beware: on a sweaty soapbox (or two)

so, i've recently been reminded of the importance of reading labels. I did know better about these, but we got some for our road trip a few weeks ago. On the back it says they're wholesome. Just for the fun of it, I wanted to share the ingredients of this wholesome snack:

Glucose, rolled oats, rice flour, sugar, modified palm kernel and palm oil, wheat flakes, canola oil, honey, whey powder, blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil, brown sugar, strawberries (sugar ascorbic acid, sunflower oil) cranberries (sugar, sunflower oil), yogurt, apples, liquid invert sugar, molasses, salt, and a bunch of preservatives.

good gracious. this is when i honestly think people are trying to murder the unsuspecting american public through their food. i opened up a can of beans for hannah, which i do often. but i got a different brand this time, and only noticed the ingredients as i was taking the label off for recycling. should be beans and salt, in my opinion. this one also had cane syrup AND high fructose corn syrup. gross.


we had a big storm this morning, and when it slowed down enough we went puddlejumping. always fun. they're so easy to entertain at this age!

so we call this piece "big man; little cookie." patrick has been more committed than i've ever seen to this current lifestyle change. he eats more vegetables than i do! i have appreciated his good influence, because it is easier to make concessions when you're pregnant. if you're going to be gaining 50 lbs anyways, what the heck, right? anyways, he got some "diet food" the other day, and i had to laugh at this poor little cookie. of course, they come in single serving packages.

so there is a progression here: bottom right, Hannah's fully clothed in the outfit i put on her. Bottom left, we've completely stripped down because it is ungodly hot outside, even at 10 in the morning. top right, we've put clothes back on her because of the sun. poor thing. at least i'm still trying to play with them outside.

so our own little tomato plant is struggling. it was getting eaten by birds. big birds. so big they knocked the plants over. i researched, and came up with putting hose on them. i feel bad because i remember having to wear hose at bob jones, even in the summer, and let me tell you, that's just cruel and unusual. but at least they aren't getting even. i also put a cd up top to scare them away. i'm going to add my coffee grounds and egg shells too. we'll see how it goes.

it's a good thing we're having another child, because patrick and i practically worship hannah. that does not mean she gets her way, by any stretch. she is far from spoiled. but not only is she beautiful and brilliant :-), she is also nice to be around (most of the time) because she isn't in charge and she knows she isn't in charge. we do have tantrums, but they don't get her very far so they don't last. so far, anyways! she's just, as my friend kari says (not necessarily about hannah but just in general), so stinkin' cute! i got some good video the other day, and i swear i'm going to try to put it up soon. we honestly feel that people who dont' get to be around her regularly live slightly emptier lives than we do :-)

speaking of brilliant. . . :-) j/k. i'm not pushing her into a curriculum yet. but she does like to pull out the 'school' books and look at them.

so, as i write this, it's 81 degrees in our house. i wish i could say i was being really virtuous and left the air up that high to save money. alas, no. it finally happened to us: the air died. i realize i survived in nearly saharan africa, but that's just not the point. hannah woke up tonight and i went in there and she'd taken her pants and diaper off and her shirt was pulled up behind her head with her arms still on. it was pretty funny, except she was obviously uncomfortable. then she told me it was hot. i was like, oh, you have no idea how how it's going to get my friend. i put her in a onesie, filled her cup with ice, and turned her fan on high. we'll see how it goes. patrick said it will probably take a few days to fix. i guess i can just be grateful this is happening before the baby comes. the baby and my mom! just like i don't like the cold in kenora, she doesn't like the heat in texas!

the other night we watched a movie that impressed me so much i wanted to give it a shout out. when patrick brought home marley and me, i was like, ok, another stupid romantic comedy with questionable everything. i would almost just as soon not watch anything made in the past 30 yrs. this one, however, seems to be in a class by itself, or with a few others. If you haven't seen it, it just follows the life of a couple as they become a family and weather some of life's challenges. Some was obvious, like the scene where she decided to be a stay at home home. She was also nursing her baby, btw. Other aspects were not so obvious. The way the wife acknowledged her husband's restlessness and encouraged him to make the changes he needed to to be fulfilled, even though it was probably hard for the family, they stuck together and put each other's needs first. they followed him halfway across the country. the way the husband and wife had normal struggles with losing themselves in work/kids/etc, but still cared about their marriage enough to keep it interesting (such as skinny dipping together!). the way even though the wife was stressed, not always nice to be around, and probably somewhat nagging, not once, not one single time, did they have the husband even glance in the direction of another woman. the movie was set in florida, and they were on the beach all the time, and most movies would have had him at look somewhat longingly at those hooches on the beach while his wife was at home with their 3 kids and dog. most movies/books/songs/anything make it so commonplace, even acceptable, for one or the other spouse to look for fulfillment elsewhere, even if it's just emotionally or privately. But not once did what's his face appear to dishonour his wife or his marriage, even in his thoughts. they respected and invested in their marriage and their family. in that order, it seemed. it was actually challenging for me. a hollywood movie! so if you haven't seen it yet, you should!