Cloth--I love it!

So lately, I've been doing research on cloth diapers and cloth wipes even in preparation to the new little one that's due in November. Cloth diapers, I say heck yes. They save money, they're environmentally friendly, and there aren't any chemical's to go against baby's skin. What I haven't been too keen on, however, is the usage of cloth wipes. Whether it's for baby, or for cleaning. I could just never like the idea of using cloth whatsoever. It just seems so... disgusting. I'm the person that tends to use paper towels instead to clean up messes, going through several. Well, today I couldn't use paper towels.

I have cast iron skillets. Or... my mom does. And we don't wash them in the traditional sense because my mom would have a fit if I dared to use soap and water on them, unless it's a very minimal amount of water ONLY just to moisten food that has dried and stuck to the pan. Then we generally use steel wool to scrub it and afterward, wipe it down with paper towels. But we end up using a good three or four when wiping one of the pans, and our stock of the towels runs out quickly since these cast iron pans are our only pans when it comes to cooking. Because we don't use teflon. No way! Experts tell us that teflon is safe as long as it doesn't heat up to a certain temperature. Well, I'll tell you this... our stoves get a lot hotter than what is required safe for teflon pans, meaning that chemicals get released into our food. GROSS. So... cast iron it is :)

Now... today, I discovered that I was out of paper towels. I kept hesitating on using the big stash of rags in my laundry room that I never use. I think I stared at them for a good ten minutes or so before I decided, "Screw it! These pans will never get clean if I just keep staring!" So, I broke down and got to work.

I LOVE USING CLOTH.

Not only can I use just TWO rags for THREE pans, but they're easy to rinse in the sink. Then all I have to do is just hang them over the hamper to dry so they don't get all foul-smelling in the laundry before putting them in the wash. It's that simple. No more paper towels for this young woman!

I actually feel better about myself now. Is this normal? I think I may have to use rags for a lot of other things, too...

The Weekend

Bee is 18 months now... and a screamer.

It actually took me a while to get this picture, and even then, she was pretty grumpy despite her nap. I'm now wondering if it's her pigtails that made her that way... probably the hair ties pulling at her little hairs. Oh well... she still looks cute. Even if I accidentally made one higher than the other, but of course, she wouldn't let me fix it.


Although Bee kept giving me "devil child" pictures, I did manage to get a couple of good ones, too. I think that they turned out good though because she was just thrilled with the dandelions everywhere. Too bad that they had all gone to seed, so now there will soon be a bunch of brand new dandelions in the yard! Not like there aren't enough already...




Did you notice that adorable romper?? It's been at my mom's house for a while now, since before Bee was born. She's only really in it because Chris doesn't have the sense to bring an extra change of clothes. I had told him to bring warm clothes along with their other clothes. He apparently only heard "bring warm clothes." So... the kids only had long sleeved shirts and sweat pants. Luckily for him, there were extra clothes at the house!

I suppose I'm going off topic. I originally stated that Bee had become a screamer. And, well... she has. Although, she didn't start up until Sunday afternoon. When Chris took us all out to breakfast and dinner on Saturday at Trudy's Kitchen, Bee behaved very well. She was quiet, though messy as all babies are. Her brother even managed to not pout and throw fits at the restaurant either, which usually happens, and it can be embarrassing. But it's usually their dad's fault. He tends to try and force feed Matschi food that he doesn't want, and it of course, results in a screaming fit. I swear, one of these days...

Anyway, while we were out for ice cream, Matschi and Bee got their own small cup of ice cream to share. Chris however, made the mistake of feeding Bee some of his ice cream before she could taste her own. So naturally, she wanted whatever he had, because guess what, it was Cookies n' Cream ice cream... When she and Matschi got their cup to share, Bee didn't want anything to do with it--she wanted Daddy's ice cream. But though Chris tried not to give in, Bee would just scream because she wasn't getting what she wanted. Eventually, Chris gave her the rest of his cone when there was just a little bit left. Unfortunately... Bee held onto it for so long, that the ice cream in the cone ended up melting, and she dumped the whole thing onto her lap, and then all over the booth we were sitting in. Then when I tried to clean her up and the booth, she again started screaming.

End ice cream outing.

When we got home, I also realized that Bee was soaked through her diaper. Chris hadn't changed her in a good five hours or so... And since he had no other change of clothes, he had strip her, and she ran around in just her diaper for a while until I could find something for her to wear. This was before I found the romper though, and the dress that I found was 2T, which is too big for Bee, but she seemed to get around in it just fine.



There's also a mosquito on her face... If you didn't notice anyway. And in that dress, she kind of looks like one of the poor trailer children in town.

But despite that, there was a moment in which Bee was very quiet, which everyone knows, a quiet child is a mischievous child. To my surprise though, I found her sitting in a chair like a little lady. You'd never think she was really a spoiled little screamer!

But while Bee was sitting still, her brother was playing with one of his favorite balls... though poor Cody was staring out of sliding glass door at him, just dying to be outside.



So, I eventually found that romper that I showed at the beginning of this post since I realized that it was near impossible for Bee to walk up the stairs without stepping on the dress and falling over. So, I dug through my old closet, and voila! Cute, seaside romper!


Too bad she'll be too big for it by next month. The romper is 12-18 months, so I guess it'll look mostly new for whenever the next little girl comes into the family. That could be quite a ways down the road though. Yay for hand-me-downs!

Winter Fun!

Oh, the drama of winter. It's the time of heavy snowfall, power outages, sledding, and... Christmas!

To start off my break from school, I traveled with a neighbor down to Boise, near my mother's home. I was definitely looking forward to snow because up north at school, we hardly got any of the nice white stuff at all. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of snow left from Thanksgiving, but it sure as hell was cold! Not that I'm surprised. It's very common for my home town to start hitting the negative temperatures in late November, and every year, I'm always prepared! My bedroom doesn't have insulation as the house was built in 1867, but thankfully, I have double-paned windows that are almost new. I also have a space heater, and I sleep with a heating pad, flannel sheets, a thick quilt, a fleece blanket, fleece socks, and flannel jammies ;) So, I can say that I at least know how to keep warm in a colder climate.

To start off the Christmas celebrations, my mom's best friend, Terri held a party at her place. Everyone had to bring their own ornaments, as she had divorced just three months before my mother did, which was in December of 2008. I can't even count how many people turned up, but everyone was stuffed and happy, and Terri's tree looked like it had exploded with ornaments! She was so delighted to have new decorations.





Since so much more went on during the winter break, here's some pictures to just sum it all up :)

Sledding at Steamboat.

My brother and Matschi.

The tree snapped during a four day snow storm (we've had week long or two week long snow storms before), and the power was out for two days (also, we've had two week long power outages)! We didn't think our ASH tree would snap, as they are very sturdy trees!

My backyard.

The snow became a giant barricade for our dog at the back door!

My mom and her granddaughter.

My mom and her grandson playing with his new light sabers.

A house in the valley, decorated with nice Christmas lights :)

Home.

Major Catching Up

Since I last posted, many things have gone on, including "tame" deer, ice luge tracks, invasive mites, weddings, and screaming babies. To save you from a gigantic blog post from me, I think I'll just give each topic a post of their own.

Back in October, I ended up going my friend's cabin up at Coeur d'Alene Lake. While there, I hadn't expected to see calm, and "tame" deer roaming around the cabins! I put it in quotations because... well, everyone should know that deer and other wildlife are never tame, so you should never approach them. Thankfully, I have a nice zoom option on my camera, but my friends were adamant on getting as close to the deer as possible.



Now, I've been this close to deer before, back when I was eleven years old. I used to enjoy playing the Prince of Egypt outside, all dressed in a long shirt from my dad, and a pair of ratty, white sandals. Of course, I don't think the deer had felt threatened then because I was so small. Since I'm older, I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem with kicking me in the face now. So... I'll just view them from a distance from now on, such as on the first morning that I was at the lake.



After being woken up at 5:30 in the morning by an obnoxious chipmunk in the cabin (who was eating through all of the chip bags!), I laid in bed for a while, until about 6:30 when I just couldn't sleep anymore. Instead, I got up and made a nice cup of hot chocolate before settling out on the deck... after bundling myself up, because it was rather cold outside! I think was about 24 Fahrenheit when I checked, but the hot chocolate was nice and warm, and it kept me from shivering.

While out on the deck, sitting there in peace, just watching the sun rise while fog rolled across the lake... two deer happened to come by. At first, they grazed in front of the deck, but I guess they hadn't seen me yet. It was time for a photo opp! Forget the hot chocolate, forget the sunrise; it was a perfect opportunity to capture those deer. I think once they heard the shutter on my camera clicking though, they became very curious with me.



Not much else really went on at the cabin; it was mostly just viewing nature... and writing on my laptop. I feel bad that I stayed inside more than I went outside. I'm due for another visit this weekend, but I don't think I'll be bringing my laptop or my phone. While there, I was able to receive text messages, even with a bar of service. I don't want to be distracted this time, and it's always nice to take a break from technology!

They Call Me Little Fish

Or just Fish... Or Fishie, depending. Almost everybody calls me one or the other, except for my mother for some reason. I can't remember a time where she actually called me "Fish" lol It's always just been Felicia to her. Then again, she's in love with my name.

So, I was born in Niagara Falls, New York. I don't remember much of it except for a dead and bloody deer laying on our kitchen table when I was about three. Sad to say, I can't find the picture of it... or maybe it's not sad to say. Who wants to see a dead deer in a kitchen??


This is me when we lived in Buffalo. It seems that my mother could never get enough of dressing me up in frilly things, especially if said frilly things were PINK. I despise the color now. Hmm, I wonder why, Mom? Thankfully in this picture though, I'm in a different color other than the awful color of pink.

I suppose you could call me contradictory now though. At least slightly... I may hate the damn color, but I can't help but to buy my niece pink, frilly dresses now! My mother would always say that while they're young and don't really care, you might as well dress them how you want to because you may never see them in cute things when they're older. Like me. I was the girl in torn up shorts, running around bare foot and falling out of trees. There's also an instance of which I remember getting hit in the face with a baseball... or was that the Frisbee...? Either way, I was an accident prone kid. Luckily, I'm not quite a target for bad luck anymore, at least not physically. I still get my share of bad luck with unexpected bills or important things in the apartment breaking.






If you don't know me very well, then I should start out by saying in this paragraph that my mother and I are close. Pretty much like best friends... except some things, she wishes I wouldn't tell her. But, it's just tough luck for her. I'm gonna tell her anyway ;)


My mother and I have been close for as long as I can remember. We may not have interests in exactly the same things, but generally we both like the same stuff.

Up above, my mother is wearing Buffalo Bills winter gear. I think. Or maybe she just found an old blue coat and red mittens--the colors of the Buffalo Bills--so she could show some spirit for her favorite football team. And when I say favorite... I MEAN favorite. You should hear her scream "GO! GO! GO!" at the television screen. It scares the hell outta my dog, and it scared the hell outta me when I was little. I'm surprised that she hasn't gotten to the point where she paints her face red and blue during game days ;)


Like I said before, I don't remember much of New York except for that dead deer... but when I was four, we made a trek--of which included an episode I had with my Uncle Luke because I was coloring a lion in my coloring book with HIS permanent marker (Needless to say, he wasn't a very happy uncle by the end of that trip after dealing with me)--across the United States to Utah. My family lived there until I was nine years old, and then we made one final trip to my mother's final destination of the West. She had been dreaming about living out here ever since she was a little kid, so I can say that she is VERY happy living out here in her mid-19th century home that has no foundation and is currently sinking into the ground.

I'm twenty by the way. And an American Indian if you haven't guessed. I'm just a little bit less than half, but hey... nobody here is judging my blood quantum or making a big deal of whether I'm a "real Native" because of how light my skin is compared to others. Some people I've met get really hostile over it, but the people here at the University of Idaho are probably the most relaxed people I know. It's not like being a little less than half is my fault anyway. It's nobody's fault, really. It's just how things happened, and I'll never put the blame on anybody for how much (or how little) Native blood that I have. I'm proud. And that's all that matters. Right?


And now, it's late... and I believe I've said enough. Or maybe not. I can never shut up, whether it's in writing or in real life. You can blame my mother for that one though.