1. Take a nature walk or hike. Go to a state or city park and look for things in nature like pine cones, bird feathers, nuts, wild flowers, interesting rocks, nests, and perhaps specific bird and tree species. You can even make it a scavenger hunt by giving them a list to look for before hand. They will love getting some fresh air and connecting with nature. If you have a park with a creek or other waterway that is even better. Let the kids get good and dirty, just bring towels for your car!

2. Garden together. Start planting some seedlings indoors or prepping your flower and food beds. Check out a copy of Sunflower Houses or Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots at your local library and come up with fun gardening ideas together. Another GREAT book for spring break ideas is Don’t Throw It, Grow It. It has 68 window sill garden ideas that use kitchen scraps. Your kids could find several fun “projects” and they would be learning about gardening and recycling at the same time.

3. Read a book together every day. This is a FREE and yet very meaningful activity. Check out a dozen books at the library and plan on reading one or two together every day. Find a nice tree and take story hour outside for even more fun.

4. Donate unused toys and children’s clothes to charity or freecycle them. Have the kids help gather everything up so they can decide what they don’t need and then they can feel proud of their generosity in donating to those less fortunate. This is also a great way to get spring cleaning and de-cluttering underway.

5. Go to a museum, planetarium, or zoo. Spring break is a great time to visit the a science museum, children’s play museum, or a zoo. These are fun and educational places to go. Just pack a lunch or snack if you can to keep things cheap and healthy. It might be a great opportunity to get your annual passes as well…we will be. :)

6. Do some nature crafting. Ideas include making a birdhouse, a birdfeeder, a nesting box, or making fairy furniture using twigs, nuts, and grass. You could even make some fairy wings together and let them play woodland fairies in the backyard.

7. Go to the park and have a picnic. Let the kids help prep your outdoor feast and away you go. Lay down a blanket or sheet and eat. The kids can take time away to play on the playground if there is one. Break out the frisbee, kites, beach balls, and hoola hoops.

8. Have a movie night. Pick a family movie for one or two nights during spring break and make some wholesome snacks to munch on during the movie. Turn the lights off and light some small candles for ambience. Some movie ideas that my family would love are Old Yeller, White Fang, Zathura, Parent Trap, or Swiss Family Robinson.

9. Play a game together. In addition to board games and card games you can also go play paintball or laser tag. Bowling together is another fun game idea. Any games that brings lots of smiles and laughter is a-okay in my book.

10. Look for free or low cost community events. This may include story hour at your local library or a theatre production at a children’s playhouse. National monuments are often free to view as well. My family will be taking a trip to the Harding Memorial where former President, Warren G. Harding, and his wife are buried. They will learn a bit of history, give me some great photo opps, and it is free.

Have a great Spring Break!!

Sunday was gardening day! We began by uncovering the garden bed (approx 40×20) from all the leaves that accumulated there during the fall and winter. We kept the lawn leaf free but the garden got to sit and compost. Already I see that soil condition has greatly improved from last year… lots of black gold. We raked all the leaves to the outside of the bed where we will scoop them up with a mower later on today or tomorrow. Then we dug up some weed clots that had started growing. Tomorrow my husband will get the tiller out and till it several times until it is super soft. After that we plan on having a delivery truck come with a ton of organic soil because the soil that is there has a lot of clay beyond the first 4-5 inches.

While I was raking leaves away I spotted some of my strawberry plants. They have REALLY multiplied and they are growing strong! Last year we had about 8 plants in all and this year I see around 30 growing. Wohoo! Strawberries are my favorite food on the planet!

I also uncovered lots of tulips, hyacinth, and daffodils in the flower beds. They are  not flowering yet but very soon they will be. Ahhh…spring at last. :)

It doesn’t look like much yet but soon it will be full of food!

Strawberries!!!

My kids have really evolved on our journey to raw foods. A snack used to be some sort of processed granola bar, a yogurt cup, fresh popped popcorn, a Fruitabu organic fruit roll, or a couple cookies maybe. Now they seem very content with fresh and dehydrated fruit. My job is really simple now…just keep fruit on hand and sprinkle with some extra nutritional goodness like crushed nuts and seeds or granola. Pair this with a small cup of green smoothie, heavy on the greens, and we have an awesome nutrient packed snack. They gobble it up and ask for more until it turns into an early lunch. Keeping it simple is a lovely and healthy thing.

TGIF! Have an awesome weekend everyone!

I have sooooo much going on right now I can barely find time to catch a breath. And it will only get worse!

Today my daughter participated in a Trike-a-thon for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. She raised over $100 for the cause, which happens to be one of my favorite places to donate too. I absolutely love what they do and what they stand for.

This spring/summer will be busy, busy as she is also going to be playing T-ball and practice begins in a few weeks. My oldest son is looking for a soccer team to join. They both have swim lessons starting in April and this month my youngest starts going to a private preschool two days a week until the school year ends. My oldest son is also going to summer camp so he will be enjoying some time spent fishing, swimming, having cookouts, and hiking. It looks so fun I wish I could go. ;)

Before the end of the month we will also likely be picking up annual passes to the science museum, the zoo, and a water park attached to the zoo. Their summer of fun is looking mighty expensive! I always swore I would not be one of those moms who was running around like a crazy person taking kids to all their appointments and extracurriculars…what the heck happened???

In other news I may have solved my dilemma temporarily. I talked my husband into moving to Columbus, Ohio by June 1st. We will be renting a place so that means we will have to sign a one year lease and will be staying for at least a year. Now I just have to find a place I like that is close to nice schools and close to at least one of the metro parks. Being close to hubby’s place of employment would also be nice but honestly since we live over an hour away now anything would be an improvement. I am REALLY excited about moving. I also hope to make this an experiment in simple/frugal living. But disregard all the spending I just mentioned above…cause that doesn’t count k? ;)

Check out this video clip of my daughter. In case you cannot understand her she is saying “Mommy…. you are the DEVIL.” Yeah… in addition to me being the devil she calls her little brother Satan. I am so happy she is learning good stuff at her Christian school, LOL.

Moving on to interesting links:

I found a site with instructions for creating a Nesting box. It is basically a bird feeder made of garbage but instead of food it has nesting materials to help birds build their nests. It looks like a great project for spring!

When my current supply of eco friendly laundry soap runs out I will be trying my hand at making my own liquid laundry soap. It sounds like a very practical way to save money and I know what ingredients are in the soap.

A great article from Frugal Dad on The Cost of TV.

I found an awesome tutorial at Condo Blues on how to make a T-shirt quilt.

Have a rockin weekend all!

I have been a fan of Ecostore products ever since I tried out a vast array of their green baby products including the Nappy Balm and Sleepytime Bath Soap. This week I tried some of their green cleaners and was impressed once again. Not only are they a company dedicated to green products, they fully disclose ingredients and they will be coming soon to Meijer stores in the Midwest, so they will be readily available. This company started out in New Zealand so now the US can benefit from their quality and safety standards. I think it is pretty awesome and I like Meijer too.

Ecostore offers more than 100 products, and each one meets the most stringent environmental and sustainability standards. Their products are good for the user and for the planet or they don’t sell them. Also because they know how expensive it can be to buy natural or organic products, they have super-concentrated each formula so it goes a long way and you get your money’s worth.

This week I test drove the Dishwash Liquid and the Pure Oxygen Laundry Whitener.

The dishwash liquid has very nice, fresh scent and it was very sudsy which I like in a liquid dish soap. Ingredients include:

I would definitely buy it.

The pure oxygen whitener contains oil of citrus and coconut and other plant-based ingredients. It cleans and whitens clothes and does not contain any harsh chemicals that could irritate delicate skin. It did get our whites whiter I think but I cannot compare to something like bleach because we don’t use it. Ingredients include:

• Carbonates (simple mineral salts)
• Sodium percarbonate (oxygen producing whitener)
• Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
• Citrates (from citrus)
• Highly biodegradable surfactant
• Natural citrus oil

I am not a stickler for keeping whites gleaming white…I don’t place that much importance in it but I think this is a great alternative for those that are. ;)