Back in the saddle

Well, my lemon..I mean my computer, is up and taking nourishment again, after having been shipped off to the mysterious Dell computer hospital to be repaired.  Again.  Fourth time this year.  Thank goodness for the manufacturers warranty that covers working out the kinks the first year, but this is getting a little ridiculous.

Now that it's been so long since I've been blogging, I almost don't know what to talk about!! 

I guess I'll start with my most recent focus- our food consumption. Whether it's watching our budget to see how much we are spending on food, going through the seed catalogues to select which vegetables I will grow this summer in our garden, or watching documentaries on how our health is affected by what we eat, it's been a high priority lately. 

Then there's the whole "cooking the food" thing, but I try to avoid thinking about that because I don't like to cook :-(


GROCERY BUDGET:
First, how food affects our budgets. Prices have gone nuts this year and I know it affects everyone's budget.   I have set a limit of $650/month to feed our family of 8, and that includes paying for the school lunch tickets for my 3 public school kids and any random butchering charges when we take a steer in. Each month, I will run a report in my Quicken to see how we're doing, and so far, we are keeping our purchases under this amount each month, with the exception of December.  (Because Christmas seriously kills our budget in so many ways...and because of the many big meals we fix and the many cookies we bake,<GRIN> we tend to go over just a bit.) 

Now, this amount includes purchasing as much organic foods as possible, some of it through our Organic Coop, and also we purchase lots of fresh fruits and vegys, which are by no means cheap.  I avoid as many processed foods as possible, and when I purchase convenience foods, it means that I bought bread instead of baking it :-)  We rarely, RARELY eat out (too expensive and I don't trust the fast food industry) and our meals are usually items made from scratch, so this helps us to keep our expenses down. 

I tried the coupon gimmick, and from what I have read, it really works- in some places.  In our area, there are very few grocery chains, so the competition is low and thus, prices are kinda high.  They don't do the Double Coupon days, they don't give you a membership card for a users discount, and they only do a small amount of store sales, which usually limit how many you can purchase.  I found that I could save more money buying the stores version of a product instead of taking the coupons and using on name brand items, so that experiment was kind of a flop!  I do, however, watch for good store sales, and I buy alot of what I know I will use, and stock the pantry for future use. 

I also purchase as much as I can in bulk, such as my baking essentials, through our Coop and I get 25 and 50# bags for a better price.

GARDENING:
I love this  first part of gardening- the planning part!!  No weeding required, and done in a bug-free environment- it just doesn't get better than that :-)  I love drawing out my garden plan, reading the descriptions in the seed catalog, and fantasizing about all the wonderful food that will be coming out of that garden.  I find that I'm moving towards producing more vegetables on our farm than producing meat, and that's a good step for our family.  I think that all of the wonderfully flavorful vegeys that we ate while we were in China have inspired me to try some different vegeys this year, including Baby Pak Choy and Celeriac. I'm also planting alot more cabbage to use in stir frys and casseroles, instead of just using it for coleslaw and the occasional Porcupine hot dish.

I gotta say, I did get sticker shock purchasing seeds this year- prices have REALLY gone up, but it's still a more economic way to produce the freshest vegetables, so I bite the bullet and place my order.  I do continue to order from Fedco, my favorite seed provider.  They refuse to sell any Monsanto or Seminis genetically modified seeds, which I greatly appreciate and respect, and their political views in regards to food safety are right in line with mine, so they get my business every time. 

DOCUMENTARIES:
I have gotten a chance to watch several through Netflix as I slip them into our Health curriculum for homeschool!  They continue to educate me on food safety, raising better food for my family, and how we can stay healthy by eating the right kind of food.  Here are a few that I would recommend to anyone:

"Fresh"- awesome and short- shows pioneers in the world of fresh food production and how they do their jobs so very well.  Gave me alot of great ideas for our small farm.

"Vegucated"- shows how 3 meat eaters were followed for 3 months while they lived a Vegan lifestyle- charted their experiences and showed how their health and weight changed for the better.  I will never become a vegan, because I think milk is an important part of my diet, but it did give alot of credance to the health benefits of less meat and processed food.

"Food Fight"- also shows the changes in food philosophy in regards to restaurants and school lunch programs.  A food movement is taking place in this country, and this highlights the people who are at the head of that movement.

"Farmageddon"- This documents farmers who have been targeted by the government's Ag industry and shut down for trying to produce fresh food.  Scary stuff.

And who can forget "Supersize Me" - the documentary of the guy who ate 3 meals a day at McDonalds for a month, and tracked how it affected his weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.  Crazy stuff but very effective.

I love a good documentary! 

Now if I could just find some enjoyment in cooking.  It truly is one area of my day that I don't enjoy.  I love growing the food and learning about the food, but I just would rather come into the house each evening and have the food waiting for me, prepared to perfection. However, unless I win the lottery, THAT'S not going to happen, so I will need to work on my attitude towards food preparation, I guess!  Maybe I could convince the kids to join the RAW food movement- then I wouldn't have to cook!! 

Until then, here's to healthy eating!

Christmas memories~

As I was filling 11 stockings on Christmas Eve night, I was filled with a feeling of being so blessed.  Okay, maybe at first I was a little overwhelmed!  But overall, I was so thrilled to be having so many children in the house, all snug in their beds, and me planting treats and toys into their stockings!  Too much fun!!  Guess I should've been an elf.

We had 2 celebrations- the 10 of us plus Grandma Lee on Christmas Eve, then a large family gathering a week later at Aunt Gayles.  Our Christmas Eve was a nice quiet day, with turkey and stuffing for dinner, talents performed by the kids before gift opening (very creative, and many very unexpected!), and the whole afternoon for enjoying our gifts and each other's company.  As a family, we seem to do best with a laid back approach to celebrations, lazing around, playing games and snacking. 

I was thrilled that Luke seemed to enjoy his Knex rollercoaster, and had it put together and working that same day (so much for it keeping him busy during school break)  Bri was fascinated by the camera she got from Grandma and was snapping pictures and video all afternoon.  Camille spent much of the afternoon flipping between drawing with her art set and wheedling people to play Battleship with her.  Janet put her walkman on and it never left her head until church, so that one was a winner.  Godwin got several Avengers characters that battled the whole afternoon, and Quinn was more fascinated by the packaging than any particular gift! 

At 4:00 we went to Christmas Eve service at my mother's church, and it was a beautiful ceremony with lots of special music and a moving sermon by Pastor Mark.  Christmas service is like old home week- families are there with members that you haven't seen since last Christmas, and it has the feeling of a class reunion.

Wrapped up the evening watching some of the MASH series that Loren got as a gift, playing games the kids received, and eating lots of Christmas cookies!  Yes, we are "those kind of parents" that make our kids watch our old favorites, hoping to garner at least one or two converts who will also love watching these shows with us.  He also tried to get us to like 6 Million Dollar Man, but we all thought that show was dorky.

Which brings me back to filling the stockings.  How wonderful that we have been blessed with this many little stockings to fill, and little lives to guide. Thank you God for entrusting these kids into our care!

At Gayles house the following Saturday, it was much of the same thing- good food, followed by gifts, then all the kids (and yes, the term "kids" applies to some of the adults!) bundled up and grabbed their sleds.  My uncle and cousin hooked up the sleds behind a couple of 4 wheelers, and the kids rode the snow waves for almost 2 hours before the cold drove them back inside.

I'm so grateful that we are in the position to provide memorable holidays for our kids.  So many families are struggling in this economy, and although our gifts were fairly frugal, and I spread out the shopping over several months, it is still challenging to afford all the food and gifts for a large family.  Another blessing that we can be grateful for!

I had some great pictures to go with this post, but Blogger isn't letting me upload any pictures.  Hmm.  Guess you will all just have to use your imagination!

Happy Gotcha Day!!

 

Hard to believe that a year ago today, we were anxiously waiting to meet Quinn for the first time in the Civil Affairs office in Taiyuan, China. 

Shanxii Civil Affairs office of Adoption

And we could hear her crying as they walked down the hall towards us, because she was afraid of the elevator that they rode up in.  And we were handed this little bundle of a girl that had about 4 layers of clothes on.  Luckily, she liked cheerios, so I became her friend rather quickly.

 

 

So we took our treasure back to the hotel so we could unwrap her and get to know each other.

 

 



And we discovered what a fearless, loving, tenacious, gentle, and wise soul this little one was.

And now a year later, I look back and am amazed at the adventure and how incredible this past year has been. 

We've watched Quinn bloom and grow into a spirited young lady who is very confident of her position in this family.

 

 



 She has added so much to our family, and we cannot imagine life now without her.

She is our Treasure, in every sense of the word.

Love you baby!!
Hugs and kisses xxoo
Mom and Dad

Quinn turns 3

I realize that it's boring to anyone other than the parents to view birthday pictures and hear about it ad nauseum, but since this is Quinn's first celebrated birthday with her family, it's a big deal, so here goes.

Yah- I think next year I'll celebrate WITHOUT the lip gloss, thankyouverymuch.

Thank you Grandma Lee for taking our picture

Playdough and shape block- academic tools, right?  I feel smarter already.

It says on the box 3 and up, right? 

Quinn...that's the washing machine- not a  place to put the babies.

 

Because she was just coming off of an allergic reaction to her sister's lip gloss AND we had just gotten home that weekend from Mpls and her Shriners appt, we kept the party low key and simple.

Pizza, cupcakes, a few gifts, and Grandma- perfect recipe for a calm and enjoyable birthday. 

 

Maybe next year we'll have 10 screaming 4 year olds attend, but for this year, we enjoyed just having her spend her birthday with us.  Yes, we are that kind of selfish. :-)

Another crazy week~

As if December wasn't busy enough, this week was crazier than most.  

 First, last Thursday our foster children had their first visit with their mother in over 8 months. Could the State's attorney's office be more insensitive to plan something this emotionally traumatic during December, when most foster kids are already worked up from their feelings of missing their family.  So on top of the normal melt downs, now we get to ramp them up a  notch.  Yippee.

Last weekend was G's birthday, so we had his brothers over the a sleep over/party, and it went really well.  We enjoy those boys so much - Luke really connected with the older brother, and I was grateful to get through the weekend without any major meltdowns or drama.  J, their older sister, was upset that she had to share all the boys with the rest of us,  and she pouted most of the time they were here, but that's pretty par for the course with a 13 yo girl.

The best part was giving G a special birthday party!  He was very proud to have his brothers visit, and having his own cake and presents really made it fun for him.

 

 

After the busy weekend, we had to turn our sights on preparing for Quinn's clinical at Shriners Hospital in Mpls later that week.  Because of Loren's work schedule, Travis offered to drive me up there.  The thought of me driving through downtown Mpls looking for this hospital with a 2 yo in the back seat put me in a deep sweat, so I gratefully accepted his offer.  And boy, am I relieved that he drove, because I think his GPS even got a little confused at one point!

 

  The clinical went well, with recommendations on waiting to schedule surgery after she completes potty training.  At least now she is in the system, and the next visit will be for surgery to detether her spinal cord.  Thankfully, she is asymptomatic with now, meaning nothing is bothering her due to the tethering, so it's all good :-)

 

The side perk from the trip was getting to spend alot of quality time with big brother Travis, and he got to introduce Quinn to Chipotle cuisine.

 

3 days after she broke out from the lip gloss



So we whip home after 2 days in Minnesota just in time to catch up on the laundry and spend 4 hours at Sunday School practice for our Christmas program.  We managed to survive that, and I even remembered to bring the gifts for my students, so yah- 2 for 2.

All we have left is Quinn's birthday, and then I'll be able to relax and begin to enjoy Christmas.  So glad that I got all our Christmas shopping done in November ;-)

Camille

Kaylee and Bri

J wanted to be a stylish angel

 

pretty proud of himself





 

 



The Dangers of Lip Gloss

Thanks to a Secret Santa gift that Camille received at school, we had our first experience with cosmetic allergies.

Quinn got a hold of the lip gloss and decided to gloss over her whole face, all in the name of "Being Beautiful".  The next morning, she woke up to this:

This picture doesn't do her justice- it got much worse before it started getting better. 

Imagine the worst case of chicken pox you've ever seen.  That bad.  And it itched too, poor baby. 

She's been a trooper though, and does her best to not scratch at the scabs.  We are hoping for a quick recover and minimal scarring from the scabs. 

I've read of kids who have spina bifida often being allergic to latex, but I've never heard about cosmetic ingredients being a problem.  Live and learn!

The easy way or the hard way...

The other day I apologized to my hubby for always making life so hard...not taking the "easy road". 

Bless that man, he knew exactly what I meant.  And he just smiled.

When our friends are taking vacations...we're taking in foster kids.

When others are updating their homes or their vehicles, we continue to clunk along in our "vintage" cars (with the smashed in dash from a deer or two) and our worn out furniture, because we gave up our second income so that I could be home to raise our children. (And because we gave up trying to impress others a long time ago :-)

When we hit middle age and our peers were building their retirement funds, we were traveling to a little girl who was sitting in China, waiting for a family to call her own. (Bye bye, 401K...I will miss you)
 
When friends are eating out, we're staying home.

When others are shopping at Kohls and Macy's , I'm wandering through Once Upon a Child.

I know that our lives could be different and SO much easier.  Loren knows that too.  But when we evaluate our goals in life, they aren't the ones we had expected we would have at this age. 

We aren't planning on taking trips or playing golf when we retire.  Heck, at this rate, we won't be able to retire!  But we are working out God's plan for our life, and that doesn't include luxeries and wealth.  And apparently some week's it doesn't include free time either :-)    However, it does include incredible feelings of satisfaction, lots of joy, laughs, connection with the children in our lives, and the feeling that we're right where we are supposed to be. 

I don't remember exactly the quote, but it does something like this:  I would rather end my life used up and worn out, having given it my all, and have the Lord say "Well done, Good and Faithful servant" than to have lived a life of ease and selfishness.  ( you get the drift...)

That is why we do what we do, and why we make the choices that we make. 

It's not as if the sacrifices are extreme or miserable- we are very blessed! We are not hungry or cold or deprived of any real necessity. 

Do I care if I have new clothes?  No, not really. 

Can my pride handle driving an old car that isn't as nice as my neighbors?  Absolutely!!

Those items are not important to us anymore.  What's important is that we have been entrusted with these precious lives, to mold and guide, hug and play with, for as long as they are with us.  And we are humbled by the responsibility.