I’ve been drooling over these nice drawer organizers over at The Container Store. But the price tag is pretty outrageous, even on sale. 2 for $12? No way. It would take me nearly $50 to organize one child’s chest of drawers. Crazy.

So last week I measured the inside of my drawers and went to Home Depot and picked up a piece of particle board. Total price tag (tax included): $9.41. I had the guys in the lumber department cut it to the dimensions I measured, and voila! The lumber department manager chewed me out a bit later, because apparently they aren’t supposed to cut pieces less than 6″ on any side, and some of mine were narrower than that. (They could have just told me no and I’d have been fine with that, but honestly I was thankful to have it done.) So when it’s time to do the next chest of drawers I’ll just have a friend cut the rest to size. To do the one chest of drawers didn’t even use 1/3 of the particle board.

Here’s what I started with

Here’s the finished product

That’s my Works for Me Wednesday. Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more ideas!

It turns out that knitting is like most other things in life - use the skill or lose it. It hasn’t been that incredibly long since I’ve picked up my needles, but I haven’t worked on anything other than a scarf or two since Little Man was born. So in a year and a half I haven’t really knit anything substantial.

Today I needed some down time after all my prep work for our loads of company coming, so I sat down with our Ginormous TV and a knitting project that I probably started when Bean was an infant.  The sad thing is, I don’t even know what it was. But I figured I could pick up the stitch where I left off, and eventually either find the pattern or turn it into something else.

But… remembering the stitches and being able to make it pretty are two different things. You can actually see the line in the knitting where I left off and picked it back up today. The beginning of it looks nice and clean, with even pretty stitches. Where I picked up today looks loose, clumsy, and awfully crooked. So, it looks like it’s time to unravel and recycle the yarn. Probably into another scarf. :sigh:

Sounds too good to be true, but I’m trying it anyway. Today is the start of TV turnoff week. We found out when we went to Little Man’s doctor appointment today for his second ear infection since he got tubes in less than a month ago. As an aside, the doctors have no idea why he’s still getting frequent ear infections after having tubes placed. Isn’t that what we always want to hear from a doctor? “Gee, ma’am, I really don’t know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

But I digress. So, it’s TV turnoff week. We just got back from the doctor about an hour ago, and I haven’t been very good about turning off the TV. I like the idea. Really, I do. I’ve noticed that Bean is a much happier child when she doesn’t sit in front of the babysitter TV. So I’ve been looking for strategies (and motivation) to bite the bullet, deal with the whining, and limit the kids’ TV watching a bit more. In fact, just last week after Bean asked me for the 40th time in 2 minutes if she could watch Curious George (and was told “no” 39 times), I replied with the rather harsh answer of “if. you. ask. me. one more time! I. will. throw the TV. in. the. trash. And you’ll never watch TV again!” That was followed by Bean’s incredulous and somewhat confused, “what?” with her head cocked to the side. She was convinced mama had lost it.

So, the TV-Turnoff Network has a little website with tips for parents (and teachers) to help us find alternative activities to being in front of a screen - the TV specifically, but they suggest also limiting computer time (ouch!). There are some surprising statistics, such as each hour a day your child spends in front of the TV increases the chances that they’ll be a bully by 9%. It also says that most American kids spend 5 hours a day watching TV. That means those kids’ risk of bullying is up 45% compared to children who don’t watch TV (are there any of those out there?). There is a little voice inside me that says Bean is a little too passive and maybe she can pick up some of those more ‘assertive’ tendencies that other kids are getting if I just plop her in front of the TV a bit more… But that’s probably not the idea behind this.

We usually do pretty well with limiting TV viewing. The problem starts when one child is sick and wants to veg on the couch, be around people, but do nothing. So we let them sit in front of the TV. For more hours than I care to admit. And when they’re healthy again, they’ve discovered new shows, gotten used to having the TV on all the time, and seem to have a rather important ‘relationship’ with certain shows. It seems like they miss them, just as much as they miss Grama and Papa. Breaking free of that is hard.

Anyhow, I’m going to give it a shot. I let the kids watch TV in the car (I love my car DVD player) on the way home from the doctor - just minutes after being told about the TV turnoff initiative. What does that tell you? But I’m going to try harder. No TV for a week. For the kids, right? I can still watch Grey’s Anatomy after they go to bed, right? And Bones. And American Idol and 24. Hmm.. Maybe I should re-think that.

But back to the kids. Here are my ideas for creative activities this week:

• Today (after naps): Gardening in the back yard - our vegetable seeds have sprouted and are ready to be moved outside.
• Tuesday: Draw pictures and thank you cards for birthday gifts. Maybe we’ll do hand prints on card stock for the thank you cards.
• Wednesday: Make a giant fort with sheets and furniture.
• Thursday: Play ball at the park with playgroup.
• Friday: Trip to a museum - either the natural history museum or a children’s museum.
• Saturday: Picnic at the park.
• Sunday: Scavenger hunt in the yard.

Well, those activities might not keep the kids busy all day long, but it’s a start. And my sincere hope is that once we’ve broken free pf the TV monster, Bean won’t be so insistent on watching it after this week. We’ll see about that.

How about you? Wanna participate in TV Turnoff week? Leave me a comment. And whether you’re participating this week or not, let me know how you limit TV.

Well, learned is a relative term. But my first project was a dress for Bean using already smocked fabric. It doesn’t get much simpler than that! But, I’m almost finished with a cute little top for her too, and then I’ll start on matching pants! I’m on a roll! It’s been a productive day - Gramma and Papa are here to watch the kids (and teach me to sew), so I’ve actually gotten a lot done.

Megan at Half Pint House pointed out this great project that Randi over at I have to say is doing. Randi’s daughter is off to Africa this summer to work in an orphanage for a couple weeks, and Randi wants to collect enough hand sewn skirts for each girl at the orphanage (and, hopefully, at a couple neighboring orphanages) to have one. Each of these kids has only one outfit to wear, so this drop in the bucket would be pretty precious to them. So for those of you who sew, think about jumping on board with this. They’ve chosen a simple pattern, so that shouldn’t be a worry. I’m hoping to participate if I can learn to sew between now and June!

And who wouldn’t be? Just look at this awesome apron! And there are tons more by Jessie Steele, if you can bring yourself to fork over about $40. Probably more when you consider tax and shipping. But I want one. I need one. In fact, the one pictured here isn’t really my favorite. There’s another I like better, but it wouldn’t let me get the image location… retail snobs… I keep thinking though, if I could find some nice fabric somewhere, surely I could sew one of these myself, and for less than 40 bucks too! (note: I don’t know how to sew). But just imagine it… suddenly, I’d be like Mrs. Cleaver! I’d be more productive! I’d be happier! I’d love my kids more! And all because of an apron! Okay, so none of that is really true. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting it! (Did I mention I like stuff?) Layla Grace has a good selection of these gorgeous creations, all calling my name and telling me I need to host a dinner party! And what better reason to host a dinner party than to show off my gorgeous new apron? I need to find a way to sew one of these. I need to learn to sew first. It would probably help if I could get my $8 sewing machine fixed. Or, I could just save that money and buy an apron!