the backpack
3. Cut 2 pieces, 12" x 5", for the straps.
4. Cut a piece of newspaper 10.5" x 7.5". Then round two of the corners to make the paper into a "D" shape. This is the pattern for the top flap of the backpack.
5. Place your D-pattern with the long straight side on the fold of the fabric and cut that out.
6. Create the straps by sewing the pieces into tubes, turning right side out, and then pressing them with the seam in the middle (this seam will be towards the child's body when wearing the backpack, or towards the outside if you prefer). If desired, place a small rectangle of fleece inside the top of each strap for padding, avoiding the very top inch or two that will end up being in the seam allowance. I used a pencil to shove the fleece into the tube and flatten in out.
7. Press one end of each tube into the pointed shape shown in the picture below by pushing the side of each strap towards the inside of the tube and then ironing into place. (I have 4 straps because I was making 2 backpacks, if you are making 1 backpack you should have 2 straps!)
8. Fold the tips of each piece of fabric towards the inside of the tube and press. All the raw edges on this end of the strap should now be pressed to the inside and it is ready to sew to the webbing portion of the strap.
9. Sew 6.5" or 7" piece of webbing onto each buckle or set of D-rings.
10. Insert the other end of the webbing into the folded tips of the canvas straps. Topstitch to secure the webbing in place and continue topstitching around the edge of the entire strap.
11. Cut a front pocket, if desired, 12.5" or 13" wide by 8" tall. The finished width of my pocket is 8" and height is 6". Each side has a "bellows pocket" type pleat in it to give it a little depth. Hem the top of the pocket, zigzag stitch the side edges if desired so they don't ravel inside the pocket, and press the sides into the pleated shape. There should be 6 vertical folds in your pocket. I put a few stitches in the middle of the "M" pleat so that it stays pleated. The picture below shows the finished pocket from the top so you can see the shape of the side folds. You can do another style of pocket if you prefer, or another size.
12. Add a small piece of velcro to the center of the pocket (if you forget like I did, you can still do it later).
13. Sew the bottom piece of the backpack to the center of the body piece of the backpack,
    including the bottom of the pocket in the seam.
14. The sides of the pocket will still be un-sewn, topstitch them down.
15. Finish sewing the body to the bottom and then sew up the back seam. Trim any extra fabric from the back seam and zigzag inside seam edges to prevent fraying if desired. It should now look somewhat bag-like.
16. Make a loop of elastic for the top that, when stretched, will allow the bag to fully open.
17. Press the top of the bag to form a casing, then sew with elastic inside. Here's a picture of the elastic casing on the finished backpack.
18. Sew straps and hanging loop to the top back of the bag, right underneath the casing.
19. Make top flap: sew a seam around the edge of your D-piece, leaving a hole to turn right side out. Turn, clip curves, press, and topstitch. I did two rows of stitching for a decorative effect.
20. Topstitch the flap onto the body of the backpack, right over top of the topstitching that attached the straps and loop in step 18.
21. Cut two 8.5"-9" pieces of webbing. Finish one end (by sewing or using no-fray solution).
22. Seam rip two small openings in the bottom back seam for these pieces and sew them into the seams. Attach to buckles or D-rings.
23. Make a pull-tab from extra fabric or webbing. Attach pull-tab and velcro pieces to top flap. I used a square-and-X design to firmly attach the tab, and hand-sewed the velcro to the tab in order not to make extra stitching marks on the front of it.
24. Attach the opposite pieces of velcro for the top flap and the pocket.
25. Insert firm rectangle (cardboard or plastic) into bottom of backpack if desired to help hold shape. Make any needed adjustments to the backpack and try it on the child!

There, only 25 steps. Simple, right! I would love to hear from anyone who has found this tutorial useful. Please comment with questions, suggestions, and variations that you came up with.

Be a Dear, Face the Rear

Today I had a curious friend ask me "Why is he facing backwards, is he not big enough to face forward yet?" as I put Tobias into the car. I've heard this question many times, and it is not a silly question at all! Until fairly recently, 1 year was the minimum amount of time that kids were required/recommended to face backwards. While the law still allows kids to face forward at their first birthday in most states, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other safety organizations now recommend a minimum of 2 years facing backwards in the car.

The difference in safety is significant: a child riding rear-facing is five times safer. Another way of stating this (taken from this site) is:

In 100 collisions of rear facing kids, 8 rear facing children will die or become seriously injured. 92 will walk away fine. In 100 collisions with forward facing kids, 40 will die or become seriously injured. 60 will walk away fine. Those are large differences which help to save lives.

Nate and I laugh about our society's over-protectiveness; Nate once joking that "in the future, all toys will be colorful plastic wiffle-spheres". Certainly turning all toys into "safe" but bland objects would have an impact of kids' development, and they'd surely find more interesting (and dangerous) things to play with. We can't eliminate all the risks. Based on the statistics, though, I don't think that keeping your child rear-facing for 2 years or more is excessively overprotective, or that anything in their development will be sacrificed for the increased safety.

Today's families seem to be putting on more miles at higher speeds than previous generations, and it is good to know that we can keep reducing the number of serious injuries and fatalities that occur.

If you have children or will soon, and your car situation allows it (our pickup truck is not very conducive to rear-facing, so Tobias does face forwards in the truck now), I strongly encourage you to research and follow these recommendations.

Peanut Butter Cookies and Invisible Coffee

It seems like my favorite blogs are always posting beautiful pictures of the tasty things they have been cooking up. We've been cooking too, although the pictures are maybe not as mouth-watering as they could be. Tobias is getting less destructive when he helps in the kitchen. He helped stir and shake cinnamon into cottage cheese pancakes, and helped squish peanut butter cookies with a fork.

The recipe for the peanut butter cookies (Aunt Janet's recipe) is:

• 1 cup of peanut butter, slightly melted
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• Roll, squish, and bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees

We re-shaped the cookies featured in the video and do plan to take them to church.

What are your favorite places to get new recipes?

Captions By Tobias

Our bike trailer.

Warm apples.

Progress, Pain, Cost, Risk, and the Greater Good

My sister Heather wrote an excellent post describing how disillusioned she is by the decision of the Sioux Center City Council to approve the Sandy Hollow gun range, despite being presented strong evidence of it's risk, and over 400 signatures from those opposed.

These are some thoughts that I wanted to add to hers:

There are risks in all areas of life. And yes, "progress" sometimes causes pain, and it costs something. As a pregnant woman, I'm well aware that that the progress of bringing another child into the world will involve risk and pain, and it will cost something. There's road construction near my house. There's an element of risk there to the workers working with construction equipment. The progress will cost the city money, and the detour I am sure is causing excess noise to a residential community, for a short time.

There is a tiny element of truth in most lies, and I think this idea that "a little risk is OK, a little pain is OK, progress always has it's costs" is one of the ideas causing people to support the gun range. However, they are failing to realize the bigger truth that whenever possible, a good leader will minimize the risks, and the risks are borne by consenting adults, hopefully for a short time in order to have a long-term gain. A good leader follows the reasonable recommendations of expert organizations: I take my vitamins and eat healthy and get prenatal care, and I see the construction workers using safety equipment and directing traffic away from workers. A good leader speaks up for those less powerful than himself.

People undertake the risk of having children, building roads, etc. because the situation of never having children, or continuing to use an old and overcrowded road system would be, in the long run, more dangerous and risky than the temporary risks of pregnancy and road construction.

These situations are entirely different than the situation of the gun range, where the City Council (and others) are asking someone else to bear long-term or permanent risks, costs, and pain of "progress" that isn't essential at all, and meanwhile ignoring the safety recommendations of experts such as the NRA and EPA.

John Byl, president of NIOSC, the gun club planning to build the range, said

"All progress is not good for everyone in the community." (quote in Northwest Iowa Review).

I think this statement admits that the gun range plan would have a significant negative impact on a lot of people, including neighbors of Sandy Hollow and people who do or would participate in other recreational activities there.

I think Heather's post excellently demonstrates that the thinking behind approving this range just isn't right, and it is a shame to those that approved it.

Sandy Hollow: Better Options

Hello readers! I feel that perhaps my last few Sandy Hollow posts, by necessity, have been a little information heavy and negative. I do not know what the next steps will be in the process of trying to stop the gun range. Today I would like you to help me brainstorm some great ideas that could be done that would not be controversial, that would allow current attractions such as camping and fishing to continue undisturbed, that would not decrease the quality of life and property value for Sandy Hollow area residents, and that would not present a safety and health risk. Some ideas that have been proposed so far, plus a few of my own, are:

• Three hole golf course. putting green, driving range and mini-golf. This level of golf activity would not compete with the Ridge and would likely foster more desire in people to actually golf at the Ridge, which would increase their business.
• Facilities for sporting activities such roller hockey, volleyball, and disc golf could be made or upgraded
• Ponds, beaches and shorelines could be improved. There are many people that enjoy fishing and swimming at Sandy Hollow, and these improvements would increase their numbers.
• Improve the camping facilities and add camping spots. As other improvements are added more campers will come. They will spend money in Sioux Center also.
• Improve and add shelter houses
• Prairie, wetland, or nature areas with walking trails
• Connect the bike trail to Orange city, which is connected to Alton
• Archery range
• Community gardens
• Cabins that could be used for camping, family reunions, etc. I have enjoyed spending time with family at Inspiration Hills at their cabins, which are available year round, and I think something similar would be great at Sandy Hollow.
• Rock climbing wall
• Low ropes course for teamwork activities
• Outdoor exercise and fitness equipment such as that available on the Orange City/Alton bike trail

What activities would you like to see at Sandy Hollow that would provide excellent recreation for residents and visitors?

More brainstorms that have come up (added August 2011):

• Gazebos: good for relaxing, small group meeting place useful for day camps, retreats, reunions
• Paddleboat rental
• Paintball area

Who Would Pay for Lead Cleanup at Sandy Hollow?

Here is an excerpt from the document presented by opponents of the gun range planned at Sandy Hollow, to the Sioux Center City Council, on May 18, 2011:

Liability and Financial Risk for the City of Sioux Center:

As the owner of the Sandy Hollow property, the City of Sioux Center is likely to be held partially responsible for environmental degradation caused by the proposed Outdoor Sporting Complex, should it occur. Given the nature of the site, and the operations currently planned, ground and surface water contamination are likely, and the cost of remediation could be substantial. Applicable federal laws and regulations include the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). (National Shooting Sports Foundation, ‘Environmental Aspects of Construction and Management of Outdoor Shooting Ranges, p. 1-3 to 1-9).

The proposed lease with the NIOSC Board indicates that the Board is responsible for managing the lead shot dispersed on the property, but does not include language specific enough to ensure that the site will be decontaminated prior to termination of the lease. Contaminated land (defined by statute) would have minimal resale value, and if the shooting range was no longer in operation could be subject to RCRA statutes requiring decontamination at the owner’s expense. Given the extensive areas that will receive lead deposits at Sandy Hollow, the land area is very likely to be considered ‘contaminated’ at the end of the lease, leaving the City and its residents with a substantial (hundreds of thousands of dollars in comparable cases) cleanup bill.

Sign the Petition Against Sandy Hollow NIOSC gun range

Wednesday update: The City Council voted unanimously to approve the lease of Sandy Hollow to NIOSC. Opponents managed to collect almost 400 signatures in just two days and presented a comprehensive packet of information detailing the problems with the current plan (which I will post later) but unfortunately it still passed.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 18, the Sioux Center City Council will be meeting to discuss a proposed 25 year lease, with the option to sell, of Sandy Hollow to NIOSC (Northwest Iowa Outdoor Sportsmen's Club).

Residents and property owners of Sioux Center are invited to show up and voice their concerns and opposition orally or in writing. There is also a time for public input open to non-residents.

If you are opposed to the building of this complex (see previous posts for information on the sound issues, lead contamination risk, etc.), please sign the petition. Your signature carries more weight if you own property or live in Sioux Center. However, please sign anyway if you are a regular visitor to Sioux Center, a student in Sioux Center, someone in the surrounding area (especially if you are in Orange City and your drinking water wells are at risk for lead contamination from this project), or just concerned about the general risks of this project.

Also be in continued prayer that this issue can be resolved quickly and without legal action.

What does the petition say?

We the following people of the City of Sioux Center and surrounding area hereby object to the City’s leasing of City property to the Northwest Iowa Outdoor Sporting Complex Board for the purposes of a public shooting range and sports complex. We object to the City’s involvement in such shooting range and sports complex as it will inevitably subject the City to future liability for personal injury, property damage, nuisance, diminution of surrounding real estate values, and environmental waste and cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

How do I sign the petition?

Contact someone who lives in the Sandy Hollow area to sign the petition in person, or sign electronically by sending an e-mail to warren at parkingdesigngroup dot com (replace at and dot with the appropriate punctuation). In the e-mail, you need to include a jpg or tiff file of your signature (take a picture of it or scan it), along with your address and phone number.

If you prefer, you can e-mail me (hnnhhyr at gmail dot com) and I will send you a pdf document of the petition that you can print, sign and then scan and send in by e-mail, or deliver to someone.

Why should I get involved?

NIOSC board chairman John Byl says that only a handful of neighbors are opposing the plan; please sign the petition to show that this is not the case and that a wide variety of people are concerned about it. He also stated in an interview with the Northwest IA Review, about the residents of the Sandy Hollow area:

"If you want to go to a place where you're protected from what your neighbor does, you ought to live in a community".

Please show your support and that "community" is something larger and deeper than simply the city limits of Sioux Center, it is a group of people who want to support each other and do what is safe and respectful of all.

Toby and the Tumbler

Having Fun with Music!

Residences within 1/2 mile of Sandy Hollow

The NRA recommends that shooting ranges be built in an area where there is 1/2 mile or more to the nearest residence. This map shows (in black) the approximately 25 houses, apartments, and businesses within a 1/2 mile of Sandy Hollow (proposed shooting range shown in yellow).

Exposure to noise can cause sleep disruption, increased stress hormones, higher blood pressure, and hearing loss. When describing the health effects of noise, the World Health Organization's "Guidelines for Community Noise" states:

Stronger reactions have been observed when noise is accompanied by vibrations and contains low- frequency components, or when the noise contains impulses, such as with shooting noise.

This means that impulse noises such as gunshots have a stronger effect (even physically) on people than the rumble of aircraft, traffic, or a talking crowd at the same decibel level.

Although the Sioux County Planning and Zoning Committee has voted approval of the planned shooting range, it is important that Sioux County residents (or frequent visitors such as myself) get involved in the effort to halt the plan.

Flood pictures at Sandy Hollow

At the proposed Sandy Hollow shooting ranges, 15-30 tons of lead shot would be deposited on the ground each year. The DNR plans to clean up the lead every several years. However, as you can see in these pictures from 2010, the West Branch creek that runs through the proposed shooting range can flood, covering the area of the proposed gun range. This would wash the lead into the stream where it could soak into the groundwater or harm wildlife. Both Orange City and Rural Water have wells downstream from this area. The EPA's Best Management Practices for Lead at Outdoor Shooting Ranges states:

In areas of groundwater discharge such as river flood plains and most flat areas, the groundwater surface is often a few feet below the surface. Remember, the shorter the distance traveled, the greater the risk that the lead will migrate into the environment. Shallow depth to groundwater is indicative of higher risk for lead to reach the water.

Due to the flooding creek, the ground water being close to the surface, and the sandy soil, building a shooting range at Sandy Hollow would pose an unacceptably high risk of lead contamination.

Sandy Hollow Gun Range DNR letter

For the last few months my parents have been working hard organizing opposition to a proposed gun range at Sandy Hollow, near Sioux Center IA. My sister Heather wrote a great letter to the DNR expressing many problems with the gun range. She already said everything, basically, but I wrote a letter too, expressing my own perspective as a mom with a kid who eats dirt, drops things in the dirt, plays in the dirt, etc.

If this topic affects you, please contact Dale Garner (dale.garner@dnr.iowa.gov) to express your concern. Use the subject line "NIOSC gun range Sioux Center Iowa".

Here is a portion of my letter:

Lead poisoning is a dangerous problem, especially to children under 6 years old. The symptoms include irritability, learning difficulties, and fatigue. These symptoms can be easily confused with other problems or be ignored, meaning that children can suffer for extended periods of time without being diagnosed. Lead poisoning can cause miscarriage or premature birth for pregnant women.

Widespread lead contamination has been documented from shooting ranges. For example, the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware had contamination levels in the groundwater of 400 micrograms to 1 milligram per liter due to a shooting range in the area. The Sandy Hollow area is at risk for lead contamination since the west branch of the Floyd River runs through the area, and there are frequent floods that would contribute to the lead spreading downstream, soaking into the soil, or reaching the groundwater. The floods often reach over farmland nearby or downstream, and it seems that this poses a risk to farmers, livestock, and possibly even to the food supply. The EPA states that shooting ranges should not be near water for this reason.

As a parent I watch my child very closely, but as there is no fence planned around the edge of the shooting range, and guns might be shot very close to the borders and driveway of the property, I worry that my curious child might come into contact with lead pellets in the soil near the borders of the shooting area while taking a walk. I know that simply touching a lead pellet once is not likely to harm a child, but there is a definite risk for children who might accidentally ingest the lead. Even with close supervision, children tend to put objects and dirt in their mouths, or eat food that has been dropped in dirt. Children who live in the area could also be exposed to long term contamination through water or soil.

The noise level is another concern to me as a mom of young children, since the noise levels along the driveway at the edge of the property (estimated to be around 100 db) are high enough to cause hearing loss. Even in neighborning residential areas, the noise would be loud enough to disrupt outdoor activities, and would be concentrated in the times that people would want to spend outdoors.

If a shooting range is to be built in the Sioux County area, a site should be found that follows current expert recommendations: it should be a half mile or more to the nearest residence as recommended by the NRA (currently there are over 25 residences within a half mile of Sandy Hollow), the noise level should be 55 decibels or less at the property line as recommended by the NRA (at the Sandy Hollow site noise levels are estimated to be around 100 decibels at the property line), and the shooting range should not be near water, as recommended by the EPA. It would also be sensible to find a site that does not interfere with other healthy outdoor recreation and exercise such as fishing, biking, camping, running, walking, picnicking, photography, swimming and more.

The current plan would benefit only a few, while having a negative impact on many and causing risk to the smallest and most vulnerable.

The shooting range was designed by a DNR employee, and would depend on funding from the DNR, but as you can see it goes against the DNR's mission to enhance the quality of life and preserve natural resources. Please act to prevent this gun range from being built.

Tobias-isms

As Tobias learns new words and phrases every day, we find ourselves having plenty to laugh about every day. Here are some of my favorites from the past few weeks.

Turning onto our street for the first time when coming back from Italy: "Our room!". He had forgotten the word "home" but he knew where we were!

First manly sentence (while grocery shopping): "All done. Shopping. Back home!"

For awhile he would come to us with a banana or orange and say "Zip, zip!". I was almost sad when he learned the word "peel", because "zip" was so cute!

Me: "What does mommy have in her tummy?". Tobias: "Cereal." Well, the answer we were going for was "baby" but I guess cereal was also correct. On another occasion he answered "airplane" (which is not correct at all, for the record).

Cloth Diapers in Italy

I know, I know. I need to be writing posts for my own blog. Don't worry, I have some in the works.

But, hoping that others could get ideas from my experience taking the cloth diapers along to Italy, I wrote up a guest post on what I took along and how the washing went, etc. for a cloth diapering blog. Washing the diapers was a little harder than at home, just because I had to haul the wet laundry out of our basement and through the other apartment to get to the drying racks and sunny terraces. But the view while doing so was gorgeous so I shouldn't complain!

Ups and Downs of Being a Toddler

Ups: Playing with friends at church, getting cool packages in the mail, wearing cute hats

Downs: Falling on head and visiting emergency room

Ups: Being silly while eating peas

Guest Post at Happymoneysaver.com

Recently I enjoyed getting to write a guest post for a favorite blog of mine, Happy Money Saver. It is a blog that helps people get good deals on groceries, online purchases, and fun freebies and samples. After seeing several posts with excellent tips on how to combine coupons/sales to get good deals on disposable diapers, I asked Karrie if I could write a post for her on saving money with cloth diapers. Some of the tips I learned from experience, and some I had heard from friends. I had a lot of fun writing it up and I hope it was helpful to lots of readers!

Knows letters, prefers trucks

Don't worry, we don't have him doing "big kid" schoolwork all day, but he likes guessing the letters I draw on the Magna Doodle or iPod. T is his favorite letter so far and he likes to find all the capital Ts in his books.