Logan's Blanket

A couple of weeks ago Cayce and I started Logan's blanket (made from all his old receiving blankets). Well, I started, and Cayce pretty much did the rest. Well - it's finished! Here are a couple of pictures of Nola from the day we were cutting out the squares - she was a real Material Girl!






Here is the blue-er side:


Here is the green-er side:



And here are both sides:



Thanks Cayce for doing all the hard work - I'm sure Logan will love it for years to come!

reduce.REUSE.recycle

I been trying to reuse things lately, so as not to be so wasteful... and so I don't have to spend money on things I can "upcycle" - yeah that a new term that just means turn something you would throw out into something you can use. I've found a few good uses for things this week. We put away all of our holiday decorations the past few days.
I used old baby formula cans to store some holiday ornaments and a larger one to store my new snow globe I got this year (it didn't come in a box). I've already turned others into a piggy bank, a crayon holder, and a grease can for the kitchen...
I also took all the cards we received this year and cut them up into gift tags for next year. I actually got a lot of really cute tags to put on presents, and a whole baggie full. It may not be a lot, but it's a least $5 saved for the next couple of holidays. And they are WAY cuter than store bought ones.
And finally, I decided to make a large blanket out of Logan's little receiving blankets. He's way too big for them and we had so many. They were barely used and all still so soft... And he doesn't have a comforter for his bead, so voila! Cayce is being ever so gracious to loan me her sewing skills (okay, she's sewing the whole thing for me... but I don't have a machine and I'm NOT doing it by hand!). We took pictures of the textures/patterns and with Photoshop I designed a plan for the blanket:


Then Cayce started cutting out the squares. She brought them over and we cut the rest of the blankets up and layed out the two sides. It will be squares on both sides. I had two packs of 3 coordinating receiving blankets, so I kept them on separate sides so it will be reversible. One side is more blue, it has stars, stripes and camo. The other (shown below) has more green in it and is brighter with stripes and polka dots.


Cayce is currently sewing the squares together. Then we will quilt it somehow and then sew up the sides. I'm excited! It's a very good 'REUSE'. I will post more pictures as it gets completed.

Projects Update - August & September

Creating Human Life - FINISHED!
Well - Logan was born so this is over... and there are no plans to have any more so I think my baby making days are over. Good... and sad.

Starting Roses from Clippings - In Progress
I have roots but the clippings are still in water. I'm too scared to move them to pots with dirt. I'm afraid that the hard work (of waiting so long) will be ruined if they die.... Who know what I will do. I think I have to move them to dirt soon.

Growing Vegetables - FINISHED for this year
It's fall and I just don't care anymore... will try again next year.

365 Project - 97/365 - In Progress
(see the other blog for this one)

Selling My House - Quitting Soon
As soon as our agreement is up with our Realtor we will take the house off the market and start doing some major changes around here. We are learning to live in our small house with us and the kids, so we are just going to work it out until we can't anymore. We have plans for a play room in the basement and a new patio out back. I have plans for new flower beds and maybe a new garden.... We shall see.

Paying Off Debt - In Progress
We have obtained more debt thanks to a car problem ($700+) but we have a plan in the works... possibly going to refi our house... Still have to meet with someone to weigh the pros and cons financially - but I think it may get rid of our car payment and free up a lot of money...

Being 'Greener' - OnGoing
Nothing to report here - will get back into this more when life settles down some

Learning About my Camera - OnGoing
Not doing much on this front either... just barely taking pictures these days...

Buying a Bigger House - Project Abandoned
Enough said....

Projects Update - July

Finishing Nola's Baby Book
I have about 2 pages that aren't complete... and they most likely never will be. So I'm going to say FINISHED! on this one.

Crocheting a Blanket for Molly
I have about 4 rows to go and then some tails to tuck in... that's a Sooooo Almost Finished!

Creating Human Life
My due date is 15 days away! I better be Almost Finished! Will go on no longer than 27 days from now (c-section planned for 28th if no labor)

Starting Roses from Clippings
Ends look truly disgusting... and I think it's time to put the suckers in some dirt and see what they do.... no visible roots popping out but the tops are still alive and kicking in the window sill. So we will give this one an In Progress still.

Growing Vegetables
Well - my planter box has been very much neglected since I entered my 8th or 9th month of pregnancy...I have still collected some green beans and one pepper... but it's so hot out that I just don't go check on them all that much. I did pull out some plants to give the others a chance to grow larger... I planted the rejects in an abandoned pot along my driveway and have done even more than nothing to them... well, they look 100 times better than the ones in my planter box. I guess they are shaded more or something... Maybe next year I will have the luxury of an in ground garden or just not be pregnant in the heat of the summer! Either way, this one is still In Progress.

Selling My House
No news on this front - it's about to come to a close for a while when I have the baby but until we actually sell, it will be In Progress ... Unless we decide to bunk up the little ones, give up on the sale and just stay here longer to save hassle and money.... you never know!

Buying a Bigger House
Really - this one Hasn't Started Yet.

365 Project
I think I am on 46 out of 365... that's about 12% complete. So this one also gets an In Progress

Learning About my Camera
This has been labeled, In Progress, but seeing as that learning is an ongoing thing I think I need to relabel it as OnGoing.

Being 'Greener'
Also better known as OnGoing. We have been very conscious of saving on water and electricity and while my electric is on budget billing I can still tell we've used less... and our water bill was about $20 cheaper than last time... so that's progress. And I think I will join a wholesale club after that baby comes. If anything it will allow me to stock up and save on gas going to the store... and hopefully money. Still in the process of getting rid of all current cleaners before making my own.

Paying Off Debt
We are about 3 months into my 3 year plan... and so far so good. I'm keeping track of all the debt that's being paid off... and it's definitely decreasing! And we are about ready to get rid of another credit card! We will have only one left for emergencies (which always come up). And pretty soon we will start aggressively paying off Kirk's car early. So this one deserves a very proud In Progress!

The Dangerous Plastic Bag

I was sent this today via email and thought I would share.
Please watch it.

Plastic Bag Slideshow

And pass it on....

My Projects - June Update

In my sidebar I have listed my current projects.... Here is an update on how they are all going:


Selling My House - We've had several people come by and look. An open house on Sunday the 29th. So far, no bids. Keeping the house in 'showing' condition has been hard but we've gotten so many things done that only have to be done once... now it's just maintaining... hopefully it will get easier as we go, and hopefully we will sell this house before Logan is born. (fingers crossed)

Buying a Bigger House - We haven't even started looking yet (except online for fun). We need to wait and see how much we might get for this house first before we know what our actual price range will be for the next house. But I am going to assume that buying will be easier than selling...

Creating Human Life - 8 months pregnant... wow only 2 months to go! Logan is a completely different pregnancy than Nola was. I'm carrying him so much more forward than I did with her. It hurts. My stomach is constantly poking out in uncomfortable positions. But I haven't gain nearly the weight I did the first time and haven't had the swelling so far either. I really just don't think I'm going to go all the way with him... I'm thinking early August instead of late August.... we shall see!

Crocheting a Blanket for Molly - (Molly is my soon to be, in September, niece) I'm about half way finished. I think the blanket looks so pretty! I can't wait to be finished, even though it's fun to do. And for those of you who know your crocheting, I'm tucking all my tails as I go so when I'm finished I will really be finished... and will all the darn stripes, that's a lot of tails! Here is a 'so far' picture:





Finishing Nola's Baby Book - This is a project I have been procrastinating on for about a year! But I REALLY want to finish before the new baby comes so I can start to procrastinate on his baby book! I have been pretty good about keeping up with her photo album (about 4 pics a month, all in sepia tones, all in one album). I also have an album waiting for Logan too....

Learning About my Camera - Well, this will be a long term thing really. But I'm mainly talking about learning what all the photography term mean and how to use them. Perfecting my skills will take a lifetime, as all learning processes should. Right now, thanks to Lucy, I am going through a 12 week, online photography lesson. I have read a few so far and already learned a lot. I will be posting my lesson projects in my Photo Blog.

365 Photo Project - This is also being posted in my Photo Blog, but I am about 2 weeks into a 52 week project. This is helping me a ton in that it makes me get out my camera and try and be creative every day or so. It's a great hobby that (in my wildest dreams) could someday turn into a money making hobby.

Starting Roses from Clippings - I'm about 2 months into this project. I always thought I didn't like roses, for my own gardens, but now that I have a rose bush of my very own and see it get bigger each year... I love it! And now that we're moving, I really want to take a piece of it with me. I guess it's sentimental... I did lots of research online in trying to decide how to grow a clone of my wonderful rose bush from clippings. After a few days of reading so many different processes, I came across an article that basically said, Cut a clipping with a rose on it. Stick it in a vase of water and enjoy the rose until it dies. Then clip off the rose bud and keep the leaves and stem in the vase until it roots. It may take months, but this is what our Grandmothers and their Mothers did. It's just the easiest way. So that's what I'm doing. Here is a picture of how slimy and strange the cut ends look:

Being 'Greener' - This one is baby step by baby step. I have started using mostly Green Works cleaning products and plan on making my own once I have used up all the misc cleaners under my sink. I have started buying certain things only Organic. I have started a few vegetable plants in the backyard. I switched our bread and pasta to whole grain, mostly. I've switched all our light bulbs to the curly kind and have been super diligent about turning them off when not in use. We installed ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and the dining room to cut down on cooling costs and we waited and suffered through the early heat so as not to turn on the air too early. (I think this will be easier next year when I'm not pregnant). Next I would like to really get into recycling and growing more vegetables. Possibly collecting rain water for the yards/gardens. And composting. Also, sealing up the windows in winter to save on heating costs. It's slow, but steady, and it feels good to do it all, so no harm done!

Growing Vegetables - mentioned above obviously.... I have about 6 green bean plants, 2 pepper plants and around 10 tomato plants all grown from seed. Oh wait, the peppers I bought. But they are all doing good. We had two harvests of beans (about 8 beans each time) and had them all as a side dish at my sisters house, combined with her beans from the plants I gave her. I have 2 peppers growing, one of each kind, jalapeno and red bell. The tomatoes are still small... nothing yet! It's fun that Nola helps me water them and wonderful that she can participate in how the process works of seeds in our window to food on our plates! That's a great lesson for a kid!




Paying Off Debt - Well, I have a 3 year plan to get out of all of our non-mortgage debt. That includes credit cards, cars and student loans. I spent about 3 hours (an entire nap time) working out the details in an Excel spreadsheet. This will bring us to $0 a month in non-mortgage debt in 3 (THREE) years! If we can do it, we're awesome! This is assuming we will incur no more debt along they way, but since we have built our savings up, we just have to only purchase what we can afford. There will surely be emergencies down the road that will change the plan... and who knows how much the birth of this baby will throw off my plan... but it's a start.


If you're wondering what exactly I did... here is step one: Write down all your bills that are monthly loan payments. Then find your contact information for each one and keep it in the same place. Go through each one and find out and write down all of the following information: Company Name, Phone Number, Website Address, Your Account #, User Name and Password (for online or phone), Current Balance, Interest Rate, Monthly Payment (if fixed). This way you can find out your total debt at any time! It's the best reminder of why to stay on track with your plan.