Okay this week it is just one book but honestly I think it might be one of my new favorite children's books of all time.
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud
Did you know we each have a bucket and the things we do can empty or fill each others buckets? If you didn't you find out when you read this great book!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
When you are keeping your fingers crossed!
I love being in Primary. I love the children and the feeling their wonderful little spirits bring every Sunday.
I however always have moments when my fingers are crossed and my heart starts to pound and that is when my own children are called on to answer a question that has no specific answer. I am always surprised by the answers and sometimes I get a glimmer that I might actually be doing something right.
Here are some questions my kids have answered in Primary:
Q:What is something your mom says that makes you happy?
A:When she talks to me about Jesus.
Q:What is something your mom teaches you?
A:How to melt things.(we had done a science experiment about melting the day before)
Q:What is something you got to choose today?
A:To paint and color.
Q:Was this while everyone was getting ready for church?
A:When I was snuggling with my mom this morning.
I however always have moments when my fingers are crossed and my heart starts to pound and that is when my own children are called on to answer a question that has no specific answer. I am always surprised by the answers and sometimes I get a glimmer that I might actually be doing something right.
Here are some questions my kids have answered in Primary:
Q:What is something your mom says that makes you happy?
A:When she talks to me about Jesus.
Q:What is something your mom teaches you?
A:How to melt things.(we had done a science experiment about melting the day before)
Q:What is something you got to choose today?
A:To paint and color.
Q:Was this while everyone was getting ready for church?
A:When I was snuggling with my mom this morning.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009 the Finale!
What a way to end Spring Break with both parents running fevers much like it began! We stayed home all day and vegged. We did manage to read the story of Easter and watch a movie about it too!
I did buck up and make 3 meals and their bunny cake too! We as parents I will tell you spent a good portion of the day napping and then having little bursts of energy to try to have a decent day for the kids. David even managed to make bird houses with the kids!
I did buck up and make 3 meals and their bunny cake too! We as parents I will tell you spent a good portion of the day napping and then having little bursts of energy to try to have a decent day for the kids. David even managed to make bird houses with the kids!
CHronicles of Spring Break 2009 Day 8
We went to Grandma and Grandpa K's today and had lots of Easter fun!!!! First the kids were showered with gifts from the California Great Grandparents. They had gotten all the boys water shooters which Grandpa K was right ready to have fun with these, they were soon escorted out of the house to have they water fight fun.
Granny, Aunt Sarah, and Max showed up and showering continued. Once Aunt Shannon came we were able to dye Easter eggs and read the notes the Easter Bunny had left and the tromp through the forest began in hunt for our Easter baskets. Once everyone had found their baskets there happened to be another note to were the Easter egg hunt was and so the fun continued. It ws a beautiful day and so everyone opened their eggs and baskets on the deck of the Log House. What a fun part of the Holiday for the kids.
We ended the day with a wonderful dinner and dessert and when we left for home all were exhausted some more than others. Come to find out a couple of were running fevers!!!
Granny, Aunt Sarah, and Max showed up and showering continued. Once Aunt Shannon came we were able to dye Easter eggs and read the notes the Easter Bunny had left and the tromp through the forest began in hunt for our Easter baskets. Once everyone had found their baskets there happened to be another note to were the Easter egg hunt was and so the fun continued. It ws a beautiful day and so everyone opened their eggs and baskets on the deck of the Log House. What a fun part of the Holiday for the kids.
We ended the day with a wonderful dinner and dessert and when we left for home all were exhausted some more than others. Come to find out a couple of were running fevers!!!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009 Day 7
Up and at them early we got ourselves already to go to the Mid-MI Children's museum. The kids were very excited about this. They had been before and couldn't wait to go play at the huge water table. It was a big of hit this time as it was the last time we were there.
After the museum we went to see David's new store and to go out for lunch. After lunch we went home for rests and naps and when we awoke off we went to get secret supplies. The list: magnets, PVC pipe and all different shapes of connectors, and bouncy balls. The kids were perplexed by all the supplies. They helped dad cut he pipes and while they were outside doing this I was hot gluing magnets on the connectors. Once the pipes were cut and washed and dried, magnets were applied to them as well. TaDa project done. Now they have there very own marble maze using PVC pipe and bouncy balls. They are loving it!!! It attaches to any magnetic surface it is currently in the kitchen but will be moved downstairs soon enough o be used on their magnetic easel.
The Princess and Brain had their last swimming class of the week and they are doing great. Now if we could only get he Princess to deliberately put her face in the water it would be great. The Brain went down the big slide for the first time all by himself. He was so proud of himself and so am I. We finished off the night with ice cream cones and then they were off to bed and David and I had a much needed date!
After the museum we went to see David's new store and to go out for lunch. After lunch we went home for rests and naps and when we awoke off we went to get secret supplies. The list: magnets, PVC pipe and all different shapes of connectors, and bouncy balls. The kids were perplexed by all the supplies. They helped dad cut he pipes and while they were outside doing this I was hot gluing magnets on the connectors. Once the pipes were cut and washed and dried, magnets were applied to them as well. TaDa project done. Now they have there very own marble maze using PVC pipe and bouncy balls. They are loving it!!! It attaches to any magnetic surface it is currently in the kitchen but will be moved downstairs soon enough o be used on their magnetic easel.
The Princess and Brain had their last swimming class of the week and they are doing great. Now if we could only get he Princess to deliberately put her face in the water it would be great. The Brain went down the big slide for the first time all by himself. He was so proud of himself and so am I. We finished off the night with ice cream cones and then they were off to bed and David and I had a much needed date!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009 day 6
The kids awoke to trails of chocolate Easter eggs leading to the room where the Easter baskets were hidden and they readily found every ones even those of us that were not awake quite yet. They re hide them and peace was restored again.
The kids did notice outside their bedroom window that he Easter bunny also hide eggs and were ready to go get them from their hiding places. Apparently my husband has a close relationship with the Easter bunny and said the Easter bunny froze his paws putting out the Easter eggs and we should eat breakfast first so it can get warmer out. I thought this was a wonderful idea. We had eggs, toast, sausage and fruit salad for breakfast. Everyone loved the bunny imprints on the toast(take a bunny shaped cookie cutter and press it into a piece of bread not all the way through and toast it and butter as usual).
After breakfast we all get ready to brave the cold(by the time we got out there it wasn't that cold)and go have and Easter egg hunt. With the rules explained and the timer on the watch set(the teen starts 2 minutes after everyone else) off they went with me following with my camera. I love watching the kids finding their special eggs and also grabbing the others they find along the way. As soon as their basket is full they are done and they get to watch the rest of the action which you might think this would not workout so well but they love cheering each other on and pointing out the missed eggs to their siblings. We soon return inside and the ritual of dumping the eggs out and opening them into their baskets begin. It is soon realized that green eggs were hiding just that green and the older kids start trading the younger ones for their green eggs. Only one would trade and he only had one green egg. Our Brain had a good majority of the green eggs and he understands the mighty dollar enough to know this is a good thing and is quite excited. He also found the super egg which contained more money than all the other eggs. A quick side note-this is the first year we put money in the eggs but we have a teen that is limiting his candy in take to almost non-existent so this was a good alternative for him. This process is also fun to watch "the giving of candy" if you don't like it give it to someone that does. The teen dumped his entire basket into the laid back boys basket ultimately giving him the fullest basket.
After all the excitement was over we quickly had home blessing hour(cleaning and picking up the main parts of the house) and ran to the recycling center. With the house back into some sort of order we were able to play games and have lots of fun coloring,drawing, and writing words.
We had a restful afternoon as dad left for work. Of course that only lasts for so long. Soon we found ourselves outside playing b-ball and getting ready for swimming class. They learned water safety at class today and had lots of fun doing it!
The kids did notice outside their bedroom window that he Easter bunny also hide eggs and were ready to go get them from their hiding places. Apparently my husband has a close relationship with the Easter bunny and said the Easter bunny froze his paws putting out the Easter eggs and we should eat breakfast first so it can get warmer out. I thought this was a wonderful idea. We had eggs, toast, sausage and fruit salad for breakfast. Everyone loved the bunny imprints on the toast(take a bunny shaped cookie cutter and press it into a piece of bread not all the way through and toast it and butter as usual).
After breakfast we all get ready to brave the cold(by the time we got out there it wasn't that cold)and go have and Easter egg hunt. With the rules explained and the timer on the watch set(the teen starts 2 minutes after everyone else) off they went with me following with my camera. I love watching the kids finding their special eggs and also grabbing the others they find along the way. As soon as their basket is full they are done and they get to watch the rest of the action which you might think this would not workout so well but they love cheering each other on and pointing out the missed eggs to their siblings. We soon return inside and the ritual of dumping the eggs out and opening them into their baskets begin. It is soon realized that green eggs were hiding just that green and the older kids start trading the younger ones for their green eggs. Only one would trade and he only had one green egg. Our Brain had a good majority of the green eggs and he understands the mighty dollar enough to know this is a good thing and is quite excited. He also found the super egg which contained more money than all the other eggs. A quick side note-this is the first year we put money in the eggs but we have a teen that is limiting his candy in take to almost non-existent so this was a good alternative for him. This process is also fun to watch "the giving of candy" if you don't like it give it to someone that does. The teen dumped his entire basket into the laid back boys basket ultimately giving him the fullest basket.
After all the excitement was over we quickly had home blessing hour(cleaning and picking up the main parts of the house) and ran to the recycling center. With the house back into some sort of order we were able to play games and have lots of fun coloring,drawing, and writing words.
We had a restful afternoon as dad left for work. Of course that only lasts for so long. Soon we found ourselves outside playing b-ball and getting ready for swimming class. They learned water safety at class today and had lots of fun doing it!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009 Day 5
Today was a laid back day for the kids. The teen of course did his running and played basketball with a friend. Other than that they just played with their toys and hung around and they did have a movie in their big brothers room which is a special event for them.
The Teen held down the fort today while I painted, painted, painted and grocery shopped. We did have McDonald's for breakfast and leftover pizza for lunch all things the kids love to do, but it was a working day for me today!!!
The Teen held down the fort today while I painted, painted, painted and grocery shopped. We did have McDonald's for breakfast and leftover pizza for lunch all things the kids love to do, but it was a working day for me today!!!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009- Day 4
In my research from the previous day I suddenly realize the Children's Museum we were planning on going to today is not open on Tuesdays. Tuesdays why Tuesday! Anyhow with some more research I find another children's museum to go to and another carrot to dangle in front of the Teen for being so cooperative in these young children adventures. The day went fabulously and we were home around 2pm despite the near white out that occured moments before we were going to leave for home.
The other endeavor that we had set in place for spring break which had been put on hold due to several illnesses was painting a certian pink fancy nancy room. To be honest as more of the walls have been painted I was thinking who decided to let her pick these colors? My husband readily reminds me we are not painting this room for resale value. We are painting these colors because she is going to love it and when she turns 13 she will have a project. I decide it is not so bad and once the white furniture enters it will be great...hopefully.
I paint the afternoon away and clean up just in time to have dinner at our favorite pizza place with Granny and Grandma K. This place is great because it is more of an experience for the kids. They get to make their own pizza and watch it go through the oven and watch them make pizzas too.
We return home in time to get the kids ready for swim class and I stay behind to paint and I really didn't want to miss the beginning of American Idol which I did anyway because I was into the painting. After AI I resumed my painting craze until I near dropped and this was the end of day 4.
The other endeavor that we had set in place for spring break which had been put on hold due to several illnesses was painting a certian pink fancy nancy room. To be honest as more of the walls have been painted I was thinking who decided to let her pick these colors? My husband readily reminds me we are not painting this room for resale value. We are painting these colors because she is going to love it and when she turns 13 she will have a project. I decide it is not so bad and once the white furniture enters it will be great...hopefully.
I paint the afternoon away and clean up just in time to have dinner at our favorite pizza place with Granny and Grandma K. This place is great because it is more of an experience for the kids. They get to make their own pizza and watch it go through the oven and watch them make pizzas too.
We return home in time to get the kids ready for swim class and I stay behind to paint and I really didn't want to miss the beginning of American Idol which I did anyway because I was into the painting. After AI I resumed my painting craze until I near dropped and this was the end of day 4.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009 day 3
The Brain was running a slight fever in the morning and so plan B went into place(which was a much more low key day.) I made biscuits(shaped like bunnies and then once it was realized I was making shapes we had CTR shields and dinosaurs and hearts) and sausage gravy(the teens fave) for the first time and it turned out really well. In matter of fact so well the teen liked it better than what he gets at his favorite breakfast place.
After going over our new and improved responsibility around the house plan we went to see Monsters vs Aliens. Which I will say I was pleasantly surprised that is was quite good. After this we ran to Target to get some Spring Break supplies. Inspired by B.O.B. from the movie we made blue slime and the kids played with it for over an hour and the parents played too. After which I took a well deserved nap and then my sweet husband took the kids out to play. The next thing I knew it was 6 and a quick dinner and then the Princess and the Brain took their Learn to Swim class at the local community center. They will be doing this every evening all week. After a bit of hesitation by the Princess they both had a great time.
The Teen stayed home with our Laid Back Boy and they built walls out of cardboard blocks and then Jensen would crash his rocket into it over and over again. The Teens reward for such fun NCAA playoff game(after rooting so fervently against MSU on Saturday and missing the end of the game(which I was then instructed to give him the play by play of the end of the game and ordered not to touch the channel until it was over-I will say I did change the channel) to go to a Priesthood meeting at church he was cheering them on last night) and the parents went to bed after a little research on the computer for the next days adventures.
After going over our new and improved responsibility around the house plan we went to see Monsters vs Aliens. Which I will say I was pleasantly surprised that is was quite good. After this we ran to Target to get some Spring Break supplies. Inspired by B.O.B. from the movie we made blue slime and the kids played with it for over an hour and the parents played too. After which I took a well deserved nap and then my sweet husband took the kids out to play. The next thing I knew it was 6 and a quick dinner and then the Princess and the Brain took their Learn to Swim class at the local community center. They will be doing this every evening all week. After a bit of hesitation by the Princess they both had a great time.
The Teen stayed home with our Laid Back Boy and they built walls out of cardboard blocks and then Jensen would crash his rocket into it over and over again. The Teens reward for such fun NCAA playoff game(after rooting so fervently against MSU on Saturday and missing the end of the game(which I was then instructed to give him the play by play of the end of the game and ordered not to touch the channel until it was over-I will say I did change the channel) to go to a Priesthood meeting at church he was cheering them on last night) and the parents went to bed after a little research on the computer for the next days adventures.
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009- Day 2
The Princess is feeling 100% better and I soon realize the Brain is not looking so hot. I take his temperature 101.9. Plans for the day change yet again. We get General Conference on DVD from the church and nestle in for the afternoon. I feel incredibly blessed! David and I come up with alternate plan for the week with more low key options on Monday. Lets hope we are all better in the morning.
Chronicles of Spring Break 2009 Day 1
Decide to get shopping done for the week first thing Saturday morning. Look over at Princess and realize she is white as a ghost and we need to quit shopping now and go check out with what we have. Thank goodness for the ninja fast reflexes God has given mother's because I grabbed that garbage can just in time. Needless to say plans for Saturday changed dramatically. We stay home and are movie bums for the day.
Friday, April 3, 2009
A New Addition
No not to our family and good heavens not to our house either it is to my blog.
It is simply called JEWELS and the link to it is: http://jewelsfromthejewels.blogspot.com/
It is quotes, thoughts or ideas that I love and on occasion you might get one of my own little tidbits on there. Enjoy!!!
It is simply called JEWELS and the link to it is: http://jewelsfromthejewels.blogspot.com/
It is quotes, thoughts or ideas that I love and on occasion you might get one of my own little tidbits on there. Enjoy!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Going Green!!!
We started out not really intending to be greener it just happend with little changes along the way but what I discovered was not only were we being kinder to the planet we saved a lot of money over the year!
Thank you to my friend for loaning me a book that opened my eyes a lot, a class that taught my son about global warming, and Curious George(the cartoon)for going to the recycling center. It truly has been a family effort and I am grateful for their efforts. I thought it would be a huge sacrifice for us but it was little changes all year that made a huge difference.
We have accomplished a lot this year. We have more we can do as I look around and every light is on in the house as we speak but we will work on that this year!
Take a look and see how we went Green!
Thank you to my friend for loaning me a book that opened my eyes a lot, a class that taught my son about global warming, and Curious George(the cartoon)for going to the recycling center. It truly has been a family effort and I am grateful for their efforts. I thought it would be a huge sacrifice for us but it was little changes all year that made a huge difference.
We have accomplished a lot this year. We have more we can do as I look around and every light is on in the house as we speak but we will work on that this year!
Take a look and see how we went Green!
Going Green #1
1. Fill up less
I used to fill my tank every 10 days now every 21 days.
What I did not to drive around so much...I used to run an errand everyday. Now if I am in one spot of town anything I have to do there gets done. If I were needing to go to return something to the library I would also take the kids to The Center fo the Arts or send it with my husband when he went to Young Men's or if I needed to run to go to Lowes or Home Depot I would grocery shop at Meijers, stop at Micheals, and Target. The funny thing was not only did I save money on gas because I was getting things done in one area, I also saved money because I was trying to get the things done before the kids errand timer ran out and there was no time to browse. It was here's my list, get the stuff, get out, go to the next place, next store.
We got netflix so no more running back and forth to the movie store. This movie is due the next day, this one in five days, this one is a 2 day rental you get the picture we would run to the movie store 4 days a week and not to mention the late fees that would sometimes happen.
No more shopping out of town- which is a big one. If I really needed something from a specific store not in our town I usually could just find it at their on line site and the sites always have a clearance section(guess what I never ordered a thing all year, there was never anything so special that I had to leave this town to go get it or have it shipped to me either). I started going to Sam's quarterly instead of monthly and now I go bi-annually and to the cannery once a year or whenever my can of carrots runs out then I know it is time to go!
Just staying home-we have a ton of fun stuff to do just at home and my kids love being here. We have movie nights at home complete with popcorn,pop,and movie candy. We have game nights. We color and paint and we love playdough. We sing and dance around the house. We have adventures..did you know the tree outside our house is a troll and there are goblins in our yard, thank goodness we have the safety of our tree house. We sidewalk chalk and blow bubbles. Honestly what more could we ask for than our kids loving Fun at Home!
This is how I quit driving so much and went GREEN!
I used to fill my tank every 10 days now every 21 days.
What I did not to drive around so much...I used to run an errand everyday. Now if I am in one spot of town anything I have to do there gets done. If I were needing to go to return something to the library I would also take the kids to The Center fo the Arts or send it with my husband when he went to Young Men's or if I needed to run to go to Lowes or Home Depot I would grocery shop at Meijers, stop at Micheals, and Target. The funny thing was not only did I save money on gas because I was getting things done in one area, I also saved money because I was trying to get the things done before the kids errand timer ran out and there was no time to browse. It was here's my list, get the stuff, get out, go to the next place, next store.
We got netflix so no more running back and forth to the movie store. This movie is due the next day, this one in five days, this one is a 2 day rental you get the picture we would run to the movie store 4 days a week and not to mention the late fees that would sometimes happen.
No more shopping out of town- which is a big one. If I really needed something from a specific store not in our town I usually could just find it at their on line site and the sites always have a clearance section(guess what I never ordered a thing all year, there was never anything so special that I had to leave this town to go get it or have it shipped to me either). I started going to Sam's quarterly instead of monthly and now I go bi-annually and to the cannery once a year or whenever my can of carrots runs out then I know it is time to go!
Just staying home-we have a ton of fun stuff to do just at home and my kids love being here. We have movie nights at home complete with popcorn,pop,and movie candy. We have game nights. We color and paint and we love playdough. We sing and dance around the house. We have adventures..did you know the tree outside our house is a troll and there are goblins in our yard, thank goodness we have the safety of our tree house. We sidewalk chalk and blow bubbles. Honestly what more could we ask for than our kids loving Fun at Home!
This is how I quit driving so much and went GREEN!
Going Green #2
2. Reusable Shopping Bags
The hardest part about this one was remembering to bring them. I finally hung one of the 3M hooks(that come off without leaving a mark)on my back door and hung them there so I wouldn't forget them when I left. I still do sometimes but not as much! I found ones I love at Target for $1.00 and a large on at Ikea for .79.
The hardest part about this one was remembering to bring them. I finally hung one of the 3M hooks(that come off without leaving a mark)on my back door and hung them there so I wouldn't forget them when I left. I still do sometimes but not as much! I found ones I love at Target for $1.00 and a large on at Ikea for .79.
Going Green #3
3. Fluorescent lights
They are more expensive than regular bulbs but it is true they last longer. We bought 1 or 2 packs every couple of weeks until our house was converted as much as it could be. I have not changed 1 of my fluorescent bulbs since we put them in over a year ago and before I was changing them about every 3 months. They certainly have paid for them self!
They are more expensive than regular bulbs but it is true they last longer. We bought 1 or 2 packs every couple of weeks until our house was converted as much as it could be. I have not changed 1 of my fluorescent bulbs since we put them in over a year ago and before I was changing them about every 3 months. They certainly have paid for them self!
Going Green #4
4. Buy Local-within a hundred miles
This has truly been the hardest. What I found: local bakeries, Country Fresh is based in MI so is Kellogs I know they are not within a 100 miles but they are in MI, some grocery stores carry local(Krogers) and their are graineries within 20 minutes. The biggest thing I did do was utilize the local farms and the Farmers Market. The kids loved going and they also loved helping prep the fruits and veggies for canning and freezing. I have a bushel of potatoes in a closet and I have used them all winter and they were fine all winter it was one of my experiements that I was a bit nervous about. I even made and froze my own pesto. I don't know if I have saved a dime on this endeavor but I do know we saved our Earths natural resources.
* did you know that if every US citizen ate one meal a week organically and locally grown or raised (with in 100 miles) we would reduce our country's oil consumption by 1.1 million barrels of oil a week! Think for a moment how much it cost to ship bananas to the local grocery store. They are harvested, trucked, flown, shipped, and trucked before they get to our local grocery store all using oil!
This has truly been the hardest. What I found: local bakeries, Country Fresh is based in MI so is Kellogs I know they are not within a 100 miles but they are in MI, some grocery stores carry local(Krogers) and their are graineries within 20 minutes. The biggest thing I did do was utilize the local farms and the Farmers Market. The kids loved going and they also loved helping prep the fruits and veggies for canning and freezing. I have a bushel of potatoes in a closet and I have used them all winter and they were fine all winter it was one of my experiements that I was a bit nervous about. I even made and froze my own pesto. I don't know if I have saved a dime on this endeavor but I do know we saved our Earths natural resources.
* did you know that if every US citizen ate one meal a week organically and locally grown or raised (with in 100 miles) we would reduce our country's oil consumption by 1.1 million barrels of oil a week! Think for a moment how much it cost to ship bananas to the local grocery store. They are harvested, trucked, flown, shipped, and trucked before they get to our local grocery store all using oil!
Going Green #5
5. Recycling
This we love we started out slow and worked up to full blown recycling right down to the tags on clothes. We use our roadside program but they only come every other week and we are a family of 6 so we visit the local recycling center at least once a week and the kids love it! The love sorting the recycling and learning more and more about it everytime we go. We have went from 2 heaping garbage cans a week to one partly full one. It makes wish we had been doing it all along!
This we love we started out slow and worked up to full blown recycling right down to the tags on clothes. We use our roadside program but they only come every other week and we are a family of 6 so we visit the local recycling center at least once a week and the kids love it! The love sorting the recycling and learning more and more about it everytime we go. We have went from 2 heaping garbage cans a week to one partly full one. It makes wish we had been doing it all along!
Going Green #6
6. Buying used clothes
This is not my favorite event in my life but I truly have found some great basic pieces for a steal-a jean skirt for .50 and silk PJ's for a 1.00 I am not great at this one but I will continue to buy more and more used clothing. I even know some people that trade clothes amongst themselves and that works for them I however am not that organized enough and will not pick up that habit in the near future.
This is not my favorite event in my life but I truly have found some great basic pieces for a steal-a jean skirt for .50 and silk PJ's for a 1.00 I am not great at this one but I will continue to buy more and more used clothing. I even know some people that trade clothes amongst themselves and that works for them I however am not that organized enough and will not pick up that habit in the near future.
Going Green #7
7. Shorter showers and Shallower bathes
This was hard for some in our home. The shallower bathes came easier and shorter showers were harder but we have one that could take a 30 minute shower no problem and now is down to 10 minutes. We all shave at the sink now and we turn the water off when we are brushing our teeth. I researched a little bit and it takes less water to run our particular dishwasher which I will add I was grateful for because I don't know if I could make that sacrifice. All in all we cut our water bill down over $10 a month.
This was hard for some in our home. The shallower bathes came easier and shorter showers were harder but we have one that could take a 30 minute shower no problem and now is down to 10 minutes. We all shave at the sink now and we turn the water off when we are brushing our teeth. I researched a little bit and it takes less water to run our particular dishwasher which I will add I was grateful for because I don't know if I could make that sacrifice. All in all we cut our water bill down over $10 a month.
Going Green #8
8. No more water bottles
I used to be a huge consumer of water bottles(did you know it takes oil to make plastic). Those days are gone. We started with cute Dora, Spiderman, and Diego water bottles in Easter baskets. Then added to the grown up collection some we found at Walgreen's for .99(they were full of emergency stuff so they really were a steal, because we took the stuff out and added them to our 72 hour kits-extra bonus for you they still have them). I found myself be short a few water bottles more so in the summer my kids use them everyday. I was at a local dollar store one day and quickly added Nemo, Cars, and Princesses to our water bottle collection. We have a spot for them in our cupboard just like plates and every other thing and my kids now fill them up for themselves every morning and they find their spot lined on the back of the counter.
I used to be a huge consumer of water bottles(did you know it takes oil to make plastic). Those days are gone. We started with cute Dora, Spiderman, and Diego water bottles in Easter baskets. Then added to the grown up collection some we found at Walgreen's for .99(they were full of emergency stuff so they really were a steal, because we took the stuff out and added them to our 72 hour kits-extra bonus for you they still have them). I found myself be short a few water bottles more so in the summer my kids use them everyday. I was at a local dollar store one day and quickly added Nemo, Cars, and Princesses to our water bottle collection. We have a spot for them in our cupboard just like plates and every other thing and my kids now fill them up for themselves every morning and they find their spot lined on the back of the counter.
Going Green #9
9. Greener Cleaners
There are a lot of these out there. Some of my favorites are Method at Target, Seventh Generation(if you have child with exzema this laundry detergent is for you) at Walgrrens, and Simple Green has a naturals line I love. Vinegar is great too and baking soda works well too. Do I still use bleach and lysol? Of course I do just not as much and all the time in the winter. I just use them less.
There are a lot of these out there. Some of my favorites are Method at Target, Seventh Generation(if you have child with exzema this laundry detergent is for you) at Walgrrens, and Simple Green has a naturals line I love. Vinegar is great too and baking soda works well too. Do I still use bleach and lysol? Of course I do just not as much and all the time in the winter. I just use them less.
Going Green #10
10. Task Lighting
This started a few years ago and we weren't even thinking about saving energy it was just more of a convenience and had under cabinet lighting installed. We have added lamps in key places and we still have more to add. I don't know if this really saves energy but it makes me feel better.
This started a few years ago and we weren't even thinking about saving energy it was just more of a convenience and had under cabinet lighting installed. We have added lamps in key places and we still have more to add. I don't know if this really saves energy but it makes me feel better.
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