We've Moved!!

So, Sorry sorry sorry! Things have been truly nuts here! We bought our first house! (more on the house later) Then the week we passed papers, my husband was unable to find work and was out of work for 3 months!! he's self employed and it happens, but the timing really sucked! So, i guess i had nothing good to say and chose to spare you all and keep my mouth shut! Things are better now. Still behind, but at least he is working. So much has changed in just a few months. We moved to an amazing little town. We are within walking distance to everything downtown which has been so different and really great! The boys love it! The dogs....not so much. I don't think I realized how the isolation was affecting me until we were moved. We have a huge yard, around an acre. lots of garden space. no, it's not 186 acres, but it is ours and comes free of dealing with others and all of their issues. Our payment is also less than our rent! The other big change may come as a shock to many. My boys are going back to public school this fall...........It's a big one, I know! My stomach flips just thinking about it. We spent a lot of time investigating the local school. It's 4 doors down from our house. The principal spent 2 hours with us answering all of our questions. He is really awesome. the average classroom size is 15!!!!!!! just 12 in Harland's class. I could go on and on trying to explain why, but, it just feels right for now. We have big future plans which involve two parents as full time students, So I would not be here next year any way. Honestly, we have cut all possible corners, and, well, we are barely getting by. I need to work for a while and finish my nursing degree so I can make a little money. We may go back to homeschooling at some point. I still love it and am a huge supporter! We ultimately left the decision up to the boys and they are very excited. I feel nervous, like nauseous nervous, but i won't tell them. I am also feeling mighty sad, but i will keep that to myself as well. We are giving this a shot and will take it one day at a time. I'll keep you updated.
Forrest (15) has been away for the summer at Upward bound. It's a summer program at the local college for bright, college bound kids. He loves it! He does come home on the weekends, but i still miss him terribly.
Gaynor(12) got braces! he has a major issue with a tooth not coming in so they are working to fix that. He looks so grown up. He will be taking both drum and steel drum lessons this fall as well as skiing with school. He has been placed in the advanced math program and is talking about joining the high school math team. He definitely did not get this math gift from his mother! His only question is how he will find enough time to read a novel a day like he does now! ha ha!
Harland(6) got glasses, he tells everyone he looks just like Harry Potter! He is also wearing a patch on his strong eye for a few hours every day to strengthen his weak eye. It was a challenge at first but going fine now. Harland is very very excited about the first grade. this will be his first time in public school. He will also be skiing twice a month with school this winter. He has been super into skate boarding lately and seems to be a natural. Imagine how happy his dad is!
Indigo (3 in 3 weeks) is growing up way WAY too fast. Potty trained in 3 days! This is soooo unbelievable to me! 2 of my other 4 were very challenging to train so this was a huge gift for me. I am working on his birthday sweater and crown (will post pics at some point). One good thing about public school is i will have lots of one on one time with my buddy. something we almost never have. The boys are at camp this week so I got a glimpse at how my days will be this fall. Honestly, I am all ready reminded of how I hate the morning rush!!! I am working on a plan to cut down the stress. Other than that, I have to say, so far, having just one is rather breezy! I imagine my house might actually be clean for a minute. Too Quiet, but clean! Ok I'm off for now. I am going to my sister's this weekend....ALONE!!!! to make soap and deodorant and toothpaste. I missed you all and I'm back to stay. Tell me what you all have been up to!

It's Official!

Ok so crazy hectic but, I wanted to share that we have purchased our first house! We are in the process of moving and will be off line for a few. But, when I get back, I'll tell you all about it! I'm excited, scared, happy, nervous you name it! See you all soon

Breastfeeding Welcome Here

Saw this article on Yahoo this morning and couldn't resist posting it. As a Lactation Counselor, fighting big business at ever turn while trying to help new moms nurse their babies successfully, I am secretly thrilled someone is finally relating Successful breastfeeding to saving money on a large scale! its about time! Sad that it takes this to initiate big changes, but I will focus on the "big changes" and ignore the $$$$$$$.


By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer – 1 hr 53 mins ago

CHICAGO – The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says.

Those startling results, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, are only an estimate. But several experts who reviewed the analysis said the methods and conclusions seem sound.

"The health care system has got to be aware that breast-feeding makes a profound difference," said Dr. Ruth Lawrence, who heads the American Academy of Pediatrics' breast-feeding section.

The findings suggest that there are hundreds of deaths and many more costly illnesses each year from health problems that breast-feeding may help prevent. These include stomach viruses, ear infections, asthma, juvenile diabetes, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and even childhood leukemia.

The magnitude of health benefits linked to breast-feeding is vastly underappreciated, said lead author Dr. Melissa Bartick, an internist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. Breast-feeding is sometimes considered a lifestyle choice, but Bartick calls it a public health issue.

Among the benefits: Breast milk contains antibodies that help babies fight infections; it also can affect insulin levels in the blood, which may make breast-fed babies less likely to develop diabetes and obesity.

The analysis studied the prevalence of 10 common childhood illnesses, costs of treating those diseases, including hospitalization, and the level of disease protection other studies have linked with breast-feeding.

The $13 billion in estimated losses due to the low breast-feeding rate includes an economists' calculation partly based on lost potential lifetime wages — $10.56 million per death.

The methods were similar to a widely cited 2001 government report that said $3.6 billion could be saved each year if 50 percent of mothers breast-fed their babies for six months. Medical costs have climbed since then and breast-feeding rates have increased only slightly.

About 43 percent of U.S. mothers do at least some breast-feeding for six months, but only 12 percent follow government guidelines recommending that babies receive only breast milk for six months.

Dr. Larry Gray, a University of Chicago pediatrician, called the analysis compelling and said it's reasonable to strive for 90 percent compliance.

But he also said mothers who don't breast-feed for six months shouldn't be blamed or made to feel guilty, because their jobs and other demands often make it impossible to do so.

"We'd all love as pediatricians to be able to carry this information into the boardrooms by saying we all gain by small changes at the workplace" that encourage breast-feeding, Gray said.

Bartick said there are some encouraging signs. The government's new health care overhaul requires large employers to provide private places for working mothers to pump breast milk. And under a provision enacted April 1 by the Joint Commission, a hospital accrediting agency, hospitals may be evaluated on their efforts to ensure that newborns are fed only breast milk before they're sent home.

The pediatrics academy says babies should be given a chance to start breast-feeding immediately after birth. Bartick said that often doesn't happen, and at many hospitals newborns are offered formula even when their mothers intend to breast-feed.

"Hospital practices need to change to be more in line with evidence-based care," Bartick said. "We really shouldn't be blaming mothers for this."

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Where did she go?

ok so it may seem as if I have fallen off the face of the earth. Not true. You know how when you have something important and big going on, you find you can't talk (or think) about anything else??? Well, that is why I shall remain quiet for a few more weeks. Just send my you positive energy, it can't hurt.

Fiber LOVE................

So many ideas for this gorgeous gift of yarn from South America.....but i think i need to go with Sarah's idea of a lap blanket. We all snuggle under blankets when we watch movies or listen to stories and this will allow everyone to share and enjoy our gift. looks like it will knit up pretty quick. can't wait to see it finished.

One Small Change,,,,,,,,or a few small changes

So it's time to tell about our family's change for February. It has ended up we have made a few changes here so I will talk about them all. First, I will again warn there will be words about feminine hygiene products, not interested? skip this post.


So first off we bought an awesome drying rack for clothes.(did you notice the tarp with all the dirt? pretty awesome huh? try not to be jealous. Here in Maine we had 6 straight -yes literally, weeks of rain this summer. This has made for some wet fire wood. We have to bring grips of it indoors to dry before we can burn it. As a bonus, when we first bring it in, we are blessed with usually about 10 mosquitoes, as if all the bugs in the spring and summer weren't bad enough) we normally hang clothes to dry in the good whether. But lets face it, cloths dry rather slowly when its below zero outside. So, basically my dryer runs all day. I imagine it is a huge chunk of the electric bill. Drying racks have never before entered the picture for two reasons. one, they are tiny and I do three loads of laundry a day, really they would be pretty useless here. Also, I see one and immediately think "that thing is so flim-flam, it will be broken within the week. Sorry, but things break here. 4 boys, 2 puppies! Well we found a giant GIANT Maine made high quality one at our local small time department store. I love it! it fits about 2 loads of laundry at a time. And thanks to the wood stove, they dry quite fast. It also helps add moisture to our house. The wood stove makes it very dry. I have not run my dryer since Friday. I think this should make quite a difference in our electric bill. Next month we will likely buy a second one and that should eliminate all dryer use.

Next, I started the family cloths. I did cheat a little and purchase them, but I knew if I had to sew them, it would never happen. So I went to my trusted Cloth diapering site and bought organic cotton terry wipes. Only 20 for now. They are not cheap! I also made it optional. They are there for those who choose to use them. I'm guessing that will make 4 cloth wipe users(one during diaper changing) and two toilet paper lovers. I can understand. I likely would have run away if my mom tried this when I was 15. I think they will come around eventually. I also explained that if we end up building a house and using an outhouse, they will have to use them. If you want more info, click the one small change link to the right. Basically for us, we keep a cloth washable water proof bag(also from that site) in the bathroom for used wipes. Then, I will take the bag, dump it into the wash with the diapers (the bag as well) and wash it up. I do one cycle cold cold no soap (I sometimes add 1/4 cup baking soda) and then one cycle hot/cold with my o-nature-l detergent. This is the only "hot" wash I run here.



While on the Nurtured Family Sight, I also bought cloth menstrual pads. They are almost too pretty to use! They too will go right in with my cloth diapers which I wash about every other day. I have been using the Diva cup for about 6 months now and am very happy with it, but wanted these to supplement it's usage. This diva cup is pretty awesome. I'm not going to get into detail of its use, but do check it out. It takes a little getting used to, but other than that it's pretty great.

So those are our February changes.

On a side note, our good friends returned from their three week honeymoon to South America and brought us the best gifts! Totally unexpected, and totally loved! I will show some fiber love later this week. Damn we missed those two! Seems like it was three months!

lest you think i haven't got anything under control

.............living with less and using what you've got.

so i have a lot i want to do, but there are some things i have been working on for years. At this point, we are trying hard to pay off all of our debt. It's been tough, a lot of ups and downs, but we are getting there. Ideally we want to buy a home with out a mortgage. But, that is a post for another time. Today I will talk about the raising kids on a ultra tight (that's an understatement) budget.

There are the more obvious things, cloth diapers, cloth napkins, everything homemade and from scratch. This is where you see how "green" and "frugal" go hand in hand. We also buy in bulk and are trying to buy more this way. The first thing for us was oats. we eat oatmeal every day for breakfast, all six of us. When I get too many complaints, I make granola, but they eat twice as much. So we buy 50lb bags of organic rolled oats. We bought food grade barrels with lids to store it in. We also buy 50lb bags of Maine grown organic whole wheat pastry flour. The pastry acts more like an all-purpose, we do still mix for some recipes. We also are lucky enough to have an awesome health food store that will order just about anything in bulk at a 10% discount. So we get cases of Silk yogurt, we eat about 4-6 quarts a week. A yogurt maker is in our future but the art of making soy yogurt has yet to be perfected. We also now buy our laundry detergent in bulk. A 3 gallon bucket of an all natural bio-degradable cedar smelling laundry detergent made by a local family of 7. it works out to I think about 15cents per load. It's called o-natur-l and it was designed by this mom for her baby with extreme exema, so you know it's gentle. I love it, does great with diapers too. this week I will be ordering Chick peas, lentils and black beans. The bonus, along with savings is not running out of food. The weather can be wacky here. Its like -12 right now and then there is the snow. You don't want to get caught with a storm coming and no food.

Now for entertainment, here are the boys bean pictures,

and here is indigo playing in the left over beans like a sand box. Use what ya got and get creative. Check this out....
ya we eat a lot of yogurt and our town won't recycle the containers, i can't bare to throw them out.
We are trying to cut way back on videos so we have been borrowing books on CD from the library. AAAHHH the library, the most frugal, green entertainment ever. We try to get to story time every other week. and books come home with us, lots of books. Ok so here is a list of simple easy things to get you going on the greenugal (ya, thats green and frugal, I know! I am quite clever) road to a better life.

cloth napkins and rags (seriously, how many paper towels do you think a family of 6 would go through!) we bought ours at thrift store over time, quite an ecletic collection! I have also made them as gifts pretty quick to sew up

cloth diapers, even buying a few and trying part time would make a huge difference

no plastic bags (like ziplock sandwich bags) we use containers for everything, trash free lunches for mike when ever possible.

high quality long johns or "base layer" if your young and hip, did this one throw ya? Well clearly this is only if you live in a climate like mine, cold! and about six months of it! but i really REALLY like to be warm so in order to cut down on the wood we burn, i wear long johns, I mean a silk or wool base layer every day. The boys wear high performance synthetic (it's cheaper and washes very well, someday I will step them up to wool but the budget does not allow it right now)

So there are a few things we do here that you can try. so many more and so little time My next post will be my February One small change post. Please, be prepared for some over sharing! If you don't want to talk Feminine hygiene or worse, steer clear. until then here is a pantry minestrone recipe. sooooo yummy!

2 onions chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic pressed or minced
3 tbls olive oil
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
3 carrots chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 1/2 cup small shell pasta
1 tbl oregeno
1 tbl basil
1 tbl thyme
fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste
1/2 of a 120z bag of frozen chopped spinach
64 oz of veg broth or water

saute carrots, onions and garlic in oil in large stock pot until soft, add spices saute for 3 more minutes add all ingredients except pasta, simmer for 30 minutes to 3 hours, add past and cook until pasta is tender, about 10-15 minutes serve with homemade bread. n

you could make this in the crock pot too, just wait on the pasta until about 30 minutes before serving