preschool at a nursing home.

i had jakob's 3rd birthday party at a nursing home.
i loved it.
there is magic in the interaction of children and the elderly.
i have often thought that i could do a little preschool group at a nursing home...
we've arranged christmas programs and singing programs there.
and FINALLY i just called and asked if i could come for an hour with a group of preschoolers.
right now we go once a month- next month i will do it every other week.

it is nothing great-- just circle time with activities and songs, craft time and snack time.
i got most everything i used for $10 at the dollar tree.
our theme this month was RED which was easy because of Valentine's Day.
we'll do GREEN in March.
(i asked one of my sweet friends to come help- all her children are in school, but she came and was a lifesaver holding eve who screamed most of the time.  i had two other moms who stayed and helped out the whole time.  i couldn't have done it without other moms.  and, todd showed up for the end- right when i thought eve was never going to calm down- she had a blowout diaper and i had no change of clothes or wipes... nice. it really does take a village.)

children bring joy.
i can't imagine being at a stage of life where i am without the touch of a child.
when little fingers hold wrinkled hands, i can see both sets of eyes light up.
the facility we were at is a Memory Care facility.
seeing those men and women, who are parents, grandparents and great grandparents, as they struggle to communicate just touches my heart strings.
Wise souls who are ill and unable to remember or articulate as they once could.
i wanted them to feel normal and loved.
one grandfather started making cute animal sounds when he saw the children.
he belted out the start of a jolly hello tune before he got confused and distracted.
for a glimpse, i saw him as the man he was, and is, deep down.
i know he was a fun father and a jovial grandfather.
one of my friends has her mother in this facility.
my eyes filled with tears as her youngest child threw a balloon into the basket on her grandmother's lap.
her grandmother had a sweet smile on her face as she made a big effort to pat the balloon into the basket.
for a moment she was just a proud grandmother, i felt her spirit so present and so loving.
it was magical.

i was impressed by my timid lily...
she went around saying hello, telling them her name, holding their hands, smiling...
it was sweet to watch.

the kids sang and danced and interacted a bit.
i had a few games planned to facilitate interaction...
-we hid a stuffed heart with a grandparent and the kids went to find it.
-the grandparents held a basket and the kids tried to throw a ball of red yarn or a red balloon into it.
-i had foam hearts that the kids gave to the grandparents "giving them love".
we all did "head, shoulders, knees and toes together", we all stretched together, we all sang "If you're happy and you know it" together...
(the woman in the orange jacket was named mildred, she reminded me of my grandmother who passed away a few years ago.)

it was an easy, fun morning!
i learned this lesson-- don't be afraid to serve.
do you have something that you've thought about?
something that you could do, without much effort, that would bless the lives of others?
i believe God will whisper to you what it is.
some small thing, to serve a few of His children.

i finally listened-- and as i served i was filled with joy.
i know i was doing exactly what He wanted me to do.
i was serving in a small way... and it was beautiful.
JUST DO IT.
make a phone call, schedule the date... just do the one small thing that nags at the back of your mind.
i heard someone once say, you may have a dream that seems too hard to do.
just take the first step towards it.
my first step- i cancelled leah's preschool and i told the teacher i was thinking about doing my own preschool at a nursing home.
my second step- i drove to the place where i thought i wanted to do it.
i felt a distinct impression that there was another place where i would be of more service.
my third step- (the hardest) i called the first place i had chosen.  the lady i talked to was a bit dismissive and too busy to talk.  she said they had a lot of stuff going on, could i call back next month.  i knew that was not the place.
i called the memory care facility.  i knew it would not be as fun as the other more glamorous home, but i knew  we could be of greater service.
the activity director i talked with was SO excited.  she called me back in five minutes to tell me she had checked with her boss and everything was good.
they were kind, appreciative, and very flexible.  a great match.  we scheduled a date.
my fourth step- i just did it.
i was scared and nervous and unsure...  but it was fine.

i'm actually surprised at how easy it was to do something.
we each have something we can do.  some small thing.
if you don't know what it is-- ask God to tell you again.
to lead you to someone you can serve.
"be not weary in well-doing for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.  and out of small things proceedeth that which is great."  doctrine and covenants 64:33

because i served, my family was blessed.

this line from a church song kept urging me forward...

"I strengthen my family by my good works..."

true.

we all can do some small thing...  

preschool at a nursing home, that was my thing.

what's yours?

life is good.

Journals and Family Report Cards.

our family journals-- can you tell what song we were learning that night?

1.  i LOVE family journals.

as the new year started, i invested in new journals for everyone in my family.

we have a morning devotional, most mornings, and it needed some PEP!

new journals were just the thing.

(don't you love office supplies?!)

actually, i bought some new paper, sticky notes, and a bunch of fun colored gel pens.

we take turns giving a spiritual thought and we try to print out something that the kids can tape into their journals.

i LOVE that the little girls are busy coloring in their journals while the big kids are taking notes.

journals have not only added some fun to our morning devotionals, it has also helped a lot with personalizing it.

i love that the kids have a place to write down scriptures they like or quotes they want to remember.

we keep our journals in a small box near our scriptures.

i don't let them take them to their rooms or write in them whenever they want... because i know they will get lost or ruined.

{the family night before i gave the kids their new journals i said we're going to play a Memory game-- i gave half the kids a piece of paper and a pencil, and half nothing.  then i told them to remember the items i was going to say... i started listing random things apple, cat, happy, love, school, coke, etc.  i think i listed about 20 things.  then i asked who could remember what i had said.  the kids who had taken notes of my list could recall all 20 and the other kids didn't think that was fair.  i smiled and asked what they could learn from that example?  then, i asked how that game relates to writing journals.  the kids responded PERFECTLY and i didn't even need to teach them the lesson-- they taught it for me!}

2.  i LOVE family report cards.
for family night i pulled out my famous white board and i asked the kids to name some of the different areas of our life.

we came up with a list that included, scripture time, being kind, doing chores, mornings, bedtime, straightening up, doing fun things, exercise, watching screens, etc.

then i asked them how they thought we had done the past week 1-10, 1 being bad, 10 being good.
i asked the kids to look at the numbers and make some conclusions...
like "we had scripture time each day and were kind to each other.  we watched a lot of tv and didn't do very well with our chores."
we circled the areas where we were the lowest and set two family goals for the week.
i think they are do jobs happily in the morning and no screens after school but do exercise daily... or something like that.
then, i had the kids rate themselves individually 1-10.
they circled their low spots and set a couple personal goals. 

oh how i LOVED hearing them set goals for themselves instead of me encouraging them to be better.

it was SO good. 

give it a try!

Life's a HAPPY SONG!!

there are a few things that I find out about and KNOW that i NEED THEM.
this is one.
my NEW FAVORITE song in the whole world!!
i found it here-- thanks CTR MAMA! 
I need this song to play through my house every moment of every day!!
it's our THEME SONG!

I've got everything that I need RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!
Life's a happy song when there's someone right beside to sing along!
{i had to play it again and dance with my sweet husband while we sang along together...  there is something magical about singing the line "i've got everything that i need right in front of" while dancing with your husband and holding your sweet baby"  life just melts into goodness.}

Oh, how i love this song.
i think i will love the whole soundtrack... and movie!
I haven't even heard of this movie...
Oh, Happy Day!

ps.
the other thing i think i NEED is an ipod-touch.
to organize my life.
i have a weird idea that if i had this one item i would never again miss a dentist appointment or loose my shopping list.
perhaps i'm decieved... but the idea is stuck in my brain.
Just two things in the world and I will  be happy forever!

creation cleaning.

i have spent many, many years trying to learn to be a better homemaker. 
for me, homemaking is not something that came naturally... it is something that i really, really, really had to try hard to learn.
when i was younger i was creative, and lazy, and i rebelled against spending time cleaning.
as i got older, i had many young children and couldn't figure out HOW to keep everything orderly.
i prayed a lot asking God to help me learn to be a better homemaker.
i read many books.  i talked to many women who i could see were great homemakers and i would ask them how they did it... again, and again.
these women, are the ones that should write blogs on how to clean your house.
today, i am pretty consistent in my homemaking.
(in younger years i was VERY cyclical-- messy, clean, messy, clean)
my house is never perfect, and i am still learning new things every day.
i'm sharing this tidbit with you, because it changed my life when i was really searching...

i went to the temple one evening pondering strongly WHAT i could do to be a better homemaker.
my thoughts were directed to the creation.
As I was thinking about God organizing the worlds, the Spirit said to me very clearly...
Jen, it is important to organize/plan first.
Then I was thinking about God, separating the waters from the land.
The Spirit said, after you organize, cleanse.
By this time I was quite interested and I was thinking, organize, cleanse... i wonder what comes next.
And, next I almost laughed out loud.
The Spirit whispered to me, Organize, Cleanse, Then separate the LIGHT from the DARK... ahhh laundry!!
(That was my favorite creation/cleaning comparison.)
Fourth came plants/trees/bushes... food.
Fifth came BEASTS in all their variety...  friends/kids.
and Sixth came MEN... a day focused on my husband.
and of course, seventh was a day of rest.

For many, many years I ordered my week around this creation cleaning schedule.
I also have friends who used this idea and created a home that was much, much more ordered than mine ever became.
I don't believe there is ever ONE perfect way to order your home.
{I do know the KEY to a clean house is PURGING... not having too much stuff.
That is a continual battle.}
I also believe cleaning a little at a time is better than doing major overhauls.
And finally, I think creating your own set cleaning schedule is great because it takes away the overwhelming questions "What should I do today?"  You already know, because you do the same thing every Tuesday.

Because my cleaning schedule reminded me of God creating the world, I was able to find NOBILITY in HOMEMAKING.  As I cleaned I would think about the world I was CREATING here on Earth, with God's help. 

I also have spent many hours thinking of what Christ did when He was here on the Earth.  He cleansed the lepers, He healed the sick, He calmed the waters, He preached, He endured, He created, He fed...  I have found nobility in many of my everyday mundane homemaking tasks as I thought how similar they were to what the creator of all mankind did when He was on the earth.

I don't think it's as important WHAT you do, or HOW you do it... but, having a really great WHY can get you through many repetitive tasks.

I have a dear, dear friend who completely mastered creation cleaning, even with 6 young children.
We would talk on the phone every Tuesday while we both scoured our toilets and floors.
I have many sacred memories of the spiritual things we would discuss as we cleaned together.
Tuesdays became a sacred day for me... a day that I would magically cleanse my home while I was on the phone cleansing my spirit. 
Life gets busier as our children get older and our Tuesday conversations are more sporadic... but we still laugh because anytime we have a minute to chat, our floors just magically are cleaned and our toilets sparkle.  It's instinct for me to clean while I'm talking. 

So, one more time... here was the schedule we used--
Monday- Organize your home (Just do a quick run through and put things away.  I liked to vacuum on Monday.)
Tuesday- Cleanse (Bathrooms and floors and windows.)  I always picture the ocean waves as I'm cleansing my home... :)
Wednesday- Laundry (Yup, all in one day... it is possible.  You may have to do a load or two on another day, but it's nice to plan the bulk of a day for laundry once a week.  If you gather and sort on Tuesday night, you can wash and fold on Wednesday and have the kids put their laundry away after school on Wednesday night.)
Thursday- Shopping (I still plan my grocery shopping trips on Thursday... this was always a long, fun day.  I always tried to plan a menu, shop, put it all away and cook some good things on Thursday.)
Friday- The Beasts.  (We love to invite people over on Friday... usually play dates or families over for dinner.  Friday is the best day-- Saturday just made me tired on Sunday, and Sunday made Sundays hard work NOT restful at all.  Oh how I LOVED my many, many Friday night friends... in all their variety.  I tried to do fun things with my little girls during the day.  And, have friends over after school or for dinner.  On days when we didn't have friends over, we ALWAYS have pizza and a movie night on Friday.  love those beasts...)
Saturday- the MAN.  (I am happier when I focus my Saturday on loving my husband.  When I try to make a great, productive plan for Saturday we clash heads.  When I say that Saturday is time we spend with Dad, life is good.  Sometimes we would plan our date nights on Saturday night.  i love Saturday date nights.  These days, Saturday is sports and i suppose that is pretty much a man thing, right?)
Sunday- a Holy Sabbath day. 

Today, I hope you enjoy your work of CREATION!!

hair things.

5 little girls = lots and lots of bows
i had hair things everywhere.

in the bathroom drawer (where they belonged), in the kitchen junk drawer, on top of dressers in the big girls room and the little girls room, in the car, in the master bathroom cabinet, behind the couch, etc.

FINALLY, i bought myself a pink hair tackle box (from Wal-Mart, $12).

i love it.

why has it taken me so long to do this?

2011 Planner

i loved this post... at Centsational Girl-- it's all about fun planners.
i wish i had $70 for this planner from erincondren.com...
But, not this year.

journal, 2 notebooks, planner... love them!

Target saved me.

for $25 I got my new 2011 stationary.

One hard bound, blue journal for all my daily ponderings. ($10)

Two, fun, smaller notebooks for my themed writings. ($2.50 each)

One plain brown planner... ($10)

I love new stationary, don't you?

PS- Don't forget to vote on my BABY NAME poll...  the professor and i LOVE to see your opinions.
(We have always done BIBLE names... Ellie is Elisabeth, Lily is from the Lilies of the field.  I like a good Bible name that is a little bit different.  Feel free to leave a comment if you know another name that is not on our list... we change daily in our preference!!)

PPS- My big kids just gave me a kiss and are out the door.  HALLELUJAH!! 
I am NOT a HOME SCHOOL mama.  i LOVE school.  Can i say that again?  i LOVE school!!  we had a fun time together for Christmas break, but oh how i am looking forward to nap time this afternoon-- to be alone with my own thoughts!!!  YEAH for school!!!!  And oh, how i have missed the gym...

leather couches.

we have leather couches.

and, sometimes they drive me crazy...

like when the kids scratch pictures on them with their nails...

or put boogers on the arm...

or when i can see the arms or cushions are fading.

I dream of covering them with WHITE slip covers.

But, my bigger dream is buying new white couches like this...

for my living room.

and, keeping my leather couches for my family room.

Anyway, the arms were fading... and i have conditioned and cleaned but it doesn't help the fading.

So, yesterday I took my husband's shoe polish and polished them.

yes.  I rubbed the arms and cushions with shoe polish.

And, i love the difference it made.

I'm not sure this is what the manufacturer would recommend... but it works for me!!

bloggy love.

i don't think i have ever referred people to some one's blog before.
although i love a lot of blogs...
but, Heather and I have been friends for a long time.  :)  blog friends.
people have told me i would love her blog.
http://celebratelight.blogspot.com/
but, i think it has always been private.
and, I'm a social weirdo who has issues requesting permission to view some one's private blog.

anyway.  it's not private.
and, it's BEAUTIFUL.
Heather has amazing quotes and images and just looking at her blog makes you smile.

so, go check it out-- here is the link!!  Seriously!

(i'm sure she loves me copying all her images!! don't you love them?!)

6 days till Christmas... christmas songbook

Today, I have a present for you!!!

I hope you LOVE it!!!

See, I have minor childhood scarring because we didn't have a lot of music in my home.
I NEVER knew the right words to songs... especially Christmas songs.
In college i was teased... my friends would laugh and say, "Jen, those words don't even rhyme..."
So, I'm a bit obsessive with my kids... I want them to have music and WORDS.

I compiled this songbook... printed out a few copies for my family... and we SING ALL THE TIME!!
on the way to 12 days of Christmas, during scripture time, after we read the adventures of Saint Nicholas...
My kids are really learning the words.
And, so am I!!

Christmas Songbook-- print here (i printed it double-sided)
[warning-- if your husband is anything like mine you might want to delete the words to "Here we come a-wassailing"  because he may want to sing that song ALL DAY LONG!  just sayin.]

Oh-- and, at the end of the SONGS, there are 2 poems... The Night Before Christmas- regular version and The Night Before Christmas- funny Swedish version that my father-in-law or husband always reads on Christmas Eve.   It's cute...  hope you love it as much as we do!!

Let me know if this link works for you... and, if you print out this book just leave me a comment so I know my time figuring out google docs online was not wasted.

Merry Christmas!!!

too many chores.

so, it was about a month ago that i whined to my husband...
"i just can't do everything by myself."
now, my kids are great helpers.
and, my husband is a GREAT helper.
but still... it was getting to be a habit that even by bedtime i wasn't finished with my daily chores.

so, we revamped.
i divided the house into ZONES and gave each kid an area.
i wrote down daily and saturday jobs for each zone... and included EVERYTHING that i normally do.
now...
i can clean, like i did before,
or, i can spend my day doing something other than cleaning.
Either way-- right before the professor gets home, the whole house is shining.

it is working well...
my kids were already in the habit of doing after school chores.
they are great chore do-ers.
this just added a bit more to their plate to take a bit off of mine.
i LOVE hearing my oldest say, "Mom, i just finished straightening the living room and ellie just drops her shoes right in the middle of the floor."
now, we SHARE the burden.

(i just printed these sheets out on colored card stock, put them in page protectors, put a metal ring in the corner and hung it on the side of my fridge.  Again, not super cute, but fast and very effective... the kids just mark of their chores with a dry erase marker on the page protector.) 

i also came up with a permanent dishes chart.
the professor said it was too hard to rotate by week or month because we'd always forget...
so we have a paper where my four oldest rotate through four jobs (unload, set the table, clear, load).
they change every day, but the chart never changes...  they do the same job every monday.

my only incentive for chores and piano and rooms clean is that they can't play or watch screens till their done.
so, they hop on it right when they get home.
if i set out a snack, it is the same... snack after chores.
for us, it works...
just thought you might like to see our NEW plan.
my mix of 6 also does zones... she rotates zones, and has a cute system.
i change jobs at the beginning of the school year...

christmas cards.

today is the last day to order Christmas Cards from Sam's Club.
I think it's a great deal... 100 cards for $15.
They have a lot of designs and are easy to order online.
Plus, they are available the next day for pick up at your local Sam's...
I'm excited to pick mine up on Monday!!

black friday.

{MOSS KIDS- DON'T read this OK??!!  Seriously, Don't READ it.}

guess what we did?
yup.
4am.
we rolled out of bed and headed to the stores.
the professor and i...
i had invited him to join me, he was a bit begrudging.
on the way to store ONE he said, "I'm so glad i can be doing this with you."
i said, "i HOPE i'm glad you're doing this with me..."
(i did have girlfriends that invited me to shop with them, but i bailed... i LOVE doing Christmas with my husband...)

The NIGHT BEFORE Black Friday--
So, for sure it was the night before that made Black Friday so great...
we spent some time after the kids went to bed looking at this site
www.blackfriday.gottadeal.com
at this site you can enter "barbies" and it will show you all the deals so you can compare.
this year, we are doing 3 gifts each per kid.
we're combining lots of ideas we'd heard and sticking with
Something to WEAR, DO and PLAY  plus stockings.
We had been brainstorming and had a pretty set list of what each kid would get for each of their gifts.
I had shopped a few stores so i knew the prices before sales...

Store ONE- AMAZON...
we placed an order at Amazon Thursday night taking advantage of their free shipping and good deals.
one thing i HATED was finding a good deal and realizing at the checkout that it wasn't coming from Amazon so it may have been only $3.99 but was $8 shipping.
hated that.
loved having a list that we stuck to...
we found some great deals online and got a big bulk of our shopping done Thanksgiving night.
i took the Lego stuff out of my shopping cart... i'm afraid i like Legos a bit more than my kids do.

Store TWO- Target...
to get 24 cases of play-doh for $5.96 and Memory for $3.99, and fleece gloves/hats for $2.
yup.  4am for Play-doh.
our tip-- head for the CENTER lines.
while i headed to the toys, the professor got in line.
There were lines all the way to the back of the store... insane!
but, the center lines were normal-sized.
thank goodness we weren't in line for an hour... 

Store THREE- CVS...
besides Target, the roads were clear and the stores weren't too croweded.
of course, it was 5 am

there was nothing i wanted at CVS... i got my ads mixed up.


Store FOUR- um I mean Walgreens...
at Walgreens I got Lil'Kinz 2/$5 for their stockings, and $1 eyeshadow and nail polish kits for the girl's stockings

Store FIVE- Michael's
the coupon said Michael's would open at 5am... it really opened at 6am.
but, this was a GREAT black Friday store.  i'm so excited for the art stuff we got here...
we had printed out a coupon for 30% off your entire order... even sale items.
and, we got a great art kit and eisle 50% off from $50 to $17.
another water color/acrylic metal case kit from $25 to $7.
and art paper from $10 to $3.
we got some mythical Sheik animals for 30% off.
we got stocking stuffers and cute ribbon for 60 cents each.

Store SIX- Old Navy
the professor and i each got a pair of jeans for $15- mine are cute maternity
and i got a cute sweater and maternity dress for $15.
some cozy socks for $3-- they will be on sale for $2.50 tomorrow, but $3 was still a great stocking stuffer for me.

Store SEVEN- Big 5 Sporting Goods
nothing.

Store EIGHT- Payless
i want some black flats... but they didn't have any good deals.
nothing.

Store NINE- Academy
this was my second favorite store...  because we were surprised.
we hadn't been able to find a few big things and we decided to stop here to see what they had...
i'm so glad we did...
we found a $70 girl's bike on sale for $34... and, it so cute... she's going to LOVE it.
and, i got some art stuff and some play doh and a game fore leah, but i didn't have a big thing.
for $15 we got her a princess play house... it folds up to really small and then pops open.
no, not a great quality item, but it's big and will be fun for Christmas morning AND the little girls really will play in it every day AND i can store it easily when we're moving.
AND, my boys have asked for some fun outdoors things like air soft guns, a compound bow n arrow set, fishing poles, etc.  some things we couldn't find for less than $50... and at Academy we found them... for $17 and $10 on Friday morning deals...  i'm SOO excited
plus, at the checkout we found CHICKEN POOP CHAPSTICK, so we got one to send to Todd's brother.
funny huh?!

Store TEN- Walmart
we got here around 8am, and it was pretty quiet.  the aisles were empty, we found what we wanted and went home.
i needed GLITTER CRAYONS... they were up by the books at the front.
seriously, i looked everywhere for glitter crayons and a big coloring book for my little girls.
they are going to be so excited.
we didn't get any big deals here, just picked up our final stocking stuffers and things we needed to finish the list...  earphones for an MP3 player we ordered from Amazon, dress up gloves to your elbows, a barbie, and glitter crayons.

i feel so excited for Christmas.
i know, when i was writing out what we got i noticed that i'm excited about LITTLE things.
but really, that is how i am... i'm so excited about the little things we got because i KNOW my kids will LOVE them.
AND we stayed in our budget.
AND we're DONE.

NOW, i can do some craft projects, plan our 12 days before Christmas gift drop off, and figure out something for our parents.
i need to sew stockings for leah, lily and baby 7... so that will be fun...
i have some ideas for the professor... but i wish i had big money to get him things he'd LOVE like a flat screen tv or a back up hard drive.  i keep saying, NEXT YEAR we'll shop for electronics honey, next year.

i think i'm going to steal a wrapping idea that i heard from someone...
buying a different wrapping paper for each kid...
cute huh?!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

Christmas is on it's way!!!
{i think i'm going to pull out Christmas stuff tomorrow...}
did you go shopping?
what was your favorite find??

fall.

i found my natural prozac.

PRODUCE.
i love fresh fruits and vegetables.
love them.
have i told you that sometimes while i'm shopping for produce i have to hold myself back from bursting into song...
sometimes, tears come to my eyes- really.
i want to sing... "from the banks of California, to the shores of Tennessee."
Ha!  That was my attempt to sing "I'm proud to be an American."
But then, as i was typing, I realized that those probably aren't the right words... seeing how there aren't any shores in Tennessee.
i ALWAYS sing the wrong words to songs...  the professor mocks me all throughout the Christmas season.
i digress.
where was i?
singing in the produce section...

Doesn't year round produce just make you want to thank God that we live in this day and age?
Doesn't it make you grateful you live in this country?
I never have to worry about my children not having food... good food.
what a blessing.
Do you know that if Americans took the money we spend on PET FOOD and donated it to end world hunger, we would eliminate starvation?! 
Our PETS eat better than many HUMANS.  how sad.
in the produce section, i feel blessed.

i had a friend in junior high who was adopted from Russia as a teen.
If I remember correctly, when she first flew to America, they stopped at a grocery store.  She thought it was fake.  A store set up by the government to make America look good.  She made her adoptive family stop at grocery stores the whole ride home to prove that they were real.  
(i really did have a friend from russia, but doesn't this story sound more like reader's digest?)

today i bought a cart full of produce- and one fresh chicken.
i came home bursting with fall goodness.
pumpkins will do that to you.

Since Halloween is on Sunday, we won't be going trick r treating.
I thought it would be fun to do a scary Halloween meal...
but then i decided to do my Fall Feast.
Lots of squash and roots and veggies... oh how excited i am.
and, i don't even care what the food tastes like...
or whether or not my kids like it.
to me, food is just amazing...
i want teach my children to experience the bounty of the earth... in all it's variety.
If they don't like brussel sprouts, they don't have to eat them every day of their life... but they should experience them.
Everyone should experience them.check out those brussel sprouts on a stick.
seriously...  SO FUN!!  
what a great food.

After this shopping trip, it looks like we will be "Fall Feasting"  all week.
I can't wait.

My kids came home from school and spent 30 minutes trying to name all the produce on our table.
They were as giddy as I am.
While I'm writing this blog they keep asking, "Mom, what's this called?"
I heard Jakob ask, "What's this?
the kids said "Cabbage".
He asked, "What kind of cabbage?"
They said they didn't know and he said, "Iceburg cabbage."
Funny boy.
Leah ate a banana and said, "Mom, did you go to the jungle today?"
Ellie has eaten a pear, a banana, and half of a pomegranate for snack.
yup.
i love it.

Oh, I'm proud to be an American.
I'm so grateful for the bounty that surrounds me.
I want my children and my home to be FULL of the good things of the earth.
If i can't live on a farm... shopping for produce will continue to make me happy.

ps.
Have you tried black grapes... SOO GOOD this season.

pps.
can you name this fruit?
yes, i bought 2.  How could you not buy a fruit that looks like Thing 1?  cool.