Evie Xmas Pictures

Selfie b4 the photo shoot fun

In my line of work I meet so many people and a few of those have made a special connection with me. I have been to football games, Summer garden parties and other events because of people I meet. I have met a great guy, who is a hobby photographer. In the past few months of visits and talks I asked him to come try to take some pictures of Evie. He is great with kids and he takes pictures because he loves doing it.

Evie is one hyper 2 yr old and doesn't manage to sit still very long.  I didn't really expect to be in the pictures, but I think I look pretty good for being one tired mommy.

I think it's so weird how people come into your life. This guy, by supporting my small is business has saved my butt back in October, financially. I am so grateful for his business, but not just for the money, it's for the connection. I love doing what I do because it makes people feel so relaxed and better, if they are in pain or whatever. Of course I never share anything person about my people but he wouldn't care if I shared this amazing story of how he became my client.

Back in October things where very up in the air. Ever since Addsheet screwed me over (future blog perhaps), I survived in September by running a $29 special. But then I needed to keep running some sort of special to make ends meet. October slowly dried up and I was excited for Halloween but at the same time wanted the month to last as long as possible so I'd make rent. The this great guy landed in my lap. The lady I rent from often refers me people that she doesn't want.The best part is that he has gotten massages for 25 years and has seen about everything but he loves mine the best! Funny story is he even saw my arch enemies up at my old place I rented. The girl that gives them up there is always so high on drugs and stinks of bo. She even blindfolded him! And of course she said all the therapists do it. (If you live in CoMo don't go get a massage from Savannah Bouton). Anyways the lady I used to rent from even had the nerve to ask him, after he left his treatment, for more money because they under charged him. Yes, they are nut jobs up there. Sorry to get off track, but I just thought I'd share some of that.

So see that's why I am so glad he has been seeing me. Very grateful he got to meet Evie and take some pictures. Such a great day!

Thanksgiving in Drexel

This Thanksgiving, I got to see my parents on the actual holiday! I was so excited to take Evie down to the farm. Once there, we got to see the 2 kittens, Clea and Murphy, that we had taken in and fostered. (After our trip Clea got very ill and passed away) After settling in, Evie just was so happy to see all the other kitties, too many kitties to catch! Moe, who is now 31 years old, gave Evie some kiddie rides. I don't know who enjoyed it more him or Evie. Of course just like the horse rides at the store I had to coax Evie off when the ride was over. She really likes pony rides. Evie got to see the last 2 living chicken on the farm, they are really old and I don't know if my parents are gonna get any more chickens.

Being picky, Evie didn't want any turkey, that was ick! But she sure ate my mom's homemade pumpkin pie and turtle cake. It was a really fun trip and I am just so grateful we made it there and back. Of course on the trip home, Evie threw up all over just outside of Holden. Oh and she has learned the word poop. So when we were about to get on the highway outside of Warrensburg, I heard a little voice saying "butt poop ick". So of course we had to make another pit stop. Oh traveling with a  kid can be so fun. But over all a great trip!

RIP Clea

Murphy

Walking Dingo

Cloth diapers out on the line, right where mine were, over 20 yrs ago

Chicken!

Putting Cloth Diapers to the Test

I got 7 diapers to the completion stage last Monday. Since I was going to the farm for Thanksgiving I figured we test them out there.

On Thursday, Evie used 4 of them before being changing in to night time diapers around 8 pm. The longest she was in a diaper was 4 hours, part of that was while she had a nap.While she was in her 1st diaper I was always checking it to see how it held up. I am so impressed with how well they worked. After a few hours I would change her and her bottom would be so dry. A lot of times the pee hadn't even reached the outer part of the diaper or rubber pants.

So how'd they wash? They washed great and the detergent left them smelling fresh. I have bought some store detergent but also made my own. I want to compare them and see which I like best. It just felt so good not wasting money by throwing them away with each diaper change. Because it is time consuming to make them I am taking a small break on production right now. But my goal is to have 12, at least. So that's it for right now on my cloth diapering journey. Now it's time to sit back and let the diapers do the work.

Making Cloth Diaper Inserts

The type of diaper I am making is called a fitted diaper. So inside this diaper it has many layers of fabric for absorption but still needs a bit more, this is where inserts come in. After lots of research I am making my inserts out of a micro fiber cloth towel, a layer of bamboo terry material and the micro fleece material.

Bamboo was chosen from other mommy reviews that said it worked great for a toddler's big pee flood. Micro fiber is also super absorbent. I found the towels in the auto department for fairly cheap. The micro fleece is used on the top to wick moisture away from baby's bottom. Also if you use the micro fiber towel it can not come into contact with the skin of baby or it will give them a rash. When handling it you can feel it sucking all the moisture out of your skin.

How I made mine:

1. I measure the area that the insert needed to cover in the fitted diaper. I used this to cut my materials.
2. I tri-folded the micro fiber towel, but put my bamboo terry in the middle of this, kinda like a sandwich.
3. I then determined where my snaps needed to be added. I snapped them on my bottom layer of micro fiber towel. This step is important because once you assemble the insert it will have too many layers to snap through.
4. I then placed my micro fleece on top.
5. I would sew down one side at a time and then sew down the middle to keep all the fabric in place. Then close up the ends.

Pretty simple I'd say. It's better to have everything pre-cut and then assemble them. Snap them in your diapers and you are good to go.

Tri-folding

Working on adding bamboo terry

Fabric sandwich

Snaps

Micro fiber top

All sewed up

Clint's Sr Pictures

This is my little brother's last year of high-school! I really can't believe how fast he has grown up. I remember way back when I was a senior and how I wanted my pictures done. I do believe we payed an arm and a leg for the sitting and then couldn't even afford prints. I saved money from my after school job to order the wallets. Oh course this is after my class seemed to be done handing out and trading their's.I just don't see the reason to have to pay so much! I dropped over $300 after it was all said done with Evie's 1 year pictures. 

I wanted to take some pictures of Clint, not only to save him some $$$, but because I enjoy taking pictures. As it got closer to when they visited I talked to Clint about ideas, he really liked the trail/ nature idea. I think they came out great! I had a lot of fun doing them and trying out new actions and editing them. Look at how grown up he has become.

31 Days of Halloween

Oh how I love Halloween! Back in September I decided Evie and I would be witches and wanted to give my place a witch theme for decor. I got a lot of fun stuff at the Dollar Tree and also made my own stuff. My Halloween decorations all cost less then $25. Evie was a great helper and loved looking at stuff after we got it up.

I held off as long as I could on putting things up, we ended up decorating the last week of September. The front yard had our grand spiders. I ended up finding 2 dresser drawers and using them to make coffins for some skeletons and we made wooden ghosts. Making the potion jars was my favorite. Actually I had almost given up doing some of them because I was running out of time. But the week before Halloween we were out on the trails and I found great stuff for the jars.
And talk about scary, I made un-dead fairies. I glued feathers on the backs of skeletons and hung them up. Evie's favorite was the spooks I made from black Christmas ornaments.

My parents made it up for trick or treating and we all had a blast. Evie just loves getting her candy! After the 1st few houses she got the hang of the game and wanted to pick her candy and put it in her bucket. I am sure she is looking forward to next Halloween and we better start planning now!

Mummies

Eye ball plants!

Dollar store spider and then I made her a web.

Mini spiders we made

A few of our harvested pumpkins.

So scary!

Spooks

Ghosts