19. celebrate Theas Birthday

Oh my little girl turned Three Over the weekend.  She wanted to have a frozen Elsa party so we did.  At the last minute we had to move the party to Pizza Hut basement as my mom was sick and contagious.  I made her an Elsa cake, bought some Elsa party decor, and everyone bought her Elsa presents. She had a wonderful time.  And I followed it up with a surprise trip to Cincinnati for a Ferris Wheel And Carousel ride and night in a hotel.  It was so magical for her. She loved it.  (Also ps the Pizza Hut basement has been remodeled from our 1980-90s party days down there however it was great for a party because we had extra space to play).

Managed to get this family snap where everyone is looking funny.

And Thea was so happy her little bestie karlee came she is her favorite friend from school.

Jones was glad to have Josh come too.  They played ninja turtles under the tables for quite some time. 

We also celebrated on her actual birthday with dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant where her server friends sang to her and she was “mortified”.  She refused to eat the treat they made her.  Oh my.  

Happy birthday to my fiesty, kind, generous and spunky girl.

33 - reducing waste

Another thing we’ve done to reduce waste around here is replace paper towels with reusable cloths.  We have two kinds these organic two ply towels and microfiber towels.  We are fans of both they work well as both napkins and cleaning up messes.  My mom is not really a convert she keeps buying paper towels but slowly she’s getting to like the reusable ones.

33 - Reducing Waste - Reusable ziplocks

Last year I purchased some reusable bags for snacks and getting things at the farmers market etc.  They were very well received especially by my kids who think they should use them for craft supplies and toys and crayons and their spare change.  So I added more this year too.  

I have a variety of brands my favorite is probably Planet Wise although we really like the bum genius, fitfresh pand Lanspirit as well.  Mostly my kids prefer the zipping kind as they can’t really open the silicon ziplock or the Velcro very well.  My kids also love the fun prints.  

I have tossed a few into the go bag so if we need a ziplock for leftovers or collecting rocks we have it.  

They are very simple to wash - although drying is a challenge I am putting them on the old bottle dryer so the water can drain off.  I have thought about making some but honestly since they are like $10 for 3 it’s not worth my time. 

We haven’t all together quit plastic baggies but we have definently made a dent in using less.  

FYI most of these were purchased on Amazon or at Target.  

Family photos

Today we went to the museum and Jones saw another family take photos with their timer and he asked if we could too.  This was the result.  Imperfect but yet perfect.  I should have made family photos a goal, I think I am unofficially adding it.  We need more pics of us like this.  

We also took this below one of our shadows I was watching the kids watch their shadows as we walked back to the car.  Jones is cracking me up