New Family Traditions

I recently read an article in Real Simple Magazine (see also www.realsimple.com) about starting new traditions. Here, in our family, we have daily, seasonal and holiday traditions, but starting or trying out new ones is a great way to spend/spend more time together. Just this week our oldest daughter asked my husband if she and he could start running together. Yesterday they got up at 6, ran the "big block" for starters and talked on the way. They both thoroughly enjoyed it, and hope to make it a "tradition". Today it was raining, but hopefully they can do it again tomorrow. Some of our other traditions include picking apples, going pumpkin picking, cutting down our Christmas tree, writing quotes or Bible verses weekly on the kitchen chalkboard, cheering on our local college football team, saying our nightly prayers together, and visiting my family in the state I grew up in every Thanksgiving. As our kids get older, our time passes even faster and the minutes we get to spend as a family are fewer and farther between, so I liked this article and its ideas as "tradition starters" to find a few more things to do together. Here are some of my favorites, but not all from the article. Hope you find some you'd like to try.

• "tour the world: adopt a holiday from another country and honor it with gusto. Prepare a massive traditional Chinese feast for Chinese New Year; eat crepes and watch classic French films on Bastille Day
• walk on: Go for a (moderately) challenging hike with your family every January 1. Even if your resolutions don't make it past February, you'll have started the year on a healthy note-and the exercise does wonders for a Champagne hangover.
• have the early bird special: Change the evening-meal routine by serving breakfast for dinner every Friday night. Wear pajamas to the table for the full effect.
• stage a camp-in: Spread out sleeping bags in the living room, light a fire in the fireplace, cook up s'mores and tell ghost stories by flashlight
• hot topics: place a jar in the middle of the dinner table and fill it with conversation starters written on strips of paper. Each night a family member can take one out and read it to the group.
• have a historic birthday: Celebrate the birthday of a historical figure your family admires. Example: for Mozart's birthday (January 27th) prepare Austrain cuisine, watch Amadeus and have the resident family musician treat everyone else to a brief concert on his instrument of choice. "
  
• Others included: host a rain-dance party outside with kids in swimsuits, relive your first kiss with your partner exchanging cards, etc, logging miles in a family travel journal, celebrate "opposite day", volunteer together, encourage variety with "spontaneous family day", and showing fido how much you value him during National Pet Week beginning on the first Sunday in May.
  

Lunch Ideas

Well, the first week and a half of school for the girls has gone extremely well. They are both having a great year so far! Phew! :) They have been making friends, working hard and their teachers seem to be very kind, but expect a lot from them.

Just a short entry today, lots to do, but I already had complaints of the "same old same old" lunch ideas for the girls, as they pack everyday. I began some research. Although these seem like common sense, we get stuck in a rut and have trouble thinking outside the (lunch)box. Here are some ideas we'll be trying in the next two weeks (I found these at familyfun.com and bhg.com):

• bagel with vegetable confetti: a bagel with cream cheese and chopped up colorful veggies
• sushi rolls, using imitation crab meat and rolls of cucumber slices, avacado and or tortillas
• hot chili in a thermos with a bag of Fritos and or cheese to sprinkle on top when ready to eat
• lunchables, the cheap homemade version: meats, crackers, cheeses, cream cheese and veggies
• sandwiches cutout with cookie cutters, and different kinds/colors of breads
• stuff an apple: core an apple and fill the hole with peanut butter or cream cheese and raisins
• snack mix with cereal, dried fruit, nuts and goldfish crackers
• banana bread/muffins
• yogurt mixed with berries and a side of whole grain crackers
• peanut butter and apple on a whole wheat tortilla
• bake store bought biscuits in the shapes of stars, use them for sandwiches instead of bread
• peanut buter and apple wraps
  

Stinging Reality

Since I wrote last, while at my grandparents' cottage, I was stung by a wasp/bee.

It stung me between the forefinger and thumb on my right hand. It happened around four o'clock. By dinner, I had lost my first knuckle to swelling, still painful and had a sausage for a thumb. This continued until my entire had was swollen so fat I couldn't see any knuckles, which is very unusual for me-they're usually very clear to see and I have thin fingers. I had a huge hand, it was red, itchy and painful. I got some benedryl and took a pill every four hours-and it did nothing. So, we left a little earlier than we had planned,the next day. We came home and I went to an urgent care. The dr. said it was normal (my mom now says she's talked to other health professionals and they disagree) and the swelling just seemed like a lot because it was confined to my hand. She said it would go away in a week, but she gave me a tetanus shot-I couldn't remember the last time I'd had one-and a shot of steroids in my keister. It didn't help until the next day, and then the swelling went down and the redness and heat went away, but the itch continued for three more days. I lived. My family was worried because my brother is deathly allergic, must carry an epi-pen to inject immediately in case of a sting. So, my family thought I was developing such an allergy. Hopefully not. I work in my garden with no fear of the many bees who are busy working there. I would like to continue in my blissful ignorance. :)

Speaking of my garden, I had to pull out my large area of daisies. The grubs ate all the roots-I could pull them up with no effort at all and they were all brown and crispy. Grubs are the larvae of the previously mentioned Japanese beetles. I have not sprayed pesticides anymore: they're not good for any of us and they don't do any good after it rains. I also learned (my children love animal planet tv channel and heard that:) a baby hummingbird relies mostly on bugs for its diet, so that's why I hadn't had any in my garden. I have many plants they and butterflies are supposed to like, but the pesticide was keeping them away...so I have the quandry of lovely plants that are bug free, but also butterfly and hummingbird free, or some hideously destroyed plants but more visitors I like, with tagalongs that I don't.

Mom and Dad came over earlier in the week on their way to a sporting event. They stayed overnight, to get some of their drive out of the way. It was nice to have them for a visit.

Well, school starts next week and my now middle-schooler is getting a bit nervous about the changes. My younger daughter is super excited to go back. Can't wait. I want them to slow down in their growing up, but I can't make them. :)

I will be substitute teaching again this year, and am subbing in the kindergarten all week next week. The teacher will be there, and the kids come in small groups each day, but the teacher will be doing assessments, so they need someone to keep an eye on the other kids. I get full time sub pay so that will be really nice.

That's it for now.

Smart Energy Sources

I have been very busy since I last wrote. My husband, kids and I headed down with my in-laws to see my sister in law in a neighboring state. We went to the coutry's largest garage sale, which occurs every year at this time. http://www.127sale.com/ My sister in law had perused local stops before we had arrived, so she knew which ones were junk and which ones had good stuff we might actually buy. :) We spent some time looking and then headed to a nearby state park, which was very nice. We were only gone from home a total of twenty-four hours, but it was a very nice trip. The car ride down was pleasant visiting time with the in laws, too, as there is always good conversation. We have also been school shopping and had Vacation Bible School this week at our church. We head up to the grandparents' cottage to visit this weekend, as well.

Onto the title. I have been thinking a lot about what I can do to preserve our environment... something President Bush has apparently no interest in. Politics not being my main point, I have been researching other means of energy. A friend of mine and her husband have geothermal heat and it really works for them, so I have been looking around for information to share:
geothermal heat is an environmentally safe and sound, renewable energy. Here is a website with general information http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12660
" According to the EPA, geothermal heat pumps can reduce energy consumption—and corresponding emissions—up to 44% compared to air-source heat pumps and up to 72% compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment. GHPs also improve humidity control by maintaining about 50% relative indoor humidity."

Another reliable energy source is the sun: solar power. There are small solar power kits you can use to work as your energy source which are reliable and pollution free. http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/electricity/index.cfm/mytopic=10710
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/electricity/index.cfm/mytopic=10720
Here are some other ways to reduce energy use:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/electricity/index.cfm/mytopic=11140

A non-renewable resource we are using at a tremendous rate is oil. Now that artic drilling has stopped...which shouldn't have taken place in the refuge as it was, so a viable renewable resource is ethanol. http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/afv/eth_vehicles.html
http://www.greatlakesethanol.com/

Why isn't our government working on these things, making them more available, and cost effective?? Maybe our President likes oil...using up the nonrenewable resources

Speaking of cars and other alternatives, there is a new documentary coming out that sounds interesting, although I have yet to see the trailer all the way through, called "Who killed the electric car?" "Plot Outline: A documentary that investigates the birth and death of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in the future."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/

A blog I recently found on alternative engery that is pretty interesting, as well.
http://alt-e.blogspot.com/

One last side note, referring to an earlier post and environmental safety, I have gone back to using dishsoap and water sprayed onto the leaves of a plant for the beetles. I have to spray it on after every rain. The pesticide only killed some and others came from around the neighborhood to replace them, so this soap answer isn't perfect, but it's working as well as the other stuff, and it's better for us and the environment.

Welcome Home

My girls are home, which is a very nice. I drove an hour and a half to meet my grandparents halfway to pick them up. The house was far too quiet without them. :) Although, it was nice to clean their rooms without them here: I could throw things away that I knew they didn't use/play with and no one was here to complain. I also did clean out the crawl spaces and rearranged the furniture in their rooms, as well. My husband and I went out for dinner almost everynight and one morning for coffee while we were sans kids, as well, which was wonderful. We rarely get time without the girls, let alone more than one night at a time. It was great to have some date time, and even better not to have to schedule a sitter! :) We just went out to a few dinners, had some beers once, and a glass of wine another night. We went with his parents out and some window shopping, as well. I was at a loss for a moment as to what topic I'd be "informing" on, but then I looked up cheap date night ideas!
Some ideas I found were, not great, or extra creative, but I was on a time limit:

• zoo
• museum of fine arts
• art festivals
• state park
• farmer's market
• pier to feed ducks
• picnic
  

My husband is anxious to see the girls and is on his drive from work. Then he will be taking our little beagle to the vet. What a wonderful husband, because I don't want to take him! :) He, the dog, needs his nails cut and refuses to let me do it, as his previous owner didn't do it too often, so he's not used to it or like to have it done.
Hope all is well.