Photo Dump

The boys are obsessed with puzzles these days. Xavier actually puts his together while Jack likes to take the pieces out of the box, spread them out, and put them back in the box. Two puzzles and a table-length distance are required to keep the peace.

Check out the double rainbow we saw from our backyard the other afternoon. There's a pot of gold under my clothesline!

Xavier and Jack on the trike.

Jack and his buddy Keira on the trike.

Hot Lists and Price Books

Did you all enjoy your week and a half off? Sorry about the gap in classes, folks. With my stepdaughter here for the summer I've been so busy living life that I've had little to no time to blog about it. Couponing and bargain hunting has been making its effect on my family. The boys love to play with my discarded coupons when I'm culling out the expired ones. My stepdaughter is beginning to learn more about PPU (price per unit) and just realized yesterday that the popcorn that the movies sells for $4 costs us about $.06 to make at home.

Enough chit chat, let's get down to business. Today we are going to learn about the value and use of price books. If you only do ONE thing from this series of blog posts, this is it. Back in the dark ages before marriage and kids I worked as an editor of a small women's magazine. One of the parts of my job was to keep an eye on the costs of our supplies and vendors (printers, paper, delivery service, shipping service, etc.) and every so often to comparison shop. Money saved was money earned, quite literally for me as my compensation was based in part on the profitability of each and every issue. I had elaborate spreadsheets dedicated to analyzing various business expenses and how they could change our profitability.

When I shifted gears into homemaking, making a price book made perfect sense to me. I was new to Beaumont and I had no idea which stores had the best prices. Why wouldn't I make a list of what I bought and how much it cost? So using both my receipts and flyers from grocery stores I made a new spreadsheet with the following columns:

• Category Organize your price book into whatever categories make sense to you. Mine are Baking Goods, Beauty/Grooming, Beverages, Breads, Canned Goods, Cleaning Products, Condiments, Dairy, Frozen, Meat, Pasta, Produce and Seafood.
• Item, Here you specify the item name. If it is an item you are brand loyal about, put the exact product name (i.e. Sensodyne), otherwise just put the generic name (whitening toothpaste).
• Date, Slowly you'll begin to realize that certain products go on sale about every 12 weeks and others go on sale seasonally. Having the date also lets you monitor how overall prices are increasing over time.
• Store, I have abbreviations for each store I frequent
• Quantity, List the numeral for the size or amount of what was purchased (i.e. 24)
• Unit, List the unit of measurement such as ounces, gallons, pounds, etc. If it is produce sold by the piece just put the word unit there
• Price, List the price paid without including any coupons used.
• PPU, Here you will need to do a little spreadsheet operation to divide your column of price by your column of quantity. The result is the PPU. This is what will help you easily compare the price for a 28 oz can of tomatoes to a 14 oz can.

Now instead to making a massive price book for every single item you ever might think of buying, you are going to start out slow with a Hot List Price Book. To start out you need to write down about 20 items that are staples in your household. Hint: what are you always running out of? What fills up your cart? What do you spend the most on? If Armageddon were upon us, what would you stock up on? Some items on our household's hotlist are milk, apples, bananas, apple juice, eggs, coffee, raisins, bread, whole wheat pasta, and popcorn. If you are a meat eater don't forget to add a few meats to your list. Ours includes ground beef, whole chickens, and pork chops.

A word about brand loyalty. I've said before that you will save more in the long run if you can discard most brand loyalty in the supermarket. But undoubtedly there are a few things that you just would rather go without than buy a lesser brand. For me this is Sensodyne toothpaste and Glide dental floss. Put these items on your hotlist by the brand name.

When I put together my first price book I quickly learned that I could save at least $50 a month by buying milk, eggs, coffee and popcorn at Kroger and canned goods, some produce and most meats at Market Basket. I also learned that for our family, Sam's Club didn't make any difference at all from a PPU perspective and that while some products were less expensive at Wal-mart, most weren't. That's about $600 a year in savings without even clipping a coupon. Pretty cool, right?

Homework: Make your Hotlist Pricebook.
You can make a spread sheet or you can just use a notebook and a calculator. I'm sure somewhere someone has made an app for this as well but as a cell phone Luddite I'm no help to you there. Draw up a price book sheet in whatever way works best for you. Make about five blank spaces below each of your 20 hot list items. Over the next week or so (it may be a while before I post again) fill in your price book when you go to the stores you frequent. Don't forget to include club stores and drug stores as well as supermarkets.

Coupon College: Books, Blogs, & Buddies

Welcome back, class! Do you have your coupon holding devices? How about a newspaper subscription? Great. Now let's start filling those notebooks and wallets with coupons. If you did your homework, Sunday's coupons should already be in your notebook's plastic sleeves. I got two in my paper: Red Plum and SmartSource. Also wrapped around my whole paper was a sleeve containing three cereal samples and three $1 off coupons for those cereals.

In Tuesday's mail the fliers for the three major grocery chains arrived as well. Around here sales run from Wednesday to Tuesday. I try to do most of my major shopping on Monday or Tuesday then as I will have that Sunday's coupons to incorporate into my shopping. During the week I make small fill-in trips as well. More about this in the How to Shop lesson.

Web Coupons
Even with all those coupons from the paper, you can really benefit from couponing by the oodles and oodles of them available on the web. Here are a few of my favorite places to find coupons on the web:

1. Kroger Website This is pretty much the only place you will find coupons on Kroger brand items.
   
2. Coupons.com This is sort of the large clearing house for coupons. Most web coupons piggyback on their printing software.
   
3. Smartsource.com This is the online version of the same item in the paper. It is a great resource for duplicates when you find a really good coupon in the paper.
   
4. Redplum.com Same.
   
5. MamboSprouts.com Great resource for coupons for organic or health food store items.

In addition to these mainstays, many manufacturers have coupons right on their websites. If you have a certain brand that you are insanely loyal to, it is worth it to check out their website for coupons or sign up for their newsletters or e-mail alerts for sales. I have a separate email address that I use just for this purpose.

Coupon Blogs/Websites

More than likely though you don't have the time or the inclination to visit every possible corporate website that you might possibly benefit from. That's where the coupon blogs and websites come in handy. There are thousands of these out there--baby coupons, regional sites, organic, you name it. The trick is to find two or three that are a good fit for your household.

My favorites are:

1. Coupon Mom In particular there are two tools on the site that I use each week: the coupon database and the deals by state. Go ahead and set up an account with this site (using your coupon e-mail address) because it is very useful. Look at those two tools in particular and just poke around this site. We'll get to specifics in a few lessons.
   
2. Money Saving Mom The lady who writes this blog is a SAHM who homeschools and follows a Dave Ramsey style of money management. She also spends a great deal of time collecting sales information. I have a feed to her blog and scan it once a day.
   
3. Frugal Coupon Living This is the newest feed I've added to my collection. I like that it includes sales to places like hardware stores and other retail chains.

Other Coupons/Information

Once you start looking for coupons you'll be amazed at all the places you'll find them. On the packages of food, in the grocery store aisles, in Parade or other glossy magazines. Some of the best coupons you'll get are spit out of the cash register when you check out of the grocery store. I've had coupons for $5 of free produce and $3 off eggs before.

Choosing Coupons

Now obviously you aren't going to need every single coupon you come across. When you get serious about saving money on grocery shopping one of the first things to go out the window is brand loyalty. (A few things you'll never pay for again once you start couponing and give up brand loyalty is toothpaste, deodorant, and toothbrushes.) But even then there will be coupons you just KNOW you will never use. I use the following rule of thumb when evaluating whether or not to clip/save/print a coupon:

Would I get this if it were free or nearly free? Would I keep it for myself or could I give it away to a food bank or friend?

So I'll save the Activia coupons (even though I prefer my own yogurt!) but pass on dog food items. Sometimes I'll find a coupon that I'm fairly sure I won't use but I know it is an item a friend uses regularly. I'll clip it anyway and give it to them. I strongly believe in the be nice and pay it forward principle when it comes to home economics.

Homework
Okay, so your homework for this week is to make a favorites folder on your web browser and add links to all the sites above. Subscribe to the blogs and review a few pages worth of entries. Try your hand at printing out a few coupons just to see what its like. Don't feel obligated to DO anything with these coupons just yet. You're just beginning to build your collection.

Coupon College Intro

Good morning class. You are in Coupon College 101. If this wasn't the course you signed up for feel free to stay a while--you may learn something! Now, unlike my mathematician husband, I didn't prepare my syllabus a few weeks ahead of time. I'm tempted to blame the kiddos or come up with some other excuse but the fact of the matter is that I'm just not as organized as he is. Aren't you glad I don't teach you calculus?

Okay so here's the syllabus that I jotted down on the back of a pamphlet while in the waiting room of my doctors office this morning.

Week1: Introduction and Supply List

Week 2: Books, Blogs and Buddies -- You don't have to do it alone!

Week 3: Hotlists and Pricebooks

Week 4: How to Shop -- it's more than just spending money

Week 5: Coupons, Part I -- find, store and tote

Week 6: Coupons, Part II -- what to use when and where

Week 7: Weekly Sales and Fliers

Week 8: Your Weekly Routine

Week 9: Advanced Couponing: catalinas, ECB and more

Week 10: Other Ways to Streeeeetch that Grocery Budget

Week 11: Long Term Shopping Habits

Week 12: People Skills Can Save You Money

Week 13: Final Exam!

In addition to each lesson, I'll be posting "extra credit" posts listing particular deals I've found each week.

Any questions? Okay, moving right along let's talk about supplies.

A Coupon Carrier
This is the small accordion-file that you will use to organize your coupons. It will need to be easily carried to the store and used while you shop. You can find them in Target, Walmart, dollar stores, and drug stores--usually in the office supply section. I've had several of these over the years and I much prefer the kind you can zip closed. I'm a bit of a klutz so the zipper saves me from playing "coupon pickup" in the middle of the canned goods isle. I also like the zippered pouch in the front. I use it to hold my grocery money and any coupons that I know I am going to use on a particular trip.

You will usually have 12-13 slots in each carrier. If you can, get the kind that doesn't have preprinted categories. You'll want to be able to customize it. I make tabs that correspond to the order in which the aisles are in my most often used grocery store: Kroger. So my carrier categories are:

Produce
Bread
Dairy
Beverages
Canned Goods
Condiments
Pasta & Sauces
Baking
Paper Goods/Household
Baby/Cereal
Personal Care
Meats/Frozen

The nice thing about basing the carrier organization on a particular store is that if I have an item that doesn't clearly fit into a category (popcorn for example), I can put it in the slot that is closest to where it is in the store--in this case in bread.

cheapo option: A bunch of old envelopes with a rubber band around them. I don't recommend it but if you're reluctant to spend money to save money just yet, this is a suitable make-do option.

A Loose-leaf Binder
A 1 and 1/2 inch binder should be just fine for now. Make dividers with whatever is handy: stick on tabs, print-out tabs, or even scotch tape and a Sharpie will do in a pinch.

Throw some loose leaf in the front. On the top page write: Shopping List. Throughout the week, write down anything that you know you will need to buy in the next week.

The first tab should be labelled menu. Later on when we discuss your planning day, this will be where you jot down your menu for the week.

The next tab should be labelled price book. We'll learn more about this in a few weeks.

The third tab is seasonal. This will be where you put a list of seasonal sales (turkeys in November for example) and a list of in season produce. This will be a big help when it comes to meal planning around what is going to be inexpensive.

The fourth tab is labelled Meal Plans. Some folks like to have a few set meal plans for those weeks when things get hectic. For example, I have a one chicken-one roast weekly plan that covers about 6 dinners. Each meal plan has basic menus and a shopping list.

The last tab should be for coupons. Behind this tab put about ten plastic sleeves. This will be where you put each week's coupons out of the newspaper. Just whip them out of the paper, date the top of each and put an entire week's worth in one sleeve. I go from back to front, meaning my most recent coupons are in the front sleeve and older ones are behind it.

Finally in the pockets of your binder is where you will slip the weekly circulars from the grocery stores. These can be found in the newspaper, in your mailbox, or even at the front of the grocery store. Here in Beaumont the circulars list sales from Wednesday to Tuesday so from now on when I talk about "weeks" this is usually what I mean.

Now I like to have a pretty cover on my binder because it spends so much time out in the open where anybody can see it. Your fussiness level may vary.

Newspaper Subscription

This is the most costly part of couponing. If you already get a paper--good for you! Newspapers are a dying breed but still a fairly necessary tool to be an active member of one's local democracy in my opinion. Fortunately, the Beaumont Enterprise offers a Sunday only option with access to their daily e-edition online for less than $10 per month. So you can be frugal and green all at the same time. In a budget crunch? Ask your neighbors/family members who don't coupon for their coupon sections. Then when you save enough money to justify it, go ahead and get your own subscription.

Now newspapers aren't the only thing you'll use to cultivate coupons but it is the most reliable. Next week we'll look for all the best places to find coupons online, in the mail, in the store, and beyond.

Okay, your homework this week is to get your three tools: your coupon carrier, your binder, and your newspaper subscription. Make your dividers and tabs. Have fun making it pretty or use stickers on them to keep you from taking all this too seriously.

Next week: Books, Blogs, & Buddies

Now Enrolling: Coupon College

Over the past few years I've had several people express interest in learning some of the ways I save money on our family's grocery bill. Several others are skeptical that we can use coupons and shop sales without resorting to a high-fat diet of Chefboyardee and fruit punch for dinner each night. So in an effort to help the would-be-frugal (and I admit, squelch the naysayers) I've decided to design a step-by-step course called Coupon College.

There are tons of resources on the internet and in the public library to help you started with saving money and couponing. Why should I reinvent the wheel? I think to jumpstart the process it helps to have someone point out the good deals to you while you are also setting up your own shopping and couponing system. While you work on learning how to coupon, I'll help you right now by pointing out good local sales to you. If it took three months before you started to see any improvement at all, you'd probably give up before you got started. The fact of the matter is that this is somewhat a local proposition. Deals in Texas don't automatically appear in New Hampshire. For that matter the deals in Houston may be completely different from the deals in Beaumont. So while my friends across the country are welcome to join in (and will certainly benefit) the biggest winners in Coupon College are likely to be folks in and around Beaumont, TX. Those of you in other locales will need to use common sense to take what is useful and disregard the rest. I will be providing helpful links to articles, blogs, and databases that will help you customize your own system.

So, let's get a few of the FAQs out of the way, shall we?

Q: How much will Coupon College cost?

A: This is a personal blog--it isn't monetized in any way. I do not accept payment or products from any company and do not intend to in the future. I post for my own edification and enjoyment of helping and connecting with others. Accordingly, Coupon College is a completely free and voluntary program. There is no monetary tuition. I would ask that once you get the hang of couponing that you "pay it forward." This could mean donating extra food to a food bank, teaching your neighbor how to coupon, or just forwarding someone else the link to this series. It's up to you.

Q: Does that mean I won't need to spend any money at all do participate in Coupon College?

A: Not exactly. One of our first lessons will be on "school supplies" which will contain a list of optional but recommended tools you'll need. It is made up of really hard-to-find and expensive items like a loose leaf binder, a coupon carrier, a pair of scissors, etc. You may also wish to subscribe to the Sunday paper, which in Beaumont is just $9 per month. If you are really strapped for cash, you can always make do with some old used envelopes and your neighbor's recycled newspapers.

Q: Will there be homework?

A: Yes! You can't expect yourself to learn anything new if you aren't willing to do a little work on your own. I'm not going to wave a magic wand and automatically reduce your grocery bill by 20% each week. You should expect to spend about two hours each week on Coupon College. Some weeks it may be more, some weeks it may be less. Look at it this way: can you think of two television shows you watched last week that in retrospect you could have done without? That wasted time could have been spend being productive in Coupon College. Once you get the hang of it, couponing and shopping sales will feel like second nature like brushing your teeth before you go to bed.

Q: Will there be tests or exams?

A: Yes! From time to time you will need to "test" yourself to make sure you really do know how to implement what you are learning. You can choose to share your test results with the rest of us via the comments boxes or not. Either way, you really ought to at least keep track of your progress to keep you going. I'll be posting my progress as well by giving you our weekly budget and a report on how we did.

Q: How long is Coupon College?

A: Three months. I'll post at least once a week about a new topic and an assignment. I suggest doing things "my way" for this period. Just subscribe to this blog and you're in. Once you are done, you can decide how best to tweak your shopping system to best fit your family's needs.

Q: I'm not a SAHM, a healthfood freak, in need of saving money, etc. Why should I even consider doing this?

A: Quite simply: freedom. Even if you can spare the extra $200 each month for groceries that you would save by couponing, would you turn down $200 if someone offered it to you? Everytime you save a dollar from your household budget you buy a little bit of your freedom back. Perhaps you can use it to go on vacation, or splurge on a fancy date night once a month, or afford to eat more organic/sustainable food. Why spend money that you don't need to? And if for some unforseen reason you do find yourself tight on money one day, you will be glad to know these skills.

Okay, that's the pitch. Are you in or are you out? Leave a message in the comments or send me an e-mail if you'd like to join us. Oh, and feel free to pass a link along to a friend!

It's Official

It's official...I'm overweight. I'm not whining, it's not just bad body perception, it's just the plain truth. Plug my wieght into the BMI calculator on the NIH website and I'm on the low end of overweight. It doesn't get more clinical than that.

I easily can see many causes for this. I joined the new gym after the Beaumont YMCA decided to cut free childcare in an effort to cut costs. There was a month lag time in between. Now I didn't instantly become overweight in those few weeks but it didn't help. I'm afraid it has been something that's been building over time and was simply exacerbated by a second pregnancy and the go go go lifestyle of trying to keep kids active during the day. I also did a few months of Once A Month Mom cooking with the unfortunate consequence of eating less healthy meals. Lots of cheese and pasta dishes. But most of all I just let a more sedentary lifestyle and a few more junk food snacks creep in until, bam, I found myself overweight.

There was a great article in Atlantic Monthly about how obesity happens in America and why it so difficult to reign in. In particular I found this quote illuminating:

Obesity belongs in a different category of social illness. You can’t become a
smoker until you decide to start smoking. For all the peer pressure and
advertising that helped turn many 20th-century Americans into walking
chimneys, you don’t have to smoke to live. “But if you go with the flow in
America today, you will end up overweight or obese,” Thomas Frieden, the
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told me when I
met him at an obesity conference in Washington last summer.

I suppose I thought I was immune to this. We hike and walk all the time. We try to eat a whole foods diet as much as possible. But I have to admit that I fell out of pushing myself and I made one too many trips through the drive-thru when the boys and I are out running errands. Most of all, while I ate breakfast, it wasn't very large and by the boys' naptime I was ravenous and too often "treated" myself to high calorie, low nutrition foods.

For the first time, my efforts to get fit aren't about losing weight per se (although I'd like to get firmly back in the normal BMI range for sure), or looking a certain way, or fitting into a pair of jeans or a swimsuit. No, I'm doing this for the long haul. When we're ready to go for long backpacking trips again I want to be ready. I've listened to enough Dr. Oz on XM radio to know that I don't just want to have a long life, I want a long vital life. I don't want to casually slip my way into type-II diabetes (not a far-fetched proposition given my family history). I may be an older mom in my community but I don't want to feel like an older mom. I know that if I just continute to go with the flow, even with our relatively healthy lifestyle, I will end up very overweight or even obese by the time the boys are grown and Tim and I are ready to retire. Yikes! I'm also facing the fact that as I age it gets more and more difficult to jump start a fitness program.

So I've started counting calories, working out at the gym, and contiously being more active when out and about with the boys. We've nixed the drive-thru. I' m avoiding carbs after dinner so that huge bowl of popcorn on the couch with my husband is being replaced sometimes with a bowl of apple slices. I've found the Virtual Trainer software on Shape.com very helpful. I'll keep trying to post about this and let you know my progress by percentage (I don't want to trigger anyone out there in cyberspace by posting my pounds...each person is different).

It's been two weeks since my epiphany. I've managed to lose a little weight (I'm now on the cusp of BMI overweight) but more importantly, I feel soooooo much better. Brighter actually. It's a nice feeling.

Sick Day

Unfortunately all my guys seem to have come down with a bit of a stomach virus. No fever, nothing too serious. But we're sticking close to home today and watching a little more television than usual. In an effort to prevent their little minds from turning completely to mush, we did do a kitchen activity today.

A week ago my mother sent us a popsicle maker. So I broke open the "in case of emergency" Pedialyte left over from my frantic swine flu stock up last fall and together we made PediaPops. The boys loved it and immediately fell asleep afterwards: Jack in the crib and Xavier on the couch after reading Petook with me.

I'm taking advantage of today's quiet time to catch up on laundry, prayer and reading. So far I'm the only one in this house unscathed by the virus and I hope to stay that way by staying quiet too.

Tot School--February Round Up

Well February was a bit crazy around here. The boys and I passed around colds for the first few weeks. Then once the weather warmed up we've been on the go a lot. I did manage to take some photos here and there to share with you!

Here's the Mardi Gras king cake we made with a recipe from Ruby Slippers. It was more breadlike than donutish but the boys loved it.

Making homemade valentines.

Making valentine pizza.

And of course a little Montessori to balance things out.

A Prejudicial Confession

Yesterday the kids and I went down to the public health department to get the first round of H1N1 vaccines for the boys. Last year we got the standard flu vax at the pediatrician's office but were informed that while they recommended the H1N1 vaccine they had decided NOT to administer it in their office. Given the absolute crush of kids and paperwork nightmare of flu vax this year compared to last year, I could hardly blame them.

This town is swimming in H1N1 vaccine--for older children and adults. The only place to get an H1N1 vaccine for those 9 years old and under was the public health clinic in the WIC building. So I just didn't get it. I feared a long wait in the crowded waiting rooms full of sick poor people like the ones we saw each day at Texas Children's Hospital ER when Jack was in the hospital after his birth. I worried about our safety driving to the part of Beaumont where the clinic was, would our car be safe? Most of all I just didn't want to be among the poor. I'm not proud of these thoughts, mind you, I'm just being honest.

But last week HHS Secretary Sebelieus made the case on Morning Joe that a third round of swine flu would probably hit this spring and be more intense than the past two waves this year. So I called 311, got what information I could which was not much and made plans to head down to the clinic--sans appointment and with no guarantee that there would be vaccine there when we arrived.

Well that drive down Washington Avenue was eye opening and I was filled with conflicting emotions. It is so easy to forget how much poverty there is here in Beaumont. This wasn't squalor but the working poor, there were lots of small mom-and-pop business along the street with rusty awnings and patched roofs still left from Rita I imagine. I saw the liquor store with the "We Cash Paychecks" sign in the window knowing that it was owned by one of Beaumont's most renowned and generous philanthropists. I saw several offices for the landscaping companies that often work in our neighborhood on the West End. I've often complained that there are no good ethnic restaurants here in Beaumont--you have to go to Houston for that. Imagine my surprise at several small plate lunch restaurants and ethnic grocery stores.

When we got to the Public Health building, the parking lot was spacious and lined by gorgeous oak trees. Inside the buildings were clean and simple. There were no magazines in the waiting area but the walls were lined with nice posters. There was only one other family there when we arrived. After a simple check in and a relatively short wait, a kind nurse gave Xavier and Jack their shots and me instructions to bring them back for round two in a month. All in all the experience in the clinic was the same or BETTER than that at the pediatrician's. Shorter wait, streamlined paperwork, and plain band-aids instead of ones with characters on them.

On the drive home I had to admit to myself that my prejudice alone had kept me from getting the boys these shots sooner. I've been thinking a lot lately about the poor and poverty. That's what happens when you read a book entitled Happy Are You Poor I suppose.

I think a few years ago I probably would have said that I have most of the things I need and some of the things I want. This days I say I have everything I need and most of what I want. This trip however made me suspect that I have more than I need. I don't know what to do with that thought.

Why Haiti, Why Now?

I've been pondering an economic question posed by a dear friend of mine lately. She wondered with all the major economic troubles the US is facing right now that have the propensity to affect the lives of future generations of Americans, should we really be spending so many Federal dollars on Haiti relief right now--in a nutshell can we afford it.

I think it is important to mention that this friend ranks among one of the most compassionate loving people I know. For her this is a sincere question, not a political parlor game. And I share her concern about the structural deficit this country faces right now.

[For a great non-partisan and recent discussion about the deficit, see this NPR interview with former GAO chief David Walker about his new book Comeback America: Turning the Deficit Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility]

At first pass I could only speak from my heart: Haiti is suffering. Jesus said to care for the poor but also that the poor would be with us always. I know that I am called to help not to cure--for there is no human cure to all material suffering. But there is a spiritual realm that can be served on both sides with charitable works. To paraphrase Xavier's godfather, I am my most liberal when I am being a mother.

But the intellectual in me knows that this is an argument for an idividual or at most a corporation or community. It calls me to action. Despite the many voices otherwise, this is NOT a Christian country. It is influenced culturally and intellectually by Christian tradition but at its core it is a secular nation. I cannot honestly say that the national government is always called to the same level of virtue that a Christian individual is. But at the same time I'm too blinded by my own emotion to be comfortable with the ramifications of this.

In mulling over this conundrum with my husband over dinner he (ever the pragmatist) pointed out some very sound practical considerations to justify a large government expenditure on Haiti relief efforts.

1. Haiti is our close geographic neighbor. If they fall into complete chaos we will have a huge influx of folks floating over on innertubes and whatnot clogging our social services, prisons, tying up our Coast Guard, etc. It is in our interest to keep Haiti livable.
   
2. The amount we will spend in Haiti is miniscule compared to the deficit issue.
   
3. We would be publicly shamed on the world stage to ignore Haiti--China and Israel in particular have made huge and swift physical and monetary contributions to relief. This would hamper our future negotiating position with many countries on other issues particularly given our proximity and relative wealth.
   
4. Should Haiti fall in the hands of chaos it will become a safe haven a la Afghanistan for terrorists--only this one would be withing boating distance of our ports.
   
5. When we give aid to Haiti, we don't just write a check. It boosts commerce here at home. They need to buy tractors, communications equipment, food, etc. There is a financial kickback effect to our aid.
   
6. Finally, part of our greatness in the world community IS our historical committment to humanitarian efforts, for fighting for just causes. To lose that now would be pennywise and pound foolish.
   

Now, I don't claim that these arguments are irrefutable (I'm sure Rush Limbaugh would have some choice words for me) but they do seem a bit more palatable than my "because Jesus said so" to the general American public. Of course in all of this it is worth recognizing the huge amount of personal and corporate donations that have been flowing into Haiti relief as well.

In the end, I think I am back where I started. I still feel too emotionally bound up to make a purely intellectual case for federal aid. Today are the days that I'm happy to be just a mother and homemaker and not a politician.

Photo Dump

Two Birthday Parties!

Jack got two birthday parties this year--neither was on his actual birthday, poor dear. The first was a shared party with MaMere and MoMo. Jack got his first taste of cake. If you look carefully you'll see that Jack is wearing a sweatshirt from my alma mater that my mom bought about 15 years ago. With all the chaos with the moves following Katrina, she couldn't find it in time for Xavier to wear it but it fits Jack to a tee.

Jack's second party was with the neighborhood kids. It was originally planned as a park party but the cold weather kept us inside. I put away the sidewalk chalk and bubbles and pulled out the riding toys that Jack and Xavier received from Grandma and Grandpa McNicholl. Those plus blocks served as ample entertainment. My dear friend Brooke supplied the most adorable sandwiches in various boy-friendly shapes. Jack got a second helping of cake--cupcakes this time.

Small Things: St. Nicholas Day

Santa goes by St. Nicholas around here. He visits on the eve of his feast day and likes to check in on everyone's Advent preparations. He loves kids and if there are kids in the house, he may leave them a few gold coins and a small toy. The boys left a pair of their tiny shoes by the fireplace along with a colored portrait of St. Nick and a carrot for his donkey. They were thrilled to find chocolate coins and a little car in their shoes.

Advent 2009

This is the first in a set of waaaaay overdue posts!

I'm happy to say that we increased our Advent activities this year. In addition to putting out an Advent wreath, we actually used it this year.

We observed Advent after dinner and clean up but before bathtime. We started by singing O, Come Emmanuel, lighting the candles, and then did a short reading and meditation from the Advent bulliten for kids that we got from St. Jude's. After that, Xavier opened the appropriate door on this gorgeous Advent calendar that MaMere and MoMo found in Lafayette. I envy their access to Catholic bookstores there!

We ended with a short prayer and Xavier helping to put the candles out with the snuffer. While there was a bit of wiggling the first few nights, by the end of Advent all we needed to do was dim the lights and say "Advent" and boys came running to the dining room table to begin. I think at this age, the candles are the biggest draw.

I also spiffed up the house a bit for Advent including a purple drape over the fireplace and a new chasable and stole for Father Pine. For a more tactile experience, Xavier and Jack could play with this cute nativity magnet set. I opted not to put out the ceramic set this year as it was difficult enough to keep the wreath and calendar from being mangled and I had run out of high spaces.

Look Who's Walking Too

I've got TWO toddlers now! Congrats to my happy little boy--even Daddy taking away a piece of chewed paper doesn't take away your giggles.

Homesewn Luxury

A few weeks ago we finally were able to buy a new box spring and mattress for our master bedroom. This was a purchase that was planned, delayed, replanned, and so on for at least two and a half years. Whenever we had the money in the budget some unforeseen expense would come up that was more urgent. Since we are a pay-as-you-go kind of family, charging what is basically a non-emergency expense was out of the question. So I waited. Sometimes with patience, other times with resentment or self-pity. The entire mattress issue became a spiritual issue for me. I spent time in prayer about it.

Fortunately when the time came we found a great mattress that was well within our budget with a little left over. It's near-double depth compared to the old mattress meant that we would need new sheets too. So I turned my online research skills from mattresses to sheets.

My husband is what some call a "hot sleeper." Not only does he feel hot at night but he heats up the bed and sheets as well thus affecting us both. I found out that our old high thread count cotton sheets may have been making things worse as the tight weave makes for softness but less breathability.

I also discovered that 100% linen sheets are the gold standard for hot sleepers. Unfortunately, they are also extraordinarily pricey. It isn't uncommon to find them on sale for about $800 for an entire set. So with a little disappointment, I went to Target and bought the lowest thread count cotton sheets I could find. They were good, but I kept fantasizing about how much better the $800 linen sheets would be.

One morning it occured to me that I could make our own sheets. While they would need to be pieced together from 60" cloth they would still be linen. I was unable to find any online instructions on how to sew your own queen-sized sheets from fabric--I suppose you have to be a little nutty like me to even want to try. So for posterity, here are my instructions and lessons learned. I'll try to add some more how-to photos in the future.

A queen flat sheets is 92x102 inches finished. In lieu of making a fitted sheet, I decided to make two oversized flat sheets, one of which can be folded with hospital corners on the bottom. That way they would be interchangable. I also needed four pillow cases, 20x32 inches finished.

I found a great online store to order the fabric from. I must have been in a fog when I ordered the fabric because I only got 8 yards when I really needed 17. Somehow I lost sight of the fact that each sheet required two three-yard lengths. Don't make my mistake!

In any case, here's the how-to for a single sheet:

Cut two lengths of cloth at 3 yards each. One will be the center panel and the other will be split down the middle to form the two side panels. Depending on the desired final width (full, queen, king) you may want to split the second piece into three panels, a side panel from each edge (you'll want to work with the selvege, believe me) and the remainer cut out from the center piece. I chose to just keep the extra width to make it easier to use as a bottom sheet and to be able to use if we ever upgrade to a king-size bed.

Prewash, line dry, and press the fabric. Then pin the raw edge of the side panel to the selvege side of the center panel. Because you are working with such an expanse of fabric, you'll want to pin carefully. Sew a 5/8 inch seam. Press flat, then press open. Trim the raw edge of the seam down to a 1/4 inch. Fold selvege edge of the seam over it and press. Sew near the edge of the selvege. This is called a flat-felled seam. It encases the raw edge and results in a sturdy flat seam similar to those you'll find on a pair of blue jeans. Repeat the same on the other side of the center panel with the second side piece making sure the flat felled seams are on the same side of the sheet.

Double fold the bottom edge of the sheet (1/4 and then 5/8 inch) and press to form an encased hem. Stitch the edge through all three layers.

Single or double fold the sides of the sheet--since they are selvege edges you don't need to worry about fraying.

Double fold the top edge of the sheet (1/4 and then 4 inches) and press to form a thick encased hem. Stitch through all three layers. This is the area where you may choose to do a decorative stitch across the top. I preferred the simpler look. These are positively monastic and deliciously so. I would refrain from hemstitching like you see on tea towels though as that basically weakens the sheet which is intended for heavy duty use. I imagine after a year or two it would tear sort of like perforated toilet paper.

Pillowcases

Pillowcases were much easier for me. Cut a 44x36 inch square--a little less than one full yard of 60 inch cloth. Fold it over width-wise to form the pillowcase shape. Stitch along the bottom and side. I did a straight stitch first and then went back over with a overedge stitch on my machine similar to an overlock/serger stitch. Basically I wanted a no-fray finish without having to turn under the seam. Then double fold the open edge of the pillowcase (1/4 and then 4 inches), press, and stitch through all three layers close to the folded edge. Again, if you are going for a decorative stitch this should be the place for it. No hemstitching though!

Here are a few things I would do differently next time...learn from my mistakes:

• Buy the correct amount of cloth in the first place! 17 yards, not 8. Doh!
  
• Don't bother with prewashing the fabric since there is a lot of wiggle room in the final dimensions. Prewashing just created a pressing and edge trimming hassle I think.


• Pin, pin, pin and pin before stitching. Yes, it's a straight stitch but as I mentioned earlier a little bit of slippage over the course of a 3-yard length makes for a huge uneven edge. While I did pin, next time I'll do it about twice as much to avoid that problem again.
  

So far, we've been sleeping on the cotton bottom sheet with the linen top sheet until I can make a second order of linen. I find that it feels so wonderful to be in linen sheets but it does take a little getting used to if you are accustomed to silkier sheets. The best adjectives I can use to describe it are "soft and crisp." Oh, and it is much much cooler but yet still cozy. Apparently linen sheets are a study in contradiction...like the phrase homesewn luxury I suppose.

Lake Radcliff

Last month we took a day trip to the Lake Radcliff Recreation Area in the Davy Crockett National Forest. Tim and I packed up hiking clothes, snacks and the backpack in the truck before going to Mass on Sunday so we could make the 1.5-2 hour trip right after leaving church. The autumn colors were just beginning to show--as much as they show at all in southeast Texas that is.

Lake Radcliff is a wonderful outdoor resource. The entry and camping prices are very reasonable. During the summertime you can swim in the man-made lake. There are separate camper and tent camping areas so we like that it is relatively quiet unlike, say, Village Creek. The tent sites have easy access to water and flush toilets too. By the lake they have boat rentals, a snack bar, and a changing area. The best part of this area in my opinion though are the wonderful trails.

We hiked along the Tall Pines trail for about 1.5 miles and then circled back on the 4 C's trail for a total of about 3 miles. Xavier walked the whole way. He enjoyed looking at the huge pine trees, looking for acorns, and seeing beetles and bugs that I pointed out to him. And of course, he always looks forward to the trail snacks.

We plan to go back this month for a tent-camping overnight trip with the boys. The last time we did this I was about 4 months pregnant with Jack! We've just been waiting for it to get cool enough to enjoy.

Self portrait.

Tall pines indeed!

A treasure on the trail.

Xavier enjoying an orange.

Jack loves the backpack.