School Lunch Packing Must Haves - Budget Friendly, Dishwasher Safe

Well, I managed to make it 6 years without packing school lunches, thanks to our daycare/preschool that provides breakfast, lunch, and snacks!  Enter elementary school, and the jig is up.  There are plenty of influencers out there promoting $40 bento box-style lunchboxes for kids, and I'm wondering who has the money to buy multiple (at least 2 per kid, right?) OR the patience for anything that requires hand-washing on a daily basis.  NO THANKS.  

While I'm not super crunchy, it is important to me to minimize waste as much as possible, so I like for everything to be reuseable.  When B and I brought our lunch to work (pre-COVID), we love Stasher bags as a durable, reuseable option, but C's school requires that kids be able to independently open their own lunch packaging to avoid spreading germs.  Stasher bags are a little too secure for his 6-year-old fingers, but he can handle all of these on his own.

Here's what we've been using so far this year - all dishwasher-safe and on the more affordable side!  

(Note: affiliate links below)

Pottery Barn Kids Cold Pack Lunchbox - these go on sale fairly often and are a good value for the quality at the sale price (and the designs are so cute!).  PBK stuff is just so durable!  I machine wash or scrub with a dish brush (see my post here for cleaning tips), and they look good as new.  The "Cold Pack" model is more rectangular in shape, which fits the reuseable lunchboxes we use (see below).  It comes with an ice pack that Velcro-s into place, although I don't typically use it.  

EasyLunchboxes - we've used these for years and years to take our lunches to work, so I ordered a few more for the school lunch rotation.  These are super durable, go right in the dishwasher, nest into each other (space-saving!) and inexpensive.  There are so many cute bento lunchboxes out there but many of them are pricey, hand-wash-only (NOPE), or too small for my kiddos' huge appetites.  C can open these on his own.  They fit (snugly) in the "Cold Pack" lunchboxes from Pottery Barn Kids.  The 3 compartments work well for us - the larger one can hold a sandwich or other entree (soft tacos, cheese/crackers, etc.), and we use the 2 smaller compartments for a fruit and a vegetable.

Sistema dip containers - we use these little containers for dips - hummus or ranch for veggies, marinara for ravioli, etc.  These are screw-top, which makes them well sealed (no spills!) but easy for a kiddo to open on his own (unlike press-on lids, which are either not tight enough or impossible to get off).  These are small - they hold a few tablespoons.  Dishwasher safe!

Ziploc Twist 'n Loc snack cups - these come in several sizes, and we use these for snack (C's lunch time is at 10:40 AM, so they have an afternoon snack).  Both the 1/2 cup ("mini") and 1-cup ("extra small") sizes work well for snacks; the 1/2 cup is better for small items like trail mix, while the 1-cup is better for larger snacks like veggies, muffin, those peanut-butter filled pretzels.  (Note: smaller quantities are usually available at Target or Walmart).  These are super thick plastic - not flimsy like many containers - and again, have the magic screw-on lid which makes them spill-proof but easy for kids to open on their own.  Dishwasher safe, no warping!

Thermos 16-oz water bottle - our elementary school requires kids to bring their own water bottle everyday, so I bought 2 of these to keep in rotation.  I put them straight in the dishwasher and they've been fine - no impact to the finish.  No straws or rubber spouts to worry about keeping clean, and the stainless steel inside means no absorbing weird smells like plastic does.  I fill these with ice water the night before (ain't nobody got time for morning lunch packing), and the water stays very cold until lunch the next day.  We haven't had any issues with leaking, either.  The tall, slim design fits well into his backpack outer pocket; it also fits in the side pocket of his PBK lunchbox, although he doesn't usually carry it that way (he keeps the lunchbox inside his backpack, so it's easier to access the water bottle via the backpack outer pocket).

Flexible Gel Beads Ice Packs - I love these ice packs because they aren't rock hard with sharp edges like so many ice packs are when frozen!  Because they have beads inside, as opposed to liquid, they won't leak slime everywhere if they do get punctured.  They are also very slim, so they easily lay beneath or on top of our lunchboxes to keep cold items cool until lunch!

Avery labels - we use these on the lunchboxes, snack cups, and water bottles - they survive many rounds of the dishwasher without falling off.  I just write his name on them with a Sharpie. 

Lunchbox notes - these are sweet and easy enough to add to his lunch!  I looked at a bunch of different designs, many with jokes that seemed like they'd go over his head.  These looked perfect - easy for an early reader to read!

Teaching My Kid to Read - 4 Steps

C just turned 6, and he will start kindergarten this fall reading like a champ!  I can't take credit - he loves books, and his school helped out a TON - but here are some things that worked for us if you're working on teaching your kid to read!

I'm sure it goes without saying, but the first step is obviously letter recognition and letter sounds.  Reading isn't going anywhere without having those skills mastered.  We are now 2 for 2 kids on letting The Letter Factory DVD teach our kids their letters and sounds -- we start this between age 2.5 and 3, and after about 2 weeks they've got it down.  Read my post here for more details on this.  The DVD teaches uppercase letters; you'll have to nail down lowercase letters too (we like flashcards).  

As far as learning to read, we started with phonics-based early readers (think "a cat is fat").  We used a set that my mom had saved from teaching us to read in the 80's, but the current equivalent are the BOB books.  Our main tip for success with these books is that the parents/adults NEVER read these books.  They are so simple that a child can easily memorize the words after hearing it read to them only once -- so if they want to read the book, they have to do it themselves.  Start with the easiest book and work your way up; on every single word, I'd repeat "sound it out" until he made each phonetic sound and eventually figured out the word.  This is VERY SLOW at first.  If it's too frustrating, or they aren't showing enough interest, you can set it aside and wait a few weeks or even months...don't give in and read the book to them!  They have to be both able and willing to do it themselves.   (Of course, we continue reading lots of OTHER books throughout all of this -- even after he can read on his own.)

With C, after he got the hang of it, he was eager to read more.  The set we used had 40 of these books that worked up from easier words to slightly more complex words (long vowel sounds, etc.)  The BOB books have a similar difficulty scale - start with the beginner, then level 2, etc.  Personally, I find that phonics-based books are an easier starting point than sight words, but I'm sure this is heavily influenced by it being the same way I learned to read myself.

After phonics books became easy, we moved onto leveled readers.  These are great because there are so many books featuring different popular characters from TV shows or movies (Paw Patrol, Star Wars, Barbie, Daniel Tiger, etc.).  There are several different brands of leveled readers, and we used all of them - primarily Step into Reading, I Can Read!, Ready to Read, and World of Reading.  I've included a photo below comparing the way each of these 4 brands defines the various levels; for example, Step Into Reading is levels 1-5, while the others all have a level lower than Level 1 (My First, Pre-1, Pre-Level One)...so not all Level 1 books mean the same thing.  

We used these interchangeably based on whichever brand featured the characters/topics that would most interest my son.  Berenstain Bears, Daniel Tiger, and Avengers were some of his first that peaked his interest.  Some come in box sets and some are sold individually.  There is also usually a huge section of these at the public library!  We have the same rules on these books - the parents/adults don't read them.

After progressing through the various levels of readers, he was ready for easy/short chapter books.  (The Level 3-4 readers generally have paragraphs, so they are a good transition.)  C is not yet at an age where he is interested in reading books without ANY pictures; most early chapter books still have a picture every few pages.  He started with mystery books, because there is an incentive to get to the end of the book to find out the answer to the mystery.  

Some of our favorites include:

• the Nate the Great mystery series
• the Cam Jansen mystery series
• the Jigsaw Jones mystery series
• the Magic Tree House series (these are his favorite)
• the Flat Stanley series 
• the Eerie Elementary series

I think all of the above would be great for either girls or boys; I've also heard the Junie B Jones series is super popular with girls (C has only read one so far).  Most of these books are rated with a Reading Level of 2 - 2.4 or for ages 7-10.  The great thing about these book series is that once they find a character they like, there are many more books in the series that will likely appeal to them too!  We plan to try The Boxcar Children series next.  Check your local library!  I currently have 75 books for C on request from these various series (we don't worry about reading them in order).

I am hoping by Christmas he will be ready for the Harry Potter illustrated series!  (Again, I think the inclusion of illustrations will help him visualize the story and keep his interest for such a long book).

From the Kitchen: Homemade Elderberry Syrup and Elderberry Gummy Bears

Is it just me, or is the flu worse this year than normal?!  With 2 family members with asthma and an infant in the house, I am super paranoid this year!  Any of the 3 of them are likely to end up hospitalized if they catch the flu due to their health conditions.  We are being extra careful this flu season, which has meant making a few changes (in addition to getting our flu shots): we remove our shoes at the door to avoid tracking germs across the floor; we all wash our hands immediately when returning home from being outside or in public, and we are staying home as much as physically possible to minimize our exposure.  This means no playgrounds or indoor play areas; switching off which of us goes to church to keep the kids out of childcare; and eating at home as much as possible to avoid public places.  

I recently learned about elderberry syrup and its natural immunity-boosting properties.  I am not normally one for "natural" remedies but, like I said, I am desperate to keep my family flu-free, so I figured it can't hurt anything.  You can buy elderberry syrup pre-made (Nature's Way and Gaia Herbs are two popular brands), but it is easy and less expensive to make at home - and you can control the quality of the ingredients by using all organic.

I'm not taking the elderberry syrup since I'm breastfeeding (there isn't any known contraindication, but there also aren't studies proving it's safe, so I'm abstaining), and baby M can't have any since she's under 1 and it contains honey...but hubs and C are going to take a daily dose for the remainder of flu season.  

Lots of people take it in syrup form, but that seemed potentially messy with a 3-year-old (it's dark purple); when I found out how easy it was to make gummy bears out of it, that seemed like the obvious method for us - I knew C would jump at the chance to have a piece of "candy" daily!

You probably won't be able to find some of the ingredients (especially dried elderberries) locally, but luckily they are sold online!

Elderberry Syrup

Yield: 2 cups (approximately 32 1-tablespoon adult doses or 96 1-teaspoon children's doses; makes a one-month supply for one adult; you may wish to double or triple this recipe if making for a family)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried organic elderberries (Frontier is a well-known brand)

1 organic cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons organic dried ginger root

4 whole organic cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground organic cloves

2 cups water

1 cup raw organic honey

Put the dried elderberries, spices, and 2 cups of water in a small saucepan (uncovered) and bring to a boil.  Cover with a lid and reduce heat to a simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the liquid reduces by half.  Remove from heat and allow to cool until warm.  Use a strainer to remove the berries and cinnamon stick while pouring the liquid into a glass jar.  Stir in 1 cup of honey.  

Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container (it should last 6-8 weeks).

Dosing:

For maintenance/preventative: adults - 1 tablespoon daily; children: 1 teaspoon daily

During illness: increase frequency to every 2-3 hours (using same doses as above)

Note: should not be given to children under 1 year, as it contains honey.  No studies exist on the effects on breastfeeding or pregnant women, so they should refrain from use as well.

If your kids don't like taking it straight (from a spoon or medicine cup), try mixing it into applesauce!  Or if you want to take the foolproof approach like me, make it into gummy bears :)

Elderberry Gummy Bears

Yield: 105 approx 1" gummy bears

Ingredients:

2 cups elderberry syrup (see recipe above)

3 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin

Oil spray (coconut, vegetable, etc.) - for greasing molds

Silicone gummy bear molds (these are slightly larger than other gummy bear molds)

Warm 2 cups of elderberry syrup (the whole recipe prepared per above) in a small saucepan, being careful not to boil.  Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the syrup, allowing it to fully soak (will no longer appear white).  Use a whisk to stir in the gelatin until smooth.  

Spray the gummy bear molds lightly with an oil spray to prevent sticking (I did not do this the first time and mine stuck to the molds!) and place on a cookie sheet or other hard surface to allow for easy transport after molds are filled.  Use a dropper to fill each gummy bear mold with the gelatin syrup mixture, placing in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.  

Gently remove each gummy bear from the molds and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Dosing:

For maintenance/preventative: adults - 3 gummy bears daily; children: 1 gummy bear daily

During illness: increase frequency to every 2-3 hours (using same doses as above)

DIY: Two Fixes for a Motorola Video Baby Monitor that Stops Working

Video baby monitors have a remarkable tendency to break on you, which is a shame considering how expensive they are and how much parents rely on them!   We have a Motorola video baby monitor that we purchased in 2014, so it's well out of warranty.  It has worked great for the last 3.5 years and we added a second camera for baby M in 2017.  Our monitor is Motorola model MBP36BU (the model number is on the bottom of the camera), but the two fixes below should work for most Motorola video baby monitors (and maybe other brands as well. 

Fix #1 - Parent Console Stops Holding a Charge

About a year ago, the baby monitor stopped holding a charge.  It worked fine as long as it was plugged into the wall, but wouldn't hard a charge when running on battery power.  I'd charge it fully, unplug it to carry around with me while baby napped, and the battery would die way too fast - sometimes only 20-30 minutes from fully charged to completely dead.  Luckily, that is an easy and cheap (~$10) fix - you just need to replace the battery, which you can order inexpensively on Amazon.  This is the exact battery I ordered, which has held up well for over a year now.  Unscrew the battery cover on the back of the parent console, remove the old battery, and insert the new battery.  Problem solved!

Fix #2 - Parent Console Doesn't Recognize Charging Cable

I was NOT pleased when, this week, the parent console started not recognizing the charging cord being plugged in!  (The charge cord was plugged in, but the battery symbol in the top right corner didn't show that it was charging.)  This meant that, once the existing battery power was drained, the monitor couldn't be used either plugged in or running on battery power!  After talking to friends and reading online, I found that this is a common failure point - sometimes you can wiggle or prop the charging cord just right to get the monitor to recognize it, but it loses contact repeatedly, resulting in the baby monitor dying after the battery runs out.  

I am nothing if not stubborn, so I refused to resort straight to buying a new baby monitor!  Cue more research....apparently Motorola baby monitors in particular tend to have poor solder joints on the charge port; over time, repeatedly plugging and unplugging the charge cord over the years puts strain on and loosens these solder joints, eventually causing them to fail.  How long this takes varies depending on the quality of the original solder and the use of the baby monitor (how often the cord is plugged and unplugged from the parent console, etc.)  Apparently, at 3.5 years of daily use, ours lasted longer than many!  

Based on the symptoms, it sounded like this is what had happened to my monitor - the charge port had come un-soldered.  Before taking apart the monitor to confirm, I reached out to a local computer repair shop to see if they had someone who could re-solder the charge port if that was, indeed, the issue (emphasizing that it was a tiny part).  When he confirmed he could help, I then got brave enough to open up the baby monitor to take a look!  

Using a tiny Phillips head screwdriver, I first removed the plastic battery cover on the back of the parent console, removed the battery pack, and then removed the second screw located underneath the battery.  I then used a tiny flat head screwdriver to gently pry open the baby monitor along the seam around the outside edge.  This took a bit of finagling to locate exactly where the fasteners were located, but I was eventually able to gently pry the front and back of the baby monitor apart, revealing the circuit board.  As soon as I did this, a small part fell right out of the inside of the monitor - sure enough, it was the charge port!  The solder joints had come completely undone, resulting in the port being totally loose inside there - no wonder it wasn't working!  

I took the loose charge port and the disassembled parent console to the computer repair shop, where they re-soldered the charge port onto the circuit board.  I put everything back together again - snapped the 2 sides of the baby monitor back in place, and replaced the 2 screws and battery pack, and presto - the baby monitor now recognizes the charge cord!  This repair cost around $50 for the solder job; considering a new baby monitor system with 2 cameras would have run around $200, going the repair route was a significant cost savings, kept a baby monitor and 2 cameras out of the landfill, and saved me the hassle of programming and re-wiring new cameras!

Toddler 101: Traveling with a Preschooler (Airplane / Road Trip Bag Ideas!)

We have several upcoming trips that will involve flying with our preschooler and infant, so I am stocking up on kid supplies for the flight!  C got a Pottery Barn Kids backpack for Christmas, so I'm planning to fill it with snacks and entertainment to keep him busy (and hopefully quiet) on the plane!  

While we own all of the items below, I didn't buy them all just for this flight!  We've acquired some of these over the years for other flights, road trips, Christmas gifts, etc; I keep them stored away in a closet so they maintain their novelty factor on airplanes or long road trips :)

My Little World Sticker Books - these sticker books are great - the price point (~$3) is great for the quality and the number of pages/stickers in these books.  Most cheap sticker books only have 1-2 pages of sticker activities and are tiny; these are a normal children's book size, provide several pages of activities, and the pages are coated so that you can move the stickers around.  

Make-an-Animal Sticker Sheets - these come in a 96-pack and are the cheap 1-page, smaller sticker sheets; however, these are great for "quantity over quality" - C can complete one and then move onto an entirely different animal.

Color Wonder Travel Kit - I love Color Wonder - mess-free markers that only work on the special Color Wonder paper!  No stressing over marker getting on the airplane seat!  This one is great because it comes in a hard plastic travel kit; you can store the Color Wonder markers and paper inside, and there are clips on the outside to secure the paper.  These are also great for road trips when there's no tray table to use - perfect for coloring in their lap!  There are blank Color Wonder pages for free drawing, as well as character-themed Color Wonder pages for coloring.  

Melissa & Doug Water WOW Books - these are great for travel - the fun of paint without the mess!  The little water paintbrushes are easy to refill at a water fountain or from an airline cup of water, and the pages dry quickly so they can be painted and re-painted!

Contigo Kids Water Bottle - I pack this in C's backpack so we can fill it at a water fountain after going through security, instead of buying overpriced airport bottled water.  I also like that it is spill-proof, so I don't have to worry about him knocking over an entire bottle of water on himself, me, or our bags!

Wipe-clean ABC book - this is great for practicing letter tracing, and the marker easily wipes off with a baby wipe!  This book is a compact size with sturdy pages and several opportunities to trace each letter (both lower and uppercase) on each page.

I Spy 4-in-1 Book - C loves doing these I Spy books, and they provide a great opportunity for independent play.  I like this one because it has 4 books in 1, which is both less expensive than buying the 4 books separately but also occupies him for longer since there are 4 times as many pages.

LilGadgets Volume Limited Headphones - these headphones are great because the volume is limited to a safe level, so I don't have to worry that he's damaging his hearing.  There is also an extra jack for another set of headphones to plug into the child's headphones (a parent or a sibling), so two people can listen to the same audio simultaneously.  Although we REALLY try to limit iPad use, we usually bring it on long road trips or flights for times of desperation - we load it with episodes of Daniel Tiger, a movie or two from Netflix, and a few children's audiobooks.

Wet Ones Resealable Antibacterial Wipes - I never go anywhere without these!  I like these slim, flat, resealable packages - I keep them in my car, purse, diaper bag, and there will most definitely be several packs coming on the plane with us! These are great for wiping hands before and after snacks or meals, as well as wiping down the germy airplane armrests and tray table.

And all the snacks!  I usually bring small bags of goldfish, small boxes of raisins, and Dum-Dums for a treat (and to help with little ears popping!)

DIY: How to Clean a Pottery Barn Kids Backpack / Lunch Box

Pottery Barn Kids has the CUTEST backpacks and lunch boxes for littles, but those suckers aren't cheap!  Kids are rough on backpacks and lunch boxes with all the back-and-forth to school - the bags get dirty quickly!  

I was handed down a used PBK lunch box for my daughter that had DEFINITELY seen better days.  I checked the PBK website, where the care instructions say "spot clean with a damp white cloth".  Um, sorry, that's not gonna cut it!  

ATTEMPT #1 - I tossed it in the washing machine with a hefty dose of laundry detergent and Oxiclean, but it still looked pretty bad - especially on the lighter-colored straps and zippers.  Dang, Oxiclean normally fixes everything!  

ATTEMPT #2 - As a last resort, I scrubbed it with a plastic dish brush in the sink, using dish soap...and VOILA!  The stains came right out, both of the patterned fabric and the straps/zippers, with no damage to the pattern on the fabric.  It took a little elbow grease, but the dish brush worked amazingly well!  Since PBK's lunch boxes and backpacks are made of 600-denier polyester, they are pretty sturdy - that's the same material that must luggage is made of.

Give it a try!  You'd be surprised what you can salvage - PBK's stuff is so well-made, it can take a good scrub!

Mom Hack: Clothesline + Sun = Ultimate Stain Remover

 Oh, laundry.  It NEVER ends.  Add to that the fact that both of my kids are/were MAJOR spitter-uppers, and the quantity of stained clothing/bibs/blankets/sheets/burp cloths is insane.  It wasn't so bad during the first 6 months when it's just milk spit-up, but ever since baby food and solids came into the picture (and even now, in the preschool years), we have had a ton of hard-to-beat stains.  I tried lots of Pinterest tricks - rubbing the stain directly with Tide or Dreft detergent, Oxiclean spray, soaking in hot water with Oxiclean powder, Dawn + hydrogen peroxide + baking soda, etc - and they worked fine on surface-level or fresh stains but couldn't get out the tough stains, particularly red and orange ones - carrot puree, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and the like, or - the worst - baby poop stains!

Enter: the sun.  The sun gets out ALL kinds of stains, but especially the tough ones!  Anytime I have stained laundry, I do my standard Oxiclean-spray-and-launder; if the stain is still there after a wash cycle, I let the sun do its thing - I just set the (wet) item in direct sunlight, and the sun bleaches out the stain (while not affecting any colored fabric or graphics).  Initially, I laid the stained clothes on our patio dining table, but then (since those got the clothes dirty again from sitting on an outdoor table) I'd have to rewash them after the sun got rid of the stain.  Also, in the height of the baby food stain stage, I didn't have enough surface area on our table for all the stained clothes!  

I eventually invested in an inexpensive clothesline; it is retractable, so when it's not in use, it's unobtrusively hidden by a gutter downspout in our backyard (B's biggest hesitation with getting a clothesline was that it would be visible all the time).  

I also bought wood clothespins and this hanging clothespin bag, which hangs on the clothesline for easier access to pins while I'm hanging up or taking down laundry (instead of bending down to get them out of a basket on the ground).  

This has saved me SO much time and energy using different stain removal products, scrubbing stains with a toothbrush, and washing and re-washing - now, the stains are gone by the time the item dries in the sun!

Have you tried using the sun to get rid of tough stains?  Try it, you'll be amazed!

How to Use Medela PISA Pump Parts with a Spectra S1/S2 Pump

Between baby #1 and #2, I made the switch between the Medela Pump In Style Advanced to the Spectra S2 breast pump.  While I MUCH prefer the Spectra pump to the Medela, I had 3 issues with the Spectra pump:

1) Spectra flange sizes are limited (only 3 sizes as compared to Medela's 5), and I use a larger-than-standard flange that Spectra doesn't make;

2) Replacement Spectra pump parts are not readily available locally, making me nervous if they break or I forget them while travelling

3) Spectra pumps are not compatible with standard-size bottles - you either have to use wide-mouth bottles or use bottle adapters to allow use of standard-size bottles

The cheap and easy solution to all 3 issues is to use Medela pump parts with the Spectra pump.  Luckily, I had leftover pump parts from my old Medela pump that I could scavenge, but if not, Medela pump parts are inexpensive and readily available, both online and in local stores like Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us, and Target.

I had heard anecdotally that it was possible to mix and match Medela parts with the Spectra pump, but I couldn't find detailed instructions on how to actually DO it.  Here's what you'll need:

• Spectra S1 or S2 pump
• Spectra tubing (comes with Spectra pump; replacement tubing available here)
• Spectra backflow protector (comes with Spectra pump; replacement backflow protectors available here)
• Backflow adapter ***this is the part that doesn't come with either the Spectra or the Medela pump that you will need to buy separately!!!
• Medela breast shield, aka flange (comes with Medela pump; multiple replacement sizes available - 21mm, 24mm, 27mm, 30mm, 36mm)
• Medela PersonalFit Connectors (comes with Medela pump; replacement connectors available here)
• Medela Valve & Membrane (comes with Medela pump; replacement valves & membranes available here)

The backflow adapter connects the Spectra backflow protector to the Medela PersonalFit Connector, allowing use of the Medela parts while staying a "closed" (sanitary) breast pump system.  You can buy a 6-pack of the adapters inexpensively on Amazon, and you're good to go!

Baby Shower Hack: Cupcake Frosting

I will admit it: when I am hosting an event, I am a cupcake frosting snob.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with canned frosting for home use (especially if it's chocolate frosting on yellow cake, the best combination ever), but I prefer piped frosting on cupcakes for bridal/baby showers, birthday parties, etc.  I don't think that canned frosting looks good when piped - it's slightly too soft to hold its shape well, and it has too much shine to it (probably from the mystery cancer-causing ingredients, but whatever).  And grocery store cupcakes, do not even get me started - what IS that frosting they put on there?!

However, sometimes I just do not have the time to make homemade buttercream.  Having to get the butter warm enough so that it mixes easily, but not too warm so that it separates and looks gross......this just takes time that is hard to find with a toddler at my heels, not to mention the cleanup time for the inevitable cloud of powdered sugar that ends up all over my kitchen.  What to sacrifice, taste/looks or time?!  GAME CHANGER - Central Market will sell you their plain white buttercream in bulk at the bakery.  

The bakery ladies gave me kind of a strange look when I asked for buttercream, but then filled up a to-go container with buttercream and sold it to me for $4/pound....which is really not much more than the ingredients for homemade buttercream would cost.  It was SUCH a time/sanity saver - I just took it straight home, plopped it into a piping bag, and had 36 frosted cupcakes in about 10 minutes, with no mess in my kitchen to clean!  I had some buttercream leftover, so I froze it -- I'm interested to see if the texture will be useable after thawing, but worth a shot! 

Moms: You Need A Roomba

Note: this is not a sponsored post.  I have no affiliation with iRobot/Roomba....this is purely my personal opinion and experience!

Oh my gosh, how did we ever live without Thomas* (our Roomba)?!  Blair and I find ourselves saying this almost daily -- it is seriously the greatest invention for moms of littles. We had several friends get a Roomba over the last several years and swear up and down that it "saved their marriage" (haha) and was the greatest thing ever, and for some reason, we didn't believe them!!!  Well, I am telling you, it's no lie!!!  We are in love with our Roomba!

Our house has a combination of wood flooring, tile, area rugs, and carpet.  It was a struggle to keep the floors "clean enough" for our (then) infant, now toddler, to play on.  It was even worse once he became old enough to enjoy playing outside -- the constant in-and-out of the house tracked in all kinds of dirt and dead leaves!  I found myself vacuuming the house constantly, which was a pain because each type of flooring required a different setting on the vacuum cleaner.  I couldn't stand to sit on the couch at night and see dust/dirt/whatever in the reflection on the wood floors!!

I finally gave in and bought a Roomba.  I justified this purchase because I found $200 worth of Visa gift cards that had been gifted to us and forgotten, which covered a large chunk of the purchase price (yay!)  After reading a million Amazon reviews, I got the iRobot Roomba 650.  There is quite a range of Roombas at different price ranges and with different features; the less expensive ones lack the ability to schedule the Roomba to run on its own, and the more expensive ones have bells and whistles like iPhone app capability.  The 650 model seems to fit our needs -- it can be scheduled to run at certain times on different days of the week.  This feature is great because we can set it to run while we are at work!  The Roomba returns to its base to charge after it is done vacuuming. I have it set to run at 9 AM on workdays; not only does this mean that we come home to clean floors (GLORIOUS!), but it also allows it enough time to be fully recharged by the time we get home, so we can run it a 2nd time at night if we choose.  (Note that you can only schedule it to run once a day, but the time can be different for each day.) 

While the Roomba is quieter than our normal vacuum cleaner, I would not say that it is "quiet". We don't like to have it running in the same room where we are watching TV, for instance.  We also generally don't like to run it at night (while we sleep), as it navigates each room by gently bumping into furniture and walls, and those thuds are distracting while you're trying to sleep!

I cannot pretend to understand the navigation pattern/logic of the Roomba.  It seems to roam around aimlessly, with no set pattern to its ways.  This results in lots of weird vacuum lines in your carpet, but you can see that it does appear to get good coverage, despite its randomness.  It also does not follow the same pattern each day - it randomly vacuums around our house, going in different rooms in a different order each time.  It does not vacuum 100% of our house each time.  We have a ~2,300 square foot house (all one level), and I would estimate that it vacuums 65-75% of the house each day.  However, since the Roomba is intended to be used more frequently than you would use a normal vacuum, our floors are still more clean than they would be vacuuming the entire house on a less frequent basis with our normal vacuum.  Since it goes in different rooms each time, the whole house gets covered every 2-3 times.  And, since our Roomba is fully recharged when we get home from work, we can always choose to run it again in a particular room that got missed if it needs it.  (We rarely do this, as it will normally get vacuumed the next day anyway). 

We have learned where the obstacles are in our house that the Roomba gets stuck on; luckily, they were pretty easy to fix.  It gets stuck on small, loose power cords, like our iPhone chargers and the cord to the baby monitor, so we have to make sure that these aren't laying on the ground.  It also sometimes gets stuck on the crib skirt or our long curtains that have excess fabric pooled on the ground.  Luckily, the Roomba recognizes when it gets stuck on something and stops (it provides an audible error message, if you're home to hear it), rather than continuing to try to run until the battery dies.  If we come home and it's not docked in its base, we know to go look for it!  It's usually stuck under C's crib or where my iPhone cord is plugged in.  The reviews I read also says that it doesn't do well on black rugs/flooring, because it triggers its cliff sensor that keeps the Roomba from falling off an edge (like stairs).  We have very dark wood-look tile in our bathrooms and it does just fine on that, so it must only have a problem on surfaces that are actually black.

The Roomba's vacuuming capability is impressive!!  First, it goes under all of our furniture, which is normally territory that NEVER got vacuumed - under beds, couches, TV stands, even in between the chairs under our dining room table.  Second, it has 2 brushes on the bottom and a spinning brush on one side that allows it to suck up dirt along baseboards and in corners -- again, areas that are not covered by our normal vacuum unless we break out the hose attachment.  We are continually disgusted by the amount of dust and dirt that the Roomba finds every day.  At this point, we have had our Roomba running daily for over 2 months, and the dust bin is still somehow at least half full every. single. day. Where is all of this dirt coming from?!?!  So gross!!!!!

The Roomba does not take a lot of maintenance; I do empty the dust bin daily (or every other day, at a minimum) - it gets full quickly, plus I like to see how much dirt it found that day :)  Every 2-3 weeks, I clean out the brushes on the bottom of the Roomba to remove hair that has gotten wrapped around the brushes.  The Roomba comes with a tool - like a seam ripper - that is intended for this purpose, and it only takes a couple of minutes every few weeks. This helps ensure that the brushes are most effective and also reduces strain on the gears from hair wound too tightly and causing extra resistance, which will probably shorten the lifespan of the Roomba.  However, all of this takes less time than it took to vacuum my house ONCE, and the floors are MUCH cleaner than they used to be due to the frequency that the Roomba runs.  I love the feeling of clean floors under my feet!!!  In the 2+ months we've had our Roomba, I haven't used our normal vacuum cleaner once.  That's how good of a job it does!!

Do you have babies/young kids that spend lots of time on the floor?  You need a Thomas in your house!!! :)