Grocery Stats

Was going to post this on facebook, but decided to post it here:

Fun facts from our year's spending (yes I'm a Geek and record EVERYTHING! I like statistics, what can I say?) Here goes with my analysis: I spent as much on butter and vegenaise as I did on beans this year ($170). I spent twice as much on fruit as vegetables (thanks to getting lots of produce from the farm/wish we had mature fruit trees!), if we built a high tunnel for $350 where we could grow bell peppers, lettuce, onions, potatoes, zucchini and sweet potato only, it would pay itself off in a year). I spent as much money on avocados throughout the year as I did on cantaloupe during the summer (around $105) (a result of not having a garden this summer!), if I could make my own tofu, I could save about $100 a year, if I could bake my own bread I'd save a lot of money ($520!) which gives incentive to buy a grain grinder and fancy Kitchen aid dough mixer...but only after I read "Wheat Belly" and decide if I should invest in Kitchen Toys that are mainly used for wheat. If I went oil free, I'd save $200 a year, I spent as much on sea salt as I did on sugar ($62). If David had several hives of bees that were productive and provided us lots of honey we could save $125. We could never grow enough peanuts to satiate our love of peanut butter, nor would it be worth it ($163).

Orion's 6th birthday

December 25, 2013

I know I’m 23 days past due, but I’d like to give a review of Orion’s growth over this past year.

He still plays dolls with Omega but it’s becoming less and less interesting to him. You can tell from the following pictures that it's Omega who usually comes up with the ideas of what to play...

His masculinity is definitely starting to be more noticeable. He loves cars, trucks, tractors and trains. Often on Sunday mornings he’ll say with a sweet yet desperate voice, “Daddy, will you play cars with me?” He has started to notice that he's not quite like Omega and I. He really needs male influences and fellowship. I'm glad David takes his role seriously and makes time to teach him manly things and be a godly role model Orion can imitate.

I'll be honest. David really knows how to help Orion much better than I. I want to get the book "Love and Respect in the Home" by Emmerson Eggerich so I can learn how to show respect to Orion.

This is what he does when he gets to decide what to play.

Little by little he is gaining more independence and personality apart from Omega. So far he’s been her little parrot. We still have a hard time in worship when we ask a question, Omega is first to answer and then he just repeats what she says. When we started homeschooling (translate: Doing one hour of phonics per day), Orion didn’t know what to do with himself. He was unbearably lonely and at a loss for what he could do that would be fun by himself. Now, he’s a little more comfortable without Omega but still definitely prefers to play with her. Bottom line: They're best friends.

Favorites –

• They both look forward to staying in hotels because they like going swimming, and it’s especially fun when Daddy gets to play with them.
• His favorite toys are kiwi’s (little stuffed animals) and cars/tractors.
• He loves riding bikes. We finally got him a bike that fits his legs and which the chain doesn’t fall off. When we went to SOULS they spent the week biking around the loop.
•  One of Omega’s favorite past times is listening to me read her a story. Orion’s not quite as fond of that unless there are pictures. I think the books I’m trying to read are over his head and he can’t follow along. I need to be sensitive to that. But, he does love watching you tube videos with Daddy. They watch the Discovery channel “How It’s Made” a lot. And they watch videos about helicopters and motorcycles too.

Linguistic Quirks–

·         He can say his R’s now. I think this development happened sometime in the summer. So, no more baby pronunciations. Some words are still cute, like “amblueyence” and “breakfrist”

·         Tonight I heard him copying something David says frequently, “Bad day” like in the context of an accident and you say, “Oh…bad day for that guy!” And, I’ve also heard him copy something I say, “Oh dear!”

·         He’s been having more and more control over his emotions and verbal expressions when he doesn’t get what he wants or someone crosses him. More and more he actually pauses and says, “Mom I’m having a hard time with Omega, can you help me?” instead of getting angry. 

·         One of his oft repeated sayings is “Mom, I’m hungry.” (usually about 30 minutes before it’s time to eat)

 Bedtime – Our bedtime rituals have evolved yet again. Usually I read a story on Omega’s bed with my head on the feet side so I don’t get sleepy. They snuggle on each side of me, and they have particular sides they always go on.  After that I have talky/play snuggle time with each of them (5 minutes) and then “huggy/kissy snuggle” where I pet their face and “do their back.” Recently, after I’ve left the room and said goodnight they’ll call me and say they’re scared. I go back into pray with them and lay next to them for a few minutes until they fall asleep. What are they scared of? A few months ago we had an illegal come barreling into our driveway at full speed and circled our house, then weaved around the garage and barn and flew through “garden #2”, breaking several T posts. It was rather frightening for her and ever since then she doesn’t want to go into a room by herself. Our neighbor’s car also got stolen by illegals while they were at church and the intern guys’ house got food and shoes stolen from them while they were at work. We’ve had just a few too many incidents with illegals and we are eager to move. For the play-snuggle time Orion usually wants me to play “Kiwi’s” with him or cars.

Eating habits –

•  He still likes desserts.
• He actually really likes salad too, as long as it has “yeast flakes dressing.” They like that on their rice too (It’s a simple recipe with oil, lemon, braggs, yeast flakes and peanut butter).
• Biscuits and gravy is a favorite food as well as cornbread.
• They both like plain cheerios with soymilk and of course they could eat toast with butter and yeast flakes and fruit for every meal and be very happy.
• They love popsicles, even water popsicles if we don’t have any juice or smoothie.
• He REALLY likes banana ice cream (just frozen banana blended in the Vitamix with no water.)
• He likes helping me in the kitchen as long as I let him taste test things. He’s usually hungry before anyone else and will readily help if he perceives there is something to much on while he does it (especially popcorn on Friday night).
• Lately they’ve really enjoyed eating on the counters. 

I let them sit up there when I’m getting their breakfast ready and sometimes we’ll just stay there and they’ll eat while I clean up the kitchen (I usually eat breakfast before they wake up). Then at supper, since David and I have stopped eating then, they just stay in the kitchen instead of going to the dining room table to eat. It just feels more cozy and laid back to sit on a counter. It’s easier to clean up too.

Last year I prayed that Orion would develop a servant’s heart. I bought him tractor pajama’s because I wanted to be reminded to pray for him to work hard like a tractor. Since then I've become a little more organized in regard to chores. I read a book called “Managers of their Chores” which gave me a little more direction and motivation for how to implement expectations and see them followed through. (“You can only expect what you inspect” was a little gem I picked up in that book!) I need to do a little more tweaking but as far as “chores” go, he makes his bed, gets dressed, puts his pajama’s away, turns off the salt rock night light, unloads the dishwasher, washes dishes, wipes the table, cleans up toys, and helps with meal prep throughout the course of the day. You may read this and feel really impressed, but let me tell you, this too is still a work in progress. It takes a lot of prodding, and a hovering presence to see that it gets done. I’m still learning how to motivate and instruct without getting impatient. Playing while he works is still so irresistible.

One of the activities we came up with to teach work ethic was “Little Helper’s Kitchen.” We basically turned our dining room into a restaurant and sewed matching aprons and a created a menu that people could order from. We have showed it to church family and neighbors and they order a week in advance so I can get the right ingredients. The kids help me make the food and then when the customer’s show up, they open the door, greet them, show them to their seat and fill their water cups. They bring them a menu, take their order and then serve their food. When they are done they clear the table, give them their check and provide change if needed. Then they help me clean up the kitchen when the customer leaves. So far we’ve earned $125 from three sets of customers!

This next year I’m continuing to pray for a strong work ethic. “The very best legacy which parents can leave their children is a knowledge of useful labor and the example of a life characterized by disinterested benevolence” {AH 390.1} If by God’s grace he can learn to work hard and do it cheerfully, without complaining or delaying, I will feel like a very successful mother. I really want to look for opportunities this next year to serve others. My kids MUST experience the joy of service regularly and habitually. I need to make it happen more frequently. 

Christmas afternoon 2013

Oh what fun we had! Here is our afternoon in picture form:

On the way up we noticed Jonathan wasn't behind us anymore. Thankfully he got out rather quickly and we only had to put a plug in his tire.

 The kids were eager to make a snowman.

 And a bigger one somewhere else...

Of course we had lots of snowball fights...

 Sledding down a hill.

 We made a little campfire and ate our lunch, then enjoyed a little hike up the snowy mountain. David stayed back with the kids in the truck because their feet were too cold. I think we'll need to invest in better winter-ware if we wanted to do this more often.

 I just love Omega's toothless grin. There's just something about missing teeth on kids that makes them look adorable. I love that there's no element of vanity at all. She doesn't mind having missing teeth except that it makes eating apples harder if they're not already sliced.

Although it's pink, and it has lamb ears on top, Orion thinks this beanie is a "helmet." He feels quite manly wearing it.

This has been a very happy Christmas. My kind of fun!

Christmas morning 2013

Tis Christmas  morning. I'm the first one up, as usual and I get to sit and think with silence and a warm wood-stove burning. Outside is a clear blue sky with sunshine. It's not too cold outside. I dumped some ashes in the compost and opened the chicken coop wearing just my sweatshirt, pajama bottoms and crocks. Arizona has it's perks. As I sit here and ponder, part of me wishes we made a bigger deal about Christmas. Giving people gifts is fun. Next year I think I'd like to give them each $20 or something and let them buy one member in the family a gift. They've only been in the habit of receiving, but I want them to learn that giving is by far more enjoyable.

News Flash: I just looked at my journal entry from last year and we did 6 out of the 19 ideas I came up with for how I wanted to make this year better, even though I hadn't even looked at the list!

Journal entry from last year:

"Here are some things I want to do differently next Christmas to add a little more festivity:

1.       .  Do an Advent calendar
2.           Read Christmas related stories
3.       . Make glitter playdough
4.          Make prettier snowflakes
5.         Bake cookies to give away
6.          Make Christmas cards
7.          Have a tea party with cider and cookies
8.         Pick a goodie bag
9.         Make an edible gift for birds (pine-cone with peanut butter and seeds)
10.           Go to the snow (if there’s snow somewhere within driving distance) - (We are doing this today)
11.           Sew something to give to someone (maybe some felt ornaments?)
12.         Make a big bed in the living room and we all sleep there.
13.          Give Daddy a massage - (We are going to do this later)
14.     Pick names out of a hat and each person can spend 20 dollars on the person they picked.
15.      Chose a family to do something for (buy toys, clothes, or make them something)
16.      Create a make a manger scene with a star above instead of a tree. We’ll put the gifts around the manger with words on the manger that say, “Whatever you do to others, you have done to me”
17.      Sing Christmas music for worship (Make a Christmas binder ahead of time)
18.      Listen to Christmas music (maybe make a mixed CD from selected songs from i-tunes)
19.        Invite a family over to share the Christmas meal with if we aren’t visiting extended family. 

I was all excited and showed David and he said, "Well that's still not a very high percentage."

"Yes, but 30% is more than 0%, especially considering the fact that I didn't even look at it!!

Ahhh, the difference between optimists and realists.... :)

Speaking of husband. He surprised me with a wonderful, wonderful gift yesterday. He had to leave in the afternoon to help a Farm Box lady build a high tunnel and when he came back he had these:

Yesterday we had some neighbors over for lunch so that was interesting and fun. Her son's birthday is today so I made a carob cake with peppermint ice cream in the middle. We have a lot in common. They are really into organic and self sustained living. David and her husband talked about farming stuff most of the time.

After they left, we cleaned up and watched you tube videos about the origin of Santa and the Christmas Tree. I figured it would be a great social studies lesson. After enough sitting and staring at a screen we played the ladybug game below.

The night ended with Daddy playing cars with the kids in his office. I still have yet to figure out how to "play cars." I can only drive them around the track a few times before getting bored. I just don't understand. I try to "play" but I really wish I could download the mind of a child for play time so that it comes more naturally.

I think reading stories is more my thing. We found a "Christmas in my Heart" story online and really liked it. I asked Angelia to bring one of the books from the Smith's house and we're going to read it while we drive to Turkey Creek to play in the snow today with the interns. :)

 Angelia is bringing soup and I'm bringing sandwiches. I'm sure we'll have a fun time together.

I better get going.