Long time no see

:) I'm happy to still be here though! Check out what I've been making for the past month or so on my other blog Lissa Lue Creations or on my Facebook page. The weather is cooling down so that means more hats! I have an order in for a hat and matching scarf too.

Any ways I thought I would post some paintings my kids have done. They are not recent at all. But I just found this one that my oldest son did when he was in first grade. It's an awesome piece of abstract art! I've seen a face, a nursing mother, and two people standing next to each other and hugging. I love that you can see different things in it! The next one is the one my middle son did last year when he was 4 yrs old. I think it's just as awesome! I see a forest in the fall.





There is something about a child's art that is so pure and innocent that makes me love it more than others. I walk into my living room and smile because I know my kids made the art that hangs on my walls. I love all kinds of children's art. But of course, like most, I like my kids the best.

The Only Drawback...

So I did 3 loads of laundry with the Soap Nuts. They were soft, and looked and smelled clean. The only thing I didn't like was that it didn't take the stains out of the kids cloths. I'll have to look into that some more, but I may have to get something else to add to it to make that work. :(
In the mean time... Does any one have any tips for that?

Soap Nuts

I was surprised to see it for sale at my local Farmers Market this Saturday! I've seen lots of people talk about using it online. The only reason I hadn't tried it was because I didn't want to pay for shipping. So of course I bought it. I got a little sample size to try out. For just a dollar you can't go wrong. LOL Any ways, I read that it works best with hot water to release the sudzy stuff in it. But I wash my cloths in cold water. So I decided to make it into a liquid. I boiled the 7 little nuts that were in the package in 4 cups of water. It was reduced to 1 1/3 cups. So I thought I would try it out as a cleaner too. I put some in a spray bottle and cleaned the bathroom with it tonight. I must say that I like using it! I heard that it could smell kind of bad, and I heard that it didn't have a sent. I found that with mine there is a sent to it. But I don't think it was a bad smell. IMO it's a lot better than bleach or Pinesol for sure! I might be the only one, but I kind of like the smell of it. It cleaned the mirror great too! No streaks at all. I like to use the Gerber flat diapers to clean glass though. I think that works way better than a paper towel or news paper. I'm excited to start my new journey of a chemical free, non toxic household. I'm going to do my first load of laundry with it next. :) I can't wait to see how that works out! It is supposed to leave your cloths softer than the free and clear stuff you buy from the stores. I've been using purex. But since I ran out and the store didn't have it when I went back I had to pick up what ever else was there. So I ended up with the store brand. It does not work near as well as the Purex as far as softness goes. :( The cleaning is fine. But my cloths do not feel as soft. Any ways... I am off to do some laundry now. Fun, fun... lol.

Car Seats

I totally stole this from a friend, who stole it from one of her friends, on Face Book. LOL But really it's so true. If we would all listen to manufactures more we would all be a little safer! State laws are just a minimum requirement after all.

"Rather than taking our cues from state requirements how about from the car seat makers? The safest, most confining seat available for the height/weight of your child is what you should go with. First thing to check is, is a seat available that rear faces my child? If yes buy it, is a seat available that harnesses my child? If yes, buy it. State laws change and state laws take a bit of time to change. Eventually they'll get there but your consequences for choosing a booster with seat belt for a child that could still be harnessed and rear facing don't come from the state you live in, they come from hospital bed or grave your child occupies after the accident."

Does It Really Cost Less To Use Cloth?

Not for me!

My cloth diaper stash is worth around $1,245. However some people are able to keep it cheaper using flats(which are the least expensive of all diapers). And PUL covers that either slip on, snap on or velcro on. Those people can get away with spending under $500 for the entire time they cloth diaper!

Here is my break down on the cost of diapers for me.



I used disposable diapers for my two oldest kids. I bought one package of diapers a week, price being about $8 each package. That was for Luvs. So that means I spent $416 a year on diapers I threw away every time I used them. My boys potty trained at 3 yrs old. One a little before and one a little after. But it still averages out to 3. :) So that would mean I spent $1248 on each kid just to throw them away and never use them again. :( That means I spent $2496 on my two older kids diapers. Keegan was a different story though. I was a little better off financially and Luvs no longer worked for us. So we used Pampers. I didn't start using cloth diapers until he was 6 months old. So I used the same amount only this time I bought them in boxes and went trough a big box in 3 weeks. Each box cost me $35. I'll just say I went through 9 boxes before I started cloth diapering full time. That makes it $315 in disposable diapers for him. So my total disposable diaper costs were $2811 for all three kids.





My cloth journey started off a little rough. I spent money on the crappiest diapers I have ever seen! Probably about $150 after all the shipping costs. I got the majority of it back though. I traded things with people to get diapers and I sold off other things to get more diapers. But the diapers I have right now are my favorites ones! And they have mostly come from out of pocket money's.



So I broke down what I have spent on cloth diapers so far.

First off: I threw away about $50 on all the diapers I got at first and didn't like. I spent more but made most of the money back.



I use BSRBs now. That's what I have found to be the trimmest and most absorbent of all the rest. Plus I have always gotten the best fit around his chunky little thighs. LOL I have all sorts of them too. I have some AIOs, Hybrids, UF, and TIANs. I just love them all. Any ways, I now own 25 of them. Plenty to last through potty training! I got some used off of Diaper Swapers. And I got some new strait from Joyces hyenacart store, Bagshot Row Bamboo. All of them are made out of bamboo material so they are nice and absorbent, as well as soooooo soft. Any ways the way I am adding it up on here is going to be more than I actually spent on them. First of all when I buy just one from her it ends up being about $24 after shipping. So I am going to just round up and say I spent $25 per diaper. $25 @ 25 diapers is $625 total for those diapers.



I bought flats to try out from Little Lions for 12.5 for the dozen. I'm just going to say I spent $25 after shipping and everything. (I got some preemie prefold seconds for using as doublers)



I have 4 flips @ $17 each plus one extra insert @ $5 = about $75 with tax and free shipping.



I bought 4 Thirsties Duo Wraps @ 13 each w/free shipping = lets say about $55 with tax.



And I have bought 100% wool yarn to crochet my own woolies which I have probably spent less than $100 but lets just say that. ;)



So that's: 625+25+75+55+100= $880

I have spent $880 on what is in my stash ATM. But let us not forget that I still have a lot of accessories and diapers that I have gotten in trades. I still have prefolds, Wet bags, pail liner, snappis, and BG AIOs. I got all of the BG AIOs free with there coupon from last month. And I got them all from places with free shipping! So in a quest to find out a round about cost of my cloth diaper supply I looked up the cost of everything and went to add it all up. My husband does NOT want to look at this figure!!! ROFL



BSRBs - $535

Other Fitteds - $80

BG AIOs - $100

Flips - $75

Thirsties Covers - $80

Prefolds (1 doz) - $55

LL Flats (1 doz) - $15

Woolies - $100

Inserts/Doublers - $30

Wet Bags (1 lrg, 1 small) - $35

Snappi - $20

Pins - $5

Snaps added to diapers - $115



Grand total of $1,245 worth of cloth diapers. Which is about what you pay for one child's full diapering days in disposables. I will remind you that at least 80% of all my diapers are one size. That means that if/when we decide to have another baby, all I need is some smaller woolies, and PUL covers! Of course I'm not saying that I would just not buy any more cloth diapers. *blushing* Especially if we were to have a girl!

Summer Time Is Coming Again!

It's a fun time of the year. But lets be more careful with our kids in the sun. Just in case you don't remember my blog about what happened to us last summer. Here's the link to that... Warning. There are still scars on my little guy. And the small one on my foot. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.


Let's have some fun!!!