City of Boise Anti-Smoking Public Information Meeting

The City of Boise is considering passing an ordinance that would prohibit smoking in public parks and along the greenbelt.  As a mother I feel that it is VERY IMPORTANT that this ordinance get passed.  I am so sick of walking along the greenbelt with my sons only to have to make a WIDE berth to pass people who are smoking.  I do not want my children to get lung cancer thanks to second hand smoke they breathe in at the PARK.  It is up to us to ensure our children's safety and well being.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE e-mail the mayor AND the council, CALL them, SHOW UP at the meeting on October 5 and let them know that we WANT them to pass the ordinance prohibiting smoking in parks and along the greenbelt; and hey, why not EVERY public area?  It would be so great not to have to ever breathe that in unwillingly.

Can you believe that since 2008 the city has only recieved 770 e-mails and phone calls regarding this issue?  Let's DOUBLE that in the next week.  Tell all of your friends.  Let's let our city council KNOW we WANT them to pass this ordinance!

mayor@cityofboise.org
council@cityofboise.org
For more information:
http://www.cityofboise.org/Departments/Mayor/NewsReleases/2011/page67505.aspx

Thank you ladies!  As mothers and parents we can fight together for the health of our children.

Ay yi yi

Time flys!  I can't believe it is ALREADY September!  Fall is just around the corner, and summer is gracing us with a few last days of warmth.  I have been getting into canning and baking mode, canning jars of raspberry jam, freezing our zucchini and even canning my very first tomato sauce!  This week Fred Meyer has their organic raspberries on sale 2 for $4.  That is a GREAT price for organic raspberries, and they make YUMMY jam.  I am anxiously awaiting the apple sales to make lots and lots of applesauce :).  What have you been making?

Recipe

My husband grew an AMAZING garden this year.  Our zucchini recently has gotten to the point of being big enough to pick and eat, and it is yummy!  I have been craving pumpkin bread for the past few weeks and finally got around to making some today.  I decided to incorporate our zucchini and it turned out DELISH.

Recipe:

6 egg whites

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

15 oz (1 can) canned pumpkin

1/3 cup applesauce

2/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 zucchini pureed in food processor w/ liquid drained

Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then mix together.  Add 1/2 bag of chocolate chips and bake at 340 for approx 40-50 minutes.  Makes 2 loaves.

Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting (1 8oz bar of softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup of butter, and 1 cup of powdered sugar beat together).

ENJOY!

Birthdays!

I LOVE birthdays.  Mostly because I love dessert and all things fun ;)  Birthdays in our house last the ENTIRE day (sometimes even a whole weekend!)  We do ALL of the birthday person's favorite activities and foods.  It is an entire day full of things they love!  My son is turning 2 next month and I would like to change it up a bit for him and do an actual 'party' for him after dinner, complete with games, prizes, etc.  He doesn't have very many playmates, so it will be just a small family party, and I need ideas!  I am thinking of doing a beach theme as we leave for the beach a couple days after his birthday.  Any cute suggestions?  What do you do for birthdays?

Trendy Chicks

Chickens are all over the news in Boise these days.  There are backyard chicken classes at Zamzows, at home shows, and books for sale regarding how to raise them almost every where I go.  Have you tried it yet?  My family and I are currently raising 3 hens.  We have had them since March, and it has been so much fun!  They should start laying within the next couple of weeks, and my husband is anxiously waiting.  I have to say it gives our backyard a new feel.  They are cooped in on the same corner as our garden is located and I love the 'country' ambiance of our yard.  I am loving our new 'pets'!  Have you jumped on the bandwagon yet?  They are surprisingly easy to raise!

Weekend Activities

This looks like fun!
Living Energy Festival

Camping

My husband loves the outdoors.  Before I met him he was an avid rock climber, snowboarder, boater (is that a word?), and camper.  That all changed when we had kids... it is pretty hard and frustrating to take infants on those activities.  I profess to love nature but have to admit, my distaste for bugs and cold overrides my enjoyment of most outdoor activities that last longer than a few hours.  However our boys are FINALLY old enough to take 'into the wild'.  My husband is thrilled, and I am a bit excited myself.  While I am admitting my displeasure for all things slimy, I may as well confess that I think the most boring part of camping is the morning/afternoon.  There is only so much hiking/river playing a girl can do.  Any suggestions of how to pass the time?  Where are your favorite nearby places to go camping?

Advice!

Alright Ladies, I need some advice!  My 1 year old (almost 2) has been biting my 3 1/2 year old.  The 3 year old cries and the 1 year old grins.  I have tried time out, taking toys, etc.  Nothing seems to work.  I have even tried the soap in the mouth technique my mom used when my sister was little... he just grins, walks up to us and laughs as he says 'bite you'.  Not sure what to do.... any one else have this problem?

Weekend Activities

This looks like it could be a fun, leisurely activity to do with the kiddos this weekend:
Boise Rec Fest

If you are up for a drive, this looks awesome!
Celebration of Flight

Date night?
Country Dancing

This looks great!  Wish I could find a bit more info on it:
Summer Star Party

Kids + Cleaning = Disaster

Ugh!  Venting moment!  ;)
Problem: My house is a mess, laundry needs to be washed, floors need to be vacuumed, hardwood needs to be mopped.
Solution: I clean.  Sounds easy right?  Right.
Reality:  I clean.  Toys get strewn about.  I clean again.  I mop.  Boys also want to mop.  We take turns.  Moping takes 5x as long as it should.  I vacuum.  Vacuum scares 1 year old, so he clings to me and won't let go.  I vacuum one-handed.  VERY slowly.  I wash and dry laundry.  I fold laundry.  Laundry basket gets tipped upside down so it can be used as a fort.  Clothes end up all over the newly mopped floor.  I fold laundry once again.  Laundry finally gets put away.  By this time, everything is messy again so process starts over.

Does this sound familiar to any of you?
Chocolate here I come!  :)

Summer programs

The libraries have some GREAT programs for the kids.  They have music and movement, craft days, and something for kids of all ages.  Go to Boise Public Library to find their online calendar and an activity that works with your schedule.  They also have a summer reading program to keep kids learning and reading through the summer....

Summer Project?

Need a summer project?  Have an old dresser lying around?  Make one of these!

Dollhouse Dresser

How cute!  Wonder how I could turn this into a boy- geared toy.... maybe a parking garage?  Love it!

Great American Backyard Campout- Saturday June 25

How cute is this??

Great American Backyard Campout

I think the boys and I will be setting up our 'tent' and having a backyard camping experience this weekend :)
S'mores, forts, and (vegetarian) hot dogs sound like the perfect way to spend a summer weekend to me!

Weekend Activities

Some fun activities to do this weekend:

Emmett Cherry Festival

and

Meridian Dairy Days

They both look like so much fun!

Enjoy your weekend!

Date night idea

My husband surprised me with the sweetest date night a couple of weeks ago. He set up the picnic basket with our fondue pot and supplies, candles, a bottle of wine, and some chocolate. He then took me on a late night date night to Julia Davis park where he set out a blanket and all our our 'picnic' items then we had a romantic dinner together. It was awesome! If you need any date night ideas, I highly recommend this one :)

Summer in Boise

One of the MAJOR reasons I love Boise is because of the summer! There are SO many outdoor activities to do within a short distance.

- The greenbelt (walk, jog, bike, picnic, throw rocks in the river, you name it)

- The foothills; Camel's Back park and the trails around it

- The RESTAURANTS; it is SO easy to go out to eat with kids when you can sit on a patio and easily distract them with things they can see from the table

- Lucky Peak; boating, camping, etc

- Floating the river (you can't live in Boise and not do this at least once ;) )

- The sno cone shacks! YUM

- All of the fun annual festivals; Art in the Park, Hyde Park Street Fair, Western Idaho State Fair, etc

- The Markets! Saturday Market, Bown Crossing Market, Meridian Market, etc

Have a fun and eventful summer!

Melting Pot Anniversary Special!

On June 15th and 16th the Melting Pot is celebrating their anniversary! There will be $5 entrees, $5 salads, $5 cheese fondue, $5 chocolate fondue, and $5 wine/beer selection. You do not have to get all of the courses to get the special price! Make reservations ASAP to make sure you can get a great price on some amazing fondue!! :)

Friday = Mega Swagbucks Day!

Don't forget to search online tomorrow to earn Swagbucks! I just earned a free $10 gift card to Starbucks by doing searches... if you haven't signed up yet, here is the link:



Swagbucks is a search engine (like google, yahoo, dogpile) that gives you points for doing searches... with those points you can get gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, etc.

Once you get the hang of it, check out my Swagbucks tips on the right-hand column of the blog to increase your odds of getting points.

Comments!

I would love to hear more from the readers of my blog! I would like this blog to become more of an "information exchange" blog than it has been in the past.... so if you have something to add to my posts, PLEASE PLEASE feel free to comment :)

Vacations!

Summer is here! It is the time to go camping, hiking, and for outdoor activities! What do you and your families like to do for vacations? Also: how do you save money while planning vacations???