This year, I have been coming across some great and unique gift ideas. This one just happens to be my current favorite. It is made by a friend of mine (won't she be surprised to see my blog review!). But even if I didn't know and love the designer of this product, I'd have to say I'd love this one anyway.
So, as a book lover and avid reader at heart (even if my current mom-of-4-small-children role doesn't lend itself to very long reading sessions these days) . . . I will share this gift idea with you:
They are called Book Bling Bookmarks and they are made by Jessica Derksen.
They are basically jewels, stones, beads, charms and other nice things strung up on the end of a bookmark. You can put several together or use one at a time. You can have them customized or purchase one right from her store front. Here is her website for your shopping convenience:
www.bookbling.biz
I will try to get some pictures posted here for you soon. I couldn't figure out how to transfer them yet!
Blessings to you and yours this Advent Season!
Merry Christmas,
:) Kaycee
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Monday, September 01, 2008
Going Green is Fun!
This summer I found that making green changes can be fun! For years, going green was a bit of an inconvenience in many ways. It seemed that Organic produce put a huge dent in our budget and often required a trip to a separate grocery store that was farther away. Recycling took extra rinsing and taking extra time to remove labels. The only thing that started out as more convenient from the start was using the green cleaners my Shaklee business provided me. Everything else seemed like so much extra effort. The green passion in me now almost hates to admit all this, but it is true. Early in my marriage, my dear hubby was the recycle and water conservation police officer in my household, and I was the frequent violator!
Several things have shifted all this in the last two years. Our local grocery store began to carry more and more organic foods and produce and then over time started putting them on sale frequently. Now it seems they are almost always stocked with my favorite organics, and their prices are more reasonable than not. Also we recently had a Sunflower Market move in very close to us. So, if I am going to make a separate trip for some big sales on natural products and meats then I can drive just a few minutes away for that now.
The next thing that happened is that our local recycling loosened up on their requirements. Now I still rinse everything out, but I don't remove labels anymore. And they take all the plastics 1-7 now! So recycling isn't nearly as hard as it was. Also, as I've gotten more in the habit, it isn't nearly as time consuming simply because it is something I do without thinking now. It comes much more naturally.
But this summer, more of the fun began! After having inspiration from several sources, I decided we were going to do away with the paper napkins at meals. It took a few easy steps and we were 100% converted to all cloth napkins! And the most exciting part is that the way we did it we were able to get the kids on board and happy about the change. Here are the steps I took to convert us:
1. I took the kids to the local fabric store and found the remnant bins.
2. I asked each of them to pick their favorite 100% cotton material out of the bins.
3. We took them all home and we cut them out. Actually I snipped them at 9 in. squares and then ripped them. It created a nice edge on each napkin all the way around.
4. Washed and dryed them all. Snipping of any fraying edges is necessary after the first wash.
5. Fold them up and then provide each child with their special custom cloth napkin at every meal.
I am SO excited to have completed this project. The time investment was WELL worth the effort. And the small napkins only need a small space in the loads of laundry I'm already doing every few days. It is great.
Please feel free to comment and share one of your favorite GREEN tips. Also, see these great GREEN books listed at www.Amazon.com for more ideas than one family could ever accomplish:
Green Goes with Everything by Sloan Barnett
It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living by Crissy Trask
The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time
by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen
Enjoy! Feel free to comment if you've already read some of these yourself.
Blessings,
:) Kaycee
Several things have shifted all this in the last two years. Our local grocery store began to carry more and more organic foods and produce and then over time started putting them on sale frequently. Now it seems they are almost always stocked with my favorite organics, and their prices are more reasonable than not. Also we recently had a Sunflower Market move in very close to us. So, if I am going to make a separate trip for some big sales on natural products and meats then I can drive just a few minutes away for that now.
The next thing that happened is that our local recycling loosened up on their requirements. Now I still rinse everything out, but I don't remove labels anymore. And they take all the plastics 1-7 now! So recycling isn't nearly as hard as it was. Also, as I've gotten more in the habit, it isn't nearly as time consuming simply because it is something I do without thinking now. It comes much more naturally.
But this summer, more of the fun began! After having inspiration from several sources, I decided we were going to do away with the paper napkins at meals. It took a few easy steps and we were 100% converted to all cloth napkins! And the most exciting part is that the way we did it we were able to get the kids on board and happy about the change. Here are the steps I took to convert us:
1. I took the kids to the local fabric store and found the remnant bins.
2. I asked each of them to pick their favorite 100% cotton material out of the bins.
3. We took them all home and we cut them out. Actually I snipped them at 9 in. squares and then ripped them. It created a nice edge on each napkin all the way around.
4. Washed and dryed them all. Snipping of any fraying edges is necessary after the first wash.
5. Fold them up and then provide each child with their special custom cloth napkin at every meal.
I am SO excited to have completed this project. The time investment was WELL worth the effort. And the small napkins only need a small space in the loads of laundry I'm already doing every few days. It is great.
Please feel free to comment and share one of your favorite GREEN tips. Also, see these great GREEN books listed at www.Amazon.com for more ideas than one family could ever accomplish:
Green Goes with Everything by Sloan Barnett
It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living by Crissy Trask
The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time
by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen
Enjoy! Feel free to comment if you've already read some of these yourself.
Blessings,
:) Kaycee
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
No longer sleepLESS in CO!
Sleep. A necessity. A must. A hot commodity! But it is amazing the amount of sleep interruptions a human can stand. It is also quite remarkable to me that there are babies who sleep a 5 to 6 hour stretch at night after just 3 months of life, and on the other hand, there are those babies who will NOT sleep 5 or 6 hours straight for a LONG time.
My youngest has been one of THOSE babies. She has been one of those babies who would not sleep for a 5 hour stretch at night for a LONG time. As a mater of fact, she wouldn't even sleep for more than 3 hours at a time without nursing.
Granted, I am on my 4th baby, and I have yet to have one of the babies who sleeps "through the night" within their first year. My second baby was the closest; he did sleep 4 to 5 hour stretches for a while at about 4 months old. But it was a short phase, and he began waking after 2 or 3 hours again before long.
Still, after 20.5 months of life (as of yesterday), my 4th child still had not slept more then 3 hours at a time without waking up to nurse. That means that for the last 627 days (but who's counting) I haven't had a night of sleep that put more than 3 hours together at a time of uninterrupted sleep, and consequently neither had she.
It has really been a blessing that the two of us have had any coping skills when life posed the usual challenges that it does. But, when I think of it, this regularly interrupted sleep does explain the many days of mommy being a bit short on patience and falling asleep anytime she sat still. And it does point to why baby, who is mostly good natured and happy-go-lucky has had her moments of screaming and stomping her feet. Of course, that could also be due to the amount of distance between her and her 2nd birthday!
At any rate, that all may be about to change. Now I'm not one to count my chickens early, but it is an exciting prospect here. This morning, for the first time in her lifetime, I was blessed with the strange sensation of a good night's sleep. It was FABULOUS! When my husband got up to tend to our earliest risers, it was SO weird not to be groggy and out of it. I actually laid there awake wondering what that strange feeling was.
Rest. Ahhhhhhhh. It was SO nice. Thank you, baby. Thank you. May we have many, many more of those.
-----
Any parents looking for a system to help your child sleep better at night, or to help them GET to sleep at night . . . here is a great resource I found:
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/
My youngest has been one of THOSE babies. She has been one of those babies who would not sleep for a 5 hour stretch at night for a LONG time. As a mater of fact, she wouldn't even sleep for more than 3 hours at a time without nursing.
Granted, I am on my 4th baby, and I have yet to have one of the babies who sleeps "through the night" within their first year. My second baby was the closest; he did sleep 4 to 5 hour stretches for a while at about 4 months old. But it was a short phase, and he began waking after 2 or 3 hours again before long.
Still, after 20.5 months of life (as of yesterday), my 4th child still had not slept more then 3 hours at a time without waking up to nurse. That means that for the last 627 days (but who's counting) I haven't had a night of sleep that put more than 3 hours together at a time of uninterrupted sleep, and consequently neither had she.
It has really been a blessing that the two of us have had any coping skills when life posed the usual challenges that it does. But, when I think of it, this regularly interrupted sleep does explain the many days of mommy being a bit short on patience and falling asleep anytime she sat still. And it does point to why baby, who is mostly good natured and happy-go-lucky has had her moments of screaming and stomping her feet. Of course, that could also be due to the amount of distance between her and her 2nd birthday!
At any rate, that all may be about to change. Now I'm not one to count my chickens early, but it is an exciting prospect here. This morning, for the first time in her lifetime, I was blessed with the strange sensation of a good night's sleep. It was FABULOUS! When my husband got up to tend to our earliest risers, it was SO weird not to be groggy and out of it. I actually laid there awake wondering what that strange feeling was.
Rest. Ahhhhhhhh. It was SO nice. Thank you, baby. Thank you. May we have many, many more of those.
-----
Any parents looking for a system to help your child sleep better at night, or to help them GET to sleep at night . . . here is a great resource I found:
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
