fun, fast april

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It was a fun-filled month with activities, birthdays and visitors. This year is whizzing by sooo fast! We finally had the Blue Heron photographer come by to take photos of our house. The coffee table book will be out soon! Although the house "looked" clean, we pulled it off! The pool is also coming along, but what a pain it has been! Jonathan has been busy hard at work (along with those fun, 16-hour days) to open the new restaurant BRAND Steakhouse at the Monte Carlo Hotel. My college buddy, Armando, was in town. He and Mark stopped by to hang out and graciously brought over BW-3! The Bedfords had a Spring Party where Fallon and Jordan were able to hang out outside of school. Bonnie Wharton came over with Miss Lola who is now 4 months and the same size as Aspen.

allergy nation

I can't think of 1 person who is not on allergy medication or suffering from allergies in Las Vegas. Sorry to say, but if you aren't, you will be. Something in the air in Las Vegas will ignite it. I have not been on steady allergy pills until this spring. Poor Fallon and Jonathan, they started right before Easter and have been on Claritin. Fallon uses the occasional nebulizer to prevent any wheezing. In Fallon's class alone - most of the kids are on allergy meds. You can also tell that by the end of the week, the teachers are worn out from handling cranky, doped up kids. What is going on with our climate -- global warming? Some things we have been trying to do while these allergies attack our immune systems: Drink lots of water, keep the house dust-free as possible, doors and windows closed, invest in an air cleaner, shower nightly, shake out bedding, vitamin C, eat local honey, and get lots of rest. Kids especially need the extra zzzz's.

need a new camera

Armand was in town from LA and let me shoot some pics with his new camera. I miss the days of using my manual Nikon F1 and developing actual film the old-fashioned way. I was spoiled by the point-and-shoot digital cameras, but now I am itching to get back into real photography. I have been checking out (ahem...Mother's Day) the Canon SLR line. So much for the portability! I have not taken the girls to a real photographer (other than in-store studios). I feel guilty that my formal training in photography has gone to waste. Check out these pics we took on his mac gallery. Also check out his flickr page.

michaela is 4!

We celebrated Michaela's 4th birthday at Rainforest Cafe at MGM today. We had never been there before. Michaela got to invite her best buds from school. The girls had a blast - the face painter/balloon artist made the party. Thank you to the Manni family for inviting us all to lunch!

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aspen's tutu

The Easter Bunny got matching tutus for Fallon and Aspen. We needed a new solo of Aspen for the photo wall. She was a great sport considering she was so sleepy.

happy earth day - "planting the seeds"

Since the beginning of April, I've been teaching Fallon more about recycling , waste, saving energy/water, eating healthy, etc. I volunteered with the school's week of activities of planting, recycling and teaching why it's important to protect the environment. The moms came together to dig holes, plant bushes and flowers outside the school, while the kids got down and dirty, touched worms, dirt and experienced gardening. It was fun to watch them and I know they loved it too! I had also asked Whole Foods to participate by way of their very generous donation to the Merryhill kids (reusable bags, treats, coloring books, stickers and gift baskets of cleaning products and body products).

Even though we practice it at home on a daily basis, I underestimated the ability of a 3 year-old to grasp the idea of being green. Everyone has different values and impress them upon their children. My parents raised us Catholic and to be thoughtful, caring citizens. I appreciated these values growing up and get it more now as a parent. And now, as a parent, we try to teach our kids the same values along with green living. It's never too early to teach or to learn. Plant those seeds! I am very proud to witness the fruits of our labor especially when Fallon expresses her care for people and things - including the environment.

upcycling with capri sun

As part of Earth Day awareness, I collected over 300 of the non-recyclable silver drink pouches from the school this month and made some fun stuff. Fallon wanted to wear her pink Capri Sun belt. She was really proud to be wearing it because she drank all those pouches. I displayed the finished products at Fallon's school to "plant the seeds." The goal was to put out a visual message that might actually make some people think. It turned out people were very interested in making them at home, especially the belt and the zipper case!

recycle your old cell phone

Cell phones are recyclable! Many of the parts end up in pens, computer parts, etc. Turn your old cell phone or PDA into a free TerraPass. Through a partnership with RIPMobile, you can now turn old cell phones that have been littering your drawers into gift certificates redeemable for any TerraPass product. You can also send them in the envelopes you receive when you order from Amazon.

bye bye plastic bags

Whole Foods did away with their plastic bags today forever! It was a move to eliminate over 150 million bags Whole Foods distributes a year. As an Earth Day promo, I got a free canvas bag for being one of the first 100 customers to shop there. I hope this elimination from the store helps train shoppers to bring their own bags. Read more in this article.

girls just wanna have fun

Fallon has been living in her tutus the past few months. I must admit, I was never really into girly things until Fallon came along. She is my girly girl - all about skirts, tutus, frilly things and dresses. I just let her be herself so we went out today in her tutu, leggings and high tops - looking like a punk rock princess. She definitely turned some heads - especially with many little girls.

happy birthday ashley!

We joined Ashley at her birthday dinner at Roy's. We have not been there in so long and forgot how tasty it was. We got to catch up with Brian and Jason, whom I have not seen in 4 years! It was great to reconnect with old friends and wish my dear friend a wonderful birthday:)

fallon and michaela

Fallon's school friend, Michaela, came over while her parents are moving into a new house. These two had the best time with all kinds of activities. Mostly, they enjoyed art and imaginary play. They set up a Target store in the master bedroom where in aisle 17, you could buy a real baby Jesus in the Christmas section. Aspen was their willing and able prop for this. She seemed to not have minded. I had fun watching these 3-year-olds play!

my parents are still in the philippines

I've gotten some emails regarding the status of my parents. Yes, they are still in the Philippines. They are supposed to come back in June, but my mom is ready to come back. She has missed spring gardening and tomato planting the past few years (I miss it too!). Most of you know that my parents hibernate in the Philippines from January- June. Dad gets his fill of surgeries through various medical missions since he has been retired. He has been feeling great - not taking medication for his allergies or heart. Mom is enjoying having a maid and getting regular massages and mani/pedis. They are doing light traveling and lots of socializing. And of course, they are eating like champs. I'd say in a nutshell, they are enjoying their lives. Despite their good reports, I still worry about them and I miss them a lot. I look forward to their arrival back in the States. Fallon misses having Lola (Grandma) down the hall and we miss Papa's treats to the buffets. I especially miss their cooking! I am sure they are also missing Fallon and dying to see how big Aspen is! Hurry back! We love you!

springs preserve

Ashley and the girls met us at the Springs Preserve today. It was a beautiful day to go! It was very educational for us - so much about water conservation, desert landscapes and efficient living. The kids loved the playgrounds, sandboxes and open spaces. We got a family pass since it is a great resource for when we begin landscaping and researching solar panels.

recycled dog toy

Planet Dog orbee-tuff Recycled Dog Bone Toy. What other toy company takes their leftover material and makes productive use of it? We don't know of any. Planet Dog's Recycle-BONES are made "regrind" of 100% 1st quality orbee-tuff¨ material that would otherwise be discarded. Non-toxic, recyclable and rinses clean! I'll woof to that.

green-ish shoes

Cork and bamboo are popular choices for sustainable materials. How much better do you feel about buying "green" shoes? Even though I have no business looking at these fabulous shoes, I often fall into this shoe dilemma - "should I wear silver or gold?" This shoe takes care of that and it almost justifies buying these since you get 2-for-1, doesn't it?? And every girl needs a slammin' black wedge! Yeah to Prada and YSL for using cork and bamboo for their summer wedges. Barney's New York still reigns as best shoe department in my book!

happy birthday jordan!

And another birthday party this weekend...for Jordan Mulligan, who happens to be Fallon's "prince" at school. She had reported a few months ago that they had gotten married on the playground, but we never got invited. Anyway, what I love about living in Las Vegas is the abundance of party venues for kids. Today's party was at Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef. It's a great place for kids and adults. I saw Jordan's mom at school and she joked that we may be in-laws someday! Looking at these pictures of them almost makes me cry! Click to see larger.

repurpose capri sun pouches

Do your kids drink Capri Sun or KoolAid in a "fool's foil" pouch? Well, I tried to avoid it for as long as I could with Fallon since the pouches are non-recyclable (not foil) and billions of these pouches end up in landfills each year. But Capri Sun is at every party and in many a lunch box at her school. It was inevitable. We finally gave in - but in order to comply with Fallon's request, I wanted to repurpose these pouches. I had heard of companies like up and coming Terracycle, ecoist and bazura that take wrappers, pouches and other non-recylcable materials and turn them into something useful. I asked Fallon's school, Merryhill, to start saving these Capri Sun pouches for me so I can begin my repurposing project. I want to make these into fun things for the kids during Earth Week. If any of you drink them, send the pouches my way!

happy birthday emma!

Fallon's classmate, Emma Cornia, had a 4th birthday party at My Gym. What a great place to have a party. They had a blast. Thank you Margaret for the great pics!

on my iPod: missin' the 80's

I had an urge today to download some of my favorite 80's songs. What I realized is that I practically LOVED every song I came across from Madonna - Prince - Duran Duran - Bon Jovi - New Order - Cyndi Lauper - Elvis Costello - Journey! I even liked Def Leppard! Why was music so good back then? And so, I told Jonathan (thinking it was a shot in the dark), "If Elvis Costello ever tours, I have to see him." Lo and behold, he is touring with the Police and coming here in May!!! Gotta go. And then I proceeded to download every Journey song. There was many a Tuesday night during karaoke at BW-3 at Ohio State, I looked forward to the sloppy, chubby guy to stand up and rock out to Open Arms. Do you remember this guy, my fellow Buckeyes? He was so entertaining. I looked for him hoping he'd be on You Tube, but no go. I did come across the videos of the new Journey lead singer, Arnel Pineda, who happens to be Filipino. Yes, he can sing Steve Perry. After Jonathan and I enjoyed a few Journey videos and sang along to all of them, I said to Jonathan, "If Journey ever tours, we have to go." Lo and behold, they will perform at Mandalay Bay on July 18! Anyone want to join and relive the 80's with us? I'm also downloading Elvis Presley and Beatles to share with the girls.