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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video

Jonathan Longnecker / August 28, 2014

Guys. We are the biggest ninja turtle nerd family you've ever met. Seriously.

All 4 of my kids love the turtles - and each have chosen their favorite. Jett likes Leonardo the leader, Adali likes Donatello the scientist, Jax likes Michelangelo the fun one, and Ada likes Raph the hothead. It's actually kind of weird how much the turtles parallel our kids. Anyway.

We've watched just about every episode of every season of every incarnation of the Turtles, seen the movies (yes, even the new one!) and we're addicted to the toys.

When Nickelodeon bought the rights to TMNT several years ago I had no idea the Turtles would be back with such a vengeance. But it's pretty awesome to be able to share a love for something you had as a kid with your own kids. Of course, now that the Ninja Turtles are everywhere again, so are the toys.

I'm pretty sure we have every one they've made. We watch toy fairs to see when the next characters are coming out. Guys, we have a problem. To be fair - the Playmates toys are actually really good quality and pretty cheap for what you're getting. They're a good size and lots of fun to play with. Unlike the tiny little super hero toys they make that are nearly twice as expensive and no fun to play with.

I didn't want our kids to have all these toys and just play with them occasionally. I wanted to teach them how to make something awesome with what they have. So naturally we made a Ninja Turtle Video.

We hope you like it! We had a blast making it :)

Wanderlust

Ashley Longnecker / August 27, 2014

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a hippie.  I'm a dread lock wearing,  oil loving, kombucha drinking, Whole30 eating girl that has a desire to minimize and simplify my family's life.

I get rid of toys if my kids haven't touched them in about 6 months.  We only get our kids one or two pairs of pants/shorts and enough shirts to get through most of a  week without doing laundry.  Our kids have a pair of flip flops and a pair of Chucks and that's their shoe options.  We keep things simple.  We make our own laundry soap.  We make art for our home.  We make our own tables.  I cut our kids' hair and Jonathan's hair.  

We try to keep our lives free of clutter and extra activities so we can spend time together as a family.  I highly doubt we will look back at our lives when our kids are old and grown and say, "man, I wish I would have sent them to school/daycare so I could have worked." or "I wish we didn't spend so much time with our kids".  

I see so many people rushing around with their kids trying to get them to every sporting event, and every activity they get invited to, every piano or guitar lesson (or both).  Makes me exhausted just listening to their busy lives.  Which brings me to my next crazy idea (and yes, I have many of them).

I want to travel.  I want to take at least 2 years with my family and travel.  I want to see the US.  I want to travel to lots of beaches and national parks and waterfalls.  I want our kids to experience this country we live in.  I have only seen a handful of the states and I would love to make my way through at least half of them in those 2 years with my family.  I have researched, and researched for quite some time.  

I've listened to podcasts, read blogs, talked to people who have traveled full-time with their families.  If Jonathan told me today that he's ready, I would have a for sale sign in our yard tomorrow and all our items on craigslist tonight.  I would sell it all and go right now.  I have an idea of the route I would want to take and places I want to go first.  I've priced travel trailers and fifth wheels and trucks to pull fifth wheels.  I've researched how to paint the inside of the trailer so it would feel more like home. I've researched healthy cooking over camp fires and how to make some money on the road.  Jonathan can work from anywhere with good internet and I can figure out how to sell some homemade items for extra cash along the way.

I want to go.  I want to meet people with the same interests that we have.  I want to meet people who want to go and experience life with their families in tow.  I don't want to wait until our kids are grown and gone.  I want to see the world through their eyes and learn with them. I want to see their faces when they see Niagra Falls, and NYC and I want to be there with them when they see the giant Red Woods.

I want to be there when Jonathan lets them start their first fire or teaches them how use a compass.  I want to be there when he teaches them to play the guitar.  I want to listen to them sing a song they made up around a camp fire.  I want to watch the movies that they will make when we're on the road and listen to the stories they write about their experiences.  I want to live life with them and I want to make every day a family adventure.

I'm ready to go, are you, Jonathan?  

FIVE!

Ashley Longnecker / August 25, 2014

Guys! We only have 5 more days on our first Whole30 journey.  I can't even believe it.  If you don't count the few times I ran to my room crying at the smell of fresh pizza, cookies, and biscuits, and waffles... then I'd say we've done really well.

Eating clean is hard when you have picky kids.  On one hand I want them to be super healthy and conscious of what they eat, but on the other hand I don't want them to stress out over if they have had one too many bananas in the day, or if they should eat a chocolate chip cookie because they have already eaten a granola bar that day.  I want them to be kids.  I want them to play.  I want them to be carefree and enjoy their childhood.

In the meantime I can be a good example and teach them how to cook a healthier version of spaghetti, or a healthier version of chocolate chip cookies. They'll learn by what we do, not by what we preach at them.  

Be a good example for your kids today.  Choose an apple over that banana muffin, but do it with a smile. Then go outside and beat them in a good game of kickball!

Flash Sale: Give What You've Been Given Shirts 50% Off!

Jonathan Longnecker / August 21, 2014

Hey friends! We're clearing out inventory in out shirt store so we can start working on some new projects. First up are our Give What You've Been Given shirts. Starting today both the men and the women's versions are 50% off! Whooo!! Just head on over to the store and grab one before we run out.

You guys rock!

Jonathan & Ashley

Whole30: Nobody's Perfect

Jonathan Longnecker / August 19, 2014

You know, a lot of times we see people going on and on about their perfect diet and their perfect lives with their perfectly photographed food and - well - it's easy to get discouraged and overwhelmed. I know we do. You're probably imagining them living in some perfectly designed Martha Stewart kitchen where every dish turns out flawlessly and they've adhered exactly to every specification of what they're allowed to eat. Just to be clear - that's not us. We're trying our best to really do this Whole30 thing right, but we are not perfect. No one is. So don't get discouraged! Don't give up! We're going to tell you how we've totally screwed up so far this month. Ready? Set? Go!

Potato Chips

I know you're laughing at us right now. Of course you can't have potato chips on Whole30, right!? Well..see just recently white potatoes got added to the "go" list and we grabbed some potato chips cooked in the right oil with just sea salt - no other ingredients. We thought we were good! But then we read the part about no fries or chips. Sigh...

Sweet Potato Chips

These are pretty much our lifesavers. We can munch on these provided they are clean and have the right ingredients, dip them in salsa or guacamole. Awesome snack! But there was one type - the Terra Spiced Sweet Potato Chips - we were eating all the time and then realized they had some evaporated cane sugar in them. Man, they were like the best ones, too. Super lame!

Chilean Lime Avocado Oil Chips

Yeah, we like chips. Don't judge us. It's just - you need something crunchy now and then, you know? Anyway, they're pretty clean but not clean enough. Also, they're white potato chips. But they're dang good.

Honest Fizz Drinks

Thankfully, there are lots of naturally flavored seltzer waters that we can drink. This is not one of them. It looks so nice and honest and natural doesn't it? Turns out naturally sweetened means "stevia sweetened." Marketing got us, dang it! We didn't actually drink these, but we bought a bunch of them and had them in the fridge before we noticed. Hey kids - you want to try a new drink?

Eating Out

We have tried our best not to eat out this month, but we're a busy family and sometimes it happens. It's extremely hard to eat anything Whole30 approved, decent, and somewhere the kids will eat, too. Build your own burrito bowl places like Salsaritas and Chipotle work pretty well as long as you put the right stuff on it. Unless you said "olives" and the guy behind the counter thought you said "cheese" and proceeds to dump cheese all over it. Yeah there were a few strands of cheese left even after he tried to clean it off. And I ate them. I tried to get the side salad at Chick-fil-A and forgot that it had cheese on it, too. I got as much as I could off, but ate some. Also, a side salad without dressing is gross. Finally, we did cheat a little on our youngest's birthday. We went to Red Robin and got bunless hamburgers with sweet potato fries. I know the fries weren't approved, but they were dang good!

Wrapping Up

Eating only whole foods is hard. It requires a lot of prep work, planning and commitment. But in a culture where nearly all the food we eat is mass produced to some extent it's nearly impossible to do this Whole30 thing perfectly. And that's ok. You do your best, keep going if you mess up and don't worry about everyone else. You're not doing it for them anyway, right? Right.