TODAYÂ is our 17th wedding anniversary! Hooray! Seventeen amazing years. Jayson and I have experienced many wonderful things together. During our time together we have lived in TWELVE different homes, in FOUR different states. We have loved SIX sweet dogs and ONE beautiful son! Through thick and thin, our marriage has strengthened and our friendship grown. I feel very lucky to be married to my best friend. Jayson makes me laugh every SINGLE day and always makes me feel special, beautiful, and loved. It’s pretty wonderful to get to spend your time with someone you enjoy so much. Happy seventeen years Mr. Lyon – I love you!
Now that Eben is getting older, he isn’t into Mr. Sweet Greens reading aloud to us (heck, we can barely bet him to hang out with us at all!) Ha!
Unless it is during the month of October. That is when our family enjoys our fun tradition, Mr. Sweet Greens reads us spooky tales by candlelight. It really is a treat!
We close the curtains, kill the lights, light our eco-friendly candles and put our reusable tea lights in all of our indoor Halloween decorations. It really gets us in the Halloween spirit and it is neat to see Eben get really excited for it. We usually have a yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies or another pumpkin treat along with homemade apple cider or cocoa.
I am looking for a spooky book to read together this month – any recommendations? Does your family have spooky October traditions? Please share them in the comments section!
In all of my years writing a green lifestyle blog, I still get the same question over and over again, “where do I begin?”
I remember in the beginning I was completely overwhelmed with going green. It felt like I would have to get rid of everything in my pantry and medicine cabinet immediately. Instead of throwing everything in the trash, slow down and take one step at a time. When you step back and look at the big picture, you can start to take small steps that will equal a huge impact in the long run. If you are feeling overwhelmed or as if feel you aren’t making a big enough impact – relax. Start by asking yourself questions throughout the day to see where you can add more small green steps. Once you get started, you will find that those small steps really can add up to a bigger impact.
To get you started, here are some small green steps that you may not be already taking that you can easily add to your routine:
1. Wear it Again:
Many clothing items can be worn again before being thrown in the wash. My thought, if I can’t see or smell (ew!) it, then it should be worn again, except for undergarments, soiled clothing, and washcloths of course!
2. Use it Again:
You can reuse the same cup all day long, just fill it up again. There is no need to use a new glass every single time you need a drink of water or a cup of coffee. Every morning, I fill up my favorite cat mug with tea, and I fill it up over and over again until I put it in the dishwasher at dinner time.
3. Bundle it Up:
Plan all of your errands and shopping for the same day. If you need to get groceries, fill up the gas tank, do your banking, drop off the library books, and pick up the dry cleaning – do it all together. It is much more eco-friendly to run all of the errands at once and it frees up a lot of time in your schedule for the rest of the week. Plus, won’t you feel better when your to-do list is done early in the week!
4. Re-Think About It:
Before you throw something away or recycle it, think about it for a moment – can it be reused or used for something else? Remember, recycling takes energy too, so if it can be reused or given to someone else, this is still a better option.
5. Turn It Off | Unplug It:
If it isn’t being used, turn it off or unplug it. A good rule of thumb – if it has a clock, it is sucking energy even if it turned off, so unplug it. This goes for coffee makers, microwaves, DVD players, televisions etc;. You get the point.
6. Borrow It:
When it comes to items that you need for a specific project that you will only be doing once, (such as a ladder to hang that chandelier) consider borrowing or renting it. And if you plan on only going camping, skiing or to the lake once a year, it may be more eco-friendly just to rent the equipment that you need.
7. Share It:
Wouldn’t it be something if communities shared items such as lawnmowers, wheelbarrows, shovels, bicycles, sports equipment, and rakes? It is amazing how most households have a lawnmower that they probably only use during certain times of the year and usually only once a week. I would love to see communities that share equipment, think: a library for things that we rarely use.
8. Thrift It:
When we need something I think it is fun to try to find it at the thrift store first. You will be amazed at how many fantastic things you can find that are in like new condition. We were in need of pots for planting our veggies, an umbrella and a stock pot – the thrift store had them all. Most likely they will have many of the items that you need too.
What simple ways have you found to take small green steps in your daily living?
If you have one or more kiddos in school that depend on you for their lunch everyday, step up your game and introduce new hot and healthy meals into your child’s lunch routine. The perfect way to do this is by investing in a good thermos that will fit in your child’s lunchbox. Of course, the options for thermos designs and colors are endless so be sure to include your little one in the shopping fun – and make sure it is eco-friendly too!
Don’t be skeptical that what you put in the thermos before school will remain hot until your child’s lunch period – it will stay plenty warm! A hot lunch can be a nice change from a cold sandwich – especially with the cooler months approaching. This change may also give you the opportunity to be resourceful by eating more leftovers. If you have the ability to send part of last nights meal in a thermos with your kids the next day perhaps you won’t waste as much food – which is good for the environment and your pocketbook.
You know better than anyone what foods your kids will eat but here are a few thermos meal suggestions to try! What kid doesn’t love spaghetti and meatballs? Add your favorite spaghetti recipe to your thermos and enjoy! Another favorite is to make veggie mac-n-cheese by mixing frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots with mac-n-cheese to make a hearty lunch for any season. Is your kid a chicken nugget fan? Send a few warm ones along with your child’s favorite dipping sauce for a special lunch treat!
Make your little one feel warm and toasty on cool days by sending your special homemade soup! Or sometimes there’s nothing better than eating breakfast for lunch. Send cold or hot breakfast thermos options such as yogurt and berries, or hot oatmeal with fruit. Power up!
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS: Thank you supporting the companies that keep Sweet Greens in business.
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The holidays are right around the corner! I have already been teasing Mr. Sweet Greens that I am ready to get out the Halloween decorations. He just rolls his eyes at me. Ha! I can’t help it, as soon as September hits all I can think about is Halloween and pumpkin spiced everything! I can’t wait to get out those giant reusable bins full of decorations. And don’t even get me started on Christmas and Hanukkah. Bring it on!
We have quite a few Halloween decorations for all areas of our home, but one of my favorite spaces to decorate is our dining room. We have a large dining table, chandelier and windows that I always deck out! For Halloween, the chandelier it is covered in cobwebs, Spanish moss, a black crow or two and a bunch of little spiders. For the winter holidays, I hang large round ornaments and candy canes from ribbon in the windows. Am, I putting you in the holiday mood? Here are some of my favorite ways to decorate my dining room table, chandelier, and windows for the holidays.
The Dining Table During the “regular” months of the year, our dining table centerpiece consists of a large silver bowl that is overflowing with card games. It makes it really easy to start up an impromptu game of Old Maid or UNO right after dinner. And any extra time that I can sneak with Eben is okay with me! During Halloween that bowl gets filled up with our small Halloween themed games (one of my favorites is Spot It Halloween) and books. It’s a fun reminder to take some time after school to heat up a mug of spiced apple cider to play a game or read together. When Eben was younger, Mr. Sweet Greens would read us spooky stories in the dark. Now, we read our own spooky books together by candlelight. So fun!
During the winter holiday months, I fill the bowl up with Christmas and Hanukkah themed books and our huge collection of dreidels. In case you didn’t know, Dreidel is a favorite for anyone who celebrates Hanuakkah. It’s basically a game of chance played by spinning a top. It is a wonderful game night activity for the entire family and one that you should definitely add to your activity calendar for December.
The Chandelier Decorating our chandelier is one of my favorite things to do during the holidays. By decorating it, you can completely change the feel of the room itself, which is a plus for holidays!
For Halloween, you can decorate it with cobwebs, paper bats, hanging ghosts, or any other combinations of fun pieces to spookify your dining room!
For the winter holidays, by hanging some pine branches and cones off it, your guests will instantly feel the room is Christmassy and you get that amazing pine scent too.
You really can’t go wrong decorating your chandelier for the holidays, it is fun for everyone!  And it looks really amazing when you invite friends and family over for Hanukkah dinner or Christmas brunch!
The Windows
Decorating the windows in our living is one of my favorite traditions. It is something that my family can enjoy from inside our home and it’s a fun treat for our neighbors outside too! I try to mix it up every year so that we have something fun and new to enjoy. It’s fun to get creative and try a lot of different ideas.
For Halloween, I have decorated with everything from homemade spooky silhouettes to pumpkin, bat and ghost cut-outs. When Eben was younger this was a particularly fun activity to do with him. Most younger kids love to draw and cut out pictures – having them hung on the dining room windows is just the icing on the cake.
For the winter holidays, I love to hang small wreaths tied with ribbon from the middle of each curtain rod. Other options that are super fun are large ornaments, pine cones or even stars or snowflakes. Anything that can be strung with ribbon is perfect for this project!
You can decorate your dining room table, chandelier, and windows for any holiday and it can be a tremendous amount of fun to plan with the kids. Just gather up some supplies, and spend a fantastic afternoon crafting decorations together. Seriously, Eben and I decorate ours together for every holiday, it’s a super fun tradition!
The bottom line is, when it comes to decorating for the holidays, you don’t have to spend any money, just gather up a few supplies that you already have on hand and just have a good time! Because, after all, that is the whole point! Have fun!
