Dot to dot

I love love love circles, always have. Circles are just fun. They are pretty when lined up in perfect rows and they are neat scattered all over the place in randomness. All my life I seem to gravitate toward things round or things with dots. These marbles sit in an old antique astray at my mom and dad's house (good way of finding new use for things huu?). Over the past few weeks it seems Spring catalogs have hit my mail box with great furry - and as I browse the pages I laugh because time after time...my eyes still faithfully fall to the dots...

Love this silk printed scarf from Boden.

And my creative bug loves all the new dot papers...

Maybe next time

Why in the world we thought that going up to the toboggan slide in Eagles Mere on opening day was a good idea is beyond me. And even though we opted not to wait for 3+ hours in 10 degree weather to ride the slide, we did have a pretty good time. We walked down to the lake, checked out the sights and did our best to keep from freezing. We are thinking maybe we give it a few weeks and we'll try again?

Green Tuesdays: 4

Okay so since pulling out the refrigerator and vacuuming the coils is ahh...a tad bit...unrealistic (but I totally will next time we find ourselves moving the 200lb beast) lets try a couple of realistic ideas this week. 1.) The reusable grocery bag/tote (we are getting much better at this...as soon as we unload them they go right back in the trunk! the only time we opt for plastic is when John's "doggie waste bags" get low...anyone have a green doggie pooper scooper idea?) 2.) Eat less meat - meat takes a lot more resources to produce than other forms of protein, so it's an inefficient source of fuel (they suggest trying to cut your meat intake in half) Okay, I'm not sure I can cut my meat intake in half but I can certainly concentrate on devoting one or two meals a week to being meat free.

Something light in January

Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower. ~Shigenori Kameoka

A four year old condensed

Duncan: Favorite pajamas: soft red fleece ones Favorite song: abcdefg... Favorite thing to draw/color: scribbles Person you love to play with: Sydney Food you do not like: tomatoes Favorite thing to do on a sunny day: play baseball Place in the world you want to go: I don't know Favorite smell: breakfast Favorite thing at the park: the slide Favorite snack: pretzels Favorite place to go in the car: the aquarium Favorite tool: hammer Favorite instrument: drum Favorite body part: feet Why?: because I like to walk around Really don't like: baby toys Want to learn how to do: play baseball better One thing you want for your birthday: I don't know

Envy

Why is it that the little boys are the ones to get the mile long lashes? This is Duncan in his birthday bubble tubby (super extra bubbles for birthday tubbies).

Duncan's festival of lights

10 Things I love about Duncan: 1.) He points with his middle finger 2.) He sucks his thumbs with his blue blanky 3.) He didn't ask for any presents 4.) He tells me I'm beautiful 5.) He loves broccoli (and his favorite color is green) 6.) He is light (and easy to carry) 7.) He is confident 8.) He likes girls and cooking and pink 9.) He loves excavators and backhoes and dirt 10.) He doesn't hold a grudge

Celebrating

Planning on doing some celebrating around here tonight. Duncan turns 4 today. And in an effort to make Duncan's birthday unique and special I made this garland with fabrics that he picked out...definite green theme. I got the idea here. (Picture quality is not great...trying to photograph inside at night with no flash is no simple task). His big party is this Saturday but I did get some mini cupcakes, ice cream and sparkler candles for after dinner. As is expected he is pretty excited about being 4. Promise to catch some photos later and post them...

Green Tuesdays: 3

So in continuing last weeks look at appliances... Most of us know that we should be using energy efficient appliances that have the Energy Star label right? (For example an Energy Efficient refrigerator uses 75% less energy than a refrigerator made in the 1970's.) Okay so not very many of us have refrigerators that are more than 30 years old (except maybe that one in the basement holding the beer?) but did you know: You should clean your refrigerator coils? The coils hold liquid that cools the air inside the refrigerator. It takes a lot more energy to cool the refrigerator when the coils are covered with lint and dust. Refrigerator coils should be cleaned at least twice a year! Now THAT I did not know. I'm embarrassed to admit that I do not think my 11 year old refrigerator has EVER had its coils cleaned. By doing this you can cut your refrigerator's energy use by up to 6%.

Warming up

When we woke up this morning it was 20 degrees outside...a nice balmy 30 degree warm up against yesterdays -11. Can I just tell you, I dream of a pantry that is actually located IN my house (in my heated house)...I think I may need to thaw out the cans of tomato sauce before I can put them in my vegetable soup today! So while I'm on the subject, here a few things I'm looking forward to in a new home: 1.) a dishwasher 2.) more than one bathroom 3.) a big backyard with lots of trees 4.) a studio for all my crafty stuff 5.) a view 6.) a garage 7.) a non freezing pantry 8.) STORAGE 9.) a workshop for John Maybe this time next year? Ah, we'll see...patience.

*edited

**In looking back over my photos I see that the specialty sandwich also included peanut butter. So it was kind of a Fluffer Nutter Banana Split Panini.

#2

I'm about two weeks late here...but we lost #2 three days after Christmas. As with a lot of "loosing teeth" stories, food was involved in this episode too. #2 fell out (and was swallowed) at Aunt Barbie's house while eating a Cooper Larson special Banana Split Panini (notice remnants on cheeks). Cooper came over to me and said "mommy where is the mirror in this house"? I was busy cooking so I brushed him off and said "in the bathroom". Low and behold he was asking because he tasted blood and had a hunch he lost another tooth. He was right...and a bit scared - he cried a little but then decided it was pretty cool. Let me guess - what you really want to know is Cooper's special Banana Split Panini recipe right? Panini bread from Wegmans, bananas, marshmallow fluff, chocolate chips and homemade cran-raspberry sauce...grill and eat.

Green Tuesdays: 2

Unplug your toaster: Like other appliances in your home, the toaster draws power simply because it's plugged in. It's called standby power or vampire power (because it sucks energy in the middle of the night) and it accounts for 5 percent of residential energy use, costing US consumers over $4 billion per year. To cut your use of standby power unplug appliances such as toasters, electric can openers and hairdryers when they're not in use. You know, I have heard this before and I just read (maybe in John's This Old House magazine?) that you can buy something like a circuit interrupter (no idea if that is what it is called) that you plug your appliances into and you can turn it on/off with the flick of a switch...that way you wouldn't have to plug/unplug every time you used stuff. Food for thought ~ if I find them (+ use it) I'll report back.

The Green Year - Helmer

#4 smile

Duncan is turning 4 soon and got a little carried away with the stamp he was using on his invitations...check out tomorrow's green post to see what I'm talking about.

Dinner creations

So in an effort to bring creativity to our children...we had "make your own pizza night". The rules? They each got a pizza crust and cheese and then got to pick the toppings of their choice. I told them they could put anything on that they wanted - then John and I promised to eat the creations. (I will admit putting my foot down at Dunc's sprinkle suggestion). Duncan: broccoli and pineapple white pizza. Cooper: mushroom and pineapple red pizza. They were totally thrilled with their masterpieces. We were totally thrilled at the limited number of ingredients each pizza adorned. (We realized after the rules were in place that dinner could quite possibly be disastrous). And how did they taste? We actually did very little faking the "oohh, this is delicious"!! Not too bad if you like pineapple on your pizza (thank goodness we do).

Living

I am rarely lured by the lovely fresh flowers that are so cleverly marketed to me at my local grocery store. My will power is usually quite strong. I push my cart right by them telling myself that I never really cared for lilies anyway and the Christmas cactus's will only bloom for a short while... But alas I caved this past weekend. I blame it on the need for something other than the four us to be living in our home. That and the sneaky $2.99 bin in which they were calling my name from... The bait was set and I am left dangling from their hook. But they are so pretty aren't they?

Sun + light

1. Sunshine and spider webs!, 2. The man came from the light - L' uomo venuto dalla luce, 3. Freshness, 4. Feel fresh, 5. January 1st 6.45 a.m., 6. Untitled, 7. Dale Chihuly shared the spotlight yesterday!, 8. Women in red make pictures in the first ray of sunshine..., 9. Untitled

Because I haven't done one of these in awhile... I wanted the pictures I chose to focus on light. In this part of the country (world) we don't see a whole lot of sun and light this time of the year. I found my subconscious needing it, my eyes finding it and my soul being warmed by these photographs. The good news: my mother reminded us at Christmas that the worst is over; the days are now getting longer...if even only by minutes. It adds up.

Green Tuesdays: 1

In honor of my first Green Tuesday I am sharing two green ideas...

First: recycle your Christmas Tree. I know a lot of us have taken ours down already but if you're like my friend, it may still be sitting out in the backyard waiting for someone to miraculously come and take it away. Many areas (including here in Williamsport) have places you can take your tree and the city will turn it into mulch (for free!).

Second: recycle or donate your old cell phones. Cell phones contain mercury, cadmium, lead, and other poisonous materials (who knew?). Tossing these in the landfill will allow the toxins to leak into the soil, which get into the water which...well you know the rest. If you go to www.electronicsrecycling.com you can enter your zip code and it will list the recycling places closest to you. Here in Williamsport it looks like we need to go to Lewisburg. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are up to 130 million unused cell phones in the United States. Recycling those phones would save enough energy to power 194,000 households for one year.

Hello new year

So with all this time off over the holidays you would think that I could post more than one thing to the blog...but no, instead I seem to be absorbed in life at home with no schedule and quite frankly have forgotten about the blog (shhh don't tell). But to catch you up let me tell you what I have been doing...

First; soup, soup and more soup. It's that time of year. I love to make soup. There is just no substitute for a great bowl of soup and a nice slice of bread on the side. My latest was this Southwestern Soup that is on the cover of Southern Living this month. I saw the magazine while standing in line at Lowe's (been living there lately) and it just had to be made for dinner.

Been reading the creative family - lots of interesting thoughts and ideas for raising children in a creative environment. Having more fun with less toys...aahhh, love this idea. After the blissful madness of Christmas I am faced with more plastic and more junk. Some is inevitable and by no means do I believe that all plastic toys are junk, but I know my kids have a lot...a really really lot and I feel at times that I am fighting an endless battle to try and instill values and a sense of appreciation for what my boys have. The author of the book is Amanda Blake Soule...in addition to her book she has a lovely blog soule mama that is worth checking out.

And I would not be Andria if I didn't do some baking. I have made the famous molasses cookies, a raisin puff cookie and these soft lemon sugar cookies...

After our bellies are full of soup and bread and cookies John and I retire to the living room to read for the half hour that the boys give us before tubby time. They head to the basement for some really bad evening television probably involving a square sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea and we get 30 minutes of peace - it's a trade off I'm willing to make. Anyway, this was under the Christmas Tree for me and I am salivating over each and every page...

And with design on my mind...www.rugman.com was a rather dangerous discovery. My sister in law turned me on to this website. Real Persian hand knotted rugs. I've bought two already and I'm eyeing up a third for my kitchen.

Last but not least...it is the new year and I do believe in resolutions. I believe in resolutions anytime of the year~all the times of the year, so why not January 1 too? For me January is a wonderful time to start fresh and set some goals. All my decorations get put away which inevitably leads to some cleaning and reorganizing and throwing away. It's a time for taxes (or at least thinking about taxes), a time for settling last years business and money and starting fresh. I have a list of resolutions/ideas/thoughts/goals and one is to concentrate on living a bit greener and being more conscious of what "living green" really means. I don't think I'm horribly behind the eight ball here...I mean...my parents were green before green was cool so I have a foundation...I just want to work on it a little, maybe put in some flooring and maybe walls? I'm hoping this book can help to spark some thoughts. And because the fate of resolutions is often grim I propose that I make Tuesdays Green Tuesdays. I will post a green thought for the week...this will help keep me accountable and maybe help spread the word a bit? Stay tuned for my first green post tomorrow! Okay, so I think you're caught up. Sigh. Welcome 2009 - here I come!