Project Simplify: Closet Cleanout

I had planned on joining Simple Mom's Project Simplify right from the beginning, but life happened and the only closet cleaning I did last week was to give a jacket and a shirt to my mom while she was here visiting. But just thinking about it all week gave me the motivation to start trying on clothes Friday afternoon, and by Sunday night I was through the whole closet.

I realized that I'd been hanging on to a lot of clothes becasue they reminded me of who I used to be. I had a lot of clothes that I wore when I was teaching--6 years ago--that I didn't need or even want anymore. And there were some clothes from Hawaii--like the dress I wore when Ben returned from his first deployment--that just reminded me of who I used to be.

And so even though I never wore them, I didn't get rid of them. Until now. In all I got rid of
5 dresses
8 skirts
4 pairs of pants
10 shirts
1 jacket
3 belts

Woohoo!

Thoughts on joining a CSA

I've been contemplating the advantages of signing up for a CSA for the last year or so, and am once again trying to decide if this would be worth it for our family. I really like the idea of getting produce fresh from the farm. And I like that I would be supporting local, family farmers.

But I'm still holding back.

Last spring, when the time to sign on came, I hesitated. I was pregnant, and would have a newborn when the crops started rolling in. Was I really going to have the energy to experiment with new vegatables? So I passed.

This spring I've gotten the hang, mostly of running a household with three littles ones under my feet, but I'm still hesitating. I have two main fears:

1. Will anybody eat the food we receive? My four year old is notoriously picky. My husband is generally a good sport about trying my new creations, but I'm not sure how long that would last. The two little ones will eat anything, so I'm not so worried about them. Would I try everything? Hmmm...I'm rather notorious for being picky myself.

2. Does the cost make if feasable? $250 is almost our entire grocery budget for a whole month. If I still have to supplement with fruits and veggies we need more of, this could put a serious cramp in my summer grocery budget.

I know the answers already. Yes, people will complain, but it would be good for us to stretch our palates a bit. And yes, the cost is substantial, but if I start squirling away extra grocery money now I could easily have enough by early summer.

The real problem may just be a generalized fear of doing something I've never done before. Which means it's high time I went ahead and signed up.

Super Saturday, but so much for Sunday

Autumn is my favorite time of the year and yesterday was just a perfect day. The sun shone, the breeze blew. It was warm enough for shirt sleeves, but not so warm that I broke a sweat.

While the boys napped I took Anna for a walk in the stroller. She's almost three months old and I think this was the first walk the two of us had taken by ourselves. It made me think back to when Nick was a baby and I was out with him in the stroller two or three times a day...so much different now with the older ones around.

When we retruned from out mommy-daughter walk the boys came outside with us and played. I collected some flower seeds and weeded along the fence. Nick rode his tricycle and played parade. Luke pulled the wagon. Anna napped. We all enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air and felt good when we went in for dinner.

Today was not such a success. I started out running behind and never caught up. I did, grudgingly, let the boys play outside for a bit when we returned from church. I promised we'd be out more in the afternoon but we never went back out. Nick was dissappointed. I still feel guilty, especially knowing that the next week is going to be considerably cooler and rainier. Ah, mommy guilt.

CVS trip to roll ECBs

After several failed attempts to get out the door on Wednesday, the kids and I finally made it to CVS just before dinner. We would have skipped it altogether, but I didn't want to loose the eight dollars in ECBs I had that were expiring that day.

Here's what we got...

2 Dawn dish soaps (free after coupons)
2 Colgate toothpaste (free plus overage after coupons and ECBs)
Brach's candy corn (free after coupon)
Dial soap 3-pack (.64 after coupon and ECB)
Envelopes (we were out of these and I needed something to put my total over $8)

ECBs spent: $7.99
ECBs earned: $6.98
Total OOP: $1.71

Outdoor Challenge

The first full week of my "Get the Kids Outdoors" challenge is over. For the most part I think I was pretty successful. We spent a good chunk of time playing outside all but one very hectic, mixed up day. That day they probably only got to run around for ten or fifteen minutes; the other days were closer to an hour and some (like last weekend) they were outside the majority of the day.

Something I noticed this week is that when Lucas has had enough of the outdoors, he just heads for the porch, says, "All done" and in he goes. I like knowing that he really got his fill of fresh air and was ready for a change. Nick, however, always has to be told that it's time to head inside.

What a Weekend

Last weekend my husband replaced the flooring in our kitchen and dinning room. Saturday morning I griped a little that, on what was sure to be the last really nice weekend of the year, we were going to be stuck inside doing home improvement.

By the end of the weekend I had to eat my words.

We were totally blessed with the beautiful weekend weather. With our two main rooms torn up the boys would have had no place to run. The "help" they offered Ben would have slowed the process down considerably. But with the temperatures in the seventies, I just opened up the doors and sent them outside to play.

Saturday they spent hours in the sandbox. Sunday we raked the few leaves that had fallen into a big pile to run through and toss into the air. They rode the tricycle, pulled the wagon, pretended to build a house. Oh, and they picked the last of the very green cherry tomatoes. (Oh well!)

Easy Preschooler Entertainment

Yesterday I was working on a cross stitch for my soon-to-arrive niece. Nick curled up next to me and was very intent on knowing what I was doing. I told him I was sewing a turtle for Betsy. He asked if he could sew a turtle for Betsy too.

Not wanting to discourage his craftiness, I said sure. Then I had to come up with a turtle for him to sew! This is what I did.:

1. I drew a very simple turtle on a piece of fairly heavy (not-corrugated) cardboard. I cut the edges to shape it a little bit, leaving half an inch or so of space between the picture and the edge.

2. Using my three-hole punch, I made holes every couple of inches all the way around.

3. I gave him a shoelace and the picture and showed him how to push the end through the holes. He's been "sewing" ever since.



I know they sell these types of things (because I've bought them myself) but I'm happier with my homemade one. It's made of sturdier material, it can be made in whatever shape my son fancies at the moment, and when the baby gets a hold of it and gums it to mush I can easily, and cheaply, make another one.