Wordless Wednesday

Props to our local diaper store for doing this.

Using a reel mower

We bought our house in October last year. It was a dry summer so there wasn't much need to mow before winter. Just hours of raking. But, we got a mower anyway. I believe we had to use it twice in 2012.

This thing is pretty great. No gas to buy. No blade to sharpen. No spark plugs to change. It's the ultimate zero waste mower! It's pretty easy to push, involving less effort than a gas mower with no power assist. Today was the first mow of the year. Took maybe half an hour.

As with anything there are downsides. It doesn't cut grass that's under leaves and doesn't really do anything to the leaves, so in the fall there's a lot of raking. And, it gets caught up on sticks a lot, so today I spent an hour picking up sticks before I even got started.

But it's quiet and peaceful. You can listen to some music without having it turned up too loud. I could even strap my baby to me and the sound would probably put him to sleep in seconds. I actually enjoy mowing with this.

Cloth diapers

Let the adventures in cloth diapering begin!

Let me hear from you. Do you, or have you, cloth diapered? What advice do you have for new parents? Did you use throw away wipes or cloth? Did you use a sprayer? How did you handle cloth while out? What did the whole process look like for you? How often did you wash? How many diapers did you have? Are there ways to strip diapers without bleach? What other questions can we answer?

Local news

Attention locals:
Just wanted those who live around here to be aware of the Recycling Extravaganza that is taking place on the campus of Black & Veatch, 11401 Lamar, on Saturday, April 27th. This event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This is a nice opportunity to drop off recycling items that are not collected by routine recycling drops/pick ups. For example, here you will be able to drop off:

• Electronics (computers, TVs, printers, stereos, cables, keyboards, etc.)
• Medications (unwanted or expired)
• Confidential documents (onsite shredding to protect your security)
• Cell phones 
• Usable building materials (project leftovers or remodel removals)
• Furniture 
• Clothing
• Toys
• Bicycles 
• Used carpet and padding

Visit opkansas for more information.

Wordless Wednesday

Baby Ronan has arrived! He was born on Tuesday, Feb 26th. 

Wordless Wednesday

Maternity photo. Baby will be here before we know it!

Drying rack

Something we've been wanting to do for a while now, we finally got a drying rack for the laundry!

So far it's done well for most things. I've still done towels and sheets in the dryer. Saves at least one dryer load each week.

Now I just have to get used to the stiffness from air drying.