Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.

More and more lately I've been trying to, not only recycle, but buy products that come in recyclable packaging - specially if it already contains some post consumer content.

I bought new printer cartridges last week, and was delighted to open them up and discover this - a small pre-paid mailing bag to send the old one back for recycling. Way to go HP, that makes me even happier that I bought your printer.

Also, my order from Eco-bags arrived today. I've intermittently used cloth bags from here and there, but in April decided to become committed to re-usable bags and bought a whole ton. I bought a bunch of the organic cotton bags, 3 string bags for big fruit, etc and 6 small cloth bags for small produce and grains. I'm really excited to use them. The hardest part for me will be remembering to take them with me, so I'll be sure to put them right back in the car after each use.

I noticed last week at Trader Joe's that they enter you into a weekly drawing to win a $35 gift card if you use your own bags (they don't even have to be the Trader Joe's ones) AND Whole Foods will give you 5c per bag you reuse .... that kind stuff just makes me happy.

Gardening

We are way behind on our gardening - all that spring travel - but we'll catch up. The weather has been perfect, so I've been trying to get out there as much as I can before the humidity arrives. The kids love to be outside, and are usually happy to wander the yard and dig in the dirt. Emily loves to help me plant the flowers, and she's just fun to be with. Rebekah is less enthusiastic about helping, but is a great worker after all the eye rolling is over.

Here's Emily taking a break. We bought another swing - the one on the left. All my kids love to swing. I'm still not confidant in Jacob's ability to hold on, so we got the toddler swing so he and Jane can swing at the same time. The strap swing on the other side is still for Emily & the 2nd strap swing we've put in the garage for now. It's working out beautifully - except Jacob likes to be pushed from behind, and Jane likes it better when I'm pushing from in front - so I just alternate. We've not had great luck the past 2 years with the impatiens, so this year I'm trying petunias in the front bed. Pink, white & yellow. Then I did yellow cascading petunias and a small blue trailing flower in the window box on the deck. My friend Melissa, had great luck with them last year. I'm using the fertilizer she recommended and have taught Emily how to dead-head them. I'm hoping for big full blooms this year.
Jacob helped to plant tomato plants. We're moving things around this year, and taking out the concrete retaining wall in the back and replacing it with interlocking landscaping bricks. I'm hoping to get that done within the next 2 weeks, so we can dedicate this side area (with full sun) to vegetables.
By the front door. Emily planted the alyssum.
Jane was happy to get in on the action too.

Not so fast ...

This morning we did everything right on schedule. The swimming bags were by the door ready to go, the beds were made, kids ready, the girls had left on time for school with minimal panic.

I was finishing up the dishes in the kitchen and listening to Jacob and Jane laugh and play with each other in the living room. I glanced at the clock and thought "Perfect, I have just enough time to pop dinner into the crock-pot, and we can leave for swimming." I continued that thought with "How nice it is, that Jacob and Jane are getting bigger, and they can play together and entertain each other. Now I can get a few things done (like dishes) without having to watch them every second. How nice, that life is returning to normal." THEN, I happened to peek around the corner at them, and this sight met me.

Jacob had taken the entire tube of Jane's snack (several types of "puffs" and cereal mixed together) and sprinkled it all over the floor. The lens on my camera couldn't even get all of it. It was EVERYWHERE. They were laughing as they smashed it into powder!

Jake was using the spatula for ultimate efficiency!

Needless to say, after vacuuming we were running late for swimming, and Jane had only a small tub of peas for her snack (fortunately she loves peas.) This was pretty much the best it got on a day that ended with him pouring a whole, new, bottle of bubble solution over the shoe rack (and a dozen pairs of shoes) in the vestibule. Mmmm, I'm beginning to re-think my decision not to send him to pre-school next year!

Maybe things will get easier when they're 2 & 3 1/2 ....

Little Frog

Emily has a competitive nature. She's also very goal oriented. It's something that will serve her well in life, if she can learn not to let it drive her crazy.

There's only a few weeks left until swimming is over for the summer. I was worried that she may not get her next badge, and would be left feeling a little deflated. Not to worry, she got it today. She was so proud of herself, and I'm thrilled too.

Here's what she had to do to get it (from the Aqua Tots badge info sheet.)

Students must be able to swim 100 yards (4 lengths of the pool), of front crawl and backstroke with the correct form and timing. They must be able to demonstrate "elementary backstroke" for 25 yards, and breaststroke for 25 yards.

If you've never seen "elementary backstroke" (I hadn't) it's worth seeing - kind of like breaststroke, but on your back! Weird. In fall she'll start working towards her crab badge - all of the above, plus 25 yards of sidestroke.

Emily is officially now the best swimmer in our family!

One More

When downloading my pictures, I saw this one. I know I already posted about her birthday - but this was too cute, I had to add it. She really liked that cake.

Tagged

Lindsey tagged me ages ago, and I haven't got around to posting this until now. So, here are 7 random things about me.

* I have lived in 4 different countries (Australia, Japan, England, and the US)

* I love toast. Seriously, I'd eat it every day for breakfast. My favorites are whole wheat bread with avocado & salt, white bread with Vegemite or honey and any kind of bread with marmalade.

* The highlight of my week was buying a lilac bush to plant in our garden. I just love how they smell, and the beautiful flowers. I've wanted one forever, and since we're rearranging our plants this year - we're putting one in.

* I am looking forward to going back to work (when Jane is bigger.) I often think that I might like to be a doula, instead of working as an OB nurse. I'm just not sure how I'd manage the un-predictability of that schedule with Rick's long hours & my kids ....

* I'd like to get a degree in anthropology one day, with an emphasis on medical anthropology. Maybe when Jane starts kindergarten. Rebekah will be a freshman that year. I'm sure she'd LOVE it if we went to the same school.

* I can crack a stock whip (cattle whip) over my head, and I'm a decent horsewoman (or at least I used to be, I haven't been riding since Emily was born.) I had my own horse as a teenager.

* One of the things that really attracted me to Rick when we were dating was how good he smelled. It was his deodorant. They discontinued it right after we got married, and I'm still not over it.

I tag; Vanessa, Laura B., Brooke, Julie and Stephanie.

Happy 1st Birthday Jane

Our sweet little Jane turned a year old today.

I know this is so cliche to say - but I really can't believe it's been a year. Last night at dinner I wistfully said to Rebekah "A year ago today she was still inside of me." Bek replied "That is disturbing on so many levels." She may not yet appreciate the emotions of motherhood ...

My only consolation is that I really feel like I am enjoying every minute of her (OK, not really last week, but every other minute.) She is just a sweetheart, and a smart little cookie too. Her personality seems to be a great mix of my other kids. She has Emily's tender and sweet side, Jacob's mischievous nature and love of the outdoors, and Rebekah's sense of humor.

She is now taking several steps at a time (6-7) and climbing on everything she can (but doesn't know how to get down, so cries until I rescue her.) She has started signing, and signs bird, more and milk (for nursing). Bird is her best sign, and the one she does the most, which is funny, as it was a later sign for the other kids.

She adores her big brother and sisters and lights up when they are around. She doesn't want to be left out of ANYTHING they are doing. She recently figured out that Dad is the best vehicle to get outside, and clings to him when he is around.

We got this cute, funky cake from Riviera bakehouse. The "candles" are made of chocolate (the kids fought over them), so we added 1 pink candle for her to blow out. Emily and Jacob "helped" her to do it.


Jane liked her cake. She started gingerly with her fingers, but soon abandoned them for the more direct method of bowl-diving.

This is what she looked like by the time she was headed to the tub. YUM!

Jacob was very helpful when it came to opening her gifts. Lucky she has a big brother to show her such things. If she's really lucky, he might even let her play with some of them.

Emily gave her the same Playmobile 1-2-3 boat that Jacob has (to help avoid fights) and Jacob still went to bed with it in his hands - and one of the balls from her ball-bopper (which he thought was the greatest thing ever.)

Fortunately, she's used to him - and getting better at holding her own.

The surprise hit of the evening was this gear set from my parents. She LOVED it. It has small gears that you can position anywhere on the board, then you push a button at the bottom, and it plays music and then turns the gears at the end.

Every time the gears turned she clapped and made this excited little face -

I only hope the rest of my time raising this darling little girl will be as wonderful as this first year. I love you Janie!

Man, am I glad that's over.

OK, so while I'm posting, I thought I'd put this picture up. This is how my poor boy spent most of last week (when we weren't washing him off or at the ER.) He lost 3 1/2 pounds. He previously weighed 34lbs - that's 10% of his body weight. Can you imagine losing 10% of your body weight in 4 days?

He was SO lethargic, and miserable. Actually, we all were! Good news is we're all doing much better. Yesterday as Jake chased Emily bugging her she said "I want Jacob sick again." I guess she liked him immobile - not me. Give me the energetic little spitfire Jacob any day.

I had recently mentioned to Rick that maybe his little trip to the hospital during my pregnancy with Jane might have been premature ... maybe I would have liked 5 kids. I think I could have had 5. (Rick, of course, was horrified at the thought.)

This past week helped me realize - I have my hands full. Home alone with such sick kids made me really appreciate single parents (I was one for 4 years - but only to 1 kid which was much easier.) I also have a greater appreciation for my kids general good health, and those parents who have kids with a chronic illness. I am comfortable with knowing our family is complete. Rick work a lot and travels quite a bit too, this family suits our lifestyle.

Most days it's just me and the kids - and 4 suits me just fine.

Jane Can Walk!!

Jane met all her developmental milestones early. She was early to roll over, sit, pull up to stand and to walk around furniture. So, at 8 months when she was speeding along furniture, I thought for sure she was on the "Emily timetable" for walking (Em walked at 10 months) - or maybe EVEN SOONER.

Not so.

Yesterday at church I was telling all my friends what a big chicken Jane is. I knew she had the physical capability to walk, she just didn't want to. Every time we we try to let go of her she goes all "jelly legs" and sits right down. She'll walk with a walker, or barely holding onto 1 finger - but not on her own. I mentioned that if she didn't walk by Thursday (the day after her 1st birthday), she would be my latest walker.

She probably heard me, and didn't want to be last. Yesterday afternoon, she just stood herself up from sitting in the middle of the floor, and stood (wobbly) for several minutes. We all clapped and cheered, and she did it again a few times.

Then this afternoon, I left Rebekah for 5 minutes with the kids to run a dinner next door -- of course, Rebekah came tearing over with her saying that she had taken a few steps. We played with her all afternoon watching her do it. Very cute. We were all squealing (OK, mostly me) and clapping, she even clapped for herself. She definitely knew we were pleased with her, and she was pleased with herself too!

I am excited to see her walk, and grow and become a toddler, but the moment was bittersweet. There goes my last baby. This feeling is probably why I will breastfeed her until kindergarten!

Mommy Math

Sunday & Monday

1 husband in Indonesia for the past week

4 kids at home

14 hours straight of constant vomiting

8 hours of diarrhea too

for 2 of those 4 kids

0 sleep

1 hour waiting in the Dr's office

1 trip to the ER

2 IV's

that took 4 sticks to get

8 hours of getting re-hydrated

2 kids vomiting more on car ride home from ER

623,000 loads of laundry (it seems)

1 dear friend bringing Pedialyte & staying to fold laundry

= One tired Mama

Tuesday

1 more night of missed sleep

2 static-y phone calls from husband

1 missed swimming lesson

another 24 hours of puke & poop - not slowing

1 chinese take-out dinner

2 more calls to pediatrician

many prayers

= no clean sheets or towels around here

Wednesday

1 kid who stopped vomiting

1 who still is

2 kids still with diarrhea

1 more call to Dr

(they're going to start blocking my number)

1 bottle of expensive pro-biotics

1 kid who won't take it

2 neighbors bringing me groceries

1 visiting teacher taking Emily to tennis

3 washed car-seat covers

1 friend coming to help with laundry & car-seats

4 phone calls from others offering to help

= maybe we'll make it

The kids are asleep now. No one has vomited for about the past 6 hours. I am feeling hopeful. Rick should be home on Saturday. He had all his stuff stolen (wallet, passport, laptop, keys, cell phone, check book, etc) FROM HIS LOCKED ROOM at the Four Seasons. It's been a mess. Each time he's called me to try and be sure stuff is cancelled, I'm holding a puking kid & I'm no help. The worst part was that he had a memory stick in the laptop that had all our personal account information, and passwords on it (kids college accounts, house savings, retirement - everything.) Someone followed the porter to his room, said they were a friend picking something up for him, and the porter let them in!! Ridiculous.

Is it just us, or do other people feel like their lives are careening out of control? I used to feel very pro-active about my life, now I just feel like everyday I'm in survival mode!

The Business of Being Born

I promise I'll get around to pictures & tales of our Australian trip ... eventually.

This evening I went to the Tribeca Film Festival for a special screening (to benefit "Friends of the Birth Center") of "The Business of Being Born."

If you know me well, you know that Natural Childbirth is my second religion. These days I'm too busy working around Rick and the kids to do much for me or devote myself to things I am passionate about. I need to change that. Rick works LONG hours and is essentially unavailable Mon-Friday. (He is great when he's here - he's just not here much.) Anyway, that is not likely to change any time soon and I can't wait 15 years for him to retire to be able to have personal time, I need to replenish my soul on a regular basis.

In that vein I bought the tickets before we went to Australia, thinking that Rick could maybe come home early, or I'd get a sitter, so I could go. Well, with everything that we've been up to lately, I forgot all about it until I got the e-mail reminder late last night. Rick is in Indonesia until May 12th. My 1st instinct was to think I would have to miss it. The tickets were not cheap - for a movie - ($40 each, and I had 2) and I REALLY wanted to go. Rebekah was babysitting for Erin's kids - but if I skipped the post show Q&A and cocktails (easy since I don't drink), I could be home before she left. So I went. I wish I could have found someone to come with me - but I'm sure they sold the spare ticket - a net benefit to the birth center & that makes me happy.

I purposely took the train in so I could read on the way there and back (& it's cheaper than parking.) I had 4 1/2 hours to myself and enjoyed every minute of it. The film was really good. If you get a chance to see it you really should. I'm hoping it will be picked up by PBS at some point. I saw a bunch of people that I used to work with, when I worked at Elizabeth Seton (before it closed in 2003), and had a great experience watching it with a whole packed theater of people who believe the things that I do about women, birth and health care in this country.

I felt bad Rebekah was left alone with the 3 little kids for dinner & baths, etc - but I will pay her handsomely for her efforts. I actually did try to find a second babysitter so she'd have help - but didn't have any luck on short notice. Jane was happy to see me to nurse, when I got back. I was surprised that I really felt like I missed her. I think this is the longest she & I have ever been separated? Maybe about the same length of time once in Australia. Anyway, she's fine, all is well and I will be a happier Mama tomorrow for it.

No matter what your feelings are about natural birth for yourself, this is stuff we should all know ... and teach our daughters about. If you get the chance - see this film.

Yay Spring!

Spring has sprung, while we've been gone, and we have returned to delightful weather, flowers blooming, and blue skies. I LOVE New York in Spring!

Tonight I made my favorite spring dinner - a risotto soup. Rick's not a big fan (no meat), but my kids like it and Jane wolfed it down tonight. Although I'm no Adriana, or Lindsey (and never will be), I thought I'd post the recipe. It's quick (we got home from Emily's tennis lesson after 5 and were eating at 5:45 tonight, and that included cleaning up Duplo's, helping Emily with her piano practice, and Jane hanging on my leg crying), easy and very yummy. Enjoy!

Springtime Risotto Soup

1 Tbsp oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 tsp grated lemon rind (I just use 1 lemon, then juice it and toss that in too.)
¾ cup Arborio rice
3 (14 ½ oz) cans chicken broth (I use the organic one that comes in a carton.)
2 cups (about 1 lb) sliced asparagus
2 cups coarsely chopped spinach (be generous with both the asparagus & spinach)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Add lemon rind, sauté 2 minutes. Add rice, sauté 3 minutes.

Stir in broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in asparagus, spinach and nutmeg.

Cook uncovered 2 more minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender.

Top each serving with cheese. Serve immediately.

Yields 4 servings.


This is yummy served hot and fresh when the asparagus is still bright green and a little crisp - but still very good the next day for lunch re-heated. I always double the recipe for the 6 of us, then have lunch the next day too.

We're Back

This is Rick, with his older sister and his Mom (maybe 1970?) - I love this picture!

Well, after 5 weeks of almost constant travel, we're home. My kids are great little travellers, and other than not knowing when they should be awake or asleep, they've done very well.

We'd headed to Utah to say good-bye to Deanna (Rick's Mom), who - bless her heart - had held on for us while we took our trip to Australia. She fought a great battle with cancer, and we we're glad to be able to get out there to see her. We arrived on Friday, and she passed away on Sunday. We stayed for the funeral, which was beautiful, the following Saturday.

If you'd like to see her obituary, it will be available for a few more weeks here. Deanna was an amazing woman, and provided a very high benchmark for me to live up to.

We will all miss her dearly.