Tainted milk powder, what next?

We are off to Columbia SC today to visit with Pete and look at some houses...Yeah!

Is anyone else as appalled at this whole Chinese tainted milk powder incident as I am am? I am stunned at how a government could allow more than 50,000 children to get sick under it's nose....

About two years ago when it seemed that everything coming out of China was tainted or being recalled for something, Pete and I made a conscious decision to try and not bring products made in China into our home. Crazy! Because it seems that now a days, everything is made in China! Anyhow, at least it has allowed us to be more conscious of what we do bring into the house and what we allow the kids to play with and eat.

I only hope that if the thousands of other recalls and tainted products produced by the Chinese over the years hasn't alarmed and stunned the rest of the world into banning their products, perhaps this one will....

Kids Cooking

Oh, I know, I've been such a slacker...here at least. The rest of my life has been in constant motion, one thing after the other for weeks now. Pete's visit home this weekend was great, but too brief. It is going to be hard for the kids to wake up this morning and see that he is gone...

On Friday we made some of Pete's favorite pasta sauce as a welcome home surprise....we had so much fun! I have really been loving getting the kids involved in my cooking. I am secretly hoping that it will influence Nate to try more foods.

And just for kicks, here is Juliana's new favorite thing to do....

Yes, that is my baby walking around with a her blankie over her head. She just wanders the house like that. Sometimes, she bumps into things (oh, come on! I keep a close eye on her!) but mostly she knows her way around...she's so funny!

Hope you all have a great day,

Love, Kate

What's A Mom to do?

A desperate call to all mothers!!!!!! PLEASE HELP!

This was the scene as my 3-year-old left it a little while ago...a common occurrence around here these days. He eats next to nothing. In fact, I can probably list the things he'll eat on five fingers- here goes- eggs, peanut butter and jam, chicken nuggets, grape tomato's, hummm, this is tough- let's see, what else-oh cheese, of course! He is a huge cheese fan. And sometimes Ritz (whole wheat) crackers. Oh, and popcorn. Yup, that's about it. I have gone through almost every phase of what to do now? Cry- yup, lots of that. Tell him too bad, this is what's for dinner and if you don't eat it, oh well, nothing else. We've tried- you can have a brownie for dessert! Oh, yeah, I forgot to add brownie to the list (okay, okay, so it's more than five things, but you get the picture). And then I even tried my mom's suggestion of putting Splenda on the broccoli...it actually had the opposite effect- I told him if he ate it he could go outside and play and finally he told me he wanted one without the sugar on it....go figure.

Yes, we have played some pretty desperate games around here. And finally, as of late, I have given up the power struggle. And just continually give him new things and don't make a fuss about it...but then he doesn't eat them and later he's hungry and I am back in square one- do I send the poor boy to bed hungry or do I make him another peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

HELP!

And then this is his sister...just gobbling most anything down.

Although lately, she is starting to show symptoms of her brother's behavior.....oh what to do, really, help a girl out, will you!!!!!!????

So Long Suffocating Heat!

Yipppppiiieeeeeee!!!!! The 90-100 degree weather is finally subsiding here in middle GA. This past weekend we all almost melted during a visit to the playground. You would think that as long as anyone was building a park anywhere in the South shade trees would be a HUGE part of the building plans...but not usually the case... anyway, I am so thrilled to be able to take the kids outside during normal day time hours rather then just in the early am and evenings!

And just for fun, is it just me, or does something seem off in this picture?

Getting Things Done!

We spent the weekend in Savannah visiting my sister and her husband. It was great to get away from the house and be with other people to distract the kid's from Pete's absence. We had so much fun! We went to a Green Festival on Saturday and to a wine and food tasting event on Saturday evening. Some of Savannah's best restaurants were there, so the food was amazing! Even the kids had a great time!

I spent what is supposed to be my "thesis time" this morning mowing the front and back lawn. Both kids are in school and yes, sadly, it took the entire morning to do the whole acre and a half! It was fun to ride on John Deere though, and thankfully, the weather wasn't too hot yet. And now, sigh...it's done! At least until next week...

I swear, I am not a country bumpkin, just someone who needs to get things done while hubby is gone...

Small Prayers Answered

With many deep breaths and an inner push toward more patience, yesterday proved to be a whole lot happier for myself and the kids. In fact, it also provided me with a much needed break! I was stunned to see both of my children fall asleep at the same time yesterday afternoon for about an hour or so. Nate, who hasn't taken a nap in weeks, was the first to go, and fell asleep while reading on the couch. After carrying him into his room and tucking him into his bed, I came back into the kitchen to find poor little Juliana laying on the floor sound asleep on top of her blanket! So, I carried her too, into her room and walked back into the living room, not really knowing what to do with myself!

So, I sat down at the computer, listened to the silence, thought about what I most wanted to do, and created a new blog- A Mother's Shade of Green. Everyone needs to acknowledge their role and responsibility in today's efforts toward helping to heal and recover the damage done to our environment. However, mother's have a bit more responsibility. Having made the conscious decision to bring our children into this world, we owe it to them and to the world in which they live, to make the challenges they'll face less difficult. So, we do what we can. We make every effort possible to make things easier for them, to educate them and to lead by example.

For me, I aim to do just this by making changes toward greener living in our own household, and by teaching them that this way of living is not a choice, but a necessity.

I hope you'll check out A Mother's Shade of Green ( http://mothersshadeofgreen.blogspot.com/) often and pass along the link to anyone you think might be interested in reading it.

Thanks for your support! Kate

Facing Challenge

First, let me recognize the day and add my rememberance and grief to those families who lost loved ones. Thank you for their sacrifice....

It has been a challenging week with Pete away. I am feeling very worn out and in need of some major encouragement! With Jules being sick for a few days, the poor babe was as grumpy as I have every seen her, which meant hours upon endless hours of crying and just plain unhappiness. It is the worst feeling to not be able to help make your baby feel better...And it has been a tough time for me not having ANY time to myself at all. I really am not trying to complain, I love spending every moment with my children, but even I need to shower here and there! We are awake and asleep at the same times and now Juliana won't even sit in front of the TV for a few minutes-she just wants to be where mama is!

In the midst of our chaotic week, we had a realtor open house yesterday where all Realtors in the area were invited to come and tour our home. I hope that it helps them to gear some of their customers our way! It was tough though, because on top of everything else going on, I spent a day and a half getting this house in top form. At least now, I think it will be easier to maintain for anyone wanting to see it.



I have also been feeling guilty about a lack of green living focus. I want it to be a top priority for me, and for our family, but I have so much work to do to get us there.
Yesterday I realized that I am a Zip lock bag junkie! And it occured to me that they are just as bad as the plastic supermarket bags that I have denounced and disowned from my life.


I scanned the Internet (with Jules on my lap) looking for a "Green" living/moms/blog/site/etc... web site for Columbia SC and came up with nothing....so I am thinking that when I move there I will start one.




I need to make this green living goal, more than ambition. I need to make it a journey, and more importantly, A WAY OF LIFE for us. For them:


Thanks for listening to my vent and I hope you are all doing well!
Love, Kate

Home Alone!

WOW! I just dropped off BOTH kids at preschool....I didn't think it woud be so difficult leaving Juliana- only because she is a lot more independent and far less needy than Nate was at her age. She will do fine, and so will I- it is only one morning a week.

Now I am off to try and work on my poor neglected thesis!

Raising Funds for Schools

So, obviously my kids aren't even close to being educationally raised by the local public school system yet. In fact, as of right now, they receive most of their aptitude from me...what a responsibility! Anyway, when they finally are old enough to attend school I sure hope they are not subjected to having to go door to door in order to to raise funds for school sports and textbooks! Yesterday afternoon, one of our neighbor's daughters showed up doing just that! The poor girl looked so nervous as she handed me a piece of paper and explained that her school was raising money and asked if I would like to buy a case of Coca-Cola products. Yikes! She stood dressed in her cheer leading uniform, so I asked is this to raise money for cheer leading? No, no. She responded. "It's just for my school." Okay. Aside from having a problem with the school system sending it's youth door to door to raise money on it's behalf, we don't drink soda, lemon aid or fruit punch. "Oh, but there's bottled water," she objected. Right. I'm sorry, I have a huge issue with purchasing plastic bottles, I tell her. I just can't do it. So, I send her off with a $10 donation and begin to ponder the craziness of it all....

JUST A NOTE: I don't want to come off as someone who doesn't appreciate the fact that our public school systems often need the community's financial support- I just don't think that sending 10-year-olds door to door asking for donations is the way to do it. Also- we do drink our share of lemonaid every so often, just not the kind that is manufactured in mini plastic bottles!

Vivid Dreams!

I woke up this morning fresh from a fairly decent night's sleep (which is unusual around here these days) and immediately felt a sense of great relief and then an overwhelming fear! As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes I recalled two very vivid dreams that I had had- one in which we sold our house! Obviosuly the relief, and the second dream- I was pregnant! Kind of crazy....I'm not sure if I could do it again!

Anyway, I am off to make my most favorite lemon squares (I'll try and post the recipe later!) as the dessert portion of dinner I am making for a friend who had a baby a few weeks ago. When I asked her a few days ago if pot roast sounded good, she paused and said, "Kate, we've had it three times in the last two weeks!" At least she was honest! I opted for stuffed pork chops made with apple and bread stuffing and steamed green beans. I always like to throw in some muffins too for the next morning. I remember between the hour long nursing sessions with both of my babies and trying to get everything else taken care of in the morning, breakfast didn't hit my stomach until 10 am! Anway...Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Love, Kate

Hump Day Headache

Ohhhhh, my head is spinning! What a day...To get an idea of what kind of a day it has been I just need to fill you in on the half hour here- After being in the laundry room for about 5 minutes, I walk into the kitchen to hear all sorts of snickering and crazy noises coming from the pantry. What did find when I opened the door? Two smiling toddlers looking up at me from a top a huge pile of pretzels, dried macaroni and rice cakes!!!!! FIVE MINUTES I was gone! And an entire (new) bag of pretzels, box of macaroni and rice cakes are opened, dumped out and crushed.

To make matters worse, Juliana refused to nap (at all), and Nate has been to time out at least four times for not listening to me....

Yes, it is already destined to be a tall glass of wine night...now the question is red or white?

On lighter news, Nate had his first day of school today! I think all went well, he seemed content when I picked him up and was excited to tell me about some of the kids he remembered from last year.

I am really stressing out about our current situation. I am so afraid of having to be stuck in a tiny apartment in Columbia with two kids and two (big) dogs, who are used to having an acre of backyard to roam about freely. I am afraid that I won't find a (decent) preschool for Nate in SC that has availability in November. I am afraid that after two days of being a single parent, I have already realized that it may be sooner then later that I loose my sanity. You see, my (beloved) children go to bed at the same time as me and rise at the same time as me, therefore resulting in no "down" time for me, that is of course unless I plop the poor things down in front of the cursed TV (which is where they are now). Ugh, we were doing so well with so little TV watching too....

I guess I am just at a point where I have to choose my battles. And yes, yes, I know, tomorrow is a new day and life will go on and all will be well....

In the meantime, at least some of us around here get to relax....

Heading In A New Direction

As September begins, the air around here is filled with a new sense of direction. Strangely, there was a cool breeze blowing this morning as the kids swung on their swings and I thought about life here in Dudley, GA without my other half. Pete left yesterday to begin his new job in Columbia, SC. So, today is strewn with a tinge of sadness, but also a feeling of relief that this whole process has finally begun! I know I shouldn't be so sad, we'll see him again on Friday and he'll be back for the weekend. But then after that he will most likely be gone for two weeks of training in Missouri! And then back in Columbia for a week and Missouri for two and same thing again the following three weeks for a grand total of six weeks in Missouri.

We decided that if the house doesn't sell by November 1st, (which is a long shot) then the kids, dogs and I will pack up our things and we'll all get an apartment together in Columbia. At least there is a bit of an end in sight. So much to do, so much to plan!

On a happier note, Nate starts school tomorrow! I am so excited for him, as he really does enjoy going. It will be nice to have some one on one time with Jules too.

So that is it for now, I'll be back again soon!

Love, Kate