Aquarium Trip

Last weekend we went to the aquarium in Atlanta. It was fun, but a bit overwhelming on a Saturday afternoon (last time we went was just before Noah was born and it was a weekday morning).

Next time we go, I want to be past the stroller stage. Somehow I had it in my head that Luke would sit quietly and be observant as we walked around. The kid was a wild man and did not want to be in that stroller.

But we survived and I think everyone had a good time.

Paris Mountain

I'm finally getting around to putting up these pictures from last weekend. We took a half-day-trip to Paris Mountain for a nice walk around the lake, a picnic and a little playtime on the playground. It was a good day.

Getting into the new year

The pink eye continues...Noah is over his, but Luke now has it. It was inevitable, I guess. I just find it amazing that I haven't gotten it (of course I still could, but I am super careful about not rubbing my eyes...and my hands get washed quite frequently b/c of all the diaper changes and eye drops).

***

School starts back for the kids today. I think we all need our routine back. However, there's a change from before the Christmas break. Luke has transitioned out of his morning nap, so I lose that quite time in the morning of it just being me.

I don't mind so much though - now I can run errands with Luke and even take him to the library story time. The worst part of it is that my quite time was also when I took my shower. So now I have to get up before the kids if I want to get my shower in the morning - which I do. And to be safe, that means getting up at 5:30 at the latest to be ready in time.

***

Now that things are going to calm down a bit, this week I'm going to work on my homemade cleaners and soaps. So far I've only done the laundry detergent and it works just fine. I'll elaborate more on why I'm doing this and the benefits of it later, but I'm excited to try all the recipes I've gathered.

Plastic Kitchen

For a long time now, I've heard of the harmful chemicals in plastics. Don't microwave food in plastic. Okay, we don't. A while ago, we bought a set of glass storage containers for our food, but we still have 3 shelves of a cabinet full of plastic containers that we use on a daily basis.

Other plastic items in our kitchen:

Bowls, plates, cups/sippy cups
Spoons for the kids
Large serving spoons and spatulas
Measuring cups & spoons
Water bottles
Food storage containers
Plastic wrap
Coffee maker
Food processor (bowl and lid)
Dishsoap and handsoap containers
Brita pitcher and sweet tea pitcher
Mixing bowls
Cutting boards
Bags and containers that food comes in

That's a lot of direct contact with our food.

Knowing the dangers of plastics, I still didn't have the motivation to do anything about it...until this morning.

I get emails from babycenter.com and the one I got today included a link to an article about phthalates. Here are the first two paragraphs of the article:

Phthalates (pronounced "thah-lates") are chemical plasticizers that have been widely used since the 1950s to soften plastics that would otherwise be brittle and crack when bent. Because phthalates are not chemically bound to the plastics they're added to, they're continuously released into the air or food or liquid. Did you ever notice how plastic sometimes hardens over time? That's because the phthalates have leached out of it.

Phthalates are found in an amazing array of products. In personal care items, they're used to help lubricate other substances, help lotions penetrate and soften the skin, and help fragrances last longer. They're also used in toys, electronics (such as personal computers), car-care products, insecticides, and many household products, including adhesives, plastic wrap, plastic containers, flooring, furniture, wallpaper, shower curtains, and other things made of vinyl or PVC.

Read the entire article. 

Later in the article is says that the FDA "concluded — after reviewing the safety and toxicity data — that there was not enough damaging evidence to require regulatory action concerning phthalates."

Well, since this stuff is in so many things, of course they don't want to conclude that it's bad for us. Sorry, FDA, I really don't trust you to know what's best for me and my kids. I know that phthalates are a chemical that I don't want floating around in our bodies.

Goodbye plastic kitchen. You are going to be replaced.

Go away Cold and Flu Season, we don't like you

As I said in my previous post, when Erin and I got back from Ohio last week, Noah and Luke were sick with a cold. Noah missed 4 days of school and has been fine since. Luke's (very) runny nose is still going on. The rest of us managed to not come down with that cold.

Monday night, Erin started complaining of a sore throat. She has since had an on-and-off fever and has felt crummy. Yesterday morning I started the sore throat (no fever yet) and about an hour ago I realized Luke was running a fever.

Go away germs!

And because of the sickies, I'm having to postpone their flu shots that they were supposed to get tomorrow. I hope this doesn't allow the flu to get us too.

Oh what a wonderful gift, Luke

I'm so glad Luke brought me the giant dead spider as a present instead of eating it like he does most things he finds on the floor.

Yikes.

***

This afternoon, Erin and I are off to Ohio (riding with my parents) for her first long road trip since we drove to Houston when she was 8 months old. It's for my cousin's wedding on Saturday and Erin is super excited about getting dressed up and going. So excited, in fact, that at 6am this morning, she was trying to get her black tights on and cried when I told her it wasn't time to get dressed for the wedding just yet.

Sean is staying home with the boys, and his parents are getting here Sunday afternoon to babysit on Monday while Sean goes to work. I'm sure they will have a great time, but I sure will miss them. 5 days away from my boys :(

But I am very much looking forward to getting away.

33 years down

Just spent the weekend in Greenville/Mauldin to celebrate my birthday. I ended up having a really good day on Saturday. In the morning, I went to the Greenville zoo with Erin, Noah and my parents (Sean stayed home to let Luke nap). It was a lot of fun, even though the kids are always traumatized by the howler monkeys. Erin says they hurt her ears and Noah just clings on to me for dear life as we pass them by. It will now be months until we stop hearing about the howler monkeys being too loud.

In the afternoon, Brian invited me and Sean to his home-brewers meeting. It was hosted at his house, and they sometimes do a brew challenge. The theme of this one was to use peppers. There were 9 in the competition and 3 or 4 of them were melt-your-face-spicy. Not really my thing, but I did get to sample a few good home brews. After the meeting, we stayed to hang out with Brian and Nicole, which is always a good time.

Our feet are happier

Our old dingy, smells like dog (from the previous
home owner) carpet:

Our fresh, clean, wonderful new carpet (Luke approved):

Geese!

The Happy Bunch

Erin's artwork

He's chasing Erin, even though it looks like
he's about to do a cartwheel

Yes, we're still here

I don't like going a week without blogging. Guess I let it slip a little. It's been pretty low key around here. Some of the highlights:

- The other day, the three letters on the license plate in front of me were "DUI." I thought that was funny.

Hmmm, can't think of anything else. Like I said....low key.

Happy Birthday x2

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband.

Also, happy birthday to our house, where we have lived for one year now.

Last night's sunset

Okay, I feel old now

I just realized that I graduated from high school 15 years ago yesterday.

After 5 years and 3 kids, we deserve a day at the beach

For our 5 year anniversary, we took a day trip to Charleston. At home were three grandparents taking care of our kids. It was marvelous having a day just the two of us. We don't get those very often. And today - Sunday - we had a day with all of our immediate family to celebrate Noah's 2nd birthday (photos tomorrow).

Can't think of a better weekend.

Baby fruit!

Our garden is growing!

Watermelon:

Zucchini:

Jalapeno Peppers:

Butternut Squash:

Out at the lake

We took the short drive to Lake Greenwood this morning. It was beautiful weather and not many people were around. The kids had a great time running around and playing on the playground equipment.

We also got a ton of great photos...here are a few (narrowed down from over 100).

Why didn't we do this sooner?

A while ago, we heard the suggestion of making your own popcorn, instead of doing what everyone does...buying expensive, artificially flavored, preservative-filled popcorn with too much salt and sugar.

Finally we tried it last night and we will never go back to store bought again! It was super easy and probably only cost about 10 cents.

Here's what you do:

Get a bag of the kernels and some brown paper bags. In a bowl, mix up 1/2 cup of kernels with a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Add some salt. Put the kernels in the brown bag and fold it over a couple of times. Microwave it for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. This is about a 2 person serving size. If you want, melt some butter (I did 2 tablespoons and it was enough) and pour it over the popcorn. Maybe add more salt.

It tastes good and you know exactly what you're eating since you made it yourself.

Wanna lose weight?

Get a stomach bug! I just lost 5 pounds in 3 days!

Seriously, things have slowed down around here since we've been invaded. I felt miserable - in bed all day - on Sunday, and then I passed it to Sean who had to take two days off from work. Luckily our worst days weren't on the same day. I'm mostly back to normal, but I did actually lose 5 pounds by my lack of appetite.

Erin and Noah didn't seem to catch it, but I'm not sure about Luke. He's not eating as much as normal and this morning his eyes looked red and glassy. Other than that he seems okay.

Richmond, VA

More photos from the trip.

Erin, Noah and I tagged along with Sean for his conference in Richmond (Luke stayed with my parents). Including travel, we were gone for 5 days.

The kids did great, and we had lots of fun. I took them to the Richmond Zoo, the Science Museum of Virginia (which included an IMAX Dome movie), the Children's Museum and several parks/playgrounds.

It was a great trip, but it was also nice to pick up Luke and get back home. It did, however, take about 2 days to get unpacked and the house back to normal.