Earlier this month my son turned 4 years old. This is the first year that I thought he would really remember what happened at a birthday/event, and since it was the first time in awhile both sides’ grandparents were going to be able to visit, I wanted to do something a little extra special. For…
If your milk goes a bit past where you like to drink it, consider making pudding. It’s hard to find organic whole milk in half gallon plastic or glass so I normally buy a gallon and do something with the extra if we have any. Just a reminder that milk and juice cartons are plastic-coated…
*The opinions expressed here are my own and I purchased these items myself. Last month my family was having a picnic in the park. We have never picnicked before as a family, we just take snacks into the park so normally my small U-Konserve containers are sufficient. Most parks prohibit glass, which is my husband…
We had our first ice cream cone of the year today. I recommend when you are getting ice cream or gelato to order it in a cone if you can so you can eat your “container,” and compost the hand wrapper and/or napkins. Most ice cream cups are plastic-lined paper and go in the trash.…
My neighborhood collects plastic eggs to reuse each year. Each year we hold a neighborhood egg hunt. See if there is a neighborhood organization, church group or craft organization that would be interested near you. Submit eggs closed to help the volunteers. Recycle broken plastic eggs in your curbside recycling if your provider will allow,…
I want to share what I do for dry shampoo. We were on a boil water notice here in Austin last week until yesterday so I was relying heavily on my dry shampoo with all the winter head gear. I get major oily hat hair with anything I put on my head which is why…
It snowed and iced a lot here in Texas last week. We were not prepared clothing-wise. Austin doesn’t get real snow, mostly ice when it does get cold enough, and our family does not participate in any winter sports. Because kids’ feet grow so fast and it also doesn’t rain that much here, we also…
This is a repost of my January 2021 article in the Mueller neighborhood newsletter, The Front Porch Flyer. In the world of zero waste, one of the big books is Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter. The book does a great job of balancing what’s going on in the world…
*Note on the use of the word Christmas: I try to use as many words as I can to capture and make available as much information as possible. Not everyone is going to know all the terms for something so I try and make sure I think of all the alternatives. At the same time…
My favorite R: Repair for a Little Playmate Igloo Cooler I’ve had this cooler since elementary school summer camps. I’m in my 30s so this is a quality product and holds a lot of memories for me. My son started playing with it this spring and he was doing great with it until one day…