gold, incense and myrrh

Today I decided to talk about how we do Christmas presents at our house!

One thing I learned when my husband and I got married is that Santa wraps presents! When I was growing up Santa NEVER wrapped our presents. He always layed them out so we could see them. All the other presents that were under the tree that were wrapped were from our parents. The presents that Santa got us were always the really big presents or the things that we wanted the most. Come Christmas morning when we were all up and waiting by the tree we would then see what Santa gave us first then unwrap the presents that our parents gave us. My husband grew up unwrapping presents Christmas Eve night then what ever Santa brought would be under the tree in the morning but all wrapped up.

Both my husband and I are still unsure what we are going to make for OUR family tradition. But one thing that we have decided was the amount spent on presents and things that we get.

For us, doing Christmas presents we decided to give our children what the three wise men brought Jesus. The three wise men brought gifts that symbolized Christ's identity and mission. The gifts were gold for a king, incense for God, and myrrh, used to anoint the dead. With that we are doing one big present that would represent the gold that the wise man brought. The gold gift would be something that they really wanted. For the incense gift we would do and out fit or shoes or something for them to wear. The myrrh gift would be something to share the word of God like a new bible, christian dvd or veggietales dvd, or a cross necklace.

I want my children growing up know that Christmas isn't all about receiving gifts and presents; it is about our savior that was born!!

Lumettas Masterpieces

So today I decided that I had to do something with the blank wall in our dinning room! I got two different ideas off of Pintrest on how to display your children's art work that they work sooo hard at making and are soo proud of it. I ended up combining the two projects into one.

First I went to our local Goodwill store and bought 5 big frames I spent a around $15 for all of them. Then went to Wal-Mart and got two cans of black spray paint for $0.96 each (to spray paint the frames) I also picked up a little thing of paint in the craft section for $0.57 ( to paint on the wall). You could do any color you want but i chose black because that is one of the colors in our decor in our dinning room!

When I got home I took the glass and pictures out of the picture frames and layed them all one newspapers out side. I painted them all black with the spray paint I bought at Wal-Mart.

While the frames were drying outside I went inside and started to paint the wall with the black paint.

After finishing all of the painting I took Aldis brown paper bags that we had and cut them to fit the backing for each on of the frames. Most of the backing of the frames I bought had a type of a foam backing so it would work perfect to pin in the items and I wouldn't have to go buy an more to to use. 

When that was all done I put the right backing into the right frame and hung them on the wall. 

Then let my oldest chose where he wanted  to put his wonderful art work.

Cloth diaper wash routine

New Cloth Diapers   
 With new cloth diapers I wash and dry 2-3 times depending on the type of fabric. You can use a cloth diaper after washing and drying it only once but it will not reach its peak absorbency until it has been washed several times. Washing 2-3 times when they are new is to remove the chemicals that are in them or on them from being made. It also increases the absorbency of the diapers. Some times the cloth diapers will quilt up don't worry about it-it is normal.



My Wash routine 

• Cold Wash. Place all your soiled and wet cloth diapers for a cold water wash.
• Hot Wash. Add recommended amount of detergent and wash in hot water.
• Rinse. Rinse cloth diapers with cold water.
• 2nd Rinse. Rinse cloth diapers with cold water.

Do not add anything other than detergent to your diaper laundry unless you are having trouble with stinky diapers.

Start Cloth Diapering!

What do I all need to start cloth diapering?

• Cloth diapers of your choice- when i started i got a few of each type not know what type i would like best! the number of diapers depends on the baby! Here is a chart I found on www.littlefornow.com.

	Wash Daily	Every 2 days	Every 3 days
Up to 6 Mos.	10-12	20-24	30-36
6-12 Mos.	8-10	16-20	24-30
12-24 Mos.	6-8	12-16	18-24
Potty Learning	2-4	4-8	6-12

• Cloth wipes if you chose! i chose to do cloth wipes after a few days of cloth diapering the main reason i switched to cloth wipes is because it was a pain to put the cloth diaper in the pail then go throw away the disposable wipes away and it was a bigger pain when the diaper had poo in it!! I made a few of my cloth wipes then i ended up switching to baby washclothes because I had a ton of them that were not being used. I also bought some from amazon  for $5.99 for a 12 pack. I have about 100 wipes and it is more than enough. I keep some in my bedroom in a wipe warmer with a solution and some down stairs in a old wipe container with the solution already on the wipes. I make my own wipe solution as well. It is very easy.

• Wet/dry pail - we use a 13 gallon garbage can with a lid and put a pail liner in it. It is in our bedroom and it honestly doesn't smell at all. ( I also wash diapers every other day or every two days)

• pail liner - I have two so that there is one in the pail at all times! Throw this right in with the dirty diapers in the wash.

• wet bags- I have a bout 6 I make sure I always keep two in the diaper bag.  These are what you put the dirty diapers in until you get home. and you throw these in the wash when you do the diapers.

• Detergent - I make my own cloth diaper detergent but HERE is a link to detergents and if they are safe or not for cloth diapers.

Types of Cloth diapers

There are different types of cloth diapers:

Prefolds- are usually made of birdseye flannel, cotton, gauze, hemp or velour. They may require pins or a snappie for a fastner. With prefolds you would use a wrap or a cover with them. I have some prefold but use them as an extra liner in a diaper or will stuff it in my pocket diapers.

AIOs/AI2s - these are my favorite! They are a onesize fits all you can change the size settings on them. They have elastic around the back and leg areas. Most times they are made with fleece, PUL, Procare, or wool (I dont use wool because i am allergic to wool and im  not sure if my little one is) making the outer layer waterproff. At nap time or night time we use a doubler to increase absorbency. The doubler or separate stuffer lays inside of an AI2. Usually fastens with snaps or hook and loop (velcro). I have both and like both   the velco make it easy and more like a disposable diaper and that is what i send to grandmas house when she watches the little one and/ or when my husband is home with them. Me on the other hand dont care i am proficant at both. 

Pocket diapers - do not requires a wrap or a cover - this feature is built in. These can come in one size fits all or a different sizes. These also have elastic around the back and leg areas. Most times they are made with fleece, PUL, Procare, or wool (I dont use wool because i am allergic to wool and im  not sure if my little one is) making the outer layer waterproff. Requires and absorbent stuffer material to be placed in the pocket before use. I love bamboo inserts in my pockets

There are also fitted diapers. i do not have any fitted diapers these require a cover. Outer and inner layers are not waterproof and may consist of many different fabrics types. Since the outer and inner layers are not waterproof you would need to either change more offten or use a cover with them.

Elegant Chicken

This is my moms recipe and I love it!! When I make it I usually serve it with mashed potatoes and use the extra sauce that is on the chicken as a gravy! Yummmmm!


Ingredients:

• ·         1 (2 ounce) package chipped beef skinless
•            boneless chicken breast halves 
•           1 pound sliced bacon 
•           1(10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 
•           1(16 ounce) container sour cream

-

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
2. Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with slices of chipped beef. Wrap bacon slices around chicken breasts, and place on top of chipped beef. In a medium bowl, mix together condensed soup and sour cream. Pour sour cream mixture over chicken breasts, and sprinkle with paprika.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours.

Homemade Diaper rash cream safe for Cloth diapers

What you will need:

- a tube of Lansinoh HPA Lanolin 
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- a few drops of lavender or any other essential oil of your choice (optional)


First I emptied out the tube of Lansinoh HPA Lanolin in to a microwave safe bowl a long with the 1/2 cup of coconut oil. I then microwaved it for 1 minute took it out and stirred it up. If its not all the way melted put it in again for 30 seconds. Once it is melted add the essential oil in. I then put the mixture in two 4oz containers and labeled it. Let it sit for a day so that it will firm back up. It will not be hard.

 It really does help when they get a diaper rash AND its safe on the cloth diapers!

My Three Favorite Cloth Wipe Solution Recipes

I started cloth diapering my two sons in June. At first I was going to just keep using disposable wipes but it was a hassle because every time i changed their diaper i would have to throw the wipes away and put the diapers in a pail that we have for them before we wash them. So I figured that I would start using cloth wipes as well and love it. For my cloth wipes I actually use baby wash clothes. I already had some that I didn't use and bought some off of amazon for $2 for a pack of 6. I now have like 60 some wipes and that is plenty since I wash the diapers every other day and the wipes go right in with them when I wash them. I make my own solution and put my wipes in a wipe warmer put in the wipes and add the solution.

Here are my three favorite recipes for cloth wipes solutions:

Basic Wipe Solution (this is the first solution that tried)

This basic recipe can be adapted by changing the type of soap or oil.
1/2 cup baby oil
1/2 cup baby wash
2 cups water

Castile Solution

1 tablespoon almond, apricot, or other oil (I use coconut oil)
1 tablespoon Dr Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap (any scent)
2 drops tea tree oil
1 drop lavender oil
1 cup water

Olive 'n' Tea Tree

1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin not necessary)
1/8 cup gentle baby bath
A few drops tea tree oil
4 cups water

I got these recipes off of http://www.zany-zebra.com you can click there for many other recipes but these are just the ones that I have tried and use.

An insight to my life

Im 21  years old! I am about to be 22 November 7th

I am in love with the most amazing man of my life who is my husband and children's father! He is my knight in shining armor!

We got married on June 11, 2010

We have a son vincent john lumetta - he was born on september 27th 2010 - he weighed 8lbs 

1oz - he was 20inches long - i was only in labor for 3hrs pushed for 20mins and did it all natural - we also have jaxon john lumetta - he was born november 20th 2011 - he weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 5 weeks early -i was only in labor for 2hrs and pushed for 10mins and did it all natural again!

I graduated with my BA in Criminal Justice January 2012!

Lets just say I am a pretty busy mama!!

I love to spend time with my family <3

God has truly blessed my self and my family!

With God all things are possible!

Two recipes of Homemade liquid laundry detergent

First  recipe I ever tired it works really well!

$7.80 worth of supplies

4 Cups – hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 Cup – Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

½ Cup Borax (I used 1 cup Borax)

• - Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

• -Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

• -Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser or and container that you would like (i used a water container that had a spout) half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

• -Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Once you’re ready to use the laundry soap, shake it in the container first.  Then add:

-5/8 cups for a regular top-loading machine

-1/4 cup for a front-loading (HE) machine

five gallons of homemade laundry detergent :) and it works awesome and only cost dollar a batch

Second Recipe I have tried and fell in love with it!!

• 1 cup Dr. Bronner's pure castile liquid soap

• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
• Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons.  Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

INSTRUCTIONS
Mix warm water with borax and washing soda until dissolved. Pour into a two-gallon container. Add the Dr. Bronner's and fill the remainder of the gallon jar with water. Use 1/4 cup of laundry soap per load.

This laundry soap doesn't create suds, but it doesn't need to in order to get your laundry clean.

I love this recipe.