"Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benfit and the use of man...

both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body an to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion." Docterine & Covenants 59:18-20

I did a really enlightening thing a few weeks back. In my classes at school we had been studying ecology and current issues related to it. First may I say that it is our personal responsibility to take care of this beautiful planet that we were given stewardship over...and if you don't like a particular political party or person you should STILL support programs that contribute to the health of our home.
Anyhow, I invited the Salt Lake County Landfill to my classroom and it was a very eyeopening experience. Do you know that a landfill is very different from a dump. Landfills are scientifically constructed to protect ground water and the air. The methods they employ to take care of our trash are innovative and very necessary. They even capture the methane gas from decaying garbage and use it to power 2000 homes in Murray. What was really fascinating and inspiring is the fact that they actually do not let the garbage decompose because of the environmental contamination that can result through the process. So what that means is that every scrap of trash that we pitch into our garbage cans goes straight to the landfill to be smashed and buried forever! They actually pulled a newspaper from the landfill with the publishing date of 1969 and it was completely readable!
Another couple inspiring tid bits of info...milk jugs can be recycled to make fake wood which does not weather over time. And soda bottles can be recycled to make fleece sweaters. The Patagonia company uses 25 2L bottles to produce one sweater. Tin cans come from borax which is mined overseas and imported, so don't just through away soup cans!
Now, this all brings me to my original post which stated that I haven't been a fan of cloth diapers in the past, but with this on my conscious I have been considering the more friendly poop catchers...that is if/when (let's hope "when")I have another child.
In addition, we have been recycling everything we can at home and it is amazing how little "trash" we generate. We set out our garbage can maybe every other week. It makes me feel good to know I'm doing my part.
One of my students stated it best on their unit test..."It is awesome that I can make such a big difference with such little effort." It really doesn't take much extra effort but we can do so much good! Try it, it's fun!!

The Easter Egg Hunt

Michael Anne had a great time hunting for and collecting Easter Eggs. You can see her basket full of beautifully colored eggs.
This morning the Easter Bunny brought her a toy chicken that winds up and then walks along pooping gum balls. She loved it so much that she used up all of the gum balls pretty quickly. Next she decided to fill it with m&ms. They are much smaller so each time it defecated it dropped several m&ms. Michael said the chicken had diarrhea and it tasted like yummy chocolate! ooh gross!!!

Our New Home

Here is a photo of the home we are renting. It is a beautiful home and we were incredibly blessed to "stumble" upon it! It is in a nicely planned neighborhood with its own lake, elementary school, community center, community garden, and plenty of trails for biking, walking, and many playgrounds which we have enjoyed a lot so far. We are very happy here.

Our Little Monkey up a Tree

We had a nice family get together for Easter today. After a super fun egg hunt & a delicous BBQ we went to the park to fly kites. Michael ran up to this tree, gave it a great big hug (that's my girl) and then decided she just had to climb it. It was fun watching her up there. It reminded me of my childhood days back in Panama, climbing trees, reading books while up trees, and falling asleep in trees. It was a beautiful day to be up a tree!

My little monkey (last summer)

Nicolle's Trip

I'm going to put up a link to my friend's blog. She is a wonderful teacher and is currently on a trip to Saudi Arabia. She was one of who knows how many teachers to apply for this opportunity but because of her dedication to her profession, to her students, and to her community she was one of only 24 teachers chosen to participate in this amazing experience.
I know most of my friends would be very interested in what she is learning and experiencing. So have fun browsing through her blog. There are some really cool pictures...including one of her milking a camel!
www.fogofteaching.blogspot.com

Stary Night by Mom, directed by Michael

Michael loves to paint on paint shop. She is quite good at it, although this one is one she commissioned me to do. The next one is one she enhanced to make a night of "shooting stars, lightning, and thunder."

Here is one of her very own creations. I think it is quite pretty.

A visitor, how wonderful!

Twas the night before Friday, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse (our rats however were noisily nibbling away). The monkey was tucked all snugly in bed with a cough and a runny nose clogging her sweet head. With daddy at work and I at the computer, I opened my blog to see what was newer. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a message from a friend so dear.
Pardon the silly poetry but this is totally cool! I've had a visitor!