Things I'm loving today.

Some things I'm feelin' (and I mean that in the "I feel you, baby" sense) today.

Vive Sana
I've been getting lots of questions from friends about the new sunscreen we're using. Aidan has dealt with nasty exzcema since he was tiny, and all three of my kids have dealt with rashes brought on by sunscreen. However, after asking my pediatrician what I should do, he basically told me that my choices were A) sunburn/skin damage, but no rash or B) healthy skin, + rash. Awesome. He knows my kids are mostly red heads, right?

We've searched long and hard for a good, natural ingredient sunscreen that would satisfy our active, water-filled lifestyle. Luckily for me, my sister-in-law dropped the answer into our laps. We've been trying out Vive Sana since she became a sort of rep for them last year. We love it. Plain and simple - no sunburn, no rash - best of both worlds. Plus, they used my husband and my kid in the ad. How could I not love them?

This salad.

Oh. My. Gosh. So delicious. So simple. So easy to make, and eat, and enjoy, and then eat again for lunch the next day with a yummy piece of bread and some chopped, grilled chicken mixed in. We had it alongside grilled kababs, outside on the patio with family on a gorgeous, 80-degree summer night. Will be making this again. Soooon.

My new lens.
This was a bit of a splurge right before our trip, and I'm so glad I did it. The quality is great, the depth of field is perfect, and I just love the way it gives me a different point of view. Click here, here and here to see why I like it so much.



gdiapers.
I haven't really blogged yet about our whole switch over to a mostly cloth diapering system. It was something I was turning over in my mind for a while, and when I started investigating, I kept running into gdiapers. They're not cloth - they are a cloth outer with velcro closures, a waterproof liner that snaps into the outer, and a flushable diaper insert that goes inside.

Without going into too much gory detail, they worked pretty well, looked cute on my daughter's tiny booty, and made me feel like I'd made a somewhat responsible choice, for about the same price as the 7th generation, chlorine free disposables we were buying. But then I realized - for this much work, I might as well be using cloth. Then, we're at least cutting cost as well. So I'm using the standard gerber prefolds inside the gdiapers pants when we're home, and the gdiaper inserts when we go out. (They can also be thrown in the trash, and will biodegrade in something like 30 days.) And yes, this is because as thrilled as I am to be doing something "earth friendly", I'm just not committed enough to carry around a stinky wet or worse cloth diaper in a bag until we get home. We all have our limits, people. So, I'm learning about wet cans and dry cans, and how to launder and whiten without fabric softener and bleach. But don't worry, I still shave my legs. Anyhow, I know that my one little switch isn't going to change the world. And I'm pretty sure no one's going to give me a Nobel Prize for being sooooo green. I mean, I still drive a GIANT SUV with a V8 engine. To the grocery store, .5 miles away. I live in a giant house which I air condition 3/4 of the year. I get it. But I do feel good doing this one thing - and that's enough reason for me.