Indoor plants

I know a man who doesn't like plants in the house. We've always teased him a bit about it. Then last Saturday, I happened to catch the last part of SNL with Christopher Walken hosting. Not only was the sketch really funny, I couldn't stop thinking about Grandpa Peterson. Grandma...I may have found the solution to you being able to have plants inside. Enjoy the video. -- I needed continuously left click to have the video play correctly.

Today

Today, a perfect day. We took a walk, then walked to the playground, walked to the store, then home. While Laurelei took an unbelievable 4hr nap --and she wasn't even doing the walking, CJ and I made these yummy whole wheat pretzels. She did a great job twisting them into shapes.This afternoon, we played outside, did some artwork, played with friends, and just the enjoyed the calm beautiful weather.

Yesterday we went to the aquarium with some friends, it was another great day. Forgot to take Panther to the vet, and had yet another discussion with CJ about Kindergarten. The poor girl wants to go so badly. The other day we were out running errands and during her constant chatter, CJ pipes up --Look, there's kindergarten. After not understanding what she meant she told me I missed it. On our way back, she said it again, this time I quickly looked around and out her window...Um, do you mean Olive Garden? --yes. She also really wants to go to the Olive Garden, and despite my best efforts she feels they at least should be one in the same. Won't she be disappointed to learn about cafeteria food?

T-Shirts --use them!

I was doing some surfing..one site...oooh let's check this out....gotta go to this link type of thing and ended up at a video of Martha Stewart, reusing and being oh so green! I HAD to try it myself. So I took an old T-shirt...this one comes from my days as an RA... and made my own reusable shopping bag! SOOOOO easy!!! I have an assortment of bags that I use, and honestly I think I may have bought one once for $1, but the rest I have gotten free from one promo or another. It is a strange assortment but I love them and they hold a TON! Honestly I can get over $150 worth of groceries in them, that is how many and how big my bags are. So true, I don't really NEED another one, but now I know what to do with all these T-shirts that we accumulate (thought of you Ellen)...and for the ones that have seen better days...I'm thinking of Tie-Dying. That's right I'm back! --a few of you know how much I love to tie-dye.


You don't even need a sewing machine if you want to do a quick hand stitch, or as MS tells you on her video, use crafter's glue. I did sew it, since I have recently begun doing sew (ha ha). This is me encouraging all of you to stop buying small bags, make your own! Click HERE for the video..the first 5+ minutes is more info than you will ever needed on pumpkins, gourds and squash.

The Coolest

Eric earned his coolest Dad in the world factor the other night with the girls. He caught a fly with his hands. It was so cute to see their reactions and now both of them try and catch flies. As Laurelei is learning and using more and more signs, CJ has decided to make up her own. This doesn't bode well for us, as I'm sure the 2 of them will work out some sort of language and leave us in the dark. We have been using our feet this week and walking to do most of our errands, enjoying the weather, and getting used to a new routine with Eric back in classes.

CJ has fallen in love with her trains all over and has expanded, to include an airport, towns and more. Laurelei playing peek a boo.

Happy Earth Day

Here are FIVE quick things you can do today to make your surroundings healthier! Remember just ONE SMALL ACTION can make a REALLY BIG DIFFERENCE! #1 Watch TOXIC BREW. Invest just 20 minutes of your time for this Canadian "MarketPlace" TV show. Go to www.theglobalsuccessteam.net, then "Click Here to Enter Site." Then click on "TOXIC BREW MOVIE." #2 GO THROUGH YOUR BATHROOM, KITCHEN, LAUNDRY, GARAGE, AND YARD. As you go, dump Febreze, Clorox, Listerine and other toxic products. This information may shock you! This is not from a "kook" source! To find out what's lurking on your shelves, click here: the National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine Household Products Database. You can search almost any brand of product you use daily, find out what's in it, and uncover its links to health effects. Or search by chemical ingredients (see list below for some examples) and discover what brands contain it. Chemical ingredients to look out for: Sodium Hydroxide, Hydrochloric acid, Butyl cellosolve (2-Butoxyethanol), Formaldehyde, Bleach (sodium hypochlorite), Ammonia, Sulfamic Acid, Petroleum distillates, Sulfuric acid, Lye (potassium hydroxide), Morpholine. Did you know that women at home have a 54% higher risk of cancer? And that a study linked that statistic to harmful household cleaners? Let's turn that around fast! [SAVE THIS FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm] #3 CREATE A SHOPPING LIST. How soon can you switch brands to safe alternatives? I can help you figure out some transition orders of non-toxic make up, daily care items, shampoos, conditioners, baby products--as well as nutrition products that help bodies detox. Do it all at once or little by little. Our GET CLEAN kit of cleaners for $150 (featured 5 times on Oprah) saves you from buying $3400 worth of the "bad stuff." The large kit makes a big impact as it keeps 108 pounds of packaging waste out of landfills, eliminates 248 pounds of greenhouse gases, and is the equivalent of planting 10 trees. A smaller HEALTHY HOME kit is a great gift for weddings, showers, etc. #4 CALCULATE YOUR HOUSEHOLD'S CARBON EMISSIONS. It's easy. Go to SHAKLEE's page at American Forests http://www.americanforests.org/campaigns/shaklee/ and fill in info about your cars, your heating/air, etc. When you push "calculate," you're shown how many trees you could plant to erase your CO2 footprint on the earth, and offset your pollution. #5 JOIN OUR SHAKLEE MILLION TREES/MILLION DREAMS campaign by planting as many trees as you can! Did you know that a mature tree absorbs between 120-240 pounds per year of small particles and gases, like carbon-dioxide, which are released into the air by cars and industry? A single tree also produces nearly three-quarters of the oxygen required for one person; and a canopy of trees in an urban environment can slash smog levels up to six percent. American Forests reports that just 25,000 acres of forest can offset the equivalent emissions of 10 billion automobile miles. And you can plant right online! My faves are http://www.americanforests.org/, or http://www.arborday.org/shopping/gifts.cfm, or http://www.treesftf.org/main.htm, or http://www.treegreetings.com/

The Real Dirt on Clean

Are you really living in a healthy home?

You know that good, healthy feeling you get when you've just cleaned house? Sorry to spoil it, but you may have just made your home dirtier.

Think of it this way. You wouldn't let your kids play with toxic chemicals, so why would you let the baby crawl over a floor that's just been wiped with them? That's much more dangerous than the orange juice that was just there.

How dangerous? Just take a look at these statistics.

• Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home.
• Common bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning.
• Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners and even air fresheners, are 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out.
• A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the "acute one-hour exposure limit" for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
• Common cleaners give off fumes that have been linked to increasing the risk of your kids developing asthma, the most common serious chronic childhood disease.
• 1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children under five have increased more than 160% from 1980 ? 1994.
• Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food or air.
• If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach as hazardous waste)

Just a note

We have been having WONDERFUL weather, Wed & Thurs. it was Really REALLY windy, but Monday and Tuesday were just perfect. Today it is rainy, but looking at my brown lawn, we need it. Eric started classes yesterday and will have long days of ground school for the next couple of weeks. He did get a chance to go to a simulator the other day and get an orientation of the cockpit, and I think it got him excited to start flying again. His graduation date is September, barring any major hurricanes or other weather issues. They are intent in getting the students through and graduated on time, so it will have to be pretty big for that date to change. It is exciting to have a date. Through this process we know so little, it is a relief to finally get tangible info.
Laurelei has cut 4 teeth this past week, and has been a real trooper through it all. It hasn't interrupted her sleep and overall she hasn't been cranky either, we have counted our blessings. The girls have been cuddling in bed together, trying to convince us that Laurelei can sleep in a big bed with CJ. Although it is super cute to see them trying to sleep together, it ain't happening, much to CJ's disappointment.
The girls showing off their tricks on the slides.
Not much planned for this weekend, Eric will be studying so I'm sure the girls and I will head out to a park and find things to keep us busy and the house quiet.

For all you who cook...

I know there are some great cooks and foodies who occasionally visit...and I have a question for you. I have decided that my blender does NOT work like a food processor, and that it is time to get one. So I have made it known that this would be a great gift for Mother's day (rumor is that it is only a month away!). Normally, I don't ask for anything, my mind goes blank, except for the unattainable type of requests like, a trip to Italy (sans children) for a month. My husband does a good job remembering important dates, I'm just terrible at coming up with good ideas for myself. So, I need your help. What features, brands or size should I be looking for or NOT looking for in a food processor. I did a quick search on Google last week, and decided that although I know how to use a food processor, I really don't know if one is better than another and I turn to my friends for advice. Thanks!

Go karts

Getting buckled in

Saturday we went to a local fun track and had lots of fun. I have a video of CJ driving by herself, but my camera is not working properly at the moment, and it appears that I may have taped over at least part of Laurelei's birthday --way to go mom. Anyway, it went kinda like this. She left the start line and did well, came around the first corner and instead of following the arrows or the one ahead of her, she took a right, going the wrong way down the lane and promptly ran into the wall. High school kid came running over to push her back and get her going again...she did and went straight for the wall and got stuck again. The kid was running from CJ to Josiah and back the whole turn and poor CJ never even made a full circle...as she came around the back corner instead of turning to go down the lane the right way, she went to the finish line, once again getting pushed back and put back on track by the poor high school kid. We all thought it was funny, especially watching the kid run back and forth trying to keep them moving, but as everyone else drove into the finish line and CJ was waiting once again for the kid to help her we saw her tears. She didn't like running into the walls and try as we might we couldn't get her to understand just how to drive the cart. Was going to make a remark about her pretending to need car help when there was a boy around to help, but she was really scared and upset by the end. CJ, Josiah and Elijah, waiting for the green light --all was still good

Laurelei eating a pear waiting for the race to start.

So I made her get right back on. I know it sounds like I am a horrible mother...but I knew if we left at that point she would never return and she needed to have fun...so she and I went on the family track. I promised her I would go slow if she wanted me to, and while we waited in line she wanted to back out and not see another go kart in her life. I got her strapped in and when given a green light we headed out. She said, go slow mommy, I said okay and proceeded to punch it to see just how fast we could go. I talked to her the whole time, she had a blast, we passed almost everyone and when we got off she promptly wanted to ride again, this time with Daddy. After that ride she complained that daddy went too slow and she only wanted to go with mommy. She had no interest in going by herself on the kiddie track, but at least she got back on that "horse" and tried again. We are in the yellow #19 kart