Don't forget Earth Day Tuesday!

Just a reminder to "think green" not just this Tuesday, but every day. Whether you're more cognitive of your showering length or what you throw in the trash can versus the recycle bin, it is your responsibility to take care of not only your own personal surroundings but those that might affect you or your children later in life. So here are a few things I do, and that I teach my children to do to be more aware:

Buy snacks in bulk packaging, not little individual packages.
Use reusable Tupperware type cups with lids for snacks.
Use less paper towels and more washcloths, towels, etc.
Pick up after your pet poops in public places.
Put soap on hands, wet hands and turn the facet off until rinse time.
Buy reusable water bottles for travel, the park, etc.
Try to run errands on one day, or to those places furthest from your house.
Shower together! :)
Plant native plants, shrubs, trees.
Eat less processed food and more fresh food.
Eat organic when possible.
Buy local produce at farmer's markets. This supports all the "little" guys who grow their crops locally.
Use reusable bags for groceries, mall trips, etc. Our grocery story sells them for $.99/each. What a deal!

And like I said, it's about being more aware. Teaching your children to recycle and turn the lights/TV off when not in use. Teaching them about and exposing them to nature and how to appreciate it. That's where it all begins.

Recipe Tag

Recipes, Recipes where do I begin? I LOVE recipes. I may not try all of them but I could sit and look at a cookbook for hours. Just imagining in my hungry, food loving little mind how every item would taste. BUT, here are a few of my favorite, EASY recipes:

Chicken tacos:

Put 2-3 frozen chicken breasts (depends on how many are eating, however leftover chicken is great on salads) in a crock pot. Cover with a small can of diced green chilies, petite diced tomatoes, and 1 packet of taco seasoning. Add some water to cover the bottom of the pot. Put on low for 8 hours, high for 4-5. Then, put in soft or hard taco shells with all the fixings. So easy!

Grilled Mozzarella, tomato, basil sandwich:

Take 2 slices sourdough bread, spread pesto on one slice. Fill the sandwich with sliced, FRESH mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, tomato ( I sprinkle with salt and pepper) and then grill with butter like a grilled cheese. I grill on very low heat and I cover the frying pan with another frying pan to trap the heat inside and melt the cheese to perfection. OOOOOHHHHH yummy. You can also dip your sandwich in marinara if you'd like.

KU WINS CHAMPIONSHIP

This particular post is dedicated to my Jayhawk loving Dad, who after 20 years can finally celebrate another National Title win with his Alma mater. After years and years of wearing his numerous, and I mean numerous, Jayhawk shirts, hats, shorts and jackets he can now wear them with renewed pride. And to my brothers too, who are also fanatic KU fans, this is for you. GO JAYHAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT?

Grace and Andrew: "We're playing 'Hit Dad With the Socks' game." Okay... Note Grace in Andrew's "Cars" boxer briefs. She wears his underwear at least once a week. And in the first picture, does it look like we've used some computer program to put Andrew's head on another little, skinny body? The way he's leaning forward with his head, it looks like it's 10 times bigger than his body. Funny!

Matt's project

So we've (Matt would say, do you have a frog in your pocket?) been talking about building a sandbox for the kids for some time now. One minute it sounds like a good idea, the next minute we've completely forgotten about it or feel it would be too time consuming/laborous. On the side of our house, where the yard gets a lot of shade, the landscapers put all these little rocks instead of grass and vegetation and it's a perfect spot for the kids to play. They have a ball playing with the rocks, scooping them into buckets and dump trucks. However, the rocks end up in the grass making it hard to mow . So anyway, last weekend Matt informs me that he's heading to Home Depot and the kids and him are building a sandbox (a neighbor had offered us several loads of leftover sand the night before). So sure enough, I left for a couple hours and I came home to our newest toy! It's great and the kids will spend an hour or so just playing away in the sand. The only problem I'm running into is that it's a pain in the butt to clean up and keep them out of the house until I've hosed them down. I've got sand just about everywhere and I find that I have to vacuum every night so not to ruin our floors. But, oh well!

Easter

Easter was a good one this year, although a little chilly for around here. I think it was 55 degrees or so that morning. What is it about Easter that it always seems to cool down on that particular day? I had a sleeveless dress for Grace to wear to church that morning...which by the way she wanted to wear sans cardigan throughout the entire service so she could show off her dress. She said she looked like a princess and didn't want her sweater on. Nonetheless, the kids had a fun morning, finding their eggs and hidden Easter baskets, and fininshing the day off with a ham dinner shared with our close neighbors.

I've been tagged!

So under the comments section of my last post, my friend Kijuana tagged me and asked me to list 10 things people don't know about me. This one is tough, given that I really don't hold back anything about myself, my family, friends, relationship, etc. In fact, I find that perhaps I tend to say a little TOO much. But, at least you don't have to guess what I'm feeling, where I'm from, my past, or anything else for that matter.

1. I swam competitively growing up and in high school and have some trophies/metals to show for it...as well as some monumental pics of me in a swim cap and tight speedo. YIKES! (This one is quite funny because Andrew just barely found out I used to swim on a team. My father-in-law asked him if he's seen my trophies yet. Andrew was amazed, "My mom has trophies? WOW!" So last weekend, while cleaning out some boxes, we came across them. He decided to put some in his room along side his t-ball and soccer trophies. Too funny!

2. I went to college to study veterinary science. However, after my first 2 years of average grades and going up against kids who lived on farms and ranches their whole lives, I realized I was not going to get the grades possible to get into vet. school. I wanted to study, but I also wanted to have a great time.

3. I hate to shop. Unless I have a trip or special occasion planned. Otherwise, I do it for the necessities.

4. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, although I've gotten better.

5. I gave birth to Grace in a jacuzzi tub in a birth center.

6. I love to bake and I think it would be fun to make and decorate cakes for a living.


7. Sometimes I care way too much about what people think of me.

8. I've lived in 6 places: Owatonna, MN; Prairie Village, KS; Austin, TX; Ogden, UT; Logan, UT; Houston, TX.

9. I think my biggest fear is losing a loved one.

10. I like to fish and camp (yes in a tent).

A few pics of the kids:

Houston Rodeo:

Grace's first time ordering from the ice cream man. She got some kind of Dora the Explorer ice thing. After being charged $2/item (Andrew got a spider man one), Matt suggested I become an ice cream driver myself. Just look at that truck. Disgusting. God only knows what his freezer/coolers looked like inside. I don't even want to think about it.