How you know you are beginning to finally change

Friday night I attended an awards ceremony/talent show at a local Boys and Girls Club.  It was great, the kids were all very courageous in getting up in front of a packed room.  The staff presenting awards were great. 

It wasn't until the person in charge of the computer room came up to present awards for best girl and boy for that room that I did a double take and got a little mad.  He started describing the boy, who I am sure exhibits all of these qualities, as intelligent, focused, blah blah.  Then the girl, as caring, always focusing on others needs before her own, blah blah blah.  Now she may be this, but I am a little concerned with how it was worded.  Perhaps instead she is intelligent and always willing to take her computer time to help others be able to complete their task on the computer.  A natural teacher, and computer guru.  Wouldn't that have sounded better? 

I have been immersing myself in articles about girls, how they learn, boys, how they learn, differences, lack of differences, how girls are treated differently, how boys are not given enough credit for being traits we consider to be girl traits, you get the picture I hope. 

I have been catching myself telling my daughters things, and then changing my mind and rewording what I say.  I definitely focus on their looks (in their mind) too much.  I can't help but call them beautiful all the time, because they are, but what does that say about all the other brilliant things they do?  I have been making an effort to change what I think and say so that I focus more on what they do, how well they do it, and how totally awesome they are. 

I am not perfect, and it is difficult to change something that society is not yet fully behind.  I slip.  I do however, notice when I slip now and try to not do it again.  It will take time, I speak to my children the way I was spoken to, but somehow that is just not enough for my brilliant, go-get-'m, kick ass, totally awesome girls. 

A Chocolate Phineas and Ferb allergy friendly cake!

So this weekend was the birthday party for Big L.  Eight years old.  Hard for this mama to believe she is already 8, but she is growing into such a loving and responsible young lady I have no complaints!

Friday I set out to make the cake for our Saturday morning Phineas and Ferb Spa Party.  That's right, we combined Phineas and Ferb with a spa day.  Jealous?  So my big L.  The girls all put on avocado honey masks, placed cucumbers on their eyes, painted nails, did their hair, then ate healthy snacks, chocolate cake, and banana chocolate chip rice cream (homemade). 

Here is the link for the recipe I used: One bowl chocolate cake III.

Here is my modification:

2 Cups Organic Cane Sugar
1 3/4 Cup King Arthur Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons applesauce (unsweetened)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Cup rice milk
1/2 cup safflower oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

The attractiveness of this recipe include the one bowl fact, plus it uses cocoa powder, not chocolate squares.   I was able to mix it up before the two year old got into something she wasn't supposed to be in.  Mix everything together up to the applesauce.  Then put everything else in and use your mixer to mix for a couple minutes.  It is a VERY runny batter, but the cake cooks up nicely.  I actually doubled this and made two 13x9 cakes.  (It was a big party.)

Decorate as you choose!

 

I purchased the Phineas and Ferb portion online.  It has the tree trunk, and Phineas and Ferb, if you pull down a branch, Perry peaks out from behind the tree.  I think it turned out rather well, if I do say so myself!

Leffcutter Bees-circular cuts on my leaves

I have found two dead bees in my room in the past week.  When I sit at my scrapbooking/sewing table I can see bees flying up in to the beams over my bedroom window.  There is a crack on the outside portion they seem to like.  At first I thought maybe we had a hive forming.  That can happen from time to time, however, upon further inspection we could not see anything. 

In the meantime I have been finding leaves with circles cut out of the edges on my best rose plant and my cherry tree. 
See these leaves?  That is what my plants look like.  It turns out the culprit is this little bee.  

Here, I have been looking under leaves, all around the plant trying to find out what is eating my plants, and it was a BEE.  This website will tell you all about Leafcutter Bees.  

To diagnose my problem I looked in the book, What's Wrong With My Plant (And How Do I Fix It?).  It clearly told me it was a leafcutter, but I didn't find the rest of the explanation to be satisfactory, so I went online!

Now that I know, I agree with my husband that we should seal up that beam.  Then next season I won't have to deal with as many, and there must be quite a few of them, because they are eating a lot of leaves.  Also, I think it is rather cool that a bee can cut such perfect little circles out of leaves, but I really don't want them to hurt my new little cherry tree.  Next year I have plans for at least two more trees, so I don't want a big number of them!  Isn't nature awesome (really, I do believe it is)!

Corn Tortillas

Last week I decided to get off my lazy bum and make my own tortillas, I have been saying I am going to do this forever, but I never "have time".  Well, phooey on that.  It really doesn't take that much time!

 The hardest part is getting your dough right.  I mixed it up and let it rest for about 30 minutes.  Then it was off to the tortilla press.  I have a light weight press that I am not happy with.  I really need to break down and buy the cast iron version.  Mine were a little thicker than everyone liked, but I liked them!  I made some chicken tortilla soup to throw them into and it was YUMMY!

 I had a little extra oil in my pan which made my first tortillas a little fried instead of cooked.

However by the end I just had nice warm corn tortillas that were very good.  I don't ever want to buy store tortillas again, but Big L was not as big of a fan, so I will see how long they will put up with me.  Next up I will try flour tortillas, although that will have to wait until I am done with my diet, because I will want to eat them.  Speaking of diet, I am back on my diet as of Monday.  I lost 60 pounds so far, about 30 more to go. 

Laundry Detergent

I am out of laundry detergent.  Actually I just ran out and I had this premade from last week, but today is a good day to post about it because I actually USED it.  Can I just say, yeah oh yeah!

I used:

1 1/4 Cup Vinegar

1 Cup Baking Soda

1 Cup Washing Soda

1 Cup Borax

1/4 of my homemade liquid soap

Mix in large non metal bowl.  Place in vinegar then stir continuously as you add all of the powders.  Keep stirring until it flakes and crumbles.  Use 1/4 cup per load. 

I of course used an old pickle jar, but I may have to find a smaller jar next time! I used it today and can I just say, yum?  I mean, my clothes smell cleaner and feel softer without using a fabric softener!  The next test will be when I hang the clothes on the line.  I couldn't do that today I am trying to limit my outdoor time because our air is YUCKY right now.  I also need to make sure it doesn't bother the kids, but it is scentless, seems gentle, and has no chemical additives, so I have high hopes.

Walking in "Nature"

Where I live is surrounded by preserved natural land.  Sometimes driving in to town I see wild horses along the freeway (on the reservation, far on the other side of two fences).  When I go for walks in the morning though there is always more to see.  Smaller, generally, but more numerous.  This is my second week of getting up and out the door by 5:30 so I could walk without children.  I have seen a lot in the times I have gone out but I have not shared what I have seen with anyone.  It is like it is a secret between me and the dawn.  Something that we share together, but talking might ruin the magic a little. 

So I likely won't share everything I see, but some creatures tug at my heart a little differently.  I know that javelina smell, they don't see well, and they are responsible for eating one of my favorite plants (which I had the audacity to plant in the front yard instead of the fully fenced in back), but I still think they are cute.  Maybe I am influenced by that great children's book Josefina Javelina. 

However, this herd travels about our houses frequently, so I feel like I know them a little.  They had three little babies with them, and at least six older javelina. 

 Here is my instagram shot.  The big ones are all I caught.  Two little ones had already crossed the street before I could get my phone out of my armband.  What you don't see is that they had moved in between houses, and on the street before this, which I came down, they had knocked over a trash can and helped themselves to a morning snack.  There is one more baby but he was being slower and coming up behind the bush and tree. 

I tried to get closer and get a picture of the little one, but I swear this one was staring at me.  You can see him kind of coming up on the left in the photo next to it.  I know they can't see well, and I was in the middle of the street, but I still felt like he was staring.  Since there were little ones, and I did not feel like being charged by a javelina at six in the morning, I gave up on any more pictures. 

Still it was nice to be able to share space for a bit with a herd of wild animals, just out doing their thing, and thinking about how the neighbor will wake up frustrated and have to pick up trash, as we have a few mornings.  If I haven't made it clear, I like where I live, even if I have to make my husband pick up trash knocked over by wild animals. 

The only downside is that it was already 70 degrees this morning, and I just hate heat, so I will likely only have a few more weeks of outside walking before I have to move indoors for exercise. 

Body Gel-Scented for morning energy!

I am an evening bather, but I am starting to exercise in the morning, which means a morning shower some days as well.  I have been using the hubby's regular soap, but I am afraid it is really drying my skin.  I have been meaning to buy some body wash for awhile, but just haven't found one I want to use that is natural and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. 

So here is where I tell you how I made my OWN shower gel.

 I gathered up my olive oil soap, almond oil, vitamin E and two essential oils. 

 Plus my Eco Beauty book.  
I mixed the soap, oil, vitamin E and two drops each of rosemary and sweet orange.  It blends really well together and doesn't seem to have problems with separation. 

This time I washed out a finished conditioner bottle to put it in.  It squeezes out nicely and works well on my scrub brush.  The smell is awakening.  I wrote on it with Sharpie, but it appears that I should use a different label.  I put a warning on it that it has almond oil so the little ones stay away, but I like it so far.  It is nice enough that twice a day showers are not hurting my skin.