Saturday, July 9, 2011

Return of the lost...

Yes at long last I am making a post. What can I say? I took a blogging sabbatical and I'm not quite sure that it is done.


But since I use this primarily for me as a way of remembering what has gone on in my (our) lives, I thought I'd better add a few things before the memories lost me.



So without further adieu... you can find my


May 2011 Recap here


and my June 2011 Recap here.


Crazy.


Over a month without a post.



So what have we been up to?


In few short words - it doesn't look like a lot but it feels like A LOT!


I can say that I LOVE my ipad but it is just not good for producing.


Blog material that is. I can type back emails etc but I find it hard to add links, difficult to type longer portions of writing and in general it is easy and portable but not good for production.

I think I heard that somewhere - great for consumption but not production.

They are right.



So talking about CONSUMPTION....


I have definitely been consuming. In fact the kids can attest to the fact that every time I see them on the ipad they are pretty much kicked off. I have discovered a few more blogs that have become very inspiring on the one hand and yet have added some incredible frustration to my life on the other.



Those that know me understand that I have always had a passion for the environment and getting right down to the root of it, feel that as a Christian, we have a responsibility to "keep and till the earth" (Genesis 2:15 " The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it." Contemporary English Version) I have always felt that we have been doing our part within reason. And I still do. For the most part.



I have also been exploring more natural ways of eating, eating more local food and cutting down on the processed crud we eat (I do confess that I am a candy and chips and chocolate junkie). Well one of the blogs I discovered linked to another and another and the consumption continued.



So these new blogs have put me over the edge.

I don't even know what took me there in the first place.


I am firmly entrenched in stage 3 of this new "process"? (aptly described in this post at The Zero Waste Home), although I do dip back and forth in some of the other stages.

"Action boost and trial : I need to do something! and fast! Deciding to do something about those environmental issues if not for myself at least for the future of my kids, meant doing a little research and jumping on the learning wagon..." I already DO do a lot but of course there is more. Some more extreme measures, some experimenting, some definite learning curves. Oh and first and foremost, learning to REFUSE ( more on that some other time).



Currently I've been going to the store and I think,

Am I buying this for the "naturalness",

for the packaging

or for the "localness"?

Ahhh!!!

Let's say it is all very confusing.

Which brings us back to the previously mentioned post.


I am where I am and I know that at some point I will come to decide on my own position.

I spent basically this whole past month reading the entire zerowaste blog from beginning to today.. That led me to listening to the beginning (6years old) and current podcasts over at More Hip Than Hippie. I also linked up with 100 days of Real Food and am reading about the prcoess (and the recipes) this family have gone through to eat zero (yes 0) processed food.


I have become reacquainted with the blog family at Simple Mom, Simple Kids, Simple Organic and Simple Bites and more as well as Kitchen Stewardship and Keeper of the Home. Plus most of these bloggers are Christian! Bonus! Thank goodness that Mitchell is still nursing quite sporadically and that their posts are short.


Who knew the world wide web had so much information?????? lol!





As for the rest of the gang....

Now that the kids are out of school and are at home we have been busy making summer plans. We have a list of "Summer Goals" - places to go, things to do etc. Many are repeats but easier done in the summer. Much to my dismay (!), the kids were totally devastated that I didn't want to do Summer Bingo again this year. I succumbed though and we have had a successful week 1 of bombardment. Isn't it supposed to make my life easier? Being the overachiever that I am, it appears that I have put a lot of squares on that require "checking" in with me. Oh well, live and learn. Some rules have been added and changed, some new rewards and compromises have been made (less junk food this year, more financial incentives) and less days. I have daycare kids M, T, and Th of most weeks and a few W but not on Fridays so it will be a 4 day Bingo, with the last day to just be us and chillax. We have been so enjoying the pool (M3 particularly - so cute the way he throws himself in the little blue pool - I think he may be our fastest swimmer - we will see).





Soooo, sorry for the loooonnnng rambling post. I hope that this means that I will be back more frequently to update but I can't promise. Office time is limited and there is lots to do while M3 sleeps. I have lots that I want to document for our family but unfortunately most of it remains in my head and not in concrete form. Such is life. But it is a good one!



Since M3 is still sleeping and M2 wants to paint....(and M1 is away at baseball with Drew for another tournament) I shall be off while I can!


Oh and maybe some lunch!

TTFN!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

June 2011 Recap

[Another month come and gone - AND late to record. Thank goodness for backdating!]

It’s that time again! Another month has passed us by and it is time for a recap. So why do I do this? First of all my memory is terrible and often find myself wondering when such and such happened. Second of all I love lists and information. Third of all I believe I am a type A personality. Enough said.

Here's a look at our month:
Entertainment – what we’re looking at , listening to and going to!
Books, Magazines, Blogs read:
· Finished audible book Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver. I really enjoyed this book and it goes right alongside a lot of the other reading and listening I’ve been doing this past month. I am reading and investigating being more of a locavore and this book was very encouraging. I found her reasoning for eating meat versus becoming a vegetarian in Ch14 very intriguing and insightful. I’m going back to the paper version to reread parts.
· Hiding Edith – I saw this book at the kids book fair and signed it out from the library. It is a junior non-fiction about a girl that was hidden during the holocaust. I find these stories fascinating and this one was no exception. It is part of a series so I plan to read more.
· Perusing Scrapbooks etc but finding there wasn’t a lot of time for magazines this month – e-versions preferred.
· I finished all of the back posts for http://www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com/ – huge inspiration. It has also led to a few other links http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ http://zerowastelifestyle.blogspot.com/
· I’m still keeping up with my top10 as well although more like my top 5!

TV, Movies, Live Entertainment:
· Being Erica and Arrested Development were all we had time for. I also found we just sat and did internet searching a few times together
· We did watch Shrek 3, HSM 2 and Star Wars together AGAIN! Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 (better than I thought it would be!)

Daily Happenings& Special Events:
· Cierra in Spring Fever dance for school and city
· Waterfront Festival with church (RAIN!!!)
· Theoren’s 8th birthday party at their house (gave him a tetherball set); Cierra hurt ankle
· Celebrated Don’s birthday with family
· Sexuality workshop at work
· Great Wolf Lodge (7-8th)
· Dinner with girls (Beaches) (8th)
· Church golf tournament (11th)
· Church bridal shower (12th)
· Mom out to lunch for Mother’s Day/ birthday
· Cierra prom! (17th)
· Matt to L’s 9th birthday party – gave $25 Toys ‘R Us gift card and smarties
· Cierra graduated! (29th)

Travel (1 hr plus):
· Cobourg (4th-5th)
· Niagara Falls (7-8th)

Financial/ changes to the house etc.:(gifts, renos, big purchases, household purchases)
· Pool opened (5th –cover, 9th – chemicals)
· Consultation for painting first floor!

Health/Development/ Exercise/ Extra Curricular activities:
Drew: baseball, running
Alison: *, walking, running
Cierra: hurt ankle*; x-rays, CT scan; Dr appointment
Matt: baseball-baseball-baseball!!!
Marlee: Mitchell: 3 new molars (15th, 18th, 27th); walking!; EC – a few dry nights! Sleeping a few 5 hour stretches otherwise the same. Liking to eat more casserole type foods – all mixed together. Loving strawberries and grapes and processed snacks – working on that!

Accomplishments/ Disappointments (Goals): (Gotta Do’s, Wanna do’s; OLW, projects)
· Dinner out – Puck ‘N Pizza (used Wag Jag), Il Buco (used Wag Jag)
· Crock-pot recipe for chicken and mushroom soup
· More purging!
· New/ revisited foods – fiddle heads – yuck! And iced tea – yuck; rhubarb – not bad!

All Around Us/ Other (News, Trends, Births, Deaths, World Events, City News Etc): nothing comes to mind

Friday, June 24, 2011

June Good Food Box

I recently picked up the June Good Food Box. As usual it was a steal for $10. Iopted out of the potatoes as I still have the ones from last month. This is what I got:

English Cucumber
Lettuce
Carrots 2lb
Parsnip or bananas
Green pepper
Green onions
Garlic
Lemon
Orange
Strawberries
Rhubarb
(potatoes)

Yum yum local goodness!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

MIA

Missing In Action. Yep that's me. Like I just noticed on my sister's blog, I haven't felt all that chatty lately. That and we've been super busy....



I'll be back soon to write about...


  • May recap

  • Drew's 1/2 marathon run in Ottawa

  • visit to see Sean

  • did I ever write about visiting Sarah in South Carolina????

  • Cierra's birthday

  • LOAD recap

  • wondering if we'll ever get to put up the tether ball set, the basket ball set or the trampoline that is sitting in the garage

  • Cierra's "broken" foot

  • my latest obsession with a new blog I came across http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/ and exploring our own carbon footprint

  • our trip to Great Wolf Lodge

  • looks like it will probably be the June recap by then too!




Until then, a few recent photo faves!

Marlee and Autumn taking a [cool] dip.

Matt and Theoren in deep discussion.


Cierra eating a fireball (yes she was warned it would be HOT!)


The family enjoying the outdoor water area at Great Wolf Lodge (that's Marlee int eh pink in the background).


Mitchell enjoying some watermelon.

TTFN!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

May 2011 Recap

[Added late - oops it really has come and gone! Time to recap our life!

So why do I do this? First of all my memory is terrible and often find myself wondering when such and such happened. Second of all I love lists and information. Third of all I believe I am a type A personality. Enough said.

Here's a look at our month:

Entertainment - what we’re looking at , listening to and going to!
Books, Magazines, Blogs read:
· ebook Simple Mom; listening to Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver
· top 10 blogs plus new link to http://www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com/ – all consuming!
TV, Movies, Live Entertainment:
· Not a lot of Entertainment this month! - Being Erica, Arrested Development;
· Listening to - More Hip than Hippie podcast, Paperclipping podcasts;

Daily Happenings & Special Events:
· Watched church baseball team as a family (9th)
· Marlee to Carter’s birthday party (13th) – gave ‘doh’ gift
· MOPS finished up
· Cierra’s 21st birthday at Moose Winnoosky’s with family and friends (19th)(list for birthday gifts)
· Sean’s birthday (Drew gave golf balls at end of month)
· Ottawa trip for Drew and G’s half marathon run (28th-30th)

Travel (1 hr plus) - Ottawa

Financial/ changes to the house etc.:(gifts, renos, big purchases, household purchases)
· Not much this month (gifts see above)!

Health/ Development/ Exercise/ Extra Curricular Activities:
Drew: basketball; running, half marathon; 2 yr follow-up appointment – leg
Alison: *, elliptical, running, dentist
Cierra: dentist
Matt: ball hockey, baseball, church drama
Marlee: church dramaMitchell: doing well, sleep schedule still the same (down at 9, up a few times through the night with us, up at 7ish and down for 2-3 hour nap at 9:15); eating well; still creeping; happy-go-lucky!

Accomplishments/ Disappointments (Goals - Gotta Do’s, Wanna do’s; OLW, projects)
· LOAD211
· LOTS of purging!
· Trying new recipes – Butternut squash in the amish muffins – not a great hit especially when the loaf isn’t fully cooked!

All Around Us/ Other (News, Trends, Births, Deaths, World Events, City News Etc): nothing comes to mind!

Phew - glad to get that down!

Friday, May 20, 2011

LOAD1105 - Day 20 and all about today...

It was such an amazing day out today that I left scrapbooking until the very end, and I am tired so a few more quickies for the neighbourhood album were all I was inspired to do.





perhaps not a lot of scrapbooking but today I...


  • got 15 minutes of elliptical in before M3 woke up at 7:03 (PS - C was downstairs at 6:03 dressed, eating breakfast and I think there might have been dishes she put away - WHAT TIME DID SHE GET UP??? her alarm is supposed to go at 5:45!)

  • Got C off to school

  • took the kids to school (A-day)

  • went for a walk with M3 (30 minutes)

  • took out lots of dandelions in front and back yard

  • raked out dirt in back yard and added some to garden bed

  • got first ever harvest of asparagus (some had already bolted)

  • cleaned up the garage a bit more

  • set up the posts for the garden trellis

  • sat with M3 who fell asleep

  • M3 wouldn't transfer so I thought a drive would help

  • ended up at Bradford Greenhouse (still not asleep) and bought veggie plants for the garden (super busy there!)

  • forgot my gift card in my pants pocket but bought everything anyway ($115)

  • M3 still not asleep but in a good mood

  • logged C's birthday gifts

  • made lunch

  • ate most of lunch and read ZeroWaste blog

  • C came home and got her ready to go to mom's and snack ready for school

  • went to school and played at park until 4pm

  • dc kids picked up at school

  • walked home (M3 fell asleep)

  • made dinner for M2 who was going to bowling invite with a friend

  • drove M2 (with everyone) to bowling for 5:30 (M3 transferred and went back to sleep)

  • stopped at park with kids on way for 10 minutes

  • yelled at kids who were rude to kids at the park

  • cleaned up garage more and watched kids play baseball in driveway

  • missed DC kids mom when we got home

  • got pizza from kids mom

  • left my kids with DC kids mom while I went to get M2

  • took longer then I should of to get M2 (who looked SO CUTE bowling - stylin! outfit and COOL bowling shoes I might add!!!)

  • had to get gas since I was on empty

  • returned overdue book of Drew's to library

  • sat with friend and neighbour for a few minutes, friend left, neighbour stayed, played in back yard with kids

  • neighbours went home, kids went up to bath

  • bathed, quick hugs, prayers and into bed!

  • dozed with M3

  • woke up at 10:16 - LOAD!

  • now sidetracked and time for bed.

and as for tomorrow? hopefully...



  • plants in garden with trellis and tunnels finished?

  • basketball net and tether ball set installed???

  • M2 to play date and then sleepover at DIL

  • scrapping for me?

That's enough for now!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

T's house - LOAD1105 - Day19

Another quickie tonight as we were out celebrating C's birthday. More will follow on that. Otherwise, here is another addition to my childhood neighbourhood memory album.




TFL!