This pic was actually from two weeks ago. I didn’t take many photos last week (I KNOW! SHOCKING!), so I thought I’d use this one. I love this picture because despite all of her growth and developments lately, A. still looks like a sweet little baby to me…not a terrorizing toddler!
For more Best Shot Monday photos make sure to visit Tracey at Picture This!
Happy Earth Day! We didn’t do anything special for the Earth today, we mostly did a lot of special stuff for the house – cleaning, organizing and more cleaning. But I figured it was good to take a pause and give a little love to Mama Earth.
Speaking of which, have you taken the footprint quiz yet? The quiz is based on national consumption averages and is supposed to give you an idea of your Ecological Footprint in relation to other people in the country and area you live in. I took it again and we just scored a 16. But I took it a few months ago (back before we had efficient cars) and we were over 20, I think it was 22. A 24 is average for our country and area. But even at 16, if everyone lived like we do, we would need 3.7 earths to sustain everyone. That is scary.
I have always been pretty environmentally mindful – I had an Environmental Studies minor in college – and J. used to tease me and call me a “tree hugger” (although I do shave under my arms, thank you!). But I realized lately that I have started to become really lax on a lot of stuff. I’d like to use the excuse that I just don’t have time, but I know the real reason is that I just became very lazy.
Then after we moved a few weeks ago, I realized that I need to get back on the ball. I want to preserve this Earth and leave something for my grandchildren. Something beautiful and livable. In my quest to find a place that would recycle my boxes from our move, I found a recycling center at Caltech that recycles EVERYTHING! Every kind of plastic, every kind of paper, cardboard, so I have become very, very diligent about recycling, reusing, reducing again.
I’ve always bought organic, in-season, and locally grown, when possible – but now I am committed to doing more. Finding biodegradable detergents that I can live with, and the earth can live with. Walking as much as I can. Combining trips when I can’t walk. I’m going to try to get our family score as low as it possibly can go.
Next on my list…potty-training A. so I don’t have to guiltily throw away any more icky diapers.
Are you looking for some new music? Maybe have an iTunes gift card that is burning a whole in your pocket? Please go check out my friend Michelle Beauchesne‘s new cello album, Duo.
This is her second album and it was just released on iTunes and it is really terrific! Ok, I know – I have absolutely NO musical talent, at all. Anyone who knows me, has heard me sing, or has seen me dance can attest to that. But I do love music and I can definitely appreciate good stuff when I hear it. And Michelle’s stuff is good. It is really perfect to listen to while you are working.
Go. Now. Listen. Buy. Thanks! 🙂
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P.S. Argghhh…I tried to link to iTunes for you, so you didn’t have to search for her. But apparently I am unable to do that. Sorry. You can also hear her stuff at her website.
I haven’t done a Photo of the Day or Week in awhile. I took these yesterday morning at our new park. The girls LOVE the park, and I love that it is just far enough, that it is a good workout if I walk or run pushing the jog stroller. (That is nearly 70 pounds with two munchkins and the stroller! “Heaby!” as A. would say!)
Yes, I tried to tame the ‘do with a bow. She kept it in for a good hour and a half or so, but then realized on the way home that it was in, and promptly removed it. The static from the slide and tunnels just makes the hair look even wilder than it already is. But I love her sweet little look (and tongue!).
We are so blessed. Happy Friday, Everyone.
Seriously, Smokey and Tiger are going to have to up their game if they ever want to compete with this…
Nora, The Piano-Playing Cat (www.ravenswingstudio.com)
I’ve watched this video 3 times already and I laugh harder and harder each time. Thanks to Sweatpants Mom for the heads up on Nora.
My friend Michelle and I went out for a little “Mommy’s Night Out” (well, really it was more like 2 hours out) and I got carded. Yeees, ME! Me who turns 35 in about 2 weeks. Got carded. Totally made my night.
Meanwhile, if anyone sees Andrew from Trader Joe’s hanging out in the parking lot, can you give him a kiss from me? He may have taken my “I could kiss you!” comment seriously….
I may be a little odd, but two of my favorite birthday gifts have been small appliances. Before you get all up-in-arms and wondering how anyone could purchase an appliance or household “present” for a birthday gift, let me explain…
My brother-in-law used to work at Williams Sonoma and got a sweet deal on a Kitchen-Aid one year and gave it to me for my birthday. That mixer has moved from San Mateo to Chicago, to Naperville, to Pasadena and now to San Gabriel with me, that is four different moves, plus it gets used on a weekly (many weeks, much, much more!) basis. It is perfect when you have baking “helpers” and I can honestly say that I LOVE that mixer. It is the one thing in the kitchen that I can’t imagine doing without. It is also one of those things that I would never buy for myself, no matter how much I really wanted one.
And I have always told everyone it was one of my favorite gifts ever.
Until last week. Now I am in love with another appliance. Not that it can replace the Kitchen-Aid, but it is another “can’t do without” tools in my keeping house repertoire. Allow me to introduce my new love. The Scooba.
A few days after we moved into the new house, I kept noticing (and complaining!) that our feet were soooo dirty. And unless I mopped every room, every day I didn’t see how I was going to keep our feet and the floors clean. Every inch of the 2700sf of our house is either hardwood floor, Spanish tile, or (in the kitchen!) icky linoleum. I had (kind of) joked that I was going to have to buy a Scooba just so we wouldn’t have to wash our feet before bed every night.
And two days later J. said that my Birthday gift had arrived early and I could open it. He seriously picks up on the smallest hints, even if they were not intended as hints. Again, this was one of those things that I would like to have, but would never really spend the money on, and J. also knew that.*
But the thing is freakin’ amazing. I have “Scooba’d” every room in the house…at least once. Some rooms, like the kitchen, get “Scooba’d” almost daily. It is awesome. Pour in some detergent and water, set it down, push a button. It sweeps and mops the entire floor. The coolest part, and this might be some crazy sickness I have, is opening the tank and seeing all of the dirty water. I mean, we are talking some serious dirt here. It gets it all!
Emma and Addie think the “robot” is so cool. The cats don’t know what to think, and our “little Emma” friend is terrified of it. She won’t use the bathroom when she is at our house because I keep it in the little bathroom to charge when it is not “working,” and she thinks that it is a real “robot.” But, for the most part it has become a part of our family.
And if coveting and drooling over mundane housekeeping tools makes me strange, well, so be it. At least I have clean floors without having to spend my days mopping!
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*Anyone interested in actually buying a Scooba, should check out Amazon’s remanufactured models. That is where J. got it and it works fantastically. It is also half the price of a new model, and he got it even further on sale when it was listed as one of the Friday specials!
I often make fun of “dropping off the face of the earth” whenever we go home to Michigan and visit family and friends, but apparently I am living in my own little insulated bubble here. We did not have the TV on yesterday (hooray! how I like it, usually) except for a little Noggin in the morning.
So imagine my surprise when I opened the LA Times this morning and saw the headlines about what had happened yesterday at Virginia Tech. It made me sick to my stomach. I’ve been thinking about it all day. Thinking about how scared those poor kids must have been, sitting barricaded in classrooms and dorms, wondering if it was over. Thinking about what in the world that boy must have been feeling to make him do such a horrendous thing. But most of all thinking about the poor families who were just waiting for the news. Hoping and waiting to hear that their son or daughter wasn’t one of the victims, that they were ok.
I simply cannot imagine being in that position. I just think it would be more than I could bear, more than any parent could bear. And the poor families who didn’t hear good news. Instead they were told that their child was one of the unlucky ones. It just makes me want to take my girls and run far, far away. But I’m not sure that there is a place anymore that would make me feel safe.
It is just so hard when something like this happens. It makes you realize, no matter how much you try to protect your children, there are so many things that are out of your control. Sometimes bad things just happen and there isn’t anything you can do about it.
The week of Emma has officially wrapped up. I do have another child, she isn’t turning four, but she is also doing some pretty amazing stuff. So a few Addie-isms for this dreary Tuesday. (Yep, no sun in sunny California this morning….what is going on??)
Addie has a little cold. It started yesterday, just constantly running nose and very watery eyes. When I try to wipe the water from her eyes and cheeks she looks up at me and says, “cryin? cryin eyes.” She isn’t quite sure why her eyes are “cryin” when she isn’t sad, but it is funny to hear her ask – every single time.
I was a totally unprepared mommy yesterday when her nose started running, I didn’t have a kleenx, wipe, or even a napkin. But I was taking off her dirty sweatshirt, so I wiped her nose on her sleeve. (A few minutes later, in the car I also leaned back and wiped her nose with my sleeve. Mmmm, baby snot. It truly must be love that blinds us to all the gross things we do for our children.) Then last night when we getting ready for bed, she sneezed and before I could get her a kleenx, she leaned down and tried to wipe her nose on her jammies…she almost had her nose to her belly. So now she thinks clothing is merely a tool to wipe snotty noses. I know, I asked for it. Show a monkey something one time…and she’ll remember it for life.
She has become a total chatterbox, too. Running commentary on everything and everyone around. So now I have two. Two girls who NEVER stop talking. Ahhh…as I wrote that, she climbed up on my lap and said “I wub you.” Some things I can hear all day long. Every day. That is one of them…the sweetest sound ever.
We have to skip music class today, which stinks, but A. is cuddly when she is sick, so I’m going to go take advantage of that. More of her exploits later.
It was E.’s birthday week last week, and it was difficult to choose a favorite pic – but I finally picked this one for my Best Shot Monday. I love the look on her face, so proud to be a big four-year old, now.
Check out other BSM photos at Tracey’s Picture This.