Will’s Birthday! Will turned 4 on Saturday! All four of his grandparents came down to visit, and we surprised him with a Fire Truck ride from Smokin’ Joe’s! In the spirit of doing more as a family instead of buying more stuff, he didn’t get presents from us. We had bought him one small thing, and it was such an exciting day, with presents from grandparents and lots of family time, that we didn’t even remember to give it to him. I think the spirit of minimalism is sinking in a little! We’re going to save the present for Christmas.
No presents & no party favors! We invited Will’s classmates from school to come see the Fire Truck, and put out mini vegan cupcakes, strawberries and blueberries. We asked everyone NOT to bring presents, and our request was honored! We got a couple hand made cards, and one mom said “I know you said no presents, but we got so much produce from our CSA share this week…” Exception made. 🙂 It was so nice not to receive tons of toys we don’t need and books we don’t have room for on our shelves. So few kids open presents during their parties that Will didn’t even realize there was an element missing. (Besides, he received gifts from grandparents!)
Will’s birthday treat at school: Will’s day to bring his birthday treat to school was today. Instead of sending in cupcakes for kids to eat at 10:30 in the morning, we decided to have him bring in his favorite (healthier) snack. He picked homemade granola bars from the Oh She Glows cookbook! We modified them to use Sun Butter instead of peanut butter so they’d be school safe, since some of his classmates have nut allergies. They taste just as good and hold together just as well, so these are a great alternative to store bought granola bars if you’re interested in making some for school! There’s a free recipe on her blog, as well.
Tapering for my fourth half marathon: I’m officially tapering – the half marathon is Sunday! I wish the last six weeks of training had gone as well as the first 10 weeks. I had a nice, easy four mile run on Sunday and it did great things for my mood. It’s nice to run just enough to get some endorphins, and then go on with my day! There was a beautiful moment when I was running down hill on a scenic woodland road to the Beastie Boys, pace dropping, feeling fabulous. I love those moments.
My Better Life Projects: I had a bit of a breakdown a few nights ago talking to Greg about reading Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson. The book has opened my eyes to all of the waste in our lives. Will’s mini vegan birthday cupcakes came in plastic containers that will be recycled into… what? More plastic that won’t biodegrade. All my favorite superfood smoothie add-ins come in packages, not bulk. Those birthday balloons Will wanted so much? Not real earth-friendly. I realize that I need to take deep breaths and find ways I can reduce our waste without completely sacrificing our quality of life. But it’s hard not to look around with these re-opened eyes and see all the ways we could do better, and want to implement them simultaneously. But we’re working on it. We didn’t give out cheap plastic party favors at Will’s party that would clutter someone’s house and ultimately end up in a land-fill. I brought reusable bags to the grocery store to buy bulk rice and oatmeal. I now check all my grocery staples to see if they come in glass jars instead of plastic. I’m moving forward, one step at a time, towards a more earth-friendly lifestyle. Especially choices that aren’t hard to make. (I love buying bulk staples and storing them in glass jars, it’s gorgeous.)
Will is four, and soon I’ll be through my fourth half marathon. Slowly but surely, we’re growing!
those granola bars look great! I have been wanting to try and make some. =)
Good luck on your next HALF! Registration for the Pittsburgh Marathon opened today…all I can think about is running the half again next May =) I think I might sign up