Melaleuca

At the start of the week I went to a dear friends home to watch a presentation on a company I had never before heard of in any context, Melaleuca. A company based out of Idaho, I had to travel to the other side of the continent to hear about it. Intrigued by my friends raving review and the way her face lit up whenever she had the opportunity to talk about the company, I was eager to hear the presentation.

Like many companies that rely on word of mouth advertising and short demonstrations to convince the onlooker that this is THE product to purchase, this presentation was filled with information that would frighten any good parent, pet owner and/or environmentally conscientious consumer into emptying their cleaning supply cupboards and every other area that may have "toxic" items stored (shampoo, hand soap, etc.) as well as getting rid of your generic vitamins (which according to the presentation typically don't properly digest in the human body and so end up in the sewer system) to all be replaced by Melaleuca's safe, all natural products that don't even have child locks they are so safe for children/pets to drink (not that it is recommended, but you get the idea).

As poor, seminary wife, mother of two, I have been to more at home parties than I care to admit and typical buy the least expensive thing in the catalog that will make me a supportive friend, without making us broke. But even this cynical woman found herself unable to even clean without feeling guilt. So, now, in addition to being a poor, seminary wife, mother of two, cynic, I am also the proud owner of a 1 year Melaleuca membership, by which I will be making my minimum purchase each month to keep it going and feel better about what my girls are exposed to every time I clean the house or them.

Why did I sign up you ask, after all the skepticism?

It is simple, when Allen and I looked at the facts of the cost per month, the fact that these are things we already buy from other companies, and now we don't have to panic if the girls decide to guzzle the glass cleaner or take a bite of the bar soap when we're not looking, it made sense.

In the coming months I will be slowly replacing my cleaners, soaps, vitamins, etc. with these products, and will let you know if they are everything they claim to be. For example, will the Sol-U-Mel cleaner really take out the Sharpie Lizzie so decoratively used all over my desk? Or, will Allen feel any different from taking Replenex their Glucosamine supplement? And maybe I'll even let you know what happens when a 1 1/2 year old eats the soap in the bathroom (though I don't promise anything :-) ).

I am excited to be keeping our home safer and helping the environment as well as supporting an exclusively US based company, by using my membership.

If I forget to let you know how it is going, give me a gentle reminder in the comments!

Okay, I am now done shamelessly advertising for this company.

Joy's of Living In Apartments

I realized that as a blogger the majority of my posts have consisted of lengthy rants, and pictures of the girls. Today I want to hear from you.

As an apartment dweller there are many frustrations and rejoicings that can be expressed about our living situation.

For example:

Frustration - loud, random noises above our heads and/or right by our front door that drive this mother of two small children, who are in bed long before 9:56pm, up the wall, with a sudden urge to find the noise and do whatever it takes to stop it.

Rejoicing - hearing the sounds of a familiar worship song being sung in Korean by at least 7 or 8 people who have gathered together below my feet to praise our Father above.

What about you? If you have ever lived in close proximity to others, what frustrations and rejoicings do you recall?

1001

I'm 1001 days old today! Which translates to 2 years 271 days and expressing myself as any good 2 year old girl would, with defiance, testiness and smiles in between.
Have a great day!

Love
Lizzie

I am not 1001 days old, but I am trying to be.
Love
Ellie

Thanks Sarah Krussow for the wonderful dress-up clothes. They are so much fun!

You Know You're a Mom of Smaller Kiddos When

So as I sat down to lunch with the girls I realized that I was wearing the same outfit for the third day in a row. Yes, I had changed my clothing at various points each of the three days, but always ended up back in this one. Why, you ask? Because it was cleaner than the clothes I had been wearing and it was matching, and I didn't have to go to the trouble of looking in the closet, because, yes indeed, it was on floor before me.

This little revelation led me to think of other things in my life that have changed with having children. Here is a very incomplete and overly generalized list that I came up with in the short time I have had to sit and type:

YOU KNOW YOU ARE THE MOTHER OF SMALL CHILDREN WHEN YOU--

*Wear the same outfit over and over because it is "clean"
*Can make mac and cheese in your sleep
*Consider it a generous offer when you are offered partially chewed on food, even if you must decline
*Can't remember what day of the week it is much less the date, but you do know how long until naptime/bedtime
*Hear a small voice say, "BooBees" and instead of scolding the child, you head to the refrigerator to get blueberries
*Find yourself saying the words poop, potty, icky and bye-bye more than you care to admit
*Know exactly what your children are up to purely based off the sounds they are making
*Have to chose between having a floor you can walk on or taking a nap
*Are able to write a list like this, but it takes 30 minutes because you spend 29 taking care of your children

I am sure there are many many more, but I think I am choosing the nap and I need part the toys like the red sea, to get to my bed :-)

Praises

We all wanted to say thank you to those that have prayed for Ma (Allen's mom) and her surgery yesterday. She is home recovering and has said that although it was a little more complex than the doctor had originally thought it still went well.
Get lots of rest Ma, and we will keep praying for your recovery!
We love you.

We Finally Found It

Over a year ago Lizzie received this pink Dora chair for Christmas. It has held up well, and she loves sitting in it, but of course so does Ellie. So, I decided with some money from our tax return this year we would buy Ellie one and end the fighting.

Unfortunately the task proved much more difficult that I had originally thought and I had all but given up until I found this purple chair at Walmart. The zipper seemed broken, but desperate times call for desperate measures so I bought it anyway.

Once home I became discourage after trying again and again to get the zipper to stay zipped. I gave up and put the chair away to be returned to the store at a later date, then I came home the other day to find that my wonderful husband had fixed it!

Hooray!!!

So, without further ado, the new purple Dora chair (being modeled by Ellie next to her fellow model in the pink chair :-) )

Hooded

With the cold weather still hanging on fast we have had to find some very inventive ways of entertaining the girls (and ourselves subsequently).

This one lasted for a few minutes, though not long enough to get Ellie in her ET-like state. (Hint: She is gray mound on the right)

Ellie was in this picture until she fell over trying to pull off the hoodie.

Memories From Long Ago

When I was little I took a sheet of stickers. You know, the kind you must lick first, but were free in the mail so my mom gave them to me to keep me busy...it worked, but in memory of that moment we have created a reenactment of the time long ago.

Take One

Take Two

Take Three (Note, we changed the coloring of this one to show you more closely what my childhood pictures looked like)

(Nana, I hope you enjoyed taking a walk into the past :-) )

A Poop Story

WARNING:
Some images in this post may not be suitable for general audiences and may induce a need to vomit if studied with any kind of understanding regarding the disgusting situation of the event.


With all the poop stories we have supplied to our readers the past couple of years, there has always been one question we have been asked over and over again.

So, for those that either
a) wanted proof
or
b) wanted to be totally grossed out while you laugh at our expense

here you go.

The latest poop story event:

Much

Lizzie's new favorite phrase is: "Thank you much!"