Happy Earth Day

We have been trying to "go green" little by little over the last couple years. During that time I've made my way through a lot of green websites, so I thought today would be a good day to share some of our favorites.

One of our very favorite products is Method - last year we changed all of our household cleaning, laundry products, and air fresheners to Method. All of their products are non-toxic, made with naturally derived, biodegradable ingredients. You can order off of the internet, but the really great thing is that Target carries almost all of the Method products! We've also tried some of the Seventh Generation products. Most are comparable to Method - but I do like Method's laundry products better.

We love using these bottles instead of buying bottled water . Our latest purchase just came in the mail this weekend - great for packing a sandwich.

I've been trying to sort my way through this website to learn about safe skin care products. Speaking of personal care products - I love Burt's Bees and Jason.

And, here is just a great site site for general green shopping.

These are some of our favorites and I'm always on the hunt for more, so please share.

**update: I was just at my favorite natural food store and they had their reusable grocery bags 20% off, so I thought it would be a good time to give it a try - I picked up 4 of the ChicoBags . After loading up my groceries and carrying them home - I'm pretty convinced already that they'll be great!!

Send a net, save a life.

We first learned about a campaign called Nothing But Nets about 2 years ago when Greg was reading a column by Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated. Nothing But Nets is an organization that was formed to help stop the spread of malaria in Africa by distributing mosquito nets. Malaria is the leading killer of children in Africa, killing nearly 3,000 children every year. For just $10 you can buy a net and quite possibly save the life of a child.

Here is a video that talks a little more about Nothing But Nets.


Next Friday, April 25 is World Malaria Day - if you would like to help this great organization and buy a net, we have added a logo to the right side of the blog that will take you to the Nothing But Nets website to learn more.

19 Month LID Anniversary

We've been logged in 19 months today. This month the CCAA referred only 5 days - from 1/4/06-1/9/06. Rumors are still out there that things might speed up a bit after the Olympics...we can only hope!! Have a great weekend!

Shoot for the Clouds!

I guess you could say we have a sort of love-hate relationship with China... a country that is both fascinating - with their rich culture and history - and utterly baffling sometimes in their rationale (thus, why we can't even begin to understand what their logic is with adoptions right now).

If you haven't heard, what we're about to tell you may sound like a punchline to a joke, or perhaps part of the dramatic conclusion to Armageddon II, but no... it's real. Here's the latest head-shaker out of China:

In order to ensure the opening ceremony for the upcoming Beijing Olympics doesn't get rained out, China is apparently readying an arsenal of weapons [clearing throat] to shoot the clouds.

You can't make this stuff up, folks. Go ahead... read the article for yourself.

I guess we should realize by now that with China, anything is within the realm of possibility, however off-the-(great)wall. Kinda makes you wonder what China ISN'T capable of when they put their minds to it.

So, next time you spy a threatening cloud about ready to soak your outdoor gathering... unlock the gun cabinet, grab your favorite rifle loaded with silver iodide bullets (available soon at your local sporting goods store) and open fire on those stinkin' rain clouds. "DIE!! YOU FLUFFY SUCKERS!!"

Oh, China... what will you think of next?

By popular demand...

Fun with folding - the English version.