Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

I didn't want to announce this until it was official, or even really mention it..just, because.. Anyway, Eddie got a job.

Tonight I watched a very interesting documentary called No Impact Man. The basic synopsis is that a family of 3, (father, mother, small daughter) take on an experiment to live with no environmental impact for one year. How they achieved this was to shut off electricity, traveled only by bike or foot, ate only locally produced food and going vegetarian, generating NO trash (no toilet paper!!) ,not using any sort of chemicals like laundry detergent or soap and not purchasing anything new.

http://noimpactproject.org/

While parts of it seemed incredibly hard to imagine in this day and age, other parts just seemed to make so much sense. I was curious to see what my ecological footprint was, so I took this quiz to find out. http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

My results were more embarrassing than I would hope. If everyone lived like me, it would take 5.2 earths to sustain life. For my family alone, it takes 23 acres. There are a few simple things that I could do to change this. Cutting back my animal product intake and purchasing things made from recycled goods are just two ways. That would take switching around of food items and recipes and trying new things, but I am up for a challenge. I have decided to incorporate more veggie meals into our diet, so I am now on the lookout for inspiration.


On another note, this week's learning theme is Oceans. We will be learning about the oceans of the world and it's marine life. I hope to go to the library and check out some books, one being "The Rainbow Fish" since Sam spent most of the weekend pretending to be a rainbow trout (i dont know.. really) in his new pool.. :) It is one of my favorite children's books.

A project that Sam and I have taken up is a small veggie garden. Since watching Food inc and following the food revolution ( ♥ Jamie Oliver) I have become very interested in nutrition and where our food comes from. It is a dream of mine to own a self sustaining farm one day. And if Eddie would hunt or we could join a meat co-op, that would be great!

So, we have been watering and monitoring and watching out for the occasional nasty spider and it looks like our efforts have paid off, somewhat. We have 4 tomato plants, all of which have no less than 7 tomatoes growing and beans are getting pods. Still no sign of cucumbers or zucchinis, but I'm not worried.

Sam is beside himself with glee that the tomatoes are growing. He loves tomatoes more than any other food ever, and he has to run and check their growth twice a day, just to make sure they haven't turned red yet. He cannot wait for that glorious day, when he can pick his very own tomatoes!

Too bad we can't own chickens here, I would be all over that.

Alright, so, I haven't exactly been the best at updating this thing. I could say it is because I am incredibly busy, but we all know that is a lie. But, I am giving it a try so here it is.

Something I saw today struck me as funny. It was a little tikes mud pie maker.(It also comes with cookie cutters) Yes, a $70 dollar toy that you put water and dirt in and mix into a mud pie! Because we all know that using plain old kitchen utensils and a watering can is so "proletariat".
Well, I can honestly say that I feel good enough about my parenting abilities that I can show my kids how to make mud pies the old fashioned way. No fancy kitchen aid mixer required.

Anyway, we have officially reached the season of "Really freaking hot" and next month it will be the season of "You think that was hot..." here in the great land of Texas. You would think since this is my third (3rd!!!) summer here in hell, that I would be accustomed to the sweltering days. Well, my body is protesting acclimation, out of sheer want to be out of this pit. *Let me just say tho, not ALL of Texas is craptastic. Just the general area that I live in. I have googled some very nice parts, because I had to also be convinced that they existed.

Sam, is still 4. He plays tball and thoroughly enjoys rhyming words and his favorite color is red. Red is the deciding factor in pretty much everything in his daily life. Is the shirt red? Then I will wear it. Is the ice pop red? Then I will eat it.

Jonah, 15 months, now walks, runs and has mastered the art of climbing. The couch, coffee table and slide are all personal favorites of his. I nearly died when I saw him standing proudly at the top of the slide.

This weekend I plan on investing in some supplies and setting up a pseudo-classroom in the kitchen. I am going to have a crack at this homeschooling thing, which is fine, since I can still register Sam for Pre-k in July if I dont feel that it is going to work out. The only thing holding me back at this point, is my worry that something in his social development will be lacking. He loves playing with other kids so much and I think that I am boring him to tears. I am going to try a few curriculum based weeks and see how things go and re-evaluate from there. School isnt even technically required until 6 years old anyway, so pre-k is really a non issue. And I did take teacher cadet and early childhood education and intern in a pre-k classroom for 2 years, so I am not too worried about my abilities in that area. :)

Since that is the new project I am working on, I plan on kind of making this into a homeschooling focused family blog. Wish me luck!

I have decided to try this blogging thing again. My old blog has long been abandoned and it seemed pointless to pick it up again. I wish to make a fresh start.

Things have reached a lull in my life. Jonah is 15 months, Sam is 4 and we are just living day to day. It is pretty easy, and at the same time, incredibly exhausting.

Recently, I have begun the in depth research into possibly homeschooling. It is an idea I have toyed with for a long time, never really committing more than a few thoughts. Now that Sam is getting to the age of pre-k, I feel that I need to make a decision. Eddie said he is fine with whatever I choose so I have been searching out curriculum. I also joined 2 active homeschooling groups in the area to get a feel of my resources. And if I go for it and it doesn't work out, no harm done. We can enroll in public school.

I am also in the rigorous process of becoming a hospice volunteer. I still need to renew my CPR cert and do some in-office training and then I am good to go.

As of now, we are in "Get the heck out of the Army" countdown. Sept 2011 is the magic month, but Eddie has a ton of leave saved up (and will have more by then) so he could possibly take it early in June or July. As of now, jobs are up in the air and reenlisting is an option if nothing is found in the civilian world. It is more of a wait and see type deal.

I promise to try and keep this blog up better than my old one, but that is all for now.