Chop Chop Magazine

I could have sworn I'd posted about this before, but I did a search on my blog and it didn't turn up, so sorry if I'm repeating myself.  If this were a video blog you'd understand why I *might* not be on top of things all the time.

So Chop Chop magazine.  I heard about it on Twitter from Michael Pollan's tweet.  It's a healthy eating magazine targeted at kids.  I promptly forgot about it.  When I was at the library and noticed that they had copies to check out I was super excited!  I wasn't disappointed!  I was, however, surprised

Shut Up!

Those two little words changed my summer.  Let me back up.  My oldest child has a Minecraft addiction.   He plays Minecraft on the computer, while watching a YouTube video of someone else playing Minecraft on the iPad.  He talks about nothing but Minecraft and wears his two Minecraft shirts almost continuously.  Obsession.  Really unhealthy.  This weekend I came downstairs and found him crying in front of the computer because someone killed him when he was wearing his diamond armor.  (Not sure about what this means, but I think it's really hard to find diamonds and therefore probably took him a really long time to find enough to make the armor?)  That same day we were all going to run errands.  Evan called down for Caden to stop playing because we were leaving and Caden yelled, "Shut Up!" to him.  Of course, Evan apologized and told Caden he could keep playing his game.  No, wait, I got that wrong.  Evan got mad.  Not out-of-control-rage like I get, but Evan-mad.  Long story short, Caden is no longer allowed to play any devices (after much discussion game consoles are now included under the term, "device" at our house.)  until the end of the summer.  Minecraft is deleted from our computer and his iPod as well as the iPad.  He's going cold turkey.

I know this sounds stupid, but I was afraid to do anything this drastic, even though I knew he needed a device intervention.  I really thought it would be like denying a heroine addict his daily fix.  But it's not.  And I'm so much happier.  It's a change in him like when he started taking his "Focus Pill."  He's interacting with the other kids.  He's doing imaginative play.  He's helping housebreak Jack- a little.  He talks to me.  He's talking about Minecraft still, but I'm hoping "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" won't apply here.  I'm hoping for "Out of sight, out of mind."  He's unplugged.  I'm mad at myself for letting it get so out of hand that he's at a loss of what to do without his devices.  It's just became such a way of life for him.  I'm glad Evan took the giant leap and cut him off.  Way to unplug him Evan!  Being greener and a good parent all in one!

Some Big Energy Changes At Our House

When I talk about conserving energy, I'm usually thinking on a small scale.  I unplug the toaster when I'm not using it.  I line dry most of my clothes.  I wash our clothes on cold whenever possible.  I do the short cycle on the dishwasher and let the dishes air dry over night.  This, my friends, is not the case with the latest development at our house.  We're getting a new furnace and air conditioner and clothes dryer!  The biggest energy consumers in a home!

I've been getting these letters from AEP about how our home compares to our neighbors.  We, of course, seem to be using way more energy than anyone else in our neighborhood.  I attributed it to the fact that there are 6 of us in here and most of the other homes have only one or two.  Of course we're going to use more energy!  But I think it's more about the fact that our furnace remembers when JFK was shot and our air conditioner has a Nixon campaign sticker on it.  I'm saying they're old.  So we're modernizing.  And with that modernization will come efficiency.  Our new heating/cooling system will be 95% efficient.  The repair man suspects we're functioning on a 65% efficient system now.  I'm excited to see the change in my electric bill, which will be the only real way I can tell the difference (well, that and the house will finally cool off like it's supposed to!)

After the Christine Challenge I started in the winter, I'm starting to wonder if it would have made such a big difference in my electric bill had I not been using the dryer that Evan and I got for free when we signed a two year lease with our apartment..in 2001.  I'm going to continue to line dry (I'd like to do it outside if it would ever stop raining!!!)  but when I DO put clothes in the dryer (like my towels) I feel better knowing that I'll be using a more efficient machine.

Puppies and Death: Full and Empty

I tried to blog last week.  I composed many blogs in my head as I was doing other things, but when I sat down to actually write, I couldn't do it.  Writing it made it too real and too sad.  Abby's dead.

I'd say she was a good dog, but she wasn't.  She was rotten.  And we loved her for it.  When we came home the first thing she'd do was look for something to pick up.  She'd stand at the door with something in her mouth and wait to us to yell at her.  Once we did her tail would wag and she'd drop it.  Bad dog. But a good bad dog.  She was an old girl and when she threw up 10 times in one night, Evan took her to the vet.  She said Abby was in the process of dying.  She lost 5 pounds in a week and was losing her fur in chunks.  I knew she was dying for a long time, I just didn't want to admit it.  I tried to pass it off as her arthritis or her thyroid problem, which were both signs she was getting old, but I didn't want to see it.  In the end, Evan was the one who was with her when she died.  I am so grateful to him for sparing me the pain, but I also grieve for him because I was with Brodie and it was horrible.

We knew Abby was nearing the end and we thought we should think about getting a puppy while we still had an older dog to show the new one the ropes.  Well, looking at puppies quickly turned into applying to multiple rescues to actually get a puppy.  Unfortunately, we never got the overlap that we wanted.  Abby died the day before we went to the rescue to get Jack.

Evan and I both felt very guilty about getting Jack so soon after losing Abby, but Jack was never intended to be a replacement for Abby.  No one could ever replace her.  The thing that I love about Jack is that he's nothing like Abby.  He's Jack.  If anything, I see Brodie in him.  His puppiness brings back memories of a puppy Abby and Brodie.  Back when they were our only kids and we were first married.  It's funny having something from this life, the one where we've been married for 10 years and have 4 kids, overlap with our old life, where we were just starting out, just the two of us-and our dogs.

But enough about my tears and reminiscing!  We got Jack from Save A Mom Pregnant Dog Rescue in East Sparta, Ohio.  It's a fantastic rescue!  She only takes in pregnant or new mom dogs.  Jack is from Trixie's litter.  Trixie had already been adopted when we went to meet Jack, but we got to see some of his littermates.  We knew that we wanted to get a puppy, but not a PUPPY so Jack was a good age, 3.5 months (he was born on St Patrick's Day).  There were a few other litters there to choose from, but Denise, who runs the rescue, was able to tell us which dogs she thought we be a good fit for our family.  She led us in the right direction with Jack.  He has enough puppy in him to keep up with the kids, but he's really a pretty shy and calm guy.  We had him two full days before we even heard him bark.  He's only 14 lbs and Denise and the vet both think he'll only get to be about 30.
The only bad thing about her rescue is that unlike other rescues where they're all living in foster care, when you go to pick out your dog, you have to leave many more behind.  The day after losing Abby, it was very hard to walk away from the Rotty mom she had there.  Luckily, the Rott pups were only 4 days old so we weren't tempted to get an Abby look alike, although there was a litter of boxers, but they weren't ready to go yet and as you can imagine, my kids were ready to take their dog home NOW!  So Jack it was (I was actually kind of surprised that all of them agreed on the same pup!)  I'm still thinking about that Rotti and her pups and one of the other dogs that she had there, but housebreaking Jack and making sure he's not chewing things he's not supposed to is keeping my mind pretty occupied-thank goodness!  Check out SAM's Petfinder page to see all of the adoptable dogs. (Jack is still on there under Trixie's Boys.)
I feel good about getting a rescue dog, but I also feel good about getting a dog from this rescue.  We got Brodie from the Franklin County Animal Shelter (the dog pound) and I always felt like he was a true rescue.  Abby was from a rescue group, but she was one of the only litters they had and I felt like I wasn't really rescuing her because I know that puppies go fast.  Jack, on the other hand, came all the way from Alabama (and yes, I do hear a little southern drawl in his bark).  His mom was pulled from a high kill shelter by a good samaritan who thought she could find a local rescue to take the pregnant dog.  No one would.  So she kept the mom until she had the pups, thinking that someone would take them.  They wouldn't.  So she drove 10 hours in her new Mustang to meet Denise, who WOULD take them.  And that's the story of how a little dog, who's pregnant mother was about to be euthanized made his way to Canton, Ohio to be sleeping in the corner to the left of my table while I blog, exhausted from the 5 minutes he spent attacking a scrub brush, distracting me from the big, empty space on my right that used to be where Abby slept when I was at the table.  Full and empty.

Welcome Summer!

I'm still alive!  I know you were probably starting to wonder  since its been so long since I posted.  I didn't think my relaxing summer of no school, no lunch packing, no early mornings would be so busy!? We've been doing a lot at the North Canton Library, mostly programs, sadly, not as much reading as I would like.  I had planned to spend the summer at the pool, but when it's cloudy and 78, it's not really pool weather.  So we've been inside a lot.  I just put my laundry out on the outside dryer for the first time in a week!  It's been so rainy I've been drying inside.  As Vince says, "But it's summer!!!"  I agree, little man!  Since today is officially he first day of summer the weather seems to be willing to cooperate.  FINALLY it's warm!  

Baby Pepper

Baby Roma Tomatoes

The raised  bed with my squash and corn

My gardens are doing well at least!  The rain has been a friend to them, if not us.  I have little blossoms on my squash plants and even more little green tomatoes, a few little tiny peppers and even the beginnings of green beans!  I'm excited to see how everything does now that I realize I squashed too much in a small space.  Last year I had some extra room and this year I didn't want to waste any room.  I didn't and now it's hard to hoe because everything is so close together!  

Look at all that green!  Hope it all produces!

I realize here's not really one coherent thought in this post, but that's about how my summer has been going!  I'm going to repost the link to EWGs Sunscreen database.  Now that the weather is finally warm, check it out before you pick up your next bottle of sunscreen. 

Mark your calendar!

Roma Tomatoes

I've been working hard in my gardens, well, not that hard.  I weed once a week and I make sure they're watered each day, but with all the rain that's been pretty easy to manage.  I'm getting a few little blossoms on some of my plants which is getting me excited for summer produce.  Strawberries are in season right now and I'm excited for next week when Gervasi's  farmers market opens!  It's Wednesday from 4-7.  Get there early because stuff goes fast!  I was disappointed to learn that my favorite farm, Breezy Hill, is no longer going to be participating! They're going to continue to have pick up orders at Hazel's Artisan bakery, but I lied shopping at their booth.  It just felt more authentic then placing an order online and picking  it up in a store.  I understand why they're not doing it, they want to have a summer outside of work too, which is the downside of small, local, growers, but a small price to pay for healthier, fresher food.

The Canton Farmers Market is the following Saturday, and I'm looking forward to check them out again too since its been awhile since I've been to that one. 

As much as I complained last post about my local farmers markets, I have to at least be grateful that there are some close to me where I can take my kids and they can meet real farmers, who live in our community and grow real food.

The Lone Banana Pepper

Local Meat, Dairy and Produce

I've been talking to a friend of mine how joined the Fresh Fork Market and got her first bag of goodies this week.  I'm debating joining too and my online research has bumped me around to a few good resources I thought I'd share.

I stumbled across this one when I was looking for the name of the dairy farm that we drive by every time we go to my mother-in-laws house.   I didn't find the farm, but I did find the website of one of my mom's line dancing friend's husband's chiropractic practice.  (I think that's the relationship.  Somehow there's a connection between line dancing and this clinic.) It's a list of local meat, egg and dairy farms in the surrounding Canton area.  (Not cool for Cecilie in LA or Lindsay in Denver, but cool for those of us around the big city of Canton, OH!)

There's also a link to local farmer's markets.  I've been obsessively playing with the Weelicious app on my phone at night when the kids are "in bed" (oddly there is a lot of pitter patter, no, thumping, when they're supposed to be in bed.  Also Olivia is up.  Olivia is always up.)  I love how each of her recipes has a story with it, sometimes about the recipe, sometimes just about something remotely connected to it.  It makes it more personal.  She has tons of videos, ok, I blogged about this already and I'm not going to go on and on about it.  I could just imaging Evan's eyes glazing over if I was talking to him instead of typing.  She's always going talking about the great stuff she gets at her farmers market.  NOTHING like what I have!  I realize that she lives in California, which produces much more produce than Ohio, saying nothing about  the difference in the growing seasons.  I have all these recipes that call for yellow beets--I've NEVER seen yellow beets at the grocery store and the farmer's market isn't much better.  I wish that I could go to a REAL market.  Ahhh, enough complaining!  I need to be positive!  A few years ago I'd never heard of a farmer's market and now I have a few to choose from.  The food culture is changing and more and more farmers markets are popping up and the selection around me keeps getting better and better.  I just have to be patient!