{pretty, funny, happy, real}: July 4th, 2013

I am joining Rosie at Like Mother, Like Daughter for the first time in, oh, maybe a year or so?  Seems like forever!

{Pretty}

We've enjoyed some pretty weather this week.  It has been nice, on a couple of occasions, to be able to keep the windows open and the air conditioner off throughout most of the day.  It's been nice to send the kids outside, too, without having them come in 15 minutes later panting that it's too hot outside, and why can't we just watch a video instead? I wish we could have some of that glorious weather today.  

It's raining.  A lot.

{funny}

Gemma sporting her brother's fake mustache is funny.

And Gemma falling asleep upside-down is pretty funny, too.  I hate flash photography, but my camera--no cheapie, by the way--takes really lousy indoor shots in low-light conditions.  Only the schoolroom has anything other than low-light conditions.

{happy}

Oh, yeah...this is happy to the extreme for the boys.  For me--not so much!  Uncle Cliff gathered up not only his 40 year-old Legos, but also those of a cousin who is now in college, and my boys are the happy beneficiaries of this beneficence.  So, what's another 8 lbs of Legos added to the 20 lbs of Legos we already have?  It means the Legos my need their own room soon.

{real}

Real as in real food.  We already are blessed to have our own milk, butter, yogurt, eggs, pork and we'll have beef, too, when our bull calves are up to weight, and I order my organic bulk goods from a food co-op.  Getting decent produce is still a problem. In our area, if you don't maintain a garden and don't belong to a CSA, you have little access to organic produce, and what there is is expensive.  We have 8 in our family, and produce is one of our main grocery expenditures.  Mainly we end up eating commercial produce, which I soak and/or wash the heck out of with a fruit and vegetable wash.  I found this handy little chart on Facebook, and I think I will print it out for my wallet:

And you may or may not already be familiar with this information, but here is a tip on reading produce labels to find out whether you produce is conventional, organic or genetically engineered (GMO):

Labels on fruits and vegetables have a 4 or 5 digit code.

If the label has 4 digits, it means that it was "conventionally grown, but not organic". If it has 5 digits, and begins with a 9, it means that the produce was organically grown.
A 5 digit code that begins with an 8 indicates that the produce was genetically modified.

My kids are all becoming active label-readers, and to me, that's a great accomplishment.  When kids will pass on a box of candy because it has Yellow 5 and Red 40, I feel like I've actually taught them something!

Hope you have a wonderful July 4th wherever you may be.  It's still raining here!