Humbled

Sometimes I am just blown away. Fundraising is such a hard thing for me, but the reality is, it will make this mission trip to Kazakhstan happen! And going on this mision trip to Kazakhstan is an incredible opporunity to give back and to bring joy to orphans (orphans who are on my heart every single day). So, I've been thinking of ways to fundraise.

My sweet friend (and co-author of The Cooks Next Door), Heather, immediately told me that she wanted all of the February proceeds from her Etsy shop to benefit my trip. I am humbled and amazed. She has adorable aprons, gorgeous tea cozys, and beautiful felted flowers. Please check out her shop!

Another friend of mine graciously offered to sell my cookies at a local school. She had the idea, arranged it and her daughters will sell them. Again, I am humbled.

In considering fundraising ideas, I decided that I really should put my love of baking to good use and so I'm planning another cookie fundraiser. For the month of February, I'm hoping to sell homemade gourmet cookies by the dozen (Triple Chocolate, Mint Double Chocolate, Molasses, Toffee Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal, or Iced Sugar). The cookies will be for a donation of $12/dozen large cookies or $20/2 dozen (plus $5-8 if shipped or free if you live locally and I can deliver them or you can pick them up!). I will only ship on Mondays or Tuesdays to ensure freshness. They will come individually wrapped and beautifully boxed. All of the proceeds will go towards the mission trip but will not be tax deductible. Let me know if you are interested! You can leave a comment or e-mail me (alainamj AT yahoo DOT com). (*NOTE: The photo is of cookies I made for my sister's wedding - not the actual cookies you will receive - they will be freshly baked! :))

I'm around halfway to my $2,850 goal. Many, many thanks to the friends, family, and even a stranger who have contributed. This trip means so much to me and to our family. I had the opportunity this week to talk to the boys' preschool class about Kazakhstan for their cultural studies and my middle son told me multiple times, "Mom, I want you to tell them about your trip." It was so sweet and let me know how important it is to him.

I am humbled - plain and simple. And I am excited!

Shhh - Don't Tell

I don't like Twitter. In fact, I can't stand it. We decided to use it as a way to network for The Cooks Next Door and so we post tweets once or twice a day. But seriously, I don't have time to let everyone know my every move and thought nor do I want them to know. It has been okay for networking but not great - probably because we aren't on it enough. :) And really, I'm okay with that.

I'm sure there are many things to be said for it (and I know lots of people that love it!); I just don't like it. Maybe I don't fully understand it - definitely possible. Anyway, I said I would never join and personally, I don't think I ever will BUT we will stay a part of Twitter for The Cooks (so feel free to follow if you like :)).

Wow, feels good to get that off my chest. :) Any thoughts on the pros and cons of "tweeting"?

Lunch

My favorite - mixed greens, dried cranberries, pecans, apples, feta cheese, and homemade balsamic honey dressing. Only thing that would have made it better - pear. This would also have been great with some grilled chicken on top!

Which One?

There is nothing like having a child that says, "mmmm." Every single time you bring food to the table. It is so sweet and it translates into him trying and enjoying almost eveything. Guess which child?

He also says, "Yay!" and claps with a huge smile when he sees you or when you propose an idea he likes. Seriously, he is one of the happiest kids I have ever met and loves to laugh and be tickled. He is a ham and tries to make us all laugh - quite successfully, I might add.

He has made friends with the dog and we have caught him red-handed feeding her from his plate (a big no-no) - he looks at us with complete innocence like, "oops, I didn't mean to..." Riiiggghhht. We aren't buying it. :)

So which of my sweeties am I talking about today?

It's TITUS!

He's 17 months old, very independent, a lover of all food, and so incredibly sweet and loving. He nods and shakes his head like a pro and though he doesn't say very many words, he gets his point across 9 times out of 10. He does a little sign language and smiles like it's going out of style!

Bad Sharing

We've been fighting the stomach flu since last Wednesday (which you might already know if we're fb friends :)). We thought we were in the clear and then Andrew came down with it. Two of us have yet to have it (and I'll admit I'm feeling pretty awful today) and it now more than ever just feels like a matter of time. It's hard to know what to keep doing and what to cancel - clearly it's a virulent flu (my dad and brother got it from exposure to us one evening).

There is something so wrong with the fact that I averaged the stomach flu every 5-10 years before kids and now it's 1-2x per year. My friends, that is a statistic that I never wanted to see change.

I'm tired and haven't had a good night of sleep in several days. The boys have been a bit (okay, a lot) out of sorts and we are ready to be well! We are fairly confident the stomach flu was contracted at school. So, hello, Monday, let's make it the best day that we can. :)

Sharing Again

Well, after many months of separating the boys into different rooms (remember this post?),
they are back together. AND it's working. We are so thrilled! The older boys have been very obedient - we don't mind a little talking but the getting out of bed and stealing blankets etc. was a problem. They really, really want to share a room again and so they are working hard to make that happen. Bedtime, overall, has been pleasant. Even Titus is sleeping in the room and doing very well. If he does wake up (which has also been a little better), he doesn't seem to disturb them.

I must say, it was totally worth giving up a guest room, giving up our ideal (kids sharing - we are in a 3-bedroom house), and separating the boys for awhile to achieve peaceful and positive bed time routines. And we are so happy that it didn't have to be a forever thing.

So, what are we doing with the "extra" bedroom? We decided that we will keep a twin bed in there for the occasional company (or illness or poor behavior) but we will not turn it back into a dedicated guest room. You see, in our quest to organize and make our home work, we have been considering all kinds of options. The winner? The bedroom will become a playroom - the train table and ALL the boys toys will go in there. It will be an entirely safe room and the closet will be locked (it's going to be the storage area for all of our not-currently-needed baby stuff). We will store the books on the bookcase outside the playroom. And we will put a loveseat in the playroom for story reading etc.

We are so excited about the prospect. We have a loft that has been the play/entertaining room but it is a tough area to keep clean with all of the boys' stuff. We hope and think this will be a good solution and will make entertaining easier! Perhaps stacking the bunkbeds will be next?? :)

A Big Thank You!

Thank you to all of you who commented on our Haiti Relief post! And thank you also to those of you that facebooked it, blogged it, or tweeted it! We will be sending off our donation this week and we know Compassion will use it well. From their reports, it has been so difficult as all of them deal with much loss and continue working on relief efforts.

If you would like to follow along more with Compassion, they have a group on facebook that they update regularly or you can check out their blog.

Is It Me?

Do you ever just feel boring? I'm not big on talking on the phone or making small talk - I don't think I'm good at it and I often don't know what to say. I come by it honestly - several of my family members are the same. It is sometimes frustrating because it makes keeping up with people much harder. I write here and facebook as well and hope that people can stay up with our lives and I do try and make an effort to e-mail or occaionally call. It isn't that I don't like people, it isn't that I don't enjoy visiting with them...it's not that at all.

It's ironic that I became a dental hygienist since I have to make small talk all.the.time. :) And in some ways, it's easier for me to have a conversation with a stranger. I don't know, it's weird. I guess part of it is being a fairly private person - I maybe didn't use to be that way so much but I have definitely become more private as the years have passed.

Perhaps the carefree days of youth have been replaced by the reality that real life is difficult. I find myself busy with the mundane and always trying to keep up (not with the Jones' just with real life responsibilities :)). There are so many joys and so many heartaches - so many battles and so many victories.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me?

Making Lists

Since a few people asked, here is how I organized my grocery list. I can look at it and check to see what I need and then mark on the list for the next time I go shopping. This is also a master list that I can easily change. I also am carrying a version of this list that helps me know what vegetables and fruits are best to purchase organic. I'm still working on how best to budget etc. but I like the organization that having master lists encourages. :)

I've made a slight return to couponing - just clipping the ones that I know I'm most likely to use. I do buy some things in bulk at Costco (as I have previously mentioned, I love the quality of their products!). We are currently eating quite a bit from the pantry and I'm still figuring out how best to organize that and keep track of what we have. I'm also looking into a local food co-op (thanks, Kelly!) and hoping to order a few things through them.

PANTRY STAPLES
PRODUCE:
- Onions
- Garlic
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Broccoli
- Salad Greens
- Seasonal Fruits & Veg

CONDIMENTS:
- Olive Oil
- Canola Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- White Vinegar
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Mayonnaise
- Yellow/Dijon Mustard
- Ketchup
- Salsa

DRY GOODS/BAKING:
- Flour (WW & White)
- Yeast
- Sugars
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Cornstarch
- Honey
- Maple Syrup
- Vanilla Extract
- Cornmeal
- Nuts
- Dried Fruit
- Oatmeal
- Grits
- Cream of Wheat

PASTA/BREAD
- Rice
- Pasta
- Couscous
- Bread
- Crackers
- Tortillas

SEASONINGS:
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dried Herbs & Spices

CANNED GOODS:
- Canned & Dried Beans
- Canned Tomatoes
- Tomato Sauce
- Tomato Paste
- Refried Beans
- Chicken/Veg/Beef Broth

DAIRY:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Cheese
- Plain Yogurt
- Butter

BEVERAGES:
- Coffee
- Teas

FROZEN:
- Peas
- Spinach
- Corn
- Green Beans
- Lima Beans

MEATS:
- Chicken
- Beef
- Fish

EXTRAS
- Cereal
- Jelly
- Fresh Herbs
- Lemons
- Limes
- Bacon
- Sausage
- Ham
- Juice
- Baking Chips
- Flavored Yogurt
- Sour Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Heavy Cream/1/2 & 1/2
- BBQ Sauce
- Tortilla Chips
- Pretzels
- Cereal Bars
- Dried Fruit Bars
- Granola Bars
- Ice Cream
- Diet Coke

HOUSEHOLD:
- Toilet Paper
- Kleenex
- Paper Towel
- Napkins
- Dishwasher Detergent
- Laundry Detergent
- Wax Paper
- Aluminum Foil
- Plastic Wrap
- Lunch/Storage Bags
- Trash Bags
- Light Bulbs
- Batteries
- Dog Food
- Cleaning Supplies
- Shampoo/Conditioner
- Toothbrush/Paste
- Deodorant
- Contact Solution
- Soap
- First Aid

Please take this for what it's worth. Everyone's list will look different - I'm not saying this is *the* right way, simply that this is what I'm doing. :)