Yesterday’s Oprah show featured some people who are living a Freegan lifestyle. According to Oprah’s website, Freegans live so as to use and buy less. They avoid the typical consumer mindset of buying the newest and best things. Freegans believe we are wasting resources by consuming and throwing away too much. The real shocking part of the Freegan lifestyle is that one of the main ways they decrease consumerism is by getting things out of the trash, including food.

The reporter, Lisa Ling, went on a “trash tour” with a group of Freegans in New York City. They seemed to mainly target trash that was put out by supermarkets. It was actually amazing to see how much food was thrown away. The people on the tour were not digging out scraps or half-eaten sandwiches. There was a huge amount of unopened, packaged food sitting in trash bags. There were also fresh fruits and vegetables, and even meat that was found. Freegans also find furniture, clothes, and other personal and household items by going through the trash.

I found this show to be thought provoking. The basic premise of using less and reusing more is a good one. Those of you who know me well know that I am not a political environmentalist. I do not think that humans are destroying the planet, but I do think that we should do what we can to be responsible and to take care of what we have. I don’t think recycling should be forced on people, but I do think it is a good idea. Some recycling can be done on a personal level, by reusing things instead of throwing them away. From a financial standpoint, it makes sense to be more frugal. Shopping at thrift stores and yard sales can turn up some great deals and keep some things from just being thrown away into the landfill. I also think that we waste way too much stuff. I was really surprised to see the amount of food that was thrown out from the stores. When I was a kid, it was common to hear something like this: “You better eat your dinner because there are starving children in Africa.” OK, if you can get this plate of food to the children in Africa, they can have it. There is really no connection to what I eat and whether the people in Africa have enough to eat. However, we are also told about how many homeless people there are in our own country, how many people live in poverty, and how many people do not have enough to eat. There are lines at homeless shelters and food banks. Now, there are two questions that arise from what I saw while watching the trash tour in New York City. One is, why aren’t grocery stores giving away the food instead of throwing it out? Give it to food banks or homeless shelters. Some have suggested that there is a liability issue that prevents stores from donating food, but the Federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, passed in 1996, relieves the liability of those who donate in good faith to a non-profit organization. So, I would be interested to know the reasons that supermarkets are just throwing away all this packaged food instead of donating it to needy people. I can understand the problem if things are expired, but most of the food that was found was perfectly fine. The other question is: Why aren’t the homeless people waiting behind the supermarkets to get all this food? Why aren’t they making the effort to go through the dumpsters and trash cans?

I wonder about the fresh food that was found and taken from the trash. Now, the weather was cold (based on the way the people on the trash tour were dressed) so I suppose the food was cold. However, if it had been sitting inside until the trash was taken out, or had been left out of refrigeration for some other reason for a while, then it could easily be harmful.

Personally, I am not planning to go out and find my food from dumpsters or trash cans. However, I do think it would do us well to consider how wasteful we are with food, clothes, and many other things. Could we be more efficient and more economical if we were more careful with what we have? Just little things like using up leftovers can save a lot of money, which in turn can be used to pay off debts or make charitable donations and help those who don’t have as much as we do. We can be more responsible consumers if we just pay more attention and try to be less wasteful.

Also mentioned in the piece on Oprah’s website is Freecycle.org. I have posted about that in the past, and just thought I would mention it again. Freecycle is an online way of posting items that you have to give away and getting items from others that you can use. So instead of just throwing something away, you can find someone else who can use it. Check out the website to see if there is a Freecycle group in your area.

If you have a Cold Stone Creamery near you, make sure to sign up for the Birthday Club on their website. By joining the Birthday Club, you will receive a coupon for free ice cream around your birthday. The coupons are usually available a few days before your birthday and expire one week after your birthday. We went to Cold Stone Creamery tonight and used Jacob’s coupon for one more birthday treat. Of course, we had to buy ice cream for ourselves, too ! They also had a Monday special that allowed us to get Skylar’s ice cream free, too. The ice cream treats there are rather expensive, but it is nice for a special occasion. You can register yourself and your children, so each member of the family can get free ice cream for his or her birthday!

Many news networks are reporting tonight about the Elmo doll that allegedly says, “Kill James” (I say allegedly since I don’t want Elmo to sue me for slander if he is found innocent of making this statement). You can read the full story at tbo.com. The mother says that the Elmo doll began saying the phrase “kill James” after she replaced the batteries. James is her son’s name. The Elmo Knows Your Name doll, made by Fisher-Price, is programmable by computer to be a personalized and interactive toy for kids.

I watched the video of the story broadcast on a Tampa news channel. I must say, it is hard for me to say for certain what Elmo is saying. It could be “kill james” or it could be “tell James.” I am reminded of the toy that we have (a hand-me-down from Aunt Crystal ) that “speaks” when you press buttons. It is supposed to say “Hello. Time to go to school. Choose a button.” But, it sounds like, “Hello. Time to go to school. Choose a weapon.” The audio in these kind of toys is often a bit difficult to understand, or perhaps I should say it is easy to misunderstand.

Whether or not it is actually saying “kill James,” I don’t think that my initial reaction would have been to call in a news crew! I think a little reprogramming would be in order. A doll can’t say something it has not been programmed to say. This is not a toy that just comes saying certain things; it is programmable by the owner. I don’t have any idea how or why it started saying this phrase, but someone had to cause it. Now, I suppose some violent factory worker, or maybe just one with a twisted sense of humor, could have programmed the doll before it was shipped out. However, I find that option quite unlikely. How did the word “kill” get paired with the child’s actual name if that were the case? Even so, it is an electronic programmable doll. You can make it say what you want it to say! Just change it and move on.

That is just my take on what I find to be an odd news story. Watch the video yourself, and if you have an opinion about what Elmo is saying, let me know!

Jacob was very happy with his Spiderman cake. This is made with a Wilton Spiderman cake pan. I am certainly an amateur cake decorator, but I do like doing shaped cakes for my kids’ birthdays. My friend Sandy T. taught me how to do this when Jacob turned 2. That year it was a Blue’s Clues cake…his tastes have changed a little since then ! I used a Duncan Hines Devil’s Food cake mix. I don’t usually make cakes from scratch, but I only use Duncan Hines mixes (stock up when they are on sale)! I made the Wilton’s buttercream frosting. The recipe for the frosting is on the instructions that come with the cake pan. It is not hard to make, and it is really good. Anyway, I thought it turned out looking pretty good, if I do say so myself…and it tasted good, too!

Use the code SAVE20 to save 20% on all purchases from Hooked On Phonics. You can also get a free Super Activity Kit on orders over $50.00 with the coupon code FG7009. If you have never used HOP, take a look at this product review!

Jacob has had a great birthday! He has received lots of cards, emails, and gifts. We had a party tonight with some friends. We had pizza, followed by Spiderman cake and ice cream. He wore his Spiderman outfit that Uncle Alan and Aunt Crystal got him. He was really excited, and had a lot of fun. I will have some pictures to post soon.

Jacob is certainly a blessing to us. He is so energetic and happy. He is very social, and truly enjoys meeting and talking to people of all ages. He rarely stops talking unless he is asleep, and to say he asks a lot of questions is an understatement. He is very inquisitive, which is how he learns so many things. He loves to learn, and has an amazing memory. Jacob is a good big brother, though we do have typical sibling spats. He is concerned about others, and looks for ways to help. He has his Daddy’s love of animals and the outdoors. It is wonderful to see him learning things, and especially to see him learning more about God. He has started following along in the songbook more when we sing during worship services, and reading some of the words to the songs. He can read his Bible lessons with just a little help, and understands well enough to answer questions about what he read. He does a great job saying prayers. He does not say memorized prayers, but thinks about what he is praying for each time. These days he often prays for “Aunt Nikki and little Cheyenne.”

Though he sometimes tries my patience, and sometimes has to be reminded that he does not know more than we do, he is generally a well behaved boy. We are thankful for him and for what he brings to our lives and to our family.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…OK, maybe I’m the only one who has been waiting for it…for the past hour, all 3 of my children have been napping in their beds at the same time! This is a truly amazing feat, and I don’t know when it will happen again! I was able to put a few things away, finish the soup I had started for tonight’s supper, and get the cornbread made. Now, some of you may say, “Oh, you should have napped while they were napping.” Yeah, sure, in the ideal world that could happen. But in the ideal world my house would not be falling apart around me, and supper would appear with no effort on my part. I am just happy to have prepared supper with both hands free. Just the hour of quiet was enough to rejuvenate me, I think! I just thought I would share my joy with you all, and maybe give hope to anyone out there with babies who won’t sleep. One day they will sleep! Now I’m starting to wonder, though…he doesn’t usually sleep this long…should I go check on him? I’m sure he is fine…ah, the mixed emotions of mommyhood .

I recently completed a workbook designed for study in ladies’ Bible classes. It is called “Establish Your Hearts,” and is a study of the book of James. It includes 11 lessons with discussion questions and an answer section at the end. I have worked on this material off and on for the past several years, and I have taught it in ladies’ classes. The book is now published and available for purchase at Nanette’s Books and Trims. If you’re looking for a study book for yourself or for a class, I would love for you to consider it!

My kids are surprising me lately. I said once that Skylar was just going to start counting one day, because she was soaking up information that she just could not express yet. Well, tonight she counted to 13. I had no idea she could do that. She was putting stickers on my shirt, and I asked her how many stickers there were. She counted them correctly (there were 4). Now, I knew she could count to 3, but I thought that was it. Well after she went to four, I held up my hand and asked her to count my fingers…and she did. Then she started counting other things and she kept going…all the way to 13! Wow!

Jacob was working in a wipe-off math book the other day, and I helped him do the first couple of pages. Then I had to go and feed the baby, so I told him we would do some more later. He turned the page, and said he wanted to do it by himself. I told him that he had to be able to read the number words (it involved matching numerals to their number words) to do that page, so he would need to wait until I could help him. He proceeded to read all of the words on the page to me! He even knew the word “eight,” which obviously is not spelled phonetically. Once again, I had no idea he could do that. I have finally learned to quit assuming that he does not know certain words, because he keeps surprising me.

Kids learn so fast, and even though I am with them almost all the time they still are learning faster than I can keep up with! These instances reinforce the fact that learning takes place all the time. You don’t have to be doing a workbook, reading a textbook, or sitting in a classroom to be learning. What an opportunity parents have to teach their kids skills, information, and character…an amazing and sobering responsibility and privilege.

My daughter recently got carsick, so I brought her car seat into the house to remove the cover and wash it. I have 2 suggestions for you now: 1. When you buy a car safety seat, make sure you keep the booklet so that you will have the instructions for removing the cover. 2. If your child does not understand why he has to practice following directions in school, bring him over to try to get the cover off this car seat.

Fortunately I do have my instruction book, and I was actually able to find it. Do you know that you have to use a screwdriver to get the cover off? And even then, it is not nearly as simple as the directions make it sound. The straps, buckles, harness guides, and pretty much everything have to be removed. I felt like I was wrestling the car seat! I did finally get the cover off though, and it is washed and clean. Now I have to do what I have been putting off for 2 days…put it back together.