Month: August 2018

Trying Cloth Diapers

Hi Sis,

We finally took out and tried out our cloth diapers. I really didn’t think they would fit, they  looked so big. But, they snap up, and Evelyn’s clothing is thankfully fitting over them without trouble.

All my diapers are second hand, and I have various brands and types. With second hand cloth diapers, it is recommended to do a bleach soak. This helps kill yeast and other nasties that your baby could catch from another child. I followed the instructions from Fluff Love University here.

Then, I hung them outside to dry and sun bleach. The sun is great at taking out baby stains. (Now that I’ve been doing this for awhile I recommend laying them flat to dry, as hanging them wet can stretch your elastics)

After that, I put them on Evelyn. I am curious to see how much money we will save.  We go through about fifteen diapers a day! Little miss lets me know every time she has a slightly damp or wet diaper, she demands a dry bottom. I hope this means she will be easy to potty train. lol

Love,

Jamiegoof

William’s First Event

Dear Sis,

Yesterday morning we got up early to bake biscuits, boil eggs, and make chicken salad. After our lunch and snack were packed into a basket, we loaded the car and made the drive to the Battery Hooper event at James A. Ramage Museum, in Ft. Wright, KY. 

It was a perfect first event! There was a park, a petting zoo, and a small encampment to explore. Not to mention, the homemade ice cream sold by the church next door. William wasn’t board for a minute! He especially enjoyed the musicians, the bunnies at the petting zoo, and the hourly cannon fire. 

As a civilian demonstrator, William made my contribution easy. We educated the public and even some re-enactors about infant/pre-potty trained toddler dress during the mid-1800s. William also took great pains to demonstrate period eating:)

Dana even got a great picture of William and I… on our way to get some homemade ice cream:)

We are super excited for next months event and hope you and Evelyn will be able to join us!

On a whim, I asked Josh tonight at dinner, “If I made you civil war clothes, and you were home during an event, would you go with us?” To my surprise he said sure! I know nothing about men’s wear. I have some homework to do:)

Love,

b

Activity Book, Page 3

Hi Sis,

Today, I made page three. I don’t think this one will hold up very long. You may have to cut more felt flowers for it due to ripping and probably him losing the flowers. But, it is still a cute and fun page.

Printouts for the Vase and the Flowers. 

It is much easier to print, pin and cut, then to try to trace and cut. 

Love,
Jamiegoof

Sock Matching

Dear Sis,

We went to Family Storytime this morning. The theme was socks and shoes, which is a great theme! Little people are super captivated by everything foot related when they are first learning to walk, talk, and put on their own shoes. In between stories, the librarian pulled out a sock matching game. Her’s were made of laminated construction paper, and she held them up and asked if they matched instead of putting a pile on the floor,  but it gave me a great idea for a puzzle game for William. I set about making it at nap time.

When he awoke, we tested it out… after snack of course:)

He quickly matched the orange, blue, and white, but then he notice how squishy and twisty the craft foam was and decided that was more fun for the moment:) Then, he decided to add tossing to the mix, for some crazy fun! Homemade toy success:)

Love,

b

 

Touch-a-Truck

Dear Sis,

Today our local library had a special event called Touch-a-Truck. It is exactly as the name implies: trucks for kids to touch. William spent the entire 1.5 hours going around around to all the trucks. Going in his favorites a half dozen times of so. A local animal rescue had a van there with three kittens. He visited them the most! His next favorite was a vintage tractor from the 1930. I found out after the event, it belongs to the mayor. How funny to meet the mayor and not know it:) 

He also liked the ambulance, but I didn’t get a picture of that. He was very curious with the bed and the oxygen tank. Strange things to find in a vehicle:) 

The Army Reserve brought in a few trucks. He was very curious about them, but a little intimidated by the half dozen men in battle dress, so he only visited them twice.

The firetruck and ambulance were fashionably late because a truck took out a transformer and two blocks of power lines just a half an hour before the event. Did you know you don’t need a key to start a firetruck? It has an ignition switch!

Our old mailman, who was promoted to supervisor, so we don’t see him much anymore, was there with a mail truck.

Trenton Public works filled half the parking lot. They brought a dump truck, a backhoe, a street sweeper, a gater, a bobcat, and their brand new armed mower. Most of them were pretty chatty, so William spent a long time talking with them. They dubbed him cutest baby and said when he was around he doubled the cuteness factor among the guys:) 

This was one of our first pictures of the day. William still wasn’t sure how he felt about being picked up by strange men and put into giant vehicles yet. In about ten minutes, he would hold out his arms and say “up” when they asked it he wanted to get in a truck. Then the smiles came easily too. 

The gator was one of the only vehicles that was low enough to the ground for him to get into and out of himself.

It was a great event. After lunch, he slept a solid three hours. Poor boy wore himself out!

Love,

b

William’s Civil War Outfit

Dear Sis,

I finally finished the last of the hand sewn button holes today:) William’s gown is done!

He really enjoys wearing it. It was hard to get him back out of it after pictures. He had fun squatting and watching the skirt puff up around him.

I used Elizabeth Clark’s frock pattern for children birth – 2 years. We didn’t bother with period undergarments. We’ll probably only use it twice before he grows out of it anyway! 

We used reproduction cotton and pattern options for  a smooth bodice, with an open neck, and smooth sleeves. The neck, arms eyes, and waist are all piped. The skirt is controlled with directional knife pleats.

Here is a close up of the sleeve details! The tiny sleeves are my favorite part:)

I had a few period appropriate button styles but these horn buttons were such a perfect color match I used them even though they are an 1/8 inch too large! I was hoping to fit one more button for a more period look, but alas the size made it impossible to get them placed nicely with an additional button.

We are going to an even later this month and have another marked on our September calendar. Hopefully I remember to get some good photos during all the excitement.

Love,

b

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

Dear Sis,

After winning an awesome prize through the summer reading program, we decided to make a special treat to thank the library staff. 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies
Yields 24
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Ingredients
  1. 1 box brownie mix
  2. 8 oz cream cheese, soft
  3. 1/4 c granulated sugar
  4. 1 egg, beaten
  5. 1/2 t peppermint extract
  6. green food coloring
  7. 1/4 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment.
  2. Prepare brownie mix according to package instructions and pour into prepared pan.
  3. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg, peppermint extract, and food coloring until smooth. Spoon over brownie mixture. Swirl with a toothpick. Top with chocolate chips. Bake 25 - 28 minutes.
  4. Cool to room temperature. Chill completely before cutting into bars and serving.
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Tag Sis, You're It! https://www.tagsisyoureit.com/
William was too busy playing with his new Melissa and Doug cleaning toy, to help with the baking. He just ran into the kitchen to snack on some chocolate chips:)

Love,

b

A Busy Weekend

Hi Sis,

Like most weekends, our house had company! This weekend, we had a lot of visitors.

Nate had Friday off, so he and some fellow co-workers joined up to play games and work on a project for Family Safety Day at work. Which, is a day when family can go to the plant, eat lunch, see demonstrations, experiance some of the training, and learn about the nuclear power plant.

While the boys were hanging out, Evelyn and I walked over to visit Earl and Erma, our neighbors. Earl hasn’t been over for eggs since before Evelyn was born! So, we brought him a dozen and introduced Evelyn. They loved seeing her and got a kick out of her hair. They had fun telling me about their great grand daughter who was born two weeks ago!

Friday night, was game night, half our regular game players were gone… it is the week of Gencon in Indiana. Nate usually goes with his friends every year, but decided not to attend this year, with Evelyn being so young, so we had friends come over to play board games instead. I wish I could say I joined in, but I am too busy caring for Evelyn and I go to bed early. Still, it is nice to chat for a bit.

Monday morning Nate’s dad came over to visit. So we got to enjoy sometime playing with Evelyn, and the rattles that grandpa gave her. The boys also went grocery shopping and to the hardware store to fix Gizmo’s run, as he broke his cable the day before.

Grandpa Dave and Evelyn

Later, mom joined us. Her and I hung out for the day as Nate joined his co-workers for dinner and a movie. We weeded the garden, played with Evelyn, went for a walk, and took some time to relax. 

Grandma playing with Evelyn’s favorite toy… rattles!

The next morning had a relaxing start. Nate took Evelyn after her 6:00 a.m feeding so I could get another hour of sleep! Yay! 

Getting rocked by Grandma

Around noon we had friends and their two daughters come over for games. They made sausage and gravy biscuits for breakfast and it was delicious. Their daughters had fun playing with Gizmo, the chickens, Evelyn, playing games, baking, and also went across the street to visit the neighbor and see if she had goats for sale. They ended up picking out two Nigerian (A mini goat breed) kids.

Around two, Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson came over. It was their first time meeting Evelyn!

Great Grandma Jackson

 Brian also came and played with Evelyn. She had a lot of fun getting swung by him and listening to him sing her songs.

Our Grandparents brought us their dinning room set. They are moving into a new home, and the dinning room set that was originally belonged to Great Grandpa Jackson’s parents isn’t going with them. Knowing we had only a tiny table that never held all our guests, they offered it to us, and we happily accepted!

I will have to do a post on the dinning room and living room once it is set up. It is so different, with all the furniture and decorations.

All the family left after a tasty dinner of grilled burgers, fruit, veggies, and pineapple upside down cake. Nate’s game friends stayed till 10:00. It was a long game of Twilight Imperiam, followed up by Clank. We will have to play Clank next time you come over, it is a new family favorite!

The exhaustion after a long day!

Love,

Jamiegoof