Aren't Food Co-op's for Hippies?

For years both Knight and I have wanted to eat more on the organic side of things but with 4 kids to feed, and basically a single income household we have found that it is nearly impossible. We have tried to make better choices in our grocery buying but have still found that there is a lot of chemicals that make it into our children's bodies that I would rather not.

Not that we will ever go strictly organic. I just can't see that happening. We make our living selling Little Debbie. How hypocritical would that be?

But I have friends that are almost all organic. And they have found a food co-op at decent prices. So now it is easier to eat more on the organic side of things. And the benefit to me is I don't have to go to the grocery store. I email my list, a couple days later it comes on a truck to my friends house and I go pick it up.

Yeah!

*for the locals...if you would like in on this just let me know. Deliveries every two weeks*

Remodel update

Somehow I missed the fact that I have not put an update on the remodel project we were going to do. But as people have asked about it, I am guessing I need to post about it.

We are not going to do it.

Yes it is as simple as that.

I was really hoping it would come in at or under budget.

It didn't.

Not even close enough to push through.

It came in about $15,ooo more than what we really could justify spending.

We live in a very old house. We have a certain amount invested in the house. Actually it is more than what we could sell our house for.

If we did the remodel it would increase the value of the house. But not enough to pay for itself.

So now we are thinking of just insulating the house.

Or driving a semi through it.

*sigh* Oh well. It fits our family. That is what matters, right?

What Easter did for Us....

My Little Entrepreneur

I came downstairs to find that Rara had opened a pet shop in our living room. The cages were filled, the animals restless. And good news! If you buy one, you get to keep it for a whole 6 hours.

I love watching my kids play.

Twilight Zone

Imagine you are a homeschooling family minding your own business. In fact you are so good at minding your own business that at times you become concerned that your kids may be a little sheltered since most of their friends are christian homeschooling families. People tell you that you have great kids, that they are outgoing, well behaved children but they are concerned that they are not in the world enough.

Now imagine you are at your home on a quiet afternoon when those same sweet children come into the house saying that an acquaintance that you have not talked to or seen in a couple years is out front wanting to talk to Daddy. So Knight goes outside to see what's up.

Now imagine that this acquaintance starts going off about something completely crazy, making horrible, nasty and completely untrue accusations about a mutual acquaintance and yelling that Knight needs to stop playing dumb. Then when Knight completely does not know what this person is talking about, the person starts threatening Knight, as well as the mutual acquaintance who is not there to defend themselves.

Then imagine Knight talking to the mutual acquaintance to see if they know anything about this, only to find out that this person is on some heavy drugs and they know for a fact that this person owns a pistol. So, then Knight has to go to the local authorities to log a report just so there is a record just in case something happens.

Now I am imagining that you are thinking maybe we are not too sheltered from the world. If this is too much sheltering, I would hate to see what the opposite would be. And to think, we thought we were a sheltered home school family.

hi

hi mom is sick and we are not going to Church because dad took forever socking walmart. so i am waiting to be dropped off at my friends house. so i am bored the house is clean, and so is my room. so i am going to say this I CAN'T WAIT TILL SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and happy s.t patricks day!!!!

Sing me a joke

Sometimes my kids crack me up. I especially like it when they don't miss a beat in their jokes.

The other day Rara was singing. She is always singing. I love the fact that she spends the majority of her life in song. She will sing as she is doing math "la la...five times zeeero is zeeEEeero" You get the picture.

So as she is singing along I just called out "sing if you're a dork."

Without pausing in her song she starts singing..."My mom's a dork because she sings all the time..."

What a kid

Thursday Thirteen

13 things in this country I have yet to experience but want to...

1. Thunder over Louisville

2. Congress Ave Bridge, Austin TX at Dusk

3. Creation Museum

4. Grand Canyon

5. Arlington National Cemetery

6. Chincoteague Pony Swim

7. The Badlands

8. New Orleans

9. San Diego Zoo

10. National Air and Space Museum

11. Shedd Aquarium

12. Snorkeling in the Florida Keys

13. Disney's Animal Kingdom

What other events or places should I have on my list?

Nearly Wordless Wednesday--Great Deals

When you are 9 and 10, and the liquidator is going out of business in your town so everything is 60% off of the usual price for the dollar store type junk items it is impossible to resist buying.

And so my kids have been spending their hard earned money and have purchased lots of things they don't need. Shower caps being one of them.

**Sorry for the quality of the picture. The lighting was wrong but I wanted to capture the moment anyway.**

Whisper days...

For some reason as my kids were at my mom's the topic of whisper days came up. And for some reason they thought this was a weird idea. Let me explain to what they are.

If my kids are having a day where they are not using their words is a positive way, if there are a lot of fights, if they are just abusing the privilege of talking, I take the privilege away. They are not allowed to talk.

Now, I know that absolutely no talking is not practical, especially for long periods of time so I let them whisper. I can teach, answer questions, whatever. They seem to be calmer, and it becomes natural to whisper when everyone else is whispering too.

Maybe parents of school-age children that send their kids to school full time don't find a need to do this. Or maybe other homeschooling kids aren't like mine and never abuse the privilege to talk to each other. But when it's -20 degrees, kids have been cooped up for far too long, sometimes my kids get on each others nerves, and therefore they get on mine. Then it's time for a whisper day.

Weekend recap

We are back from our weekend without the kids. The kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa as we knew they would. They are still thanking the Lord for being able to go for the weekend every time they pray.

On Friday, we checked into the room, and I unpacked then we headed off to the grocery store. We had a heads up on what was on the menu and I wanted to stop and grab something. I was told that the prime rib was wonderful. Knight took my helping. I can't fathom how someone can eat that much meat, especially at one sitting but he enjoyed the food. They also had salad, baked potato and rolls so it was a fine meal for me as well.

Knight insisted that we bring the Wii, so after the first session we hooked it up and there were some who enjoyed playing. In fact, we didn't get back to the room until 11:30 where I realized that I need to make another quick run to the store. (Thanks Auntie F!) It was c.o.l.d. (around -18). Hop in the car, run to the store, get back and take a bath to warm up.

A funny side note. This is the same hotel that the ladies retreat is every year. At the beginning of the ladies retreat our well meaning leader reminds us that we are away from home and we need to be careful of danger. She asks us not to go out without a buddy, just for safety sake (right! have you MET me?!?). No announcement was made at the couples retreat. So when I found that I needed to go to the store at nearly midnight, my Knight in shining armor, my protector, said that if I insisted... he would go with me, but otherwise he would rather stay there.

So I got back, we did our homework from the session and Knight went to sleep. I channel surfed until this great documentary on Hippos came on at 2am. I watched the whole hour long documentary and finally went to sleep. At 6:45 I awoke to Knight taking a bath. Who really needs sleep anyway right?

Saturday went well. It was very relaxed as there was only one small session and the rest of it was truly a retreat. It ended with a meal at the local pizza pub. We took off to go home. We stopped and rented some movies, headed to our house for one last quiet night alone. As we come over the hill, we see cop cars everywhere. In our tiny town with a population of 1500, there was a stand off in the motel. Some guy had a rifle. Thankfully the streets that were closed off ended a block away and we were able to get home. We popped in T2 and I fell asleep.

My poor husband. Started the weekend with "romance" on his mind. And that is where it stayed.

Weekends coming

Knight and I are heading off for a couples retreat put on by our church. Weekend without the kids. (thanks Mom!)

Have a lot to do before we leave. Have to get the kids an hour south of us, bring the dog to the boarding kennel 20 minutes away, drop off stuff at the school, pack, grocery shop, straighten the house, buy some jeans (stupid dog likes to eat jeans), oh yeah, and get ready for the day.

I wanted to let people know about a baby girl who could use your prayers. Her name is Geneva Joy. She was born to a local Christian DJ in our area. To read about her and get updates click here.

Update...

I am still here. My family is now convinced I am just a tad OCD. It all mostly has to do with the potential remodeling project.

Now I have known that I have expensive tastes. Not that I care about name brands or anything. I just like nice things that will add joy to my life. So as we are talking about what cabinets we want, what type of shower system we would like, and trying to get some unique features into our home we are running into lots of stuff we like.

Shower system...so, so nice. But for $5000 I'll have to pass.

Funky toilet...Hopefully. But only if the money is there.

Wallpaper...Sorry, but that is a must. It's only one wall anyway

The original cabinetry bid came just a tad high. Thankfully, I was prepared for this and had already started making adjustments to the design. Now we have a bid that I can live with. The jury is still out with Knight.

Still waiting on the rest of the bid.

But maybe I can actually sleep since I finally have a design I can live with.

Once the plans get finalized I will be posting them for all to see. And as long as Knight gives the ok, I will be giving you all updated on the progress along with the pictures.

Oh, the joys