Challenge: Complete

The challenge is complete. The last batch of hand-washed flats are drying on the line.
My conclusions from the week are:

• It worked. The diapers got clean, and the flats dried very fast in the dry air here (20-30 minutes outdoors).
• If I was having to hand-wash diapers on a regular basis I would probably try to make it to a laundromat or friend's house once a week for a break.
• It didn't seem to take a whole lot of extra time on days when I was around the house anyway. Pop into the bathroom and do the next step (wash, squeeze/drain, rinse, etc.).  On days when I had errands to run, it was more of a big chore or project. I missed being able to start my washing machine and head out for groceries and come back to clean diapers.
• Washing diapers without regular access to a washing machine would be hard, but preferable to me than skimping on groceries, bills or healthcare, leaving a child in a wet diaper for too long, etc. 
• I'm sure hand washing diapers isn't the solution for every family with kids who has a tight budget but no washer. But it's good to have options!
• Hand-washing (diapers and/or clothes) might be a good skill to have for camping, power outages, or natural disasters.

Great job to all the other ladies (and dads too, I guess) who completed the challenge. I know several hundred signed up and many were able to complete. There are now hundreds of blog posts full of tips out there from people who took this challenge...roll your covers in a towel to get most of the moisture out if you need them to air-dry quickly (I had enough that I didn't need to do this step, but if you were in a more humid climate or had less covers it could really help), flour-sack towels make great diapers and cost about $1, flats can be stuffed into pocket diapers to make an easy-to-use diaper for daycare that can still be hand washed, and there are lots of different ways to wash without a washer (portable washers, utility sink, homemade camp washers).

Can I "Kish" Them?

He wanted to help squish the diapers so I generously let him help. So far we have done 2 small loads of diaper laundry with our make-shift setup. It works. Not fun but not disgusting or impossible either.

For the record, the supplies I'm using this week (I already had all this on hand) are:

• Covers (the waterproof part): Thirsties, Flip, and homemade
• Flat diapers (the absorbent part): ~12 Gerber birdseye flats, 4 flannel receiving blankets
• cloth wipes ($ store washcloths)
• Target trashcan and waterproof liner bag to store wet diapers, small waterproof bag to keep in the diaper bag
• bucket and plunger
• Country Save powdered laundry detergent
• clothesline, indoor drying rack

I estimate that to purchase all these supplies new would cost around $150. A lot of things people already have, could make or find, or could do without. For example, my nice retractible clothes line was about $17 but isn't strictly necessary.

Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Why?

It's official. I'm crazy! Crazy determined, that is. I considered not blogging about this because it is kind of strange, but if the purpose is to raise awareness then I figured that I should let people know what I'm doing:


I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers (large 1-layer pieces of fabric) and hand-washing them, in an effort to raise awareness that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  According to Huggies, 1 in 3 families with kids in diapers is regularly choosing between disposable diapers and other basic needs like food. Not having access to washer/dryer doesn't necessarily rule out cloth diapers as a solution for families.


The reason I chose to participate is because I met some moms here in the Tri-Cities who could benefit from using cloth diapers and want to use them, but don't have regular access to washers and dryers because they live in apartments. Flat diapers are easiest to get clean without a washing machine because they are only 1 layer thick. I figured I shouldn't really be recommending or troubleshooting something I haven't tried myself...so I'm going to try it.
   
I'm not afraid of flats, I've used them before (for example, on our trip to Italy), and I have a perfectly functional clothesline and indoor drying rack, but I'm guessing I'll miss my washer. I'm planning to wash the diapers in a bucket and agitate with a plunger. It is possible to make a "camp washer" out of a bucket so I'm going to do something similar, but without all the drilling.

Wish me luck!

Dry Erase Activity Book

I made an activity book for our upcoming road trip out of things I had around the house. It is a small photo book that I inserted pieces of paper into. The pages can be written on with dry-erase marker and then re-used. Here I am showing you the nice pages. Towards the end I got lazy...I think one of the pages has a Quizno's sub sandwich coupon with the word YUM written by it.

I also plan to start hoarding, making and gathering other fun things soon like happy meal toys, packaged snacks, velcro sticks, and books. I also looking for a clipboard for coloring pages. The iPod tends to make him carsick so that's not on the list!

What car activities have kept your family sane and civil during long trips?

Forward! Upward!

Tobias loves to make or imagine things that are "blastering off into space".
Malachi is definitely crawling, although it is tiring and frustrating for him! Plus, when he arrives at the toys his brother clears them away and replaces them with a boring baby toy. The end clip with the yellow toy is Tobias at a similar age (not quite 6 months...Christmas 2009) and not quite able to maneuver towards it. But crawling wasn't his thing...running was. Thankful to have two happy, smart kids who undoubtedly will both have their own unique ways of doing things!

M: 5 months

• army crawls
• gets up on all 4s and rocks around
• stands by furniture
• drools, spits and babbles
• thinks it's funny when Tobias drools or spits (stop encouraging him, Malachi!)
• can sit by himself for awhile
• is very hard to hold onto during church while we sing
• has a brand new cousin born 5 months and 5 days after he was
• falls asleep easily in the car but wakes up as soon as we arrive anywhere
• still has 1 tooth, but that 2nd one seems like it could come through anytime
• just as sweet as ever

Once a Month Cooking (Month 2)

Last month 4 women and 9 of their sons convened on Rachel's house to cook the February 2012 menu from Onceamonthmom.com. It was a fun but intense 3+ days of cooking (the first day was a long day and then the other days were partial days of cooking). We learned a lot and got to try lots of new foods (some good and some....interesting?), and decided to give it a second go.

So this week we did the March menu. We substituted one recipe and changed a few details (for example, making regular lasagna instead of lasagna rolls to keep things simple). Instead of everyone buying so many different ingredients, we each took a section of the list. For example, I bought all the dairy products to make the meals for 4 families. Some of the things we had access to for free, such as chickpeas and applesauce. The night before, we each had a few tasks to do such as soaking and cooking beans, making dough, etc. That way we saved money by not buying the canned beans and biscuits.

We haven't crunched the numbers yet (I'll update when we do) but we think we spent about $120-130 per family to produce the 15 recipes. Perhaps a little more if you include things like freezer bags and containers. Each recipe was supposed to produce 2 meals worth per family, but some of the recipes seemed to produce a lot more than that. I think I have 4 containers of quesadilla filling, and 3 of the zucchini pesto. Everyone took home 2 big broccoli stromboli rolls and 1 little one. The lasagna recipe and the cinnamon rolls had some rabbit-like qualities to them (in quantity, not flavor)....I think I put together the equivalent of eight 9x13 pans of lasagna (some of the pans were smaller so it was actually more than 8 pans). Jamie spent most of Thursday rolling out cinnamon rolls.

(photos by Sheila)

15 recipes x 2 meals worth of each recipe x 4 families = 120 meals

120 meals x 5 people per family = at least 600 servings of food, more if you count leftovers


Some of the recipes are basically a meal in themselves, and some would need buns or a vegetable or various condiments to go with them. We had some extra bags of some of the veggies though that we split up among us, so some of those are already paid for too. I think this was an economical way to try new recipes!

Next month (or at least sometime) our goal is to plan our own menu. We can make some adjustments to have it run more smoothly with so much quantity and limited freezer space, as well as using some of our personal favorite recipes or hits from this month or last month's menu.

Besides the convenience of having all this healthy food in the freezer, it was a fun time getting to talk with others while we were cooking! The kids played (and built things, and bothered the chickens, etc.) in the fenced backyard and didn't get into too much trouble.

If you're thinking of trying this with friends, look at onceamonthmom.com. They now have some 5 and 10 day mini menus, so you could start small and then expand, instead of starting big and then trying to simplify like we did!

Physical Education: Wrestling Class

In a scene reminiscent of the classic "Tobias introduces his brother" (except now Malachi can laugh and even fight back), Tobias scoops Malachi into his lap and chats with him.

In case some of the audio is unclear, here's a partial transcript:

H: Hey, gentle.

T: He is not saying stop, and he has one tooth, and he's a baby!

I'm gonna hold him for awhile

Hey, say hi to him! Hiiii! Hiiii! He likes me!

N: He sure does.

T: Yeah, do you like me?

N: I think he likes to pull your hair too.

T: Do you like that baby Malachi? Do you like that baby Malachi? Do you?

This is my friend baby Malachi!

N: It's your brother, Tobes.

T: Yeah, it is my brother...tickle him!

Theological Education

So much to learn! Tobias is soaking up Catechism questions and asking "what letter does that start with" dozens of times per day. Malachi is scootching, sliding, and drifting away from where I set him on the floor. Nate is business-ing and programming and I'm sure he's learning things that I do not even understand. Hannah is sewing and making patterns (hat tutorial coming soon when I work out the last quirks), planning for mega-freezer-cooking day next week, and scheming ways to keep the quail out of the garden. It might be a stretch to say the chickens are learning anything new, but they are enjoying the moveable coop, they get fresh grass every day or two.

4 month old letter

To: My 3-month-old friends

From: Malachi

Dear friends,

Soon you will be hitting the milestone of 4 months old. That is 1/3 of a year. "Time flies", my mom and dad say. I'm not sure what that means. Let me pass on a few words of wisdom and advice to you, though, as you approach this important time of your life.

First, please note that once your arms and hands start working properly, it opens up whole new fields of exploration. I particularly recommend putting everything in your mouth. Clothing, plates, noses, whatever you can get those hands on. Bonus points if it's frozen and feels good on your teeth or gums. You will find that some objects are forbidden, such as silverware, glasses and hair. I have yet to figure out what all these forbidden items have in common...they seem to all look like toys to me.

I am on my way to developing a new mode of transportation in order to obtain things to get into my mouth. I haven't worked out all the details yet but I'll let you in on what I've discovered so far: first, roll onto your tummy and lift your butt into the air. When you get tired of holding it up, the potential energy will propel you either forwards or backwards. This may place you closer to the desired object. If not, repeat until you are successful or someone takes pity on you and gives you the object.

The entertainment around my house is so-so. It's good to smile and be friendly and such, but I like to hold out with the actual laughter for the truly absurd and hilarious. 'Cause then they do it again and again. And get out the video cameras.

I must stress the importance of working out those core abdominal muscles (because we all know that crawling is not our ultimate goal...we are baby bipeds). Crunches, planks, side crunches, and leg lifting are good options. Sure it may disrupt your sleep if you're trying to do these things while swaddled, but that can be dealt with! And if you can find a nice cozy Aunt to nap on during the day, you'll be caught up on sleep in no time anyway. I seem to have misplaced mine though :(

Well, my mom is telling me to quit drooling on the keyboard so I better go now.

Your friend,

Malachi

Soundtrack: ABCs + Tron

Tobias serenades the Sunday park-goers with an abbreviated version of the ABCs (he does know them all, not sure why he left some out), and Malachi attempts to roll the other way (maybe if I'm lucky I'll catch that on video when it happens).

Roll, Baby, Roll

Cute vs. Cute

I recruited Tobias's help to make Malachi smile. Turned into kind of a friendly attack...

Valentine's Day Peanut Butter Heart Cookies

I saw some cute cookies on Pinterest, but I was either too cheap or didn't plan ahead enough to buy heart-shaped chocolates.

So I used Aunt Janet's peanut butter cookie recipe and added 3 chocolate chips to the top of each. After they baked, I used a toothpick to push the melted chocolate into a heart shape.

Lest you think it was a complete Martha Stewart experience, I did drop some.

I also let Tobias help. He wanted to make owl cookies (2 chocolate chips for eyes) instead of hearts. Then some of the owls ended up with more than 2 eyes, somehow. Then the eyes got poked with a toothpick. I am assuming they will all taste good though.

A Well-Rounded Education

Syllabus:

• Tobias: Construction skills, shapes, numbers, taking turns, apologizing (Tobias apologizes to "baby Mow-ki" for scaring him with the noisy hammer).
• Malachi: how to smile without falling over

Spring Smiles

I employed a film-making technique known as the "flashback" in this movie...the first clip is of Tobias at a little over 2 months old, followed by Malachi at about the same age (now).

Then some toddler vehicle negotiation by Tobias and Jayna.

M: 2 months

• Quick to smile (especially in the morning, but I still haven't gotten very many good smile pictures)
• 12 lbs. 8 oz.
• Tries to be tough when attacked by Tobias but usually gives a big pout
• 25 inches long
• sucks his two middle fingers when he's sleepy
• growing out of clothes and diapers left and right
• thankfully doesn't burp and spit quite as much as he used to
• sits up with help and can hold his head up well
• longest stretch of sleep: 7 hrs.

Bedtime Routine

Most evenings in our house involve a little dancing before bed. It helps everyone get the wiggles out.

Zip Zip!

Tobias reading a Mercer Mayer book with Holly...

Tobias having fun at a friend's birthday party...

Malachi not giving the camera any smiles (we'll keep trying)...

Hammer & Thread

I'm guessing most of your Christmas 2011 shopping is done by now. But if you're looking ahead to Christmas 2012, birthdays coming up, or if you got money at Christmas that you "need" to spend on something nice, check out Hammer & Thread, my parents' new store on Etsy.

They have a variety of unique items for sale, including a Dutch shuffleboard set (Sjoelbak). Shuffleboard is a noisy, fun game that is good for all ages!

We were given one of the growth chart rulers for Christmas for our family and we plan on taking a picture of our kids on their birthdays by the ruler. Here is our 3 ft. tall 2 and a half year old!

We also own a Corian cutting board that we've used for years. It is still in great shape and is one of my favorite to use because it is large, nice-looking, and has a groove around the edge to catch juice.

Have fun looking around their shop! If you live in Northwest Iowa and would like to pick up an item instead of paying to have it shipped to you, they are more than happy to arrange that!