Tips & Tricks: Your Gas Gauge

I'm starting a new series called Tips & Tricks.  When I find information out that helps us, I'll share it in our tips & tricks section so it will help you too!

Today's tip is all about your gas gauge.  Have you ever driven in a car that is not your own and needed and/or wanted to fill up the gas tank?  Have you ever wondered what side said gas tank was on without getting out of the car and looking?

Well, folks, I have your solution!  There is an arrow right on your gas gauge inside most cars that points to the side of the car that the gas tank is on!

Can anyone say, "EASY BUTTON?!"

Therefore, when you are driving a car other than your own that you are not familiar with, all you have to do is check the ole' gas gauge meter on the dashboard instead of guessing and perhaps performing the infamous switcheroo at the gas station!

Helpful, huh?!

And, believe it or not, we discovered this tip because Brian was just in this exact situation.  He was driving a car that was not his own and asked a passerby at the gas station if she could tell him what side the gas tank was on.  She informed him of this handy dandy arrow and we have not looked back since!  We are well prepared for the next rendezvous in a different car and hope it helps you too!

Closet Monkey

While I was putting some of Kate's clean clothes away, I noticed Kate had moseyed into her closet and seemed to be playing pretty contently.  Of course, I had to see what was so exciting in said closet and, low and behold, I found ... a closet monkey!

Closet Monkey Kate - Queen of Diapers!

She would climb off the mountain of diapers...

...just to turn around...

...and climb back up!

And then dump all of her clippies out!

This entertained her for a solid 15 minutes and me for a solid 10!!  She is our little monkey!

Strawberry Baby

Every now and then we have a sleepover at Mimi and Papaw's.  This past Friday night was one of those sleepovers!

Since Brian was out of town at the Master's in Augusta, GA, I loaded Kate and Jack into the car on Friday night and off we headed to Mary and Tom's!  We had so much fun just spending some good, quality time together.  On Friday night we had dinner and embarked on a little Easter project!  And on Saturday we enjoyed a little breakfast and took a nice walk around the neighborhood.

I love spending time with our families when we aren't rushed and bothered with day-to-day schedules and commitments.  Sometimes having nothing to do is the best thing!  It allows you to stop and smell the roses and enjoy those simple moments!

First things first, an Easter present from Mimi & Papaw!

Jack even helped open Kate's brand new baby doll!

Looks like the makings of a project to me!

We dressed these chocolate bunnies to fit in this Easter tin!
Very cute, huh?!

The masterminds behind the projects!  (Tom and Brian LOVE us!)

Our strawberry baby!  Who could ever say no to that face?!

Jack makes himself right at home next to Papaw.

Thank you for the wonderful hospitality, Mimi and Papaw!  We are so looking forward to our next sleepover!

Down, Down Baby

Down, down the rollercoaster
Sweet, Sweet, Baby
I'll never let you go

Shimmy, shimmy cocoa pop
Shimmy, shimmy pow
Shimmy, shimmy cocoa pop
Shimmy, shimmy pow

(How's that for a walk down memory lane?!)

Unfortunately, instead of teaching Kate a new hand clapping game, we were scheduling a pediatrician appointment.  That's right.  Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

...Kate has an ear infection in her left ear and fluid in her right.  Her first ear infection and it's nearly a double.   Poor, poor, Baby.

Annnddd still cute!  Despite not feeling well!

We knew Kate wasn't feeling well because she has just not been her typical self and has been having trouble sleeping.  Her pediatrician is constantly telling us how amazed she is that Kate is rarely sick for attending a public daycare.  If that is the case, I'd be afraid to see what other people have to deal with because I feel like we've battled one illness after another recently.

Up until Kate was a year old, we really only had the common cold to contend with.  Then she turned one.  Since then she has had two stomach bugs, croup, several colds, and now an ear infection.  And that has just been in the last six months!

I am thankful for the daycare where we send Kate.  They are very good at incorporating fun learning activities for children of all ages.  But it's times like these when I feel like there are so many extra germs from all the kids and siblings and parents, etc. that I do NOT like daycare.  No one wants to see their baby sick or uncomfortable.  I am no different.  Now, I realize that daycare is not the cause of all illnesses, but it sure does have a lot of extra germs - of which I am not a fan of.

I am hoping and praying that we can keep our family healthy for a while.  No one wants to feel under the weather and no one wants to see their baby, spouse, parent, etc. sick.

While waiting for the doctor, we kept ourselves
occupied by climbing on the ladder...

...weighing ourselves on the big girl scale...

...and playing with the Easter eggs we brought!

Get well soon, Kate.  We love you.

Sky Zone - Part Deux

We headed back to Sky Zone this weekend and met a couple of wonderful friends for a little catch up!  Kate was all about the trampolines this go round!  She was so comfortable in fact that she decided that Sky Zone was her domain which included mindlessly running from one trampoline to another to another.  (You're supposed to stay on your square...)

The videos I took aren't that great, so I will leave you with the sweetest little photo of our tiny trampoliner:

Trust me when I say she was jumping around like she owned the place!

She just makes me smile!

The Porcelain Pink Plastic Throne

I no longer use the bathroom with the door shut.  I've learned that having a child reduces your privacy and quiet bathroom time to a bare minimum.  The ability to pee sans door being closed, with a toddler pulling the toilet paper and running down the hall chasing the dog while dinner is on the stove bubbling over, no doubt, is just one of those parental rights of passage I think.  Well, folks, I'm there.  I've crossed over.  I have forsaken all future privacy by becoming a Mommy.

In line with this, when you have someone tagging along with you to the loo who is curious and learning all about the world around her, you can create a great learning experience from it!  From using the toilet, to washing hands, to doing a quick mirror check, there's always something to be learned!

Since Kate has shown an interest in the potty, Brian and I decided to pick up two potties (one for each bathroom) so that she would get used to them being there.  (Yes, from here onward the "toilet" will be referred to as the "potty".)  If she didn't want to sit on the potty we wouldn't force her.  We both realize that she is still quite young to be potty training, but if she was interested and wanted to get her feet wet, well then by all means we were going to let her.

I put both potties in our bathrooms - one downstairs and one upstairs two weeks ago.  The very first night, right before Kate's bath, I asked her if she would like to sit on the potty.  She walked over, sat on her pink potty, AND PEED IN THE POTTY like she had been doing this all along!  I kid you not, people.  Kate's very first go at sitting on the potty produced results.  And while you may not want to read an entire post about peeing on the potty, you are already half way through and I forgot to warn you about it, so you might as well just continue reading.

She literally peed in her potty!  I was amazed and shocked and not prepared AT ALL with any sort of treats or stickers or anything but A TON OF PRAISE and a potty dance because that's all this Mama could think of at the moment.  We even brought Daddy in on the potty praise!  And Brian and I were just so proud!

It's potty time!

We carried on our with bath time as usual but in that very moment I felt my toddler slipping away and a beautiful, smart, funny little girl taking her place.  Time must slow down.  She performed such a big girl feat but she is still so little.  I know Kate will be my toddler for a little bit longer now but she is growing up and she is growing up fast.  I am reminded in these moments of what my Uncle Kerry told me when we found out we were expecting: Don't blink!  Amen.

Over the last two weeks we have let Kate tell us if she is interested in using the potty before bath time.  We ask her if she would like to use the potty.  If she does, she sits on it, sometimes fully clothed, sometimes not.  If she doesn't, we get right in the bath tub and never look back. I'll tell you what, if you thought that one time was just a coincidence, how do you explain the fact that she has used the potty nearly every night consistently, right before her bath and one time, for the very first time, last night right after her bath??  She even said "pah" and pointed to the potty before she went after her bath last night.  Yeah, explain that one to me.

We know that where Kate goes to school they do not potty train in the classroom she is in.  We will have to wait until she is moved up to the older classroom which could potentially not happen for a few more months.  We don't want to confuse her or discourage her and while it is a minor set back we are still fortunate to be in the situation we are in with her wonderful daycare and know that Kate will do great at potty training now or in a few months.

Brian and I were beaming with joy over her accomplishment!  While potty training is on the horizon, we continue to be surprised and shocked and amazed at what a brilliant little girlie we have next to our sides!  Just think, pretty soon we'll be saying our potty prayers and officially saying goodbye to diapers!  Now that, folks, is amazing!

Taste the Rainbow

With the recent celebration of St. Patrick's Day and spring looming in the near future, Kate and her class have been learning all about rainbows.  ROY G BIV adorns Kate's classroom decor, they've made rainbow art projects, learned about all the colors and pretty much basked in the idea that soon, very soon, they will see real rainbows outside!!!  To top it all off, her class decided to commemorate all the colorful fun by celebrating "Rainbow Day" today!

I lieu of Rainbow Day, Kate and I embarked on a little rainbow project ourselves to bring to her party: an edible rainbow!!

No, seriously, TASTE the rainbow.  It's real.

Our edible marshmallow rainbows turned out so FANTASTICALLY that even we were impressed!  And it was SO EASY to make these fun little guys!  We accomplished this task in five easy steps (repeated 75 times because we made 15 rainbows):

ONE: Gather your ingredients - marshmallows, sanding sugar,
a bowl of water, skewers, and toothpicks.

TWO: Dip your marshmallow stuck on a toothpick in water.
(We chose mini marshmallows but you very well could use big ones.)

THREE: Roll your dipped marshmallow in sanding sugar.

FOUR: Let your marshmallows dry for a few hours.

FIVE: Stick 'em on a skewer!

And voilà!  Your very own tasty rainbow!  The incredible things about these edible rainbows are 1.) they are easy to make, 2.) they are so cool when they are done, 3.) you can choose any colors to combine - not just the colors of the rainbow, and 4.) they are a HUGE hit with any crowd!

We stuck ours in a little bag with a note that said, 'Taste the
rainbow! ♥ Kate xx!'

Plus, they are so colorful and fun that they just make you smile when you see them!  We are kind of glad that the rainbow goldfish and the rainbow fruit kabobs were already taken when we signed up to participate!  It allowed us to explore something new and have fun while we were at it!

For your viewing pleasure because we took a gazillion pics with this project, here are some more that are too fun, cute, pretty, or colorful to pass up!

Kate played with her [clean] spoons and forks in the dishwasher.

While I got busy sanding marshmallows!

Shortly thereafter, she was very interested in the toothpicks.

So I put a few in a bowl that she could play with and asked
her to please not poke her eye out.

Then I got back to sanding!

Meanwhile, Kate moved on to the tupperware cabinet.

And I kept sanding...here is a close up!

Our drying rainbow!

We have a ton of sand...er, sugar...er, sanding sugar left!

The note on Kate's bag!

The final products!

Kate's goodie bag from class included:
rainbow stickers, an egg full of rainbow goldfish,
a necklace made of fruit loops, and our tasty treat!

Kate literally gets to taste her rainbow!

And trust me when I say it was a good rainbow!

This is what we were left with!

For the record, this is more or less what Peeps are made of.  And those who know me know that it's hard for me to pass up a Peep!  I will say that the store bought Peeps have really perfected their sanding and sugar.  Their sugar is a bit finer than what I was working with and their sanding is even overall.  (I suppose being in business for over 50 years and having automated machines process your sanding could help.)  Still, this could be dangerous knowledge in the wrong hands!

Happy Rainbow Day!

250 Years Ago

It was 1764.  Native American Indians were the prime inhabitants of the Ohio area but the American and French had started moving west.  From the 1750's to the early 1800's there was a clash of power between the Native Americans who had lived on this land and the new settlers from the east.  The United States of America did not exist; that would come almost 20 years later through the American Revolutionary War.  Once the US of A was formed, we had yet to recognize George Washington as the first President; that would come 25 years later.  And it wasn't until nearly 40 years after that that Ohio officially became a state...

..but around 1764 there was a little seed that sprouted from the ground.  It surpassed all the other seedlings and fought over the next 250 years to capture sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow strong, tall, and healthy.  It would later become known as an American Linden or Basswood, a native tree to this area.  It lived through rain, snow, sun, sleet, and hail; historic summers, falls, winters, and springs.  It provided shade for generations of children to run beneath, homes for other animals, branches to perch on.  It grew and grew and grew and competed with other trees around to become one of the oldest standing trees in the area.  In 1764, that little seedling began its 250 year life in our backyard.

250 years later.

When we moved into our house back in 2010, we learned that this tree was in decline.  We spoke to arborists, we injected it with some magic solution, we spoke to more arborists, but each subsequent year it had several more branches that just didn't leaf out.  In addition to its decline, it had a severe lean right over top of our house.  Having an old 250 year old declining tree leaning over your house is a little unnerving.  So, despite our best efforts to save this monstrous tree, we decided to have it removed.

Before and after from the front.

Before: Leaning over the house.

Before: That tree top loomed directly over our bedroom.

X marks the spot.  As if there were several 250 year old trees in our
backyard...only one to our knowledge...

Jack wonders what tree he will chase squirrels around now.

After: No more looming...and no more squirrels.

All logs 'a loaded!

And we are left with a stump...

Kate wonders where we put our tree.
Did they hide it underneath??

What we saw and what we now see when we look up.

The arborists were loading the last of the tree limbs when Kate and I got home.  They told us that one of them was up in the tree from about 9:30 am until 1:30 pm getting all the limbs cut down.  When we asked them if they thought we could've done anything else to save it, they said no and that the tree was so rotten inside that the wood was soft instead of hard.  When Kate and I felt it, you could even feel the softness.  They said that the tree had been rotting well before the time that we moved in and that ants had damaged it as well.  Kate and I inquired about the age of the tree with them too.  It was so rotten inside that we couldn't even see the tree rings to count to determine the exact age, but the specialists estimated that it was, "at least 250 years old".

It amazes me to think that a tree in our backyard had been around that long.  Putting it into perspective really emphasizes how young the United States of America really is.  We just cut down a tree that was here before this country was even a country!  (At least according to the arborists.)  Blasphemy!

Nonetheless, the leaning tree is no more.  In a few days, the arborist team will come back and grind the stump.  And in a few months, hopefully we have a nice patch of grass where our old tree used to grow.  We are not without worry, but it is very relieving to know that the tree that loomed over top of us does not pose any more danger with high winds, or gentle breezes for that matter!

UPDATE
The stump grinders came and ... grinded the stump.  Shocking, I know.

It was actually pretty cool!

Kate and I watched from the second floor!

We are now left with a pile of wood chips in our yard.  Hopefully we'll have another update on those soon!

UPDATE II
The tree mulch has officially been removed.  We are 100% tree-less.

Any bets on how long it'll take for grass to grow?!

And here is our final before and after:

So long, tree.  You will be missed.