Reducing global warming, one tush at a time

(My happy munchkin wearing a blue gDiaper)

I first learned about flushable and compostable gDiapers from Sarah, the genius mom behind the Unplug your Kids website. If you've got (or want to have) babies and are even remotely concerned about the environment, you should check out gDiapers-- one of the very first Cradle to Cradle products and also endorsed by Healthy Child Healthy World. Disposable diapers are one of the worst things in landfills... with 50 million used diapers going to landfills DAILY-- and taking at least 500 years to "dissolve".

Once I was on-board as a gMum, I've kept up with the company and have become a go getter (diaper revolutionist) for their company. I just recently got a package in the mail from them to help spread the word about the diapers... see pic.

Now, other than demonstrating the diapers' ease of use to my friends, I can give out coupons, info. and beach balls. (BTW, if you want to try the diapers, I'll mail you an info kit for free!) My neighborhood ladies now all know about, and some actually already have, gDiapers!!

gDiapers isn't paying me for this...and I try not to be preachy about most things... but when I find a product that I think is great, I like to talk about it. Do you have any products you wouldn't want to live without? Tell me about it!

Reusing and Not using (lots of links)

For my brother's wedding, I decided to do my hair at home rather than go to a hairdresser for several reasons:

1. I can do my hair when I want (and with a mom for a stylist, I can actually do it fairly well!) and not deal with finding a babysitter.
2. I don't have to tip myself.
3. It's the perfect excuse to buy a new hairbrush!

So, I went to the local drugstore to get a new brush... came home... and then spent 10 whole minutes trying to pry the brush out of its' packaging!

Look at this thing! It's metal and fairly unbendable... and not recyclable. Aargh! What's a eco-conscious gal to do? Well first, I sent an email to Revlon with a short but polite email about the over-the-top packaging. Then I ripped the stickers off and took a look at this metal thingie and noticed it looks a lot like a shi-shi hook you can buy at a place like Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrell. And, it's green... a color well used in this house. So, watch for it to be reused and pics up in the next week or so. My son will be helping me re-use this as a homeschool project when we go over energy use and conservation.

My second find came from a friend. I had been looking for an indoor drying rack that was portable and could hold more than one load of laundry... I couldn't find anything I liked until I was visiting my friend one afternoon. She had these awesome drying racks that she had brought over when she moved from Germany. But I couldn't find them anywhere here in the States... then I found one for SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS! Ridiculous.

Fast forward a month... I am at Ikea buying trains for Em and what do I spy??? There is my pretty drying rack for a mere $17.00! It folds up to fit in a closet or under a bed, but it's usually at home in the afternoon sun in my dining room as you see here. Now, I only dry about 1 or 2 loads out of the eight loads of laundry I do every week! Woo hoo!

Are you a recycler? A re-user? A reducer? Do you worry about the planet? What do you do?

Back to School for Celtic Mommy

I just registered to go back to college for an AA degree in American Sign Language/Interpreting! I have been wanting to take American Sign Language classes since… at least since 5th grade (so about 25 years!) and it never seemed like the right time…

Fast forward many years to when Em was born and we started a DVD course called Signing Time. Signing Time is meant to be basic sign language for babies and toddlers to use while their grasp of spoken language is still undeveloped and often misunderstood—they can communicate simple things like “Eat” “Milk” “Sleep”, etc. and quickly be able to get their point across without the frusturation of a typical baby’s lack of verbal communication skills. Once he was speaking, I noticed a bonus of an added vocabulary not typical in kids the same age as him. At three years old, Em can sign and understand signing of about 600 words. All the different songs and tools they come up with help you to remember these words and also remind you about things such as manners.

Ro now watches Signing Time (yay for public television!), the only thing he is allowed to watch (with mommy of course) and signs about 65 words… slower than Em at the same age but that’s okay with me. He visually understands about the same amount of words as Em, so I can sign rather than yell when they are far away or across a crowded table.

Now, for those of you who don’t know me well, you might wonder why I am choosing to do this—other than just for gaining a new skill.

I have selfish and unselfish reasons.

I myself cannot hear very well at all due to a childhood illness and subsequent surgery. If I watch TV, the closed captioning must be on since I hear only about ½ the words. Hearing aids would not help my type of hearing loss. The easiest way to explain what I hear is this: constant wooshing noise mixed with the sounds around me... like it's always windy. The pressure in my ears is greater than the outside (like going up in an airplane or scuba diving).

I like being able to “talk” with my husband across a crowded room… often just something simple like “Are you ready to go?” or “Do you want a drink?”. He knows those same 600 signs the boys do, so I can do this with him as well as the munchkins.

Even with my hearing, I could still help others if translation is needed. I once feebly helped a family find Santa Claus in the mall when they saw me practicing signs with Ro… it was a slow conversation, but it made me feel good.

I have other friends who also have hearing problems that are similarly taking ASL, so I would have people to talk and practice with.

There are other reasons, but these are some that come to me every time I think about taking the plunge and heading back to the classroom.

What would make you go back to school?

Wedding & Getty Details

I'm still dealing with the aftermath of my brother's wedding weekend... the wedding was gorgeous and emotional and romantic and energetic and great great fun! The ceremony left everyone with glistening eyes since everyone seemed to be soooo in love. It reminded me of my wedding day and I was happy I brought my makeup with me to reapply after all the tears of joy. Here is a pic of the cake my brother and his new wife designed.

After the Friday rehersal, Saturday wedding and Sunday goodbye brunch (I said it was a weekend!) the munchkins, the hubby and I decided to have Sunday afternoon all to ourselves. We packed some water and snacks and headed to The Getty Museum... a favorite spot of ours.



There was a free concert in the garden that afternoon of a kid-favorite musician, Justin Roberts, and we spent the time dancing, rolling down the grass hills and walking around the garden maze.

After the concert we made a must-do visit to the Family Room to explore art with a more hands-on approach. You can draw your own Japanese warrior mask, lay on a replica of an 18th century French bed (a favorite of mommies with babies) and create your own version of their tube sculpture.

The Getty also has this amazing balloon and tubelike sculpture in the opening atrium called the Überorgan that plays amusing morse-code-like music every hour. Here is a pic of Em laying on the floor of the atrium looking up and listening to the sculpture.

We ended the day with a fast dinner, a few books and vanilla pudding.

I have a lot of catching up to do with blogs, crafts, projects and getting Em ready to start "school" at home with me. I wanted to write about that today, but time ran away from me again...

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Another 1 skein scarf & other updates

It's been a bit hectic in our home lately, so I am sorry it's taken a while to put up a new blog. My brother is getting married this weekend and my "to do" list seems endless. But I have still been plugging away at holiday gifts and crafts with my munchkins.

Em's best friend (and her mom who is one of my best friends) moved back to their home country of Bulgaria earlier in the year. We keep in touch with phone cards and Skype and are planning a visit next year... but I wanted them to both have something similar. So, the boy/girl scarves were made! On the left is the scarf I made Em a month or so ago. I knew the yarn would be the same, but I wanted to make Glenda's scarf more feminine... so, I ran the rows vertical instead of horizontally... half double crocheted and added a single crocheted ruffle shell stitch border. Both scarves are roughly 4 inches wide by 4 feet long... the perfect size for growing kids. Now I just need to finish the scarf for Ro and for his best friend (Glenda's sister Nia) in time to mail them for the holidays! The package will take about 6 weeks to get there, so I have until mid-October to finish everything.

I also finished the tall-man scarf! The recipient of this scarf is 6'6" tall, so I wanted the scarf to be proportional to his height. I made it with 2 1/2 skeins of Lion's Brand Wool Ease yarn in Blue Heather and it measures 7 inches wide by 6 feet long. The scarf is half-double crocheted with a single crochet border finishing the edges. I had to frog this scarf twice due to the unraveling yarn... so frustrating! I am now working on the mate to this scarf as well.

Can you tell I am enjoying scarf making? It's great for the instant gratification that I sometimes need with a project, but it also helps me to perfect each stitch as I get back into crocheting after a twelve year hiatus.

In other news, the munchkins both got haircuts in preparation for the gazillion photos to be taken at the wedding. This was Ro's first real haircut and Em's fourth or fifth. Here are some quick before and durings, I still need to take the afters...

Ro: right after waking from a nap and during the haircut

And Em just after the haircut, but not how it will be regularly styled: There is of course much more to write, but I'm pooped! Have a great evening everyone!