9/29/2007
It's Clathrus columnatus
Otherwise known as Deadman's Fingers. It's a fungus that looks like a small egg. When it busts open, it smells like rotting flesh. Lovely. I gagged a number of times. Flies are obviously attracted to it. They ingest the spores and poop them out all over the world. Even lovelier. If you find them, catch them in the egg-like phase and pluck them out of the ground. They don't stink at that point. Talk about yuck.
What is that?!
I was weeding and trimming my flower beds today. I found this under some lantana. 
Can anyone tell me what it is? I actually know the answer. Thanks Google! I just want to know what other people think.
Can anyone tell me what it is? I actually know the answer. Thanks Google! I just want to know what other people think.
9/28/2007
It can only get better...
Today was one of those days that I would rather not remember. However, I don't think I will ever forget it! After a day of near misses and managed chaos, I was getting dinner on the table and had the freezer open. Gator grabbed the handle of the freezer and ended up with the freezer door in his hands. Yes, the freezer door came off the hinges. I didn't know that freezer doors could do that. Fortunately, this freezer door was easy to fix. A socket wrench and some elbow grease, and everything was back to normal. Well, at least the door was. I don't think Gator will ever hang on that handle again. Here's a cute picture of Gator.
His favorite phrase is, "Watch this trick!" Now that he's older, the tricks are a little more dangerous. No ER trips for stitches or broken bones, yet.
His favorite phrase is, "Watch this trick!" Now that he's older, the tricks are a little more dangerous. No ER trips for stitches or broken bones, yet.
9/26/2007
More green
After spending 6 weeks surrounded by the beauty of God's creation in the Rockies, I was inspired to find more ways to be kinder to the earth. Here are some more ideas.
* We consign clothes and toys (and make money!), and buy from the same consignment shop.
* We donated some of our old toys to the church nursery (our church lost all the toys in Katrina).
* We use cloth napkins now, unless it's something really, really messy.
* They came today! Find them at http://www.mysigg.com/ or on Amazon. They're aluminum bottles that have leak proof and spill proof lids (a little tough for Bull, but Gator can do it).
* Slowly, but surely, I'm trying to get rid of my plastic storage dishes and replace them with corning ware. We will recycle the plastic, of course.
* I'm using ultra-concentrated laundry detergent, biodegradable laundry sheets (available at Wal-Mart), and only do full loads.
* We use Method brand cleaning supplies. They're available at Target.
* We have reusable lunch bags for when we take our lunch to school or work.
* We also take cloth bags to the store instead of "Paper or Plastic?"
* Even though I tease him incessantly about it (like he does me with the compost pile), Hubs has an electric lawnmower.
* And last, but certainly not the least expensive, we got a new A/C unit. We waited until the old one died, but we've already seen a drop in our electric bill.
How do you get your kids involved?
Our priority is to teach them about stewardship vs. wastefulness in life, not just in consumption. Teach the principle! How you do it depends on the age of the kid. For Gator, it means helping us with the recycling. In fact, just the other day he found a box on the counter, broke it down and took it out to the recycling bin completely on his own! I was so proud! Also, when he asks why we don't, can't, or won't do something that is wasteful, we just tell him that it's wasteful. That may seem obvious, but it's the place to start. As for Bull, he drinks out of a SIGG bottle and sleeps in organic pajamas.
Please consider what you can do to make a difference. For the first installment of living greener, see this.
9/24/2007
When it rains...
...it pours. It's been raining all day today. So my children (and myself) are a bit stir crazy. This is what has happened so far. I had to take all four of the teenage mutant ninja turtles away (two per kid) because they could not figure out how to share. The dams broke forth and the tears and wails didn't stop for literally 10 minutes. Then, I decided to check my email while the kids played on the porch.* I walked into my living room a few minutes later and saw two ride-on toys, a soccer goal, soccer balls, and sand box toys (with wet sand still in them) just inside the door. Gator claims that he wanted to play with me, so since I was inside, he was bringing the toys to me. How sweet. Here's Gator dragging the toys back outside.
And the wet sand that was left inside my house. By the way, vacuum cleaners make interesting sounds when vacuuming up wet sand, very high pitched and squealy.
Oh, and Bull was eating the sand, of course.
All before 10:30 am! *Typically when it's raining, as long as no lightning is around, I let the kids play outside. They love it! One of my fondest memories of childhood is playing in the waterfall that came off our house at Tides Road. I think my mom has pictures of us.
And the wet sand that was left inside my house. By the way, vacuum cleaners make interesting sounds when vacuuming up wet sand, very high pitched and squealy.
Oh, and Bull was eating the sand, of course.
All before 10:30 am! *Typically when it's raining, as long as no lightning is around, I let the kids play outside. They love it! One of my fondest memories of childhood is playing in the waterfall that came off our house at Tides Road. I think my mom has pictures of us.
9/20/2007
Bull's first day...
...went very well. He cried when I dropped him off, but he stopped soon after I left. What did I do all day, you ask? I got my teeth cleaned (no cavities!), a haircut, and a good workout at the gym. I cleaned the house (rather quickly!) and watched all of Martha Stewart without a single interruption. Hmmm. I might enjoy this....
9/19/2007
An old post...
Here's a post from my myspace blog. I thought that it was appropriate for reposting here. This was originally posted on April 3, 2007.
I've been reading a couple of pretty cool books recently. The first is Living Green by Greg Horn. It offers a boat load of things that everyone can do to help out the environment, and you don't have to spend any money to do most of them. The other book is The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. It offers ideas for clean dietary living. And while we can't afford to go all out on organic food, we're trying to do some stuff. There's a bonus to most of this stuff too. In many cases, it SAVES you money! Since we're on a strict budget while Hubs is in school and trying to be good stewards, this is important to us.
Here are some examples of what we're doing.
1. We replaced our old school thermostat with a digital thermostat (our furnace had to be replaced this winter). Bonus: lower electric bill
2. We have a clothesline in our backyard that I try to use on laundry day when it's sunny (which happens a lot here). Bonus: lower electric bill
3. We have a compost pile in our backyard. Hubs continues to make fun of me about this one. But I don't care! I know that my garden (when I get around to planting it) will love it. And we aren't sending as much trash to the landfill with the grass clippings and food scraps that we use in the pile.
4. We are buying organic fruit and veggies (when available) with our second choice being locally grown stuff (LA has a lot to offer, who knew?), as well as "yard eggs." Also, I'm trying to stay away from pork and other not-so-great foods, like processed stuff.
5. We try to open the windows as much as possible to air out the house. Also, we turn off lights that we're not using (duh!). Bonus: lower electric bill.
6. We are recycling. For most people, this isn't a big deal. But around here it is. We don't have curbside pick-up anymore (another casualty of Katrina), so we have to take our recycling clear over to Biloxi, MS.You're thinking, doesn't that gas use offset the recycling? In our case, no. We have to go there every month for groceries, and a trip to the retail store on post. So, we just load up the recycling and take it to their center.
7. We have bought organic pajamas for the boys. We will continue to do so as money and need permit. Also, I'm trying to shop at consignment stores for the boys clothes (saves money and is a version of recycling!).
8. The next time I have to buy replacement bulbs, we will buy CFL bulbs instead of incandescent. Bonus: again, the electric bill.
9. Once I run out of my cleaning chemicals, I plan to replace them with good old vinegar and lemon, pending more research on the exact formulation. Bonus: vinegar is A LOT cheaper than the regular stuff.
10. Instead of using chemicals on our lawn, we're pulling all the weeds (there's lots of them) by hand. It helps our compost pile too! Bonus: money saved, no yucky chemicals for our kids and dogs to roll around in.
So, this is proof that a redneck and a stay-at-home mom on a tight budget can be environmentally conscious. I'm sure that you can figure out at least one thing to change. Try it. You may even save some money!
I've been reading a couple of pretty cool books recently. The first is Living Green by Greg Horn. It offers a boat load of things that everyone can do to help out the environment, and you don't have to spend any money to do most of them. The other book is The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. It offers ideas for clean dietary living. And while we can't afford to go all out on organic food, we're trying to do some stuff. There's a bonus to most of this stuff too. In many cases, it SAVES you money! Since we're on a strict budget while Hubs is in school and trying to be good stewards, this is important to us.
Here are some examples of what we're doing.
1. We replaced our old school thermostat with a digital thermostat (our furnace had to be replaced this winter). Bonus: lower electric bill
2. We have a clothesline in our backyard that I try to use on laundry day when it's sunny (which happens a lot here). Bonus: lower electric bill
3. We have a compost pile in our backyard. Hubs continues to make fun of me about this one. But I don't care! I know that my garden (when I get around to planting it) will love it. And we aren't sending as much trash to the landfill with the grass clippings and food scraps that we use in the pile.
4. We are buying organic fruit and veggies (when available) with our second choice being locally grown stuff (LA has a lot to offer, who knew?), as well as "yard eggs." Also, I'm trying to stay away from pork and other not-so-great foods, like processed stuff.
5. We try to open the windows as much as possible to air out the house. Also, we turn off lights that we're not using (duh!). Bonus: lower electric bill.
6. We are recycling. For most people, this isn't a big deal. But around here it is. We don't have curbside pick-up anymore (another casualty of Katrina), so we have to take our recycling clear over to Biloxi, MS.You're thinking, doesn't that gas use offset the recycling? In our case, no. We have to go there every month for groceries, and a trip to the retail store on post. So, we just load up the recycling and take it to their center.
7. We have bought organic pajamas for the boys. We will continue to do so as money and need permit. Also, I'm trying to shop at consignment stores for the boys clothes (saves money and is a version of recycling!).
8. The next time I have to buy replacement bulbs, we will buy CFL bulbs instead of incandescent. Bonus: again, the electric bill.
9. Once I run out of my cleaning chemicals, I plan to replace them with good old vinegar and lemon, pending more research on the exact formulation. Bonus: vinegar is A LOT cheaper than the regular stuff.
10. Instead of using chemicals on our lawn, we're pulling all the weeds (there's lots of them) by hand. It helps our compost pile too! Bonus: money saved, no yucky chemicals for our kids and dogs to roll around in.
So, this is proof that a redneck and a stay-at-home mom on a tight budget can be environmentally conscious. I'm sure that you can figure out at least one thing to change. Try it. You may even save some money!
CH-BOLC
Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course that is (spoken ch-boe-lic). This is where Hubs is right now. Here's a link to another guy in his class: http://jbuckwheat.blogspot.com/. He updates every couple of days and it will give you a better idea of what they are doing.
Hubs was chosen as the class leader for this part of the training. I think that it's pretty neat, especially considering that there are other prior service guys in his class who have more Army experience than he does. Today is Day Three. Only 5 1/2 more weeks!
Hubs was chosen as the class leader for this part of the training. I think that it's pretty neat, especially considering that there are other prior service guys in his class who have more Army experience than he does. Today is Day Three. Only 5 1/2 more weeks!
9/18/2007
First Day of School
Today was Gator's first day of school and he LOVED it! Before we left, he wanted to know if he got to ride the bus. He was bummed when I told him no. And he asked if it was time to go about a million times! After school, he didn't stop talking all the way home. He even told the Barista at Starbuck's that he got to go to school today. This was his synopsis of the first day: "I have lots of new friends. We got to play with bugs. We went to the playground." He ate everything in his lunch (it was a lot of food!) and got a green happy face for behavior (that's good). He also told me that he fell asleep during rest time. It's only 20 minutes long, so I know that he must have been very busy all day. Bull was a little unsure of what to do with all the Mommy attention that he got! I think that he missed his big brother though. Bull starts Mother's Day Out on Thursday. More pics then!
9/17/2007
Psalm 95
For the past few weeks I've been reading a Psalm a day for my devotion. Here's what I wrote in my journal for Psalm 95.
Psalm 95:8 refers to the Israelites complaining of no water (see Exodus 17:2-7). Moses, according to God's command, strikes the rock and water comes forth. Jason learned in one of his classes that this was a common practice among Bedouin shepherds. Because of the terrain (lots of limestone) in that area, water would filter down into rocks and eventually calcify providing a well of sorts in the rock. A good shepherd would know how to strike the rock just right for water to come gushing forth.
In verse 7, God calls us the sheep of His hand. It was the shepherd's job to provide pasture (God provided manna and quail) and water (from a rock) for his sheep. Many of the Israelites were shepherds, so they were familiar with the job description. The nation of Israel should have known (and I should know) that if the Lord claims to be the Shepherd, He will provide for the needs of His sheep. It's what shepherds do.
When God told Moses to strike the rock, in effect He was telling the Israelites to remember, in a not-so-subtle way, that He was their Shepherd and He would provide for their needs.
Isn't it funny when God uses regular everyday stuff to remind us that He is God? Striking a rock to produce water was something that many of the Israelites had at least seen, if not done, themselves. The Israelites are an easy target, but I try very hard not to pick on them. The truth is that I am very much like an Israelite. It takes God using the Duh! moments to get my attention. How patient and loving He is with me!
Kinda' like a Shepherd with His sheep...
Psalm 95:8 refers to the Israelites complaining of no water (see Exodus 17:2-7). Moses, according to God's command, strikes the rock and water comes forth. Jason learned in one of his classes that this was a common practice among Bedouin shepherds. Because of the terrain (lots of limestone) in that area, water would filter down into rocks and eventually calcify providing a well of sorts in the rock. A good shepherd would know how to strike the rock just right for water to come gushing forth.
In verse 7, God calls us the sheep of His hand. It was the shepherd's job to provide pasture (God provided manna and quail) and water (from a rock) for his sheep. Many of the Israelites were shepherds, so they were familiar with the job description. The nation of Israel should have known (and I should know) that if the Lord claims to be the Shepherd, He will provide for the needs of His sheep. It's what shepherds do.
When God told Moses to strike the rock, in effect He was telling the Israelites to remember, in a not-so-subtle way, that He was their Shepherd and He would provide for their needs.
Isn't it funny when God uses regular everyday stuff to remind us that He is God? Striking a rock to produce water was something that many of the Israelites had at least seen, if not done, themselves. The Israelites are an easy target, but I try very hard not to pick on them. The truth is that I am very much like an Israelite. It takes God using the Duh! moments to get my attention. How patient and loving He is with me!
Kinda' like a Shepherd with His sheep...
9/13/2007
Home again, home again, jiggety jig
We made it home safely! We had an uneventful trip and a sparkling clean house and mowed yard (thanks K, A and C!) when we got here. Tomorrow we'll be doing turbo laundry and packing for Hubs to go to Columbia, SC for the last part of his training. Also, we have to do some back to school shopping for the boys. So, we have a busy weekend ahead of us!
9/12/2007
Gigi, Uncle A and Little Pea
We're in Texas where my sis and her husband live. (He's a grad student at UT.) We stopped here to pick up the dogs as they have been living here while we've been in CO. Today we went to a dog-friendly hiking trail and had a blast. We all took baths/showers when we got back because we were so filthy. The sister and I got to go to the mall for a little while without the kiddos. I got to see all of her registry items up close (she's due with their first baby - a girl! - in December), and purchased a couple of items. After dinner we went to the playground at the end of her street. The boys had a great time again. Gator has learned how to jump out of the swing. Aahh! A little scary for this mom!Tomorrow we finish our trek and arrive back in Louisiana. Looking forward to it!
9/10/2007
Amarillo by morning...
We left Colorado today and arrived in Amarillo where we're spending the night tonight. A cold front rolled in over the weekend, and when we left this morning it was 50 degrees (when we got there five weeks ago it was 90 degrees). We suppose that it's good we left when we did because each of us only have one pair of pants with us! Tomorrow we head to Austin to visit my sister and her husband and rest for a day before the 9 hour trip home to Louisiana. The boys did very well today and slept for a lot of the trip. It's cool here in Amarillo too. We're wondering what the weather is like farther south....we'll see tomorrow!
9/03/2007
Balloon Classic
Over Labor Day weekend every year here in Colorado Springs, the Balloon Classic takes place. We tried to go last night to the Balloon Glo where they inflate and tether the balloons down and then light them up. However, the winds were too strong so they couldn't do it. They did Candles in the Park which is where they all light off the burners at the same time. It was pretty cool though a bit disappointing. So, the boys agreed to get up with me at the crack of dawn to be at the park for the Launch this morning.
Gator was fascinated by it. His favorite balloon was the one with the "Target" bullseye on it. Ha ha! Bull was perfectly happy eating his breakfast biscuit the whole time. I'm not sure that he noticed all the activity around him. Then we went back to America the Beautiful Park again. Bull is saying "Whoo hoo!" again on the swing and Gator is way up high! Fun morning!
Gator was fascinated by it. His favorite balloon was the one with the "Target" bullseye on it. Ha ha! Bull was perfectly happy eating his breakfast biscuit the whole time. I'm not sure that he noticed all the activity around him. Then we went back to America the Beautiful Park again. Bull is saying "Whoo hoo!" again on the swing and Gator is way up high! Fun morning!
9/01/2007
Soccer and Spring Canyon
This is Hubs teaching some soccer skills. He had a very attentive group!
We got to visit Spring Canyon this weekend. Unfortunately, Bull wasn't feeling too hot, so we left a little earlier than we expected. But we still had a great time exploring the ponds and playing on the playgrounds. Bull has started raising his hands and saying "Woo hoo!" He says "whee" when he's on the swing, and he calls me Mommy (instead of Mama) now.
Gator climbed up on top of these monkey bars a number of times. What happened to my cautious child?!
It's hard to believe that we only have a week left! We'll be heading back to Louisiana on the 10th.
We got to visit Spring Canyon this weekend. Unfortunately, Bull wasn't feeling too hot, so we left a little earlier than we expected. But we still had a great time exploring the ponds and playing on the playgrounds. Bull has started raising his hands and saying "Woo hoo!" He says "whee" when he's on the swing, and he calls me Mommy (instead of Mama) now.
Gator climbed up on top of these monkey bars a number of times. What happened to my cautious child?!
It's hard to believe that we only have a week left! We'll be heading back to Louisiana on the 10th.
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