When Screens are Shut Off

I often ponder the technology in our house [which consists of one - yes, one - TV, computers (3 of those)  and a Wii console.]  When I ponder these things, I wonder how much do we really need them.  A few years back, I put a block on the Disney Channel because I did not want my kids to start talking to me the way Hannah Montanna talked to her dad.  Many people laughed when they heard this, but we held tight to the ban on Disney. 
Recently, I started reading a book by Jen Hatmaker called "7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess".  Wonderful, thought-provoking book.  We have so much in this country that we take for granted.  I daresay, we have too much.  Much of what we have distracts us from the important stuff. 
Although I limit "Screens" at our house, I have taken a stronger approach since the weather warmed up.  It's fun to see what the kids will get into when they are not allowed to veg out in front of a screen.

Big sister cutting little brother's hair.

Cooling off with the garden hose.

Today, DS8 prepared a stir fry for me.  Can you guess the ingredients?  Let me help....

Cucumber, celery, and romaine lettuce

He also added some spices to it.  (We wouldn't want a bland stir fry, would we?)

He said he chose spices that looked like they went on steak. 

Red pepper, pepper, parsley flakes.

I ate the whole thing with an appreciation that only a mother can have and gave some constructive criticism by letting him know that the next time he didn't have to use so much red pepper.  It's an hour later and my mouth is still on fire!

Time for Tea

This past week has been crazy.  I've heard that from just about everyone I have come into contact with this week.  For some reason, everything is falling on this second full week of June.  For us, it was a dance recital, karate camp, my son's 8th birthday and a class on tea.  For now, I will focus on the tea class and maybe I'll come back to the other stuff later. 

Tea has always been a time to slow down for me and after such a busy week, this was the perfect ending.  My girls, ages 13 and 14, had the opportunity to take a tea class with a friend who we met through homeschooling.  She knows so much about tea and I felt it was such a wonderful opportunity for us that she was offering this class through 4-H.  The girls attended 2 classes prior to this week where they learned about tea - what it is, where it comes from, some cultural traditions, etc.  Then this week, they went on a field trip to Georgetown, Va to visit a Chinese tea room.  They got together one more time to prepare foods for the tea we enjoyed this evening.  All of the families came to this perfect outdoor setting with perfect weather and it was the perfect ending to our week. 

They made their own tea blends, including Chai, Chocolate Vanilla Mint, Rose Mint, Tarragon Sage with Mint. Also, Ancient Forrest and Darjeeling.

The girls are getting ready to serve tea.

DD13 serving the younger siblings.  All of the children waited so patiently.

DD13 gave a quick speech about the field trip to the Chinese tea room.  She spoke about the tea she tried, how it was prepared and the food she had.  Her tea came as a little ball that was put in a glass pot where it "bloomed". 

DD14 gave a quick speech about the Chinese tea room. 

All of the food was made from scratch by the girls and their moms.  Fruit salads, cucumber sandwiches, russian tea cakes and marbled eggs were just a few of the delicacies served.

Teacher of the class and hostess of the tea this evening. She provided such an amazing experience for these girls that I think they will remember for a very long time. Thank you, Maureen.

Canning Tomatoes

As I sat down to enjoy lunch at church on Sunday, a dear friend sat next to me and asked if I had a need for tomatoes. Silly question. Due to our two moves in the last 6 months, we were not able to put a garden in and at the current time, our grocery envelope was empty with payday being 5 days away. So we were happy to take her surplus tomatoes.

I managed to get everything set up to can the tomatoes and noticed Dd(11) on the computer and Ds(6) watching mindless television. I announced that all screens needed to be shut off and much to my surprise, there was little resistance. Of course, the kids came into the kitchen where I was and became curious when they spotted the pots on the stove and the empty jars on the counter. After they asked, I invited them to join me.




DD(11) loves anything to do with homemaking. She mimics anything I do. If I get out a sewing project, she dives right in with a project of her own. So it didn't surprise me when she slipped right over to the stove to help.


However, DS(6) did surprise me. I often have this tendency to think "He's too young for this" and every time, I am wrong. He jumped right in and loved peeling the tomatoes.



We only canned 4 jars, but the experience is worth it. If nothing else, the kids need to see how to do this stuff.

I'm sure Charlotte Mason says something about kids in the kitchen, but I am unable to come up with anything at the moment. Even though I can't quote her, I still think she would approve.

Another Way We Are Saving Money

This is a neat little gadget that my mother gave my husband for Christmas. Since he is the only coffee drinker in our house, it was the perfect gift. Until the K Cups ran out. We went to purchase more and cannot find them for less than 50 cents per cup. That seems expensive to us since you can brew a whole pot of coffee for less than that. So for a while we used the coffee "tea bags" with it. That worked, but was still a little pricey.

When we are out and about, we will often stop to get a cold drink at some point. It became cost prohibitive when our financial crisis hit at the end of last summer. So we stopped doing that as much. We still did it though (every time we were looking over our shoulders for Dave Ramsey - eek!).

Earlier this spring I found a little cooler at a church rummage sale. Perfect! I started taking drinks with us when we went out. Usually bottled water, but sometimes tea or other drinks that I purchased at the store. It was cheaper than going to a convenience store, but still not cheap.

Then one day, I was looking at my husband's Christmas gift and I thought I'd try to brew iced tea with it. At that moment, I started a new trend in our house.

Now I am brewing the tea we take with us when we go out and about. There are many benefits here. #1 being cost. A tea bag costs pennies compared to the $1.50 to $2 we were spending on drinks at convenience stores.
The side benefit is that I know what is in that bottle now. I don't use corn syrup or artificial sweetners or chemical preservatives. I use tea and honey or raw sugar and sometimes I squeeze lemon juice in. Labeling the bottles is very important. When I brew fruit teas for the kids, it can sometimes be a hard sell if the children don't know what's in the bottle.

I haven't calculated costs, yet. However, I know this is just better.

I brew the tea right in the bottle with the water from our Kreurig machine. When it's finished brewing, I add water to fill the bottle and stick it in the refrigerator. Hubby likes having the individual servings in bottles to grab and go.

Laundry Soap update

The laundry soap that Lucy and I made is working out great. Our clothes are clean and we are paying a fraction of the cost of commercial laundry detergent. I'm thrilled with it.

Laundry Soap

While at the Tractor Supply Store purchasing pullets this spring, I noticed this issue of Mary Janes Farm magazine on the rack near the check out. It caught my attention and I thought "What the heck". (Truth be known, I'm a sucker for magazines. Don't know why. I just love them.)

I found a recipe for laundry soap and was intrigued. After doing more research, I found that making your own laundry detergent is economical. Hmmmmmm....

So tonight, we made laundry detergent. I haven't done the calculations yet and I'm waiting to see if this actually works. In the meantime, I'll share pictures.

These are the ingredients. I found these items at the grocery store in the laundry aisle. (Confession: As much as I hate that place, I checked "Wally World" first. They did not have all of these items. So much for one-stop shopping.)

My husband even got in on the action. He likes the saving money part.