Productive New Year's Eve

I am trying to build up motivation for the new year to accomplish the goals I have set for myself.  I spent most of the day cleaning (and by choice!).  I:  cleaned the guinea pig cage, washed the guinea pigs, trimmed the guinea pigs' nails, organized the food cupboard, pulled out food to donate and got rid of expired food, did the dishes, and did an hour of Yogalates.

Here's to a productive year!

 - Vanessa

Homemade Gifts for Christmas

I am a stay at home mom, so I decided to crochet and knit some scarves for Christmas gifts.  I forgot to take pictures of the ones I gave out for Christmas to my grandmother- and mother-in-law.  Next time I see them, I hope to get a pic of them.  And hopefully, they'll be wearing them!  My mother-in-law's one looks like this, but with purple instead of red.  This red one is for my red-haired sister.  My 4-year-old daughter picked out the colors for my sisters.  My brunette sister is getting a brown one that I just started yesterday.  These ones were knitted, as this plushy yarn, though gorgeous to look at and feel, is nearly impossible to crochet.  It's been years since I had last knitted, so I'm having to re-learn the hard way.  My grandmother-in-law's scarf was crocheted (my favorite medium!) and was:  dark green, light green, white, and black.  My daughter loves the thread and the finished outcome of these scarves, so next year, I'll make her a scarf.  After I finish this brown one, I'm going to be done with knitting and this thread for a while.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

Lice - The Dreaded "L" Word

Nothing strikes fear and itchiness quite like the mention of the "L" word.  2012 was a pretty rough year for my family.  I rushed into exercising a bit too quickly and frequently found myself injured.  The kids also seemed particularly prone to colds this year, including the week that we all had the flu.  That being said, I'd rather be injured with the flu than deal with lice again for quite some time.

My daughter, K, caught lice at her preschool.  She's only been in school for 2 months!  I couldn't believe that she'd caught it already!  I was hoping that she'd at least be in elementary school by the time that we had to deal with them.

I try to be as practical, economical, and earth friendly as practical.  I recycle and donate whatever I can to try to limit what I waste.  For a week, I used every organic and home remedy that was possible to treat them.  We tried various ways to smother the nasty buggers using different remedies.  All of her plush toys are still double bagged and outside in the shed.

Every morning, I'd wash her blankets and pillow in the hottest water possible, vacuum every square inch of her room and mattress, and remove the shower cap cocktail, just to find more nits!  I did nothing that week except for cleaning/disinfecting the house.  This was my routine.  Every day.  All day.  For 7 days.  I reached the point of exhaustion/defeat and got a prescription from her pediatrician.  I also had to switch pediatricians due to her previous one unwilling to help at all or see her.  The Walmart pharmacist also recommended bed bug spray, which I happily sprayed all over the car, couches, and the carpeting to annihilate any that dared to remain in my house.  I also bought vinyl zippered covers for all of the mattresses.  She had a follow up 3 days later and was declared lice free!

I am really glad that I decided to go the prescribed insecticide route.  No matter what I tried, each morning there was evidence of more nits/lice.  The only other "organic" solution left was to shave her head, which I was nearly to the point of trying.  Her hair grows very slowly.  At 4 1/2 years old, her hair barely reached her shoulders.  About a month ago, she had sneaked a pair of scissors in her room and cut a big chunk of her hair  inches.  I was going to wait until her hair was a little longer before I evened out her hair, but now her hair is even and a little above her neck. Sigh, it'll take about a year for her hair to reach that length again.

She's been lice free for 2 weeks and counting.  Luckily, no one else caught it.  I hope to not hear the dreaded "L" word again ever.

Thanks for reading!

Vanessa

Red Scarf Project

I was very happy this year when I was looking for a service project for myself to give back to the community somehow.  I was happy to find the Red Scarf Project.  Granted, I already donate some clothes and food to local food banks and I also donate blood at the blood bank regularly.  I have even donated hair once to Locks of Love.  That project took about 2 years.

I was looking for something more of a creative outlet.  I have made one scarf so far and sent it in.  Right now, I'm pretty busy with making some homemade Christmas presents, including a few scarves and a couple of hats.  I also plan on making more time for exercise and losing weight before summer gets here.  I do plan on making a few more scarves to donate to the Red Scarf Project next year.  I think that donating time and a little effort for foster children attending college is a very worthy cause and will manage to make a few scarves next year.  They have a limited amount of time in which they are accepting the scarves.  Here is the website, if you would like to know more about this project! http://www.fc2success.org/programs/red-scarf-project-and-book-club/.

I crocheted this particular scarf, though they accept knit/crochet/etc. for the scarves.  When I was a child, I was taught to knit, crochet, cross stitch, quilt, and I'm sure there were a couple of other crafts that I knew.  I've been out of practice for about 20 years and am re-learning some of these.  I would love to be able to teach my kids how to do these someday.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

   

Christmas Crafts

Here are some of the Christmas-y crafts that the kids and I have made lately.  As always, the cost for these projects was nearly free.  I'm always stocking up during back-to-school sales and the dollar store.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

Policy Council

I serve as a Parent Representative on Policy Council for my daughter's preschool.  It really does make me feel empowered in a "knowledge is power" kinda way.  In it, I do get to vote on measures and do have somewhat of a voice in what happens behind the scenes.  I am one of about 60, though, so my opinion does feel relatively small.

Tonight, I did learn some interesting things about the protocol for contacting legislators about issues that are important and how to possibly save programs from elimination.  Many programs and social services are facing cuts of 10%, including Head Start.  I also learned that writing a letter/postcard (there was some debate about which has more weight) to a legislator about issues has more weight and value than an e-mail.  They also said that, statistically, 1 letter represents 100 people.

Writing this type of communication is pretty simple and just needs the following pieces:  introduction (name, relation to issue), that you're a registered voter, and why this issue is important.  I plan on doing this to try to save some programs, or at least have them re-examined.

I was a little irked at the way it was simplified, though.  I understand that they were trying to make a point in saying that without Head Start, many kids will go without preschool and be unprepared for Kindergarten.  When my son was preschool aged, I was the sole provider and was working a temp job that put us $20 over the income limit for him to attend preschool.  Even though we were living on just my unemployment, we managed to come up with the $200 per month tuition for him to attend preschool.  I know not every parent can afford this amount, but with some sacrifice, we were able to.  Just think how much money you spend in a month on cigarettes/alcohol/fast food/lattes/other vices.  Does it come to more than $200 per month? Granted, the education that my daughter is getting is probably better, as she attends school four days per week versus two and they emphasize Kindergarten readiness more than manners and social interaction, but I feel that my son was more prepared for Kindergarten attending there than not at all.

I still feel a bit like a whisper compared to all of the other opinions that will be lobbying for cuts to be made to save their program versus the ones that I would prefer to be spared, but at least I'm trying to have my voice heard and to speak up for others in similar situations.  That is, after all, why I joined Policy Council.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

Cub Scouting

I was a little conflicted about my son joining Cub Scouts initially.  I don't agree with all of their (political) policies and am not overly religious.  I have many friends with alternative lifestyles who are strongly against certain Boy Scouts and some of their policies.  A couple of people have directly asked me about my opinions and my decision to let my son join this organization.  Others may be assuming things good or bad about this decision.

I let my son join because I wanted him to be a part of a worthy cause and to meet other nice kids.  I have found churches to be too cliquey and political for my taste when I was a kid.  Some of the "good" kids that attended our church were the worst kids in my class.  I am still up in the air when it comes to my kids and church, but that's a whole other topic.

My neighborhood is not world's nicest place and neither are the neighborhood kids.  I want their friends and influences to be nice kids, not the delinquents in this place.

I am pursuing my degree now while trying to raise 2 kids.  I am only eligible for a little bit of financial aid and have not yet received any scholarships, despite my efforts.  I hope that the values and the community service that he will learn through Cub Scouts will help him become a better and successful person, and hopefully help him go to college when he's younger.

Opinions about certain policies aside, I have found Cub Scouts to be a very affordable program.  My mother-in-law bought a used shirt from eBay for $7.  I acquired the other pieces of his uniform little by little. The boys don't actually need anything more than the shirt and the required patches.  The den all pitched in for their fundraiser and the boys earned enough so that we don't have pay any monthly dues or for any patches/pins/belt loops that he will earn this year.

Please excuse some of the politics in this rant.  It is difficult sometimes when causes I believe in conflict each other and makes me feel a bit like a hypocrite sometimes.

Bean Soup Service Project

For my son, the Tiger Cub Scout, to earn the Citizenship Belt Loop, we worked on a service project of making bean soup mix and donating the 25 containers to a local church's food pantry.

The project was simple and was free, plus the price of gas to deliver the soup mixes.  I save containers for projects such as this, and used spaghetti jars, sour cream containers, etc.  I make bean soup quite a bit and had a surplus on hand.

This was a simple service project that anyone could do!  The best part was brightening the day of the lady running the food pantry.  She seemed pretty cranky at the time and asked how she can help us.  I told her that we were there to help the food pantry, instead and presented the containers.  They did not mind at all that we used what we had on hand and found them quite charming!

Cub Scouts "Brag Vest"

My son is in Cub Scouts.  A lot of the older boys have "Brag Vests" to display their temporary badges and other badges that don't go on the official shirt.  Buying one at the local scouting store is nearly $20.  I made his for a total of $4.99 plus tax.  The red felt was $3.99 plus tax from Michael's Arts and Crafts Store and I needed new needles and red thread, so I purchased a sewing kit from Dollar Tree.  I already had craft glue for the tiny temporary badges.