One week of school down. The end of this first week found our family with colds so what is a Mama to do in such a situation? Make Mac-N-Cheese of course! Back in the day before we had kiddos hubby and I loved to watch Alton Brown on the Food Network. Keep in mind that this is “back in the day” when we could afford the luxury of satellite T.V. (oh, that beloved dish screwed into our roof, how I miss thee (I don’t think hubby ever thought that I would miss the dish on the roof)) it is good old PBS and local stations for us now. I am happy with that decision now but there have been moments! Okay, back to Alton. I feel after watching his show that we are good friends on first name bases of course, after all, we sat with him in his T.V. Kitchen once a week and cooked with him (maybe it is good we got rid of the satellite). So, Alton makes incredible Mac! How do I know this? Well, I watched him make it of course! Okay, and then I tried it out because he makes cooking look easy, fun and it just all makes sense when he cooks (he has that mad scientist thing going on with food). I should share at this point that I am picky about cheese. I don’t like things that are really cheesy. I know, it is odd! This Mac is not too cheesy though, it is the perfect amount of cheesy goodness and it is even a little fancy (I mean look at those bread crumbs on top). So, if you are up for a new Mac-N-Cheese recipe give this a shot. You could even WOW your kids! I know I did! This is the first time that Sister has been aware of me making “real” Mac so she was kind of blown away when I put the dish in the oven and the cheese didn’t come from a packet. She was telling everyone that I made Mac from scratch. So, go ahead and impress the kiddos and make some not too cheesy Mac-N-Cheese.

I am happy to report that we have all survived the first week of our new schedule (code for school started)…and we need a vacation! Whew, dragging my body out of bed a little earlier than “normal” (normal being summer…oh, how I miss thee…it is about a 30 minute difference but it was a good and lovely 30 minutes of extra sleep) is hard work.

The kiddos are eager, loving school and eating it up. I am having to remind brother to give me a hug and a kiss before he goes running off into his classroom and I have decided to just wait and let the other parents pick up their eager to go home children before I interrupt brother’s time with his beloved teacher which he is a little hesitant to leave. Sis is still getting settled into school but she has come home everyday talking about something fabulous that happened (most recently it was that they shot off a rocket).

On the kiddos days off I am attempting home schooling with them (we are not shooting off rockets so it is not quite as exciting as school). It is a safe way for us to try out home schooling and see how it works for our family. I am happy to share that there have been no casualties as of yet but the jury is still out after just one week. It is definitely an adventure in using our words well and staying present with each other though.

We are thankful for Friday and I must admit that there will be a little extra sleeping going on in the morning! Routine is SO good but new routine is SO hard!

First day of school means we need the necessities. I have the great gift of procrastination as we have discussed before but even with that gift the necessity of a backpack was filled just before (two days to be exact) the first day of school. I used the same pattern from which I had made Sis’s last year (she was devastated that I did not make her a new backpack for this year…a bit of a touchy subject with her).

Brother picked out his fabric from the ever growing stash of fabric and asked daily if I was finished yet with his backpack. The little man was elated when I finally held it up for him to behold. Whew, there was so much anticipation built up in him it could of been really bad if he declared it not wonderful. While I was working on this pattern I was reminded of how fabulous this it is so if you are a sewer, don’t be intimidated! It really is doable! Honest!

There are definitely a lot of loaded topics that you can reach in a conversation. Topics that everyone has a thought or opinion on and generally it is strong for one side or the other. I have launched into one of those topics this summer with our family. The topic of food! Not so scary you say…depends on who you ask I guess.

We have several friends who are strong foodies. Just aware of what they are taking into their bodies and what forms of food they consume. I was okay with them and what they were up to, although, it was not super life changing to our diet. I definitely heard them but I was not in a place where I could fully hear them and take it to heart or maybe I didn’t want to hear them.

So fast forward a bit and a different friend tells me that I should watch Food Inc. I am kind of digging in my heels at this point but as she shares a few things I am starting to think that I need to see this. It was running on PBS at the time (good ole’ PBS). A few minutes into watching the show and I had already started changing the way our family was going to eat from this point on.

I went on this crazy learning journey this summer researching and seeking out truth. There is so much information out there it is really hard to weed through it all. There were points where I was armed with enough info to be dangerous and there were points where I decided that there was no way that we could ever do this.

After a lot of conversations with friends and lots of conversations with my husband, armed with his blessing we started to change the food we consume. There is always a catch though isn’t there! Yes, I had my husbands blessing but he reminded me of our limited financial resources and told me that I could make any changes that I wanted as long as our small grocery budget did not change one bit.

Game on! I did not know the competitiveness that this would bring out in me. I wish that I could tell you that I began cutting coupons and I was saving us so much money a week but if I am super honest about it I am not great at being a coupon girl. I have tried. Honest! I signed up for all those sites but I am just not diligent with it. Sad! So with coupons pretty much out except for the ones that are no fuss to print (that is you don’t have to jump through hoops etc.) I drastically altered the food that we consume.

Over the course of the summer we have slowly gone Organic…fully Organic. This also means that we cleaned out our really tasty ready made snacks and treats (hard!). I think that this is a choice that you have to really research and decide about for your own family. So, how in the world could I do this and keep my small grocery budget??? We cut meat. Gasp and sadness, I know! It was a way to make Organics doable for us. We do have one meat meal a week and we chose to have it for our Sabbath dinner just as a fun way to celebrate as a family. I have started making our bread and a few other things but I have really tried to keep that to a minimal time requirement.

The switch has been pretty crazy! It has been hard to find Vegetarian and or Vegan meals that we really enjoy but we are finding them slowly. I am amazed that I am able to keep the budget down and it is actually a little lower than before. Not sure how that works but it is working. I do have very frustrating weeks sometimes when I can’t get exactly what I want but it is a give and take. Lastly we have been surprised in just the few changes with the weight drop. It really made me stop and think.

It has been fun and frustrating exploring new foods and definitely an adventure. I do have to plug Organic Spices. I did not think that they would make any difference at all and it was actually one of the last things that we switched but they are so very fresh and incredible. Who knew they were so different. They even look pretty to in all their bright colors.

So, I share our adventure into this loaded topic just because so many people say that it cannot be done in a small budget. I just want others to know that it really can be done. It is doable. It is a give and take and it is a really hard journey until you get a little more use to the shopping and seeing what you can and cannot do without but it is exciting. At least it has been for us.

We have really invited our children on this journey with us and shared a lot with them it has been a learning process for us all. The other day sister colored me a picture and when I asked her to tell me about it she responded with, they are organic chicks from organic eggs. It has been hard for the kids to give up some of their favorites along the way but they are gaining new favorites much faster than I ever expected.

It has been a crazy and wild adventure walking through this loaded topic (easier for some than others in our house) but all that any of us can do is try to make the best decisions with the knowledge that we have for our families. I just want you to know that it is doable!!!

Yep, there it went! Like the wind, it tore through our house and left us content and ready to face the fall. Summer was full and had many a swirl but it was sweet. When I last left this blog I wanted to fully catch all of summer and bottle it. I am drinking deep from these last few days trying to remember and store away smells of flowers, wet pool hugs, visits and memories galore. It was a summer full of growing and there is much to remember both hard and sweet. I feel content with the way it has been bottled. We shall pull it off the shelf now and then to remember and tell. We have had enough heat to last for a lifetime but today brought rain. Huge dark clouds rolled in and we knew that it would be a good rain. The first good rain that we have had in many days maybe months. We were all very excited for the clouds and rain! We are refreshed and gearing up for school. I stood at the beginning of summer mourning the loss of the best teacher ever for sister only to find at the end of summer that brother will have a most incredible teacher and dear friend of ours this year. Amazing! So, here we stand. Thankful for the refreshing rain and summer, drinking deep from the puddles that remain. There is a backpack that still needs to be sewn but the first day of school dress is hanging in the closet and ready. We are anticipating Open Houses, making new friends and all the newness and unknown that school brings each year. And here we go!

Yep, it is here. We just said goodbye to possibly the best teacher that we will ever have. Is it possible to have your favorite teacher ever in preschool? She has been INCREDIBLE! I cried! I cried writing a note to her. I was boohooing everywhere! My shirt was wet my eyes were red and don’t you know that the UPS man came right then. He looked very scared when he saw me. I still cry just thinking about it. Yep, we will see her next year in the halls but she is just so AMAZING!
Standing here in May summer feels a little overwhelming…it feels long and empty but I know standing in August it will feel so very short and so very full. I want to capture it and bottle it up. I want to save every ounce of it. I want to be present and not preoccupied. I want to enter into my days with a happy heart and an aware heart of where the kids are and what would make them feel loved and cherished that day. I want to equip them, I want to teach them so much, love them so much and explore so much together. There is a whole summer laying ahead…what will we do with it…capture it!

First off YES I put fake flowers on a cake! I was informed that the Cake Wrecks blog would have a fit but I had to admit that it was totally worth it for the happy heart that it gave our kiddo!
This cake is full of nothing but HAPPY! I first stumbled upon this little cake on a random blog and then later discovered that Martha had a recipe for it. I am not sure why Martha always seems to make things a little more complicated but alas I set out to accomplish it because it was just so darn HAPPY! The fun came when we got to cut into the cake at the party and surprise everyone with the rainbow of colors on the inside. So FUN!!!

Icing the cake was a lot of fun as well! Happy happy colors!!!

You know how you can hear a sound and immediately know what it is? You know what it is because you have heard it in everyday life repetitively. It is when you hear the familiar sound mixed with an unfamiliar sound that you pause because in your head you are thinking…oh, no, you did not just do that…
I hear the spindles on our steps turn almost everyday from the kids running their hands past them or from my hand brushing past them as I sit something on the steps to go upstairs. Today I heard the ever so familiar sound of the spindles but then I heard a thud. I knew what had happened before I looked up and I even felt myself, for a brief moment, refusing to look up and refusing to enter into what I thought to be true.
The cry followed the thud and as I slowly brought myself to reality. I saw our child, body on one side of the spindle and head on the other. Are you kidding me? That was the phrase that I was screaming inside my head. We have chatted about this a million times…it is not a wise idea to stick your head through the spindles…it will be stuck there…maybe forever!!!
I never really panicked I was just mad! People stick their heads through spindles on TV, not in real life, come on! I try to push the head through the gap but screaming ensued…it was not coming out that way. Tried to lift the spindle up and out…it went up but not out. Sat there for a little bit contemplating my options. Thought about the butter but it is so pricey. Debated calling hubby just to share about the predicament. While dialing his number I thought about my speech for the worst mother of the year award. Brad suggested Vaseline…it is cheap! Asked the older sibling to come and sit with the stuck one while I went to get the Vaseline. Busy coloring was the response. My response…your sibling is STUCK in the steps…CANNOT MOVE! Please come love on your sibling! Footsteps, I take off running for the Vaseline, I hear, it is okay Buddy! Releave the sibling to return to coloring and I slather the stuck one. Still no go! This stuff works on TV I think to myself! Lots of screaming and really red ears. I give up. Call the hubby again to find the location of the saw! Call reluctant unstuck sibling back to hang out with stuck sibling while I run for the saw. Relieve unstuck sibling and comfort stuck sibling as I move close with the saw. Lift the spindle as high as I can so that there will not be a ton of noticeable damage on the steps. Proceed with sawing at an unnoticeable angle so the other side of the saw is scratching the steps but I have no clue. Lovely! Finally, last cut and FREEDOM! Lots of cuddling and loving and a few shared words of I told you not to do that!

Honestly, be very honest here, does anyone really like to iron? What if we all banded together and decided to just go wrinkly…wouldn’t that be fabulous? It might not look that great but we would not have to iron! just think about it…it could work!
Yes, the ironing pile was huge today…it comes from not liking ironing so much…week after week after week.

I got to start work on two projects last weekend.

The first being to paint the front door. We have gone back and forth over colors for a very long time. We finally agreed, though, with a good bit of give and take on black. I decided that I would paint it and be done. Did you know that painting a white door black takes, well, we are up to 4 coats of paint and we could use a few more? I am not much of a painter so I am pretty clueless when it comes to such things, but, wow! I decided that we would finish that project a different weekend. I am happy with it though and I love the way that it is coming together. Lest, you think that the door looks like the above picture in its finished for now state I promise that I really did do the 4 coats. It looks good from the driveway it is just when you walk up to it that one might notice that it is a work in progress.

The second project from the weekend was to check out the garden. I covered it in cardboard boxes for the winter. Consider it a layer to hold in the moisture inviting worms and other wonderful things for happy soil. I was very anxious to see what it looked like underneath and to stir up the soil just a little bit combining a few layers. I used a new to us tool which was very fun! A lot of work but fun all the same. I was happy to see so many worms and better soil underneath. I need to lay down a layer of newspaper and add some leaves and pine needles and get to planting in the next few weeks. I am really excited that it is almost gardening season again.

Two projects in process is a good thing. Still a few more to start as the weather continues to warm up.