Hanukiah

My St. Vinnies is amazing as you all know. Sometimes we find the neatest things there. And then there are other times that we find things and they just have to come home with us and we don't really know why.
One of these things is the worlds craziest, mostly ugliest hanukiah. There is a reason this is at a thrift shop. My kido's call them goat men and one is so disturbed, she won't look at it. Unfortunately, I've become attached and the longer it is in my house, the more I kinda like it. It is definitely something to talk about.
You see, one of these days, I'm actually start an eBay shop and sell all these hanukiah that I have found over the years at re-sale stores. Here in the PNW, people don't know what they have and sell them for super cheap and I figure I can make some money. Someday. That was my plan for this thing. But now I'm not so sure. So here it is. The goatman, cowboy, so ugly it's cute sorta, hanukiah.
Did I forget to add rabbi? Yeah, goatman, cowboy so ugly it's cute sorta, tallit wearing rabbi hanukiah. See their little boots?
And their little booties hanging off the wall?
What can I say, I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep them. But none of the children want them when they move out. They have already made that very clear ^.^

Happy Chanukah!

Happy Holidays

Holiday season in upon us and man am I struggling. This is usually my favorite time of year. Everyone is happy, there are presents and decorations, good food and baking, a break from formal school classes, all good things. This season is a little different for me.
This season I lost my dearest Grandma. I was able to go California and be with her in her last days. I took the whole family with me and they were able to spend time with the cousins and play tourist a bit while I was in the hospital with Grandma. I am so very grateful I had that time with her.
This season we also lost Mrs. D. She is one of the ladies in the Widows Club that we have been watching over for the last ten years. She was a great grandma to my kids. In fact, the two great ladies died the same night. It was an emotional time to be sure.
Throw in a trip to Portland for a conference and a our first speech competition and all that entails, along with the regular schedule stuff and things just aren't that cheery around here. Let alone clean. The clutter is under control in the rooms people see but I just need to do a good deep clean and purge to make it right. (The only time I want to deep clean is when I'm sad or mad or my mom is coming ^.^)
We took the kid's school work with us everywhere, but there was just too much living to do and not one book got cracked. There was still learning going on, more of the unschooling variety than what we usually do. So now the kids are all out of the swing of things and getting them to do anything schoolish is like trying to herd turtles, nothing is moving. So now I have mom guilt cuz they are behind where I would like them to be. I know since we are homeschoolers, that doesn't really matter, but it sorta does in my head. I am therefor having a hard time justifying a break.
And on top of that, I'm bored with my Chanukah decorations but am unwilling to spend money right now on new stuff. I need to save up for two big trips for speech. And a Thule container for the top of the truck for all the trips we need to be making. And a Bat Mitzvah.
Oh yeah, the Bat Mitzvah! It's coming along, but I do need to get going on invitations. And stuff for the ice cream social we are having after. And helping her make her dress. And finishing the few things left on her list. And the list of who is getting invitations. Oh yeah, that.
So yeah, not so much cheer for me this year. Thankfully the kidos aren't having the same challenge. A friend once told me that when we get into these periods of change and stress, it is only for a season. I try to keep that in my head. I wish is wasn't the same season as the holiday season. But oh well. We will make it through, and just swirl in the whirlwind that is our lives right now.

Busy, busy busy

A whole month and no post! How does that happen? Well, lets see, started school and all the extra curricular that goes with, hauled oldest back and forth to work at the fair, high holy days, sickness, business, garden. Yup, a little busy. That and I am in a creative funk. Not that I don't have a lot of plans, just no time to put things together.
Homeschooling one less this year hasn't actually decreased my work load as much as I thought it would. The load is actually a little harder because I have so many doing harder work. I have three doing speech club and that is really taking up time. But it has been very rewarding. My kids are learning so much about research and outlines right now. Better than any curriculum I've tried, that's for sure.
High holy days are keeping us pretty busy. Lots of baking and cooking. This has checked a bunch of things off of the Bat Mitzvah list. The younger girls made hangings to put in the schul sukkah. Sarah's is done in needlework, completing the sampler on the list too. I made white skirts out of an old sheet and an old tablecloth for Yom Kippur . Those are pretty cute. Our home sukkah suffered a lot of damage during the last year. We had a slight bug infestation. So no visitors this year. Already, I'm making plans for next year. Hope they somewhat match my sweethearts .
The garden was a bust for the most part again this year. I did find a really good deal on some organic compost and dirt. Hopefully this will make a difference next year. Some sun would help too. We are going to cover the beds and try some winter crops. Hopefully we can get a little something.
So don't be surprised if another month goes by with no post. Nothing is really decreasing in the next few months. We are already planning for our Channuka (Hanukah, Hannuckah...whatever) talent show and contests. The sewing pile is high. My kids start competition for speech in December. So yeah, busy.

She Made a Decision.

I wondered if she was really ready. My son, I knew was, my daughter not so much. Then it happened.

Yesterday, we were looking at the Torah schedule and realized that a mistake had been made. The portion that she has been working on for 7 months is only part of what she needs to do. There is an entire chapter in front and a few verses in back. T0 say she is devastated is an understatement. She cried, I cried, her siblings cried. We are all heartbroken for her. She has struggled with her Hebrew and has really had to work hard. It has only been in the last week that she had been able to read her piece without help. She was so happy. And now this.

So I told her not to worry about it and her dad and I would figure something out after he got home that night.

Later in the afternoon, she came and sat down next to me and put her head on my shoulder. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes full of tears and said that she was really disappointed and that even though it would be really hard she was going to do the whole thing. She said that part of growing up was doing the hard things even when they weren't planned for. She said that she was just going to persevere and get it done.

Wow.

She is learning. She is maturing. She is making choices that make me proud. She scares me a little too.

Now don't get me wrong, she still likes playing barbies with her sibs and won't eat eggs or tuna cuz they're gross, but she is figuring things out.

After she said the same thing to my sweetheart at dinner, he told her that he would stand behind her on her decision and we would support her any way we can.

Come January, we will decide what is going to happen. There may be some modifications to the way we did it with my son. Already, I have some ideas that may make this doable. It is tradition that we are working with here, nothing set in stone (^.^). We will make sure that this ceremony honors God and His Torah.

She is ready.

Waiting Rooms

How do they find me? I try so hard to be a nice person, but some people make it so difficult. There I am sitting in a waiting room some place. As we all sit there waiting for the doctor, nurse, dentist, lawyer, whatever, no one is talking. Everyone is sitting there not looking at each other. They are reading five year old magazines or watching CNN post the same story every fifteen minutes as breaking news. So I say something benign, like "how about that weather" and then it comes out. The person just has to tell me all about the details of their back surgery and how awful the food is and how much water they put on and how their neighbor who is a diabetic drinks twelve cokes a day. Or they witness to me about how God talks to them and sits on a throne just like the one in that movie.
All I wanted to do is have a polite little conversation to pass the time and I get the crazy person. How do I do it? Can't someone just be a nice person who has a fairly normal life. "The weather has been great. Have you done anything fun this summer? Did you like your trip to some nice vacation spot? It was perfect? What a blessing to spend time with your family!"
Now isn't that a nice conversation? But alas alack, I end up with the person who is lonely and just needs an ear to hear. So I say my favorite quote from Corrie ten Boom "Lord love them through me cause I can't." Then I smile and nod and oh and awe at the right time. And thank God when one of us gets called in.

Sarah's Bat Mitzvah

Our home is getting ready for another Bat Mitzvah (actually the first was a Bar, but you know what I mean). So we put together a list of things that I would like for my daughter to be able to do as she passes into the next phase of her life. We did the same for my son, choosing things more appropriate for him. Although there are things on each list that are similiar, there are also things that are specific for each child and their interests.

Sarah’s Bat Mitzvah List

Kitchen
· Make bread and Challa
· Know enough recipes for a month of meals
· How to read and follow recipes
· How to sharpen a knife
· How to make coffee and tea
· Can fruit and vegi’s with mom

Sewing
· Sew a garment for yourself
· Pick a pattern at a store
· Choose fabric
· Follow pattern directions
· Needlework Sampler
· Crochet

Misc.
· Basic first aide
· Babsitting class
· Fill out an envelope
· Write a thank you note
· Knot board
· Build a fire
· BBQ
· Check fluid levels on the car

Festivals
· Know the order and reason of Festivals
· Know how to make foods associated with each Festival
· Know how to do Passover clean
· Know how to sing the Blessings of each Festival

Torah
· Know your portion in Hebrew and English
· Know the books of the Torah
· Pick a verse in the New Testament that has meaning to you and memorize and explain its significance

It may seem like a lot, but we started working on this when she turned 12, so we have a bunch of it already done. Her biggest struggle has been the Hebrew but she gets better and stronger every day. She will have it down by February, no problem.

Birthday Parties

Birthday parties. Do you have them? Do you do the whole themed, crafty, matchy matchy thing? Since I've started blogging and blog hopping, I have to say that I do have a little mom guilt about birthday parties. Not that it lasts long really. I think we have had a total of 4 parties for the six kids we have. And none of them were much of a themed thing. I think I did a princess thing way back, but that was it. There would just be too many. If I did these elaborate parties for all of them, I would be so broke. Even if I thrifted and hand made all these neat little projects. Time is money too people!
So yeah, don't do the birthday party thing. But we do have a big tadoo Bar/Bat Mitzvah thing. That is my excuse, um I mean reason, we don't do parties. Yeah, that sounds good.
If I only had one or two kids, though, I'm sure I would totally be into giving a Star Wars, Dr. Who, Hello Kitty, Barbie, Circus themed party with hours and hours of work put into them that the twenty three year olds will never remember.

ps. We do have a special birthday week for each birthday child, so they don't miss out on anything but the party.

Twenty Years!

There have been a lot of firsts in 20 years. Our first home, our first child, our first death, our first time out of country together, our first family trip on a plane, our first dream, our first time worshiping God together, our first garden, our first trip to the ocean, our first sorrow, our first....

But my favorite first is the first day of the rest of my life with my sweetheart. Twenty seems like such a big number, but it seems like just yesterday that we chose eachother. I'm excited to see what other firsts we have in the next 20 years.


The answer to my prayers, God made us for eachother.

Wasteland

Defining moments. I have thought many times, but for the grace of God, there go I.

This afternoon the kids and I watched a documentary called Wasteland. It is about the "pickers" in the garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro. There are a whole group of people who go through the garbage as it is dumped and pick out the recyclables. These they sell it for next to nothing to support themselves and their families. There is an artist, Vic Muniz, that goes to create art and highlight these people. During the course of the movie, the viewer learns about a handful of people who are "pickers" and their plight. Amazing movie. At the end, the artist says, "It could have been me. I could have ended up just like these people." (That's my paraphrase.)

Now of course, with any movie about a dump, there is a message about how much we throw away and how much we waste and take for granted. There is message about finding beauty and self worth through the garbage. It shows how the human spirit can shine even in the worse of circumstances.

My kids didn't complain about washing the dishes after seeing that children start at 7 and 8 years old working in the garbage. They saw what a privileged life we lead, even if it isn't the life of the rich and famous. They also saw how being able to give large amounts of time and money makes a huge difference. I hope they learned to value all people, no matter how "dirty" they may seem.

I got a deeper message for myself. But for the grace of God. I was there. I was in the yuck of the world and living a messy life. I didn't see my value. I made choices that led me down paths that I should have never been on. I can say it wasn't my fault. There were others that helped me and made me. But the truth is, there was always a small voice deep in my heart that said, "This is wrong, you are better than this. You deserve more than this." But still I made choices.

There are things that I regret. There are people I am sure I have hurt along the way. There are things I will never share with my children. I am ashamed and sorry. I am also forgiven.

When in a dark, dark place that I thought at the time was light, Jesus came to me and said, "You are mine, you don't belong here." Just as clear as day and as if He stood right before me, He spoke to me. I wish I could say that I turned to Him right then and there, but I didn't. It took many more trials and tribulations before I totally submitted to Him.

Now I have given myself to Him, submitted my whole self to Him, call and treat Him as my Lord. I follow His laws to the best of my ability. I see my value and my worth through His eyes. I know that as ugly as life was, I am forgiven. I am not proud of what I did. I don't look back on those times with fond memories. Yes, they made me who I was, but I wasn't good. It is the blood of Christ that makes me who I am today. Clean and free to follow the path He showed me how to walk.

Thank you Lord, for always waiting for me, when I made those choices and they defined who I was. I thank you for allowing my greatest defining moment be when I asked You into my heart and You loved me enough to come into it and cleanse me and make me new. Thank You for showing me that my value was more than the world said, than people said, than I believed.

There was a change in the people who were in this movie. Becoming part of this challenge changed how they saw themselves. They saw that they could be more and that they could be proud of who they were.

Thank you God for showing me the same.

A Dress for a Wedding

Another trip to St. Vinnies to find a dress for Sarah and of course we found so much more ^.^


Fabric, about six yards.

Crafting stuffs.

The dress.

And a very cool coat rack.

This hugmungo thing of paints and the cute box they came in.

All for $32. 82.




ps. It looks like summer is trying to sneak in!

Where Have I Been?

Look how long it's been since I did a blog! Wowzers!

Well, lets see, went to Cali for a funeral, got to see family. Crazy blessing. I'm still sad at the passing of my Uncle. When I lived with my Grandma for a couple of years, he would come regular and have breakfast. He was a funny guy, compassionate and helpful, a great Uncle, everyone should have one. They're a pretty close knit group down there, my family, and it was fun being with them even in a time of mourning. I was able to spend time with Grandma who is almost ninety. It was heartbreaking to see her so sad. Parents, no matter how old, should never have to bury their children. It is not natural.

Came home to children and a husband who I love so much. Being away from them is so hard. As nice as it is to be with extended family, I'm glad I live here. Drama is really not my thing.

Started working in the garden. My little plants look so sad. Because our weather here in the PNW has been so blah, my plants are so small. We have a bunch of new planting space that I was hoping to be overflowing with plants by now, but alas no. Maybe we will have an extended summer since it has been such a long winter. My kids are still thinking we need to change the calendar like they did in the ancient times so the weather matches the month. It is April-like here.

My baby girl got a job. It is only for a short time, but money is money. She likes it, but is gone all day and comes home tired and dirty. It is strange having another one gone. People don't look at us as strange when I only have the four when we go out. The littler ones are having to adjust too. They are having to babysit themselves more and pick up her chores. And they miss her bunches too. I hope that as they continue to grow and spread out that they always enjoy coming back together.

Got Netflix free for a month on Swagbucks. I now remember why we don't do tv. We have a disease called tvlock. If the box is on, nothing else happens. N O T H I N G. Not renewing when my month is up. Although I have been loving all the different documentaries we have been watching. And Rugrats.

Mom in laws fistula is still not ready. That is a big bummer. Docs are going to try a angioplasty to see if they can get it to open in a few spots. They seem to think it will work. But that means another month minimum before that catheter can come out. But other than that she is doing great. Pressure is good, sugar is good, driving herself to and from dialysis, generally in a good mood.

All caught up with where I want to be for school with the kidos. We school year round, but in summer we do many more field trips and fun stuff. More projects and experiments. Went to the homeschool fair and picked up a bunch of new things this year. New books are always exciting, even if it is for only a month.

Other than that, the same old same old. My mom is coming next week so we are trying to straighten up a bit more. The dryer should be fixed by then. That is going to be awesome.

ps. A friend of our started a mobile car repair service and he is awesome. Came right to the door and fixed my sweethearts beater car. Now is just looks bad, but sounds awesome AND goes. And he figured out what was wrong with my dryer!

Wuv, twoo wuv...

This last weekend I got to go to a bridal shower. It was for a sweet young lady who is marrying a man who I have known for a few years. She is his perfect match. The lady has as much exuberance as he does. They make me smile.
The shower was a beautiful tea put on by the ladies of our church. There were the most amazing paper roses I have ever seen, lots of pretty tea cups and tea pots and of course yummy food. Everyone had a great time. I was struck by how different this was to other showers I've been to outside our community. It was about preparing this lovely lady to set up a home with her beloved. No weird games, embarrassing stories or sexy gifts. We prayed for her marriage to be a blessing to God as well as to each other.
We even had a guest appearance via video from Julie Childs. She taught how to make a cake. Well actually, it was the young ladies intended doing a spot on impression of Julia if she had had a beard. Very funny.
In preparation, I put together a list of some ingredients for a good marriage. I enjoyed it and decide to share here.

(Some) Ingredients for a Happy Marriage

Respect- Never embarrass you spouse.
Honor- Your spouse is a gift from God.
Perseverance- It is worth sticking it out and working through it.
Communicate- Define terms because sometimes what you are sayin’ means something totally different to your spouse.
Love- It is both the gooshy feeling when you look at them and the feeling when you pick up their dirty socks for the umpteenth time.
Relinquish- There are some things that really don’t matter or are fixable by just buying two.
Pray- All the time, together, out loud, to God, not so the other will finally get it.
Bless- Try to always be a blessing to the other. Small things can mean a lot.
Work- Work on your marriage all the time. It is unique and will be like no one else’s. Don’t compare, just work on your own all the time.
Learn- Everything you can about each other.
Support- Don’t ever laugh at each other’s dreams, they just might come true.

ps. I loved watching this lady tear into her gifts and cards. It showed a lot of gusto for life.

Another St.Vinnies Trip

It has been wonderful getting back in the swing of things. Mom in law is doing so much better, and driving herself to and from dialysis. I pretty much have my time back! And after two weeks of this, and no extra curricula we are finally getting back in the swing of things. My house is back to its pretty normal flow.
So on Friday, we went to St. Vinnies and boy did we find some bargains.
It started with this huge box of macramé stuff. Now I’m not taking on a new hobby, but I see hours and hours of fun for kids in the back yard with all this rope. And when we got home and we were all going over our finds the first thing the kids said was “we can make a hammock!” Yup, hours of fun.


I got these little kitchen items and a mixing bowl and a bowl for all the apples we’ve been eating and CLOTHESPINS!!!


We found some sheets. Some for fabric, some for sheets. There are three twins and a set of king sized.

And a set of Curious George pajamas and a t-shirt and some baking pans I’ve been looking for and a pattern and a bowl sieve that is just the right size…

And this picnic set (one of the kids just HAD to have it) and a hand cranked grinder…

And the most adorable I LOVE LUCY dress EVER!!! And it fits her like a dream. Looking at the seams and label, I’m pretty sure this is a vintage dress.


So, the final price tag, $58.60.

p.s. The king sized sheets ended up having two top sheets, but they still work and feel so nice. I love the feel of new sheets with a high thread count! Especially when they cost a dollar a piece!

Laundry

Well, it started out all harmless like. My sweet heart was vacuuming off the back of the dryer, making us stay all safe like when bam, it happened. He plugged it back in and the whole house flickered. He was fine, but my dryer hasn't come back on since. Soooo, since we are not going into debt, we are saving to get the dryer fixed. And hanging up the laundry to dry. Now if you live in other places in this great nation, you might not think this is a big deal, but this is the Pacific North West. Which equals rain. Lots and lots of rain. And if not rain, overcast. Even on nice days, we often have fog in the morning. So if you are from CA you really don't want to move here. (Just kidding, if your my cousins, but everyone else only sorta kidding)
Any way, that means we get creative. So we rigged this little set up.
It mostly works. But it only allows for two loads a day. Sometimes it really feels like an old time laundry in here. I have two of these racks.
They hold lots of socks and unmentionables. We put them in front of the furnaces. Yup, it's May and they are still popping on. Global warming my patootie! In the storage room we have a space heater and fan going to keep things drying down there. I hope my curtains are keeping my food storage cool enough.
For the most part, although a little inconvenient it hasn't been too bad. I have to wonder if the whole sorting clothes thing harkens back to the old days when there were no dryers. We seldom sort clothes around here. With modern dyes and the fact that none of my family get really super dirty or stinky, I just throw every thing in. I use the Amway laundry system, and I put the same stuff in no matter what the color or fabric. Between modern dyes and thrifting, nothing we have fades or runs so all in one load it goes. Then all in the dryer it would go and that was it. Now I can see why we might start sorting. Towels take a long time to dry. So do jeans. And they both take a lot of room on the line. Eight towels works really good like this. Jeans too, leaving the line for lots of smaller things.
Pluses for hanging laundry: *No getting behind on laundry. Ever, it just doesn't go well. *Matching socks is much easier. I don't know why, just is. * Kids who don't like hanging clothes wear them more often before throwing them in the laundry. Because it is true that you don't have to wash a dress you wore for an hour while playing steampunk. And jeans really do look fine the second and third day as long as you don't leave them in a puddle when you take them off and irons do wonders. *My electric bill has gone down even with the fan and heater going. * Laundry gets done faster when you don't have to wait for the dryer to get done. * Clothes and sheets and towels that have hung outside smell so wonderful, especially sheets.* Things get folded right off the line and hence don't sit in a mound on my sofa for days.*There for there is less ironing. That and we learned that if you pop the clothes before you hang them, they dry smooth.
Minuses for hanging laundry: * The reason they get folded so fast, is that they are hard as a board. Think clothes origami. *Towels are rough. I mean, lets have a brisking flaying after every shower. * When it rains, we have the laundry everywhere in house. * Laundry happens every day. (That is kinda a plus too.) * Crunchy towels makes going into more debt sound not so terrible on some days.
All in all, it is dealable. But some days I must admit we do end up here.

Not to often though.
p.s. Do you know how hard it is to find clothespins around here?

Teaching

One of the blessings I've had this last week is my truck got fixed. We have a friend who works for Ford who does the work for barter in his off time. This time, I tutored his son. He had a science fair project due the next day, and had done nothing. So in 2 1/2 hours, we did a project. It was fun. He started off pretty bored. It took about half an hour to warm him up. That is when I remembered why I decided not to go into teaching. Then I watched this kid's eyes light up and to start to get into his project and it was very satisfying. Then, I remembered why I went into teaching.

When I was much younger, I think I was in the second grade, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. Which is funny cuz I hated school. I think I just liked being the boss of people. And as I entered the job world I realized that my dreams way outmatched the salary of a teacher. But, when I went into college, I got a teaching degree anyway. I really loved those light up the eyes moments.

Then I got married. I brought a dog into the marriage, my sweetheart a five year old boy. We quickly had a little girl and I never went back to work. When my husband left the military, we moved into a neighbor hood that was not very...well...how can I say this... nice. As we were unpacking the moving truck a small group of boys the same age as my son were walking down the street cursing and smoking. He was nine. I was not happy. I decided right then and there to homeschool.

That was 16 years ago. Homeschooling wasn't cool back then. Hardly anyone was doing it. There weren't many choices as far as curriculum was concerned. Everyone looked at us like we were crazy and thought we were destroying our kids. All I did was to bring school home. There were desks, and schedules and uniforms. I know, crazy huh. But it was all I knew. And by December, I was ready to be done. For five years, every December, I was ready to be done. Then I met someone who suggested we take the month of December off. Really, it is that simple? It worked and to this day, December is a pretty low academic month. We still do lots, just not book work.

That was such a freeing moment. It totally changed how I saw schooling my kids. Just in time too, cuz with a bunch of little ones all starting about the same time, I would have gone nuts. Now we are almost un-schoolers. We still do book work. I think there is merit in that. But mostly we follow what interests our kids.

One of the things I take for granted homeschooling for as long as we have been is that I have a house full of kids who love to learn. There are always projects going on around here. And since every moment is a teaching moment, I can almost always turn whatever it is they are working on into a school lesson. Some one's eyes are always lit up with excitement about something they are learning about. I think I get more joy from my teaching degree homeschooling than I would working in a school. And, I think our principal is very cute too.

p.s. Speaking of projects...here is phase one of the steampunk gun. You can't tell as well in the picture, but the dark color is gun metal and the light color is actually copper.

Adventure!

We had our first adventure of the season! My sweetheart had a low census day and I had errands near there, so we went to the city and picked him up. Our city has an amazing library. The outside of the building is pretty amazing all by itself. It is a modern building bigger in the middle than on the top and than the bottom. Lots and lots of windows cover the whole thing. And the parking garage is very, very low. I wasn't sure if we were going to make it. I could easily touch the ceiling in places! But we did.

We went up to the ninth floor in a shiny chartreuse elevator. At the top there was a look out point that allowed us to see all the way down to the bottom. The look wasn't bad, but the floor seemed to be a little spongy and unstable giving me a vertigo feeling. Then we started going down. The books in the non-fiction section goes around in a large spiral, each hundred section of the Dewey decimal system on one floor. That is a lot of books. Sprinkled through out are reading areas full of people. I could spend days and days in there. There was an entire floor full of old bound magazines. There were books with ancient bindings and books that were brand new. We didn't even get into the adult fiction area because the children's section was so amazing. It was bigger than our entire library. Unfortunately, the littlest was done and it was time to go home.

There were a few things we saw that made me wish I had a camera. The color of the walls in the elevators, the freaky art display on the walls of the escalator, all the feet under the chairs as we went around and around the spiral, all the art pieces in the children's section. The belt system that takes the books being turned in to where ever they go to be reshelved was pretty darn cool too. The man who checked our books out was impressed by our choice of books. They ranged from how to juggle to the who universe books. He was pretty darned impressive too. His hair was pretty cool.

In another life, I would have been a librarian. I LOVE books. I love how books smell and feel. I am fascinated by the things that people choose to write about. I love the way they look all lined up in rows and rows. I love fiction and non-fiction. I love books on cd or books filled with pictures. Easy readers to books filled with tiny words all fascinate me. Some day when I am rich and famous or at least rich, I'm going to have a library full of my favorite books. Until then, I think I may sneak back to the city by myself and spend the day in the stacks.

p.s. There must be a comicon going on to cuz my sweetheart thought he saw Ohura in the library and we saw someone in an amime costume and a giant samuri sword on his back.

What Passover has Taught Me this Year

This year has been insane. Mostly the last six months. It has created so much change in our little world. I have so far learned 2 Passover lessons from it.

One. You can't count on tomorrow. Not cuz life is short, and you never know when you're going to die, or a love one will die. God forbid that should happen, but it is permanent and then you readjust and learn how to live without them. (I know that is really oversimplifying it.) But when someone gets sick, your life becomes a whirlwind.

My usual passover preparation usually starts a month ahead of time. That is because, I hate cleaning. A little bit everyday is easier for me to handle. I have a whole schedule I follow. The kids help and there are a ton of little lessons about chametz representing sin and where we find it unexpected places. Not so much this year. In fact, as Passover quickly approaches, I feel nowhere near prepared. Just as I would start a project, mom in law would go back into the hospital. Three times she went back into the hospital in the last month. Yes, I have five growing kids, who technically should be able to do this, but they are still trying to get school done and not kill each other while I am gone. So the surface stuff gets done. When you come in, the house doesn't look to bad, but not our usual preparation.

I usually have an entire Seder dinner planned as well. (That is the Passover service that happens the first night.) I have a case of matzah. Yup, that's it. Matzah. Praise God for friends who understand our dilemma and have invited us to their house for first night. Maybe we can pull something together during the week.

I guess, though, that this is more like what the Israelites dealt with. How much time did they have to get it all together before Moses said to strap on those sandals? I'm not all that sure on the timeline of all those plagues. One a day? One a week? Did the Israelites really believe they were going someplace? Did they start gathering and sorting a month in advance? The Passover story and the whole Matzah thing makes it sound like it was pretty fast. Did they get all the crumbs out of their bowls and kids toys? I know this year, that somewhere in my house there are crumbs. Of course, we all know that you can never get all the sin out of our lives. Praise God for His Son, Yeshua, who came and now hovers over us, protecting us. This leads me to lesson two.

Purging and deep cleaning. I have thrown out so much junk and given so much stuff to St. Vincents this year. I just don't have time to try and organize it all and find the right home for things. "Just get rid of it!" has been my battle cry. Now the pack rat in me keeps trying to say "but I might need that" but I have been good. I know if I do, I can get it back for a few pennies. But honestly, I don't think I will.

I have been ruthless with the little girls stuff. I have saved clothes and passed them on for 18 years now. I have boxes and boxes and drawers and drawers of clothes that usually end up all over the floor as someone decides to find something to wear. Now, all four of my girls have very different body types. They go from super curvy to straight as a bone. What fit one child is not fitting any of the others. So why am I keeping these things? Part of it is from when we were not as financially stable. What if there was no money for clothes, kind of like the depression mentality. Part is because, "I remember when you used to wear that" sentimentality comes rushing in. If they aren't attached to it, why should I be? Get rid of it. That goes for their toys and papers and old school books too. Sigh. My lesson has been, what sin am I holding onto for sentimenal reasons, what sin am I holding onto because I lack trust that the Lord will cover me? Get rid of it!

Then there was the dish washer. That was so disgusting. The dishes had not been getting clean. This has happened before. It is usually because whoever has been loading it hasn't scraped the dishes well enough and the crud builds up. I usually supervise as someone smaller that me goes in and cleans out the big stuff and we move on. But the frequency has been building. So this time, we brought out the tool box. Now there was the usual build up, pretty gross. But, but but but, this time we took out a few more screws and we found mold. Oh dear Lord, why did you invent that kinda mold. Orange, green, blue, white, black. All the colors of the rainbow. Can anyone say bleach? Like two whole bottles of bleach? Like send the husband to the store for more bleach, cuz man this is disgusting. All this time we thought that this was cleaning our dishes! Ewwww! With lots of elbow grease and helping each other deal with the nastiness of it, we got it all sparkly. Since then, we have all been a lot more careful about loading the dishes in and appreciating all the work that went into that shiny machine. Can you see the sin analogy? Pretty easy huh.

Yup, we as Christians can take care of that surface sin pretty easy. It is easy to see and deal with. Then it all looks good and clean and we move on through life. But sometimes there is a deep underlying sin that we don't even realize is contaminating everything. We have to grab a friend and toolbox and blood of Yeshua and do some hard work.

For me, it has been resentment.

All the work that I have had to do for mom in law has made me resentful of her. It colors all areas of my life. I work so hard at getting her to her appointments, taking her to the ER, keeping all her medical and pharmaceutical information together. And dang it if she doesn't go and eat a potato, drink to much fluid, not squeeze the dealy dopper thingy to make her fistula stronger, make her blood sugar go up by eating something she wasn't supposed to all because "I want to do what I want to do". Doesn't she respect me enough to at least do what she is told? Ooooo, is that how God feels towards me? Uh oh. Ok God, thanks, I get it. If You can do it, so can I, and I promise I will listen better and do what You have told me to do.

Passover! Always a lesson.

Gotta love that Boy!

One of my biggest fears (not really, but sort of) is that my kids are going to marry a person who's mom was all martha stewart-ish and realize that I'm not. I look at at the blogish ladies and all the pictures of their craftinesses and see the neat house behind those crafty goodies and hang my head. Yeah, I get crafty every now and again, but if I do, the rest of the house looks like an earthquake, a really big one, hit it. And I never get a chance to finish most of what I start. Right now I have this awesome steam punklet skirt half way done sitting on the sewing table in the middle of the entry way that I started right before Purim. Looking at it right now, I have no idea what I was thinking at the time or how to finish it. Good thing the fabric only cost $2.50 at St. Vinnies, but still!

Then, my son, my 13 year old son, sat down next to me after getting home from the hospital (yup she's back in) and he put his arm around me. He said, "Mom I'm really proud of you for holding us all together during all this. You're awesome." Squeeze, squeeze and off he went.

Okay.

Well there you go.

Home again Home again

Mom in law is home again. I hope for good this time ^.^ Bruising has stopped growing but is still pretty painful as the blood moves to the surface of her bones and reabsorbs into the body. She has a low pain thresh hold. She is also coming off of percaset. She doesn't like taking that stuff, it makes her too sleepy. To say she is grumpy is an understatement. I actually saw her smile for the first time in weeks yesterday. It was short, but gives me hope. Her new meds seem to be doing their job, keeping her blood pressure under control. We have only been asking for these changes for four months. Oh well, better late than too late. I finally made it to the doctors and surprise, surprise, surprise, (in my best Gomer Pyle accent ^.^) I have a sinus infection. My sweetheart is so patient with me. He's been trying to get me to a doctor for 2 weeks. So I am now taking the world largest pill twice a day. I hope it works fast, my head is killing me! Since I have no energy, passover cleaning has come to a complete halt. I'll start again on Sunday. I'm not even going to try til then. I need time to recover from the last few weeks. I've had a kid in my pocket everytime I walk in the door. How do working mom's do it? I feel like a tall glass of water in a kiddy desert!

What a month!

Rest in Peace Grandpa

Wowzers! The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster of events.

Went back into the hospital with mom in law. It was scary, we actually lost her for a couple of minutes this time. A week in ICU and for the most part, should last another 10,000 miles ^.^.

The kids all got sick in the same week. That was a lot of snot! And the tissue we went through was pretty amazing. And after refusing to catch it, I got it. Still have it. May have to go to the doctor and get something for a sinus infection. I'll see if I can squeeze it in ^.^!

Then we had another Speech and Debate Qualifier. This time it was in good weather and more local. What a great time we had! The entire college campus we used was on a hill and therefor, lots of steps. Lots and lots of steps. I knew my thighs would be sore, but I didn't count on my calves and the tops of my feet. The kids did well, we kept getting lots of compliments on how well they spoke and how poised they were. We didn't move on though, so we are done for the season. One of our team mates made it though. Pretty good for a first year team. I think my favorite part was watching the kids in their suits and dresses spontaneously start dancing. One of the girls is a square dancer and started teaching some of her friends. Pretty soon there were 50 kids dancing and a few of the kids pulled out instruments and started to accompany. It was fun watching them try to figure out a song when none had played together before and some never played that genera of music. But they did it and it was beautiful. It was so refreshing to see wholesome fun. My Sarah had such fun dancing again after so long without because of her ankle injury. A blessing for sure to see her shining face.

While we were there, we got a call that mom-in-law was back in the hospital. Her chest was hurting and she was pretty grumpy. After CPR, that is pretty common, but we found out the concern is internal bleeding. You see, because they had to put a stint in, she is on a blood thinner. Because of that, the places she is bruised from the CPR is still bleeding a bit. So they kept her over the weekend. We find out today if she comes home. She has a hard time making blood because of the kidney failure so there are a lot of variables.

Then ... as we were recovering from sleep deprivation... I get a call from my mom that my grandpa has died. We were expecting it. For the last two weeks he has been on his death bed at the hospital. The dear soul was in his mid nineties. I'm not as close to my mom's side of the family, but I do have some fond memories of Grandpa. I grew up as an Army Brat and my grandparents often came to visit us. When we lived in Hawaii, I remember him asking if we thought they would take American money in a local little store. He liked eating at bufets, no that's not a mis spelling, that's how he said it. And ja lap en os. We still call them both by his pronunciations at our house. He was a farmer. A big man who worked hard and raised seven kids. He was married to the same woman his entire life. I can't even imagine the depth of her bereavement. He was the head of his family and clan . He and his brothers had a group of farms. in the same small town in Kansas. Our family history goes back a long way, I just started to learn about it at my uncles funeral a few short months ago. I got to spend a few weeks at the farm when I was 10 0r 12. Although I don't remember how old I was, I do remember how fun it was and how much I learned. I will really miss my grandpa.

The hardest part about losing my grandpa right now is that I can't go back and be there for my mom. This is obviously very hard for her. She has been there for two weeks and just extended for another week. Because of our obligations here and the price of tickets being so high, I just can't go. That makes me really sad. I praise God that our business is growing in leaps and bounds and that money and time won't always be an issue. But right now I'm still sad.

So I start my week with my list of things to do. Need to get mom in law home. Need to get my kids schooling back on track. Lessons and classes to attend. Meetings to set up and business to start. And passover cleaning. And that most evil thing in my life. TAXES. Shiver, shiver, scowl. Oh yeah, and make a doctors appointment for myself somewhere along the line.

Success by Bessie Anderson Stanley

Success by Bessie Anderson Stanley

He has achieved success
who has lived well,
laughed often, and loved much;

who has enjoyed the trust of
pure women,

the respect of intelligent men and
the love of little children;

who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who has left the world better than he found it
whether by an improved poppy,
a perfect poem or a rescued soul;

who has never lacked appreciation of Earth’s beauty
or failed to express it;

who has always looked for the best in others and
given them the best he had;

whose life was an inspiration;
whose memory a benediction.

The Power of Potential

The power of potential. I've had these words running around in my head for over a week now and they just won't go away. I have been around so many people in the last bit that are so full of potential. And it brings to mind what I used to find on my report card all the time; She has so much potential if she would just apply herself. Did you ever get that one. I didn't believe it then. I sure do now. But it doesn't really matter how much potential you have if you don't do something with it.

Over the last ten years, I have worked diligently to become a better person, wife, mom, teacher, believer, homemaker. I've studied books, been to seminars, listened to CD's and DVDs. I've humbled myself to mentors who have the kids, marriages, friendships, relationships with God, lives in general, that I desire to have. The one thing I haven't done is to apply it. Well, that's not all true. I have an awesome marriage, my kids are smart, wise and beautiful. My house is only a disaster area part of the time ^.^ and I feel pretty good about my relationship with God. So what else is there?

My grandpa always said that we need to give back to the world. My dad always interpreted that as I need to get a job. He doesn't see the value that I do in being a full time mom and homeschooler like I do. That's cool, I don't need his approval anymore, I just love him where he is. But I do feel like I need to give back to the world more.

I saw these kids a week ago or so at the speech and debate competition. The talent was super amazing. These kids were full of knowledge and understanding about the world economics and government; they possess confidence and excitement. But when asked what they were going to do once they were done with school, they had no answers. A few did, things like college and "something" in ministry. Wow, these Christian kids could so touch the world they live in, they just need someone to tell them they can.

We had a house full of excited, fired up people, young and old, who have a direction and dream. But a lot of time I see these people get knocked down by the world because they lack the confidence that they can be all that God intends them to be. At least they have a dream. That, I have found, can give you strength to discover your potential.

I have not touched the world in a way that I believe God wants me to. I have the potential to unleash peoples inner strengths. I have the potential to touch a hurting world with a healing hand. I have the potential to be a force for God that will change lives. I have to apply my potential to the world, not by having a job, but by freeing others from the bondage the job world puts on people, limiting their potential by telling them how much they are worth by how much they are paid. We are ALL created with potential.

What are you going to do with yours?

An ongoing list

Few of the thoughts that have crossed my mind the last couple of days:
New hair brings confidence
Mine are not the only wild children
Homeschool teens are so much more together than I ever was at the same age
Talent needs to be nurtured
Worship means different things to different people
Even here, we aren't mainstream
God reveals Himself in many ways and through many people
That voice in my head that speaks to me when I pray really is Him and I should really trust Him more
Homeschooling is really a blessing in my life and the lives of my children
Driving in the snow is scary
Driving on ice is scarier
I really wish my sweetheart was free to be here with me to enjoy our gifted children
Speech has been so worth it

Fear

Fear can be a motivating factor in my life. Not the scary there's a bad guy in the house ready to kill me kind of fear. That is something I haven't had to deal with. And not the kind of fear that let's you deliver your own baby, that isn't good either. No, I'm talking about the fear of failure. When you set goals for yourself that have real consequences, and you're getting close to a deadline and you're not quite there. Yup, that what has been happening around here.

I have had a few goals that I have set for myself. First was to get my customer base built up and to qualify for a Chat to Chat that one of my mentors has set up. I was getting pretty close to not making it when a great friend put an order in that sent me way over. Thank you God for the perfect timing. Even though I have made that goal, I have set a goal to do it again but double for next month. Not only is it a nice bit of money to put in my "love you" account, but it sets a good example for those that are allowing me to mentor them.

I also had a goal of getting my house presentable by next Monday, when we are expecting about 50 people to come into my little piece of paradise (snicker, snicker). Well, that has been a bit stressful. Normally, I don't let the little things bother me. I can see them, but they just aren't that big a deal for me. But with lots of eyes looking, I really wanted to spiffy it up a bit. Then there was leak under the sink and the entire vanity had to be replaced. And we are still playing bedroom switcheroo and so there are 'things' everywhere. So just when one place gets close to looking good, then something else expands. Today is the first time I could see that we are going to make it. Oh yeah, did I mention that we were going to be doing a speech competition for 3 days this week and are spending an afternoon at the hair salon and still have to get mom in law to dialysis. I will all get done, I have faith in my family.

And then there was the big thing, that which means the most of all. I needed to get some of those fifty people invited to meet a friend of mine who is working to help us get free of the job. He has so much faith in us and I really don't want to disappoint him. My daughter has also started to work on developing a business of her own and was experiencing a bit of anxiety. So I had to set an example for her and call some people. After I had done a call, she did a one, and then I did a couple more. It was pretty exciting. I still have a few more to calls to make, but knowing she is watching me, makes it even more important to do. I fear disappointing her and my sweetheart, and my friend. It makes me step beyond my comfort zone and do the hard things.

p.s. And on top of it all it is supposed to snow...a lot...yeah, that's not good.

Enigma

Valentines Day is a bit of an enigma for me. See, since I started learning more and more about the background of different holidays, I have been convicted not celebrate a bunch of them. Anything that has the word Saint in front of it is pretty much a no go. It says in the Bible that the only way to the Father is through the Son. No saint can intercede for me. If they could, then why would God have had to given His only Son?

The challenge comes because this in an anniversary for me. It was on this day, 20 years ago, that my sweetheart asked me to marry him.

We had been friends for years and years. He was on his way to get custody of his son and stopped by my house on the way to say hi. I knew the minute he walked in the door that we were going to get married ^.^ That was in December. It took him another 2 months and $600 in phone bills to figure it out. The cincher was my son telling him that the two of them needed a mom. When my sweetheart asked who he had in mind, he said how about that Rebecca lady.

So he got all dressed up in his dress uniform, hopped in his little car and drove to my dad's office and got his permission, then to my job, which was at a day care, and asked me to marry him. We were married in July and I still wear that ring that he gave me.

I am blessed on this day with the memory of my sweetheart heart and his son choosing to include me in their little family. Celebrating it on this day is my enigma.

p.s. My students wanted to know why the police were coming to see me. Not a lot of army guys hanging out in Eugene I guess.

A New Hero

When mom in law went into the hospital back in September, she had many room mates. One of the ladies has since become a dear friend. She started dialysis the same time and they have been chair neighbors since October. She and her husband are two of the kindest people I have ever met. They are positive and always look for the brighter side of everything.

We have also discovered we have a few things in common. They too are University of Oregon Ducks, although they are bigger sports fans than I am. They like to eat good food and have given me many ideas for places to go eat. But best of all, I found out they are Trekkies.

They make the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas and do the big convention down there. He took the time one day and shared with me about his collection of signed photographs and other memorabilia. When I shared with my kids, he became one very cool guy. I shared with him about my kids and the USS Dreammaker. He thought that was pretty cool. They even sent one of their home made communicators to him.

Today he became one of the heroes of my kidos. He sent home a variety of signed 8x10's of cast members of different Star Trek series. He then said that they could each have one! There was much giggling and bouncing and screaming when the kids saw what he had sent. The choices they made were pretty interesting. I have to say that it was hard to keep my mouth shut and let them pick, cuz I sure had my favorites.

p.s. It was pretty funny when my camera asked if anyone blinked....no those are his artificial eyes!!

All in the Eyes of the Beholder

We are lucky enough to have in our local area a Habitat for Humanity outlet store. They sell all the things that are donated to Habitat but can't be used or they have a surplus of. So when I need something home-ish, and it cost a bit of money, I usually start there. This week we went looking for a new front screen door. After I found what I was looking for, we had some time to kill and so we wandered around.

Now if you found this sconce:

you might think it was not worth the three dollars they were asking for it.

And if you saw a box full of these:

You might wonder what you would do when none of them really matched.

But if you were my steampunklets and you saw these things, you would see this:

Yup, a steam punk gun.

And then you might see this pile of misc. knobs and handles as all the parts that make this gun work.

I'll be sure to post pics when they are done.

p.s. When I got the door home I realized that I should have measured it first. Any one need a brand new 30x80 in screen door?

Insanity

Oh the insanity of it all. Well it probably isn't all that. But maybe a little.

There is a lot happening around here.

Mom in law has her surgery this week. This will create a fistula in her arm. They will take a vein and an artery and sew them together making a loop. After a few months they will be able to use this site to do her dialysis and take the port out of her chest. Much safer and much more convenient. And then she will be able to take a full shower. Right now she can't get the port wet.

My big girl is becoming more and more independent and we are seeing less and less of her it seems. She is out and about with friends and searching for work since she isn't really interested in going to college right now. It is strange watching my fledgling fly.

The new room is finally starting to look like a room. The walls are all up and the primer is on. We are getting the real color today and then we can start putting things where they belong. I might be getting my house to look normal here pretty soon! And since the walls are up, I can start putting things where they belong on my side of the wall. I'm having fun trying to figure it all out. Soon there will be space to build this:

that I found here http://ana-white.com/2010/09/and-the-craft-table-too.html . Well sort of like that. Mine is going to use some shelves I already have and not be as wide. And the inside part will be bins to store onions and potatoes. That's the plan any way.

Speech club is starting to go to the qualifying rounds and that means really polishing up what we are doing. And we are still trying to find something that will work for interpretive duo that hasn't been done to death already.

My daughter is out of her cast and is starting to walk like a normal person almost. We get to visit the doctor this week and go from the walking boot to a brace. Another chance to spend copay money.

We are having an important guest coming at the end of the month and my house really needs to get really clean. I may actually breakdown and hire someone. I'm going to hire out the yard work. And I need a new front screen door.

And I need a new windshield. And to adjust my insurance now that I actually own my car (YAY!)

But the most important thing to do is get started on my taxes. I hate doing taxes. Really, really, really hate doing my taxes. That flat tax thing that people not in the government talk about is really appealing to me just so I won't have to file a schedule C for anything. Yeah, well it's a nice dream anyway.

And there are 2 birthdays this month.

Yup, all in all, insanity.

p.s. I just read that you are only supposed to space once after a period. This has really messed with my head.

Deal of the week at St.Vinnies

*one man's double breasted suit to be converted into a coat with tails for a steampunklet costume
*one pair of mens dress shoes for speech competition

*one red blouse with long sleeves and ruffles for steampunklet costume

*2 cami's for modesty

*one beading loom for fun

*one red chinese top for my girl

*one yellow t-shirt for the one girl in my house who can wear yellow

*one 4x4 deep red table cloth with gold trim and tassels for the steampunklets new room

*one red silk queen size top sheet for lining for the sherlock holmes coat in the making

*12 yards of gold braiding for the steampunklets new room

*large buralpy but nicer type curtain to block light in the food storage room

*one yard pink flower flannel for daughters new business

*4 yds of goldenish 60"vinyl for a washable table cloth (thanks for the idea Missy)

Grand total

$17.43

WHAT A DEAL!!!!!

A trip to the ER

Sometimes the internet isn't such a good thing for me. I love being able to have friends and even relationships with family and friends on facebook. In fact, I know my cousins more now because of facebook than I did since we were all kids. Being far away from friends we had while in the military makes the internet so vital to keeping up with them. And blogging! Well how did I ever learn anything new or have a plethora of recipes right at my fingertips or get advice on the many facets of my life before blogging? Okay some of that part is tongue in cheek, but I really do enjoy seeing how other people do things.

But then there is this other thing. The thing that happens when one of my dear family gets sick. The thing that keeps me up for hours researching. The thing that sets me off into a panic. WebMD. Yup, I am a closet hypocondriac. And so when my sweet Beary wakes up in the middle of the night writhing in pain(well not that bad, but still), and crying out for me, I go into panic mode. After comforting her and getting her back to sleep, onto the internet I go. SHE HAS AN APPENDICITIS!!! Well, that is what I convince myself of. Never mind that she only has one symptom. Stay, calm, wake up my sweetheart who is my saving grace. "Is she asleep now? Does she have a fever? Lets just wait til morning then." Okay, so I go to bed at about 2 AM and lie there listening. Is she snoring or crying in her sleep, is she turning over or thrashing, do I wake her up and ask how she feels or just let her get all the sleep she can before they roll her into surgery? Yup, I'm nuts. So then mom in law calls at 430AM and needs to be talked into going to dialysis. I ended up having to take her in her car so no coming home. For 4 hours, I sit looking at my phone, just waiting for my oldest to call and tell me my sweet Beary has a fever of 105 and is vomiting. And my battery is low from talking mom in law into going so I don't dare keep calling, cuz what if, just when her appendix bursts, my phone totally runs out of battery and the hospital can't get a hold of me to tell me the ambulance just got there? Yup, nuts. And of course this had to be the day she needs more Tylenol. Could she have told me that while we were in the hospital with the little store that sells Tylenol? NOOOOO! So after a super super quick trip to Walgreens, home I fly, I mean drive at a responsible speed. And just as I pull in, I get a call. I don't even answer the phone, I run into the house to find my sweet Beary dead from a ruptured appendix, I mean, crying on the sofa with the slightest of fever. And the stupid doctors office puts me on hold, and my sweetheart is with patients and can't talk (me down) to me and give me his sage advice. Into the truck we go and off to the local children's hospital ER.

Where, after sitting for four hours! and xrays, find out she is ...wait for it... constipated up to her ears! Thank you God for making her just be full of poop! No surgery! But does that stop the insanity? I'm nuts. I now know all the reasons for constipation and how to cure it and the bad effects of and possible side effects of....

p.s. We answered nine different times, "What did you do to you foot?"

Why I Have Food Storage

(NOT MY FOOD STORAGE, but similar)
So there was this time, way back not so long ago, when I made a HUGE mistake in my checkbook. I read a one as a seven and spent away and well, yeah, big troubles. Luckily, I had money in other places to cover the money I had spent, but it made us pretty tight that pay period. Enter, Food Storage.
It is the banner I have been waving for about two years now. I think it is so important to have at least a years worth of food in storage. Now I don't have cases of MRE's sitting in my garage just in case the world goes bonkers. I don't have the money to spend on that type of food. (Although I do have some in my 72 hour emergency bag). I also don't have cans and cans of dehydrated food that would require tons of water to re-hydrate. We don't normally eat that kind of food anyway. What I have is a years worth of food that we normally eat put in storage or in the freezer.
Why? Well, let's just say that the time mentioned was not the first time I boo booed the check book. And there have been times in our married life that our income didn't match our outgo. And I have five kids still at home. And gas is getting outrageously high. And there is no such thing as job security. And when the unemployment rate is high it effects people who still have jobs that depend on other people coming in and getting elective medical procedures. And there was this one time when I wrecked the car. And the dollar doesn't stretch as far as it used to. And medical co pays are super high and I still have five kids at home. Well lets just say I have lots of reasons. Mainly, if for any reason, I don't have money in my pocket, I still want to be able to feed those sweet little cherubs of mine. For me it is a security issue. It makes me feel safer.
How? We are not rich (yet). I could not go to one of those websites that sell a years supply for one for $1200 on sale. Nope, not gonna happen. So I started by keeping track of what we eat in one month. Remarkably, not as big as a variety as I thought. We eat spaghetti at least once a week for example. So in my food storage, I have 52 weeks or so of spaghetti dinner fixings. Did I go and buy it all at once, again, nope. When I found pasta on sale, I bought as many extra as my budget would allow. I buy big cans of spaghetti sauce when they are on sale at our local restaurant sized food store. With our large family that works, but I still end up freezing left over sauce and using it next time. I buy meat in bulk and freeze it in sizes that I use. A little extra over a few months really adds up.
Now, I have a list of basic things we use all the time. I started with having a one month supply of everything, then I worked up to three months and then six and then a year. It has really helped my monthly budget. I can now shop only for those things that we need fresh or that are on sale and I need to back fill my food storage supplies.
Water is also pretty important to have. No, I don't have a row of water barrels lined up outside. (Not that my sweetheart wouldn't just love that) Mainly because of the expense. But when the water was turned off for a day when the water people were working on the main outside, boy did I miss it. Now we had water bottles for drinking during the day, and for a short time, you don't have to wash clothes or dishes, but flushing, yeah we like doing that ALL the time. Our low flow toilets still use a lot of water. On day two we filled the tubs for flushing water before they turned it off again. It made storing water a priority. Here in the PNW, it is fairly easy to leave a few storage containers out in the rain for the day and get enough water, but to me that just looks too red neck. So I started filling our empty milk jugs and putting them in the garage. That takes up a ton of space. So now for my birthday, I want water storage boxes. I know, romantic right. I got Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers for Chanukah. It made me very happy.
Don't forget things like oil and seasoning, vinegar and koolaide. We have allergy problems here, so I have to have eggless mayonnaise and gluten free things too. How about things like vitamins and shampoo and toothpaste? I can live without paper towels, but I have friends who can't. Guess what they should have. Yup, however much they need for a year. Medicine. I get as much as we can of prescription medicine as they will let me. Over the counter stuff I buy in the generic bottles and have plenty on hand. Band aides and Benadryl cream and lotion and deodorant are all important to think about too. And don't forget about toilet paper, I sure don't want to have to use corncobs and the sears catalog.
It isn't as hard or weird as it sounds. It is common sense to me. Before we buy what we want, we buy what we need. God has provided for me now to take care of my family in the future, like the ant. I don't want to put Him to the test when things are tough. Yeshua didn't, why should I?

ps. my kidos thought it was sweet that I called them cherubs ^.^