Apple-gate (Part 2)

For those of you that thought my post on the apples was gross - I have some information for you! I decided to do a little science experiment. As I said before, I looked on the Internet at the kinds of chemicals and waxes they put on apples and it was just disgusting. It did say that organic apples also use a wax to make them shiny...but it's a different kind of wax. My friend Kim said I should I buy organic apples and let them sit in the veggie wash to see what happens.

That is exactly what I did today. Again, I let them stay in the wash at least an hour....and guess what? Absolutely nothing came off of them. They looked like the exact same beautiful apples I bought. This Happy Housewife is hooked....I'm only buying organic apples from now on! Oh...and my mom (who is always up-to-date with anything to do with health food) told me that on a list of the top 10 produce items you should buy organic - apples were number ONE! No wonder. Happy eating my friends.

A New Blogger in the Family...

I would like to welcome my sister to the wonderful world of blogging!! She started her blog this past weekend and I would encourage all of you to take a minute to check it out and tell her HELLO (you know how we all love comments)!!! You can find stories about her, her husband Jeff, and their adorable dog Gus at:

http://www.thelavishlifeofgus.blogspot.com/

P.S. Today is also her anniversary! Happy Anniversary Jeff and Nicole!

His First Time Out...

Dearest Jaden, you must learn that hitting your sister - or anyone else for that matter- is not acceptable. After trying numerous things to teach you this lesson I finally decided it was time for your very first time out. I hope someday you understand that it broke Mommy's heart to see those tears streaming down your face, but lessons must be learned. I love you little man.

Splish Splash

Ahhh...the lazy days of summer are quickly coming to an end and I find that Eva, Jaden, and I are doing our best to enjoy these last warm days to the fullest. Is there anything better than splashing in puddles? We sure don't think so.



One day I showed Eva and Jaden how to make their voice echo by yelling into a large drain we have in front of our house. They loved it and often go over to the drain by themselves to shout and hear their echo. Sometimes I wonder if they know how often they make me smile.

"Children find everything in nothing. Men find nothing in everything."

--Giacomo Leopardi

Absolutely Disgusting!

I usually buy nearly all organic fruits and veggies, but at the grocery store this week the non-organic apples were such a great price. I also LOVE hard Red Delicious apples....and they don't always have that variety in organic...AND they are in season. So I went ahead and bought them. When I got home I soaked them in all natural veggie wash (as I always do with all of my veggies) but I accidentally forgot about them for a good hour. When I returned this is what I found...

Yes, that is the wax and chemicals that are sprayed on the apples to make them so shiny and perfect looking. I tried to be rational and decided that I had already bought them I would just scrub it off until I felt that all the harmful chemicals were off....but I couldn't get it off.
It is literally stuck on there. The only way I think I could get it off is to soak each side for at least an hour in that veggie wash. Again, I tried to be rational and I looked it up on the Internet to find out exactly what kind of chemicals are used on apples. Absolutely gross. Needless to say, this Happy Housewife is sticking to organic!

Simple Joy #9

You just can't beat snuggling with someone (or something) you love...

As for me, I'll stick with my husband.
So simple. So much joy.

"Enjoy the little things...for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
--Robert Brault

Forever Friends

This past weekend I was able to spend some time with a very good friend of mine. Jami and I met in college and lived together for 2 years. We have remained in contact since college, although we don' t get together nearly enough. It was so nice to just sit and talk with her, and it was equally as fun to watch our children play together.

Jami and I have always had quite a bit in common and I think that is part of the reason why our friendship has sustained. In college we were known to our friends as "the Jami(e)'s" It was always kind of funny to see people's expressions when they realized, not only were we roommates, but our names were the same.

Then we would tell them that our middle names are actually the same too.

Oh ya, and our birthdays are 3 days apart.

Oh...and our husbands grew up literally 4 houses down from each other.

And our weddings were 2 weeks apart (and yes, we were in eachothers wedding)

If that isn't enough, our dad's have the same name too.

Pretty funny huh?!! I feel blessed to have friendships, like the one I have with Jami. The kind of friendships where, even if you haven't seen each other in quite some time, you can quickly catch up and start up right where you left off. Friendships, such as these, are just one of God's special gifts that I am soooooo very thankful for.

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other gold."

--Girl Scout song (that I sang at age 8)

A few things I always want to remember...

There are a lot of pictures in this post, but my little ones are doing a lot of things that I always want to remember. The days seem to be flying by and it's important to me to forever cherish them. Enjoy a little slice of our life lately...

I love our lunches together. We sit together and eat and talk. It's a special time to me.

Eva absolutely loves working in a preschool workbook I got her. It's something we do together daily and I think the special time together means a lot to both of us.

A self-portrait of the ladies of the house.
Eva, Jaden, and I love playing hide and seek. Eva and Jaden frequently hide together which I think is too cute. I always know where they are because they are giggling the whole time, but I always act like I have no clue. I snapped this picture right after I "discovered" them!
Jaden is now eating his breakfast by himself with a big boy spoon!

Jaden also loves Eva's cowgirl hat! He decided that real "men" wear pink!
Eva is forever helping me in the kitchen.
Jaden has got the hang of helping out now too...although we still occasionally dump the Cheerios!

"While we try to teach our children about life...they teach us what life is all about."

--Anonymous

Simple Joy #8

Yes, my friends, it is that time of year again. Starbucks is offering their Pumpkin Spice Latte. Ahhhhh....this little bit of heaven in a cup is only available for a limited time so I suggest you sprint to your nearest Starbucks and enjoy a cup for yourself. This Happy Housewife certainly will be getting her fill while they are around....and looking forward to the Gingerbread Lattes that will be here before we know it! Pure Bliss.

And yes, in case you were wondering I did position my Starbucks cup on our front walkway next to the flowers to take a picture of it. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was completely nuts. Oh, what I do for my blog!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

I will be the first person to tell you that I do not like spiders. I recently told a friend how I put on a brave face for my children when we look at spiders. I tell them that spiders are beautiful, we sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song to them, and I explain that they are one of God's special creatures. As soon as Eva and Jaden look away I can't stomp on that little sucker fast enough. Yes, spiders are on my list of things that make my skin crawl.

Until recently.

We had a rather large spider spin a web underneath our hummingbird feeder. This is very close to our window so we could see the spider closely and watch her spin the web. I'm not sure why, but I decided not to tear the web down. During the last week Eva, Jaden, and I have spent a lot of time watching this spider, and we have affectionately named her Charlotte.

We have watched Charlotte continue to spin her web. We have watched her catch insects in it. We have seen how she spins silk around the insects and leaves them in her web until she is ready to eat. We have even watched her eat the insects she catches. Eva was very excited one morning commenting that, "Charlotte is eating her breakfast while we are eating ours!!!!"

We have found that Charlotte's favorite place to sleep is under one specific flower on our hummingbird feeder and she curls herself up with her legs tucked under her. We've noticed that she seems to sleep quite a bit during the day, but is very busy with her web at night. I never, ever thought I would say this, but I am starting to really like Charlotte. She has become our friend and watching her has been interesting...as well as an amazing learning experience for all of us.

September 11th

There are some moments in history that it seems time stand still. My mom still talks about the day JFK was killed. I vividly remember Challenger exploding. I also vividly remember the day Princess Diana died (I am a huge Princess Diana fan...always have been). On those specific days I can often remember where I was when I heard the news, who I was with, even small details down to what I was wearing. It is as if the world stopped moving for a few moments in time.

September 11th will always be one of those days for me...as I am sure it will be for many. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was teaching. I remember the buzz around the hallways with the teachers, but not questioning what it was (my class was taking a spelling test and I didn't want to interrupt their train of thought). When I finally took my class to music I stopped another teacher and asked her what the "buzz" was about. She looked at me with an expression I will never forget and said, "Jamie, we are under terrorist attack. They are hijacking our planes and flying them into buildings all over the United States". I just stood there in absolute and total shock - my mind was numb and racing at the same time. I then walked over the the window in the hallway of our school and noticed how beautiful it was outside - a bright blue clear sky - and was in disbelief that something so horrible and scary was going on as I stood there. I remember realizing how many peoples lives were forever going to be changed and silently praying. The remainder of the events of the day are forever etched in my mind.

Every year on September 11th I'm reminded that life is fragile and that we must handle it, not only with care, but also with prayer. I know some day my grandchildren will read about September 11th in their history books, and to them it will probably be just one more page that they are required to read - no more, no less. I feel honored that I was here to see that moment in history - although it was a sad moment - it was a brief moment when the United States put all other differences aside and stood together with faith, hope, and love.

"I'm just a singer of simple songs, I'm not a real political man. I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran.

But I know Jesus and I talk to God and I remember this from when I was young,

faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us...

but the greatest is love."

--Alan Jackson's song "When the World Stopped Turning"

My Little Bowl Heads!

Lately Eva and Jaden have started a new fashion statement...wearing a Tupperware bowl on your head. Jaden started this fashion craze, and his big sister quickly joined in the fun. It has apparently been "hip" for the past few weeks, as that is how long we have been wearing them around here!! What cracks me up is that they both put the bowl on, and then they continue playing whatever we are playing as if it is no big deal...as if the bowl on their head is just part of their every day attire!! I love it!

"Only great minds can afford a simple style!"

--Stendhal

Go Green!

Matt and I are a little behind the times when it comes to going "green"....actually, it seems as if we have been living under a rock!! We've had very good intentions of wanting to recycle, reduce waste, etc. but we just never got around to it. My friend Jami gave me just the gentle push I needed through her own blog post to get motivated! Thanks Jami!

Matt and I finally bought some bins to recycle with (corny, I know, but I wanted it to be all neat and organized). Here are some other things we are doing:

• It is pretty amazing how often we would leave the house with lights on, the radio on , or even the TV on. Again, remember we seemed to be living under a rock! We are now very good at turning things off before we leave.
• We've worked on turning off the faucet when we brush our teeth.
• We make sure to turn off our children's nightlights in the morning (they use to stay on all day).
• I bought reusable cloth bags for the grocery store.
• I try to recycle the plastic bags I get from other stores by using them again.

When we built our home we did the following:

• Used Energy Star appliances.
• Had a Reverse Osmosis system installed (this really reduced water bottle use).
• Had energy efficient windows installed.
• Had our exterior walls made thicker to keep heat trapped in - reducing energy costs.

I know compared to some of you this list may seem pretty basic...but for us it is a step in the right direction!!! What are you doing in your homes to "go green"??!!

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world!"

--Richard Bach

My Nasty Little Secret...

Eva and I were cleaning out some of the toys today. When I am cleaning out toys with the children we always make a pile of toys that they've outgrown, a pile of toys for donation (or as Eva puts it, "to help children that don't have toys"....gotta love her), and then we organize the toys we are going to keep. Little do my precious little children know that I am consistently throwing toys in the trash as we clean. Oh, the agony if they knew my nasty little secret!! You know the toys I am talking about...the trinkets you get at the dentist office, party favors that have lost their luster, toys that are broken, etc. The entire time we are cleaning this mama is doing undercover operations to the kitchen trash like a seasoned Navy Seal. During my stealth missions I have to make sure I hide the toys in the trash waaaaaaay underneath all the other garbage because if Eva saw the toy, it wouldn't matter that it has been a good year since she played with it - it would become her new favorite toy (at least for the next 5 minutes). Funny how that happens isn't it?!

Simple Joy #7

The entertainment a simple box can provide is so much fun. Matt and I made a recent purchase and the box it came in provided our entertainment all night tonight. We made it a drum set (that is why they have the cardboard tubes), we made it a car (we drew a steering wheel on it), we made it a house, and it even provided a good place to hide for hide-and-seek!!! I love using our imaginations...especially when something so simple can help produce so many fun memories with my little ones. So simple...so much joy.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"

--Albert Einstein

Move Over Martha....

Good ol' Martha Stewart may have a little competition...with my 3 year old! Yes, Eva looooooves to cook and bake. She often helps out in the kitchen, and honestly enjoys watching cooking shows (she will actually ask to watch one). She has a kitchen set in her room and it is one of her favorite toys. I've often noticed that as she is cooking with her kitchen set she will be talking about what she is doing like they do on the cooking shows. For example, she will say, "Now I'm going to cut the green pepper" or "Just put this in the oven for 15 minutes".

We have a few sets of friends that are all experiencing some tough times right now and I thought they would each enjoy having a meal brought to them. This was a perfect situation for Eva to learn (yet again) the importance of helping others out, and she was thrilled at the thought of spending the day in the kitchen with mommy!! Together we made three large batches of baked spaghetti, 6 dozen cookies, and a large container of hummingbird nectar for some very happy hummingbirds in our backyard. The cool thing about this experience was that often Eva will cook with me and we'll eat what we cooked that night for dinner. This was different because Eva was with me as we delivered the meals to our various sets of friends. She was able to see the appreciation on their faces and I really felt like the idea of helping others sank in just a little bit more...it's such an imporant value to teach our little ones! So...move over Martha...next we may see Everyday Living with Eva!!

Mixing up a batch of our favorite chocolate chip cookies!

Getting the green peppers ready for the baked spaghetti.
Ohhh...just eying those yummy cookies....yes, mommy let her have one!
And then there is Jaden. Yes, Jaden loves to help in the kitchen too....the only difference is he enjoys helping himself!! He got in the cabinet, got out the cheerios, dumped them on the floor, and yes - he was eating them right off the floor. Does he look concerned?? Of course not. The part that made me smile was the look of accomplishment on his face! After taking the picture I explained to him that we are not to help ourselves to what we find the cabinet and I had him help me pick up the cheerios...needless to say he wasn't too happy about it.

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them."
--Lady Bird Johnson

A bit of inner turmoil

I'm going to be honest...I've struggled with my blog lately. I try very hard to make my blog a representation of my life, what I am doing, what my family is doing, and how I feel. Regardless, I am worried my readers may feel my blog has become a bit too sugary...too sappy...too optimistic.

I struggle.

I struggle because I try very hard to live my life seeing the bright side of things. I am an optimist. When things get crazy I remind myself that God is in control and like all things, this too shall pass. Why would I do any different on my blog? In a sense, I would be trying to make a conscious effort to make my blog more negative?? Does that really make sense? Do you want to read that??

On that same note though, I DO have bad days. I DO have days when I feel like I am going to pull my hair out. Days when I feel like I am not keeping my head above water and drowning in the responsibilities of being a wife and mother, as well as home responsibilities, church responsibilities, etc. So, part of me feels I should write about that more often. Would that make you identify with me more? I never, ever would want my readers to think that my life is not without its ups and downs.

I started this blog to record the moments I share with my children, as well as to allow myself to connect and communicate with others on various topics. I feel I am doing that, but am I doing it in a way that helps you or inspires you? That is equally important to me.

So, my readers, I am asking you. I am not offended by any and all comments (be anonymous if you wish). I have a lot of readers that do not leave comments, but you visit quite frequently - I would love to hear from you. It means a lot to me that you take that time to "visit" with me daily and I want you to feel it is worth your time as well!!

Sincerely,
Jamie