Great Big Sweeping Proclamation

As I drove out of the Wal-Mart parking lot this afternoon, I made a great big decision. I am not going shopping for one full month. Not even grocery shopping. And I don't mean I'm sending Evan. I am going to see how we do with not buying anything for a month.

There are several reasons I decided to do something drastic. One of the obvious reasons, of course, is to save money. While I know I will do a massive shopping January 9th, I still think I will save money by not walking into a store every couple of days. I have just been shocked lately by how easy it is to run up a huge bill in a shopping trip. I don't buy things we won't use, but I'm interested in seeing how we would get by without getting something the minute we need it. I went birthday shopping for Cheyenne last night, and although I stuck to buying her the two things I had planned on buying her (a Bible with a snap and a cheap art set), I still spent an awful lot of money by the time I had gone to the four stores to find them. Sam's Club was the worst. Everything I bought there was on my grocery shopping list, but I had to buy a year's supply of it (another reason I think we could last a month! :-)

Anyway, I'm not planning on being totally ridiculous about this. I receive WIC checks from the state that let me get milk, cheese, eggs, cereal, etc. Beyond that, though, the only thing I won't do without is diapers. So a couple of shopping trips in the next month to pick up diapers and milk, and that's it.

It's not like I won't have enough food. When Evan remodeled our laundry room/bathroom three years ago, he built me a beautiful pantry shelf. I keep it full at all times. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to use up a lot of the food on there!

We're also buying a cow from Mom and Dad that we'll be picking up from the processor in a few weeks, so we'll have lots of beef-- and we need to eat up everything in our freezer in the meantime so we can fit it all in!

I know I will be frustrated by this idea many times over the next month, but I think it will help with several things--

I will learn to cook more with what I have on hand, rather than going and buying a bunch of ingredients specifically to try an exciting new recipe. While I will always love doing that, it's good to learn how to use what's already in the house.

It will force me to eat something other that Great Value Raisin Bran for breakfast. Since I didn't make this decision until I was done shopping, I didn't even buy any today. I can't decide whether to save the two boxes I have left over the month, or gobble it all up and then face the consequences! Anyone who know me knows how long I have been eating raisin bran for breakfast-- this is not a small thing to give up! :-)

In the non-food arena, maybe I'll actually use up some of my less favorite shampoos and lotions. Maybe by the time the month is up I will realize I can muddle through with a lot of things I would have bought without a second thought.

Anyway, I think it will be an interesting challenge, especially in a month most people associate with nonstop shopping! (Our family doesn't exchange Christmas gifts, so I don't have to worry about that anyway!)

Now, on to more interesting things... my kids!

I love Elliott's shy, tongue-in-cheek mode... They were all ready to play in the snow here--

Then Cheyenne set off in the snow, so Elliott followed...

And promptly fell down. Unfortunately, that's about all he does in snow. Cheyenne is big enough that she can get herself ready almost completely by herself, and has great fun out in the snow without anyone else around. Elliott can only play on the driveway with an adult around. With Miss Rilla-Roo, I can't really hang out outside, so that leaves a very frustrated Elliott lots of days.

Thankfully, Daddy had to shovel the driveway tonight, so the kids got to go out and "help." Then Daddy won the Daddy won the Daddy of the Year contest by helping them build a snowman. I haven't seen it in the daylight yet, but it sound like quite the sophisticated snowman! I'm glad the kids got at least one fun parent!

I love this picture of a concentrating Marilla...

And a MAD Marilla! Daddy had just moved her away from Mommy (because she was about to fall downstairs, but hey! It was still rude!)

Cheyenne had her first sick absence from school today! I noticed her eye getting very pink last night and suddenly realized why she'd been waking up with so many sleepies the last couple of mornings. I ended up getting all three kids appointments, since they've all had snot and stuff all over their face for the last couple of days. Elliott looks like he might get it, so the doctor gave me a prescription to fill in case. Cheyenne definitely can't go to school tomorrow, and she's pretty upset. Since it means I don't have to drag three kids to school tomorrow, I can't say I'm that upset! Of course, this morning, when we weren't even going to school, I had all three kids bathed, clothed and ready to go by 8:30 a.m.!

Then, after the doctor's appt., the transformative trip to Wal-Mart... I am glad I did shop today, though-- they had a rack of kids short sleeve shirts for a dollar a piece. $15 later, Cheyenne has clothes for the next three summers!

I'm off to bed, since Evan has Rilla snuggled fast asleep in his arms while he plays Runescape (an online game I adore to make fun of but, sadly, am actually fairly interested in. Just don't tell him.)

Snowy Sunday

It's snowing like crazy here-- a typical winter day! Elliott and Marilla have rivers of snot coming out of their cute little noses, plus bad coughs, so they're staying home with me while Evan takes Cheyenne to meeting. Elliott is not impressed with being left home. He has his mittens on, 45 minutes since they left, and he's still asking me to go outside. He was asking to go to meeting, but I think he's realized the futility of that, so he's harping on the outside issue.

I hate it when Elliott is sick and listless-- too many memories of when we first brought him home. Thankfully, he is usually such a healthy boy. The one upside to being sick is that he cuddles more. We just had a marathon hymnsing, with lots of "sing more hymn, mummy!" until my throat gave out. I'm finally "mummy" which shows the improvement in his speech-- I kind of miss the "mun" I was for so long, though! :-)

I'm going to sweep breakfast off the floor now before Rilla wakes up from her nap-- then make a big pot of chili for lunch-- one of the best things about winter!

It's Hard Being a Mummy, Sometimes

Evan and I are being wicked cruel and evil tonight and making Marilla sleep in the new playpen we just bought her. She is NOT taking it well. She is quite used to sleeping snuggled up next to Mommy. The only problem is, not a lot of sleeping has been happening lately-- just lots of wiggling and fussing and tossing and turning-- and Marilla hasn't been doing great, either! :-) Anyway, I know she is a well-loved child who will not be traumatized by having to sleep in a bed 18 inches from Daddy's side, but it still is hard to listen to her right now.

Today was a very busy day-- I felt like Superwoman, only probably with sorer feet. I had Cheyenne's buddy Alex, from preschool, over for lunch and the afternoon. In retrospect, 3+ hours was too long-- I'm used to letting my kids do their own thing. I just listen for silences and respond appropriately. Actually having to monitor a kid fairly closely is a whole different kettle of fish! They did have fun, though. They played with Play-Doh, and Elliott and Alex bonded over tools and trucks. A good sign was that he was upset when his Mom came to pick him up! Then, off to the doctor's office for Marilla's 9 month checkup (how is she 9 months already!!) and Cheyenne's five-year checkup (a little early for convenience's sake). Cheyenne was not looking forward to this, since there would be shots involved. It's one of the reasons I invited her friend this afternoon-- the more distractions the better. She did fine, in the end-- lots of crying ahead of time, Care Bear Band-Aids and not so much crying afterward. The brutal part of the doctor's visit for me was the weight check on Marilla.

Weight checks have been the bane of my existence for a long time now (not even counting weighing myself!) Cheyenne was in the 10th percentile when she was around 10 months, and I can remember the cross-examining the pediatrician gave me then. I went home thinking I was probably starving her and didn't even know it. With Elliott, we moved into a whole different realm of neuroses! He was only 4 1/2 pounds when he was finally able to come home from the hospital, and there was always the threat of re-hospitalization if he didn't gain enough weight at home. Adding to the fact that I was trying to breastfeed exclusively, there was quite a bit of pressure at the time! I would just be thinking he was doing so well, and then we would have the weigh in. He gained nicely for the first month or two, then he slowed way down. This is quite normal in a full-term eight month old, but in a preemie eight month old, it is not good. Evan absolutely hated doctor days. I think I dealt pretty well with the whole medically-fragile preemie thing, until they weighed him... then I came home in a puddle of tears. Despite him being such an active, amazing three-year old, it still gives me a knot in the pit of my stomach to think of weighing him. He's still a scrawny little 24 pounder-- soaking wet. Anyway, I haven't had any such qualms about Marilla. She still nurses excellently, eats solid food with gusto, munches on finger foods anytime they come her way-- she's the poster child for good nutrition. She also looks great-- chubby cheeks, sturdy thighs, nice rounded little belly. If it hadn't been for the reading today, I wouldn't have had a second thought about her. She was only 25 1/2" long, though, and 15 lb. 14 oz. Those are the 5th and 7th percentiles, respectively, meaning that barring crack mothers and dwarfs, I have the smallest baby in America. Sigh. Much as I resolve not to worry over it, I keep trying to go over in my head where I've failed her. What makes this so very ironic is that I have been overweight since about five years old. I never thought I would be dreaming up ways for people to gain weight!

So after that little boost, I did the errands runs-- bank, post office (I mailed my first packages as an Ebay seller!), then home to make supper. Then, while Superdaddy put the kids to bed, it was back out to return overdue library books (gasp!) and do a massive Wal-Mart stock up. Now, minus the decreasing whimpers from upstairs, I am enjoying an easy chair and ignoring all the toys on the floor!

Some things I have been meaning to point out-- I DID post pictures of Tyler and Julie's wedding--not a lot, but they are there. Since I started the post a long time ago, and Blogger puts the post in chronological order according to the day you first start writing a post, even if you don't actually POST it for a while, it got posted but immediately it was way down the list. Unfortunately, there aren't very many pictures of Tyler and Julie-- I mean, how important where they, anyway? :-) What happened was, I knew they were getting the rights to all their wedding pictures, so I restrained my paparazzi instincts and just enjoyed the day. They burned a CD for me to bring home with several lovely posed pictures, but it doesn't seem to work. So I'm waiting for another CD at some point. In the meantime, look in the October archive for a post about weddings.

My dear friend Amy inquired about Wordthief in a comment-- allow me to climb up on a soap box and tell you about the world's greatest game. I first played the game when we brought Cheyenne back from Alaska to introduce her to our NY family, and it was one of the few things I could do during the 6 interminable weeks of bed rest with Elliott. Marilyn, Mom, Bethaney and I are all hard-core players, and Lindsey and Dad will often join in. (Evan refuses to play with me. I'm hoping I can somehow forgive him someday.) As for how to play it, I will let the editorial review on Amazon.com explain it. "Stealing the words right out of an opponent's mouth--or, in this case, hand--has never been so accepted as in this vocabulary-building board game. Designed for two to four players, Wordthief involves a deck of letter cards, each of which is assigned a point value based on its frequency of occurrence in English words. The obvious way to create words is to use the seven cards dealt to you. The more interesting way to accumulate points requires that you "steal" an opponent's word and build a new word with more letters from your hand. The player who makes the most words of the greatest point value wins the round. An engaging alternative to Scrabble..." There is only one teeny, tiny problem-- it is no longer available new, so you have to buy it from an Amazon seller or troll ebay for it. Well worth the search, though! Thankfully, the deck of cards is pretty much bullet-proof-- after five years of steady use, the cards are still in great shape.

Everyone will be glad to know Marilla is finally sleeping...

I also have to follow-up the whole kids' books discussions. Marilyn pointed out the Babar books. While I didn't list them, because I figured most people knew about them, I do have most of the usual suspects-- lots of Little Golden books, Berenstain Bears, Mercer Mayer's "Just Me and ..." series, Madeline, Babar, Dr. Seuss, Toot and Puddle, Jan Brett, Eric Carle, Brambly Hedge, Winnie the Pooh, Corduroy... I even have several Bob the Builder books! Kids do love books that are all the same-- it's great just to grab a chunk of Berenstain Bears!

Well, I think I've probably procrastinated long enough. Time for Bath, Bible, and Bed! I've always been a shower-in-the-morning person, but since I started trying to get three little kids fed and out the door by 8:30 a.m., I've been forced to be a shower-at-night person. I still don't like the three feet of wet hair that requires careful planning so I don't whap my husband in the face with it in the middle of the night, but there are probably people with bigger dilemmas in their life! :-)

"And to all a good night..."

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving: A Play in Many Acts

Set in the scenic rolling hills of eastern New York, this play consists of watching lots of people eat lots of food, interspersed with games, chatting, hymn sings and watching cute children.

The Cast

Moi, appearing as astoundingly odd-looking pumpkin. Hope everyone notices the lack of vanity-- I felt it was important to include pictures of everyone there, and this was the only picture of me that day. Note the extremely important prop I am holding: the Extra, Extra Large Water Glass. This glass is so integral to my life that I have extras stored at my in-laws' and my parents' houses.

Cheyenne, appearing as cute leech to Scott Porter. That was pretty much her role for the day. She hasn't forgot 17 months ago, when Scott would wink from her several rows back at Wasilla convention. She's followed him with letters and e-mails through his time on a fishing boat, the year living in Panama, the road trips with weird uncle Cody... She's devoted.

Bethaney, appearing as my sister, the lucky duck. Well, and mother to some pretty important characters, too. Also appearing as photographer, apple-pie baker, and other sundry roles.

Justin, appearing as Bethaney's husband and Evan's comrade. He helps Evan make jokes at my expense. It keeps the two of them quite busy.

Ashley, appearing as my sister-in-law. We all love her, except for the part where we secretly worry that she willingly entered into marriage with Owen. Ashley's principal role was as glass-less pumkin pie baker, in contrast to her role last year, when Owen and Ashley were in a bad car accident and the pumpkin pie was charmingly sprinkled with little bits of windshield glass.

Owen, appearing as maniacal guffawer. In his defense, we were playing a pretty funny game at the time.

Tanner, 23-year old Wrangell, Alaska resident, salmon fisher and fellow road-tripper with Scott Porter.

My mother. Need I say more? In her defense, it's probably not her fault that she has eight strange children.

My father, the thinker. And the debater, usually.

Evan's dad, appearing as host. And he did an excellent job. He didn't even turn off a light all day! (Dana prefers soft lighting-- which is the nicest way I can say it. I often quote the verse, "He who loves darkness rather than light..." But he's also one of the most thoughtful people I've ever met, so he didn't inflict his lighting choices on his guests.)

Evan's mom, appearing as hostess and chef. The house was clean, she produced an enormous, delicious meal, and she did all her preparations while hosting my two children for a two night sleepover!

Evan's "Mammy"-- she took the role as mother to everyone there. She told us all at lunch that she was old enough to be a mother to everyone else! Besides being Evan's grandmother, she has ties to my side of the family-- she was good friends with my mom's mother, Grandma Goldie, and she professed in meetings with my Aunt Edith, my father's aunt. So she was rather an integral part of the day!

Orianna, the Quiet Oasis of Literature, in the midst of a boisterous game. Her hairdresser and wardrobe person were sure on their game that day!

Lilly took the role of the upside down sister. I think she was singing her own little song, while the game raged on 'round about her.

Olivia was the Fake Smiler... and my LITTLE sister! I don't care if she's taller than me. Really. Well, maybe I do feel a little pathetic.

Tori, on the other hand, still has about another year before she towers over me. I'm going to appreciate that year.

Marilla was the Recycler, turning useless cardboard packaging into perfectly good munching opportunities. Here she is, with her moves about to begin!

Elliott was the Dazed One, about to fall asleep on Grandma's lap!

And, in the key starring role... Evan White, my wickedly handsome husband and father to three astounding children.

With this caliber of actors, you just know it'll be fun to watch. So, now for the plot...


The Action

• Playing-- Elliott checks out his new horse/flashlight from Aunt Hopie. Who was the genius who thought of combining light and horses?
  
  

• Posing-- A blonde, brunette and redhead. And these girls aren't just all about the looks, though they certainly could get by on just that. See the careful way the two big girls are hugging the baby? And the baby is probably a tree-hugger-- see the way she's playing with a little toy whale and boat. She's probably getting ready to go save whales with Greenpeace.
  

• Bear-Moving-- Marilyn has received lots of Boyd's Bears over the years for gifts. Lillian made sure they weren't lonely, taking them on and off their little benches. This landing at the bottom of the stairs is one of the key play places in the house-- almost as cool as the dedicated playroom under the eaves upstairs!
  
  

• Walking and Wrapping-- Here Bethaney leads the parade of children out for a walk in the field. The two aunties have the babies snuggled in wraps. The babies came in with cold noses, but they were warm from being bundled up next to a warm person.

• Hill-Rolling--After a walk, a roll down a nice hill is just the thing.
  

• Picture Taking-- This was one of the crucial plot lines throughout the day. And it was a serious business, as demonstrated by this professional.
  
  
  

• Arriving-- This role was filled by Scott and Tanner and their classy truck-camper. This camper is going to be traveling lots of miles in the next few months!
  

• Bird Watching-- Unfortunately, this activity seemed to be interspersed fairly frequently with carrying stunned birds up to the stone wall. Even with all the smudgy fingerprints, they didn't seem to notice the door!
  

• Sitting-- A dirty job, but someone has to do it.

• Chatting-- A generational difference, perhaps? One group is chatting on the phone to the sorely missed Cody, while another group just chatted.
  

• Staring Blankly-- I have to say, I don't know if anyone has ever nailed this role like the magnificent Olivia Vaughan. (She meant to do it, I'm sure... else, I would be scared.)
  
  

• Shed-Standing-- Or possibly, testosteroning...? Not sure. A blurry picture, but well representative. And the bonus is, Evan is wearing his tuque.

• Table Setting-- Not sure who was responsible for this. It certainly wasn't me, lazy loaf that I am, but whoever it was did a nice job.
  

• Cooking-- Again, I wasn't real key here, but Marilyn seems to have it under control in a real vintage apron.

The Menu

Okay, so I don't have pictures of anything but pies, but they're what makes Thanksgiving. Well, actually, that's probably the turkey, but it wasn't as photogenic.

So we had pumpkin, apple, lemon meringue, pecan and raspberry. And I even made two of them. I was so proud of myself, I had to take pictures midstride.


I've made Dad lemon-meringue pie several times over the years, but I'd usually just buy a frozen crust. It was only this fall that I've started trying to make my own crust. Usually, they're more "rustic tart" than pie, but it worked this time.

Epilogue
Friday morning, some of the guys tried to jumpstart the economy by tool shopping, but the rest of us had a more relaxing morning, heavily featuring Word Thief (the world's greatest game).

I got to snuggle my buddy Lily.

Elliott found a dishtowel and his sister's hat for a costume. Not sure what he was thinking, but he sure was proud of it!

By Friday afternoon, it was just us Whites again. Lots of reading happening! We stayed until Sunday, and had a wonderful time. Then, an icy, traffic-clogged trip home! Now, lots of wash and cleaning the house for Wednesday night meeting. (And sneaking in the time to write a blog!)