Look Ma No Hands!

It is possible that this only happens to me:

Scene: park/ballgame/day camp/pool/beach/hiking trail/race/friends house/front yard/kitchen….you know only a few times has this happened…..one of my children….all of whom I love and I am sure have asked this equally, has a very nice cold sweaty water bottle, and they very nicely ask “momma can you hole this?”…me (=sucker): sure. Guess who ends up holding 4 water bottles like Alice the camel…she now has 4 humps.

Scene: 2 minutes before we HAVE to leave for a ballgame/birthday party/day camp/play date/appointment….one of my children….all of whom I love….is digging in the drawer that could be named plastic pit of despair for a water bottle AND matching top and looks up and says “Momma can you help me make a water bottle?” Me: Sure. Of course it is important to stay hydrated, that is why we have 26 water bottles and 24 tops….its like the hydration jigsaw puzzle…takes patience and time.

We have as many water bottles that we have gotten from fundraisers and races and camps as we have reusable shopping bags. Both we have been politely refusing for awhile now, we just do not need anymore and I can’t be alone in wondering how helpful these are to the earth in the reducing part of the 3 R’s when they are being mass produced for so many events.

Back to my point.

I have a water bottle, it is a Klean Kanteen, I LOVE it, and it has a sling, I can wear it….no hands!

So this year for each child and the hubby I ordered a Klean Kanteen water bottle and sling, it is now the ONLY water bottle they have….big responsibility, however as I write this, no one has lots any parts at all, and the pit of plastic despair is packed up to be donated.

These were their end of school/welcome to summer gifts and they were all really excited to have a bottle like mine…Yeah!

I had to tie Avalons’ straps up a little, but her and hubby both modeled them:

I bought all of the kids the 27 ounce size, and Jon and I have the 40 oz. size.

Long ago, I bought a handful of peel and stick patches from Old Navy for 97 cents a piece, I just LOVE when I find things at this price point, does any one else find these great deals? I have found less of these deals lately.

Anyway, they fit perfectly onto the canteen “sling”!! I wasn’t sure about the pink skull/poison looking patch, but maybe no one will want to take it?!?

Patches from Old Navy

Viola! reusable, wearable, carryable, hands free and cute, I still need a patch for Solomon, I think he will find one on our road trip this summer.!! And for Jon and I, should have a patch too tight ?!? Maybe I should put a camel on mine..no wait I am no longer the water bottle camel!

This post was not sponsored.

Frozen Raspberry Lemonade Popsicles

Posted by Patchwork Reality

Today marks the official first day of summer…I know some of you have been enjoying summer weather for a while, but blue skies and wispy clouds combined with higher mercury readings are finally here in MN!!! Yeah!!!

That means little bodies are heating up and taking to the water. At our house my kids are huge fans of anything sweet that comes from the freezer.

This is a rendition of a recipe I saw on-line and tweaked a bit.

None of the ingredients in this are hard to find or really all that great for us…(read: no paleo here;)), however it is a treat and as treats go, they are not usually broccoli…am I right?!

Ingredients:

One box of Raspberry Jell-O (you could really use any flavor, strawberry would also be really tasty)…8 serving size.
Lemonade mix, enough for 8 servings, more or less depending on your tartness preference.
Water
Ice
Sugar (Optional)
Dixie cups
Plastic spoons or Popsicle sticks

Boil 4 cups of water and stir in Jell-O, lemonade and any sugar if you like to sweeten your mixture.
Add ice cubes to a glass measuring cup, add water to equal 2 ½ cups total, then add to Jell-O Mixture.
Pour into paper cups; I put mine into a muffin tin to keep it steady for the little helpers I had, also to catch the drips. I also used a funnel to help keep things neat. Put in freezer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours they should only be partially set. This is when we added plastic spoons, I did this so little hands could hold onto then better and avoid a stick, put back into the freezer for another hour or two. This made about 14-16 pops with the Dixie cups approximately 3/4 full.

ENJOY!!!!

While they sleep

Posted by Patchwork Reality

I should have taken a before picture…..it was a total explosion of imaginext toys, swimsuits from the swim bag and the table was covered in schoolwork debris. You know the kind all those amazingly “special” papers that come home by the tree load every day.

So while the little girls slept I weeded through all of it and moved the furniture around, and re-organized the “homework” table (that I blogged about here) and have made it summer ready.

I put paper in each bin, one bin is lined and one is plain. I was thinking some of those little hangs that fasten with tags would be perfect, but since I did not have any I just used a good old rock from the landscaping.

And while I was out there I cut these to bring a little more outdoors in.

So much better! I can be such a better mom and give them more of my time with clean organized spaces. Think I can finish the house before all 4 of the kids are home for summer starting Friday?