fall

Is is just me or was it in the 80's and 90's less that two weeks ago? I am so cold now. I was contemplating putting the heat on last night. Asa took his leather jacket to school today.

Asa is now in school, the local elementary school. He is doing really well there, only complains of it being too long of a day--but he's been learning and working and his manners have even gotten better! I miss him terribly, but love cuddling with him when he gets home. It's so much harder going through it yourself than thinking about sending your child off to Kindergarten without actually having gone through it. Evie misses him too, but things are settling down here and I know it's the best option for us now.

Our roof was leaking last week when the remnants of TS Nicole hit town. We quickly had it replaced. I wish I could see the new roof better so it could maybe make me happy after spending so much money on it! Oh well, it's the peace of mind I guess. I picked up a solar powered attic fan to help with energy costs mostly in the summer. Love the fact that it costs nothing to run it!

It's amazing how you can train yourself to be more efficient and self sustaining. I think by not buying things that are disposable you can really change the way you look at everything. Recently I was somewhere where so many plastics and disposable items were thrown into the regular trash in front of me and I was cringing!! I hate plastic bags (ziplock) and try not to look when recyclable containers are disposed of incorrectly. I don't want to sound like a snob either because I religiously used them until I was turned on to being less wasteful and the reality of how when we use a plastic bag once then toss it, it'll be around forever in a pile under the ground!!!
Right now I am debating in my mind whether Corn based plastics are better than bio degradable plastics. I know that the type of biodegradable plastics I use will not biodegrade anywhere but the landfill--but that is where most if not all of them will end up. They are superior strength which I think is important because it is more efficient than using more than one bag when one rips and falls apart(which is more likely with the corn based products which also cost significantly more $$)
The good thing about (some)corn plastics is that it'll biodegrade anywhere, in water, in dirt, in a compost pile, a landfill. They won't last as long though, they may fall apart on you if a lot of food products have been able to sit in them.
I'm all about lessening our dependency on oil and biodegradable plastics--while they do use some recycled plastics to their batches--still require oil.

It's a hard call, I am not sure which is best, but I am thankful that either kind will not last forever in the landfill!

I have been doing great with having the one bag of trash a week again! I know strange things tend to make me happy, and most people may not understand it, but it feels great to be efficient, I save a lot of money this way too :)

We are getting new windows soon and I am thrilled about the fact that we should be feeling a lot warmer this winter because of them! That and the fact that they are double hung which will feel like a luxury for me :) :) :) :)

I am getting over some sort of illness, but I feel so great mentally! I am thrilled to know that the sun is shining brightly above the rain clouds. The sky is perfectly blue up there, and it's bright(and warm?). Sometimes I wish I could fly on days like this just to reiterate this feeling! The end of the week is supposed to be warmer again and sunny :) :)

Making things

I've been making a lot of things lately. It feels good to make things. Something kicked into gear in my brain and I was able to let go of some of the laziness inhibiting my housekeeping skills. The house, laundry, finances and other things are all organized currently. This is the longest streak I've been able to keep up so far. It feels great though. I love being able to do just minimal house work and have a neat house and spend time with my most precious possessions: Evie and Asa.

Asa turned 5 last week. We had a small family party. Small is subjective however, it was just family, but still around 15 people. I made an ice cream cake:

24 Ice cream sandwiches
1 container of cool whip
1 Jar of Hot Fudge

cost me 6.50 and it tastes GREAT

I just layered the Ice Cream sandwiches with fudge and cool whip twice, then sprinkled sprinkles on top and froze it. I let it thaw out a bit before serving. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it! Love easy, tasty, inexpensive things like that!

I had a hard time on Asa's birthday. I don't see the changes he goes through unless I step back and realize how much he's grown in the past 5 years. I still have the new mom mindset. My heart was really aching realizing how quickly time goes and precious that time is. I hope I am growing up at the same time as him, getting wiser and such. When he was really little I was pretty young still, him being my first, I was adjusting to not being so self centered and I had a really hard time getting used to the changes in my body. While I remember loving that time, I also remember getting really down and feeling sorry for myself a lot. I also though I was in control of motherhood and knew exactly what I was doing. So foolish! With Evie I was better because I tried to enjoy even the hard times with her since I knew how quickly the hard days of new baby-hood go. I feel like I was just telling myself I have a lot of time before he goes to school. Now he is being home schooled..something I was sure I wouldn't do. I love this little boy beyond words. He is an interesting little character. He is beautiful to me and I love his brain. I wish he didn't have asthma, allergies and eczema, but it has given me extra time with him that I wouldn't have in the administration of medication :) He is very VERY strong willed, and I feel I will have a hard time with adolescence but I am praying and trying to develop a healthy parent-child relationship with him so that it will go a smoothly as possible. I want the best for him. I feel so bad for him when I see him get jealous of his little sister and bewildered when his cool big brother chooses her side. I know he'll be OK though. I love being his mom. I love all the important lessons I would never have learned without him. I love his beautiful eye color and his amazing ability to beat me in Castle Crashers and other video games. I love how he is starting to read even though he tries not to very hard ;) I love his love for animals and bugs. His love for building legos and drawing with chalk. His crazy obsession with certain songs until another takes it's place. Much more too..

On a completely different note:

Recently I was thinking about trash. About how it sits outside--or inside(if you only have a bit) and SMELLS in the summer. Especially meat containers, wrapper and papers. YUCK! I was thinking of ways to get rid of it. Could I leave the chicken pads and papers and foam out on a table to bake in the sun? Then it won't rot in the trashcan? haha I was also thinking about grinding up scrap foods from meals and flushing them? Am I crazy? It's so hard to eliminate waste!

I have been shopping at a grocery clearance outlet and reduced my food by 25%+. The only problem is there aren't as many choices when deciding what to get based on packaging.

I recommend checking out:
Green Genius trash bags
New Dress a day

I really want to try these:
UncommonGoods Garden Bon Bons
and these:
(from REI)

summer

Summer is well under way. It's been a scorching one too. I turned 26 a few weeks ago. It feels old. Comparatively speaking I know it's still young, but when I tell myself I am 26 I feel like I am past the prime of my youth.

My kids are getting bigger and learning so much--so quickly! Asa is learning to read from the book I am using called "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" It really works, seriously. It's totally different from the way I was taught, but it's good and he gets it really well! Evie likes to sing songs about everything, she reminds me of Frances. Songs like: "I'm walking down the stairs, I'm walking down the stairs" "It's raining on my arm, it's raining on my arm!" She's very original in her lyrics.

When I am 52 my youngest (as long as there are no more) will be 29. I think that is crazy and good. Hubby just celebrated his birthday as well, though it felt like it lasted forever..birth-week it should be called. Growing up we had a saying "birthday brat" Everyone became the birthday brat on their birthday, this is how I am defining the Birth-week...the week of too much attention on one person given by themselves and others and causing a serious case of the birthday brattiness.

I bought these cotton towels recently that work like paper towels only are washable and re-usable! I love them and now I see the woman who makes them has new ones with different colored borders which I am interested in to designate certain towels to certain jobs. Blue for Bathroom, Green for kitchen etc etc..

I also started making paper. I figured out how to make the seeded kind which you can plant in the ground. I was going to use it for invitations to a large shower, but now I think it'll be a bit too much work!! Time is running out. When the shower is over I will make a post on all the details. I am so excited for it, it's going to be great.

This summer has been pretty quiet so far though. Vacation is in August and I am so excited for that.

I have been only throwing out 1 to almost 2 bags of trash a week for our entire family..kitchen sized trash bags mind you. Someone asked me how I did it and honestly it's just being aware of all the waste that is generated from everyday use of everyday items. It was prompted by the smelly trashcan out back, I didn't want to sit on my patio near it. So I decided to be careful with what I threw out and it became pretty easy. I am saving more food instead of scraping it into the trash, compacting every little thing I can and of course recycling everything I can recycle. It's fun and worth it. I like to go easy on the hardworking trash-men who come out every week in the heat and carry heavy bags of smelly waste to their trucks.

I recommend:

being conscious of the packaging of your weekly purchases; buy the least amount of waste possible.

cotton Bird-E towels

Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

More stuff...

I have a hot dog cutter called the Guard Dog which scores the hot dog horizontally but keeps it intact. That way when my kiddies bite into the hot dog it'll fall apart into small pieces they won't be able to choke on. It's a lot of fun to use and I was really excited to see it mentioned in The New York Times!
It was invented by the creator of Pop Corn Chicken and Steak Umm's: Eugene Gagliardi of Creativators. They cook really well once they've been scored...it actually tastes better!

It's always great to have easy food options that are kid friendly and safe!

Another thing I wanted to talk about was the 7th Generation dishwashing tabs I mentioned before. Though I only used the Free and Clear type, I really didn't like it at all. I probably wouldn't try the scented kinds because they are all lacking rinse aid. They cost more than other brands which include it. Oh well! Back to my old Cascade Tabs!

I am still loving the laundry detergent though, bought it again and love how little I need! My washing machine has been staying nice and clean too since I've been making sure not to use too much soap!

Next plug: GoGo Squeez Applesauce pouches.
What a great idea! I love the no mess idea. So great for packing a lunch too! The kids like them too and the different flavors are great! About 50 cents a pouch but nice for a treat!
My baby turned two a few weeks ago. She is 95% for height! I can't believe it, she seems so petite to me! She is really getting verbal though. She loves colors and told me her flip flops were purple and pink today...I was shocked!

I sure love having a girl. She enjoys helping with dinner and calling in the boys for me. It's so amazing how differently male and females are wired even from birth.

good deals

Since everyone in the world could potentially read this I thought I would let the world know my good deals


$4.09 total for all of the following:





Bertolli Olive Oil and Garlic Tomato Sauce
reg. $2.29 sale 1.89. cpn: .75 doubled Final: .39

Classico Vodka Sauce
reg. $1.99 cpn: 1.50 Final: .49

Capri Sun Sunrise Valley(x2)
reg. $2.00 cpn: 1.00 Final 1.00

Viva Single Roll Paper Towell
reg. $2.19 sale: 2.00 cpn: .85 doubled; Final .30

Carolina Yellow Rice packet (x2)
reg. $0.66 sale 0.59 cpn: .75 off two doubled; Final: two for free

Scott Flushable Wipe refill
reg. $1.99 cpn.50 doubled; Final: .99

Silk Almond Milk
reg. $2.99 cpn: Free!

Silk Almond Milk Vanilla
reg. $2.99 cpn: Free!

Reg Total $19.76
Sale Total $18.83
w/Coupon Total: $4.09

YAY!

rainy day

Today is a pretty boring day!

I read an article saying that most americans use too much laundry detergent and that some loads can be washed without any soap at all. The agitation from the machine loosens dirt and it's then rinsed away. Interesting. I am going to use less now. It also said that if you use too much it causes the suds to come up too high in the machine where the lint and dirt that are also lifted with the suds cannot get rinsed away. This makes bacteria grow and causes odors...they say it can also cut the life of your washer shorter. Its funny because I always think to myself, the more soap I use the cleaner the load will be...they said most people feel that way but it's not true!

A little helpful tidbit I hope!

I am starving right now.
Time for a snack! oh, and to wash some laundry....

Do YOU really need it?

So after trying the laundry detergent, i can say it works great. Though I used too much the first time, filling the cap to "3" is for normal loads, but I guess our water is really soft of something, so the second load got less. The smell is wonderful though, I love it.

I was thinking about how I used to reach for the plastic wrap, or plastic baggies regularly about a year ago. Now I don't even think about them. It wasn't like I stopped using them on purpose. We ran out and I forgot to get them at the store. I started using re-usable(and recyclable!) plastic containers with lids instead. Now I just say to myself when I'm in the that aisle of the store, "Do I really NEED them?"

Obviously not if I've gone so long without them!! They are convenient but not necessary! It seems really wasteful if you sit down and think about it. Tin foil on the other hand is a must and can be recycled, unless it's totally soiled. Even still I don't feel bad about some of it going to a landfill--it will break down.

Speaking of breaking down, We live in a town home, so cleaning up pet waste gets annoying. I usually keep a bag outside and wait till it's half full before putting it in the trash ON trash day. It's still gross though to have outside waiting to be full. I found this product which I think is ingenious for my scenario--or others with sewer connections and tight outside quarters!It's a flushable doggie bag! I love that idea, because it gets rid of it quick, and the doo-doo goes to a place where it gets cleaned out of the water! It seems like such a "sanitary" solution.

I have to see if they have them at pet smart now.

I also have to say, before I run and get my children out of the mess they've made while I've posted this is:

What and incredibly faithful God we have. Faithful to us when we wonder. He is so faithful to me, and I want to be faithful too.

I'll expound later, there is shrieking going on...