They Grow Up SOOOOOO Fast!!

My friend Gina posted about how her little boy is growing up so fast. Last week, he couldn't reach the faucet to wash his hands and this week he can!! I have been realizing that myself a lot lately. Things that the kids hadn't done before, they are learning to do. Looking at the ages, I am quickly reminded that they will soon be adults, striving out into the world. Life passes by so quickly and we get caught up in the daily busyness. We need to stop and remember that even though there are the things that we need to do, we don't want our kids to grow up right before our eyes and miss it, because we were too busy!!!

Share what you do to make sure the busyness doesn't rob you of the precious time you have with your children.

We try to establish traditions, both at holidays and other times throughout the year. Some revolve around the foods we eat, the decorations we use, the places we go and others may be just a one-time thing, but they all add to our collective memories, that are specific to our family. One of the many reasons that I take lots of pictures and scrapbook is to make sure these things are not forgotten. Like today, when Grandma taught both of the girls to drive the tractor.

Scraproom is Moving Forward

Thursday afternoon and evening (in and around Maundy Thursday services), we emptied our two large bookcases in the office and moved them to our schoolroom in the basement. No small task as they are each 4 feet by 7 feet with 6 shelves in them. Right now, I have books piled in the office and the livingroom to sort through. I plan to donate a lot of them and sell a few.

The rest will return to the bookshelves in the basement, but not before I type up a list on the computer. I can't remember all that we have and have actually bought duplicates because of it. It will be nice to have the list with me when looking for books for school, particularly on my iPod to make it portable. Once the books are sorted, I plan to paint the wall they are on, move some desks around and finish the rest. Also, I have a new set of shelves to put up for my scrapbook supplies.

Moving these 2 large bookcases, were the key to getting the rest of the furniture moved, repurposed, the rooms painted, and finishing organizing our schoolroom. We had planned to move them over Christmas and then were socked with a huge snowstorm (2 feet of snow). Because of the size of the bookshelves, we couldn't take them down our stairs and make the turn, so we had to wait for the snow to finally melt. It only took from Christmas to Easter!!! Better late than never!

Thanks to my husband for all the help. I couldn't do it without him!! I will post pictures when I get it all done.

Jeffrey Smith wrote the book Seeds of Deception, which talks about genetically modified seeds. This article discusses real concerns that scientists had prior to genetically modified seeds being approved for use and how hug conflicts of interest are overlooked in politics. Insider were appointed to positions in the agencies charged with protecting the public and the public's health. Now we can see the drastic negative results that have come about because of this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/youre-appointing-who-plea_b_243810.html

Foodie Fridays - Food Documentaries

Let's Take Back Our Plates

I found this link on the Whole Foods newsletter I receive. It is a listing of food-based documentaries that are available and where they are showing around the country. If you are not nearby, many of them are available for purchase. We own King Corn and Food Inc.

I am guessing that many of the other ones (excluding the brand new releases) are probably available from Netflix. We got The Future of Food last Friday from Netflix, but haven't had time to watch it yet.

We will be seeing a preview of Farmaggedon in Madison, WI in about 10 days.

Thrifty Thursdays - Buying In Bulk

Some of you may use bulk buying to purchase items, some may not. I see several benefits to buying in bulk. I will also discuss some of the drawbacks.

1. Generally there are price discounts (volume discounts) when buying larger quantities of items.
2. You won't be paying for as much individual packaging, as with smaller quantities.
3. You won't run out as often and need to run to the store to purchase more, often at an inconvenient time. I do the bulk of my shopping (what we don't produce ourselves) once a month through our food coop (buying club).
4. Buying in bulk in conjunction with sale pricing, brings down overall cost of the item.
5. It allows you to help out a neighbor, who went to bake and realizes she is out of flour and lives 15 miles from the nearest store, or lives in town, but has an hour to get her baking done before she goes to work and has no time to run to the store.
6. It allows you to practice charity - those canned veggies you bought by the case can be used to dontate to the food drive at your church or school function. Also you have something on hand to whip up goodies for the afternoon bake sale that your little darling forgot to tell you about until this morning's breakfast.
7. Buying in conjunction with others generally allows you to share shipping with others if not purchased directly at the store.

Drawbacks:

1. Buying bulk might require a larger initial outlay of cash than you would otherwise, which may be a strain on your budget.
2. You may not have a lot of storage space available. This may mean a pantry area, extra closet, storage totes or a freezer, depending on the type of item.
3. You may not have proper storage containers to accomodate large quantities, which will need to protected from bug infestations, humidity, etc. in the case of food purchases.
4. Some items may not store well.
5. You may not have a need for large quantities of items (you are single for example).

There are many items that can be purchased in bulk, primarily food products, but also toiletries and other household goods, also school supplies. To be even thriftier when you are stocking up on food and toiletries, try to combine manufacturer's coupons with store coupons or sale prices. If you have the time to watch these things, you can do really well. My friend Laura's blog regularly has stories of the money-saving ventures. She does really well. Unfortunately for me, I tend to not buy the items that usually have coupons for them.

I grew up about 15 miles from the nearest town, so we didn't run to town every day when we needed something. I lived in the city during college and for 3 years afterwards, but again moved to the country when I married, again living 15 miles from the nearest town where I could buy food and other supplies. So for me, buying in bulk is a habit instilled by my mother, who I know still has plenty of food on hand to feed us all when we come home for a visit/holiday (except it is not my parents and us 4 kids - it is now my parents, us 4 kids and our 4 spouses and 8 (soon to be 9) grandkids).

Buying in bulk can be a great strategy to stretch your buying dollars.

Tasty Tuesdays - Bacon Potato Soup

Bacon Potato Soup

4 cups diced potatoes

1 cup chopped celery

1 carrot, sliced

1/4 cup bacon pieces

2 cups milk

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup chicken broth

Combine all ingredients but milk, in a 3 quart saucepan and cook until potatoes are tender, stirring frequent. Stir in milk, salt and pepper to taste. Serves 10.

Note: I copied this from a magazine with microwave instructions, so it is adjusted (without times) to be cooked on a stove top. If you need microwave instructions, I will post them in the comments if requested.

Possible New iPhone Carrier

New iPhone Carrier perhaps

I hope this is true and the cost is not outrageous. Verizon has great coverage in our area. Need to see how it compares to our current carrier and price differences. Guess we will wait and see since it will be at least 6 months before it happens.