Clean Green

Reduce: I'm attempting to reduce the amount of chemicals in my house, especially now that my toddler has discovered how to operate a spray bottle and decided that anything with a screw-on lid must be drinkable. normal household cleaning is done with Simple Green and water, but anything requiring disinfection gets the special treatment.
Re-use: If I can avoid throwing something away by finding another use for it, great! Can you tell what my new (well, I've had it up for months now, but never blogged it before, so new to you guys) kitchen curtain was made from? And this knitted cloth from my mother? still looks brand-new after 3 years of regular use. It may have been a sweater in a former life, but I can't quite remember.
Recycle: Yeah, you can buy empty spray bottles from the store. But why bother when I've got one right here?


Recipe:
1 T Borax (note: this is toxic if ingested for babies, but is better than many alternatives. I wish I could find washing soda here, it's a slightly more environmentally sound alternative, but alas.)
1 c water
1/4 c vinegar
10 drops of your favorite essential oil, especially if it's got antiseptic or aromatheraputic qualities. OR, you can use hot water and add your own fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, lavender) and let steep 10 minutes before removing and adding the rest of the ingredients to the spray bottle.

more cleaning green ideas here.

high chair happenings

top: working on a Secret Project (second time playing with finger paints, and I think he's starting to get it),







and bottom: "ah daohhh" (all done) with black beans and rice.








Funny, I just noticed in both pictures that the right hand is the really dirty one, whereas the left hand is the one waving. Don't know what that means, but it is mildly interesting. Also noticed recently that when he walks/runs, the only arm that swings is his left arm. And in order to make up for the right arm remaining at his side(or attached to an adult hand), the left arm swings with ZEST.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

House with Flag, Warren Kimble

wish we were ^here^, and you were with us!

(well, there with a huge porch added onto the front)

"Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got--
Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.
God's works are so great, worth
A lifetime of study-- endless enjoyment!
Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
His generosity never gives out.
His miracles are his memorial—
This God of Grace, this God of Love.
He gave food to those who fear him,
He remembered to keep his ancient promise.
He proved to his people that he could do what he said:
Hand them the nations on a platter—a gift!
He manufactures truth and justice;
All his products are guaranteed to last—
Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that he makes and does is honest and true:
He paid the ransom for his people,
He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
He's so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
The good life begins in the fear of God—
Do that and you'll know the blessing of God. His Hallelujah lasts forever!"
Psalm 111:1, Message translation

Our Neighbors like us too...

My neighbor had two of these so he gave me one.















Pretty cool, huh? now I have to learn how to drive race cars with a wheel instead of with a stick.

They like us, they really like us (sob)*

*that's a quote from...somewhere, right? name it and you'll satisfy my curiosity.

A package arrived a couple of days ago from the Blue Star Military Support Group. They've sent us a few packages now, and I blogged about the first one here. Each package has one thing that really makes it special. The first had letters from school kids. The second had two really neat "helmet liners" that Dan's looking forward to using the remainder of the "winter" here in Sicily. They each contain a rather random assortment of things a soldier on the front would find really wonderful: wipes, toothpaste, canned tuna, playing cards, word search books, and plenty of candy. This package's treasure was a current copy of Rifleman magazine. Continuing in the literary genre, we also were gifted one Louis L'Amour novel, two trashy romance novels (!) and one beach read. Completing the library was a July '97 issue of Ellery Queen, the "world's leading mystery magazine." Um, thanks guys. No, really, we appreciate the thought!

ps: in the background: a sneak peek at a recent (as in 10 minutes ago) dumpster find. Did I whet your curiousity?

multi-use pot

The day the potty took up permanent residence in our living room, it was doomed. Not only has it been used for its intended purpose by the human little(and thoroughly washed and sanitized after each use, thankyouverymuch), it has also provided many minutes of entertainment for all three littles in the house. It's been filled with blocks, toted around as a convenient spot to perch for a minute's repose, and chewed on by the biggest little. Lately, however, it has been overtaken by the littlest little. And I don't think she's moving out anytime soon. FWIW, the boy did try to sit on the potty anyway, with her in there, and got a nice couple of scratch marks in a rather sensitive area for his efforts. The dog was quick to come to his rescue, but gave up after a bite to the ear and a swat to the nose. Hmm. At least there's always the back yard ;-)



































OH, and for those of you bemoaning the lack of boy pics lately, I present to you the face I get every time I pull out the camera (and don't automatically hand it over). if you could only hear the accompanying sound effects.

Market Day

Saturday is Market Day in Caltagirone, so we took some friends and headed out. We purchased some normal market things like produce.


















We also found some odd, yet useful items for the dog and her upcoming, um, girlish events.


















Then we went to the butcher shop and bought these.













They are also for the dog. Before we gave them to the dog we cleaned them up a bit and got this much usable meat off of one of them.













Now it looks like this













Then it went to the dog













She was quite excited to receive such a treat and I have never seen her get into her crate faster.













I think she likes it.

How do you like your granola?

all mixed up with plain yogurt, a big dollop of pumpkin puree (!) and some craisins on top, please.
"Yum yum, Max. Say yum yum."
"Delicious!" said Max.
~Max's First Word by Rosemary Wells

*snort*

Within the past month or so I've had several women say variations of the same comment to me:

"wow, your kid is so independent/well-behaved/tough/precocious, and you are so laid back and still have time to DO things, I thought you'd have him attached to you 24/7 until he was 18 and I thought he'd be a whiny brat who got away with everything! I mean, you do all those crunchy and christian things, I wasn't sure we were even going to be able to be friends, but you're not half bad!"

Ok, so they weren't quite that blunt, but that's very definitely what they meant, and all I could do was snort (hopefully just in my head and not out loud) . I mean, what do you say to that? "yeah...I did what I thought was best for our family, and it's working out pretty well so far, thanks" hehe.

ps: not really a rant, but that was the closest label I could come up with.
pss: oh, you want a picture or else this post isn't even worth looking at? well, don't twist my arm, I've got them right here. Random, but that's what you get when I'm only on the computer about an hour a day.

1)apart from chasing flies/cat/dog with his very own fly swatter, this is one of the boy's favorite pastimes. He's actually doing this as we speak, except from inside the dog's crate. with the door shut. I maintain that HE is the one who did the shutting. "hah ya dooah? eh. ah?! mm-hmm. GOOOAA!"
2)hello pretty volunteer squash. mmmm...3)Unfortunately, as soon as I took this pic, he/she disappeared, and our yard is still covered in flies. Maybe I could buy a whole family of praying mantises?
one more ps: anyone want to bug me for a secondhand goodness post or a crafty post? I'm tired of all the hockey on this here blog ;-)