Phasing in Some New Changes

           With flowers blooming and trees blossoming, Spring is the most exciting and inspiring time of year. And even though the beautiful weather has been a spirit lifter, tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of the homegoing of my father in law; a great man whose legacy will last longer than any of us will ever imagine. I am so thankful for the time that my children got to spend with him and the pictures that we have of them together. My son talks of his "Pop" often and sometimes when I sneakily watch them play, he talks to him on his play phone. He tells him about his day and the fishing trips that he and his daddy are going to take. Even though sadness creeps in on us when we think of him, the memories and lessons that he taught my family overwhelm us and we are able to be happy with the time we had. His life and this spring weather has inspired my little family to start making some changes.
           I'm a little embarrassed that it has taken us a year to fully commit to some life style changes, but it is never too late to start. The changes not only include our eating and exercising habits, but our overall perspective of ourselves as consumers. A couple things we have started doing are:

• Growing our own vegetables  or buying only local produce
• Making our own juice
• Buying only second hand or used clothing
• Recycling
• Proactively reducing our trash (less plastic use, buying unpackaged goods like at farmers markets) 
• Only 1 hour of TV a day 

           My favorite change we have made is making the juice for our kids. We haven't been doing it long, but they are so excited to be involved and help make it. I was so tired of finding juices that "weren't that bad". I wanted a drink that actually benefited them...so we are making our own. They love the taste and I love being guilt-free when they are drinking seconds. The more the better! 

 

           Along with this change, we have given up sippy cups! Sounds drastic, but if you think about it it is an awesome change. I will never have to buy another plastic sippy cup again. All sippy cups promise to be spill/leak free and easy to clean...well in my 3 1/2 years of buying them, I have never been as satisfied as I am with the sippy cups we made. They are simply mason jars that I used to put our baby food in with a hole in the top for the straw. They are durable, reusable, and easy to clean. 

Sippy Cup vs. Jars

           As time goes on, I want to phase in more changes, but for now I am so happy that we are actively doing something to make our lives better. My children deserve it and it will benefit all of us!