Lots More Footsteps!

(**If you're looking for a goat update, skip to the end.**)

For this week's Lenten observance of caring for the earth, I ended up having to order the reusable baggies.  They're not in yet, so I can't really report on how that's going. 

I loved my use of www.catalogchoice.org.  All I had to do was create a free account, then as unwanted catalogs came to our mailbox, I just logged on and entered the name of the catalog, source code, and our customer code.  The site generates a request to stop mailings.  It even sends me a follow-up email to let me know that the company has removed me from their mailing list.  Love it!

By far, the most significant effort this week, though, was reducing my use of the van.  I had hoped for warmer weather. We did have some beautiful, sunny days, but, oh, were they windy! 

I won't bore you with all the details, but Little Boy and I made good use of our little umbrella stroller this week.  I knew all the walking would be a challenge, but I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed it.  Little Boy was disappointed when on Thursday we had to get in the car for a trip to Ash Flat to pick up our Co-op food order, "But, Momma, the stroller is my favorite!"

On Monday, I found this little note in my pocket just after I'd enjoyed a nice, leisurely stroll with Girl 1 to her dance class.  On that walk, Girl 1 commented that "It's funny how you see things so differently when you're walking than when you're in the car."

Most days the girls rode the bus to and from school, making use of gas being expended anyway since the bus drives right past our house daily.  On Wednesday afternoon, though, the bus doesn't get home in time for me to get Girl 1 to her 3:30 dance class.  They all thought it was a fun adventure for me to "pick them up" from school on foot, walk them all to dance where we dropped off Girl 1, and then walk home. 

I loved the way walking slowed our days down a bit.  We had to plan ahead and be aware of the weather.  We had lots of time to talk about the things we saw along the way.  As Little Boy told me as we were parking the stroller on the porch at the end of a walk, "I can't wait for the girls to get home, and I can tell them that the birds with the red bellies is robins!"

All told, I walked 10 miles or so that I would've otherwise driven and combined several errands so that my overall miles driven were greatly reduced this week.  I'm hoping that as the weather warms, we'll be able to enjoy more walks like the ones we had this week. 

For those who are looking for an update on the goats, the little ones are doing well.  They're so adorable as they figure out how to eat and walk and jump.  They're still doing a lot of sleeping, though.  Sleeping is not something I've been doing much of.  I keep thinking that Razz is about to deliver, as she's been showing signs of early labor for about 2 days now.  Determined not to miss the birth, I "sleep" with the monitor by my bed, listening for any odd sounds.  Last night, I made 5 trips out to the shed to check on things.   Surely by Monday's post I'll have more baby pics to share and can finally get some sleep!

They're Here! They're Here! Our First Babies Are Here!

The day started normal enough.   Girl 1 woke up with a low grade fever and got to stay home from school.  John went about his morning chores, we put Girl 2 on the bus to school, then Girl 1, Little Boy, and I headed to Cherokee Village to pick up our food co-op order.  We were gone about 2 hours.  When we got back, we had two additional members of our backyard herd! 

These adorable brothers are Honey's very first kiddos!

Since the latest daily OB exams had indicated that we had entered the "anytime" phase of this thing, I'd been checking in on the goats pretty frequently, which is what I did as soon as I got home from our errand.  Honey had one baby all cleaned up and tucked away in the corner and was just cleaning up her second little one.  We have the baby monitor set up in the goat barn, so I knew Girl 1 would hear me when I started yelling, "Babies!  Babies!  Call Daddy!" 

She got him on the phone, we told him the news, and he rushed home to deal with the after-birth chores.  Oh, wait, no.  That's what I thought was going to happen.  Instead, he informed me that he was in a meeting he couldn't get out of and would be home when he could.  Apparently, he had complete confidence that I could take care of this.  And, so I did!

With Girl 1 as my assistant and Little Boy entirely underfoot, we went methodically (and amazingly without freaking out) through the "snip, dip, strip, and sip" procedures I'd so carefully studied up on in preparation for this big moment. 

I snipped the umbilical cords; dipped the remaining nubs in iodine, stripped Honey's teats to be sure that her colostrum was in and ready to go, and got the babies to sip their first meal.  Actually, the darker baby was really having a hard time standing (we're not too worried -- apparently, it can take 'em awhile to get their legs figured out), so I had to give him some colostrum by syringe to be sure that he got it within the recommended first two hours after birth. 

It was such a beautiful day!  Here are Momma and babies enjoying an afternoon nap in the sun.

The kitties were really intrigued by the new arrivals.

When Girl 2 got off the bus at the end of the driveway, Little Boy  was shouting "WE GOT BABIES!  WE GOT BABIES!"  Girl 2 high-tailed it to the backyard, running right through the backyard gate rather than through the house, backpack in tow.  Her excitement was contagious, and we all ran after her.

Honey is an excellent mother so far.

Razz, our other expectant momma, started showing signs of early labor late yesterday afternoon.  She was grinding her teeth with the pain of contractions but loving this brushing!  Girl 1 was distraught upon hearing that Razz was in pain:  "Are people ever in pain when they have babies?"  ;)

If I'm being honest, there are days when I question what we're doing here.  Surely we all have days like that.  "This is a lot of work.  Is it worth it?"  Today, though, was not one of those days.  Seeing those babies, seeing Honey instinctively taking care, seeing my own kids' excitement at this miracle made it all so worth it. It was indeed a good day to be living on our little farm.

Oh, and visitors welcome anytime!  The photos really don't do them justice.  :)

A Look at Convenience Foods

We all want things to be easy.  The problem, when it comes to food, though, is that typically the easier a food is, the more processed it is . . . and the more processed it is, the more unknown ingredients it contains.  Generally speaking, trying to stick to natural ingredients that have names we recognize is a good idea. 

There once was a time when little was convenient.  Convenience just wasn't a choice homesteaders of the past had.  Now, though, we have to look at the variables of our time, our money, and our health and make decisions accordingly.  And, one person's "convenience" food may not be the same as the next person's. (I did recently discover that our grocer store sells pre-shelled, hard boiled eggs in nifty little 4 packs.)

Let us consider, for example, the pancake.

I suppose the ultimate in convenience would be a trip to IHOP, where someone else is left to clean up the sticky countertops.

Short of that, though, are these.

(Yes, I did snap this photo in the freezer section of the grocery store.  Yes, I got a couple of weird looks.)

What cracks me up most about these is the "8 Individually Wrapped Packages." 

Let's assume, that we have the time and resources and inclination to make our own pancakes.  Still, there are various levels of convenience involved.  Are you going to reach for a box of Bisquik?  I did for years and years.  Or, will you throw together your own mix of baking powder, flour, milk, and egg?

That's the level of convenience we now go with.  Who knew it was so easy to mix up a batch of pancakes?  Still, some crazies might argue that it's still "convenient" because I don't grind my own flour. (If you're laughing, you  must not have spent much time around hard-core homesteaders on the blog-o-sphere.  They have a way of making me feel lazy on even my most industrous day.)

Just so that you don't think I stick exclusively to the more time-consuming route, here's an example of a convenience food that I'll defend.  We love our grapefruit around here.  I typically buy 2 5lb. bags per week for our morning juices.  I've also started buying jugs of this stuff for snacking.  (My grocery checker may be starting to wonder whether there's some new way of manufacturing meth that involves grapefruit.) 

This little heavenly jug contains the perfectly prepped wedges of 10 grapefruit.  Do you know how much time it would take to do that by hand?  Also, like I'm someone from an episode of Hoarders, I'm stockpiling the used jugs.  They'll make great cannisters in the pantry for beans, rice, and such.

All of this to say, when the grocery list includes items that are more processed or contain ingredients that I can't pronounce or that wouldn't fit on a notecard if I tried to write them all out, I find myself wondering "could I make a version of this myself that would be better for us?"  My experience with pancakes and other things has given me the confidence to ask this question.  And, with the power of the internet and, specifically, Pinterest :) on our side, how can we fail?

Also, I look for other ways to create convenience.  We all know that some days are busier than others.  On a day when I have more time, I could mix together all the dry ingredients needed for multiple batches of pancakes and store it in the pantry, ready to be used just like Bisquik.  Or, when I've made a few too many pancakes, I could lay the cakes out on a baking sheet to freeze individually before stacking them up and throwing them into a freezer bag (or several -- hey, I could even wrap them in "8 Individually Wrapped Packages"!)

If you're interested, here's the recipe I've been using for pancakes lately:

1.5 c. flour

2 Tbs. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1.25-1.5 c. of milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

Enjoy!

Is It "Unfair" to Force This Life on our Kids?

http://blissfulbblog.com/blog/2012/5/2/my-happy-place.html

Adults are adults.  We can choose for ourselves how to live.  But, kids are game-changers.  As parents, we make choices all the time on behalf of the kids God has entrusted to our care. 

It's not a stretch to say that our family lives differently than some others in a few key ways.  For example, we have no television.  We have no game systems.  We produce our own milk, cheese, eggs, veggies, and more, and it's often hard work that the kids are sometimes in on.  Let's be clear:  our children did not choose this way of life for themselves.  Is it ethical for us to choose it for them?

As anyone who follows me on Pinterest is by now well aware, I've become obsessed with Tiny Homes.  I can probably trace this interest back to time spent camping as a child.  I was amazed by how my grandparents camper could compress all the necessary kitchen appliances into such a tiny space.  And, the way my brother's bed in our pop-up camper transformed into our breakfast table with bench seating in time for breakfast was just awesome.  So, as I've considered how many square feet our own family of 5 could be comfortable living in, these ethical questions arise again.  Is it ethical for me to require my children to downsize and live a smaller lifestyle than the one to which they are accustomed? 

Children are all so different.  Hands down, it's Girl 1 who bucks up against our simpler lifestyle most, and I don't think it's just that she's the oldest.  While Girl 2 and Little Boy could be happy outdoors for hours on end, especially if there's dirt or water or (joy of all joys) a combination of the two to be played with, Girl 1 will eventually tire of it.  She likes her Barbies.  She likes her air to be conditioned.  She likes her iPod.  She likes her lotions and bubble bath.  Her bedroom is handily the largest one in the house, and it overflows with STUFF.  She prefers her bread and cheese "from the store."  She likes time alone in her bedroom to read, dance, write.  So, since I'm pretty sure the other two would be happy living in a tent in the backyard, it's mostly Girl 1 that I consider when I ask myself these questions on ethics.

How much space do we really need?  Do the kids each need their own bedrooms?  How many bathrooms could we get away with?   Would the kids be happy living in a smaller space?

Girl 2 and Little Boy are constantly underfoot, spending little to no time in their bedrooms.  And, most of the time, that's the way I like it.  I sometimes joke to John that we have this nice-sized house but all congregate and actually live in about 1,000 square feet of it.  There are, in fact,  many ways in which I think we'd be pretty good at living small.  As is infrequently the case in houses the size of ours, we only make use of one common living area.  We eat together.  We do homework in one common space, the girls sitting side-by-side on stools.  We love to spend time outdoors.  We like each other.   The kids (for the most part) can't get enough of each other.  As our resident housekeeper, I prefer things uncluttered.  Our Hurricane Katrina experience predisposes us to a loose connection to 'things."  The kids are pretty good about sharing things (for example, their shared iPad.  I think it's proven to be an excellent lesson in shared ownership.  I mean, really, how many things do our kids really have joint ownership of these days?  Sure, one child may have to share his possessions with another sibling, but ultimately most things "belong" to just one kid.  Our kids have really handled this unusual situation very well.) 
I recently came across an article on The Tiny Life that posed the question, "Is It Ethical to Raise a Child in a Tiny House?"  The article is interesting, but what I loved most was the response of reader Jason Blum:

My wife and I are raising four children in 1000 square feet – maybe not a tiny house, but certainly smaller and anyway, the size of the average home in 1950 and even a bit on the large side 50 years before that.
I am asked on almost a daily basis when we’ll be moving into something larger and I always politely blame the real estate market and change the subject.
But the truth is:
1) 1000 square feet can be thoroughly picked-up, laundered and vacuumed in a morning, instead of consuming your entire weekend.
2) In a small house, you can’t go days on end without seeing your kids because they’re down in the rec room playing xbox.
3) The kids are, or should be, outdoors anyway – home is just a place to eat, clean, read and sleep.
4) You’re going to have to get rid of your crap sooner or later. And if you do it later, you’re less likely to properly re/freecycle it. If you can make “crap-management” a small part of your daily routine, it never gets overwhelming and you’re more likely to value what you have, or find good homes for what you no longer need.
5) Or the best approach to “crap-management” is of course the finely-tuned crap-detector your small home will inspire in you. Everyone does this: they fill whatever space they have with crap. If you can’t spare the space in the first place, you’re forced to approach your acquisitions much more thoughtfully. This is a tremendously important life-skill I want my kids to learn.
6) In a smaller home, your kids have more opportunities to experience the family’s ecological footprint. In larger homes, the destination of the central vacuum or the distant rumbling of HVAC are all just abstract mysteries and lend to the illusion that earth’s resources are infinite.
7) Close quarters provide more stimulation, which makes it easier to resist the lure of television, for which there hopefully isn’t any space anyway.
8) A smaller home reinforces the lesson that over-consumption is a more urgent problem than over-population.
9) A smaller home in America is actually pretty average or even large by the standards of most of the rest of the world.
10) In a smaller home, children get to witness the parents navigate all the above – they get to see for themselves how critical moderation is to sustainable living.

Well said, Jason.  What say you?

Cost of Outfitting the Kids for Spring= $0

Outfitting 3 growing kids without breaking the bank is no small task.  When I look at it as an organizational challenge, it becomes a lot of fun for me (I know, I'm an organizational nerd). 

The whole process starts with three pages like this, one for each kiddo.  It's basically a list of all the clothes I think they need to make a full wardrobe.  I inventory their current closets and drawers full of out-of-season clothes and make notes of the holes that need to be filled.  Also, while going through those out-of-season items, I pull out anything outgrown that I'd previously missed and add it to the kids' sale stockpile.

Though there are tons of these consignment sales around now, I use the Popsicles Kids Sale in Jonesboro to both sell the kids' outgrown things and fill in the gaps in their closets.  I hang, price, and tag all my items for sell and haul them to the sale.  By being a consignor, I get the privilege of early shopping;  for the most recent sale, this was last Wednesday.

It's hard not to get carried away when shopping because there's so much cute stuff.  But, I keep my inventory sheets on hand and refer to them as needed during shopping.  As pictured here, I always surprise the kids with a treat from the sale.  I'm usually able to get them each a pretty cool toy for less than $5. 

This year, I spent $133 (including the toys) on the items I purchased.  And, I earned $151.80 on the items I sold.  I do have to drive a ways to participate in this sale, so I have to consider the price of gas, but the enjoyment I get in having a shopping night all alone is worth that price, easy!

For more on Kid Sale Consignment, check this out.  If you're interested in getting involved in one of these sales, check out the Popsicles website or like them on FaceBook to get info about their twice-yearly sales.

Lenten Week 3: Fewer Footprints, More Footsteps

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  Genesis 2:15

This week's Lenten focus is Care for the Earth.  There are tons of ways this could be done.  Gladly, lots of the easiest ways we've already implemented, such as switching to reusable grocery bags, composting, recycling, and so on.  This week, though, I wanted to make it hurt a little.  Here are some excerpts from TearFund about the week's focus:

"Many of our lifestyle choices are as a result of changing times and advancing technology which have made far more goods and services available to us than ever before. There are many benefits, but have we also come to expect an unsustainable level of speed, convenience and comfort as a result of this?

When looking at the level of emissions generated from personal car usage and the impact it’s 

having on climate change, there comes a point when we must ask ourselves whether necessity, comfort or even laziness rank above flooded homes, displaced people or hungry children in our hearts and in our minds? It makes you think when you look at it from a different perspective."

According to the US EPA, "The combustion of fossil fuels. such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods is the second largest source of CO₂ emissions, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO₂ emissions."

With this in mind, my goals for this week are four-fold:

1.  Reduce (drastically) my use of the car  by walking when possible and either eliminating regular errands or combining them so that I only have to make one trip "to town."  I'll log how I do and report back. 

2.  While I have greatly reduced the amount of disposable items we use around here, I do still stock plastic baggies.  I try to use them sparingly, but, still, they stare at me accusatoriallly whenever I open their drawer.  This week, I aim to either sew or purchase some reusable baggies.  (My local fabric store doesn't seem to stock the waterproof fabric I'd need for the liners, so I may have to resort to ordering them).

3.  Using www.DoNotMail.org, I will attempt to unsubscribe and thus reduce the amount of junkmail that makes its way to our house via snail mail. 

4.  Pray this beautiful prayer, courtesy of TearFund:  "Father, help us to see how our lifestyle affects your creation and to remember people who are suffering because of it. Please give us insight, wisdom and the courage to face the truth – no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it may be.  Help us to turn positive actions from this weeks’ fast into habits. Encourage us when our actions seem small and remind us how important they are, and how connected our lives are to our global neighbours. Enable us to make wise choices and give us grace in our daily lifestyle decisions. Let our sacrifices be worship unto you. Amen."

Lenten Week 2 Re-cap

As the blog will be silent tomorrow in honor of the National Day of Unplugging, I wanted to go ahead and give a quick re-cap of this week's Lenten focus on Loving Neighbors. 

This week, I was able to commit a RAK (random act of kindness) for at least one person per day.  And, is nearly always the case, I was so blessed in the giving.  I did find that it helped me to get outside myself a bit, which is, of course, always a good thing.

Also, this week, we'd planned to donate money to Heifer International to help feed neighbors far away.  While I do love Heifer and support their efforts at various times throughout the year, I happened to receive a plea from Action Against Hunger in the mail this week and thought it serendipitous.  According to TearFund, "The world produces enough food for everyone, but not everyone has enough food. . . . At the moment 1 in every 8 people globally goes to sleep hungry every night, and 2.8 million children die from malnutrition each year."  Action Against Hunger claims that $35 is the cost of saving a life.  That amount covers the nutritional needs and medical treatment involved in the first and most crucial month in the life of an undernourished infant.

Now, on to next week . . . Caring for the earth.  It's not going to be easy to stick to the sacrifices I have in mind for this one!  Check back Monday to read up on the weekly Lenten focus.  Enjoy your Day of Unplugging tomorrow!