Kids Say the Darndest

It took a while to put Sam to sleep tonight. He was negotiating in his sweetest voice to get out of his room. It went like this:

Sam: "in kitchen, mommy?"

Me: "No Sam, time to sleep ."

Sam: "in bathroom, mommy?"

Me: "No Sam, time to sleep."

Sam: "How 'bout some applesauce? Yeah, applesauce! How 'bout some?"

Me: Mmm...tempting...but time to sleep.

Emma's been learning lots of things at school. She shared the latest with us tonight. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, NO VISUAL, with liberty and justice for all."

Slow Death by Rubber Duck....

...is the name of the book I just finished.

I went back and forth about reading this. Should I be informed about this or forget I had even heard of it? It did seem like a slippery slope into daily paranoia about toxins. I knew there would be no turning back. I'm really glad I couldn't stop myself, though. It was eye-opening for sure. Fortunately, it did not plunge me in to a neurotic state, but rather, it gave me an awareness I am glad I now have. To sum it up, two guys Rick Smith and Brouce Lourie, decided it would be a good idea to expose themselves to a variety of toxins doing typical, everyday activities to see if they could significantly increase or decrease the levels of these toxins in their systems. The results were amazing and terrifying! With that said, I am encouraging you to read it, so I will mention what the authors include in the introduction:

"The book that you are holding is downright hopeful. Now this may seem counterintuitive, given that the word 'death' appears in the and the book describes a great many toxic chemicals that are screwing up our bodies in myriad ways. There is that. .... But things can change. Sometimes quickly and for the better." (p 1.)

Rick and Bruce focused on phthalates, PFCs (teflon), PBDEs (flame retardants), mercury, and triclosan (active ingredient in antibacterial products) pesticides, and BPA. The book highlighted the history of the production and use of these chemicals and others like them. Ignorance is not bliss in this case. Everyone should read this book. Let me know what you think!

http://slowdeathbyrubberduck.com/USA/

Sweet 'taters!!!!!

Not only was I neglecting my blog during the month of September, but the garden wasn't getting much love either. I had high hopes for a fall crop, but since this garden thing is still such an experiment and I have no idea what I am doing, I wasn't holding my breath. My fall plan was to replant my peas and carrots. Oh, and try to grow a salad.

At some point during the summer, I found sweet potato plants at my favorite nursery. I didn't plant them for quite a while, because I couldn't decide where to put them. I knew I didn't want them to suffer an untimely death because of my indecision, so I finally put them in an unclaimed bed near our house. I threw in some compost and told myself we'd check on them in the fall. In the meantime, they filled the bed with crawling vines.

When I saw these vines taking over, I knew I was breaking the rules. It was suggested to me that you should cut back the crawling vines so that the plant puts its energy into making potatoes. I knew I was living on the edge when I didn't. I wanted to see if they would root and make even more. The jury is still out on that one. I have a feeling this will probably be a lesson in not being greedy.


Moral lessons aside, I was very surprised and excited when we found these!

From what I have read, I think the standard practice is to wait until the leaves turn black or start to wilt before digging up the tubers. Well, we couldn't help it. In our defense, one of the potatoes was sticking out of the soil. How could we resist? At least I left the other plant. I have to admit, though, the real reason I didn't check on those potatoes is that lately the soil around that area has seemed to bulge and crack and, well, just look generally unsettled. Instead of yummy starchy potatoes, I am afraid I will find some kind of large, mutant, burrowing mammal attached to the other end. We'll see. Who knows? Maybe there are so many potatoes that the earth cannot contain itself. My money's on the hairy, mutant, snarly mammal.

Apparently, Sam finds the shape of this one as funny as we do.

Big Girl Stuff!

Emma is growing into a regular big kid these days! Here are some photos of what has been going on the last couple of weeks. First day of preschool! In true form, she was apprehensive at first and slow to warm up to the new situation. I am happy to report that we only had to go through one day of the traumatic goodbyes, where her teacher pulled her off of my leg. Since then, smooth sailing, thanks to Daddy!

I'm glad we have a picture of that balloon. Emma was so excited about it that we left it up for almost the entire month of September. It was the main attraction for both Emma and Sam whenever we stepped outside. 4 whole weeks of it getting bashed repeatedly, fought over, and squeezed until all bystanders were squinting and flinching, anticipating the pop. That sweet lil' balloon was the cause of a few skinned knees and nearly amputated limbs.

I love this picture. It pretty much sums it up! I'm glad she's able to channel that inner-sass into preschool activities. Phew!

So, moving on. Dance wasn't her thing. Soccer, anyone?

Our little thinke

r

Photo bombing is her new favorite hobby.

In the meantime...

Well, well...have I dropped the ball on posting or what? I know what's holding me up...summer vacation parts 2-5 and a lack of downtime during the entire month of September. So, I apologize for the drought, and I am still working on those posts.

In the meantime, Emma and Sam both have had their half birthdays!!! There is so much to report! In honor of these recent 6 month milestones, I will include some of my favorite moments. Since there is sooo much to catch up on, we'll start with Sam.

18 months

His new favorite thing to do is fold towels. This is the only activity in his entire 18 month life that has seemed to entertain him for more than one minute. Yes, that is an apron he is wearing. He was doing a little cooking before the laundry. My mini multi-tasker!

Sam's language amazes me everyday. We have real conversations all day long. Here are the top 10 of my favorite things he has said to me recently (in no particular order):

1. In a memory lapse, I said to Sam, "we need to turn on..um...um " and he answered "music?" Yep. Thanks sam, you know me so well. Dance party it is.

2. Turns out, Sam likes to be excessively polite. He says "thank you mommy" hundreds of times a day. Making him a sandwich, changing his diaper, getting him in and out of the car..."thank you, mommy." Who said this is a thankless job?

3. Well, it's official. Sam has a milk allergy. And, I thought gluten was in everything. News flash, milk and it's products are in EVERYTHING. Anyway, Sam looves his chocolate soy milk and can be found hanging on the refrigerator, begging for "coffee milk" on a regular basis.

4. Sam insists on helping make dinner. He needs to be in on the action and loves to throw in an ingredient or stir here and there. So, I can be sure when dinner time rolls around, Sam will follow me in the kitchen, and beg me to pick him up, repeating, "helper, mommy? helper, mommy? helper mommy?" one million times. I ususally pick him up, because he is not satisfied unless he has climbed my legs or, on a couple of occasions, completely run away with my britches. I'm not making this up. Here's to making dinner one-handed, gluten and dairy-free, with or without pants!!

5. A while back, I documented Sam's preferred affirmative, okaaay! I'm working on catching his new favorite answer to everything, "mmhmm...yeah.", on video too. Stay tuned!

6. "Try it, Mommy! Try it!" is sure to follow when he is quacking on a duck whistle, jumping on or off anything, or eating something new.

7. Me: Let me change your diaper. Sam: "No waaaaay, Jose"

8. During Emma's soccer game, Sam was sitting on my lap, shouting, "Go, Emma, go! Run, kick soccerball, run, kick, go!"

9. Last night on a car ride, Sam informed us, "I see moon." I love that one.

10. Finally, Sam loves books! He is very interested in the birthday page with pictures of cookies, cake, and balloons. He usually breaks into song, "haaaap biirrrtday to you....!" Sam also has books that accurately label large, obscure vehicles like airport feul tanker, heavy transporters, mobile crane, just to name a few. Steve found him in his room looking at a truck book and saying, "sleeper cab. sleeper cab." Seriously?

Sam's new "cheese" face

I hope this loong post is a little peace offering for the drought. I'm back. And there's lot's to catch up on!