Living Green

I just wanted to share how we are trying to live greener and healthier. We have been shopping at Henry's and Clark's mostly.

• Organic Milk- I have been buying only organic milk, on sale and we have really been paying more attention to when the bulldozer has it in his cup, making sure he doesn't leave it somewhere and it goes back in the fridge.
• Vinegar and baking soda (separately of course) to clean, I have been doing that for a while now. I still have a lot of traditional cleaners so I am trying to use those up before I buy natural cleaners.
• Indoor plants- we have 7 now, so that is really cleaning our air. We really notice how stale the kids rooms are without having the plants in there.
• Natural meat-We have been purchasing natural chicken and beef from Henry's only on sale, which is by the way, the BEST meat we have ever had!
• On sale items- Organic items can be pricey so I have really been paying attention to purchase only when on sale. I am currently watching for a sale on the seventh generation brand dish washing detergent, laundry soap, and dish washing liquid. I have also been purchasing organic fruit on sale only and the locally sourced eggs they sell at Henry's.

I watch Get Fresh with Sara Snow and I have gotten most of these ideas from her show.

If you love purchasing your foods instead of making them, Do Not Click On The Link Below!!!
I have also started making more things from scratch. The major one is peanut butter. I read this article on the Internet, I had heard about it a long time ago, but didn't believe it. Now I do believe it and I am trying to make more things from scratch and buying things closer to their natural state. The insects don't bother me terribly, it is the rodent hair part that disgusts me.

This Peanut Butter recipe is so easy and the kids love it!
I added some honey to sweeten it up a bit.

I will share other things we are doing to be green and healthy! Share any tips you may have also please.

Three Stitches

And unbelievably cute! Bad news is that he is allergic to latex, we now know this because of the redGreat news though. They did a CT scan to see if he had a concussion and while looking at it the doctor noticed (What we already knew) that part of his right parietal lobe is missing. The doctor was about to discuss it with Brad when Brad said, Oh I know about the missing part of his brain already, he happened at birth. The doctor was relieved that Brad knew already. The cool part was that aftder reviewing the CT scan further the doctor noticed that the left side of his brain was enlarged, in a good way. It is compensating for the missing part. He said that in 15 years he may only have a slight delay. Which to me translates into he may one day get married and have children, which means the world to me.

Here you can see the reaction to the band-aid. Actually The prince and I are both allergic to latex. And after my fetoscopic laser surgery when pregnant with the twins we found out I was allergic to the surgical glue. My reaction to the glue was terrible! They almost put that on his eye instead of stitches. Good thing!

You'd never guess!

First thing you'd never guess is the great deal we got on a 1953 hutch at a thrift store. We decided 2 days ago we wanted a hutch for some better storage solutions and last night we went looking some were $280 used and $400 new, that wasn't going to work for our budget. So we tried one more store and found the perfect one that was the perfect size and it was only $90 marked down from $240. What a steal!!! Brad picked it up today. Here it is in all it's glory.

Sooooo while I was helping Brad take it out of the van, actually we barely had opened the van door when from inside we heard crash... wahhh. We ran in knowing what we would find, mostly anyway. The boys have been pushing themselves away from the dining room table and then they decide to pull themselves back up to it from their booster chairs. Which is fine, except when the munchkin does it he isn't strong enough to slide straight back up to the table so he, only once before, has fallen face down with the chair on top of him. Very scary, we thought he learned his lesson and we have been careful with his placement at the table. Today he fell again. So when we ran inside he was under the chair. And apparently he hit the table on his way down. The cut continued slightly bleeding so after we took the hutch out of the van and put his car seat back in, Brad took him to the emergency room to see if he needs stitches. Brad put a butterfly stitch on his cut to help with the bleeding. This sweet boy has now had 2 emergency room visits, the seven year-old has had 0. I think the munchkin is not as innocent as we all think he is. No really though he only cried for a second, he sure is tough!

I will post about Christmas and everything soon, I promise!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Literally and figuratively. This is the second day this week it is raining, Oh I am a happy girl, When I looked out the window this morning I smiled so big when I saw it all beautifully cloudy and drizzling. So now the figurative part, it's raining homemade Christmas presents. I am working on like 5 projects right now. With the kids all being sick last week I was too exhausted at the end of the day to sew the pajama pants but I have finished Brad's pair, so just 5 more to go! I also need to help the kids finish their gifts and I am knitting and crocheting. I have a nurse here today so hopefully I can get a good part of my projects completed. And Brad just called and said because it is raining so hard, he is on his way home. Apparently you can't work with asphalt when it's raining. Yeah, I love when he comes home early! Even though it is not so great when the check comes, I do love having him here!

Todays Happenings

The kids have all been sick for over a week now. It has been a looong week. This morning as they are waking up they seem to be all better. Yeah!! We are talking about going to look at a new camera. My Mom and Dad said they would help with the cost for our Christmas present. The one we have now takes terrible pictures at night and of moving subjects, which doesn't really work for us. We found a sale at Circuit City so we will probably head down there and then maybe to the Snow in Palm Springs. Then tonight is the Christmas show at our church. We are going to take the big kids out to dinner first and then to the show. I am really excited to do something for the big kids.
In the mornings I listen to CSN (Christian Sattelite Network) on channel 88.9 on the radio in the mornings and there are two really great shows that I have caught. One is about the Ten Commandments and the other is about Marriage and parenting the resources are free and you can download them right onto your ipod. Just click on Listen online. Just wanted to pass that information along it has been quite informative for me. Have a great day!

Skip

I just read their blog. As soon as I saw it at the top of my blogroll I knew what had happened. I am so sad. We brought them a meal a few months back and I was on the phone with skip for about 20 minutes just talking. He asked me abut our kids and I told him how the boys were premature and about the munchkins CP. And at the end of the conversation he asked me if he could pray for us. I felt so undeserving-he has been suffering with brain cancer for about 5 years now and he is praying for me?? When I got off the phone I prayed, and prayed and prayed for him. I never really knew him except for that phone call. I was Hannah's preschool teacher at the church when she was 4 (I think she is 11 or 12 now) I know Linda much better than I knew Skip. I can't even imagine what their family is feeling right now. Please pray for peace for them.

Seven!

My first born, my sweet boy is seven today. It is amazing to me that he is growing so quickly. I look at his face and I see my sweet baby. Don't get me wrong, he has always been a busy boy, climbing and exploring, but he has also always been very kind. He is amazing smart and in his recent report card he is reading far above second grade level and he is 6 months to a year (in age) behind his peers. I am so proud of his curiosity and his ability to retain information. Sometimes I will be reading something to him and I will think he isn't listening so I will ask him what I just said-expecting him to say ummm I don't know, he will repeat the sentence word for word. I on the other hand have to go back and re-read it to make sure he is right because I can't remember it, and I am the one who read it! His favorite TV show when he was 3 was Jeff Corwin and The Crocodile Hunter and he can remember facts from those shows forever! He is so patient with me and with the boys (and the girl) who destroy his things. He is flexible from having to bounce from his Dad's house to mine form week to week. I will spout off a million directions to him when I am stressed and he will do them. And if I ask him to make the boys stop crying or to play with them he will. He is my Prince and I am so grateful to God for him.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday and since everyone was already here we decided to have a sort of surprise party. When we said it was time for pie and everyone was in the dining room I came from the bedroom with a birthday cake and we started singing. He was so surprised! and the look on his face made me cry. WE had some trick candles on the cake which was hilarious. He hugged me while I was cutting the cake. He was smiling so big! We had gone with one of his friends to "Pump it up" (an inflatable party zone) and then to Hometown Buffet last weekend so we said that he wasn't really going to get much else. We decided a few days ago to do the surprise thing and I am so glad we did. Al the pictures I have of him as a baby are in a scrapbook or in a box and I don't have a scanner so I took pictures from my scrapbook.

A Glorious Day!

Today has really gone well (besides the COMPLETE meltdown in the grocery store from the munchkin) We started off by earning a cub scout patch because we dropped off canned food with the scout people (I am still trying to understand this whole cub scout thing) While talking to the head lady we mentioned that we tried to get the uniform but couldn't and I asked if we needed the belt she said"I happen to have one in my car that he can have" He gasped with delight! Then we did some grocery shopping-I really needed creamer, everything else we could have done without (you know like milk, cheese, bread...) The we came home and the boys took their nap. The big kids played at the neighbors and I got to be on the computer uninterrupted and Brad got to be outside in his garden uninterrupted. As I said it has been a Glorious day! We go to church tonight and then tomorrow we will be doing a small celebration (One friend gets to come) at pump it up and then to Home town buffet for lunch (He gasped with delight multiple times at the thought of the buffet!) For the Prince's birthday. It is actually next Saturday but he will be at his Dad's house so we are doing just a small something.

Presents

This year for Christmas we are each making something for each person. This is the first year the kids are giving each other gifts.

This will be the handkerchief doll the prince makes for his sister

This will be the 2 blankets the prince makes for the twins (tied fleece) This will be the pajama pants I am making for everyone. I made some when the prince was little but that was a long time ago, we will see how they turn out :)

Daddy is making shirts (iron-on emblems) for everyone to wear with their pajama pants for Christmas eve and then they can be worn out in the world. The twins are making bookmarks, and I am not sure what the princess is going to be making this year. The two big kids will get a couple of store bought presents but we really want them to realize what this season is all about: giving not receiving and praising God for sending his son!

Yeah

Today is going MUCH better except for some crankiness from the boys this morning. I got a full night sleep so that is wonderful. Thank you everyone for your kind words and prayers. Now I am off to make my corn muffins....
This is the munchkin about a month ago raising both arms! This is my visual of YEAH for you.

We survived

We made it through today, barely. I went to the conference but the teacher wasn't expecting me (the office didn't let the teacher know I switched my day to today) so I will be going back on Friday, which is good because I will be at the school anyway bringing 40 mini corn muffins (that I am making because I can't find them at any store), 40 little cartons of milk (purchased from the cafeteria for $14.00) and 20 plastic spoons-all for the November birthday/thanksgiving party at school. The prince will be 7 in nine days. It's breaking my heart that he is so big.

We went to dance class and found out that her creative movement class will be performing at the Mcallum in June and the costume deposit was already due. I don't know where I have been-(oh wait I was chasing my screaming 2 year-old boys around the dance studio. the past two weeks I haven't had to bring them because the nurse has been here she is so wonderful)-that I didn't know about the performance. So after dance we planned on driving out to yellow mart in Indio to get a cub scout uniform for a very excited cub scout. There was major construction that I had to park very far away and carry the princess through the mud and we had to enter through the back service entrance-it was crazy, I am so glad I didn't have the boys with me!
So they didn't have his size-only youth XL, that would definitely not fit him! So, devastated we left and drove to little Caesars for 2 $5 pizzas and cash back so I could drive back to the dance studio and pay for the costume. Then we had to rush back home before the wonderful nurse had to leave at 6. We got home at 5:50-awfully close! Then the munchkin threw up for the 3rd time today. I think I have figured it out I think it is a combination of teeth pain and we need to change our air filter. He is our air filter sensor, when he starts throwing up-it's time to change the filter. I would prefer that he let us know another way :)

Well that was our Crazy, Crazy day today. I know that many of you will breath a sigh of relief that this day didn't happen to you :) Oh, and I am trying to keep on top of updating my blog, soon maybe I can update and be able to comment on your blogs-I do read every one's blogs-just so you know.

Tired, tired and more tired

4:23 am
Prince: cough, cough, sniffle
Mom: go get a tissue and I will help you blow your nose (Yes he is almost seven, but the boy HATES to blow his nose and wouldn't if I didn't make him. )
Prince: (after we have taken care of the nose) can I sleep in your bed?
Mom: okay, get in

4:30
Prince: Cough, cough My nose is running
Mom: go get a tissue and I'll give you some cough medicine

4:35
Mom spills cough syrup on her pants, feet and floor

Return the prince to his bed after I clean up my mess and change my clothes
The bulldozer makes noise when the Prince walks into his room

4:50
Prince: Mom, I am still coughing (He is right in front of my face)
Mom: you'll be fine here get in bed with me
(as I roll over I realize that I didn't quite clean my foot good enough so up I walk into the bathroom to wash my foot)

5:00
Prince: Mom, I can't sleep. I want to go read my cub scout book
Mom: No, it's too early, go to sleep.

5:15
Mom rolls over again only to realize that the other foot is still sticky, so up to clean it.
Prince: my nose is running
Mom: go get a tissue
Prince: the floor is sticky in here where you spilled the cough medicine
Mom: Okay thank you, I'll take care of it later
Brad gets up to use the restroom
Noise coming from the boys room
everyone back in bed

5:30
Prince: Mom, I can't sleep
Mom: take a deep breath and let it out slowly, do that 3 times.

5:45
Brad's alarm goes off he pushes the sleep button

6 am
Brad gets up and now the boys are crying
Mom fetches a bottle and feeds the munchkin while the bulldozer cries.

6:20
Brad leaves for work
Bulldozer empties toy buckets in the boys room while Mom lays on their bed

6:40
Princess wakes up. first thing said"I don't want to be asleep anymore"
Prince wakes up. first thing said "Did I miss anything??"
Boys were already awake so we all emerged into the living room to begin our very fabulous day
which started with the munchkin throwing up- he is teething and can't stand the pain.

I set the timer for 5 minutes and told the two big kids they had to be dressed, faces washed, teeth brushed before the timer dinged. If they weren't ready they were leaving the house as is. ( they had already been asked to get ready and didn't listen.) Well the timer worked so well. When it went off the prince said "My shoes aren't on-can I put my shoes on?" Princess said the same thing. I told them that the shoes not being on was fine. I was amazed that they did it. I did not have the energy to discuss anything this morning.

I nurse coming today at 10am-6pm to help with the boys. (It's respite care) and Brad has school today but he got off work today at 8:45 so he is here for a little while. I do have parent teacher conference today and the princess has dance lessons this afternoon. I think we will make it though.

The Munchkin

The munchkin wearing his (leg braces) AFO's and working with the teacher that comes to the house. He is doing so well!

Pumpkins and Halloween

Carving pumpkins is very serious stuff!!

This pumpkin is not carvable, he tried and when we realized it would be easier to carve it if we had a chain saw we looked it up on the internet and found out it is for pies and such. Such being pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spice muffins, a pumpkin spice lattes. We have already made the first two things.

The boys got to draw their faces on their pumpkin with guidance, of course. Now they are waiting for their pumpkin to be carved

Our scarecrow family outside, one for each of us.


The Prince wanted slashes on his

Pinky's (The Princess) Pumpkin

The boys

The Princess was sleeping beauty with "New Hair", as she called it

One knight...
and then another. We let this monkey wear his new leg braces(AFO's) and we held his hands and he walked up to the houses (well stepped). It was so cute.

And then a few days later I made my first pie EVER! The crust was frozen but I used fresh pumpkin. It was so yummy.

Family Night-Pizza Making

The serious pizza chef of the group

A pizza dough mustache

Daddy wasn't available for this family night he had a lot of homework to do-this one was a couple weeks ago, it was terribly hard to help four kids make pizza but they had fun. The Prince put both sauces-red and pesto, he also put chicken, tomatoes, and any sort of topping I had out. It was so cute and so yummy. It took forever for me to clean up because first I made the pesto sauce from the basil in the backyard. I was going to make my own pizza dough but I ended up buying it at Trader Joe's, thank goodness for that. It is really neat because the kids gets excited now when we say " It's Friday, It's Family Night!" The Princess says "Yeah, Family Night!!!"

Halloween Party

We sent the princess to one Grandmas house to have "girly" time and the boys went with the other Grandma to McDonald's and the park. Then Daddy and I had 8 little boys in the house. It was so awesome! I was dressed up as a witch and Brad was a 1920's business man (so he said, his costume was pieced together) Brad was in charge of 2 games-a balloon pull (the number on your balloon determined your # of prizes from the prize bucket) and water balloon toss. I was in charge of musical chairs and this icky game where you put things like cooked and oiled noodles (brains) in container in a bag and they blindly feel inside and try to guess what body part it is. There was cold cooked oatmeal (guts), unpopped popcorn (teeth), yarn (hair), peeled grapes (eyeballs) and more. It was so funny. We had one boy who was three and every time it was his turn to feel he would do it but when it was time for him to guess, Brad would say "okay what d you think it was?" and he would say "Yuck" then Brad would say" yeah, but what do you think it is?" He would reply "YUCK!" He was adorable. The Prince felt so special to have something just for him and his friends.

Karaoke

The Bulldozer dressed up as a cowboy for a karaoke family night. Adorable!!!

Family Night (3 weeks ago)

So I am a little behind in my blogging, I am going to do as may blogs as I can tonight to catch up. Here is our family recipe for caramel apples......

First, you wash the hand picked apples Then you dip them in caramel and let them set



Then you enjoy

When you are done with your apple you place it in an inconspicuous spot for your parents to find it later