Planning, and Menus, and Diapers Oh My!

I have been planning lots. It is the only way to get through the holidays with some sanity left. So, I plan. I have been planning school, meals, shower time, holidays, laundry times, housework in general times...just a whole lotta planning. Honestly, I find that keeping on top of my schedule really keeps things running smoothly.

One of the biggest deterents to scheduling is the phone, another is the computer. I tend to avoid both knowing it will suck me in. If a friend calls, I want to talk. If I get online to check on something, then before I know what's happened I have gone down one seriously long rabbit trail. If you are anything like me then you completely get what I am saying and might just be cringing just a little bit. I mean, it is rather shameful that an adult can't manage his or her time on the internet and phone, but you are not alone.

Every fall I pull out my Saving Dinner

because it is a really great resource for those times when you don't have time to plan out a weeks worth of well rounded dinners. The cookbook is broken up into four categories: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer with eight weeks of menus in each category. Each week also includes a grocery list, nutrition information, and serving suggestions that are seasonally appropriate. The recipes don't call for canned (fake) food but fresh ingredients. We eat many more seasonal foods since using this cookbook than ever before. Now, in all truthfulness there have been a few recipes that we didn't particularly care for (and that is saying something since my children will eat most everything including sushi, yes all of them). But all in all it is worth its weight in gold.

Last Friday, August 7 to be exact, I put in a couple of orders. One of them was to


Glabal Enfante...They offered free shipping. Guess what arrived Monday, 3 days later? My order! I was surprised, and very. I like natural fabrics on my baby and so I do like the wool covers. Global Enfantes carries Sugar Peas


I put in an order about a month on Saturday, August 1st to Cotton Babies and my order arrived on Friday, August 7th. What is worse is the small print with Cotton Babies, a 10% restocking fee for all returns. Sorry Cotton Babies, I am moving on up to Global Enfante! I put in yet another order to Glabal Enfante, because they have NO restocking fee and care about customer service;) I will return the one item that was too big without a penalty for being a customer. Plus, I put in an order for an extra special something that I will share about when it arrives.

I have used cloth with all my children. To be honest, I used a diaper service for six months with my first two, but the next two I used cloth with through potty training. Now, with Holly, we had so much going on medically that I didn't use them as I normally would have, but we are back on track. Although, I will say with all the extremes (constipation and then the opposite) it is sometimes comical that I add more laundry to my 7 people household. We like cloth, we prefer cloth. Yes, so does my husband, he actually prefers the prefolds with pins...no kidding. We like the Cloth-eez Prefolds at Green Mountain Diapers. So soft and absorbent. The fit is great too. I use a Snappi as I get a much trimmed fit, but dh is better with pins, so we use both. Cloth is really not an increase in work. Think about it, throw a load in the washer when you get low. No running out at night to get diapers. There are so many choices in cloth that your head will spin. You don't even need pins or snappis, buy an all-in-one( a diaper with an attached cover and snaps or velcro closures).

I am very willing to do a give away, by the way. I will just put your name in a bowl Corinne, and draw it out. Any particular colors you were hoping for?