Yow!

Over the weekend we went on a walk with our friends.  There's a beautiful trail that goes around a little lake just a few blocks from our house.  Here's Everett and Landon pretending to be snakes (they were sure they would find one in the grass):

Pretty!  I love living where there are more open spaces!

We've already seen some of these running around:

We tried to get them to pose on the bridge on the way home - I think this is the best one we got (note the hand holding):

Do these boys look hilarious or what!?  I love that they have matching Pinocchio jammies. 

Maaa-aaa!

That's right - goats!!  Our neighbors (the ones we buy eggs from) had a little emergency this week, so we're helping them bottle feed their three baby goats.  Today was our first day - 10 more days to go!!  I know that technically I am doing her a favor, but honestly it kind of feels like it's the other way around.  Especially after looking at these photos:  

Obviously, the boys are in goat heaven.  We go over twice a day to give them bottles and the whole REST of the day I listen to the boys rambling on about the goats, pretending to be goats or asking to go feed the goats again.  Pretty awesome!  

We also get to visit the hens who lay our eggs.  Parker loves the roosters!

Fun Videos

Here are two videos that really make me laugh (and my boys laugh too).  

This is Landon singing "Iron Man" with his ukelele.  Apparently our love of Disney movies, superheroes and musicals in general has made him think that every character has a theme song.  When he asked what Iron Man's song was, though, we had no clue...so Scott just made this one up:

And this was one particularly crazy night where Landon and Parker were goofing around FOREVER in their room instead of going to sleep.  I guess they were making up this game:

Peach Festival

This weekend we went with some friends to the Peach Festival in Lafayette.  It ended up getting really hot and crowded, but we had fun for the first hour or so we were there!  Here are the boys digging into some cobbler:

Landon and Parker wanted to wait in line to do Pony rides and it was well worth it!  They loved it!

Last weekend the kids had their first sleepover.  Some friends of ours went out of town for a few days so we kept their kids overnight and the next day.  I have to say, it was very crazy having four children of similar ages in the house, but our boys loved having their friends over.  They especially loved our "sleepover party" with popcorn and a movie.  

Interesting...

My Dad pointed out that I was using the "Flouride Action Network" as a source, meaning that the information might be spun.  Well, before I posted that link, I searched everywhere on the web and found 10-15 sites citing that statement by Dr. Limeback - all of which were on natural eating or health sites.  They were also citing an article written by Barry Forbes that came out in the Mesa Tribune in 1999 (interview with Dr. Limeback).  So, why was it that I couldn't find these same articles/statements on bigger news sites?  I ended up finding this in the Toronto Star (hopefully you like that source better Dad!), which discussed the same things mentioned in the other articles, but doesn't go into detail and this confirms the claims about research, etc. for Dr. Limeback.  I think his statement and the article are legitimate, but why aren't we seeing it in more mainstream sites??  I did find that many cities around the US and Canada are re-voting on the issue of fluoridation and that some have voted against it, only to be hammered by huge campaigns by the ADA to turn over the vote (sometimes successful, sometimes not).  Why is the ADA so bent on keeping fluoridation when there's so much research coming out that is saying that (even if it's not as harmful as some people are suggesting), it's certainly not as beneficial as we thought?  So strange...  Let me know what you think!

Day of Research

Well, today I decided to do some research on a few things that have been bugging me (mostly things I've heard on podcasts lately) and my findings were both good and very, very scarily bad.  First, here's the bad:

FLUORIDE

Let me first say that I have totally made fun of the whole conspiracy theory about fluoride and the people who believe it (as in: a lot of people who live in Utah where their water supply is not fluoridated).  I have to take that back now after looking at the research!  I listened to a recent "Stuff You Should Know" podcast and was appalled at some of the things they quoted.  After looking into it, I was even more appalled to realize that what they were saying was true!  Namely: 

1. The research done to show that fluoride was safe in drinking water was done with pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride, which is not what many counties are using around the country.  Many are using direct bi-products of manufacturing (fertilizers, ammunitions, etc.) instead of the "good stuff", so to speak.  

2. People researching the negative effects of fluoride are losing their jobs or the research is being stunted because of "National Security" (fluoride is a major component of atomic bombs).

3. There are many studies out there showing that dental health has improved without the help of fluoride and that the risks of fluoride outweigh the small benefits that it can provide when administered correctly (and in most places it's not administered correctly).  See here and here - I had to include a Canadian reference for my family who are sure to think I'm a crazy hippie when they read this, and the last one talks about how the fluoride actually accumulates in our bones (ie: even though we're drinking safe levels, the levels found in our bones continues to increase as we continue to ingest it).  

Lastly, here is an article released by Dr. Hardy Limeback - he's a professor of Dentistry at the University of Toronto and the Head of Preventative Dentistry in Canada.

I called our county's water treatment plant and found out that they are NOT using pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride, rather it is silicofluoride which is one of the manufacturing bi-products I was talking about earlier (ie: scrubbed from the smokestacks).  Yikes!  They are only fluoridating at 1 ppm, but still - that kind of freaked me out.  I found this site which gave me something to think about.  If you have any info or advice, let me know!

Ok, good news:

HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE

Have you heard of this?  It's really amazing what Geoffrey Canada has been able to do since he started this and now, President Obama is pushing to replicate his program in 20 cities across America - it's on the 2010 budget.  Now we just have to see if Congress approves it.  I wasn't aware of his desire to continue this program when he was running for President, but he did talk about it in his campaign.  I am really hoping he's able to accomplish it!!  Now I just have to find a way to get involved in something like this in my own community...

Updates and Projects

Landon has taken to dressing himself lately - he's actually pretty good!  He thinks it's incredibly funny to put things on the wrong body parts...and let's be honest, it really is!  Here he is, ready to dance the spears:

We were VERY excited to find out that our neighbors across the street sell eggs!  We live on the edge of town, so there are quite a few acreages right across from us.  It's so fun to just go over, pay a couple bucks and get a dozen eggs from people we know.  Plus, they're pretty :)

A few months ago I made a few of these purses for Stacey, Tamsin and my Mom for birthdays, etc.  Well, the whole time I was making them I was thinking how much I wanted to make one for me!  Of course, now I can't afford to just go buy fabric, but this morning I decided to try making the purse out of a too-big pair of camo shorts.  Here's how it turned out:

I didn't have to buy snaps  - I just took them off the shorts - and I still had lining from the other project!  I added a back pocket to the inside too:

I love it!  I'm so excited it turned out and I can't wait to use it!  Next project: a knitting needle holder/case.  I'm making it out of an old pair of jeans and a shirt - I love having built in pockets so I don't have to make them :)

Lastly, this is what Parker has been up to:

No surprises here!

Birthday and Hike

We got to celebrate Uncle Ryan's birthday last week.  Landon decorated this card for him - he was so excited!

Unfortunately, Parker was sick so I stayed home with him.  Since Landon was sad about that, I put him in charge of pictures for the night (which he thought was so cool) and this is the one he took:

On Saturday we went on our first exploration in the mountains.  We went up through Morrison to this lovely "Lair 'O the Bear" trail.  It was perfect for us - not much altitude climb so the kids could really participate.  The best part was that there was a gorgeous creek running by the trail the whole time.  So pretty!

Here's my handsome man :)

After awhile, the boys got brave and wanted to take their shoes off so they could wade into the water.  Landon tried to catch the little minnows swimming by the shore - he even tried to convince me to let him use his sock as a bucket.  I guess we need to get him some "catching" equipment!

We ate our picnic lunch on a rock by the water.  Every time I try to take a picture of them eating, they always show me their food:

Another part of the hike took us into some rolling hills.  Apparently if you keep going, you eventually run into an old castle (that you can rent out for parties - I'm going to keep that in mind...).  We didn't go far because the kids just wanted to be by the water, but we'll definitely be doing this one again.

We've decided to try out one new hike a week - there are so many places to go that are within an hour of our house.  That's one of the things we loved about the Bay Area, so we're really glad to be here where that exists too!  In other news (Carrie and Liz you should be SO proud), I started running again!  I'm going out 4 days a week at 5:45am to run a lake near our house (about 1.5 miles).  I'm not at their pace yet, but hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to keep up!  I love how pretty it is in the morning and how alive I feel all day after I've got in some good exercise!

National Night Out

Last week our city celebrated "National Night Out" and it was so fun!  They centered the event around community safety, so they had all the emergency organizations there at the park (police, firemen, EMT, etc.) and tons of tractors and construction equipment for kids to check out.  Our boys loved it:

In the center of the park they were giving out free popcorn and cotton candy.  I gave the boys a bag of popcorn and let them go play.  When I looked over a few minutes later, they had both climbed up on this rock and were sharing their treat.  So cute:

They even had an EMT helicopter land in the soccer field.  It was really fun to see it up close!  Landon was a little nervous touching it though...

Scott makes fun of me for having silly faces in photos, but I swear this one was Landon's idea.  He LOVES taking crazy photos and then looking at them over...and over.  Oh, and I also just wanted to let you know that I'm not ALWAYS wearing this yellow shirt :)

Last week we also went to the Denver Zoo for the first time.  It has one of the coolest reptile exhibits I've ever seen!

Parker still loves the zebras and giraffes.  I think he wanted to climb into their enclosure:

We're having fun exploring our new community!!

Reading

This video warms my heart :).  Landon has taken to reading his favorite books to Parker (since he has them memorized) and Parker loves it!

Randoms

Now that the boys are older, we've been doing more crafts.  They both really love to paint, so I got them two little boxes to paint.  They love putting their treasures in here (especially their little tree frogs).

We've had some really great thunderstorms since we moved here and this was one of the best rainbows we've seen!  It was SO bright!

This is my very favorite way to watch a movie with Landon and Parker.  Landon cuddles by my stomach and Parker goes in my "nest".  I love cuddling with both of them at once!