What are they thinking? Soap

I told Ella to go wash her hands. A few minutes later, this was the result. I wiped the soap out of her eyes prior to the picture.

Baby socks

The girls are always pulling off Penny's socks. They think it's hilarious. Penny likes it too. She squeals whenever they do it. It drives me nuts because they run and throw them somewhere and then can never remember where they are. I have a lot of single socks waiting for their match to come home.

Today, I decided to outsmart them and not put socks on her. They can't take them off if they aren't there.

As I was hanging up clothes in their room, I heard Penny squealing and the girls laughing. As I went to investigate, Samantha yelled, "Run, Ella! Run!"

I was passed in the hall by Ella, carrying a pair of little pants and a diaper. Penny was lying on the carpet, kicking and smiling, naked from the waist down.

I am currently missing one pair of pants and one dirty diaper. Tomorrow, Penny will be wearing socks.

Photo via Flickr: Baby socks, originally uploaded by Ak4suna.

Snooze

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who hit the snooze button on their alarm and those who do not. My husband is a snoozer. I am not.

When we moved in together I brought with me the alarm clock I'd had since seventh grade. It got me where I needed to go, on time, through junior high, high school, college, and veterinary school. All without ever having hit the snooze button. Not once. I honestly had no idea if it worked. I found out the first morning Sean had to go to work. It did indeed work. And, did you know, you can repeatedly hit the snooze button? Every nine minutes. Over and over and over. I didn't then, but I do now.

Sean sets the alarm for a half hour early so he can hit the snooze button at least twice, and up to four times and still get to work on time. I can now go back to sleep after the first snooze, but when the second one goes off, I turn off the alarm and hit him. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep again.

This week, Samantha has been in our bed because she's been feverish. Turns out she has pneumonia. Antibiotics seem to be helping. She is now so big and spreads out so much that our little queen size bed is uncomfortable for all three of us. She prefers her daddy when she's sick, so I've been sleeping in Sammy's bed or on the couch.

Without me there to prod him, Sean has been late to work everyday this week. This morning, I found him asleep with the clock buried under a pillow. Apparently, it wouldn't quit going off.

How about you, are you a snoozer or a non-snoozer?



*Photo courtesy of Alan Cleaver

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek is serious business in our house. The girls can't get enough of it. Whenever they are asked to find something to do, hide and seek is sure to be suggested.

While they love it, their execution needs a little work. They are no longer just sitting somewhere, covering their eyes with their hands to hide, but there is still room for improvement. Today, they hid from me on the far side of the bed. Not bad, except for the giggling and fake snoring (Ella likes to fake sleep now). Oh, and the four hands hanging on the top of the bed.

What games do your kids play? How do you like the photo? I've been playing with Flickr.

*Photo courtesy of Robert, originally uploaded by moriza.

Missy's Lunch

Like most dogs, Missy really enjoys mealtime around here. She parks herself next to Ella's chair and is usually rewarded with dropped food and hand outs from Ella. Lunch today was no exception. She enjoyed some quesadilla, cheese, and banana courtesy of Ella.

While I was cleaning up the mess, I noticed she was licking a wet spot on my jeans near my knee. I usually have something on my clothes, so I generally just ignore it. I looked down to see why she was so interested in my leg. There was a good sized amount of spit up there. Guess she needed some milk to wash down the cheese.

Still Sick

Samantha's still sick today. Her fever was 103 last night and she didn't sleep well. I know this because she was in our bed. She's entered the whining stage where she doesn't feel well so she whines about everything and sometimes just starts crying for no reason. I'm pushing Tylenol and Ibuprofen to keep her fever down, popsicles, frozen blueberries, and water with ice. And, she's now getting old enough to be taught the correct way to be sick: on the couch, in front of the t.v., in some comfy clothes or jammies, a warm sweatshirt, hair in a ponytail, socks, and under a blanket.

I can deal with the sick child. The worst part for me is the anticipation. I'm waiting to see if anyone else is going to get sick. I figure I have about a week before I'm in the clear. Sick Ella I can handle. She gets really clingy and whiny, but she's manageable. Penny has never been sick. She's the one I worry about the most. She's only four months old, so I dread the thought of her having a high fever and feeling bad. So, I'm trying to keep Sammy away from her and am holding my breath.

Hopefully, they'll not get sick. Probably, the only one who will get sick is me.

Green Thursdays: Simple Things

I thought this week I would write about the simple little things I do to try to minimize the impact I have on the environment. Obviously, I turn off lights when I'm not using them, turn off the water when I'm brushing my teeth, and I recycle everything possible, but there are other things I try to do that I believe help. I'm really into reducing my consumption of resources. The less I buy, the less needs to be produced, saving all the waste and energy that manufacturing things requires.

Use Reusuable Bags: This is easy. I just bought a few recyclable bags and I take them into stores with me when I shop. I like One Bag At A Time, but these bags are easy to come buy, and don't cost a lot. It decreases my consumption of plastic bags, decreases the number of non-degradable bags in landfills, and decreases the need to make more bags. In fact, I use reusable everything if I can: cloth lunch bags, tupperware containers instead of ziploc bags, etc.

Compost: I have two compost bins in my backyard. I add my compostable waste to one while I let the other turn into compost. There are lots of bins available, there are worm bins, tumblers, you can create a pile in your yard, or just use a plastic storage bin and turn it with a shovel. I personally use the Urban Compost Tumbler, it has a rod in the middle so it separates and aerates the compost when you spin it, helping it to compost faster. But there are lots available.

Buy Organic: I buy organic produce, meat, and dairy products whenever possible. Are they healthier? Maybe, maybe not, the official jury's still out on that one, although I tend to think not ingesting pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics is probably the healthier option. They are healthier for the environment. Organic farmers do not put chemicals into the earth, they have to practice crop rotation, preventing leaching of certain nutrients out of the soil, the animals are fed more natural, grass based diets, and they can't use hormones and antibiotics. I also think organic food tastes better, maybe that's just me, but if you've never had organic bananas, buy a bunch and see what you think.

Buy Local: I also try to buy local. I go to farmer's markets when I can. When I can't, I try to look where my produce is grown, and buy the stuff that's grown closest to me geographically. Buying local not only supports the local economy, you get fresher produce and reduce the waste associated with shipping the produce over long distances.

Wash Cars Less: Ok, this one is a lot of laziness on my part, and maybe I'm just trying to justify our dirty cars. Really, though, our cars don't need to be washed every week. A little dirt isn't going to hurt your car. Now, if you live somewhere where the roads are salted in the winter, you probably do need to wash that junk off your car to prevent corosion. But, in sunny California, and other mild climates, and in warm weather months, it really isn't necessary and just wastes water. Sure, my cars aren't all shiny all the time, but they run just fine, and it doesn't really matter that they're not super pretty.

Use Non-Toxic Cleaners: I have started using cleaning supplies that are made with ingredients I can pronounce and are biodegradable. I really like Mrs. Meyer's products, Seventh Generation, and Planet. I also use microfiber rags with just water and have been known to make my own cleaners. I'll probably get back to that when Penny is a little older and I have a tad more time.

So, those are a few of the easy things I do to try to reduce my carbon footprint. What do you do?

** Disclaimer: I did not get paid or receive any promotional items from the companies I linked to above. I really do use them and like them.