Park Fun

"I Love Thursdays" (Yeah, I Know.)

1) Gee’s Bend Quilts
2) "Mom My Ride"- watch & laugh
3) Cool Mom Picks

Recipe - Black Bean Burger

I’ve shared this recipe with so many folks that I thought I’d share it with you. Our family (E included) LOVES these! Make sure to read the footnotes. Hope you like it!

BLACK BEAN BURGERS
Soak ½ cup black beans in water for 6-8 hours. Drain. Cover beans with water and ¼ tsp salt. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 1 hr or until tender. Drain all but 2 Tbsp. of the water. (OR You may also substitute 1 c canned black beans. much easier.) Mash beans with a fork, leaving a few of them whole.

Prepare brown rice for one person according to package directions. Use ½ cup of the cooked rice for your patties. Very finely chop ½ onion, ¼ red pepper, and 1 stalk celery.

Grate 1 carrot and 1 slice of frozen whole grain bread. Combine all of the above ingredients.

Add 1-1/2 tbsp of freshly-ground flaxseed and 1 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce.

Mix well. Form 8 patties and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed w/olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove, turn patties over, bake 10 more minutes. Prepare as you would a regular burger!

Notes from me: I don’t usually use the flax, but it does really help them stick together. You could also try oats to help stick together. Recipe makes 8, but I usually make 6 big ones. Cheese is always good on these (if you eat cheese), because it helps it stick together a bit better. Not good for a very large crowd. I tried to make them for about 30 pple & triple the batch, and they aren’t great when served lukewarm & it was hard to do this w/a crowd. And lastly, they freeze great w/a little parchment paper btwn burgers!)

A Story from my Life

“Keys, keys, keys - Where are my keys!?! I’ve got to get out of here. Where are my keys!”

“Nope, not in here.”

“Or here…”

“Arrgh!!!”

“I guess I’m cancelling all plans & stay home for the day.”

[Unpack bags. 45 minute later, I see…]

Do you see them?

Celebrity Blogger Love

If you've been reading my blog, you know I love
DesignMom. Anyway, she answered the question I submitted a couple of weeks ago. I feel like the cool-kid-in-school actually paid attention to me. DesignMom is like a blogging celebrity, you know...

The Beatnick in Me

I can’t even remember the last time I went to a concert. But Monday, I saw an ad for the Rickie Lee Jones concert last night. I had to go…seeing as RLJ was the first and last fan letter I ever wrote…and the first tape I ever bought. Yeah, weird kid, I know. I knew just the girl to call - Laura. The only person I know who even knows who she is! I was a little disappointed b/c she played almost all new stuff, but she did play Stewart’s Coat and Flying Cowboys - both good songs. Anyway, I decided to make a little RLJ starter set for you guys. I know I'm an old beatnick for listening to RLJ, but if you want to be one too, download these songs...

1) The Albatross
2) Chuck E’s in Love
3) Love is Gonna Bring us Back Alive
4) The Horses
5) Woody & Dutch on the Slow Train to Peking

ps. thanks for all the love for my shirt. i'm very excited, and it's so nice to have you guys share that with me!!

Did I just do that?

This is a proud moment in my life. After tons of hours & do-overs, I'm finishing up my shirt! The fabric (from the free shash) is a linen, with orange & green embroidered flowers. Surely it's from the 70's. It actually fits, and I actually like it! The craftsmanship is not the best, but I just won't let anyone get too close. Anyway, I just have to add buttons/buttonholes to the back and I'm done. Rachel...we're coming over.

Eric Volz

For those of you who are up early, Eric Volz's story will be on the Today Show this morning. It was on the cover of the Wall Street Journal last week. Also, make sure to check out the YouTube video posted here.

My Blog & My BBFs

“When did you get to be such a tree hugger?” Heather McI. said about my blog. Actually, I don’t really consider myself to be a tree hugger at all. I don’t consider it to be an insult, but I would just make a terrible, terrible tree-hugger. But even Curious George knows it's good to reduce, reuse & recycle, right? Take a listen to the 3 R’s.

So my posts…First, Kid stories are aplenty. Second, I post on another blog too, so some of my more environmental posts are from there. Third, if I email someone a recipe, or someone emails me a cool site, I figure I’ve got it all typed up, so why not share it with the world?

The weirdest/neatest thing about the blog is that some of my closest friends & family don’t even read it. My BBF’s (Best Blogging Friends) are people that I’ve hardly spoken to before blogging. If you read this regularly, and post regularly, then yes, we’re BBFs. You just didn’t know if before now…Maybe I’ll even give you my half of the charm necklace to prove it.

I love that Laurie made my acquaintance, and has even tried the Chicken Apple Bites! So if you are out there reading this, please say hello!! If you got here because you are a friend-of-a-friend, Introduce yourself, and we can become BBFs too.

How cute is this outfit?

Yesterday at playgroup, Rachel handed out little applique shirts and shorts that she'd made for all the kids! How nice is that? He looks adorable in his green check "E" shirt and shorts.

Making Progress

Washing & Sewing fabrics. Making tons of mistakes and some progress with my FREE fabric stash.

"I Love Thursdays"

1) The Snack Trap - I don't have one yet, but these are great for tots! They can dig their little hands into them and not spill Cheerios everywhere! Little Ava & McHaney have them, and Ethan is jealous.
2) Apartment Therapy: The Nursery
3) The fact that my little boy just GOBBLED up his lunch of broccoli, squash, ezekial bread, chicken, edamame & avocado. I hope, hope, hope he does not go through the picky stage!!

Sewing, Anyone?

Today, I went to pick up some FREE Fabric from a lady I'd never met. There was tons and tons of it. Here's the pile I picked up, along with the Kwik-Sew Pattern 2498 that I will soon begin. Now, if I only knew how to sew...

Actually, I know some basic stuff, but VERY basic. I've sewn with my mom like 2 times in my life. But the lure of free fabric makes me want to sew a brand new top!! The biggest problem is that I can't stand ironing, which is a fundamental part of sewing! Anyway, I'll post a picture when I've completed.

Anyone want to tackle this pattern with me? We can commiserate on how hard it is to sew button holes.

Easy Ways to Conserve

I am not holier-than-thou on issues of environmentalism. I do not have a stance on Global Warming, nor have I seen “An Inconvenient Truth.” HOWEVER, what I do know is that there is far too much waste in our culture. If you take the Ecological Footprint Quiz, you will probably find that there aren’t enough resources on the planet for everyone to live like we do. We buy too much, we use too much water & energy, we throw too much in the landfill. Did you know that 5% of the world’s population lives in the US, yet we produce 50% of the world’s waste? And that’s just for starters.

Here’s my favorite Super-Duper-Easy ways to conserve:
1) Recycle. Recycling a 6-ft stack of newspapers saves the life of a 35 ft tall tree.
2) Share/Swap/Reuse Gift Bags. Or cut them into notecards & gift tags. Read this month’s gift bag tyrade.
3) Wrap Gifts in Newspaper. Or cut up a paper bag & tie with raffia or cute ribbon.
4) Swap Magazines with friends.
5) Take your own cloth grocery bags to the store. Read my tyrade.
6) Use less paper towels. Use more dishtowels & table linens.
7) Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible
8) Reuse Plastic Bags for dirty diapers, trash cans, etc. Throw your items into your gigantic diaper bag instead of taking another plastic bag from the store!
9) Use the backs of paper as scrap for grocery lists, etc
10) Eat less meat (water/resource conservation), eat more local fruits/veggies (less fuel used in transportation).

What’s your favorite easy way to reduce waste?

Here are some random articles & statistics about consumption. Tons more are available online. Visit Green Learning, EcolivingCenter Conscious Consuming, and Grassroots Recycling

The Week in Pictures

I adore this kid.

Congratulations!!

Great news from some great friends! Drew & Casey Sloss welcomed baby girl Tanner Lucille into the world today! Also, Sarah & David Wilson welcomed little Asher Josiah into the world on Monday. And last but most definitely not least, Laura & Gabe are engaged!!! We love our friends and are so excited for them.

New Kicks

Ethan wore sneakers for the first time yesterday. He kept smiling & grinning as he grabbed at the laces. He has been wearing Robeez, which I love because they are easier to walk in. Anyway, I do believe he looks adorable in his $2 consignment sneakers.

"I Love Thursdays"

I Love…

1) Land of Nod’s boy & girl
silhouette artwork.
2) These Adorable Customized Silhouette Plates
3) AllRecipes.com - The most amazing recipe site. Search by type of food, ingredients you want to use, dietary restricions, and more!

We don’t have the Silhouette artwork or plates, but they are so cute I had to show you!

Poor Hubby

Poor hubby is recovering from shoulder surgery yesterday. One down and one more surgery to go!! Thanks for your prayers. Hopefully he'll be back in action in no time! Well...after 4 months of rehab.

Free Starbucks

I heard a rumor that this Thursday (3/15,) Starbucks locations are offering free coffee from 10-12. Anyone know if that's true? Well, you can bet that I'll be swinging by there to see for myself. Cinnamon Dolce Latte, anyone?

Our Celebrity Name

If we were celebrities, our couple name would be "Larry." In fact, it seems so suitable that my Granddad called us this when he married us. We still have friends that call us this occasionally. Just wanted you to know.

Not your Mother’s Cloth Diaper

I have several friends now using cloth diapers & biodegradable diaper inserts, which I think is very cool. It saves tons money & the environment. Click here to read more advantages. I wasn’t quite courageous enough to do this my first-go-round, but seeing how easy it is for them makes me want to hop on the bandwagon whenever the next bun pops in the oven. This is a list of advice so valuable that I can’t seem to delete the email, so here are some of her tips…Let me know if you have more, have thoughts, or if you can explain to me how diaper inserts work!!

You may spend $500-600 on diapers & supplies. The real savings, though, is when you already have them for your next child, and you don't have to spend any money on them then. They also have a really high resale value on e-bay, so you can get alot of your money back. She bought Funni Bunz from Tree City Diapers

Don't buy any X-small's because the baby will grow out of them so quickly. I used disposables during the first few weeks because I needed time to recover, and the smalls were too large.

Buy 18 diapers of each size (as the baby moves up in size). Newborns go through them so quickly. I bought only 12, and there were times I was washing every day.

I bought one wet sack to keep dirty diapers in when I go out. It will hold 3-4 diapers at a time and is lined with plastic inside to prevent any leaks. When I use it I just wash it along with my diapers.

They will need two garbage pails, with pedals. One needs to be larger for the diapers, and the other needs to be smaller for the wipes. I just buy the cheapest garbage bags I can find and I throw away the garbage bag each time I wash. I just dump the diapers into the washing machine.

You don't have to swirl the diapers in water first. I just put them straight into the washing machine. I run a cold rinse first, with a little vinegar to help with staining, and then I run them again on the very dirty, hot cycle. I have never had any problem with poop residue, not even once.

I have taken to using one disposable diaper per day, the one I put on him at bedtime. Now that he is older and sleeping longer than 3-4 hrs. at a time, he soaks through a cloth diaper too much. I know many people use cloth at night too, I just can't get enough liners in there to keep him from soaking through after 10-12 hours.

I wouldn't buy any white diapers if you get the kind with snaps. In the middle of the night, when you want to keep your nursery dim, it's too hard to see the white snaps on white diapers. My preference is to buy all pastels in gender-neutral colors.

Fuzzi-Bunz are a pocket-type diaper, with terrycloth inserts. Mine have held up well, but I did have to double stuff them when he was small. His legs were so skinny that he would leak out the leg holes. Now that he has meat on his bones, I can single-stuff them during the day.

You do have to change the cloth diapers after 2-3 hours. They can't stay on for 5-6 hour stretches due to leakage.

Any diaper rash ointments that are not pure white will stain the diapers.

You can't use fabric softeners in the diaper loads or they won't absorb.

Cute Little Kid

Here's another one of E's 1-yr portraits. Adorable, huh? Click here to check out Rich's work & let me know if you want to contact him!

"I Love...Wednesdays"

So this week, it's "I Love Wednesdays."

1) Rockabye Baby! albums - If you’ve had it with the traditional lullabies, these guys have put together lullaby renditions of Radiohead, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, U2, and more. We have the Radiohead & Coldplay albums (thanks Chuck!) and they are a lot of fun. There is a lot of glockenspiel usage, but I’ve really enjoyed them. If you missed this post, you really should download the songs from E’s Lullaby Playlist.
2) DesignMom.com - She's so creative, and her Rock Climbing Birthday Party Invitations are so cute.
3) Ecological Footprint Quiz Take this quiz to find out your level of impact on the environment.

MyHeritage.com Celeb Look-a-Likes

So, I uploaded a photo of me into MyHeritage.com. I actually did 2 different brand new photos. But on the first photo, here were my results & in this order: Jena Malone (pictured here,) Farrah Fawcett, Jessica Alba, Paris Hilton, Thora Birch, Josephine Baker, Sara Evans, Julie Andrews, Holly Marie Combs & Montserrat Caballe. This is very very funny – of all the people I’ve heard, I’ve never heard any of these folks. Maybe I can see Jena Malone just a bit (pictured here). But Jessica Alba? And she was on my second list too!! Crazy. You must check out your celebrity look-a-like & post your results here!!!

Beth in NY Times yesterday

Our friend Beth Rodden was in yesterday's NY Times magazine, "Play." (And here she is w/Ethan a few months ago.) Click here to see the online feature. Nice pics Beth!

And while I'm on the topic of climbing, here's a cool picture of the hubby!


More Look-A-Likes: Also, now I can add Tara Reid, Kate from the Drew Carey Show, and I'm also remembering Caroline's step-dad who said I looked like some girl from "World of Henry Orient," which I never saw. I'm having fun hearing about your look-a-likes too! Keep 'em coming!!!

Look-Alikes

I don’t know why, but almost weekly I hear “You look just like ______.” I’ve heard everything – the Xena Princess Warrior sidekick, Meg Ryan, Mary Stuart Masterson, Jennifer Aniston, the bratty neighbor on Full House, Juliana Hatfield, Keri Russell…plus just about every next-door-neighbor-best-friend’s-cousin out there.

Here’s the most recent. Unlike most references I get, I usually don’t get to actual see a picture. This look alike’s name is Amanda (on the Left), and she’s somewhere in NC or something like that. What do you think? I think I can see the resemblance. (Sigh: I miss being blonde.)

You guys have any look alikes out there?

Real Men Play Pink...

Real Men Play Pink Guitars. And they aren't afraid to wail to "What a Girl Wants" either. Ethan can attest to that.

Gift Bag Infestation

A 2002 report showed that the gift wrap industry’s retail business accounts for approximately $2.7 billion a year. At that time, 31% of that was for Gift Bags. Can you believe that? I also read that the average American spends $167 on cards & stationary yearly. I don’t know what the average family spends yearly on gift bags & tissue paper, but my guess is around $100 per family.

Can you believe this? Our families may be spending $300 a year on cards, tissue paper & gift bags – AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN GOTTEN AROUND TO A GIFT!! Think about what you could do with that money! And what a waste – these are all things that go in the trash!!

Okay, so here are my ideas on how we can help our pocketbooks & our planet…

• Reuse Gift Bags. Oh, it burns me up when people toss gift bags. Someone just payed $4 for that bag alone!!
• No new gift bags. What ever happened to people wrapping gifts…in newspaper? Of course there are times when you have some crazy gift that just won’t fit, but most of the time paper works just fine. Or we can sew up a gift bag from scap fabrics.
• Trade Gift Bags. We just took about 50 bags that have been collecting dust to the gym & set them out at the front counter for others to take. They were gone in much less than one week. Give/Trade bags within your community or extended family. Especially if you just had a baby boy or just got married, etc. you have a million single-themed bags that will take you forever to use up.
• Repurpose your gift bags – Gift bags with a beautiful design make great cards or gift tags. I bought a set of alphabet stamps, and I stamp “Happy Birthday” or “Congrats” to make my own cards.

Have other ideas? Please share!

A Mom Will Try Anything

It's crazy what settles down a cranky kid. This afternoon, none of Ethan's toys were entertaining him, so I put him in the laundry basket and handed him a roll of TP. And that did the trick! Keeping him occupied nice and quietly!!! Kids are crazy. Ever had an experience like this?

"I Love Thursdays"

I'm starting something called "I Love Thursdays." I'll share with you some of my favorite things. Maybe I'll do it consistently, or maybe this will be the only "I Love Thursday."

Today, I love:
1) Western Chief Boots - They keep my feet dry on a day like today. Plus, my niece has a matching pair.
2) The Red Campaign - Buy Something, Help fight AIDS.
3) Consignment Sales - Why buy full price when you can get a good pair of kid shoes for $3?