Pinewood Castle

Pumpkin Monday

My little pun'kins!

The Birthday After-glow

 Linking up with Rachel at Finding Joy

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I am so grateful for your birthday wishes that I savored throughout the day yesterday. Thank you, new commenters and favorite regulars! Having a blog is sort of like hosting an open house, but not knowing who visits - unless they sign the guest book. I happen to think it's a nice courtesy to "sign the guest book" once in a while and I hope you do too. Not that I am addicted to comments or anything, but a steady one or two replies per post does brighten my day and provide a little motivation to keep going. Just have to admit to that.

Speaking of which, it seems that in this economy (are you as tired of those three words as I am?) you have to support what you value or it really might go away. So in honor of the bravery of all the first time commenters I pledged money to Classical MPR Fall Fund Drive for the first time since college. Classical music is definitely a favorite around here.

On my birthday I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing some favorite foods to enjoy during the thirty minutes I had at home between ballet/boy's choir runs. Crock Pot Chicken Thighs with Carrots, Garlic and White Wine; Baked Squash and Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze.

I was showered with a few of my favorite things on my birthday ~

ZERO gifts from my son. Boys {sigh} He obviously needs to be taught how to treat a lady. He did give me an unexpected kiss.

ONE amazing art project that my daughter decided to give to me for my birthday, and ONE fun bluegrass CD my husband thought I would like.

Larkrise to Candleford Season TWO. I have gotten these through Netflix and am so giddy to have the first two seasons to own forever and watch with my daughters when they are older. Even my husband tolerates watching Larkrise with me because he finds Twister to be funny. Personally I think he's a weirdo, but if it gets my guy to watch with me then, well,  I have a new appreciation for him.

 

THREE Happy Birthday phone calls from family and friends. Nothing beats IRL friends and family.

FOUR POUNDS of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffles. These will last nearly a year if I have just one a day, but since this gift was the kids' idea I suppose I will have to share with them.

FIVE coupons for one hour of reading in peace & quiet {the children overheard me telling my mom on the phone that reading time was really the only thing I wanted for my birthday}

The night before my birthday I scooted out after dinner to get a haircut. Of course I had to get something to contribute to my punchcard so I bought some Aveda Tea and Hand Relief ~ two of my favorite things.

One of my all time favorite CDs in playing now that it's chilly enough - The Days Gone By: Songs of American Poets. The frost is on the pun'kin, and the fodder's in the shock.

 

We made it to our favorite Fall Festival. Every year we suggest going somewhere else (less expensive) but nope, the kids are hooked on this one. I am still finding corn in the bottom of the washing machine.

Dancing Fairy Girl moving to another favorite CD here in Pinewood Castle - A Flower Fairy Alphabet. These are sweet, precious, magical and tender years. I love having a four year old in the house.

My daughter's favorite cat,Tabitha, disappeared last Friday and we have not seen her since. We have no idea if she succumbed to a predator, became ill (though she just had all her shots), got hit by a car, was the victim of a neighborhood cat-hater, or just ran off. My daughter is heartbroken over the loss, but we are pouring our affections out on our remaining cat, Snickers. She's such a lovey dove and has always been my favorite.

 

The last thing on my favorites list today is my fall flannel sheets. The only real draw back to their warmth and coziness is that my mind wakes up in the morning (to Classical MPR on the alarm of course) but my body does not want to budge.

Happy Birthday to Me

Don't be shy - say hi!

I'd love to hear from the 99% of you who never leave a comment. I know you are out there. We have stats, you know. Just once a year - it would make my day!

Wordless Wednesday

One Woman's Trash is Another Child's Treasure

Obviously, one of my children needs more time for independent art projects!

Finding Our Rhythm

I feel as if we have been living in 5/4 time, like there has been one beat too many in day. A few changes and I *think* we are back to an even keel.

We found we needed more margin around breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast at 7:00 am just won't work for our family in this season of life.

The mornings are going better and the afternoon practice/read/finish school rotation is more manageable. Morning Devotions are really stressful with a toddler who fills his diaper or wants to nurse in the middle of everything and a preschooler who feels left out and acts naughty. We really have to have a plan for them during devotion time or else I get too frustrated and want to quit. every. single. day.

Afternoon music practice is going more smoothly after consulting with teachers and deciding which instrument would be primary for each girl. Practice days and times have been adjusted accordingly. Stepping up to the music program at MacPhail has been challenging, but they are making great strides and really seem to fit in quite well. I think this was a good move, musically. I wish we had started out there to begin with, but the price and downtown location always scared me off.

The only real glitch now is with ballet. I enrolled the girls with the expectation that they would be in the same class at a time when I could drop them off and my husband could pick them up on his way home from work.

Well, the new teacher assessed Sunshine to be a level below her older sister and wants her to attend a different class. The added trip to pick her up from the later class means that my daughter eats a bag dinner and reads a book (or two) twice a week while her sister is in class. Then I have to go back for her when her level ends at 7:30. This is not the happy, convenient situation I envisioned.

Add this to the pre-existing schedule of getting my son to and from karate and boy's choir and it totals to 96 miles of driving and over three hours in the van, at least on Thursdays. Doing the home-ballet-choir-home loop twice is not what I had in mind when I signed them up, but at least the different classes are on the same night back-to-back. I am sure this is nothing compared to the chauffeuring we will do in the years to come.

Oh well, at least the evening light is wonderful and we can see the moonrise. Autumn is so beautiful, and even more beautiful when viewed from inside the van without having to inhale allergens and clouds of gnats. I love fall, even if it makes me feel lousy.

 

Every now and then I (like most moms) have to re-evalute my discretionary time. Reading, hand crafts, typing up and organizing recipes, making lesson plans, sleeping, exercising, blogging - all are so important to me. I want to do them all every day but there simply is not enough time, so if my blog is quiet this fall you will know why!

Oh, one more thing - will you please pray that my daughter's beloved cat shows up? We have not seen her in a few days and there are many tears falling and tissues being used around here!

Thankful Thursday - Autumn

Morning Glories. Finally!

 

Baby boys who love baby dolls.

Big Girls who still love dolls.

 

 

Big Brothers and Baby Brothers.

 

Board books. Even those we have memorized.

 

Apple Time.

 

Preschoolers who still take an occasional nap in unusual places and unexpected outfits.

 

Sleeping Forest Folk.

 

 

The coziness of autumn candlelight.

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Taming That Grocery Bill

Can you sense by the use of the word "that" in the title that I am at odds with our grocery bill? Are you? Can anyone really believe that a grocery bill can be as high as a mortgage payment? Personally, I think it's a crime to have to pay so much, especially for organic food. Some advocates of organic food claim that it is simply "honestly priced" food after factoring in government subsidies and eventual health care costs of conventionally grown food. But still. I think something is wrong with our food system when a bag of grapes (even non-organic) costs exponentially more than a fast-food hamburger.

I tackle the grocery budget from time to time, especially after reading message boards where I see that other mothers of many somehow spend half of what we do, even with twice the number children. I really don't know how they find food at the prices they claim to have found. I'm still figuring that out!

Some moms save big by using coupons and matching them with store sales and double coupon days. To me this sounds like hours of work and running from store to store beyond the already time-consuming task of menu planning and list making. What I hear from several friends is that while some coupon deals can't be beat, other discounts still total a price higher than the store brand. I just have not felt called to play the coupon game. Lazy me.

After doing some price comparisons, I am about ready to give up certain organic items since they cost twice as much as the non-organic versions. We have been in the habit of buying organic milk, yogurt, eggs,and butter, as well as some fresh and frozen produce on the "dirty dozen" list. For beef we buy locally raised grass-fed meat and whole chickens are also from a local organic farm.

My biggest accomplishment of late is overcoming my Fear of Aldi. Their prices are less than half of the grocery store across the street. If I shop there first, our grocery bill is easily lowered several hundreds dollars.

However, I was surprised to find that Costco's prices are often lower per ounce than Aldi's. The problem, of course, is quantity. Purchasing a three month's supply of pantry items quickly runs up the tab. It is difficult to check out with less than $300 worth of provisions at Costco. At Aldi I rarely spend over $100 - usually closer to $50 a visit. 

Here are the few items at Aldi I have found priced less than Costco:

• pasta sauce .075/oz
• rice .56/lb
• crackers .14/lb
• canned tomatoes .55/can
• sour cream 1.29/lb
• parmesan .40/oz
• canned salmon .13/oz
• ice cream .052/oz

These items are priced about the same:

• chicken broth cartons 1.40/32oz
• white sugar .57/lb
• brown sugar .75/lb
• chocolate chips /15/oz
• honey .18/oz
• milk (non-organic) 2.63/gallon
• eggs (non-organic) 1.55/dozen
• cottage cheese 1.32/lb
• cereal .10/oz
• tuna .21/can

Costco beats Aldi's prices on most everything else from nuts to tortilla chips to disposable items.

Aldi, on the other hand, carries wonderful European dark chocolate. I am not aware that any of their other products are from Europe. I wish they were - Europe has stricter standards when it comes to GMO's and pesticides.

I am putting together lists for comparison shopping. One with Costco's prices, one for Aldi, one for Azure, one for Trader Joe's and another for other local stores. Someday when they are more complete maybe I will post a pdf link. Photos will have to do for now!

Fortunately, my husband does the shopping at Costco and Trader Joe's since it is on his commute home. I am in charge of the local shopping. We don't buy much at Trader Joe's, but their price on 32 oz. organic yogurt and whole bean French roast is the best we can find. And the wine - definitely budget friendly!

What are your favorite secrets for eating well on a budget?

Flower Matching

Here is a little game I like to play with my preschoolers before Jack Frost arrives ~

:: wander around the yard and pick various blossoms

:: enthusiastically announce that we are going to play a Garden Game

:: give them a flower and ask them to find a match

:: talk about the name of the flower, the color, and the details such as the number of petals or shape

:: help search as needed ; )

:: collect them all in bowl of water and admire the beauty of God's creation

:: be prepared to do it again upon request!

Wordless Wednesday

Calendar Capers

This morning I put the kids in charge of changing the classroom calendar and this is the agenda they designed ~

Kids like to have something to do every day. Gives them a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Evidently, this is why they have been so unmotivated the last three weeks. They tell me that staying at home, doing school, and practicing music all week was not exciting enough. Ouch. Here I was looking forward to more time at home and a reduced activity budget not to mention fostering domestic contentment.

Keeping the "home" in homeschooling is sage advice, to a point. I am still learning how to discern what is best for our family. I am a Libra. I strive for balance. I realize now that our September schedule was too music-heavy, and I was getting burned out with my role as Practice Supervisor. I finally started to realize why most parents prefer to sign their kids up for sports rather than music.

 

After a big heart-to-heart we decided resume our old habits of celebrating the saint days and liturgical calendar, I have signed up for the All About Thyme newsletter to have fun with things like National Butterscotch Pudding Day (like Dawn's family), and last but not least (thanks to a strict grocery budget and local Aldi store) ballet will now be back in our lives twice a week in addition to continuing martial arts for my Karate Kid.

Honestly, life just didn't feel right without ballet. Ballet makes for happy girl hearts, strong bodies, and gives us all a reason to rise & shine, especially since I will not have to supervise daily ballet practice!