Confession: I do not recycle.

There, I said it. I can see the disappointment on your face; the sideways smirk, a slight "tsk." And it makes me want to hide under the table and suck my thumb. There are things I think I do to help the environment and as much as I'd like to think I'm jumping on the GREEN bandwagon, I've more or less took hold - but my body is dragging along, pulled at top speed, hitting every rock and tree along the way. Therefore with this new year, I'm going to try to be, as much as I can be: Green"ish."

I believe the right place to start, is by laying it all out -

• Things I do that are good for the environment
• Things I've tried & thought were too difficult/time consuming, followed by excuses.
• Things I do that are baaaaad for our earth.

The Good

1. I grow a garden, from which I can & freeze the harvest for later use in the year. Is it an organic garden? I think so- just our dirt, compost, seeds & water.
2. We raise our own chickens, from which we collect eggs.
3. We don't use paper plates, that helps a little, right?
4. We don't fertilize our lawn.
5. We use those spiral light bulbs that last 7 years.
6. I sometimes make my own baby wipes.
7. We have an energy efficient heating system - I think- My husband just explained to me why, but I was too distracted by the fact that he was wearing only his boxers.
8. I sew, and try to repurpose items we already have

The Bad

1. I have made my own cleaning solutions - vinegar, water & baking soda - But the counter top just doesn't seem to be as clean as when I use bleach or an antibiotic spray bottle. I've tried cleaning out the toilet bowl with baking soda, borax & vinegar...gross. Just makes it smell like you dumped a jar of pickles in the there.
2. I do clean out my drains with baking soda & vinegar, the kids do love to make volcanoes!
3. I've tried using reusable shopping bags. I either leave them in my car, pile the groceries on top of them in the cart & forget about them until the boy has already double bagged everything up.

The Ugly

1. I throw everything away. I do not wash out & sort out the glass jars, the cans or the cardboard. Our magazines, junk mail & old the science experiment in the back of the fridge - it all goes into the tall, black, trash can.
2. I drive a big, beastly, SUV.
3. Currently, I throw away around 7 diapers per day.
4. I use Clorox and other harsh cleaning products.
5. I own reusable shopping bags. I don't take them to the grocery, I use them at the library, or to tote something over to my mothers.
6. I leave lights on all the time.
7. We give the landfill 7 bags of "trash" per week, more like 400 per year.

Where do I even start?

What I have trouble with the most is that this is not how I grew up. I seem to have fallen into this mainstream way of life, the easy way of life. While I don't remember ever going to the recycling center (was there a recycling center 20 years ago?) my mother would save every milk jug & twist tie; almost all of our food, year round, was home grown. Beef and pork, apples, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberry jelly & raspberries - and it was "organic." We didn't call it that, it just was. (I realize I'm sounding like an old timer talking about the good old days.)

We still have fresh beef & pork from the farm, but our own garden here at home is a fraction of the size we had then. I want my children to have fresh, wholesome food, learn how to recycle, but mostly just understand this old way of life that's becoming new again, a sustainable life.

I'd like some Spring...

And a puffy apple pancake.

Mittens on a String

The tots in this house are always loosing their gloves & mittens. My mother did this for us when we were children, so here I am, finding myself in yet another way, following in my mothers footsteps.

I crocheted a chain connecting the mittens, long enough to fit through the length of both sleeves and along the back off the coat.

When they take off their coats at school, or when they come home, the mittens will just hang out of the sleeves. Best of all, when they put their coats on in the morning, we won't have to hunt around for one.


I love these knitted wool mittens my dad gave the girls for Christmas this year. They're so soft & warm.

New Obesession...

French Music.

Dreamy, intoxicating French music.

I've no idea what is being said, but it makes me swoon.

Right now you are listening to Samba de Mon Coeur Qui Bat, Je Cherche un Homme, and C'est Si Bon.

Free Nursing Cover from Udder Covers!

I've calculated it all out. I've spent 43 months of my life breastfeeding my four babes. 43 months of my life alchohol, garlic, broccoli and steak tar tar free. OK, not that last part. But I've loved every minute of it, bar the leaking in public, raw throbbing nipples, taking liquid doses of More Milk Plus (which really works by the way) to boost production (but makes you smell like rancid maple syrup) and hiding out in bathrooms to nurse my babies because I was terrified to do it in public. Yuck. Oh, how I wished I had the boldness of mothers who simply sat on a park bench with a blanket over their sholder.

With my fourth child, I gained courage, or lost diffidence, and was able to nurse my newborn on my living room couch in front of my in-laws. Mostly, I imagine because I was tired, cranky and dammit this was my house. If they were uncomfortable, they could get up and retire to another room. I still have not reached the summit where I can "whip it out" while walking down the grocery store isles ..... baby steps young mothers, baby steps.

As the title of this post suggests, I've heard that Udder Covers is offering a promotion for a gorgeous nursing cover. I'm not sure how long the promotion is, but it's regularly priced at $32, you need only pay shipping. They are beautiful cotton prints, my favorite is called Elsa, and I've promised myself that by the time I finish writing this I'll have decided if I want one. I am on the other hand trying to stop nursing my just turned one baby girl, who is not liking the idea. So I'm thinking I'll justify it as a gift, or for baby #5... OH, Sorry! The most important part! After you've added the cover you want to your shopping cart, put in the Promo Code ONEFREE, that will zero out the $32, you can even use paypal!

Yummy Smelling Kitchen, Without Baking

For a warm, spicy smelling kitchen,

peel an orange into a saucepan of water.

Add a couple of cinnamon sticks

and a few cloves

let it simmer away!

Surprise Muffins

These are simple to make with your kids and are wonderful for breakfast just out of the oven.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup milk

your favorite jam or jelly

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender, a fork or your fingers. Make a well in the center. Whisk the egg and milk together, and pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened, about 25 strokes, the batter will be very lumpy. Fill sprayed and floured muffin cups or paper liners 1/3 full. Spoon 1 Teaspoon of jam in the center, then cover with enough batter to fill cups 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

I got this recipe from a great kids cookbook from Gooseberry Patch.

Wee Paper, Dogonit

Look at this innocent little puppy. Santa brought this tiny rascal in his sack for #2. It came with a mother dog, two siblings and a Barbie wearing some pretty provocative short shorts and spike heels.

Two of the pups have a magnetic nose so they can hang from their mother's bobble head.

What a kind, caring mother.

Just like me.

But this little one, evidently the runt of the litter, is a little squishier, a tad undernurished, and terribly misunderstood.

Born without a magnetic nose like her other wombmates, and therefor forced to be bottle fed by promiscuous Barbie.

Here is #2 with a her little pink bottle,

Feeding the meager pup.


And what goes in...

must come out...

Wait for it....

(envision fits of giggles from 3 little girls)

It puddles, on the Wee Paper. How mind boggling.