Grow Your Own Tree Hugger: 101 activities to teach your child how to live green by Wendy Rosenoff is full of activities, crafts and recipes that can easily teach children about the environment and about being green without being preachy.

Some of the activities sound like so much fun your kids won’t even know they’re learning.

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The move comes after Disney’s Baby Einstein Co. last month announced “enhanced consumer satisfaction guarantees” after lawyers had threatened a class-action suit for false advertising. “The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development,” a letter from the lawyers reportedly said.

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Even if your child knows that milk comes from a cow, does she know that there is more than one variety of cow? A hands on approach at the farm could also help kids understand which foods are real and which ones are processed. They won’t see any Pop Tarts or red, blue and green grains that could make up their Fruit Loops on the farm. Showing your kids where food comes from could set them up for a lifelong, healthier lifestyle. And actually being able to reach out and touch a cow is invaluable compared to watching a farm DVD or playing a video game.

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I’m a firm believer in getting lots of nature time - anything, as long as it includes plenty of fresh air, surrounded by trees and plants and dirt. The National Wildlife Federation’s campaign, “Be Out There” has a list of 10 ways to get outside, even after school starts.

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This past Sunday was such a wonderfully relaxing day, and I could tell that fall was on it’s way. I told the girls we must go “End of Summer Collecting” up at the Jordan River in Utah so we could keep the things we would miss when summer leaves but still be able to remember the fun we had.

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Walmart has won approval to build a Supercenter on the edge one of the most important battlefields from the Civil War: the Wilderness Battlefield.

Wilderness was the location when Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met in battle, on May 4, 1864. Altogether, on both sides of the fighting, 160,000 soldiers total took part with approximately 29,000 killed or wounded. It was the beginning of the turning point of the Civil War.

Supervisors in Orange County, Virginia voted Monday night to grant a permit to the corporate giant, despite public outcry, especially from historians and Civil War buffs.

Jim Campi, of the Civil War Preservation Trust, is against it because,

What Walmart is proposing would absolutely transform the landscape. Walmart is proposing a superstore closer to a national park boundary than any previous Walmart, and this is right on the boundary of the national park.

Only one-quarter of the historic battlefield is protected, so the controversy has surrounded the question, “What is a battlefield?”

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But fears of adverse affects still abound. This month, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that in the 2.5 years between June 2006 and December 2008, there were

12,424 reports of side effects, or 54 reports per 100,000 doses given. That included 32 reports of death, or 1 per 1 million girls vaccinated, though it’s unclear whether the vaccine or something else was to blame.

An NPR report also stated that we’re not sure how many of those deaths were due to preexisting conditions in the teen girls, such as blood clots:

All of these people had a known risk factor for having blood clots. Most commonly was that they were on some sort of estrogen birth control. But obesity, traveling, immobility and some of these people had genetic risk factors for getting - for having blood clots, as well.

So…we’re blaming the girls for their deaths? For their previously unknown medical conditions? Not only are we as yet uncertain of Gardasil’s safety, we also have no clue about its efficacy, especially long-term.

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Not only that, it should not be compared to other natural functions of the body, like urination, defecation, or even–recently heard by yours truly–decomposition. Because poop isn’t food, despite what your dog might think. Breastmilk is.

Unfortunately, many people are still ignorant of this fact and continue to whine about mamas feeding their children in public. So I thought I’d share a few counterpoints, just for the anti-breastfeeding-in-public crowd.

Starting with this:

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See, it’s not so much about a woman’s right to breastfeed in public or her supposed “need” to expose herself. It should also be viewed as the child’s right to eat.

Here are a couple of common points I like to make about breastfeeding in public:

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During this trip we cloth diapered and had a potty trainer on our hands! The condo at Bass Lake had a washer and dryer and while camping in Yosemite we used the laundry mat at Curry Village. I only did the washing at Curry Village and let the diapers & undies air dry in the sunshine on a tree branch at our site. We were prepared to use a bucket and gloves if we did not have access to a washer! It worked out nicely though. My 2 yr. old loved being in nature and really enjoyed boat rides on the lake. He saw tons of wildlife including a BEAR! While driving back to our campsite, our first day in Yosemite, we watched a bear eating in a meadow through the car window. It was neat. Tristan also saw a “Big ole Buck” on a bike ride first thing in the morning around the campground.

It was so amazing to see nature through his eyes. He chased the squirrels to their holes and around the campsite and collected specimens to put into his bug kit. Our hike to Vernal Falls was quite a journey and I think he understood it’s significance. My husband and I consider ourselves experienced campers. We’ve done a lot of camping. Every time I walk away from a campsite, I have a new perspective on life. Unplugging for the few days and recharging your soul with Mother Nature is a must! Getting away from all the stimulus and “roughing -it” for a few days makes you appreciate the things we have in life.

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One of the gifts my son received for his 2nd birthday was a subscription to Wild Animal Baby published by the National Wildlife Federation. The magazine is printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. Wild Animal Baby is a children’s magazine for the age range 12 months to 4 yrs.

Wild Animal Baby is a wonderful way to get your toddler involved in reading at an early age. The magazine encourages children to get outdoors and appreciate nature. My son loves to get the mail and often asks to check the mailbox for his monthly copy of Wild Animal Baby.

Wild Animal Baby is just the right size for toddler hands. The pictures are bright and engaging and it is filled with several interactive activities for your child. Including I spy, letter/color/shape recognition, songs with illustration motions, captivating stories, child participation and much more.

My son loves to look for Sammy Skunk! I enjoy reading Wild Animal Baby to him because it is  educational and entertaining. We burn up some good time going through the pages and doing the activities.

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So he did what any sane representative for a radio program would do: He Tweeted his disgust. He made sure to toss a few choice words in there, like:

‘crazy‘, ‘no shame‘, ‘rude‘. And don’t forget that ever-popular suggestion, ‘Can’t she go in back?‘

But this so-called radio personality, Tim Mihalsky, had standards, folks. It’s indecent to breastfeed in front of him. That is, unless…

if she was hot, it woulda been a different tweet

But people were watching. It’s the magic of Twitter. Use a term, and anyone following that thread can watch your foot-in-mouth disease as it gets progressively worse. That’s where he came up against Feminist Breeder, a former rocker mom who is from, as DJ articulate said,

Chicago or, some ghetto place like that.

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The formula is simple, and the story has been written and rewritten a million times over. Take Scott Harrison from Charity: Water, who was so moved by his visit to West Africa that he was inspired to start an organization dedicated to providing clean water to people in Africa, and now, the world. Or the story of Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, who was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and went on to lay the foundation for the environmental movement of the 60’s and 70’s.

These stories share one common thread–empathy. Those inspired to make change connect with their cause empathically, by having immersed themselves in the environment they ultimately choose to support. Their drive and their accomplishments are sustainable because they are empaths.

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Just minutes away from Brad Pitt’s birthplace, Phantom-Financial has posted a life-sized park bench statue. It’s apparently inspired by last year’s cover of W magazine, and the statue is just in time for World Breastfeeding Week.

I, too, was inspired by Jolie’s nursing pic. As a lactivist, I think it’s fantastic when women like this show that natural human processes are even done by hot starlet MILFs.

And though the statue is “not endorsed by any celebrity”, WTF is up with the naked breastfeeder? And–gasp!–in public?!

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I’m a big slacker this year.  My big, fat, Eco-Confession?  I didn’t plant a garden this year.  This means we have been relying on farmers markets and u-pick to survive!  Ugh.

But, wait… I have a pretty good excuse.  We moved this Spring.  Our Spring was consumed with painting, cleaning, packing and unpacking.  It was pretty crazy around here.  Then my beloved Mama passed away and I didn’t want to do much of anything for a good two months.  Now, I’m up and running… but my yard is far from it!  Since this is a new to us home, there was already a bunch of yard work to do.  Needless to say, we haven’t gotten around to much of it, which includes clearing the garden beds and replanting.

So, that’s the plan this weekend.  Get those beds cleared and start our transplants inside the house.   Good thing I have plenty of kids.

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Sand dough is a great choice for recycling the pretty clean sandbox sand that remains in your sandbox at the end of the season, which is when we usually make it, but I can imagine that it would also make a super-fun beachside project, perhaps even your own sandcastle souvenir, complete with seashells and a moat ready to be filled with salt water.

Even for play dough aficionados, sand dough has a terrifically gritty texture that provides an entirely new sensory experience to the act of working with the dough, and it can be an excellent component to a sensory table for a special needs child or as a teaching tool for a tactile learner—use it in conjunction with the sawdust dough for two very neat and unusual experiences.

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One thing about bubble solution is that it’s super cheap. At the beginning of the season I marched stalwartly into Target to buy tampons (I avoid Target, because although I try to avoid new purchases, I am weak in the face of a deal), and somehow ended up with gallons of bubble solution for basically pennies. A lot of which the girls managed to spill into the minivan carpet on the ride home, so it was just as well that I bought extra—bonus carpet shampoo, I suppose.

Sometimes, however, you don’t want to buy something just because it’s a deal. Perhaps you have an empty container of bubble solution and just need some product, not the packaging, or perhaps you and your child like to experiment with recipes, or perhaps you’re just of the DIY mindset and would rather make something yourself rather than purchase it—admirable goals, all.

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The photo is our fresh pitcher of berry lemonade made just moments ago and already teetering on the edge of emptiness again.  This batch was made with blackberries and raspberries which had gotten a little soft over the last couple days.

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One new group hopes to have a big voice in the circumcision debate. Intact America is based in New York and backed by a pro-intact Texas millionaire.

Circumcision rates are currently at about 50 percent in the States, with rates varying dependent on region. Intactivists worry that if government officials choose to rely on select African studies, the circumcision rate will again begin to rise.

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The Kidzsack comes with a set of 8 washable markers that kids can use to decorate the bags. Then they can be washed and colored again. It’s usable coloring sheet for kids to enjoy.

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Annmarie shouted to Matthew at 7:48 a.m. after she felt her baby crowning,

She’s here!

As we all know ad nauseam, OBs generally warn against a vaginal birth after C-section, or VBAC.  And in this case, it would be a VBA3C; all 3 of the Schultes’ daughters were born by cesarean. This time, to ensure they’d get the natural birth they wanted, the couple worked with two doulas, a midwife, and a physician throughout the pregnancy.

And whoa boy. They got a natural birth; an unassisted natural birth.

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