My mother is a music teacher.  A phenomenal music teacher (as in: loves her job too much to retire!  Zel is working on that one!) .   ONE of her specialties is Orff Schulwerk.  SAY WHAT? 

In her elementary classroom, there are HUNDREDS of Orff instruments.  She has spent her career purchasing them.  The kids in her building all learn to read music, play recorders, play drums, play xylophones, learn dances, recognize famous classical pieces…  I’m truly not just being Suzie Sunshine about it… it’s all very impressive (like many of you, my elementary music career consisted of singing out of textbooks).  I want Zel to have that kind of education.  Just in case the school doesn’t provide it… I’m taking care of things within my own house.

My mom's favorite (I’m guessing) Orff company is Peripole.  It’s based out of Salem, Oregon where I lived for 2 years.  One of the employees there, Cak, is a dear friend of my mother’s (Cak is originally from Pittsburgh and so they were Orff buddies for years.  Now my mom is single handedly ensuring that Cak has a job for the next 200 years.).

{psst: Click Read More and enter the GIVEAWAY!} 

I have written about my preference for the Thirsties Duo Wraps many many times.  I simply love them.  They grow with the child, but there are still 2 sizes so they truly are able to be work from 6 lbs- 40 lbs (well, Zel hasn’t hit the upper number yet, but I’m confident she could still be in her Thirsties.  Oh God, please don’t let my baby be in a diaper at 40 lbs.  Amen.).  I use my wraps NONSTOP and they still look brand new. 

When I was a CD (cloth diaper) virgin (blush), the saleswoman at my (then) local CD store (Mother Natures in Portland, Oregon) suggested that I go with the Thirsties Wraps.  The selling point:  LEG GUSSETS.  I pretended to understand why they were a big deal way back then (about a year ago).  You see, most CDs have elastic around the leg, but Thirsties has 2 layers.  So one is always snug (in a good way) against the skin and one is always snug against the inner diaper.  GENIUS. 

Earlier this Spring, right around Earth Day, I stopped by my friend MaryBeth's house.  She is one of those ladies who is overflowing with domestic advice AND she runs a Day Care AND she is always willing to lend me baby gear.  So, every time I stop by, I leave with a recipe, cooking tip, baby tip, etc...  Boy she makes me tired!  Anyway, back to Earth Day.

MaryBeth and her Day Care kids made their own laundry detergent, put it into recycled bottles (obtained by rifling through the neighbors recycling bins... if I have to put Zel in Day Care, I totally want her there!), and delivered it to every neighbor on the block.  HOW COOL IS THAT?

There was more than enough left over for her to give me a few cups worth and she offered to refill it for infinity... which she is also doing for her neighborhood.  Well, I LOVED it and begged to learn the process when she makes her next batch.

(psst:  click "read more")

My mom kindly asked me what in the WORLD Tag-Along Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday and now Friday Follow are.  She is my number #1 fan and in the hopes that there are other readers like her (not bloggers, just enjoy my posts), I'm gonna explain to everyone :) 

These "events" are tools that bloggers use to attract new readers and find new blogs.  I join the list of bloggers participating today and my website is added to the master list.  Throughout the next few days, I check out other people's blogs (which I may have never found if there weren't also participating) and other people check out my blog (and hopefully become a loyal reader/friend connect).

I'm getting ready to launch a BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA with some product reviews of Zel's favorite things and of course, every bloggers favorite... GIVEAWAYS!  Extra entries will be granted to everyone that receives LGM emails and/or is a Google Friend.  So do those two things today and all you will have left to do is complete the mandatory entry :)

My husband, Cob, L.O.V.E.S. to garden!  Every year since I’ve known him, he’s turned my yard into a garden.  A humongous garden.  A cornucopia garden.

I like to garden, but lack the discipline necessary to be successful.  You have to prep the beds, plant the seeds, water, weed, prune, pick, CONSUME, CAN/FREEZE.  And if you miss a day or two… your plants ripen and you’re left deciding if it’s worth it to CONSUME, CAN/FREEZE or just let it be compost.  Oi Vey! 

(psst:  click "Read More")

Today is my first day to pick-up our CSA (Communit Supported Agriculture)!  Looking forward to snapping a few pics of the process.  It's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, so though I'm never wordless, I'm not gonna go into details about our CSA... yet!

My first Tag-Along!  If you're new here, please say hello and tell me that you're from TTA!

For more info about the Tag-Along:  check-out:  http://tweepoppets.blogspot.com/2010/06/tuesday-tag-along-61410.html

Happy Tuesday :)

This LGM (lazy green mama) is a hypocrite!  I’ve been WORKING really HARD on exciting things for LGM!  In a few weeks, I’m launching a BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA in honor of Zel’s 1st Birthday.  I’ll be highlighting some of my favorite lazy green items and offering… you guessed it… GIVEAWAYS!

For those of you who also spend hours each week entering giveaways, I’m attempting to make mine less time consuming and overwhelming.  So, you can do some prep work!  For each giveaway, there WILL BE a mandatory entry (the awesome companies sponsoring the event deserve some love).  However, you can earn extra entries right now!  For each giveaway in which you complete the mandatory entry, you will be given an extra entry if you’ve signed up to receive LGM emails AND an extra entry if you’ve joined the site with Google Friend Connect (I just added that option and it looks pitiful without any friends!).  Do those two things TODAY (or any time before/during the event) and I’ll count them as extra entries during the Birthday Extravaganza!

Additionally, in honor of Father’s Day this upcoming Sunday (gasp… did you forget too?), I will give double entries for each giveaway that a dad participates in for the next month!

Now I’m off to finally make my 20-gallon batch of laundry detergent!  I’m ridiculously excited about this task J!  (After a long nap, I will post the pics and details.)  WHO AM I?
 

Ok, maybe that’s a little extreme, but I also think that the typical American is a little extreme when it comes to washing their clothes.  I tend to follow a more European approach:  wash when it’s dirty and there’s no shame in wearing the same outfit 2 days in a row (or more!).  Well, that’s true when I’m home, but when I’m out and about, I do make an effort not to be seen in the same outfit day after day.  I wish I could be more Euro, but BABY STEPS.  That’s what this blog is all about.

When I was in college, I got to travel to Russia for a week.  I was shocked to see the administrators at the college I visited and the wealthy hosts I spent time with wear the same outfit more than once!  Since then I’ve spent about 2 months travelling Europe (I’m a very lucky lady!) and noticed the same thing there.  Granted, they don’t have (what my German brother-in-law calls) an “American nose” and sometimes took things to a ripe level.

Let’s find some middle ground and SAVE WATER while we’re at it!  I was flipping through the current issue of Real Simple and was tickled pink to discover this article:  When to Wash It:  The Summer Edition.

Click on the above link for the detailed article, but here’s a quick run-down for those of you who are too lazy (or busy!) to do that J

HOW OFTEN TO WASH:

Bras:   after 3-4 wears

Jeans:  after 4-5 wears (clearly this doesn’t account for all the baby goo that comes with the territory of having a less than one-year old!)

Dress Pants:  after 4-5 wears

Jackets and Blazers:  after 5-6 wears (better yet, stop wearing them… it’s SUMMER!)

Khaki Shorts and Pants:  after 2-3 wears

PJs:  after 3-4 wears

Skirts:  after 4-5 wears

Swimsuits:  after EVERY wear

Tops and Dresses:  after 1-3 wears

T-shirts, Tanks & Camisoles:  after EVERY wear (I’m gonna pretend I never heard that.  I follow the “sniff” test on these items.)