Huggies and Heroes...

Huggies Slip On's---What's your take?

Well, here's mine.

To be honest, I don't normally buy Huggies diapers.  As a first time mom I experienced severe absorbency issues (newborn boys maybe?) and in babies more recent...allergy rashes.  I'm just not a huge fan. 

But...I thought I would give these puppies a try and ended up scoring them for only $3.99/Jumbo pack (using some mad couponing skills)...hoping, of course, that the newborn skin sensitivity was a thing of the past for Mr. Golden Locks.  

(Warning:  Possible soap box moment below)

While they have generally been fine, I have had concerns with the snuggness of their fit.  The whole add campaign revolves around easy diapering for the active baby.  I find that simply slipping them on does not secure them to the babies form and therefore having to take the time to undo and readjust the "adjustable straps" then deafeats the purpose of their whole creation.  Am I right?  I mean, if you then have to lay them down in order to adjust the velcro-ish thing-y's (because let's face it, in my experience, no active baby is going to stand still long enough for you to adjust them without trying to run off, right?) then Huggies whole campaign is blown out of the water, right?

(Excuse me while I step down...)

So...as a stubborn consumer, hail bent on using the product as intended (whether or not it actually works), I haven't been making the adjustment (pure laziness on my part).  

Let's just say that there has been a whole lotta' butt crack going on over here as of late. 

Other than that, no real problems.....

Until today.

I'm cleaning up after lunch and "Mini Rob" comes into the kitchen, "Mom...Mom...Moooooooooom....come here, come here, come here."

"Just a second,"  I say in typical "mommy's concentrating on something else" fashion.

He persists....

So do I.  

Then I get a feeling (I call them "Mommy Revelations")......and think, maybe I should listen to him.

"Okay [Mini Rob] what do you want to show me."

"Come here....come here."

He drags me off to the toy room.  When we reach the outskirts (aka the door) he pauses, points towards the corner, and says,  "Look."

I do as I am told. 

There I find Mr. Golden Locks squatting down...playing with some toys...with the "Niagara Falls of Poop" cascading forth from the back of his diaper.

I spring into action.  

Running over to Mr. Locks, I grab him around the waist, swing him upside down and start yelling orders as I sprint over to the "changing area"...."'Little Red' towel....'Mini Rob' garbage bag....'You' (pointing at the little Mr.) stop wiggling.  Hold still.  NOW!"  

The crisis was soon over, damages assessed....a sigh of relief.  

It could have been much worse.  The blob of brown goo was quickly loosing ground....gravity was winning....it could have ended up on the floor, and who knows how far it could have been tracked then.

Sigh...

"Mini Rob" wins Hero of the Day!   Thank you for you attentiveness and saving me from a lot of grief.  

Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me a "Mommy Revelation" to remind me that maybe, just maybe I should listen to my children every once and a while (and therefore be saved a lot of anxiety and work).

As for the diapers....not super impressed.  But...be as it might, I have two packages left....I guess I will just have to make the most of them (and pray for the best).

So...have you tried them out?  What do you think?

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My hope for the future

My hope for the future is that what I do today will prepare my boys to have hearts as pure as these boys.  Such an incredible story.

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Eclectic fashion in our home of XY's

We used to live in the land of outfits.

Drawers and drawers of matching items.  It was blissful.

Well, as you can imagine with four boys...those kind of luxuries were short lived.

Shirts are stained, ripped, distroyed...eventually earning them a home in the nearest landfill, leaving their matching counterpart sad and alone...but still very functional. 

Pants generally sprout holes rather quickly, within a matter of DAYS sometimes, and are repaired accordingly until there comes a time when they can no longer be recognized as pants.  Hello shorts.  But after time, even the shorts start to sprout holes in the most unusual of places, looking a bit like Swiss cheese (does this happen to you?), and they end up joining their long lost friends in the landfill.

Add to the eclecticism, the boxes and boxes of clothes people give to us (and believe me...we get A LOT!)  You know...The survivors from THEIR children's wardrobes...some most of which have already parted with THEIR matching counterparts as well.

The pile of eclectic fashion grows.

My point...

We have the makings of some VERY exciting outfits under our roof.  VERY exciting!

Here are some of my favorites!

 Our 4 year old

 (he's going to be SO excited when winter finally comes and we actually get snow...if we get snow)

 and

Our 5 year old

 (Sarcasm emphasized in italics)

Between the thumping of the moon boots and the clicking of the cowboy boots, these two turn a lot of heads.  Once the heads are turned the comments fly.  It's AMAZING!

My reply, "Well...at least they get themselves dressed in the morning."

I mean, really....that's what matters to me.

I wonder if I would feel differently if they were girls.  I'd like to think I would....you know, that I would want my girls to be cutesy and pretty and put together all of the time....but in reality, I'm not so sure. 

I guess it really doesn't matter...since I they aren't and I don't.

By the way, a sweet sweet friend of mine recently dropped off another box of clothes.  I'm currently somewhere in the process of sorting and washing.

Just think....A whole new world of interesting. 

Can't wait to see what they will come up with next!


P.S.  I just wanted to emphasize that we are always VERY grateful for the offerings we receive.  We have a hard enough time feeding a house of boys, let alone clothing them. :)  We have truly been blessed by others generosity.

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Adventures in Frugalness Take 2

You didn't think I forgot did you?  I told you I would be making a yummy peach pie with peaches from my  last adventure in frugalness.  And I did.  It's just taken me a long time to post about it.  Mostly because the pictures are now being taken from my phone (still not used to that) and secondly because it has been a rough week and I just didn't feel like it.

But...without further ado...here she is.

 Nope...the pics not great...but then I'm not a photographer...and I have never really been one for presentation (which I did NOT learn from my mother---she makes everything pretty).

But I can assure you, it was to die for.  I even made the crust myself (which almost didn't happen because of my September 11th/coming-off-anti-depressants mood swings on Sunday).  Luckily I pulled myself together because...well...I didn't have a boxed crust in the fridge to supplement with (you know, the whole frugal thing).

I got the pie recipe here
and
the crust recipe here

As much as I'd like to lie...I'm not gonna'.  We ate that sucker in 2 days (as in Sunday and Monday)...and by "we", I mean Rob, G-McBabe and I.  The other boys didn't like it.  Isn't that sickening...in a really yummy way?
 

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Spotted Fox--LOCAL Tri-City/Yakima DEALS

Hey to all my Tri-Cities local friends and buddies. I just found this new and awesome local "deal" site.

The best thing about it (other than it's local for us) is that they let you choose which type of deals you want e-mailed to you. You can even choose how often. That's awesome.

If you sign up right now, you can also get a $5 credit to your account. And let me tell you...the deal today....$10 worth of gourmet cupcakes for only $5. Um....YUM!

Check it out here

They are also looking to expand to YOUR city....if you would like that...go there and check it out too.   

P.S. Leave a comment! I love to hear from you!

long lost treasures

Since I dropped our camera, and no longer have use of it, we have been using our cell phones to take pictures.

I wanted to finally post "first day of school" pictures (which will be coming soon...they need a bit of cropping first) but couldn't remember where the USB cable ended up.  When I inquired of Rob all I got was a,  "I don't know."  It was then we realized that in the two years we have owned these phones, neither of us have ever actually tried to get pictures off the them.  Huh.

Needless to say, that when we finally downloaded the pictures today (all 60-ish or so), we discovered some long lost treasures.

Mini Rob and Little Red at Rob's work party TWO years ago...this month.

Look how little and cute.  Sigh....

 

and here is G-McBabe and the same time.  So so cute.

  

Little Red sometime in the fall of '09 (I'm guessing)

He's just so little...and chubby...I can't get over it.

 

Mini Rob and Little Red---I think at Costo (Dec '09 ?)

coveting those wire framed horses

 

Pictures of the cool "Star Wars" themed room at the pediatricians office

we took Mr. Golden Locks to when he was a newborn.

my boys LOVED this room.

Mr. Golden Locks--I'm guessing this was taken in November of 2010.  

Before his hair turned into a mass of golden curls.

How I love my curly haired little thumb sucker.

 Little Red--the ever photogenic one.

I can't remember when this was taken.  I'm guessing fall of 2010 or spring of 2011...

but I do remember him asking me to take a picture of him in the tree.  

He smile melts my heart every time (except when he's being mischievous and naughty).

These last three we found on Rob's phone.  He's way more into taking picture of "scenery" than people.

Now...I'm not much into the scenery kind of things but these beauties were pretty cool.

 Picture of a sunrise---infused with mist---over the river.

(taken from Rob's office)

Mural on the wall of a Carneceria in a neighboring city.

Too funny!

The fountain in front of Rob's office building.

Apparently someone forgot to shut the water off for the winter.

I wonder if they had any pipe problems after that.  :)

Makes for a pretty cool picture, though.

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Adventures in Frugalness Take 1---Basic Granola Recipe too!

I thought I might as well document my adventures in forced frugality since in all likelyhood it will end up taking all of my time and I will have nothing else to write about.  This is installment #1 and may just be the only installment ever made either because I give up on this whole "saving money" thing and go bankrupt instead, or am so busy cooking, cleaning, and balancing checkbooks that I no longer have time to post.  Huh.....

This morning, I decided to take my mother's advise, after yesterday's disaster (see post here), and broaden my breakfast menu horizons.  I woke (or, more accurately, was awakened) bright and early, no kidding...it was like 6:30AM, and jumped right a double batch of granola. Yum....I love granola.  My mother assured me it is rather inexpensive as long as you forgo any of the tasty goodness.  Just kidding...she didn't add that last bit...and it's not true.  Granola is just as good plain as it is with the additions. (I decided to share my recipe with you, you lucky devil...it's at the bottom  of the post).

After I was done with the granola, I carted 2 kids off to soccer practice...picked up a box of peaches on my way home...made lunch...vacuumed my house (okay...most of it)...put my kids down for naps...and MADE PEACH FREEZER JAM!  I peeled and put away enough peaches for 3 pies, one of which I will make tomorrow...and there are even some FRESH peeled peaches to go on top of...yep, you guessed it....GRANOLA tomorrow morning.  


Yeah...I know....I'm a domestic diva today.

Nope...I'm not trying to brag...just trying to document some accomplishments so I can come back later and prove to myself that I'm not a complete failure in the kitchen/mommy department.

Okay...so here's the recipe.



Basic Granola
(from Mama Cindy's cookbook --aka it's my mom's recipe---and yes, it's from an actual cookbook, of the three ring binder variety that is chalk full of family favorite recipes from our childhood...and beyond.  It's awesome!)  Anyhow....to the recipe.

6 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almond
1/4 cup sesame seeds  (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil (can use half olive oil)
3/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried fruit (optional)

Stir dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Mix oil and honey together, heat on low until honey is warm and runny.  Stir in vanilla.  Add to dry ingredients; stir until evenly coated.  Spread on 2 cookie sheets.  Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned.  For finer granola stir every 5 minutes--for chunkier granola don't stir at all.  Add dried fruit after granola is cool.  Store in airtight container.  Keeps for 2-3 weeks.

My mom has tried dates (ugh), mango, and craisins for a tropical mix; dried blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries for a plain fruit mix as well. 

I am cheap, poor,  frugal...so, if my kids want fruit, they can add a few raisins.

Next time I'm going to try cutting down the oil.  Yeah, it makes it yummy...but I don't think ALL of it is necessary.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 


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Stubborn Syndrome vs. Starving Children In Africa

My children have a tendency to be quite stubborn.  I'd like to blame it all on their father...but that would be a lie...because let me tell you, when it comes down to a battle of wills....I do NOT back down...at least not all the way.  I like to call it "consistency"...some people have other ideas, I am sure.

Because of our new money saving strategies (born out of desperation to hold onto what little we have) we have been forced to experiment a lot more with food budgets and food consumption....which has led to a HUGE change in our breakfast menu (as in branching out from large portions of cold cereal everyday...and sticking to the olden days breakfast of champions.  Oatmeal...Oatmeal...and, you guessed it, more oatmeal.

The kids don't seem to mind, but I am thoroughly bored with it, which is actually quite ironic since when we did have cold cereal I CHOSE to eat oatmeal everyday (at least most days) and now that I am "FORCED" to eat it...I don't want to.  Honestly!

Anyway... I've been trying to experiment and add a little variety to "the norm" some mornings, which has resulted in some pretty unsavory tantrum throwing.  My kids do NOT like to try new things unless there are super human amounts of sugar involved.

This is what a typical conversation on "experiment morning" sounds like...
Them- "WHAT is THAT?"
Me--"insert food name here"
Them--"That's DISGUSTING", "That's not what I asked for." "I'M NOT GOING TO EAT IT!" "WAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
 Me--"Well...suit yourself...but this is what we are having"
Them--"I'D RATHER EAT NOTHING!"
Me--"Okay...well that is your choice."

Typically after rehashing this conversation over and over, I loose my patience and go off on my "There are starving children in Africa (which is the argument I heard when I was young) who have no food to eat...and you are NOT going to waste this and mock their suffering...you should be grateful for what you have" speech.

"Well...I'm still not going to eat it."

"That's your choice," I reply, "but you can not eat anything else until this is gone. PERIOD."

And I stick to it....I do.

Well...this morning was no exception.  All I tried to do is add a little germade to the oatmeal.  You would think I had taken away their birthdays with all the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  HONESTLY!

The two oldest eventually relented, because they REALLY wanted some cinnamon butter toast (which I would only let them have AFTER they had emptied their bowls of whole grain goodness), but Mr. More Stubborn Than Them All (aka 4 year old Mini Rob) was not about to give in.  Typical!

He held strong...all day long.  Through snack time and even though lunch time...choosing to go take a nap instead of eating, though he was totally complaining of hunger.

I had to do something.  As much as I want to stick my ground, the poor kid had not eaten all day and was getting grumpier by the second.  So when he woke up from his nap I had two things to consider.

What could I offer him to entice him out of his stubborn stupor (I mean, the poor kid was starving)?  and What could I do to make his experience more enjoyable (maybe heat up the now refrigerated mass of goo that was formerly recognizable as hot cereal)?

In answer to the first question...I decided to pull out the big guns.....HOT CHOCOLATE!  Mini Rob's favorite!

and the second...I relented and heated up the cereal for him....yeah, I'm that nice. 

Worked like a charm.  No matter that it's 100 degrees outside right now....the mention of hot chocolate was too irresistible. 

He scarfed down the now warm raisin filled goo and got his hand on some "Schocowate.  I wuv schocowate."

I'm a genius...I know.

Although...maybe I should stop experimenting for a while....avoid the situation all together.  Makes me all agitated from the day's get-go and it sure doesn't make them happy either.  Lose-Lose kinda thing.


My mom suggested that I possibly make up weekly a breakfast menu and start changing it up a bit.

"Yeah....but that will take a lot of effort," I whined in a yeah-that's-a-good-idea-but-I-don't-wanna sort of way.

I just wanna be lazy...stay in my bed in the mornings while they pour themselves a bowl and chow down.  Is that too much to ask?  sigh....

If I were rich I would spend all of my money on cold cereal and milk dispensers for my kitchen and a never ending supply of food to fill them.  Yeah...it means that much to me.

Although...now that I think of it, if I were rich I would probably send lots of money over to Africa for those poor starving children.  That would be the more Christlike thing to do, right?

Maybe I could do both..........when I'm rich someday, of course.     Hmmmmm....



P.S.  Don't tell my kids...but about the germade/oatmeal...I had to gag it down myself.....blegh!


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"Testosterone Overload kills brain cells"

I decided, just now, to Google the name of my blog, Testosterone Overload, and see what it came up with.

Of course a link to my blog did, but just a few hits down I saw this one.

Testosterone Overload Kills Brain Cells - Early Retirement ...

It made me laugh....really hard.

As the only female in a home with a definite overload of testosterone I can totally identify with this statement.

Slaughtered brain cells....check.

Looking for early retirement....check.




ha ha ha ha ha....love it.




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Pictureless for an undetermained amount of time.

Sigh...

This blog shall remain picture-less for an undetermined amount of time. 

Why?

I broke my camera...my $350 camera....yeah....

CRAP!

First, I dropped it.  I seem to have a nack for that kind of thing.

It wasn't a huge fall, but it did something to the lens.  It wouldn't zoom in and out and it messed with the function of it enough that the camera would not take pictures. 

We have no...as in, ZERO, ZILCH...local camera repair shops.  Just to send it in to the nearest qualified Panasonic repair shop would cost over 1/2 of the camera's original price...plus parts.  Oh yeah...and....I don't have any money.  Bummer.

My solution?

Take it apart and "fix" it myself.  (a trait I inherited from my father...only he is an engineer and knows what he is doing.  Note to self....get a degree in engineering before attempting something like this again!)

It went fairly well....

until the very very end.  I messed SOMETHING up  ????? and now it wont even turn on.

DOUBLE CRAP!

Big ginormous sigh....

Does anyone have am extra camera lying around the house that I can borrow for a while or buy for super super cheap?
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