Home Studio

It has been ages since we have taken photographs of the children, so yesterday I decided on a whim to snap a few. The last time we went to Sears for pictures, Sportster was about 2 and Sister was about 6 months and it.was.awful so we decided never to recreate that experience. Every 6 months or so I try to do a little photo shoot at home to capture their stages and personalities. So far we've been happy with this decision and as a side benefit we've saved a lot of money. On the downside, you still have to make time to make it happen and we've neglected this opportunity for far too long. But with Christmas fast-approaching it was high-time to make it happen. Here are some of my favorites. Grandma & Nana, these are coming to you so if you want to be surprised come Christmas, look away now.

Many thanks to our friend who blessed us with a portrait lens many months ago. It seems like the faces turned out more crisp with it. We just took these on our front porch and in our stairway to simplify the experience.

I am really smitten with this one!

I still need to work on getting all three of them to look and smile at the same time, but this was a rather successful attempt.

Cheap Eats: Breakfast for Dinner

One of our go-to meals when we are wanting a simple cheap supper is breakfast for dinner. This comes in many forms: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets with fillings from the deli drawer and vegetable crisper, egg casseroles using up scraps of bread, cheese and vegetables, french toast made on the skillet or baked, breakfast burritos, fruit in season or from the freezer, pancakes, waffles, muffins, juice, coffee, and any combination of the above items.

A few weeks ago we had breakfast for dinner and put many frugal principles into practice. The menu looked like this.

Baked french toast - In a jelly roll pan sprayed with cooking spray I poured in some (maybe 1/2 cup) homemade peach syrup that was too thin for our liking, slices of homemade whole wheat bread that was a bit stale, a mixture of eggs and milk and vanilla, a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon. This was baked at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Frugality at work: use it up so you don't end up throwing it out.

Toppings for french toast - That night we had whipped cream, we used maybe 1/4 of a $1.00 can, and raspberries, frozen from the lowest-price-of-the-year-sale this summer. Buy special items when they are at their lowest price and freeze, if needed. In this case, the toppings really made the meal seem a lot nicer.

Fruit salad - This was a combination of blueberries, raspberries, pears, apples and bananas. Buy in bulk when things are in season and inexpensive and freeze for use throughout the year. We love blueberries and raspberries, but never buy them for 3.99 and up a package whenever we want them. I stock up when raspberries are $1 per package and blueberries are $10 for 5 lbs. Enjoy things in season in abundance. The apples and pears are in season, and also cheap, in the fall so we eat a lot of them. Come December/January we'll be feasting on lots of oranges. Use markdowns and warehouse clubs to your advantage. I only buy bananas when I shop at Sam's or Costco or they are marked down to $.35 per pound at the grocery, then we eat them quick or use them in baking or freeze in chunks for smoothies later.

Milk - I always buy it on a markdown (unless we are totally out and no markdown is available) and we use it freely. When it starts to turn I use it in baking as a buttermilk substitute, or I freeze for later use. By buying markdowns I am able to usually get organic milk at or below the price I would pay for the cheapest conventional milk that is on sale that week. Most of the time we find the milk to be fine for one week past the date stamped on the carton or jug. We shop frequently enough and have a family size that is suitable for using lots of markdowns. Use time to your advantage and get better quality.

Just for fun, the flowers on the table came from our yard, were cut and quickly put into a glass of water. This literally took less than 1 minute and made the meal seem more special.

This was a delicious meal that was rather nutritious and didn't feel "budget" at all. Plus it was super quick to make! There are more ways to eat on a dime than just eating beans and rice. Hooray!

A Bit of Knitting

In the last few months I've taken up knitting again. Knitting is a fun little hobby which I find satisfying, even if I have only basic skills. And I can really appreciate a creative pursuit that doesn't create a mess all over tables and countertops, like sewing and scrapbooking and cardmaking do for me. And I like that knitting is such a portable craft.

I'm glad I finally completed a scarf for my husband which was on the needles for about 2 years, sitting in a dark cupboard. I think it will look great with his winter wool coat. I've also been cranking out quite a few dishcloths, which are not too exciting but functional and I like to give a little homemade something every once in a while.

I thought a case for my needles would be handy and made this one out of two placemats I found on clearance from a home store for about 50 cents each. Since they were already finished, I just cut one down to about 2/3 the height of the original, added some twill tape for ties (recycled from a gift wrapping), sewed the pieces together and sewed vertical lines of varying widths to make the pockets for individual or pairs of needles. I love simple, inexpensive projects!

I am knitting some things for each of my kiddos for Christmas. Two scarfs down, one hat to go.

Little Pumpkins

This summer we had some volunteer pumpkins come to life in our garden. Though at first I thought they were going to be squash, I'm glad we ended up with lots of unplanned greenery and some cute little pumpkins to share and enjoy this fall. Sportster took some into his class, we painted some and we hope to give more away this week. Earlier this week it looked like a freeze was on the way so I harvested many of them and we had a family pumpkin painting night. I have a confession to make, though, I don't usually initiate having craft times with my kiddos. But this time their wishes seemed so simple to fulfill so I couldn't resist. We just hauled out the kid paints and brushes we had on hand and used those. It was a good reminder to me that it really is the simple things you can say 'yes' to to your kids which become fun activities and great memories for them. The pumpkins themselves will not win any artistic awards, but that wasn't ever the point. I'll be looking for more ways this week, month and year to take time out for fun with my kiddos.

And thanks to my sweet husband for picking a few flowers this morning on his way out the door to brighten my day.

Happy Birthday, Son!

Sportster turned 6 last month and although the celebration was low-key, we certainly enjoyed his day with him. That is something that does not always happen when we host parties since much time goes into food and home preparation. This time around he had a very special guest, his grandma, here to celebrate with us. He enjoyed a cake and gifts at home, lunch at Red Robin, a dinner with friends the weekend before and a visit to the zoo with Dad, Grandma and Sister the day after.

Sportster, you are a joy and delight to us and we thank God for you!

Balloons '08

This Labor Day we were finally in town and could manage an early morning outing to the Balloon Classic. We went on the last morning and enjoyed it a lot.

And we were blessed by a co-worker of my husband's who gave us their trampoline. It has been a HUGE hit with our kids...and let's be honest, we enjoy it also! So what if it consumes our back yard?! We are at a season of choosing fun over fashion.

First Days of School

Sportster started his official education back at the end of August, both at home and in a homeschool supplement program run by a charter school. So far he is enjoying both settings a lot.


At home:

At the "school building," as we have come to refer to it:

Little Sister had to be part of the action, too. They share a special relationship and I think it is bit hard on her for him to move forward with school and not be involved in that yet, though she does participate in some of our lessons at home.


It is bittersweet to be at this phase. It is so exciting that Sportster is learning so much and growing up but hard to imagine that the years since his birth have passed so quickly.

We are so proud of our smart boy! The photo below was from May, about a month after he started reading on his own, much to our surprise and delight!