February 2009 archive
Bean Salsa Recipe
This recipe is from Kathy Dimaya, a friend of mine who treated me to this treat yesterday. It is yummy.
Kathy says:
Here is the recipe for that bean salsa thing – sorry, no name for it!
2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans of diced tomatoes
4 cans of Rotel “original” tomatoes (or any brand, tomatoes with chilies)
2 cans of black beans, drained
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
2 packets of dry Italian dressing mix
1 avocado (optional)
Lots of chips!
I ALWAYS half this recipe and the halved recipe is a ton! Basically just mix it together (minus the chips) and enjoy!
Posted by Ily on February 24, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 1 comment
Happy Birthday, Ily, Bryan Has a Job
Official lay-off notifications went out today, and I didn’t get one. I still have a job at HP in Vancouver. Thanks everyone for your prayers and concern. It was a huge a relief to find that out. I can’t say I’m elated, but very relieved. You see, many of the excellent people that I work with were notified that they are laid off and will be leaving the company, likely forever. Those that were spared like me are no longer on my team. The days of spending time as as a tight-knit group solving problems and working towards lofty goals with all of them are over.
On the positive side I will get to associate with a new group of people on a new project that should also be full of interesting challenges and the potential to make life better for those who use it. And even though I’m losing day-to-day contact with some good friends, I still have my family. Having nothing to do at work but look for a job the past few weeks has given me more time to spend with Ily and the boys and that has been very, very nice. They have been a great comfort and much needed distraction from my job situation and I’m very grateful for them.
Speaking of Ily, today was her birthday. My parents surprised us and came into town on Saturday and we got together with them and the Lloyds for a birthday dinner and then cake and ice-cream. I made a simple rectangular cake with some bark colored frosting. The boys have been pulling that “cottage cheese” out at least once a day since that Sunday and asking Ily to check what’s inside, I think they were a little disappointed that it’s gone now. Ily had some friends over for a lunchtime celebration today and they had a lot of fun. She got a new light-fixture for the kitchen, the game, Mousetrap from the boys, and a job for me. Not bad.
Posted by Bryan on February 23, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 4 comments
Refried Beans
Not the most glamorous or gourmet of foods, but whenever people try Ily’s homemade refried beans, they all love ‘em. Us Murdock boys all love them too. Here is the recipe (click on the image to see it full size):
Enjoy.
Posted by Bryan on February 23, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 3 comments
Baby Tai Give Away
Me and my sister in law make these awesome Asian style baby carriers called mei tais (pronounced May-tie) and we have a website where we sell them from. So here is my shameless plug for them…
We are having a give away for one beautiful mei tai and I KNOW you want to enter! Just go to our website www.babytai.com and leave a comment. A winner will be chosen next week on Wednesday. Go enter now! Hurry Up!
Posted by Ily on February 18, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 0 comments
Ily: Practical Joker
I played a trick on Ily today. I wish. She actually played a trick on herself, but I helped a little. She likes to re-use old plastic tubs from margarine or cottage cheese to store left overs in the fridge. She asked me to get the cottage cheese out for dinner this evening and so I did. Part way through the meal she grabbed the cottage cheese and must have noticed that the container was looking old because she said, “I better make sure this is still good.” As she cautiously opened the lid, half expecting to be greeted by a funky smell, she literally screamed and jumped half way out of her chair. The contents of the container were a very dark brown. I was a pretty shocked myself. I’d seen some seriously sour milk on my mission (nothing special about Croatia, just 19-year olds), but never had I seen a dairy product look like this.
Isaac was the first to say what it really was out loud. “That’s frosting!”, he exclaimed. It was bark colored frosting left over from his campfire cake. With the tension broken we all burst into laughter as Ily sighed in relief that insides of our fridge hadn’t been that neglected. Nothing like a good whole-family laugh. Thanks, Ily.
Posted by Bryan on February 15, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 1 comment
Decluttering
AS we contemplated decluttering our house, we realized that our TV nook was one of the first things we needed address. It has been a messy space for years. A nook recessed above the fireplace is where it has always been and it has never been quite easy to organize. Aside from the TV, VCR, and DVD player, we also always ended up with lots of movies and remotes and video games stuck up there in a haphazard way.
... See my Tabblo>
Posted by Ily on February 14, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 0 comments
Diaper Power
Here are pics of one the cloth diapers I made. The first few are not worthy to show off, but this one looks pretty darn good!
This is one of my new Pocket Diaper covers I made for my kids. There is an exterior layer that is a water proof and breathable fabric. The interior layer is of a light weight fleece that wicks the moisture away from the bum. ... See my Tabblo>
FYI, Target has bigger and better microfiber towels in their auto department for washing your cars than Walmart has. They are a little more spendy, but are better inserts than the ones I got at Walmart. And both options are cheaper than what I I purchased at the store as actual diaper inserts.
Posted by Ily on February 14, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 4 comments
A presidential lunch
Today we had a fancy lunch- PB&J sandwiches with Cheetos. Fit for a lunch with the president. Not really. I am just posting this President’s Day weekend because Reece held up a Cheeto and quite proudly named it Barack Obama. Then he ate it. “He just ate our President!” Isaac proclaimed. Then Reece held up another and did the same. It was quite funny. I didn’t know he was up on the news that we have a new president. And it was so amazing how well he pronounced that name as opposed to other names we use so often such as Higick (Isaac), Deewego (Diego as in Dora’s cousin), Iwee (Ily- though he shouldn’t be calling me this), and Jingle Butt.
Posted by Ily on February 13, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 1 comment
Happy Valentines Day
Bryan sent me this link today and it made me crack up. I love geeky people who do things like this.
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/heartcookies
I wish I had energy to do that! Maybe next year I will do this for all of my friends. I seriously don’t take Valentine’s Day that seriously, but this project has inspired me to try a little harder next year!
Ily
Posted by Ily on February 13, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 0 comments
I can read. And I can watch a movie. I haven't done that in ages!
We have netflix and it has been ages since I actually sat down to watch a movie. I get too busy doing stuff. Bryan put a Kung Fu movie on queue and it reached to the top of our list somehow and for the first time in ages, I sat down to watch something from start to finish. I didn’t even get tempted to do the dishes instead. What movie was it you ask? Well, The Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan and Jet Li of course. I never thought I would say it, but I really like Jackie Chan! This was really a fun movie, I highly recommend it.
The book I actually read and did not want to put down (as opposed to the last several book club books that I didn’t finish- I don’t not like reading, I have just been too agitated to be able to sit still and read without getting distracted and running off to do something like dishes or sewing) was called Bright Blue Miracle by Becca Wilhite. I was interested in it because it was written by the sister of a friend of mine and was dedicated to this friend. It was a cute book and I did get teary and I did like it. It wasn’t the best of books like I think a Tale of Two Cities is, or Pride and Predjudice, but it was great enough to keep me reading it, which nothing else has done for a while now. I am glad it got me to sit around all day on Sunday! My favorite part of the book is that some of it takes place in Oklahoma, which is the best state in the universe and hands down my favorite place to live. I do like a lot about the great NW, but Oklahoma is the best!
Posted by Ily on February 9, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 1 comment
The Blue and Gold Banquet
For the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet this year the boys were encouraged to decorate a cake for a contest so they could pass off some cub scout requirements. ... See my Tabblo>
Posted by Ily on February 6, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 2 comments
The most awesome purse
Can you tell I like being crafty? This is a bag I made for my sister-in-law Melinda this month. I am just now posting pictures.
For Melinda's Birthday this year (Melinda is my sweet sister in law), I made her this really cute purse/ diaper bag that I am super proud of. It is reversible and I just love the fabric! ... See my Tabblo>
Posted by Ily on February 6, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 3 comments
The Birthday party that will go down in history
Here are some pictures from Micah’s Birthday. It was a fun time. I would love to host parties like that one all the time! It was easy and fun. I like that combo.
For Micah's 5th birthday, we decided to actually go somewhere for it this time. I usually do parties at home, but after our stressful Christmas where we got snowed in with no hot water, I decided I would appreciate not throwing a party at home. We chose to take Micah and his friends to Naydenov Gymnastics to play and romp around. You can see the foam pit, the Johnny jump-up supremes, and the trampolines were fun. Also, the cake of the year is most definitely a crab. Micah wanted a Cake with Claws. ... See my Tabblo>
Posted by Ily on February 6, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 1 comment
We forgot to mention this before
We have been forgetting to blog lately. There are some important things we forgot to tell you! Here are some pictures to tell the story.
Exactly one week after his 5th birthday, Micah surprised us by losing a tooth already! It was loose and he was refusing to eat so I grabbed some gauze and gave it a quick tug and out it came. Micah was excited that his tooth came out just like Sister Bear's in the Berenstain Bears visit the dentist. ... See my Tabblo>
Posted by Ily on February 6, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 0 comments
The Maker in Me- AKA Adventures with Fuzzi Bunz.
Warning: This is a very long winded entry. Don’t read it unless you are bored or want to be educated on something new today.
I like to make stuff. I got Bryan a subscription to MAKE magazine for his birthday this year and we have all had fun reading the first edition that came in the mail. Frankly we are a family of makers. Bryan makes stuff out of LEDs and other odds and ends. I make stuff out of fabric and whatever else strikes me as useful. Isaac makes things out of paper. Micah makes stuff out of Legos. Reece makes messes out of everything… You get the idea.
My latest project: Cloth diaper covers.
You may have heard that is it very likely that we will find out Bryan is going to be laid off at the end of this month because his project at HP was canceled. So to save money in case that happens, I am making the switch to cloth diapers. I had started to do it before Christmas, before we even found out that his job was in question.
Cloth diapering has actually come a long way in the last few years. There are a ton of cute diapers out there that work really well. I am not doing this to save a landfill somewhere from being completely filled up by my kid’s diapers. I have no thoughts about saving the environment. I am doing it so that Reece will start to recognize when he pees so he can hopefully potty train faster. And it is nice to only spend the money once and then just keep washing the diaper. Very thrifty.
My beef with disposables is that Huggies and other diapering brands are great and the technology they use is amazing. The kids don’t even realize they are wet because the diaper is so absorbent. Heck, we only used 3 a day for him really (in the morning, when poopy, and before bed). It was the same way for the older boys… They were happy with that set up from age 1 all the way till they were 3 and a half! Since I carried Reece the most in a mei tai baby carrier, he learned to balance and to walk the fastest. I am hoping that cloth diapering will have a similar affect.
Since each diaper cover costs roughly $15 to $20 each and then you have to pay for an insert to soak up the pee too, I decided to make some covers. My favorite diapers so far are the pocket diapers by Drybees and Fuzzi Bunz. I thought naively that I would only need 3 diapers a day just like with disposables… HA. These have to be changed much more. They leak if you leave them on for too long with out the bulkier soakers in them. For bedtime, two soakers is fine, but day time when they have to fit pants over them? Not gonna happen. They would hate walking with all that bulk down at their crotch.
So this is what I learned. Soakers, or diaper inserts, are not all created equal.
Cotton= okay. Absorbs some, but has to be changed after each void (when the kids pees) to prevent leaking, therefore making you have to use more diaper covers in your day and increasing your need for a supply of pocket diapers. Or you just wash laundry alot, which gets old fast. Average cost=? I am just using my Chinese pre-fold cloth diapers that I used as burp clothes when the boys were babies. And I am not sure why they are referred to a chinese. So don’t ask.
Microfiber= Better. Absorbs a lot more and very quickly too. It is very thristy, but it doesn’t do well next to the skin. Very irritating. Sucks all the moisture out I am guessing. If it is in a pocket diaper, it is fine, or if it is covered by any fabric like flannel or fleece for instance, is won’t irritate the skin. It does have a saturation point though and won’t last through the night. Average cost= $3.25 per insert.
Bamboo= Haven’t tried it. Supposed to be pretty thirsty and better than cotton. No clue on the cost.
Hemp= Absorbs the most, but very slowly. If they pee, it might leak out before it gets soaked up. Average cost= $5 per insert.
Wool= the best. More costly, not sure how much. Has to be lanolinized occasionally.
So for the day time what works best? For me I switch between cotton and microfiber. I go through about 4 or 5 diapers in the day time. Sometimes 6.
At night I use a pocket diaper with both a microfiber and a hemp insert. It seems to work well. Reece hasn’t leaked by morning, and he doesn’t stink as much as he used to with the disposable diapers after the long night. I wonder if the stuff in the diapers stinks when saturated with urine? I just had thought it was the pee smell, but now I am not so sure anymore. Or maybe he does smell like pee and I just don’t notice anymore?... Don’t tell me if that latter option is the truth. I would rather remain clueless on that one.
So now to the trick of the day I just learned. I went to go buy more microfiber and hemp inserts today and the store that normally carries them was out and the owner suggested just going to the auto parts section of Target and getting those microfiber towels they stock for drying your car with after you wash them. Fold them into thirds like a chinese prefold and you are good to go. Ok, so I went to Wal-mart- I know I hate that store and you are shocked I went there, checked out their selection of microfiber towels and sure enough, they have them 8 for $5. I bought some. I am happy to report, they work. And Reece thinks they make a great superhero cloak too.
Since each diaper cover costs about $15 to $20, I decided to make some instead. I thought, heck, I can reverse engineer these things and make them for myself. All you need is some PUL fabric, elastic, and something to line it with. After 4 attempts all I can say is this: buy them. I didn’t estimate how much the elastic changes the final size. Whoops. The first one didn’t even go all the way around the kid. It was also too deep in the crotch (the rise was too long) and so it gaped at the legs. I then tried to make it small, but it then leaked at the new seam I made and I pretty much think it should be trashed and was a good one to teach me about the don’ts of diaper making. The second one was usable, the third was ok, the fourth, not too bad. None of them are pretty. If I hadn’t already bought the fabric for more, and wasn’t a cheapskate, I would scrap the project and just go buy some new Drybees. Seriously, I suggest buying them.
Another thing I learned from this is that the fabric you line the diapers with should really be a fabric that wicks moisture away from the skin. I am not talking going and buying some cool max fabric, but lightweight fleece works well (lightweight fleece sheets are on sale at Wal-mart for $12 for a twin set which will make a lot of diapers if you use it for fabric) and certain polyesters work too. Cotton is not so great.
So there you have it. I have been a maker. Would I suggest you make cloth diapers? Yes, if you have infinite patience, or really good sewing skills. No if you don’t have a reason to.
Do I like cloth diapering? I actually do. My garbage output has been has been reduced by half. I will save $40 every two months once I change back to the smaller garbage can. Also, I won’t really just run out of diapers and have to go to the store desperate for more. And I am going to save $70 a month on not buying disposables. And I feel more prepared for emergencies like losing a job (sigh). And, with these, the poop isn’t really a problem. So I kinda like it. And hopefully it won’t last long because Reece is gonna learn to use the potty faster (in theory at least).
Wish us luck on the job hunt!
Posted by Ily on February 3, 2009 | Filed under: Family News | 2 comments
