Happy Halloween 2010

Our little UPS guy and Fairy had fun trick-or-treating tonight...for a whole 25 minutes.  Oh well, it's not like I want them eating tons of candy anyway.  We searched and searched for a candy without trans fat in it this year.  I know, it's candy, it's unhealthy...whatever.  But it is still pretty messed up that almost every type of candy has trans fat in it...why?

So this woman and her little boy came to the door tonight.  She and he were both dressed up and both carrying bags.  He took his candy and then she leaned in and took 2 or 3 pieces for herself.  Really?  Sorry but grown-ups just aren't supposed to trick-or-treat.

Derrick and I got a little time without the kids this afternoon and went to see a show at the Omnimax Theater.  It was very nice to have some time alone for a change!

What's it mean to be Green?

How Green are you?  I mean really, how green are you, have you stopped to think about it lately?  I feel like these days, a lot of people think they are being green just by going out and purchasing some cute reusable grocery bags.  But come on, really?  Do you think that is gonna make a difference in how we are treating our environment?  Sorry if you are one of those people...I used to be too, if it makes you feel any better.  Then I started to pay attention to the amount of STUFF I throw away every single day.  About 2 years ago we started composting ALL of our green matter, all fruit and veggie leftovers and scraps, grass clippings, leaves, dead plants, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grinds.  I have a 1.5 gallon jug that sits on my counter and I have to take it out to the garden to empty it every single day!  But there's still more to it than that.

All summer long you know I complained about my husband not wanting to use the air conditioning unless it was over 100 degrees.  Well there's something to that.  I know that is definitely extreme but  I've got neighbors who have it running when it is 55 degrees out...how cold do they want their house to be???   Turn off the air, the heat, the lights...especially when you aren't even home.

I would say about 80-90% of my kids toys were purchased at thrift stores, consignment sales and things I found people throwing away in my neighborhood.  In the last 6 months, I have trash-picked a full size train table, complete with all the track, a power wheels ($300 in the stores), and a little tikes slide that stands about 4 feet high, perfect for Reese right now.  People were throwing these things away, sending them into a landfill when there are plenty of kids, right under their noses even, who could definitely use them.  A girl at our play group today was saying she posted an add on Craigslist for her old carpeting (it was only 6 years old and they just wanted a different color) and they were willing to give it away for free.  She said the couple that came to pick it up had 30-year old carpeting and was so thrilled to have it.  Awesome story of reusing and recycling.  It's a lot more than just throwing your cans and bottles in the recycling bin every week!

And if you really want to get into the nitty gritty of being green, lets talk Organics.  I know I know I know, I'm constantly harping on food issues. But you need to know the facts.  Watch "Food, Inc."  Read the "Omnivore's Dilemma."  You have to know that all the pesticides they are spraying on our foods are entering our bodies when we eat them but are also leaching into our soil and water...  You have to know that North Carolina's ten million hogs produce twice as much feces and urine as the populations of the cities of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago combined. Industrial farms, most with thousands of hogs each, store the waste in open-air pits, called lagoons. They spray the waste, untreated, as manure on adjacent fields.  Conventional farming is toxic to you and the environment, corrupt, immoral, and cruel to animals.  


So what can you do?  Hopefully I've given you at least one idea and not offended you in the process.  Try to throw away less and less.  Why buy everything new?  Why spend your hard-earned dollars on food that isn't even good for you?  There are some amazing, hard-working farmers I have met in our area in the last year and I am so impressed by their work ethic, and their commitment to sustainable agriculture, not for the money but just because it's the right thing to do.  Think about it...

I only love you!

We had a great play date with the neighborhood kids today.  5 kids and their mommies came over, plus my two so it was a packed house.  Of course, my little human shadow would not let go of my leg the entire time...grrr.  The point of a PLAY date is to PLAY last time I checked, right?  I asked him why he didn't want to play with all his friends who came over and he told me, "I just like you better."  Sigh.

Out and about

We enjoyed another impromptu trip to the zoo yesterday before the temperatures plummeted.  They had this monster pumpkin at the entrance...it's hard to believe it is real!  Is it?  1,211 pounds...I'd love to see the size of the plant it was growing on.

 We got a good show from the elephants.  Got to see them eating their breakfast which was fun.

At the end of the day this interesting ribbed clouds were in the sky.  I thought it was pretty awesome, wonder if there is a name for it?

Today was eventful in a totally non-fun-related way.  I took the kids out running errands for like 2 hours, by myself.  We managed to stay injury free and there were no potty accidents, fortunately.

Silly

"You better listen out, Mamma or I will throw you out in the rain!"  This is what my almost 3 year old said to me at dinner tonight when I was scolding Reese for throwing half her dinner on the floor.  Don't you think he was directing that comment to the wrong member of the family?

We were trying to explain to him where different foods came from, things that grow on trees or in the ground, that beef and milk come from cows, pork from pigs, etc.  We asked him if he knew where chicken came from and he very confidently said, "From bunnies!!"

Sleepless in Seattle...or Pittsburgh, rather

Is it possible to be born with an alarm clock built into your head?  One that goes off at obnoxiously early hours of the morning, and times it just right so that the people around you can't fall back to sleep.  No, this alarm clock isn't in my head, it's in Reese's.  She almost always wakes up between 4 and 5 am....only is up for 10 or 15 minutes, but it is just enough time that I'm laying in bed struggling to fall back to sleep afterwards.  The last two days she has also gotten up at 6:45 and stayed up.  And no, this doesn't mean she takes a better nap either...her naps are actually getting shorter and shorter by the day.  Last night, after tending to her, we had to strip Carter's entire bed since he wet it again...almost a nightly ritual now.  I think it's because he sleeps on his belly with his legs all curled up underneath him that his diapers are leaking.  So after being up for over an hour with both of them, (he didn't want to go back to sleep either), I'm not feeling all that well-rested this morning.

On a more upbeat note, Carter went to his first art class yesterday.  Our township offers all kinds of classes for kids so I figured, what the heck, try it and see how it goes.  Carter has developed an invisible force shield around himself lately which I must be within or he goes ballistic.  It's about a 1-foot radius around him and if I step out of its limits, instant crying ensues.  At class yesterday, I had to sit RIGHT behind him and be nearly touching him at all times or he started to cry.   Slightly frustrating.  But, in spite of having be be his over-sized shadow for an hour, he actually seemed to enjoy the class and did a really good job with the painting they made.

Peeing on a tree

 We took a drive to a park we'd never visited today, Mingo Creek County Park, to go hiking again.  I know, two weekends in a row is hard core!  But we were hoping to catch the last show of leaves before they all fall off.  Unfortunately, I think the couple frosts we had this week rushed that process along so most of the leaves were down, but it was still really pretty.  We ended up going for a really long hike again, not so much by choice but we couldn't find the trail and ended up on the wrong one...  It was very nice but we were definitely exhausted by the end.  When we got back to the car, Carter had to go to the bathroom so Derrick took him into the woods.  (there were no restrooms there).  So for the rest of the day, all he's been talking about is peeing on a tree.  "Momma, did you know I peed on a tree?"  "We went hiking and I peed on a tree!"  "I love to pee on trees!!!"  Oh dear, this is not good.

Reese's newest trick, she gets on and swings it herself this way!

Tonight while Derrick was taking out his contacts, Carter asked, "You taking out your compost, Dadda?"

Reese's latest annoying trick is that every time we are in the car, she tears off her shoes and socks and throws them on the floor.  If she can't get them off she just screams.  Subsequently, all of her socks are EXTREMELY streched out because she just tugs and tugs on them and gets so mad if she can't pull them off.  The last couple days Carter has followed suit, so now whenever I get to my destination, I need to put both sets of shoes and socks back on the kids before we can get out of the car.

What's she thinking about?

These last two pictures are a Halloween sneak peek.  We had our neighborhood Halloween Parade last night.  Basically every kid age birth to 12 comes out in their costumes and marches down the road for 30 minutes.  Reese is a fairy and Carter is the UPS man this year.  We had to modify a little since it was freezing cold last night.

Texting

This is the kind of thing that amuses me.  I know, I know it's totally silly, but what can I say.  I actually have very strong feelings about people who text and drive, sorry if you are one of them.  I don't watch Oprah regularly but she had a really good show about it and basically found from studies and having people do test drives while texting that you are basically the equivalent of a drunk driver if you text and drive.  There is one kid in our neighborhood who is ALWAYS texting as he flies past my house in his truck.  He has literally run me off the road twice when I was pushing the kids in their stroller.  He also completely obliterated my neighbor's mailbox last winter...no doubt because he was texting as he came around the bend.  You'd think that woulda taught the punk a lesson.

I love Fall!

The kids cooperated for a whole 5 minutes, and I was able to snap a few cute ones.  Not as many as I would have liked, but oh well, maybe next year.

Absolutely Amazing

So I just have to share this.  Carter was sitting on the potty this afternoon and Reese was in the bathroom with us watching.  He told me I should put her on the potty so she could go.  So I'm like what the heck, why not.  I took off her pants and diaper and put her on the training potty.  Carter starts "coaching" her, saying, go peepee Reese, go like this...and he makes this funny grunting noise.  Well about 10 seconds in, she actually went!!!  A lot too!!! I was speechless!

Last man standing

...or woman in this case.  Yes, I am the only one in the house not to get the stomach bug now.  Carter unfortunately came down with it yesterday afternoon, and let me tell you it was a real treat.  Derrick had torn apart the laundry room because he's putting in new flooring and had assumed we could make it one day without doing laundry, since we'd just done 2 loads the day before.  He was wrong.

It feels a little like we are being smitten by a series of plagues these days.  We started with the plague of stink bugs, then the plague of dirty laundry, the plague of toy takeover, the plague of weeping and gnashing of teeth (teething), and now the plague of stomach bugs.  I can't really think of anything worse than the stomach flu, so I guess that means it can only get better from here, right?  Oh wait, snow...snow is worse than the stomach flu!  ;)

Speaking of cold weather, we had our first hard frost last night...boo!!!  So I spent half an hour this morning picking two big baskets full of what was left in our garden.  A surprising amount, believe it or not.  I am sad to see it end...maybe we need to look into getting a greenhouse next year.  :)

Vaccines

Reese had her 15 month check up today.  She is still mostly 50th Percentile.  She's 22 lb 13oz and 30.5 inches tall.  Carter weighed that at 9 months if that puts it in perspective!  The doctor is still urging me to continue breastfeeding.  She will not be a self-weaner like her brother, I can see that now.  We are still spreading out all of her vaccines and I am so glad we have a Pediatrician who's 100% on board with that.  He told me today that by spreading them out, I'm actually also reducing the number of total vaccines she needs to get since she's old enough now to completely skip the 4th dosage of several of them.  We obviously skipped the flu shot again this year.  I am so anti-vaccines and especially this one in particular.  After the scare last year with the swine flu (well I was never scared to be honest), I trust the AAP and FDA even less than before.  When you start looking into vaccines and how they are researched and tested and then you see the ENORMOUS profit that the pharma companies are making off them, it's hard for me to believe they really have the patient's best interest in mind.  I think the human body has an amazing capacity to protect itself and heal itself when fueled with the right foods and taken care of with a little old-fashioned common sense.  So there's my soapbox speech for this week, take it or leave it.

Monday again...

I made more of this homemade play dough this morning...very easy and it lasts forever.  We're going to use it for party favors for Carter's big 3rd Birthday party in a few weeks.  Derrick was the latest victim of the stomach flu and is just starting to feel better today after a very rough weekend.  I'm looking forward to a hopefully illness-free week ahead!!

If anyone has any amazing suggestions for toys that a 3-year-old would love for a birthday or Christmas gift, I'm all ears.  I feel like it's getting harder and harder to know what to buy him and I just don't want to buy a bunch of stuff he'll never use.

Odds and Ends

I wanted to share the new recipes I tried this week.  The first was Butternut Squash Bisque.  Amazing!!!  Also made World's Best Lasagna last night for dinner.  This is a time consuming recipe, be warned.  And I've made the Whole Wheat Honey Bread twice now using modifications in the reviews.  Use 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 2 TBS wheat gluten and replace 1/8 cup of water with 1/8 cup of milk and omit the dry milk powder.  Very good bread!

Carter found Derrick's pocket knife the other day in a drawer and asked me what it was.  I told him it was a little tool that could do lots of things and it had a pair of pliers, a screwdriver, a knife, etc.  He asked me what it was for and I told him you could take it when you went hiking in the woods.  So leading up to our hike yesterday, he kept saying over and over again, "I want to go hiking in the woods!  And we can take knives!!!"  People are really gonna start wondering about me as a parent.

Hiking in the Woods

We took a drive up to McConnell's Mill today to hike with the kids.  I saw several groups of GCC kids hiking and it brought back fond memories of cutting class to come down every week and hike there with friends.  Ahh the good old days.  Then, flashback to the present, a decade later (gosh am I OLD!) and boy are things different.  No more are the days I can take a quick hike around the loop in an hour.  Tack on the extra 30+ lbs of a kid/backpack/supplies on your back and it becomes a grueling and seemingly endless trek.  My legs were aching and wobbly after about 5 minutes of trying to hike over wet, leaf covered rocks.  It took us 2 hours to do the whole loop and it was one of the most exhausting things I've done in a long time.  The Great Race was a piece of cake compared to this, believe me!

Afterwards, we found a farm about 10 minutes away with organic eggs and poultry...really reasonable prices, good find!  Can't wait to try the pastured/free range eggs tomorrow for breakfast!

The latest

Someone asked me last night if Carter and Reese are getting along any better these days.  I would have to say a resounding NO!  All this week he has made it his goal to "tackle" her as often as possible.  Tackling is like his new favorite past time.  He tackles anyone, he is not at all discriminating.  I was trying to teach him to play Candy Land yesterday (which is oh such a treat let me tell you) and he only wanted to take the little game pieces and make them tackle each other.  AHHH!!!  His aggressiveness has spiked up a notch and I am just hoping this will be a phase that passes very very quickly.  Just last night, he opened the baby gate at the bottom of the steps, let Reese climb up a step then pushed her down the step onto the floor.  Not even gonna pretend I kept a cool head when I saw this unfold.

On a completely different note, I went with a group of friends to hear Pam Tebow speak last night and it was AWESOME!  She told her story of being pregnant with Tim and her decision to put her own life at risk and have her baby, despite doctors urging her to have an abortion.  Then the Women's Center who sponsored the even showed a short video with interviews of the girls that they have helped, who all decided to have their babies instead of choosing abortion.  What amazing and beautiful stories!  One of the girls was also in person at the event and brought her little boy Landon with her.  Every single day in Allegheny County alone, 22 precious babies are aborted.  I cringe to think of this.    Pam told a story of her husband while they were in the Philippines, seeing a man about to throw a baby into the river.  He stopped the man and asked him what he was doing and he told him that the mother had died in childbirth and the father didn't want the baby so they were just throwing it away.  This spurred the Tebow family to start an orphanage in the Philippines for these unwanted children to give them a chance.  So hard to imagine a culture that values human life so little it would come to something like that.  It is so awesome to hear about people who are trying to make a difference though, trying to provide the support and love that women need to carry these children and give them the choice of life.

Da Bug

Well, we made it through last year with no stomach viruses, but apparently we don't get a bye two years in a row.  Reese was the unfortunate member of the Berad clan to be afflicted this time.  So far the rest of us have stayed healthy, crossing fingers!!!  She's been vomiting since Saturday and it has been awful.  I have to vent a little so if this is way too much information for you, don't keep reading.

In just the last two days, I have been barfed on at least 4 times, pooped on at least 3 times and peed on once.  Reese has thrown up 8 times, Carter had one accident and the cat threw up on my rug once.  I had 4 throw rugs hanging outside today since I had to hose them off due to all these accidents.  Reese had 5 baths on Sunday and two yesterday.  I have done 4 loads of laundry in the last 24 hours.  Reese went through 6 outfits yesterday and 4 today.

So I really hope that tomorrow is a better day.  My poor baby...so sad she is sick!

Keeping them busy

Since we had our first official week of Really Lousy Weather, I decided to keep the kids really busy.  It did help to pass the time but was seriously the most exhausting week ever.  We celebrated the return of the sun on Friday by moving our neighborhood play date to Soergel's Farm...it was so much fun.  The kids loved seeing all the fall related things, flowers, pumpkins, apple cider and pumpkin cookies.

Reese got pretty brave around the sheep this time but still wouldn't quite get close enough to pet him.

Today we visited the Pittsburgh Zoo.  Carter and his buddy Jack had a great time together.  It is so fun to see them at an age now where they really enjoy seeing everything there!  Reese had fun too!

Carter tried the slide for the first time, with Jack.  They had fun doing it together!

And they always love seeing the sea lions swim by at the end.  They got a real show today!  So glad we live close to the zoo and that the kids enjoy it so much.  We had fun too!

  

The Domino Effect

Any parent knows what I am referring to when I say the "Domino Effect".  Maybe you have your own name for it, but it's one of those moments when a series of events is happening right before your eyes, involving your kids, and one thing leads to another which leads to another...and so and and so forth.  Well, I experienced just that today, in the stall of a public restroom at the Carnegie Science Center.

Carter and Reese checking out a robot

Well we were actually doing pretty well, all things considered.  The kids were having fun, I was somewhat able to keep up with them.  Then enter the giant water table.  I am not going to be one of those parents who denies their kids any fun, even though it will lead to filthiness, or in this case, soaking wet clothes.  I was prepared today with extra dry outfits since I knew they'd want to play in the water.

Carter playing with SUPER legos

So I let them play with whatever they wanted, and they both got wet, Reese was drenched from head to toe since she decided right at the end to dump a whole BUCKET of water on herself.  SO, that is how I ended up in the handicapped restroom with both my wet children, trying to get them cleaned up.

Carter is going on the potty now, so first I had to tackle that bear.  He didn't want to go first, so I went (sorry if this is TMI!) and at that moment I hear, "Uh, Oh!" from Carter.  He had dumped a bag of animal crackers all over the bathroom floor....and Reese was gleefully stomping on every cracker and crushing it into powder.  Also, I have to mention the door on this stall didn't lock so the whole time this is going on Reese keeps trying to open the door and walk out into the sink area.   So after that was cleaned up and Carter had peed, I took them out of the stall.  I put Reese on the changing table to get some dry clothes on her, but stupid me had thrown her wet shirt into the bag with the dry clothes earlier and now everything was wet.  Oh my gosh!!!!!!  I think this whole ordeal lasted at least 15 minutes and I was literally sweating when I finally got both of them out of the bathroom and back to play some more.  

Carter putting balls into the buckets

Reese putting a ball into the bucket

Note the water dripping off her chin!

Yummy, dirty plastic ping-pong balls are so delicious!

Fantasy Football

Ahhh, don't you just love fall?  The temperatures are finally comfortable again, the leaves are starting to turn, pumpkins and mums appear in front yards, and Football Season begins.  And you know what that means don't you?  Two words, fantasy football.  Yep my hubby is an addict and I'm sure about 87% of the male population is.  I sorta get it, but not really.  I mean, is really any element of skill involved in picking a random group of guys who then earn you points each week based on their performance (or lack thereof) in a game?  When Sunday rolls around, Derrick is racing back and forth to the computer checking his "team" to see how he's doing....it's pretty funny.  But in someways, I feel like I'm missing out.  I have yet to create a fantasy football team, and maybe, just maybe, I need to get in on the action next year?  The jury's out on that one.  Maybe if it was something other than football I could get really into it.  Hmmm, what could it be....Fantasy Reality TV?  Yea, I could go with that.  I think Bristol Palin will put up good numbers again this week so she's on the field, Rick is bound to lose a ton of weight on the Biggest Loser so he'll get me some points....yea this could work.

But in all seriousness, to avoid feeling left out next year, I propose we girls get together and do our own Fantasy Football league.  Maybe some of you already do.

Road Rage

I'll admit it, I'm not a perfect driver and I do have a bit of a permanent case of Road Rage.  I'm from NJ, what do you want??  Since having children I have been a TON more careful driving, obviously I always have their safety in mind when on the road.  But despite my efforts to do better, Derrick still accuses me of being a terrible driver.  (SO...NOT....FAIR!!!)  So there was this one little incident about 5 years ago where I was late for work and I backed out of the garage really fast...so fast the door wasn't even up yet.  Yea, that was pretty awful.  The door got stuck partway up and it took me about 20 minutes just to bang it back in place enough to get it to go down.  I've never lived that one down, but the memory has faded.

So today I gave him another reason to stay on my case.  Yup, I have issues with the garage, what can I say, it's not like I'm having head on collisions or anything, right??  I get bugged constantly about parking my car close to the side of the garage that I park on...I tend to me more of a middle parker but if I park it too close to the center of the garage, we can't get Carter's power wheels jeep or the double stroller out without moving the car.  So ok, whatever, I can't park!  Well today I was in a hurry, but trying to be a good little wife and park it right up against the wall, and C..R..A.C..K...I took the rear view mirror right off on the frame of the garage while I was pulling in.

Well, that's ok, wouldn't want to lose my reputation or anything.

If I ever have a life again...

If I ever have a life again, I think I will become a Nutritionist or a Personal Trainer.  My dream job of becoming a racquetball instructor is probably never going to happen due to the issues I have been having with my foot for the last 5 months.  The reason I express my sometimes borderline-extremist views on food and exercise is in direct correlation with my frustrations about the lack of knowledge the vast majority of Americans have about how to stay healthy.  I was one of these people just a few short years ago and with each passing day I learn more and more about how the FDA has pulled the wool over our eyes and tricked us into thinking we are living and eating healthfully.  People may think I am crazy, dabbling in Veganism (I do say dabbling because I have not made a complete switch yet) and giving up all desserts.  But what I would challenge you with on this Friday morning is this:  Your body is your greatest asset, right?  Everything we put on or in our bodies can potentially impact our quality of life.  And the way we spend our time...the level of activity we engage in...that will determine how long we are able to stay strong and healthy into our 70's, 80's and hopefully 90's. I hope that someday I can look back and say, "I did everything I could to stay healthy and keep my family healthy!"