Wednesday, June 24, 2009

One thing leads to another...

Well I stumbled across a great site today. I think this is how it happened. I was thinking about my DAGOBA organic chocolate gift and then I was thinking about my Story People art that I need to get framed. I started thinking about how I better buy Will some Shel Silverstein books before he gets too old. Then I was thinking about the book we read tonight before bed Old Turtle by Douglas Wood. I did a search for the book to see if the author wrote any other books we'd like...and then I found this site with some interesting sounding books and great toys. Now I realize that my blog is really just a bunch of random postings that I often delete after varying timeframes depending on my mood but a common theme seems to be my need to have my children play with wooden toys. (It's less about the wooden toys and more about the lifestyle). Now this site also has wooden toys! Thank goodness for Kira's 1st birthday this month since it gives me a chance to splurge. These are the books that are in my shopping cart at the moment.

Blessings from Many Faiths & Cultures
Raising Children Compassionately
Nurturing the Spirit
What is God
Children Learn What They Live
Parenting From Your Heart

I see that Amazon has some good ones too:

All I See Is Part Of Me
Wild Child

I think I'm saving the wooden toys until Kira is a bit older. We have the Skwish already. I think it's packed away so I need to see what we have before I spend too much.

It's bedtime so we'll save the ordering for tomorrow - if there's time. We have parades on Thursday and Friday and birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday. It should be a fun 4 days!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Monday, June 22, 2009

The Cracker Attacker

Love this crystal deoderant!

Do not love my paraben filled face lotion...so will use this site to find new paraben-free products.

Last week was my birthday. Jeff and Will made me a cake! Kira attacked it! She's been excitedly hitting faces lately for some reason. She was holding a cracker the other day and then smacked Will in the eye with that hand and the cracker broke into little pieces. I expected him to cry in pain or scold her but instead he just lay there peacefully with his eye closed and said, "cracker attack." So we've been calling Kira the Cracker Attacker every chance we get.




Monday, June 8, 2009

Plastic

So I've been on this alignment kick lately. So now I'm noticing the synchronicity everywhere. I caught a clip on TV of Suze Orman saying we need to align our thoughts and words and feelings and actions in order to have harmony. We should work to make sure what we think and say and feel and do are in balance. I also found this quote on a website, "I aspire to ever higher levels of alignment between my thoughts, words, and deeds, and my values." Of course it all rings true because that is exactly what I'm striving for in my life lately.

This brings me to plastic. I could gag at all this plastic in my house. William is 6 so I've had a lot of this plastic around for SIX years! I'm thankful that we could pull out the carseats and pack-n-play and toys and high chair and saucer and walker and jumper and piano and all that jaz without having to spend a dime this time around but seriously the plastic (I'm trying not to say 'is killing me') is getting hard to take. I just can't wait until I can get rid of this stuff. I can't wait to move it out of my house. I'm so ready for Kira to start walking so half this stuff can go. I'm sure I'll have her at the kitchen table much earlier than William was. It's suffocating. It's everywhere. Everything in my house is fluorescent. She doesn't even like most of it. She'd much prefer to pull books off the bookshelf or tear apart the newspaper or rip a kleenex to shreds. And I believe that most objects have their own sort of energy or vibration. Doesn't an old wooden trunk or well loved piece of furniture just FEEL good?! Wood feels different than plastic. Plastic is so lifeless and our oceans are filled with it. There are a few different Garbage Patches of plastic in the ocean. One is TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS! Apparently these tiny plastic pellets of supersaturated poison are mistaken for fish eggs and end up in the fish that we eat. Gag me! So this cycle isn't working for me...buy the plastic that doesn't feel good to have around and then dump it and hope it doesn't kill us all in the end.

So I've decided to try and stop buying so much plastic. I mean maybe I would actually have my elusive ideal weekend morning and wake up to see my child playing with wooden toys if I actually bought her wooden toys. Maybe I need to stop shopping at Target. Then my house will have less stuff and the stuff that it has will be made of something living that will give off it's own lovely vibration and won't end up killing us all in the long run. So let's see...my thoughts (hate the plastic)...words...(hate the plastic)...feelings...(hate the plastic)...and ACTIONS (STOP BUYING THE PLASTIC) will then finally be in alignment. You wouldn't think it would take me 36 years to figure this out.

Maybe if we all just only buy reusable, poison-free products - that is all they'll make. I'm excited to see what non-plastic options I find. There is a Living Plastic Free blog that I'll have to check out. I also did a search on making my own powdered toothpaste.

2tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vodka (only one teaspoon?)
2 drops each: Oregano oil, wintergreen, peppermint

or

wide mouth jar
add one cup baking soda
and one cup salt
swish a few tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide
rinse with water

Friday, June 5, 2009

Quotes

Where are you hurrying to? you will see the same moon tonight wherever you go!
Izumi Shikibu

In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. in the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
Lao Tzu

Correct behavior means that you are occupied with commendable activity.
Ibn 'Ata'

I see now that all creatures have perfect enlightenment - but they do not know it.
Buddha

...such is the one....innermost essence, everywhere, always,being of beings, changeless, eternal, for ever and ever.
Bhagavad-Gita

Christian the Lion

I'm no longer convinced my book is going to get better. I think it might just be more of the same all the way to the end. It's good enough to keep reading but it's lacking the great insights I was hoping for. That ALWAYS happens to me with these types of books. I want to be WOW'd!

I love these lion videos!

Part 1

Part 2