Nostalgia

This is the mixer my mom got for her wedding. Its still going. And I LOVE using it. It holds my bread recipe nicely and still (barely) goes round and round. Yep, the same bread recipe my mom made growing up, is still made in her mixer. I've made a few alterations to her recipe (yah whole wheat) but the essence is still there.

Why do I use this old dilapidated mixer instead of my new shiny Kitchen Aid? Simply put: it fits my recipe. Kitchen Aid can't handle 10 cups of flour and all the other goodies we add. This mixer CAN! So I use it every time we make bread! Thanks mommy! 

Hippie Convenience Foods

I was dumping frozen packages of food into the crock pot to make soup.
Ham broth, zucchini, ham, frozen celery....when Dan comes into the kitchen and says,
"So, is this what they call packaged food?"
I nearly died. Yes Dan. Its our personal hippie convenience food.
 

He's at it again

Joel....can't you wait for a SLICE of bread? Please stop ruining my loaves by chewing randomly on them.

Did you have something against my little owl bun that I made you? The whole purpose of the Owl was that you eat it and save the loaves for another day.

Dinner with the Barkmans

Last night we had dinner with the Barkmans.

"What?!! (you ask) You had dinner with the Barkmans? How can that be? Aren't they in the Philippines?"

 Some may suppose that we flew them out for a special meal.(since its ONLY $1500 a person...hahaha) Or that we Fed-Exed a meal to them.

But alas, that was not to be. You see, with the power of technology, we were able to skype a meal with our dear friends. From half way around the world, we shared pitas and ice cream. We had a great chat during which Darnell broke a mug, Dan made falafels, Amanda baked bagels and Christina produced delicious snacks. It was great to share time with our friends, much like we would do if they still lived one street over. We enjoyed listening to Cody's stories and watching Makai stand and take a few steps. It was great to hear about their time with their parents, Peace Church and Coffee for Peace. We were blessed and encouraged as they affirmed our giving spirits. It was precious to us to be able to thank God for our food as we "broke our pitas together." We loved and enjoyed every minute we spent communing together, sharing pitas and ice cream over a computer.

Now that's hospitality!!!

Playground and my doggy dilemma

He's growing up so fast!

Sitting like a big kid at the top of the slide

Joel's trying to find the dog.
Begin rant now. He's terrified of this dang dog. Its a "nice" dog. But Joel screams when he sees it. I'm super annoyed that the gentleman lets his dog off the leash when clearly its a "leash-on" park. I usually ask him to put the dog back on a leash, but sometimes when other kids are there its hard. Especially when the other children get such joy from throwing the dog's ball. Its a dilemma for sure. Do I force the man to follow the rules so MY kid can enjoy himself, or do I let it slide, hear Joel scream in terror and see the other children's enjoyment? In reality, this gentleman shouldn't put me in this position. So what happened? Today, I let it slide. Until the dog cornered Joel, forcing him to let out the most agonizing scream of fear and I yelled at the man to call off his dog. (which he does in whisper..so annoying!) Then I asked him to put his dog on the leash since the dog kept running around the playground and Joel was clinging to me like his life depended on it! Finally the man left with his dog. But seriously every time we are at the park he is there with his dog running around. What is a mom to do? End rant now.

Climbing UP the slide. Wrong way buddy!

I don't want to go home!!!!

Grocery Challenge: Week 4

Cumulative Weekly Total: $76.87
Trip 1: $ 26.97
Trip 2: $44.98
Total amount Spent: $71.95
Amount Leftover: $5.00

This week we had to make some tough decisions about what to buy. We are out of A LOT of things. We are out of chocolate chips, whole wheat flour, and toothpaste (I found some samples that will tie us over). We are almost out of laundry soap, tea bags, Joel's crackers etc. I basically had to make decisions about what we can live without for a week.

 

I did buy a box of chicken (pictured under the milk) since we were out and it was on sale. And apples since Joel eats them like candy. Peanut Butter is a staple in Joel's life (and there was a buy one, get one free).

 

This is the final week of our challenge. It is NOT sustainable to spend only $60 a week on groceries. Not with prices the way they are. I've learnt a few things though.

#1. We eat A LOT of cheese. Grilled cheese is a staple in my life. Cheese chunks in Joel's. I think we go though a block and a half a week on average. Yikes! Good thing we always buy it on sale. But we should probably cut back.

#2. I am in impulse shopper. For things that we need (or things that we normally have on hand). I impulsively buy fruit and veggies. Fruit usually isn't a problem, but quite often veggies go to waste. This month, our vegetable food waste has been non-existent. Why spend money on things we are going to waste?

#3. We can easily eat weekly meals for $60 a month. But we cannot keep up with "the extras" at that pace. Kleenex, toilet paper, laundry soap, medicine would be too much for us. I must admit that I have spent A TON of meds this month. At least $60 this month on medicine for the family (okay, and another $21 on Tylenol for the kids....I stocked up since it was $3 a bottle. STEAL!) That would add another $15-20 a week if that was a part of our budget.

#4. Forcing ourselves to be conscience of what we have as leftovers helped us eat through our freezer as well as eat the leftovers in the fridge. We only wasted a pancake this month. That's it. Normally our food waste is a bit more.

#5. You can still eat good meals and feed your friends for $60. We had 8-10 extra meals this month that were shared with friends. Which, in and of itself is an eye opener. Our food budget is quite often high because it is a part of our entertainment and giving budget. We tithe in calories. That's right. Be blessed our friends and wear your weight proudly! (oh Dan! you crack me up!)

 

I'm sure there are more, but I am too tired to think of any more. Its been a good challenge. I've wanted to cheat (especially this last week). But we have done it. We are proud. And we are glad to be able to have a bit more to spend. Perhaps we'll do it again. But maybe once we have flour in our house! But for now, its back to the regular budget (or maybe less, we'll see!).

Good-bye challenge! Hello FOOD!

 

 

Swings

Loving us some swing action!

 

More mommy!

 

 

Please...

...they can feed themselves!

He's growing up

I feel as though its just a matter of time. He's pulling himself up on things, starting furniture walking, attempting to stand on his own, reaching between things while standing...

....its just a matter of time before he takes that first step.  Its happening so fast! You're only 8.5 months! Slow down little guy, slow down!

Annual Winter Emergency Visit

We had high hopes! But alas, it was not to be.

Today we made our annual winter season trip to the emergency room.
Those tongs up in picture one...the culprit. 

Why do they always end up wearing a new white shirt when they bleed? Who is this Murphy and how can I get my hands on him? Change the law Murphy. Change the law!

The traumatized appendage.

The not-so traumatized child.

Nice hospital bracelet buddy!

So not impressed having to show off his war wound.

The story: It was lunch time. I was getting Joel ready for nap when I heard Micah crying. I knew he was playing with the tongs and figured he got his finger stuck (yes, it happened before). This time, his index finger was stuck in a different place. Not in the hinge like I thought, but between those two pieces of metal. I pulled his finger out and the blood started to POUR. I grabbed a tissue and applied pressure. When it was clear that the blood wasn't slowing, I took a peek at it. Yep....this was gonna need stitches. He had ripped the pad of his finger pretty much off. Gross!

I called the doctor's office to check whether it was better to bring him in to them or to the ER (hey! I didn't know! And I would rather go to the doctor's office than the ER). The doctor's office offered to take a peek at it. I wrapped up Micah's finger in a rag and wrapped scotch tape around it to try and keep him from eating it. That lasted till we got in the van. I reapplied his bandage and off we went. The doctor took one peek at it and exclaimed, "Yikes! That's gross." Not exactly the most confidence inspiring statement. Off to the ER we went.

I called Gran Gran to come and help wrangle Joel. After my experience in the doctors office, I knew I would need a second pair of hands. (Let's just say, their sterilizing microwave thing ain't sterilized anymore and I'm really sorry about the liquid nitrogen)

 FOUR HOURS later.....we finally get outta that place. We spent two hours waiting for the triage nurse to take a peek at it. Another hour waiting to be called to the back where we would see the doctor and another 45 minutes before the doctor actually came to look at it. The doctor gave me two options.
#1. Put Micah under a general anesthetic. We would have to wait 4-6 hours to do this since I had fed Micah while we were waiting. OR
#2. A local anesthetic. Swaddle Micah in a blanket, put a needle in his finger, and listen to him scream while he got stitches IF he would lie still enough to do that.
I'll take option two thanks! Needless to say, Micah did great. He didn't like being on his back or being swaddled. But as soon as they had stitched him up and let him out of the cocoon, he stopped crying. What a trouper!

He got two stitches in his finger to hold the big flap of skin down. Then they put glue over all of that to hold the rest of it down. Then the nurses were trying to decide how to bandage him. I offered my "expert" opinion from our experience with Joel when he was 15 days old in the hospital with an infected finger. My idea won out!

So, for the next few days we'll have to keep his finger dry and bandaged. Then in a week, we'll go to our doctor and get the stitches removed. That boy is amazing. You could barely even tell that he hurt himself (no tears, except when it happened and with the doc). Now we have to start antibiotics again to prevent infection (fingers are prone to infection!). Yuck!

Oh the life of a mother and her boys! So, they may not be born in a hospital, but they sure like visiting them?!?! Boys! That's a BAD habit to have!