Extreme Savings mode begins....

Starting later this week, we are starting three months of  "Extreme Savings Mode."  We were calling it "self-induced poverty" but that sounded too depressing.  What is this exactly?  It is a controlled experiment with our family to pay down our debts (mostly credit cards).  All of our debts would have been paid off sometime next year, but we wouldn't have any fun in the mean time.  So instead we decided to hunker down and pay off much more in a quicker time frame, thus ending our debt (except for our house payment) sooner!  What does this mean for us? 

• We are going to be driving one car instead of two.  We will NOT be driving unless it is to the store for food shopping every other week.  
• Chiropractic will probably go from once per week to every other week.  
• Music Together class - we will finish out this session but not continue until the summer. 
• I will not be picking up food at the Co-op in Orlando until June.
• No extracurricular activities (for me or my husband or children)
• No field trips unless we can walk there.  Might also have to miss a few Park Days.
• Walking to the park or library (Thank God they are pretty close!)
• ABSOLUTELY NO EATING OUT!

This is scheduled to end in June.  At that time our credit debt will be zero, our cars both paid off, and we will be able to afford to replace a few things in our house! (like a vacuum, power tools, and a kitchen ;)

We can ultimately thank Dave Ramsey and those who we know have taken his classes in financial freedom. 

Wish us luck!!  I really want need a new vacuum ;)  My current one is being held together (I use the term very loosely) by duck tape and hot glue....

Latest Updates in a Mama's life

Dang it!  Time got away from me again and Life handed me way too much to do....well, honestly, I guess I found too much to do...crazy days....

So here is my quick list of what has happened (I know I will leave things out just because it is late and I really should be in bed...):

We have started - and continued - homeschooling our five year old and have been loving that decision :D  If I haven't mentioned it before, we are using Oak Meadow, a Waldorf based school.  It has curriculum and educational tools for K-High School and are really liking

We have not been going to the chiropractor weekly and I am feeling it :(  I hope to be able to get back to it in a few months, though ;)


I went to the Florida La Leche League Conference last weekend...well, just Friday and Saturday, and for just a day and a half instead of three days.  I was there with Sandy Jamieson and Sandy Hill, my ladies full of lactation wisdom.

And I killed three chickens (not our own!) at a friend's "Meat Harvest"...got the war-wounds to prove it!  It was something that I have been thinking about for a while and am in a place in my psyche/life that I can/could/did do it.  One more small step away from the grid....and I will be there again for more "Harvesting" next Sunday!

Confessions of a Homeschooling Mama

There are great days and there are not so great days.  I have only schooled The Older three days and already we have had both.  The first day, we - Mama, Dada, The Older, and The Younger - went to the beach...it was called Paradise Beach, with a park/playground, beautiful sand and it is the only beach in the south part of my county to be staffed year-round with lifeguards.  If it wasn't so far away, we would be there more often. 

When we got in the water, the lifeguard (Georgie) came over and commented on how wonderful that I was using a Fuzzibinz cloth diaper (she used them on her kids years ago) on my littlest and we talked about homeschooling and natural mothering things.  Would have liked to talk to her more but had to watch The Younger because she was getting pummeled by the rough waves (and liking it).

It was unfortunately way too hot to play on the playground (all the equipment was burning from sun exposure), but vowed to come back when the weather cooled off.  But they had a wonderful playground, kids swings and toddler swings, slides, and a large resin boulder with rock climbing handles on it!  So cool!

But not all is so wonderful.  The first week, we are learning to make the capital letter A correctly.  Up until now, she would make good letter As the right way, but lately, she has been getting sloppy....and refusing to accept that the way she had always been making As was correct....

Ah, joys of life!

Next Chapter

I am about to embark on a new adventure: Homeschooling....a five year old...with an 18 month old in the wings.  At least I have a fantastic support group to help!  (Hey Ladies!)

Since before my husband and I got married, we decided that if we were still living in this area when we had kids, we would homeschool.  We talked about it, defended our position, chose friends that had the same mindset, got info from our family that does homeschool, found a good starting curriculum, planned out the next few months, got school supplies.....  and I am scared sh!tless...  because it is just around the corner!  We are finally here!

But like I said: fantastic support group, et all shall get me through it!  Woo hoo!  Yeehaw!  Here we go.....

Plan for the Future...

It would be great to have one of those!  And time to do so :)  I did recently have 24 hours to myself, away from everyone, got to do things by myself...it was weird and wonderful at the same time.  It was a gift from my husband - he watched the girls, they did fine - and I got to catch up on a bit of reading and TV watching (we don't have live TV in the house, so I watched it in the hotel room...still nothing on!  So glad we don't have cable or dish or whatever :). 

I did get to start planning for the immediate future of homeschooling my 4 1/2 year old which is starting in August.  I have the first day of school planned: we are going to the beach!  Hopefully all day or at least most of it.  After that...well... I have curriculum from Oak Meadow that I will be working from.  And this first year (kindergarten) is really practice anyway.  If I can homeschool this year, I can homeschool all the years!  Of course, now that I think about it, that will be (in total with both girls) 17 years at least!!  wow.... but let's just try the first year and not think of the rest....

And in my immediate future (this month), enjoy Mother's Day, shop for shelves, purge, reduce, and clean my house...without a working vacuum.....and get backyard chickens...I wonder how much grass two chickens can eat?  (my lawnmower is not working...)

Time flies...

...when you have a three year old and a 7 week old...

Can you believe it! She is 7 weeks old already! This time around things seem to be moving faster, but I am still trying to be in the moment...even though most of my moments find me very tired, feeling like I had just run a triathlon twice, then came home, vacuumed the entire house and mowed .49 acres.

Some days are better than others. It is great when The Older learns a lesson - like why we do not climb the counters to get at candy on top of the fridge... and it is particularly fantastic when both The Older and The Younger take a nap at the same time and I do as well!! So far this has happened once - very memorable though!

I did finally join Facebook - the link is on the right side of this page I think - and spend most of my time there...taking quizzes, commenting on other people's comments, connecting with people I thought were lost to the cosmos... It also is easier to use than MySpace...and less cluttered.

After not having my Mom to help with The Older this week - she was on a much needed vacation to VA and DC area and my MIL did watch her a bunch (Thanks, Star!!) - I am considering VPK (Voluntary Pre-K) but probably won't because I have very little faith in the local area school system... my husband and I did decide - even before we got married - that we would homeschool our kids... but maybe our little adrenaline junkie needs to play with her own age for a bit until The Younger gets bigger and I can do more than just nurse her, burp her, change her, nurse her again, put her to sleep and play with The Older until The Younger wakes up and I have to do all that again!

I'm tired...zzzzzzz.........

Word of the Day...

Mark Twain is known to have said, "I have never let schooling interfere with my education."

And the word of the day is:

Autodidacticism

It means self-education or self-directed learning. An autodidact is a mostly self-taught person, as opposed to learning in a school setting or from a tutor.

This is the post from "Mama Is..."

"I BFed my DD until she was 3 years old. I have a friend who is BFing her 5 and 3 year olds. But at the same time, my brother’s ex-wife and her mother think that BFing is the ‘most disgusting thing in the world…’
I have also heard in this economy that mothers are skimping on formula (not mixing it to proper dose) and the babies are suffering Unfortunately, it may get worse before getting better. And hopefully with the speed of the internet and news, more moms will finally ‘get it’ through their thick formula-fed skulls that the only way to survive is to go back to the basics - breastfeeding, natural birth, everything in moderation, etc!!"

Down to two...

Okay, I think we have it narrowed down to two names:

Daciana Guinevere or
Guinevere Daciana

I know. It's a mouth full. You're saying, "Those poor teachers! Having to try and say her name!" Well, it had to be as awesome as her sister's name, Anastasia Marie, and besides, we plan on homeschooling anyway! :p

"Daciana...what is that?" It means 'wolf' in the Romania/Moldova area of the world. If we had a boy, his name would have been 'Wolfgang.' I really liked that name and there were no good Russian names left for girls or a suitable female name similar to Wolfgang...Wolfganga, Wolfette, maybe...NOT!

And as for 'Guinevere', it is from the Arthurian legend, and really no more than that...at least so far as I can find...

"Russian names? are you Russian? or have family from there?" No, not really. I do have distant ancestors from Russian I think, but mostly from Germany, Poland, and Western Europe. My husband's ancestors are from Germany, Wales, Scotland, Ireland... "and Texas," he says over my shoulder.

"Don't mess with Texas..."

Mothering

I love Mothering Magazine! It is a magazine full of natural ways to mother your children. This particular issue (Nov-Dec 2008) has an article on Forest School that is popular in Switzerland and Germany. I think I want to start it for my daughter and her friends. It seems to go with the concept of homeschooling or "unschooling."

Now I have to take in my husband's car for an oil change and tune up. If you need a reliable family-run fix-it place, South Tire in Cocoa, FL is excellent. Not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. They are honest and very good at what they do. My dad has been taking our cars there for years - even before I could drive.