Eli's new "murse"

Ha ha ha. Just kidding. (For those of you who are lost, **coughmomcough** a "murse" is a man purse, or man bag if you will) Well I guess it could be considered a man bag because it IS a bag, and it DOES hold all my little man's important stuff, including (to quote Blue's Clues) his "handy dandy NOTEbook." Ok murse it is ;)

Last weekend my family and I took a mini road trip to Michigan and I was concerned about the 4hr car ride because Eli has never been strapped in his carseat for more than 1-2 hours at a time. I have seen on Pinterest the idea to use a baking sheet to entertain children in the car because it's magnetic and also because it has a lip around the edge to keep items from rolling off the pan, so I picked up a cheapo one from the dollar store, along with some magnetic numbers, cute Thomas the Train puzzle (that I made magnetic by adding magnets to the backs), a notebook with crayons, some colored pipe cleaners, and chalk. I started to grab a bunch of zip lock bags to put everything in but then got to thinking how nice it would be to have everything kept all in one convenient place....and the idea for his "murse" was born. I present to you, Eli's man bag:

Closed and ready for traveling

Opened up, each item in its own ziplock baggy compartment

Lets go mom!

I sewed the ziplock baggies inside the holder so they stay put. I know that plastic baggies aren't the first thing you think of for being the most durable things out there for long term use, especially with something that will have a lot of wear and tear, but I wanted cost effective and most importantly, for it to be super simple. I COULD have made zippered pouches with clear vinyl windows (I had originally contemplated going this route) but again I wanted to stick with practical because lets face it, I didn't want a simple concept of a "busy bag" to end up costing a fortune in materials (zippers). 

I thought I better see how it holds up for our trip and to see if Eli even used it before blogging about it (gosh how embarrassing, I blog about his new tote beforehand and have it fall apart with one use!) and I'm happy to report it held up nicely and he used everything but the chalk (it was too cold outside and I didn't have time to use my chalkboard paint on the baking sheet).

Here he is in action during the 4hr car ride:

At the hotel he'd hold up his notebook and point to something and go "a clue, a clue!" (although it sounded more like "a kwoo, a kwoo" ;)

Pipe cleaners good for making shapes and naming colors. Note to self, always fold the metal ends in on themselves to avoid poking through plastic baggies and little people. Noted. 

Eli counting: " Two, free, six, seven, eight, ten!" Every. Single. Time

All in all, it was the perfect accessory for a quick trip out of town that allowed me to leave his entire toy box at home. Best part, both the "murse" and baking sheet fit nicely in my backpack without taking up a whole lot of space.

Stay tuned to my cousin Beckie's blog InfarrantlyCreative.net this summer for a tutorial on this if you want to make one for your next road trip. Beginner sewers, here's your project!

**Update: Tutorial done! You can find it here. Enjoy!

Toodles!

-Linds

The case of the missing peanut butter sandwich...

I'd like to share a story with you all about an incident that happened this morning while I was at work and daddy had Eli duty. I had agreed to cover a 12hr shift for a girl at work and knew my hubby would be responsible for feeding all 3 meals to the kiddo, and being the good wife and mommy that I am, decided last night to help daddy out by having all of Eli's meals prepared and ready to go (but that daddy though, he can fend for himself, ha!)

So here I am, carefully cutting up veggies, pulling out homemade chicken nuggets and apple cinnamon muffins out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge overnight, wrapping a peanut butter sandwich (with an extra dollop of love, mind you) in cellophane and neatly setting each item in a designated spot in the fridge or out on the counter so my hubby can just grab and go (and momma can rest assured her lamb chop got wholesome meals for the day.) This is all accompanied by a written list of what to give and when. Go me!

Well I call around noon to check in with my lovies and chat with grandma who was watching Eli for a bit so daddy could run some errands, and asked how he did with lunch. Here's how the conversation went down:

Gramma: I didn't understand what you meant when you wrote 'give the PB&J, (minus the J) and triskets (on the back counter)"

Me: what do you mean you don't get it? It was supposed to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but I didn't have jelly so it's just peanut butter...minus the jelly." 

Gramma: oh, I thought you meant to put the peanut butter on the trisket so that's what I did. I don't see any sandwich...?

Me: How can you not see a sandwich?? It's sitting RIGHT next to the box of triskets, they are practically touching.

Gramma: Lindsay, there is NO sandwich on that counter or any counter in this kitchen!

Me: Oh jeeze mom. Well I'll text Aaron and see if he knows what happened to it.

I proceed to text my hubby who has no clue what I'm talking about and denies my accusation of him stealing his own son's sandwich. Now I'm beside myself because I am 100% certain I made that sandwich, cut off the crusts, wrapped the dang thing in cellophane and put it on the counter! My hubby decides to call me since its getting ridiculous to have this interrogation conversation via texting. Our convo:

Hubby: Babe, I never saw a sandwich on the counter I don't know what you're talking about.

Me: I made Eli his sandwich for lunch and placed it next to the box of triskets on the counter. It's not like we have a dog or anything...

Hubby: Maybe Eli ate it for breakfast.

Me: What?? Didn't you give him the pancakes I told you were already made and in the freezer? 

Hubby: Yeah, I did.

Me: Soooo, how would he have eaten the sandwich for breakfast if our toddler still relies on you to make his breakfast?? Did he eat the pancakes in his high chair or what?

Hubby: Yeah.

**Anybody else exasperated yet????

Me: Babe seriously! How could he have helped himself to the sandwich across the room on the counter if he was strapped in his high chair???

Hubby: No. He finished the pancakes in his high chair and when he was done I wiped him down and got him out. I then let him play in the living room while I changed. When I came back out he had crumbs on his lips and I asked him was he was eating. He didn't answer and I didn't think anything of it because I figured he just found one of his snacks lying around and ate it like he's known to do.

Me: So you think he got a hold of that sandwich on the counter and ate it while you were changing??

Hubby: Sure sounds like it, although he musta been really hungry because he ate that in addition to his 2 pancakes then.

Me: Oh man. Well you better check his toy bin and the couch for peanut butter everywhere. Where's the cellophane if he took it????

Hubby: No clue. Havent seen it.

Well folks, mystery solved. This is what I found on the floor in our bedroom when I got home:

Exhibit A: Cellophane wrapping

That little stinkpot helped himself to the food on the counter when no one was looking! Unbelievable! Well Gramma, daddy and I sure got a good laugh out of it :D

Ok well, it's been a long day and I need to get to bed but I thought it was a funny story and wanted to share it. To think, if we had a dog he totally would have gotten blamed for this! Makes me think of all the poor doggies out there wrongfully accused because of sneaky toddlers!

Na Night folks. Until next time....
-Nancy Drew Linds