Friday, September 21, 2007

Dryer Disaster and Redemption

(originally posted on my other blog 9-21-07)

After a great day visiting with friends yesterday, I threw a load or two of laundry and made dinner. At about 7:30, I made a terrible discovery in my dryer...

Inside a pocket had been lurking two crayons, a red and a blue. Now they were smeared all over the inside of my dryer and all the clothes. This was a load of mixed colorfuls, kacki and light colored pants, white shirts, washrags, dresses, bathtowels...

I brought the children out to the dryer and showed them the mess, reminding them that crayons are not to be carried in pockets. I knew exactly who had done it, for the only pants in the load belonged to just one child. She was very upset at herself!

I got on the computer and found a method for removing the stains:

A wet rag, baking soda and light elbow grease removed the crayon from the dryer, including the plastic seal. Other methods mentioned using toothpaste, the white paste kind and a Mr. Clean Eraser. Baking soda worked fine for us. The guilty party did this part.

I removed the ruined clothes from the garbage can where I had flung them in frustration and re-washed them in this mixture:

Hot Water
regular amount of detergent (the website said to double, but I didn't)
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup spray and wash or shout or something similar
generous squirt of Dawn

I have a front loader and though it was very sudsy, it rinsed fine, and the stains were GONE!

I do not have to replace all the washrags, towels, pants and shirts that I had given up for stained!!!

Friday, September 14, 2007

A Weekend in Ventura

(originally posted on my other blog 9-14-07)

We were blessed to be able to go to Ventura this weekend for three days and two nights! Our friends mother graciously offered us her home for the weekend, while she stayed with friends. So, our family, plus our friends, the K Family, vacationed!

We were able to play in the ocean for several hours, and my Honey made this Batman sand sculpture for BabyJ. Later on, the ocean claimed it, which made my little Hulkling very angry, so Daddy made him another safe from the waves. He's so spoiled--but CUTE!

A man sitting near us asked to borrow one of our buckets to dig with and my Honey let him use Jack's. He accidently broke it and so Jack was gifted with a crisp $10 bill (with us, of course, insisting that he needn't pay for a cheap Dollar Tree bucket). Jack's going to buy Batman figures, he says.

We went to an area that was shored up with fill rock and home to thousands of little crabs, sea snails and barnacles. The Lambies enjoyed all the rock climbing and turning over the rocks to find crabs. We watched as four crabs fought over a tidbit of fish flesh. My Honey took this photo of me and BabyJ.
and this one of EmBlem, Vic and BabyJ.

After the crab watch, we went to the pier. BabyJ thought he would run down the over-the-freeway sidewalk like the older children and did this to himself.
He cried for just a minute, and rubbed blood all over Daddy's shirt. Then it was business as usual. We ate at a restaurant on the pier (the fish and chips were so-so), then walked to the end and took this family photo, minus my Honey, the photographer.

Can you tell it was windy? The police were doing an evidence search in the water, so there were sheriff's boats and divers all over. It was very interesting to watch!

We took a tour through Mission SantaBuenaVentura. It was interesting to see the artifacts and grounds. The sanctuary of the mission was a bit creepy with all the statues peering down at us.

We drove home via 101 and then cut over and visited the little town of Solvang. It is a tourist town a with Scandinavian theme. We window shopped for a couple of hours and really enjoyed ourselves! No pictures, though, due to leaving the camera in the car. Nearby was an ostrich farm where you could buy eggs, feed and touch the birds and see chicks. We hadn't the time to stop, though, so that's for another trip! I really wanted to stop, but it was already quite late and we had a long way to drive still.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Puzzle Organization

(originally posted on my other blog 9-12-07)

When my Lambies were small, we began collecting puzzles. They still love working puzzles to this day. But often, little EmBlem would craftily get all the puzzles out and frolic amidst all the pieces. She was quite a climber and was very good at figuring out how to get to high places! It was so frustrating.

So, on all her cardboard puzzles (you know, the ones with the cardboard trays) and the ones with 24 pieces, I did this:

Gather them all together and get a Sharpie. Flip the first over so the backs are all showing and write a "1" on every piece. Then write a "1" on the tray. Repeat with each puzzle, marking with "2", :3" etc. Then, when the baby gets them all out, you can sort them easily!