Fun with the Phone

Dave and I both got iPhones for each other for Christmas. Well, actually a few days before Christmas but who's counting? We've had a lot of fun playing with them, figuring out all the features and downloading new aps. You can definitely tell which parent is the one who stays home with the kids. I'll give you a hint. It is the one whose phone has an equal amount of apps for children as apps for adults. So now the kids are getting used to using the iPhone. But I have to say that my favorite feature is the nice camera. Our old phones had cameras but they were not as good. So, it has really come in handy in numerous situations. For example:



When you're so excited that it is your last day somewhere that you think you should capture a moment that has happened a million times before. Or...




On your Nth trip to an amusement park and forgot your camera, AGAIN. Or....



When you're at your neighbor's home for a children's Valentine's tea party and you're too lazy to run up the stairs to get your camera. Or....



When you're somewhere with your kids and you see someone famous but you don't want to look so obvious when trying to photograph them (Jennifer Garner with her daughter Violet). Or.....



You just want to document how much your significant other actually uses their iPhone!

Valentine's Day

Dave had a nice 4 day weekend and I had no births. It was a great way to spend Valentine's Day- together as a family. We're not usually into this holiday because it is so commercial and contrived in so many ways. But I think Dave and I were just both excited to go out on a date- without the kids as well as to have some down time to just do whatever we felt like doing. So we went out one night and celebrated a friend's birthday with her and her family and friends. And the rest of the weekend we had fun as a family. We made it down to the beach since it was about 85 degrees out this weekend. We let the kids play in the sand, walk the pier and then ate dinner at the end of the pier. They had so much fun. And so did we! On a side note, I am very excited that Mason seems to love the beach as much as I do. So now I have a beach buddy and Dave can't say no to both of us:)

Mason's first day of preschool

Today is Mason's first day of preschool. I can't believe the time has come. He has been wanting to go for months now and we weren't getting anywhere on the waiting lists. But we finally found a school where he could start immediately and that we liked. So we got all his school supplies and his uniform and he went today for the first day. He got all ready this morning and we drove over. As soon as we got in the door, he took off and started playing right away. He didn't even look back! I on the other hand balled as soon as we hit the door and all the way home. It may sound silly but he's my baby and has never spent a whole day away from me like this before. I was definitely more nervous than him! Willow and I stayed for about 15 minutes to watch him and talk with his teacher before kissing him goodbye. He hugged us and said see you later. He was fine! So we'll see him later this afternoon and see how it all went! He are a couple picks of him in his uniform and playing at school.

The Secret of Raw Milk

Last night I listened to a presentation by local organic farmer entitled "The secret of raw milk". And it is literally a secret because the FDA won't let him and don't want him to share this information. Did you know that numerous research studies have been done (one by Yale U that will be coming out soon) showing that raw milk is better for you than pasteurized milk?

Here's a tidbit: the current autism rate in the US is 1 in 90. That number was 1 in 2,500 just 18 years ago. And for the Amish in our midst, the current rate is 1 in 15,000. Maybe they know something we don't about the importance of living close to the land, minimizing chemicals, and trying to breathe smog free air?

It was an amazing description of the process of pasteurization and how it actually strips away or nullifies all of the good nutrients, immunities, etc that are in the milk. If you think about all the reasons that breast milk is the best thing for a baby and how artificial milk just can't quite meet up with what nature has created- it's kind of the same for cow's milk. Here are all these really good things in the milk in its natural state but we get rid of it all during pasteurization process. I have got some great info if anyone else is interested. I can email it to you as it's too long to put here. But something to think about....why mess with what God has created?