An Afternoon at Grandpa & Grandma's

Well, today was a full day. The kids did extremely well today, we were away from home starting about 9:45am to 7:15pm. It was a beautiful day - No Rain! We started out playing with Landon & friends, then was treated to lunch and afterwards went to visit my mom so I could help out with some paperwork. Connor went down for a nap immediately after we arrived and Michael Jr. played well and kept himself occupied (with a few snacks and potty breaks in between) for 2 1/2 hours and Connor woke up about the same time I put Michael Jr. down for a nap. When my dad got home from work it was play time!

Super Baby Food

I promise this is the last post of the night. I haven't done much posting lately, have been super busy, and even now I am just about falling asleep infront of the lap top but I want to put this out there - this is the best baby food book ever! Has a lot of practical information and common sense, plus some extra ways to put 'healthly' foods on your children's (and your) plate.

http://www.superbabyfood.com/

This is the book I found the recipe for Connor's 1st Birthday Cake.

BPA Free Sippy Cups and Bottles

The picture above is the sampler package I chose from http://www.thesoftlanding.com/ The 'safe sippy' is really cool but leaks a lot if held upside down. They came very quickly in the mail and my favorite sippy cup so far is the 'fogo.'

BPA is nasty stuff. I'm trying to purchase as much of my food without plastics (fresh or in glass or paper). We also do not store our food in plastic containers anymore. It's a shame what we're doing to ourselves by using plastic - and so much of the general population is totally unaware. Here's a link to a great breakdown of BPA free options and additional information about 'What Is BPA?'

http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/09/04/bpa-free-safe-sippy-cups/

I purchased a sample package of BPA free sippy cups from:

http://www.thesoftlanding.com/

Also check out http://thesoftlanding.wordpress.com/ for safe guides on dishes, utensils, bottles, sippy cups, etc. Also has great information on BPA.

Teach Your Children Sign Language

Ok, here's another one of my favorite educational DVD series - Signing Time. Michael Jr. and Connor are just glued to the TV and are really into the signs and songs. These series are also available on our PBS channel from time to time. Jr. is really working on his animal signs and I reinforce them when ever we read books or when we're in the grocery store and I need to keep him occupied (I'll ask him signs of various animals and it'll keep him busy for minutes!). Jr's favorite DVD - Leah's Farm. Extremely catchy tunes to go along with animal signs!

Teach Your Children French

This is the coolest DVD ever! My kids love the songs. There are 21 songs with catchy tunes that alternate between English and French and make it really easy for kids (and parents) to memorize new vocabulary. We've been watching for a few days now and Michael Jr. is repeating several phrases in french when we review after watching a few songs. I use the CD in the car when we're out and about to reinforce the new vocabulary. I purchased my copy at a local book store - Hearthside Books, but you can also purchase it online at http://www.pentonoverseas.com/lyric-language-live-french-p-956.html?osCsid=2of0bemhpd02imr8v258t6ocu2

Alternative Energy - Pickens Plan

It's time the U.S. looks into more natural, reliable and less volatile power resources. Pickens has a lot of good ideas. Please check out this web site: www.pickensplan.com and see for yourself what alternatives are available!

Connor's 1st Birthday

Well, it rained on the Saturday we decided to celebrate Connor's Birthday. Ugh. We were hoping for a nice day so we could do a BBQ and let the kids play outside. Oh well, should have been more pessimistic - we live in Juneau after all!

Ok, so on to more exciting things - Connor and opening his gifts - I think he was more in a state of shock and overwhelmed with all that was going on, so Michael Jr. helped out!

I left picture taking to Mike, and he got a lot of 'head' shots and they were a bit fuzzy, so here's the best of the worst pictures :) (Sorry sweetie! We've got to work on your picture taking skills.)

A few pictures I took on Connor's actual birthday opening up a gift from Grammie and Oompa (Mike's parents). Of course, Jr. always has to help out, so it was more like Jr. opening Connor's present for him.

I had a lot of fun making Connor's 1st Birthday Cake. It was a very HEALTHY cake. It came from the 'Super Baby Food' cook book. I highly recommend it! I will post the recipe separately.

In Loving Memory of Mary Angeline Long

Grandma Angie passed away last night at 12:30AM in Seattle with loved ones surrounding her. We are all greatly saddened with her passing, but know that she is no longer suffering.

Visiting with Alex

My brother Alex came down from Anchorage to visit this week, it was really good to see him. Here's a few pictures of us and the kids.

Mud Puddles, Rain Boots and Bare Bottoms

The other day we were over at my friend Jenny's. Her son, Landon, is just a year older than Michael and we get together often to let the kids play. On this particular day the kids were out playing and Michael decided to take a bath in a mud puddle. It was at first just throwing rocks and stomping, then it turned into a mud puddle bath. Jenny grabbed her camera and took quite a few pictures. He must have played in there for at least 30 minutes, if not more. I had to give him a shower at Jenny's before we went home. I hope you enjoy these pictures and much as I enjoyed watching Michael in action.