Did You Ever Have One Of Those Weeks?

The last 10 days have been very challenging.  First, I came down with the flu.  I have not had the flu in a decade and forgot what it was like. The worst part is it zaps you of all energy and ability to function in society.  I could not participate in my own life for a few days and that really irritated me. 

Just when I was feeling better and could see the light at the end of the tunnel, Garrett got the flu & an ear infection.  After a few days on antibiotics for the ear infection, he took a turn for the worse.  He started running fever again & the left side of his face started swelling.  I took him to an after hours emergency clinic & they basically said, "duh, he has an ear infection" and sent me home.  In hindsight, going there was a big mistake.  The next day his face was horribly swollen & he acted miserable.  I took him to the pediatrician & they sent us straight to Children's Hospital ER.  I was terrified & confused.  All I really understood was that it could be one of two things: 1. The bone behind the ear had become infected & would require emergency surgery (Mastoiditis) or 2. The skin & lymph nodes had become infected & would require iv antibiotics (Lymphadenitis). I was praying for the second option. 

After being told to rush to the emergency room & make no stops because he might need immediate surgery, it was torture getting to the ER & WAITING 2 hours to see a doctor.  I was so terrified that every minute we spent wasting time could affect a healthy outcome for Garrett.  I am a control freak & feeling out of control when it comes to my child's wellness was about the worst thing I've ever experienced.  Lets just say I didn't make any friends with the ER waiting room staff.  Yeah, I was that Mom.

When we finally did a cat scan, the results showed it was not Mastoiditis & he would not need surgery.  Thank God.  We spent the next two days in the hospital & with every dose of iv antibiotic, his swelling went down and he acted more and more like himself.  That became a whole new challenge...keeping a 2 year old little boy entertained in a tiny little hospital room, especially while hooked up to an iv & monitor. 

Just as Garrett was getting better, Sydney came down with the flu.  There's nothing quite like worrying about the health of both your kids at the same time.  Thank goodness we have a close family.  Allen & I couldn't have made it through this without the help of my Sister, my Mom & Allen's Mom & Dad.

I'm so ready for my family to be healthy and acting like normal.  I'm ready to get back to cooking, playing, taking little adventures, going on dates & having movie nights.  

I drove by our church on our way home from the hospital.  The sign read "Life is not wrapped up in a bow, but it is still a gift."  And as I saw Garrett sleeping in the back seat, I understood what that meant.  Instead of being upset that this happened, I am trying to be thankful that I was able to bring my baby boy home with me, on the mend.  As difficult as my experience was in that hospital, I'm sure some Mother left the hospital that day without the sick baby they came in with.

"Life is not wrapped up in a bow,

but it is still a gift."

Random Pictures

I have taken about 1000 pictures since getting my new camera on Christmas day. I absolutely love having a good camera and can't wait until I really know what I'm doing with it.  Here's a few of the random pictures I've taken.

Sydney on Christmas morning, playing with the DSI Santa brought her. 

Sleepy Garrett on Christmas morning.

Playing with new Lego's.

Garrett playing with the new train table Santa brought.

Doing man stuff.

The cute antique desk we bought for our bedroom.

Our fun Christmas lights.

A pink tree just for Sydney.

We're all about sight words these days.

The first snow of the year.  (more of a dusting)

Sydney's class doing a snowman presentation in front of the school.

Garrett was fascinated by her nose.

Alexander Ebert {Of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros} - "Truth"

Toy Un-Organization

Remember that post I did about my great new toy organization system?  Well let me just tell you how that is working out. 

Sydney "mini me" loves the system.  She understands the system.  She respects the system.  It makes perfect sense to her.  She gets out the tub she wants, plays with the toys, then puts everything back when she's finished. 

Garrett "mini Allen" is not sure what a system is. 

He loves dumping the toys out of ALL of the tubs & then hauls the empty tubs around in his dump truck.  All while saying "look Mommy, I'm organizing!"  {yes, both my kids had the word "organize" in their vocabulary by 2 years old.}

Gotta love little boys!

Making Homemade Food Convenient: Pizza

We love having pizza night at our house, but on a Friday night I'm in no mood to whip up a homemade pizza crust.  And I don't like to pay for a greasy, not so great, take out pizza.  I won't buy frozen pizzas because of the ingredient list and lack of taste.  So here's the solution I came up with:  par baking & freezing my own pizza crust.  Every now and then I'll spend some time in the kitchen just making pizza crusts to freeze.  Here's how to make your own pizza crust, ready to freeze & use in a moments notice.

Note: It's always a good idea to have a helper in the kitchen.

Par Bake Pizza Crust
Pre-heat oven to 500.  Make your dough according to recipe.  After the dough has risen, roll out onto greased pizza pan, dusted with corn meal.  Bake for 3 minutes.  Then remove from pizza pan & let cool completely on wire rack.  Once cooled, wrap in saran wrap, then foil & store in freezer.

When you're ready to cook a pizza, pre-heat oven to 400.  Unwrap frozen crust & place on pizza stone (makes the best tasting crust).  Add your favorite toppings & bake 10-15 minutes until golden & bubbly.

The great thing about making pizza at home is you can top it however you want.  Like putting fresh parsley on one slice just for yourself since your family doesn't like it. ;)

Pizza Crust
2 1/4 tsp yeast
3/4 c warm water
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil

Stir yeast into water & let dissolve.  Mix into flour, salt & oil.  Knead until dough forms a ball.  Place dough in a greased bowl & cover with a towel.  Let rise in a warm place, about 10-15 minutes. 

Our favorite pizza toppings:
* extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella & parmesan
* red sauce, cooked ground beef, mozzarella & parmesan cheese

Making Homemade Food Convenient: Breakfast

I spent last year learning how to cook from scratch & make my own bread.  But towards the end of the year, keeping up with it was exhausting.  However, I truly believe in this way of eating, so I refused to abandon my new found ways.  I decided to figure out a way to make eating this way a little more convenient.

Breakfast was proving to be the trickiest meal for this new lifestyle.  Sydney is a very picky eater who used to eat processed frozen waffles & sugary cereals for breakfast.  When I eliminated those foods from our life, I tried everything I could find for breakfast for Sydney.  She didn't like any of the organic or "junk" free cereals I bought & she grew tired of the organic granola bars.  She likes peanut butter toast, but some days we don't have bread ready.  She loves pancakes & waffles, but who has time to make those every morning?

Then it occurred to me to make pancakes & waffles & freeze them!  It's no different than buying the ready made frozen waffles & pancakes.  Only, mine are made with real ingredients, partially organic & have no preservatives.  I cook one or two batches of waffles and pancakes, let them cool, wrap them individually in saran wrap, then foil & stick them in the freezer. 

I also mix up a batch of syrup, put it in a container & store in the refrigerator.  It has been so great having good quality, homemade food ready to go in a moments notice.  Just pop a pancake in the microwave for 30 seconds & top with syrup.  Or cook the waffles in the toaster.  The kids LOVE them!  And I love that I found a way for us all to have what we want & help mornings go smoothly.

Traditional Waffles
2 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 c milk
6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs

Mix ingredients.  Let batter rest 5 minutes before using.  Preheat waffle maker.  Pour 1/3 c batter in center of waffle maker & spread out.

Pancakes
1 1/4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 c milk or buttermilk
2 tbsp melted butter
1 beaten egg

Mix ingredients & stir only until moistened, lumpy & thick.  Cook on hot & buttered griddle.

Syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 c white sugar
1 c water
1 c corn syrup
3 drops vanilla flavor
3 drops maple flavor

Bring sugars & water to a boil.  Then add the rest of the ingredients, stir & remove from heat.

New Music Love ~ Best Coast

Avoiding Dangerous Chemicals in Our Everyday Products

When it comes to toxins, our food is not the only area to pay close attention.  Many of our household products are pretty toxic.  And on top of that, there's not much regulation like there is with food.  Many advocates of these products claim that minimal exposure to the chemicals is not dangerous.  But what if you use 10 products a day that all have minimal amounts of toxins?  And you use those 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.  That could be a problem.

Bath & Beauty Products
Many bath & beauty products contain carcinogens & they aren't always listed on the label.  And just because children's bath products say "gentle or mild" does not mean it is true.  Many of the ingredients in our bath products can cause numerous health problems, including skin allergies, cancer & hormone disruption.  One year ago, Sydney developed a horrible rash all over her body.  I took her to two pediatricians & two dermatologists and none of them could explain it to me.  One doctor told me she must have been bitten by a bug.  Seriously?  I may never know exactly what caused her rash & it did go away after several months.  But in all my online searches for answers, I found a world of information about chemicals in our bath products that I never realized existed. 

Since that experience, I have thrown out a lot of our old bath products and replaced them with safer alternatives.  Again, it's more expensive.  But it seems that being cheap is what has led to a lot of our health problems in this country.  I like Burt's Bees  lip balm & Pomegranate & Soy shampoo & conditioner.  I also use Tom's of Maine toothpaste, mouthwash & deodorant.  J.R. Watkins lemon cream lotion is to die for!  There are many other great products out there to choose from.  I really like Yes to Cucumbers  color care shampoo & conditioner.  I shop at Target & there is an entire aisle devoted to these products.  You have choices!  You can also find more affordable products that are better alternatives, just read the labels.

Skin Deep Cosmetic Database is a great source for researching toxins in our everyday products.  You can look up a specific product and clearly see if it's a hazard to your health, based on their ranking system.

I try to avoid these dangerous ingredients:
Parabens (methyl, propyl, butyl, ethyl, isobutyl & isopropyl)
BHT
Formaldehyde
Artificial fragrances & dyes
Petroleum (Petrolatum)
Pthalates
Sodium Lauryl Sulfates & Sodium Laureth Sulfates (SLS)

I will say that I have had a flare up of adult acne (yay me!) & natural products don't cut it when you're dealing with that.  So unfortunately, I have no choice but to use strong chemicals on my face.  And yes, I color my hair & use anti-aging eye cream.  I am a WOMAN after all!  For me, it's all about balance.  I figure if I use non-toxic soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash & lip balm...what's a little hair dye every few months.  Okay, who am I kidding, I'm the girl that waits 5 months until my roots look trashy.  So my point is this - just switching a few products that you use daily could have a big impact on your health. 

Cleaning Products
I use white distilled vinegar for most of my cleaning.  It's non-toxic, kills bacteria & germs & is CHEAP!  I buy a box of 2 1-gallon containers for just a few dollars at Sam's.  I keep vinegar in a spray bottle to clean all my counter tops & cabinets.  I also use it to clean out my oven, microwave, refrigerator, showers, bathtubs, toilets & hard wood floors.  It also works great in cleaning windows & mirrors.  Vinegar is perfect getting of rid tough calcium deposits like in your shower head.  Just pour some vinegar in a dish & soak your shower head & kitchen spray nosil over night.  I'll talk more one day about all the great uses for vinegar.  That's a blog post all in itself!

I recently bought Seventh Generation dish soap, surface cleaner & laundry soap.  I have been happy with all of them.  They seem to be a great company that really cares about the environment.  Their products aren't much more expensive than the toxic versions they sit next to at the stores.  For 50 cents more, I'll take my products without carcinogens, please. 

Plastics
We keep hearing more & more about the dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA) in our plastics.  Now lets stop and think a minute about everything in our lives that is made out of plastic.  Hmmmm.  BPA is a chemical used to produce most of our plastics.  In studies, traces of BPA have been found in the blood, urine & breast milk of humans.  So we know it passes through our system.  BPA has been linked to cancer & obesity, two of our biggest epidemics in America.  What I find most alarming about BPA is that it seems to mimic our hormones, which can lead to numerous health problems, including infertility & early puberty.

BPA can be found in:
- the lining of canned foods
- baby bottles
- water bottles
- milk containers
- plastic food storage containers

I'm no scientist or doctor, but common sense says that the information out there is alarming.  It would be impossible to avoid plastics completely.  But I have started in the kitchen.  I am in the process of replacing all my plastic food containers with glass ones.  I threw out all of our plastic plates.  I'm trying to replace the kids' cups with better alternatives.  This one gets tricky since I have a two year old boy who probably wouldn't do well with a GLASS full of liquid.  I am considering buying these.  Pottery Barn Kids claim that all their new table top items are BPA free.  There are a lot of companies now making BPA free plastics.

The bottom line is this:  minimal exposure to toxins may be safe.  But in one day, we use:
- shampoo & conditioner
- soap
- lotion
- deodorant
- hairspray
- make up
- toothpaste
- water bottles
- plastic plates
- baggies, plastic wrap & storage containers
- toys that our kids play with
- and the list goes on and on and on

That's not minimal.  Just by switching half of your daily products to a safer version, you could dramatically change the course of your life.  Don't let government regulation & standards decide what is safe for you and your family.  Decide for yourself.  It's your life.  It's your choice.

Arcade Fire ~ "The Suburbs"

The Walkmen ~ "On The Water"