Muddling Momma

10
Oct
2014

#TDCLBlogtober14 Day 5 – Favorite Fall recipe

Fall is all about the crock pot. It is just so easy and seems to make the house so much warmer and cozier. My favorite recipe is Spiced Slowcooker Applesauce. I made it for our first Hanukkah and set it to cook overnight. The next morning I took a taste and quickly made another batch. As predicted, it went FAST!

Ingredients:

8 apples – peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup packed from sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

Combine the apples and water in a slow cooker; cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in the brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice; continue cooking another 30 minutes.

I didn’t have a picture of the applesauce, but didn’t I look cute making my first Hanukkah dinner as a wife?

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#TDCLBlogtober14 Day 4: Advice to A Younger Me

categories: DC Ladies Blogging

Today’s DC Ladies prompt is one piece of advice would I give to my younger self. This was really hard because there is so much, but it really came down to the idea that people change and grow. There are so many people I’ve connected with over social media who I wouldn’t have given more than a friendly smile to in high school. Now I am following their families and commiserating over teething, traffic and celebrity gossip.

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Been There, Done That: Yankey Farm’s Pumpkin Patch

categories: Been There Done That

Having a toddler is so, SO much fun! Especially now that he is walking and exploring and figuring things out for himself. Which leads us to doing more family activities on the weekend. There are lots of awesome fall festivals going on this month, but we were looking for something low key that would be fun for an hour or so and have us home before nap time. Pumpkin picking was the obvious choice.

Like I said, there are lots of fall festival and pumpkin patches, but they all had an entry fee and all I could picture was lots of people and parking lots. Don’t get me wrong – next year we will be all about that, but if I am paying $10 per person for a festival, I want everyone to have fun and for Mike, it would be too much this year.

I did a little Googling and found Yankey Farms in Nokesville, Virginia which is about 20 minutes from us (but feels like a whole other planet). They have 2 stands, and the pumpkins are at the Vint Hill Road location. At that location they also have prepicked pumpkins, a corn maze, cow train and kid’s play area with a corn box.

It could not have been a prettier day, so we headed over to Yankey Farms. We were there when they opened and grabbed a wagon to head over to the patch. It didn’t take long for us to find the perfect pumpkins since they were all as pretty as a pumpkin could be.

The maze, cow train and kids area were $2 each and well worth it. Poor S. I made him go on the cow train with Mike and from what I gather, they had a fun time. Mike was, as predicted, more interested in how the tractor worked then taking in the beautiful scenery. The ride was about 15 minutes, so well worth the cost.

The play area had a small hay maze and slide, which Mike had no interest in because they had a big corn box with toy trucks. I think this is the best idea ever – instead of messy sand, the box will filled with dry corn. Once he figured it out, Mike kept raking his hands through it.

After about an hour we headed to pay for our 3 pumpkins and it was a bargain at 49 cents a pound. The total cost was about $9, a fraction of what it would have cost if we got a pumpkin from the grocery store. The whole experience was about $20 and we had a tired, happy pumpkin hunter when we got home.

Quick and Dirty:

Cost? Price for pumpkin, play area, cow train, maze. No entry fee

Age Group? All ages!

Parking? Plenty in the grass/dirt lot

Food Options? Nope

Stroller Friendly? Debatable. I would say skip the stroller and either use the wagon they provide or a carrier.

Changing Tables? Nope! A porta-potty

Safety: As safe as you could imagine a pumpkin patch on a main road could be.

See you there? You bet! It was a lot of fun.

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#TDCLBlogtober14: Day 2 – Fall Bucket List

categories: DC Ladies Blogging

You might be getting more posts from me this month since I need a kick in the pants to jump start my creativity. I’m going to the participate in the DC Ladies Blogtober. They are giving a writing/design prompt every day, so get excited! Today is my Fall Bucket list:

What’s on your bucket list?

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Mike: September 2014

categories: Dear Mike

My Crazy Mikester –

I can’t believe how fast the summer flew, and then September went in a blink of an eye! It was a busy month for you kiddo, but it was full of lots of fun. You are becoming more and more active and more and more opinionated every day. I LOVE seeing your personality shine, sometimes I think you are trying to make us laugh on purpose – like when we look up and when you catch our eye you give a huge, cheesy grin.

You are pretty much RUNNING everywhere and delivering things you find to us. This includes pens, electronics, bottles, remotes and yes, sharp objects we didn’t know were in reach. You are more giving with your hugs and kisses and point to what you want. Daddy and I are pretty sure you want to talk, and think that you are, but we just aren’t understanding.

{Birthday Season} September is birthday season for our family since Daddy and Grandma have the same birthday. This year you got Dad an iPad cover with pictures on it and a card you ‘signed’ yourself. We had cake and Bubbe came to visit. We also went out to dinner where you quickly charmed all the waitresses.

{Burkefest} We went to Burkefest this year and it was WAY more fun now that you are a toddler. We had lunch and then you played in the tot lot. It was really neat to see you run off and play independently and interact, in only the way a toddler can, with the other kids. We really love these family moments.

{Harvest Festival} For Grandma’s birthday we ended up going to Harvest Festival. Mommy used to go to this fundraiser when she was little and it was cool to see how it evolved and have you enjoy it as well. While you wanted nothing to do with the sweet treats (which made us question your genes), the highlight of the event was the awesome playground. You and Mollie ran around like crazy kids taking different paths, going down and up slides and exploring.

{Favorite ‘Game’} Your current favorite game gives everyone belly laughs. After bath time we sit on the bed and ever so gently tap you. Then you flop on the bed as if Floyd Mayweather hit you. Sometimes we just point our finger and you flop over laughing. We don’t know where this game started, but it’s hilarious and wears you out in no time.

{Food} You my son are a chow hound. You especially like what other people are eating. You really like hot dogs, peaches, yogurt, ice cream and anything pasta related. It surprises me how happy you are with veggies like broccoli and carrots since I am not a vegetable fan myself.

{Charlie} You and Charlie are becoming quite a pair. I describe it as you being a needy friend following Charlie around squeeking his toy crying ‘why don’t you love meeeeeeee’. But more often than not Charlie lays down in your room while you are falling asleep and gets very excited when you come home. You guys are going to be the best of friends soon – I know it!

Well my sweet boy, another month is here and I have a hunch it is going to be a fun one.

I’ll eat you up I love you,

Momma xoxo

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Nellie’s All Natural Giveaway

categories: Product Reviews

I don’t give a lot of thought to laundry detergent. Someone asked me if I was going to use Dreft for Mike’s clothes when he was born which left this first time Muddling Momma confused – does that mean I have to wash his clothes separate from ours? Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I try to go all natural with cleaning products when I can, but you always read somewhere that they aren’t as ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ as they seem. Which led me to Nellie’s All Natural. For years I have used other organic, grocery store friendly, brands and they did okay – but even the non-scented had a scent. The first thing I noticed about Nellie’s (after the super cute tin container) was the lack of scent. Maybe I don’t want to smell like a tropical rain-forest after a thunderstorm or a beach on a humid summer day.

I am really impressed that Nellie’s Laundry Soda has practically nothing in it yet still does a great job getting clothes clean. . I am not even sure what SLS or SLES are, but who cares? It isn’t in Nellie’s All-Natrual.

Hypoallergenic
Gluten Free
No SLS or SLES
No GMO’s
Chlorine Free
Phosphate Free
No animal testing (Leaping Bunny Certified)
Dye free
Non toxic
Paraben Free
Formaldehyde Free
Ammonia Free

After a few ‘trial’ washes, our clothes were clean, stains were gone, no one smelled like a Caribbean thunderstorm. Also, no one got weird rashes. Nellie’s All Natural Laundry Soda has a fan for life!

Nellie’s All Naturals and I teamed up and we are giving away a tin of Laundry Soda. It’s really easy – just comment on this blog and tell me where your clothes get dirtiest. A commenter will be picked at random on Friday, October 3rd.

And we have a winner! Thanks everyone for your sharing your messiest adventures.

Yep, you guessed it. This post is sponsored. They might have offered the product, but I offered my honest opinion. This post also might have affiliate links. I might get a small kick back, nothing that will let me quit my day job and nothing that will raise the price for you. You’ve been warned.

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The Must Have Stroller Organizer

categories: Product Reviews

You might not be able to tell by looking at me, but I love organizing. Baskets, containers, drawers, folders – I am obsessed with them all. When Children ‘n Us asked me to give their new stroller organizer a test run, I couldn’t say no.

We love our City Mini stroller, but it seriously lacks space to put stuff. The first thing we bought was the organizer made specifically for the handle. I was really disappointed. The velcro straps were too long and always in the way, it never really flattened out from shipping and it didn’t have much room for anything by a Wubba, drink, phone and small wallet. It worked, but it could have been SO much better.

Then there is the Children ‘n Us organizer. We used it last weekend on our trip to Ikea. I opened the box in the car and within minutes I had it attached to the stroller. No velcro folks, it has clips, which is worth every penny. Why? Because when our trip was over, I simply unclipped the organizer and tossed it in the diaper bag (which I left in the car because I didn’t need it). The easy on and off is critical.

It felt really well made considering the $25.00 price point. It has heavy canvas, sturdy zippers and a magnetic snap. I was able to keep a sippy cup, Goldfish, my wallet, car keys, sunglasses, a Wubba, my phone, S’s phone, our papers and a board book. A BOARD BOOK. Seriously.

I was really impressed to say the least. I think this needs to be on everyone’s baby registry!

Yep, you guessed it. This post is sponsored. They might have offered the product, but I offered my honest opinion. This post also might have affiliate links. I might get a small kick back, nothing that will let me quit my day job and nothing that will raise the price for you. You’ve been warned.

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She’s Crafty

categories: DIY, Toddler

I am going to be honest, I love those DIY/Home/Craft/Mommy blogs that have beautiful pictures of beautiful places. I, on the other hand, do not have one of those blogs. My pictures are taken with a cell phone – and not even and iPhone. My DIY projects are mediocre at best. I post sporadically with spelling errors. BUT I think most people who read my blog realize I am human and have a job and a kid and a life. So this counts as a disclaimer. I want to share my latest crafting adventure but without the beautiful DSLR photos or Pinterest worthy results. I am not going to let this stop me from sharing.

I found a cute, easy craft on Pinterest where you tape up a canvas, let your kiddo finger paint it, then remove the tape for a piece of ‘art’. I am trying to spruce our place up on a budget and thought this would be a fun way to do it. I turned out pretty cute!

Here’s what you need:

Canvas – any size, shape, color, etc. Michael’s had a set of 3 on sale
Finger Paint
Painter’s Tape
Bathtub – bonus points if you need to clean it anyway!
Cute kid – bonus points if he needs a bath anyway!

Here’s how I did it:

1. I turned on the Unauthorized Saved by the Bell movie from Lifetime, opened a bag of trail mix and popped the top on an Oktoberfest.

2. I thought it would be cute to have 3 canvases – one that says ‘Mom’ ‘heart’ ‘Dad’. S. and I could put it above our bed.

3. I started pulling off strips of painter’s tape and taping it on the table in the shape of the letters and the heart. It’s was a bit of a pain, but the booze and Lifetime movie helped.

4. The next day I stripped Mike down to his diaper and squirted a little finger paint on the canvas and let him go to town. It took some time, but he eventually figured it out. You really have to be okay with messiness. The bathtub helps contain it, but I am pretty sure I still have finger paint in my hair.

5. I let the canvas’ dry while I hosed Mike and the bathtub down.

6. I pulled off the painter’s tape and ta-da! I think they turned out pretty well and it was fun too.

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A New World

categories: Dear Mike

Mike –

Since Dad and I started dreaming of you, long before you were born, we talked a lot about what you wouldn’t grow up knowing about. Silly things like telephones with cords or Blockbuster. Or hours spent at the library researching like we had to do before the internet. You also wouldn’t know life before 9/11.

Both Daddy and I were in college in 2001, I had only been there for a few weeks before someone on my floor told me a plane hit the towers. I was on my way to math class and I didn’t really give it too much thought until a few hours later I was leaving class and could see smoke from the Pentagon. The transition to college was already a little chaotic and this made it more overwhelming. I tried to call Grandma and Grandpa, but the phones were down. By the time I reached them, Marymount had been locked down and we were sitting around wondering and praying. In the end, 2,966 people died on 9/11/01 and many many more were hurt.

Sweetie, lots of bad things happen in the world. When you were rolling around in my belly, almost a month before you were born, a school shooting was the lead news story and someone said they couldn’t imagine bring a child into a world like this. Through my tears the first thing I thought was, ‘why not, this baby might be the one to change things’.

Now Mike, do I expect you to change the world? No, it’s a lot to put on one person. What I do expect, and I bet Daddy will back me up, is that you are kind to everyone, you do what is right even when it’s hard, and you see the good around you.

Sometimes, like after 9/11, it’s really hard to do that. But I know you can.

I’ll eat you up I love you so –

Momma xoxo

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Unitarian Universalist Principles Printable

categories: Printables

Don’t worry, I’m not going to get heavy on you with religion and philosophy, but you might have picked up on the fact that we are Unitarian Universalists. What does that mean? Well S. and I joke it’s what happens when a non-practicing Jew and a non-practicing Catholic get married. I struggle to explain it to my friends and family, but I like to say we are a group of people who join together not on shared beliefs, but on principles.

Our church, Accotink Unitarian, is full of all religions and those who don’t consider having a religious affiliation. Together we are given opportunities to share and grow on our journey to our personal truth. We are lucky to have a community that let’s us be as involved as we can (we pretty much haven’t gone to church since Mike was born) and gives us a starting point to raising a kid with a solid foundation.

Since we are relatively new to UUism, we joined about 4 years ago, we need to brush up on our understanding to start Mike early. I had a hard time finding a printable with the 7 Principles adapted for kids, so I thought I would just do my own. Duh. Now in the mornings we will make it part of our routine to read these with Mike and hopefully memorize them. If you are looking for a pretty print out of the 7 Principles for Kids, look no further! Download your printable here.

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