"Enjoy the LITTLE THINGS in life for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things."


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Come on in and sit awhile while I talk about the "Little Things" in life. I will share my journey of everyday life.... homeschooling, raising my children, homesteading, gardening, health and wellness, and real life.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

My Old Fashioned Maw Maw: Sunbonnets

In the interest of time I am borrowing this internet snapshot because upon doing a quick search this looks the most like the ones my grandmother used to make.  So, for the record the Sunbonnet pictured is NOT my own picture.  This is the style when laying flat.  And here is the one my Maw Maw made with her very own hands:
Savannah (11)

Sierra (8)

 
As I wrote the post about my grandmother the other day I began to think about her sunbonnets.  The one pictured here is the one that she gave Savannah for a birthday gift one year.  We treasure it.  We had another that she gave us when Savannah was born, but I can not seem to find it.  It was my favorite because it was all white, but made from a calico fabric with a faint print.  The one pictured has been worn by several of my girls and it is very versatile.  That one will fit on the baby and the eleven year old.  How smart is that?!  And that is the way things of old were.  Versatile... useful... simple.... lovely. 

As I stood at the washing machine yesterday that little bonnet was laying nearby and I picked it up and ran my hands over it.  I kept thinking, "I wish I had Maw Maw's old pattern."  For whatever reason I kept moving things around and the little bonnet was back in my hands over and over again.  Eventually, I thought, "I could make a pattern off of it, if I take the time."  And that is what I did this morning.  I started at breakfast time carefully marking out the pieces and then, I began writing out step by step instructions and thinking out the whole process.  By noon I had it done.  Of course, I am not busy at all with everyday life... LOL... so things take me longer than the average person might.  So, I am happy to now have a pattern off of my Maw Maw's sunbonnet with detail instructions that my own children can one day use. 

And as I sit her now I am reflecting on her love for Sunbonnet girls....
I've seen her make things like this.  In fact, I have seen her make whole quilts like this with each block of the quilt being a different scene.  I can hardly imagine the HOURS that went into one quilt like that... Or even the hours that went into one square for the quilt.

I remember large quilts with these little girles all over, also.  Oh how she loved her sunbonnet girls.  I am guessing they reminded her of her own children or of the child she once was. 

{This post was actually typed on May 16th and scheduled to post.}

Friday, May 18, 2012

Egg-strodinary!!

Over the last month we have gottne some unusual eggs around here and I thought I would talk about them and what I have learned (or think I have learned... LOL). 

Before I get started I want to talk about the latest change I have made because I know you are likely to notice in the picture and wonder.  I have started dating my eggs with a "grease pencil" with the month/date to make sure I do not get the eggs mixed up and use up the fresher eggs first.  You could use a common crayon and if you do I would use a brand like Crayola that is American made and states that it is "non-toxic".  If you notice on the egg below I also made a question mark because I was not sure what we had here.  It was too early to be getting duck eggs, but this egg was quite a bit larger than the others.  My guess was:

A DOUBLE YOKER !!!
 ~~Sierra modeling the eggs~~

 ~~And this is a stovetop comparison because I think you can tell more about the size this way.~~

~~And YES, my guess was right.  We had a DOUBLE YOKER!~~

What I learned:  That there is really no certainty about why some hens will lay a double yoker.  For some reason as the egg is develop in the hen two eggs come down at the same time and get encased within one egg.  I am not worried about this except that if it continues I would be concerned that it might be exhaustive to the hen and harder for her to lay.  But hey!... twins are born everyday, right!?


 ~~This one is an EGG WITHOUT A SHELL.~~

What I have learned:  Well, there is a lot of information about this and some people think this is a deficiency in the hen, such as, lack of calcium or other issue.  I read beyond that and found information that said that it is not likely to be a health issue, but rather that the hen could have been traumatized during the process of the egg development.  Look at those sweet children at the very top of my blog.  I bet you wouldn't guess they would EVER traumatize a chicken.  LOL!  Oh yes, I am certain that any such defect in an egg is more likely to be a traumatized hen than any other possibility.  They are not supposed to chase the chickens, but they do and catch them and love on the and throw them in the air to see them fly (all when they don't think anyone is watching, of course).  Fortunately, they mostly listen and don't do these things, except when they get caught up in a moment of excitement and forget the rules. 


No Pic because you could not tell by looking and the only other thing is to include a pic of a cracked egg on the ground.  :)
~~The last thing I will talk about is THIN SHELLED EGGS....~~

What I have learned:  These eggs are so thin that they crazk in your hands when you try to pick them up.  I have a few of these, but still nothing excessive.  Thin shelled eggs are a calcium deficiency.  The cure is to provide more calcium for the chickens.  This can be done several ways, but the one that seems easiest is to provide the chickens with a dish of Oyster Shell.  I think you could save money by allowing your empty egg shells to dry out and crush them to tiny bits for the hens.  Also, it is wise to make sure you are providing your hens with enough protein (use Laying Pellets, etc.).


 Before I close I also want to state that I track my egg counts on my calendar.  From this I can tell if our production changes... or if I need to go an egg hunt.  In general we get one egg per chicken a day.  Sometimes on or two of them do not lay an egg.  When we are short more than two for more than one day I know that I need to search for a hidden nest.  Recently, we have moved our chickens and ducks around a lot and I am getting very inconsistent egg counts.  At first the hens were hiding their eggs.  Now they are in their coop/run more and this trains them to lay in their nest.  Still our egg counts are down and I think it is due to the trauma of the moving. 

That's all for now!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Radish Roots and God

I posted about growing radishes here.  I wanted to show I pic of the radishes that I picked today.  So far I have harvested this small bunch and a another bunch like this.  They are HOT, so I am not certain what I am going to do with them.  They are so beautiful, but I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food.  I love radishes, but not when they are hot.  With the first bunch I did not keep the leaves, but tomorrow I will inspect my leaves and possibly have a salad with these in it.  Even if I don't end up eating the radishes I think I am going to continue planting them for fun and maybe just use the leaves in salad.  I am sure I can find someone to share the actual radishes with.  Again, I think it is amazing that they grow mostly above ground with that long root anchoring it down into the soil while it grows.  It makes me think of how little God requires of us to anchor us to Him.  That single little root supports that big round ball and massive leaf structure.  All we need is that tiny little bit of faith for God to anchor us down.  We are His and that is a great feeling. 

Monday, May 14, 2012

Pondering My Very Old Fashioned Maw Maw

My grandmother and my cousin 30 years ago

I was hesitant to use this picture since the people in it do not know I blog, but this is such a great picture of my Maw Maw.  Sorry, I cropped out my uncle, but only because I am not sure he would want his pic on the internet or on my blog.  I do love him, too.  So, look at my Maw Maw.  Do you have a Maw Maw?  I doubt many of you do.  It is so rare to have such an old fashioned woman in your lives.  Ladies today want to be called by anything other than a grandmotherly term.  And the very thought of wearing all handmade clothing like she is wearing would send a modern grandmother running for the nearest department store or mall.  She is missing her prairie bonnet in this picture.  She would often be found wearing hers in her garden or while she was chopping wood for her wood burning stove.  Yes, I said WOOD BURNING stove and yes, up until a few years ago she lived on her own and cooked her meals on that stove.  She did have an electric "hot plate" that she used some since she was alone (a hot plate is like a two burner ministovetop).  And those bonnets... well, they helped to put dinner on her table.  She has been a widow since I was four, so I guess that would be about 36 years.  Selling bonnets, homemade stuff animals and dolls, and quilts were her way to make some money to go along with what she got from Social Security each month.  The last I heard her Social Security payment was about $400 a month.  Amazingly, she had everything she needed.  She minded her money well and stretched it further than anyone I have ever known.  There was no waste or none that I was aware of.  I can not imagine there is room in the budget to waste much more than a penny with that sort of income.  She She is in her 80s.  And yes, up until a few years ago she gardened and quilted.  She canned and cooked everything from scratch.  And she had chickens.  She loved her chickens...and I always thought she was crazy for that until last year when we started raising chickens.  I wish I had understood her wisdom.  She was "simple", yet there is so much wisdom in simplicity.  She raised eight children and I do mean raised, because I think "reared" is just too pretty of a word.  I am certain her life was messy and hard, especially since her husband suffered from some psychological issues, as well.  I know there was a period time he was out of the home due to it.  Life was different then, also.  She married when she was a mere thirteen years old.  I can not even wrap my mind around that sort of thing.  Today it would be illegal for sure.  She birthed her first child that same year.  She was merely a child herself giving birth and the doctor that her husband brought to her broke the baby's neck, so her first baby was stillborn.  She went on to lose two more over the years for other reasons.  She was married to a harsh man that was harsh to their children.  I can not imagine how hard it must have been to raise her children and the loneliness that can be overwhelming in those situations.  You could always find her Bible lying next to her chair in her home and words like "fool" and "butt" were considered profane. 

I miss the days of seeing her moving around and living life, but she is living and we are able to go see her and talk to her.  I just had to ponder today how many people have had the experience of a truly old fashioned Maw Maw like I did.  I was not super close to her since I shared her with something like forty grandchildren... or more.  I never could keep count of all the cousins I had.   Anyway, there were some of the cousins that had broken homes and now I realize they needed her and she was closer to them because of it.  I guessed I realize that after my oldest child was born and saw the interest she had in my child.  She had not come to see me on my birthday as a child that I could recall, but she came to Savannah's.  It was then that I realized I had misunderstood her for all those years.  She loved Savannah simply because she was mine and she loved be simply because I was my daddy's.  She could be gruff at times, bit in hindsight I remember her as soft spoken, yet firm.... very firm.  If she said, "Get out of that garden.", you knew you better listen.  And if you did not listen you might find her having to "take care of you".  Literally!  Because if you got peppers in your eyes, she really would have to "take care of you"... with her remedies like pouring milk in your eyes.  Yes, I was one of those kids that tested her to see what she would do if I did not listen.  ;)  I learned that she was telling me to save me from a bigger problem... and that I should have listened. 

I wish I could go back in time and learn to quilt by her side or watch her embroidery.  I wish I knew how she pieced each tiny scrap of fabric together to create a beautiful quilt.  I wish I had HER bonnet pattern.  I was the lucky recipient of her fabric stash, although I am not sure what I will ever do with it all.  I do have her gift, though.   I have the gift of being able to see something and do it.  I don't understand how I know sometimes because I know some people look at an item and are puzzled by the very thought of how they might create the item.  I feel that way about motors, so I understand that it is possible for someone to feel that way about fabric, building, crafting.  Anyway, today I am just pondering my grandmother....

And I have always said, "That stepping in her house was like stepping back in time."

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day GIFT

It's not about what they have done for you today, but about what you have done as a Mother for them. Happy Mother's Day! Show your children you love them today. Maybe it is in the way you make their favorite breakfast or pour their milk in their cereal. A tender hug or pat on the hand goes a long way. Show them that motherhood is a GIFT. And it is the greatest GIFT to serve them.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Death on Our Little Acre

Warning: This post may be too disturbing for some readers.

You may have noticed I made some changes to my blog.  I am by no means a real homesteader, but I seem to be posting a lot lately about life here growing things through gardening and raising rabbits, ducks, and chickens.  I would love to fill this acre of land and truly use it.  It is not enough to merely own a piece of property if it has no real purpose.  For us it's main purpose is to provide a great place for our kids to grow up.  We started with 3/4 of an acre that we purchased with our home, but added a 1/4 acre so our kids would have a bigger backyard to enjoy.  That is our MAIN PURPOSE.  Included in that main purpose is the idea that learning to use that acre for the benefit of our family just goes along with our original plan.  In the future we may have a chance to add to our property and, if so, we will.  Anyway, I decided it would be fitting to add "on Our Little Acre" to my blog header.  So, off to my real topic....

About a week ago we had another "round of death" here.  It can be so depressing which is why I started not to blog about it all.  The reality is that it comes with the territory of raising animals.  And it seems to come in surges or "rounds of death".  It started one Saturday with me spotting two young pre-teen boys wandering around behind our house.  They looked suspicious, but I was did not want to overreact.  Oddly, they quickly ran off into the tiny patch of woods behind our house (and by tiny I mean less than 4/10 of an acre..... you have to keep in mind we live in town).  Later that evening we discovered a gun dart in one of our mid-sized chicks.  Fortunately, it survived even though the dart went in about three inches.  One of our laying hens was missing, though.  Two days later we found remnants of her body and it is safe to assume that the boys probably killed her and an animal of some sort found the carcass.  I was beyond aggravated that something so senseless happened to my chickens.  Parents need to really think about what they are doing when they buy their children these type of "toys" (weapons!) without teaching them to have a healthy respect for said "toy"... and a respect for others and their animals/pets. 

The second thing was our little rescued wild rabbit.  Oh, he was doing so well!  I had feed this little guy with a dropper 3 times a day.  He was precious and he had just started eating rabbit food and I had weaned him from his dropper feedings.  Because of this he was not wanting to be held as he had before.  I was started to question how wild he actually would be since it is not a normally domesticated animal.  One day Savannah notice something was wrong with our little guy, Easter.  Easter had been attacked it appeared through his cage and his back leg appeared to have a puncture wound and appeared crippled.  I was hoping it would heal, but it looked bad.  That night he was attacked again and I am in awe of how anything could get to him in his cage with such small hole openings.  He was completely mutilated and we suspect a cat did it.  I am so glad my husband found it first because it was awful and he was able to clean up the area some.  The kids were heartbroken.

The next thing a tiny baby bird... probably a day old that my husband was given at his school.  His students called him "their hero" for his willingness to attempt to save it.  It had to have only been hours old when they found it and he brought it home to me to save.  I made it a little nest with a nightlight as a warming light and set to feeding it raw eggs with a dropper.  It did not make it throught the night.

And the most devastating thing.... Patch... THE rabbit that started it all around here.  After buying two California rabbits and realizing that was a mistake (one died due to heat stroke & we returned the other), we had some friends offer to give us their pet rabbit.  They had not been ready for the responsibility of the rabbit, but knew Savannah and Sierra were.  Patch was their first rabbit and she gave birth to many babies that the kids cuddled and adored.  It was a big deal here to have "a rabbit that looked like Patch" because they really just had a love for her that they did not have for some of the other rabbits.  One Sunday morning we were heading out for church and the kids went out to feed the rabbits before we left.  Patch sits on top of her nesting box a lot, so she jump off, but landed wrong.  She landed on her back and died right away.  Apparently, she broke her neck/back.  What a crazy freak thing to happen.  Savannah was beside herself with grief. 

For the most part that was it... the "round of death", but we really have had some more, also.  You kind of get used to some of it even though it is still unsettling.  We had a litter of baby rabbits born a few days ago to our momma rabbit, Mary.  She had 7 living and one dead.  For some reason one baby was still in it's embryonic sac.  This seem to happen a lot.  I don't know if the momma gets tires or if they don't realized they have missed one.  Maybe they mistake it for the placenta.  Sometimes one or two do not make it due to this.  After realizing we had a new litter I began checking the other female rabbits cages.  We had bred 5 females at one time... allowing them several days to mate.  I discovered another horrifying scene in Miracles cage.  Miracle is the rabbit that was dropped twice as a baby rabbit.  It damaged her and clearly she will never be "whole".  We have tried to let her have babies three times now, I think.  The first time the babies all died and we thought it was due to heat or something.  Her second litter did not make it, either.  It was as if she did not know how to care for them.  We started to not ever try again with her.  We decided we would give her one last chance.  And it must be said that she is the sweetest rabbit.  I feel so bad for her.  This time whe resorted to cannibalism.... sorry, I just do not know how to say it any milder.  I don't know if she thought she was eating away the embryonic sac or the placenta.  I truly hope that is the case.  She is partially blind due to her falls.  All that was left behind were the heads of three babies.  (Sorry)  I disposed of them and told the kids about it later and we discussed that she will not ever be bred again. 

And that is how it is when you raise animals I guess.  A month or so ago we lost all three of our bantam hens.... each in a different way, but by predator attacks.  We also had a new chick drown in her water dish and another chick smother under the wait of her little flock of six.  It seems to just happen in "rounds of deaths", I guess.  It makes you very melacholy, but life does go on and you have to just keep doing what you are doing.  It is hard, but it teaches us many things, as well.  I think my kids are developing a better understanding of death than I ever did.  And death is part of living.  Everything that lives will one day die. 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

You Become Who Your Friends Are

I was talking to my husband about this the other day.  About how a person chooses their friends.  Do you choose your friends because they make you feel good about yourself or do you choose your friends because they make you aspire to be better?  Neither answer is wrong.  I was surprised that my husband said he chooses his friends because they make him feel good about himself.  If he can make someone smile it makes him feel good.  His personality type needs assurance.  Me... not so much... actually, it would make me very uncomfortable.  I actually tend to gravitate towards people that make me aspire to be a better me.  I am drawn to those that I can gleen wonderful life lessons from.  I have found that I grow closer to those that are trying to do the best job at whatever it is they do.  So, when my friends are trying to be what some refer to as "super moms" (I hate that nickname!) I am more drawn to them. 

When I see them making their kid's birthday cakes I know they are doing that as an expression of love.  And then, I want to do that, also.  In fact, I do and I can say it was something that I admired seeing others do for their child.

When I see mommas that watch their kids closely.  I admire them.  When I see them wipe their dirty faces.  I admire them.  When I see them hold their kids in their arms and cuddle them all day long.  I admire that them.  It would be so much easier to hand them off to a sitter, but they would miss so much.  When I see them praying with their kids.  I want to be more like them.  When I see them talking calmly I want to learn to be more meek.  When I see them draw from Biblical principles I want to learn to do that better.  I want to be taught.  We should all want to be taught!   Life is so much about learning!  You become who you are around, so it is so important to surround yourselves with good Godly friends.  I find that I am drawn to that type of ladies and I am so thrilled to be able to learn from such a variety of friends.  Some are good at sewing, some at cooking and meal planning, some at scheduling, some at advising, some are good at quietly listening, some are meek, some are more bold, some at gardening or homesteading, some at being good wives, some are good at being joyful and patient, some are givers, and so on.  All have something to that I can learn from and I am so fortunate and blessed to have wonderful friends to become more like!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

No Suds On Tomatoes!

Whatever you do... DO NOT get the bright idea like yours truly to spray your tomato plants and other plants down with diluted dish liquid. 

If there has been a sick child in your home with a temp of over 103 find a way to make a store run for the proper pest control solution. 

If you feel like a sickness is coming on for yourself and do not want to go to the store, do it anyway. 

If you do not want to dress appropriately to drive to the store do it anyway.  Change those ratty clothes and brush your nappy hair and go!  I mean really I could have just put on some shoes that would cover my dirty tired toes instead of worrying about what people would think if they saw those dirty toes.  Who really cares if they don't know that I spent the day in my garden and building nesting boxes for the new chicken yard we SPENT THE WHOLE DAY building.  In hindsight I wish I had just suffered the shame.

Nope!  I got a bright idea... I thought I remembered people doing this before.  I know I remember this tip, but alas I think it must have been a tip to use on shrubbery.  {sigh}  You see... I took an empty spray bottle and poured in about a 1/2 cup of dish liquid and slowly filled it the rest of the way with water.  To mix it I gently turned the bottle over and oever until it was mixed.  I thought I was a genius!  LOL!  Oh... it is so NOT funny now!  My thought was that these caterpillars (oak worms) that were all over my tomato plants would not like the soap and would go away.  They did!!!  Yeah, that worked!!! 

Oh.... but the awful thing that is left behind is my withering plants.  I think I blocked my plants from breathing.  And while I was spraying my tomato plants I sprayed everything else in that garden bed for fear the caterpillars would just move to the next thing. 

I have three varities of bean plants in that bed that now have ashen colored leaves that were once thriving and bright green. 

My bell pepper row has now lost all of it's leaves.  I do hold out some hope because the tops hav a new leaf sticking out of each one.  Sad... like a little flag raised saying, "We surrender!  Don't spray us again!"  Poor things are fighting to live. 

My tomato plants that range in size from 1' tall to 3' tall (most are 3') are the biggest mess.  Awe!  I can not believe the hard work that went into this little garden.  They are all withering, ashen, and yellowing.  I did spray this whole garden down really good yesterday to see if it will wash the soap away.  Time will tell.  And I forgot and left the water on so the ground go super saturated, so maybe that will help.  They look like they COULD survive.  I am still hopeful.  All is not lost... I have learned my lesson!!

And my bumper crop seedlings (bell pepper and tomato) that I have out on my deck.... well, I spray those, too.  Yes, they are ashen as well and the bell pepper plants are naked (no leaves).  And some of my container plantings I did the same to.  Yes, my gorgeous basil that is almost a foot tall that I grew from seed... now ashen colored.  My dill that I grew from seed that my dear friend said was hard to grow.  Well, it was doing well and I was very proud of my efforts.  It is about 7 inches tall... now it looks a little dry.  I have learned! 

And I want to warn you.  Don't do what I did!!!

Fortunately, I was over ambitious with my gardening and I have another garden with peas and cucumbers and such that I did not spray since it is well away from the tomato plants.  And I have another garden waiting for me to be well enough to feel like working in this week that I am going to fill with seeds.  Now, I might be adding tomatoes and bell peppers there as well.  It is late in the season, but I was planning to experiment with bumper crop plantings anyway.  I am not happy about it all, but it a learning experience. 

And so we live... and learn... not all is lost as long as we can gain some knowledge.  The best lessons in life are usually the hard ones!  ;)



No Fear: Radishes Are Fast!

I am not an experienced gardener, so this year I just decided not to follow fear.  So many times we let fear hold us back.  Even in the simplest of tasks most of us don't want to fail.  In the past I have just tried to try planting a few basics: tomato, bell peppers, cucumbers, etc. (and seriously, not much more than that).  This year I have just picked up a variety of seeds.  One of the things I am trying out this year are radishes.  I am not really sure who is going to eat them besides me, but I can say that my oldest daughters is interested just because she sees the radishes growing.  I am going to say that again... she is interested in the radishes JUST BECAUSE SHE SEES THEM GROWING!  If that does not inspire a person to plant a garden, I don't know what would. 

Anyway, little did I know that radishes are a fast growing plant.  We planted the seeds one day and two days later they were popping up out of the ground.  A couple weeks and you have red radishes shining out from under the beautiful leafy tops.  And I never really thought about how a radish grows.  They just kind of sit there on top of the soil with a small root going down into the ground, so you get to watch them as they grow.  In about a month's time you are ready to harvest radishes!  We have some that we could harvest, but I am trying to hold out a few more days.  One more thing I had read was that if they do not get a lot of water they will be hot to the taste.  I don't like when radishes are hot, so I have made a point to water them more than I might otherwise do.  Savannah has shown an interest in helping me add some extra watering as well.  I really enjoy when my kids help in some way.  And it is interesting how each child has done some part of the garden with me.  We have not worked alongside each other through every step; however, each child has stepped in for the parts that draw their interest.  I have really enjoyed seeing the garden "draw them in".  I know in time they will develop even more interest and a love for gardening. 

Update:  I got busy and so this is a couple days later... I did go ahead and harvest a few radishes that were definitely ready.  Savannah and I tasted them, but I was sad to find they are hot.  I guess I did not fully understand what it meant when it said they need a lot of water to not be spicy.  I think they are going to need to be mixed in a salad or something and served with a creamy dressing (milk coats the taste buds and lessens the sting of hot things).  So, I guess we need to add some daily watering to our day for the rest of the crop.  Anyway, they are so beautiful and fun to watch grow.  The leaves are edible as well and have a good taste.  I could totally see eating them in a salad.  Just in the last few days ours have started turning brown around the edges, so I do not plan to harvest them for salad.  The next time I plant radishes I will water more, harvest them early, and harvest before the leaves start to turn.  It has been fun to watch the radishes grow.
This is not my actual photo, but mine looked just like these.  I am thinking that in the future I will plant some in containers (like old galvanize wash tubs which I love) and place them around my deck.  They are as pretty as a flower growing!!!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Dinner and Silly Kids and Tricky Parents

While we were outside yesterday I asked Caden what he wanted for dinner.  He said, "Cookies!"

Later when I was in the house, Caden came running in the kitchen and saw spaghetti pasta boiling in a pot and said, "Spaghetti!!! We're having spaghetti for dinner?!!  You're the best momma ever!!" 

That boy cracks me up!  And he is ALWAYS hungry... and my least picky child as long as you don't try to make him eat potatoes.  I can get him to eat mashed potatoes if I put food coloring in them.... and yeah, I'm tricky like that.  Ha!  Give a kid a toothpick to stir in some food coloring and you will be surprised what they will eat.  I have always been amazed that you can get them to eat by putting a few toothpicks on the edge of their plate and letting them eat dinner with toothpicks.  Weird... but it works.  And one evening my older ones were eating with chopsticks and Sahara noticed she had none.  I got her a set of "special little chopsticks"... TOOTHPICKS!!  Yes, it worked like magic.  She got busy right away eating with her "chopsticks" and it was one of those times when Cody and I looked at each other across the table in amazement that it actually worked.  Silly kids!!
This little thing saves a lot of crazy moments at dinner.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Going Without A Dishwasher... No More!


A little over a year ago we gave up using our dishwasher.  NOT because we wanted to… but because it just was not doing its job well any longer.   Our larger than average family had worn that poor thing out.  Of course, the timing was not the greatest as we were expecting our little Sienna at the time and we were quite busy.  We decided to hold off on buying a new dishwasher.  We were also trying to reach our goal of becoming debt free and decided that this could be a great “teachable moment” for our children.  Not only would they see that sometimes you must wait to make a purchase it would also be a time to teach them about washing dishes.  Over a year has passed and I think they can see that we have sacrificed and waited, so we are getting a new dishwasher (more about that in a moment).  Also, we learned that they can do the dishes quite well.  In fact they did not really even need this lesson I don’t think.  I think I learned more about them than I was teaching.  I learned that they really do learn just from observing… even when you do not realize they are observing.  Both Savannah and Sierra can wash the dishes and I really only had to tell them that you must wash the outside as well as the inside of all items.  To keep them from having an abundance of water waste I also learned that it was best to fill the rinse side of the sink with water rather than have water running for rinsing.  As far as drying we used our old dishwasher for our drying rack, so it was still serving a purpose in our home.  And if you do this it does have to be drained and cleaned periodically or you will get real nastiness going on (yes, we learned that the hard way).  I learned that they already knew how to stack dishes in the racks for drying.  They had learned this simply from observing.  They had seen and sometimes been a part of loading the dishwasher when it was working and mostly they had seen it being unloaded as this was the job they mostly helped out with.  Hand washing dishes is a great life skill to learn and there can be some wonderful moments spent working together.  Teamwork is so important in large families.  And sometimes we have to realize in a large family that the most efficient use of our time is best.  I can seriously load a dishwasher in mere moments… a good five minutes or less and I am done.  Hand washing takes on average 30-40 minutes (sometimes less), but you see there is a big difference.  And while my kids can learn from doing dishes, there are other jobs that they can do.  We never run out of jobs around here!  So, we decided that in the interest of saving our time (and our sanity) it was time to buy a new dishwasher… Oh and we have also reached our goal of being debt free and can pay cash for this dishwasher. 



I am super frugal, so this purchase was a hard one for me.  I like to buy the cheapest thing whenever possible and I hold to the theory that you are better off doing that with most things.  If I buy a $10 toaster it might not be the best, but you can buy four of them over the course of time rather than buy the $40 toaster.  I have even had that same theory in the past with dishwashers, but I think with our larger family we really need better quality in this area.  I don’t have to have the latest and greatest of everything.  While many people are constantly buying new cars my husband is driving a 1990 model (that’s 22 years old) and I am driving a 2002 (that’s 10 years old).  We buy many things second hand and we primarily purchase store brands.  We cut corners in a lot of areas, but we are going to splurge some in this area.  And I say splurge “some” because I am not going to spend extra to have a large handle on the outside and the buttons hidden.  I simply could care less about those details.  I am not spending extra on stainless either.  I don’t like stainless.  Yes, it is pretty, but it is all about the fingerprints here… black has the same issue to some degree… we are sticking with white… and that is going to save us about $300 dollars.  We are not getting the thousand dollar dishwasher, but we are getting the same quality.  When we went into the store I told them up front what I wanted: something that can handle a lot of use (2 runs a day or more); food chopper; white.  I was shown some things about dishwashers and a lot has changed since we bought our old one about seven years ago.  And I use the word “old” loosely because you would think an appliance would last longer than that.  Ours only lasted about six years and one lady told me that appliances now last on average 8-10 years… and that is all… sad.  Anyway, back to what we are getting… We are getting a Kitchenaid and the main reason is they come with the highest recommendation and are the only dishwashers that have a “food dispos-all” (not sure about spelling… that is the wording were told at two different locations”.  I also like that the one we are getting is metal inside to retain heat better, although I have some concerns about little ones getting burned by it.  The bottom water spinner has four arms and is also metal.  There is also some sort of power jets in the back for tough scrub items that no other dishwasher makes.  The racks are adjustable in all sorts of ways.  You can move the top one up or down and the little prongs that stick up can be folded up or down in some areas to allow for bigger items.  The removable utensil holder also separates I believe to make a smaller one if wanted.  Our control buttons are on the front, but there is a lock button you can hold down for a few seconds that locks control of the buttons to keep little ones from changing the settings.  This has never been a real issue at our house, but it is a nice feature to have.  We are buying and additional five year warranty and we made our purchase through Sears, so they have their OWN service personnel.  That is key when buying a warranty.  Some stores do not have that.  I think Conn’s and Sears may be the only ones in our area that do.  Due to warranty we are still paying a hefty price for it all, but a dishwasher is like having another arm in our home.  I think our total was $912 ($179 + tax for the warranty) … but if it lasts 9 years (hopefully MUCH longer) it will be worth the $100 per year it costs to save my sanity.  We are saving $149 + tax by installing it ourselves.  I do think we could just buy one for half the price and without the warranty and probably be just as well off… even if we have to buy two in the same time period.  So, if you are looking for a dishwasher I don’t necessarily think our choice should be the choice everyone makes.  You have to look at your budget and lifestyle.  We have sacrificed a lot where others would not and this is a “splurge” for us.  We are content to drive older cars, shop resale, buy used furniture and used dishes, use mismatched pots, buy cheap toilet paper, drink water when out to dinner and most times at home, search out secondhand appliances (sometimes), do our own remodel projects, etc..  We are “splurging” and we both agree this is a wise "splurge" for our family.