Monday Morning Update -AHS

We're up to $1365 and as of last night at 16th on the ticker. (Oops, 18th now) We're almost there. We are sending out letters to the neighbors this week and Josh is working on his co-workers now that "conversion" is over. I know I'm getting obnoxious, but in one month it will all be over, I promise! Thanks for putting up with us!

Bath Fizzies recipe

Here's the instructions for the bath fizzies that Kim made for the shower. I tried them last night and they are yummy. Kim made them baby powder scented for the baby shower theme, blue because it's a boy. Thanks Kim for sharing the recipe!






Sift 1 3/4 cup baking soda, 1 cup citric acid, and 2 cups cornstarch
through a sieve to remove chunks. To make different tints, fill small
spritzer bottles with water and add about 6 drops of food coloring to
each. Pour 1 cup of powdered mixture into a glass bowl. Lightly
spritz, stirring after each spritz, until powder is desired color. Add
water slowly, so mixture does not fizz. If mixing two tints, alternate
colors as you spritz. Check the consistency of powder with your
fingertips; when it can be tightly packed or shaped, stop spritzing
(this may take a little while). Select an essential oil. Add 5 drops
if it's one of the stronger scents (peppermint, lavender), 6 if it's a
weaker one (lemon, grapefruit). Mix well. Firmly pack mixture into
small baking molds. Approximately use 1/4 cup for each fizzy, which is
good for one bath. Allow mixture to set for 2 hours, then pop out
carefully. Repeat with different tints for remaining powder.

To save a few steps I put the scent and color into a little spritzer
with water. I also used a mini-muffin pan as my mold, scooping the
mixture with the Pampered Chef Medium Scoop.

Enjoy!

Brien's Home!

I've mentioned our DuRoche friends before on this blog, but usually it's the rest of the family and not Brien because he had moved to Colorado for about 6 years. But Brien FINALLY moved back to Minnesota and yesterday was his surprise Golden 30th Birthday/Welcome Home party. It had been since Meg and Chris got married since we had seen Bri (he is the reason Meg and Chris met) so we're happy to have him home again! Now our family events will have EVERYONE again:)

Jenny's Baby Shower

I hope Jenny doesn't mind, I know I posted pics from her last shower too... If ever you don't want to be on my blog, this is my disclaimer, if I take your picture, it might be on the blog:)

Here's pictures of: Jenny and her mom, Riley's party shoes (my heels), and some of the creative works of Kim, one of the co-hosts! She MADE the bath fizzies and the packaging for them, and she MADE the baby sock flower arrangement for the table. How cute!

Kim and Aimee were my co-hosts and they are both graphic designers...very creative, very talented designers...Aimee made the cupcakes and hand decorated them too (I didn't get a picture, but I think Jenny's mom did so I'll post if I can get a copy). I must say I have a few designer friends (Jenny included!) and they are such talented people! I'm so glad I went into magazines so I got to have friends like these!

Baby On The Brain

Ok, I just finished co-hosting a baby shower and so I have baby stuff on the brain (I'll post pictures later). I was at Carters outlet in Albertville this week and there's a contest to win $2500 worth of Carters Nursery stuff...crib, changer, bedding, etc. Go to Carters.com to enter! You can enter now through April 14th.

Do It Green Newsletter

This is from my Do It Green newsletter. As you know, April is the month of Earth Day so I'm guessing there will be lots of Living Green posts coming soon...
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Movie Night: An Inconvenient Truth Showing and Discussion

Date and Time: Friday, April 18th, 6-9 PM
Location: Do It Green! Resource Center inside Twin Cities Green (2405 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls)

Watch Al Gore's Oscar-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, with fellow Do It Greeners. This documentary has helped create more public awareness about environmental issues and global warming than anything prior to it. There will be a group discussion following the movie, as well as refreshments provided. If you've seen it already, come for the free beverages and popcorn!


Sign up online, email ami@doitgreen.org or call 612-345-7973 to reserve your spot at the workshops!

*A suggested donation of $5 per workshop can be made online or at the workshop. Do It Green! appreciates your support!
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Make this year’s spring-cleaning more eco-friendly with these tips:

-Clean it green. You won't have to compromise indoor air quality if you use green cleaning products. Eco-friendly brands like Seventh Generation will do the trick...
-Recycle it right. If you find yourself surrounded by possible recyclables, www.greenguardian.org will help you sort through it all. On April 11th and 12th, drop off post-consumer electronics for free at sites around the Twin Cities. For details, go to www.wm.com/WM/sony/index.asp
-Reuse your junk (or at least let somebody else reuse it). If you have a lot to get rid of, make something new out of something old, have a yard sale, organize a clothing swap with friends, donate to charity, or use Craigslist.org. Twin Cities Free Market.org is another good outlet.
-Don’t relapse. Use the next year to question consumer behavior. Before you buy something new, make sure you don’t foresee it in the give-away pile next spring.

Rachael Ray - Green Living

You can blame Meg for this one. Rachael Ray was partly about living green today. She had umbrellas that are biodegradeable (apparently it takes like 300 years for normal umbrellas to decompose), Environmentally friendly cleaning products called Get Clean, and Dr Scholls sandals that are made from renewable resources and they plants trees with every purchase to revive damaged forests. I guess there's gonna be more, but Riley wanted to check out the potty chair so we're upstairs, back to Rachael....

A Quick Reminder

Don't forget to check out my links on the right, especially down in the brown box! You'll find out how to subscribe to get e-mail notices when I update the blog so you don't have to check in unless there's been a post. There are links to fun web sites, my favorite charities and businesses run by my friends.

I'm also in the process or creating special sections so that all my Living Green stuff is in one place, all the Riley Video stuff is in one place, etc. ~ in case you have a favorite section you'd like to check back on in the future. Let me know if there are favorite "themes" besides those two that I should set up!

Thanks to everyone who checks in once in a while, I'm glad I'm not writing this thing to myself;)

TIGF

A happy kiddo. We're really lucky to have a happy Riley Roo. Even yesterday when she didn't take a nap until 5:00 and even then it was a short one she was still pretty well behaved. You could tell she was tired, but for the most part she was still a happy girl. Now, if we could just remember how to sleep through the night!

Ahhhh, Albertville!

It's amazing how one place can take all my money and I come home with nothing for me! Riley made out like a bandit! We got her new shoes and socks, some summer PJs and some T-shirts and khaki shorts/capri things...Here's my trouble with Roo right now. She is dangerously close to starting potty training AND between sizes so I am buying things thinking...can she get this off to use the potty chair? Is she 18 months or 24 months? Will this fit her in the spring or summer? ARGHHHH...

Well, I feel better knowing I helped the economy today. Thanks Roomie Jess and Auntie Meg for the playdate! Jess (who was both Meg's roomie and mine in college) has Spring Break so we finally got her up here again for a date with her liitle guy Noah, Riley's BF...It's 5:00 and Roo is JUST getting down for a nap:)

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mark are bringing dinner tonight so I'm sure the nap will be short. Josh and I are doing a little spring cleaning for the baby shower this weekend:) Should be ready to crash pretty early I think:) What a day!

Lunch with The Other Mollie

I went to lunch with my friend Mollie from Duck Soup last week to pick up Girl Scout cookies and hang out. Mollie is a photographer so she had her camera with her. Here's some pics that Josh loves. One is her looking like a big girl drinking from a cup. The other has a good story along with it. Mollie introduced Riley to ketchup. Roo used one french fry to dip and then suck all the ketchup out of the cup and then moved on to the mustard. If you know Schusters you know that ketchup is one of the food groups! Forgive the lighting, Mollie says restaurants have terrible lighting:)

Very Busy Easter!

We had a very busy day yesterday so let me recap. We went to church at 11:30 a.m. (our normal time is 10:45, but they change it for Easter week) That screws up Riley's nap schedule so we didn't take a nap yesterday...she did ok considering, but she's already asleep this morning and it's only 10:30! We went from church to Easter at the Schuster's where Great Grandma Mary, Auntie Jessie and Uncle Cory were also there. Miss Roo was spoiled rotten, we have 3 well stuffed Easter Baskets to dismantle today:) Great Aunt Pammy and Pat weren't able to make it because their car had some problems in SD, and Great Uncle Don didn't make it either ~ we missed you guys! Here's a pic of Grandma Linda and Riley and Great Grandma with her favorite "meow-meow" Cuddles. I should have taken pics of the easter baskets all together, but I already started putting stuff in it's place since I'm hosting a baby shower next weekend and I need to get control of the house again!

We stuffed ourselves full and rolled along to my parents for dinner...yup more food! But we had "A Good Day" all around...I put that in quotes because it's one of Riley's favorite books these days! See Below for pics from my parents and church.

Easter at Cooleys

We ended the day at my parent's place with my sisters, brothers-in-law, and the kiddos. Riley didn't have a nap all day so the night ended pretty early but we had a great time with trike racing...Uncle Chris is a WILD driver! Riley learned to say "hold tight" but she loved every minute!

Easter Church

Here's the kiddos at church all dressed up! I didn't get a good pic of A-dee, but you can go to Meg's site to see her! The went to their new church so we didn't see them until mom and dad's place, so that's why she's not in the grandma grandpa picture too...

Second Annual Adult Egg Hunt

Here's a bunch of pictures from this Saturday's Second Annual Edgemont Adult Easter Egg Hunt. I mentioned in an earlier post that I grew up in a fantastic neighborhood with a lot of kids and some stellar holiday celebrations. At Missy's wedding a few years ago, Adam (who hasn't made it yet!) suggested that we revive the Edgemont Egg Hunt. And so we did. Prizes are more "adult" in nature, ranging from booze and candy, to pop and random stuff you might need like umbrellas, frizbees, and even salt and pepper shakers:) And there is still the traditional "golden egg" which wins you the giant Chocolate Easter Bunny. Brian won it for the first time ever this year! Congrats:)

Any suggestions for next year guys? How did we do this year? I have heard we should do one table of "booze" and one of "pop" instead of the "beverage" table. We will do that next year so the late hunters don't miss out! Anything else? Amber and Kyia we missed you! And we missed the Warayans, Jesters and parts of the Fores, Dederings too! If I missed anyone, we missed you too;) consider it too much of the booze table that I'm forgetting names!

Big thanks to Jeff, Angie and Eric for letting us invade their home and for Bauers, Lahrs, Perlingers and Olsons for letting us stomp through their yards! (oops, I don't know how to take that picture off, so I guess you have to look at Brian twice:) At least he's holding Braedan, so we can stand to look at it;) I meant to post a picture of the hunt, but I goofed!)

Egg Hunt Attendees

Here are just some of the people at the Egg Hunt. I didn't get pics of everyone and a few of my pics didn't turn out blog-worth...Sorry Derek, Jenny, Dana, Josh and everyone else I missed, I know I don't have all the parents either... Here's who I do have: You'll recognize my sisters and Riley, Eric is the guy in the Gopher hockey hat, Then there's some of the parents. My mom and dad, Diane and Sue, and then Scottie, Missy and Brian catching up.

Second Annual Egg Hunt Continued

Here's pictures of Adrienne being passed around...looks like the Olson's all had her at some point:)

AHS Walk Update

We had a good week last week! We're up to $1200....Just $800 to go!!! We're in 13th place in the ticker too! Let's keep moving in the right direction. Thank you all sooooo much for your help with our huge goal this year! Click Here to make an online donation. E-mail me if you want the mailing address to send a check.

Cooley Clan Lunch

As mentioned, my cousin Dan and his wife Sharis are in town for Easter and so we got to see their little guy Ryan. Here's pics from Pizza at my aunt and uncle's place. All the Grandbabies (including the one on the way), Dan with A-dee, and Ryan's first Dr. Pepper. (The Cooley's are big on DP!) and Timmer with Ryan.

TIGF

Nope, I didn't type that wrong, I changed TGIF to TIGF...Things I'm Grateful For...and yup, I know you're not supposed to end a sentence with "for" but it's really not a full sentence so I'm gonna let it slide;)

I have 2 major things that I'm thankful for this week and a few little ones.

Start with the little things. Riley slept through the night! It's NCAA March Madness. I won the lottery this week. AHS donations.

Now the two big TIGF: Extended Family and Old Friends

It's Easter week and my cousin Dan and his wife Sharis are in town with their little guy Ryan. We're getting together with my family at the Cooley's house for Pizza and play date. I think my grandparents will be there too. Unfortunately my cousins Tim and Bear have to work and so do Josh, Darin and probably Chris, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. Some of them might try to make it for a little while anyway. I miss my cousins! We used to spend a lot of time when we were kids, but now we're all grown up so it's harder! I'm also grateful that Riley has 2 great grandmothers (one on my side and Josh's grandma Mary) and one great grandpa! And fantastic Aunts and Uncles (including the greats there too) and Grandparents!

Second thing is Old Friends. Now this includes my TG girls that I do dinner with and my Grade School girls too, and all my friends from college and old jobs. But what brings me to this one is my old neighborhood. My friend Missy and I are hosting the Second Annual Adult Edgemont Easter Egg Hunt this weekend and I am so excited to see my old friends. This egg hunt is reviving an old tradition in our neighborhood. There are still some of the original owners there and some of the kids have bought their parents' houses so it's like going home! Thanks Jeff for letting us use your house! Thanks parents for starting this tradition YEARS ago! And for creating a great neighborhood to grow up in. I miss the 4th of July parade and party and I'm glad the Egg Hunt is back:)

Ok, this is a long post and no pictures so I'll end here!

HAPPY SPRING!

Yipeeeeee....it's Spring! Happy Spring y'all!

Hee-Ha We Won the Lottery!

Ok, not the big one. But I think we got 4 numbers from this Saturday's lotto and I THINK that pays out $100! Now, before y'all go asking for a loan, it's already spent (Like it's probably going to the AHS and Riley Roo wants a new pair of shoes!)! We have to help this economy ya know!

Spring Countdown

1 MORE DAY! 6:33 a.m. Central Time (I think, I'm terrible with conversion, but 7:33 am. EST, so that's 6:33 here right?)

Also, I'm not allowed to "update" on AHS progress until Monday (my normal update day) cuz some of you yelled at me, but let me just say a big THANK YOU! We're moving in the right direction and this week has been a good one! Still not there, but I'm so excited to be where we are now...so Thanks!

Riley Crocket

Forgot to post this picture yesterday. Thanks Auntie Meggie and Uncle Chris for the Davy Crocket hat and crayons! The brought the kiddos presents from the Alamo:) If you want to see pics of their first trip on a plane with baby A-dee, click on Meg's blog, Tracking Tredinnicks. Oh, and if you want to see a freakin' adorable little leprechaun, check out my older sister's blog, The Bartsch Clan.

Spring Countdown

2 Days and counting. Thursday at like some random time like 2 in the afternoon or 4 in the morning is when Spring is official! Yeah! Oh, and did I mention the March Madness Tourney also starts Thursday? GO DUKE!

One More Video for the Day

This one is just classic Roo. She loves "Where Riley Go?"

Riley Loved Bennett

She loved Bennett as long as he wasn't knocking her over with kisses! She even woke up asking for him...including her 2:30 a.m. wake up call this morning. Now that's "Top o' the Mornin'!"

Bennett Went Home

Our "big dog" went home today, but here's a picture of him making himself comfortable. He's watching the Twins game. I think Kevin Slowey was pitching? We won the game on Saturday, maybe Bennett needs to watch the game at Auntie Mo's more often!

AHS Update

Slowing down again. We're only at $945, we have slipped way down to like 17th on the list and like 4 back from Nolan. We have a LONG way to get to $2000, anyone out there who still wants to donate? We need you! If you prefer to send a check, make it out to Animal Humane Society and send in the mail to us.

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Hope to see y'all in green today:) Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks to Jenny and Mandy for inviting us to Kindermusic this morning. We had a fun time and we got a free kid's music CD which Riley opened (plastic wrap and all) and handed me the CD in the car 5 minutes after we left the place! We visited our Irish Colleen, a friend from grade school who made me some of the face cleanser I posted about a while back. Thanks Colleen! And then off to Grandma and Grandpa (Papa)'s house for some corned beef and cabbage, soda bread and Dublin cheese! YUMMY! And a little Irish dancing. You see, for me St. Patrick's Day isn't official until "Clancy Lowered the Boom"! And my mom has it on tape:) I can't find it on CD anywhere! Ahhhh...I love St. Patty's Day!

I missed a Spring countdown day this weekend so we're down to 3 days!

Spring Countdown

5 days! Birds are chirping, ducks are coming back, my yard is brown and muddy, puddles are fun to play in! Does anyone else love to step on ice and break it around the edges of the yard and the street as it melts?

Much to Blog About, Little Time

Forgive me for mushing so much into one blog, but we've had a busy and entertaining week:)

First, it was nice outside so we blew some bubbles on the deck. I love Riley's new hat so I took pictures. The pic that she's pointing to the trees, she says "flower"...a little confused still:)

Then we went to a baby shower for my friend Jenny at my old work downtown...what an adventure! I got lost, and let me tell you I've been there 1000 times, but I was trying to be Smarter Than Stacy (Trivia contest on KS95) and I wasn't paying attention. Yikes, but we made it and had a great time!

We also have my sister and her hubby's dog, Bennett staying with us for the weekend. Bennett is a 125 lbs. Rotweiller:) This is what I found when I got out of the shower this morning:)

And my friend Mandy came over today to help me figure out my sewing machine and I already have one completed project. Thanks Mandy!!!

Countdown to Spring

6 Days, snow is melting fast!

TGIF

I've decided I want to add another feature to my blog every Friday. In the spirit of Thank God It's Friday, today seems like a good day to be thankful, so every Friday I'm going to tell y'all something for which I am grateful. It may not always be the obvious, like my family and friends. I'm going to try to be specific.

This week I am thankful that Josh has a good job that pays him well enough that I can be a stay-at-home mom for Miss Roo. Josh has been working very hard this past few weeks and even months on a major "conversion" project that both he and Darin are involved with. It's been a mess and it has meant a lot of extra hours, but I appreciate that he is such a hard worker and that he chose a career that gives us as a family the opportunity to have one of us at home.

Josh and I have been really lucky in our lives, and I don't mean to say that this is what people SHOULD do. God knows, a lot of women prefer to keep their jobs for their sanity (We all have our days! I do have a part-time job so I can get out of the house for a while) or even out of necessity and I am certain they are all great parents! I also have the highest respect for single parents. Since becoming a mom, I think about my friends who have done this alone and I am completely overwhelmed by what they have been able to do for their children. I even know some couples where the dad stays at home or the grandparents are a very large part of caring for the kiddos.

There are so many ways to raise a child in today's world. This is just what feels right for us...I love being at home with Riley, and Josh and I both agree that even though his job is really tough right now, it's worth it for us! I love you Josh, Thank you!

Dancin' Queen

I know my mom didn't want me posting this, it's just a short little clip of the Polka bunch. It's more so Dan and Sharis can see the kids dancing at G&Gs like we used to do. Sorry Mom!

Lunch with the Greats

Yesterday was our lunch with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Cooley. We had a great time and wore the kids out. Riley actually slept through the night last night! In the pictures: Zack likes thin mints, Great Grandpa loves to feed people:) Great Auntie Annie holding A-dee and if you know my grandma, you know there's gonna be some polka dancing goin' on! The kids LOVED it!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Have to wish my dad a very Happy Birthday! Riley says "happy bir-day papa!" She also slept through the night for your b-day (see Meg's blog). Hope you have a fabulous 60th!

7 Days until Spring too!

Spring Countdown

8 Days and 40's today, YEAH snow melting! YEAH Rain! (Boooo forecasted snow storm for St. Patty's Day!)

Spring Countdown

9 DAYS!

For the New Mom's - Green in the Nursery

And no, I don't mean the gender neutral approach to the nursery:) I got this in a BabyZone newsletter today, it's about making your nursery eco-friendly.

AHS Update!

Hello again this morning! It's time for the exciting update on our AHS goal...And the number of the day is....$920!!! We are almost half way there gang, we need your help to get there! Do you have friends who are animal lovers? Pass on this link to people who would love to join us on the walk! Again, May 3rd from 9-2 and the food and beverages are free!!! Great family event! Donate online click here! For more details on the Animal Humane Society scroll down to the link on the right. We hope you'll join us and make a pledge. Help us reach our $2000+ goal!

Countdown to SPRING
10 days!!!

KS95 Reminder

Don't forget, the KS95 For Kids radio-thon goes until 7 p.m. Saturday!

I Fix It

I'm going to try to post some video without using YouTube. This video is Riley learning to play her recorder from Grandma Linda. I don't know how clearly you can hear her say "I fix it"...

Katie and Zack Break Out!

If any of you have been reading my sister Katie's blog on the right (The Bartsch Clan), you will know that my nephew has been sick off and on for a while. And if you know the "cooley girls" you know, we don't sit still very well. We like to be out and about playing with friends and seeing the light of day. Needless to say, when Katie went to the doc. with Zack yesterday and he said Zack wasn't contagious anymore, she was FREEEEEEE! So we went out to dinner to celebrate. Since our boys are still working late this week, it was just us and the kids! Can ya tell they were excited to be out?

KS95 For Kids

Just a reminder. The KS95 For Kids fundraiser starts today. The money goes to two places, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare and Children's Cancer Research Fund.

More Green Tips

From the "Do-It-Green Minnesota" newsletter
Suggestions for a green work environment:

-Ride your bike or take the bus to work (even once a week helps!).
-Organize a carpool.
-Get some fresh air at your desk with a small plant.
-Implement a recycling program (or more comprehensive program, if you already have one in place)
-Pack a no-waste lunch.
-Encourage coworkers to bring refillable water bottles instead of using disposable cups or buying plastic bottles of water.
-Switch to greener office supplies like CFL bulbs and recycled paper.
-Think before you print (and before you Post-it). Use less paper by using the double-side option, keeping fonts small and using scraps for writing notes or daily agendas.
-Turn off computers and monitors when you leave your desk for an extended period and at the end of the day.

Sad Note

As many of you know, Josh plays hockey with some friends for a club they call the "Enken Bears". I just got an e-mail from Josh that Dan (who is one of the guys Josh knows best, one of our friend Bean's good friends) lost his dad this week. This is bad enough, but Josh also loved playing when "Coach" was there. Dan's dad played fairly regularly (he even had an "ask coach" section on the Enken Bears web site!) and Josh is pretty in shock by this whole thing. "Coach" wasn't very old, I'd guess maybe his early 50s? I guess he had surgery and was at home after the surgery when it happened. Please keep Dan and his family, and the hockey guys for that matter, in your prayers in the coming weeks.