Day 1

I wake up today to my first challenge: a hole in my favorite socks. My wool socks that I wear religiously because I am notoriously cold. David thinks there is something amiss with my circulatory system, but the socks do the trick. There's the hole--staring me in the face. I look back at it and want to throw the socks away, but I can't. These socks need to warm my feet through the rest of the month, so I double up my sock layers and get breakfast going for the kids.

Halfway through the day I have to go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription (there's no getting around this and you can't honestly include this in the challenge). I head straight to the back to get my medicine, and am suddenly aware of Children's Tylenol on sale. And hand sanitizer. Both of which we have plenty of at home, but given the H1N1 march across America I feel like you can't turn down a good sale. I pay for just my prescription and leave otherwise empty handed.

Then the kicker. U2 tickets went on sale today for their show that's coming to Denver in June.
Whoops. Didn't plan for that. Maybe we can get nose bleed seats and buy tickets in December.

Tonight would have been the perfect night to grab dinner on the run. David has to go back to school for a PTA meeting, and I lead a Bible study at our church. My mom isn't in town, so we have to bring the kids with us to our respective duties. But instead of ordering sandwiches at Subway, I made dinner and we are eating at 4:45 before we all head back out again.

That's a chunk of change I saved today.

30 Days of Nothing

Ever heard of this? I've been tossing this idea around in my head for the last two weeks and I'm going to do it. 30 Days of Nothing is a personal challenge that means exactly what it implies: a whole month of not buying anything that is not absolutely necessary. Other bloggers I know have tried (and successfully completed) this challenge, and it was fascinating for me to read their thoughts.

A little history on our family. When we first moved to Colorado, Carver was 2 and a half and Lily was two months old. David took an enormous pay cut and I was working (sporadically) as a freelance editor. We were incredibly blessed, but money was tight. We had one car (David walked to work). It was the kind of budget that if you ran out of light bulbs but there were still 2 weeks until pay day, you went without light bulbs. When David became an Assistant Principal, I remember the joy of going to Target and buying light bulbs whenever I wanted. We are still careful with our finances and very grateful for all we've been blessed with, but I want to make sure I'm really aware of where every penny is going. Also, with Thanksgiving around the corner, the timing is right.

For the month of November I am going to do my darnedest to not... buy... a... single... thing. Disclaimer: Obviously, we need to eat. Groceries do not count in this challenge. But let it be said that this won't be the month to try new Ina Garten recipes that call for saffron threads or other such nonsense that would defeat the purpose of trying to cut back. I'll try to keep things simple. Also, I am not about to go into emergency mode and put scraps of recycled newspaper in the bathrooms should we run out of toilet paper. If we run out, I WILL BUY MORE. Lastly, if one of the cars breaks down, we'll fix it.

I'll also come clean and tell you that I spent money today. I had long-standing plans to meet a good friend for coffee this morning. It was her birthday so I treated her to a latte. And in anticipation for a birthday party Carver is invited to in 10 days, I bought a gift card at Target. But that's it. It's the evening of November 2, and the challenge begins NOW!

Before

Darth, Sylvester, and Green Power Ranger (Z chose to be the same thing he was last year! It was fantastic.)

After

Checking out the booty. We had a great night. It was the first time I got to go trick-or-treating with the kids. I'm usually stuck at home handing out candy. The weather was fabulous--considering we had a blizzard 3 days ago--warm with lots of leaves to crunch through. My brother met up with us and joined the festivities, and Buddy experienced the joy of barking at kids wearing weird costumes.

Now I'll let you in on a dark family secret: we buy our kids' candy off of them. I think I've explained this before, but I get tired of those piles of candy lingering on into December. When we get back from trick-or-treating, we have our kids paw sort through the sugar bounty and keep whatever they want. Really, we don't force them to give anything up. But the lure of 10 cents per item is fairly strong, and without fail the kids wind up keeping a handful of candy and "selling" the rest to us. I like teaching them that a little candy is OK, and there's value in making healthy choices. Stupid? Maybe. But in one week we'll be done with our Halloween candy and that is music to my ears.

Recently Overheard

Zinabu, Mr. Popular, has had 3 birthday parties to attend in one week. I'm considering hiring him a personal assistant to keep up with all his comings and goings, not to mention making sure he doesn't wear the same thing twice to all these gatherings (sarcasm, people). I was driving to the store--again--to buy a birthday present--again--and I said offhand, "I'm glad you're not invited to 10 parties.
He piped up, "Why?"
"Well," I responded, "that would be a lot of presents to buy and that's a lot of money."
"Then get to work and make some money, Mom!" (insert sound of whip cracking)

This kid can be so sensitive at times, and so very annoying at others.

Hello winter. You always make Halloween and trick-or-treating a challenge. Looks like costumes with long underwear, hats, gloves, and scarves this year.

Strange, But True
What follows may just be my strangest post to date. Every day I make the kids their lunches. None of them are real big on school lunch (well, except Zinabu who will eat anything) but if I pack their lunches at least I know--for the most part--what they're consuming. Except for the time I was helping out in the lunchroom and I saw from across the cafeteria Carver trading his organic-whole-wheat-super-expensive graham crackers for a Ho-Ho. But that's not the point. For as long as I can remember I've sometimes cut their sandwiches with cookie cutters, so they can eat their food in the shape of a heart, or a star, or whatever. I recently found this contraption.

It cuts the sandwich in a perfect circle, then you press the button and it crimps the edges so the jelly (or whatever is in between the bread) stays inside. It's actually very cool.

Perfect circle.

Perfect sandwich.

Round, slightly domed, a masterpiece. Except they remind me of something. Oh yeah... nursing pads. The kind nursing mothers stick in their bras to stop leakage.

So every day I send my kids to school with nursing pad-shaped sandwiches.

I'm such a good mom.

He's Growing On Me...

He requires way more attention than I think he deserves, but he's a sweetie. This is what he does all day while I'm working...sits at my feet and stares up at me with a smarmy expression on his face. He occasionally licks my hand and moans with delight over being in the same room with me. Go figure. The kids positively adore him, David has a running partner, and my mom just might love him the most. So he's done his job--worming his way into all of our hearts.

Weekend
I feel so blessed that we had a fantastic weekend together as a family. I'm still fighting off some kind of crud, but the weather was so beautiful I just couldn't stay inside. On Saturday we drove to Denver to visit the zoo and to meet someone that we contacted through craigslist. More on that in a bit.

In the reptile building. Very cool--especially the vampire bats, which my kids thought were great.


No trip to the zoo would be complete without standing around for 15 minutes looking for the elusive tiger, who is always asleep in the shade out of sight.


Swimming polar bears.

My mom came with us and treated us to lunch (she's the best!). On this tray you will see what she and David ordered: foot long sausages. My mom is the size of a bird, but as she said to me, "I'm really hungry." She and David packed them away with no problem... they even finished at the same time. Can you see why David likes her so much? I just watched in awe.

Carver had some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket, and he'd done some extensive research on Freeboards. They look like a large skateboard, but they have 6 wheels and mimic a snowboard. You can carve down a hill and turn 360 degrees. They're crazy expensive, not to mention hard to find. Not many people own them or even try them. We found a college student in Boulder who wanted to sell his, so he met us in Denver (at the zoo) and Carver bought his very own Freeboard. Carver is actually very good already, which surprised us because we were told it takes a long time to learn how to master it. Too bad it's not a sport you can do in high school, because he's got some real talent.

And So It Begins...

The Halloween costume drama. Let me first say that I love Halloween. I love a society that says to its children "dress up and visit your neighbors and get free candy!" What could be better than that? We fondly remember Zinabu's first Halloween. He was still mastering English, having only been with us for 6 months, and he was floored that you could ring a doorbell, say a few words, and candy would be bestowed upon you. He thought the whole event was too good to be true. I'm not big on scary costumes, because they usually completely cover your child's face and you can't see who the little cherub is under there. I LOVE when my kids create their own dress-up ideas. Do you remember last year? Lily was a "bug worker at the zoo" and she wore a khaki vest and baseball cap, to which she attached her own drawings of insects. Not the most popular costume on the block, but unique and creative. The problem I encounter each year is that my kids' creativity runs wild and every hour--sometimes every minute--they change their minds about what they want to be. At some point I have to give my kids a deadline and tell them they have to decide on their costume so we can actually start creating it. I'm thinking this weekend is going to be our deadline. Here's what's on the table so far:

A dog that can fly. A hairy dog. A pumpkin. A cat. A knight. A werewolf. An eagle. A superhero. A dog walker. A cat. A skateboarder. The headless horseman (great, Carver, like I can really pull that off). A bear...

and it goes on and on.

In defense of all the stay-at-home moms that find themselves in questionable attire from time to time, I feel the need to explain. For example, I am at this moment wearing exercise pants (grey and stretchy) a light blue running shirt, red hoodie sweatshirt, brown down vest, and sheepskin boots. No small feat, I assure you. I threw my workout clothes on when I got up because I went to the Y after dropping the kids off at school. The hoodie went over the clothes to keep me warm. Turn out it was colder than I expected this morning and while pumping gas I added the down vest I had in my car for extra warmth. Ran an errand and came home with wet tennis shoes. Took those off at the door and slipped on the boots. Haven't changed yet. Now I do admit I have my standards. I will NOT drop off or pick up the kids at school wearing pajamas. That is a big no-no. But cropped stretch pants and sheepskin boots? Heck yeah!

Here is one of those "moments" I captured on a whim. The camera was already on the counter, and I just pressed record. Z didn't know he was being filmed. We were practicing reading his kindergarten words. He is, in a word, nutty.

*when your child's skin is dark brown, and there's not much light in the kitchen, this is what happens--a shadowy figure with eyes.

Bestest

Did you ever see the movie Anne of Green Gables, where Anne and her best friend Diana danced together--quite a few times. There is something so sweet about two girl best friends. My mom and Zinabu were playing the piano and Lily and Bailey cut a rug. What started as a waltz turned into some kind of jazzy twirl, and they giggled the entire time. They warm my heart.

Did You Ever Have One Of Those Days
where you try to be Snow White and sing and trill with joy and help your children get ready for school and make a delicious breakfast for everyone and even add a Hershey Kiss in the children's lunch boxes just because you love them and then the dog barfs on the floor and you don't have time for a shower and one child remembers at the very last second she forgot to do her math homework and is convinced her teacher will never forgive her for it (so not true) so she is wailing in panic and trying to do it in the car and the youngest announces halfway to school that he "didn't put on his seat belt" so you pull over and yell (yes, yell) to "Get buckled!" and then the oldest asks to go to the skateboard park and could I please remember to pack his skateboard, helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves in the car and can we please, please, please invite 700 of his best friends to come along and then you remember you didn't eat breakfast so you go back home and pour a bowl of cereal all over the counter because one of the kids is collecting Box Tops for school and there are holes cut in all the cereal boxes...

Did you? 'Cause I just did.

Eleven

Carver is eleven. His birthday was yesterday, but I am only now able to say the number aloud. Eleven. More than a decade. Two years away from 13. I don't swear, but if I did, this would be the perfect time. Your oldest child turning 11 deserves some kind of expletive because I am not ready.

He is, of course, completely over the moon about being a year older. He's got birthday money burning a hole in his pocket, he's got a big party tonight with friends, and he thinks he's the next big thing now that he's no longer 10.

He shares his birthday with an incredible man. The world is a better place for Carver to grow up in because of this man's work. (Check out The Carter Center in my sidebar links.) Two Georgia boys celebrating another year older on October 1.

About A Girl

A girl called Carver. She promptly hung up on me, but she asked to speak with him before quickly losing her nerve. I am really not ready for this. Granted, Carver thinks girls are about as exciting as moldy cheese, but still... I remember when I was in 5th grade and being in love with half the boys in my class. (sigh) I feel like stopping this crazy ride called parenthood and getting off. However, this is a very good time for me to apologize to all the mothers of the boys I called and hung up on. So, so sorry.

Laugh or Cry?

There is a Bible verse that says, "There's a time to laugh, and a time to cry." But I truly didn't know which applied this afternoon. I came home from the grocery store and Lily announced, "Zinabu did my hair!" It was something, let me tell you. I am not posting photos of what it looked like in the back because when Lily is 16 I would like her to still be on speaking terms with me. However, the giant bangs and clump of hair I found on the counter were enough cause for worry.

Oh, the pros and cons of being married to a high school administrator. The cons would take too long to list, but the pros came in handy today. It was the big homecoming parade! The parade has been a tradition in the historic part of town for years and years and it is a wonderful celebration of the elementary, middle, and high school in the area. In the past we've ridden with David on a golf cart (thrilling, let me tell you!) but the kids are all old enough to ride solo. While David was in the administrator's cart, the kids and I decorated then rode on our bikes. It was a blast, except I conveniently forgot the fact that everyone would be looking at me. You know, that happens in a parade but you don't really plan ahead about what that will really feel like. It was a little odd, and I confess I worried too much about the size of my bum on my bicycle seat. Vanity, vanity.

It was a beautiful fall day, the kids had a blast, and we stroked our kids' egos about being the center of attention. All in a day's work!

If/Then

If you beg and beg and beg and beg and beg for a dog and finally get one, it follows that then you start to beg and beg and beg and beg and beg for a horse.

Lily is giving me grey hair.

The weather turned nasty this week, which I actually love. We get a lot of sunny days in Colorado and after weeks and weeks of it, you kinda long for clouds, chill, and drizzle. The leaves in the mountains are turning and the rest of the state is close behind. I've had a bee in my bonnet to cook (see previous post)... which is probably going to be a passing phase. Let's face it, this new Culinary Cathy will probably go down in smoke with Knitting Cathy and Get-Up-Early-And-Go-Swim-At-The-YMCA-Cathy. But in the meantime, Culinary Cathy has been productive. Ina Garten is my new superhero. Most of her recipes are ones that I already make and my family eats but she makes them much, much better. I can throw together a fast Chicken Pot Pie, but I tried Ina's Chicken Stew with Biscuits and we all moaned over our spoons. I made her Beef Stew (which is ready to be heated up for tonight and uses an entire bottle of red wine, be still my heart) and when I sampled some I thought I had reached nirvana. My problem lies in the fact that it's more time consuming than I'm used to, AND I'm using twice the amount of dishes/utensils for prep work. Once I'm finished cooking, the clean up is killing me. So here is my dilemma: do I make good but easy chicken pot pie, quickly clean up, and go read a book (my true love) or do I make blissful, out-of-this-world chicken stew with biscuits (that include gobs and gobs of butter) that we all love and devour but tack on an extra load of dishes?

The jury is out.

Around Here...
For someone who doesn't like to be busy (me) there certainly is a lot of action going on (here)! School is in full swing and we are being pulled in several directions. Our elementary school is wonderful because it offers lots of after-school activities: book clubs, Spanish club, science club, sports club, etc. Well, when you have three kids, guess what? Someone is attending something every day after school. Which is a good thing. My kids get an extra hour of enrichment with their friends. If I could freeze time right now I would. Having Carver, Lily, and Z at the same place at the same time all day is a huge blessing. Volunteering is a breeze because I can see all of them in one day and really get some quality time in their classrooms.

Zinabu started chess club this week. Is he a nerd, or what? There are about 20 kids who meet after school and play chess together with the 2nd grade teacher. Zinabu doesn't know all the rules yet but he loves the game. Zinabu is also a perfectonist, which is making kindergarten more of a struggle for him than it should be. Every once in a while--should his crayon stray outside the lines--he has a meltdown. This is a characteristic that I absolutely cannot relate to. Perfectionism is so not me. At all. I'm the lady that sets the bar low. So if you have a perfectionist kiddo I'd love to hear what you do to comfort them when they flip out over the little things.

Carver chose a new instrument to try this year. The French Horn! Other than the occasional giggles when it sounds like someone with bad indigestion, he's having a great time learning a brass instrument.

Lily is Lily. Steady and predictable and perfect at school and a wee bit more emotional at home. Ahem. On the bright side, she pushes me to be a better mom. Right? RIGHT? Someone tell me that's the bright side.

As for me, I discovered something amazing (thanks to the marvelous invention of cable TV that we now have). The Barefoot Contessa. I've caught her show a couple of times, and I have to say she inspires me to cook. Something about the fact that she's so laid back... and her recipes are incredibly yummy but don't look very hard to make. Case in point: beef stew. Gah! I was salivating all over my lap. Maybe it's the fact that her kitchen looks like mine, so I can imagine myself making all her delightful recipes. Kinda like putting on a new pair of running shoes makes you feel you can run faster??? Maybe it's the fact that she's so calm and simple, it doesn't look like she's cooking anything too difficult. But for someone that gets so tired of coming up with breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day, I think I love her.

David just returned from a fast weekend in Minnesota visiting his mom, brother, and aunt. He had a wonderful visit and dutifully found Minnesota Vikings shirts for all the kids. We are awash in purple.

And other than the fact that I am now on a quest for the perfect pair of red heels (see previous post), all is well.