earth day 2010

Happy Earth Day everyone. :)

I like earth day. I mean, what's not to like? It's a great way to remind ourselves to be a little more conscious of the way we live. This year, we've been making new efforts to be "greener" in the way we live. I want to be a good example for Abby, so - we're trying. Nothing crazy, but just little things. Our most successful improvement has been the use of reusable grocery bags. I'm at the point now where I won't go to the store if I don't have my bags. And if we do have to use store bags, we always ask for paper. I've become more and more aware of just how awful those plastic bags are.

Another small step that we've been able to take since moving to our current house is recycling. Our town does a fantastic job with making recycling so, so easy. I'd say an easy 80% of our trash is recycling each week. Really, only diapers, food, and those pesky plastic bags get thrown away.

In addition to those steps, we've really tried to cut down on buying processed foods. It's really a lot easier than I thought it would be. We still buy some - but much much less than we used to. My friend Billie Jo once told me about this guy who said you should grocery shop on the outside perimeter of the grocery store. That way, you get all the fresh stuff: produce, meat, dairy - and miss the processed stuff in the aisles. Try it - you'd be surprised how little you need down those aisles. :) I can't wait for summer to get here so we can frequent the farmer's market too...but that's a subject for another day.

Anyway, back to today. Earth day 2010. I was trying to think of a good way to celebrate with Abs. You know me - I don't like to miss a reason to celebrate. I want to do things "right" and start traditions that might survive a few years.

So, we got up and Abby had her first bowl of cereal - with milk and a spoon and everything. She thought it was pretty cool. I know, it's not really earth day related - but just in case she ever wonders when she had her first cereal - I'll have it documented. ;)

After taking Kyle to work, we started to run our errands. I had decided that the best way to celebrate earth day this year was to do a little planting. Something I know nothing about, Abby doesn't know anything about it either - so I figured I couldn't mess up too bad. We hit up several stores getting the things we needed as well as some other odds and ends. Of course, we went to target. It was past snack time when we were done at Target, so we stopped and got a quick treat at starbucks. I would say that Abby and I shared a muffin, but I only got one bite.

They did, however, have these little sample cups they were handing out. It was a strawberry shake type drink - but - ohmygoodness - they came in the cutest little cups. I about died. I was probably a little too giddy giving Abby her very own Abby-sized starbucks.

miniature things are just cute!

Of course, she wanted nothing to do with it. That is, until it was empty, then she was pretty excited about the cup. I actually asked for another cup on our way out so that she could have a little tea party set. :)

See? We really do use our bags - and it's amazing how much you can fit into one.

We finally made it home about an hour after Abby's nap time. She went down and I spent some time helping a very very stressed out husband with some schoolwork.

*tangent*

Poor Kyle has had a rough week. It's the end of his school semester and lots of things are due, plus several big projects at work are adding an extra heavy load on top of his normal duties. Add to that, he's covering more than his share of campus since some other staff have left so he has all that extra work to do as well. Top it off with random people yelling at him because their computer still isn't fixed and "I emailed you about this last night why isn't it fixed yet - are you ignoring me, I'm going to go to your supervisor about this" Blah blah blah. The poor guy hasn't even taken a lunch break for close to 2 weeks and has gone in early and stayed late for at least as long. Today was kind of all of that x10. I have a beer in the fridge for him when he gets home.

*end tangent*

Back to earthday! Abs eventually got up and had lunch, and then we set out to do some planting. We bought herbs. Specifically, rosemary, which I think is God's gift to cooking and cilantro, which I just think is yummy and versatile. I figured some sort of plant that would save us some money and that we could actually use would be an appropriate choice for today.

how cute are Abby's bumblebee garden tools? Thank you dollar tree.

Abby had a blast. She was so excited to use the "big spoon" to shovel the dirt. She only tried to eat it once. And she was able to get a few shovels full of dirt into the pot with minimal spillage.

she might have had a little bit of fun. ;)

In addition to the herbs - we bought another plant just to have. Really just for the instant gratification of it. I gave Abby her new watering can and showed her how to use it - she LOVED that part.

being so careful

being not so careful...but giving the deck a nice watering.

our newly potted plant. I know nothing about them, but the tag said "robust" so I thought that was a good place to start.

Abby also picked out the bird statue earlier in the day - y'know, so the plant won't get lonely.

After we were done, we cleaned up pretty quick since it looked as if it was going to rain. While I cleaned, Abby enjoyed her new patio chair.

...and while I put a few things inside, Abby sat in her new chair and poured the rest of the watering can's water in her lap. I came outside to her saying "uh-oh" lol. I promise I didn't yell at her or anything - but you can tell from the picture that she knew she had done something she shouldn't have. lol

And so, that was our earthday fun. Sorry this was like the longest post in the world. Sometimes, there's just a lot I want to fit in. I hope everyone had a nice day and at least thought about doing something nice for this planet of ours. I know it's super corny - but's it's also really true - little things make a difference, and if we all do just a little bit - it'll add up.

be greener. :)