I recycle for the wrong reasons

I Loooove to recycle. It is kinda like a minor, selfish obsession. I wouldn't say that I am an incredibly 'green' person. I drive a Prius, and it may have become a competition between Aaron and I as to who can get the best gas mileage, and we cloth diapered our kids (more on that later), but none of these was directly out of a need to 'save the planet.'   

Recycling is something I grew up doing. Every now and then my mom and I would take our bottles and cans to a machine at Vons, crush them one by one and take home our gallon sized Ziploc bag full of nickels. It took forever and you ended up with 8 pounds of nickels, but I loved it. 

It's different now. I can't quite pin down the main motivation for doing it. I hate to admit that bettering the planet is just a happy coincidence. Does that make me a terrible person? Maybe...But I still recycle. Maybe I do it for the money, all $13.81 of it a 2-3 times a year that I think is free when really I spent it when the items were purchased in the first place. Maybe I do it because I NEED to organize and sort things. Maybe, Just maybe, I do it to off set the cardboard I threw away last week. 

All I know is that I do, religiously.

I secretly get happy when I buy soda knowing that I can add it to the recycling bin at some point.  This is NOT an attempt to push any sort of lifestyle or agenda. There is no judgement. It's about self reflection and the desire to really understand why I do the things I do. No one is forcing me to do it, but every now and then I spend about a 1-2 hours in the process of sorting and bagging recyclables, driving to the recycling center and dropping off everything. Luke comes with me sometimes. I asked him how  much money he thought we would get this time, " 100-10 monies." he said. Then when I asked what he thought we should do with the money, he said "Put it in my piggy bank." Done (split with his sister, of course).

Turning this

 Into this!

Maybe I do it for the tradition and while it is much more hands-off of a process now, it is still something that the kids can be a part of and see the reward after a little hard work and planning.

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was nice and relaxing. It started off Thursday night with an Ice Cream Social in our neighborhood. I have loved everything about our new neighborhood and the hospitality and sense of community it offers. The kids and I walked down the street to meet some new neighbors and indulge in a little ice cream. Of course, we migrated to other family with kids there and met up with our best friends, Jeff, Cassie and their kids too!  Most of my pictures from the night are blurry because my kids don't stop moving especially when they are allowed to play chase...

The spread, It was so amazing. Ice cream, already scooped and in bowls, brownies, different syrups, bananas, and a plethera of different candy toppings!

Friday was mostly spend just relaxing and playing at home. During Chloe's nap, I checked on her since she is now in a big girl bed (more on that later) and found her asleep like this....?! So random. Most nights, after putting her to bed, she gets right back out and plays for a minute or two and we find her asleep in the floor. Aaron usually picks her up, puts her in her bed, and she sleeps there all night - no problems. But to fall asleep bent over a rocking chair is something else. Silly Girl.

Saturday we washed the car....well, mostly Aaron washed the car, the kids checked our a snail and I 'supervised." :)

Aren't these pigtails the CUTEST!

Never too young to learn :)

I love these towels. They made for super quick drying of the car! (see here for more about these towels)

Later in the day, the kids went to my Mother-in-Law's house, the kids call her Nana, while Aaron and I ran a few errands and just... well,.. got a break. Even though we were mostly getting errands done, it was nice to have it just be us and eat without telling anyone to Sit Down, Clean Their Face or Finish Their Lunch, lol. The kids love going to Nana's and luckily she still had her pools out because it was HOT. 

These kids would live in the water if they could.

We got home around 4:30 saturday and we sat down to watch a little tv. A few minutes later, Luke came over and asked if we could put Chloe to bed. She fell asleep on the couch, parenting fail. We let her sleep for about 20 minutes and woke her up, poor baby. 

Sunday, well Sunday was a day of mixed emotions. I spent the morning reflecting on what happened 15 years ago. I think about how much if affected me, and I don't know a single person that was involved in the tragic events. I can't imagine how it affected those who lost loved ones and strong those people are to keep going and living on. I think about how, one day, I will have to tell my children about that day and what that discussion will entail. We Will Never Forget.

Sunday afternoon was spent watching football- one of my FAVORITE things to do! I love football season. While my team, the 49ers are on Monday Night Football, there were some very exciting games to watch. We do not have cable, but have the capability to record television, so we record all of that games that way you can fast forward at any time. I find myself cheering for teams that have players from my college, even if its an NFC team ( Luckily the non 49er player I root for the most is on an AFC team)

What did you do this weekend?

Weekend in Review

This past weekend was so much fun! We got started early on Friday- something that rarely happens- and had an Opening Ceremony party!! I am not the best baker, chef or crafter for that matter, you will probably see many more posts like this one... I am a Try-er. I love to try to make new things and feel very thankful when things work out, because let's face it, it's about a 75-25 chance that I screw it up. But these bad boys, these were a success! Out of this whole plate, I only got 1 square to myself. I am not sure what to call them (again, I seriously lack the creative gene...), maybe Oreo Treats? They are basically Rice Krispie Treats made with Oreo cookies instead of Rice Krispies. Oreo's alone are amazing, but add a little marshmallow and MMMMM!  We added a little bit of red, white and blue sprinkles in honor of the Olympics.

Fruit is always a staple in our house, so of course we had some fruit salad. Super yummy and super easy!

 

 

 This is one massive bowl of sausage....

 

 

 My Sister-in-Law made this once and I have been hooked ever since. It's a super easy recipe  (LOVE), makes a ton which is great for feeding your favorite friends and it isn't a very heavy pasta dish.

 

 

 

 The finished product. Add a little shredded parmasean cheese and you are done!

 

 

 Of course this happened again with the kiddos. Luke said the only reason Uncle Scott was coming over was to push him in the car... sweet, sweet, kid.

 

 

 The Opening Ceremonies fell on this swwet girl'd first birthday. it is so fun seeing her toddle around.

 

 

 We had to wear the kids out to be able to sit and watch the Opening Ceremonies so there were lots of games of chase, races and tag.

 

 

 While we enjoyed watching the Olympics, the kids enjoyed their snack and Frozen better.

 

 

 Our new house is just down the street from our best friends, and it is so fun to be able to walk to their house. We used to be a loooong 45-minute drive apart, so this is soo nice. Saturday was a joint birthday party for their 2 kids who are 2 year and 2 days apart. We grabbed their gifts, got the wagon and headed over for the party.

 

 

Here are the big kids, including the big 3-year-old birthday boy, having some pizza. The big one-year-old birthday girl was busy making the rounds and playing with grandparents. Isn't that table runner the cutest!

 

 

 I took this because her itty bitty pony tail is just THE CUTEST!

 

 

 MMM the perfect cupcakes for a joint boy and girl party!

 

 

 Sweet favors for the kiddos.

 

 

Happened to get both birthday kids in with the presents

 

 

Time for cake- this is Sadie's smash cake.

 

 

The birthday boy blowing out his candles. 

Big brother helping little sister blow out her candle.

 

 

 

Landon turned his cupcake into a smash cake too!

 

 

Here is some of the aftermath of sitting down to watch more olympics while having popcorn. I think at one time, I saw Chloe trying to use her bowl as a cup to drink the popcorn, sigh. 

We also did some yard work this weekend. While Aaron was busy hedging, the kids and I tried to clean up what he cut. Chloe was such a big helper, Luke too. I had to do double duty because she couldn't reach the trash can so I would dump my leaves then pick her up so she could dump hers. Buuut, I won't turn down the help, especially when they do it freely!

 

After helping in the yard, the best reward is making cookies!

Isn't this ponytail Epic!

 

 

 

 

Laundry is Loads of Fun

This saying is on a cute hanging decor piece that used to be hung outside of the laundry room in our old house. It always made me smile and sometimes I needed that as the task of laundry for four people can be VERY overwhelming. I enjoy doing laundry, I bask in the glow that I (along with my washer and dryer) provide fresh, clean clothes to my family each week. I am a very routine oriented person, a planner if you will. I strive on things getting done the same way and being planned weeks in advance. I enjoy consistency. However, with all of the new things that happen when you buy a house and move, it still feels like we haven't yet settled into a pattern, a routine for much of anything. Today, for example, I have had to do 3 loads of laundry, and put away another that was already for who knows how long, lol. This was just clothes, not towels, sheets, or anything else that you might wash. Spending  hours washing and putting away clothes took it out of me today (I also spent time cleaning the grout on our floor, proof that I am Kinda clean:) ). But then I see these as I am separating and putting the clothes away...

 It makes me smile that I have the chance to wash such cute, little clothes for such cute, little people that I love. They won't always have such cute, little clothes. They won't always depend on my to have clean clothes, either. Luke already puts most of his clothes away himself. This time is fleeting, which is a relief and heartbreaking at the same time. So Today, I remind myself, Laundry is loads of fun.