Random Tidbits

* Joshua is keeping us entertained as usual. We started teaching him about being sorry in conjunction with time outs. Now he says it all the time. He was running down the hall the other day and bumped into the wall. So he turned to the wall and said "sorry," then kept going.

*27 weeks along! We finally have an ultrasound scheduled for next Thursday, so hopefully we will find out if the baby is a boy or girl!

*Conversation of the week:
Me: "I can't believe how big my stomach has gotten in the past two weeks. Look at it." *Pointing out my large tummy to Kurt in the mirror.*
Kurt: "Well it doesn't help when you are sticking it out."
*Long Pause*
Me: "I"m not sticking it out. I'm standing normally."
Kurt: "Oh."

* Joshua turned two! He celebrated with some of his friends and Mimi and Papa came to visit.
* You have to watch the little booger all the time or he'll get into something! He got a little art kit for his birthday and wanted to play with it while we were getting ready for something. So I took the markers away and let him play right next to us. Apparently the eraser still had marker residue on it...

No Trick, just Treat please!

We kicked off the Halloween season Tuesday with our playgroup. The costumes lasted about 10-15 minutes and we were not able to pull of a group shot. But it was fun none the less!

They both look a little confused...

A monkey, Belle, a transformer and Snow White, oh MY!

Timmy was able to wear Joshua's costume from last year. This picture is so cute because they are holding hands and we didn't pose them that way!

This year was the first for Trick or Treating. Kurt had to head out of town for a conference, so we did a practice trick or treat run to our friend's the night before so Kurt could be there.

Even after trick or treating on our street, I still don't think he really gets that he got candy. He hasn't asked for it since that night, so I gave it away. Well, I picked out what I wanted and gave the rest away. I know, I'm mean.It's always lovely when you ask your child to smile and he picks his nose instead.

Happy Fall Ya'll

It's finally cooled off here in central Texas so was able to break out the fall decor. Last Saturday we went to a local pumpkin patch for pumpkin pickin', a hay ride, and some face painting. The weather was beautiful!

Going Greener: Going beyond Curbside Recycling

I'm actually pretty excited about what I've learned about recycling beyond our curbside recycling program. Before we get into that, I'll say a little about curbside recycling.

It's appalling to me that there are many families on our street that don't take advantage of the free, little effort required opportunity to recycle at the curb. That's all I'm going to say about that.

My mother's side of the family comes from a very rural area of West Virginia. It's a good 30 minutes to the closest Walmart. The amazing thing-they have curbside recycling and have for at least 6 years. My point is that if you do not have curbside recycling, you might want to consider rallying your community to take action. Washington County, Virginia I'm talking to you.

Our curbside pick up hits most of the basics, clear and brown glass, plastics 1 & 2, aluminum, etc. However, with a little research it's likely you can find somewhere on your daily path that will go above and beyond these materials.

Our community is littered with green and yellow dumpsters for paper recycling by PaperRetriever. You can find these dumpsters at all the local schools, the YMCA, and goodwills. The great thing about these dumpsters is that it is a fundraiser for the organization that sponsors the dumpster. You can recycle catalogs, newspapers, office and school paper, and mail. However, they do not take any form of plastic, so you have to cut the plastic windows out of all those junk mail envelopes. Click here to see if there is a dumpster near you. If not, consider looking into getting one for your local school, church, or civic group.Joshua says, "Be Cool & Recycle!"

We have been sorting all our paper out this month and I'm amazed at the reduction it's made. I took a picture of our home office trash one week, but can't seem to find it. Basically the recyclable stuff was overflowing it's basket and the trash amounted to about 10 plastic windows from junk mail.

What I'm even more excited about it that I just learned that I can drop off pressed cardboard at a collection site just down the road. What is pressed cardboard? Cereal boxes, cardboard egg cartons, etc. Basically anything type of box that isn't waxed (such as an orange juice carton). That is probably the element that takes up most of our trash right now, so this will greatly reduce our trash volume. While our local transfer station doesn't take corrugated cardboard, the main hub does, so when we have shipping boxes etc we can take them there for recycling. To find a recycling center near you, click here to check out Earth911. For you Austinites, the Austin Recycling Center information can be found here.

In summary:
*Use your curbside recycling to it's fullest!
*Check to see if Paper Retriever has a dumpster near you for all your paper trash.
*Check out Earth911 for drop off recycling in your community for everything else, especially pressed cardboard.

P.S. You can also recycle most of your plastic bags at the grocery store, but I'm going to talk about that another day.

I guess they were right....

It's taken 8 years to say it. They were right. My sophomore year of college I changed my major to interior design and spent a year in the program. After students complete their first year in the program, they have to go through an evaluation process to determine whether they can proceed to the second year. They didn't advance me.

It's been a bit of a bitter memory. In many ways, I have been thankful that I changed paths. But I've never been able to fully say, "They were right." Until now.

A month ago we began re-decorating our kitchen. The original builder paint was still up, which is not a very good grade and very hard to clean. So, we decided to add some color and a tile backsplash. I decided it would be super fun to do a Tuscan theme, so that was the route we started with.

Picking a paint color took a little time, but was relatively painless.
We had our friend Jen come over to consult. She worked with an
interior design friend to pick out the paint colors in her house (which are awesome) and so she shared what she had learned.

However, we picked our final color with out consulting Jen, and it's ummm....cheerful. It's like to sun in shining in our kitchen.


We've always been one to call in the troops for help, this time was no exception. Our faithful friends came over to help paint. They are awesome and they got the job done so quick, we gave them another project to work on!


I am continually amazed by our friends' generosity-thank you guys! That said, don't tell anyone, but I'm not crazy about the color. Kurt says that it's okay if I don't like it, but I'll have to repaint it myself. On second thought...cheerful is good.

As for the tile backsplash, we still can't find a design we like. I went to Lowes and Home Depot today for about the 10th time in a month to look at tile. Every Saturday we load up the car and go with the hopes of finally finding "it." However, Joshua has the tolerance of about 2 stores lasting 15 minutes and 23 seconds in each, so it's been limiting. The search continues...The good news is we have found some decor items and a new light fixture for over the island, as well as remaking our old one over the table. Hopefully within the next month I can do a new post with pic of our finished kitchen.

Now that I am in the midst of the makeover project, I can finally say, "They were right." Can you imagine if I was actually trying to make a profession of interior design??? I can also confidently say I will never build a custom home....it would take me years!

Project #2: We stained some crates I found for $1 each to decorate above our cabinets.

Mike actually has a three week old at home and he's helping us???

The Supervisors

Thank you Jennifer, Chris, Jodi, Mike, Andrea, and Jeremy!!

Good Video

Joshua's not quite old enough for the whole song, but this is pretty good.

"A Mom's overture" by Anita Renfroe

Working at the carwash

We've got a new bargaining chip for when we are looking for free babysitting. Joshua will wash your car in exchange for babysitting him for a few hours...


By the way, I know it's a little ironic to post washing your car during our Going Greener focus, but it's the first time the Mazda's been washed in the 14 months...

Going Greener-Reducing Junk Mail

If I had know how easy it was to reduce junk mail, I'd have done it years ago! Here's some things I've learned this month and done to reduce our household junk mail.


Native Forest Network's Guide to Stopping Junk Mail: FACTS ON JUNK MAIL!

• The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail.
• Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year.
  
• That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced each year!
  
• 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
  
• Approximately 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
  
• By the year 2010, it is predicted to make up about 48%.
  
• 100 million trees are ground up each year to produce junk mail.
  
• Lists of names and addresses used in bulk mailings are in mass data-collection networks, compiled from phone books, warranty cards, and charity donations (to name a few).
  
• Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.

Aren't those stat's amazing? Seriously, I think my Dad and Step mom get about 10 catalogs a day in the mail!

So, how can you stop the flow of Junk? Here are some steps that I learned from No Impact Man, my new favorite site.

1) Opt out of all those credit and insurance offers. Visit OptOutPrescreen.com, the official site of the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry. (Seriously, I think I'd save a tree just by getting off Capital One's list. We get at least an offer a week from them.)

2) Contact Direct Marketing Service to get off the mailing list of national advertisers. By joining their Mail Preference Service list, you will supposedly reduce your junk mail by 75%.

3) Call the 800 number on the back of catalogs to get off their mailing list. Even if you do mail order shopping, you can still shop online and save paper! I rarely buy things by mail order, but when I do I always shop online. I love to peruse Pottery Barn's catalog, so it will be sad to say goodbye, but worth it in the long run. I do this as they come in, so it's just a few minutes here and there.

4) Another suggestion by the Native Forest Network is to get off sweepstakes mailing lists. I didn't do this because I don't know the last time I've gotten any mailing from any of them. But,
to remove your name from major nationwide sweepstakes mailers, contact:

• Publishers Clearinghouse, 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050 Phone: (800) 645-9242
• Readers Digest, Readers Digest Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570 Phone: (800) 234-9000
• American Family Publishers, PO Box 62000, Tampa, FL 33662 Phone: (800) 237-2400

I encourage you to do these steps to reduce all our junk mail! The first two will take you about five minutes each, so do it now before you forget! I'd love to see how many participate, so leave a comment if you do it!

Driving Lessons

Well over a year ago, Kurt bought his current car, a Mazda 3. It's fun and cute (am I allowed to say that, kurt?) and supposedly fun to drive. I wouldn't know; It's a manual transmission. I knew he wanted a manual, for the fun and the gas mileage, but I wasn't so excited about it. He said he could teach me to drive it, but I've heard that from about five different people. None of which were able to successfully teach me. I won't tell you all the stories, because there's a list of the people, as diverse as the kinds of cars they drove. Some were patient, some not so much.

Last spring, Kurt and I went out for a date night and decided to make use of having a baby sitter for Joshua and do some driving lessons. It was amazing, I actually got around the parking lot! I was so proud of myself and imagined driving around town. Kurt was pleased too but reminded me I still needed a lot of practice. Practice I never did.

After returning from vacation, the XTerra ended up in the shop for a few days. I don't do so well being stuck at home for several days at a time. It was a good reminder to get out and work on my driving again. So that weekend, we loaded Joshua up and went to the school across the street. I took the wheel and started her up, but we didn't get very far before I killed it. Joshua apparently thought the car ride was like a carnival ride as he cackled and giggled when we jerked back and forth. So I started her back up again, and tried again. Killed again, giggles again. And that went on for about 10 more attempts. Of course, Joshua laughing got me laughing so I couldn't even pay attention to the instructions Kurt was barking at me. (He was the only one not laughing).

So we gave up. Kurt took back over and we ran an errand. We talked about what I might have been doing wrong and decided to try again. As Kurt and I traded places again back in the parking lot, I kid you not, the little stinker says, "oh uh!" Oh, uh was right. I still didn't get anywhere and haven't had a lesson since (I think marital preservation is more important). I just can't wait to laugh at Joshua from the backseat when it's his turn to drive. Course I'll probably be too busy gripping the door and slamming the air brake.

Going Green (er)

Yes, it's the trendy thing to go green these days. There's been a lot in the news about global warming, the melting of glaciers and the future extinction of the polar bear. But I have to be honest, I'm really not worried about the polar bear. I'm not even really that worried about the melting of glaciers. But I do worry about what is goes on in my every day world.

Last summer, on one of our standard walks to the mailbox (it's half a mile from our house (the postal services is getting lazy these days, but that's another issue) we passed by the creek that runs behind our backyard. We had recently had a heavy rain and the creek was full. Passing by, you couldn't help but notice a huge amount of foam rising from the rapids. Kurt explained to me that a co-worker had told him the foam caused by pesticides and fertilizers used in yards. That is scary to me.

Southern Living magazine come to me in the mail every month. It's taken me years to realize that my yard will never be Southern Living magazine worthy. And that's okay. Each spring, we fight the battle of what to do about weeds and fire ants. I would love for our lawn to look lush, green, and weed free. But so far I haven't figured out a way to do that without being a detriment to the environment outside my yard. I also want my son to be able to run barefoot through the grass and roll around on the ground with no worries about chemicals. My main point in this is that we have got to start evaluating what's really important for today and for tomorrow. Yes, it's great to have a green, weed-free lawn, but is it worth the expense of our greater environment?

I have been thinking a lot about small ways to impact the environment for good. I'm just the average person. I recycle, I try to preserve resources, but I'm also an American who has gotten used to the unacceptable standards we currently live by.

So I'm going greener. I'm not going to stop taking showers or vow to not buy anything for a year. But I am going to try and make some everyday changes. I'll be sharing these things on the blog, in hopes that you will join me.

Wow, finally, videos through blogger

I sat down to blog about something else, and got distracted when I saw the add video button on my toolbar. Blogger has finally gotten with the program and added a video feature. I'm really glad to not have to post our videos for the world on YouTube now!

I've got news

Hey- Joshua here. Mommy usually doesn't let me type on the keyboard, but since I've got news she's letting me post. I'm usually the last one to know everything, but I figured when I got this new shirt that something was up. Every time I wear it people get really excited...

Do you like it? Did you read it? It says, "I'm going to be a big brother!" Then it has a monkey swinging. Does that mean the new baby will look like a monkey?

Mommy and Daddy say the baby is suppose to come on March 5th. That means it's been in Mommy's tummy for about 13 weeks. I have been getting lots of practice so I can be a great big brother.

I scream, you scream, Joshua screams for...

ICE CREAM!
While back in ol' Virginee, Joshua got his first ice cream cone. It was messy, and lots of fun.















(We tried to teach him how to lick the ice cream cone)

Vacation

We recently returned from two weeks on the East Coast. Rather than completing a 1000 word essay on what we did....here are some highs (and, er, lows) of our trip:

-We started Joshua on a new antibiotic the day before the trip. One of the side effects is diarrhea. I've learned not to start new medications with a side effect of diarrhea before three hour plane trips. Fortunately, Joshua didn't indicate anything was wrong during the two and a half hours he sat in mess on the plane (half hour into the flight was when we noticed the plane smelled bad). I'll spare you the very messy, all over him, all over his seat details...

-Always a good time hanging out with the Zeb clan. Joshua got in on the traditional cousins chicken fighting this year.





-Fun times with Mom Mom!




-Joshua got his first DunkinDonuts-YUm YUm!


-Joshua got to see daddy's college campus-University of Delaware.
-On the way from Delaware, we got in some very short visits with two of my college roommates & their families. We spent the night with Uncle Jeff in Richmond, where we spent the night playing video games!

-Day two of traveling from DE to VA, we detoured to West Virginia to see my grandmother and then on to the family farm so Joshua could see the cows (and my extended family!).

-I was so excited to see Kurt get in on some Japanese beetle action with my Dad. It brought back such fond memories. First they get collected in a bag and then my dad insists on digging a hole and then burying them with a bag of boiling water. Good times. Don't you just love that Kurt always has a good stance when lifting things?


-Joshua apparently wore Mimi and Papa out!-My stepsister and family were in town for our last day. Joshua was surrounded by his California cousins the entire time! He loved all the attention.
~I had my ten year high school reunion, so we had to take a pre-prom style photo when Kurt "picked me up" for our big night out-Hey, where's my corsage? It was so fun to catch up with hometown friends!


~Joshua discovered the joy of running up and down a hill in Virginia.



I know you are hungry for more...you can see all 170+ photos from our trip on our Picasa site.