Crunchy

My husband has accused me of becoming more "crunchy" lately... meaning that I'm spending more time finding natural alternatives to things that we would normally buy a mix of chemicals to do.

It started last summer, when a friend posted something on Facebook about making her own dishwasher detergent. Not only was it environmentally friendly, but it was so much cheaper than buying those tabs. I wrote about this before. I also make my own laundry detergent and cleaning products out of things like baking soda, vinegar, etc. When someone is really sick and I want to disinfect, I do break out the bleach wipes, but I've noticed that the smell bothers me so much now that I'm used to clean smelling like nothing. Glad I made the switch because clearly there is some kind of negative effect, and my wallet like the cheaper alternative as well.

I read an interesting article on a local woman who makes her own bug spray and sunscreen using natural ingredients, and I think that this might be my next task. Having a history of sun cancer, I have to wear sunscreen every day, and it does make you wonder what all of those chemicals do to your body--am I actually causing more damage? If those chemicals hurt me, imagine what it could do to my kids. I did a Pinterest search to find out different recipes, and have a few that I'm going to look at making. Being cheap and lazy (and also wanting something that will work well) limits the choices of things I will try.

One choice involves about a bazillion essential oils, which  means I have to find them somewhere. I hate running from store to store figuring out where to find weird things, and I'd rather shop from my couch. Which means I will end up paying lots on amazon for all of those. Thinking that isn't the winner.

Choice #2 seems like there are less oils and more things that are easy to find at a store--like coconut oil, cocoa butter, and aloe vera gel. Might be a winner, and will probably be good for the pocket as well.

This is the winner for my homemade bug spray. Our yard gets pretty buggy at night, and we have a week at camp at the end of June coming up. I actually used the Off botanicals lotion last summer, and it worked well, so I'm hoping that this concoction will do a good job keeping my little girl from having a back full of bug bites at the end of camp week.

What "crunchy" things are you using in your home or with your kids?

Gratitude

I constantly work at making sure that I have gratitude. Sometimes it is external--being sure I thank people I work with, thanking my kids for doing little things, thanking my husband when he makes dinner. Sometimes it is more of an internal or spiritual thing. On the rare occasion that I can walk alone, I always take a minute to appreciate the amazing view around the first corner of my walk. Taking a minute to appreciate the beautiful view, the buds on the trees that mean great weather will be coming soon, being thankful that I get a few minute of quiet in my busy life.

As a teacher and a parent, there is nothing better than seeing a child have gratitude. I have always said that I teach kids, I just do it through music. I want my students to show gratitude and be appreciative, especially because they are very lucky to live in the town they do, where they have so many opportunities. I take the time to make sure that I thank the accompanists, clinicians, and give props to other teachers, kids, administrators, etc, when I appreciate what they do. It is my hope that some of that rubs off on them.

I do the same thing at home, and it has been wonderful to see my kids show their gratitude. I have to still remind them to say "please" and "thank you" constantly, but they have these little glimmers of honest, pure gratitude that blow me away. Those moments remind me of my most important job of shaping these little ones into becoming great humans. My son, age 4, out of the blue thanked me for  his birthday party yesterday. He didn't see all of the planning and thoughts that went into it, but he realized even at his young age that it took work to do it, and took a moment to make sure that I knew he appreciated it. Moments like those make me feel like I'm the best mom in the world.

My favorite kid.

You aren't supposed to have favorite kids. But I do. Here is the thing, it changes all the time.

Lori was my favorite for quite a long time. Especially when Hunter was in the miserable, daily tantrum throwing, impulsive terrible 2 stage. Then Hunter became my favorite. As his language skills developed more, he really started to show his sweet side. He is super caring. Lori started being bratty and overdramatic and was going back to ridiculous tantrums. So he was the favorite.

As quickly as it happened, Hunter began getting moody and overemotional, and Lori was back to being the favorite. I've been sick all weekend, and Lori has been really sweet and helpful. Hunter has been pushing buttons.

Then at dinner today, Hunter looked at me and said, "Mommy, if you're sick, I'll take care of you." Back to being the favorite. Hope he remembers that before he puts me in "the home" someday.

Crash week--or when my kids LOSE their minds.

We have a pretty good routine going at our house--my husband works mostly in the evenings and weekends, and I work part-time teaching music. It means that I am always in charge of dinner and bedtimes, and we tag team the morning stuff. The kids have only known life this way. It works really well, except for when it is crash week for my show at school.

If you have never been part of a musical production, here is the way that crash week goes--HOURS of extra time spent running the show through, plus time getting makeup, costumes, mics, etc. For me, it means that on Monday, I got home at 6pm. Yesterday and tomorrow, I stay through until 8pm--which means I only see my kids for a brief time in the morning. They get to sleep over my mom's on Friday (which they love, but means ugliness when I get them back), and then I have 2 more shows on Saturday and will only see them for a little bit that day.

The routine is off. And the natives are unhappy.

This week has been filled with tantrum after tantrum, which is unusual for my kids at this stage of the game--almost 6, and 4. Lori threw a 15 minute tantrum before school yesterday because I wouldn't help her practice violin after she spent 10 minutes fooling around and not playing. Hunter had a 15 minute tantrum today because he wanted milk and not water (and we didn't have any milk left).

I get that they miss me and their structure.  I  miss our routine and structure. But I hate when the short time that I get to see them is filled with crying and whining. I want to give them extra hugs and kisses and snuggle because I won't get to at bedtime.

There is always next week, I suppose.

Sustainability

Remember when sustainability meant no paper bags? They kill trees! Use plastic, they said.

Have we come a long way since then!

I try to think about sustainability when I can in my house. We recycle. I'm actually a little bit psycho when it comes to recycling, and I love that my kids know what is supposed to go in the recycle bin versus the garbage. I don't feel as bad getting rid of 99% of the work that Lori brings home because I'm recycling it.

I love reusable bags. I also love that they "pay" you to use them. Hey, 5 cents is 5 cents, and it adds up after many Stop and Shop and Target trips.  I still put my meat in plastic bags, though. We reuse them in our garbage bags--I know, that isn't great, but I haven't figured out another solution.

We compost in the spring/summer/fall. Our compost bin is in the back of our yard, so we don't do it during the winter months. My kids are great about sorting their food. I worked at an arts/earth studies camp at Cuyahoga National park one summer, and the kids had to work every day to have only compostable waste at the end of their meals. It was a fun goal to work toward, and really made me think about the amount of waste we generate. It is cool to see how much less garbage we have by recycling and composting. Our recycling bin is almost always fuller than our garbage can.

I am a little nutty when it comes to packing lunches as well. I don't remember the last time I bought plastic snack bags. We use washable snack bags and plastic sandwich and snack containers. I also got a set of cheapo silverware to pack. If it gets mistakenly thrown out, it is no big deal.

I went to electronic Christmas cards except for relatives who don't have internet access a few years ago. Not only is it sustainable, it is cost-saving and time-saving. I don't send out birthday invites/thank you notes in the mail for the same reason--I'm sure I've saved at least $150 on postage this year alone between Christmas and birthdays.

These are little things our family is trying to do--I really believe that it makes a difference, even if it is a small one. Maybe one of these ideas will inspire you!

Homemade snacks

I love making homemade snacks--partially because I love baking. I also love that I can give my family food that is healthy, and I see exactly what is in it. I do buy prepared stuff, too (I don't have THAT much time on my hands), but when I can, I have a few things that I try and do myself.

1. Popcorn. We've all heard about the crazy chemicals and health issues associated with microwave popcorn. I found a great way (via a Facebook friend) to make it. Take 1/2 cup of regular popcorn kernels, put it in a brown paper bag and fold the top over. Microwave for 2-3 mins (depending on your  microwave), and then you can add whatever toppings you want when it is done. My 2 favorites--butter and brown sugar, and butter and Parmesan cheese. Yum! And thrifty, too--way cheaper, and less packaging to throw away.

2. Homemade granola bars. This is my go to recipe.

What I LOVE about these is the ingredients, oats, wheat germ, honey, brown sugar, and I use whole wheat flour. This recipe is very forgiving when you add ingredients or modify. I often add pumpkin and use applesauce to replace the oil. I also love adding chocolate chips. I put in flax seeds sometimes, too--for some reason Lori gets very excited when she sees me pull out the flax seeds. These never last long around my house, and I make them at least once a week.

3. Muffins. Which variety depends on what is available and what everyone is eating. Lately, this recipe for Pumpkin What Honey muffins is the favorite, especially for Lori. I take out the raisins and put in chocolate chips, and usually don't include nuts. Lori has a nut free classroom, so if I want to send this in for snack, I can't include nuts. I used many of the recipes for muffins in the Jessica Seinfeld "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook, too, but haven't used them lately now that I'm not making baby food very much.

4. Kale Chips. These are my favorite snack for me. I haven't made them since last summer, when I had a huge abundance of them from picking a friend's CSA food for the week. LOVE these. So easy to make and delicious. I basically eat them over the pan after I make them and finish all of them. My kids don't like them--I'm okay with that.


5. Homemade popsicles. My cousin got the kids little freezer pop molds, and I found some more to make these in. I have 3 varieties that I make. The first kind is just plain old freezing fruit juice. Sometimes I put little chunks of fruit that is just about done in it (like chunks of strawberries). The second kind is basically a smoothie that I put into the pop molds. Our favorite during the summer, and I can sneak in some veggies--usually butternut squash--into them. The third (and not as healthy kind) are these:





Yes, homemade pudding pops! My favorite are vanilla. 

Looking forward to having more time in the summer to discover some more homemade snacks that are easy to make and healthy.

Carving out time for fun

The  month of March is my least favorite month of the year. CMTs (our state test) at school make for really short classes and hectic days, I have at least 3 events I have to return to school at night for (all crammed into 6 days), most of my Saturday mornings are spent at musical rehearsals, and with our musical coming up the first week of April, I will be spending many afternoons late at school.

Trying to carve out time with my kids gets a little crazy this month, but I want to do extra fun stuff with them because they are missing out on their typical time with me. Here are some things we've done already, and other things I am planning on.

-Maple syrup demo: On Saturday, I raced back home after my rehearsal, and after getting some things done and before dinner plans with friends, we went to Lamothe's  Sugar House in Burlington, CT. What a great little place! Their store is open year around, and they sell their syrup at Highland Park Market and some other IGA stores. They did an interesting demo where they showed us how they used to tap trees, and showed how the different machines worked. They also told us that now instead of buckets on the trees, they run lines from the trees down to their collection tanks. While he was chatting about this information, he gave the kids maple candy lollipops to eat. We also got to test different colors of syrups (Scott and I liked the dark the best), and they had samples of cider, maple coffee, and their homemade jam out.

-Bubble bath--not just a regular bubble bath, but I gave the kiddos little bubbles from my cousin Gabriella's party and let them blow bubbles in the tub. Simple, yes, but I won major cool mom points for letting the kids blow bubbles in the house.

-St. Patty's Day parade--for once I don't have rehearsal the day of the parade, so I'm contemplating bringing the kids to the Hartford parade... waiting to see how cold it is.

-Bowling--Hunter turns 4 at the end of the month, so we thought that it might be fun (and relatively inexpensive) to do a bowling outing for his birthday treat. Neither of the kids have been yet, so it should be fun, and I haven't been bowling since Lori was a baby, so I'm looking forward to it. Trying to find a time when they have a special to save some cash.

-St. Patty's Day fun--it falls on a Sunday this year, so it will make it easier to do things like turn the toilet green (just pouring mouthwash in it) and cook green eggs and ham and see how many things I can make look like shamrocks or turn green.

Any other simple ideas to carve out fun during a busy time??

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