The grass is greener

An update on our path to greener ways:

We have now been without paper towels for a while.  It's much less scary than I had thought.  I have to admit, we did have a some napkins laying around, but those are gone now too.  I have plenty of hand towels, old receiving blankets, burp rags, and cloth diapers that were never used for that purpose to replace them.

I never realized just how often I was laying down a paper towel to prepare peanut butter sandwiches on...almost daily! Now they get a plate instead. We have a dishwasher, so it's not like I have all this extra work to do with more more dirty dishes.

My homemade cleaner is working out well.  The vinegar smell exits quickly and the lemon scent replaces it.  My goal is to get rid of all the household chemicals by the end of next week, replacing them with either homemade non-toxic remedies, or store bought natural products.  Looking forward to it!

The next step will making sure our hygiene products are paraben free.  I've done this in the past, but fell off the wagon due to how expensive it can be.  This time around I'll be looking into some recipes to make our own for some things.

I've been using my bags at the grocery store!  Thanks to Devon's suggestion of putting them by the little one in the vehicle so that I can grab them when I grab him...it's working, thanks Dev!

I'll keep you posted on our greener path!

Getting Greener

I've been intending to "green" up our lives for quite some time.  It was kind of in that back of your mind to do list.  It became time to put it on the real to do list so that it would actually start to take place.  I want to make sure my kids know what I am doing and why, so they can hopefully follow along.

The first thing I did (thanks for the suggestion/idea Melissa Zanni) was to clean and keep any jars.  I had been keeping jars here and there, figuring I might find some use for them at some point.  Well now they are my drinking glasses!  I save the lids so that I can also store certain left overs as well.  I have tiny mason jars that the kids seem to find fun to drink out of.  So now we use a "water jar" as my daughter calls it.  I'm forming a strange attachement to my "water jar", that will probably be a whole other blog, but I'm just throwing that out there.

Second, I made my own cleaner (degreaser, counter spray).  I have heard for years about the many, many uses of vinegar, so I decided to put it to use!  I filled spray bottles with half water and half vinegar, plus I added some fragrant oils to mask that nasty vinegar smell.  I used lemon verbena this first time around.  I am in love!  It is non-toxic, smells great (any trace of vinegar is gone quickly), it cleans beautifully, and is very inexpensive to make!  It will do your countertops, toilets, walls, floors, bathrooms, appliances, and so on and so on.  The funnest part is that I can add whatever fragrance I wish! Plus, I can put the kids to work, no chemicals!

I have many paper towel rolls to finish off from our last Costco trip, but once those babies are gone I am going to give it go without them.  I'm not sure yet how this would effect my laundry, but we shall see.

I need to get into the habit of bringing my reusable bags to the store with me.  They are in my trunk, they are ready to rock, but I always seem to forget to grab them after getting baby out, making sure the big girl stays out of the street, and being sure I bring the wallet, diaper, and wipies just in case.

Next on my list is to try some homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent.  This intent has been here for about two years, just never happend.  The laundry soap I currently use is all natural and derived from plants, it smells amazing and I love it, but I think we could save some plastic in the packaging and some money at the same time.

After that, I think we can give up toilet paper and just use leaves from the yard.  Okay I'm totally joking.  I like my toilet paper and my clean behind.

I REALLY want to start a garden.  Our yard needs lots of work, but it will get there. Even if I have to start with veggies in pots, it's a start.

Due to have a family of seven, we have a vehicle that fits us all.  This vehicle is not shy to gulping up tons of gas.  I've limited driving to when only necessary.  If I need to shop out of town, I try to plan it all around a day that I can knock out a few birds with one gas guzzling day.

To get the kids involved and aware, I'll be showing them the book "50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth, from the EarthWorks Group.  This way they can each pick a "new" way to help save our planet and feel it is their very own.

That's all for now, thought I would share what green goodness is going on with the Augerlavoie family.

RottenRed

Appropriate Dress Required

Just a few decades back, most of the population had an understanding of appropriate dress for certain occasion.  Yes, the world has become a more casual place in general, people used to get dressed up to go to the airport, now the thought is that if you are going to sit in an airplane for several hours, you should be comfortable, I agree.  However, I think schools (but mostly parents) should start teaching our children when it is time to dress up a bit.  Most kids actually love it! 

I do NOT agree that people need to be brand name whores and need to dress in whatever is popular at the moment.  If you like that, great.  If you don't, that does not mean you are less cool than the people that do.  This is not an opinion, this is fact.

Anyway, I think if we brought our kids up with the idea that we dress nice on holiday get togethers (unless of course your family does it totally casual, that is awesome too), that we dress up for church, for ceremonies, and for special occasions, they will bring this to adulthood with them, and then teach their children the same. 

Unfortunately, my husband and I go to family law court often for visitation issues.  The morning of my husband puts on some slacks and a nice shirt accompanied by some dress shoes and a belt.  I put on dress pants and a nice shirt, or perhaps a skirt, basically an outfit I would consider wearing to work in a business casual environment.

We show up to be surrounded by men with jeans twice the appropriate size with extremely large t-shirts and tennis shoes.  Really?  You are in here to either fight for time with your child or settle a divorce.  I would think you would want to have the respect of the judge, and even the lawyers. 

Don't let me get started on the women.  Ladies, you might have a REALLY cute dress in your closet.  You might think it makes your behind look amazing. This dress is NOT for court appearances!  Getting dressed up for court or other important meetings is never the same as getting dressed up to go to the club, ever!  Then to make matters worse, the 4 inch unprofessional heels you added to your ensemble only make you look like one particular profession, which is illegal and frowned upon in the court house.

It actually says on the hand out the family law court gives you to "dress how you want to be treated".  Not that that always happens, because let me tell you, that is a whole other blog post.

I want to make sure my kids know when it is necessary to dress up a bit.  They don't need to go through life looking like slobs and not being taken seriously. 

Repinned!

Becoming a stay at home mom was a huge change in life.  Raising children is difficult, worth it, but lets be honest, it's difficult.  I worked 40 or more hours a week, commuted home, picked up my kid, rushed to get dinner made, then it's bath time and almost bed time.  Not a lot of quality time with my boy.

Staying at home added unbeleivable amounts of tasks to that list.  I also added more children to the list, and lets not forget the two hyper dogs. 

I dived head first into my children.   I want them raised with manners, passion, confidence, I want them to question the world and everything in it.  Most of all I want them to know themselves, really know who they are and what they love and what they do not want in their life, what makes them happy, what hobbies drive them, and how they like to relax.  By knowing yourself better than you know anything else is the best way to get what you want out of life and live it to the fullest degree.

I want that so bad that I started to loose that in myself.  At least I recognized it and tried to focus on me a bit more.  I am so busy it's hard to find time for things for just me.  If I'm not doing things for the kids I am spending time with my husband or getting things done.

I finally found something that has shown me some grace.....Pinterest!

Okay, so I complain about my husband playing video games and I guess Pinterest would be similar, but I have it and it is mine!  I can look at pretty things, I can learn things, I can show them to other people, I can just sit, relax, and browse "stuff".  Last night as I lay in bed listening to my husband play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 in the backround on his PS3, I lay there with my iPad, browsing my search for "vintage dishes".  I cannot beleive the calming happiness that came over me.  Looking at these pretty dishes made me smile, I felt at peace as I repinned several of my favorites onto a new board I titled "dishes". It was like I was walking through an antique shop, but I was cozy in bed.

Then I thought of more "stuff" that I like and the searches began....french vintage, vintage tins, I repinned as much as I possibly could before I knew I had to get to bed, since I have to get up early with the baby, and Dominique would be sneaking in to my bed at early morning hours making it impossible for me to roll over or even adjust my position in any way.  I had to get my sleep.

Pinterest does not take me from my family either.  I sit and indulge in quality pinning with my daughter, she loves to click pretty stuff and search for cakes and cupcakes.  Even my husband will check out pins of DIY projects.  It's a family thing, but still, it is mine.

There is nothing on Pinterest to frustrate me or piss me off, I haven't yet found one pin on Pinterest that made me even think about rolling my eyes. 

I have a hard time doing much of anything for longer than maybe 15 minutes, so it doesn't take over my life, it is the perfect time slot of repinning and browsing of the pretties to remember there is stuff I like, that does not involve my children (besides my kid boards I pin to of course).

I feel like I have been REPINNED! 

Happy Pinning!

Pull up your panties and act like a big girl!

It is in my opinion that by around age 30 (give or take a few years), you should have a fairly decent sense of self.  What you love.  What you are and are not willing to tolerate from others.  What means the world to you.  What you can live without.  The kind of person you see yourself as.  The things you would like to change about yourself, or work on.  I'm not saying it should be completely figured out by this time, because I also believe that soul searching and learning about yourself is never ending.  Humans are way too complex for there to be nothing left to learn about yourself.  I personally have learned a ton about myself in just the past 2 years.  In  life you are also confronted by random things that change you or make you think about how you are going to deal with them. 

Earlier in life, I was suffering from being a people pleaser.  I say suffering because I hated that about myself.  Being too "nice" all the time.  I had to recognize this and make a conscious effort to change this.  I am still a "nice" person, that's who I am.  The difference is, I no longer care if someone thinks I'm a bitch just because I didn't do what they want or I stand up for something I feel strongly about.  I have way bigger fish to fry.  It was a part of growing up.  Especially when I had children.  I do not want to set this example to my children.  I want them to stand up for what they feel strongly about, regardless of what their friends might say or think.  They might catch some heat for it, but sooner or later, they will be respected for it.  I still have work to do, but for the most part, I have changed this about myself.  I want to eliminate the after feeling of "I should have said...." I hate that feeling.

So if you are a grown woman, and especially a mother, for the love of whatever you love....grow up!  If you volunteer to do something, don't complain about it!  YOU offered to do it!  If you do not want to do something, DON'T DO IT!  If you disagree on a topic of discussion, say so, it is okay!  At this age, most people do not want to be pleased, they simply want to surround themselves with real people.  How can you really get to know someone when they only say what they think you want them to say? It is a waste of time and I am done wasting time.  I have learned that there are few people you can really trust, just with simple things even.  If you complain or talk negatively about other people, more than you have meaningful conversation, get a life.

I cherish the women in my life that are strong and real.  I wish there were more of them.  One thing is for sure, I will do everything in my power to raise a strong, independent, full of character, female.  I will teach her as best as I can to learn about the person she is and the person she wants to be.  I will teach her to love life passionately, to surround herself with real people to share life with.  I want her to ooze confidence and stand up for what she believes in, even if it doesn't please everyone around her. I ant her to enjoy time alone and love time with loved ones.  I will then cross my fingers and watch her grow!

Raise our girls to be wonderful women. Not catty, complaining, whiners.  They will be the women of the world sooner than you realize.

Important Information

Chubby babies, look really cute in tight fitting jammies.

LML

Around 5 years ago, it was just me and my 2 year old boy in my apartment. It was quiet and tidy. A little boring at night when Logan went to bed, I usually just watched Oprah and went to bed.
I started dating Louie, a bit later we moved in together. A few months after that, it was his and mine...3 kids! one to three is quite a jump! It was loud, exhausting, and exciting.
We then vowed to spend our lives together. Then we became, his, mine, and ours....we had a little girl. Now it was a little louder, slightly more exhausting, and very exciting. Tidy is hard to hold on to at this point.
We went through huge changes together. I lost a parent, we bought a home in a new town, we both quit smoking (AWESOME!) I started staying home with the kids, we made it through a horrible car accident, and your general struggles.
Then we added a baby boy....his, mine, ours and another one of ours.
It is now difficult to have any quiet at all, I'm pretty much exhausted all the time, and every day is exciting. I struggle for tidy, but it is kind of a pipe dream, I don't mind chasing it though.
This has been quite the wild, high speed ride. I love it, I don't ever want to get off. I am exactly where I want to be, with exactly the people I want to be with. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Our lives are filled with joy, stress, love, tears, smiles, laughs, worry, frustrations, kisses, "I love you's", hugs, hand holding (big and small hands), learning, caring, talking, singing, dancing, sharing, yelling, cuddling, and some more love. It's just how it's supposed to be.
This is how I am going into a new year, with all the above, real feelings for a real life. Surrounding myself with REAL people....friends and family...you know who you are.
This is my way of saying "LML".......(because I can't stand those three letters for some reason, makes me want to vomit).
But...I love it all, the good, the bad, the something to brag about, the something to work on....and the something to cry about.....all of it. I live my life for the 7 hearts beating under our roof.
It's real and it kicks ASS.