Laundry Downsizing

The one thing I have done recently that has truly made our daily lives more simple is downsizing. I started with the clothes, because I felt completely overwhelmed with laundry.

With three kiddos and two adults it seemed as though the laundry was always in a huge pile somewhere. In fact, there were multiple piles of clothes in all stages of the laundry process. Usually at least one pile of dirty, loads in the washer and dryer, clothes waiting to be folded and the folded ones which hadn't been put away. All these clothes laying in piles and we still had clean clothes to wear!

I decided that we just had too much. Most of it came as hand-me-downs that were in good shape or friends getting ready for garage sales. It was in good condition and a good buy, so I bought! Even though it was a good price, it was still too much.

I went through everything and kept only 5-6 play outfits for each child and 4 dressier outfits per child as well. They basically have a play outfit for each day of the week and a nice outfit for church. They can wear the dress outfits once a month to church and also for other outings that require them.

I also got rid of a bunch of towels. Each family member now has two bath towels. One to use and one to be in the laundry. We use them for a couple days before they go into the laundry, also, which helps out. At one point in time, there were so many towels that I had a load to do almost every day.

It has been such a blessing! The laundry is so much more manageable. I can now do all of our laundry - even if most everything is dirty - in just 4 loads or so. This is a great improvement!

Grocery Shopping Success!

Well, I did it! I'm really excited that I set out with a very specific plan and accomplished my goal. the kids behavior in the store was a little less than desirable, but the bill was well under budget. The grand total was $40.66. This includes three meals a day for a week plus snacks and a couple extras that weren't on my list. Yea!

I did go to two different stores, but I still completed the entire trip and made it back home in about an hour.

At the bread store I got:

Syrup - 1.89

100% whole wheat bread - 1.00

Whole wheat English muffins - .75

French bread - 1.00

Bread Store Total = $4.81

At Aldi I got:

Boneless-skinless chicken breasts - 5.49

Bag of carrots - .99

2 cucumbers - .98

Apple juice - 1.39

Blueberries - .99

2 pkg broccoli crowns - 1.98

3# bag of apples - 2.99

Red seedless grapes - 2.98

Bing cherries - 1.49

Instant mashed potatoes - .87

Cereal - 1.69

Salmon - 3.99

Milk - 2.22

Kitchen trash bags - 6.29

Aldi Total = $35.85

I have to say that it was a little difficult to stick to the list. I added a few things because I forgot to put them on the list. I feel really good about it. A week of meals for under $50 is great for us!

Food & Fun Friday

Most of the blogs I've been reading regarding grocery shopping do their planning and shopping on Mondays at the beginning of the week. That doesn't work so well for me. I want a stocked fridge for the weekend, which is when I like to cook for friends or just have special meals for us. Monday is the beginning of our homeschool week and I want to be disciplined enough to get right to the school schedule without worrying about the menu or groceries. So, I've designated Friday as our menu planning and shopping day. I'm calling it 'Food & Fun Friday' because I hope to be able to shop in the morning and do something fun with the kids in the afternoon. We'll see how it goes.

Today we are not going to worry about the fun activity because we've been very busy all week and everyone here just needs a rest. The activities will be more applicable when our homeschool schedule officially begins.

My grocery project over the next two weeks is to use up everything I possibly can from the pantry. We are moving at the end of the month and I don't want to pack and move food if I don't have to.

Here's the meal plan for the next week.

1. B - rice

L - PB& J

D - spaghetti w/zucchini from the garden and garlic bread

2. B - pancakes and eggs

L - beef roast w/carrots and mashed potatoes

D - leftovers

3. B - Oatmeal

L - Baked chicken w/zucchini and rice

D - Ramen noodles

4. B - Malt O Meal

L - Carrots & Apples w/peanut butter

D - Smothered burgers w/mashed potatoes & broccoli

5. B - Eggs & cereal

L - Ramen noodles

D - Salmon & grilled veggies

6. B - Rice

L - Grilled cheese & apples

D - Leftovers

7. B - Oatmeal

L - PB & J

D - Chicken strips and tater tots

Snacks: grapes, bananas, home-made Kool-Aid popsicles

I'm headed out to shop now. I'm hoping to spend less than $50. I'll let you know how it goes.

They Say The Cutest Things!

This is one of those things I just wanted to get down on paper (disk space) somewhere before I forgot about it.  It is the cutest thing ever.

Jackson, who is now 7, is such a sweetheart!  What I really love most about him is his heart.  He is so compassionate and open toward everyone he meets.  It is extremely rare to find someone he doesn't get along with.  

A little background information will be helpful for this story to really make sense to anyone who doesn't already know our family.  My husband, Doug, is very dark complected and tans very quickly in the spring and summer.  After an hour on the lawn mower, he looks like an Indian and I've been asked more than once if he was from the Middle East (which wasn't such a good thing after 9-11).    Jackson has always said his dad was "brown", which is true.  He is browner than most and I appreciated Jackson's attention to detail.

Last fall, before the '08 Presidential election, Jackson commented about all the signs we were seeing on the highway.  He explained to me that McCain was against Obama and that they had won "round one" and "round two" would be soon.  Whoever won that, would be our President.  I was impressed he knew so much about the election since I hadn't shared any of that information with him.  And, of course, he was reading the signs which I thought was great, too.  Anyhow, when I asked him who he would vote for if he could, he got excited and told me he would definately vote for Obama.  When I asked why Obama was his choice, he said "because he's brown like my dad."  

We all got a kick out of that!  Poor Doug was the focus of laughter from West Plains to Brunswick.  It was so funny and I don't think Doug minded too much.

Well, a week or so ago, I commented to Jackson about what a nice tan he had.  He looked at his arm and said "Yeah, I'm starting to look like dad."  I could see a lightbulb go on and he looked at me with a puzzled face and said, "You mean, Dad's not really brown?  Is he really just tan like me?"  When I said yes, he just sunk and said "Oh".  He was disappointed!  All this time he really did think  Doug was *really* brown!  It was so sweet.  Then, he started asking about other "brown" people he knows.  

Too cute!  It is so sweet to see how open-minded and innocent he is without any negative junk in his head yet.  I wish I could keep him that way.  He loves everyone and it wouldn't matter what color they were - brown, yellow, pink - whatever.  It's all good with Jax.

  This was taken on his 7th birthday in April.  He had a candle in his cinnamon roll before we went to school that day.

Baby Tomatoes

My first tomatoes!

The tomato plants are my favorite, so I decided to give them a whole post of their own.

I'm so excited to have fresh tomatoes of my own right outside my back door!  Yum!

I have five plants in the back yard in large plastic tubs.  We drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and filled them with the same mix we used in the garden boxes.  However, I did add one scoop of fertilizer in the center of the bucket about 10-12 inches below the plant.   We bought wire fencing at a hardware store to make our cages, which fit wonderfully inside the buckets.

I found heirloom plants at Wal-Mart and Nixa Hardware.  I've got a Cherokee Purple, Brandy Wine, Mr. Stripe, Orange Oxheart and a Yellow Pear.  The pear isn't doing so well, but everything else looks great.  We've got baby green tomatoes on all plants and a ton of flowers.  Mr. Stripey has grown to the top of the cage already, which is four feet tall!  The Orange Oxheart isn't too far behind.

I did start some tomatoes from seed and those plants are up on the deck.  I didn't start them soon enough, so they are alot farther behind.  I'll know better next year.

    

 Brandy Wine      Mr. Stripey & Orange Oxheart

How My Garden Grows!

I've enjoyed my garden so much!  I was so intimidated by this whole process, but it has been so easy and extremely rewarding.  The hardest part was getting it all set up, which really wasn't difficult, either.  If I can do this - anyone can!

The first pictures are just after I planted, which was the week prior to Mother's Day.  I put in two 4'x4' squares running east/west.  I used 2"x8" boards to make each square and filled them with a mix we learned about at a garden class.  You can read about that in my earlier garden post.

I planted two Black Beauty zucchini and two different types of yellow squash.  The zucchini were plants I purchased, but the yellow squash are heirloom varieties that I started from seed myself.  

In that same square I put oregano, rosemary, a few okra and one broccoli.  I tucked in a few marigolds here and there as well.

In the second box, I put six broccoli plants, three types of bell peppers, basil, and more marigolds.  This is what they looked like in the beginning.

                   

I also planted five different varieties of heirloom tomatoes in plastic tubs.  This has worked out wonderfully.  Four of them are doing great.  Mr. Stripey, the Orange Oxheart, Cherokee Purple and Brandy Wine are beautiful.  The exception is the Yellow Pear that just hasn't done well at all.  I think it isn't draining as well as it should, maybe.  The others are growing wonderfully, though, and we have small green tomatoes that I am so proud of! 

Here's what it looks like today.

                

     

The squash plants are growing like crazy and have almost completely covered all the other plants in that box.  I'll know next year to save one whole box for squash and zucchini.

Catching Up

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, mainly because I couldn't find the card reader for my camera's memory card.  I would so much rather read posts with pictures and I figure you would, too, so I've just put it off until I could find the reader.  It's been found, so I'm ready to do a little catch up with posts about the garden and kids.

Here we go...