Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Zoe Can Sit Up!

Zoe can sit up on her own now! Such a big girl.






Sunday, January 25, 2009

Batteries


Here is a tip for saving money on batteries. Invest in a battery tester! When your electronics start to show signs of low battery, nine times out of ten it is only one battery that is causing the trouble. The other batteries are usually fine. But most people throw out all of the batteries and replace all of them - at a considerable cost. The cost is monetary and it is also at a great cost to our environment. I purchased my tester at Radio Shack for less than ten dollars.

The sad thing is that currently there is no way to recycle batteries. Currently, most batteries collected through household battery collection programs are disposed of in hazardous waste landfills. Even stores and chains that have established take-back programs admit that it often ends up in the trash. There are no known recycling facilities in the U.S. that can practically and cost-effectively reclaim all types of household batteries, although facilities exist that reclaim some button batteries.

Rechargeable batteries result in a longer life span and use fewer batteries. However rechargeable batteries still contain heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium. The use of rechargeable batteries can reduce the number of batteries entering the waste stream. The problem is that at the same time, it may increase the amount of heavy metals entering the waste stream.

I still say that rechargeable batteries are the best to use because unlike their non-rechargeable counterparts, rechargeable batteries can be recycled!

So in summary, use rechargeable batteries, check your batteries when your appliance is running low and only replace the ones that need replacing and finally, recycle your batteries when they are no longer of use.


The battery manufacturers have funded a joint recycling center. To find a center near you that will take them, click here!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Ben is an official "reader" now! When your child stays up later than you so that he can finish "just one more chapter", that is a proud moment. :) How can you be mad at them for staying awake when it is for such a good reason? He has quickly progressed from reading "readers" to books to chapter books. He has been reading "The Magic Treehouse" series in bed at night but doing only a few chapters a night. Last night I read the first two chapters of "The Boxcar Children" to him and he liked it so much that he finished the entire book last night! I remember waking up and hearing Shawn ask him "What are you still doing awake?" but it didn't fully dawn on me until this morning when Ben told me he finished it.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Ballet

Natalie had her first ballet class today. She was so very excited. The parents weren't supposed to come in the class (which I think is a good thing) but I managed to sneak open the door and snap a few photos (and go unnoticed).













Monday, January 5, 2009

Zoe is five months old! Time is passing by so quickly. As much as I wanted to wait on solids until she was six months old, or older, she seems to really want to eat food. When I am eating she will reach for my fork and fuss and cry. She is a very sweet baby, always smiling and reaching up with her little hands to touch my face. Here are some updated photos.