Kids really are just as happy with a cardboard box. So we were at Sam's and Carter had already mentioned how excited he was to scope out the cardboard bin for boxes to store our recycles in. Our plan is to use the boxes to make the roof, but for now they are storing our cleaned items very nicely out in the garage. So we approach the checkout line and this is what Carter says, "Mom!!! Wait till you see what I see. Just what we've always wanted. A table for our house." Now I've got to tell you that I was pretty excited that my kids are more excited about the free box than the rows of toys (we have had many conversations over the toys at sams). As they drooled over the colorful boxes and dreamed of what they could "be" in our house I found myself pondering the educational opportunities here: counting, measurements, stewardship, architecture, keeping home.... And then I realized that a few people were looking at us (and let me tell you, we looked rough, just out of the garden). And I went back to Carter's comment and realized that they may just think we are homeless.
30 Jul
The Saying is True…
29 Jul
Living with Less
We are in the beginning of making the transition towards living lighter through buying less. What that looks like for us may be different from what it looks like for you, but we feel like it is a necessary change. The Compact was one of the original groups to actually challenge lasting change. Here is a quote from their site.
1) TO GO BEYOND RECYCLING IN TRYING TO COUNTERACT THE NEGATIVE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF U.S. CONSUMER CULTURE, TO RESIST GLOBAL CORPORATISM, AND TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES, FARMS, ETC; 2) TO REDUCE CLUTTER AND WASTE IN OUR HOMES (AS IN TRASH COMPACT-ER); 3) TO SIMPLIFY OUR LIVES (AS IN CALM-PACT)
What started as thriftiness has evolved into stewardship.
STUFF
After reading this book I began to question where my stuff came from, who made it, why I bought it and if I really needed it to begin with.
The first step for me has been to bypass Target and head over to local or handmade vendors like you may find at SKY Farmers Market, ETSY, and the Kentucky Guild.
FOOD
Re-thinking our food is another way to live lighter (possibly literally). Not only is a large amount of the food we purchase wasted and even thrown in the trash but it is often covered in tons of paper and plastic. Then we wrap it in more paper and plastic to take it home.
Buy Local-when you purchase food directly from local farmers and producers you most often take home just food without the trash. Or they will most likely be packaged in recycled materials.
Buy Fresh-The more processed a food item is the more waste goes into producing and packaging that item.
Upcycle-You can do this yourself by creating something new from your trash (the kids and I are working on a large play house made from recycled items) or visit Terracycle for ways others can re-use your trash.
Re-usable Bags-you can get these everywhere now and they make a huge difference.
THRIFTING
Clothing-Repets Thrift and Lil’ Angels Attic are a few of my favorites because their mission is bigger than just offering STUFF.
Gifts-See if you can find others to trade with you (it may be easier than you think), learn a craft and make something rather than buying something new.
Cloth Diapers-There are so many reasons to use cloth diapers. Besides the multitude of envionmental reasons you can also trade or sell your diapers for other things.
GIVE
As you begin to evaluate your stuff you realize how much you have and how much others need. You begin to realize what is really important in life: family, friends, our world. Here are some great organizations to give your stuff to.
Please leave a comment with your links and tips to living lighter.
28 Jul
Laundry Soap and Fresh Eggs
I am starting to appreciate things again. Remember when you were a kid (younger than a teenager) and someone gave you a gift? Even if it was socks. That is exactly how I feel every time we receive a special trade. It might be because we are not buying anything right now. Or possibly because it is more meaningful to be given something rather than going to a store to purchase it. Either way, trading rather than buying, is changing our lives. This weeks trades were laundry detergent and eggs.
18 Jul
Tie Dye Fun, Yummy Soap and a cup of Joe!
What a great day we had today at the SKY Farmers Market. We always love going to see daddy and our friends at the market. One thing I love about having my kids experience the market is that it becomes a community. A fun, spirited community of different people, tastes and adventure. Watching my kids float in and out of everyone’s booth eyeing their goodies. Even better my kids “know” that those people have worked hard to bring those items to the market. Our kids helped seed, plant, care and pick our produce. They have watched their daddy work even harder each week preparing for market day. So they respect those people and their items for sale.
Trading at the market makes the experience even more meaningful. We are blessed that there are not a lot of things that we have to purchase since we grow almost everything ourselves. But you won’t just find produce at SKY. You can find clothing, jewelry, woodwork, coffee, soaps and the list goes on. The kids were so thrilled to trade for tie dyed t-shirts-even Lilah got one. And Carter and I have been dying to try the orange/lavender soap in our guest bathroom. The soaps from LazyBFarms are wonderful. And we traded a hefty heirloom tomato for a cup of Joe! No photo because I drank that up really quick.
And on a side note: look at those yummy baby thighs!
17 Jul
A Tribute to my Grandmother
I think we all have one person in our lives that we feel a special connection with (besides our spouses). There is a strong bond that is difficult to explain but so powerful that it lasts a lifetime. This is the best way for me to explain the powerful relationship that I have with my paternal grandmother.
She was such a fascinating person and there was so much depth to her life. And as close as we were while she was alive we are just now getting to know each other even better after her death. I find myself becoming more like her every day. Finally understanding the way she lived her life.
My grandma (that’s what I called her and it fits perfectly, she wouldn’t have felt comfortable with Granny or Gram and Grandmother would have been too stuffy) lived in New York and was a school teacher before she had children. She loved learning, gardening, artwork, flowers, cooking, baking, sewing and literature. My assumption is that her love for cooking and sewing came as she became a wife. I imagine that she was a lot like me as a young adult. Having high aspirations for her career and dreaming big about becoming an author, floral designer or world traveler. But God had an even bigger calling for her, to be a wife and mother (this is a photo of her with my dad, isn’t she beautiful?).
My grandma didn’t speak of herself very often so there are a lot things I do not know. But later in her life and even after her death I started getting to know this woman on a deeper level. My grandma loved me very much, this I know. At the same time there was a sadness about her that you could not ignore. I knew that she had lost a child, but shortly after she died my grandfather told me that she had actually lost three children. Now that I have children of my own I can only imagine the pain that she faced which explained the sadness that poured from her. But her own pain did not change the way she cared for others, loved others.
She was a very thrifty homemaker. She cooked three meals a day and those meals always looked alike. Grapefruit and cereal for breakfast with a small glass of orange juice, sandwiches with sliced cheese for lunch and a big meal for dinner. There were always chocolate chip cookies waiting in the freezer, but she made sure to remind you not to eat too many. My grandparents hardly ever went out to eat. Even as they traveled across country they would make their meals in their hotel room or motor home. I can only remember eating a restaurant with them one time, the day after I graduated from high school. She recycled plastic bags, my grandfather fixed appliances when they broke, and she made purchases carefully. She was a simple woman who put value on people and relationships rather than material things. Her jewelry was meaningful to her because they came from her husband and sons. And I will always cherish them because she wanted to give them to me.
My grandma pushed me. She always believed in me and wanted me to believe in myself. She encouraged me to read, keep up on my studies and love God. While I couldn’t see my future as a wife and mother she could. I was so focused on finding the American dream that I lost sight of God’s purpose for me. There were times that she forcefully tried to teach me to cook or sew and I didn’t want to listen. She wanted to teach me the things that she had worked so hard to learn. Most of the time it was a gentle reminder or simple note and over time her wisdom seeped through.
These books were give to me on my 13th birthday. Saying that I did not appreciate them would be an understatement. There is a good chance that I didn’t even open them. But years later when going through some things I opened the books. And in them was my grandma’s handwriting. One book (These Wonderful People) simply said “From My Bookshelf”. And the other (Fair is Our Land) said “This book is almost 50 years old, but these places will never change”. How beautiful it is when I sit with my children and read these books to them. The same words my grandma once read. Hidden inside one of the books was a measurements pamphlet taken from a Betty Crocker cookbook. Another gentle reminder from my grandmother to take my job seriously!
The truth is that as a teenager and young adult I never appreciated my grandmother. I loved her and was fascinated by her, but I did not appreciate her like I can now. There were many times that she wanted to teach me skills that would make me a better keeper of my home. Little did I know that I would later ache to know what she had been trying to teach me. There are so many days when I wish my grandmother was here to teach me, guide me, tell me she is proud of me. But all I can do now is thank God for the influence she has had on my life and pass that on to the next generation. I want my children to know their mother and to know me they must know her.
16 Jul
Our First Trade
Here is our first trade, a ton of books from our good, gracious friend Beth. Carter was so excited as he stacked the books up one by one (where does he get that from??) and yelled SCORE when he saw this one. We looked through the books, played with them, smelled them and some of us laid on top of them…I let the kids pick out a few of their favorites and I picked out the more educational one’s and they went up to our future school room.
The rest of the books will be donated to Newborns in Need to be passed out to families with pre-school aged kiddos.
We are so excited to add these fun books to our collection and even more excited to officially begin homeschooling. We took our letter of intent to the school board today, so we are official!
I have to share one more thing about our trip to visit Beth at TC Cherry. Carter and I have been talking for a while about Broadway’s partnership with TC Cherry school. We are praying about partnering up with another kiddo Carter’s age so that we can read, play and study together. He has had tons of questions about this partnership and we have answered all of them from the heart.
So as we were entering the school Carter asked me, “mommy, is this where grown up’s come to learn about God from kids like me?“.
And I answered, “yes buddy, you are very right about that”.
16 Jul
The Green Smoothie
I share this with you because it has changed my life. I started drinking a quart of green smoothie a day about 2 months ago after seeing it here and here. My interest came from an effort to eat healthier and be regular (sorry if that is too much info). The smoothies taste great, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, and they are unbelieveably healthy for you. Like Sarah says here, you don’t have to make any other changes to feel better, just drink the smoothie. Some of the benefits I have experienced so far include decreased cravings, regularity, cleaner skin, more energy and weight loss. There are so many variations of the green smoothie and the best part is that you can put any fruit and veggie that you want in there, but here is my favorite:
All Fresh Ingredients: Banana, Peach or Pear, Pineapple Spear, 2 Cups Spinach, Fresh Carrot Juice and Flax Seed. Yummy!
We drink them in Nathan’s recycled gatorade bottles so that we can take them on the run. Elizabeth loves them and snatched this one up a few times while I was trying to get this photo. Carter thinks they are alright, but prefers his yogurt-fruit smoothie. I’ll share that one soon.
