humble holiday

This Thanksgiving was my first holiday where I hosted. I even cooked my first turkey and was more than impressed with how it turned out! Having a mom who is an amazing cook definitely comes in handy when I need pointers! It was a humble group of 11 and perfect for my first time! We started the day with a big breakfast while the Philly Thanksgiving Day parade was on TV. I love watching that, or at least the idea of watching it. I have to catch a glimpse of it every year. Sadly this year was the last year for one of the hosts, Dave Roberts--who I remember hosting from when I was a little one.

We actually had a very smooth and happy day getting ready for the company, somehow I planned and cooked very efficiently and it turned out well. The only thing I regret though is that I made people move so I could take pictures of the tables. I know already that when I want to remember my first thanksgiving I will rather see the people than the tables, and now only have the backs of people's heads to remember them by!! Lesson learned.

Today Evie, as usual, took off her pants and diaper. She likes to sit on the potty and pretend to use it. I am used to this and think it's actually funny. This interest has come solely because of her own desire, I still feel she is too young to really try her on the potty. HOWEVER, she was standing on the dining room chair, diaper-less, when she looked at me with startled eyes. I asked he if she wanted to use the potty and she nodded a very large YES. So i brought her over to the big potty and sat her on it: low and behold, it wasn't pretend this time. As I was on the phone with Mark exclaiming the good news, she actually came over to her training potty right next to me, sat on it and went on it again, by herself!!!! So proud!!- but am wondering if she is truly interested for good, or if it's only temporary(as her brother was when he was her age). She is in her crib now wearing underpants...yes, this is wishful thinking.

Something green: I wanted to mention three products I use that I LOVE, that I get at the local food or home improvement store and which are good for the family and good for environment.
The first is my laundry detergent, it's the only kind I like to use and I usually pay about $3 for a 32load container. You probably see it every time you shop: Purex Natural Elements. It's base is made from plants vs the normal petroleum. If anything else, the more people buy products which a made from renewable plant surfactants the less dependency we will have on oil, which is a great thing! Also the detergent is hypoallergenic, but it has fragrance! I first started using it because of this reason alone, most other hypoallergenic detergents are fragrance free, but this uses essential oils...just delightful!! They also have fabric softeners, but I haven't tried them.

Next would be Seventh Generation Dish Soap. This stuff works GREAT! My hands are never dried out, it's a clear hypoallergenic formula with a light fragrance from, again, essential oils. Same thing goes for this soap with the plant bases. I love love love this stuff, I get a container of it for $2.50 but they offer coupons online and often from the store I buy it at. It's worth paying a bit more for in my opinion. We have public water and sewer but these soaps are an even better idea for someone with a septic system because they actually break down. I also use their all purpose cleaner, and love having no fumes.

The last thing I will say(which I may have mentioned before) is when you are painting a room, consider buying Olympic paint(at Lowes). The times I have used it, I have always had great coverage. I used Lowe's Valspar (whichever kind is the best grade of it) and it paled in comparison to the "cheapo" Olympic. It's very inexpensive and ODERLESS. You can paint with the windows and doors closed--so convenient and good for the family

The tree is up...magenta, purple and lime sparkles, have I lost my mind? No, it does look pretty cool, though it probably wasn't necessary to buy new ornaments...

I'll post a pic when I upload them!