Now for our week at home

It's funny to call our current house "home" because, really, they are both home now. But that is where we are this week. I think we've figured out that a week here, then a week there, then back here for a week might be a good, less stressful, more productive system. I can plan a week's worth of meals, a weeks worth of clean laundry, and then we can stay somewhere long enough to get more accomplished. Well, that's the plan anyway.

I hope I don't bore everyone with details, but I'm also hoping that someone who may one day be in my shoes will benefit from my experience. So, here it goes...This week I planned to make more homecooked-from-scratch foods, since last time's experiment with all the packaged stuff failed. So, I found a store more than 30 minutes from the property that had organics. And I went shopping there. Definitely an option if I'm totally out of some things that aren't sold locally. And, aside from the whole "organic" thing, there are very basic foods in my cooking, like coconut oil, that organic or not, are just not available (except at this store)! I'm always amazed at the rows and rows of different brands of "vegetable oil", but the utter lack of true variety. At Wal-Mart, if I want something other than "vegetable oil", or olive oil, I am out of luck (at least at this one). What about sesame oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, flax oil, etc.? Anyhow, I digress. I also drove to the farm (about 30 minutes) which has milk and other milk products (yogurt, kefir, etc.), cheese, eggs, beef, chicken, and even things like salt, grains, etc. It is operated by a lovely Mennonite family who are so friendly, and we always have a good visit. I was able to test the limits of my little dorm fridge and get a reasonable amount of food in there for the week. Things went well this time: I didn't spend much time in the kitchen and I felt significantly better health-wise.

My productivity is waning, as is the list of jobs that I can actually help with now. However, I had HOPED to get the laundry room painted this week. I thought it was totally doable, since the laundry room is the size of a large closet. As I swept the floor after dinner one night, I realized that, once again, I would not get to paint that laundry room. I just had to give that desire up to God. I've started working off a list of priorities each day, to make sure that the most important things happen everyday, and I had done that this day, and the laundry room was not more important than educating the children, spending time talking with them, and making sure that everyone had healthy meals to eat. So, I went to bed in peace that night, knowing that I'd accomplished the important things, and that God would take care of the rest. I just kept thinking of the verse, "Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS shall be added unto you." I saw it happen this week. I saw my two little boys dragging all the things, HEAVY things, that were stored in the laundry room, out to another room in preparation for painting. This was something I'd planned to do but just didn't have the energy, but they did it for me. When God says that children are a blessing and a reward, he means it! They really are. My children are doing for me things I cannot do right now in my big, pregnant state, and I am so thankful to them for that.

The week's agenda includes (starting Monday): the week off homeschool for the boys, and a big house sort/cleanout! Our current house is bigger than our trailer, so we have to prioritize and decide what we can really live without, and what we truly need. A big job. Hope I finish. Then, toward the end of the week: off to house #2. Pretty soon I will have to carry my birth kit in my van for "just in case". :)

Nutrition and More Work Accomplished

We've decided recently to start staying out at our property during the week more, to try to get more accomplished. The frantic loading of everyone on Sunday mornings to stay the day there is exhausting, and we seem to not get very much done. As Jeremy headed off the work this Thursday, I began preparing to meet him out there after work. The kids and I ate breakfast, finished homeschooling, ate lunch, and then packed everything into the van. It is surprising the heavy bags that those boys can load into the van! They like doing it, and it helps me a lot!

I've also decided to stock the pantry/dorm fridge at the property so that we aren't trying to pack up loads of food for our stay out there. I've been going shopping just as we run out of food, which seems to be often, since that fridge doesn't hold very much. I tried to plan meals around foods that didn't require refrigeration, and I was successful in that we did get meals fixed and didn't eat out, but the processed foods and minimal protein started taking its toll! My hands were swelling, which they hadn't done in a long time (only a handful of times this pregnancy, and I'm now 32 weeks), and one night while walking around Wal-Mart getting some things we needed, I got really nauseous and faint feeling. I was adding up what I'd eaten on that (very busy) day, and it wasn't much, esp. not in the way of protein. So I went straight to find snacks, paid for them, and then walked around finishing our shopping while consuming everything I'd bought! I soon felt better. Yet I didn't feel completely better (as in, no swelling and not hungry all the time) until I got home today and could eat our usual foods. I'm so surprised how much difference the right nutrition makes, esp. in pregnancy. I bought a box of Nutrigrain bars, and I seriously could eat at least a half box at one sitting and still not feel full, probably because it just doesn't provide the kind of nutrients my little growing baby is needing. Next time I will be bringing my Bosch so that I can make homemade bread and smoothies! I have to eat twice (or more!) as much store bought bread as normal bread to get full, and it doesn't have all the nutrients. And it is hard to find healthy, tasty options at Wal-Mart sometimes that don't have refined grains and/or extra sweeteners, and there aren't too many close shopping options besides Wal-Mart. So next time I will bring a cooler, too, if need be, and just cook my normal meals so that I will feel well, and save the pantry stuff for emergencies. At least now I know.

As far as work on the property, we got some transition strips between the different floors installed, a threshold and some trim around the door to make it look so much better, a deck partially installed (I'm SOO thankful that THAT, as it was getting really hard to make it up our temporary steps), and the carpet cut and laid down for our bedroom. We don't have the carpet pad yet, and it isn't installed, but at least it is down, on the floor, so that we aren't getting that particle board dust all over our feet, beds, etc., and now the roll of carpet is out of the kitchen! One less thing to trip over. :) And while the kids were napping one day, I painted our bedroom (yeah!!), and Jeremy helped finish it up when he got home. And then we proceeding to scratch it up with the carpet "installation". Oh well. Another repair for another day, I suppose.

I was so excited to find a great thrift store not to far from our property, too. I'm going to miss that about where we live now - tons of thrift stores with lots of great stuff, all not too far from our house. Yet having one good thrift store will help, with some others a bit farther away. I was able to find a wooden highchair for Faith, and we negotiated the price to $12. It didn't have a tray, which I didn't care too much about, since we were planning to just slide it up to the table, and it was wobbly, which Jeremy fixed with some wood glue. Clothes were half price that day, too, so I was able to find a few things for the children for $1 each. And we found some great Bible story books for my nieces birthday party that weekend! The neat thing about thrift stores is that they have things that typical stores do not sell, and for a fraction of the cost of the things that typical stores DO sell. For example, we bought a last minute shirt for Jeremy since the weather was colder than we thought, at an outlet store at 75% off: total price - $12.50. I told him that the shirts at the thrift store were 75% off of that store's 75% off price! Maybe I'll convert him to my thrift store ways someday.