Look, Ma, No More Paper Towels!

It's official: the Travnik household used up their last roll of paper towels six weeks ago and haven't bought another roll since.

There wasn't really any particular reason why we stopped using paper towels. Well, Ok, maybe there was. Being the frugal zealot that I am, it's always thrill to save a buck here or there....Anyways, we ran out and I didn't really feel like buying more, so I thought we'd give a paper-towel-free lifestyle a try.

In place of the paper towels, we're using old receiving blankets. Some receiving blankets were quartered while others were cut into sixteen smaller squares. I then zig zagged around the raw edges.

The larger squares are used for cleaning the bathroom and the smaller pieces are used for spills or wiping out our cast iron pans after they are seasoned.

I use newspapers and a vinegar/water solution to clean our glass and mirrors at home. I've always done this because newspapers give the best streak free shine!

You know what? At the end of these six weeks, I haven't missed the paper towels once. I'll be making a trip to the second hand store sometime soon to pick up used receiving blankets to make into more wipes for the bathroom. Thanks to a potty-training, I have learned you can never have too many rags for bathroom cleaning.

I know that Kindra has also cut up old receiving blankets to use as baby wipes.

Now, I just have to convince Nialle that it would be really cool to make up our own reusable "toilet paper" out of receiving blankets! :)

Growing Triumphs and Pains

We haven't been up to much lately other than the regular routine, but, regardless, life just seems to be passing by at breakneck speed. Both kids are growing up before my eyes and seem to learn something new skill each day. There's new challenges to be had and with each challenge there is the opportunity for a new triumph.


Ada is developing at a ferocious rate. Since last Wednesday, she has learned to clap her hands and is now officially mobile, doing the commando crawl around the house. At 7 1/2 months she is even (heaven help me) trying to pull herself up. It just feels too sudden and too fast for her to be doing these things! Where's my baby girl going?

Here Ada proves that diamonds are a girl's best friend as she crawls for my ring.

Ada is also proving to be quite the party animal, preferring to socialize rather than take naps. Liam, at this age, had two naps a day lasting anywhere from 2 -3 hours. Ada, on the other hand, has only one nap a day that lasts 2 or 3 hours (yesterday her nap was only 1 1/2 hours long!!) This leaves me wondering if she might cut out her naps even earlier than Liam did. If that's the case, you can bet we won't be having any more kids for a long, long time. I'm exhausted from trying to keep up with the two I have.

Ada is now a seasoned pro at sitting up. Her favourite pastime is to sit in front of our toy bin, taking toys out one by one, looking them over and then tasting them before finally moving on to the next toy.

Here she looking pretty in the midst of the toys that have been strewn all over the floor.

I've wryly concluded that I would be a much better mother if Liam would only nap...and not get up before 7 in the morning. The combination of early risings and long days without naps can be miserable. Most mornings go well, but around 3pm, things kind of get crazy around here. At that time of the day, Liam frequently bursts into tears over the smallest of things and often becomes very defiant. More often than not, I find it hard to keep my cool and miss my opportunity to gently train Liam in a godly fashion.

Thankfully, I recently read a copy of Dr. Kevin Leman's book Bringing Up Kids Without Tearing Them Down which has really helped to calm things down around the house. It's given me some strategies to use with Liam so that we aren't constantly in a battle of wills. Dr. Leman is refreshingly practical and simple in his approach to child rearing and his book is one that I'm sure I'll read again and again.

Sometimes motherhood feels like a broken record because you're doing the same things day after day. Other days motherhood feels like a marathon race; you just hope to have the endurance to make it to the end. Some days you feel like a failure and other days like the best mom in the world. At any rate, I'm glad I have two snugamuffins like Liam and Ada and a great dad like Nialle along for the ride with me.

My Kinda Valentine

This Valentine's, I had to laugh at how much Nialle and I have changed since we have had kids. Back in the 'old days' we would have thought it a disappointment to stay home on Valentine's Day - as though we weren't having a meaningful celebration if we weren't out at some interesting restaurant.

But times have changed and, thankfully, so have our attitudes. Since I'm still nursing Ada and she's only had the bottle...um...three times (and I'm too much of a wimp to leave her), Nialle and I rarely get out alone these days. But, I'm a homebody by nature, so I really don't mind staying in. I think both Nialle and I are grateful for any uninterrupted time alone, no matter where it happens.

Needless to say, we decided to have supper at home this Valentine's Day and splurge a bit on some ingredients for a tasty dish. Both Nialle and I were excited for our "just for mommy and daddy meal". We made Liam a simple supper of eggs and toast and then put both kids to bed early. Nialle started on dinner, I lit some candles and then we sat down to our own romantic dinner without children.

You know, with the quiet house and the candlelit dinner, our meal reminded me of one we had before we were married. Nialle took me to a little place called Hemingways on 109 ave in Edmonton. The restaurant was an old house that had been converted into a restaurant. The whole place only had about 10 or 15 tables which made for a really cozy atmosphere. I remember the food being really great too...I think I had pork.

Nialle's a wonderful cook and this meal was just as good as the one at Hemingways. We had a pasta dish with roasted red peppers and onions topped with sausage and fresh parmesan cheese. Simple and delicious.

We had some of my mom's homemade herbed butter on a french roll.

Egads, can my mom make good butter!

The wine was really interesting, if not for the taste, but for the bottle. It had been made to look like an old dusty bottle from a pirate ship - very cool.

We don't get out as much as we used to, but having our special Valentine's dinner gave us the idea to try and make such a dinner a regular weekly occurance. Sort of like a mini-date night at home!

Morning:Noon:Night

Morning:Noon:Night

Catching Up...

Why not make yourself a cup of tea and visit for a while? I know that I've been neglecting the blog lately, so today is another "catch up" post where I try and relate everything that's been happening over the last month...

ADA

Ada is 7 months old and continues to blossom into a pretty little girl. She can sit up on her own now and is very interested in playing with all of her toys. I know I've mentioned this before, but this is one happy little girl! Ada has also started to learn new consonants (like the 'd' sound) and babbles happily to herself while she plays.

But don't let her cuteness fool you; this girl likes to get her own way. She lets out a horrific scream any time Liam takes one of her toys away and if you set her down on the floor when she'd rather be carried, she lets you know!

Ada is now onto fruits and vegetables. Her current favourites are pears and apples with peas finishing a dead last. We'll keep working at getting her to like those peas!

LIAM

Poor Liam is sick of been cooped up all day in the house. We've had some warm weather lately, so I let him out to ride his bike around on the sidewalk. I sit by the window with a tea and watch Liam play in the snow - doesn't he look like Elmer Fudd in that hat?



Last week, Liam spent a day at the farm and Grandpa and Grandma Farm took him skating for the first time. Way to go, Liam!

Liam is now fully potty trained. He even can pee standing up "just like daddy". He's pretty proud of himself.

AROUND THE HOUSE

I have become a lean, mean bagel making machine. Unfortunately, none of my subsequent batches have ever turned out as good as the first! At any rate, we're really enjoying homemade bagels for breakfast these days.

My mom also passed on some sourdough starter to me and I have been experimenting with sourdough baking. I love it, love it, love it! Here is my starter that I feed 1 c of flour and 3/4 of water everyday.

There are many sourdough recipes out there to try and my mom has posted some of them on her new website. By far, sourdough waffles are the best waffles I have ever tried.

I'm ready for spring and have put in my order for this year's seeds. I've been looking through my usual gardening books - here's my favourite.



It has great vintage photos, but even better, it's a really great resource for those who want to garden organically. This book taught me all about crop rotation in the garden.

And it inspired me to garden in my Sunday best...

...if only I looked that good in the garden...

This year I hope to can some of my veggies. I've tried canning before, but with limited success...I prefer to blanch and freeze veggies for winter storage. However, I'm hoping to can things like spaghetti sauce, relishes, chutneys and jam this year. Who knows, maybe some of these items will turn up in your christmas stocking!

Nialle's great aunt and uncle own an acreage near Devon and are planting potatoes, tomatoes, squash and carrots for me in exchange for my labour. I will go out and help them in their massive garden about once a week and get to take home extra veg that I can't grow in our yard. I'm pretty excited about this and am looking forward to learning new things from some gardening masters.

I've been very unmotivated to knit these days. I think trying to do a handmade christmas this year really burnt me out. But I've tried to remain disciplined and have managed to knit the body and sleeve of a new sweater.

...here's the back of the sweater...lots of texture that feels great under your fingertips...

It's green. I'm really nervous about knitting with colour...I prefer more muted, natural tones, but this was the only colour I could really find locally that suited this pattern.

I've also been spinning a bit, experimenting with bamboo...

and some merino from a flock belonging to a couple that goes to our church...

I've also designed and knit a simple pair of leggings for Ada to wear. The free pattern is over here.

Liam doesn't like to wear sweaters of any kind, so I don't think I'll be doing much knitting for him this year. Thankfully, Ada's too young to complain about wool yet, so I'll be keep busy knitting for her (if I ever feel motivated to knit again).

Yikes! Long post...and there's still more I could write about. But your cup of tea is probably done now, so I'll save other news for another day!