WFMW - Laundry tips

Today for WFMW, I've got some laundry tips to share:



Lingerie bags - they're great for keeping little socks together. At some point in our various moves, we got away from using them. Now I've got a clothes basket full of socks in my room that are missing mates. Every so often, I go through them and mate them, So we really need to get back to using them for socks. But, the original reason I bought them was for my clothes that I didn't want to go through the dryer. I put my hand knits, bras, etc in them and told hubby that when he saw that bag it was stuff that didn't get put in the dryer. It made it much easier for both of us. I've seen different colored bags so you could use one for socks and one for the line dry clothes. Or you could tie a ribbon to one to tell them apart.

Laundry markers - I hate pairing socks. Not so much the colored ones, but the white ones that all look the same. I use to put a little colored thread on the toe, a different color for each pair. But then hubby came up with the idea of numbering them with a laundry marker (Sharpie makes a good one). He numberd them on the bottom for a while, but has switched to doing it on the inside of the cuff where it's less likely to wear off. They're so much easier to pair now!

Odo Ban - I've got a bed wetter and her sheets always smelled until I started putting odo ban in the wash too.

Shout - This is my all time favorite stain remover. It rarely let's me down. The few times it has are either with permanent marker or something that missed getting treated the first wash. I keep a bottle in each bedroom and one in the laundry room. I buy it by the gallon at Sam's club.

I hope some of these tips help. For more tips check out WFMW by clicking the banner above.

Check out my craft it forward post. I'm still looking for a few people.

WFMW - Weekend Breakfasts during the Work Week

It's Wednesday once again and over at We are THAT Family, you'll find Works for me Wednesday.

Around our house, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, if for no other reason than the kids eat it consistantly (every day, and all of it). But I don't like to buy a lot of the sugar loaded cereals AND I work full time, so mornings are a little hectic around our house. I do buy cereal, but I try to stick to ones that are lower in sugar (Cheerios, Rice Crispies, Chex, etc), occasionally I'll buy something a little more exciting like Cinnamon Toast crunch, but it almost always goes stale before the box is finished (which doesn't bother the kids, but it tells me that they don't like the sugar coated cereals much either). So, they get tired of the same old cereals and like something different. Here are a few things I offer them:

Muffins - These can be baked on the weekend and either kept in the freezer or in the refrigerator so they can have one during the week without the hassle of baking.

Oatmeal - I've stopped buying the "Instant" Oatmeal packets. We were only getting the regular flavor anyway (they didn't like the flavored ones). And they were often eating more than one pack a morning anyway. So I've been buying a big container of Quick Oats and just making them the same way I did the "Instant" ones. I like a little more flavor to mine, so I often add something to it (chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, raisins, etc).

Waffles - When I make a batch of waffles, usually there's way more than we can eat in one morning. So, I use whatever recipe I want to use (or a mix) and then make them all. The ones we don't eat, I lay flat in a Ziploc bag with wax paper between layers and pop in the freezer . As long as they're flat, they can then be put in the toaster to heat up. (This is a lot cheaper than Eggos and you can control what goes into them if you make them from scratch!)

Pancakes - Same as for waffles, except I usually make them a little on the small side and microwave them instead of toasting them.

Eggs - I take two eggs, scramble them (sometimes with a little milk or water), microwave them in a bowl for 30 seconds, stir then put them in for another 30 seconds. You can add cheese too for the last 30 seconds.

Hopefully you'll get some ideas from this. Next I want to try to find an alternative to frozen "French Toast Sticks" which really aren't much like french toast, but my kids love them. I want to try to find a way to make them myself.

For more ideas and tips head over to We Are that Family (click the image above).
If you like to do crafts, check out my Craft it Forward, there are still a few spots available.

More summer activities

I found the list of summer activities that I'd saved over at an unpink life. There are a lot of great ideas there!

Today's the last day of school around here. Since I work full time the girls are in day care and I don't get the "I'm bored" nearly as often. But I kept this list on my phone so I've got it handy when I do get it. Part of me wishes that I did get the question more often, because that would likely indicate that the girls were spending more time at home.

Just a reminder, there are still opennings for my Craft it Forward.

T-shirt to Hobo Bag

I got several t-shirts from work that I do not want to wear (I don't like what they say on them). But, there's too much fabric in them go unused. So I took one and part of another following the instructions here, I made a hobo bag to carry stuff to and from work in.

Craft it Forward

Over at Caldwell Cuties, Kim did a craft it forward and I'm a lucky recipient!

Check out these cute notecards and notebook she sent me:

And she made me a little purse to keep them in!

I'm envious of people who can create cards like these! I can knit, I can crochet, sew, etc and given a design/layout, I can copy that, but I cannot come up with ideas like this on my own! (Hence why my blog is so plain!). I just don't have the "eye" for it. Kim also sent me some dark chocolate Peanut M&Ms. They're gone, so I can't take a picture, but trust me, they were YUMMY!

Thanks Kim for the great package! And as promised, I'm crafting it forward!


Here are the rules:
1) Be one of the first THREE bloggers to comment on this post.
2) You then agree to share your snail mail address with ME (leave me your e-mail in the comment and I'll contact you) so I can send you a small gift handmade by ME!
3) When you receive your gift, you then blog about this game & link back to my blog in that post. (dont' do it before!)
4) And most importantly, you ALSO AGREE to "craft it forward" (or just pay it forward if you'd rather) and send a small gift to the 3 people who comment on your blog post...

Remember do not post about this until you receive something from me in the mail.

Summer Bordom Busters

Over at We Are that Family, they're having another themed edition of Works for Me Wednesday. This time they're looking for answers to "Mom, I'm Bored". I've come up with a list of 10 (you could do one every week day for two weeks and then repeat!) but, I know in my files I've got a list of other ones somewhere. Check back later in the week, hopefully I'll get it posted.


1) Visit the library - Our library has a summer reading program where the kids (and adults too!) can win prizes. They also have story time where the kids hear stories, sing songs and do a craft. There are multiple libraries in our area too, so we could hit more than one if we wanted to.

2) Go to the Zoo - We've got a zoo pass, it's paid for itself in two trips to the zoo. The nice thing is, I don't feel bad, if we only go for an hour, or if we go and it suddenly starts to pour. Most of the passes offer reciprocation at other zoos too, so we can get into other zoos in the country for half price or free (which makes vacations cheaper!) There are children's museums and aquariums with passes too.

3) Movies - A lot of Movie theaters have a discount kids day (sometimes with special movies) during the week. Check the theaters in your area.

4) Go Bowling! - Check out if your kids can bowl free in your area!

5) Do a craft - My kids have art boxes with all kinds of different supplies in it that they can use pretty much whenever they want. This morning, my daughter made a book bag out of paper, while she was waiting for everyone else to get ready. Crafts don't need to be structured, just give them the supplies and see what they come up with!

6) Make Playdough - Here's my favorite recipe.

7) Make a snack - My kids love helping in the kitchen. Last night, my picky eater ate an entire enchilada because she helped make it. Even if it's not time for a snack, maybe they can do something to help prepare for dinner: make bread, make jello, snap green beans, etc.

8) Make crayons - Take old, broken crayons and give them new life by taking the wrappers off and melting them in a muffin pan (in the oven, or try it outside!).

9) Plant a garden - I'm giving a small section of my flower bed to my daughter to plant in. She's already got some daisies that we're going to transplant to there and a few other seeds. I was hoping to give her some tomato plants too, but I don't think I'll have extras now.

10) Play with water - When my youngest was one, she had a blast when I gave her a bowl of water and an old yogurt cup to play with outside on the patio. Older kids can play does it sink or float with various objects. They can also learn about volume by guessing which containers hold more water. You could always try making paper boats too!

For more Summer activities check out Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.

(For the record, I know I misspelled boredom in the title, but if I change it now, it'll break the Mr Linky, and I HATE broken links)