2 October, 2008
Inflatable Figurines
It’s my all time favorite waste of electricity…the blow up figurine! So how can one look festive, but not waste a ton of electricity in the process? Simply stated: don’t turn it on. Our youngest has a thing for the large, tacky, blow up figurines. Her grandparents instilled it, now we deal with the consequence. She is still a bit young for “it wastes energy which in turn dries up the resources of the earth and throws pollutants in the air which will one day result in the mass destruction of civilization as we know it.” In fact, her attention span wouldn’t last to the end of that rant, so how long would she really be interested in the balloon kitty in the front yard…about 15 minutes. So we only turn him on when we are out there to enjoy him. Passerby’s in cars driving by won’t remember if the cat is up or down, so in the end she is only there for our enjoyment anyway.
Pathway Markers
Pumpkins make great pathway markers, homes for bugs and tempting items for middle school punks to pick up and smash in the street (smashing puimpkins!). But if you are like me and your heart breaks everytime you see a smooshed pumpkin, maybe it’s time for some other ideas.
Luminairies are always good for the big day, but lighting them every night might be a bit of a hassel. Use mason jars if you want to give it a go, bags are easily tipped over or brushed up against by those highly flammable cosutmes everyone is sporting these days. Set them off the path a bit to help keep them out of the way as well, and all those other safety tricks I am sure you know.
Ghost lolipops! A stick (or dow rod if you want to reuse them year after year), recyceled paper, and white fabric or palstic garbage bags and a sharpie make great ghosts to rival our own “plastic big box store” gift ghosts we have here. When they retire in a few years we will be upgrading to the biodegradable reusable sorts ourselves.
Yard Decorations
Sure, you can get your share of plastic and foam decorations, but for about the same money and a stack of wood or fabric, you could easily make your own spiders and ghosts to hang from the tress or grave stone garden. The best part is, instead of getting stuck with the off the shelf coined phrases of “here lies Fred” you can have a blast coming up with your own ones that reflect your family (morbid? a bit, but all in good fun!)
Trick or Treat!
Skip the plastic bags for the delux edition pillow case…durable and it hold much more!
Handing out the treats? Here is a toughy, candy is everywhere and who has time to go into how it’s made, how bad the candy wrappers are and what it does to kids. But unwrapped things like apples bring back images of snow white and with teh seven dwarves off in the carribean somewhere, we can’t take the risk. Oriental Trading Co. has loads of little “made in china” reusable alternatives, but you could make like the Berries (us) and give out “Grow your own” kits. We don’t get nearly as many kids as some people may, so this year we are making about 3 dozen kits complete with halloween cup, soil, seeds and directions. Kids stopping by our side of the street get to try their hands at pumpkins!
There are numerous other great green friendly halloween ideas, what are your favorites? Share yours in a comment below!
1 October, 2008
1. We are immunizing our kiddos, just not on schedule. We waited until they were older for MMR and the like
2. They aren’t getting the Varicella vaccine. Let them itch and eat cake.
3. And if HPV becomes manditory, they aren’t getting that either. Too many girls have lost their lives to that vaccine, not going to happen.
So off we went to the Health Department. Hmmm. It was…interesting to say the least. Don’t get me wrong. I am very happy with the program, it’s a wonderful program and helps many people who need it.
It’s the “health” part of it more than the “department” part that got to me. I can’t stand hospitals, waiting rooms…even the dentist skeeves me out. (Don’t get me started on places like malls and amusement parks, bleh). And the more stressed I get, the more germophobic I become. So going to “health” places when you’re already healthy…not a happy camper. Even worse when the place wreaks of urine.
So I stand in the hallway waiting to get called in, my nose buried in D’s arm pit, 30 minutes. Five minutes, we go in, sign the papers, get a few trees worth of literature and a talking to make sure understand our decision.
Because, you know, “religious exemptions” are the new ughs boots for babies. Most people don’t really know what they are or how they are made, all they know is they want them!!!! (Sarcasm.)
I’m under the assumption that most people applying for a religious exemption have done more research than those parents who blindly trust what is being shoot into their kiddos arm is for the best interest of said spawn and not the company that created it. Not all are bad, but we have our standards on the “put it in ‘em” category. Small pox, not something we want to take our chances with. Chicken pox? No Immune issues here, so we’ll take our chances.
The irony of it is two fold:
1. The paper they have you sign is more permission slip for them to pull your kid out of public schools in the event of an outbreak (and point many, many fingers) thanth a legal form of the grave necessity it is made out to be. A signature, a date, that’s about it. No address, no telly, no SS#.
2. They have you come into the clinic to do it, where all the creepy crawlies you are trying to keep away from your kids jump a ride back to your house on your shoes. Why not an administration office?
David laughs at me as we pull up to the house, I jump out of the car still moving, open the front door with my wrists, bolt up the stairs and bathed myself in purrell and lysol. The kiddos stayed at the MILs “just in case”.
~ Ga Ga in the Tropics,
Freak Show Shell
P.S. I was half expecting a battle, an evil, terrible hassle with all the horror stories floating around the internet, but the Health Department here is AWESOME! And “supported” our decision but reminded us if we changed our minds we could come back. I even discussed the HPV vaccine with the Dr. who was following the decision to make it mandatory (in TX, apparently). We didn’t go into detail about what religion (but I had my “Amish” answer all ready to go) or the fact we aren’t NOT vacinating completely.
26 August, 2008
Izzy’s Birthday is a little under a month and a half away. So now is about the time I start going neurotic with the planning. I’ve always found it a challenge to deal with the guilt trip of tossed plate wear, busted balloons, and fondant cakes with more slide than an energy wasting inflatable slide.
Green celebrations aren’t as much about finding “alternatives” to commercially produced bright party stuff as they are redefining the meaning of the party to begin with. Going green means remembering what we are celebrating: the happiness with having that little somebody in our lives and inviting friends to celebrate what that means.
So to start off the first of our series on Eco-Friendly Birthday Parties, we take a look at decorations! You know: the bright paper plates in full glossy regalia, the plastic signs and flag banners you throw away every year and the hundreds of dollars some parents spend on this whole ordeal. It’s almost mind boggling to think of how “disposable” it all is.
Green Friendly Plate wear
I came across greenpartygoods.com a few weeks ago. From colorful plate wear made from corn to sustainable flatware made of bamboo, this store has it all. My favorite is their plate ware made of sugarcane which can be drawn on by the kids with edible markers (also available through their store). They even offer hand crafted favors for kids and hand dyed garlands.
Reusable is the best way to go, if you have the storage space. If you are looking for affordable plate wear, try Ikea. My husband and I found plates and flatwear were cheaper to buy here than to rent when we were looking for our soulbinding ceremonies. Don’t have the storage space? Your local homeless shelter would love the donations or resell them on Craigslist. For Izzie’s Birthday, we raided the local second hand stores for a whimsical hodge podge of plates and flatwear.
Reusable Birthday Banners
Another area that greenpartygoods.com covers is one of my favorites: fabric banners that can be reused from year to year. Where as greenpartygoods.com does have a few in stock, I’ve found Etsy.com to be the best place to find a HUGE selection of banners, just search for “bunting” in their handmade section and walla! Over 400 options as of this writing!
A great replacement to the birthday banner in general, or in addition to it is to string a “clothes line” which could be rope, ribbon or yarn where you would normally fly the banners: along a wall, along a fence, up high to the ceiling (works best for babies) and clothes pin some of their keepsake outfits to the line. Attaching little notes or photos of the birthday baby in their outfit is a great way to invite the guests to a more personal level.
Table Decorations
And never underestimate the beauty of flowers! Cut flowers are the first things that come to mind, but rooted plants are better! Bamboo is typical, but even strawberry plants make excellent table center pieces and double as favors. If you do choose cut, be sure they are local and organic, the excess oil used in transporting and pesticides make this a sticky subject. To be safe, try growing your own cut flower garden.
Get creative with things from around the house! Teddy bears, toys and family photos make free centerpieces. Every year I put together a photo album for the girls from photos of the year before as my present to them. On their birthdays, we dig the albums out and lay them around the seating areas for guests to flip through.
Quick and Easy Family Tree Centerpiece
1. Send the kids out to bring home fallen twigs from around the yard, park or neighborhood.
2. Set these in a tall glass vase in the center of the table (or gift table if you have one, drink table, buffet table, etc.)
3. Print out family photos, cut into circles,
4. Hole punch at the top, add a small cut of ribbon and tie on to the sticks.
Walla! It’s not a centerpiece…it’s an instant conversation starter.
Recycled Birthday Decorations
What you can’t dig up from around the house can easily be created. Spray Paint cans could work…but with all the VOCs and toxins associated with them, a better solution is to glue a strip of fabric around each one to make great silverware holders. It takes less time and they turn out way cuter in the end.
Lots of these ideas can be used in whatever theme you decide to go with. Check out Kiwi Magazines list of a bagillion Green Kid’s Party Ideas for inspiration.
15 August, 2008
I was returning emails and smelled the faint odor of baby powder in the air. I called D.
S: please tell me you didn’t leave the bottle of baby powder where they could reach it.
D: ahhhh.
Door opens, two ghosts come out. I grabbed the camera. The bottle in the fifth image is empty, the particles were just in the air. Then it hits me…that can’t be good.
It’s all fun and games until Poison Control gets called. After 10 minutes of “what’s your name, you number, you waist size” I finally got my answer: watch eyes and breathing for an hour. Now that I am on “America’s Worst Parents” list…
Over and out.
10 August, 2008
I have about a week or so of blogs to catch you up on…including my trip to TN, the newest member to add to our family (cat, not baby), and the perils of air travel…or waiting. But tonight’s topic: I seem to have lost my boobs. I must have misplaced them in TN. Actually, I tried to keep up with pumping while I was gone but to no avail, and I figured maybe at least half of my new boobs would stick around. But I’m back to being Flat Stanley.
Izzy seems to be losing interest anyway. She stands up while attached and tries to flip around…much the way an alligator goes into a death role with a victim. It’s about the same.
So what it boils down to is my nursing days are over (with this one) but I am not sure if emotionally I am ready. I’m actually really, really heart broken. Izzy’s moving to the older side of infanthood and I’m losing my baby. I can feel baby fever growing again but then I look at how much work two is at this point and it quickly wains. Does anyone have any tips on how to just DEAL!?!
25 July, 2008
…you were being talked about?
Yeah, we be there.
20 July, 2008
The Game, originally uploaded by shellgreenier.
King me…
Dream on
8 July, 2008
11 June, 2008
24 May, 2008
Brevard Zoo, originally uploaded by babygreenbury.
A is for Armadillo
