christmas

Christmas is quickly approaching! We are all but finished shopping and only slightly in the hole!! I wasn't able to decorate for the holidays as much as I would've liked but next year I'll do better! I bought these pretty cool solar powered light strings for the front bushes. It works out well since we have no outdoor outlets and they have built in sensors/timers AND no extra amount on the electricity bill! They are white(bluish) LED's so they have a unique look!

On the green tangent we are doing really well recycling. I have to purchase another bin from the township building as our current bin is overflowing constantly. Our waste is really diminishing. Even when I shop now I check the packaging and either try to get things with no packaging, or ones with a recycling symbol. One example would be that I stopped buying bottled juice and now get concentrate--except orange juice. A lot less waste and space taken up. Some people may think that I am to into recycling, but at this point it has really become a way of life! I don't give it much thought at home and I love not having mounds of trash going to sit at the landfill forever, but rather smaller amounts of mostly organic materials. Although I was told by an answerer of a question I posted on Yahoo Answers that her community offers organic bins for anything from food to tissues. They take the stuff and compost it and make it available to farmers and such...awesome...

Our water bill was almost $100.00. Our toilets all leak. After much research of dual flushing low flows I have however found some low flow, single flush Kohler's priced very well--which we will purchase when our taxes come back. So much for being green; 11,000 gallons in a month. I am more concerned with conserving water for financial reasons than green ones--although financial reasons are also green!

The kids are doing well, finally the thick fog of chest and head cold that has been lingering for almost 2 months is lifting. Evie has started to say "ma ma" which is a delight! She's making her way all the way up the stairs now and enjoys eating anything we have for dinner cut up small.
Asa has been as busy as ever. He likes making "drinks", concoctions of gross sorts, that I find in the mornings sometimes. Today it was: juice, a whole clementine, cereal cheese, an egg--with the shell mixed in, and butter. He also has been getting into christmas presents. I definitely need to keep my eye on him constantly.
Tyler has been getting excellent grades this first part of third grade. He also made a friend on our street which has been nice for him.

Oh, and Bella. Bella is a black four year old pomeranian that we have opened our home to. A close friend is moving and can't bring her so she now resides with us. The dog is pretty perfect. She doesn't shed, bark, chew things up. She's very friendly and loving and easy and CUTE!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season this year! I most likely won't blog again until the new year comes!