Christmas in July...DO YOU BELIEVE??

I just had to put in a little note.  Do you BELIEVE??  Without revealing too much -- Skyler and I had a "talk" yesterday afternoon that changed our future Christmas's for years to come.  Some of the stories and questions that go along with our "talk" are hilarious!!  Most of them start out with "but what about that one Christmas when..."  The topper is that when all questions were cleared and I told Skyler how much fun we had watching Skyler each Christmas she asked "Mom, did I ruin Christmas for you now?"  Awww, what a sweet girl, but absolutely not.  It sure will be easier this Christmas!!  I might actually get to bed at a normal time and I won't have to chew on carrots, and take bites out of cookies at like one in the morning any more...there are definitely some pluses to the fact that we had this "talk." 

Summer Break in Full Swing

The other day we took a break and went to the zoo as a family.  This was our first time visiting Niabi Zoo this year.  We used to be members when Skyler was younger because I took her to the zoo several times a month -- but now that she is older -- we settle for several times a year.  It has been so fun over the years to see all of the improvements made at Niabi.  We love the new monkey and giraffe areas!  It is also so fun to get to go in with the birds where you can hand feed them.  If you haven't been to the zoo in a while it is well worth the trip -- a lot has changed.

Those of you who do not live near us may not know, but we have had an INCREDIBLY wet spring.  The last I heard it is our 4th wettest in history.  So when it rains constantly -- you learn to have fun in it.  Below are pictures of Skyler.  She loves the rain no matter what and if it is raining -- you know she will be outside playing in it.

This is a picture of Skyler using our yard as a slip and slide.  Note:  There is no slip and slide underneath her.  Our ground is so saturated that she was able to run and slide on the grass for probably 20 feet at a time -- it was hilarious!

We have been very busy lately so I have cut way back on the blogging.  Paul and I built a deck for our neighbor all by our lonesome this past week, the Quad City Air Show was last weekend, I have been running the Bix at 6's as well as running in general, Skyler has had a lot of softball games (last night was all the way down in North Henderson), we went to the zoo, Skyler has had several 4H activities recently and we still mow our side yards and do other side jobs in addition to our regular jobs, I have also had the opportunity to help my friend by being her photographic assistant for several Saturdays (which is so fun), plus just regular life.  I will try to keep putting occasional posts especially for those of you who don't live nearby and we don't get to see you too often.

Hit 'N Run -- A Layout

Ok - here is my first layout in FOREVER.  I used my Photo Art Letters for the title "Hit 'N Run" -- which is exactly what Skyler loves to do.  She has taken great pride in being one of the top hitters on her softball teams for years now.  Go check out Megan Klauer's blog where she is kind enough to be offering a prize challenge to anyone who does a layout using my Photo Art Letters I have for sale HERE.  Megan will be doing a drawing for a prize from her "paper stash" choosing randomly from those who participate in the challenge.  The challenge ends on July 10 -- GOOD LUCK!

Scrapbooking Alphabet Letters

Be one of the first to use these awesome letters for your scrapbook layouts!!  Check the whole set out at my Etsy Shop Here -- You will receive a full set of all of the letters of the alphabet PLUS extras of some of the letters we use most often.

Tattoo Time Again

Last night was my third time sitting down to have Dee of The Blue Hue apply ink to my skin.  I have been wanting to get deer tracks for a long time but couldn't decide where to put them.  The other night I drew up these small tracks and decided I would just put them right above one of my other tattoos.  I am also now officially "marked."  Most of you know that Paul marks his tools for construction with a deer track so that everyone knows those are his tools -- so I've been talking and half joking about how I will be officially his after getting deer tracks on me.  Since deer hunting is such a part of my lfe -- it just worked perfectly.  The tracks will fade to match my "littleGrissom" as time goes on.  Paul also had an old tattoo finalized.  Skyler came and hung out with us (since she is with us wherever we go) and said she will be back when she is 18...I know - what great parents are we??

Staying Cool While Going Green Tip #5

The weather is starting to heat up and I am hearing that ever-present hum that means many people are running their air conditioners.  We have one too -- we run it also -- we just try to wait it out as long as possible before flipping the switch.  So far we are still the "open window people."  But with the humidity starting to creep up as we near summer, people with air conditioners would be silly to just let them sit idle -- after all, you got 'em to run 'em, right?  So how can we stay comfortable while still making efforts to be green?  Many of these tips are helpful whether or not you have an air-conditioning unit.

• Ceiling fans should be run ONLY when someone is in the room as they do not actually cool the air, they only circulate it -- so the fan's efforts are wasted unless someone is there to enjoy the circulated air.  Ceiling fans can make you feel up to 8 degrees cooler!!
• Table or floor fans should also only be run when someone is in the room.  If using table or floor fans and you do not have air conditioning -- place one fan pulling outside air in and another fan across the room blowing hot air out.  This will create a "tunnel" effect and the air in between will feel cooler.
• When night air will be cooler -- open windows at night and then close them before the day begins to heat up.  This works BEAUTIFULLY at keeping a house cool and is something we do regularly.
• Make sure your ceiling fan is set in the summer direction -- that means, that it is forcing air DOWN.  If it is in the direction to pull air UP, then it is still set in the winter direction.
• Hopefully your ceiling fan is "ENERGY STAR" rated as these are 50% more efficient than those that are not. 
• Turn your thermostat up a few degrees.  The typical household sets their thermostat to 78 degrees in the summer.  If you turn it up to 80 degrees you will use approximately 17% less energy.  Turn it up to 82 degrees and you will use about 31% less energy -- you get the idea.
• If you have an exhaust fan installed above your stove USE IT.  This will help expel some of the heat so it doesn't make your house warmer.
• Use a dehumidifier.  Keeping humidity levels lower will allow you to feel cooler even if the temperature isn't.
• Keep your air conditioning unit out of direct sunlight.  The north side of the house is the deal place for the unit to sit.  Otherwise, try to use landscaping such as trees or bushes to shade it out.
• As in one of my previous tips -- dry your clothes on the line.  A clothes dryer can heat up a house just like an oven can.  But if you don't run the dryer -- you are that much cooler.
• Wear light natural fabrics like cotton or linen as these allow you to stay cooler than many other fabrics.
• Sleep in the lowest level of your home to stay cool -- for most of us that means the basement.

Our next tip will be about meat...

Make Your Own Throw Pillows - Going Green Tip #4

Need new throw pillows?  Maybe you have a chair whose seat needs recovered?  Think outside the box.  Instead of going to your local fabric store to buy fabric -- or your local store to buy pillows -- do it yourself with vintage fabric and give some old fabric a second life! 

Here is a picture of a throw pillow I made a while back using a vintage grain sack -- but any old/vintage material will do.  I personally LOVE the vintage grain, flour and rice sacks.  All you do is:

• cut out two squares or rectangles the size of pillow that you want but add 1/4 inch all around for seam allowance.
• Turn your material right sides together. 
• Sew all of the edges, but keep a few inches of one side open to put your stuffing in.
• Stuff the pillow.
• Hand sew those last few inches - and you have a new pillow!

Now to fill this pillow, I used the poly stuffing.  I should have used an old pillow -- but I didn't have one at the time.  You could use anything soft such as wool or felt strips or other old fabric to fill the pillow and keep it green.

This pillow to the right is one you can find at Above and Beyond Designs for $90.  It is beautiful -- but you can do it yourself.  Notice how they made it into a pillow cover by placing buttons to close one side so that it can be removed from the pillow insert and washed -- great idea!  Below is my take on this pillow which I created and now have listed in My Etsy Shop.

Our next tip will be Staying Cool While Going Green...

The Fruits of Our Labors

We have been enjoying the fruits of our labor.  We've been picking strawberries daily for about 2 weeks and just recently the red raspberries have started to come on...mmmm.  Love havin' a garden to work in and enjoy fresh fruits/veggies.

Vintage Grainsack Pillows in my Etsy Shop

Check out my latest Etsy sales here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/EskayArt.

Going Green with the Grissoms - Tip #3

Recycling -- Anyone can do it!!  You don't need special tools or any extra money.  All you need is a desire to better the earth.  You can start out recycling very minimally and expand as your desire to do so dictates.  Skyler came home one day from Kindergarten and asked if we could start recycling -- and the rest is history...we were hooked.

The average American family creates 100 POUNDS of garbage per WEEK!!  Over 1 BILLION trees each year are used to make diapers!!

So, minimal effort people -- simply do the following:  Grab a garbage bag that you decide is only for recycling.  You can begin by only recycling cans and plastic items as these can be combined or maybe you want to start out recycling paper.  Time and effort involved -- just about zero.  Then, the next time you run to Milan or Aledo for groceries -- guess what?  The recycling center is right there (Milan's bins are just about 100 yards north of HyVee).  Again, time and effort involved -- essentially zero.

The expansion from there still requires little time or money invested.  You can get plastic tubs to separate recycling cans and plastics in one container, papers and cardboard in another.  That is what the Grissoms do.  The only time I invest is ripping paper labels off of soup cans, throwing the cans in the dishwasher or rinsing them and placing the can in one container and the paper label in the other.  Once you begin recycling, you will be AMAZED at the amount that can be recycled.  We have cut our garbage down by at least half -- easily!!

Every day I walk directly from my mailbox to my recycling bins and throw most of my mail in the paper bin.  Every milk jug, pop can, 2-litre pop bottle, plastic water bottles, cereal boxes, every box received in the mail, every clothes soap box or plastic container for liquid clothes soap -- the list goes on and on.

Are you burning your garbage instead?  This seems better than sending everything to the landfill, however, burning garbage can release dioxins into the air.  What are dioxins?  Dioxin is a known human carcinogen and the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals. A characterization by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of cancer causing potential evaluated dioxin as over 10,000 times more potent than the next highest chemical (diethanol amine), half a million times more than arsenic and a million or more times greater than all others.  So burning might not be the best alternative.

So will you join us?  The next generation will thank you for it and it will make you feel great that you are helping the environment.

Tip #4 will be about making your own throw pillows from vintage fabrics...

Going Green with the Grissoms - Tip #2

Going Green for us means spending a lot of family time outside -- especially in the timbers. Here are a couple pics of us Friday night after dragging 200+ pound logs about 100 yards to make Skyler's deer blind for this fall.  We set her blind up right below one of my bow stands that I chose for last year.  It turned out to be a great hot spot for deer -- so we wanted Skyler to be in the best spot.  Her blind turned out awesome!! Can't wait 'til her youth season arrives!!  This is our "step up" from a commercial blind that none of us liked being stuck in while deer hunting with her last fall.  I believe this will make it easier for us to hunt with her for many reasons.  Paul and I are much more able to use our senses when our hearing and peripheal vision are not taken from us like they are in our old blind.  This is more the style of hunting we are used to -- so it is a natural progression for us.  Also, as she has aged we believe that now she is old enough to be more "out in the open" as her movements are much more natural with each passing season.  We are hopeful that she will have an opportunity at a great deer or two this fall!!

Also -  a pic of Skyler with a dragonfly she caught.

Back to the "green" part of this post...having regularly entered the woods with Skyler since she was a baby, we have had to fight all of the thirsty little insects that want to bite a little person as well as us.  So here are some tips to keep yourself from getting eaten alive in your back yard or in the timbers:

The best GNAT repellant EVER is 100% pure vanilla (I make my own). Just a little dabbed around ears, neck and head works wonders. I will never use anything else -- it is that good!!  We have had days where we leave the truck, begin our walk in the woods, gnats begin to literally swarm us -- I take out my vanilla, dab it on, and they are INSTANTLY gone!

Now mosquitoes are a different story. We never have won the war with them -- and in the last week or so they have hatched out heavy -- I have the bites all over my body to show for it (I hadn't used any repellant for them yet, until Friday night). The following are some recommendations for keeping mosquitos at bay. I have tried Avon's Skin So Soft (again just Friday night) -- but honestly I haven't had much luck. I have seen several studies that prove that Skin So Soft only works for approximately 9 minutes (which rang true last night) -- so if you don't mind reapplying regularly -- I believe it is a healthier way to rid yourself of mosquitoes. However, the same studies show that OFF with Deet works for as long as 3 hours -- the more deet the longer it lasts. But since we have all heard the warnings about using Deet -- it might be worth giving the following a try:

Avon’s Skin So Soft (straight or mix 50/50 with rubbing alcohol)

Bounce Sheets (hanging out of a pocket or waistband)

Listerine (mixed 50/50 with household vinegar then sprayed all over body)

Vicks VapoRub

I have not tried the last 3 suggestions -- so go for it and let me know what you find. Now go out and enjoy the timbers -- no excuses!! :-)

Our next tip will be about recycling...