Garbage and Recycling

So, while I was writing on the weekends, Diego spent a lot of time with the kids outside. They have been swimming, weeding, eating homemade Popsicles, reading and going for long walks. Here, Diego is reading to the kids on our back deck. They are reading Where Does Garbage Go? An easy to understand book that describes what happens to garbage and how recycling can help reduce waste. My oldest couldn’t believe that we have landfills, “where we just store garbage under the ground!” She is totally right – it is absurd. The book also discusses how paper, aluminum, glass and plastic are recycled.

Out in the sticks where we live, we don’t even have city/county garbage pick up. A private, small company picks up our garbage. We are allowed a 25-gallon (I think, maybe it is 30) container. Ours is rarely full – usually about halfway. Mariposa County has a transfer station in the area that takes cardboard, glass, paper and plastic for recycling. Although, it doesn’t accept as much as my mom’s curbside recycling in San Jose, at least it is something. Every Monday, on our drive to the bookmobile, we drop off recycling at the transfer station. When we get to the Lake Don Pedro market and gas station, we recycle our beverage bottles (glass and plastic) for a few bucks at the new CRV recycling station there. Then, we hit the bookmobile, check out a few books, hear a story and bring home our books in our cloth bags.



I just heard about EnviroMom’s One Can a Month Challenge. The goal is to reduce your garbage to just one can per month. EnviroMom will be offering lots of tips on their blogs for reducing your garbage.

We already do a lot to reduce our waste and recycle everything we can. Recycling, using cloth diapers and pads, cloth grocery bags, using homemade cleaners and using cloth rags rather than paper towels to name a few. I even wash and re-use foil and Ziploc bags! Composting could be the answer to reducing our waste further. I need to look into worm composting more. I am worried that it may be too hot here (100 degrees during the summer) for the worms. I also worry about the heat and the smell of the compost. Oh, and the other thing – I don’t have the dough for a fancy compost bin. I’d love to hear some tips and suggestions to start composting.

I’m Sorry!

I can’t believe it has been over two months since I last wrote a post! My apologies to those of you that came here over that time and saw the same post over and over. Well, I no longer have any excuses because I turned in our manuscript to the graphic designer this weekend.

For the past two months, anytime I was at the computer, I was working on the book, Going Green with Baby. I don’t even want to count the nights that I put the kids to bed at 8 PM, fell asleep in their bed, woke up at 11 PM and stayed up until 3 or 4 AM to work on the book. It is impossible to get any work done with an almost 5 year old and a 2-½ year old running around.

To make up for it, I have lots of pictures, posts, Friday Finds stored away in my mind that I need to start writing. Maybe even a summer contest soon – hint hint…

An Early Friday Find: Going Green with Baby

I couldn’t wait to announce this week’s Friday Find. For the past six months, I have been hard at work writing a book!

Itsabelly's Guide to Going Green with Baby is the first book to provide a simple resource for evaluating eco-friendly baby gear and to learn more about organic and natural family living. We offer mom-tested product reviews and tips to raising a healthy baby and creating a happy planet. The founders of Under the Nile, gDiapers, TheSoftLanding.com and Earth Mama Angel Baby provide insight on why choosing organic and natural baby products is important to creating a healthier lifestyle. Going Green with Baby features personal product recommendations from eco-minded moms Jennifer Lo Prete and Melissa Moog. Jennifer is a writer and mother of two that has long practiced green living. Melissa is mom to a toddler, writer and the founder of Itsabelly Baby Concierge, a premier baby planning agency that specializes in going green with baby.

Going Green with Baby will be released in the Summer of 2008. To pre-order your copy, please send us an email to info@itsa-belly.com or call us at (503)799-5719 with your name and contact information. We will contact you when the book is available for purchase. Wholesale inquiries are also welcome.

A Peek Inside...

• Plan your baby registry with the best mom-tested reviews of over 300 eco-friendly baby products. We cover all your baby’s needs from slings to strollers, non-toxic bottles to safe skin care products, organic baby clothes to eco-friendly diapers and sustainable nursery furniture.
  
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• Learn why going green with baby is important for a healthy baby and happy planet. Our panel of eco experts weighs in on the importance of organic apparel, sustainable wood, non-toxic feeding products and natural skin care products.
  
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• Discover our simple eco-mom tips to raising a healthy baby and protecting our planet.
  
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• Decipher the meaning and standards behind eco-labels. What does organic mean anyway? We make your trip to the store easier with a useful guide to common eco-labels and organic certification standards.
  
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• Gain valuable tips on going green on a budget. From our own experience, it may not be financially feasible to turn your household completely organic. We give you tips on how you can make green choices that are right for your family.
  

Friday Find: Bum-Ware Cloth Diapers

As a cloth diaper addict, I have tried to curtail my purchases over the past year. I kept telling myself that my youngest would learn to use the potty anytime just like his sister went diaper free at 15 months (Lautaro is now 26 months). Well, as any mom of two will tell you, each child is totally different. And I am finding out that teaching potty use to a boy is a little trickier than teaching a girl, for me at least.

Using toddler-sized prefolds with a cover seemed too bulky for size 2t clothing. Today’s clothes just aren’t cut for cloth diapers. I feel guilty that I have been using Seventh Generation or Tushies disposables while out of the house. So, I finally accepted the fact that I should buy some new cloth diapers. After all, buying disposables is expensive! I did lots of research on toddler-sized trimmer cloth diaper options on Diaper Pin and the Born to Love cloth diaper Yahoo forum. Lautaro is about 35 pounds, which is where most cloth diapers seem to have as their max weight suggestion. I received rave reviews for Bum-Ware diapers.

I learned that All in Ones seemed to offer the trimmest option for cloth diapering. An All in One (AIO) is a cloth diaper that works like a disposable diaper in terms of ease of use and style. The diaper and cover are sewn together making the diaper one piece, hence the name All in One. Using a cloth AIO is definitely faster for changing a squirmy toddler! Bum-Ware is the highest user-rated All in One diaper at the Diaper Pin.

I am delighted with my purchase of Bum-Ware Easy All in Ones. After measuring Lautaro, I ordered a large (23 to 40 pounds) AIO in orange and another in Saturn blue. The inside lining is cozy and soft. The diaper is extremely trim – fits well under all Lautaro’s pants. You can’t even tell he is wearing a cloth diaper compared to a disposable! The diapers are very absorbent and we haven’t experienced any leaks. The diapers wash well and dry within one cycle.



Bum-Ware AIO Features

• Hook and loop fasteners for a perfect fit.
  
• Serged for superior durability.
  
• Hidden elastic around the legs to keep everything in.
  
• Two inner body layers of cotton flannel.
  
• Four layer flannel soaker pad or contour snap in soaker, your choice.
  
• Polyurathane laminate (PUL) outer.
  
• Fold back laundry tabs to prevent diaper chains.
  
• Fully washer and dryer safe.
  
• Each diaper comes with a 4 layer flannel contour doubler
  
• You can customize your Bum-Ware diapers with a wide selection embroidery designs.
  

In 1998, the creator of Bum-Ware diapers, Izabela first fell in love with cloth diapering when she worked as an Early Childhood Educator at the YMCA in Ontario, Canada. “A few of the infants and toddlers were in cloth diapers, and I was blown away by their cuteness, but mostly by their reusability,” said Izabella. “I am into anything that’s environmentally friendly.”

Friday Find: Mushroom Pate Recipe

Photo courtesy of FreeFoto.

A wonderfully simple and sophisticated cracker spread for parties. This recipe originated from one of my friends in Washington D.C. I have added cumin and coriander to the recipe to add more flavor depth. If you do not like those spices, you can eliminate them and the spread will still taste great. Friends and family have told me that I am not allowed to attend their parties without this spread! 

Ingredients:

• 16 oz mushrooms – cleaned and de-stemmed. You can use regular button/white mushrooms or a mixture of different types. I like to do half button and half crimini.
  
• 1 medium yellow onion
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
  
• 8 oz cream cheese
  
• Salt & pepper
  
• Ground Cumin
  
• Ground Coriander

1. Clean and de-stem mushrooms.
   
2. In food processor, chop mushrooms and onion to small pieces.
   
3. Heat sauté pan on medium heat and melt butter. Add the mushroom and onion mixture and sauté until all the liquid evaporates. Season with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper to taste.
   
4. Add cream cheese and stir well to incorporate into the mushroom/onion mixture.
   
5. Spoon the mixture into a shallow baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Serve warm with crackers. I prefer water crackers.

Thanks to my Dad for suggesting this week's Friday Find.

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Friday Find: MiniBlissCakes T-Shirts

In a search to find non-stereotypical boy’s t-shirts for Lautaro, I discovered this adorable double decker bus stencil t-shirt made by MiniBlissCakes on Etsy. Since visiting London was Lautaro’s first trip abroad I had to buy it. Sarah, the creator behind MiniBlissCakes didn’t have Lautaro’s size listed, but she was able to quickly make me a custom shirt in his size. She also made a custom sparkly seahorse for Malena.



Sarah, a stay-at-home-mom to twin boys started stenciling two years ago. She learned to stencil from a friend and immediately thought of the cute stencils she could make for her son’s clothing. Sarah and I share the same problem of a lack of cute boy clothing! She is also a breast cancer survivor (three years and counting- YAY!!) and stenciled pink ribbons onto her family’s Race for the Cure tees. Friends saw her shirts and started demanding shirts for their kids and her business was born.

Yeah, you read right – Sarah is a mom to twin boys. They turn four this summer. As a mother of one boy, I don’t know how she does it! Lucky for us (and her) she is able to work on her cute shirts during her boy’s naptime and her Mothers Morning Out twice a week.



Sarah’s boys are the source of her design inspiration. “There really aren't enough cute-but-not-babyish things for toddler/preschooler boys out there, so I'm always thinking - what would my boys like to wear to school today?”



Sarah is a transplanted Yankee and diehard Red Sox fan that is happily living in the very Southern and artsy town of Oxford, Mississippi.

"I wish more parents-to-be wouldn't find out - it's one of life's best surprises!" - Jennifer

Visit her Etsy shop and blog to find out more about her business. And if you have any idea of a stenciled shirt, let her know. I am sure she could create it for you!

Easter Felted Goodies

On Sunday, the kids had an Easter Egg hunt and found some felted eggs with surprises inside from the Spring fairies. Last week, the kids and I felted the eggs. During one of our walks, they collected smooth “egg-shaped” rocks. We wrapped wool roving around the rocks, and then I secured the wool by putting the rock inside an old stocking. They then wet-felted the rocks with hot water and soap. The stockings helped keep the wool in place and made it easier for them to felt the eggs.

Once the eggs were done, the fairies took the eggs in the middle of the night and cut the sides to remove the rocks. In place of the rocks, they placed felted chicks (a baby and a mama), hair clippies and a felted dog.




 


 

Welcome Spring!

Well, if has felt like Spring around here for the past couple weeks, but now it is official! Here are a few pictures of what Spring looks like in the California foothills where we live. Recently, the wildflowers have really started blooming. Everyday, the children and I go on a morning walk to pick flowers and listen to the birds. It is amazing to notice the growth, changes and new appearances of the wildflowers each day. The oak trees are sprouting new leaves and the hillsides are a beautiful green.



During the weekends, we have been spending a lot of time working to reduce our pallets of landscape materials. Last Sunday, Diego built this beautiful shade and privacy structure outside our bedroom window. We planted some jasmine in the planter that he also built. I can’t wait for the jasmine to climb, bloom and fill our room with its beautiful fragrance.



Diego also built another planter for tall grassy plants to hide the underneath of the deck. We have two more planters to fill with dirt and plants– one near a deck corner. The other is underneath the laundry room next to our stone patio, which Diego also built with my Dad’s help. Diego will also build another jasmine shade structure for the planter underneath the laundry room. I never would have imagined when I married Diego that I would use his name and the word “built” so many times in one paragraph!

Friday Find: Soft Star Shoes

Do you remember the Five Finger Vibram shoe Friday Find when I mentioned a great flexible shoe for children? Well, here it is – Soft Star Shoes (and they aren’t just for children anymore)! Be sure to read the Soft Star article about their design that promotes the healthy development of growing feet.



Both Malena and Lautaro love their Soft Stars. I will be ordering new shoes for spring/summer. I think I will order a custom designed Mary Jane with distressed leather for Malena and a playtime shoe for Lautaro.



Soft Star shoes come in a wide variety of models: suede moccasins, leather moccasins, mary janes, boots, playtime, sandal, saddle, classic and the new rambler. They even make moccasins for adults (from size 5 to 15!). They offer in-stock versions of their shoes or custom design shoes. With 22 different leather colors, 19 suede colors, and seven motif patterns the possibilities are endless! Soft Star offers some vegan models using micro-suede and a non-leather material.


 
Soft Star moccasins are truly different than other similar baby soft-soled shoes. They have a cushy sheepskin inner sole that wicks away moisture and also protects baby from sharp objects. Soft Star has been making soft-soled shoes for over 20 years. The shoes are handcrafted in the US with all leathers coming from US-based tanneries. There are no formaldehyde or heavy metals used in the tanning of Soft Star leathers.

 Tim, Founder Soft Star Elf

The Soft Star Elf workshop is in Corvallis, Oregon (another reason I love this company). They support Kids for Kids, in which an inspiring seven-year-old girl Cassidy Lynn and her friends create cat toys, "Playful Pancakes," from scrap leather and donate the profits to helping kids in Sudan. Buy one of her Playful Pancakes and someone receives one goat in Sudan. Soft Star also supports Waldorf and Montessori schools and La Leche League chapters across the country.

You can order your own Soft Star shoes on their website. I have seen Soft Stars at baby boutiques, but couldn’t find a list of retailers. Custom design shoes usually take 3-5 days ship. And don’t worry about ordering shoes over the web – their sizing charts are the most detailed I have ever seen on a website.



PS – for you crafty mamas, they also sell leather scraps and a fun star craft kit.

Friday Find: Chocolate and Steel Jewelry Design

My husband and I love mid-century modern furniture. So much so that on our last trip from Argentina, we returned with an Eames lounge chair that has been in his family since original production. When I found this necklace on Etsy, I couldn’t resist hinting to Diego that I found my perfect gift.

Chocolate and Steel designer Christine Street created this sweet little bird pendant from the Eames House Bird. She even designed a necklace inspired by the Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW) that is next on my list (the chair too).



Chocolate and Steel’s collection of necklaces, rings and bracelets currently focuses on five categories: Carved and Sculpted, Bold and Colorful, Cut and Paste, Branding and Set in Stone. I find her work so appealing because it is understated and simple with a clever twist.



“I wear jewelry because it makes me feel present,” said Christine. “I hear the *clink* of my ring against the table or the faint *ding* from my necklace pendant sliding down the chain. I make jewelry for myself and for the pure enjoyment I get from making it and wearing it.”


Her jewelry is made using precious metal clay that is shaped and designed before being fired in a kiln at 1650 degrees Fahrenheit! The piece then undergoes an oxidization process and a final brushing and polishing treatment. It is quite a labor-intensive process in which Christine works her magic!

Chocolate and Steel is based in Los Angeles. You can find her jewelry in her Etsy shop, Dawanda, Home Grown Market and Boutique Coquette. She even does amazing custom work. Check out her blog post on a custom pendant she did based on a client’s picture of a helicopter!

Friday Find: Five Finger Shoes

My husband, Diego, insisted that I use his new shoes as this week’s Friday Find. He saws these shoes in a store window on Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale a couple weeks ago and he had to have them. When he returned, he was so excited about these “shoes with spaces for each toe” that he quickly ordered a pair over the Internet.


Diego's Shoe Model

Vibram creates “Five Fingers” for “barefooting” to give you the “joy of going barefoot without leaving yourself exposed.” Vibram traditionally makes high quality soles for shoes and has now taken their sole technology and created a breakthrough minimalist shoe. The sole of “Five Fingers” is a thin rubber sole designed to protect your foot. The unique “Five Fingers” design with spaces for each individual toe allow your foot to be in its natural state therefore giving you more grip over terrain.



You can use these shoes to go “barefooting” just about everywhere – in your backyard, hiking, running (check out ChiRunning – another recent book purchase of ours) and watersports. The shoes are perfect for protecting your feet when you really want to be barefoot – like walking on a rocky beach.

According to Vibram, wearing “Five Fingers” shoes “deepens your connection to the earth and your natural environment.” The shoes help improve your balance and agility by making you more aware of your body. Wearing “Five Fingers” gives you the health benefits of walking barefoot while protecting your feet. Doctors tell new parents that it is important for children to be barefoot as much as possible. Children should wear flexible shoes to allow their foot to be close to a natural state. (Look for an upcoming Friday Find on a great shoe that does just that!) If “barefooting” is recommended for children, why shouldn’t adults?

Diego loves to be barefoot and would be barefoot all day if he could. “Five Fingers” are a perfect shoe for him. Cheers to “barefooting!”

From an Acorn

While gardening with the children today, we discovered these wonderful acorns sprouting into a tree! Malena was so excited to find this beauty of nature. In the foothills, we live surrounded by oak trees. I am slowly starting to learn about these amazing trees.

Oak trees can start producing acorns when they are twenty years old. (I wish people who want to cut down oaks to improve their view knew this!) The trees produce acorns in the fall, although not the same amount of production each year. Heavy acorn production may only occur every four to ten years. I heard that this year seemed to be a heavy acorn production. I believe it. The ground below all the oak trees around our house is completely covered in acorns. I have also heard that few very acorns actually become trees. I wish I could find the statistic somewhere, because it is pretty amazing. Probably hungry rodents and deer eat a lot of the acorns and seedlings.

Friday Find: H.O. Foose Tinsmithing

In the birthday goody bags, I included dog or bone cookie cutter that I bought from Foose Tinsmithing Cookie Cutters. When I found their site, it was hard to resist buying more cookie cutters – they have an amazing selection! If I had a bigger kitchen with more storage space, I am sure I could have justified the purchase of a few more Foose cookie cutters.

Since the 1970s, making cookies by hand has been a family business. Foose now employs twenty people, including family members and local retirees. The cookie cutters are very well made and carefully packaged for shipping. The pride they take in their product is evident. They even added a cute miniature squirrel cookie cutter as a little freebie. (I need to find where my daughter has hidden it!) All of the cookie cutters are tin and made in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania.

Given my husband’s industry, I think I should order the wine bottle cookie cutter. And couldn’t you just see Martha baking cookies with the beehive and honey bee cookie cutters? For my politically active friends, I will be buying the peace symbol and the awareness ribbon cookie cutters. Foose has a wide selection of fun miniature cookie cutters perfect for playdough play or your child’s kitchen set.


And for the hard core DIY gal, you can now make you own cookie cutters with Foose’s cookie cutter crafting kit.