Rays of Sunshine

Well I am fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home momma to my sweet little Keylee and a caregiver to another sweet girl part time - Jens. After working in corporate America for 9 years it has been a very fun change. So now my days are filled with chores, toys, diapers, sing-a-longs and the like - as well as blog posting, calls for an event I’m planning, and DiY projects in between. Here is a typical day for me if such a thing exists, they are always different with new adventures and surprises.

As you learned about me yesterday I am NOT a morning person, so I roll out of bed at about 7:30 after my alarm goes off at 7:25, usually. However, today Key has decided that she wants to get up early so the hubbs (who is going to be home from work today) rolls out of bed at 5 till 7 to go and get her and I follow a few minutes later. Breakfast is fun these days, our child who thinks she is much older than she is has decided she no longer likes her booster/highchair so we get to see if she will go for it or not. Some meals she now eats at the table but some we force in the booster for the messy factor. Yogurt is one of those forced meals:

As she enjoys her yogurt mess I run in the bedroom and throw on some gym clothes and pony my hair just in time to get to the door as I hear a knock for drop off. Jens is here and she takes off running to the playroom with Keylee following behind her. Our day has officially begun. I grab a banana to eat for breakfast while I clean up the yogurt. We sing our ABCs as we point to the letters posted in the dining room, count our numbers also.

The girls drag out the dress up box and have fun with its contents changing and trading. We all take a trip to the potty as Keylee announces she needs to go, sometimes she follows through and other times she just sits there while we read “Are You My Mother.” A while later Jens takes her turn she, in fact, uses the potty this time, yay Jens! We are not fully into potty training but are certainly entertaining any trips they’d like to take. Throw a load of laundry in the washer (almost out of laundry soap, we’ll have to make some more), notice the load of towels in the dryer I didn’t fold yesterday, leave said towels in the dryer and move to something else.

Around 9 Jens lays down for her morning nap and Keylee and I get our workout in (Key no longer takes a morning nap). She mostly watches while I workout but occasionally she jumps in a does a few “push-ups” of her own. After our workout I’m off to get ready and Keylee gets to be on lockdown in the master bed/bath with me. I drag her some books and toys to play with into the room but mostly she like to peek-a-boo me while I’m in the shower.

It’s about 10:30 and Key and I go outside to water the garden. We had a pretty good little garden this year, the summer heat killed a lot of our plants but the tomatoes and okra are still going strong. Keylee loves to water the garden cause she gets to play with the hose and get soaking wet. We pick a few almost ripe tomatoes to stick in the windowsill and snag a few okra to cut up and throw in the freezer for later.

11:00 Jens wakes up and we do another set of diaper changes, did I mention we are encouraging trips to the potty. J Girls run off to play for a few minutes while I get their lunch plates ready. We set up for and eat lunch. Keylee is now ok with sitting in her booster because Jens is in the extra high chair. After lunch we do a quick (I wish) change and go outside to play in the pool (we got a great deal on a kiddie pool this year for $19. It is an 8 ft round 24 inch deep pool. Perfect size). Keylee has always loved the water, Jens likes it a lot more now than she used to. We got Keylee arm floaties this year and she loves them. She is a child with little to no fear so arm floaties provide the freedom she wants and safety she needs. According to the girls swim time is over and they want “out.” We dry off and go in the house for a quick rinse off in the bath to get off the few chemicals from the pool. Girls are clean, dry and dressed and we read a few more books before nap time for both of them. Ahh yes! They are down for nap and I’m off to fold those towels and make that laundry soap.

Quick aside: this homemade laundry soap recipe was given to me by a dear friend. She was so excited about it and really was going to save the world a load at a time. “Less than a penny a load” she would say. My sweet friend passed this year after battling breast cancer. She was quite an amazing person; I’ll share more about her with you someday. In the meantime, here is the recipe if you’d like to give it a try:

Ingredients:
1/3 bar (grated) Fels-Naptha Soap  -OR-  1 bar (grated) Ivory Soap
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Washing Soda

You will need: cheese grater, (2) gallon jugs, large funnel, large soup pot

Directions: Grate the soap using a cheese grater or food processor. In a large soup pot, place about 6 cups of water and the grated soap. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer on medium-low for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Washing Soda and Borax, stirring occasionally, and be careful to watch for boil over. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, making sure everything is dissolved. Carefully divide the hot liquid between the two gallon jugs, using a large funnel if necessary. Fill the jugs halfway with hot tap water, put the lids on and give ‘em a good shake. Fill with more hot water, to an inch or two from the top. Shake again. After a few hours, the final product will probably contain gel-like clumps. This is normal and improves each time you shake!

Directions for use: Shake well before each use. Use 1/2 cup per load. This soap does not cause suds.

For High Efficiency machines, use less per load since less water is used.

Optional: If you prefer scented laundry detergent, try adding 10-15 drops of your favorite essential oil, such as Lavender, Lemongrass, or Orange. (Add after it’s done boiling.)

I also have some business to take care of today, I am the event coordinator for a non-profit annual gala and some phone calls have to be made to ensure we are on track with everything. After phone calls and messages left I’m off to finish up a few bows and fun things for a baby shower I have tonight for a friend. I’ll do a tutorial on easy hair bows soon for those little girls in your life. Baby shower gift finished and ready and the girls are up. I grab some veggies, potatoes and sausage out of the fridge and cut them up to cook later for dinner.

4:30 and time for snack. Then off to play outside, the weather is cooling off just a bit so it is actually bearable to play outside a bit. Swing swing each says so we take turns. I think Keylee would swing forever if someone would continue pushing her.

5:45 rolls around and Jens’ mom pulls up to pick her up. We chat about the day and off they go. I throw the veggies in the skillet to cook up dinner and Keylee runs off to play in the playroom with daddy (he has been home today, participating in most of our activities but also doing some work on the side. most days he is not home but we really love it when he is). Bryan finishes up dinner for me while I run and get dressed for the shower. Grab my present and with a kiss I’m out the door.

I get to celebrate the birth of a dear friends new baby girl soon to arrive. Stories of babies and births and sweet smells and not so sweet smells. Love it!

I’ll crawl into bed tonight having had a full but very fun day. I am so blessed and really try to be thankful for each moment. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend. Mine start tomorrow morning bright and early with a yard sale to get rid of some of the stuff I’ve been clearing out of the house. Here’s hoping for no rain.

Daspri