mmmmm M&M's yum

When we get yummy sweet treats, I like to buy something special and small. Last night I had to grab a few last minute things at the store and I found a box of 5 M&M icecream bars. M&M's have a special chocolate YUMMY candy shell... and so do these 5 icecream pops! They're pretty small in size, maybe 2" in diameter; Ezra thought it was delicious!

Jesse only ate about 1/3 of his, but he had fun with it. Honestly, he prefer's a banana over this type of treat usually... when he saw Ezra with one he had to try!

One last thing - I have two really white really blue eye'd boys!

carefree kind of day

We had a very relaxing day at the park; we went to our favorite park at the lake and found a perfect spot under some trees by the water and just enjoyed the outdoors. No toys, no music, no TV, no worries, just us - enjoying nature. It was great - and we'll likely spend alot of days this way this summer!

first carousel ride

We go to Concord Mills Mall often, and this Carousel has been inside for as long as I can remember... but I just now decided to jump on it! We had fun! We were 1 of 3 parent/child sets on board. I'm a mid-morning, mid-week mall mom - I like to go before the tourists arrive :).

Ezra was a little 'too old' for it in his opinion, but he was a wonderful big brother to enjoy the experience w/ Jesse. Ezra's in that in-between stage where some things seem to juvenile for him, and then again some are not. I love that he was secure enough in his boyhood to embrace this little happy moment with Jesse ;). Big brothers rule. Go figure that I took the video w/ my cell, thought I took 3 of them - and the only one that saved is the pacifier one!!! Oh well, I'm not trying to be in denial - my kid still likes his paci, there I said it. Excuse the poor quality, I keep forgetting to charge the digital camera battery! Jesse hugged the horse bye-bye when the ride ended... I missed getting that on video.

random bits

This past Monday Jonathon took a business trip to Myrtle Beach Hard Rock Park. The company he works for is handling designing all apparal for the park. While he was gone I took a short video on my cellphone of the kids waving hi to him - he's rarely away for dinner/bedtime and so I wanted him to see them at dinner as usual. Jesse decided that the pool looked cozy, so he jumped in with all clothes on... Ezra was practicing light sabers and TaiKwon Do. None of the videos are great quality, they were all taken w/ my cellphone.

The video below is from Jesse's toddler class this past Wednesday, he loves the music portion of the class. I plan to catch Ezra at TaiKwon Do next week, this week he was in an area in the room where he was blocked from view from the observation window. Hopefully next week they'll have him lined up closer!

Finally, this last little clip is of the boys having some indoor fun today ... at full speed. Jesse and Ezra love playing this game. Not sure exactly who came up with it, but Ezra grabs pillows and rushes back and forth as if he has to make it to the other couch as quickly as possible. It cracks Jesse up, and Jesse says "ready set go" over and over for Ezra to keep going. Two boys, with lots of energy!! I dream of having that energy!!!

how things are growing

We have lots of tomato's growing, Ezra's super excited - especially after the recent tomato contamination recall. We're glad to have our own growing for now!

Basil and Oregano are doing great, we made a lasagna this past weekend with these yummy herbs and wow does fresh make a difference in taste!
We haven't had alot of squash produce yet, they're coming on now - so we went to the store today to pick up 2 more for dinner tonight. I prefer the organically or locally grown squash and I was so surprised at how small the veggies were! Mine was actually bigger!! I only picked one today, mine is far left one in the picture below. Even the color was more yellow then the ones from the market. Ok, so I cooked 1 squash, not much to write home about - but they're are more to come from the 3 plants we have managed to nurse along in the dry heat.

Pitiful, that's the only thing I can say about the strawberry's I planted. Tiny, puny and pitiful. Full of flavor, but I like to call them my preemies. Maybe next year... For now, I search out the Farmers Market and EarthFare for organic berries - otherwise, we will have none :(. I am keeping the dirty dozen list with me when I shop, and strawberries are exposed to alot of chemicals/pesticides unless they're organically grown... this is why I wanted my own. Oh well, so the Family Berry Patch didn't go as planned, back to the drawing board.

boy humor, all reality

I have the privalage to mother 2 boys, this comes along with lots of interesting things... moms of boys understand. I expected some things, because I grew up w/ two brothers, but because they were older I didn't always pay attention to some of the conversations my parents had with either of them. I know that that girls come along with an equal share of interesting things; so today I thought I'd share a few recent things that have gone on in our house related to Boyz Only. I can't help but journal these conversations, and I keep alot of them saved to private just for a family journal... I hope anyone who reads this and has raised or are raising kids of their own can sit back and laugh and enjoy the similar memories/moments they have of the art of raising kids!

Todder Talk:

Jesse: where'd it go?

me: where'd what go?

Jesse: the paci, where'd it go?

me: where did you put it? is it by your trains? (he's back to paci this week - ugh, slow process of weaning)

Jesse: uh, no, I don't see it

me: (phone call from work at this very moment) oh, I see it (while I tell my employer to hang on a second), it's over by your balls.

WORK: Ahhhh, Sarah, what are you talking about?

me: good lord, I'm sorry - I throw all class out the window at this point - I have two boys, one's interested in puberty and all about it, and the other is obsessed with any ball - so yeah, that's where his passy is, on the floor beside his ball pit balls - not by his balls. (I was glad it was a person who knew me well enough to laugh with me)

Jesse: yay! There it is!!

9 year old questions...

Ezra: what's puberty?

Me: what do you mean? do you want me to explain it all to you?

Ezra: well my friend at school says it's when you fall in love, it means you're old enough to fall in love

Me: well, ok - puberty is actually changes with your body, and mind. so I guess he's not all wrong, but mostly it's more about growing up and changing physically and then mentally to match your physical changes.

Ezra: what do you mean physical changes?

Me: (wishing my husband were home for this one) well, the short 9 year old version I can give you is that your body will change, your shoulders will get wider, your 'boy parts' will get bigger (trying to really be tactful about this), your voice will change deeper, your muscles will take shape more, you'll get taller, you're sweat will become a little more stinky, acne will begin to show up on your face possibly, body hair will grow in places....

Ezra: stop right there, that's gross - let's not go over where hair will grow, I think I'm good. Doesn't sound like falling in love at all. I'm going to go play with my hotwheels now, thanks.

HA!!! This is what it's like to have boys in my house right now. Balls and puberty.

eliminating the yuckie!

Since reading this about Quartenium and how it can affect the skin, as we've ran out of shampoo's and soaps we've slowly switched over to all natural ingredients - mostly Berts Bee's for the kids since they use so little (lasts forever) and for us I'm buying whatever's the most reasonable cost. It was quite interesting to me to learn about Quartenium, since it's a skin irritant and can cause contact dermatitis... it's ironic that it's found in high doses (above 15) in dandruff shampoo's of all things!!! I was particularly surprised at the products in our house that had this in it! With two kids who have very sensitive skin, we just started slowly switching a few things as we could.

We've switched to Clorox Greenworks as our main house cleaning product, and have learned how to make our own cleaners with simple things like vinegar and water, lemon juice, etc. Less toxins make more sense to me. Honestly, after starting this, I've spent LOTS less on cleaners and get the same, if not better, results in cleaning.

Then this came across my computer as I was reading a blog... Triclosan. It is found in lots of things, from soaps to toothpaste - it's an antibacterial and after reading about it, I find myself frustrated! Healthy Child Healthy World posted this article about how triclosan works, and how a 6th grader (there's a built in article on the link I've included) compared how her natural soap to antibacterial soap and how handwashing with plain soap/water is just as effective as antibacterial... but without the Triclosan.

No wonder cancer is increasingly more common this day and time (good heavens I've exposed myself to all of this stuff until recently!), I find it interesting that in the "old days" alot less BPA, Triclosan,Quartenium,and other toxins (pesticides in food) were used and people lived much longer healthier lives. I've even become apprehensive to buy canned foods so often, because BPA from certain can linings leaches into the food at a higher rate because it's heated so much in order to preserve the foods. I've began buying everything I can grown locally/organic - we visit 2 local farmers markets on the weekends in order to get a great price on healthier veggies until our mini-garden starts producing more. I'm glad to see that grocery stores are starting to incorporate 'locally grown' foods into the market section. When I can't find organic fruits, I use this guide to help me decide whether it is important enough to buy non-organic, or should I wait. The list shows the fruits/veggies in order of which are treated w/ the most pesticides. I also learned the differences in organic labels and do my best to find 100% organic, or organic labels as they have the least amount of exposure. Does it cost a little more? Sometimes, but 10-15cent a can is ok for our budget differences, I usually go online to the individual manufacturer's site and request coupons and/or samples - once I do this I generally receive coupons for 6-12 months by mail because they're interested in keeping customers and spreading the word. Harris Teeter has their own brand of organics now that is modestly priced in comparison to other name brand organics.

I guess I'm becoming an "organic" freak. I had always somewhat laughed at others for that in the past, and always felt that maybe they thought they were somehow better then me for being in the "organic cult". HA - now that I'm so interested in this I feel like a total jerk for having thought that - because in reality those feelings were only because I didn't understand their cause, their motives. This is because I never took the time to find out how beneficial changing a few things around could be to my own families health. It doesn't cure diseases, I'm not naive, but it certainly makes me feel better to know I'm not adding too that risk. You could look in my pantry, fridge and freezer and find non organic items {gasp}; but we're slowly changing to products as we find ones we like that are comparable. Not everyone can afford all organic, that's true - we fit into that mold. Dining out isn't organic and we still do- so by all means, we're just trying to do what we can at home - little by little making our little world less toxic.

the 'nunny'

Jesse calls this the Nunny {bunny} Song... one of Jonathon's friends mentioned that his kids liked it and since the first time Jesse saw it he has loved it. I just think it's adorable and the words are so sweet. Jesse has began singing it when we play it, I keep trying to get that on video but each time I grab the camera to video he stops singing!

case of the mommy brain

Thought I'd share a laugh. Today we went to run errands, and I am pretty serious about making all errands work in one trip so we went to the doctors office, then to visit Jonathon at work as a nice surprise, then to Walmart to pick up some gardening items we needed, and then I decided we'd have junk lunch. We do 'junk lunch' about 1 time a week during the summer, and today we went to Taco Bell/KFC combo (those are weird to me, but ok) as I'm sitting there after I order, I realize that I do not have my debit card. I don't ever carry cash, so this was funny in a 'Sarah you're an idiot' type of way.

Hmmmm, I used it at Walmart... and then I handed it to Jesse....DUH. He likes to pretend to swipe it; I typically help him swipe it and then I put it away but not today!!! I totally forgot to get it back from him. What did he do with it? I looked all in the car... inching my way toward the window feeling like an idiot. So I grab my receipt from Walmart and call them.... over and over and over and over I call - with no answer. I finally get an answer and I barely get the words out 'I think I let my card in the garden center' and I got transferred w/ no 'hold please' the call transfer didn't go through and I was disconnected! By now I'm at the drive thru window where I explain that I'm without cash, without my debit card - and I felt pretty silly! Thank goodness there was a credit union in the same parking lot!! I asked them to hold my order long enough for me to grab cash at the bank and they did - the manager must have had a good laugh. Went to the bank, back to KFC/Taco Bell went in got food (still trying to contact Walmart this entire time), got back in car (with 2 lunch hungry kids in tow) started driving back to Walmart... I wondered if the card was in the cart, the parking lot, or where? FINALLY as I am pulling into Walmart they answer (14 trys - and I told them about that part) and the cashier that helped me had my card! WHEW!!! She said it was on the floor and she just noticed it - thank heavens no one stole it! We've already been ripped off in the past 12 months by stolen identity - I didn't need to be the dummy who allowed my card to be stolen!

So... the quick errands today weren't so quick after all. I had a serious case of the mommy brain going on - pretty sad when my 9 year old is how I realized that my 2 year old was the last person with my card - good thing he (Ezra) has a young healthy memory. Note to self - get the toddler his own pretend card.

progress

Well, not anything to write home about really... but I consider being able to breath through my nose progress! I'm also getting my voice back! We spent Monday just running a few errands and hanging out at the house. My plans for our schedule on Mondays and Fridays are for freetime at home, or go to the park or pool - but it's me that holds us back so far this week. I can't see anything good coming from being in the heat and getting my head all stuffy again. I think I have cabin fever, because a drive to the bank was refreshing - getting out of the house was just simply a must!

Jesse has a rash of some sort around his mouth, and it looks sort of similar to how thrush looks... but then again, not really. After google.com showed me some pictures of oral thrush, it didn't really resemble that. His is tiny red bumps around his lip, almost looks like isolated mini chicken-pox and he had a very very thin layer of white on his tongue (almost like he just licked a white sucker and the white stayed there - very thin) for a couple of days - though the doctors office didn't seem to be worried because it's not 'raised patches' but just for safe measure they called in Nysatatin - I'm glad to have it, but I am always skeptical of prescribed medications. I learned alot while talking to a triage nurse at his ped's office and now I understand that everyone 'has' the bacterias that cause thrush, it's basically yeast. She's seen it in toddlers many times, and gave me pointers...she agreed that IF it is thrush, then it's a very mild case of it at that. I prefer natural remedies if and when possible, so I called a trusted source and found that Grapefruit Seed Extract works like a charm in about 2 days to clear this; there's also Gentian violet but I didn't want to paint him purple unless I had too! After 3 applications it's 100% gone in his mouth, and the little bumps around his mouth are going away too. I think they'd be gone already if he wasn't drooling so much; his last upper 2 year molar still making it's appearance, almost all the way thru.

Beware, here's where I promote a newfound product...because I'm kindof glad I spent the extra $ to get it now!! GSE is not cheap, I found it at EarthFare (Nutriteam: Grapefruit Seed Extract) and I was pleasantly surprised that there are TONS of things GSE can be used for! My bottle will last me a long time even if I use it for most of the things it can be used for - it takes so little to do the trick! It stops parasites, bacteria, candida, mold, virus, algae and lots more, and can be used as a sore throat gargle, add a few drops to a spray bottle of water and spray the diaper area and it helps get rid of diaper rash, it is found to treat dermatitis (including poison oak, and ivy)...Grapefruit seed extract can be used to clean fungus and mildew off of shower stalls, tile, swimming pools, hummingbird feeders and birdbaths. It is user-friendly, and environmentally safe. GSE can be used in the garden to control aphids, snails, fungus, mildew, and algae. It can be used as a rinse for fruits and vegetables as well, or for a more thorough treatment, soak them for fifteen minutes and then rinse thoroughly under cold water. Adding GSE to a carpet shampooer will help to remove odors caused by bacteria left from pet, food , mold or mildew. It is reported that ten to fifteen drops per gallon in the reservoir is effective in killing staph, strep, aspergillus, salmonella and many other pathogenic organisms that are present in some carpets. Gargling with GSE and water will most times handle even the most resistant Strep germs. Naturopathic doctors recommend gargling with two or three drops in five ounces of water three or four times daily, you can't do it too often. I'm not opposed to prescribed medicines, but if I can get a natural remedy to work first, that's the way I go. I am excited that there's many uses for this stuff!