Easier for Children to Shop and Pay in Mom & Pop Shop?

Today we were in the store. My daughter had brought some money with her - $2. She wanted to buy a special treat. She tucked it in her little purse and even asked me if she would have enough to make her purchase plus pay sales tax. We grocery shopped and she carefully scanned the aisles for her special purchase. She selected something and asked her brother if he would also like a special treat. So she planned on purchasing two items and checked with me to make sure she would have enough plus tax. After completing our grocery shopping, we arrived at the register to pay. I let her pay for her items first. Aaah, she was so proud to put those items up there on the conveyor belt and pay with her own money! The cashier was real nice and friendly. She and her brother sat on a bench at the end of the register and waited patiently for me as I finished bagging and paying for my purchases. I thanked the cashier for being so kind and reminisced with her. I remember bringing my own money and paying for purchases often as a child. It seems our world is so fast today that there aren't as many opportunities to do so. Is that the case? Or is it just in the big stores?

I've Kicked Chocolate Out of My Life!

I am feeling GREAT!!! Just wanted to share. I finished reading Ultrametabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman. I have been applying his principles. Wow! He suggests using his book as a guideline and making the changes with which you are comfortable. He encourages eliminating sugar, hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup as well as white flour. He suggests eating foods in their natural state.

I've kicked chocolate out of my life!!! Who knew I could do it! I made sure my hubby knew that I gave it up for Lent and not to buy me any for Valentine's Day. God Bless him, he did not. I can actually say, I don't even miss chocolate now.

I feel motivated and healthy. I've made quite a few changes. His book made sense to me and I was ready for a change. I want to live a long and healthy life, grow old with my husband and see my great grandchildren! Plus I want to be a really good role model for my children.

In regards to exercise, I was feeling challenged. I don't belong to a gym for many reasons, but my son won't stay in the nursery/child area anyway. I was hitting some road blocks with exercise. I finally decided I will do an exercise video 3 times a week and walk on the weekends when hubby is home and can watch the kids. An unexpected bonus, I have more energy and I've been playing tag with the kids. My daughter runs fast, so it gives me an extra workout! I was able to squeeze a walk in tonight and afterward played some soccer with my son. Don't get stuck on the healthy living or the exercise. Find something that works for you. Think outside the box if you need to. Try hanging out with your kids and keeping up with them!

Beware Deodorants - Check Your Labels

Currently I am reading UltraMetabolism. It's a really good read. The author, Dr. Mark Hyman mentions that aluminum is a toxin and that it may be found in deodorants. I did not know aluminum could be found in deodorants! I stopped reading and went to check both hubby's deodorant and my deodorant. Hubby's was fine, no aluminum. I checked mine, which is new to me - Dove, I usually use Secret. The Dove came with a razor I purchased recently, so I'm using that. I checked the Dove - it contains aluminum. That's the main ingredient and only ingredient listed. It's full name on the deodorant is Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex GLY. Hmmm, I am going to throw that out. I'll check my usual brand in the store - Secret for it's ingredients.

In doing some more reseach, I found "Though aluminium has been identified as a neurotoxin[1], several studies suggest that aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly is not absorbed through the skin as readily as other aluminium compounds such as aluminium chloride. This finding would suggest a significantly lower chance of toxic effects associated with aluminium, though still unproven. " Click here for the website that provided this info.

Click here for a list of deodorants that contain this ingredient.

Update: I went to my local health food store and found an asortment of deodorants that do NOT contain aluminum. I happily purchased one for me and my hubby to try out.

Tax Rebate Update - Approved

The tax rebate was approved. For the most up to date information on the tax rebate, click here. Make a plan for your money. If you do not have a plan, please click here to learn more.

Is Cooking a Chore at Times?

Does anyone find cooking to be a chore at times? I really find sitting down once a week, writing out my weekly meal plan and food shopping list is a tremendous help. Need some help with meal planning? Family fun has their monthly meals for February listed here. I just took a peek at it. I noticed Sheperd's Pie is listed on there and we haven't had that in a while. So I'm adding it to this week's meal plan! I like getting some different ideas. Every little bit helps!


Also I took out my crockpot last week and used it to make a pork roast. It turned out really well. Hubby was very happy! It got me wondering - why haven't I used this thing in a while? I was discussing this with my sister yesterday. She didn't see the value of the crockpot. I love having dinner prepared and cooking early in the morning. It's one less thing to worry about later in the day. My dinners turn out really well in it - nice and tender. Then I'm left with one pot to clean (the crockpot) after dinner. Can't beat that!

No Sew Project - Thank You Stitch Witchery!

I just finished working on a project - a valance. I found some really nice material that I liked so I set out to make a valance with it. A very nice salesperson recommended Stitch Witchery to me. I had heard of it before, but other than that was not familiar with the product. I purchased it with my fabric and completed my project that evening! Wow, that stuff really works well! Just thought I would post it here for you all. It is a bonding material. You just place it between your fabric, place a damp cloth on top of it and then, iron! I will add, that if your cloth dries up, it's really important to dampen it again. Towards the end of my project, the cloth was dry and the stitch witchery seemed to no longer be working. I finally dampened my cloth again and my project was completed. If you are not familiar with this product, you may want to check it out. I'd love to hear any comments from anyone that has used this product.

Recycling Plastic Bags

Well I completed my pantry project and I'm happy with the way it turned out. During this project, I stumbled upon many plastic bags! Most of them are from grocery shopping. Now, I do not believe the particular store in which I shop has a bin to recycle plastic bags. That is my next project - to talk to the manager and find out on my next shopping trip. I have never seen one outside the store.

I sent an email to a local Mom's group I am apart of, asking for help in recycling these plastic bags. Someone quickly responded that a local supermarket (that I do not shop at) has several of these plastic bag recycling bins outside of the store! I was all too happy to drive over there the next day and take my plethora of plastic bags for drop off! I kept about 10 bags at home in the pantry and I put 5 in my van...some to use in the future for wet clothes (we visit the beach often) and others to use as a trash bag for the van. All of the others I put in the bin. Wow, that made a lot of extra space in my pantry too!

I am continuing my search for recycling the plastic bags. I was in another supermarket today very close to my home and asked if they had a recycling bin for the plastic bags. The cashier did not know. It is a friendly place and she happily asked another employee. It turned out the answer was "yes." So I also found another location for recycling the bags.

This brings me to my next question: should I purchase and use fabric bags? If anyone does this, I'd love to hear from you! I just found this site about reusable bags and helping the environment. So I will be exploring it some more.