pizza with boys

My boys. Today they played with transformers, ran around like "superheros," and played pirates with underwear on their heads. Typical day. I gave them juice in sippy cups. They purposefully spilled their juice on their table so they could paint each other with it and put it in their hair. Typical day. For dinner, Zion wanted pizza. I put the yeast and water in the bowl and threatened the boys. "If this spills on the floor, no pizza for dinner!" I said as they looked intently into the bowl and I walked into the other room for a minute. No more than a minute later, I came back into the kitchen...just in time to catch Zion pouring chocolate syrup into the yeast mix. Chocolate syrup pizza! Yes, what could be better! Thankfully, he had not put much in and I could still use the mixture for our pizza. I made the dough, let them knead it (play with it), and set it to rest. Zion helped me roll it out as I got out ingredients for the topping. As I prepared the pan for the dough, Zion began spreading the sauce...on the still lumpy dough smeared across the counter. I had to scrape the sauce back off so I could finish rolling out the pizza and put it on the pan. We cooked the crust for a few minutes before adding the toppings. Then, I let him spread the sauce and put on the cheese. As the pizza cooked I gave the boys a bath. Had to rescue tissue from the tub and their frog shaped anti-slip dealy-bobs (yes, that's the technical term) went flying. They, by the way, never did get clean. Micah still had sticky juice hair when he went to bed, I fear! Typical day. ...what adventures will tomorrow hold?!

green me

For a while now, I've been trying to "green" up my life. Though I'm all for helping the environment, that has not really been my motivation. Mostly, I just want my kids to grow up pesticide/ antibiotic free. So, about a year ago, I switched from cough syrups and pain medicines (things I rarely used anyway) to essential oils. Slowly, I started using the oils (as well as other natural ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, borax, and salt) to replace other things as well...lotion, bath salts/oils, cleaning supplies, and pesticides. Essential oils kill germs- and keep them away- better than chemicals or antibiotics and since God made them with between 200-800 chemical compounds (many more than the 1 or 2 antibiotics are made out of) bacteria (as well as virus' or fungai) do not mutate with their use.

Yesterday I finally decided I will never again use the commercial cleaning supplies I have had just sitting around for the past year and got rid of them. Yesterday also, I bought castile (olive oil soap) for the first time and wondered why I waited so long. The stuff is absolutely amazing and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth, not sticky and dry like regular soap. My next project is to get rid of most of my plastic eating wear. With two little boys, I'm not sure how that one will work, though! I guess we'll see.