"By Self"

Abygail has become quite independent lately. She wants to do everything "by self". "I go potty by self" (but only randomly) or "No! By Self!!!" those are the two we hear most often.

Jackson has become a mountain climber and climbs up the slide and stands on the platform all by himself. It amazes me how strong this little guy is. He also says "Uh-oh" when prompted and likes to babble "dadadadada" and "mamamamamama"

Here are a few pics from the week. I love my little sleeping beauty and my mountain climber.

Abygail likes to fall asleep reading booksDo you like my new hairdo? Jackson likes to eat crayons.

I'm King of the Mountain!

Book Club

Last night book club met at our house. We discussed Life of Pi by Yann Martel (see book review on side bar). I tried to have refreshments that were some what Indian in theme (the book starts in India), it didn't turn out so Indian - except for the Nan bread and the mango chutney - but they were all yummy none the less. There was Nan bread, pita chips - original and cinnamon sugar, baba ghanoush (I bought it from Wegman's but if anyone is interested in a recipe or what it is here's the link - so goooooood!), assorted olives, roasted vegetable bruschetta, cookies, local wildflower honey, and mango chutney. Angela brought over some yummy cookies too (yum yum)!

We had fun chatting about the book, making messes (I tried to juggle my plate full of food - with no success) and sharing stories. It's always fun to get together for book club and it's so fun to have a group to talk to about books. Previous to Michelle starting book club I hadn't picked up a book for a long, Long, LONG time - I had simply fallen out of the habit of reading for pleasure.

I got to pick the book for March and I'm so excited. I can't wait to reread and discuss A.M.V.

Confessions Of A Fat Chick: Part II

(ok, I didn't turn out any skinnier but, it was still a good month)

I thought this month would be easy, if not easy at least uncomplicated. It hasn't been. There are some things that we've done really well at and I'm glad we made the goal of doing. We've been eating more beans - much to Jason's dismay. We've been spending more family time together - which has been great and really rewarding. Monday nights have been fun and funny come up with lessons/activities that keep the kids attention for 5 or 10 minutes. I've been turning the TV off more and have finished reading at least 4 books this month.

There's just one thing - money. I admit it, I have a really hard time being master of my budget. I need help, maybe some intensive brain washing would help. Well, it's been good to see where my weaknesses really are. Now I can face them and put more effort into conquering them.

To sum it up: Not a success but not a failure. A great exercise and one that I've learned a lot from. I hope Chile runs it again next year!

A friend of mine asked me: "Since February is a month of doing with out or giving up, will March be a month of adding in the good?" I think she's on to something! Anyone interested in a 'More March' challenge? Or maybe a 'Beefing It Up' or we could tread lightly on the animals and say 'Stepping It Up'? I think that's what we'll try around here. (no more spending though!!!) I'll be posting in a few days what we'll be Stepping Up on or having More of.

Green Changes: February

I thought I would keep track of the green changes we are making. I've been reading blogs, books and articles and I have really felt the need to make some changes in the products we use and food we eat.

In the month of February we:
*switched to recycled toilet paper (you know the kind with brown stains on it from the previous use - HAHAHA - just recycled paper made into toilet paper - you are so dirty!)
*switched to recycled paper towels, we don't use a lot but what we do use will now be recycled
*switched hand soaps, all purpose cleaner, and wood floor care products to Method brand
*I've started using the back of my grocery receipts for making lists and other notes that used to be written on fresh clean paper
*I've done some research into what I can and cannot recycle and after much WORK (because the city website tells you NOTHING) I located a general list that works for almost every city I'll be posting it by the recycle container to remind myself and I've started putting a paper bag by our various trash cans around the house to put recyclables in them. This will make it easier to recycle because you don't have to leave the room to recycle.
*we've been turning down the heat and putting on more clothes, it doesn't work every day but we are all getting used to not wearing our bathing suits in the house year round :)
*I (just me) switched toothpastes
*finally the biggest one, we've joined a CSA - we are growing a garden so we will just be buying meat and pork shares through them this year, it will be nice to know that we won't be eating sick, tortured and mistreated animals

I don't think we've spent a lot more money making any of the changes, but I certainly feel better about them than our previous choices.

Little Moments

This past week was really fun, other than the aforementioned 18 hours. Here are some pictures and moments from our week.

"Cheese"

Abygail and I went outside and played in the snow. I paced out our garden area and walked the perimeter of the yard. I might be crazy (no scratch that, I am crazy) but I think I actually saw buds starting to develop on the trees. This did not help my spring fever at all. We had some ice sickle forming on the side of the house and a tree that is there. I pointed them out to Abygail who was really excited about them. She didn't quite seem to understand that an ice sickle is not the same as a popsicle.

"Look mom, my ice popsicles"

She is quite the talker now. She talks my ear off all day long, but I love it. I love that she can tell me what's wrong, what she needs and how she feels.

Jackson just adores his sister.

Abygail on the other hand does not always adore her brother, but she does most of the time. Jackson's favorite thing to do is to catch her sleeping and wake her up...this does not go over well with her. (She takes her nap on the couch so it's easy to see how Jackson 'catches' her sleeping.)
Jackson discovered how to climb through the crawl holes in the kangaroo climber this week. He loved to crawl in there and surprise his sister...what a funny boy.

I really love these two little packages of love. I'm so proud to be their momma!

I got to shovel snow again on Friday. I know, this is a chore for most people and I'm sure that at times it is for us to but...I loved being out there and having a moment to think and feel the last of the snow flakes falling. It was so peaceful, no one else was out because it was still snowing (it stopped before I finished and what fell over the freshly shoveled drive and walks melted with the sun).

Jason's schedule got a little more freed up this week - that's not to say that he won't be on campus still. He'll just be using the time to do research in the lab and homework/study for his class. He is such a good father, the kids love being around him and are sad when he leaves in the morning. He's such a hard worker and we are glad that he is the head of our family. He challenges me to think about things on a different level. I know that we are in for a lifetime of learning with him at our helm.

And me, well, I'm just happy that I could be a part of these little moments.

The Fifth Element

(statements in orange have been updated to this post on 2/24/08)

Meaty Chunks recently posted "While You Were Sleeping"
Xochitl Girl posted "A Beautiful Mind"

Now, I certainly can't deny the temptation to follow suit and post "The Fifth Element"

What are the first four elements? Well if you've seen the movie then you know they are Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. If you didn't see the movie, well, now you know.

The fifth element is the human element. I'm reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and it really has got me to think about the human element.

Most of my life my food has either come from a can or a box. Growing up my mom worked full time and raised at least 4 of her six kids pretty much on her own (please note, I'm not downing my dad here, I'm just painting a picture) so she didn't have a lot of time on her hands and it was a struggle just to get us all up in the morning, much less prepare food from scratch. Sure, I had grandparents, one set had a huge garden and the other set had a pretty good sized garden, chickens and even a peach farm. Yes, my family even had a garden, peach trees (5), blackberry bushes (2), chickens and birds too. But pretty much all of that stopped for all 3 house holds at about the same time, that was when I was in my preteen years. So, yeah, I knew corn could be grown and eaten but that's corn on the cob - not regular corn...or at least this has been my thought for many, many years. I'm not saying I'm stupid, what I'm saying is that I simply didn't put 2 and 2 together and with supermarkets...who needs to.

Well, I need to now! That's what I'm talking about and thinking about, and when you see my book review on Michael Pollan's book you'll see where this all started. I lost the human element, the element of being connected to my food source and knowing how it came to be and what it is.

Sometimes at dinner we play this game...Either Jason or I say "Man, Mommy/Daddy sure does make good xyz." Sometimes it's pasta, sometimes beans ... whatever happens to be on the menu. Then we begin telling the story of how it all came to be right there on the table in front of us (or at least how it would have come to be on our table IF we were the human element of our food). Jason is way better at this game than I am, he'll say, "You see Abygail, last fall I harvested the wheat that was growing in our field..." and he'll continue on with what harvesting consisted of. Then he'll tell how he made it into wheat, and how that wheat was combined with eggs from the chickens (including how the eggs where gathered) and so on and so on through all the elements of our dinner, until you get to the cooking, setting the table and eating stage. Sometimes we have to stop and really think "wait, how does that happen, how does cheese come about, or where would we have to go to catch a salmon". (The first time we played this it was Macaroni and Cheese - try that one, a seemingly simple dish can be very complex.) It's fun to see what it would take to really make a meal without help from the supermarket or farmers market. (Again - not down on supermarkets because let's face it...if it wasn't for them I would have starved to death a long time ago and my mom would have gone insane too.) You should try this game - it's great family time fun.

Another thing that's been running through my head: I look at our dinners/lunches/breakfasts in a different way now. Mostly dinners because they are more complex. I think about how I can make it from scratch. Take last night's meal for instance: black beans, Rotel tomatoes, canned corn mixed with spices and simmered for a good while then served over rice. I look at it and think - "how can I make this fresh". It dawns on me, you shave the corn off the cob and freeze it, you preserve the tomatoes with hot peppers, you dry the beans (I don't know about rice, is it even possible to grow in this country?). Then when it's dinner time you use what you harvested.

My point is - I'm really excited for this summer and the change it will bring. I'm really excited about being an element of my food and for my children to know where food comes from. I know it's going to be hard and it's going to be a lot of trial and error and there will be some successes and some failures but, we'll be connected.

The last 18 hours

I want to be able to remember the last 18 hours so this post is mostly for myself and my family. I'm not giving details, so don't ask. I've been forbidden to give the full account on some of the following so, anything that is left out will just have to be left up to our memory. Please feel free to stop reading now.

6pm last night - a fire in the kitchen
8pm last night - a funny/terrifying story of an animal, a car trunk and M&Ms begins
In the wee hours of the morning - another story for the McFallville news broadcast
8am this morning - Abygail brings me cat poop, a nice surprise left in her bed by Darwin

Two Little Cuttie Pies

Look! I've got one little tooth :)

Check out my 6-pack, 8 1/2 months old and just look at these muscles. I'm such a big boy! I can crawl all the way up here and stand up all by myself.

Two Clean Cutie Pies!

Yesterday I walked down stairs after putting the laundry away to find Jackson and Abygail wearing wash cloths on their heads. I guess Abygail thought they both needed wash cloth hats. ;) Abygail is sharing her plastic potato with Jackson.

Not even 10am this morning and Abygail was already getting a bath through trickery.

Garden: What's On The Menu

I just finished our seed and plant orders and I'm getting very excited to have some home grown goodness in our backyard. Here's a list of what we will be planting this year.

From Johnny's Seeds:
Green Splendor Gourds - I'm going to experiment in making luffa sponges (this is my new favorite blog and here's a post on making your own luffas)
Mint - this is something that Jason and I both remember having in our childhood homes so it's a must for our garden although we'll put it in a container so it doesn't take over
Blueberry Plants - Abygail and Jason love blueberries and the only kind I see around here are NOT from around here so we'll try this out, they will probably be planted along the fence line to give some privacy

From Seed Savers:
Tomato Plants:

• Amish Paste - this will be our 'preservation' plant
• Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain)
  
• Green Zebra - I've always wanted to grow these, now we'll know if they are worth it
  
• Stupice

Pepper Plants:

• King of the North (Sweet)
  
• Wenk's Yellow Hots (Hot) - both Jason and I are from TX and we really like hot and spicy foods, this will also be used a lot in preservation as well
  

Seeds:

• Birdhouse Gourd - this will be a fun craft project
  
• Gourd Mixture - fun for the kids and help them enjoy the garden too, possibly also used for craft project
  
• Scarlet Nantes Carrot
• Early Fortune Cucumber
• Empress Bean
• Amish Snap Pea
  

From Gurney's which has a 'buy $25 get $25 free' special:
Strawberries - we all LOVE strawberries and I'd like to preserve some this year
Seed Starting Kit
Corn - another childhood memory and a must
Zinnias - when I think of gardens I think of the Zinnias that my best friend's mother grows in their family garden
Sunflowers - another one for the kids and ... let's face it, I love sunflowers too
Sugar Baby Watermelon - I'm not sure if this will turn out or not but again, this is something that Jason and I think about when we remember gardens of our childhood so it's a must for us (at least this year)


It's important to me that we not only produce some of our own food but that the garden be enjoyed beyond the food aspect. I've tried to create that enjoyment for us by adding in some 'special' things (birdhouses, flowers, childhood memories, and yummy fruit). By doing this I'm hoping we'll have a better chance of success and some memories of it all. (of course I could be wrong, we'll see)

Also, even though we have a small yard we plan on using the Square Foot Gardening method that will increase our growing space by allowing us to grow more in less space. It might cost a little more the first year but it will really pay off after the first year (unless we get through this year and hate gardening all together, which I'm hoping doesn't happen).

To construct our garden beds we'll be using some wood from cabinets that we took down from our basement walls (ugly dysfunctional cabinets) so the construction cost will be little to none. The cost will mostly be the seeds/plants and the soil.

Farm Mom,
I've attempted to choose things that will 1) work well in my/our zone and 2) I won't need to start from seed indoors. Please let me know how successful or unsuccessful I was at this attempt. I did buy some cheap seed starting equipment just in case I need to start anything indoors.

OK, I think that's plenty of information for now. So, what do you think? Too ambitious for the first year? I guess I'm a little scared that we were a little over ambitious. I hope not, I really hope this turns out well.

Confessions Of A Fat Chick: Part I

Well, this post is way over due! When I signed up for the Trimming the Fat Challenge it was understood that I would periodically post regarding my progress. So, here I am posting about my progress. I call this 'Confessions Of A Fat Chick'.

Confessions - bad:
Although I've pretty much kept to the grocery budget I have to admit that I bought a few extra things. Although at the time I rationalized the purchase of these items I see now that I was in error and simply weak, Weak, WEAK!

• Popsicles - Abygail was sick and running a fever, but really we just like popsicles!
• Cereal - Jason doesn't like the cereal that we get so I bought some special for him which is the more expensive kind. This was on my Valentine shopping day where I was buying the flour needed to make the valentine pizza we had. So I guess you could say it was a valentine present, but it wasn't.
  
• Even if the cereal was a valentine present (which it wasn't) than I went over budget for the holiday and let's face it, I went over budget by $5 anyway!

Confessions - good

• Electronic Stimulation - I've been much better about only getting on the computer twice a day, morning and night. This has freed me up for other diversions such as playing, reading and shoveling the snow. I've shoveled snow 3 days this week and it was great, I'm not saying I want to do it all the time (you can still have that job Jason!) but it was nice to get outside, do some manual labor and not use the same time to stare at an electronic screen. Additionally our TV 'consumption' has gone down this week. We still have a lot to do in this area (again, mostly me) but we are working on it so that's good.
• Date - our date cost more than we had budgeted but...again we haven't been on a date in QUIT SOME TIME so this one I'm ok with. I'm calling this a good thing over all considering that we 1)went on a date and 2) we were out of the house there by not partaking in the nightly electronic stimulation of news, blogs, and comedic relief that invades our evenings.
• Travel - Jason has been faithful at taking the bus and overall we are down on our travel of late. This week I didn't go to play group because I forgot and I didn't go to the library because I didn't need to, I just rechecked my books online.
  

So to sum it up: There is still more fat to trim but I feel a little less fat :o)

The Date

Many moons ago we had a poll up on when Jason and I would finally go on a date. Well, it finally happened, almost 2 years since we've been out just the two of us.

Last night Rachel and Tyler were kind enough to offer to take the kids. It was so nice to get out and be a couple, no kids - just us. We went out to dinner at a local spaghetti house place. I had the Friday Fish Fry (which if you live in Buffalo you know every restaurant offers it) - I was tempted to ask if the fish was local but I forgot and didn't. Jason ordered the Chicken Parmigiana. Although our food was not spectacular, or anything to write about at all, we did enjoy some good conversation.

After dinner we went to Glenn Mill park and watched the waterfall for a little bit before heading back for the kids. The waterfall was so pretty at night all white, some of it frozen, and rushing over the rocks.

(This isn't the way the waterfall looked last night but this gives you an idea of the waterfall I'm talking about. Some how the falls look so much bigger at night.)

So, that's all...we finally went on a date - ya us and ya Rachel and Tyler for taking the kids.

Comming Soon:

I've got 3 posts in the works

1. Gardening (what we've decided to plant and our plan in general)
2. Confessions of a Fat Chick (you'll have to wait to see what this one's about)
3. The Date
   

As soon as I get some time I'll finish them up. I know I haven't posted anything lately that was substantial about our happenings and what we are up to so I just wanted to give a heads up of what's in the works.

Stay tuned for more fun and adventures :o)

P.S. THIS IS OUR 100TH POST - CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

To My Valentine:

The Presence of Love
by: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

And in Life's noisiest hour,
There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee,
The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy.

You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within;
And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart
Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulse's beat;
You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light,
Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve
On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake.

And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you,
How oft! I bless the Lot that made me love you.

Happy Valentine, My Valentine!

Tribute: Grandma Reeves

My Grandma Reeves just celebrated another birthday and I wanted to post a few things about her.

I LOVE my Grandma. My fondest memories are in her old house (they moved to the new house when I was 12ish). Easter egg hunts in their back yard (when I say back yard I mean not the front back yard but the yard that was behind the back yard, it was HUGE). A giant garden and bushes of honey suckle. Cratemerdles (sp?) that we would climb and collect the locust shells. The play house. The park that was really close. I was always scared of the hallway with all the bedrooms and I was ESPECIALLY scared of the bathroom. I think it's because I was in my aunt Janet's room once and saw a picture of Gene Simmons from KISS with an axe in his hand and a bloody tongue - I was totally freaked after that. Painting trees. Getting my hair cut. Silver or Blue Christmas trees with tinsel. My mom telling a dirty joke in the entry way. The riding lawn mower. The row machine and exercise bikes on the patio. The dogs and playing catch. Sitting on the metal porch benches that glided.

I also think of beans, my Grandma always has a pot of beans on. It doesn't matter what time of day it is or how many people are there, Grandma is always ready to feed you and it's always yummy. She makes the best beans I've ever tasted - better than any restaurant could/can make.

My Grandma taught me how to paint (I don't paint now). There was one day that she and I were at the old house and she taught me how to paint trees. She is an avid painter, she loves to paint landscape scenes. I hope someday that I will be able to display one of her paintings in my home. I also hope that I can find that picture of a tree that we once painted. I know I have it but it's packed away and I need to find it.

My Grandma is strong, courageous, loving and fun. She can make anything fun, spending a day with her is like coming home or sitting in your favorite place on earth. I say that she is strong and she is. My father's father died when my Dad was 9 and my Grandma was left to raise 3 boys alone. She eventually remarried and even had another baby (Aunt Janet) but I know that she was strong because she made it through those years of tragedy and lose.

Another thing I think about when I think of her is cards. I loving going to her house and sitting around the table with family and playing cards. She never turns a grandchild away - no matter how young. She always makes room for everyone to play and if there is no room than she starts a new game so that you are included too.

She makes the best Christmas punch, Christmas isn't Christmas without it. Speaking of Christmas, she always makes us sing before any presents can be opened. We all grumble and act like we hate it but she makes us do it anyway. She loves to hear us all sing - even though we sound like a bunch of dying birds.

When I was young she cut my hair. Whenever I needed a hair cut we went to her house and she cut it for me. I wouldn't let anyone else do it. This lasted until I was in middle school. I loved the feel of the razor cutting my hair and the one on one time we got to spend together.

I know that my memories are fogged up and changed by time but I will always remember her for the gardener, painter, friend, and adoring grandmother that she is to me. My Grandma is one of my heroes and if I could be like anyone it would be her.

I love you Grandma and Happy Late Birthday!!!!

This Just In...

Reports are streaming in from all over the city of multiple stair accidents.

This morning at 6:21am, just east of the Buffalo city line in a small town known as McFallville New York, a loving mother was tenderly carrying her 8 month old son down the stairs to avoid waking up her snoring husband and daughter when it happened. She was 2 (possibly 3, her vision was a little fuzzy) steps from the bottom of the staircase in a cautious race for the early morning bathroom call when her foot slipped and she fell, her son still in her arms. Being the loving and self-sacrificing mother that she is, she shielded her son from the fall by using her knees to brace and bare the brunt of the impact. Although her son escaped unscathed her husband found her 5 seconds later moaning and writhing on the floor in pain. It does appear that she escaped any serious medical injury requiring the emergency room however she will have days possibly weeks of knee bruising to cope with.

Later this morning another report came in that a child of 22 months fell down the stairs as well. It seems that the child was wearing her froggy puddle boots and trying to climb the stairs in an attempt to follow her doting father when she mis-stepped and plunged down the stairs. Fortunately the mother reports that the child has become very adept at falling down the stairs and escaped even minor injuries.

Lets hope that the stair falling crisis does not continue. We pray for the safe travels of our citizens up and down the stairs for at least the remainder of the day.

This has been Amber McClumsy reporting live from the scene in McFallville, NY. Back to you in the news room Jim.

What's New?

I posted a new book review for anyone that is interested. Check out my side bar for the review of Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally.

Next up on the book list will be The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Trimming The Fat

Chile is holding another challenge. This month it is the 'Trim the Fat' challenge, which will last the whole month of February. For more info. go over to the Trim the Fat post and check it out for yourself. Here are our ground rules.

1> stick to the grocery budget - no extra purchases, only what we need.
2> we've been eating beans once a week since the beginning of the year, this month we'll up it to twice a week. in the beginning the beans where horrible, too hard, too mushy, too salty, too bland. but the last time they were almost perfect. black eyed peas with carrots and onions and chicken bullion served over rice. it was more like black eyed pea and rice soup but it was yummy, a bit on the salty side but still yummy.
3> no extra purchases other than valentine's day with a $10 limit. luckily I've already gotten the kids valentine presents while they were on sale after Christmas, 2 puppet sets (4 puppets in each set) and a stool with pretend food that stores inside it all for just 7.5o total. we will be ordering our seeds and plants this month for our garden so that will be an extra expense but this is something we've been planning for so it will be allowed. I might try my hand at this which sounds like a great way to make personalized valentines and trim the trash too.
4> this is more for me than anything - limit computer time and tv time. I've got a huge reading list I'd like to get through so I've got plenty to do. our library also offers what they call 'discovery kits' for kids ages 2-5. we've currently got the alphabet one and the family one. we'll continue to work our way through those for February. we'll not just eat together as a family each evening we'll also do an activity together to keep the tv and computer off. we have been a little better at this on Mondays but we'll strive to work it in every day of the week. also I'll be doing less checking on the blogs of others so that will limit my computer time too.
5> transportation, this will continue to be business as usual but here are the ground rules for February: jason will continue to use the bus for the rest of the month. the car will only get used on Fridays to go to the library for story time, Tuesdays for play group (if the kids are feeling well) Saturdays for grocery shopping and Sundays for church.

that's about it for the ground rules. sorry about the formating of this post but hey, I'm limiting my computer time.

Super Tuesday

Did you vote?

Jason and I both had the opportunity to vote this afternoon and evening. We had to vote by affidavit, because of the move, so our votes will only count if the results are close. It's still great to be a part of the voting process. I'm so proud to live in a country where every vote counts - black or white, male or female (and all the other comparisons).

Let the games begin (ding, ding, ding)

Stranded

Abygail is sick. She started running a fever last night and has continued to run one. She is losing her voice and is very congested. Since she is sick I canceled our plans for yesterday evening, an appointment this morning and decided we would not be going to playgroup. Also it's raining outside so I encouraged Jason to take the car to school today so...now we are stranded, in a good way. (Jason is enjoying riding the bus. He likes not having to drive, fight/look for a parking space, walk 1/2 mile or more just to get from parking space to the building. He also comes home with funny stories all the time of 'what happened on the bus today', and he reads while he's on the bus so his time is more productive. He's already half way through a book he just got last week and he's only reading it on bus time. I rarely use the car but it's nice to have it just in case. Currently it comes out of the garage on the weekends for grocery shopping, the library and going to church. It will be interesting to see how long our tank of gas lasts and how much we spend on gas this year vs. last year.)

Aby is very cuddly and just wants to sit in my lap or lay next to me. Jackson is pretty self sufficient when it comes to playing now so it's easy to let him just do his thing while I take care of Abygail. She has been enjoying lots of popcicles (which she loves) and lots of cuddle time with mom and dad.

As for me, I picked up a few new books at the library on Saturday so I'm reading while cuddling. As I finish them I'll update my book review posts. Books I'm reading:

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

by Alisa Smith & J.B. Mackinnon

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

by Michael Pollan

Preserving Nature's Bounty

by Frances Bissell

All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space

by Mel Bartholomew

Jackson Likes To Slide

Play Group

Tuesday we had play group at our house. It was so much fun. There were lots of people, at least 9 ladies and most people had 2 kids - we had a FULL house. The kids had so much fun playing on the climber and slides. All the babies enjoyed hanging out in the swing, jumper and playing on the floor. All the ladies had fun chit chatting and being out of the house. It was really nice to have people over to the house. We still have a LONG way to go before it's fixed up but we still love it.

I've actually been thinking about posting something about play group for the last 2 days but had forgotten each time I sat down to blog. This evening I had a reminder in my laundry...



We are still using cloth diapers and a disposable diaper from play group got mixed up in the cloth diapers. It just goes to show you that any diaper can get pretty clean, too bad it can't be re-used now that it's clean :P (i cracked up when I saw it - all the jell has been washed away too. it is rather funny...don't you think?)