Friday, January 1, 2010

Resolutions



2009 has been pretty good to us, but we're very excited to see what 2010 will bring! And just as we always do, we've discussed our resolutions for the year. So without further ado, here they are:

Jude plans to learn how to walk and talk this year. Bennet will continue to expand his vocabulary. I'm working towards cooking from scratch more often. And Tim is going to finish a marathon.

As a family, we have also resolved to continue our quest to go green. This year, the adults are focusing on cleaning and eating green, while the children are going to work on playing green! Basically the boys are giving up battery operated, plastic toys in favor of natural toys that stimulate the imagination. Don't worry if you've given them toys like this in the past -- we've kept a box for rainy days!! BUt as for their everyday toys, we are making sure that anything they play with is constructed safely (no bpa, pthalates, lead paint, etc) and does not do the playing for them (bells, whistles, lights, songs, and buttons). It's certainly going to be a big change, but we all feel that it will help the boys expand their imagination considerably! If you are interested in going green with YOUR child's toys, I've listed several simple ideas and stores at the end of this post!

As I said, the adults are also going green. I am buying more organic and local food as well as cooking more of our food from scratch. We have a steam cleaner on it's way so that we can disinfect our floors and counters without the use of chemicals and I'm testing out different natural cleaning solutions.

Sooo...what's YOUR resolution this year?

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Books, videos, and non-toxic craft supplies are always a hit and easy enough for anyone to find, even if they aren't up and up with the green movement. Several web stores out there have done a fantastic job of stocking educational and natural toys. The go to stores for us include Jillian's Drawers (www.jilliansdrawers.com) and Oompa Toys (www.oompa.com) for young kids and Fat Brain Toys (www.fatbraintoys.com) for older kiddos. Haba, Plan Toys, Green Toys, Sevi, Sprout, Playmobil, Lego, and Sprig are all great brands too!

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