The Story of Stuff

If you haven't yet watched the Story of Stuff, please do. Then take the message to heart ;)


Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

What's your accent?

Found this on another blog. My result was right...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Appliance Excitement

Before:

After:

Who knew that a bright, shiny new appliance could make my heart soar? Sigh.
Our old fridge was unevenly cooling things - the back of the cheese drawer was freezing. The door clunked every time it was opened, and we were just waiting for it to fall off. So...the paper had an ad for the Sears Appliance Outlet and voila! You see our shiny new, energy-efficient, top-fridge, bottom-freezer-drawer, stainless steel refrigerator.

Muddy boy and not much else

Baby L simply loves going out on our back patio...and beyond, to the mud pit. Wednesday, a friend and her kiddos came up to our part of town for some Dino fun followed by play at our house. The kids were all playing in the mud/water, so of course Mr. L was too! Big sis C took these pics:


In other news, today is a half-day for C, and the beginning of Spring Break. We have no major plans for the week. I will be attending two Blessingways this weekend and garage sale-ing. The girls and Daddy will be going to an Easter egg hunt at the Ranch.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mystery Meal

I tried to assemble a yummy meal ahead of time by using our slow cooker. I did what the recipe told me...but eeewww:


Needless to say, it was not eaten! Now the real question is, who can tell what that was supposed to be?



I'll give a hint...




...think breakfast...



And the answer is: OATMEAL! With raisins...

So who knows a fail-proof oatmeal in a slow-cooker recipe? I mean, how hard can it be??

Arboretum Adventures

For our family hike this weekend, we chose a trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It was another perfect day, and a lovely spot for some low-key adventures. We got a pretty late start, so our "hiking" was minimal...but we'll go back soon to explore the trails a little more.

Time keeps ticking...

...and for us, it does so without "springing ahead." So if you were thinking of calling us, be sure to note we are currently on Pacific Time! That's right, Arizona and Hawaii (and until April 2006, parts of Indiana!) do not participate in that bi-yearly clock-turning ritual. And, just to make it more confusing - actually, the Navajo Nation in NE Arizona, DOES participate in DST!

OK, to be precise, we're not really on Pacific Time. We're on Mountain Standard Time (MST), not to be confused with Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).

Clear as mud, huh?

Here are some more fun DST tidbits for you...like the story of the twins born at the clock change, so though Twin B came 34 minutes after her brother, Twin A, her official time of birth is 20 minutes EARLIER.

Sweet sisters

Every night now, C reads books to E. Usually she is in her upper "bunk" while E is in her lower berth...but we just bought this new reading light for E at IKEA. Since it was a cool new gadget, C was reading right in bed with E. Once it got quiet, this was the scene we found:

Hiking

Saturday, Piestewa Peak (Phoenix visible in the distance)




Sunday, Papago Park

(the "dino cave")

(pit stop)



(Bass boys - city below)


(Whew - hard work, all that hiking)


(While I'm showing off cute sleeping baby...who doesn't ever actually sleep when WE want to)


We decided with all the rains we've had, we'd explore the gorgeous green desert. We're just a little early for wildflowers - hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have some impressive pics to share of the desert in bloom.

We went to REI after hiking on Saturday and bought the girls their very own water hydration packs (C picked blue, E picked pink)...which they proudly wore all day Sunday! C went through her entire 1L bag...ah, novelty! But the real bonus is, *I* no longer have to carry *their* water, and *they* can drink whenever they want! Win-win...

Our poor kids.

From the USA Weekend thing in our Sunday paper:

According to researchers at UW, 40% of three-month-old babies are regular TV watchers...and 90% of two-year-olds are!!

Our kids will just never fit in with their peers. They'll be years and years behind when it comes to pop culture.

Thank goodness!

Poor things almost NEVER see TV. They might average an hour of any screen time per month. Maybe. More like an hour per two months. And more often than not, that's an episode of Little Bear on DVD.

Of course, since we only get fuzzy broadcast TV, it's not hard to not watch the tube in our house :)

Sad news about a friend

I just found out that one of the women in my AP Meetup group has breast cancer. She is a mom to two kids, ages 3 and 1.5, and is newly pregnant as well...possibly with twins. Here's her update:

So, I have breast cancer. Invasive ductile carcinoma. In two weeks, I will have a "modified radical mastectomy"...After the mastectomy, they will know what stage I am in. The stage I am in will determine how much chemotherapy that I will undergo. If I wasn't pregnant they would do both breasts, but my surgeon and OB is worried that would be too much surgery for the babies. They are waiting two weeks for the surgery since at that point, I will be 6 weeks pregnant (once you get to 6 weeks, the risk of miscarriage drops). So much for my VBAC...Dr. A is referring me to a high-risk OB. No one is pressuring me to terminate the pregnancy (which I am happy about...I will not do it.) Apparently, it is the trend these days to try to treat the cancer "around the pregnancy" in order to save the baby's life. I will most likely have a super early c-section...as early as possible. Good thing the babies will be born at [certain hospital]...since they have the fancy NICU.

So...if you are of the praying type, please include my friend and her family in your prayers. They're going to need them.
:(

ETA: I just found out, she got the diagnosis one day after her 26th birthday.

Want your children to be at risk for sexually deviant behavior?

...then spank 'em!

-----

Spanking Raises Chances of Risky, Deviant Sexual Behavior

Review found physical punishment of kids linked to unprotected, masochistic sex as adults

Earth Hour 2008

I just read about Earth Hour 2008 in the paper. Here's the info from the website:

It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

I signed up (#47,978)! Who else is in?

Ina May on MSNBC

A friend just sent me this link to an article on Ina May Gaskin on MSNBC. Read it!

And please note this little statement from the article:

"The National Center for Health Statistics reported last month that the maternal death rate for 2005 has risen to about 15 women per 100,000 live births, more than double the 1998 rate of 7."

Supposedly some of that rise can be attributed to better reporting, but researchers think it also has to do with the now 31% C-section rate in our country.

Of course, it doesn't help when we have "stars" like Christina Aguilera raving about how great a C-section is because it's such a relaxing, calm way to "give birth." Oh, and it protects your parts, and there are no surprises...She had a scheduled C-section at 37 weeks! Never mind the average gestation is 40 weeks, and it's not uncommon for babies to need 41 and 42 weeks...sigh.

eta: found this lovely quote from People, by Xtina:

"'I didn't want any surprises,' she says matter-of-factly of her decision to deliver via scheduled C-section at week 37 of her pregnancy. “Honestly, I didn’t want any [vaginal] tearing. I had heard horror stories of women going in and having to have an emergency C-section [anyway]. The hardest part was deciding on his birthday. I wanted to leave it up to fate, but at the same time I was ready to be done early!”
(italics mine)

eta (again): just found this lovely "open letter" to Christina from Jennifer Block, the author of Pushed (great read - get it if you haven't yet read it)!

Indian fun

So this arrived a few days ago:

It's hard to really see, but this white is a thin fabric, like a flour sack. Below, you see how it is literally sewed together, encasing the insides:

We started into it...and found this:

And then this:

And finally this:


And what should we discover, so securely and uniquely packaged? These:






Here are all the pictures from the Indian gift package from Auntie A (if you get past the first part, with the "objects only," you'll be rewarded with many more "action" shots):



Thanks again, Auntie!

Thirty-three

33 years ago today, I was born in Anchorage, Alaska.

Just for fun...

3+3=6, which is the age C will be in just 2 months...she was also born in Anchorage.

6 = the number of years D and I have been married

3 = kids in our family

Yeah, that's all I've got tonight. I'm sure there's more fun with numbers to be had, but since everybody else is sleeping at the moment, I think I'm going to join that club.

Presidents' Day Weekend Trip

Since C had Fri/Mon off this week, D decided to take the days off too. Friday morning we went to Scottsdale to visit with a friend (and stealth blog-reader) from Iowa City/Portland who was in town for the weekend. After a too-quick breakfast and visit, we ran home to pack for a little vacay...we were headed south, to see some more of our state.

Just heading out of our house, heading down the 101...I saw the single most awesome vanity plate ever. We were heading South on the 101 about 3:30 in the afternoon. For non-locals, the 101 is ALWAYS backed up and really obnoxious to drive. Generally, we'd avoid it completely at rush hour, but we found ourselves none the less on its surface...complaining about the traffic as always...when I suddenly spotted this:

(isn't that the coolest ever?? I actually got this through our windshield while driving...I was so very happy I had the camera handy!)

After that awesome spot, we headed to RawMilkStar's ranch south of the city complex. We just started getting 2 gallons of raw goat milk a month from these guys, and thought a visit to the goats providing the goods would be fun for all of us.
D, C and I all gave milking a shot...D's feeble attempt wasn't successful (to be fair, he only gave one go). However, both C and I did OK for a first try. Of course, I have the advantage of being a multi-year lactating mama LOL...Here's C in action:




From there, we headed towards the Colossal Caves area, thinking we'd find a hotel and crash for the night. Surprisingly, three kids later, D and I are still pretty much fly-by-the-pants travelers. Who wants to plan ahead? *eyes rolling here*

Here started the comedy-of-errors trip...

We got to the Vail exit (according to the whole-state map to which I was referring, it was closest to the caves, and therefore a great spot to stay, right?)...and there were no hotels. So we headed back north towards Tucson, but since the Gem Show was still in action, everything was full or way too expensive. We headed South AGAIN, past the Vail exit and all the way to Benson...about 40 miles further down I-10. At Benson, we got off the highway, and found....nothing. Actually, we drove by two little motels, both with "No Vacancy" signs and full parking lots. Then we drove down a dead end that paralleled the highway. Then we stopped for a girl potty break, where I proceeded to somehow whack my fourth toe, right foot, so hard on some seat mechanism as to most likely break the bone. In excruciating pain, I finally looked up the Days Inn in our "Family Fun in AZ" book and called for some directional help.

We arrived at the Days Inn around 10:30 at night, paid too much for a room, and after limping up the stairs to the second floor, we settled into our nasty, polyester-creepy-feeling skanky-blanket-clad beds...but hey, at least there was a complimentary breakfast, right?

Yeah, so the breakfast buffet consisted of...Cocoa Puffs, Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, donuts, Folgers coffee, X-brand instant oatmeal, and white bread and white bread bagel-ettes. Mmmmm.

We quickly ditched that place, and headed towards Tombstone, famous home of the Shoot-out at the OK Corral (Doc Holladay, Wyatt Earp, etc.). Cool, right? Re-enactments, Western-town...uh, no. You have to pay to get in to any shoot-outs, and the sidewalks were lined with folks smoking cigarettes.

As we walked down the (OK, relatively cute and interesting) Western town boardwalk/sidewalks, some guy walked out of a store, took a disparaging look at our family, and stated as he walked right on by, "You guys need a few more." I just wish I'd bothered to tell him, "You're right. We're working on it," or "Ah, thanks, you think we're that special?" But no, instead I'm seething at the rudeness and blatant nastiness the fellow exhibited. I sure hope he has no kids of his own...

We decided to take the trolley for the narrated tour. This was great, and actually very interesting...and also the place of E's first ever "accident." Yup, she full on peed her pants, standing in the old trolley. Sigh.

At least they enjoyed some cheezy sights...



After the tour, we went back to the van to get new pants...and realized she (we) hadn't packed any extra pants. I asked about thrift stores, but alas, there were none. So we drove on to Bisbee...cute place! I can't wait to go back. We didn't actually get out and explore, since I was pretty much unable to walk or even put on a shoe, thanks the toe incident...but we grabbed D a cup of coffee and found a thrift store with a pair of jeans for E. Of course, when we got her out of the carseat to change pants, turns out she'd had yet another accident...sigh.

From Bisbee, we drove Northwest to Sierra Vista. Here, we decided to simply get a room and hang out, since for the girls half the fun is the hotel, and as for me...well, I still couldn't walk around.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn (which, for the record, is our favorite hotel). We swam, hot-tubbed, got Pizza Hut pizza, and watched bad TV. The girls thought life was great...and I could keep my feet up.

Sunday we headed home, stopping in Tucson at the Children's Museum. Not quite the vacation we originally intended, and full of error...but we still had fun.

For Presidents' Day, we cleaned the van...


...and C took the baby for a little walk:


At least all the peeing got us to finally remove the covers from our carseats and wash them!

The stats from our odd little trip:
12 hours, 24 minutes driving time; 530.4 miles

And no, I still can't walk normally. I really think it's broken.

Next on the agenda: swimming lessons at 5:00, and back to real life...

Babywearing dinos

Yup, even our dinos in this house are AP-parenting, babywearing mamas!

Cute little kids

E having fun with baby bro:

Woo-Hoo!!

We have a functioning pool pump once again! Yes, my handy husband has managed to re-plumb, re-electrify, and just all-around re-do the old shot pump and shoddy plumbing/electric job (which caused the failure in the first place) by himself! Well, fine, we bought a new motor for the pump...but as of 5 minutes ago, our pool is being filtered once again...to the tune of about $200 instead of the $2000+ we were quoted!

Did I say...WOO-HOO?!?