Going Amish

There has been a small voice in my head for a while urging me to turn off our tech. But I don't want to. It tells me that I spend way to much time in front of a screen, and not enough with my family. It tells me that My children are growing way to fast, and I miss way to much of their childhoods, because I am spending time online. 2 years ago I tried to quiet that voice by getting rid of our DVR and cable. Who knew that you could find pretty much anything you want to watch online? Between Hulu and Netflix, we didn't miss a beat. We just started watching TV on the computer instead. And, while that saved us some cash, it didn't really change anything.
At lent the small voice started to get louder.  I was trying to decide what to give up this year. "give up Facebook! " it urged me. But, I didn't want to, so I gave up swearing instead. That lasted all of about 18 hours by the way.
The voice got even louder last night when I was reading one of the Blogs I follow, The Crunchy Chicken. She was talking about a book that she had read, Better Off by Eric Brende. Its about a man and his wife that go to live with the Amish for 18 months. The book intrigued me, and I went directly from her blog to Amazon.com where I promptly downloaded it onto the Kindle on my Iphone.
Now, in my life, and I have blogged about this before, I have found that when I ignore that small voice in my head long enough, it gets followed by a shove. That came in church this morning. We had a guest speaker, who talked about how God did not put us on the planet for us to be consuming all the time. We are here to enjoy his creation. This made me start to think. I have been truly blessed. I have 3 beautiful children, and wonderful husband. How would God want me to be spending my precious time with them? Tending imaginary fields of crops in farmville? Not really.
So, I am going Amish, and I am dragging my family down with me. It will be a one week experiment in tech free living. I'm going to take it one day at a time, because there is a very real possibility that this may actually kill us. Turning off my computer feels a bit like sawing my own arm off. Was there even life before google? How did we find recipes? How did we find the answers to all the random questions my kids ask?
At bedtime tonight, or midnight, which ever comes first, I will be unplugging the TV's. The computer will be turned off. My phone will be used for calls only. No angry birds, no Smurfville, and absolutely NO checking facebook. I may have to actually uninstall a few apps, because I don't think I can resist temptation.
Because I have a few important prior obligations to friends and church, I will have to check my email, but I am going to limit that to 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night.
My plan is to do a daily blog entry about my adventures, which I will write on paper, (gasp!) and then enter onto the computer when my experiment is over.
This should be very interesting to say the least.

Give me space!

This past week we flew the whole family down to Washington DC to visit my sister who moved out there with her husband recently. We did the whole sight seeing thing, walked for miles and miles. It was wonderful. Spring has sprung there, the cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom. The grass was green, and the smell warmed my heart.

Out of all the places we visited, Mount Vernon was my favorite. What a beautiful place! I was positively inspired by The Washingtons, and their colonial way of life. Ok, I know that it was all made possible by slavery, but lets just kind of forget about that part, I am talking about their sustainability.

I walked along the banks of the Potomac, where they fished for their food.  I walked along the barns, and fields where they raised the cattle for their milk, butter, and meat. I walked past the smoke house where they would preserve everything. They had huge gardens for the foods prepared in the kitchens, and fields for the wheat grown for the animals and for making beer. I want it! And realistically, if I don't need to worry about providing for the 184 working slaves, I wouldn't need nearly as much space.

I spent the entire day daydreaming of the possibility of me living more sustainably. Then I came home. To my 1/2 acre city lot, with its 24 ft x 24 ft garden, which is just barely large enough to be considered a hobby garden. There is no way the produce I grow there could sustain my family of 5. Barely enough room for our 2 dogs, raising chickens are out of the question.

I want space. I want to look out my window, and not be able to see directly into my neighbors window. I want my kids to be able to run. Get me out of this city!

I have been looking at acreages in my area, and it has filled me with excitement. Maybe these dreams aren't as far out of reach as I thought!

No time to eat healthy!

Its Sunday! Time to sit down and plan out my families  meals for the week. Looking at our schedule, this week is going to be insane, and really, I can honestly say that I don't have the time for us to eat healthy. Well, maybe a better way to put it would be, I don't know how to feed my family quick and easy, budget friendly healthy meals. So, I will revert to "conventional meals" Stick me head in the sand and pretend like I don't know what is in the foods I am feeding my family. You see, sometimes as mothers we just have to do the best we can to get by, and this week, I will be doing just that, getting by the best I can. In my quest for parenting perfection, this week will be a massive dietary failure.

So, Monday, cub scout day...

Hot dogs, and baked beans. I will at least get bakery made whole wheat buns that are HFCS free. That makes eating the hotdogs ok, right?

Tuesday, ballet day...

( meat free)

Alfredo with steamed broccoli, roasted red pepper, and sundried tomato. Ok, well, this sounds ok-ish at first, but the sauce will be from a jar, (HFCS free). So, not my finest hour, but better than hot dogs.

Wed. Ash Wednesday!

Our church will be serving a meal before the service. I will be spared cooking a meal, buy my family will be at the mercy of what ever church group is serving that night. We will get what we get and we won't have a fit!

Thursday, My free day!...

(meat free)

Ravioli night! Home made sauce from scratch, cheese ravioli from the freezer section. This is a meal that is really easy to double or triple, and freeze in batches, which I will do, because I am already making the dishes dirty, may as well save myself some time and effort later!

Friday Date night! ...


(meat free)

The kiddos will be enjoying an ultra easy meal of Mac and cheese. Since they will be at the mercy of the baby sitter, it will even be the *good* stuff, out of the blue box. *shudder* They are so excited.

Saturday...

there is another event at our church, so we again we will be served a meal there. It will be a surprise!

Sunday, My day of rest. Well, my day of having time to prepare my family a meal before I run out the door and leave them to it. ...

(meat free)

Now this I am excited about! I am going to try a new soup, courtesy of a blog that I follow http://www.servesfourblog.com/2011/03/01/mid-winter-nom-roasted-potato-and-garlic-soup/

This sounds so yummy and I can't wait to try it!

So, obviously, I am in need of some quick healthy meals that my children will eat. Think, 10 minute prep, 10 minute to eat, minimal clean up. Help! what do you serve your family when you are on the go?

Cloth Diapering!

Really, those of you that know me in real life know that it was just a matter of time before this topic showed up.


In my quest to personally save the planet, I discovered the wild world of cloth diapering. And guess what? It isn't that bad! Its actually pretty easy, and fun! If you can believe it. Even my poor husband who was dragged into cloth diapering kicking and screaming will admit that it is so completely not a big deal.

I am going to give you a very basic run down on the TRUTH about cloth diapering.

There are many different types of cloth diapers. I will only cover a few, because it would be impossible to list all the different kinds, and brands, its nuts when you start to research it.

The basic types are:

A-I-Os or All in ones. 

These are one piece diapers, that are basically exactly just like disposable diapers. They have a fuzzy cloth inside, and an outside that is made with a polyUrethane Laminate fabric, or PUL, that is basically a plastic lined fabric. They can have velcro fasteners, just like conventional diapers, or snaps. These come in fitted sizes, so you will need to buy more diapers as your baby grows.

Fitted diapers

These are kind of like disposable diapers, They are a soft absorbent fabric that have elastic around the back and legs, and fasten with velcro or snaps. But they don't have a waterproof outer shell, so you have to use an additional diaper cover with these.

Prefolds

These are the burp cloth diapers. The ones that come in packs of 12 that you buy at Target to use for burp cloths. These are the cloth diapers that your grandma used to use, that everyone thinks of when they think of cloth diapers. They need to be folded to fit the contours of your baby, and fastened with pins or a "snappi" which are these clever little plastic thingeys that someone came up with to eliminate the need for pins. These need to be used with a Diaper cover also, since they aren't waterproof.

Pocket diapers

These are like the All In Ones. They go on just like conventional diapers, with velcro or snaps. They have the waterproof shell, the super fuzzy absorbent inner layer, but they also use absorbent cloth Pads that you have to manually slip into a pocket between the outer and inner layer. Think, big cloth maxi pad. When its time to wash, the pad is removed, and washed separately, then the diaper is re stuffed after laundering. They come in only one size, with snaps that you use to make the outer shell bigger and smaller, so one diaper can grow with your baby from 8 lbs to 32 lbs. Full disclosure... this is the type that I use.

This is how I deal with my cloth diapers.

I keep a 5 gallon bucket in my bathroom, about 1/2 filled with water, and a couple table spoons of borax, and a couple table spoons of arm and hammer washing soda. Now that my baby is pulling up, I keep the bucket in the bathtub so he can't get at it and accidentally drown. Also, you can pull the shower curtain closed, so no one has to look at your poo bucket water.

So, when baby pees, I just take the wet diaper into the bathroom, hold onto a corner of the absorbent pad, shake a little over the bucket. The water proof cover slides right off, into the water, I drop the pad into the water after, and thats all there is too it.
But what about the poo? This is what people find to be the scariest part of cloth diapering. Well, guess what, its not that bad. So, when it comes time to change the poo diaper, I take it into the bathroom, hold it over the toilet, shake the turd off, then shake the diaper over the diaper bucket until the inner pad comes free from the water proof shell, drop the pad into the bucket and I am done. 



About every other day it is diaper washing day. I take the whole bucket, water and all down to the washing machine. Dump it into the washer, water and all, and wash it using an extra rinse at the beginning and end of the wash cycle. Guess what? My hands never actually touch the poo!
After being washed, I like to hang my diapers out on the line to dry, the sun helps remove any stains. But since I live where there is cold weather 3/4 of the year, I have to dry my diapers in the dryer most of the time. So, people ask, what about all the extra water and electricity I use to clean these diapers? Seriously. Don't even start with me. Its 3 loads of laundry a week. I haven't noticed a change in my water or energy bill at all. And I am doing laundry anyway.

After the diapers are dry they need to be re stuffed, which I do while sitting in front of the TV, or while visiting with my husband, which are both activities I would have been doing anyway, so I don't consider that to be taking any extra time, but for those of you who care, it takes about 15 minutes to stuff my diapers and get them ready for baby to wear. That equals all of about 45 minutes a week.

Lets talk money.

Cloth diapers can be very expensive, depending on how you do it. This is how I personally do it, so these are my personal numbers.

If I were to use disposable diapers, I would be buying large boxes of pampers at Target.
Today, a 30 day supply box of pampers would have cost me $45.
That works out to about $540 a year, and if my baby doesn't potty train until he is 3 years old like my other 2 children, over the 3 years I will have spent about $1620 on diapers.

Now I have 20 cloth diapers. That is enough for me to do laundry about every other day without having to worry about running out of diapers. The Diapers have a very wide range of prices, from as low as $1 a piece if you are brave enough to order them from china, to $25 a piece if you need to have name brands. I prefer to use an off brand called bububibi, they are bamboo, and cost an average of $7 a piece. I have some that I bought new, some that I bought used, and some that I bought from china. (yes I was scared, but it ended up being completely fine! )
I figured my grand total for all my diapers was about $150.  These are all diapers that will grow with my baby, that fit him from 8 pounds to 32 pounds, and will be the only diapers he will ever need.

So, lets do the math. That's a savings of about $1470. That's not pocket change people, that's real cash.

If you want more information, there are tons of online resources, some of my favorites is,

http://www.diaperjungle.com/index.html

And if you are local to me, a really great place is Elegant Mommy. They offer used diaper sales, classes on cloth diapering, and are super helpful.

http://www.elegantmommy.com

I hate my body

Ok, well, maybe I don't exactly, hate it, but there are definitely things I would change if I could, (and I am trying). Things that bother me on a daily basis. Things that cause me to say negative things to myself.

Yesterday on the early show they were talking about how 97% of women have at least one negative thought about their bodies per day. PER DAY. I know I personally have way more than that. Why can't we just be happy with what we have?

The other day I was looking through pictures and I came across one that was taken of me probably 4 years ago when I visited my sister in Las Vegas. I remember the picture being taken. I was totally sucking in my gut, worried about my posture and smile. Later when I saw the picture I could only see my lovely mommy muffin top and big thighs. Today when I look at that same picture I think "Wow! I was hot! Why can't I look like that now?"Why can't we appreciate what we have when we have it ? I think about the extra 20 pounds I need to loose, the inches I am carrying around the past 10 months since my baby was born, but as bad as I look now, I bet its pretty darn good compared to what I am going to look like in 20 years!

I think that society in general has a really sick sense of what a healthy body should look like. Julie Chen is 5'4 1/2. The exact same height as me. On her new show " The Talk" she was brave enough to admit her weight. She tips the scales at 135 pounds. She whispered it as if she was fessing up to her deepest darkest sin. She wants to loose 12 more pounds. Her Sinful weight is my goal weight, and a completely healthy weight for her height.

Why can't we just love ourselves for what we are? Always striving for something more, when our own personal perfection is right under our noses.

When God talks to me

This is a Faith post. I wanted to push it off a bit, fearing that it was to heavy to start out with, and that it might turn people off, but I decided that I am going to write it anyway.

My journey into faith has been a bumpy one. I went from having really negative experiences at church as a child, to basically no faith at all, and then after meeting my future husband at college, I started my journey back.

Our church has been offering a small group study on faith, and different ways that people experience God. Joe and I are taking the class. It has been very interesting. My whole reason for going was because I sometimes feel like God is pushing me to do things, but I tend to resist Him. I am never sure if its really Him, or something else. I want to learn to recognize his voice, because there is no doubt to me that he is working in my life. I also want to learn to be excited about Him working in me, because frankly, right now when it happens, it freaks me out.

I heard on the radio yesterday that one of the most powerful things you can do as a Christian is to share your testimony. Non believers can dispute history and doctrine, but they cannot dispute your personal life experiences. Well, I have had a few. They aren't profound miracles, just little things.

For example, 2 years ago I felt that our church would benefit from having gardens to promote fellowship and outreach to the community. I ignored that feeling. I ignored it for weeks. Then one day the sermon was about stewardship of our earth, and growing things and I really felt that our Pastor was talking directly to me. Freaked me out. So, after I went to visit with him, and he got me pointed in the right direction, and that summer we had church gardens. It was the beginning of my road to involvement in my Church.

I am now on the missions committee. Now when an idea pops into my head I am less scared to share it.


Another example just happened to me last night. I was asked to do the devotional for our missions  committee meeting this month. Two weeks ago I looked around the internet and found one that I thought would be good to share, I printed it out, and didn't really think about it much at all. The title was "God's Guidance" and it was about lifting your troubles to God. 

"trust in the Lord with all your heat, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge  Him and he shall direct your paths. " -proverbs 3:5-6

After the meeting I came home, I was contacted by a friend who was asking for prayers for his wife who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. It sent me reeling. That is just not something was expecting to hear. In addition to that, another friend  of mine has a newborn baby who is struggling with illness right now. I felt overwhelmed with worry for these families.

Then someone pointed out to me that the devotional that I had picked out 2 weeks ago to be read today had the exact words that I needed to hear.  Some may say that it is coincidence, but I believe that it is God working in my life.

It is amazing to me. So amazing that I felt led to share it in a public forum which is another thing that I don't do. Hopefully some day I will quit being scared when I see God working in my life. For now I am just glad to have my eyes opened up to it.