I have A LOT of baby shoes to get out of my inventory closet before we move so I am doing another Squeaky Shoe Giveaway!

I hate buying baby wipes. They are just so expensive and I have trouble putting them in the shopping cart – even with coupons.

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 2 TBS pure aloe (if you can’t drink it, it isn’t pure)
• 1 tsp Kinder To The Skin Tea Tree Oil (only a few drops if you have the regular kind)
• A few drops lavender oil
• enough boiled water to make 3 cups of solution (distilled is best but I have issues with buying water)

• The olive oil helps to get those really sticky & tarry poos up and coats the baby’s bum for easy removal of the next sticky poo.
• The aloe keeps the skin soft, smooth and conditioned.
• The Tea Tree Oil kills bacteria and keeps your wipes from mildewing. Moldy wipes should NEVER be used to wipe up Baby.
• The lavender (or other essential oil) makes the wipes smell good.
• The soap is for cleansing.

I don’t remember how much I paid for the bottles of stuff in the beginning, no more than $50, but I think it was probably much less than that. I have had it all for more than a year and haven’t even gone through half of it.
You can stretch it pretty far but adding the cleaned wipes to the bottom of your container as they come through the wash. I do this until the top wipes aren’t wet enough to soak through to the bottom wipes.

My daughter, the oldest and the only girl, turned 13 in January. I would have preferred otherwise but it wasn’t in my control, so, 13 she is.
Most children’s birthdays come and go without much ado. There is a party, some cake and a few gifts, then it is over.
With 13, however, everything is different. It is an entirely different stage of life that seems to happen overnight.
There are razors, lip gloss, and flat irons. Pink is out, lime green is in. Lime green is out a week later, and orange is the new lime green. There are opinions about everything and then there are opinions about those opinions.
Food takes on an entirely new meaning. Kait, still as thin as ever, can eat more than her father and me combined – and Ryan is no little guy.
And then there is hair. For a few years now Kait has gone back and forth about wanting to cut her waist length hair. I have always stalled her, partly because I didn’t want her to cut it and be upset because she always changed her mind about it, and partly because it was a sign of her growing up.

I knew it was time to let this little thing go. I gave her boundaries and let her go from there. She went to her aunt’s, a stylist, overnight this past weekend. When I went to pick her up I was speechless. She was stunning. I was uncomfortable and excited for her all at the same time. She really is beautiful, and she really is growing up.
Here are her before and after pictures. She almost looks like a different person. Luckily, her sweet and lovable attitude didn’t get cut off with the many inches of hair.

KAIT BEFORE

KAIT AFTER

They do have to grow up, don’t they. Sometimes it is a hard thing for me to think about; but when I look at Kait, see how beautiful she is, and know how her heart longs for Christ, I rest easy. She has much more growing to do, but she is doing it with a grace that makes her father and me proud!

I made Easy Cheesy Quesadillas today for lunch just using what we had in the kitchen (we had to run out of tortillas but we need those for another dinner this week anyway). Ben helped by mixing up a kid friendly salsa.
Anyway, here is how I spent the last 10 minutes.

For 6 kids (Sam doesn’t eat much yet but my nephew(5) is over).

Easy Cheesy Quesadilla -
12 medium sized flour tortillas
1/2 cup olive oil (or other veggie oil)
Shredded cheese (amount depends on how much you like cheese)
Sour cream
Salsa (see our kid friendly version)

Kid friendly salsa -
1 can of diced tomatoes (or a couple of fresh diced tomatoes)
Italian seasoning
Garlic Powder
Cheyenne pepper (if some spicy is desired)

First, I opened the diced tomatoes and gave them to Ben(3) who dumped them in a bowl. He sprinkled the Italian seasoning and Garlic powder (I looked on to make sure he wasn’t overdoing it). He mixed it all up and told me it is really good (this surprised me because Ben doesn’t like tomatoes).
I fried a tortilla in the oil on medium heat. You don’t want the oil to cover the top of your tortilla so if you are using a small pan you might want to adjust your oil amount.
While it fried I added sour cream, Ben’s salsa, and cheese, making sure to leave out a some cheese for Ben before he blows a gasket trying to keep quiet about how much he would love a piece of cheese.
Moving quickly so the tortillas don’t burn, I put another tortilla on top of my quesadilla and flipped it over using tongs and a spatula. I removed the finished quesadilla less than a minute later.
While you get used to this process you may want to keep your temp lower. I am pretty quick with the tortilla making now but they do burn fast. Using veggie oil instead of olive oil does help but I find the veggie oil tastes heavier.

Anyway, I made six quesadillas and cut each of them into 4 slices, like pizza. I mixed the remainder of Ben’s salsa with a spoonful of sour cream to make dip for added sauciness.

VERY YUMMY! And the kids loved them.

To make this a dinner meal add a little meat mix and maybe some Guacamole! Very Delicious!

I used a large pan that could sport two tortillas at once and it took me less than 10 minutes to make this lunch.

Stephanie of Metropolitan Mama is the winner of the Play Cabana!

I have already emailed you.

The ‘Big Cloth Diaper Giveaway’ winner is…

Paige of Superpaige’s Pad!

Paige,
I have already emailed you!

Congratulations, Paige!

I have these 9-24 month Next Step LIPIL Formula checks. I breastfeed so I have no use for them, but if you use Enfamil and can use these $4 and $5 checks let me know and I will send them to you. They expire at the end of April.

A week ago I cleaned my room, including the closet, spotless. It looked really great and I have kept it clean for a full week! I didn’t take before pictures. NO WAY! There are just some things that are too personal. My horrible bedroom messes are not for the World Wide Web.
Anyway, like I said, it has been really clean for a week now and I am feeling a bit puffed up about it. I am ready to tackle another very needy area. The library/school area.
I have book shelves and they sit right next to our computer desk. The computer desk has a lot of shelves but no drawers. The book shelves house our books, school stuff, and coloring supplies.

Do any of you more organized mamas (like you, Carrie) have any suggestions? The space is so small but I have 4 kids schooling, lots of books, and the typical office supplies on the computer desk shelves. What I really want is to stuff the school books and office supplies away, get them hidden behind doors. Ryan is okay with spending some money on this but he doesn’t want me to purchase anything that doesn’t have a specific purpose so I need to have this all mapped out in my head before I proceed.

Here is a picture of what we have going on right now.

This is right before I cleaned it so it is a mess, but in all honesty,
it doesn’t look much better when it is cleaned up.
It always looks junky no matter what, which isn’t inspiring on the office cleaning day.

HELP?!?!?