Tatoo removal success

I successfully removed Gracie's head tattoo! There is still a very faint mark, but I figure we can do another "facial" later. Here's what I did, I applied the Acne Free and left it over night under a small lamp. The next morning, Daddy asked if Gracie was at the spa. Then, he noticed that the pen was almost gone. He was amazed. Since the stuff I had was a bit runny, I thought I'd try something a little more pasty. I remember having some Cascade plastic cleaner and applied that. After the second treatment that only lasted 2 hours, I wiped away the cleaner and the pen was almost completely gone. Daddy barely noticed it. Yay! I'll have to add a pic later.

Cinna-who?

After breaking out the bread machine this summer, we began to rely on the humble little machine for making dough for bread. Daddy is pretty famous in our family for making some fabulous pizza dough. The problem was that it was a long, arduous process until we realized we could use the bread maker. Daddy quickly became the bread machine expert. However, he could not attain the perfect sliceable bread. After much research online, I determined the only way we were (he was) going to attain the perfect sliceable bread was to upgrade our vertical loaf bread machine. I had read about the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Maker and even heard glowing reviews of the machine by a couple of moms on my mom's network. So, we invested. With 20% Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in hand, we loaded the kids and took a trip over to the store. They didn't have them in stock, but offered to order it for us. No instant gratification. I did save 20% off of the hefty $199.99 price tag. However, I had to pay for shipping. The Zojirushi arrived by the end of the week. I opened the package to take a peek and left it for Daddy to pull it all out.



He had the "Z" running almost as soon as he got it out of the box. We had homemade pizza that night. The next day, he made soft pretzels and SLICEABLE bread! The features on the "Z" are amazing. We didn't know what we were missing out on before. He runs it during the week and overtime on the weekends. This morning I told my son to run downstairs and tell Daddy to make cinnamon buns in the breadmaker. He was reading on Starfall.com and didn't want to budge. But, in a very short while, I heard the mixer running. Daddy came upstairs carrying 2 beaters covered in sugary goodness giving one to Bud and one to me. My telepathy skills are improving! This is what he made:



Oh my! The picture does not do these justice. Moist, sweet, delectable... These are the best cinnamon buns I've ever had.

So, yes, the Zojirushi was a fabulous investment!

What I got for Christmas

I got wonderful, thoughtful gifts for Christmas. I got two big gifts that I was so excited about. One, was a Roomba from my in-laws. Roomba makes almost daily trips through the dining room and kitchen. The first day we used him (yes, it's a him) we all stood and watched a while. He's not quiet, but it's a sweet sound. He came with 2 virtual walls. I think I'm going to ask for the home base for my birthday. Did you know that you can schedule these things? Oohh aahh...

The other big gift was from my parents. I asked for a chest freezer and got it. My dad was so excited to take me out to the shed to unveil it Christmas day! I think he was just as excited as I was. Now I can stock up on good buys and get back into once-a-month cooking. We have a pretty good size freezer. But after a day of pre-cooking, the freezer was jam-packed. I had to rearrange every time I pulled something out. This isn't a problem anymore! I also took advantage of a sale on Breyer's. Yum!

I'm getting older. It's obvious when I get excited about appliances, right? I'm always interested to here what other people's favorite gifts were/are.

Cloth Diapering

Before Bud was born, I scoured the internet to learn more about cloth diapering. I really wanted to do it, but I was so confused. I never did it, but read anything and everything I could get my hands on. When Sissy came along, I researched again. AIOs, AI2s, fitteds, prefolds, contours, covers, fleece, wool shorties and longies, pockets, inserts, hemp, terry, flannel... It was all too much. So, Sissy was in sposies, too. Sissy learned the potty pretty early. Yay! But, she still needed pull ups over night.


There were quite a few women on my mommies network that cloth diapered. They used all different types. That's when I began to discern the possibilities. Did it make sense to start cloth diapering a 2 year old? I'd always wanted to cloth diaper. I could try a few. Then, I got pregnant! I thought, now's the time. I'll check out the one-size pockets. Oh, and might as well get some neutral large-sized pockets. I'll get to use them again, too.



That's when my little obsession began. Sissy really liked the cloth diapers. She said they were "soft". I also noticed that she was less "fragrant" in the morning (if you know what I mean). It took a few days of trial and error to figure out the best load for the pockets. We use a insert wrapped with a microfiber towel (from the automotive section). It's the perfect absorbancy for overnight for her. Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended just shy of my 2nd trimester, but we kept the cloth going. We've already realized savings even with just Sissy in cloth at night. I also don't have to worry about running out!

We have a variety that we like, but we definitely have our favorites. I liked these so much, I wanted to carry them on our website:

Happy Heiny's One Size Diaper

The snaps and aplix on these allow you to adjust from size small to size large. They are pocket diapers so they are easy to wash and dry quickly. They come with a small insert and a large insert. You can preload these so they are as simple as disposables for Daddy or the sitter.

Since Sissy uses the potty when she's awake, I looked at training pants, too. While the cloth diapers are easy, it's a little tiresome to take the diaper off and put it back on when Sissy has to go potty. Enter in Daddy's favorite:

Happy Heiny's Pocket Trainer

It's a pocket, too. We use the same stuffing on this one. Sissy can pull it up or down easily by herself. Daddy LOVES that! We have one just like the picture and others with snaps. The snaps make it easier to load, but it is still easy to pull up or down. You can get no snaps, snaps on one side, or snaps on both.