Holocaust Remembrance Day is May 1st...

In honor of that...

Look Ma, No Training Wheels!

Jacob rode his bike without training wheels for the first time the other day. My friends all tell me this is big deal since he is only 3 years old. Go Jacob!

An unexpected consequence of Jake riding his bike was my 7 year old daughter getting very upset because she doesn't know how to ride without training wheels yet. She cried and said she was embarrassed. :(

There has been a lot of competition and sibling rivalry going around lately. Jacob has been jealous of the baby because he recently learned to walk and has been getting tons of attention for that. Owen is constantly frustrated because the older kids can do more and are allowed to do more than he is.

I can't imagine what it will be like in a few years. I am thinking about going ahead and constructing my speech on how everyone is different and everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Not that explaining that to them will ever make a difference. I think it is just one of many lessons you learn the hard way while growing up.

Brushing his teeth...

only Owen could make it look so cute.

Made in the USA?

I was recently inspired by a news story about a family who removed everything from their home that was not American made and replaced foreign made goods with American products.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica

In particular I found three things interesting. They had no television because there are NO American made TVs. Also, their young daughter's American Girl doll was, in fact, made in China. That was somewhat ironic and pretty disappointing. As much as you pay for those things you figure they could at least make them here. Lastly, I was pretty horrified with how much they had to remove from their home to get all the "Made In China" stuff out. The house looked empty.

So I decided to look around my house and see where some of our stuff was made. At first I was shocked, then honestly, a little creeped out. After looking for 30 minutes, I found one product that was made in the U.S.A. :

Everything else was made in China - dishes, coffee mugs, toys, anything plastic, etc. It was pretty shocking.

While I think it is unrealistic to buy only American made products (at least right now), I have decided to at least look on bottom before I buy and be a little more conscious of what I am purchasing.


If you are interested in "buying American", here are a few links that can help:

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/

http://www.madeinusa.com/


http://www.madeintheusabyamericans.blogspot.com/