weekend wrap-up

I haven't been in a writing mood in the past few days. That being said, here's a really random 'what's been going on':

• Jesse's bath time screamfests (grossly exaggerated - more like pouty whining) have completely done a 360 (for about 3 weeks he's HATED it) - instead of screaming about having to get IN, he now fusses when I ask him to get OUT. What's that? He's two - maybe that's it?!?! I said this to another mom in public recently who was making small talk with me and she looked at me like she'd never had her kid whine/fuss/scream over anything. I wanted to offer her a serious cup of 'yeah right, get real' but instead I smiled, nodded and pretended I was the ONLY mom with a kid who has his own opinion (you know, other then mine). I figured she must need people to approve or feel like she's superior - poor thing. Conversation went well after bypassing the reality check.
• Ezra has decided to participate in a talent show at school - he wants to sing. So, it looks like Spongebob's Jellyfish Jam, or something fun like that may be center stage and presented by our creative little rocker. He's also a Daughtrey fan - his fav. song is Crash. We're waiting on him to decide, and leaving it completely up to him!
• I've taken another job from home, this is in addition to the one I already have. I am excited about the potential of paying off the cars - and also the idea that I'm almost working from home with the extra benefits that are priceless to me... I'm fortunate to be at home with my kids!
• Jonathon went to the grocery store today, with 2 items on his 'to do' list. Grapes and banana's. Proof positive that I am a better fit for our shopping needs (and budget). He came home with 3#'s of red seedless grapes. Care to take a guess our cost of grapes today? Yeah - THREE POUNDS. Somehow he managed to pick the largest bag of grapes known to man. We'll never eat them in time! Ok - he didn't get specific instructions, so he gets an out. I never said HOW MUCH to get, just to get them. ~wink wink~
• Oh yeah - I almost forgot... Friday as we were pulling out of the garage I was paying closer attention to someone walking on the sidewalk in front of my house (so I wouldn't hit them) and I managed to ignore my mirror/garage alignment and successfully ripped the passenger outside mirror right off the side of my car! It's one of those electronic ones, so it was just hanging there... I laughed it off (Ezra thought it was hilarious) and called work to ask if they'd order me one. They suggested I use wire cutters to cut the wiring and keep the mirror from beating up my door/paint. So I stopped at a gas station and found a Duke Power truck - those guys got a good laugh on Friday morning. Super nice Duke Power guys :).

Seriously

Without elaboration - this week has unfolded to have tons of 'crazies' in it. I found this cartoon, and was reminded - there's always a worse case of the crazies. So I must laugh it off and be thankful!

Name that plant

We planted more veggies indoors and this time my tags that I used to separate 'what's what' have fell off! So, it's a fun guessing game for me. I'm no professional gardener, I won't even pretend to know what should go next to what and how long it should take to produce an item for me to savor (I call my stepdad for this info - HE could be a pro!). While growing up, I was surrounded by plants, gardens, etc., and my mom always let me help pick things, but I never really could tell the difference in the leaves and plant itself until it produced something. It is a fun challenge, and I'm up for that anyday! So anyone who cares to take a guess at this, just let me know :) it will be appreciated - I learned today from my mom that okra plants will get super tall.... so it'd be nice to know which ones are okra!!! HA! Today I'm transplanting the tall ones (whatever they are - okra, broccoli, or squash) into containers... the small ones and the ones with barely a sprout will stay in the makeshift greenhouse.

We've already planted 2 squash plants, 2 strawberry plants, about 25 onions, 1 sweet pepper plant, and 2 eggplants - so far they've managed to live through my torture. I've realized that containers was the right choice for us, we can bring them in on the nights that are potentially too cold for them. I'm not going to take credit for growth or even it's continuous life - I'll just say that I'm offering it the basic stuff... sun and water. I have tried to be resourceful and I set out two old mixing bowls and I'm catching and using rainwater for the plants (unless Jesse dumps it out first!)... I still have to water them with the garden hose, but this way I'm trying to use what we get for free first!

Spring 08 - Photos

We had the boys spring photos done; we had a terrific and patient photographer. Both boys had fun with her. I didn't plan on being in one... but, it was fun pretending to be at the beach just the same!

**family members, yours are in the mail on Monday morning :)

berry interesting

I wonder if it will grow bigger... or is this a mini-berry? There were tiny seed sized blooms when we bought them just 2 weeks ago!

These are getting bigger...I say this because I'm suprised they're alive, I'm no green thumb - they are about the size of a grape right now.

Sweet Treats & Rainy Days

I guess it goes without saying that motherhood (for me) isn't really a 'job' or a 'calling' - it's more a gift. Today, from one to the other - both kids brought me a gift. Neither of which cost them a dime.

Ezra and I enjoyed a sweet treat together at Sonic, and his perspective of life is fairly black and white - sometimes I need just that to realize the simpleness around me. We talked about friends, school, and how yummy ice cream is... Ezra thinks ice cream is best in the 'in between' phase, when it's fresh out of a container it's too hard, but then it becomes a perfect consistency for devouring. You must move quickly when eating it, or it will become the gross liquid that we MUST avoid :). Ice cream and life - are alot alike. Little does he know, he may have just figured out the key to life! Don't be too hard on yourself (or others), or to soft - but try to be just the right consistency of both.

Jesse, on the other hand, was in a funk today. Once I figured out why, we put on our shoes, grabbed an umbrella and went outdoors. I was ashamed that I had to figure it out! It's common for us to assume that because it's raining we should stay inside, but for a little guy with alot of wonder - there is nothing else he wants more then to go out and explore. He loves the outdoors, and today I had so much fun while he reminded me what is so important about raindrops.

Raindrops are...

squishy when mixed with dirt

magical

friendly to touch

tasty, if you catch one on your tongue

laughter in liquid form

music to dance too...

create, encourage, nurture

I just received my copy of "the creative family", by Amanda Blake Soule; her blog has been inspiring me for a little under 6 months now so I can't wait to see what the book has in store for ideas of simple crafts and activities for the family.

A quote from the book, and it hits home. I'm not going to make it seem as if I have it 'together' all the time, I could stand some improvement in this area!

"A sad product of our modern world is that our children are taught early on to over consume and want more, more and more. Chances are that they do not need more toys, but fewer. When there are too many things around, there's little room for imagination. "

I'm guilty, and plan to manage this better starting today with going and buying some more storage totes, and organizing Jesse's toys into 4 or 5 totes with variety. Then we'll begin rotating them in and out of the multi-purpose room weekly... off to Target I go - for some storage bins!

Ezra's plant project

Ezra's latest jiffy pots are sprouting flower seedlings all over!!
This project is a variety of spring flowers.

got individuality?

Websters defines the word as follows:

in·di·vid·u·al·i·ty
1. the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others; sole and personal nature: a person of marked individuality.
2. state or quality of being individual; existence as a distinct individual.
3. the interests of the individual as distinguished from the interests of the community.

This post is self-indulgent and opinionated, so laugh at me for it, because that's what I'm trying to do about it now!

I was at a local playground yesterday, where there was a wide range of moms, grandparents, and dads with kids of various ages. The playground we happened to be at for this was the 2-5 year old playground. Where Ezra has fun hanging out with his brother on 'Jesse sized' big kid equipment, and there's standard swings and a rock climbing wall for the older kids... I'm sitting in a swing with Jesse, beside Ezra, and there are two moms lined up side by side beside us. We smiled and said hi, they asked how old my kids were...why is this always a topic of interest for most? I usually take it as their socially polite way to speak to another parent, which is fine... I told them 9, and 2. As usual, I got the ~gasp~ wow, they have a big age difference. So what? Does it take away from their individuality? Does it make them less of a sibling to one another? So I replied, yes, it is a big age difference. They almost seemed like they wanted me to find a huge complaint, or something to give credibility to their age difference. And as I swing with BOTH kids right there, they go on to have a personal conversation about their opinions of the con's of having kids so far apart and how they're glad theirs are 20 months part, or so. In my opinion, it was disrespectful (mostly because my 9yo is not a fool and he listens alot!) but it was a public park... so we got up and made our way to the play area.

There's the part of me that understands that some people are just politely curious, but the tone sends full clarity in their disapproval. The tone I received was all but "gosh, why would you ever have them so far apart?" You know, I'm an adult, if you think that then say it! I would then tell you that we didn't plan it, but it is the best thing for us and we couldn't imagine life any other way! I don't gasp when I see a mom with two kids in diapers, but then I really don't care... I just see a mom with two kids! Its just my opinion that anyone who DOES have kids should just really be focused on the kids. Not create some social competition with other parents on their opinion of when it's best to have them, how far apart, etc.

I don't know, maybe I'm overly reactive to someone making it seem like it's discouraging that my kids are just under 8 years apart.... or maybe it's really that in life, when people are talking about their lives, we don't allow enough credit or respect toward their own individuality. I should allow more credit and respect toward their opinions too, and likely would have if the tone hadn't been so clear. I'm raising my kids that when we're asking the question then we should respect the person's answer - or just not ask at all. Respecting the answer, doesn't mean you have to agree with it, or even understand it... just respect it! Instead we find ourselves (like me, in this case) analyzing their words, and tone, and wondering their sincerity as a result. Was it to point out that you're somehow better then us because of your choices? Isn't the entire point in life, to live it with individuality? Wouldn't the world be a boring place if we all thought the same, and did things the same? My feelings were hurt for my kids, because right there by strangers they were labeled as incompatible. Isn't it up to them in the long run?

breathe it in

We went to the park this morning, we live so close to this amazing park!! I had to take a moment to breath it all in today, spring and fall are my favorite times of the year. So we're planning many days outdoors like this one as long as the weather allows it.

A tree with a window in it!

Jesse loves throwing mulch. We went on a 1 mile walk, Jesse got tired at the end...

These guys were landing and I was fortunate to catch them.

They were so close, we could actually pet them!

the best medicine

We sang our little bubble song today - to the tune of 'if you're happy and you know it'

we sang it over and over and over and over... and that's ok - because medicine can't do what bubbles can...

there are bubbles everywhere, everywhere...
there are bubbles everywhere, everywhere...
there are bubbles everywhere
there are bubbles in your hair!
there are bubbles everywhere, everywhere.


there are bubbles way down low, way down low
there are bubbles way down low, way down low
there are bubbles way down low...
there's a bubble on your toe!
there are bubbles way down low, way down low!!!

what a great post

Back in March I read a post on something that really struck me, and it's kindof stuck with me...so since blogging is sharing - I'll share!

On blogging...my opinion is that it really is a personal expression of oneself, your days, your life, and your thoughts and a compilation of how you look at things in this great life. In our writing you can find what makes us individual, unique, and share opinion, likes/dislikes, sadness, happiness, loves, loves lost, and for anyone who might read my blog - purely random ideas and goofiness. Somehow every blog I read brings me a tiny feeling of closeness to the writer, it makes me realize that other people have other problems, other joys, and other opinions and I get what's written by pure, open, "REAL" people - an un-edited version of their life, if their honest. Im happy that I have found a blogroll of writers that interest me, and even challenge me to be a better me just by having the reality and in your faceness of other people's real lives. It pulls you from self-centerdness and self-indulgance, by creating a real story line right in front of you that someone so thoughtfully decided to share with anyone who happens to click on their blog title! In my case I have very few family members who read this blog, a handful of friends, and I have no idea how many strangers, and I could just as easily write in a journal privately... I think it's true to say that once we make the decision to pubically post a blog, and open it to friends, family and even possibly strangers, we are really exploring our ability to share, to open up, and have some sort of pride in letting them in on the good the bad and the ugly (if we dare post that too)...by the internet, emails, and blogging. But this post by Farbucks says it all for me. I couldn't have put it better myself. I cut and paste from his post:

You know...really....when I think about it, my blogging equals empty hot air pontification of the highest order and is really nothing more than rambling thoughts strung together with a purpose that seemed so clear when I began but became more cloudy the more I thought and the more I wrote...words and thoughts fading...fading...gone! into the abyss of totally meaningless drivel that was written at first to impress then maybe just to fake you out and finally finished without making any real point because all the points eventually merge into a flat geometric plane which goes nowhere but merely stretches itself out into eternity like a sermon that will not end, a song sung off-key, or a bird about to fly headlong into a clean window...maybe this whole exercise is just a totally self-centered-selfish-self-stimulation session in which I am just playing games with words hoping to impress colleagues or inform family or entertain friends and ending up doing nothing but just satisfying some inner need to be heard...be listened to...be admired for an articulate erudition which actually exists nowhere except in my own self-focused mind (like the image a blind man leaves in a mirror - it is there for everyone else but him to see) and which is actually being ridiculed in reality by the techno-wise few in our world who even know how to access this collection of random posts floating around the blogosphere...only being discovered by the odd click of a mouse or positioning of a cursor which causes electrons to align and transport the reader into the head of this odd-ball fellow blogger who writes for what turns out to be a God?Knows?Why? reason that not even *I* - the author, the originator of the thoughts - can properly explain even though all writers will secretly - when left alone in the suffocating time vacuum of 2am - admit that, indeed, verily, and in truth, all writing is really nothing more than vanity and wishful thinking and somehow imagining that we are impressing an invisible reader somewhere on this flat plane that we created out of serious points with words placed before and after each other in such a creative manner that we are sure, positive, convinced no one else on earth could possibly have ever thought or expressed this idea with such eloquence before I took my turn at impressing you...me...no one.

Out of my funk now. Have a neat tip too...

Pessimism - was not what happened today. It was more like a low-spirited moment in my day. I'm not a self-proclaimed ray of sunshine at all times, I have bad days. I'm not going to go into a state of denial - I'm a real person and I have chose to use my blog to share, vent, inform, and most importantly to me - document our everyday lives. Hey - I'm human :)! So... today I decided to only do what I could, and put off the rest. No sense in stressing out over what we can't do anything about.

Jonathon went to the doctor today, he has a viral type deal going on in his head (understatement of the year, ALOT more then that is going on in his head - HA!)... He came home, napped and hung out with the humidifier. I spent the afternoon out and about w/ the boys (Ezra's spring break is this week), went to get a treat together and then stopped by the market to pick up fresh veggies and came home and made a yummy homemade potato soup w/ carrots, celery, onion and of course potato... it was my first time trying the recipe and I had to add a few extra bits of this and that to make it my own and it was seriously YUM! The family gave it thumbs up. After dinner Jonathon was feeling much better, and we went out and played with the boys, hung out with our neighbors and enjoyed the nice day!

What really does change my attitude is to receive three phone calls/text messages from 3 different friends today... it put me back into perspective. One friend is traveling home from VA to CA and had a layover in TX - her flight was cancelled from TX to CA because of grounding of the entire fleet of a certain model of aircrafts due to faulty wiring. She's possibly sleeping in an airport tonight with her 19 month old daughter. Another friend has a 2 week old son, who having digestive issues so similar to our Jesse's when he was an infant, she's so sad for her little guy and wants so bad for him to be comfortable. We've talked back and forth so much in the last 24 hours about different things to try to comfort him. And my 3rd call was from a friend who's due in 5 weeks - she's having to stay at her mom's house because she can't go up and down her own stairs constantly because of muscle strain. Evidently her little one on the way is a hefty little fellow, it's causing stress on her muscles. So - after talking with each of them I decided I was being a pansy :) My day wasn't so bad after all!

Oh....Here's the neat tip: a super cheap way to remove permanent marker from almost anything!

arrghhhhhhh!!!

Ever have one of those days when it seems NOTHING goes right? Silly question huh?, everyone clearly has those days! The kids don't cooperate? You're sick, your spouse is sick and you're just in general 'sick and tired' of holding it together for the day? I'm generally not a pessimist. In fact, I loathe them. Today though, I'm going to admit, it seems like everything is going the opposite of what I planned. There I go planning again, it's life's funny way of reminding me that I should just be happy with what I get and make the best of it today! So - I think I'll go for a walk tonight, enjoy nature....... geez - I can't even do that today! Why you may ask? Because the good old city has begun it's war against canker worms... and they put airplanes in the air and sprayed a sticky substance all around my house (without my personal approval).

1.1 million dollars of tax money spent on fighting canker worms... and I have to get my tires rebalanced at least every 3 months because of potholes in the road. GOSH!

Ok - so the sun is shining, and the temperature is a wonderful 65 degrees - somehow, someway, I'm going to breathe in nature today (preferably not in my neighborhood). That's ALWAYS the cure for what ails you!

Part 2 of Sunday

Co-hosted the baby shower, and it went well!! We had lots of yummies and she received adorable gifts for the baby! I made my first diaper cake as a gift for my friend, and I am really considering maybe doing a few to see if I can sell them after practicing more! I love the diaper cake idea, and I had fun making this one for baby Nicholas Reid!

why I think it's called 'practice'

I think it's called 'practicing' medicine for a darn good reason! Yesterday I took both boys for a sick visit to our ped's office. Both kids were deemed free of strep throat, and even though symptoms were different for each boy, I left with instructions to treat them both for allergies, and was assured they were not contagious.... so is it pure coincidence now that I have a terribly sore throat, stuffy nose and headache? It hit me like a ton of bricks last night around 8pm. I don't think the doc brought his A-game yesterday.... oh well, I'm sure he can't be right ALL of the time! He had a 50/50 shot yesterday, I think he got Ezra's right. Jesse is the one I feel has a cold.

Today's survival kit:

Vicks Chloraseptic Spray - Cherry Flavor
Motrin - 800mg please
Senseo Coffee Pods - Medium Roast
Ricola - don't you find yourself doing the 'riiiicollllaaaa' from the commercial now?
The Neti Pot - Fun Fun Fun, when your nose is on the run
and most of all my couch... oh.... HAHAHAHA that part was a big fat joke!!!!!

I'm giving a baby shower today to a very close friend, and the couch is not in my near future... rest assured all of the above will be used to it's greatest extent. Normally I prefer to let my body fight off things on it's own, but I am making myself as presentable as possible today!

Rotting their brains, and their teeth....and a side note.

Yep. They're not feeling 100% and this morning both kids are getting an extra dose of Tom & Jerry, I love the wit and irony of old cartoons. They're also going to enjoy sugar free suckers this morning. It's my special mommy routine anytime we go to the doctors office. They leave with a sweet treat.

I laugh to myself when get eye rolling from other moms or a dropped jaw when handing over a sugar free sucker (they look no different then sugar suckers) to my toddler, and anyone who knows us will too... we aren't ones to let the TV be the babysitter, or allow alot of candies and treats. Dessert = sliced fresh fruit or a small cup of yogurt each night with dinner in our house. We're pretty obsessive about allowing treats on one weekend day for the kids - and weekend treats are usually a frozen yogurt 'ice cream' cup, or 100% fruit frozen pops, or sugar free candies. Hey, neither of the kids really care! They're getting a treat!! A big deal is going to Krispy Kreme for 1 donut each!

I've been told 'that's blackmail' or 'you'll spoil them', I've even been told 'you shouldn't reward them for a doctors visit, that's part of life'. Ok. So not only is that a matter of opinion, but do I worry that when my kids are grownups that they'll expect a sugar free sucker when they leave the doctors office? Not really! Even so, as a grown up, I feel like a small morsel of goodness after I've been poked an prodded at the doctors office. I would agree with 'spoiling' and 'blackmail' if it were "I'll give you a sucker if you say thank you", or "I'll give you a Hersey kiss if you kiss this photo of your dead grandfather" (that example is from this past weeks SuperNanny)

**side note about SuperNanny, let me be the first to say that 90% of the time I admire the ways that Jo offers parents to create structure and consistency, and have found some of her ideas useful in our home. For anyone who watched this episode... I agreed with most everything Jo suggested, and thoroughly enjoyed the 'can you believe this' look Jo throws the audience when the parents are doing something that didn't even seem to have common sense applied... however, I disagree with how Jo plays a role in a power struggle over food. I feel like with eating and drinking, since it's a basic need, it's imperative that we're allowed to feel control over our basic needs. Can you MAKE a kid become a member of the clean plate club? Sure. What's the point though? We used to fall into this trap, because to a degree that's how some of us were raised... but we now only require a 'no thank-you bite' on foods that our kids may not like or even be familiar with. Our result? We have a 9 year old who eats sushi, every veggie known to man, and orders Subs at Subway that are loaded with mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, etc! I feel it's partly because we've never made food an issue, and we've really never held him down to only the things we enjoy, we offer a variety to try. I'm sure there is a success rate with the 'I'm the boss and you'll eat that because I say so tactic'. I think Jo's approach will show results for now, but will it prove to cause binge eating or a closet junk food addict when the little girl is no longer under mom's watchful eye?? Maybe not, but I think it becomes a greater possibility when you cause food to be a source of power. As a mom, I'm in the mind set that it's an unfair approach to raise our kids like we need to prove to them we're the 'boss' of them. Isn't our long-term goal to give our kids the power to succeed, choose, and move forward in life? Doesn't it seem a bit backwards to strip them of it then? Children who feel powerless has led to obesity, depression, suicide, and mass school shootings.
Now, let me clarify, we're not the parents who throw caution to the wind, and say go play in the street because we know you'll make the right choice about when it's safe - that's far fetched, and giving our kids choices and power has it's boundaries, those boundaries revolve around our children's safety, that's where parenting and guidence step in. So, no - our kids don't jump on their beds freely, or play in the streets, or even use the stairs as a snow sled slide (Nanny 911 episode, don't get me started on that one!) but we do allow them to say their full when they eat.

Ok - done w/ that rant. Why do I watch reality TV???? I record these two shows, sometimes it's humbling to have that dose of reality that says your situation isn't unique, or even so bad after all!!

virus, sniffles, and such

Virus....

After this week, I've decided officially that those Mac v/s PC commercials are purely ingenious. Sunday-Thursday I battled with a virus, on my computer. It invaded my start up settings, my Internet settings, and overall crippled my Internet accessibility. This put me behind in work, and it kept me busy with tech support at Norton for several hours. It's all better now. Being in a house with a Mac and a Windows PC, it's an understatement that Mac has an immune system like no other! How did I work? It was minimal, and I sent it from the Mac to my laptop and worked offline, then put it on a thumb drive and emailed from the Mac until mine was fixed. Uharji from Norton is a prize, he took over my laptop for just under 4 hours and worked like a whiz. Jonathon works on a Mac, lives by Mac, and will never use anything but a Mac. So, it's fair to say he's had fun with this... I on the other hand, have no choice but to use PC with my job! We're going to try the new program on Mac 'bootcamp' and see if I can work off of that, if so, then I'm going to be on the prowl for a Mac laptop!

Sniffles and such...

Today, I had to wake Jesse up, odd. I thought he was snoring when I went in the room, but it was actually a stuffy nose... The entire day was spent sneezing, rubbing watery eyes, and cleaning a drippy nose. Jesse's really only been sick about 5 times since birth, and out of those times it's been a 1-2 day run, and only once has he taken antibiotics. I gave him a tiny dose of Benedryl to help w/ the watery eyes and sneezing. At bedtime he seemed a little less stuffy, I am running the humidifier in his room tonight. With Jesse it's hard to tell if he has any other symptoms (ear, etc) he doesn't really talk about that too much, so I plan to pop by the sick clinic tomorrow to rule out any ear problems, otherwise, I'm betting we'll be told to do what we're doing... cool mist humidifier, keep the nose clear, drink plenty of fluids, treat the fever with motrin if necessary, and ride it out! I'm hoping it's nothing more then that.

Fast forward to 3pm when I pick Ezra up from school... Ezra gets in the car sniffling, sneezing and blowing his nose every 5 minutes. After 1 dose of Benedryl, he seems much more comfortable also. It's time for more Zyrtec for Ezra, he's a seasonal allergy boy! We'll take him with us for Jesse's sick visit tomorrow, just to get a quick look in his throat while we're there. Ezra's been quick to pick up strep in the past and has mentioned that his throat feels a little funn, so why not get more bang for our buck at the doctors office?!? It's been over 1 year since Ezra's had a sick visit! WOOHOO! We really have been fortunate!!!

growth

Sprouts! So far there are 3 in his pot, you can barely see them, but they are there! Ezra is proud of his daisy and he's so curious about gardening. He's doing his plant on his own. He's in charge of watering, light, outdoor exposure on nice days, and when it comes time to transplant it into a bigger pot or to the ground, he'll do the digging! He's excited!!

We've planted tomatoes, basil and oregano plants indoors for now, and have this week of spring break to get the rest of our things planted. Ezra will be so glad he gets to be my partner in planting! Jesse will help us water and play with dirt I bet. Hopefully our last freezing night is past us!

5 (more) ways to be a hippie...

I figured if being a little more environmentally conscious means being a "hippie" or being a "tree hugger" then sign us up. It's no secret that it's easy to be wasteful, and reckless with our environment, and I'm guilty in so many ways! We're trying our best little by little to make a difference in our house, in our little world... hopefully what little bit we do somehow makes a dent in the big picture. I recently read 'The Green Book' and found some more simple ways to do our part. I thought I'd post 5 interesting bits of the book:

1. Dishwasher - By running full loads and not pre-rinsing you can save up to 20 gallons of water per dish load, or 7,300 gallons over a year. That's as much water as the avg. person drinks in a lifetime!
   
2. Refrigerator - Don't linger in the fridge! It's the single biggest energy-consuming kitchen appliance, and opening the door accounts for between $30 and $60 of a typical family electrical bill per year. The amt. of energy saved in a year by being more efficient with the fridge could be enough to light every house in the US for more then 4.5 months straight!!


3. Dryers - Clean the lint screen (daily!) and don't overload the dryer. You'll save up to 5 percent on your power bill. If everyone did this, we'd save the energy equivalent of 350 million gallons of gasoline per year.


4. Organic - Lower your exposure to pesticides by 90% just by choosing organic varieties of certain fruits and veggies. If just 1% of the Nations farmlands converted to organic (non chemical) agricultural systems, it would remove 26 million pounds of pesticides per year from the food we eat AND from the environment! Each time you chose organic, you encourage this type of farming!


5. Toys - Look for toys made from materials other then plastic. Many plastic toys are made from PVC and contain toxins known as phtalates that are potentially harmful to both the environment and children's health. If every child under 12 received just 1 alternative-to-plastic birthday gift this year, not only could an estimated 25 million pounds of plastic toys be diverted from landfills, but the total energy savings could bake 31 million birthday cakes!

The book is loaded with nifty and thrifty ideas on how just taking simple steps with choices makes a huge difference in both our health and environment! We already eat organic mostly, and do alot of recycling, and buy natural soaps and cleaners, but this book opened my eyes to even more possibilities that are costy worthy!

my silly boys

In the car this morning:
Ezra: I can't think of any April Fools day pranks...what am I going to do?

Me: Tell someone their shoe is untied and when they look, say April Fools

Ezra: That's the OLDEST trick in the book... (sarcastically implying it wouldn't be funny)

Me: ok, then tell someone they dropped their pocket, that one always worked when I did it.

Ezra: What do you mean? Dropped their pocket? They can't drop their pock...ooohhhhhh!!!!!!
(He used it, and it went over well. His friend actually looked on the floor for his pocket. Ha! )


Jesse got in on April Fools today; naptime came and he decided it would be funny to sit and talk to his bear about his day. For 50 min. Then, finally, he went to sleep for 2 hours. Not before I stepped in to snap his little bear party prank.