Our Day Today...

Here's something to keep you going until Red follows through on his PROMISE!

I'm buggin him...and I think we're getting close!

Stay Tuned For More Red Vonderneck Silliness...

Hello There,

Red is back in town and preparing to teach my children more woodsmen skills. He's hell-bent on teaching them to be REAL Alaskan woodsmen...and I'm not so sure I agree with his form of unschooling!

Please help with any words of advice - and stay tuned for a new vid coming out in a day or two :)

Hope you are well,
Jenn

Whaddaya Think?

This is something my husband Zach is working on...a series of totally ridiculous vids. If you like what you see, I suggest you subscribe to the channel and stay tuned for more...(also, if you pass it along, you'll help us create a popular channel on youTube!).

Let me know what you think :)

Stay-At-Home Papa...

I've been working a lot lately on my businesses and Zach has taken some time off from work to be with Blake and Nate.

It's fun and interesting to watch Zach take over my role (kinda) for this time. He's doing well. The cooking is quite greasy (and yummy mostly!)

Kids are happy - missing me a bit - but mostly enjoying the different pace that Zach provides.

The house is a fair bit messier, but WHO CARES? If my kids are happy...so am I!

No More Banana!

Here's Nate on his second birthday (January 29th) wearing his brand new "choo-choo" shirt from his Nana.

Couldn't resist including a cute pic to go along with my post...

Ok, today, besides being Blake's 6th birthday!!! Woohoo...snif snif...

Today also marks the first day of my commitment to not purchasing bananas any longer. ...It's been a long time coming.

And to be honest, I may have to start a support group (banana-lovers anonymous) or something like that.

Why the self-deprivation? Why deny myself of my beloved banana smoothies?

Because I've been hearing too much TRUTH about the banana industry and the environmental impact of eating the sweet fruit.

How can I possibly continue eating bananas in Southeast Alaska for goodness sakes, when I know what I do?

I don't know the exact stats (my brain is to sieve-like for that!), but I do know that a ridiculous amount of oil is used to produce bananas and get them to us fresh and yummy.

What's your opinion on this one?

Will you lend a supportive ear when I desperately need my banana fix?

Will you be next?

Funny how things work...

One of my best friends just started blogging - back in my home town Toronto, Canada.

She wrote an interesting post on green consumerism the exact same time I did! We're on the same wave length.

Check out her new blog, it's fantastic! http://greenistheword.wordpress.com/

Peace,
Jenn

Green Consumerism

I had an interesting conversation with my father-in-law the other day. We were discussing green products and whether they are in fact better for the environment than conventional brands.

Well, one very good point that Marcel had is best illustrated with a story:

His wife, my mother-in-law Connie, bought some garbage bags made of corn which were designed to be composted when put in the landfill. She felt she was making a good, ecological choice...until she returned home and read that the bags are made in Norway - a country that doesn't even grow corn, not to mention the thousands of miles and fossil fuel it took to get the bags to her.

So, Marcel's take on it was that perhaps green consumerism isn't so good after all.

I'm so glad we had the conversation because it really got me thinking about the issue. And what I came up with is that I still believe green choices are best. Of course NOT using garbage bags at all in the first place would be most ecologically sound, but that's another point.

The reason I think green choices are best is because every time we spend a dollar on a green company that is trying to do better than the conventional brand, we are casting a vote.

How long before there are composting garbage bags being made more locally if we all demand it through our purchases?

I think it's too easy to look at the downfalls of current green choices and forget how powerful our vote is each time we make a purchase.

As always, I welcome all of your thoughts on this one...

Especially yours Marcel! :)