avatar and earth day

a couple of weeks ago, i was in a car heading downtown with some friends of mine.  as we pulled up next to another car at a traffic light, we watched a lady open her window far enough to stuff her burger wrapper out the window.  needless to say, we were quite shocked and horrified.  do people really still think that is acceptable?  i thought we had enough education out there for people to be aware of the evils of littering.

even our kids are being trained and educated very early about reducing, reusing and recycling.  zoe has come home every day for the last week with a new fact about waste and the importance of recycling.

we'll be casually talking over supper and all of a sudden she asks if we knew that it takes 1,000 years for a glass bottle to break down.  while at first her unexpected bits of trivia were a little disconcerting, i appreciate now that our children are going to grow up with a mindset regarding waste and the environment that many in my generation are still learning.

watching avatar with bill helped me to see how important it is to train up our kids with an attitude of respect for the earth and for people.  i think that the movie takes an old story, similar to pocahontas and john smith, and puts it in a futuristic setting.  when we see that old story in a future context, we realize even more strongly how sad it is to have a mentality of us versus them, civilized versus savage, want versus need, rape versus love.

while watching the movie, i found myself incredulous that there could still be people who share the attitude of colonel miles quaritch, that certain people are able to be written off because they are "savages."  i know i am incredibly naive; there are lots of people who are willing to sacrifice both the earth and people's well being for their financial gain.

i, for one, look forward to a day when we will no longer need institutions and movements like this one, or this one.  until then, our family wants to do all it can to move us forward to take better care of our planet and the people who live on it.  we will keep recycling, reducing our use of waste-producing products and reusing whatever we can.  we will participate in events like this one to help take care of people who suffer.

if you want to do something to make a difference, you can actually buy a copy of avatar.  twentieth century fox home entertainment has teamed up with the earth day network to plant 1,000,000 trees worldwide in celebration of the blu-ray and dvd release of the film.  if you purchase the film you will be given a unique access code that allows you to go online and actually adopt one of the million trees being planted, charting its location and progress.

when zoe and the other kids are old enough, i hope we can use movies like avatar to help teach them the value of a human life and the importance of taking care of our planet.

i received a copy of the movie avatar from 20th century fox in exchange for sharing this information with you about the earth day initiative connected to the release of the movie. nevertheless, the opinions expressed here are purely my own.

wonder hanger review

a couple weekends ago, bill and i realized that something had to be done about his closet.  we have lived here for three years now (can you believe it?) and i don't think he has ever been able to get to all his clothes since we moved in, due to the bad design of his closet.

he ended up bringing out all his clothes for us to sort through.  of course, we couldn't just throw all the clothes we were going to keep back in his closet to get lost again.  wonder hanger to the rescue!

thanks to the wonder hanger, bill now has access to all his clothes, and they are nicely organized according to type.  he is actually wearing more than the same two shirts and pants now!  i am seeing him wear clothes i didn't even know he owned.

the wonder hanger is basically a set of two plastic rings with a plastic bar in between them that holds 5 hangers (wood, metal or plastic all work).  when you need to get to your clothes, you hook both rings on your closet rod and your clothes are neatly lined up for your perusal.  when you are done, you simply unhook one side and let your clothes hang vertically.  this means they take up less space, giving you an excuse to shop some more to fill your closet!

each package comes with 8 wonder hangers that each old five items.  what this essentially means is that 40 items take up the space of eight items hung up the old way.

bill really liked being able to add more space to his closet, as well as keep things neatly organized.  what we have noticed, however, in spite of the claim to "hold up to 5 heavy winter jackets," the rings on the bars are stretched out quite a bit.  we aren't sure how long they are going to last.  i would like something like this to keep space available in our coat closet, even if we have to store all our winter coats in there.

online you can buy a wonder hanger package and get one free for $9.99 plus shipping and handling.  you can also find the wonder hangers at walmart, target, cvs and bed, bath and beyond.

overall i would say the concept is good.  for my clothes, which are lightweight, i wouldn't worry too much about the stretching of the rings, but i am curious to see how long they last for bill.

just for those of you who pay attention to this kind of thing, that is a picture of my closet in its current state of disorganization (i'm embarrassed to admit).  obviously, i need a set of wonder hangers for myself.  i forgot to take a before picture of bill's closet, but, believe me when i say, it was much, much scarier!

this is a mamabuzz review.  i received a free package of wonder hangers from wonder hanger for the purpose of this review.  regardless, the opinions expressed here are purely my own.  i have received no other compensation for this review.

easter movie ideas

i don't know about you, but the last thing my kids need for easter is more candy.  since every sunday night is family movie night, i have been looking for some good movies to add to our collection.

20th century fox and mgm home entertainment have come out with some great titles just in time for easter.  these titles come with easter egg stickers and are marketed as "easter basket approved." 

if your kids like games and coloring pages (and if you like coupons), you might want to check out www.MoreEasterFun.com.  who knows?  you might even win a $50,000 nest egg...

check out these titles that are available on blu-ray:  alvin and the chipmunks (zoe would like it if i paired this with the newly released "squeakuel"), horton hears a who, ice age, ice age: the meltdown, night at the museum and pink panther 2.

my family is excited about these newly-released dvds: the black stallion and the secret of nimh.

as you can see, it is a great combination of classic and new titles.  it is a great opportunity to introduce your kids to movies that you loved as a kid. 

stay tuned because more movies are being released for mother's day:  you'll have to add one of these favorites to your wish list!

winners!

note to self:  don't plan to draw the winners from your giveaway when you are out of town!

i drew the winners for my two giveaways using random.org.  since i'm not at my own computer, i don't know how to do a screen shot so you will just have to trust me.  

the winner of the exergen forehead scanner is amy from occupation mommy.  congratulations!  this will be just in time for your new baby!

the winner of the first what's in the bible video is erika bode!  hopefully you wait a little while to show that to baby tyler!

the winner of the second video is thea finley!  probably asher will need a little while to be ready for this video too--but it will be a great babysitter when he's ready for it!

for the rest of you, stay tuned.  i'm sure to have more giveaways coming up and you can tell the chances are always good!