Rollin' in the Clothesline Money.

Can you believe that it's a full week later and I'm still just as jazzed about my clothesline as last week? :)

I enjoy the smell of clothes fresh off the line. My friend Nicole (another green-living chica) likes to say "clean does not have a smell." I wholeheartedly agree. Clean shouldn't smell like a field of flowers or mountain breeze. Clean is just clean. I have no clue why I just typed that other than to say that I love my clothes smelling like clothes. Just plain old clean clothes without a hint of "Fresh Meadow" or "Field of Flowers" or "Mountain Breeze" or "Fresh Linen"...you get the drift.

Another enjoyable thing about my solar clothes dryer is the fact that it saves money! The average electric dryer costs $0.36/load. By my calculations we've already saved $3.24. The cost of the clothesline was $13 so we haven't broken even yet, but will soon!

I was reading an article that said "only 20% of clothes dryers in Australia were reported as being used at least once a week. " Amazing. Then it went on to say that "F]figures from the USA Department of Energy show that around 90% of American homes have a clothes dryer, with the average family using it an incredible 400 times a year."

Wow. It's alarming how the US stacks up against other countries in certain areas.

Environmentally speaking, the energy consumed by a clothes dryer can be anywhere from 1800 to 5000 watts per hour, or 1.8 to 5KwHr. Given that 1.5 pounds of carbon emissions per kilowatt hour are generated in the production of electricity by a coal fired power station (give or take a bit), over a year this comes to a considerable amount.

Stepping off my soapbox,
Steph

Airing Our Dirty...err...Clean Laundry

Can you see our clothes drying in the hot Oklahoma breeze!? Yes, I'm overly excited. I'm being a big nerd about this...but I'M SO EXCITED! I did five loads of laundry over the weekend and never once used the dryer. I really got a kick out of drying my eco-friendly cloth napkins on my solar-powered dryer. :) (Hey, I warned you I was being nerdy about this!)

We also planted a veggie garden this weekend. Complete with:
- sunflowers
- cucumbers
- peas
- carrots
- spinach
- lettuce
- corn
- pumpkins
- garlic

We squeezed it all into this little garden box (Nick built it all by himself) so I'm sure we'll have to weed through some of the sprouts once they start coming up.


Mase helping Nick plant lettuce.


Mase helping me plant garlic.

A young orange from our new orange tree.

We also planted an herb garden. This is some of the yummy oregano, but we also have rosemary, dill, basil, and something else I can't recall at the time.

Mason is super excited about this strawberry turning

'plush red'. He just can't wait to eat it!

Until next time,

Steph

The Sheep Has Been Sheared

It was time. The heat is starting to set in, the hair traps the heat, the hair had to go. The sheep had to be sheared.

It always is a bit sad to cut his hair. So much of his personality is tied into the lovely locks. The other day after school he said "Mom, I think I'm probably special because I have curls." Aww...he's so cute we think we'll keep him around.

He looks old now, so grown up. I'm ready for the curls to grow back. There is something about the twinkle in his eye when he smiles paired with the curls that makes him irresistible.

The first rule of shearing is to offer a popsicle.


Nick's artistic take on the event.


How much could we get at market for this bushel of hair?


The new haircut prior to washing.

In other news his arm is getting much better. I took him to the doctor today and he confirmed a bee and/or wasp sting. Apparently Mase does not react well to insect stings. The allergy isn't so bad that he'll need an epi-pen but he'll likely have big reactions every time.

You can see day one here.

This is day two. You'll notice that the swelling has moved up his arm. At this point it was very tight and hot to the touch.

Side view from the morning of Day 2.

Side view from the afternoon of Day 2.

Day three....swelling is still there but had decreased dramatically. But, he still has a nasty bruised/red area from the venom.


xoxo,

Steph

Maquito! Maquito!

My poor baby, look at his giant arm! He was bitten by a 'maquito'.

We pumped him full of Benadryl and sent him to bed, here's hoping for a smaller arm tomorrow.

Preserve Fan!

Preserve: Nothing wasted. Everything gained.

I like green, being green and green things. Apple green, to be exact, is my color of choice.

Not sure how I ended up on the Preserve site the other day, but I did and boy was I impressed. Everything on the site is green (as in eco-friendly not the color, although they do have a lovely shade of pear {seen above} that comes as a choice for most products)! I decided to give them a shot and ordered a toothbrush and a razor. I can't wait to try them out!

The toothbrush is made from 100% recycled plastic. It comes in a plastic case that also serves as a travel case AND can be recycled after use. The paper inside the case was made from 100% recycled paper and can also be recycled. Same goes for the razor. My entire purchase, down to the envelope can be recycled and most of it has been made from recycled plastic. I'm on board. At this point my pear green 'green' toothbrush and razor would have to be the crappiest toothbrush/razor in the world in order for me to switch.

They have other fun things too, like kitchen gadgets and tableware. I'm surely going to become an addict. More on our new recycling adventure later...

Steph

Fun Fabrics and a Garden Tote

I'm a self-proclaimed fabric addict. How could one NOT be addicted to fabric? I love to order it, get it in the mail, adore the beautiful colors and dream about the glorious things I'll make with all my fabulous fabric! :)

Below are a few new fabrics I got in the mail yesterday and I must say, they are some of my all-time favorite prints! I need a new makeup bag for my purse, a new iPhone cover...what else can I make?

Also, now that vacation is over I've been warming up the sewing machines and tried my hand at this garden tote. One lucky, super-special viewer will be the proud recipient very soon! :)

It's a fun bag, one side has coordinating orange/hot pink fabrics and the other side has coordinating green/blue fabrics. I lined the inside with each color set as well. WOOT!

Off to sew....

Steph

Mother's Day 2009

Shouldn't every day be Mother's Day? I think so.

The boys were both very sweet yesterday. Nick made a big breakfast and Mase said "Happy Birthday!". I think he's a tad confused but I thanked him anyway and gave him a big kiss. :)

Friday we had a Mommy and Me tea at school, it was cute. The kids made crafts, like this beautiful flower and we shared cookies.


Another crafty flower by Mason, see his cute little picture in the middle?


Sunday afternoon we went to see The Lion King - what a show! Nick and I have seen it in Toronto twice, but this was Mason's first time. He LOVED the animals, of course!


If you know me, you know I'm not sappy. So, to be true to myself I won't fill this blog post with Mother's Day sappiness. But, I do want to write a little note to my own mother.

Mom,

Have I told you how much I love you? I wish you lived closer, I miss you all of the time. I can't express how much I enjoy our phone conversations or afternoons of silly back-and-forth emails. I love crafting via the Internet with you and planning Mason's next birthday party together. You make me laugh, you make me proud and somehow you still have the right words to say when I'm feeling blue. I can feel your hugs from miles away. Mason will be one lucky boy if I can be as good of a mom to him as you have been to me!

Loveyoumorethanalloftheindividuallettersonmyentireblog,
Steph

It all started with a mouse.

One would be hard-pressed to find a place more magical than Disney. A place where ice cream comes in the shape of a favorite Mouse, giraffes can be seen from your hotel balcony and little boys look at you with a twinkle in their eye and say "We made Disney AWESOME!" Yes, Disney is a magical place indeed.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

I will admit to being a bit weary after booking our resort stay. We stayed in the Wilderness Lodge last year and it was nothing short of amazing. I was worried I wouldn't love Animal Kingdom Lodge as much. Boy was I wrong! We originally booked a standard view room (parking lot view from the balcony) thinking we didn't care what we saw from our room... after all, we are rarely there. But, upon arrival we were upgraded to a savanna view room (for free!)! What a treat to see giraffes and zebras every morning from our balcony! The resort also has an amazing African-influenced restaurant called Boma. The food was eccentric, full of flavor with a tiny sweet flair. I fell in love. Not only do the smells of Boma captivate you but every day the restaurant opens around 4 p.m. with a ceremonial African drum performance. There were various kid centers around the hotel that taught about conservation and recycling with a hands on approach. As a parent, I greatly appreciated their eco-friendly ways! As if all of these things weren't enough, there was a super fun fire pit surrounded by giant rocking chairs that looked out to the animals, it was nice sitting there at night and visiting with the other visitors. We are head-over-heels in love with Animal Kingdom Lodge!
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM OUR HOTEL.

Magic Kingdom

We got to spend two full days at Magic Kingdom this year. Mase was thrilled!! He never stopped smiling, his eyes never stopped twinkling and he was quite the adventure seeker as well. He LOVED the Goofy roller coaster, got a kick out of the spinning tea cups and the Buzz Lightyear ride never lets him down. Surprisingly, we did quite a few things that we didn't get to do last year. The Jungle Cruise, Mickey's Philharmagic and going back to the park at night. Magic Kingdom at night is amazing! I've started a tradition of trying on lots of hats at Disney. This year Mase wanted to be in on the fun and tried on hats with me, we have lots of silly hat pictures. Nick was able to sit in the cart in front of us on the Goofy roller coaster ride and snap some amazing pictures. Ignore the 'goofy' look on my face and check out Mason's. He was having the time of his life!
CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM MAGIC KINGDOM.

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom (not to be confused with the Lodge where we stayed) is one of our favorite parks at Disney. We scheduled our Character Breakfast at the Tusker House this year and got to meet Donald, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy all dressed up in safari gear. The food spread was AMAZING... vast and yummy. Mase had a great time looking at the animals and was also able to ride the Killamanjaro Safari (he slept through it last year). We visited the Finding Nemo show and Festival of the Lion King again and loved them as much as last year. We spent extra time at DinoLand USA where they have an amazing playground area themed around all things dino-related.
CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM ANIMAL KINGDOM

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios was our adventure on Friday. We got to see a Playhouse Disney show live, meet Bolt and Rhino, Lightning McQueen and Mater. I thought Mase would pee his pants from excitement of meeting Bolt and Rhino! Last year the new Toy Story Mania ride had yet to open but this year we made a point to ride it twice. I'm not sure if Nick or Mason had more fun, my bets are on Nick though. :) Mel also tried her hand at singing into a paper mic in front of the American Idol backdrop. Good stuff.
CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Epcot

We saved Epcot for last and wanted to go out with a bang! After touring and riding all day we ate dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant which looks onto a giant aquarium. Mase LOVED it so much! We saw sharks, rays, giant sea turtles and lots of fish. After dinner we walked to a private boat we chartered. The boat ride was fun and a perfect end to a magical week. It took us on a mini-tour around some of the other resorts and then eventually stopped under a bridge at Epcot so we could view the amazing firework show called Illuminations. We had a prime viewing spot and to see the show from that point of view was amazing!!!
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM EPCOT

It's bittersweet to be home but we're already planning our 2010 trip!

See ya real soon!!

The Trougakos Gang