MommyCoddle

Up for a challenge?

Last week, I went to the grocery store and spent almost $200.

I wanted to pass out. I felt sick to my stomach. So much money sucked out of our bank account. Even with my menus carefully planned out, list in-hand, I still spent way more than I anticipated. And it's like that almost every week.

I know groceries are a necessity. It's not like I'm getting my hair highlighted and my nails done. We must have groceries. But still. It is so much money. And despite some great tips, I'm still spending too much.

Driving home from an errand today, I began to think how nice it would be if I could just take one week off from grocery shopping. Right now, I plan my menus on Monday morning and the girls and I head to the groceryafter breakfast and shop for the week. I get just what I need for the week, save for a few staples or pantry re-stocking, and the occasional impulse buy.

But back to my idea about taking a week off....

You know it's not like my cupboards are bare except for the things I'm putting in each week. They are still stocked with rice and beans and cans of soup and pastas and..... There are the odd cuts of meat and frozen breads in my freezer. I have flour. And sugar. And yeast. And butter.

It's just that I often ignore those things in my pantry for what I feel like making that week.

I'm not using what I have.

So here's my challenge for this week. My own mini no-spend challenge. I'm not going to the grocery store next week. (And I'm not going to stock up this weekend either--no cheating.) I'm going to make do with what I have in my cupboards and freezer. I'm going to get creative. I'm going to do my best to put together some meals with what I have on hand. I'm going to save a little money this week.

Sometimes my best meals are the ones created when I think "I have nothing to make for dinner".

So as I head in to next week, here are a few things I'm allowing:

1. I'm allowing myself to buy milk for the week (a necessity for my children), a bag of coffee beans (c'mon, I'm not crazy), and I'm going to refill the propane tank on my grill.
2. If someone invites me to dinner. I'm going to say yes. :)
3. I'm going to buy two quarts of strawberries at the farmers' market tomorrow.

Here's what I'm slightly concerned about:

1. I have no fresh greens in my fridge. But I do have frozen varieties.
2. I still think I'd rather go with a meal of rice and beans than break into the deer sausage my grandmother kept passing on to us. Which has been sitting in my freezer since, well....deer season. Yuck.
3. I hope I can make enough to eat for meals, plus leftovers for Dan's lunches.

All next week, I'll let you know what I make each night for dinner. In the midst of my normal posts, I'll keep you updated on how it's going and whether or not I'm making it. Ugh. I'm nervous. But I know it will be fine. I like a little mini-challenge.

Anyone brave enough to join me? And by the way. We have lots of granola.

ONE simple question, no. 5

I can't believe I'm actually saying this out loud. But last month, I actually considered whether it was time to break my more than ten year relationship with my Martha Stewart Living magazine. I have to admit, I feel a loyalty to this magazine. It was my first dabbling into grown-up things. While my friends in college were reading Glamour, I was thumbing through Martha Stewart and dreaming of the days when I'd own my own home and be cooking more than ramen noodles. While Martha is the tail end of many a joke, I appreciate her desire to carry on the tradition of many time-honored homemaking skills.

But....the magazine is expensive. I rarely find myself doing more than thumbing through, looking at pictures. I don't find myself making any of the recipes. And save for a putting a "good thing" into practice here and there, it's little more than the same dreamy eye-candy that it was for me in college.  But I'm not sure if I can let it go. Long relationships are hard to break.

So this got me thinking about magazine subscriptions. The ones I have, the ones I'm thinking of trying. The ones I'm ready to let go of. Though it may be a somewhat scary exercise to actually 'fess up to the magazines that come to my mailbox, here's a list of what I get, with commentary, of course.

Martha Stewart Living
Country Living (suddenly very appropriate after the move to this house)
Wondertime--(now automatically switched to Family Fun, which I give a 7 out of 10 stars.)
Time (one of those school fundraisers, I never find time to read it.)
National Geographic (courtesy of my grandmother, but we'll probably continue now, ourselves)
Every Day Food (love)

Ones I keep buying at the grocery store and wonder if I should just subscribe:

Mother Earth News
Bon Appetit (I'm really liking this one lately)
Cooking Light
Kiwi

Ones I recently let expire:

Body and Soul
Real Simple

The ones my kids get:

Your Big Backyard
National Geographic Kids (courtesy of my grandmother, we'll probably just stick with Big Backyard next year)

So here's my simple question:

What magazines do you subscribe to? Will you share your lists with me? Your favorites, the ones you're ready to let go of, the ones you are considering subscribing to?

I can't wait to hear your answers!! Though the last thing I (obviously) need is another magazine to grab my attention.

NWF Green Hour: Backyard Scavenger Hunt

WELCOME! to those of you that are wandering over here from National Wildlife's Green Hour Blog. If you are looking to download the sample scavenger hunt worksheet, you can download a printable pdf  by clicking on the worksheet below. Enjoy and happy hunting!!

Image Sources:
White Pine needles
http://masswood.com/drawings/whitepine_trans.gif
Oak leaf:
http://z.about.com/d/forestry/1/0/m/h/white_oak.jpg
Feather:
http://www.albertoproietta.com.au/Images/My_Drawings/Feather_for_Nick_Large.jpg
Pine cone:
http://z.about.com/d/drawsketch/1/0/C/A/weil_pine.jpg
Maple leaf:
http://parenting.leehansen.com/downloads/coloring/autumn/images/maple-leaf.gif
Pill bug:
http://www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/images/ArmadillidumVulgare.jpg
Spider web:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23040/23040-h/images/fig6.jpg
Dandelion:
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/7500/7561/dandelion_7561_lg.gif
Dragonfly:
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/2100/2198/dragonfly_1.htm

ruby

It's like instantly having a newborn in the house again--without the nine months of preparation, doctor visits, showers, blurry ultrasound pictures tacked to your refrigerator.

On Saturday, Emma and I snuck out of the house well before normal waking time to make a two hour road-trip west to pick up a special furry package.

Meet Ruby, the newest member of the mommycoddle household.

We've been waiting patiently for this day for quite awhile. Passing up on puppies that "just didn't feel right". But this time it all came together perfectly.

For now, she's learning the ropes. Getting her ears boxed by fluffy black cats, finding her favorite spot under the red bench in the mudroom hallway, learning there are appropriate times to play with a large (and very patient) yellow lab--but not at three o'clock in the morning, discovering that the girls are okay when they're splashing in the pool and you don't have to jump in after them.

And she's learning who her people are.

After a walk around the farm this morning, practically tripping me with every step as she galloped to keep up with my big black boots, she's now asleep under the kitchen table--body sprawled out under the chair, chin firmly planted across Emma's little toes.

(photo by katie pertiet)

This one's a keeper.

Life in the bush (and migraines)

Things are missing around this house. Water bottles. Dishes. Trays. Mail. Benches. Sweatshirts. Backpacks. Boxes of crackers. Yarn. Pruning shears. Small chairs. Pets.

Even children.

I found them.

They're in the bush.

I don't blame them. It's like a snow-colored wonderland. They've taken those pruning shears and carved themselves a tiny home among the soft balls of white loveliness. There's a whole village underneath those branches. Things that are secrets, things I'm not allowed to see (that would probably be the missing yarn, I'm guessing.) Things hanging, things stored in piles. Special seats for company. There's even a toddling two year old who delivers the mail.

I spent some time out there myself just yesterday. Not huddled under the bush mind you--because there are secrets in there. But they gave me a special bench just outside the door. So I took it upon myself to soak up some sun, listen to their chatter while they thought I was sleeping, and allow little hands to cover me in velvety white blossoms. I swear, it was like a spa treatment.

I highly recommend it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

On Monday, Mary went to the doctor and was diagnosed with migraines. It's a long, drawn out back story, but I'm just wondering if any of you have any experience or children struggling with this. The doctor said her symptoms were classic. I never even knew children could get migraines. Right now, we're trying to treat it with diet changes, ibuprofen, hydration and catching the symptoms early. I'd love to know if any of you have any experience.

Searching for whales

Strange as it may sound, I've had whales on the brain for the last several months. I can't remember where it started, really.

I know I had this idea to start making whale shaped chalkboards, but that still hasn't panned out. Then I thought about carving whale shaped stamps, but that hasn't happened yet either. So when I stumbled across this book on making hand-print animal art and happened to turn to the whale page first, it pretty much seemed like a sign to me. Don't you think?

The girls and I made some prints on paper this winter but after going to a printing/textile workshop at the BMA this weekend, I was inspired to get the girls to do a little whale printing on some kitchen towels for me today. Sort of like poor man's screen printing.

The book is filled with some amazing instructions for making animals using all kinds of handprint techniques--only stamping certain fingers, just your palm, printing with your fist. Things I'd never even thought of.

But making the whale is pretty straightforward.

To start, stamp (or in this case we painted with a brush) your hand and fingers only. Not your thumb. (if you want more of a handprint look, don't let your children coat their entire hands and palm in paint. The girls coated their hands for these whales, which makes them much more filled in.)

After you have printed your hand on the paper, use your pointer finger to make the fin and tail.

Once the girls prints dried, I used a sharpie marker to outline the whale body and add an eye. Because Mary's was so dark, I used the end of the paintbrush to paint on the eye.

All in all, an extremely successful, easy project. And I have a little whale in my life made from my favorite little hands. The perfect combination.

The final count

I almost didn't write this post this morning, for fear I might win some award for Internet's Most Depressing Blog. But since you've all been on this journey with me, I can't help but share it with all of you.

Saturday night, we lost all our chickens, but two, to a fox. The fox took a guinea the night before, and so Saturday night Dan and I got out to lock in the hens in what we thought was plenty of time. It was dusk. When I stepped out onto the porch I could hear the commotion. I ran back inside to get my big, heavy Mag flashlight,  (What I was going to do with it, I have no idea. I'm not that brave.) And called up to Dan, who was snuggling the girls, in my most "calm, but I need you right away" voice.

He jumped into boots and tore off across the yard. I jumped in the car and raced into the second driveway so I could shine my headlights on the coop. We were too late.

We scared the fox off, but she'd left a battle field in the grass around the coop. It was devastating.

I honestly can't get over this one so easily. I try not to think that this is all my fault. That there they were, nestled in their coop, just waiting for me to lock them in safely for the night. That if I hadn't done this or that, dilly-dallying before I went out to lock them in, I would have gotten there in time. I feel like I'm failing as a "farmer", with all this loss we've been experiencing lately.

I try not to think that these are the hens that my grandmother gave to my girls.

Dan comforts me saying that if it wasn't Saturday night, it would have been Sunday, or Monday, or....that this kind of thing happens to all farmers. That it's not a reflection of what kind of caretaker I am. But still. It's hard. And sad. I loved those stupid chickens.

I don't know where I'll go from here. I don't think I'm up for another round of chicks in my downstairs bathroom right now. Dan wants to buy some grown hens from my uncle, to keep our last two girls company. One of our hens hasn't even come out of the coop since this all happened. I feel like I want things to settle down before we bring more chickens into our apparent "take out diner" for foxes.

We'll see. I'm sure more hens will be here someday soon.

Meanwhile, if you want to ignore the above post and move on, I busied my mind over the weekend with some blog remodeling--a new banner, new sidebar stuff, and I brought back the short list of good things. So, if you feel like moving on, why not click over and let me know what you think of the new look.

And I promise, less depressing posts the rest of the week.

As always, thanks for listening and following along on this journey.

{photo coutesy of katie pertiet}

berry bowls

Pssssst. Melissa's selling a few berry bowls in her shop.

home economics, revisited

To call this recipe a healthy snack would probably fall somewhere in the same category as calling that strawberry whipped cream pretzel Jello creation, a salad. But I'm pretty sure I recall my sixth grade home economics teacher, Judy Ludy, pronouncing this treat a healthy after school snack.

I do remember it was the first thing I brought home from that middle school kitchen, found deep in the belly of the building, covered in orange and brown laminate everything. Three kitchens, divided by rolling worktables and a row of stoves, we were set free in the land of open flames and sharp knives. A group of five chefs, in royal blue aprons, elbow to elbow in each kitchen. We shared the work, fought over the most exciting parts of the recipe, and whined when someone didn't wash their own dishes.

It the end, we each sampled a small square, divided up the rest and tucked it in a flimsy plastic sandwich bag, that we shoved inside that outside pocket of our backpacks, among pencil points and tiny spiral notebooks.

By the time we got on the bus, it was a warm misshapen mess that we had to peel from the wrapper, but the joy of tasting that peanut buttery goodness was worth all the wait--while others peeked over green vinyl seat backs to see what they were missing, and what they'd be making when their turn came at the kitchens.

Judy Ludy's Healthy After School Snack (with revisions)

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup*
1/2 c.  + 2 Tablespoons creamy peanut (or a heaping half cup)

3 scant cups of cereal**. (the original calls for Corn Flakes, which is really the best for a simple crunch. When I made this batch, I only had multi-grain cheerios on hand. It was pretty darn good, too.)

* The old-school recipe calls for corn syrup. However, I often swap it out for honey. This makes for an equally gooey, sweet result, with slightly more "teeth stuck together, chew for one minute before swallowing" end results.

Stir together sugar and corn syrup (honey) and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When the mixture begins to bubble (just a nice easy boil around the edges, not a rolling, aggressive boil) remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until melted and smooth. Pour over cereal. Stir to coat and press into an 8 x 8 pan. Cool and cut into bars. It can be stored in the refrigerator, if you want, but I find it best to bring it back to room temperature or else it is really difficult to cut (and chew, for that matter).

If you're really wild and crazy, you can melt chocolate bits over the bars.

**One more thought: now, after years of making this recipe, I often add the cereal directly to the peanut butter mixture and play with the amount I add. Adding less cereal will obviously give you more of a soft, candy-like result, which is sometimes kind of yummy, too.

ONE simple question, no. 4

A few weeks ago sheri asked me to take part in her series on CafeMom's Home and Garden section called, "Nesting and Nurturing", she posed this question to me:

What does home mean to you?

I have to tell you, for as much as I blog about my home, raising a family, fixing up a house, teaching my children, it was such a nice exercise to sit down and actually put my thoughts about home into words.

You can read my response, as well as take a few peeks inside my home. I'd love for you to stop by.

Sheri will be continuing her series and asking the same question of other women around blogland. I've really loved reading a few of the previous responses, especially these from Rachel Saldana (of buttons magee), Kate Inglis (of sweet | salty ), Tracey Clark (of shutter sisters) , Elizabeth Fleming  (of Tethered).

I thought this afternoon, I'd ask the same question of all of you. It can be a few words, a few sentences, but I'd love to know, what does home mean to you?

progress reports + inspiration

++Eyes are open. They are tumbling and tackling all over my mudroom floor, constantly underfoot. But so cute.

++We checked off exactly, um, let's see ZERO!! days since we started the chart! Out of sight, out of mind....

++As of today, we've collected, (though I think we've forgotten to count a few) 257 eggs. Wow. I gave four dozen away today, just to make room in my refrigerator. And I've officially burned my family out on quiche. Time to move on to the frittata.

++A hello and thank you, to those of you who are wandering over here from National Wildlife's Green Hour blog. I was honored to be included in their round up of "blogs that inspire" I've mentioned it before, there are some great activities on their blog worth checking out. They even have a weekly podcast.

++I also wanted to let you know that Gina of LetterGirl, one of my May sponsors is having an anniversary celebration on her blog, with giveaways all week. I hesitate to tell you, because I don't want more competition in the giveaways!! but her work is too good not to share.

++Last but not least, I remember catching the tail end of a commercial about this company Toms shoes. Here's a video that shares the founder/owner, Blake Mycoskie's story and is definitely worth watching. It is these kinds of stories and passion that inspires me.

independence is bliss

When you're two years old, there aren't many things you can do all.by.yourself.

But since a certain little person discovered how to loop her arms through the giant rope swing, climb to the highest point along the trunk of the tree and dive forward, we've hardly seen much of her inside these walls.

When the house seems a little too quiet, I can peek out the kitchen window and catch a glimpse of the rope--swaying back and forth. And if I listen hard enough, I usually hear some two year-old chatter and some squeals of delight. And when I call her name out the window, "Elizabeth???" I hear in reply: "Swinging, Mommy." And I know, as if I didn't know already, exactly where she is.

I daresay, it's almost as good as a live-in babysitter.

So if you're looking for Elizabeth....

this is where you'll find her.

showered with inspiration

I guess you never know when something as simple as disappearing for 15 minutes can inspire such creativity. The other day, my children had one of those blissful days where they seemed to get along all day--they played, they sang, they drew pictures, they went outside, they dressed up. It was magical.

So when I told the two of them I was slipping away for a quick shower, they must have realized this was their chance to sneak into the kitchen and get creative. A few weeks ago, Emma created this little snack, and she's been riffing off that idea ever since.

But they really outdid themselves this time:

pretzels, sandwiched around peanut butter sprinkled with brown sugar, chocolate chips and sprinkles.

I won't discuss the mess, or how hard smashed sprinkles are to remove from white kitchen linoleum floors, or how mysteriously empty the chocolate chip bag was, or the ring of wet chocolate around their lips, or how much brown sugar was sprinkled across the table top, or how they reached into the pretzel jar with fingers covered in peanut butter, or how I'd mopped the kitchen floor on my hands and knees that morning.....

I will say, they tasted pretty good, in small doses.

Meanwhile, I've had a little list of things I've wanted to share with you burning a hole in my back pocket. And now, this morning, I can't find that list anywhere....but I do remember a few:

Have you seen the new Lotta Jansdotter, Simple Sewing For Baby book? Lotta + babies + crafting? Be still my heart. Be watching here for a little review/giveaway coming up soon. Meanwhile, if you're lucky enough to be close, Lotta is hosting a Launch Party in her Brooklyn, NY studio, Friday, May 8th from 6-9pm.

Also, the people at Peek, who so generously donated a Peek to giveaway on this blog a few months ago, emailed me and asked me to mention their new promo for mother's day. And since they're such nice people, and really this Peek is just right for someone like my mom, who wants to be connected but is better with a scaled down version of this fancy-schmancy smartphone stuff, this could be a great little Mom's day gift. Just puttin' out the word.

And because it's been a really long time since I've shared some flickr favorites. Here's a little photographic inspiration for your Thursday morning. Hoping it's sunnier than mine! C'mon sun. Show your face.

(click on the photo for photo credits)

water logged

So apparently, the chickens need a little more calcium in their diet. I guess I haven't been putting out enough yogurt on the back picnic table.

Tonight, when I went out to put the chickens in for the night, I was confronted by this odd-looking egg sitting in the grass outside their coop. I gave it a little tap with the toe of my boot, thinking it was cracked and not worth picking up, and it bounced and rolled across the grass, unharmed.

As my kids would say, it gave me the "heebie-jeebies" but I picked it up and brought it inside to my little chicken farmers to see what they thought of it.

It has been raining all day, and their first thought was that maybe it was water-logged. After bouncing it across the kitchen table a few times and playing all kinds of games with it, they decided to take one of the good eggs out of the fridge and "water-log" it overnight. To see if we could get the same results.

Meanwhile, I jumped on my computer and after a little googling, discovered that the hens need more calcium in their diets--some grit or some oyster shells. So tomorrow we'll head to the feed store.

Wish you had your own rubber egg? Here are some directions for making a rubbery egg, or even a folding egg! (but make sure you have that last ingredient on hand). Or try getting the egg in the bottle, without breaking or these other fun egg experiments. Now I know what to do with the four dozen eggs in my refrigerator!

ONE simple question no. 3

I have a lot I need to get done, which subsequently always seems to lead to some sort of procrastination. Tonight it took the form of blog-fussing and the creation of this little button. It's because I really love these simple questions I've been posing to all of you lately. The one of about the library and what methods you use to avoid fines and overdue charges was full of great ideas and advice. (as well as a few of you who commiserated with my "issues".) And I thought it was fascinating to read all of the different approaches to, and styles of family dinners.

Tonight, Dan was reading a bedtime story to the girls and I headed outside, just as it was getting dark, to lock the chickens in their coop. We've been trying to get out to them a little earlier these nights because we are getting a little suspicious that there might be some fox activity around here. Last night, we lost a whole nest of eggs that our one female guinea had been sitting on, and then, well....there's Rosie.

After I locked in the chickens, I took the long way home, walking around the back field with a trail of cats and dog bounding along behind me, listening to how deafening the peepers are getting, and straining to recognize the last few birds that were singing in the sycamore trees.

It was a much-needed time for me. I needed to get away for a few moments. Step back.

Tonight, as I often do, I was feeling the press of time on my shoulders. Feeling like our evening was slipping away too quickly. That by the time we were finished at the dinner table, I was already feeling like we were running late for bedtime and stories, and out of time for my planned baths for the girls.

During the work week, Dan gets home at 6:15, (on a good night) and we quickly sit down to dinner. Before we know it we're shuffling the girls upstairs for pajamas, tooth-brushing and stories. And sometimes, it all feels like it's happening too quickly.

So here's my (not so) simple question for all of you:  How do you slow down and savor your evening family time? How do you keep things from feeling rushed? Do you organize or plan your evenings to make more time for enjoying each other?

I really enjoy hearing from all of you and interacting with you through these questions. I hope you are enjoying hearing from each other and learning from each other, as much as I am.