Wordless Wednesday - Yes, more snow pictures

Sorry for 1) my blog being almost entirely "wordless" lately. Still so much going on that I can't really talk about here at the moment. And 2) all the snow pictures, but that seems to be the recurring theme around here these past few weeks. ^.^

Me and my Snow Turtle (no, that's not my tail *wink*)

Click here to read my previous Wordless Wednesday posts, or click here to visit the official WW site.

Wordless Wednesday - My Bucket Heads

Click here to read my previous Wordless Wednesday posts, or click here to visit the official WW site.

Wordless Wednesday - You know it's cold when...

Crabtree Falls (tallest waterfall east of the Miss. River), which normally looks like this:

turns into an ice sculpture, frozen all the way down the mountain

Click here to read my previous Wordless Wednesday posts, or click here to visit the official WW site.

Saving the Earth, one cloth diaper at a time!

Using disposable diapers has a horrendous impact on the environment, to the tune of creating an estimated metric ton of waste for each child by the time they are potty-trained. I've had 3 children in 3 years. I can not fathom looking out the window and having a THREE TON pile mountain of soiled diapers in our backyard. Especially one that would take approximately 500 years to decompose.

And let's not forget the resources it takes to create disposable diapers in the first place- manufacturers use over 1 million metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic each year. And that's not including the chemicals used, such as sodium polyacralate, dioxin, and stearyl alcohol.

Using cloth diapers is much more environmentally-friendly, even after you take into account their manufacturing process and washing routines. There are many other benefits as well, such as being healthier for your baby, saving you [lots of] money, and being so gosh darn CUTE! (Future blog posts on all of those points coming soon.)

If you have any questions about using cloth diapers, feel free to ask, and I will try my best to help! ^.^

Pictured above is my 18mo Oliver, wearing an embellished fleece soaker I made. They are also available in my Etsy shop.

Wordless Wednesday - SnOMG 2009

A few weeks ago, the east coast was hit with a massive snow storm. In less than 24 hours, we went from light flurries to a landscape of indistinguishable white lumps.
(picnic table)

(van)

We cut paths for the Sprouts to go out and explore. (Isaiah was apprehensive and stayed attached to my leg the whole time)

And the real aftermath of the snowstorm...

"Da... ah!"

The other day, Isaiah came in here, handed me what he calls his magic fire truck shirt, and said "da...ah!" (that on).

January 9th, 2010, at age 3.5yo, Isaiah said his first unprompted 2-word sentence. ::happytears::

I haven't posted about his speech progress lately, because honestly there hasn't been a whole lot to report. Due to various reason, he's only had three 45m ST sessions in the past 2.5 months, so hopefully once we start having it regularly, that will help. At home, we've been doing lots of scripting (recently explained by Jen here: http://jenkrause.com/blog/2010/01/posting-an-old-post/ ). On his own, he just uses one word sentences. His vocabulary is increasing, but pronunciation is still poor for the most part- tends to use largely vowels and 1 syllable most of the time.

But I'm still SOOOO over the moon happy for "da... ah!". And while it might take a while to become regular, having said it once breaks that barrier and it'll be that much easier for future sentences to come through. I'm so proud of Isaiah. <3

The Box

When I first proposed my Box idea to my husband, he didn't seem to understand why I wanted to make the Sprouts a plain wooden box. But here's my reasoning behind it... every time a sizable cardboard box comes though the house, the Sprouts have SO much fun with it. They crawl in and out, on and under, as it transforms into a house, a car, a boat, and a rocketship. However after a couple days, the box is no longer a box, but just flattened heap of cardboard.

Soooooo, my idea was to make a wooden cardboard box that could stand up to my three Sprouts. A quick sketch, a trip to the hardware store, and a few hours later... here's the finished product:

The Box measures 2 feet tall, 2 feet wide, and 4 feet long. We made sure to make it as sturdy as possible to withstand climbing. Only half the top is covered, so it doesn't feel too cramped and the Sprouts can get in/out easier (although a blanket can be draped over the second half if need be).

And of course, a window to peep out of...

These pictures were taken on Christmas morning, but The Box has since been sanded even more, making all edges rounded and smooth. We still need to put a clear coat of sealer on it, but with all the snow, we haven't had the chance. But that's it... any other details or features will left to the Sprouts' imaginations. ^.^