Tired Hands

After a busy week of crocheting we have tired hands and are even beginning to develop calloused fingers. But we all came ready to crochet and chat and laugh and share stories of our week. I absolutely love meeting on Tuesdays. Women meeting together really is wonderful. I have not had time in my schedule to do anything like this and actually I still don't; but I am so refreshed after every Tuesday. It forces me to slow down, relax, and breath. It's like a mini weekend in the middle of my busy week. And actually, if I thought about it, I think it probably allows me more time in my busy week because I am refreshed. When it's over I have a smile on my face and a happy heart for my home. I encourage everyone to set aside time weekly to meet with a few women friends. If there isn't something already going on around you, start it yourself. All people usually need is an invitation and a place to gather.

So today we all brought our creations to the table. Alicia has finished many beautiful things and Michelle too; but the rest of us are somewhat slower. I know that this week I made and undid my scarf at least 20 times. Finally I figured out how to make a straight chain and came today with a scarf 1/3 done. My children are working on chains that stretch around our kitchen and they were proud to show off their work.

I don't have much to post, I forgot to take photos of everyones beautiful work, but I am encouraged by our time we spent together. Next week we are going to bring our favorite crock pot recipes for the Holliday season coming up. We decided we will bring our recipe on a card along with blank cards or paper to write other recipes on, and if you want to, bring your favorite crock pot recipe to share with the group. Come hungry! Oh, and if you have a recipe to share but cannot make it on Tuesday, feel free to share it here on the blog!

Blessings friends! May your week be filled with joy! Kimberly

You Can Teach an Old Mom New Tricks!

Crocheting! We had a lot of fun today at our class. Lori was the only one who knew how to crochet, so she had to teach all of us. We all came well equipped though with our crochet needles and yarn. Alicia found beautiful yarn at Joanns in the dolor bucket! I found some basic yarn and a four pack of needles at Walmart. The yarn was $2.88 and the needles were around $4.00. We all caught on fairly quickly. I think I took the longest to learn how to start, but once I got it I couldn't stop! We crocheted a chain, pulled it out and did it again and again just to get the hang of it. Someone said it's so easy you can crochet and watch t.v. or sit and talk, but I don't think we're quite there yet. So, next week we're going to continue to perfect our skills.

I managed to teach my oldest three a chain stitch, they were so excited they couldn't stop. In fact, I almost forgot to post because I was so caught up in crocheting! Tomorrow I'm off to buy two more balls of yarn so that we can all sit and crochet together. I probably should grab Jake a ball too; bet you he'll be joining us when he sees how fun it is! Tonight when I checked on the kiddos after they were in bed, they all said they couldn't sleep because all they could do was think of crocheting. :) This is what happens when TV and video games are booted from the home; creativity is born. It is such a difficult habit to break in a home, but the effects of a no TV home or a limited one anyway, are life giving. This is a tangent that I didn't plan on venturing into, but now that I'm here I think I'll keep going. This past Passover in April, our family began a 50 day fast that continued through to Pentecost in June. One of the areas that we fasted was from media and entertainment. It was actually our children's choice. We said no TV, video games, movies or secular music. It was difficult at first; we were not major TV people, in fact, the only TV we have is on the internet. But we do have a wii and we did have netflix. There were so many times when I would turn to movies for my children to give myself a break. And our children could spend hours on the wii. But we could see that it wasn't healthy, and apparently they could too, because they felt like it was something that they needed to fast from! We were setting ourselves apart and choosing as a family to lay aside all earthly things to seek God and His Kingdom in our lives. There were other things we fasted from too. But this one might have had the biggest impact on our home. After a few weeks of not having "anything to do" and "being so board" a funny thing happened. Our children began playing together in very creative ways. Our oldest daughter Lily started doing crafts and leading the others. They were making all kinds of pompom animals and felt decorations. They we're dressing up and playing make believe. Pretty soon the sounds in our house got louder and louder, there is a lot of screaming now and running around like wild animals, wrestling on beds and doing each others hair and even practicing instruments and writing stories. There is a lot less silence. And I am happy. We are happy. Now, we will all be crocheting together, making Christmas presents, laughing and encouraging each other with their unique creations. I encourage all of you to turn off the TV, turn off the video games and learn a new trade, instrument, or craft as a family, it's worthwhile.

And lastly, our little miss Scarlett Cat had four little kittens during our meeting!

See you all next week for some more crocheting!

Cheep Tricks

Hi Friends,

Well, we had a great second meeting. This week we discussed money saving tips and time savers. There was so much to share and even with our extra hour that we tacked on, we still didn't get around to everyone and their ideas! But here are some of the highlights:

Money Saving Tips:

One conclusion we made is that there are different levels and needs and money saving extremes. Some of us have to know where every penny is and has gone and are on an extreme budget. While others want to be responsible with the money that we do have but are not on quite a tight budget. Lori brought a friend who found herself on the very tight budget end once the markets crashed three years ago. She and her family found them selves in desperate need to get creative and thrifty. Some of her advice for us was:

1 coupon shop, she sometimes saved hundreds! 2 keep very close track of all banking statements and bills being automatically withdrawn. (She realized they were sometimes being billed twice a month when they should only be charged once!) 3 Plant a garden, (this has saved them countless dollars on fruits and veggies.) 4 Plan out weekly meals, make your shopping list accordingly and then buy only what is needed for the weeks meals 5 Keep track of all receipts and realize where your money is going. Often when we use credit cards and debit cards, we don't really see just how much we are spending on entertainment, coffee etc. But when we save receipts and add up what we are spending monthly we see where we can actually save. She suggested we check out mint.com. It's a free online service that helps you to budget. Lastly, she kept a three ring binder with all of her billing documents, bank statements, and in front she had a business card holder that held every business card for all the businesses she uses, from the hair salon to the insurance company. Everything was right there in the same place.

Other tips from the rest of us included:

1 Buying produce and meats through co-op's. The less you are in the grocery store, the less you are prone to buy what you didn't go in for! Plus, you are usually buying local and supporting small farms and businesses. 2 Giving your children a clothing allowance so that they learn the value of needs vs. wants and the cost of brand new vs. bargain. 3 Make your own Vanilla Extract, Lori is making her's with Vodka and Vanilla Beans. 4 Hanging your laundry to dry 5 and even making your own laundry soap. Here is one recipe:

Ingredients 5 gal. bucket, 1/2 cup Borax, 1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda.

Directions 1 Grate and melt soap in 4 cups water on stove. Add to other ingredients in bucket. 2 fill bucket with hot water and stir, cover and let sit over night. 3 Stir again, then add to old detergent bottles, pour half way in then add water to top. 4 Shake before each use and use a full cup of detergent in each load.

My money saving tips:

Recently we have found ourselves on a very tight budget. We have gotten somewhat extreme with what we can and cannot spend. First of all, we let family know the situation we are in, and that for family events and birthdays, we just cannot afford normal luxuries such as eating out. That takes away a lot of the awkwardness when these situations arise, everyone knows our budget is limited and our money has to go to food, utilities and the house first, then to other luxuries. Most of our money saving has happened in the food budget, because that is where most of our money was spent. We have never had much to spend on extras, and now what we have is so limited that we have to be very wise with even what food we buy. But actually this has been an adventure for our whole family. The kids get so excited for simple things that they used to take for granted, our diet has improved considerably, and missing out on midnight ice cream snacks is a bummer, but it's helping me get closer to fitting into my skinny jeans!

What we've done: 1 Bake our own bread. I have not bought bread all summer except for hot dog buns for my daughters birthday this weekend. I bought a 50lb bag of whole wheat flour for $25 and I am still using it. I make 2 loaves around twice a week. Imagine what I have saved when bread is $4 a loaf for healthy whole wheat bread. I put salt, honey, yeast, olive oil, water and whole wheat flour in the mix. It's so healthy and yummy. 2 Cloth diapers. I have 2 in diapers and on Craigs List I have found around 30 diapers plus inserts for $160. I bought these over the past year. One diaper can cost between $12-$30 new, but I have found great deals on barely used diapers. I used to spend around $110 every 5-6 weeks on diapers and pull ups. I am saving so much money using cloth, and I am starting to enjoy it. 3 We stopped buying cereal which has limited the milk we need. Now I buy 2 milks to save money; I freeze one and use the other, mostly for cooking and to add to tea. 4 We don't buy juice. 5 We don't buy many snacks, just one box of crackers each shopping trip (costco size box). This is teaching our children portion control. And rather than chips for a snack they grab an apple or carrot; they really do, because that's what we have! 6 Another thing we have done is really simplify our meals. 7 Put baking soda in a sock, tie an knot at the top and pat it on your armpits, it's the best deodorant and costs almost nothing. 8 Lastly, always check Craigs List then the thrift store for everything! Your money goes so much farther.

Time Savers!

Well, we didn't really have time to even get to time savers, but I made a small list.

1 One thing that I've done is to set three laundry baskets in our hall. One is for darks, one for whites and one for lights. The kids put the laundry in the right basket. Every time I walk by a full basket I just grab it, take it down stairs and throw it in the wash. It's so easy and saves time. I don't have to separate laundry and I can see just by walking by which loads need to be done. 2 Once my laundry is folded I set each of my children's piles at their seat at the table. Before every meal or school, they have to take it up and put it away. Laundry clean or dirty doesn't pile up this way. 3 We get all of our chores done before breakfast or right after, but everything is done by 8 am. When it's chore time I turn on Happy Working Song from the movie Enchanted. It's our cue to work quick, and happily! Everyone has at least 2 morning chores. My whole house is dusted, vacuumed, shinned and cleaned and every dish put away by 8 we even sweep the patio every morning. And before breakfast every bed is made and room cleaned. Then we are all ready for school, it feels great to have a clean home to start our day. And I have more time to devote to the kids because I used to be the only one doing all of that, and it took me all day! Hope this is helpful.

Next Week

We decided to finish our conversation next week, but also, with Christmas quickly approaching, we want to get a good head start on making Christmas gifts. So, next Tuesday we are going to learn to crochet. Bring your needle and yarn. If you don't have any people are going to bring the extras that they have. We want to learn how to make some fun Christmas gifts in the next few weeks and then as we draw nearer to Thanksgiving and Christmas we will probably focus on baking some yummy treats!

Now, I am going to try to upload some photos! If you see them, then I figured it out! Otherwise, I will try for next week. Blessings, Kimberly

Our first meeting!

Hi Friends,

We (many friends) are starting a meeting on Tuesday afternoons from 2 to probably 4 or 4:30, and we would love for you to join us. Some of you have already come, some have heard or been invited and some of you don't even know about it yet. Well, this is the first email. It will explain what it's all about. Hope you can make it.

I wanted to re-cap on today's meeting. Thank you to those of you who were able to come. I had a great time, one thing I did realize is that if we are going to get anything accomplished we are probably going to need more time. What girls can honestly get anything done and catch up in an hour and a half? Let alone a group of us! That being said, lets think of our schedules and what time we can really work with. I was concerned with everyone getting home to make dinner on time, but maybe Tuesdays will have to be crock pot dinner day so that we can all stay a little longer. Our time together really is so sweet and rare, I think it is worth setting aside a little more to make it happen. So, next week let me know if you can stretch it from 2 to 4 or 4:30 even.

Okay, so to re-cap, we discussed a lot of ideas of what we would like to work on getting more familiar with. For those of you who were not there today, we really want all of your input. We talked about learning bread making and even making our own sour dough starter, knitting, sewing, basket weaving, baking, cake making, cooking, everyone bringing their fav. crock pot meal recipes, how many things can you make with beans, what are your top three dinner recipes (so we all get some new and fresh ideas), cookie exchange at Christmas or Thanksgiving, gardening, what are time savers, and money savers. The list goes on, but these are some that I can remember. Oh, and after you all left I thought how fun it would be to have a big Christmas party with our husbands. We could bring some of the dishes and breads and cookies we've made.

We also talked about the focus of this group being a place to learn some of the older trades that our parents were taught and were so familiar to them but that never were passed down to us. Many of which I just mentioned above. Lastly that we as women are so hungry for community and especially community among women. It is easy to get stuck in our homes, which is fine and if you ask me I absolutely love being in my home, but one big thing we have lost in this society and generation is community. I hope that we can build community around this group of women. A very safe and fun place where we can open up, have a shoulder to cry on or someone to laugh with and learn from. So, if you are interested or know of anyone who is please come, bring a friend.

Next Tuesday we will meet again at 2. I am fine going until 4 or 4:30 if you can. We are going to discuss money saving tips and time saving tips around the house. I think that this will open up to a lot of discussions. So please come with your ideas and tips written down and maybe something to record what you have heard. You may not think that you have anything to offer, but if you just look at your daily routine this week I bet you will find something that you have learned that saves you time or even a trick that makes life easier or happier. Here are two examples one from our meeting today: Michelle shared how you can put lavender in a nylon sock and stick it in the dryer with your laundry to make it smell better. And, I didn't share this today but one trick that I have learned to do with the kids socks that loose their partner is to use them as a sleeve on their sippy cups. It works really well on the stainless steal cups. It protects them from denting, chipping and it keeps their fingers warmer when cold drinks are in them. So, think of those cleaver ideas you have, write them down to share and be ready to take notes and laugh with some great women. I look forward to sharing Tuesday afternoons with you. Blessings, Kimberly