Green Love

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Romance and frugality don’t necessarily mesh in modern consumer times, but in reality love doesn’t cost money. Last year I wrote about how I would much rather get local tulips than expensive roses shipped from the tropics, and this year I told Hubby to just wait until he can pick me up some at the local farmer’s market.


I have a night meeting on Valentine’s, so I made our “romantic” dinner a night early. As usual, once I got into the thick of cooking, the kids started demanding even more of my attention…they seem to have a cooking radar! So, I asked Hubby to play with them. 


They came up with the idea of indoor bowling, using some big plastic summer patio cups and a few balls. They had a fantastic time rolling the ball from the kitchen island to the front door, and managed to stay thoroughly entertained the whole time I prepped dinner. I even managed to play the second round once things were in the oven. I also found my indoor bowling groove, and managed to beat the boys by a point. Our Big Guy was sooo excited about me winning the trophy, so I asked him what the “trophy” was after all, he excitedly exclaimed “Your trophy is the best family ever!!” Then we had a big family hug/kiss…where we lift the kids up and all exchange hugs and kisses…talk about romantic!


40 Ways to Give More Love – Becoming Minimalist
8 Essentials for a Successful Marriage – Becoming Minimalist


How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day?


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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Diary of a Worm a Spider and a Fly

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I’m so excited to be going on a field trip with Big Guy’s older preschool class to watch the Oregon Children Theater’s production of a Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly .


The Oregonian’s theater review raved about the set, and how it’s built from 90% recycled materials. Another parent review said that most jokes went over her 3 year old’s head, but I think that’s partly why they recommend it for the 4+ crowd. The environmental and social moral of the play may be deep, but it’s never too early to start teaching green family values.


The class also checked Doreen Cronin’s book series from the library, and they are really beautiful and fun books. They were really captivated by them:


Diary of a Worm
Diary of a Spider
Diary of a Fly


One of my first memories is seeing Peter Pan while visiting my Grandmother in L.A., and I hope this will be a special memory for us.  The play only runs until February 20th, so make your plans soon. 


Also, Big Guy’s school managed to get a weekday group discount for $7.50 per ticket!


Have you seen the play or read the books?


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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Economics of Happiness

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The Economics of Happiness is a new documentary film with virtually all of my favorite social/environmental/economic revolutionaries (…minus Paul Hawken;-)


While we haven’t seen a total about face, I truly think that the lasting impact of the economic crisis will be a cultural shift away from materialism and toward sustainability. It may not happen over night, but the pendulum is shifting.


The film isn’t on Netflix yet, but I’ll post a comment when it’s available.


Here’s quick blog post on the film from a parents perspective.


Here’s the trailer to The Economics of Happiness:





What do you think of the Economics of Happiness?


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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.



Kid Foodie

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Today’s post is a shameless plug: 


My adorable niece is making a name for herself as “Kid Foodie.” She does live interviews with farmers at the Chappaqua Farmer’s Market, and writes a column about her experience of learning about where her food comes from. Our family is so proud of her, and it’s exciting to see a new generation that cares about where their food comes from and how it’s produced.


While specialty food can get expensive, I agree with Amanda about how important it is to support local farmers. We buy as much organic and local food as possible.  Spud really makes it easy . Even during the winter our food related carbon footprint is much less than the average household, and I love how Spud tracks it for you.


A co-worker of mine is very passionate about food, and has a “hobby farm” where she raises and butchers her own animals, and naturally has an organic garden and puts away much of her produce for the winter. Although she not as extreme as the Portlandia couple, she does ask which farm they got the meat from and if they don’t know she’ll go veggie. If you are a foodie/farmer, you should definitely check out her Hobby Farm blog.


Here’s Kid Foodie’s interview with Big Girl Bakery:





Can’t you just see her as the next Katie Couric?!


Do you try to buy local?
Do your kids care where their food comes from?


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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.