Wordless Wednesday

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

Giveaway from Recycle Your Day!

Great news!

La Mama Naturale at Recycle Your Day is hosting a giveaway featuring One Mom and a Party!

For all you Moms trying to live a little greener, here's a chance to start planning a more eco-friendly birthday party. One Mom and a Party is your online source for fabric party supplies that you can reuse and repurpose. Check out the tablecloths, napkins, favor bags and bibs, all handmade of 100% cotton. You'll also find ideas for eco-friendly party themes and activities.

So check out One Mom and a Party to find the patterns you like then go over to Recycle Your Day to enter to win some eco-friendly party goodies!

Wordless Wednesday

A day at the farm

Elephant Poo Poo (yes, you read it right!)

I have to tell you about the coolest company! We all know about the benefits of using recycled or biodegradable products, but there is a company that is using elephant "poo" to make the loveliest note paper, greeting cards and journals! Really!

It's called THE GREAT ELEPHANT POO POO PAPER COMPANY LIMITED and you can visit them at www.poopoopaper.com. They tell you up front that they can "take the "oo" out of poo and invite you to browse their "poo-tique."

Take the time to read their "poo-load" of information about African and Asian elephants and the process by which poo becomes poo poo paper. If you're wondering how much elephant poo it takes to make a poo poo paper journal, they will tell you!

It's not the elephants in North America that are "participating" in this recycling enterprise. Their factory is in Thailand and they purchase their raw material (the poo) from local conservation camps and individual mahouts providing them with a modest income source to help cover the cost of elephant upkeep. A percentage of the profits from each item is also donated to elephant welfare and conservation efforts.

I was so impressed that I use poo poo paper for my One Mom and a Party product tags.


This is one of those times we can think globally and act locally so check them out! It's a terrific company, a great cause and a beautiful product.

Wordless Wednesday

ROAD TRIP !!!

"The Reluctant Environmentalist"

There's a great article in this month's issue of Working Mother magazine by Lisa Armstrong called "The Reluctant Environmentalist." If you don't already read this magazine, you can read it online by going to www.workingmother.com and clicking on the current issue button.

Lisa makes the point that raising our eco-consciousness is easier than we might think and she gives 25 quick and easy ways we can make some immediate changes that will make a difference. Even the smallest things can have a big impact like soaking your laundry (overnight or while you're at work), giving away unwanted items rather than throwing them away and cutting back on paper consumption by using those old t-shirts for cleaning - I recycled my babies' diapers!

Ever think of donating a tree? What a great idea for birthdays...donate trees as a gift or even party favors! Every dollar donated equals one new tree for a national forest. Go to arborday.org to donate.

And speaking of birthday parties, I must add one more easy way to make a simple change that have great impact: help reduce paper waste by replacing all those paper and plastic birthday party supplies with biodegradable plates, cups and utensils available at Whole Foods and companies such as Branch Home. Switch to cloth tablecloths, napkins and favor bags from One Mom and a Party. These items are handmade here in the USA of 100% cotton and instead of a garbage bag full of paper, you'll have items you can use over and over again.

Check out these websites and you'll be encouraged that by taking little steps you too will be helping to save our planet.

Not your typical Mother's Day

Mother's Day started out wonderfully. New photos of grandchildren, beautiful cards, funny cards, handmade cards. A handmade necklace and bracelet from Kendra and Kali that I proudly wore to church. A great barbecued beef brisket out at Will's farm.

Then things got a little crazy.

Something had bitten or stung my right index finger the day before while I was gardening. Ouch! A little tenderness and itching but not much more. Woke up Sunday morning and it was swollen...still nothing to fuss over. By the time we sat down to our barbecue, my finger was bright red and really itchy! Applied some benadryl cream and watched it get even redder. By the time we got home there was a wine colored rash along the inside of my finger and the skin was getting leathery, hot and bumpy. Soaked my hand in epsom salts and applied neosporin.

But this was just the side story to the big scare of the day! While at Will's farm I was taking pics of the sheep and my hand grazed the plastic fence.

"Watch out, Mom! That's an electric fence, you know!"

"Oh, yeah. I wondered what that buzz was!"

Two minutes later, Al was bending over the fence to pet the sheep.

"Watch out for the fence, Al."

ZAP! Al was thrown back about four feet and flat onto his back, glasses flying. Sounds scary but was even scarier knowing that Al has had two heart attacks and a stroke, no use of his right arm and precarious balance at the best of times. We located his glasses but now we had to get him upright, which meant he had to roll onto his "good" side then up onto his knees before we could help him. He seemed okay (although some nasty bruises showed up the next day) even though he couldn't say grace in English (but that's another story).

So my Mother's day ended up quite differently than it started.

Oh, and the goat. That's Jake, the farm's goat. He wasn't there on Sunday. But all's well that ends well. He's now the resident goat at the petting zoo at Fantasy Island.

And my finger...well it was worse today so that meant a trip to the doctor and some heavy duty anti-inflamatory and anti-biotic drugs. No, not a typical Mother's Day at all.

Strawberry Season

Well, not exactly, at least not here just yet. We're still waiting for some of the leaves to make an appearance! But the lawn has had it's first cutting of the year and we've had our first barbecue.

For the kids down in North Carolina it's another story. They've been strawberry picking and came home with 20 lbs of berries! When we decorated their daddy's birthday cake back in February I know that it was a challenge to get the berries onto the cake faster than they could eat them. I can just imagine how many strawberries found their way into those little tummies before they even left the berry patch!

Apart from eating them fresh and making jam, their mommy made these beautiful chocolate strawberries. She just melted chocolate and dipped and drizzled it over the berries. Great idea for a party! Makes my mouth water just looking at them!

Wordless Wednesday

sooooo tired.......

New Patterns from One Mom and a Party

I've just added two new patterns to my One Mom and a Party inventory.

For the boys, dinosaur camoflage favor bags that coordinate with a green, red and white plaid tablecloth.

For the girls, pink princess hearts and daisy favor bags that coordinate with a pink daisy tablecloth.

Click on my new button designed by Pumkin Patch Creations and check out other eco-friendly party supplies!

One Boy's Treasure

When baby Luc was born in April I gave both Luc and his big brother Tai memory boxes for them and their Mama to store their little treasures. I thought this would be a good way to collect those special keepsakes that would enable us all to recall those priceless moments in their young lives.

Tai didn't agree. Not that he opposed putting items of value into the box...he just had a different idea about what should be tucked away.

Now imagine that you are Tai's parents and you cannot for the life of you find your house phone or either of your cell phones. You are losing your collective minds wondering what on earth could have happened to them. Then you hear a faint ringing...coming from Tai's memory box! Inside were all the phones! It must have been like discovering buried treasure!

At 21 months, it probably made a lot of sense for Tai to collect what he knew was valuable and keep it safe in his very own box. Bet it will be the first place his parents now look when anything is missing!