Live Completely...

Time for change is right...

2011-10-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

There are all sorts of protests going on right now. Many are an off-shoot of Occupy Wall Street. Unfortunately what is supposed to be a set of peaceful protests is turning into a battle between peaceful citizen protesters and the police and local government.

I will NOT bad mouth police in general. Police, soldiers, fire fighters, etc. These are the people who help keep our country safe. Help to protect the freedoms we enjoy as U.S. citizens. Unfortunately there ARE bad apples, and unfortunately there are situation where inappropriate orders are given. I think this is one of those cases:

Like I said, I'm not going to bad mouth police in general, but what is going on with the occupy wall street protest right now is not okay.

There are a lot of things troubling our country right now and I believe that if we want to keep the freedoms and liberties we hold dear we have to make a stand. We have to let the government and the big corporations running our country know that we have voices, and that they will be heard. I ~~don't think~~ I know I'm not alone in this thought. That's why there are so many protests starting up.

If you want to be part of the change and add to voices calling for peace and solidarity there is another peaceful protest coming up. A world wide call for change.

I'm not sure yet how I will participate, as I do have a toddler and an infant, but I will participate in some capacity. Will you join us?

CSA Share: week 5

2011-09-29T01:14:00.000-07:00

Another week, another big box o' veggies! There were also a lot of extras this week...

1.5lb purple potato

3/4lb green beans
1/4lb black turtle beans

1 heirloom tomato
1 red slicing tomato
1 winter squash
1 bulb garlic
1 head lettuce
1 bunch beets
1 bunch carrots
2 asian pears
1 bunch chard

Extras we bought (believe it or not we've been running out by Sunday)
2 cucumber
2 onion
3 red pepper

1 small cabbage
extra tomatoes (gift from our awesome neighbor!)

1/2 flat of raspberries

2 pints of strawberries (free- replacements for a rough batch last week)

What we plan to do/have done with it:

1.5lb purple potato - roast or fry with polenta and squash

3/4lb green beans - side at dinner
1/4lb black turtle beans - jar for later use

1 heirloom tomato - salsa!
1 red slicing tomato - pizza topping

1 winter squash - roast or fry with potatoes and polenta
1 bulb garlic - in cooking throughout the week
1 head lettuce - big salad
1 bunch beets - beet bread (recipe here) for dragon bread on Michaelmas
1 bunch carrots - snacks, soup
2 asian pears - snacks
1 bunch chard - stir fry

Extras we bought (believe it or not we've been running out by Sunday)
2 cucumbers - snacks (Bug will eat a whole one by herself in one afternoon!)

3 lbs apples - dried and jarred

1lb bananas - snacks

3 lb peaches - snacks
2 *mega huge* onions - salsa, cooking, pizza topping
3 red peppers - Kory's cold Quinoa salad

1 small cabbage - "
extra tomatoes (gift from our awesome neighbor!) - you guessed it- salsa! (we're on a big salsa kick)

1/2 flat raspberries - freeze & snacks

2 pints strawberries - freeze

Anything I label as 'snacks' might end up as part of breakfast or lunch as well, they're just getting eaten!

The other thing that's different this week is that our CSA offers two 'bulk shares' one in September and one in October to offer people the chance to get extras to put away for winter. We loved the idea and used part of our September grocery budget to buy both bulk shares and the first one came in this last Sunday!

Yukon gold potatoes - chopped and frozen

Fingerling potatoes - washed, sliced, and frozen

Golden beets - peeled, sliced, and frozen

Dry beans - in the dehydrator to dry the pods, beans will be jarred

Green beans - washed, blanched, frozen

Garlic - in the pantry

2 sweet little mini gourds - on Bug's nature table! She loves them!

I have no idea how many pounds of everything there was, but it was a lot! We're so happy to be filling our freezer with all these fresh local foods! Frozen potatoes are great for soups, mashed potatoes, just about anything! I'm going to try drying some next, a friend says they make great gratin!

Preventing food waste

2011-09-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

I have been on a mission to eliminate food waste in our home. I know we've all been there, you were given a food, or you bought it because it was on sale or looked good at the time, and it just doesn't get eaten. Or your toddler only eats parts of foods (like the bottom half of a strawberry). Or you make kale chips and are left with all those ribs ;)

We all despise throwing food out, I mean not only did we (usually) spend good money on it, but I can't be the only one who pictures starving children from under-developed countries when I throw out food. Um, I'm not right?

Anyway, here are some solutions I've worked out that are working in our house, maybe they'll work in yours;

Freezing:

We've been freezing a lot of fruits and veggies around here, mostly berries but also onions and peppers. This is perfect for extras you don't think you'll eat right away or berries that are getting mushy.


Wash your produce and prep as needed (we freeze our strawberries just like this for smoothies but peppers are frozen both sliced and diced and onions diced)

Spread your produce on a cookie sheet. Depending on the fragility you may need to vary the spacing. Strawberries for example are like rocks when frozen so you can pack 'em pretty tight. Things like raspberries need more space.

Once they are frozen transfer them to glass mason jars or freezer bags to enjoy later!

Smoothie bag:

This is where I toss things like my daughter's half eaten strawberries and the kale ribs. I just throw the leftover bits in the freezer bag to add to smoothies later. If you're worried about it freezing will kill any germs on the half eaten things (I don't worry about it because I'm pretty sure I get a healthy dose of her germs as is!).

The beginnings of a good smoothie out of what would have been trash/compost

Stock bag:

This is for your veggie scraps. Things like onion ends, carrot ends, beet tops, tomato seeds, any odd bits of veggie that you aren't going to eat. Great for things that are nearing the end of their life, so to speak. Toss them in a freezer bag and when the bag is full make vegetable stock. Use that to make soup or can it/freeze it to make soup later.

Stock from what might otherwise be trash/compost. In here I have beet tops, carrot ends, and a quarter of a red onion and a few cherry tomatoes that were starting to go bad. Just make sure your bags are labeled so you don't get them mixed up, onions in a smoothie might not go over well!

Soup mix jar:

This is perfect for using up scrap bits of rice/beans/lentils/noodles, etc. I just keep a jar in the pantry labeled 'soup mix' and when I have bits of things left like not enough rice to make a batch for the family, I toss it in the jar. If I don't have a specific plan for soup night I can just toss that in with veggies and stock and I'm good to go. Keeps from having to toss the last bits of pasta or whatever.

My jar, currently empty because I just used it for soup :)

And just for fun, my dry goods storage. Rice, beans, lentils, pasta, quinoa, millet, etc.

Trail mix jar:

This is how I save little bits of things like nuts, seeds, pretzels, etc. Whenever we're to the last bits of something I toss it in a jar labeled 'trail mix'. This is also useful for emptying out the last few pieces before grocery shopping since I take my jars to the store for bulk buying. Bug eats a lot of this trail mix and I'll toss her leftovers in there (like when I put cashews on her plate and she only eats some of them, the rest go in the jar).

Our jar, currently with pepitas, chocolate covered goji berries, sunflower seeds, and cashews (we buy our nuts/seeds raw)

And for fun, another pantry shot. This is where I keep nuts, seeds, dried berries, raisins, dry coconut flakes, etc (why aren't my cranberries labeled??). Oh and popcorn! Can't forget that! Hehe.

Leftover soup:

I mentioned this a bit with the soup mix, but once a week (Sundays) I make soup. I call it leftover soup because most the time I use it as an opportunity to use up whatever veggies are left from the previous week as well as the pantry scraps. Occasionally I'll make a specific soup in which case veggies that are turning can go in the stock bag and pantry scraps stay in the soup mix jar until the following week. This is such an awesome way to use up foods that aren't getting eaten, and we love our soup nights! This is also a great opportunity to add immune boosting ingredients like garlic and ginger.

There you have it, I hope this helps you think about ways to prevent food waste in your own home, I know it has helped a lot in mine!

Kale chips! Delicious!

2011-09-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

I love these chips. Not because they're healthy. Because they're delicious. Here's how I make them (some of the pictures are rotated funny... I have no idea why blogger did this or how to fix it):

First wash your kale well

Then tear big pieces off of the large center rib and place in a large bowl

Next add a little olive oil (just a bit, you can always add more but it'd be next to impossible to take it off)

Mix it around by hand until there's a *light* even coat

Sprinkle some nutritional yeast into the bowl (optional)

Mix again to distribute nutritional yeast

Lay the pieces out on your dehydrator trays (see note at bottom if you don't have a dehydrator)

This is just to show you that not everyone that blogs about dehydrating has an Excalibur. Don't get me wrong, I want one, but for now this garage sale find fits our budget much better :)

Notes:

*The length of time on the dehydrator will depend on your machine. Keep an eye on them and test them when they look crispy. They should basically melt in your mouth when they're done.

*If you don't have a dehydrator you can make these in the oven or toaster oven. Just set it to the lowest setting and keep an eye on them. I made some in my toaster oven with it set to 150 for 2.5 hours.

*Want a fat free version? Skip the oil! They're still super yummy without it!

*Be careful- these are addictive! Bug and I ate a whole jar in one sitting today!

*Don't like/have kale? Try Zucchini chips!

Hope that makes sense, enjoy!

CSA Share: week 4

2011-09-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

It's been feeling like fall around here and this feeling was really reflected at the farmers market this week. There was corn, apples, pumpkins, squash... oh yes, I'm excited! Here's what was in our box this week:

Yes, we forgot our produce bags again... Rgh.

1.5lbs fingerling potatoes

1lb green beans

1 bunch carrots

1 bunch beets

1 bag of mixed greens

3 red slicing tomatoes

3 hot peppers

2 bell peppers

3 peaches

5 earns of corn

What I plan to do with it:

1.5lbs fingerling potatoes - chickpea & fingerling salad

1lb green beans - green bean & radish salad

1 bunch carrots - snacks

1 bunch beets- beet stir fry

1 bag of mixed greens - salads

3 red slicing tomatoes - pizza, pasta, and salad addition

3 hot peppers - not sure honestly...

2 bell peppers - either pepper stir fry or fajitas

3 peaches - snacks

5 ears of corn - to have w/dinner one night

And just for fun, here are a couple other things we picked up at the market that I'll post more about later:

Alphabet mega post (pic heavy!!)

2011-09-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

In no particular order, here are some of our alphabet adventures!

F is for Fair:

G is for Gnome painting:

U is for U-pick:

W is for worms (made a worm habitat and had a wormy treat):

P is for Picnic at the park (we also played in the water and watched a movie there!):

E is for Embroidery:

H is for Home (painted a bird house and built a bee house):

T is for Tea set painting:

M is for Mud pies!

X is for XOXO (make cards for family):

Because this NEEDS to be shared...

2011-09-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

Charlie Chaplin on kindness, happiness, and unity

CSA Share: week 2 & 3

2011-09-14T02:59:00.000-07:00

Oi. Behind already. Well, better late than never, right?

Let me start off by saying we are LOVING this. It is so fun to have a connection to the food you're growing. To talk to the farmer about how crops are doing and to eat food that is so local. It really truly feels good. It also forces us to get creative and learn new things, try new things. Like tomatillos (yum!). There's also a bit of big news in regards to food around here... Hubby has decided to vegan! Well, almost vegan (we still eat honey on occasion). This has me thinking we'll need a larger share next year... anyway, here goes!

Week 2:

I'm going to do my best to remember what was in there...

2 lbs potatoes

1 bunch of carrots

2 tomatillos

1 heirloom tomato

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 bunch of rainbow chard

1 head of cabbage

1 bunch of japanese bunching onions

2 zucchini

1 cucumber

1 garlic bulb

1 bunch spinach

1 bunch dill

Hmm... I think I got it all... Here's what we did with it:

2 lbs potatoes - a few used for purple dinner, a few used for soup

1 bunch of carrots - some for roast dinner, some eaten raw

2 tomatillos - added to salsa

1 heirloom tomato - added to salsa

1 pint cherry tomatoes - quinoa tabbouleh (delish!)

1 bunch of rainbow chard - some chopped and sauteed for tabbouleh, some dehydrated and ground into powder

1 head of cabbage - added to quinoa cashew salad

1 bunch of japanese bunching onions- used in tabbouleh and soup

2 zucchini - some added to stir fry, some dehydrated into chips

1 cucumber - sliced and eaten raw

1 garlic bulb - used in cooking throughout the week

1 bunch spinach - dehydrated and ground into powder

1 bunch dill - used to can pickles

Purple dinner: Purple carrots, onion, pepper, and potato lightly coated with extra virgin olive oil and garlic powder and roasted in the oven for 45-60 minutes- so yummy!

Week 3:

Please ignore the stuff in the background... hubby very sweetly took this pic for me since I had to run that day :)

2 lbs potatoes

1 bunch of carrots

1 HUGE head of lettuce

1 bunch of rainbow chard

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 bunch of ginormous radishes

1 garlic bulb

1 red slicing tomato

2 tomatillos

1 bunch japanese bunching onions

1 pint of blackberries

1 head of fennel

1 bunch of parsley

1 cucumber

Again, I think I got everything (I really need to start writing it down when I get home!)

Here's what we did/are doing with it:

2 lbs potatoes - mashed potatoes

1 bunch of carrots - eat raw for snacks

1 HUGE head of lettuce - ginormous salad (yum)

1 bunch of rainbow chard - stir fry

1 pint cherry tomatoes - more tabbouleh (oh yes... I'm obsessed)

1 bunch of ginormous radishes - radish and green bean salad

1 garlic bulb - used in cooking throughout the week

1 red slicing tomato - added to salsa

2 tomatillos - added to salsa

1 bunch japanese bunching onions - added to salsa

1 pint of blackberries - snacking

1 head of fennel - ?maybe in soup?

1 bunch of parsley - tabbouleh!

1 cucumber - snacking


Rainbow salsa: Tomatillos, heirloom tomato, red tomato, bunching onions, jalapeno, corn, garlic, lemon juice, S&P

Also, ecoMILF just did a great post about using everything in your CSA box, hop on over and check it out here.

Green goals - Sept 2011

2011-09-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

I decided that I need to keep up a goals list, so my goal for the goals list (hehehe) is to update it every month. Here's my start:

My biggest goal - a no spend September! This will help with extra waste that comes from buying things.

~~Downsize garbage pick-up~~ - went down to once a month pick up with a 35 gallon can (holds approx 3 kitchen bags worth of garbage)

Convince Hubby to not buy garbage bags when we run out (wet waste should be composted)

Go back to making our own bread (avoid packaging)

Find a decent tooth brush solution (recycled plastic? replaceable heads? compostable from Australia?)

Move q-tips out of bathroom so Hubby and Bug aren't tempted by them

Recycle shower water (still need a good system for this)

Compost hair clipping and dryer lint

Re-start the junk mail war

Ask the pharmacy to re-use my prescription bottle

Add three more rain barrels to allow for more hose-free watering

Change cat litter (I despise the toxic clay stuff)

Find cat food in a bigger bag (check mud bay)

Make tooth powder instead of buying toothpaste

Regular line drying!!!

Re-vegan-ize

continue to simplify/declutter

go to bed earlier (this one is tough for me- I'm a night owl, but being up when it's light is much more energy efficient)

CSA Share: week 1

2011-08-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's plastic you see. We went un-prepared today, we'll make sure to have our cloth produce bags next week!

Well for us it's week one. The CSA has been going since the beginning of the season in June, but this was our first week. We've looked at different farms and different CSA's for years now. We've talked about joining one, considering joining one, decided not to for one reason or another and then started all over the following season. That is until we found a farm that gave us no excuses. Garden Treasures. It's local, in season, organic produce, You can pick it up at a farmers market and therefore still pick out your own tomatoes, etc. You can swap out anything you won't use for a substitute item. The price is really great. No excuses. So we bought our share last week and had our first pick up this week. Since we hemmed and hawed about this decision for SO. Darn. Long. I thought I'd share our box with you each week, so you can see what this CSA thing is all about.

Our share this week (economy share):

2.5lbs of potatoes (we chose purple ones!)

1.5 lbs of beans (again, we chose purple)

2 bunches of carrots (we chose 1 bunch sweet nantes and one bunch of... purple!)

1 bulb of garlic

3 'small' (they weren't really small at all) zucchini

2 cucumbers

4 red tomatoes

2 small heirloom tomatoes

4 Nectarines

... I think I got it all...

Since we were at the farmers market we also picked up a few jalapenos, some strawberries, local raw honey, some kale (for chips!), a couple pluots, and some meat for Hubby (local grass fed beef, beef sticks, and beef jerky- he has a backpacking trip coming up). The farmer's market also happens to be right next to Great Harvest Bakery so we picked up a loaf of bread for Hubby and splurged on a GF, DF, EF loaf for Bug and I. All the produce we bought was organic. And delicious. I won't tell you how much we've eaten already...

Spirulina smoothies!

2011-08-29T02:48:00.000-07:00

So here's the deal... when it comes to healthy foods there are things I know are good for me and I eat them because they taste good. Then there are things I know are good for me and therefore I choke them down. Up until a couple days ago Spirulina fell in to the second category.

What is spirulina? So glad you asked. Spirulina is an algae that is high in Iron and B-12, two things that can be hard to get in a vegan diet. It's also high in protein and contains most the other b vitamins and lots of minerals like magnesium. It has essential fatty acids, and all the essential amino acids. It can help with digestion and is a really effective detoxifying agent. In other words, it's awesome! The down side? It tastes like algae, hehe.

Again, I would choke it down, but seriously I could add 1/8 tsp to a batch of smoothies (three smoothies) and still taste it. Uck. Oh but then... then I read on one of my favorite blogs Bonzai Aphrodite that she loves the combination of strawberries and spirulina. I decided to try it. The next smoothie I made was made with coconut milk, water, hemp protein powder, spirulina, and strawberries. And it was delicious. I didn't taste the spirulina at all! Amazing. So hooked. And so is the bug.

Home made Lara Bars!

2011-08-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm not the worst photographer ever... except maybe when it comes to food. Bear with me.

These were SO easy, and they passed the taste test with the bug (most critical!!). Bug loves to snack on Lara bars, and I love that they're made of simple healthy ingredients. What I don't love is the packaging (okay the price is a bit high for everyday eating too). Luckily this is one of those things that you can find about a million recipes for online. I used the cashew cookie recipe on The Inner Gourmet since bug loves the cashew lara bar and cashews are a staple around here. The recipe instructions are very good, the only thing I'd add is that for me 8oz of dates was approx 16 dates(in case you don't have a kitchen scale). I also didn't follow the directions for packaging since I wanted to avoid packaging altogether. I just refrigerated the 'dough' and then broke it into four even chunks and formed it into bars by hand and stuck them in a pyrex dish in the fridge. Super easy, healthy, low waste, (both ingredients are bought in bulk), and even a little thrifty. Nice.

Alphabet Summer

2011-08-28T03:49:00.000-07:00

I realize that summer is almost over, but for my own records and in case it helps someone else plan for next year I wanted to post our alphabet summer 'to do' list. Basically near the end of spring I start a list of activities to do during the summer that start with each letter of the alphabet. Sometimes things get changed mid-summer, and this year we're behind due to welcoming a new family member but I still want to do our best to finish. Oh and I never go in order. This year since the bug is old enough to get into it we've also been learning about the letters using the printables available here. I plan to post about most if not all the letters so I'll include links as I get those up. Here's our 2011 list:

A- Art (paint over a large canvas from thrift store or a drop cloth)

Aquarium
*B- Bubbles

Butterflies (butterfly exhibit at the science center)
C- Cousins (get together with the girls- tea party maybe?)
D- Dinosaurs
*E- Embroidery (with burlap and safety needle)
F- Frog hunt w/Papa

*Fair (evergreen state fair)

*Fountain (local water play park)
G- Garden (plant bug's garden)

*Gnomes ( paint your own garden gnome kit)
H- Homes (build a bee house and paint a bird house)
I- Insects (go on a bug hunt, learn about bugs)
J- Joy Jar (decorate a jar and fill it with things that make us happy)
K- Kite flying (at gas works)
L- Bug’s choice day (she picks meals and activity- within reason)
M- Mud pies (to play with and to eat)

Museum (imagine children's museum)
N- Nature scavenger hunt (at st edwards)
O- Ocean
*P- Picnic in the park

*Petting farm (in victoria)
Q- Quiet day

R- Rainbows
S- Stepping stones (make with grandma)

Science center
T- Tie dye

Tea set (paint your own kit)
*U- U-pick berry farm
*V- Vacation in Victoria
*W- Worms (build worm bin and read worm books)
X- XOXO (make cards for friends and family)
Y- Yard (work on making the yard more kid friendly)
Z- Zoo

Zipper hunt (take pictures of all the zippers we can find)

*Completed already

Sugar Chews (a Hubby contribution)

2011-08-28T03:26:00.000-07:00

So in our quest to make as many things as we can ourselves (therefore avoiding artificial ingredients and packaging) Hubby and I are constantly looking up recipes for things. Well Hubby got it in his head the other day that he needed to make rice candy... like this:

Botan Rice Candy

Why, I don't know since it is really not healthy, nor the most amazing candy ever but he was determined. So determined that he decided to try making it without any recipe at all (he couldn't find one). I thought he'd gone crazy (temporary insanity?) but honestly I'm impressed by his ingenuity and determination because in the end he got pretty darn close. It only took four batches...

Since he couldn't find a recipe out there in the blogisphere he generously agreed to write up the recipe and instructions for me to share here! So without further a do:

Hubby's Rice Candy Recipe

1c granulated sugar

2T brown rice syrup

1/4 cup water

10 drops orange essential oil and 4 drops lemon essential oil (other flavorings can be substituted)

tapioca starch

candy thermometer

heavy bottom pan

cookie sheet

Add sugar, rice syrup, and water to pan set on low heat. Let sit until sugar melts and is clear, you can shake the pan to settle the sugar as it melts, but do not stir. This takes a long time so be patient. While waiting, sift a liberal amount of tapioca starch onto your cookie sheet and set inside refrigerator to cool. Periodically check the temperature with the candy thermometer. When the mixture reaches the hard ball stage (250F or 120C), add the flavoring. Once the mixture reaches the soft crack stage (270F or 130C), pour onto dusted cookie sheet. Let cool until warm to the touch. Roll into finger thick rolls, then roll in leftover tapioca starch on cookie sheet to coat. Let cool to room temperature to cut, or chill and break into small pieces. Coat ends in tapioca starch to prevent sticking.

There it is! My only note is to make sure your essential oil is food grade. I buy ours at Mountain Rose Herbs. Hope you enjoy!

Natural periods

2011-08-28T03:02:00.000-07:00

Alrighty... if you are A) Male or B) Squeamish I suggest you click away now. Hehe.

Now that we got that out of the way, those of us left are adults who don't mind discussing the realities of life, right? Good :) Menstruation is something we all have to deal with (unless you are before or beyond it and if that's you, you are so. stinkin. lucky). Every month we have to figure out how we're going to control the flow, and if you look on a grocery store shelf, in a magazine, or anywhere else in mainstream media there are very few choices. Pad or tampon. Playtex or Tampax. Well guess what? Not only are there a million other options, those mainstream options are full of nasty chemicals!* I mean, they come with a warning pamphlet (tampons anyway)! Plus they're expensive! There are, like anything else 'green' so many options, of varying crunchiness. If you are just starting out on your crunchy journey you may want to stick to the most familiar options.

Natracare offers organic chlorine free liners, pads, and tampons. I liked the tampons without applicator since they were the most comfortable for me with the least waste for a disposable product. Seventh generation has some chlorine free products too, but they are loaded with plastic and unnecessary waste and are not organic cotton so I personally don't like them much.

If you're ready to try something with a little more crunch to it there are all sorts of fun options!

Jade and Pearl offer sea sponge tampons that can be washed out and re-used for up to 6 months. That is not only going to prevent a lot of pollution but also save you a ton of money (disposable feminine hygiene products are SO expensive!). If you're worried about getting it out you can tie a string around it. It can even be used with spermicide as a contraceptive. Although I haven't tried these I'm very intrigued and think they'd be a great option.

Another great option is the menstrual cup. It's basically a little latex or silicone cup that is inserted in the vagina to catch the blood and washed out for re-use. There are many different brands out there and what works for one person might not work for another. If you are interested in this option there is a wealth of information available here. There are something like 20 different brands, but I'll link to a couple of the more well known ones.


Diva Cup

Diva cup seems to be the most well known brand and is even carried in a lot of the crunchier grocery stores these days. While it seems to be very popular I've read that it's not necessarily the most comfortable cup out there, so again, read up on that site mentioned earlier before you buy.


The Keeper

The Keeper is made of natural latex and made in the USA (bonus!). It's also been around since the '80s and is very popular. If you're allergic to latex it's most likely the synthetic latex you react to, not the natural rubber latex this is made of but if you still don't want to risk it you can try the keeper's silicone counterpart:


The Moon Cup

The moon cup is identical to the keeper in form and function, the difference being the moon cup is made of medical grade silicone. Both are washable/reusable and can last up to ten years... now THAT is gonna save you money!! Again, I've heard good things about this brand and because of that and the fact that it's made in the US I'm going to be ordering this one for when my period returns (really hoping that's a long way off!).

The last option I'm going to mention is only last because I personally dislike pads. Always have. Maybe it's the dancer in me, but I just can't do it. Anyway, for those who do like and/or use pads cloth pads are an awesome option!


Glad Rags

Glad Rags are kind of the big name out there as far as mama cloth (an affectionate term for cloth pads) goes, and I'm sure they're great. If you're looking for another option I highly suggest checking on etsy as there are many mamas there who make beautiful cloth at reasonable prices. These are just washed out after use like you would with a cloth diaper or family cloth.

I hope that gets you thinking about the options out there! I wish I'd known years ago that there were so many alternatives! Lets educate and empower ourselves ladies, we need not be slaves to the disposable feminine product industry, and we definitely don't need to expose the most sensitive parts of our bodies to harsh nasty chemicals!*

As a side note I also believe that women should really know more about the way their bodies function. I find it terribly fascinating. I recommend three awesome resources to you to start out:

The beautiful cervix project

Feminist Women's Health Center

Taking charge of your fertility

*If you're wondering about my chemical claims chlorine and dioxin are the most common ones found in these products, but please feel free to google it or check out these links for more info:

The kind life - pads and tampons, oh my!

Livestrong - Chemicals in sanitary pads

**I was not compensated in any way for this post. I shared only my genuine opinion and experience.

Natural body care

2011-08-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

Mostly I'm talking skin here. You already know my 'golden rules' for natural self care, and those are just as important here. Just as you don't need cleansers to strip your face or hair of oil you don't need body wash to strip your body of natural oils. Now I'm going to tell you straight away that I'm not against showering. In fact I'm pro showering. For goodness sakes people, shower (just keep it short for the fishies sake, eh?)! Anyway, go ahead and shower, shave even, just skip the chemicals. I personally don't use any type of body wash, or shaving gel/cream or lotion, or whatever else they're pushing for body care these days. And no, I'm not a 'dirty hippie'. I don't stink, and I do shave, though that is a personal preference decision, not a hygiene concern. That being said I know not everyone is quite as 'hardcore' as I am so I'm going to address this post by listing commonly used body care products and suggesting alternatives. Here goes:

Body wash - Hubby still uses some on occasion and I *might* use a bit if I had a particularly dirty/stinky day. What we have found to work really well is watered down Dr Bronners Castile Soap. We put a little bit in a foaming dispenser and fill the rest with water. There are all sorts of different versions (almond, lavender, peppermint, etc) if you want something smell good. I prefer the baby mild as I can use it for everything throughout the house... plus it's 'baby mild' hehe.

Shave gel/cream - Personally I don't use anything here, just water. If you feel you need the extra lubrication you can use soap or oil (olive oil, etc). If you want something scented add a couple drops of your favorite essential oil to your carrier oil.

Deodorant - Again, I don't typically use any. Neither does Hubby. We've found that once we went through a detox period we didn't need any. Traditional deodorants/anti-persperants build up in your pores and actually cause a smell resulting in a sort of domino effect- you use it so you smell, so you use more so you smell more... My detox period was about a week and I wasn't totally gross, just a bit stinky if you were real close. We do keep a deodorant crystal on hand for extra sweaty days (hiking, dance camps, etc)- just in case.

Exfoliant/Scrub - I don't use this either (can you tell I keep a minimal routine?) but there are a few natural options. You could get a natural bristled scrub brush to dry brush your skin before a shower, or use a washcloth to the same effect. You could use either of those or a loofah in the shower. You could also make your own sugar scrub by mixing sugar and oil (there are a million recipes online).

Lotion - You can use oils (olive oil, coconut oil, etc) or butters (shea butter, cocoa butter) or a combination. Personally I skip it (I know you're shocked).

Remember that your body was built to handle all of this on it's own- you don't need any of these products and simplifying your routine will not only save you time but money as well. There's also a huge environmental savings by skipping the production and processing of those products. That said, if you really are happier having them just chose the most natural option you can handle and forget the rest. Everyone has their weak spot :)

Natural skin care

2011-08-26T02:12:00.000-07:00

I have so much I want to post to this little blog right now, SO MUCH, but I figured the best place to start would be with finishing up all my 'draft' posts because, well, as a mama of two little I need to feel like I can finish something. Anything. Hehe.

Anyway, to the point :)

Much like anything else natural skin care can be done many different ways and on many levels of crunchy. Personally I like to think our bodies know best and that less is more. When I was a teen and even in to my early twenties all I did was rinse my face with cold water now and then. Seriously. I always got compliments on my skin. Never had teen acne. This is even at the peak of my dance commitment when I was dancing over 20 hours a week.

Unfortunately as an adult I allowed myself to be convinced this wasn't enough, that I was going to end up looking like a prune by 25 if I didn't 'take better care of my skin'- meaning 'slather it with chemicals'. The result of this has been many years of trouble skin. Too oily, too dry, breakouts, rashes, you name it. I stopped using harsh/toxic products on my skin about two years ago (two and a half maybe?) and am still trying to get my skin to behave like it did when I was younger. I figure part of it is a change in hormones and what not, but also a detox process much like you go through switching to no-poo. You see commercial cleansers act much like commercial shampoos- they strip all the oils from your face only so you can replace them with synthetic ones. In fact often acne is caused by this- your skin is stripped from oils so your body over compensates and makes too much oil. Please don;t get me started on proactive. So when you stop using these products your body, your skin, needs to find a new norm. Anyway, I went on a search for natural ways to help my skin out and of course found a million opinions.

I learned that oil is not bad for your skin and does not necessarily cause acne. That most oils can be used as a moisturizer, a few favorites among the natural living community being coconut oil, grape seed oil, and extra virgin olive oil (affectionately referred to as EVOO). I learned that you can use honey to wash your face. I learned that hot water and chlorine are killers for your skin. Seriously, tons and tons of info out there. Feel free to do your own research.

The conclusions I came to was that the #1 best way to care for your skin is to care for your body (I know, you're shocked). Drink water, eat fruits, veggies, and healthy fats. Exercise. Get plenty of sleep. You know the drill ;)

The #2 (in my humble opinion) is the oil cleansing method. Much like no 'poo this has been covered to death by many people much smarter than me, so I'll give you a couple links instead of breaking it down myself:

theoilcleansingmethod.com

The oil cleansing method @ Simple mom

I am currently trying the dry skin ratio from the first link, with grape seed oil and Castor oil. I'm still pretty darn dry, but I'm also not getting enough water (hello nursing dehydration) and we have crazy amounts of chlorine in the water here that just kills my skin (we went to Canada for a week and my skin evened right out). I'm looking into chlorine filters but in the meantime just trying not to run much water over my face in the shower. I might also try EVOO with my next batch and see if that works better (though what I'll do with all the grape seed oil I don't know).

Tiny's birth story

2011-08-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

So brand new. Only a few hours old.

I will start this with a disclaimer... this story may be a work in progress for a while as this little one is only three weeks old and we are still in the nursing all day long stage, so bear with me :)

July 15th

Had an appointment with the midwife. She reminded me that I was now 41 weeks and that they could not

'allow' me to go past 42 weeks. My c-section is scheduled for July 22nd, the very latest they'll let me go. Up to this point I've declined cervical checks, but the midwife offers to sweep my membranes in hopes I'll go into labor. She and I agree that with the clock ticking and no signs of labor it's worth a try. Unfortunately I've not dilated at all and she in unable to sweep the membranes. Midwife highly recommends acupuncture and anything (ANYTHING) else that might get labor started. I leave feeling rather depressed.

July 16th

First acupuncture appointment. Got dizzy, but overall wasn't too bad. Did a lot of walking.

July 19th

Still no signs of labor. Start the morning with a 10am acupuncture appointment followed by an 11am ultrasound, followed by an NST followed by a midwife appointment. Acupuncture goes well, she has me lay on my side this time so I don't get dizzy and she hooks electrodes to the needles in my back. Ultrasound techs try to scare me by taking half of forever obviously looking for something but not telling me what and then telling me the Dr will talk to me about my results upstairs... in reality there was nothing wrong, they were just being impatient. NST goes well, midwife (different one) is pleased with everything except the fact that there's still no signs of labor. She asks how serious I am about getting my VBAC. Serious. She offers to check to see if she can sweep the membranes, and this time she is able to do it. She talks to me about other options to get labor going. We can't use any sort of chemical induction because of the increased risk of uterine rupture, but she's willing to try manual methods. We agree to wait overnight to see if sweeping the membranes works... it doesn't

July 20th

I start my day with another NST (that goes great), followed by the placement of a cook cervical catheter (if you're brave you can see what that is here), followed by a meeting with the OB scheduled to do my c-section (who is so not optimistic btw). After that fun (insert eye roll here), I had another acupuncture appointment. That night I was crampy and cranky!I slept maybe 3 hours?

July 21st

We arrive at labor and delivery at 7:30am to have the catheter removed and hopefully have my water broken. I'm still not showing signs of labor but at this paint I have 24 hours before I'm scheduled to be in surgery prep and 24 hours is how long they would give me to go in to labor once my water is broken anyway so it's worth a shot. Unfortunately L&D is both busy and under staffed so my water is not broken until 10am. My midwife had talked to the Dr on call who said I could go home once they'd monitored the baby for 20 minutes (to make sure having the water broken didn't piss her off I guess). The nurse came back in about 30 minutes later and we asked about leaving and she said 'oh no, you're having contractions, you're not going anywhere'. My contractions weren't very strong yet but they were about 2 minutes apart. They sent me to walk the halls for a while. After about half an hour they sent me back to the triage room to have the midwife check on me and try to get me a room. Once I got to my room they started a hep lock but allowed me to stay off the IV and drink my 'recharge' sports drink and eat jello (oh yucky yuck). I was allowed to move around except that I had monitors hooked up that made it very difficult to move and I kept leaking amniotic fluid. I was uncomfortable but not miserable yet. Around 4pm I started to really feel my contractions, it was starting to hurt. The nurse checked me and said I was right around 5cm and would be going through 'transition'. She said this part would be harder, but it would happen faster.

...

I slept on and off in between nurse checks and what not until about 3:30 when they came to check on me. I was fully dilated but they told me to rest another hour, I'd need it for pushing. At 4:30 a nurse came in who I affectionately dubbed the 'birth nazi' because she came in and checked me right away, had me push a couple times and then started getting things ready for delivery all while telling me I was going to have an easy time and that I was doing great and just bustling around and then she'd have me push a few times and then rest. She had the midwives in around 5am and they got me a big mirror so I could see what I was doing and we started pushing. The team I had was so amazing, they had me switching positions every couple pushes and trying all sorts of things. At some point I decided the pushing was really starting to hurt and I was done, I wanted my baby OUT. I pushed as hard as I could as long as I could and all of the sudden one of the midwives was saying 'stop pushing!" and everyone was running around putting gloves on and getting towels out- I guess they thought I still had a while :) after that it was basically three more pushes, two for the head and one for the shoulders. I'll never forget the feeling of my baby sliding out, or the wonderful warm feeling when they set her on my stomach. They waited until the cord stopped pulsing to cut it and I got to see the placenta and nurse my baby before they weighed her. She was born at 6:24am, a beautiful 9lbs 21" with a 14.5" head (yes, I had some tearing, lol). I am so incredibly grateful for the amazing team of midwives and nurses and my husband, because of them I got my VBAC!

I'm exhausted, the bug is in shock, tiny's passed out, hehe

What I've been up to, part III - Making Bracelets!!!

2011-05-28T03:08:00.000-07:00

For Craft Hope of course!

I spent an evening on my own beading away, had a craft night dedicated to making the bracelets, and a craft hour with another group. So far we have about 60 bracelets made! I plan to make a few more on my own along with a few other people from our craft group and we have two more craft hours before the deadline for the bracelets so I hope to have a really big number to send! I think this is the easiest craft hope project to participate in yet, my daughter (2) and her BFF (4) even made some, so c'mon people, get makerin' (a Hubby word)!!

Craft hour with Grandma, Bug, A, and Z

Project 12: Oprhan Outreach (bracelets for orphans)

Of course if bracelets just really, REALLY aren't your thing, they also have another project going on right now:

Project 13: Security Blankets for Tornado Survivors

I hope to get at least one li'l blankie done for this!

I will leave you with the fabulous quote I couldn't help but ~~steal~~ borrow from Craft Hope:

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” ~Edward Everett Hale

What I've been up to, part II - Recital time!

2011-05-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year, Recital Season!! I've been dancing for around 26 years now so I can't help but feel a little giddy this time of year, however as an adult, as a teacher helping to RUN the recitals, having to worry about all the back stage stuff (costumes, pictures, music, etc) it is also rather exhausting. Oh yeah, and I'm rather pregnant, lol.

I teach at two studios and one had their picture day the 16th and the other had tech rehearsals (18th & 19th) and recital (three shows on the 21st). Needless to say, I was pooped. All went off without a hitch though, I'm super proud of my dancers for their great performances, and excited for the next show (june 11th).

Bug was (of course) with me through it all, and boy does she love it! The lights, the music, the costumes, the dancing... I think we'd be hard pressed to keep her off the stage for long! Here she is back stage with grandma (who was dancing in the show!):

What I've been up to, part I - Nesting!

2011-05-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

So I got the book Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenrider from the library the other day (after waiting on the hold list for months!!) and could not wait to dive in to her '10 days to a simpler, more organized home' plan. Unfortunately I've been just a bit busy with other things (more posts to come) and wasn't able to start until Thursday morning. The first chapter (of the ten day section) was a quick trip through the house, which I skipped over because I have been decluttering for months now. I wanted to get into the heavy stuff. The second chapter is the living room. I thought this was an excellent place to start, so I got right to it.

I removed everything from all the surfaces, including the books on the bookcase and did a really deep clean. I dusted (everything), I wiped surfaces, I scrubbed walls and baseboards, I vacuumed for hours (thank goodness for cool hose attachments). I cleaned out the heater vents and scrubbed the entry tile. I polished the entry table, I dusted and wiped down the blinds, I cleaned the window sill and the mirror above the fireplace. I scrubbed the hearth and the fireplace screen, dusted the plants, I washed the throw pillows and couch cover and cleaned the couch pieces. I cleaned the inside of the coat closet. Nothing was left untouched. Now if you know me you're probably shocked right now. As any of my friends or family, and certainly Hubby, can attest, I am NOT this person. However, somewhere between the nesting energy of advanced pregnancy and a very deep desire to live a much simpler life I decided this needed to happen.

Once everything was squeaky clean I started putting things back, but only some things. Another two boxes of books left the room, along with a third box of... stuff... things that were taking up space that didn't need to be there. I also left the darker throw pillows and blanket out of the room to help it to feel lighter for spring/summer. The result? Well, I'm exhausted :) There's still a whole wall of Lillabug stuff that won't have a home until we can get our play room up and running, and I'm pretty sure I will need to vacuum twice a day to keep it looking like this, but it is oh-so much better!

Entry way (the plastic bags on the hooks are of stuff that needs to be returned to other people)

Entry table

Photo wall AKA play wall for now :)

Fireplace wall

Couch

The little rocking chair is destined for the nursery so that Bug can nurse her baby right along side me. The baskets under the hearth (Instruments) will most likely go to the playroom with the other playthings, and *someday* I'd really love to put in recessed lighting so I can nix the inefficient hanging lamp! Mostly though I love our living room :)

Tomorrow I start the dining room!

Victories for Seals : The Humane Society of the United States

2011-05-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness...

Victories for Seals : The Humane Society of the United States

For those who don't know, I have been pretty big on banning the seal hunt, um, pretty much my whole life. It's so nice to see progress being made. If you get a chance, check out the Humane Society's campaign and support on whatever way you can.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

First, to thank my mom.

Mom and Bug at a Caspar Baby Pants concert!

She is neither perfect, nor miraculous. She doesn't have all the answers or have it all figured out. She has, however, spent 28 years being my mom (give or take a few months). She worked harder than hard to give us the best life she could when we were little and my parents were broke. She worked really hard to make sure I could dance and perform and compete to my hearts content as a teen (and how in the world she made all that work I'll never know). She taught us to be crafty and resourceful. She taught us to love to read and how to find the answers ourselves when she didn't have them for us. She taught us that there's always a way. To this day I've never feared being truly without or wanting for anything because I know in my heart and have witnessed, there's ALWAYS a way. She taught me to appreciate the history of things and places. To love thrifted things. She spent countless hours homeschooling us, allowing me to graduate high school at 15 and start college right away (yes, I'm one of THOSE people ;) She's always supported me, even when she thinks I'm crazy. I can call her any time, day or night, and know she'll be there for me in any way she can. And she LOVES my daughter like nothing else. So thank you marmie.

The next thank you goes to the one who makes me a mom... my bug

Mother's day 2009

Mother's day 2010

Words will never express what I feel in my heart when I look at you, when I hold you. You constantly amaze me and I am always in awe of the things you can say and do, the things you learn all on your own. The depth of your understanding and the completeness of your love. You are teaching me so much about myself and the world and you are such a patient teacher. I am becoming a better me because of you, and my heart has grown so much to try to hold all the love I have for you. You are the most amazing daughter a mama could want and I know you're going to be the best sister a baby could ask for. Thank you, for being my sticky bean. For being the one who made me a mama.

My final thanks goes to Hubby

For being my best friend, my constant support, and the only person in the world who knows me inside and out. For giving me the chance to be a mother, and for supporting us financially so that I can really devote my time to raising our children. For thinking I'm a great mom, even when I don't feel like one. For always, always, being oh so patient. For loving our daughter like mad and showing her that love every day. Thank you.

Happy Mother's Day everyone, may it be filled with the love of family!

Natural hair care

2011-05-08T00:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's the deal... our bodies are made, were created, to be self regulating... What does that mean? It means your body knows how to make healthy hair (and skin, etc). Or at least it did, until we started messing with the system. Unfortunately this pretty much begins at birth these days (who doesn't receive at least one bottle of Johnson and Johnson's 'no tears' at their baby shower?). This means most people never get to see the true beauty that is natural hair.

Now, I won't lie, I had baby shampoo and baby body wash for Bug. Unfortunately (or is that fortunately?) she has super sensitive skin and even the sensitive skin formula organics caused a reaction. I cut them (obviously) and went looking for a better way. As always, bug is my window into another world. Amidst my research I found out that there were people who didn't wash their kid's hair... ever! My first thought was 'ew' followed by 'who does that?' followed by... 'does it work?' Because you see, I didn't want to keep buying and making things that were only, in the end, hurting my baby. Well you know what? It's been over a year since I put shampoo in my beetle's hair, and it is beautiful! It is still short and thin, because that's how hair comes in in our family but the color and texture and the sweet little baby curls... oh yum. We get compliments all the time on how beautiful her hair is, and I'm quite often tempted to say 'it's because we don't put chemicals in it' but I don;t like to be confrontational about my beliefs :) Honestly it's been that long since we've intentionally used body wash or soap on her at all, but I'll get into that in the skin care post.

Obviously it was working for her, but for some reason I still didn't see skipping shampoo as an option for me. Part of it is that I have rather bad subhoriac dermatitis on my scalp (dandruff, basically) that is aggravated by things like food allergies, seasonal allergies, chlorine, etc (yeah, super fun). So, while bug was happily skipping the shampoo I was still searching for a 'green' shampoo that would calm my scalp. I tried a lot, and some that were really, really not green before out of sheer frustration one day I said to heck with it and skipped the shampoo. Now, this is not generally how you want to get started on a natural hair care routine, but at this point I had already realized that most the products I tried only made things worse and was down to shampooing about once a week. After seeing that my hair was actually pretty okay just being rinsed I started re-reading all those articles I'd read before about "no 'poo-ing" with a completely different mind set. I was relieved to see that some people really do just rinse with water, and that as long as it was working for my hair I could stick with that. I was a bit scared by the 'transition period' mentioned, but for whatever reason I never really had one. It has now been months (6? 7?) since I used shampoo on my hair, and not only is my scalp happier, so am I! I love ditching the dependence on extra products and that it has simplified my daily (or, ahem, weekly) routines that much more. I do brush daily with a wood bristled brush that helps exfoliate my scalp and move the oils throughout my hair and that seems to be very key.

Want to learn more? Of course you do! I am obviously not the first to write on this subject, you can actually find it all over blog land, especially in the 'green' and 'thrifty' realms. In order to give you the best info I can (and to avoid endless regurgitation of information) I am going to send you to the experts ;)

Bonzai Aphrodite - All about no poo

Simple Mom - How to clean your hair without shampoo

Baby slime - Shampoo free info

Now, I've talked about how I got there, and what it's done for me and for bug, but what about you? Why should you no 'poo?

1. Shampoos are generally full of chemicals. Even the 'natural' and 'organic' ones tend to have some iffy stuff in them. They also often contain 'mineral oil' with is a petroleum byproduct that is coating your hair to make it 'shine' (um, ew). You can look yours up to see how it rates here.

2. Shampoo is harsh. Think about it, when you shampoo you are using a detergent to remove any and all natural oils from your hair and scalp and then replacing those natural oils (made by your body for your body) with moisturizers in the form of conditioner... Not only is this damaging your hair, but, um, why?

3. Shampoo is wasteful. First of all it's an unnecessary product (see above) so you are creating all sorts of greenhouse gasses and other eco-waste (water, machine coolant, the farming and harvesting of ingredients, etc, etc) producing the product then you poor it into a plastic bottle, which, if you're lucky your area recycles (though plastic recycling in itself is a shady, risky business... better than nothing but far from the best option), and if you're not lucky goes in the landfill.

4. Shampoo is expensive. No explanation needed. Why spend money when you don't have to?

5. Finally, by nixing shampoo you increase your independence, your self reliance. You decrease your dependence on store bought products and decrease the demand for those products. You are, in a sense, voting. You're voting for independence and for the reality these companies don't want us to see- we don't need their products!

My green 'to do' list

2011-05-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a "green" to do list. I will add more things as I think of them and cross things off as they're completed. I would love to hear any suggestions you may have!

Short term goals

Composting - find a system that works for us

Eat local/in season produce

Switch cat litter

Add two more rain barrels

Make tooth powder instead of buying toothpaste

~~Family cloth/bidet system back up and running~~

~~Buy into a CSA?~~

Regular line drying!!!

Re-vegan-ize

Start 'recycling' water(shower water for plants, etc)

Keep moving away from packaging- make a list of things packaged and find replacements!

~~Learn to USE the dried beans!!!~~

Long term goals

Diva cup when needed(hopefully not for a LONG time!)

Solar panels

Diesel vehicle to replace my SUV so we can run bio-diesel

Natural Beauty

2011-05-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

I know that when most people read that title they are going to think of the common phrase referring to someone born with "good looks". That's okay with me. I think most people are natural beauties in that sense, and it is only ugliness from the inside that corrupts those who aren't... That aside, the natural beauty I'm talking about is more about self care. Your beauty routine. As a woman I've seen and heard it all... if you pay attention to any sort of media you are constantly assaulted with all the latest 'tips and tricks' to 'look your best'. My opinion? Most of it is bunk. Total consumerist bunk. Expensive, time and resource wasting, often chemical filled bunk. But like I said, that's just my opinion.

I'll go ahead and let it all out here and tell you that I grew up in a very poor, green peace loving household until I hit my tweens. It was at that point that my parents were involved in Amway, making good money, and we had all sorts of 'beauty' products available to us. I dabbled, I borrowed stuff off their shelves (oops), but never got too into it. As a teenager I was... different, lol. I experimented with my 'look' a lot, which included hair every color of the rainbow (no regrets there) and a lot of black makeup (can't say the Marilyn Manson look was a good one for me- in fact you'll not find a single picture of me during that phase... anywhere), and eventually a lot of bright colors and glitter... well, you get the picture.

In my early twenties I joined Mary Kay, got hooked (did pretty darn well, btw, earned a car anyhow) and ended up 'needing' more products on a daily basis than I can count. My daily routine was rather ridiculous and I was rather low maintenance among my MK sisters. When I got pregnant with bug I started researching, well, everything. It's really what got me back to my green roots, and eventually, out of Mary Kay. You see I found out about all sorts of really nasty chemicals in beauty products. All sorts of things I didn't want on my skin and certainly didn't want on my baby. Now this is not an anti Mary Kay post. They certainly aren't the worst in the industry. Rather it's an anti cosmetics post :)

Through my (almost three year) journey to 'green' or sustainable living I have found pretty much all beauty care products to be completely useless, if not entirely harmful. Now, to refrain from creating the *longest* post ever, I have decided to do a mini series of posts on this, covering personal care from head to toe, the good, bad, and ugly. Hopefully it will inspire you to make some changes to your own routine!

In the meantime here are some general 'natural beauty' tips for you!

Drink water!

I know, I know. You're rolling your eyes and thinking 'duh!' but seriously, it's a huge factor! Water helps to move toxins through your system (helping to keep those pores clear), keeps your skin hydrated (THAT is how you 'glow' people! Skin hydrated from the outside in), reduces fluid retention (puffy under eyes? cankles? drink water!) and improves circulation (thus helping reduce things like spider veins, etc). As far as how much to drink, it is going to vary person to person. The standard guideline is 6-8 glasses a day, but if you're active you need more, if you drink any caffinated beverage you need more, if you eat a lot of junk food, take a long plane ride, cry a lot (heh, pregnancy hormones) you need more!!! Personally I think 6-8 glasses is bare minimum for anyone, but again it'll vary. My personal goal is to drink four bottles a day. My water bottle is the 40oz klean kanteen so that adds up to 160oz a day (I am fairly active and pregnant- non preggo goal is three a day). I do not count other beverages because your body will use water to process those beverages.

Get some sleep!

Again. I know. Please understand that I wouldn't say it if it wasn't important! Sleep is when your body heals. It's when your body produces all that yummy collagen that keeps you looking young. It's when your facial muscles relax, when your skin cells regenerate, and lets not forget the hair repair going on. Plus it'll keep you sane ;)

Get off the couch!

Seriously. Make those lymph nodes and sweat glands earn their keep! You want to get all those toxins moving out of your system and this is a key way to do that! If you can take a quick -luke warm- shower after your workout. It'll help wash all the expressed toxins from your skin so they're not re-absorbed and help close your pores. Don't take the word workout too seriously. Anything that gets you sweating is going to help (yes I do mean anything ;)

Eat a healthy diet!
When people say "you are what you eat" they're right! The foods you put into your body are the building blocks used to regenerate that body. What is used to create new skin cells, to repair damage, to build hair and nails. All of that is affected by what you eat. Garbage in will equal garbage out. Dull, flaky, or acne prone skin. Dull, lifeless, greasy or frizzy hair. Cracked, peeling, yellowing nails... you get the picture. Yeah there are plenty of products out there to 'fix' these problems, but why not get it right from the start? Specifically you want to make sure you're getting lots of fruits, veggies, and healthy fats (Omega 3 and 6 are great ones).

Future Posts:

Natural hair care

Natural skin care

Natural body care

Natural periods

*I will add more topics as I think of them, and will edit this post to include the link to the post once it's written

**The hiking picture is mine, otherwise pictures by google.

A favorite reminder...

2011-05-06T00:14:00.000-07:00

It is so easy to get caught up in all the things that need to be done... the chores, the errands, the projects. At the same time it's so easy to miss so many beautiful opportunities to just... be. Especially with our children. This is one of my favorite reminders to drop everything in favor of those moments.

Come out with me

by A.A. Milne

There's sun on the river and sun on the hill . . .

You can hear the sea if you stand quite still!

There's eight new puppies at Roundabout Farm-

And I saw an old sailor with only one arm!

But everyone says, "Run along!"

(Run along, run along!)

All of them say, "Run along! I'm busy as can be."

Every one says, "Run along,

There's a little darling!"

If I'm a little darling, why don't they run with me?

There's wind on the river and wind on the hill . . .

There's a dark dead water-wheel under the mill!

I saw a fly which had just been drowned-

And I know where a rabbit goes into the ground!

But everyone says, "Run along!"

(Run along, run along!)

All of them say, "Yes, dear," and never notice me.

Every one says, "Run along,

There's a little darling!"

If I'm a little darling, why won't they come and see?

Also a favorite:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow

For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow,

So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."

And one of our recent moments; after having lunch with a friend Lilia asked to splash in the puddles. My first thought was of all the other things we had to get done, but then I looked at that little face and couldn't say no.

Craft Hope's Project 12

2011-05-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

Have you guys seen this? I seriously <3 craft hope and their latest project is SO easy to participate in! Basically you are making bracelets for orphans in Russia (check out the details here). Anyone can make a bracelet! You could make them super fancy or super simple, you could go out and buy fun supplies or use what you have around the house, the options are endless! I definitely plan on participating in this one (and hopefully burning through some stash while I'm at it). If you need ideas I saw a couple great tutorials:

Survival Bracelet (great for boys!)

Knitted jersey bracelet (great to use up old t-shirts)

Fabric braided bracelet w/snaps

Recycled t-shirt bangles (different from the other ones!)

So what do you think? Wanna join me?

Update: I started a mini crafting group with my adult tap students! They'll be coming an hour early to work on bracelets for the 3 weeks after recital! With all of us working at it we should get a decent batch to send off! I'm so Excited!

A shout out to a special lady...

2011-05-05T00:21:00.000-07:00

I just got my first copy of the quarterly newsletter written by Tonya at Plain and Joyful Living. I was so eagerly anticipating it and so giddy when the envelope arrived. I was not disappointed! It is beautifully simple and full of inspiration. There is even a recipe and a craft project. There is information about herbal first aid and words from other homesteaders. Again, beautiful and simple. And fun!

If nothing else I highly recommend checking out Tonya's blog, but if you really want to get in on the good stuff you can purchase a subscription to her lovely newsletter here. Personally I'd much rather subscribe to her newsletter than any traditional magazine!

Now, if you really want to get creative (hehe)... I purchased the subscription through pay pal and signed up for 'bill me later'. They were offering a $10 cash back credit for signing up for the service and I just paid the remaining $5 after the credit posted. So I got to support a lovely mama, I'll get three more issues of her lovely newsletter over the year, and only spent $5 (extra bonus that it was $5 made selling random things on etsy and therefore not part of our budget)! Sweet.

Dandelion Jelly

2011-05-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

Because this isn't already posted on at least two other *fantastic* blogs... Hehe... Here is the dandelion jelly we made for may day!

Dandelions harvested from our back yard on Saturday

Steeping in boiling water. We let ours sit over night.

Our dandelion water came out rather dark, and since we use organic sugar (not white) our jelly came out very dark, but I think it's still pretty!

I couldn't resist making cute little labels for the tops! Made in publisher and cut with my 2.5" punch (love!)

I tied a couple dandelions on with twine for presentation

We had just enough to give one to each of our favorite neighbors, one to my mom, and keep one for ourselves! Bug loves it! To me it tastes like a very mild honey... mostly I taste sugar with just a hint of flower flavor.

Bug walked a jar over to each of our beloved neighbors, (the three closest houses to us are all amazing people- we are so blessed!), and was so proud to take a jar to grandma! We had a lot of fun with this project and I'm really excited to try it with other edible flowers. I'd love to find some violets, but we might try pansy and will definitely try lavender later in the season!

We tweaked the recipe a bit (of course) so we used:

4 cups of Dandelion "water"
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 package powdered pectin (we used the no sugar needed kind because it's what I had)

5 cups of sugar

You can find the tutorial I used over at Domestic Reformation and another great post about dandelion and other fun jellies over at Where am I?

Lest we forget...

2011-05-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

A self serving post...

2011-05-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this one is really for me... because I'm a dancer. I love to dance. I love to watch dance, think dance, hear dance (yes you can hear dance, I am a tapper after all). There are times in my life I have breathed dance and while right now I am more focused on my family and home life I know dance will always be there for me. It is a part of my soul.

Hip Hop vids ft. my gorgeous and amazingly talented cousin Sam (usually rocking red/orange/pink hair):

Cameron Lee Choreography from MontesaEntertainment on Vimeo.

And, um, just because I can...

A little late... final easter pictures :)

2011-05-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

First, the day before, making sugar cookies...

What does icing taste like?

Sugar!!! Yum!

All set up (icing is colored with india tree natural food colors, cookies are a gluten free cherry brook kitchen mix made w/earth balance instead of butter)

Showing off the first cookie

Sooo stinkin' excited (and already tried each frosting color, lol)

adding 'spreesees' (india tree natural sprinkles)

Such concentration

Finished tray 1

Finished tray 2 (totally forgot to flip this pic)

What a 2 year old with WAY too much sugar in her system looks like, lol

And on to Easter:

One of the queens (my daughter's favorite dolls) in her Easter dress (made by my mom)

The other queen in her Easter dress. They are sitting on either side of Bugs Easter basket (covered in a white playsilk)

Discovering treasures

People!

Wrapping the queens. I should have just put playsilks in there...

Seriously, she hardly looked at the other things ;) This girl loves her playsilks!

And I got talked into an egg hunt. Bug loved it.

My brother and sister hid the eggs. It was pretty cute (they're 25 and 18 respectively).

Each egg had a couple organic jelly beans in them. She's had maybe ten of them since Easter... I'm mean that way ;)

A good day

2011-04-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

Laundry on the line- the first good day we've had for it!

And on the rack... (napkins and kitchen towels)

Bug helping out... in her jammas and panda shoes, lol

Picking dandelions for jelly

She felt the ground and said 'can I sit?' Of course!

So happy to be in the sun

Our dandelion haul (yes, all from our yard. We decided to count it as a food crop ;)

Our dandelions steeping. Jelly to be made in the morning and given to the neighbors for may day!

Smoothie fixin's for lunch (clockwise from lower left: Spirulina powder, rice protein powder, homemade coconut yogurt, hemp oil, organic agave, organic frozen blueberries and raspberries, organic strawberries and oranges. We also added ice.)

In the blender ready to go. We enjoyed our smoothies with chips and homemade hummus!

hummus success!

2011-04-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

I made a batch of hummus today since we got tortilla chips the other day (we buy the huge bag at costco) and I've been craving it. Big time. I had canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas) to use up, so I decided to try the recipe here.

I've tried hummus at home before and been really dissapointed so I tried not to get my hopes up, but I actually really like how it turned out! I tweaked it a bit (since I can never seem to just follow the directions on anything, lol). Here are the adjustments I made:

Ingredients

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup light olive oil)
3 tablespoons lemon juice (I used closer to 4)
2 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained (since mine were canned I just used 2 cans)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (mincing it seemed silly- I just threw in 1 large clove)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't measure, just threw in a pinch)
I also added some black pepper

It turned out very yummy and very edible, though I will continue to tweak in the future. I think my next batch I'll try adding just a tiny bit of tahini and using a slighlty smaller clove of garlic. Once I get through our canned garbanzos I'll try sprouting some and using that instead. Overall I'm very excited by how easy it was, no more buying hummus for us! Yay!

My 'Make at home' adventure!

2011-04-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

So with a second little one *very* much on the way, and me planning to take at least a year off work we are starting to tighten up our budget a bit to make sure we won't end up in any uncomfortable situations. While this will include boosting savings while I'm still working and cutting back wherever we can (most likely going to cut the netflix we just got a couple months ago and go back to just library/hulu since we don't watch much anyway, etc) our biggest single expense outside our mortgage is our grocery bill. We spend about $600 a month on groceries for the three of us (and our two cats). We need to spend less, but compromising our nutrition is really not an option for us, so there are a few ways we plan on cutting costs. One will be to truly shop local and in season whenever possible for produce. This is one of those things we always talk about, but have been afraid to do (I'm going to sorely miss fruits in the dead of winter). Another is to make more of our own foods at home. I posted about the yogurt attempt I made and we'll continue to tweak that. I also hope to add a lot of other things. I am working on a list of foods that we buy packaged/prepared to see what I can make myself or find alternatives for, and what will just be a necessary expense (for us, anyway). Here's a start:

Cereal (make more granola? Look for gluten free bulk? Just eat less cereal?)
Lara bars (make our own- an addiction of Bug's)
Granola bars (make our own- snack for hubby at work and for bug. Recipe to try here)
Coconut milk (make our own? Have to research this re: nutritional value)
Hemp milk (make our own/eliminate? Instructions here)
Yogurt (already learning to make our own via instructions here)
Hummus (make our own, maybe from sprouted chickpeas? Latest recipes to try here and here)
Bread (we generally make our own, but I'm not totally happy with our current recipe)
Pickles (had a not so happy batch last year, a bit scared... will try both fermented and traditional )
Tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce (maybe, last year when I priced it out it was cheaper to buy this, but I'll look into it again and watch for sales on tomatoes)
Vegetable stock/broth (thinking of making a large batch and canning it? not sure yet)
Tea (just started buying loose in bulk and using my french press- so cool! Maybe grow some herbs?)
Canned beans (either get good at using dried or can my own)

There are also a lot of things we already make ourselves- salsa, jam, apple sauce, granola, etc

Just for fun, there are also a few 'self care' things I'd like to make/already make at home:

Soule Mama - Peppermint Lip Balm

Lip balm (a new one I want to try this summer- my whole family goes through it like crazy! Going to play with flavors)

Instructables - How to make bath bombs

Bath bombs (bug like to have something pretty for her baths, I just made my first batch and LOVE them!)

Under the table and dreaming - Lemon sugar hand scrub

Made this for people for Christmas and got raves! Everyone wants refills!

Under the table and dreaming - Brown sugar body scrub

Have to try this one as well!

Bonzai Aphrodite - Crock Pot Candles

Candles (we use them at mealtime, special occasions, and stressful times. I want to start recycling the left over bits into new candles using the 'bonzai method' hehe)

Zero Waste Home - Recipes

Vitamin E balm (for toes, fingers, etc) AND

Tooth powder (hoping I can get Hubby to buy into this- it would mean no more throwing away toothpaste tubes!)

*My funny side note- I don't use most these things myself... I'm more of a rinse and go type girl, but I love to make them for other people!

Also, check this out for more fun ideas:

45 Homemade Foods

bugisms

2011-04-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

I've been saving these up for a while now, and since I'm in a blogging slump (too busy trying to meet deadlines to work on fun stuff, lol) I figured now was as good a time as any. I'm also going to share a few of Bug's two year pictures by the stunningly beautiful and absolutely amazing Holly Kolbo at Beautiful Endings Photography (please excuse the quality, they have been shrunken down to fit by blogger...)

So, without further ado, from the mouth of Bug:

'I pooped in the bathtub' (yes, that happened once) 'we don't want to do that again!'

driving by 'I see some little chickens. Chickens in barn!' a few minutes later 'that's so weird!'

Sitting in the bathtub 'I still have Jesus in my life!' (we're not sure where this came from as we're not a very religious family, but when I asked her where she learned that she thought about it and pointed to her heart, then said her tummy and a few other body parts so I asked if it just came from inside and she said yes. I decided to go with it and said I believe her, and I'm glad)

She followed that very profound statement by later saying 'I still have crap in my life... I'm going to sit on the potty and poop'. Well baby girl, it seems logical to me. I would like to know where you get some of these things...

Talking about Tiny Baby...

"I want to pick tiny baby up, and sit on the couch, and hold her in my lap, and rub her tummy" (she often asks me to rub her tummy so that is an important comfort for her)

"We can wear dresses and hats and tiny baby can dance with me and we can hold hands and tiny baby can hop with me" (can you tell she's excited to have a sister? She has big plans for this little one!)

This one cracks me up. This is her monster hat- one of her favorite hats that she once wore for about two weeks straight. To bed and everything.

A Bonzai kind of day

2011-04-24T00:31:00.000-07:00

So the other day I decided it was time to try out some things I'd seen on one of my very favorite blogs, Bonzai Aphrodite. This is where my laundry detergent recipe comes from, along with my dish detergent recipe. It's also a great source for information on vegan nutrition as well as a million other things. I can seriously never say enough good things about Sayward and her amazing blog. Anyway, to get to the point, I'd been meaning to try out her tutorial for vegan vegan yogurt for some time, and also wanted to try a nettle infusion (I've been drinking raspberry/nettle tea occasionally, but that's only brewed for a few minutes).Here's how it went...

I decided a while back that I wanted to use coconut milk to make my yogurt since it's my favorite store bought vegan yogurt and I had bought some canned... and then forgot I had it and bought the beverage kind. It wasn't until I'd measured the milk into the pan that I remembered that I was supposed to use canned... oops. Honestly the whole yogurt thing freaked me out, it seemed like there were so many opportunities to go wrong. I ended up stumbling my way through and now have yogurt in my fridge... it basically tastes just like the coconut milk (I was hoping for more tang) and has a rather, um, mucous-y texture (ewwww...) so I still have a lot of learning to do I think, and next batch I'll use the canned milk for sure, but it wasn't a complete disaster. Bug didn't seem to mind the texture at all and had a bowl with berries and I used it in a smoothie this afternoon so it will get used and hopefully we're getting some good cultures out of it...

My nettle infusion came out much better. I decided that since I've been drinking it with raspberry tea and since the raspberry is also amazing for pregnant mamas I'd keep the raspberry in so I added two tablespoons of dried nettle and two teabags worth of raspberry leaf (still working through the bagged kind I bought in desperation a while back) to my french press (oh how I love my thrifted french press!!). I then poured near boiling water over the top and let steep on the counter a few hours.

After sitting on the counter for a few hours I transferred it into my fridge. Bug and I broke it out about 24 hours later and while I was a bit nervous about the flavor (24 hours is a long time, and we skipped the maple syrup...) she jumped right in and proclaimed 'baby likes it!'. I do too. In fact it was so delicious that bug and I finished off the whole batch before dinner and put a new batch in to steep. Our third batch is in the fridge now for tomorrow. I"m so excited about having such a simple and Delicious way to add nutrients to our diets! (TMI WARNING!!! -bug pooped three times today... BIG ones... coincidence? Who knows, but I know she felt better!).

I have a few more things from the bonzai site to try soon, like the fermented pickles, sprouts (to be clear I've eaten store bought sprouts like crazy in the past, I want to try sprouting my own), hemp hummus (we use hemp oil and hemp protein powder, and the bug drinks hemp milk but I'm always looking for ways to incorporate it), the list could seriously go on and on... so check out her blog and eat something healthy!

Earth Day

2011-04-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

First of all, obviously I am a screen free week failure. Honestly though, I do have an excuse... sort of. I have 18 tutus due for a custom order at the beginning of may and I can't just stare at a wall while I'm cutting tulle and tying tulle, and wanting to hang myself with tulle... ;) SO I am going to have my very own screen free week later in may to make up for it.

We also weren't as productive on earth day as I would have liked. I forgot that bug had her '2 year' well visit that day (our ped is really booked out). We did get some yard work done, in fact at 7 months pregnant I weeded, tilled, and planted a 3'x20' garden bed by myself (well, bug "helped" hehe). I was darn proud of myself that I did not even break a sweat (for you hard core gardeners, try not to laugh too hard, I'm so new to this!) or feel tired at all really. We also did an earth day treasure hunt through the yard so that bug could make her collage.

I didn't get much in the way of pictures (working too hard!) but here are a couple:

Bug enjoying the out doors

Posing with one of her trees

Helping papa take care of a baby huckleberry bush

The completely designed by bug earth day collage. She decided we need to do another one that is all bark!

Bug's thoughts on earth day

One of the other things I did for earth day was took the quiz here:

I was rather disappointed to see my results. According to the quiz I would need 1.78 earths. I know I still have a lot of work to do and a long way to go, but man, 1.78 earths? Ouch. They have a link with your results that says 'reduce your footprint'. The page it takes you to have a few general tips (I marked the ones we do already with a *):

Reduce your footprint

Reduce your Carbon Footprint

Use cleaner transport

Walk, bike, or take public transit whenever possible.* (Hubby just started biking to work)
Avoid allowing your car to idle. If you'll be waiting for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine (except in traffic). And don't take the drive-through-park the car and walk inside instead.*
Have your vehicle serviced regularly to keep the emission control systems operating at peak efficiency. Check your car's air filter monthly, and keep the tires adequately inflated to maximize gas mileage.*
Avoid short airplane trips-take a bus or train instead.* (we avoid most airplane trips but just not traveling far, hehe)

Add energy-saving features to your home

Install compact fluorescent bulbs in all your home light fixtures-but remember, compact fluorescents contain mercury, so look for low-mercury models and be sure to dispose of old bulbs safely through your local hazardous waste program.*
Weatherproof your home. Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated, and consider double-pane windows. Eliminate drafts with caulking, weather strips, and storm windows and doors.*
Insulate your water heater. Even better, switch to a tankless water heater, so your water will be heated only as you use it. -> we have the insulating blanket for the water heater, hubby just has to put it on!
Choose energy efficient appliances.*

Adopt energy-saving habits

Keep thermostat relatively low in winter and ease up on the air conditioning in summer. Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended to keep the A/C operating at peak efficiency.* (no A/C here at all)
Unplug your electronics when not in use. To make it easier, use a power strip. Even when turned off, items like your television, computer, and cellphone charger still sip power.*
Dry your clothes outside whenever possible. -> need to be better about this!
Make minimal use of power equipment when landscaping.*
Defrost your refrigerator and freezer regularly.-> not sure this is necessary with new models?
Choose green electricity. Many utilities give you the option to purchase electricity generated by wind and solar power for a small rate surcharge.* (our state is mostly hydro-power)
Purchase carbon offsets to make up for the energy use you can't eliminate.

Reduce your Food Footprint

Eat more local, organic, in-season foods.* (working to be even better at this!)
Plant a garden-it doesn't get more local than that.*
Shop at your local farmer's market or natural foods store. Look for local, in-season foods that haven't traveled long distances to reach you.*
Choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste.*
Eat lower on the food chain-going meatless for just one meal a week can make a difference. Globally, it has been estimated that 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with meat consumption.*

Reduce your Housing Footprint

Choose sustainable building materials, furnishings, and cleaning products.

Explore green design features for your building, like passive solar heating, a rainwater catchment or grey water recycling system, and recycled materials.
Choose efficient appliances, including low flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets.*
Choose furnishings that are second-hand, recycled, or sustainably produced.*
Plant drought tolerant plants in your garden and yard.*
Use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products.*

Adopt water-saving habits

Take shorter, less frequent showers-this not only saves water, but the energy necessary to heat it. -> my Achilles heel! I love long hot showers... SO bad!!
Don't use the garbage disposal. Compost instead.* (need to be WAY better about this!)
Run the dishwasher and the laundry machine only when full.*
Wash cars rarely, or better yet, take them to a carwash. Commercial carwashes
Avoid hosing down or power-washing your deck, walkways, or driveway.* (I love when green = less work!)
Regularly look for and fix leaks.*

Reduce your Goods and Services Footprint

Buy less! Replace items only when you really need to.*
Recycle all your paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic. Don't forget electronics!*
Compost food waste for the garden. Garbage that is not contaminated with degradable (biological) waste can be more easily recycled and sorted, and doesn't produce methane gases (a significant greenhouse gas contributor) when stored in a landfill.*
Buy recycled products, particularly those labeled "post-consumer waste."*

Feel like you've 'been there, done that'? Check out the following resources for many more basic and 'advanced' ideas!

Diaper Swappers - Green Families Forum - Simplifying and going green in baby steps

-I can still browse through here and get ideas. It's a bit of a read to get through, but you can do it a post at a time and make a green 'to do' list as you go along.

The Zero Waste Home

-I have honestly read this blog from start to finish, and have mentioned it here on my blog many times before. It is a great resource for simplifying, reducing waste, and living a greener lifestyle!

Play silks, and more easter... stuff... :)

2011-04-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so because I've been promising pictures of my playsilks, um, forever, I will start with that :) I took a few different pictures because, honestly, I am NO photographer and my 'still life' pictures kinda suck. Hopefully you can get the idea...

As a reminder I used the tutorial here and used food coloring. I actually used about 50 drops of coloring in each dye pot to get the bright colors. It took a lot more rinsing than the more pastel colors I did for my niece, but I really wanted bright rainbow colors for the bug (she already has a few pastels). I also made the mistake of leaving the green sitting in a bowl of cold water because I had to stop rinsing to get bug to bed, I think this pulled a lot more dye out than just rinsing would have... I may make try to make it darker my re-dying later.

Since the silks are part of her Easter basket I thought I'd share where I'm at with that...

A re-purposed basket with the silks rolled up

And a close up because they looked so much cooler this way than hanging ;)

Adding the matching doll and pot game and the acorns that match as well

Color matching/math game

Hand painted rainbow eggs

I also added two mini endangered species organic dark chocolate bars, but I hid them in the silks because if she saw that first she'd never get to the rest, lol. We added two Elsa Beskow books on top, Pelle's New Suit and Flower's Festival and topped the whole thing with a white playsilk. I'm so excited for her to open this and see all her pretty rainbow things! I'm also proud of how much of it is mama made! Hubby and I decided that next year we'll buy a chocolate mold and make our own dark chocolate bunnies too (not enough time this year).

We also did some Easter themed activities today, though it's funky this year to have earth day and Easter so close, and Easter and the equinox so far from each other... has me all messed up. Anyway, we'll take a break from Easter to celebrate earth day and then Saturday it's back to Easter activities. Here is what we did today:

My mom found this sweet little wooden bowl at a thrift store. Perfect for this activity!

Scooping the rainbow beads from the bowl into the pot!

She did about half before she got frustrated and said 'I use my hands mama'.

Mini eggs in her mini sensory bin (we upgraded slightly later in the day)

Digging through (she loved this!)

Success! She found them all, re-buried them, found them again...

Wet felting... a first attempt

Our wonky but love able little eggs. I have browsed a few tutorials here and there, but basically went in blind. I highly suggest you get a good tutorial under your belt first, because I thought I'd go mad trying to figure this out!

Our Saturday activities include more egg painting (so that papa can do some with the bug) and making allergy free sugar cookies (frosted with allergy free frosting made with natural food color of course). We'll also do the mini egg hunt and beads again!

Our beach vacation (pic heavy post!)

2011-04-18T02:38:00.000-07:00

This post is kind of late coming. I guess I'm still readjusting to 'real' life, lol. We recently went to long beach, wa for a week and it was -so- great. just enough relaxing and just enough doing. We went to the beach every day for at least a few minutes, and we went on two *very* short hikes to see the local light houses. We spent very little time in the tourist-y area of town and didn't buy a single souvenier (so proud of our newly simple selves!). We did find a sweet little organic market that we went to at least three times and we ate at a few local places that were really, really good. Hubby's sister and her family were there too, so we got to spend a lot of time with them and his parents, brother, and brother's girlfriend came up for the weekend, so great family time! All in all it was a very much needed break and we want to go back... um, now please... Here are some pictures of the fun :)

Day 1:

on the ferry- she did NOT like the horn!

All bundled up for a nap in the car

And she's out...

Fun little restaurant on the way

We had to stop at the farm store across the street to see then chicks and bunnies

She loved it! She asked papa for a bunny, and did not want to leave the store without one, hehe

We finally made it to the beach, but boy was it windy!

Rain coming in...

All bundled to check out the grey whale skeleton

The board walk by the beach

Day 2:

Digging with a stick

A much anticipated activity: kite flying with papa (aka Hubby)!

She wasn't sure she wanted to help, she liked just watching

Searching for sea treasures (not many to be found)

Watching sand blow in the wind (with mama being nervous about it getting in her eyes!)

Wet, sandy, cold, and HAPPY!

Day 3:

Checking out 'alligator boy' at Marsh's free museum

Overwhelmed!

Quality time with cousins

Swiming with papa (in the pool, not the ocean!!)

More papa time (she can never get enough)

Relaxing between meals

Day 4:

1 mile hike (yeah, round trip, lol) to see the north head light house

Signs of spring!

Dead man's cove (sooo much more amazing in real life!)

fun random structure

The light house

Such history!

Happy family! (despite the bug's grump face)

Day 5:

We got to see a mama deer and her babies! (doe and fawn???)

Digging and building!

Sandy face

'writing' in the sand, one of her favorite activities while we were there

Sea weed! One of her main missions was to find some and she loved this super long dried up piece

Warming up with mama (it was only 50-55 degrees)

Digging a fort with papa

Beach!

This was the best day we had at the beach, so peaceful and perfect

Showing off her fort, complete with two ovens!

Day 6:

Walking with her cousin

Building sand castles

She was so content just to dig

Day 7:

The whole family went for a walk through town- Lilia rode in the ergo most the day :)

Enjoying ice cream (neither gluten free or vegan, and probably oh so full of nasty things, but c'mon...)

The merry go round (her favorite ride!)

Lunch time!

And of course, more digging

Day 8:

1/2 mile hike (again, round trip, hehe)

The light house

They actually had signs warning not to climb the cliffs... seriously??

Storage building

Sign on light house

More light house

1898

Bug stretching her legs

And one exhausted little girl on the drive home.

Spring is here!

2011-04-17T04:47:00.000-07:00

It's rainy and wet, but definitely spring and we're so happy! We got a start on our garden this weekend, but there's still a long way to go! Here's a little run down of our garden plans this year:

Let me start by saying we have a small-ish lot (.17 acres to be exact) so we squish gardening in where we can. We have two raised beds. One is 4'x4'x6" and one is 4'x4'x12". Ready for some super ghetto? Check this out-

Um, yeah... so I am no graphics person, but I thought this was better than nothing :) This is how our raised beds are plated this year. The ones with an* are later crops that we'll plant in a couple weeks.

We also started potatoes in tires last year. This year we plan to expand to four stacks of three, two stacks of russet and two stacks of fingerling. We have the first tire in the stack from last year planted and are just waiting for our super awesome neighbor to bring the tires home for us from his work to start the others.

We have a very narrow bed along our driveway that we started strawberries in last year, and plan to add more plants to this year. We really hope they take over the bed eventually. We're also planting some climbing peas along the fence in this bed- peas go up, strawberries go out- hope it works!

There is another narrow bed along one side of the house that we have tried a few different things in with no luck. This year I'm going to try lavender and calendula since I use both of those in home remedies. We'll see how it goes...

In our front bed we have 6 huckleberry bushes (wild blueberry) that we planted last year, so they're not producing a lot yet, but we hope they'll thrive in that spot. Unfortunately right now something is eating them so we have to figure that out ASAP. There's also a tiny red huckleberry planted in between trees in the front that won't produce for a couple years.

On our front porch I've been trying lavender and rosemary in pots with not too great luck. I'm not sure yet what we'll try this year, but there are three big pots...

In the back we have two raspberry plants in pots, one produced a few raspberries last year, the other is a younger plant and may not produce until next year. There are two blueberry bushes in pots that produce a few berries each year. They're doing well for now but I'm not sure how they'll do in the pots long term (?). There are two more big pots which hold strawberries for now but since we plan on moving those to the front with the rest we may plant a second crop of onions there (we eat a lot of onions). We also have a rack of herbs in pots, and a few upcycled paint can pots that are for flowers only (no edibles b/c of paint residue).

We plan to try two home made hanging tomato plant set ups and add more berries this year (we eat a lot of fruit and with a growing family we know we'll only need more in the future).

We also have plenty of dandelions for greens ;)

Bug and her new found best friend; she loves the worms she finds in the garden!

How are your garden plans coming?

A start on easter crafts

2011-04-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

We had our craft night Tuesday, and I've put in a few hours since working on 'Easter' crafts, with a few more hours to go before Sunday. Here is a glimpse at what we have done so far:

My workstation a few nights ago

The bug's workstation

Color matching peg people, Inspiration found here: Gluesticks)

Such a happy rainbow.

You can also find lots of similar sets on etsy!!

Counting/sorting/math game. Inspiration found many places, a few named below.

There are different numbers of stars for each color. For now we'll use them for color sorting and counting, later we'll use them for math (2 yellow stars + 3 blue stars = how many stars?)

I've seen similar concepts and ideas on many blogs and websites, but my favorites are listed below (and they're all much more beautiful than my version ;)


MamaMayI The Enchanted Cupboard Fancie Fannies

A rainbow bed for the gnomies, based on the tutorial found at Wee Folk Art

The paint job turned out well, now it just needs legs and a mattress

This is another craft I've seen all over the place, you can probably find them in the same places listed above as well as others. It's a little pot filled with rainbow beads. I usually see them with just little colored balls but I used beads in mine so that when Bug outgrows using them for scooping practice and 'cooking' she can use them for stringing :)

Added these to the little color matching pots because I had ordered acorns on impulse and had no idea what to do with them. They match up great to these and give a little variety (plus it's so super cute!). The yellow and blue acorns don't fit (should have tested that ahead of time) but Hubby said he can sand down the inside of the pot a bit so they'll fit.

You know you want some, lol.

And here are a few of the wooden eggs that were colored Tuesday. These were done by Bug and my mom, I didn't get a picture of the other kids' eggs, which is really too bad because they did a great job! They had so much fun, I now know that painting wood things keeps kids busy for-ever!

I also got Lilia's rainbow silks dyed (pics to come... I swear...). We also did an extra pot of beads and an extra math game to send to an out of state friend. We still have the rest of the eggs to color, and I have to color the tiny ones for the Bug to find in her bin of split peas (our little mini sensory bin). I am way too excited to put together her Easter basket!

For those curious I buy my wood parts at Woodworks, Ltd. All of the wood pieces were painted with non-toxic watercolors (prang and crayola- prang had the better purple, crayola had a much better orange) and finished with a beeswax jojoba oil mixture purchased from You're Inspired. If you have any questions please let me know!

Screen free week is coming up!

2011-04-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

I am excited about this. My family and I just returned from a vacation that was *almost* screen free, and it was so great! I plan on participating and while Hubby has to use a computer at work I think I can get him to participate at home. Bug is screen free already. I actually think it'll be really nice to have the extra bit of time to work on all the deadlines I have coming up. Here's more info:

Screen free week

April 18th-24th

So who else is participating?

A few new finds

2011-04-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

Article: 20 things you can live without

*I don't consider myself a minimalist, but I do like to live simply. There are a lot of great tips here.

Documentary: Food Matters

*An interesting look at nutrition and it's role in health. Again, I can't say I agree with everything, but it's definitely thought provoking.

Blog: Cat's Meow

*Again, I'm by no means a minimalist, but by looking at these principals I'm working towards my own balance of simplicity. This blog has beautiful articles and pictures. Check out the tag 'simple life' especially. This is a favorite so far: The end of decorating

Video:

How cool is that? A bit extreme for most of us, sure, but cool none the less!

Last but not least, a quote I keep running in to:

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

My small change for April

2011-04-01T05:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who aren't sure what this is about, check out the blog One Small Change and join us in making life a little greener one step at a time!

Though I didn't post about it my change for March was to stop using q-tips to clean my ears (the only thing I used them for). I won't lie, I was scared, lol. I've always 'cleaned' my ears with q-tips. My mom's a bit funny about this so when we were growing up we cleaned them out with rubbing alcohol on q-tips daily. Yeah, I know, weird. Anyway, as an adult I have gradually weaned myself (over years) to only wiping my ears out after a shower in which I wash my hair (which is now about once a week-without soap-more on that later). That last bit seemed really hard to give up, and I'll admit I still use a piece of (recycled of course!) TP if my ears are really driving me crazy (not drying fast enough basically) but the q-tips are gone! (now to get hubby off them *sigh*)

For April I'm working on another disposable. Toilet paper. Now, we use individual rolls of recycled TP wrapped in paper, so it's pretty much the greenest TP you can buy, but it's still waste. That paper still has to be processed, factories have to be run, and it goes down the drain... I don't like flushing money down the drain. When the bug was in diapers and potty training she and I used cloth wipes or family cloth. It just went into the diaper pail with the dipes and got washed with them. Unfortunately when she completed her potty training it sort of died out... we used up the cloth that was clean, but it felt like a waste to wash a whole load just for that bit of cloth and I wasn't sure what to wash it with. I also have grand ambitions to make all new family cloth/wipes out of old flannel sheets I picked up at a garage sale last summer (yeah, it's been in my closet that long) because I don't like the feel/absorbency of the mostly polyester baby wash cloths we were using before.

SO... my mission for April is to get the new wipes made (which shouldn't be too bad if I can con my mom or hubby into helping me with the cutting). Not only will there be many more of them, but they'll work better, and with baby on the way in July I know they'll at the very least get used then (though I really want to stick to this change... I actually hate how unclean I feel after wiping with TP). I'm also looking into how to use our diaper sprayer as a bidet... I've heard good things but I'm a bit, er, fuzzy on the details (cause, ya know, who wants to go into detail on something like that?).

Actually, honestly, I don't mind. Everyone poops, right? I mean it's just a normal, healthy bodily function... so I'll share when I get it figured out! Heh.

For those unclear on the sanitation issue, let me assure you that just like cloth diapers, cloth wipes are completely sanitary. Just like washing your hands in normal, non-anti bacterial soap is perfectly adequate for removing bacteria from your hands after going to the bathroom, washing cloth in normal laundry detergent is perfectly adequate, though adding a hot wash may make you feel better about the whole thing. And if the bidet thing works out it's mostly urine we're talking about, which is actually sterile until it contacts your skin, so if your skin is clean, again, you're good (some people actually drink urine... something you won't find me doing unless I'm dying of dehydration, but hey, it does happen).

A little song love...

2011-03-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love music. Here are a couple favorites (for the moment ;)

*Disclaimer- neither of these are 'easy listening' hehe

Muse - Uprising

Emergency preparedeness

2011-03-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

It seems the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has really opened a lot of people's eyes to the importance of emergency preparedness. This is something that really hit home for me when I was pregnant with bug and got snowed in without much food or any real emergency supplies. I couldn't help but think of how awful it would be to be in a situation where I can't feed or care for my children simply because I didn't prepare. We've since been slowly building our supplies though I"ll admit that my awareness and commitment had waned as my energy and attention were drawn to other areas. The disaster in Japan brought that focus back for me. While I'm sending prayers and hope for the people of Japan I am working on preparing my own family in hopes that we will never need it.

Here are some of the resources I've collected over the last couple years, I hope it helps you get your supplies together, whatever level of preparedness you plan to be at.

General emergency/disaster prep

getting started

baby steps

emergency binder

-Not always mentioned, but emergency cash in small bills is a really good idea

Food Supplies

food storage needs analyzer

shelf stable food

Super pails

(25yr shelf life, no need to rotate. Basics that can sustain that don't include high amounts of sodium, allergens, trans fat, etc.)

why superpails

Water Supplies

large scale water filtration

water storage

Purification Tablets

-Also it's nasty and definitely not my first (or second, or third) option but you can use bleach to purify water too

-We plan to add a second water barrel to our first as another source of emergency water, as well as water for the garden.

Sanitation/First Aid

Temporary Toilet

-5 gallon buckets you can get free on craigslist often, or cheap at places like home depot

Build your own first aid kit

-best option out there, a lot of pre-packaged kits are useless IMHO... Also don't waste money on their bags, get a cheap second hand back pack for this stuff

Bartering

-this is more for all out collapse/long term disaster... you know, the crazy stuff... but also easy to store, so why not?

barter goods

-One really good thing I didn't see mentioned on his list is alcohol... little airplane size bottles are great for bartering, cheap, last forever...

General resources

end times report

back woods home

preparedness pantry

Economic collapse

how to survive total economic collapse

(super basic info, could list a million resources, but it's not my main focus)

Radiation

Iodine Solution

- to take ahead of time/imminent danger of exposure

Now that I've totally overwhelmed you :) :) :) Just pick a category and start gathering things bit by bit. We have a preference for military surplus and second hand supplies. We did decide to put it into our monthly budget, but by pickings things up second hand it helps leave room in the budget for things you can't buy second hand... like food. It also helps keep your stockpile a bit more green :)

As far as storing all of this... we have a bag in each car, in case we're not home when disaster strikes. Beyond that get creative with your storage! A shelf in your garage/shed, under bed storage, under the couch, whatever works so long as the family knows where it is and how to get to it in an emergency. Also, remember to keep the details of what you have and where within the family as much as possible... you don't want to be first on someone's list of places to loot in a disaster!

A little bit of love

2011-03-28T12:57:00.001-07:00

A few 'Bug-Isms' of late

Mid-night potty break- 'Oh, mama's bum. Mama doesn't have a tail. Papa has a tail. Mama and baby don't have tails' (I'm telling you right now, it was SO hard not to laugh hysterically at this one!)

Driving home- Mama: 'Lilia, you're amazing!' Bug: 'No, I'm tired'

Looking at a book and saw a picture of the earth. She said 'this is like mama's tummy. This is tiny baby in mama's tummy'.

Dinner out- she loves to eat out because we let her have juice, lol

Beautiful doll out fit by Green Mountain on etsy, doll by lunart also on etsy (birthday and christmas gifts respectively)

At one of her favorite places- the library

Busy, busy

2011-03-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Things are slowly -slowly- getting accomplished around here. The waistbands are all sewn for the tutus, the next craft night is all planned, bug's playhouse has walls and a roof, this year's garden is planned, our vacation is -mostly- planned, and recital stuff is coming together... of course things are being added to the list just as fast as I can complete them (if not faster), and as my pregnancy progresses, my patience lessens... I have added in the occasional home yoga with bug and that is a great help (when I stop to do it). We each have our own yoga books, hers is little yoga and mine is yoga for pregnancy and it's really very fun.

I have about a million posts in the 'draft' stage that I *will* get to at some point here, though probably not before vacation. In the meantime I did a little work on our book list pages tonight, and have some blog cleaning planned in the future (fewer categories, or "tags" for one) to make this place easier to navigate...

Mostly I felt the need to check in, give an update, and maybe share a picture... or two...

Or four :)

EARTH HOUR

2011-03-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, earth hour is tonight!

8:30pm tonight, wherever you live, turn out the lights (computer, phone, whatever you can) for one hour and be a part of something so amazing! Check out more info here and check out this inspiring video:

Dyeing play silks (pics coming soon!)

2011-03-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

**It is too late and dark to take pictures, so pictures will come later :)

I am so excited about this! I recently got my Dharma Trading Co. order in and was so excited to try my hand at dyeing my own play silks. I ordered the 8mm Habotai scarves in the 35x35 size and was really impressed with the quality and how sturdy they feel. Now craft night isn't until 4/12 but my niece's birthday is 4/4 so I had a dilemma... I decided to dye hers first, separately. I figured that way I would know what I was doing come craft night, and her scarves would be ready in time. Win win (sorry to say you were the test run my li'l pixie girl!).

Now, I was feeling quite nervous about how this would turn out, but luckily I had my trusty assistant by my side, and a really easy to follow tutorial (found here). We dyed 5 scarves total, four for my niece and one (the freebie I got for my first order) for the bug (after all, she's two, how can I ask to put all that work in and not get to make one for herself?).

We dyed ours with food color borrowed from my mom (free is always the best, right?) and luckily we buy vinegar in bulk at costco (you use a LOT). Bug helped pick out the colors and watched very patiently while I mixed the different dye baths. As we added each scarf I did the initial stir and then Lilia would keep stirring until the dye was all soaked up. We then moved her over to the sink where she rinsed them (hardly any dye came out which makes me think I could have used more...). While she was rinsing I would put the next one in, do the initial stir, and then let her finish stirring while I hung the just rinsed one on the drying rack. It was a great system and she honestly did a good majority of the work (so fun and rewarding for a child!) and hardly got any dye on herself (she was wearing one of my old shirts just in case).

Now, I won't say they came out flawless... but they did come out beautiful, and my bug is so proud and can't wait to give them to her sweet cousin! She actually forgot for a moment who they were for when she saw that they were dry so I was glad we had the one she'd made for herself to let her play with! They dried really fast and I think I may easily become addicted to this craft! I think lots of friends and family will be getting play silks as gifts this year!

Spring Giveaway at Cedar Ring Mama

2011-03-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

I don't normally post about giveaways and such, but this one is really cool, and it brings up a great resource!

Head on over to Cedar Ring Mama and check out the spring giveaway they are doing! They are giving away beeswax candles, a playsilk, heirloom seeds, and beeswax for crafting!!

All you have to do is check out an awesome resource I just found yesterday (funny coincidence!). It's a waldorf co-op that sells all sorts of things from books to dolls to rain gear, and it's only $25 a year to join! The co-op is Cedar Ring Circle.

Junk Mail Wars: 2nd round

2011-03-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more 'junk mail' sources I've been tackling, not as easy as I'd like...

Family Strong -

Army magazine (we no longer serve). Can't for the life of me figure out how to get rid of it!? Still looking.

Compostumbler -

SO frustrating... I've asked to be removed from their mailing list for two years now with no luck. Asking again.

St Jude -

Entered on catalog choice, hoping it works.

Seattle rep -

Contacted via email and asked to be removed. No response yet.

Woman's Day -

Someone subscribed to this at my address. I have no idea who the person is, but I contacted woman's day directly and they said I need to contact an outside agency through which the magazine was ordered.

Rolling stone -

Same person subscribed to this at our address. Rgh. Hoping that when I contact the company mentioned above they can cancel/fix all her subscriptions so they stop coming here.

Early spring nature table

2011-03-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

I won't lie, I've had this up for at least two weeks already... we just can't wait for spring! I took these pictures while I was taking pictures of the bug's birthday party :)

Flowers from my mom, green play silk from a garage sale last year, wooden sheep bug got for her first Christmas, tp tube shamrock and flower, 'spring' book by Gerda Muller

tp tube shamrock, wood eggs, love birds and eggs from You're Inspired on etsy, flower from Joann's, wood rounds, bird post cards from the Audubon society, shamrock plant hubby used to propose (6 years ago!). Bowls to make nests are part of a set I got on a thrift store trip last year.

The bug actually arranged it the way it is now and she is allowed to arrange it however she wants and play with whatever is there as long as it stays on (or near) the shelf. She seems pleased with this arrangement and it's keeping mama sane, always a good thing! This is our first season with a nature table and we are both loving it so far! I'm really excited for summer and fall when it will be full of collections from our out door adventures!

Birthday party re-cap!

2011-03-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

So my sweet bug's party was Friday, and while things weren't perfect I think for the most part it went really well and left her a very happy birthday girl! I'm not quite sure how to put this post together other than to follow the same format as the birthday idea post and let you know how those ideas turned out, so here goes...

Food-

Well, this area turned out tougher than I anticipated because, let's be honest, allergy free food just doesn't work the same way as 'normal' food. We did our best though, and learned some things along the way. Here's what we ended up with:

Food table decorated with birthday banner and fur branches

Our snail sandwiches. Turns out gluten free tortillas, no matter how fancy, just don't roll... or cut right

Our lady bugs. The apples were huge and our plates were small, but they were cute anyway! You can kind of see the 'sticks' in the background.

Our ants on a log, on a plate I picked up for $1 at a thrift store Thursday!

'Dirt' or chocolate covered raisins :) in another $1 bowl

Our dirty berries fondue attempt. We'd never used this fondue set and it really didn't work out too well... plus dear Hubby put way too much coconut milk in so it was too thin and runny...

Our yummy salad or 'fairy greens'. It was a spring mix with chopped green leaf lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots added in.

Bug's been on a mushroom kick and insisted we get some when we went shopping for her party. I was a little worried since not everyone likes mushrooms but they all got eaten!

Our toadstool cup cakes. There's not enough natural food coloring in the world to make red, so we ended up with pink which bug was really really okay with. I used a namaste brand GF vanilla cake mix and ener-g egg replacer to make the cake. It turned out okay but I like their chocolate cake mix better :)

All in all it worked out, and most of it got eaten, we just had the chocolate from the fondue and a few snail sandwiches left at the end. Even the two pounds of salad- gone! There's not a good picture of the sticks, some of these are blurry, and I didn't get a picture of the super delicious coconut ice cream the bug's uncle made for her and her party as a birthday gift, but trust me, it was beautiful and delicious!

Favors-

I'm not going to lie... a LOT of hours went into making the favors for her party, but boy did we have fun with it! Here's how they turned out:

Gnome hats (& beards) Most the girls opted out of the beards, but loved the hats! We ended up hot gluing every one's except Lilia's which I blanket stitched and embroidered so that they'd be special (she got one in each color)

This was really popular and worked out really well. We had it near the entrance and the kids made sure everyone coming in stopped. The tiny green hat was for a friend's baby who Lilia insisted needed a green hat.

All the gnomies made up and ready to go

The toadstools painted and ready

The favor bags, stamped and ends folded. Bug's is actually recycled from a friend's party.

Contents of the bag! A fun little gnome play set!

Activities-

Remember that gnome toss I wasn't so sure about? Good thing we went ahead with it because it was a total hit and kept kids busy for hours! Literally! The coloring pages never made it out and the favors weren't given out until kids were leaving so this was it for entertainment!

The board, painted by our extremely talented and amazing friend! Always awed by her talent! We just gave her the board and said have at it... absolutely incredible, right?

The bean bags, thanks to basic sewing and Michael Miller fabric

The two together to show scale

In action! It was a toss game, a fort, a house, you name it!

Birthday girl's outfit-

I'm amazed, but it did get done, and it didn't turn out too bad... it might fit her for another two years, but she was adorable anyway! We did get out in the yard for a few pictures before the party too, way way too cute!

Just woke up from nap, all ready for her party! We looked in the mirror and I said 'happy birthday baby girl' and she looks at me and says 'yeah, where's my candles!?' Silly girl...

I don't know why my pictures are coming through so blurry today... but you get the idea :)

Decorations, etc-

Here are a few pictures of decorations and what not to share:

Door sign- found on sale at Joann's

Birthday banner and small mantel display

Close up of display. The little gnomes were also on sale at Joann's and truth be told my mom bought both the gnomes and the sign for us. The jars are canning jars from my stash filled with cheapo bulk split peas and farmer's market pussy willows my mom bought.

Honestly this area isn't too different from normal- I like free decorations (er, nature). The jars were all either thrift store or home made from thrift store pieces. I added the big branches and the split peas for color for the party.

All I added here was the branch!

Built ins in the dining room. Favor bags on display, more branches, birthday wish for Lilia on the chalk board.

Gnome pillow made with the large section of michael miller fabric and stuffed with a recycled wool sweater.

Family in costume- I have to admit, I was so proud that everyone wore them and that most were still on by the end of the night! We have such a creative and cooperative family!

The bug enjoying her cake. She made us sing happy birthday twice that night, and we all did so happily. She so loved being the birthday girl and is already trying to convince us it's time to be three, lol

All the sticks/branches were found in parking lots or on the side of the road. Yes, I'm one of those people :)

The gifts she received were (*almost*) all really respectful and minimal and we really appreciated that. The almost is because of my 25 year old brother who thought it was hilarious to buy her a super deluxe mr potato head *sigh*. She did get a couple toys (a melissa & doug birthday cake and a plan toys family), a couple books, and a few articles of clothing but she also got art stuff (a fairy color book and a 'paint your own garden gnome kit), money, a molbaks gift card (garden store), and a pass to the children's museum. Thanks so much to the wonderful family that attended! You rock!

I guess that pretty much covers it! How do you think we did?