Wednesday, February 17, 2010
This Silly Skirt
I made this skirt for Pnut on Monday. She was really excited about it and came to check several times to see if it was done. Now she doesn't like it. She thinks it is too long. So if anybody wants a skirt for a three-year-old, just let me know!
Joel and I taught a class of 4th-6th graders at church tonight. Joel really did pretty much everything. But it was good. It went really well, especially since we don't even usually go on Wednesday nights! Hopefully by summer or next fall, we will be able to go. The girls were pretty tired afterward though so I don't know!
So now I need to go to bed so I am ready for tomorrow! Have a good night:)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Thank You to Auntie Rannah
Dear Auntie Rannah,
We got our Valentine's Day cards in the mail today when it finally came at 5:00. I got to eat mine, but Sissy didn't finish her supper so she didn't.
I like Fun Dip. A lot.
Thanks for the fun treat!
Love,
Pilly:)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Hearts:)
How is your heart? Doing well after Valentine's Day? Apparently that is supposed to be a stethoscope:)
Pnut and her valentine:)
I made these for my secret sister from Bible study. I am not an expert embroiderer by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought they turned out cute!
We celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday with a lunch out and then an ice cream treat at Maggie Moo's after supper. Pilly got cotton candy ice cream. Cotton candy ice cream is neon blue. Pilly is now the queen of their Wall of Blue. They took her picture before we left so we will have to try to remember to look next time we go! (Interesting side effect of blue ice cream: Blue poop) Pnut got strawberry but declared she was getting cotton candy the next time we go. Thankfully we go like twice a year so hopefully they will both forget about it by the next time!
Would you believe we are supposed to have more snow tonight?! Thankfully they are only saying about 1.5 inches so it shouldn't be bad. I am supposed to go somewhere tomorrow so I hope it is alright. I do not like to drive in the snow. The only accident I have ever had was when I hit black ice and driving in cold weather makes me nervous in general!
Time to go relax with my Valentine now:)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Our Adventures Out and About
We played outside in the snow today. The girls could only play in the plowed areas. We let them do something we never let them do...play in the street by our house. Of course, there were no cars going anywhere anyways.
Joel was making "couches" for them to sit in and a little cave. They both really had a lot of fun. I was surprised that Pilly liked it, but I guess since she didn't fall face first into it, she was alright.
The neighbor took a picture of all of us outside. There were quite a few people out and around shoveling and discussing the snowfall.
I don't know if you can see the snow and the path through it, but I thought this was a good representation of what we got!
All the houses across from us have a huge amount of icicles hanging off of them. I hope they all fall off soon! I always think about them impaling someone... On another note, isn't the sky so blue?!
We had homemade pasta with cheesy meatballs for supper tonight. I thought this was a fun picture!
Well, this is the last snow post...until we get another foot on Monday...Don't be surprised if I mandate a move to Africa where they get no snow.
I have to finish hand-sewing the last two cloth envelopes, which I will post pictures of soon, and then I have to do buttons on all 14 that don't have them yet. I've only got until Tuesday, but I'll finish the hand-sewing tonight and buttons don't take long. I probably won't like making buttonholes so much after I do 14 of them:)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
More Snow, More Mess, and Followup
We had more of this today. I think that we probably got at least another 20 inches on top of what we already had...no kidding.
It was nice to have Joel home from work today. He will be off tomorrow as well, but that will probabl be spent trying to dig out of this! He has to go locate our car underneath it all and try to help clear our street some.
The girls did this yesterday. I took several pictures, and some moron (that would be me) started deleting them without them being put on the computer. At least I saved one! I love that they can do this together!
The girls both ate their supper all gone, and they got to have fudge pops for a treat. Pnut inhaled hers. Pilly should have so she wouldn't have gotten so messy! She did enjoy it though:)
Pnut started drawing flowers today. Are they not cute?? She watched me draw one and then she just started doing it. That is how she learned to draw stick people too! She is a visual learner, I do believe.
In a followup to yesterday's post, I wanted to let you know that I'm not just blowing smoke. Randa and I placed our first order from Fair Indigo today. I am super-excited! Find a friend who wants to do it and split the cost of shipping. They have a flat rate of $5.95 for all shipping so that is only $3 a person!
I also meant to post yesterday about some recent buys that I have had. Joel just bought a pair of pants at Marshall's. They are supposed to just be an overstock store so there isn't anything wrong with the clothes. The tag didn't say irregular or anything. They were Tommy Hilfiger brand corduroys and looked really nice and comfortable. The first time he wore them, they split right down the crotch seam while he was at work. I sewed them back up. The next time he wore them, he put his wallet in his back pocket, and it fell out. He thought it just wasn't in right and put it back in. It fell out again. The pocket had ripped open in this odd jagged V-shape. No rhyme or reason to it. I patched it and hand sewed it so that hopefully it doesn't rip open again. I just bought a pair of pants from Old Navy during their huge sale, and the other day one of the belt loops ripped off and left a hole in the pants. I was able to fix it, but really, why should I have to fix these brand new pants. For the price we could be paying if we weren't buying on sale, it is a real rip-off. And those are only the two most recent examples! I can think of others, but I won't bore you! I'm just saying, I think we need to start thinking more about our fellow human beings and how they are being treated just because they weren't blessed enough to be born in the US, over which they have no control!
Alright, I'll stop. Here's to a less snowy tomorrow...
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Fair Indigo
I've been thinking this post over for a while. Thinking about how to say it without sounding preachy. Thinking about how it really should matter...to everyone, not even just to Christians...
Joel and I are really being challenged about how we live, how we spend our money and on what, and how much we are giving away, of money and of ourselves. One thing that has struck me recently is not only how we should care for the homeless, but also those who have pretty horrible jobs.
I recently started watching a documentary of six British young adults who are in India spending time with some families who work in the clothing industry. In other words, these people work in sweatshops. First, they went to the best place to work. The people who sew the collars are expected to put out one collar a minute. They aren't allowed to get out of their chairs. If they need something, they raise their hand until the floor manager comes over. They didn't say how old the girl was that worked there, but she looked about 13 or 14. The highest paying common job was the equivalent of about $2/day. A bottle of deodorant (which may or may not be important to all people groups, but the British students thought it was pretty basic) cost about $1.60. So, either eat some food or buy deodorant. And that was the best paying job. So there were people there making less. Less for ironing all day in the heat. Less for buttoning eight buttons on 100 shirts. Less for cleaning. Can you imagine?
They stayed with the families of the workers. One house had one room, the other had two rooms. Each family was between eight-ten people. Their "bathroom" was outside or a bucket in a closeted area. They cooked their food over an open fire.
After spending a few days at this "good" factory, they went to a for-real sweatshop. There the workers spend about 18 hours every day putting whole clothing items together. They sleep at the shop. Their "cafeteria" was one single gas burner. They take a shower there, if there is a shower. I'm not sure when they get to go home or when they see their families. Maybe that will be in the next episode. But just thinking about it makes me want to cry. This wasn't just some TV show. This is these peoples' lives! It is all so distant, so easy to forget.
Remember that first, so-called good factory? They make clothes for high-end stores here in the US. I'm going to bet some of those clothes are in the mall. And how much do we pay for them? Why do people think it is okay to pay $60 for a pair of jeans or $30 for a shirt when the people are being paid so little to make these? You can't tell me they aren't making a killer profit. I don't think it is wrong to make a profit. I do think it is wrong to collect $40 per item when you are paying like two cents per item to the person making it.
And that is why I am excited to tell you about this website I found. It is called Fair Indigo, and they participate in fair trade. That means they are paying people a livable wage for their work. They use a fair wage calculator put out by the World of Good Development Organization to help determine what a livable wage to each particular area is. Here is their statement about fair price or wage:
You can learn all about them and their mission in their about section. It is very interesting! One thing I really like is that they have a list on a page in the about page of others who are in the same business, others helping to spread fair trade.
Looking over the clothing, the prices really aren't as expensive as you would pay in some stores in just the mall, not to mention the super high-end stores. Their sale section is super-reasonable. The children's section isn't very big, but hopefully that will grow.
The realization that I've come to is this: My children do not need six pairs of pants, 13 long-sleeved shirts and 20 short-sleeved shirts, and 10 pairs of pajamas (not to mention however many dresses!). If I put the money into just a few pieces of fair trade clothing, I would probably spend about as much as I do buying all that regular stuff from the thrift store and at sales, and I would be helping someone to live. And that is worth it. So if you start seeing my kids wearing the same three outfits all the time, don't make fun of them. This doesn't mean that I am going to totally stop buying from stores. I'll probably still shop sales and thrift stores if we need something. I also still plan on making things for them. But we are going to try to put our money towards helping people.
A lot of the fair trade stuff is organic and is made in a more sustainable way. I can hear some of you groan right now. But my thinking on organic is shaping into something like this: I do not believe in global warming. I recently read something from a "global warming expert" that while global warming is still going on, we are experiencing a cooling period. In other words, they have no idea what they are talking about. Who are we to think that we have anything to do with the climate? I believe that God is firmly in control of that area! However, I do know that air quality is not great and quickly becoming worse. I do know that more people have asthma than ever before, and it is getting worse every year. I read of a girl who had asthma, went out on a smoggy day in D.C., and died from an asthma attack from the poor air quality. That is wrong. When products are made in a "better" way, they are not adding to the problem of the air. Something does need to be done about the quality of the air, and if these companies have found a way to make products in a better way, I commend them for it.
Alright, that's all I have for now. I'll let you know if I have anything else. ;) I'm amazed if you made it the whole way through this post. Thanks for reading.
*Sigh* It is doing this outside...
Joel and I are really being challenged about how we live, how we spend our money and on what, and how much we are giving away, of money and of ourselves. One thing that has struck me recently is not only how we should care for the homeless, but also those who have pretty horrible jobs.
I recently started watching a documentary of six British young adults who are in India spending time with some families who work in the clothing industry. In other words, these people work in sweatshops. First, they went to the best place to work. The people who sew the collars are expected to put out one collar a minute. They aren't allowed to get out of their chairs. If they need something, they raise their hand until the floor manager comes over. They didn't say how old the girl was that worked there, but she looked about 13 or 14. The highest paying common job was the equivalent of about $2/day. A bottle of deodorant (which may or may not be important to all people groups, but the British students thought it was pretty basic) cost about $1.60. So, either eat some food or buy deodorant. And that was the best paying job. So there were people there making less. Less for ironing all day in the heat. Less for buttoning eight buttons on 100 shirts. Less for cleaning. Can you imagine?
They stayed with the families of the workers. One house had one room, the other had two rooms. Each family was between eight-ten people. Their "bathroom" was outside or a bucket in a closeted area. They cooked their food over an open fire.
After spending a few days at this "good" factory, they went to a for-real sweatshop. There the workers spend about 18 hours every day putting whole clothing items together. They sleep at the shop. Their "cafeteria" was one single gas burner. They take a shower there, if there is a shower. I'm not sure when they get to go home or when they see their families. Maybe that will be in the next episode. But just thinking about it makes me want to cry. This wasn't just some TV show. This is these peoples' lives! It is all so distant, so easy to forget.
Remember that first, so-called good factory? They make clothes for high-end stores here in the US. I'm going to bet some of those clothes are in the mall. And how much do we pay for them? Why do people think it is okay to pay $60 for a pair of jeans or $30 for a shirt when the people are being paid so little to make these? You can't tell me they aren't making a killer profit. I don't think it is wrong to make a profit. I do think it is wrong to collect $40 per item when you are paying like two cents per item to the person making it.
And that is why I am excited to tell you about this website I found. It is called Fair Indigo, and they participate in fair trade. That means they are paying people a livable wage for their work. They use a fair wage calculator put out by the World of Good Development Organization to help determine what a livable wage to each particular area is. Here is their statement about fair price or wage:
For commodities such as coffee or tea, fair trade price standards are set by international Fair Trade Labeling Organization. The price attempts to cover the cost of production and a living wage to cover the basics of food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical care. Importers and retailers are then screened and certified by TransFair USA to ensure that they are paying the Fair Trade price for products. While there currently is not a certification for crafts or apparel, businesses committed to fair trade principles focus their efforts on paying a living wage (as opposed to the legal minimum wage dominant in the industry).
You can learn all about them and their mission in their about section. It is very interesting! One thing I really like is that they have a list on a page in the about page of others who are in the same business, others helping to spread fair trade.
Looking over the clothing, the prices really aren't as expensive as you would pay in some stores in just the mall, not to mention the super high-end stores. Their sale section is super-reasonable. The children's section isn't very big, but hopefully that will grow.
The realization that I've come to is this: My children do not need six pairs of pants, 13 long-sleeved shirts and 20 short-sleeved shirts, and 10 pairs of pajamas (not to mention however many dresses!). If I put the money into just a few pieces of fair trade clothing, I would probably spend about as much as I do buying all that regular stuff from the thrift store and at sales, and I would be helping someone to live. And that is worth it. So if you start seeing my kids wearing the same three outfits all the time, don't make fun of them. This doesn't mean that I am going to totally stop buying from stores. I'll probably still shop sales and thrift stores if we need something. I also still plan on making things for them. But we are going to try to put our money towards helping people.
A lot of the fair trade stuff is organic and is made in a more sustainable way. I can hear some of you groan right now. But my thinking on organic is shaping into something like this: I do not believe in global warming. I recently read something from a "global warming expert" that while global warming is still going on, we are experiencing a cooling period. In other words, they have no idea what they are talking about. Who are we to think that we have anything to do with the climate? I believe that God is firmly in control of that area! However, I do know that air quality is not great and quickly becoming worse. I do know that more people have asthma than ever before, and it is getting worse every year. I read of a girl who had asthma, went out on a smoggy day in D.C., and died from an asthma attack from the poor air quality. That is wrong. When products are made in a "better" way, they are not adding to the problem of the air. Something does need to be done about the quality of the air, and if these companies have found a way to make products in a better way, I commend them for it.
Alright, that's all I have for now. I'll let you know if I have anything else. ;) I'm amazed if you made it the whole way through this post. Thanks for reading.
*Sigh* It is doing this outside...
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