Get the door...it's McCain!

This a short funny little tale.
On my way to drop off my ballot the kids and I were talking. We were discussing what the president's job was, what the Mayors job was, what the county commissioners job was. They have been noticing all the yard signs and always want to know who everyone's name is and the job they want.
Anyway, I said that Barack's job will be President, and Kitty's job will be Mayor, and Rob's job will be county commissioner. So Zionna asked "What about McCain? (his name is on a couple signs.) I said, "Well, he also wants to be President." She said, "NO, He can't! Just Barack! He needs a different job." So I asked, "What kind of job should he have?" "He should deliver pizza," she replied with authority.

TAXI!!!!

I really should paint my car yellow with all the zipping around I do now that school has started. Maybe install a little fare meter in the front of the car and deduct it from future allowances my children will eventually desire.

I haven't updated in awhile, and while I could try to blame the driving to school... it ends at 11:45 everyday so I am not sure that is a good excuse. I don't know what I have been doing.
I did crochet some things, a hat, scarf, and headband, and 1 baby bootie for Ted's cousin's baby. I do plan to make another on my journey to TX.

Oh, and our family possibly saved a tree with our new avoidance of paper towels. We were using about a roll a week if not more for our messy kids. If a cup goes on the table the chances of a spill are about 95% in our house. This meant lots of trees dying to clean that up. Now we have a growing collection of dish cloths and even switched over to cloth napkins (all from the thrift store.) It has not really added to my laundry pile since I just throw them into whatever load is next in line for washing. I must give the husband kudos on this as it was his idea. Clever Ted saves the world!(or at least a tree.)

I'm getting excited about the election. My ballot comes in the mail very soon (maybe tomorrow) and I am ready to Barack the Vote!

In the words of my lovely daughter "I like Obama because he is going to save the world."
(I never said that, all her words.) Even a child can feel the Hope.

So it begins

Yesterday was Zionna's first day of school. She was eager and excited to begin her Kindergarten career. She was the first one to run to the teacher when the door opened for the start of class.
I must say that I'm sad I cannot go with her to school. Not because I cannot stand to be away from her, but because this school just sounds so fun!
It is a public Waldorf school and that means that instead of focusing on academics and pushing to keep the" every child left behind act" happy, she will be discovering nature, singing to fairies, dancing, playing music, painting, sewing, knitting, and all sorts of other wonderful things that five year olds SHOULD be doing. It feels like an extension of our home and I have no doubt that she will adjust well to the rhythm of school.
Everything in the room feels good, all fabric and wood. Not a touch of plastic and I am so happy to say that not one computer is in the room.
When I toured schools around Eugene it was often a horrid sight of 5 year olds with headphones, microphones, and laptops zoned in to there own little space and not even an ounce of interaction with each other. It scared me, and still does to know that children are going to schools like this. We are very blessed to have gotten into this school, and even more so that we are not having to pay for it since it's a public charter.
This is a very thankful post. Knowing that Zionna is in such a positive and nurturing school that will inspire her creativity and allow her to blossom even more.

Broken

Liam flipped off of a swing Sunday night and broke his collar bone on the left side. He remains happy and continues to try to do daring things. The morning after the fall he asked to go to the park! He is napping right now and that is how I am able to be on the computer. I have to watch him oh so carefully because he keeps trying to do things that one should not do with a broken bone.
Should be healed in two weeks if I can keep him out of trouble for that long. On a positive note he got a rockin snoopy and the gang sling to wear while it heals. I will update with a photo at a later time.

Wet Paint!

I finally took advantage of the very short non-rainy season here in Oregon and got out my paintbrush. Originally I was planning to make my own paint out of flour and clay and other non-toxic things but after hearing about somebody in Seattle who did the same and had mold growing on the walls thanks to the damp northwest climate I decided not to.
Instead I got some no VOC paint from Dutch Boy.
Because the paint didn't have nasty chemicals I was able to paint while the kids were in the house. It took me a week and here are my results!

Children of the Corn... Syrup

Shopping for groceries with children is always a frantic and forgetful experience. I have read stories of teaching children colors and things like that by walking through the produce. That sounds like a wonderful idea, however WALKING through the produce aisle doesn't happen with my kids. It's more of a riding the cart, jump off and hope mom is looking, run towards the cookies type of trip with my two assistant shoppers. This means I don't have a whole lot of time to read ingredients. I go for as many things that say organic as possible. Recently though I had a trip to the store that required extra caution.

I went to the junky discount grocery. The one that has Pop Tarts, Trix, and florescent "fruit" snacks the moment you walk into the door. Artificial is the main word you see. They do, by popular demand of our nations "green" trend have organic things. You have to search but the prices are low enough it might be worth the battle.

I found some turkey burgers that seemed OK and went to grab some buns to go with them. The first one I picked up was pretty inexpensive so I checked the ingredients. Corn Syrup was number 2 on the list. After checking every bun they had, and some brands I had picked up at other stores without looking. Corn Syrup was on every one of them.

Next stop... "mommy can we get applesauce? I like it now!" Sure! Ground up apples sound like a great cool summer treat. Once again, corn syrup. On one of them it came on the ingredient list BEFORE apples. I'm not sure how that was even possible. After some digging I managed to find one that didn't contain that nasty ingredient. Thank you Tree Top!

Now, we are in a nation that has a childhood obesity problem. I have heard it blamed on video games and too much TV. I'm not saying they aren't to blame some, but come one! Corn syrup is in pretty much everything we buy. You have to really go out of your way to avoid it and with two children in the store it's pretty exhausting to do.

Recent studies have shown that as the use of Corn syrup in food has increased there has been a parallel increase in cases of diabetes. With all the activities that kids are signed up for these days it really is hard for me to believe that sedimentary lifestyle alone is to blame for the weight gain of American youth.

Simply avoiding products that are known sweets like cookies and cake just doesn't work. I ordered broccoli for Zionna at a market and the helpful sales person informed me that there was corn syrup in the broccoli I was about to purchase and she asked me if I was sure I wanted it. This was a rare instance of a person caring enough to tell me. I was extremely grateful for the information but mostly I was shocked.

The floods in the Midwest took out a bunch of corn fields, there is rumor of food prices going up even more because of this. Gee, do you think if they removed corn syrup from the ingredient list of all these foods maybe we wouldn't be in such bad shape price wise?

It's going to be hard, and I will have to find a recipe for hamburger buns, but my family is done with corn syrup.

Can I fix it?

YES I CAN!!!!! (Bob the Builder reference, not Obama)

This is my braggy post because I am proud of myself for being a handy gal around the house.

This past week I....
Made two rain barrels for water catchment
took apart and fixed the washing machine (i think)
dug up bamboo from somebody's yard and transplanted to my own
harvested lots of lettuce, peas, and spinach
blanched and froze lots of spinach
killed 500 million weeds with my bare hands
planted more food
ripped up some of the lawn and turned it into a wildflower bed
fixed two pumps on our pond and gave away some of the extra plants
built an Adirondack chair (ok so it was a kit in a box and mostly done)

I think that is it.
This next week I plan to paint the kitchen and possibly make my own paint. Oh yes, fun fun!

There are no photos because I have been to tired to take any. I shall now go soak in the hot tub and drink my wine!