The One About All the Trash

So 2018 started our journey and quest to be more natural, going chemical free, and being more green. I know for us and having a million bad habits, not being very eco friendly and using tons of house hold products that are full of chemicals, this would be hard.
I've been wanting to do this for quite some time and I'veslowly made a few changes over the last few years. I stopped using dryer sheets and now use free and clear detergents, stopped using paper plates, use plant based/chemical free makeup, use home made soaps, and eat organic/ hormone free meat.


Several of my friends use essential oils and would talk about them and try to get me to buy them and I just didn't see the point. But after seeing some things my friend Jen posted about using essential oils in her daily life and just being genuine and not "in your face" about it, not being part of a trend,  made me want to try them out. When my whole family was sick, she dropped off a roller of thieves for us to use. I was so grateful for that gesture!  At that moment I thought, yup I need this. I need this next step. That was just in February. So I started diffusing some oils and making a few of my own products and just being more aware of what we put in and on our bodies that are toxic. I down loaded the app think dirty to see how awful the products I was using really were. (Seriously download the app you will be shocked! Also, did you know it only takes 26 seconds for your skin to absorb what you put on it?)

Then I watched a video about plastic straws and it said that we use over 500 million straws a day...... hold up, what??!?!  Right then and there I thought, nope we're gonna be straw free. (I know I'm moving mountains right?! ) That's a lot of plastic! Thats a lot of wasted material that doesn't get recycled and also winds up in the ocean etc etc.... So then, seconds after I decided my family would be straw free, I decided well, we need to work on being less wasteful in general. I mean we recycle, but I know there are tons of things we can do to have less trash. Because honestly we are pretty trashy! I mean like a tash bag a day almost! So, I looked up going trash free. My family is not quite ready to take that plunge entirely though. That is a huge life style change. But to make small changes now and overtime can really make a difference.

I know this will be a long long journey. We have some pretty bad habits and buy things and do things that we don't even realize how wasteful we are being. I know we won't be perfect and we won't be 100% trash free but I think any step towards bettering ourselves and our environment is good. Big or small.

Our first mission right now is going straw free and getting rid of the plastic Tupperware containers and sandwich baggies and replacing them with reusable sandwhich bags and glass tupperware. Also, we will be not be buying anymore paper napkins or paper towels once what we have runs out.

Its been a long time since I've blogged, 3 years actually, but I think this will be a fun way to show our journey with everyone, without blowing up facebook news feeds, and share some tips and tricks, and hopefully inspire someone else like my friend did for me.


P.S. I know I need to update my blog profile! A lots changed in 3.5 years!

Co Sleeping?

To co sleep or not to co sleep, that is the question?

There is so much controversy on co sleeping and not co sleeping.

I have been adamant about not co sleeping. I have doted on myself that Teegan even as an infant has always slept in his crib and never in bed with me. As soon as he turned two he went straight into a twin size bed. I prided myself on our bedtime routine and how awesome he was at adapting to the big boy bed and I never had a problem.

Until now… 

Starting last year his imagination got the best of him and he was scared of monsters and whatever else his little brain could think up. So he would get up a couple times a night and get in my bed. I stayed strong and always sent him back to his room reassuring him that everything was fine.

Then eventually I made him “monster spray to keep the monsters away”. And before he would get in bed he would spray. That worked until he outgrew his monster phase and went straight into the, I don’t want to be alone phase.

He’d come into my room several times a night trying to sneak into my bed. I stayed consistent and would put him back in bed.

That lasted about a month and then nothing. Hurray! I thought he was over it until about 4 months ago he started creeping into my room again.

I caved.... It was so much easier to let him get in bed with me so that we could both get some sleep.  He always starts off in his room, but just like clockwork around 3am he gets in bed with me.

Here are the reasons he comes up with on why he gets up and wants to get in bed with me.

“I don’t want to be alone”

“I had to go potty” (then just wound up in your bed)

“I just want to give you a huggy and kissy”

“Its not fair to sleep alone”

“You’re my favorite person in the whole world”

I think he wakes up for whatever reason and then just tries to get away with it, because I have let him.

People decide to co sleep for two reasons, lifestyle choice and they want the extra bonding and the closeness, or they are like me and want sleep and want to do what’s easy.

So I did some research on the co sleeping vs. not co sleeping. (to make sure my choice wasn’t going to affect my kid in the long run) There are a lot of pros and cons, and really just boils down to personal preference and different styles of parenting. To each is there own.

However, I have decided that I WANT MY BED BACK!

Now recently (the last 2 weeks) I’ve had to break my kid of this habit. I feel like I have tried everything.

* I put a radio in his room which actually worked for awhile and helped him fall asleep and stay asleep.

*I make the dog sleep in his room so he isn’t alone and feels protected.

*We pray every night at bedtime and pray for good dreams and angels to protect us in our sleep, incase he has fears.

*Every light is on. The hall light, the bathroom light, and now he is requesting the closet light be on. He also has a fish tank in his room with a light in it.

*He has a cross that sits on his night stand so he has a visual of our prayers to help ease his fears and sleep better.

*Giving him a prize or a button for the good job jar the next day if he stays in bed all night.

Some of this works sometimes….but not all the time. I find him still trying to sneak in my room and now instead of sleeping in my bed he crashes next to me on the floor. I think consistency is key and that is what I'm trying to do!

So for all you parents out there struggling with the same thing, hang in there and be consistent. You’re not alone!

http://www.parenting.com/article/how-to-get-your-kid-to-sleep-in-her-own-bed

If you’re like me and want your bed back click the link for some great tips.

Valentine Fail

I dropped the ball for Valentine’s Day. 

I had all these plans for homemade valentines for Teegan’s class, tons of fun valentines crafts, and creative valentine’s treats.

Then a last minute vacation to the Gulf Shore took precedence.

So Teegan picked out Minion valentines cards and suckers. He wrote his name on all 20 of them and taped the sucker to them all by himself. (no pics, another mom fail) 

No treat was made. However, I did purchase cupcake mix and frosting….(yet to be made.)

We did get around to making a small craft.

We cut out a heart shape on an 8x11 card stock, dipped a pencil eraser in red paint and dotted around the heart.

Often times I have these great intentions of being my idea of "super" mom and often fall short.

But at the end of the day it isn’t about all the glam and the hoopla. Teegan was just as content with a simple craft. He enjoyed picking out his own valentines, and he will be excited to make cupcakes on another day. 

On the upside the vacation I had was much needed. The relaxation was exactly what I needed to recharge.

The 5 Love Languages of Children

Communicating with people is hard. Communicating with a 4 year old (or kids in general) can be even harder. I want my son to know I love him, and I want to be able to communicate that love in a way he understands. So, I started reading The 5 Love Languages of Children, by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell which was recommended to me by my boss.

The five love languages are:

*Physical Touch

*Words of Affirmation

*Receiving Gifts

*Acts of service

*Quality Time
 

 

Each chapter in the book explains the love language and why it is important. I essentially guessed Teegan's language to be words of affirmation. My main love language is words of affirmation. This is probably why I thought Teegan's was the same. I am constantly telling him what a good boy he is, and how helpful he is, and thank you for being a goodboy etc. Those are things essentially I want to hear.  (Treat others how you want to be treated)

The book explains that it is hard to determine the love language of a child under 5 and states that a child will benefit from receiving all of the love languages. But either way, I was curious to know where Teegan stands right now. So I took the quiz at the end of the book and asked Teegan the questions.

His score was:

*Physical Touch – 3

*Words of Affirmation – 3

*Receiving Gifts - 7

*Acts of Service – 0

*Quality Time – 7 

I know Teegan loves hearing words of affirmation, but to truly speak his love language would be for me to spend time with him, playing with him, doing crafts with him, reading with him, anything one on one. Also he likes receiving gifts. (What kid doesn't) This is where the Good Job Jar comes into play. He gets a prize once he gets 20 buttons.

At the end of each of the chapter in the book it gives ideas and examples of ways to spend quality time with your kid, or ways to give gifts, or speak words of affirmation to your children…

There is also a chapter in the book for speaking love languages and marriage, and speaking love languages in single – parent families. 

I highly recommend this book. Not only can it be helpful for speaking the love language of your child, but also you can use the same principals in your daily relationships at work, your friends, and your partner. 


http://www.5lovelanguages.com/

 

 

Love Vases

 

 

As promised here is the how to for the love vases made from wine bottles for my valentine décor on my fireplace.

Here’s what you need:

a 4 Wine bottles

a Hemp Rope or Jute Rope

a Hot Glue

a I used buttons and cloth flowers I already had to make out the word love on the bottles

a Mod Podge

a White Craft Paint

I didn’t bother taking off the labels because I knew they were just gonna be covered anyways, so there is no prep really for this project.

Here’s what you do:

a I started wrapping the hemp at the top of the bottle. Put hot glue at the top of the bottle to secure the rope. Then start wrapping the bottle. Every so often put another hot glue dot on the bottle to secure the rope and make sure it doesn’t unravel. Keep doing that until the entire bottle is wrapped.

a After the bottles were wrapped I painted mod podge all over. It paints on white but dries clear. This stiffens the rope making sure it doesn’t get messed up.

a Once the glue had dried clear on the bottles, I painted two bottles with white craft paint.

a Once the paint was dry, I started making out the LOVE on the bottles using buttons, burlap, left over twin, and cloth flowers that I already had.

Sorry, I didn’t think to get step by step pictures of the process. It’s fairly simple though.

*I used hemp rope on two bottles and then ran out of it. I went back to Walmart (the greatest place on earth) and decided I didn’t want to spend $5 on another roll of hemp. So I bought the jute rope which was $1.50 something. I highly recommend splurging on the hemp. The jute rope was stringy if that makes sense. I ended up painting the two bottles that were wrapped in jute to mask that it was shredding (that’s the best describing word I can use). I still like the look it gave once painted because it looks rustic, but if I could go back and do it over, I’d buy more hemp.

 

 

Time consuming it was, but totally worth it! I absolutely love it!