Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Avery - 16 months

She's my thumbsucker. Early on she was SO opinionated - even about a poisonous pacifier.
With Kendall I freaked out about having a thumbsucker and MADE her take a paci.
But jeez louise, with Avery it has saved my shoulder. I was reflecting the other day - no fiddling around the back of the car trying to get it back to her when she flings it. No getting up in the middle of the night to pop it back in.
Granted I'd hate to do a swab of it on any given day and then see what grows in a petri dish
.
One day I looked over and she had her fingers in her ears - and she was screaming. Yeah kiddo...that's what we all want to do too. It was funny to me though that she noticed that it sounded different when she had them in, then out.
Pure genius.

Am I allowed to post naked booty shots on the internet? She'd just gotten out of the bath. No, I should say she about leapt out of the bath when she heard the opening song of Yo Gabba Gabba...I think that the creators of this show smoke a lot of something.

Knock-off Wood - 1st Project!

Yeah! 1st Knock-off Wood project complete. I've been eyeing this shelf for years but could never bring myself to pay the $40 Pottery Barn Kids price. Then a friend of a friend sent me the link to this blog that is going to change my life as I know it! Anyway, this is just my first little project. I think I'm going to make a nother that is a taller/wider one. Then I'll move this one up, then put the other on the bottom.

I took longer to paint the darn thing than it did to build it! Click here to see the tutorial. She says it can be built for less than $5 but starting all new, it cost me around $15 (nails, paint, wood). It doesn't have the nicely routered edges of the PB one, but it's okay - I like it just fine!

I've got to figure out how to hang it closer to the wall though. The "hangers" make it pull away from the wall at the top so it doesn't hang flush - and that drives me just the tency-wency little really bit okay REALLY crazy.

Avery loves it! It is just the perfect height for her to go and grab a book. Of course they never get put back...that's about as probable as the big-bang theory.

further thought...

...of course if I say I'm not going to go to Sea World (see the previous post), then I suppose that I should also abstain from the zoo, the aquarium, and the circus...that's probably not going to happen...especially the zoo...

Again, listen, as my mother pointed out and I tried to stress in my previous post - I'm not a "jump on the bandwagonner." I DO believe that most documentaries are created totally one sided. We NEED to vaccinate our kids, but I think that it is just up to us to be more informed/educated about all things - food, vaccinations, being earth friendly, etc.

We as humans DO humanize animals WAY too much. This is what my mom (in her infinite wisdom) says, "I have absolutely no qualms with eating organic...but did you know that "organic" doesn't mean the animals are treated any better? Did you know that simply washing most fruit and veggies well takes nearly everything off of the skins? And the fact is there is little to no oversight of organic ofarmers, so you often aren't getting what you think you are.
Yes some people treat animals with cruelty. Yes, chicken and beef is pumped full of hormones, etc. Yes, that bothers me. But I spent a lot of years on teh farm with Ed and I saw that cows aren't people. Whether they are standing in a field in Nebraska or in a feedlot, they eat and chew. No emotion, no cares. Then they are killed, for the most part swiftly and pretty painlessly. The documentaries show you the worst of the worst of the worst."

Anyway, I just wanted to throw a little of my own personal retrospect in there. I agree...these movie makers have to sensationalize it to get ratings and oohs and aahs. BUT still, just the way that these people in The Cove movie, rig the stuff to get the secret hidden cameras in and set up...it was pretty cool.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The Cove

Watch this documentary. What? Documentary? Ho-hum...booooooooring. Let me just tell you as a sometimes watcher of documentaries that they have come a LONG WAY and most of them are freaking incredible. This one - The Cove - is awesome. It has humor, suspense, terror, drama, makes you laugh at parts, then cry, and gasp at the horror. I was TOTALLY worried that it was going to be bloody horror the whole way through but it isn't, it's just a little bit at the end. Just enough to make me want to throw up that brownie I just ate. Okay, I didn't throw it up but it is pretty disturbing. I don't care if they were slaughtering ladybugs - nothing deserves to be tricked, manipulated, trapped, and slaughtered like that.

Let me just say that if you don't know me - I'm a "take it with a grain of salt" person. I never take a crazy activist like person. BUT I do believe that there is a little truth in most of these things and if I can do just a little bit to help out a cause - I'll do it. If we all do a little - it helps a lot.

Again, I AM NOT AN ACTIVIST PEOPLE but just like being a Christian - you either AREN'T or you ARE so while I'm not dedicating or risking my life to protesting to save the dolphins I WILL tell you that you need to watch this movie. I'm pretty sure I'll never visit Sea World again. I'm only one person but I've got a family - and I'm more than happy to show them what dolphins are on TV (through safe documentaries) and in nasty Galveston Bay in the wild.

I'm on a soap box-bear with me. So let's get this straight, I can't eat chicken...because they are treated inhumanely and contain insane amounts of hormones. Can't eat beef - [same story > see chickens]. Oh and this documentary pointed out the massive amounts of mercury that are found in fish because of the ocean being the dumping grounds for power plants, etc. Uh, yeah, that includes TUNA - like SUSHI people...which I've started to really like - OF COURSE. Now I can't eat it. And now, I can't eat or feed my kids un-organic (in-organic?) what's the word here peeps...because some/most? veggies/fruits are treated with a pesticide that interferes with a bugs nervous system - so HELLO. WHAT IS IT DOING THEN TO MY CHILDREN?

According to this study (if the link doesn't work Google "Today Show, pesticides" and one from May 2010 will pop up) - creating much higher instances of A.D.D. GRRRRRRRRREAT. and what do we do to treat A.D.D.? Well, well, well...we treat it with DRUGS. The other out of control industry that is eating us financially and mentally as we know it. We all LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE our prescription drugs don't we?! It's not fair. Who are the geniuses that are spiraling us into this fast-food dependency > drug dependency > food dependency?

So the more I learn, the less I eat. Seriously. Have I lost 10, 20, 50 pounds? Nope. [Dangit] But I eat a lot less. A lot less. What's that old adage? "Eat to live, don't live to eat." I'm trying and day by day - it's working. But my kids are growing and for 2 girls - they eat a LOT. I'm not kidding. I tell my BFF that my girls could totally go head to head with her 2 boys that are the same age [which she "claims" are eating her out of house and home]. So what do I do? There is the ever constant battle of "oh dear God I am so exhausted and tired of making food for my children here just eat this okay stop crying just eat some goldfish i don't feel like cooking AGAIN" and then there is the opposite nuturing side thinking "what am I feeding my kids?"

And then there is the cost issue - organic is pretty pricey - but so is a life of being on drugs to treat A.D.D. Not too mention just the mental stress that comes from "being diagnosed." And the other issue is availability. JUST THIS WEEK [ok last night] I really paid attention to see what they sell that is organic at HEB and they've probably got one of the better selections I think. Bananas? no. Strawberries? no. Tomatoes? yes. No cucumber, no zuccini, no "wild" fruits like blackberries, raspberries (again no strawberries which are supposed to be the MOST chockful of pesticides). Apples, pears, potatoes, some tomatoes, yes, yes, yes... Anyway, so it's cost, availability and just one more dang place for me to have to "go" to hauling 2 young kids. Oh and the pesticide is found in your frozen foods too!!!!!

So have I covered everything? Is anyone tired of me bitching? It's frustrating I tell you. What CAN I eat? Can I consciously continue to eat badly truly knowing of the chemicals and hormones in food not too mention the ruthless slaughtering? Do I really care if stupid (really - not an insult, chickens are pretty darn dumb) are dying literally "cooped" up? Am I going to go broke buying organic? If we fry it, will that kill all of the bad stuff because Kentucky Fried Chicken just came out with their "Double Down, there's so much chicken there wasn't room for a bun" chicken sandwich (540 calories). Please note: I still love my fried food.

So to wrap this up, I think I'll live on miniscule amounts of organic fruits, veggies - supporting my local farmers hopefully and then also cheeses - cheese doesn't hurt anyone right? and a little bit of wine - just to kill any remaining bugs/pesticides. Yep, sounds like a plan. I'm willing to support the ruthless massacre and fermentation of grapes for the betterment of life and health and my own personal sanity.

So what can you do about the dolphins? Check out this site. It's good to be informed people...that's all I'm sayin.

www.takepart.com/thecove/

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Mother's Day

Of course the girls wouldn't cooperate for a pre-dinner photo.

What a mother's day! I love my husband and children and we had a great relaxing, uneventful day....until dinner. It was interesting to say the least. We went to Benijana for dinner with both children in tow...got there 5 minutes early to find out that we were going to have to WAIT an extra 30 minutes to get to our table. OK, SO THE 6:30 RESERVATION DOESN'T STAND? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE HUNGRY CHILDREN THAT NEED TO EAT NOW. NOW. NOW - WHEN IS MY DINNER READY - WHERE IS THE FOOD - CAN I HAVE MORE? WHAT IS FOR DESSERT? KIND OF KIDS?!?!?!?

Killing me Benijana. Killing me.

By the time we got to the table, Avery had already put away a large handful of broccoli, a handful of nilla wafers and was starting to gnaw away on the chopsticks.

So I had what I thought would be my secret weapon - the DVD player.

Well, it backfired...big time.

Avery only wanted to play with the buttons ON the DVD player and could have cared less about the D-d-d-d-dora episode that was playing. Seriously?! We ended up creating a little "play area" on the floor for her next to the wall and she climbed and cried and laughed and ate God-only-knows how many disgusting crushed goldfish crackers off of the floor.

I ate as quickly as I could an just prayed that we'd make it through dinner. I got to peer at my new baby nephew that I'd never gotten to meet before and I shuffle one kid to the bathroom, then the other for a diaper change. Mother's day....gotta love it! Luckily I had a wonderfully peaceful nap earlier in the day to help me survive.

Poor Mike - he had the BEST intentions. And I love him for it!

1st Baseball Game - in a LONG time!

Mike did a silent auction at a fundraiser and won tickets to an Astros game so we got to take Kendall (4) to her very first Astros game! It was very exciting. She was pumped and ready to go 2 days before. We wore the size 5/6 jersey we got for her last year - all in all it was a great time and she had a blast - as did we. We haven't been in FOREVER and I really miss the games. We used to have season tickets - back in the old PK days (pre-kid) when we could jet there right after work. Oh how we used to complain about the crowds, the traffic...ahhh...the good 'ole days. Now we just complain - at home...about them losing. Ah well...they lost this game but we had a great time. The "club level" seats weren't too shabby either. Perfect weather...a great array of foods to choose from...it was a perfect night for a baseball game!!!













Hangin' with the best of the BEST - we love you Big Puma!!! (aka Lance Berkman)
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