"how to save the world without really trying"

i thought this movie was quite witty. i am hesitantly goingto go to www.carbonfund.org now to calculate my carbon number--ugh! i will let you know!

every morning.

every morning i get up first and go downstairs to start our day before everyone wakes. about 10 minutes later i will hear footsteps above me from our room and then i hear grace running to the top of the stairs. she will call to me and watch over the banister until i get there to carry her down. such a great way to start each day!

his heart was pounding.

heart a poundin'
all buckled in with a few words of advice from daddy
at the starting gate---holding on tightly
and he is off!

as we waited in line for the go cart race, wyatt was standing unusually still. i say unusually because if you know wyatt you know he does not really stand still. his hand was over his heart and i said "wyatt are you okay?" he then said "yes, but my heart is pounding so hard because i am SO excited!" it was his first time driving a go-cart alone with no one in the car with him---alone! my heart of course starts pounding, what if he cannot steer, what if he pushes the gas instead of the brake, what if what if what if! of course, that is how i always am :) anyway, we hand in our ticket and off we go...todd and owen, me and grace, and wyatt and himself! he did a GREAT job and had no trouble. for a car crazy boy i guess this would have to be a right of passage. he often says to me "i really don't want to grow up but boy do i want my driver's license!" well baby today was the first step!

"free yourself"

onesta, meaning "honesty" is their name and their promise! i am so EXCITED about my new "smooth and shine straightening creme" i got today along with a great haircut from amber at midori orgainic salon. their plant based formulas are free of chemicals and the smell of green tea and milk thistle extracts are wonderful! onesta donates 10% of their proceeds to breast cancer research as well! amber offers a full line and now has baby and pet products too!!

why did we not think of this?

after all the years my mom and i made homemade baby food for all our children, i wish we would have considered making it into a business! good for happy baby! and i love their cute names...gobble gobble, wiser apple, and yes peas...how adorable!

grace's 1st dance class.

okay so i never imagined myself to become a "dance mom" and still actually do not, however it truly is such a special moment to see your sweet little daughter in her first dance class. we put on grace's ballet slippers and she was off on her toes with hands in the air. she looked so beautiful to me and she had a nice time. she was a little tired out by tap time, but overall she enjoyed herself! and we got to see her friend averi which is always fun!

birthday celebration--montessori style!

the birthday celebrations at school are quite possibly the most touching thing a parent or grandparent could experience. images of cupcakes and party hats and traditional birthday songs are replaced with meaningful tributes, deep emotions, and powerful learning. the celebration starts with the class walking in a circle quietly following the teacher and then stops. everyone sits where they are standing and the birthday child is asked to come to the middle of the circle. here is owen's celebration:

owen's teacher mrs. root

first lit a candle for owen. this represented the sun and placed centrally. then owen was given 4 seasons to place around the sun and the children sang a season song. next, owen placed all the months near their seasons as the children sang a song about the months of the year. next owen was given a model of earth to hold. this represented him and his place in the world. here is where is gets good. referring to the timeline poster i made for owen...i showed the picture of owen as a baby and told something about him when he was born. then owen walked around the "sun" and we all said "it took 365 days and nights for owen to become 1" then i was able to show the picture of owen as a one-year old and spoke of him...then he walked the "years" again until he was 6. they then will sing a song about how he impacts history and typically will sing happy birthday in the 3 languages they learn at school english, spanish, and chinese. owen then blew out the candle and we as a family presented a gift to the class in his honor--last year a fish for the aquarium this year a birdfeeder for their playground. it is just such a fabulous celebration! owen was so happy! he came over and gave me a BIG hug right in front of his class at the end! gosh i love him!

celebrate!!

we let owen pick whatever he wanted to do for his birthday afternoon. first we opened presents at home and then we jumped in the car for a trip (including a quick detour so owen could take some pictures with his new camera of some cars he had seen) to celebration station--jam packed with bright lights, ringing buzzers, tickets flying---PEREFCT for a 6 year old's birthday! in owen's opinion, what lacked in the prizes was made up in the go car race and bumper boats! he had a great time! it is great to see your kids running and laughing!

officially 6!

at 2:09 am this morning, my baby turned 6 years old. i can remember each detail of the night he was born 6 years ago. we had been told for weeks that he was going to be big and that since i was progressing and having contractions he could come at anytime. i was 3 weeks early and had everything ready--snacks for wyatt for the hospital, multiple cameras, and our bags packed lightly remembering we barely used all we had brought for wyatt's birth. we were finishing building our pool so wyatt (then 2) and i sat in the empty shell as the water filled it up. my contractions started at 5pm on monday afternoon. by 11pm i was READY to go so we got in the car. of course the road we needed to take was closed and then the parking lot was not open since it was the middle of the night. we parked in the e.r. lot and had to keep sitting down for contractions during our short walk in---they were back to back. we arrived at 11:30 and i was pushing by 1:50. our precious owen was born 3 weeks early weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. at 2:09am surrounded by his eager family. he was beautiful and we thought he looked just like his brother. todd went with him to the nursery so they could weigh him and wyatt looked through the window waving at him the whole time. the love i felt for owen was instant. it was natural and easy. he was sweet and fit perfect in my arms! to this day he looks at me with such trust and sensitivity. he is gentle and kind. his quiet nature and intense green eyes melt me! i love you forever and always!

a sweet montessori tradition asks parents to make a history poster with one picture from each year of your child's life. it lets you reflect on the years that have so quickly passed and the amazing impact that your child has on your world. here is owen's from today...his 6th birthday!

questions for owen--last day of 5 years old

1. favorite color--green

2. favorite smell--gommy's cough drops

3. best vacation--north carolina and nick hotel

4. favorite book--power rangers

5. favorite food--ice cream

6. best day of your life--#1 the day i was born #2 spending the night at gommy's

7. what do you want to be when you grow up? artist like wyatt

8. favorite sport--soccer

9. favorite thing to wear--pj's

10. favorite toy--bakugan balls

11. favorite character--captain rex from star wars

12. what do you talk about with wyatt at night in your room? stuff

13. best part of being a little brother? having a best friend

14. best part of being a big brother? i love her.

15. describe yourself: a boy, tan skin, brown hair, green eyes, 2 legs, 2 arms, 1 head

16. favorite ice cream? vanilla

17. favorite subject? math

18. favorite animal? dog

19. best thing to do if you are bored? play nintendo

20. favorite tv show? bakugan

21. favorite movie? star wars

22. best part of being 6? kindergarten

23. what 3 things would you take with you on a deserted island?

1. nintendo

2. family

3. bakugan balls

4. a pillow

happy 4th birthday kylie!

kylie you are such an old soul! so independent and serious! you are sweet and special! we love you so much and hope you have a fantastic day! how wonderful that they set the release date for your new movie on your birthday---i am sure they did it just for you!!

miracles.

the births of my children and of the births i attended (hadley, maggie, and trevan) are the most miraculous moments of my life. each detail is ingrained in my mind and there are no words to describe the moment a child is born. i would love to have been a midwife---should have done that! i could have 10 babies just only to experience the second that your child is born.. their little hands, the first time you see their angelic faces, the smell of pureness. miracles!

my baby boy's 6th birthday party!

owen's 6th birthday party at heriage village was just so wonderful. it was sweet and easy...just like him! his favorite part was the cake (i love his smile in the picture with the birthday cake) andhe just loved having all his buddies there with him. he treasures his friendships so much. the red-light-green-light game, musical chairs, speedracer race, and tour of the historic garage with a phone call into the mechanic were only some of the highlights of the morning. all his friends from kindergarten and all of his closest buddies were there to make the day special for him! thanks to all-- it was a great party!

homemade dogfood

not sure if i am ready to commit to this in life, however our sweet mabel is finicky. i switched from junky dogfood last year to the expensive food from the feed store and she was not too thrilled but she ate it...a few weeks ago i switched to organic vegetarian food but she refused to eat for 2 days then gave in and nibbled on it. so back to her regular food this week, but now seeing this i wonder if i can handle this on top of 3 kids and a hubby? if anyone tries it out let me know how it goes. it may be my challenge for next week. this week's goal of getting a recycling garbage can for my diet coke cans--accomplished.

1 cup of whole grain, organic rice, oatmeal, or pasta-cooked.
1 cup of organic shredded chicken or fish-cooked. I use canned if I have not made chicken or fish during the week.
1 tsp of safflower oil
1 unflavored crushed tums
Dash of salt
1 crushed up all natural children's vitamin
"I make this once a week and store it in the refrigerator. For variety, I process any organic cooked veggies we are having."

princess pirate party.

when we found out we were having a baby girl i was never too keen on the whole "princess" idea. i like disney princesses , but the princess mentality is not particularly how i want my daughter's mindset to be. her first princess toy at age 3 months...a precious disney princess mirror...very cute...you push the button and it would talk to you. but then the princess says "you are so beautiful", "your hair looks perfect", "your eyes are magical." okay so now i know why us girls are so self-conscious of our appearance...we have been hearing these messages since we were 3-months old. i wish we could make a mirror saying "you are so smart", "you are so strong", "you are so thoughtful." i even catch myself looking at grace and telling her "you are just so pretty" then i quickly say "...and smart!" regardless, we couldn't miss out on the fantastic princess party a the library...it was magical..and the girls looked beautiful and smart!

laptop lunches.

today i was so thrilled to be able to use the boys new laptop lunchboxes to pack their lunches for school. it was so convenient and encouraged me to pack healthy and smart. i picked up an 8-pack of washcloths so i threw one in each and zipped them up! how easy is that! oh and i was able to use my new yummy produce from kim's co-op! love it!

thanks kim!

i am so excited that kim was sweet enough to invite me to join her produce co-op. so now all i will have to do is email in my order every other week and i can go pick up a nicely boxed organically and locally grown package of fruits and veggies! all this yumminess for only $44. great deal! grace couldn't keep her hands off it!!

date night.

delicious dinner and a great concert...we left and todd said if we were going back to our mountain home for a beer on the porch it would be a perfect night. to move or not to move? that is the question! too bad there is no correct answer. til then we will enjoy our date nights in florida.

first day cake.

every year growing up my mom would make us cookies on the first day of school and they would be waiting for us when we came home. so since wyatt was in preschool, we have made a special back-to-school cake (we also love to do last day of school cakes as well to celebrate the start of summer!) yummy!!


the boys said they had great days. owen's highlight was a wasp in his classroom and wyatt loved playing the name dance, but he said he was last so by the time they got to his name and action of skateboarding his legs were so tired. it was pizza day at school so they loved that and owen was so happy to not have to endure rest time since he is a big kindergartener now!

all i have to say is-- it was just SO good!

Okay so Billy Corgan is so tall and powerful. His voice is so controlled and dynamic. I cannot fathom how he can scream as loud as he can and then the next note sing so beautifully. He had on this floor length silver skirt with his black and white striped socks and black leather boots...awesome! I did not remember how much of a hard-metal rock band they are. I love going to concerts at small venues it makes it so much more intimate. I am not going to any more large venues...it is just not worth it.

Todd said it was a perfect night!

back to school.

so normally my track record has shown i always cry on the first day of school and the last days of school (and lots in between too), but so far today i am doing okay. i think the fact that todd drove with us and then laura and trevan dropped by have kept me distracted. however i was up most of the night so i am sure that does not help---i have included a picture to show the dark circles under my tired eyes :) so right now in kindergarten owen is probably finishing up his lunch and getting ready for afternoon activities and wyatt is probably in 3rd grade spanish. i miss them terribly, but on a positive note my house has not been this clean since may!