Enu's Heart Was A Lot Of Fun!

I’ve read some lately on how  Pinterest is causing people to be depressed.  I guess that seeing picture after picture of perfect crafts, foods, photos and homes can make you feel like you do nothing worth while.

I have always known I have no talent with arts, crafts or anything artsy really, so  Pinterest has not caused me to swirl into the abyss of depressive craft wanna bees.  It has actually done the opposite for me. I have been inspired to try a few new things like frosted glass jars and smore pies.  I have found some fun picture things I want to try this summer.

I just like seeing how creative people are. It amazes me. Maybe if I hadn’t figured out my talent (breastfeeding lady – I know  weird, but it’s mine),  I would be more upset with my lack of craftiness.

What are your thoughts on Pinterest?  The humor section makes me laugh until I cry sometimes, and who doesn’t agood laugh-cry  sometimes?!

I won’t go into detail, but the last couple of years have been a struggle at times.  At the end of the summer I  felt like I had survived rather than enjoyed them. Sure, we had some great vacations and wonderful times, but my stress and anxiety levels were way to high.

This summer I am not only looking forward to, I am planning. Planning beyond the normal camps, activities and how to keep your kiddos reading throughout the summer.  I want to make it EPIC.  Okay.  So maybe I am setting myself up for disappointment, but I have this yearning inside of me to breakout from the normal, go beyond the stress, ignore the anxiety.

So what does EPIC mean to me?  It means me having fun as well as the kids.  The kids always have an EPIC summer (though they don’t always see it that way).  That is why I am going to fall in love with my camera a little more.  Learn how to actually use more of the settings?  I also want to do some fun shots with the kids with the inspiration of Pinterest.

I am also going to start running again.  My post-op no exercise rule was up a long time ago. It’s time to take my new, improved and smaller bust to the track and she how they do!

So my EPIC may not be as EPIC as some, but it is mine, and I am going to do it.

What are your summer plans?

THE NEXT CHAPTER OF THE BELOVED FAMILY CLASSIC ARRIVES JUST IN TIME FOR MOTHER’S DAY
 Country Music Superstar Clint Black and his wife Lisa Hartman Black shine in the Heartwarming Family Adventure Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD May 1
Exclusively at Walmart, Sam’s Club® and Walmart.com

Does anyone in your house like horses?   It seems the horse rage hits around age five at my house and never quite goes away.  So, needless to say, we were very excited to have the opportunity  to pre-view the Flicka: Country Pride movie starring Clint Black and Lisa Hartman-Black. 

The movie tells the story of a young teen, Kelly, who is struggling with the loss of her dad and the  passion of riding horses that she shared with him. With a new Mustang (Flicka) at the stables, however, and some stubborn determination Kelly is able to again fall in love with riding and competing.  The movie features a mean girl antagonist that is so popular with movies at this time and gives parents the opportunity to talk about how to handle the stressors of high school.  Overall a great movie that I think most girls ages 8-13 will especially love.  I am well over thirteen, though and I enjoyed it ;)

Be sure to check-out the end of this post to see a checklist of what young riders should know about taking care of horses.  This is a great list for Girl Scouts earning an animal badge!

I have two copies of Flicka: Country Pride to give away! YEAH :)

How to Enter: 

1)  Simply leave a comment telling me your favorite animal movie of all time. 

2) Like Four Against Two on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you did so.

Contest runs from April 23rd to April 29th at noon EST.  Two winners will be chosen from random.org.

 (Disclosure:  I received a copy of the above mentioned DVD to view and give my honest opinion.)

Then I was picked!  I had 30 books to choose from to give out and my number one pick was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, not thinking I  had a chance with my first pick.

Then I got The Hunger Games! Whooo-ooo. Did I feel lucky!

So today, Monday, April 23rd, I got to giveaway twenty copies of The Hunger Games with special covers to my local high school students!  I worked with the librarian to pick the twenty lucky kids. I really wanted kids who may not like to read, but liked the movie enough to maybe want to try to read the book . She helped me find 20 kids who are reluctant readers.

Now I did deliver the book at to-darn-early-in-the-morning instead of at night, due to the fact I had a young adult book and my target population is held captive during school hours! I do think  I stayed in the bounds of the World Book Night theme though.

I love to read. I want others to love to read. Reading makes us smarter, gives us levity and takes our imaginations to amazing places.   April 23 is UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen due to the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death.  World Book Night started and is celebrated in the UK. This is the first year for the US and I hope it catches on and I get another chance next year to pass along some more books!

If this sounds like fun to you, check out the World Book Night website and make a note to apply next year to be a giver.  I am so happy and pleased that I was apart of this!

Here is a quick plot line snippet from Twentieth Century Fox  Home Entertainment:

Clark Davis (Wes Brown, “True Blood”) struggles to maintain his land and support his family during a long drought.  With a bank loan to repay, his wife, Ellen (Julie Mond, “General Hospital”) takes a job in town as a seamstress, but soon becomes ill with scarlet fever.  Devastated to lose his beloved wife, Clark and his young daughter turn to his parents for support.  Clark must find a way to save his farm and survive Ellen’s death without losing the person he loves most: his daughter.

I am a sucker for prequels and this is the story of Clark and Missy before “Love Comes Softly”.  I cried, laughed and my stress level went up and down along with Clark’s.  Love the pioneer time period and this movie was just perfect for me on a day alone at home doing the laundry.  Mita watched it before me and loved it and now I will pass it on to my niece who also loves the series!

(Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of the above DVD to review and give my honest opinion about it.  No other compensation was received.”

However, on this countdown to Earth Day series, I did recently get contacted by 3M.  You know3M the company that gives us all the neat little tools to make our life easier. Think post-it notes, stickies, scotch tape and more.  They have graciously donated several rolls of their new Sustainable Scotch® Greener Masking Tapes to my local school district. 

 Masking tape is a must around children. Think labels, repairing game board or boxes, painting over stained and messy walls.  Not to mention the crafty side of masking tape.  Now we have the opportunity to buy it made from recycled and renewable resources. An Easy-Peasy choice if I do say so myself.

 I know that many a environmentalist curses at big business and big companies, but as consumers we have told said companies that we want a better, more responsible product. We vote with our dollars.  This product is evidence that 3M is listening.

Here is a quote with the stats that are interesting:

SAINT PAUL, MN – April 16, 2012 – Today, 3M announced the introduction of Scotch Greener Masking Tapes which are designed to provide the same great performance as other Scotch Masking Tapes, while creating less waste and conserving paper resources.  The new tapes are made with 56% renewable resources*, including paper backing made with 30% post consumer recycled content and adhesive made with natural, regenerating latex harvested from rubber trees.  The tapes are manufactured using solvent-free and water-based processes.  The tape core contains 87% post-consumer recycled fiber and the shipping cartons are made with 100% recycled fiber.

The tapes can be found just about anywhere, including Wal-Mart, Target, K-mart and Sears for about $5.

(Disclosure:  I received several rolls of the about mentioned masking tape to donate to my local school district. I think the art teachers and maintenance people will be happy!)

With all of that it can be hard for me to spend a little more money on a product that is Earth Friendly.  I do buy things that are better for the planet, but I want them to be competitive in price and quality.

So how can you tell a product is environmentally friendly?  A lot of times the packaging advertises the fact to give consumers the heads up but here are a few other ways to tell:

• Less is better. Does it have a huge box for a little product?  Remember when CD’s came in the long cardboard box…they thankfully stopped that wastefulness.
• Is the packaging made of recycled materials? Post-consumer waste is best.
• Is the packaging itself able to be recycled locally?  A lot of smaller towns (that would be my town) don’t recycle #3,4, 5,6 plastics.
• Is the product locally grown/produced?  Buying local not only helps out your neighbors, but it takes less gas to get it to the store.  You can sometimes talk to the grower/maker and ask questions about chemicals and fertilizers.
• Is it organic?  This is what I seem to struggle the most with. I have a list of the dirty dozen, which are the 12 foods you should buy organic as they tend to have the most pesticides and chemicals.  Organic can be pricey and it goes bad quickly (chemicals are there for a reason – to stop bugs and rotting.)  I hate it when I let produce go bad, but I also don’t go to the store more than once a week.   Having four growing girls that eat a lot and eat all the time can be expensive. I want to feed them healthy and organic, but I also don’t want to go into debt trying to accomplish that.

My goal is to become a bit less of a penny-pincher when it comes to healthier products for my kids.  I go in and out of making my own cleaners, it depends on my busy level but when I do buy cleaning products I try to make them the “greener” ones.  I need to focus more on my long-term goal. 

I  must also concentrate on the fact that where and how I spend my money makes an impact on the Earth not only by helping the natural state of the Earth, but telling businesses and corporations what  I as a consumer care about.

Do you shop towards Earth-Friendly or Pocketbook-Friendly?

This week I want to write about simple and more in-depth ways that I, as a mom, wife, nurse and Girl Scout leader am trying to put a dent in my wasteful ways.  This is my Earth Day Pledge, or act, at least a part of it.  We are also cleaning up our local reservoir with Girl Scouts on Saturday.

Today I will congratulate myself on what I have accomplished:

• As a household we have been recycling (by carting to a local center or curbside pick up) our trash for five years.
• I have been reusing my favorite two water bottles for over two years now. I rarely drink from a disposable water bottle and when I do it is normally because it is at someone elses place.
• I don’t forget my reusable bags anymore when I grocery shop! I forgot them for a very long time and it has finally become habit now.  I also carry bags in my purse and use them for everyday purchases or clothes shopping. It is amazing what you can get in a little bag! 
• I recently bought the cutest re-usable containers for my girls’ lunch drinks to replace the chocolate milk/apple juice cartoons. This saves me money (buying a gallon is more cost-effective than buying six individual boxes) and waste.  You have to get good ones or the leaking frustrates you!
• I have been using re-usable sandwich and snack bags for about four years now.  I still do use some plastic baggies when I am not caught up on laundry but give myself a B+ in ditching the plastic baggies.
• I keep the  heat down lower in the winter months. I admit that I used to crank it up a bit high at times, but now I am better at just putting socks or a sweatshirt on to stay warm.  I also did this when I heard that families stay healthier when the heat isn’t used as much.  I think this is true as it keeps the dust down and the rotation of germs!
• We talk about recycling and being Earth Friendly a lot in Girl Scouts. It is so much easier for this generation as they are growing up knowing that it is important to not be wasteful. As an eighties child, it seemed all about more and what was convenient than anything else.
• I love to shop consignment or second-hand stores.  You never know what a good deal you may get. I scored a beautiful, like new dress for Enu the other day for $1.09!  She looks great in it, it saved me money and it didn’t end up in a landfill. Win, Win, Win I say.
• I also congratulate myself on nursing my two bio babies and am pleased that my other girls were most likely breastfed as well.  Great for the Earth not to have formula containers or plastic liners :)

So now that I am full of myself I will focus on my goals to improve my efforts and become more natural with using less, re-using more and in general being a better steward of my Earth.

That, my friend, is for tomorrow!  Check out this site and make your own pledge.

TY and Fox Home Entertainment sent me this little guy for posting about the Alvin and The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked DVD! Very cute!

Which means right about now your child’s backpack is full of the cutest art projects you have ever seen!  Projects that you don’t want to toss but cannot realistically keep on your fridge or in a scrapbook either.  Unless this is your first child.  Then you will keep everything for years until your basement or garage is full and realize that something has to hit the recycling bin or you have to buy a bigger home.

After having Meg fill 5+ bins I started to realize that with four kids, the bin thing wasn’t happening. So three years ago I started making school project photo books on Shutterfly (tons of other sites, but Shutterfly is my fav).  I take the pictures of the projects and save them for the next book. This makes it so much easier to toss the projects.  I don’t enjoy junking them, but it is a necessary evil of motherhood. I have also made thank you cards and notecards out of some of the projects.

So back to Dr. Seuss.  Elle came home with a few really cute things that I cannot throw away. Maybe it is because she is my baby and I’m realizing that this may be my last Dr. Seuss birthday bonanza, maybe it’s because I’m tired of taking out the recycling.  Who knows?  What I do know is that an idea popped into my head that I am happy with and thought I would share.

As a reading family there are some books that will never be donated or passed on. Dr. Seuss books are those sorts of books.  Elle has fallen hard for the rhyme master and has even read me Green Eggs and Ham backwards before (a realllllly loooonnnggg story btw!). So I merged the two and have not lost any space.

I simply added her art work to the insides of the books and now the books mean even more to me than before. I can imagine Elle’s kids opening the book and seeing mommy’s artwork from when she was a girl….ahhhh. Tears. Sniff. Sniff.

Awesome.

They better appreciate this stuff!