Some thrifty ideas and an update

I know i have been neglecting this blog for a while - it's not because I've lost interest, but because the three little ones and my husband sure keep me hopping!

I've been busy doing things around the house! Here is a little list:

• I hung a shoe oganizer from Ikea (a Christmas gift from my mom) in my kitchen between my fridge and pantry. I tried it in our bedroom closet, but my husband mainly wears boots and I dont' have nearly enough shoes to fill it up. I tried it in the kids room, but between all of their slippers, boots, and shoes, it was too small. in the kitchen, it holds wash rags and dish towels up top, the main pair of shoes for each child (minus Kaitlyn, who doesn't walk so she doesn't wear shoes), the slippers my husband uses to let the dogs out, and then the main pair of boots each older child wears.
• Those mesh bags that hold potatoes make EXCELLENT bath toy holders. The toys get plenty of air to dry and the bags are very easily hung on any hook available. The ones from oranges, with the drawstring top, are awesome also! These bags are also great for general toy storage. I use a few to hold puzzles and their peices.
• I use large flower vases to hold commonly used kitchen utensils on the top of my stove. I've always done this, but while we're on the subject of re-using things I thought I'd add it.
• Speaking of great kitchen things, this past summer my husband bought me a closet organizer that hooks on the back of a closet or pantry door. It has about 6 long baskets on it and is supposed to have hooks to hang from a door. I was looking for a spice rack (the entire cabinet above my stove held my spices, including a double shelved one that spins... and broke). Any we looked at was way too small (I keep a LOT of spices and seasonings on hand, many are homegrown) so this closet organizer was PERFECT. My husband bolted this to the wall next to my stove - so easy to use and the spices sit in double rows in the baskets.
• A hanging fruit basket, with 3 baskets, is currently our wash cloth holder in the bathroom. I may be strange, but I really like the way this looks. The 'adult' sizes wash cloths are in the bottom basket, the kiddie sized ones are in the middle one and the funny 'mitts' the kids have for bathtime are in the top basket. I used to have one of these types of baskets per kid that held onesies or underwear in the bottom basket, socks in the middle, and hats or other misc. accessories on the top. However, the oldest two couldn't reach in their baskets to get their own stuff out so we are using a 3 drawer plastic shelving unit for their 'underthings' now, so they can dress themselves.
• My husband recently bought me my own little greenhouse. It sits on my craft table, right next to the window, and has 4 shelves all of which are totally FULL of my seedlings.

Our neice came to stay with us for a week this past week, and it was very enjoyable. She played a lot with the kids (and they adore her!) and even though she didn't have to she helped me a lot. We had some 'girl time' and enjoyed our chai's and had some fun monopoly games with Bret!

I've been trying to work on those books and curriculum I've been writing, but it's been hard in the evenings.... Kaitlyn is cutting 8 teeth at a time right now! She's doing alright - just not sleeping too well. My work time usually starts at the kids bedtime - unless someone is up with a problem :-)

Alexis has been taking a big interest in doing the dishes for me. Andrew likes to play in the sink too, so this is a prime opportunity to let Alexis help me by washing easy things, keep Andrew in my eyesight while he has fun, and have some fun bonding time with the both of them. Andrew will also help by handing me dishes from the counter and rinsing them off! He is a very, very hyperactive boy so any time that we can spend on one single thing that lasts longer than a few minutes is a good thing! I honestly wonder if he's ADHD - he's only 2.5, and I KNOW toddlers are very active and have very short attention spans but I feel he is above and beyond typical - enough so that it DOES interfere with his ability to function sometimes and he can have violent outbursts from frusteration or a quick transition from something. I took out a few books on adhd at the library this past week and the more I read, it seems like the books describe him better than I ever could have tried. I am going to call his ped and get him in to start whatever process there is to investigate this, if they'll even do it on him at such a young age. But I'd rather catch it early than let it interfere with his life and possibly cause problems later on. I do not want to use medication, but am willing to try any diet changes or natural supplementation if necessary.

I printed off some new file folder games, fingerplays, and sequencing cards for the kids for tomorrow. I'm also going to make some flannelboard games on bible stories because I found some free patterns online that I can use to create my own stories based on the bible, and also write out verses for each 'frame' of the story. I printed out a butterfly lapbook for Alexis, I'm not sure if she's really ready for one or not but I guess we'll see!