And the winner is...

Sorry for the late posting! My weekend got away from me!

I'll pop this in the mail to you later this week!! Hope your weekend was a great one!

Wordless Wednesday

One Small Change revisited

It's been about eight months or so since I saw a movie that would change my life...I'd read about it on blogs and heard about it in the news but it wasn't until I actually sat down to watch it did I realize that I would never be the same again, or look at the world in the same light. It's still amazing to me that a movie can make that kind of change...and I wonder just how much change it could make in the world if everyone would actually take the time to watch it...

The movie I am talking about is not a big blockbuster hit...it doesn't have any famous actors or fancy production tricks...only truths...and so much free thinking that most people are afraid to even watch it...it makes people uncomfortable and is a real slap in the face to the way our country is run and the falsities we are told and expected to just "swallow".....now I'm not say this movie is the be-all-end-all (as some of my farming friends have voiced to me) but it does bring up questions that I think everyone should have to answer for themselves.

Food Inc. opened my eyes to the way our food is dumbed down, for lack of better words. It is dumbed down to the point that we are poisoning ourselves and we don't even care....For me, I always thought of us as fairly healthy eaters. We eat salad, not too much fast food and I try to buy organic when we can...and still the movie through me for a loop!

I had seen Michael Pollan on Martha Stewart and then again on Oprah before realizing that this was really something I wanted to delve into. I watched him on Oprah, and then watched it again with DH...I was so moved that I might actually still have it on my DVR...I got Food Inc from Netflix and DH and I sat down one evening to watch it. The responses we felt were disbelief, anger and then empowerment....a surge within to take control of our eating and to truly make a difference in our lifestyle and those of our children.

As with anything new, we went into it full speed and I know our friends thought we were crazy and our family probably still thinks we are! lol I stopped buying hamburger completely, and started buying bison meat as it was the only meat I could purchase at the time that actually had labels on it that I could read and that stated that the animals were grass fed and antibiotic free. We had a meal of cooked chicken that I already had in the freezer and found ourselves sick to our stomach when it came time to eat it...so we stopped eating chicken too until we could find a supplier that we felt good about (which never happened in that location!) I started researching blogs online that gave me some alternatives to meat and DH was a doll and actually tried the vegan recipes that I found! It was a whole family renovation and we were all in it together. Surprisingly...the vegan recipes were good and I think there was only one that didn't make it into the permanent recipe box!

We also had just purchased a Jack LaLanne juicer (worth every penny!) for Christmas and boy was it ever great! We started having more energy and craving the crap drinks less and less! A few times I even tried to drink a Coke and it just didn't taste that great! It's amazing to me what our bodies can do if only given the chance to flourish instead of bogging it down with things it doesn't really need.

Now, I don't want you to think we are going vegetarian, as that would never happen with DH being such a hunting fan...I totally believe that God put animals on this planet for us to use however he did not intend for us to use, abuse and throw them away! I felt like after seeing this movie, it was just one more way that the world is creeping farther and farther out of control, and I know that there probably isn't any real hope of changing it completely as I also know the Biblical stand on how the state of the world is going, but on the other hand, I don't have to just stand by and watch it happen. There are things we can do, little things that add up to be big things...little things that we can teach our children are important and little things that can make a big difference....

Back at the beginning of the year, I joined a blogging journey to bettering ourselves and the world around us through One Small Change... blogging about one thing each month that you are doing to make a difference in our world...to make it a better place...I was so moved by this and somehow it helped me focus in a time of so much chaos in our lives. I felt good about the changes we had made like using rags instead of paper towels, changing from plastic to glass storage, using vintage (or new) cloth hankies, and of course our not so small change in the way we view and purchase foods...

I am horrified and sadden that somehow I dropped the ball. I thought the challenge was supposed to go only thru Earth Day and I stopped the challenge when in reality I guess I was still going on! I just happened on to the blog this morning and realized it today so my One Small Change for the month of October is going to be getting back to all those changes we made, as we are still getting back to "normal" after the big move and unfortunately that means we got a bit lax in the way we were doing things...so today is the day...the paper towels are going back into hiding for true emergencies and the juicer will be humming again as soon as my wee ones awake...

My urge to you is to go check out One Small Change and be open to the small changes we can all make in our lives to add up to something big...an awareness! And by all means...go watch Food Inc...(for FREE)...your lives will never be the same! Try not to look at it as scary or daunting but rather see it as voting with your fork!!!

I would love to hear about the changes you are making...please leave a message with the link to your change and perhaps I will even have a showcase of the changes going on...anyone game for being a guess blogger? :)

A stop sign is a gift for you to learn that moving in the same direction won't take you any place new.Rex Steven Sikes

Back to our regularly scheduled broadcast...

yep...we are definately settling into our new surroundings. We have found our local library (and LOVE IT!), made many a visit to the quilt shop in town (now if only I had time to sew the fabric that is piling up!lol) and we found our local thrift store...those are the true signs that we are getting comfortable and braving the new area we call our stomping ground! lol

While I still miss our old haunts...the Goodwill just off the freeway, the spouses thriftshop on base and the antique store downtown....we are finding new favorite places...the kind of places that make a place feel like home....

We have made a number of visits to this particular thriftstore and have found treasures everytime but for some reason I felt compelled to share our finds with you this time... Keep in mind, my total came to a mere $7 and change!! Gotta love that kind of bargain!

A new fairy story, Lands End shoes for J, yarn that I had just been looking for at the store but they were out of! and the cutest little camel...bought for pattern making but got quickly whisked away to the fairy house!

Readers for J that were obviously from a library...if these were in the thrift store, just what are kids reading these days? I'll take a vintage book over the junk they make now anyday! :)

More books...cause you know we need them! lol NOT!

Clothes pins and ribbon for a project I have planned (having them already painted will save me time! woo hoo!) and these BEAUTIFUL potholders!! There was a huge stack of them and they are simply wonderful!!! The ones on the left are for me (and I use them daily) and another set I gave to a friend...which leaves the third set for one of you!!

Mandatory entry- Just leave a comment telling me your favorite second hand find and what you'll be baking to go along with these potholders!! Easy right?

Want extra chances? Become a follower (or remind me already are) and let me know (+1)

Blog about it and let me know (+1)

These pot holders are new... when I saw the pile sitting there it made me sad...I could just picture some little old lady making these, perhaps making a ton of them and having them pile up in her closet or something and upon her passing, her ungreatful children just dumping them at a dumpster for the thift store...so I bought three sets (wishing I'd bought more now)...later I found out that some ladies from the senior center donated them which made me feel so much better that some ol' granny hadn't been unappreciated but I still bought them just the same! lol They are so thick and work wonderful! I hope you'll enter to win a set too!!

I'll throw all the entries in a hat (literally) and draw a name out on Saturday, Oct 9th (my little bros birthday!).

Oh, and if you look closely in the last picture, you'll see a sneak peak of a little guy I've been working on for a swap with Bits of Goodness! Lots of creative juices flowing and ideas for Christmas coming...couldnt' we have a few more hours in the day? :)

A day of dragons

While exploring the Waldorf approach to schooling, we've happened on to a few celebrations that we otherwise wouldn't have known about. Some of these festivities are small and others are much more exciting and detailed...whatever the case my be, they are all simple and beautiful and I wish we were close enough to a Waldorf school to experience them fully. Until that day (hopefully someday) we just have to learn the best we can from what others share with us and make each festivity our own...




With that said, I introduce to you our day of dragons in the spirit of Michaelmas...a fall celebration of courage and determination. This is one of those celebrations that I knew/know little about, however we have always loved dragons so we thought we could give it a try! As I unpacked our book collection, I held out all the books we have about dragons. Surprisingly we had quite a few and the girls were anxious to read them all...all in one sitting if I'd let them...but then we wouldn't have had time to make this...











The girls loved decorating him with almond teeth, walnut spikes and cranberry eyes!







He looked a little rough after being baked...but boy was he yummy! lol This dragon bread was a nice addition to our chicken noodle soup for dinner and yummy spice cake for dessert! I had lots of other ideas for how the day would go but for a first time go around I thought it was pretty good. The girls played outside on the "new" swingset while I read this story of St George and how he slayed the dragon...by the end of it, the girls were sitting silently watching me read and so intend on listening that I could help but smile...I love homeschooling!






If you'd like to know more about this celebration, please check out these great blogs...they are great and such an inspiration to me. The education I have gotten from my fellow bloggers and homeschoolers is better than anything I learned in college! :)




Watkinseveryflavorbean


Crookedmoonmama




Frontier Dreams



Ancient Hearth



Twig and Toadstool


Our Little Nature Nest


The Lothians




I hope this season of change is a good one for you...and that you have the courage to slay the dragons in your life!

Our little Bits of Goodness

The last week has just flown by and I still have so much I wanted to share with all of you!

We are finally starting to get back in a schedule of sorts, and I am finally starting for feel more like being myself and less like being a zombee just going thru the motions of unpacking and sorting. We are getting to relax a bit more, explore and enjoy the natural progression of the summer turning to fall. I love this time of year...it just feels like mother nature is telling us to slow down and the rainy weather and cooler temps are just what we need to take a moment and enjoy the simple things...like apple sauce simmering on the stove and hot cider to sip while we read a good book!

Another excitement around our house is the unpacking of our comfort items...like the girls' play kitchen, my sewing desk and the nature table! While we haven't found all our nature table goodness, we have gotten back into swaps with Bits of Goodness and look what we found in the mail!



These lovelies are from the Tree swap that I recently took part in! Aren't they just beautiful!? The girls each got a tree, and the acorns/pouch but I claimed the necklace and the pouch for myself since the girls would only fight over them! lol It's nice to get something for myself once in awhile too and the girls didn't seem to mind... Ü





These are the little squids that I made for the Water swap! I can't wait to see what goodies we'll get in return! I just love the way these little guys turned out and of course I had to make a few more for the girls too! You can find the pattern here.

These swaps have been such a blessing to our family...the items we get and the quality of the craftmanship just amaze me! I am currently working on items for the fall nature table swap and the Christmas stocking/advent swap...more pictures to come!

A Free harvest

I almost feel guilty for the good fortune that seems to be blessing us lately....after the stress of a very drawn out move it all just seems too good to be true! Finding the house that we live in just happened on a fluke, and actually it happened when I thought I was ready to just give up trying. We had searched for months hoping to find a house to rent so we could have it all lined up and ready when we got here. We even had friends of ours go look at a number of them and they all turned out to be duds (which is putting it nicely!). When we thought we had a house all lined up we were overjoyed at the thought of just being settled. Now that house was far from perfect but it did have the largest backyard we had found as of yet and it did offer the square footage we were hoping for, along with a TINY kitchen and a yard that also needed an overhaul...but it was the best option we had found thus far and was the biggest bang for our buck....bang was right! We were knocked for a loop when I called to confirm the day we would be arriving only to find out that the house had been rented out from under us!!! This all transpired somewhere between South Dakota and Montana...in route to Washington!!! I was crushed and I'll admit there were a few tears...we were just so tired of being displaced and were so anxious to get settled and the thought of having to start our search all over was very daunting....





That's when our friend sent me a link to a house that she thought might work. It too was not perfect but it offered the basics of what we needed and to be honest I just didn't care. I just wanted to have a house waiting for us. I had given up on finding the house of our dreams and figured we'd just have to settle for a cramped little house where we couldn't sneeze without our neighbors hearing it. That house didn't work out after all but it did get us connected with the nicest realtor! She suggested that we try looking for a house out of the city in a more rural area. We had originally wanted to be in the country but after talking to a number of people, we were convinced that the commute to work would be terrible and not worth it. The realtor sent me a list of houses to check out and at least consider and the first one (that we happen to now be living in) really spoke to me!!! We decided that the commute was well worth what we would be getting in return.... 4 bedrooms, (we SO needed a schoolroom) and room to breath...5 acres to be exact! lol



Looking back, I can only imagine how funny God thought we were...all that worry and He knew exactly what he was doing! Why is it that we can see things so clearly looking backwards? Even at the time I knew that it would all work out, but I was just too tired to think clearly and needed to feel safe and comfortable again.


As it turns out, God really did a number on things for us...not only did we get our basic needs but He seemed to think of every detail along the way...



right down to the chickens that came with the house,



the huge garden area that we'll have next spring,





the very nice tiller we got on close out





....and the plethora of blackberry heaven we just discovered yesterday....








We make the best choices we can for our lives and the lives of our children and have to just know that we are doing the best we can and that God has a plan for us, even if it's not on the road before us but rather on a dirt road off to the side... I am speechless for words almost on a daily basis and wish I could thank Him more graciously for the free harvest He has set before us....but the words escape me so I'll just make the most of this free harvest and do my best to appreciate this life to it's fullest....