Gift wrapping large presents

A great way to gift wrap a large present is to use a plastic disposable tablecloth. They come in all kinds of prints & colors & you can get them for a buck at any dollar store. What could be better? Short post but, maybe it's something you never thought of. :)

Necessary items for week long trips

So, as I prepare for my annual pilgrimage to Fla. w/my kids for St Patty's Day, I think of all my must-haves for the trip. I used to make a list for myself & check it all off before I left but, I'm anal enough about it to pretty much check as I go now. I'll share w/you in list form just to show you how much stuff it takes to go on a big car trip w/2 toddlers. All of this is in addition to suitcases full of clothes!

1. Snacks & sippy cups & as well as any other food that I don't want to have to buy when I first get there
2. Travel toys & books & portable DVD player w/DVDs
3. Toiletry & first-aid/medicines for kids
4. Pack-n-Play for Emily to sleep in
5. White noise machine (yes, I do take it w/us & it really helps)
6. Stocked diaper bag for the road trip
7. Sun shades for kid's windows (even w/tinted windows, you still get the sun beaming them in the face while they're trying to sleep)
8. Beach bag w/bathing suits, swimdiapers, sunscreen, hats etc.
9. Stroller -wouldn't be caught anywhere without it!
10. Kid's favorite blankets/stuffed animals for sleeping with

That's pretty much it & it pretty much fills up my car! Luckily for me, my Mom has a high chair & booster chair at her house already so, that's one last thing I have to bring. Now, I haven't traveled on an airplane w/both kids so, don't know how I'd do it. Maybe somebody will share their tips with me!

Laundry Tips

Once in awhile, I stop what I'm doing & think "Hey, I should blog about this". And sometimes, I actually do. Today, I'm posting a couple of little tips that might be helpful when dealing w/little kids laundry. If you're like most of us, you always have little socks that turn up missing from the laundry. Does the dryer eat them or what? What I started doing w/my first kid was putting all of the dirty socks in a little zippered lingerie bag and tossing it in the washing machine w/the other laundry. Then, they make it in & out of the dryer all together and then I unzip the bag & match them all. I put all my little pairs of socks away without losing any matches! Another tip is for machine washing stuffed animals or any clothing w/faux- fur trim. Put them in a pillow case & tie the end of the pillow case & wash in the washing machine just like that & dry in the dryer in the pillow case too. Stuffed animals are so clean & fresh but the fur stays nice. Trust me, if you just throw them in the machine as is, the fur will be all matted & clumped together if it's long or bumpy & rough if it's short fur. I actually started using pillow protectors which are like a pillow case but they zip up at the end. Super easy & they hold more stuff that way too. You can buy them at places like "Bed, Bath & Beyond" where the pillowcases are.

Funny & Personalized Greeting Card Idea

A neat idea for personalizing greeting cards started in our family many years ago. One of my mom's sisters found an old picture of some of the family members & put it on the front of a Birthday card with some funny captions. Then my mom cut out & glued another family member from another pic onto the same card & passed it on to another sister. Well, that snow-balled & became a funny thing to do as well as alter the pictures by adding things or clipping out other pics of people to add to them. In more recent years, the art form evolved as the greeting card companies came out with cards that used actual real photos of people. The pics are always old black & white or just crazy looking people in them. So, now sometimes one of us will take our own photos of our family & cut out the heads & glue them onto the bodies of the ones on the pic on the Birthday card. Sometimes altering the captions as well. It has been pretty hilarious. Often times people don't like the body they've been stuck with but, it's a lot fun to make or receive. We usually do this for sisters, aunts or cousins who are out of state because we don't get to see them that often & it's a fun way to stay connected. If I can find one that I have somewhere, I'll post a pic on here.

It's all about the wipes

Whether you realize it or not, all wipes are not created equal. The ones that some major brands advertise are thicker or that are "quilted" are really not so great. The thinner more "flimsy" types actually do a btter job of cleaning up a really messy bottom. The thicker ones are too stiff & they're not very soft on baby's bottom. Well, this is not really the point on this particular blog.
My main point is that wipes are good (& necessary) for a multitude of things beyond just wiping a baby's butt. I used to carry a traditional travel case of them in my diaper bag but, these days, I usually just keep a zip-loc bag of them in my purse at all times. I use them for obvious things like cleaning messy hands & faces or wiping down dirty surfaces. I use them for wiping the area of the table where the baby is sitting in a restaurant or for wiping down a high chair or shopping cart (whenever I don't have my nice shopping cart/high chair cover w/me -which is rare!). They're also good for wiping off dropped pacifiers or toys when you're out & about. I've also used them for wiping down car seats when food is dropped or spilled in the car & I wipe down messes in the stroller with them too. Baby wipes are also great for getting stains out of clothing. They really do work as well as the leading stain removal wipes. Whatever is in these things, it's pretty great!