Green Cleaning

Meet my eco-friendly friend: Vinegar

It costs $3 and keeps my house clean for a year.

My friend, no her name is not vinegar, has this great group of women at her church. If I can, I always say yes to any event they invite me to. I never feel out of place. We all love God so how different can we be?!? Anyhoo, this time, during their big night out for the Moms - I don't know the exact name for this event, probably something smart and enticing like Enrichment something, something - I was asked to give a little talk about Green Cleaning.

I was honored to be a part of their evening. I think it went well. Luckily, I have been swamped with family responsibilities so I didn't have time to get nervous - or plan well. I just got my cleaning supplies together and got on my soap box to jabber on and on (soap box - green cleaning... Get it? I am so funny!).

I hope it was informative and that a few more families are considering joining me and my best friend, Vinegar.

Jacket Mailbag - You'll Never Guess

Every once in a while I like to go to Goodwill and find some fabric... in the form of a curtain, a prom dress, napkins, and in this case an old canvas men's jacket. After I located the perfect jacket, I found a simple mailblog pattern on another blog and adapted to what I had in mind.

So, here is my mailbag that cost less than $5 (I already had the leaf print canvas that I had found on clearance last year). Oh ya', the fun part is that the pocket in the bag came directly from the pocket on the outside of the jacket.

I usually carry big purses that can hold the kitchen sink. This one is perfect for snacks for my girls, a water bottle, and a book for a trip to the park. Can you tell that I am thinking "SPRING"?

Happy Birthday Gigi

Happy Birthday Gigi! Nine years old, unbelievable. Sunshine. Scientific. Reader. Intuitive. Quirky. Intelligent. Messy. Comical. Loud. My Mou Mou.

Buzz - KPAO

This is a great book. The girls are at school and I find myself wanting to read it again. Greta and I read it last night before bed. We read most nights... sometimes she reads a book to me but she much prefers to be read to and snuggled with at the same time.

I loved her response from this tale. She said in a small voice "I don't like books like these." I asked her the next question "Like what, Greta?" Her reply "Books that teach you something." Now, before you get a solid opinion about how stinky that sounds let me explain...

Greta has discovered the power of lying. Lying can get you out of a lot of trouble... if you aren't caught lying as well as being naughty. And, a lie is very hard to prove if the adult (or big sister) wasn't there to be a witness. She also knows that the big sister witness can be proven unreliable if she too is involved in the naughtiness. Fortunately, Greta hasn't fine tuned the art of lying. She is persistent... she will stick to her lie, even if it changes a few times.

This book as an African tale that shows how a lie can lead to big problems that can involve many people. Sorta like the Rumor Weed (for those Veggie Tale fans). I believe that this book spoke so clearly to Greta was because, in the book, a baby owlet is killed. Harsh? Absolutely. Effective? Most definitely. If you bring a baby of any kind of animal into a story, Greta is hooked.

It also spoke to Greta because the bad guy, or liar, is a mosquito. We all know what happens to mosquitoes when they buzz around us... KPAO. Gotta love it.

As a reader, you can also point out other life lessons, such as what can happen when people jump to conclusions. I think I'll read it to her a few more times.