Ecological Babies' Top 3 Recommended Events this Weekend!

Sat-
1.  Nene Fest:
*This is one of Tallahassee's finest festivals.  It's run by the Indian Head community and for them but open to anyone!  I highly recommend bringing a picnic blanket, change of clothes/towel, and sunscreen.  

Optimist Park from 3 to 9 pm. This year’s ―for neighbors, by neighbors‖ festival will feature live
music and a few surprises. Bring your picnic, a chair, dancing shoes, and a kickball, Frisbee, or whatever
else will contribute to the fun. When Indianhead/Lehigh neighbors come together, amazing things can
happen!
If you have questions, contact Marie-Claire at marieclaireleman(at)gmail.comor 728-7514.
You can view photos from last year’s Fest at http://ihlna.org.



2. Clothing Swap: 8:30-10am

Need some new clothes for the kids?
Good Samaritan MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Group and Momslikeme Tallahassee are sponsoring a Spring Clothing Swap. We all know how expensive kid's clothing can be. It doesn't get any easier than this!

Check in begins at 8:30am. Bring your kid's clothes and shoes ready to exchanged - get one credit for each piece. The Swap will start promptly at 9:30am. "Shop" around the swap for the things you need, using your credits. All leftover clothing can be taken home by the original owners, or will be donated to The Brehon House.

There will be some fun things for the kids to do also! Come check out our info tables that will have information about our MOPS group, Momslikeme Tallahassee, Good Samaritan Academy, and Good Samaritan Arts program. Free to attend!

3. PRSM Sale: TODAY 10am-6pm, Sat, 10am-6pm

Probably pretty picked over since it started today but awesome deals!

Parents Raising Sensational Multiples (PRSM) is happy to announce the spring sale will be at the former Goody's location at the Tallahassee Mall.

For the first time our sale will be accepting credit cards (Visa, Mastercard and Discover). There will be a $20 minimum purchase required for using a credit card.

What are your plans this weekend?

Jen Starks, Owner www.ecologicalbabies.com ecologicalbabies@gmail.com 850.284.5887

Easter Festivities

I must say, each Easter seems to get a little more fun as the kids get older.  When Rita Clare was younger (much like how Tyler is now), she really didn't understand too much about what was going on, nor could she participate in the ways she did this year.

Highlight #1: Dyeing & decorating the eggs.  Next year, I'm going to have Rita Clare help me make the natural dyes.  This year, I lacked confidence in whether it would actually turn out, she's notorious for making decisions without checking in with me first, and her attention span would have died out before we actually started dyeing the eggs. Much like cooking in peace (when both kids actually nap at the same time), making the natural dyes was quite fun and adventurous.  I used some leftover red cabbage (blue/purple color), beets (pink), and turmeric (yellow-gold).  I tried mixing a couple to make different shades but it didn't work out that well.  (Maybe next year, I'll double my quantities of the primary colors and work with it)

After cooking the color into the water/vinegar, I poured the contents through a strainer.  If I had strained it with a cheesecloth, I wouldn't have had any specking of the eggs.  Honestly though, I kinda liked it speckled! At that point, I was ready to set up the dyeing station.  The stress level was low because I had it all prepped before Rita Clare came out from her nap.  Tyler sat up at the table and watched, while eating an undyed egg.  Both the kids (and actually Brian and I too) have been eating a ton of hard boiled eggs recently.  Some mornings, Tyler will eat two in one sitting! Here are a couple pics of the dyeing process:

Red Cabbage

All three cooking at the same time

Presto!

Highlight #2: Setting out everything from the Easter Bunny.  This year, I progressively picked things up. I especially was excited for the opportunity to support a few local businesses in our gifts: Little Speckled Frog, Happy Little Monkey, Handmade Natural Wooden Gifts, Earth Fare, One Week Boutique, and a local vendor (I can't remember now) from Spring Time Tallahassee.  This year, I wanted quality rather than quantity.  Brian still thinks I went a little overboard (and I probably did) but many are the gifts that will bring us quality time together as a family.  Here's what it looked like before I turned out the lights last night:

Highlight #3:  Little moments in the early morning.  As neat is it the moment they come out to look at everything, it is usually immediately followed by a craze that I have a hard time handling.  This is especially because I am always woken up earlier than normal and have not had my first cup of coffee.  Despite all that and some of the greed that is in there, there were a few memorable moments I'm glad I captured:

Tyler secretly swiped Rita Clare's chocolate & decided to help himself to it.  When caught, he started laughing as thought he knew what he'd done and was proud of it!

Rita Clare wanted to ice the cinnamon rolls "all by myself".  She'd ice one roll, lick off the knife and move on the the next one.  I just couldn't bring myself to throw away the dye at that point, so I actually dyed the icing lavender.

Highlight#4:  Easter Egg Hunt with family & friends.  We were fortunate enough to be able to do our egg hunt with some other like-minded friends at Lichgate.  I take this space for granted....it's stunning!  It was so low key and most of the eggs weren't loaded with more candy.  We put temporary tattoos in ours as our contribution.  

Honestly though, Tyler was a major highlight of the egg hunt.  It was his first official "hunt" where he could put it in his basket and look for the eggs.  I was surprised how quickly he caught on.  It was adorable.  I have a video I made too.  Maybe I'll post it on facebook, since it's too cute to keep to myself.  :o)

Entering the Enchanted Space

Sister & Brother Love

Satisfied with a full basket

Priceless.  This was his first egg.

Final Highlight: Baby birds on our back porch were born and set free this weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture but this was such an awesome experience.  A finch nest was made on our screened in porch and the last few days, we knew the eggs had hatched.  We'd hear their little chirping and the many rounds of food their parents made keeping their little bellies full. But yesterday, they all left the nest and flew for the first time...all over our screened in back porch.  I couldn't believe how large they were for only being a couple days old.  Their little fuzzy heads and vulnerable state kept Rita Clare and I watching them from our window.  It was an honor to witness their freedom and how we helped protect their nest as they grew into being.  

Hope your Easter was a great as ours!

Peace from our family to yours,

Jen

Jen Starks, Owner www.ecologicalbabies.com ecologicalbabies@gmail.com 850.284.5887

Now Hiring! Sales Representative

 Sales Representative/Community Educator

Job Description

Summary of Position:___________________________

Oversee and manage Ecological Babies in the Tallahassee region.  Will be responsible for community education, fulfilling orders, providing customer service, and be involved in various community events. 

Must promote & advertise Ecological Babies’ mission and help continue to bring in new clients.

Key Qualities of Employee:_______________________

• Passion for cloth diapers and green living
• Excellent interpersonal and social skills
• Ability to handle money and enact sales transactions
• Must have daily access to computer and the internet
• Must have clean, temperature controlled space for inventory storage
• Needs effective time management skills (must schedule and keep appointments)

• Strong community ties is a plus
• Sales background is a plus
• Acquaintance with Social Media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is a plus

Specific Duties & Responsibilities:_____________________

• Run Community Seminars- (approximately once a month)
• Host Cloth Diaper Showers in the area
• Set up, maintain, manage online registries
• Advertise -Post flyers in various locations of upcoming events
• Social media assistance- announcements, promotions/sales, local events
• Mom’s Time Out participation (possibly sit on committee board)
• Manage local inventory
• Pay is commission based (Must be able to commit to a minimum of 10 hours per week, more hours will produce more income)

Training:                                                                                                    

Owner will provide training on all aspects of the job.  This will include an in-depth introduction to Ecological Babies’ mission, procedures for inventory management, and training on how to conduct sales, community seminars (will observe at least one seminar presentation), and cloth diaper showers (may observe one shower).  Owner will maintain a close relationship with employee and be available for ongoing support.

Ready to Apply?  Here's the Application.

All About Sunscreen!

Finally!  After trying out so many different brands of sunscreens, I think I can finally settle on this one. If you were to look in my bathroom closet, you'd think I was a collector of sunscreens.  We have ones for us adults that I've had for a long time (and now my husband is the only one who uses it).  They include the standard brands and some with insect repellent in it too.  Then a couple summer ago, I was hooked on those cooling mist ones that spray on.  I thought, hey's this is easy and it's SPF 70 too!  Plus, they didn't feel like they were clogging my pores. 

Then I started to learn that some sunscreens were arguably worse for your skin/body than if you never worn it at all.  Say WHAT???  If you're just starting to evolve in the land of sunscreen and want to learn more, here is an EXCELLENT website to bookmark: www.cosmeticdatabase.com.  It will cover makeup, lotion, shampoo, and MUCH more.  Be careful though, the more you learn, the uglier and more unsettling it gets!

So then we started trying one just for kids.  Bad news-most of those aren't trustworthy either!  BUT there are a few safe brands that are safe that I've tried and will review for you:

Badger-Smells good, goes on really thick, terrible for my face

California Baby-Pricey for little bottle, goes on white & very difficult to rub in, thick on face

Aveeno-has parabens, gentle, rubs in nice, strong sunscreen smell

Jason-Like the smell, not good for babies, rubs in nice

Burt's Bees-strongly dislike smell, texture after rubbing on is weird, easy to rub in, not thick

I know we haven't tried them all but I believe we've made a good dent!  So, here are some features about Dr Robins sunscreen and why I'm finally settling on this one:

1.  It's made in USA by a pediatric dermatologist

2.  The ingredients are very impressive and therefore I can trust it.  Here's the list. 

3.  The entire family can use this (including babies).

4.  I will put this on my face.

5.  It goes on white at first, so you can see where you put it on.

6.  It rubs in so easily, which is especially good for my squirmy kids.

7.  The smell is non-intrusive.  It's very mild.

8.  After I put it on, I don't feel the need to go wash my hands.  It's not oily & can be rubbed off hands easily.

9.  It's not tested on animals.

If you have some time, I'd recommend you checking out Dr. Robin's sunscreen Q & A.  It's a great jumping point for being safe in the sun, especially for your little ones. 

I'm curious what other brands are out there. Which ones have you tried?  Like/dislike?

If you'd like to give ours a try, then we now have it in stock.  Here's the link.

Peace,

Jen

Jen Starks, Owner www.ecologicalbabies.com ecologicalbabies@gmail.com 850.284.5887