My Sweet Boy

Five days old, and I sometimes still find myself surprised that he's here!  Life with a newborn is always so different, so full of transition, but at the same time so seemingly effortless.  Like this little man was always meant to be part of our family.  

I'm working on writing up his amazing birth story, and I can't wait to share it with the world!

Quiet Moments

For two days in a row, I have been awake to witness the sunrise in the wee hours of the morning.  Beside me in the bed, our newest bundle of joy is making all of those adorable noises that newborns make while the dawn creeps quietly over the foggy lawn.

Since the birth of Logan, a mere three and a half days ago, I've been plagued with incessant insomnia.  It makes for difficult days, even when there's nothing more pressing on the agenda than nursing and cuddling with the wee one.  But I can't deny - this quiet time, just me and my very youngest, is so precious.  

There will be time for naps as the day wears on....for now I'm content to enjoy this quiet stillness and curl up next to my sweet-smelling baby while his eyelids quiver from precious baby dreams.

A Clutter-Free Home, One Room at a Time

Yesterday, my mom and my grandmother were kind enough to descend upon my house armed with energy and goodwill, determined to help me whip my full-of-C.H.A.O.S. home into shape.  You see, this baby I'm lugging around is due practically any day now, and it's difficult for me to do a lot of housework, especially heavy-duty housework, for any length of time.  I was starting to panic that nothing was going to get done in time, so I am immensely thankful they stepped in to lend a hand.  

And oh boy did they help!  By tackling the two most cluttered rooms in the house, the kids' rooms, they single-handedly knocked out two of my biggest sources of stress.  Before yesterday, I couldn't see my kids' floors.  Toys, trash and laundry littered every surface, and the kids could barely walk to their beds without falling over and tripping over the clutter.  Embarrassing? Absolutely. It's always bothered me that my kids' spaces were in such deplorable condition, when they should have had nice, clean, peaceful places to play. But, there never seemed to be enough time, or motivation, or help for me to tackle what I'd started to see as an insurmountable problem. 

I wish I had taken "Before" photos, even though I'm not sure I would have had the guts to post them.   

In the end, we removed seven (SEVEN!!) bags of trash and old toys from the two rooms, and the difference in space was unbelievable!  It was hard work for my mom and grandma, and all of their hard work definitely showed at the end of the day.  Now, my kids' toys actually fit in their toyboxes - the first time this has ever happened in our family!  And the kids were so happy and proud of their "new" rooms; they've been picking up their toys frequently (and voluntarily!) to keep their new spaces looking nice.  

I did learn something valuable about decluttering a child's room: it is definitely easiest to do when the child in question isn't home.  Then, there's no whining over which toys are going in the "toss" pile, and which are going in the trash. Plus, when the child returns home, the "missing" items are never really missed and instead they are forgotten about almost immediately.  What might have been a four day job had my children been home interfering with the purging process only took about six hours.  And what a difference six hours has made!


I'm looking forward to continuing the purging and decluttering process through the rest of the house, and keeping the kids' room clean and clutter-free.  We've instituted mandatory Toy Pick Up Time three times during the day: before lunch, before dinner, and before bed.  So far the kids are eager and willing to keep to the new rules.  I'm sure that'll change a bit as the newness wears off, but I'm confident we can keep control of the clutter now.  


Have you had a major success cleaning out a child's room or toys?  Do you have any tips or tricks to help others along?  I'd love to hear about them!

Finally some craftiness!

Of course, it would be work-related craftiness, but a girl has to make do with what she's got, right?  

Last week I had to tie-dye a pair of tee shirts for a display at work.  The tie-dye kit provided enough dye for up to eight regular shirt, so I had a TON leftover.  What's a crafty girl to do with all that leftover dye?  I could have poured it down the drain, but where's the fun in that?  

Instead, I grabbed four new, white newborn baby bodysuits and proceeded to tie-dye the heck out of them.  

They came out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.  

Now I just can't wait to have a squishy little baby to put in them! 

Simple Foods: Tuna Helper? I think not!

I ran across another great recipe last week that is a perfect substitute for yet another convenience food pitfall.  You know the one I'm talking about....it comes in the box.  With all the salt.  And the preservatives.  And the sauce powder.  

I'm the first to admit that I frequently grab for boxed convenience foods on evenings when I've had to work all day, or when the kitchen is cluttered, or when I'm just feeling plain lazy and don't feel like cooking.  Bad, bad, I know, but hey, nobody's perfect!  

Imagine my surprise to find a recipe that fits all the same criteria as that certain boxed dinner:  it's quick, it's tasty, the kids gobble it up, but it's healthier!  It's made from real ingredients, not freeze dried vegetables and seventeen other things I can't pronounce.  

Like most of my recipes, I found this one on AllRecipes.com.  The actual recipe is here, accompanied by photos and reader comments, but I'll give you the quick and dirty version below:

BEST TUNA CASSEROLE

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup crushed potato chips

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain. 
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)
• In a large bowl, thoroughly mix noodles, onion, 1 cup cheese, peas, tuna, soup and mushrooms. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and top with potato chip crumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese. 
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is bubbly. 

The only changes I made were to omit the mushrooms (we're not fans), and to use cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom, because it's what I had on hand.  The result?  A cheesy, flavorful casserole that the entire family enjoyed!  I will definitely make this casserole again, and I'm excited to have found a good standby recipe that works even better than boxed convenience food when I'm pressed for time or feeling like a lazy cook!  

Crafting Sanity: How I Make Time

There hasn't been a whole lot of crafting going on in the Crafting Sanity household lately, what with the impending baby arrival (in 7 weeks!!).  Most of my time lately is spent trying to whip the house into shape, getting birth supplies together, and getting myself in the right head space to deliver a baby.  All these things are time consuming and leave little downtime leftover for craftiness, and I'm feeling the lack of creativity very much.  

But, even though I don't have the time to sit down and spread out a project on the kitchen table doesn't mean I'm not doing something crafty every day.  Even if I'm just picking up the knitting needles for ten minutes here or there during a cleaning break, I'm still making progress toward finishing a project.  My goal every day is to have at least 30 minutes of "Crafty Time" to work on one of the many projects I have in progress.  I've learned over time, that if I go too many days without making something, I tend to get a little grumpy.  So, for the peace of the family, I craft.  When Mama gets to craft, Mama's happy.  And when Mama's happy....well, you know how that one goes. 

Why does being crafty matter so much to me?  I guess because, in the end, home made matters.  I treasure things that are created out of love, and with a skill learned from family members, and passed on to loved ones.  Creating something from a pile of raw materials is slowly becoming a lost art in our consumerist, import everything culture, but I don't want to lose the magic and treasure of handmade items in my own life.  I want my kids to grow up with an appreciation of this type of skill, no matter the finished project, and to realize they don't have to buy something at the local mall for it to be worth something.  A handmade gift, however imperfect, is more precious than anything that can be bought in a store. 

Crafting keeps me sane.  It's as simple as that.  So it's important that I make time to work with my hands, to create something beautiful (or not so beautiful!) to feel healthy spiritually and mentally. 

Craft as therapy....how about that?

Simple Foods: Homemade Chocolate Syrup

For a very long time, I've wanted to adapt my families mostly processed and commercially produced diet to one that concentrated more on simple, whole, healthful foods.  

I've discovered that the trick to making the switch is not to overhaul the entire kitchen at once - that's definitely a recipe for failure!  Instead, I'm concentrating on slowly replacing convenience or processed foods that we eat very frequently with simpler, healthier, homemade alternatives.  

Case in point: chocolate syrup. 

I love chocolate milk, and I drink it an average of three times per week, sometimes more now that I'm pregnant.  If I'm craving something sweet and chocolaty, I'll mix up some Hershey's syrup into a tall glass of cold milk, and my craving will be satisfied.  But, I don't kid myself that chocolate syrup is healthy for me in any way, shape, or form.  I mean, with ingredients like these:

High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, waster, cocoa, sugar, potassium sorbate, salt, mono- and di-glycerides, xanthan gum, polysorbate 60, vanillin, and artificial flavor.   (Taken directly from the Hershey Syrup bottle.)

you really can't say there's any nutritive value in there at all!  

Yesterday, I stumbled across this recipe that someone on a healthy living forum shared.  You can find the original recipe, with photos and feedback here, but I've provided the ingredients and basic instructions below.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 dash salt

1 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil for 3-5 minutes, until mixture begins to thicken.  Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator. 

How simple is that?  Five easy (and easily pronounceable!) ingredients, and five minutes on the stove and you have your own chocolate syrup!  No guessing what's in it, no plastic bottle to throw away, no high fructose corn syrup going into your body!  

Now obviously, even the homemade chocolate syrup isn't terribly healthy, but at least it is made with natural ingredients that weren't cooked up in a chemistry lab, yes?  So now I think I can feel much better about giving my kids the occasional mug of chocolate milk, or drinking one myself, now that I know I can make a much healtheir, more wholesome version of a much-relied on chocolate treat!  

Have you tried out this recipe, or have another great homemade recipe that replaces a store bought, processed convenience food?  I'd love to hear about it!  Just drop me a note!