July, 2008

At last, after the big fiasco of last month, we got our I-171H approval today! Yea! So we're in the clear for 18 more months before we have to file again. (Please God, don't let us have to file again!)

Well, after two chances to swim in a pool in two days, Mr Evan is showing off his stuff.  We had him in one of those float swimsuits with a pair of wings on.  He was nervous at first but soon begin to move away from us.  Within about 15 minutes, Brian had him "swimming" laps!  Brian would call him and move away and Evan used his arms and legs to follow and even turn! It was too cute! See video below.

So after recovering from the charlie horse from Hell (I could barely walk for 24 hours!), I decided it was time to take back my garden from 2 weeks worth of unchecked weed growth this morning.  So M & E and I headed out the door. Things were going well until I realized they were doing more then "just resting" under the apple tree. The little rascals had helped themselves to the green apples and had taken bites out of 3-4 each before settling on one that was not quite as sour and eating 1/3 of it! Sheeeeee.....

If you are a yellow jacket and you decide to attack my husband be warned: I WILL get you!

So Tuesday night I went sneeking out of the house at 11:30 PM armed with a can of Raid Wasp & Hornet killer, a flashlight, and a pan of dirt.  I found the yellow jacket nest hole and emptied the can of Raid into it and dumped on the dirt. Very anticlimactic.... but effective!

I have an online acquaintance who made me aware of a child sponsorship program in Ethiopia. This woman knows the family that started and operates this program very well and can verify that they are legit.  Coolest part is 100% of sponsorship money goes to the child! That's amazing!! Here is the summary of what they do:

So in our 10 days at Mimmi's house, I learned a few things.  A.) I need that set of eyes in the back of my head people are always talking about and B.) 88 year old women and toddler/preschoolers do not mix well.  I also learned that one must follow the 88 year old woman around and be sure she puts up medicines, etc and then one must follow the toddler and preschooler around and pray that they don't run opposite directions! If one does not do this, one will come very close to calling Poison Control for the second time in a single day.

So out of the blue Miriam has started biting! Last Friday we were out in a public place where she couldn't run loose like a wild animal, so I made her hold my hand.  She got tired of the "dead weight game" not working and bit me! Then yesterday she bit poor Evan on the cheek. He came to me crying and holding his cheek, saying "Sissy bie!! Sissy bie!!" And there was the proof of what he was saying for all to see! Then today in the space of 10 minutes she bit him twice, once on the cheek and once on the back! Where did this come from??

Okay... as promised, a full review of gDiapers.  I used them for 10 days while visiting family; two of those days were a 12 hour road trip.  Except for one issue, I LOVED them.  I'm going to break things down into sections and give gDiapers a grade as well as compare them to disposables and cloth (Motherease and various pocket diapers).

Ease of use:  gDiapers=A, disposables= A+, cloth=B

Well, poor Brian had quite a time while we were away.  What was suppose to be a nice relaxing time by himself for Brian turned out to be quite the opposite!

Well, we're back home from visiting Mimmi! A great time was had by all.  I have a number of posts planned to get caught up, but it might take a bit since I've got a number of other things going on.  Watch for the gDiaper review... it's going to be a long one! I don't know when I will get new pictures uploaded since the mass import function is not working... but we'll try.

Well, today was peachy instead of blue! I harvested 2 bushels of peaches off my first peach tree.  YUM!  Hopefully I beat the worms and ants to most of them.  We'll see as they finish ripening on the tables in the basement.

Well, the trial run to church was a great success!  i find the diapers easy to put on... not quite as easy as disposable but not as hard as cloth... and easy to assemble.  The kids seemed very comfortable in them and changes were almost as quick as disposable. (I think once I am 100% comfortable with them, it will be a quick as disposables.) No leaks despite being on during Miriam's heaviest wetting time! :)  The real test will be on the road next week, but I'd say we're good to go!

The gDiapers have arrived. Very fast shipping and delivery... I'm impressed by that. I like the look of the diapers in person.  The cover is very soft, strechy and comfortable looking.  Miriam LOVED the pink striped cover and cried when I made her take it off.  Evan seemed to really like the feel.  The fit looks good on both kids...

Blueberry that is! I snuck out between rain showers and picked just over 3 cups of blueberries off my bushes.  I'm very pleased with them this year! My four bushes are doing very well.  They are staggered so one bush is basically done, one bush is half done, one bush had the first few today and one is still green all over. Love those berries!

I've always hated using disposable diapers.  They cost an arm and a leg, are full of bad cemicals, and are clogging up the landfills.  So we went with cloth diapers... most of the time.  I've tried a number of different types of cloth diapers and found one I like and don't mind using them at all... most of the time.  But there are times when the hassle of cloth just isn't worth it... namely travel.  Finally, I think I've found a solution.  gDiapers. I'm so excited.  I can't wait for my order to get here so I can try them.  I'll keep you posted!