Day 5 (of nothing)

I opted to make our own pizzas on Friday night. I bought some basic ingredients (which will last a few more weeks) and used a pizza dough recipe that seemed easy enough. As usual, when you make a little extra effort and spend time together in an activity, the kids had a ball. They loved creating their own pizzas, and Zinabu even deemed it the "Best Pizza Ever!" I had always viewed Friday night pizza as my one evening off from cooking, but I was convicted by the many women in the world who have every night off from cooking because there is no food to cook. Zinabu's first family, for example.

Not spending money takes much planning ahead. So far, that's a recurring theme I'm noticing. Yesterday (Saturday) I planned the entire day ahead of time so that I wouldn't be tempted to pay for anything out of convenience. David was gone Friday and Saturday, and that right there is an occasion to spend. If' he's out of town, I would normally "treat' the kids to something. Or "treat" myself--you know, because I'm doing everything on my own. I was surprised at that philosophy... it sounds so shallow. Dropping $4 at Starbuck's for a latte or buying the kids smoothies "just because" is a dumb way to part with our cash. And honestly, it's not as if David is home all the time and I have no idea how to handle being a mom on my own.

So yesterday morning we went swimming with friends as guests at their Y. We drove home for lunch--which was bare bones, since I desperately needed to go to the grocery store--and then headed to one of the colleges here for Cool Science. It was a huge (FREE) extravaganza of science demonstrations and experiments for families. Carver and Zinabu loved the explosives that set off the race cars, and Lily enjoyed the game of bird migration. The college does this once a year, and I'd heard of it before, but I don't know if I would have been as inspired to go had it not been for my no spending challenge right now. We wrapped up the afternoon at the skateboard park, where there is also a large field. We played fetch with Buddy and the kids ran around for over an hour. F-R-, double E.

Last night I went grocery shopping and was much more sensitive to where every penny went. I always plan my meals for the week and use coupons where I can, but I was even more conscientious last night--and I must say, we saved a wad! Today is Sunday and I don't anticipate any challenges because we usually just got to church and then spend the day at home as a family. But I'm curious about what next week will bring. My biggest challenge? Zinabu's birthday!


Carver pressing the "launch" button.

Experimenting with static.