Bananas, bananas, bananas!!!!!!!!!

Today I came home with a wonderful find- 30lbs of bananas!!!! Yep 30lbs, which come to find out is only half a box :) and I only paid $1.50 for all of them. Quickly do the math and that is only half a penny per pound. I am super excited and hard at work already. These are blemished, bruised and pretty ripe bananas, but those are perfect for my intentions.
I have started with my first batch of banana chips, I sure wish I had a few more trays for my dehydrator. The chips make a wonderful snack for little ones- we like our banana chips a bit chewy so even the little guy can enjoy them. I do not treat my bananas prior to dehydrating so the process to get them on the tray is fairly quick and Zander is a great helper.
Secondly, I took a whole bunch of bananas, peeled them and laid them out on a baking sheet. Those I will freeze and use for smoothies.
Next I will make some banana bread but need to get some eggs in the morning :)
I have also thought on making a double batch of banana waffles and freezing the extras for a quick breakfast when we are on the run.

So, I am very excited to have found this great deal on bananas and will continue to buy them periodically, but I wanted to ask you all for help. What are some of your favorite recipes that call for bananas??? Please share so that I can use up my whole batch and continue to buy these gems at such a great price.

Cloth everywhere!!!!

Since we made the switch to cloth diapers we have encountered an interesting annoyance -wipes. What to do with the disposable wipes now that there is no diaper to wrap them in?? Well, the answer is cloth wipes:)
We had already been using cloth wipes intermittently, but not on a regular basis before switching to cloth diapers.
Everything was readily available -as we already had a massive amount of washcloths I purposed some of them to wipes. I keep them in a wiper warmer and pre-moisten them in my homemade solution.

I take 2 cups of warm water, add 1 drop tea tree oil, 1 drop lavender or lemongrass oil and about 2 tsp olive  or jojoba oil. Whisk it all up, wet the wipes and place them in the warmer.

In addition I have a spray bottle with a solution of water and Dr. Bronner's baby soap for extra messy jobs.
The second solution I also carry in a small spray bottle in the diaper bag along with dry washcloths.
When I remember I take some of the pre-moistened washcloths in a little wipe bag.
The soiled washcloths go into the pail -or special dirty diaper bag while on the road, and are then washed along with the cloth diapers.
We are excited to no longer purchase disposable wipes and feel at ease knowing exactly what touches our children's skin:)

Washing cloth diapers

Here is a quick look at how I wash my cloth diapers.

We keep our dirty diapers in a dry pail -a medium sized garbage can lined with a washable pail liner that is waterproof. The wet diapers just go straight in there, the soiled ones get rinsed off and then get placed in the pail.
Every evening -or every other:) I just take the liner with the diapers and place it in the washer. I do take the inserts out of the pocket diapers, but that is my personal preference. I have a frontloading HE washer and since they are so water efficient I place a wet towel in the wash along with the diapers to trick the machine into using a bit more water :)
I decided to use Country Save detergent for my diapers as I am not sure how my homemade detergent might affect the diapers' performance.
First, I run a quick cold wash cycle with 1/2 tbs of detergent or baking soda and no or low spin (about 30 min) then I run a full wash cycle on hot with 1 tbs of detergent and an extra rinse and full spin. Due to the high spin my diapers come out almost dry :)
I always hang dry my covers, line dry in the sun (if there is any) or dry the inserts in the dryer. That's it :) Once everything is dry I stuff my diapers and place them in the diaper hamper -ready for the next change!

Cloth Diapering

We have done it-we switched 100% to cloth diapers!!!!
The question that comes to mind is most likely why- we are on kiddo # 2 and he is 16 months old, so why now???
Well, the answer really has nothing to do with being more green, saving money or reducing trash, but rather with the convenience of cloth diapering. Huh-convenient?? Yes, I find cloth diapering very convenient, along with the fact that I do feel good about putting something less harsh agains my little ones tush.
We have been using cloth for about 3 weeks now; 2 of those were more part time while we were using up disposables that we could not return, as well as while we were building our stash of fluff.
I gathered our fluff (cloth diapers and supplies) from various sources-Simple Cloth-a local shop here in town, Kelly's Closet.com -a wonderful online retailer of all things cloth and Ebay.
I even bought a diaper sprayer for easy clean up. I wash my diapers every night most of the time, but have enough to wash every other night, and I do not find it to be a hassle at all.
I felt the satisfaction of our decision this past weekend while passing up a $6 off coupon for diapers, realizing I never have to buy diapers again or pay attention to "how many are left, is it time to buy more?"  :)  We will never run the risk of running out again.

So here are the diapers we are currently using with a couple of comments on which we like for what and how they perform:
Flip Hybrid diaper system-we have two of the outer shells, 6 stay dry inserts and we just recently bought some disposable inserts to try out. This system works great for being out and about as it is less bulky than some of the other types. The inserts hold a lot without feeling wet and this diaper adjusts as baby grows.
FuzziBunz perfect size- this is a pocket diaper and we started with a medium sized one, loved it so much and bought a whole bunch more. This diaper has a fleece liner sewn onto the shell with a pocket for the insert. We love using this diaper at night with an additional hemp insert- so that our pee-master stays dry until morning :)
SunBaby- I bought this one diaper on Ebay for about $4-cheap I know. This is a one-size diaper with snaps, though it does run a bit small. The cover is not bad, yet the insert that came with it feels a bit flimsy compared to the FuzziBunz or Flip inserts. We typically only use this diaper at home during the day. Not horrible, but not a diaper I will buy more of.
We just received a bumGenius 4.0 and Kawaii pocket diaper to try- these two have hook-loop closures, which I wanted to try as all others have snaps. We have not tried them yet, but will as soon as they are washed and prepped. I do like how the bumGenius insert has snaps to adjust it for the different sizes.

So far all diapers have fit Ethan great and we have not had a single leaking issue other than due to user error :)  Ethan loves the diapers and they are super cute on top of it all. Zander loves picking out the color for the next diaper.
We are glad we made the switch and do wonder why we did not give this a try sooner.
I will put together a You Tube video to show some of the diapers in more detail-so watch out for that :)

Such profound truth...

Zander and I were having a conversation the other day about being scared to try new things and here is what my little guy told me in his 4 year old wisdom :"Mom, I should not have to be scared to do things right, since God is always with me!" All I could do was give him a smile along with a big hug and a THOSE words :" you are absolutely right bug". Thank you Lord for giving my son a tender heart toward your spirit.

4 years ago....

I remember that day as if it was yesterday, and I have to give in to the cliche that you just never forget the day your child was born. It was the first day of the great unknown, nothing can prepare you for what lies ahead; birthing classes, parenting classes-none of it measures up. The moment they laid my son into my arms was the scariest yet most exciting day of my life. Now fast forward 4 years and we have reached the moment that Zander has turned 4 years old:) To be honest I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around that sometimes. 4 years old is still so little yet the accomplishments are astronomical, all that he has learned already, and all the things he continues to literally absorb into his being. I am grateful as I watch in amazement, grateful to have been given this little human person to raise and teach, to impart wisdom and traditions on, to giggle and cry with, to hug and to kiss. He is my big-little guy. This year he had asked for a Batman party and I was happy to oblige; invitations and banners were created, party colors chosen, special confetti cut for the table and just the right cake created (vanilla!!!-total surprise, as he is my little chocolate man:)

Zander was one excited 4 year old on the morning off, seeing his gifts on the table and it was a delight to watch as he ripped open each gift and fell in love with all that he received. He eagerly awaited his guests to arrive and played his little heart out when they were all here. It was a great party and Zander loved every moment of it. A big shout out to all who participated to make this day special for my special guy. Happy Birthday Zander 

Switching gears

I wanted to update this blog with some news relevant to this blog-wow that is a bit redundant:)
I have decided to switch gears a bit as to what I want this blog to be and to become. First change I have changed the name of this blog to "Our life homemade", please update this if you are following me. New spot on the web is http://www.ourlifehomemade.blogspot.com/  I have found that I am passionate about being a stay at home mom as well as all things basic and homemade. Therefor I decided to change the title of this blog along with the postings you can all expect in the future. Yes it will of course continue to be about my family, but in addition I will be blogging about things like recipes, products, finds, crafts; I will be posting tutorials about some of the things I do as well. In addition, I have created a You Tube channel and will be uploading videos in the near future- as soon as I figure all that editing stuff out :) My You Tube name is "cmatty25". 
I hope you will come and enjoy this blog and please feel free to leave questions, comments or even request about something you might want to hear or see about.


Love & Blessings

Tulips tulips tulips tulips

I could not leave out a quick post about the weekend before last. Eric and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and I finally got to go to the tulip festical up in Mount Vernon. It only took us 7 years to finally make it up there-jeesh:)

We had the whole weekend to bask in the sun, take in the georgous scenery of farming land and enjoy our family away from home. We had a wonderful time and we can document it well considering we took 243 pictures at the tulip fields alone ( a bit obsessinve don't you think?), but the wonderful invetion that is digital photography, especially since not all of them turned out well.

Useless to say, we will be making this into an annual tradition for our family as it is just a very simple reminder of God's beauty and a great time to make wonderful memories.
And did I mention, we got to see triplet lambs and have a chicken lay an egg right in front of us-way cool ;)

Love & blessings

Frogs, buses and balloons

Oh so much to write about but so little time. Being a mom of two busy little guys has taught me how precious time really is. But after a very lengthy absence here I am again. First of all to report that taxes are all filed and done-phew what a relief :)
We have been staying busy as a family as well. Spring has arrived and being outside is one of Zanders top priorities along with his newest favorite phrase: "what are we doing today???" One question filled with so much excitement, wonder, anticipation and yes sometimes dreadfulness; the last one being on my part when I do not have a planned out gameplan. But I do enjoy the challenge and this past Saturday we took it head on. The farmers market in Olympia has finally openend its doors once again and Zander knows it. Rain or shine that was our destination, of course it rained, we live in WA after all :)
We had a wonderful memory making sort of day. Browsing through the market with lots of stops by the stage, can't go to the market without listening to the band, breaking for a yummy treat and of course a bus ride to round it out. After the initial and planned part of our excursion we wondered to the pond by the tasting room and Zander tried his hand at frog catching for the first time. We found a little green guy and our little guy even held him, aaah the joys of mothering boys are starting to become evident-frogs, bugs....
In the end, we got a doggie shaped balloon and needed to call it a day-the rain won in the end.
Just to mention our little Ethan was along for the whole ride, but ended up sleeping through a lot of the excitement. I wonder how cosy one of those strollers is-must be quite the ride:)

We love being outside out and about again and look forward to many more exciting excursions.

Love & Blessings

Baby!!!!

Wow it has been a very long time since I have updated this blog- oops- but I am here now with many news to report. First the most important news of all, our nephew Makai Andrew Marinig was born on March 8th 2010. He is one healthy long guy- measuring 21.25 inches. We are excited for Mark and Sarah and can't wait to see him this upcoming weekend.

In the meantime our family has completed a 14 day Daniel fast from 02.22.10 through 03.07.10. We were only eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes and our beverage of choice was water with lemon. Zander participated as well by not eating any sort of sugary treats. It was a great time of reflection for our family and a chance to slow down, be aware and draw closer to the Lord.
I am not saying by any means that this was easy, but surprisingly it was not hard either. Besides the occasional grumpyness, we did not have any immense cravings for sugar or our biggest vice, coffee! Of course we stayed away from places that would have enticed us with their sweet smelling aromas but it was a great experience.

Since my last post in February I also completed my first sewing project- a pillow case for Zander. He picked the fabric all by himself, can you guess what it is?? Of course, fabric with the "Cars" characters. I know it is a very easy project, but you have to start somewhere on your journey. 

Additional exciting news for the last month are: Ethan has had two teeth come in, his bottom chompers, and it was a much more difficult journey for him than it ever was for Zander. I absolutely adore how different my two little guys are. Ethan has become quite the conversationalist and is seriously on the move, he is even extremely close to perfecting his crawling move. Something else has occurred to me this past week; I had been wondering how I balanced the feedings, naps and playtimes with Zander, as I am all over the place and struggling to keep up with structure and then it occurred to me- I never had to find this balance before. When Zander was 7 months old, I had to return to work fulltime and he was at daycare. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I have been given to be home and watch my boys grow and to learn how to balance it all out. It is something I would not want to trade for any other career on the planet. Thank you Lord for the opportunity and in May of this year I will get to celebrate being a stay at home mom for 2 years. Wow!!!

So for today I am leaving this update encouraged to post a bit more than just once per month and determined to keep up just a bit better.

Love & Blessings

Update

So here I am again after a long absence from this wonderful blog with an update on some of those "Resolutions" I have set for 2010.
Let's start from the top, expecting the supernatural from the Lord- oh yes we are, every day and even more so now that we have put our "house for sale" sign out, and wouldn't you know it selling our house is on the list as well :)
Trying to grow my hair out is in full swing, although one very slow swing I must say. The next three on the list, sewing, new recipes and the handwritten notes, need some serious attention as I have not made much progress at all, I did try some very tasty desert recipes for the first time, but that is not what my I had in mind for my resolution.
We are very creative with family activities, trying to use what we have, and it has been very fun! I am making a point to be healthy by excercising, trying to eat well and even kicking the coffee habit, I must admit I did drink some coffee yesterday, but who is perfect???
The business dream is alive and well and steps towards it are being made very slowly, but all with time.
I already mentioned that the house is for sale and I am working on getting fit but no news yet on the expansion of the family I guess you will just have to stay tuned in ;)
I have been making time to read quite a bit more and I am really enjoying the opportunities that I am able to find, such a blessing. Unfortunately I have not been doing that great in being a month agead on my special occasions, something I am really going for this month- wish me luck!
So lastly an update on keeping on writing this wonderful blog-well I have not done fantastic but you know I have not done completely horrible either, room for improvement for sure just nothing to beat myself up about.
So there, my update on those resolutions, which are only about 1 month old, and it could look worse so I am very excited.
We are well and expecting our encounter!!!

Love & Blessings

God is good

Last night I was invited to a prophetic card party. I had no idea what to expect, only for the Lord to show up and he did in a big way. We were a group of about 16 women and each one of us was given some words for 2010. How amazing to sit and ponder the fact that God knows us, knows our thoughts, our stuggles and dreams. We were all encouraged and blessed beyond comprehension by a faithful father. Thank you Jesus for showing up and letting me know that I am your beloved daughter.
Zander had his second night of Awana Cubbies, and our little man memorized 4 verses to recite, wow we were blown away by his capacity to treasure scripture in his heart. He received his stickers from his teacher and was one happy camper by the end of the night.
Praise the Lord!!!!

Receiving Gifts

Gifts are such wonderful things but my heart was touched this last week after I watched Zander receive a gift from his daddy. Eric returned from working in Idaho and he bought Zander a "Peterbuilt" truck. Oh how Zander has been wanting this particular truck, and on Wednesday morning there it was. His joy and excitement were so pure and so wonderful to watch and then I wondered is that how I receive gifts?? I realized that once an adult alot of the magic that surrounds gifts is lost, after all we know how much it costs, or we picked it out ourselves, or we ask for "useful" gifts, those needed items. But what about those gifts that we receive from our heavenly father, how do we receive those?? With a sense of responsibility, or that air of questioning is this really from you Lord? Or do we sit and ask "did I truly deserve this?" ?
Our God extends gifts to us in much the same manner, if not so much more, as Eric did to Zander, out of pure love and excitement to see his kids face. God wants this from me, that pure untainted joy of receiving a gift from my God. Hold our your arms and open them wide and with a heart of a little child receive all the gifts that God is giving you.

Love & Blessings

Random thoughts on staying home

Not much has been happening this week. Ethan has had his 6 month baby well appointment and while waiting on the doctor it dawned on me how little we have been sitting in that room over the past 2 years. I remember the time when visiting the doctor seemed to be a monthly (if not more often) occurence- aaah the effects of daycare. So as I sat there waiting watching Zander and Ethan an incredible feeling of graditute overwhelmed me for having the opportunity to be a stay at home mom. Yes, I say opportunity because stripped down to the core that is what it is, especially in todays economy and world. The opportunity to watch my boys grow and be there for the 1 million questions that present over the course of one day and for those tender moments when I least expect them; a quick yet gentle hug in the middle of fighting bad guys with the pop gun, an adorable "I love you mom" in the middle of a serious converstaion and the amazed expressions on Ethan's face as he learns the world around him. Oh what an opportunity! Of course reality hits every day, when I continue the epic battle of laundry and dishes on so forth (lets face it it will never end) but those are the moments to stop and think about the gift that I have and all of a sudden even those chores just don't seem so bad.
So a quick shout out of encouragement to stay at home moms, we can direct our day with our attidute so let's choose to accept this "job offer" with the highest pride and honor, because it is the best "job" in the world and we were chosen to do it.

Love & Blessings

A week of firsts

Oh what a week it has been. Our precious Ethan turned 6 months old this past Thursday and with this milestone came a whole bunch of firsts. First bites of solid (well soupy) food, first time at the big pool at the YMCA and first time at the church nursery. Phew!!!
Well the food has been a big hit, Ethan loves his pureed banana and I think he would just keep eating if it would not run out :) My little growing boy. We will be trying some carrots this next week and then off to some sweet potatoes.
The pool was a big success as well, he even kicked his feet a bit and to make it all better Zander had a pretty good time as well, at least no screaming this time.
To top off this week of firsts, we tried out the nursery at church for the first time. He of course did great while I sat in the sanctuary quite anxious for service to be over. Soon enough I got to hold my little guy snuggly in my arms. All well :)
Time is flying by but we are excitedly awaiting all the other firsts that are coming our way.

Love & Blessings

Zumba

I am in love-with a fitness program. Yes I have joined the thousands of  fitness fanatics on their newest craze- Zumba!
This is such a great and most importantly fun excercise. The first time I went I had a good time but by the end of the 1 hour session I truly questioned if I had really gotten a good workout. The next morning answered that question for me with almost an entire body of wonderfully sore muscles. Of course I decided to go again and it was once again a fun effortless workout with very obvious results. Now I am hooked and can't wait to go again.
I am of course super excited about this as this is right in line with one of my resolutions for this year- getting healthy and in shape. Great!!!!
So lets Zumba everyone!!

Love & Blessings

Resolutions is it????

2010 is here!!! And I have a lot of dreams and hopes for this upcoming year. I have decided to pick at least 12 resolutions- I prefer to call them dreams, hopes, goals and so on- and so far I have ended up with I believe 14. They are listed to the right - I am sure you have noticed :) and if more come to mind I will gladly add them to my list. I think I will keep my nifty list, yes I love lists, up for the year so that I may constantly be inspired by the ideas that 01/01/2010 has brought to mind. So far at least one for every month of this glorious year. I love the excitemet and possibility that each new year holds and I stand waiting like an empty vessel ready to take it ALL in.
I have a feeling this year the Matthews family will be productive, silly, excited, goofy, exhausted, stretched, humbled, crazy and abundantly happy in all the Lord has for us. I sit here with an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude for my family and I am ready for another year of this crazy journey that we are on.

Love & Blessings