A good find...

as I continue on my quest to eat all natural foods..I discovered this. Ficoco is made from figs and cocoa...two of my favorite things! Although I love Nutella like nobody's business, I don't like the fact that it's high in fat. I spread Ficoco on one of those mini whole wheat bagels and it's Heaven on Earth. No fat and only 60 calories...and it's all natural! I found mine at Whole Foods, but I'm sure there are other stores that carry it too...

Where have I been???

11 days into the New Year with no post...I know, I know. But I have to say...we have been all recovering from colds here in the magnolia household. Harrison and Dan were hit the hardest. Harrison got his first EVER ear infection at 4 years old. I could hardly believe it!! Anyway, things have been great besides the colds...

Resolutions? How do I top 2008's resolution of running a marathon? I don't know...but I am going to start doing at least one a year. I have my eye on either the Disney (Goofy Challenge, Jen? I'm up for it if you are) or the Charleston Marathon, which may or may not happen. However, these are both in Jan 2010, so technically not this year....So I came up with a list of things that I'd like to do or change for this upcoming year...

1. Lose the remaining 5 lbs and be at my wedding weight...I would love to accomplish this!!
2. Be in the moment with my children...they are growing up way too fast. The twins will be two next month. What happened to my babies?
3. Continue to grow the photography business
4. Continue to eat healthy...leafy greens, whole grains, fruits, veggies
5. Try a detox cleanse..thinking about the Blueprint Cleanse
6. Work on getting rid of all the hormonal havoc that happened to my skin. I'm working with someone and am obsessed with Dermologica products. Trying to conceive, while good for having babies, not good for my skin. (i.e. mask of pregnancy is still on my forehead...)
7. Continue to run 4/5 days a week and strength training 2 days a week.
8. Have fun! Be positive!
9. More date nights with Dan....went to S.N.O.B. downtown the other night and then drinks at Cypress...WONDERFUL!!
10. Surround myself with good friends and family!!

Looking forward to 2009...I promise to post some Christmas pics soon!

"Bum" genius of an idea!

It's been almost 3 weeks since the twins started wearing cloth diapers and I have to tell you, it's not bad at all. Cloth diapers have come a long way. There are no pins, no leaks, and best of all no scraping. I use flushable rice paper liners with them, so all I have to do is flush the waste away. Simple as that! I wish I would have used them with Harrison. Think of the money and the environment we would have saved! I use the Bum-genius all in one brand and they are excellent! The boys look oh so cute in them too. I can honestly say that only one leak has occurred and I think something definitely went wrong there. So there you have it-I'm sold on cloth diapers and feel better that I can help the environment one diaper at a time.

Waste not, want not...

I am not writing this post to be preachy or judgemental at all. The main reason I write this blog is to let my children know more about their mom and to keep a virtual scrapbook of their lives growing up. One day I want them to read this and know that their mommy tried to make a difference in their lives and others just by trying to help the environment and to teach them that one person can make a difference....I am far from perfect though. I still have areas that I need to work on too. This blog is for me and my family, so if I say something that offends, I don't mean to, I write for me!

I feel like I am a new woman. I don't know when it hit me or how...I just feel like this past year has been one of new growth. Maybe it was because instead of focusing on myself for so many years about getting and staying pregnant, I have had a year to focus on my family and the environment around us. I want my children and their children to have a safe environment...and to honor Earth Day, which is on Tuesday, 4/22, I am writing this post.

I feel like we as humans are extremely wasteful. So over the last year I decided that this household would reduce our waste as much as possible and I feel like we've done a pretty good job of it. Here's some of the ways we've done it...

1. We do all of our bills online. This saves paper, money, and time! I think the biggest is time-it takes me under 5 minutes to do our bills with just one click of the mouse.

2. We do not buy water bottles. I drink all of my water from Sigg water bottles. After I found out how dangerous plastics were to the environment and the potentially harmful effects-this was a no brainer.

3. We recycle everything that can be recycled! My husband is now a convert and wants to recycle everything. Sometimes I have to take stuff out that he's put in the bin that can't be recycled (yet!)-like orange juice containers.

4. To help the environment, we use only phosphate-free detergents and those free of artificial colors and dyes, those that are biodegradeable and not tested on animals. I have also switched to hair products and make up that is organic, all vegetarian based and not tested on animals. I use the Alba Botanica brand of products. My hair never smelled better either.

5. As a family of five with three small kids, we needed to have a car that would fit 3 car seats. Sure, we could have picked a bigger SUV, but one of the reasons we picked the Odyssey was for it's fuel efficiency. I still feel guilty driving a big car, but for now this fits our needs best and I know it's better on fuel and energy than a lot of cars out there.

6. We cook at home often. As I've said before I am a self-confessed restaurant snob. I love to cook too. I would rather cook a gourmet meal at home than eat a chain restaurant anyday. Don't get me wrong, I love to go out to dinner. LOVE it, but only at local restaurants with really good food. This saves us money too! Some people say that cooking at home is more expensive than eating out, but if high-quality food is what you are aiming for cooking at home is always cheaper than eating out. Oh, we eat left-overs too!

7. I wash all of our clothes in cool/cold water. This was a no-brainer too. Clothes still get clean even if washed in cold water.

Now the things I'd like to work on....
a)still considering the cloth diaper thing-leaning towards DOING it.
b)my biggest time suck is the computer. This week I am aiming towards only 15-30 minutes a day on the computer. Enough time to check emails, favorite blogs and post. I need to spend my time more wisely like reading a book outside, etc...

Like I said before, we are FAR from perfect. But I feel like I actually LIVE my life better knowing that I am teaching my children to help the Earth and to be better people.

Call me crazy...

but I'm actually THINKING of giving cloth diapers a try with the twins!!! I just feel so darn guilty about throwing them out into the environment, plus by the time they are out of them, we would have spent a small fortune. Did you know it can take upwards of 500+ years for them to biodegrade? Maybe I'm becoming the tree-hugger type (I'll post about that later). I have no idea where to start, but there was just an article in my local paper about the benefits and how much easier they are to use now. Anyone out there have any advice or brands that are good? I'd love to know...they are now 14 months old, so I have a while before they will be out of diapers!!!
Besides, look how freaking cute that baby in that cloth diaper is!! All comments welcome and appreciated...and Dan I know we haven't even discussed this yet-but I may be saving us thousands, yes you heard right, THOUSANDS!!