Been a long while...!

Greetings !! wow..this month sure has flown by! I have been extremely busy as this summer has been filled with activities, outings, and at the end of most days I collapse into bed! I have not had much time for blogging or updating.
I plan to post about some of the things we have done this past month, and try to update more frequently.
Above is a picture of Me with the "littles" I thought I would share. They are just so cute!!
Just wanted to pop in and say hi, as now I am off to get some laundry done (Laundry NEVER ends here at the Nest!)
Cheers!
Nikiyah

Weekending

Hello everyone!
It's Monday and I'm back to the usual routine but wanted to post some pics from our weekend away with some of our friends.

We went to Camp ABK and had such a relaxing and fun time. Here are the pics, there may be a lot of them..

 

 
 The View from the Beach of the lake and docks

It was a fun-filled weekend with some great memories

Simple Fun

Hello everyone!

This week is starting out nicely. This morning we went to our usual Monday morning "Ladies Chat Group" at my friend Amber's. She has the sweetest place right on the lake and big deck.  All of us Ladies (which range from 5-10 of us women) bring our children and while they play on the shoreline or deck, we get to sit around and drink tea with a light snack and chat. It's been great to connect with other women and really talk about nothing in particular or share about whats happening in our lives, all while making meaningful friendships.        

I am now home to catch up on housework from the weekend. I find Mondays are always busy because there tends to be more laundry, dishes, menu plans to make and lists to write. Before I tackle that, I wanted to share with you all a quick recipe that I have used time and time again. 

I find that my children love to help me in the kitchen and this is one they enjoy helping to mix up.  I find giving each child a job makes them feel special and it provides some learning moments too!  Better than that is the fun they have after with what they have helped to prepare!

Here is the recipe:

Play Dough

1 cup Flour

1/3 cup Salt

1 Tbsp Oil

2 tsp cream of tartar (spice aisle of grocery store)

Mix altogether in a bowl

Add 1 cup of water with food coloring of choice (added already)

Place mixture in Pot over low heat and stir with sturdy spoon until it forms a ball (comes away from the pot) and all the coloring is mixed in well, which requires some patience as it can take awhile.

Let cool and  let store in ziploc bags/container in the Fridge

Every now and then take out your bucket of cookie cutters, rolling pins, garlic press and expect your children to be entertained for awhile!

Children love homemade Play Dough and it keeps for a long time!

been busy!

Hello!!!
I have been pretty busy lately and have not had time to Blog! Just checking in...to say I am still here.
I have had a stressful week and trying not to let it overwhelm me, which is not easy at times. `
I have been reading some awesome books that I`d like to share with you, and a recipe...and a few other things...but until then i`ll leave a pic for you since this is usually my `Wordless Wednesday day!

I`ll let you guess who it is!

LOVE this pic by the way...warms my heart!

Baby Essentials

After years of bathing little ones, it seems I have tried many different products-some I have found to be a waste of money, some I have really enjoyed and have kept buying.

During my first few pregnancies, I enjoyed taking a trip to the local ShoppersDrugMarts or good ole' Walmart to stock up on baby bath items. I would stand in the aisle, read all the backs of the bottles and try to pick my favorite scent depending on my mood that day! It was fun, and although I was a tad overwhelmend with all the choices I narrowed it down.
 I used ALOT of Johnson's baby products back then and the classic scent was my favorite. (still is out of the Johnson's products that we still use sometimes)
 When we had our second child, they came out with "Lavender" scented products which I lathered on our son daily after bedtime bath in hopes that he would Sleep longer (ha!) according to  the commercials that made this product look so promising. In fact it did nothing but give me a headache! Plus they are full of other chemicals and parabens.

Over the years, there have been way more choices and some great natural baby bathing essentials that have come out.  One of them is "Live Clean" Baby which has a soft subtle scent which is not overpowering like some other products I've used. It is 98% all natural and organic, "plant-derived", pure vegan and is attractively packaged all for a fairly reasonable price. I have bought this product for friend's baby showers and have gotten such positive feedback.

Another nice product out there is the "Burt's Bees" Baby collection. This company has creams, lotions, powders which are full of natural components and are phthalate and paraben free. This is important in that everything that touches baby's sensitive skin is absorbed. I want to make sure nothing harmful touches our precious little ones.  I absolutely love their "Apricot" baby oil and use this for baby massage after Hannah's baths at night. 

Even though I am  confident that Johnson's is not natural but is full of other unnecessary chemicals, I do enjoy their "green" line. You may have seen it before but is not advertised like the mainstream products are. They are not bad, but dont smell the greatest.

All in all, it comes down to trial and error. In my experience what works for one baby may not be beneficial for another. I do believe it is important to guard what is put on our baby's skin or inhaled (powders) but I though it might be nice to show you what we use in our family. Sometimes its a mix of these products plus the classic favorites that we rely on time and time again.  There are times that I dont use much "baby stuff" at all too!  Sometimes a simple pure water bath with relaxing lullabies and soft candlelight  are all that is necessary to relax baby and hep put her/him down for the night.

Wordless Wednesday

Simple Fun

Hello there!
Today I dont' have too much planned which is a welcome relief...lately it seems i've had so many errands to run.  I have been puttering around the house here tidying up from the morning rush (getting children on the bus) and  catching up on housework.  The littlest ones were getting a bit whiny and bored, but unfortunatly I couldnt take them outside to play in the backyard just yet. That is when i took out the Crafts Bin.
I recommend EVERY mother have a craft box, bin, shelf, basket..whatever...! IT is a must with little ones.
Today we pulled out the construction paper, glue, beads and glitter.  The children spent some meaningful time together at the table, chatting away and creating. I had a chance to finish up on the dishes, throw a load of cloth diapers in the wash, and nurse the baby.

*

Lidiyah wanted to make some necklaces for her big sister Moriyah but unfortunatly , we didn't have any more elastic string. Looks like I  need to replenish our craft stash again! (felt, pipecleaners, pompoms, glitter glue, stickers, tissue paper, rubber stamps, paint..etc...)  I really like Dollarama for Craft supplies. When we go to "Micheals" there are usually some fantastic deals on lots of great things that children would find delightful to work with. 

I am always on the lookout for great Kids Craft ideas, so I would welcome any other simple ideas. I often browse through Martha Stewart's website especially around holidays because there are always cute ideas there too.

Well I'm off to switch the laundry and then there's lunch, and dinner prep. Talk to you all later!

They're HERE! "Homemaker's Best Friends"

So... the Delivery truck came and dropped off our new Laundry appliances. The children were jumping up and down, it was priceless!-they were more excited than us!
The appliances  were quickly set up with help from the "boys". Here's Isaac helping to set it up...

Isaac and Caleb love to do "man" stuff and this definitly topped their criteria list

Washer and Dryer Team

New Washer in use

New Dryer in use! (sorry its blurry)

Lovin' my new Gadgets! makes my life easier...

(LG HIGH Efficiency "Super Capacity" ULTRA Machines with SensorDry/Steam)

I really enjoy the fact that it is Super Capacity!  We purposed to get the bigger size drum because of the amount of loads that need to get done can now be reduced, which means more time for other things.

The children like it especially now that it's at their height (due to the pedastol feature) we paid extra for and can help me with more ease. We debated just "Stacking" them, but decided just to keep them on their own, but higher with the added pedastols/drawers. I'm glad we made the right decision. 

Now, all I have to do is get the proper "HE" detergent..any suggestions?? The first few loads i used ALLENS liquid laundry soap but I am wondering if anyone knows of other detergents I can use compatible with high-efficiency washers?

Truck...

 BIG DELIVERY TRUCK IN DRIVEWAY RIGHT NOW! YES!!

Pics to follow Soon!

Clothing in a Large Family

If there is one thing about raising many children, clothing is definitly a big part of running things smoothly.  When we first had but a few children, we got by with just buying cheaper brands. By the end of the season, the cheaper brand clothes were quite often worn out, which was fine since active children=healthy children!
I started getting a bit frustrated that alot of the clothes were not worth keeping and that is when we started to just buy good quality items, even if they were a tad more pricey than we normally would spend.  At the time, there were a few nice baby boutiques (SuN Valley and The Family Tree) that I found some really sweet things.

 Since then I have never looked back, and though I still sometimes justify buying the cheaper low-quality brands for some things, the Bulk of the childrens wardrobes are of a good name. I enjoy the fact that the better quality clothing has saved us soo much money because we are always able to keep the clothing and hand it down to another child.  The stitches are strong, the clothing does not shrink, or fade and the buttons or embellishments usually stay on, even after laundering time and time again. That is my type of clothing-no fuss, no worries and they stay in great shape!

 There are some really cute peices at the childrens stores now that you can mix and match and they look great!
My favorite stores to buy the children clothes are: the Childrens Place, BabyGap,(love their SOCKS-they stay on!) GapKids, Please Mum, Old Navy (awesome deals here!) Bonnie Togs, Carters (online!) Roots. There is also a great place downtown called Junior World that has fantastic second hand clothing that we often purchase from too.

There are tons more great places but these are the main stores.  Also, Walmart has a great brand that I have had no problems with and it is the GEORGE collection.

I am wondering if there are any other great places that I have yet to discover and I am looking to you my readers for more tips if you have some!  I enjoy finding great sales and good deals.  Fill me in.....