It's EcoChallenge Time!

Ok, so if you follow me (I'm not really sure who does as little as I get to post these days) you have heard me rave in the past about the Northwest Earth Institute. They are a non-profit that is helping to spread discussion about change to basically - help the earth. I've participated in several discussion groups and they have shaped and changed the way my family eats, lives, etc. It is like a tiny seed that grows and so I'm always grateful for that little seed.

Therefore, despite busy crazy lives with two kids, we will be participating once again in the NWEI EcoChallenge. A 15 day challenge do change an action (or two) and also to help them raise some funds to keep doing what they are doing. You can read more about how we did last year here:

EcoChallenge - Day 1
Challenge Update
More about NWEI
Challenge Reflection

We found a lot of cool ways to eat local and live greener or simpler in that challenge. So this year we are going to change or focus just a bit and instead we are going to focus on reducing food waste (read more here). There are some exciting things going on in PDX now with curbside composting and coop food purchasing and farmers markets and canning parties. This is an easy place to live sustainably. My pantry is stocked and my freezers are full. How do we make sure that we are not wasting all this? Our challenge for the next two weeks will be to try to raid our pantry and freezer for the week's meals. I'll still be buying our Lady Lane Milk and farm eggs and fresh organic produce... but we'll be trying to eat up what is older and in the back of those cupboards and chest freezer so nothing goes unused.

I know this seems small - but it is our one tiny extra thing that we are trying out. If you want to see what some of the other participants are doing check out some of the featured bloggers or even better - join me in the challenge by signing up too! Or... consider pleding just a small amount to encourage us to keep up with our challenge. Just $1 a day ($15) or even a small $5 donation in the name of good things for the earth would be awesome. If you really want to know more about NWEI donate more, become a member, and participate in a discussion group (I'd love to join you in one). Read the post above about NWEI and you'll know they are a great group to be fundraising just a little bit for!

The Ho Family Challenge is on!

Mandarin on my mind - week 3

So we are now into week three of Mandarin immersion kindergarden. We are settling into to new routines, and into fall. Some of my own fears and anxiety are gone and so, I think, are some of our daughters. Mainly, I'm happy to report there is mostly just wonder and awe.

I have to admit, I of course expected the worst (complaints about not understanding or not wanting to go to school), but was caught totally off guard by the actual challenges we faced. There has been very little if any complaints about language barriers (some confusion over pronouncing her Chinese teachers name our only real heart ache). She is excited to learn and loves reciting new words and songs to anyone who will listen. She does homework happily and loves her teachers....she is mainly her happy easy going self.

We had some struggles with being tired, focusing on eating lunch, and general clingy-ness but even that has been minimal thanks to lots of early tips I think. So, what surprised me? Well, she lost her first tooth in week 2 of school (did not see that coming), she has blisters all over her hands from being convinced that her purpose at school is to be able to completely cross every monkey bar several times (oh and learn to do a cart wheel), and she is struggling a bit socially to find new friends and fit in (not totally surprising but hard for me to watch and just listen knowing she would have to find her own way on this one issue).

Not that I thought she wouldn't be a normal child, but the expectation that she would somehow struggle with language on top of this is what is really throwing me of. She still might, but for now the excitement is going strong for all of us. She is amazingly brave and strong.... I'm excited to see her show interest in cultural aspects as well. I watched her in Wushu (kung Fu) class and heard her glowing about Chinese dance class today...all great added exposure to language as well. Oh yes, and hearing how she is learning to read and write "I am 5" (yes in English) was exciting too.

I'm also surprised at how much we have left all of our own worries about her learning in two languages behind (even embracing and supporting it more passionately than we originally did). I have no doubt now that this is a terrific program that I suspect will will love being a part of over the years. I'm also sort of surprised to see that I want and need to learn more about the language myself in these early weeks... So here we go together. So far, so good.

Could you read a book a week?

When you have kids, maybe a job or jobs, pets, a home, friends, family..... things are crazy. Technology and TV can suck you in....more more more.... Let me guess, reading is not always high on the list of thing you do every day right? Maybe you could change that!

A high school friend of mine, with two very young kids and yes a job recently blew me away with a Facebook post turned blog. Ray realized that at his current pace of reading he would be missing out on hundreds of good books before his life was over. So, he started the book-a-week challenge. He is now on a mission to read a book a week!

Check it out here....so far several weeks in he is certainly got me interested:

http://bookaweekproject.blogspot.com/

I read a lot of papers and articles and though most people say this reading is just for work, I still love it. This however is easy compared to a whole book.

I really love how Ray beaks his whole books down into little challenges (like number of pages a day, or type or size of book). So maybe I can do a little more reading and a little less of something else huh.... Could you read a book a week? Maybe you should join him in the Challenge.

I don't read all that fast but I'm inspired to read more that's fore sure. Way to go Ray!

Mandarin on my mind

Summer is nearly over and in just a few days my 5 year old will be going to kindergarden. Making education choices for you kids at such a young age can be extreme these days. We have always believed that there will be no other time in her life when she will be so free to play as she is now...so we are always more apt to choose play and experience over strict education. Still, we were faced with some tough choices. One of them was the decision to enroll her in a 50/50 Mandarin immersion program (half the day in nothing but Mandarin and the other half in English).

Our local public school just happens to have a Mandarin language immersion program but we would have gone their either way....so it was a very tough decision for us. We know other families whose children are in Spanish immersion programs and are gaining amazing experience in both dual language learning as well as learning another culture. Both wonderful. A special bonus for us is our girls are one quarter Chinese, so a connection to some of their own roots is also appealing (thought we do not speak the language).

I want my daughter to have confidence and be brave, to take risks and to believe she can do things beyond her limits. I want her to know that there is more to life than what even her parents know... More to experience than just the American way. This is a extremely unique opportunity to try to incorporate more than just reading, writing and math into her learning. But will it be too much? Will we all have culture shock? Will we be able to hang tough when it gets hard, or doesn't make since (both the language and the culture)? This will be a true lesson for us all in judgement and patience.

I'm hoping to share more of our experiences here as we get started. I know there will be ups and downs in this experience and I know that I will always struggle with the balance between our dreams and hers... But this is what living more is all about right? We are showing her how to embrace risks and new things. As long as we allow her to remain a child during the experience I think we will all have a bit of fun. I hope you will look back here as I hope to write from time to time about how it is going.

Below is a terrific article that I really liked about some reasons to learn in a bilingual setting and I also encourage anyone interested to follow my friends blog United By Language. She has been journaling about her sons first year and has a lot of advise and facts about programs that really have inspired me to take this journey. If you have any questions for me let me know and I'll try to answer them.

United By Language

Why It’s Smart to Be Bilingual

So full of wonder and amazement.... What an amazing journey this will be.

Thankful Thursday

I've missed thankful Thursday actually... I have obviously been thankful for summer since we have been out enjoying it and not blogging here. But this week I'm going recount a conversation I recently had with my older daughter which seems to fit well with the thankful Thursday theme - it went something like this:

"Mom, bees sting and I don't like bees!t"

"Hmm.... its true that bees sting but they only sting when they feel there are in danger. If you don't hurt them I don't suspect they will try to hurt you."

"So, are bees important?"

"That is a great question - lets think about what bees do?"

"Bees make honey. Oh, I like honey"

"How do they make honey?"

"By collecting nectar from flowers.... "

"A huh, let's think about the food that we eat. Lots of the fruits and vegetables we eat start as a flower right?.... When bees are making honey - they are also helping those flowers turn into yummy things to eat. Cool huh?...."

...and after a long conversation about bees, honey, flowers, and food....

"Wow, bees are the most important animal mom!"

"Yep, I'd say they are pretty important - to us at least"

So this week, thanks to my daughter, I'm thankful for bees. We of course went on to have similar conversations about why the trees are important and the moon is important.... and I'm sure she will have more "important" thoughts for me on the car ride home today. I'm so thankful that she is reminding me of what is important and how much there is to be thankful for.

 Image credit: www.public-domain-image.com

Meatless Monday - Half Homemade Burritos

Ok yep... I've been away for a while. Ok, longer than a while. I'm hoping to get back here and blog a bit more so I'm starting simple with Meatless Monday. Only this thing isn't so simple anymore. The campaign over at www.meatlessmonday.org is now growing rapidly (as is their kids cook Monday campaign which we also try to participate in). So if you have been wondering about the campaign, why we participate, or just want more ideas I encourage you to hop over and give the site a once over. If you do, and you are excited to participate be sure to let me know.

So this week we actually did a half homemade meal for dinner. What's half homemade? Well, We had plans to do some sort of bean burritos, but didn't have rice. My genius chef husband thought just far enough in advance to stoop at our corner Mexican food restaurant and grab two sides of rice to go. Brilliant. It is the one item that takes a while to cook (assuming your beans are already cooked) and so it saved us a ton of time. When you have a 5 and 22 month old who are hungry these kinds of little tricks seriously make your day.

There you have it... take one tortilla, add in some black beans, rice, and some sautéed mushrooms and yellow squash from a co-workers garden (again grateful for someone else's over abundance) and you have a yummy burrito. Wished I had an avocado or some sour cream.... But all in all everyone was happy and had a full tummy in plenty of time for frozen yogurt and baths.

I'll be headed over to Meatless Monday to check out more recipes and I'm hoping to blog here more about our upcoming challenge to go meatless for two weeks to raise some money for the Northwest Earth Institute (we did a challenge last year as well). I'm trying around here a bit more than just that. But one step at a time.

Thankful Thursday - thankful for a dirty table

I know I'm a day late but as you can see by the number of posts around here I'm not keep up well as it is. If anyone follows at all, you are already used to my ups and downs.

I had planned to write about something else entirely but this morning I was cleaning off our dinning room table because it was covered in crumbs and spills and I just couldn't help but smile. Why am I thankful for this dirty table. Because every night (well nearly every night) we sit as a whole family and eat at it.

This particular table is actually also my husbands table from his childhood home and I don't have to think hard at all to remember my own childhood counter where we had so many family meals. Let's face it, my kids are one and five so the meals don't last long and they aren't always happy... But we eat good food, we talk, we plan, we laugh, we have meals with friends and family, and we play right here. So yes, a dirty table makes me smile!

I am a lowly stonecutter

My husband recently brought back a book from his childhood very similar to this video (this is the author but it was made before the book was published. The book is just slightly different and has even better images, I think). It is such a treasure to find this tale of what happens when you want more all the time.

My older daughter loves to read it as her last book of the night. Even with a sort of sad ending and an amazingly deep message she still enjoys hearing the story over and over. I think the simple messages of power, greed, desire, and dreams is enough to help us start terrific conversations about why we always seem to think we want more, but in the end it often doesn't get us any closer to happiness.

I highly recommend the Stonecutter if you need to talk as a family about these types of issues. Maybe a small reminder that our own desires to improve our lives often have us wishing for more, but having more is not in fact always the answer to our prayers. Are there other children's book out there that touch you too? This one certainly does make me reflect every time we read it together. I hope you enjoy it.

Wetbags are for more than cloth diapers

For anyone who has never cloth diapered before you probably aren't familiar with the term wet bag. Basically it is a bag that is designed to hold your dirty diapers, then you throw diapers, bag and all, into the washer on laundry day. I got some terrific ones from a company called Knickernappies that snap right around a door knob. Great for hanging in the bathroom or at the edge of a changing table.

But enough about diapers! About the same time we started with cloth diapers, we also started using cloth rags, napkins, wipes, bibs, and such too. Wet and dirty napkins and rags were hanging out all over the place just waiting to get washed. I actually think it was my husbands brilliant idea to hang one of the bags on the door going from the kitchen to the basement were our laundry is. Now, just as you would buss a dish our throw away a tissue, you just toss your cloth in the bag and then toss the whole thing on the laundry when it is full.

I find now we rarely ever use paper towels and we are working on reducing other things like tissues more now too. Cloth napkins are the norm, and I'm hoping bibs are on their way out. So even if you don't cloth diaper here's an idea inspired from that world.

Thankful Thursday

I've been traveling for a few days now and I'm finally on my way home. Between planes and events I no idea what time it is or when exactly I get home so I might as well blog. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for right now. First and foremost to my husband for taking care of our girls while I'm away (no small task).

Second being a thankfulness that there are still people out there who can simple laugh and not take life to seriously. In several days of flight delays, insane boarding procedures, and long flights it's so good to know some people can just laugh it off with me.

Finally I'm thankful for the relaxing and healing powers of mother earth. The sun, the sky and the ocean shores I visited this week truly touched me. It was especially interesting to be on a gulf side beach and reflect on last years oil spill impacts. These are the days I know I must do more to live on and with less.

Money collecting dust

My kids love to read! We get books from the library nearly every week, but still we have a lot of books. It it not a bad problem to have. But they are everywhere. So we decided that it was finally time to give up the decades old college book collection collecting dust and make some room for kids books.

We of course wanted to do this right. Good books can be donated and those not so good can be recycled at specialty recyclers (due to binding glue, etc.). But what do we do with those huge text books we paid $50 used for, could some poor college student really still be having to read these books?

Sure enough there are tons of college text book buy back websites out there that will pay you for your books, and even pay for the shipping. Here are some things we learned in the 2-33 hours we spent searching sites and punching in ISBN numbers from the back of the book:

- Don't wait 15 plus years to try to sell your books :) Most of our books didn't fetch much money, were too old and will likely just be recycled.

- Remove all the tape over the bar codes so you can just sit down and punch in all the numbers fast ( this would have been a great project for my kids).

- There are a lot of site options with various prices for buy back, in the end I went with Amazon because the gave me Amazon credit (slightly more than cash) and I felt they are reputable.

- I was very surprised to find it so text book specific on what the would buy back. We had double copies of great classics like Plato's Republic. Maybe it was the version we had, but I was shocked to find they wouldn't buy it back. Huh? Maybe there is a different buy back program for those types of books?

In just a short time we had about a half dozen books sorted out and about $12.50 in store credit plus a ups shipping slip. Not a goldmine or anything, but along with donations and recycling it felt good to think the books might find use somehow at least for a little while longer.

Can one grow tomatoes in Portland?

I've only been 'urban farming' (ok, gardening) for about 3 years now. Two years ago I had so many cherry tomatoes I sun fried them and then swore I wouldn't grow them again. Last year I had green tomatoes due to bad weather and this year I haven't even planted any yet.

Still, this is what gardening is all about. One year to get too many zucchini (ok, every year) and the next year you actually grow an eggplant. I love the surprise. It's way better than just opening the refrigerator door.

Thankful Thursday

I like to do a lot if quick reading online. I like following blogs and picking up great articles to share, but my favorite part if every day is picking up an actual physical book and reading it to my girls.

We have a nice book collection at home and we have some well loved books. Even still, we go to the library nearly every week to pick up books. I love how you can find books to fit your mood. If the girls are really into a subject, animal, place etc. we can put books on hold.

There are some books we know by heart. Some that completely take me by surprise and still others that we check out over and over again.

This is my favorite part of every day when we get cozy and read. When we relax and get closer to bed. When everything slows down and our imagination takes us away.

What are your favorite books (kid or adult variety)?

So this week, I'm thankful for books! I still love them even on paper).









(Here is a look at a few that we picked up just this week. Our favorite so far is Namaste - quite a beautiful book)

Thankful Thursday

I caught this rainbow a few weeks back when picking up my girls and since that day we have joked that this is rainbow weather. It is amazing how much MORE you appreciate the little sun pockets when it has been so wet, when 60 degrees feels like 80 because it has been so cold.

I'm so thankful that spring knows right when to come. Farmers markets are opening. Tulips are everywhere. The days are staying lighter longer. Mother Earth is reminding us that all things are changing around us - even if it is a little slow.

I'm thankful for this home, this strange planet and even stranger things upon it. Happy Earth Day to you all!

Kids Cook Monday – pretend cooking

My kids are still young. While we try to cook together we are still limited to what we can ask of them in terms of ability and focus in the kitchen. But there is no end to what we can PRETEND to do! My kids love to sip tea and make soup in the tub. To fish off the couch and BBQ it up on the back of a box, to bake cookies in the back of my seat in the car and to feed each other popcorn complete with imaginary tosses to the mouth. I often ask them what is in it, how long it will take to bake, how it tastes, remind them not to burn it, or ask them for seconds. Plus there is never a mess…. Yes!

What’s out there in the universe?

Yesterday I was listening to an NPR piece on the final homes of the soon to be retired space shuttles. It was a very sad piece highlighting the fact that missions were soon over for these much beloved planes, and that Huston, TX would in fact not be getting a plane for their local museum, which seems odd to most astronauts and their families. It definitely tugged at my heart strings.

I was in middle school when a space shuttle carrying a teacher just like my own blew up before my eyes. Even still, my fascination with space exploration, the challenging, rewarding, innovative, and often dangerous missions never ceased. I built a model Challenger, I knew what “O” rings were and what happened when they expanded, and I still thought that someday, if I wanted, I could be an astronaut! 

With all of this ending, with missions to space being something done by drones, cameras, and computers. Will my children feel the same way? I’m wondering now how to connect them to this same sense of wonder when they look at the stars, to this feeling that they too might some day visit – or at least dream of visiting the moon. I’m not sure just reading about in books or looking at pictures of it on the internet are the same as watching the countdown, as knowing that the shuttle is up there – orbiting – right above my head. It makes me a bit sad. I really do hope that something new and exciting is there for the next generation. I’m not ready to give up hope just yet.

Change 3 Things - the Cloth Diaper Challenge

When I first started thinking about cloth diapers I wasn't sure I could really do it. I obviously have changed my mind but I admit that there have been times when it seems overwhelming when I talk about it (not actually doing it - just describing it). So I love this simple idea from Cotton Babies - Change 3 Things - The challenge is to start with just 3 cloth diapers a day. If you have ever even been tempted to save money, waste, or try cloth diapers I encourage you to take this challenge. I'm offering to help you - you know I love my fluff!

In addition, if you are in Portland, OR I want to encourage you to come on out to Milogras for the Great Cloth Diaper Change. The GCDG is an attempt to break a world record in number of cloth diapers changed at one time. There are locations all over the place so if you aren't in Portland find the one nearest you. The event is April 23rd at 9am pacific time

Check out this super cute video by Kim Rosas who blogs about all things cloth at www.dirtydiaperlaundry.com. While you are there check out her Cloth Diaper Finder a nifty tool that helps you find just the right fluff for your family!



Already into fluff or want to know more about advocating for cloth diapers...check out Kelly Wells, she and her site are a wealth of knowledge about modern cloth, and all things green parenting!

Hope to meet some of you on April 23rd!

It’s not junk if you love it!

Did you ever read any Shel Silversten poems when you were a kid. These poems have always been a favorite of mine and I now love reading them to my girls. My favorite poem was always Hector the Collector. If you don’t know it – read it! Hector collected “junk”. Folks laughed at him for his collection and in the end the sad story ends with a heartbroken child who doesn’t understand why anyone would call this stuff junk. It often makes me wonder in a world of waste what I should treasure? What will my kids treasure. It is easy to say we shouldn’t hold on to a love of “stuff”, but the reality is we do find attachment to objects. I think in fact if we could find that we love the things we do have a little more we might not be so apt to just toss them aside so quickly. I think I’ll be reading Hector the Collector again this Earth Day – won’t you join me!

Thankful Thursday

I have been wanting to start a Thankful Thursday's thread for months (as you can see by how long since my last post). I think the idea of bringing gratitude into the every day is important - even more so when you have kids as a model for them - but really just for your own soul. That being said - we have been SICK in our house this winter. It has been never ending and even today hasn't ended. So I've been having a hard time find the time or the desire to blog about much of anything let along being thankful.

I don't know if it is the sun finally coming out today or what made me come here but here I am putting some words down in a post. Today I am thankful for so much. I'm thankful for the soup cycle delivery I got yesterday that will make dinner so easy tonight, for the quick prints at walgreens that will provide my daughter with a show and tell from out adventures at the tulip factory, thankful for wifi at coffee shops, and thankful to my husband for splitting all the time at home and work with me so that we can both try our best to balance work and sick kiddos. So I guess today I'm thankful for convenience.

Blogging about living more on less I wouldn't normal say all convenience is good - but this tiny little services and people all around me are allowing me to survive and for that I'm thankful. I hope to be back more here soon! If you are thankful for something and want to share please add a comment below!

From our fun visit to the tulip festival in between illnesses

Kids Cook Monday

This week I just want to encourage anyone following me with kids to check out the new Kids Cook Monday website that just launched today! They have cool recipes and tips on cooking with kids broken down by age group along with links to lots of other bloggers that are telling their tale of cooking with their kids. They have food and cooking games and lots of resources to help you kick off your own Kids Cook Monday. Check it out and if you get your kids involved in cooking let me know how and what you cook!

FYI their featured article looks very similar to one of our favorite dishes my husband makes when we do a pot luck (because you can eat it cold). It is basically soba noodles and steamed veggies and though this version is even more complex than what we toss in I'm telling you my kids eat this stuff up and we always get folks asking us for the recipe. We have soba noodles in the pantry now and a veggie box pickup on Tuesday so I think there is a good chance we will be having steamed veggies and soba noodles for dinner one night this week (a package of pre-made potstickers always makes a little extra for the meal if we are feeling a little hungrier than normal).

Enjoy the new site, can't wait to see what the campaign does in the coming weeks.