She's got it BAD!

Oh, boy...Riley has it bad...she wants a puppy!

It all started a few days ago. Josh and Riley were on a bike ride while I was at work and all of a sudden, Riley yelled, "Daddy, LISTEN!" He stopped the bike and turned around. "I want a puppy!"

He talked around it, but later he told her something about asking God for a puppy...great! Now if she doesn't get one God's gonna be in trouble...This morning she told me she was going to ask God for a puppy. And then Dora the Explorer's mom was having a baby and she told me, "Dora can have a sister and I can have a puppy!"

Ok, I can work with that...but this afternoon she heard a dog barking outside and she said..."Did you hear that? He said..."

...are ya ready for this....

"Hey, Riley, you need a puppy...." Really...that's what the DOG told her! "Hey, Riley, you need a puppy!" Oh boy...did I mention the Animal Humane Society walk is this weekend? Help!!!

And, Linda NO YOU MAY NOT BUY HER A PUPPY!!! :)

Last of the April Green

From Doing It Green, Minnesota:

Tips for Going Green and Saving Money
DRIVE EASY. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon for gas.

USE ENERGY STAR. ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs (e.g. compact fluorescent lightbulbs) use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.

RECYCLE. One aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours. Check with your city, county or recycling hauler about rebates or incentives they may offer residents for recycling.

BUY IN BULK. Packaging makes up 30 percent of the weight of trash and 50% of trash by volume. You can save money by buying in bulk. For example, Gatorade powder is priced at $4.29 and makes the same amount of drink as eleven of the single-serve 24 oz .bottles priced at $12.45.

SWITCH TO NON-TOXIC CLEANERS.An estimated 2–5 million exposures to household poisons occur every year. Non-toxic cleaning products do the job safer and cheaper. You can make your own non-toxic cleaners using simple, ordinary ingredients you probably already have at home – baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice. Vinegar, while it kills bacteria and mold, does not harm the environment. A 5% vinegar solution kills 99% of bacteria and 82% of mold. To make a 5% solution, add three ounces of vinegar to half a gallon of warm water. Making your own cleaner only costs about .20/refill.

REUSE BAGS. An average American could save 22,000 bags in our lifetime if we use reusable bags when shopping! Many stores will also offer a credit if you reuse bags.

SAVE ENERGY, SAVE HOT WATER. Save up to $51 and over 5,000 gallons of water annually by using low flow shower or sink devices.

Healthy Cosmetics?

This is from my Living Green 365 Newsletter:

Several ingredients in personal care products have been identified as unhealthy. Some compounds of concern include parabens and other preservatives, siloxanes, phthalates, musks and other fragrance components, and benzophenone (BP-3).
You can look for products that are nontoxic. The tricky part is that ingredient safety testing is not required by law for cosmetics. And manufacturers are not required to completely disclose all ingredients on the product label if the ingredient is considered a trade secret or if it falls under the broad categories of fragrance or flavoring.

Some tips for choosing healthy personal care products:
Simplify the number of products you use.
Choose fragrance-free products.
Learn more about ingredient names and terms to avoid from the resources below.
Always read the ingredients list on personal care products.

Rain = Puddles

Sunday while we were at the farm it would rain and then stop for a while then rain some more. During the breaks in the rain, Riley would bring someone...great-grandma, grandma, mom, dad, great aunt Pammy...down to see the ponies and play in every puddle along the way:) Even when it wasn't raining we had to have the umbrella!

Let the Tuesday Golf Days Begin

Mom and Katie are golfing as usual this summer so Meg and I are in charge of Play Date Central. We watch all four kids...and they LOVE it! We do a little dance party action, a little playing on the deck, a lot of feeding and trying to get naps in...And a little Auntie Meggie Pony time!

P.S. Does anyone else want to squeeze that boy's cheeks or is it just Crazy Auntie Mo;) I might post more from today later in the week...I was practicing with my camera again so I took a lot of pictures.

Happy Birthday/Anniversary!

Today is both Uncle Cory's 30th birthday and my sister and brother-in-law's anniversary! Happy Day y'all! The pic is from Uncle Cory's party this weekend!

More Hot Dogs...

Sunday afternoon we celebrated my brother-in-law's 30th birthday down at the farm. Here are just a few pics of that...more to come this week. Actual pic of the B-day Boy won't come until Tuesday. That's his REAL birthday:)

Weekend of Fun and Hot Dogs...

Riley and I started the weekend at a party for my friend Kelli. These are some of the kiddos that were there and this was right before Adrienne decided to take a header off the cement stairs. But she was ok, despite a major goose-egg on her noggin. Riley had not taken a nap all day until the last 5 minutes before we got to the party. I did not put the mittens and hat on her, she did that herself:) Congrats, Kelli, we're super happy for ya!

Sunny Day, Sweeping the Clouds Away...

On Thursday, Meg and I had dinner plans with some girls from grade school so she and Adrienne were at my house a little early to avoid traffic and spend some time in the 80 degree sunshine before dinner. We walked up to the park by our house (one of at least 3 nearby, which bugs Meg cuz she can't walk to ANY from her house!). Mostly I took pictures to practice what I learned in camera class Wednesday night, so if pictures look blurry or weird from here forward, I'm practicing my artistic side! The Twins dress on Adee was Riley's last year...but Adrienne is catching up in size to Roo, so pretty soon Riley might be wearing Adee's stuff!

When Daddy's In Charge

In Josh's defense, this particular outfit was in part because Riley has taken to wearing dresses lately and he didn't want her to freeze outside in a dress. However, it's not unusual for Josh to dress her in a rainbow of colors that may or may not match. In case you can't tell the colors in this, the sweatshirt is gray and light pink, the dress is hot pink and white, the pants are HUNTER GREEN and the socks are PURPLE! Ahhhh, Daddy:)

LAST AHS POST of 2009

If all goes well this week, this is the LAST time I will beg for the dogs! I will be pre-registering for the walk on Thursday, April 30 at about 5 p.m. so if you still want to get your pledges in, you have until 3:00 next Thursday. (That gives me time to organize and print stuff before I drive over there.)

I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who helped us reach, then expand and reach again, our goal for this year. Not only have we raised over $1500, but my friend Sarah who raised just $200 last year is also over $1000 this year and has agreed to keep her goal over the $1000 level for next year and compete with me for the first to $1000 instead of $500 which we did this year. I'm so proud of her efforts!

If you had planned to send a check, you still have time. Send it to my home address made out to Animal Humane Society.

We are also excited to have about 30 people, big and small, and several pets (guinea pigs included!) joining us on May 2nd for the walk. Please let me know if you want to join us! THANK YOU ALL for putting up with me again this year. I REALLY APPRECIATE the support!

TIGF

I'm thankful for a credit card with points that get me fun stuff, garage sales and friends to hang with during a beautiful week!

My New Watch for FREE!

Did I mention how I love my credit card points? This is the new Bulova watch that should be arriving at my door before about 4:30 this afternoon! I can't wait! And the best part...it was FREE! I didn't have to pay for shipping or anything and I just ordered it like 4 days ago and it's already scheduled to arrive! YEAH!!!! I know...who cares, it's a watch, right? The last watch I got was also free about 10 years ago from the Animal Humane Society. Nice watch, but it's silver and I'm more of a gold girl. I'm super excited that this one is two-tone AND has sparkles!

Vinegar, The Uber Cleaner

This is from a newsletter I used to get called Ideal Bite. I quit getting it because most of it was geared for California, but I kept this one for posting:

Wanna conquer high cleaning-product costs?

The Bite
Drop the bed-sheet toga, and pick up a bottle of white vinegar. Uber-disinfecting and cheap as Hades, DIY vinegar cleaners really do the trick, so you can move onto conquering bigger things, such as, say, the Roman Empire.

The Benefits
• Costs less than a handmade olive-leaf crown. We found a 32-ounce bottle of white vinegar at the supermarket for just over a buck; the same size bottle of all-purpose cleaner was four times that (and you'll dilute the vinegar for most purposes).
• Treating kids like emperors. Conventional cleaning products are responsible for about 10% of toxic-exposure calls to poison control.
• Not stabbing our rivers in the back. High concentrations of detergents were found in 69% of waterways in a 2002 nationwide study.
• Smelling better than an ancient Roman. The vinegar smell disappears when it dries; it even acts as a mild deodorizer.

Personally Speaking
A little straight vinegar, sprayed directly on weeds, gets rid of 'em.

Wanna Try?
• Make sure to use white distilled vinegar - balsamic and red wine varieties will stain.
• All-purpose countertop and mildew cleaner: Mix vinegar and water 1:1 in a spray bottle.
• Fabric softener: Add 1/2 cup to the rinse cycle.
• Toilet bowl cleaner: Use pure vinegar to get rid of rings.
• Window cleaner: Mix vinegar and water 1:4 in a spray bottle.
• Weed killer: Use higher concentrations of vinegar (most household vinegar is 5%, so go for 10% or higher, available at hardware stores). (I also heard vinegar for canning vegetables works for this.)

Happy Earth Day!

Here's a few snip-its from this weekend's Star Tribune insert Green 2.0

To save on fuel costs: Slow Down." At speeds above 60 MPH, fuel mileage drops off sharply."

CFL bulbs "use 75 precent less electricity when they are on and you won't be replacing them for years because CFLs last much longer." (Don't forget, they need to be recycled and handled carefully because they have some mercury in them)

"Packaging makes up 30 percent of the weight and 50 percent of the volume of our garbage." They suggest buying bulk packaging to save the planet and money: "In bulk powder form [Gatorade] costs about $4. The same amount in single-serve bottles costs about $12.50.

Vinegar can kill up to 99% of bacteria in your toilet! Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide and Rubbing alcohol also kill germs.

Check out the: Living Green section on the right hand side of my page for more posts about Earth Friendly Tips, Cleaning Recipes, etc. I have a great book for cleaning recipes if you are looking for something specific, let me know! (Furniture polish, all-purpose cleaner, even bug and weed killers!)

Play Date with The Nolan's and Ava!

Had a play date with The Nolan's and Ava today. The girls played and ran around on the deck...yeah fresh air! The boys kinda watched, but both of them are getting big...it won't be long before they are chasing the girls:) Nolan Rabon turns one next week! The moms also had a lot of catching up to do! Yeah for lunch dates:)

Green Tips

This is from the Saturn 360 newsletter:

Brush Wisely
Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. You'll save up to 8 gallons of water a day! That's 2,920 gallons per year for one person. Why? Water flows at an average rate of 2 gallons per minute from an average bathroom faucet.

Public Service Announcement:)

In honor of Earth Week, I will have some useful tips and facts this week, starting with a fun way to shop and "reuse" kid stuff. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Golf Dome in Brooklyn Park by Fleet Farm, there will be a consignment sale for kids stuff. It's kinda like a HUGE garage sale with GOOD quality kids toys, strollers, cribs, clothing shoes, DVDs whatever you might need from maternity all the way up to kids sizes (I'm not sure how high they go, but it's not just the babies and toddlers). I have gotten some REALLY great stuff for Roo there and my mom and sisters have too. Sale runs from 10-7 on Thursday and Friday and 10-2 on Saturday. There is a small cover cost on Thursday, but Friday and Saturday are free and Saturday, everything is 1/2 off! I'm going on Thursday with my mom! Can't wait...Save money AND help the environment by reusing!

Pictures As Promised

These are the pictures of Riley asleep in her closet after the Zoo last week. I have no idea how she got there. I took her, asleep, out of the car and put her in her bed and 3 hours later I went to check on her, cuz she normally naps about 2 hours. This is how I found her. (Notice, finger firmly in her belly button!)

Busy, Interesting, Unusual, Good, Nice

All words to describe this weekend. We started Saturday with a mini-reunion of sorts. We went to an open house to meet the new baby boy of a friend of Josh's and mine from high school. It's ironic that Josh and I had any friends in common in high school since we didn't run in the same circles until the very end of Senior year, but I was more friends with Jake (ok, I dated him briefly) freshman year, and Josh from about that point on...They were in a band together called the Small Wooden Badgers (don't ask!). Another band member, Chris was also there! Boy it's funny how times change us. Neither one of us would have recognized Chris and maybe not even Jake if it weren't for Facebook. We met both of their wives and of course baby Ben. Kinda a fun little reunion.

Sunday after church I went to a baby shower for a cousin's wife whom I kinda barely know. My mom comes from a HUGE family so it's hard to keep track, but it's always fun to see my mom's cousins and some of their kids whom I also went to high school with. (Hi Karen! and I think maybe Teresa reads this blog too?) There was a Tibetan Terrier dog at this shower who was ADORABLE! I might need one of them if I can talk Josh into it:) And a lot of kids...mine went home with Josh for naptime so she wasn't there, but Kiley was there to represent our kiddos.

After that, we came home, went grocery shopping went out to dinner with Josh's parents and then came home and took the Christmas lights down (don't judge!) and took Riley and the neighbor girl Brielle to feed the ducks and play at the park. Yikes...we can fit a lot into a day! and with all that, we even started to clean out our basement bedroom to organize some stuff...that room is a major catch-all and we we supposed to tackle that mess this winter...oops! Anyway, sorry no pics for now. I'm too lazy to go down and get the camera. Maybe tomorrow:) I still owe y'all the picture of Riley asleep in her closet! Good night...

TIGF

This week I'm thankful for 3 mommy-created fairies named Petunia, Lily and Daisy who help me get my kid to sleep at Midnight when she wakes up for no reason. Too bad it's not working for naptime, darn fairies!

MN Zoo Farm Babies

Today we went to the Minnesota Zoo Farm Babies exhibit with Emme, Izze and Shannon. We did a little exploring, played at the playground for a while and had a picnic before checking out the Russian animals exhibit and a few others. Then we hit naptime so we had to head home. Can I just say that I hate road construction. No offense to my brother-in-law, but GEEZ! I hate driving in that crap. There's a site down on 62 that makes me sweat buckets, I swear! But we made it to Apple Valley and back and I didn't die:) (Many of you know my issues with driving in the southern burbs! This was a doozy!)

NOTE: Riley has been asleep for 3 hours and I went in to check on her. She's sleeping in her closet. I don't know how she got there, but I got a picture. My camera battery died though so stay tuned for Roo in the closet:)

More from Easter

Here's some pics of our Easter basket hunt in the morning, getting dressed for church and a few more from Mom and Dad's

Why Is This Happening???

Sorry, Meg, if you're not posting until later in the week, I'm stealing your headline, it was just too funny! Yesterday was a noisy and chaotic cry-fest for the kids. Too much excitement, not long enough on the nap department for Riley made her cry at every little thing yesterday and Zack cried when Riley cried and both of them wanted to pout alone so when someone tried to console one of them they would both cry louder!

At one point Chris was watching the kids while the rest of us were eating (and of course he was also keeping a close eye on the Masters)...at one point all the kids were crying as they had been most of the night and you heard Chris yell..."WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???" He was kinda joking with the kids, kinda for real...It was hilarious! Anyway, sorry to the grandparents and great-grandparents for the chaos, but thanks for the great dinner Mom! Who knew this little Angel could be such a devil?

Running Out of Time

Those of you waiting for that last reminder before you make your donation to the Animal Humane Society Walk for Animals, we're getting down to the wire! We have just 3 weeks left to make our goal of $1250. We're almost there, but we need you! Please consider even a small donation. It all adds up! And remember, you're welcome to join us on the walk, May 2nd at 9 a.m. It's a very family friendly event! And it's FREE!

There is a link on the right for my AHS donation site. If you click on it and it doesn't bring you to the AHS walk page, click on the link that says 2009 Animal walk (or whatever the link in the top left corner is) then look for me under "Find a Participant"!

Happy Easter!

We just wanted to wish everyone a very HAPPY EASTER! Hope you all can enjoy the beautiful day today!

Fun Photo Shoot For No Apparent Reason

Riley had a cute dress on from Great Aunt Pammy this morning and was playing with one of her hats that matched, and the lighting was pretty good this morning in the living room so I decided to play with my camera just for the fun of it. I'm really glad I did, I LOVE how these turned out! Sorry there are so many of them, I couldn't decide which ones to post:) I was even going to schedule this post, but I couldn't wait:) I know, I'm a dork! And yes, family, these will be on Snapfish soon.

Playtime

We had Emme and Izze over to play yesterday and we baked pink cupcakes and had pizza and played with Riley's sunglasses and bubbles and chalk...What a day! Riley was pooped:) Thanks Shan, for bringing the kids up! And Thanks, Bre, for coming to play with us too!

TIGF

Bedtime stories. Every night, Josh reads Riley a story (usually Puppies Are Like That) and most nights I do too, except when I'm working. I just read one tonight (Thursday, sorry, I'm schedule posting this) by Jamie Lee Curtis and it was super cute and Riley really liked it. I don't know what it's called and she's sleeping right now so I can't go check, but it is something about "Memoirs of a 4-year-old" and it was about knowing who you are. Really sweet story and I could see Riley getting into it. So far, Roo hasn't been into my favorite book as a kid, The Tawny Scrawny Lion, but some of her other favorites are My mommy and Me (Thanks, Allison!), A Porcupine Name Fluffy (Thanks, Jess!) and Go To Bed, Monster (she got that one from Santa, I think...) I like to read different stories every night so she can expand her very vivid imagination:) Plus I have such a great kid library of books because my friend-hosted baby shower was a book shower! Yeah storytime!

GO WILD!

Last night was a great night for MN sports. I didn't get to see the Twins big come-back win, but I was at the Wild game to see them dominate the Dallas Stars...Breann, Shannon and I had a great time...and many adventures along the way:) We took the bus to the game, made it just in time to see Adrian Peterson do "Let's Play Hockey" and got our picture taken with Nordy. Shan took the picture of all of us, but she didn't think she was in the picture...thus the funny face...Sorry Shan, it was too good not to post! We had some issues with the bus ride home, ran into a homeless woman who followed us across the street to ask for money and crashed Tom and Bean's place for a few minutes before we headed home to find a detour on 610...we got home kinda late and of course Riley was up REALLY early this morning, but it's all good. We have a low-key day on tap for today with beautiful weather...should be a good day!

Hiding from the "storm"

Riley's friend Brielle came over Sunday night after we got home from Easter at Schusters and they played for a while. They built a tent to hide from the imaginary storm with their flashlights.

A Busy Tuesday

Today Meg, Katie and I went to Albertville and our friend Kelli joined us! I was so proud of the kids. We were there from 10-2 and we had NO tantrums, and they wanted to stay and shop more when we left! They were so good, we let them ride the Merry-Go-Round TWICE! Needless to say, I think I helped the economy more than I had planned, but we had a great day shopping and tonight I get to go to a Wild game with some of my girlfriends from work. Sorry, Josh, I owe ya one! GO WILD!