Austerity Week

This year, I've had something on my mind since springtime, and I decided to ask my family for it as a birthday present. (My birthday is in August.)

I called it 'Austerity Week', and it was just going without our normal modern conveniences and luxuries.

We decided to do it the week before school began, and we had a brainstorming session to narrow down exactly what the guidelines would be and what we would do without. We voted on the final list of rules, and everyone was on board and willing to participate. I felt especially grateful for the full support of my husband and oldest daughter, Grace, since they understood best what this would mean.

Here is our list of what we would give up:

• No screen time
• No electricity while the sun is down
• No radio or dishwasher
• No indoor cooking one day
• No running water except for toilet and laundry
• No matresses; just pillows and sleeping bags on the floor as a group
• No convenience foods
• No electric lights
• Limit phone to essentials
• Long distance communication to be done in writing
• Reading limited to books over 100 yrs old or be "austerity" themed
• Drive within 1 mile of destination and walk in.
• Sing while working
• One night, sleep in the tent outside

When Monday morning came, I started a Log of insights and feelings as they came up.

Here's a transcript of our log:
8/4/2013
8:32 AM
Mae is used to running water. Gracec, Mom and Sienna accidentally turned on the faucet.
8:36 Dish water had to be heated on the stove. Sienna taped down the light switches. Mom can't text Dad to see how long it took him to get to work! (As he was going to walk in a ways.)
8:43 Breakfast cleanup is not quite done.
8:48 Sienna and Mae both loved washing dishes  in a dishpan.
9:20 Jim had a splinter, and he sat bravely crying while mom pulled it out. She had to dig away skin. Sienna brought the tweezers, bandaid, and witchhazel.
9:41 Dishes are done. Jim's running around again (on his injured foot.)
10:10 Grace complaint: Mom turned on an oil change video!
10:32 need to call dad because we can't find the metric wrenches to do the oil change.
10:35 Snacks: Big carrots, raisins and peanut butter
12:00 Naptime's over (indicator that mom was tuckered out enough to take an early nap)
4:37 I'm tired and have to get another stockpot for heating water! (Mom's entry)

Yeah, and then I pretty much tanked. I was exhausted from all the extra work, and I went to bed exhausted at 9pm. We all slept on sleeping bags together in the basement. We read chapters from The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, aloud before bed.

The problem was, I woke up exhausted the next morning. I hadn't slept the greatest on the floor at 6 months pregnant. My neck hurt and I almost couldn't bear the thought of another day of endless work. I remember crying when I called a friend that morning to discuss how things were going. (I don't cry a whole lot, so that is a sign of significant stress.) She wisely suggested that we tone it down and do without fewer things! I talked it over with the kids, and they were very flexible and compassionate about changing things up. We ran errands that day, and by Tuesday night we voted as a family to end Austerity Week early.

The lessons I learned in retrospect:
I love my family for getting on board with what I truly wanted more than any gifts.
No one had as much struggle with giving up their luxuries as I did.
I bit off more than I could chew, and I am very hopeful to have this same thing next year but with giving up only a few luxuries. Better next time to succeed at a small change rather than fail at a grand one.

And here are a few pics that I snapped during the "fun"!

 JIm and Mae loved playing with flashlights in the basement!

 Missionaries  for dinner and an object lesson involving aLOT of pushups!

 Fun time for Family Night was old-fashioned Truck driving around the bumps on our property. Very fun!

 I think we ate a whole watermelon that night! Jim wouldn't stop. Here Mae is on her third piece!

 Yum! Sienna and Daddy put up the tent for playing in only. The kids thought it would really add some authenticity and fun to the austerity theme.

 Daddy found a little bird in shock in the garage the next morning, and brought it inside for all to admire and pet. (Yes I was quite in dismay about bringing it IN the house!) 

Kansas City Temple Open House

Grampa Dan, Grandma Dorothy, and all of us walked through the breathtakingly elegant Temple, freshly built. That was wonderful.

A New Goal

Here we are at the Farm Supply in Alton, IL. And, here is the cutest tire swing I've ever seen. I HAVE to make one of these, but my own animal design, or Royal's.

A Ferry Ride for Fairies

 This is the Golden Eagle Ferry! So fun! We ride across in about 10 minutes, to the most beautiful country I've ever seen. This ride was filmed in July 2012. Look at those adorable braids!! And Grace is a pirate.

My First 5k

My adopted sister Jessica Gallyoun and I did the program "Couch to 5k", and here we are graduating! I am so grateful we did that. This was one of my proudest moments this year. Our sweet hubbys were there to support with kids in tow.

Halloween 2012

I absolutely love dressing up when I have a real costume!!!

Here we have Ketara the  Avatar (Gift o f love from Grandma Jan Parker, Thank you!!) , Tinkerbell, Arwen from Lord of the Rings (check out my pointy ears!!), and butterfly Mae-Mae. Plus our Seed Students, Ivette and Scarlett.

2 New Kids: Felicity and Midge

 Midge, the little brother.

 Sienna's new pet. In place of her long hoped for puppy, she chose Felicity the kinder goat. (its a breed.)

This is us after 3 hours of harvesting peaches from the Y shaped tree behind us and in 104 degree weather.

Friends in our Basement... or Enemies?

In hunting for an easy, harmless way to get rid of our 8-legged basement guests, I found this:


"However, if we base everything on statistics and facts, spiders can be considered "safe" around humans. Most spiders are non-venomous while those which are venomous are also non-aggressive. In fact, spiders only bite whenever they are threatened and only do so in order to protect themselves. Nevertheless, according to US statistics, spiders can cause the death of three Americans every five years. The numbers might be low, but the fact that they are capable of killing people is still enough to encourage homeowners to exterminate them and drive them out of their homes for good."

Seriously? Only 3 people every five years? You've a much higher chance of winning a lottery!!!

However, I must consider the fact that we, as humans, don't find spiders enjoyable company; even I don't while knowing they are safe. They just seem creepy. (Probably because they are creeping.)

And, my guests which I sleep in the basement are always humans.

Therefore, I continue to find a way to preserve my basement as pest-free...

Fun on our Bikes

One of my goals this Summer was to help Sienna learn to ride her bike, and then take all the kids out together. (Sienna did great, and now loves her bike. We purchased it at the Goodwill outlet for $3. Love that place.)

Here was our first success.

Tightwad Learns a Lesson

Yesterday, at the start of Nap Time, I found an irresistible offer in my Email Inbox. Free 8x8 photo book, hardcover. *Shiver of delight* One Day ONLY. Offer expires June 27. (Retail value approx. $24)

Now you can guess what I did during naptime. After an hour of compiling my best photos from the last 8 years, and on the verge of dragging-and-dropping them into the book, my phone rang.

(Dun-Dun-Dun-Duuunnnnnnn.....)

Caller ID reads Seth W., Royal's cousin who is coming to visit in a few weeks. (With his family, and 3 kids.)

Or, is it next week? I thought he was coming June 27.... AAAAGGGGHhhhhhh!

"Hello, This is Elizabeth. Hi, Seth. Oh, you're at the Science Center. Cool. No, we won't be meeting you there as I had planned, but I will have dinner ready for you guys when you get here. Great! See you then."

End of Photo-booking reverie.

Well, that is what happened, but that anecdote really diverges from the point I wanted to make. Therefore, we will return to the time before the phone call.

There I am, downloading pics from our Camera, looking for pics on my harddrive, and realizing I will have to look on my other harddrive because my pics from even the last year are on 3 computers and a separate digital camera. (Not counting the ones on the phone. They are too hard to bother with.)

And, even after searching all those locations, I can't find half a dozen pictures of Royal and Myself together in the same shot.

And, we've spent at least 3 evenings a month together, away from the kids, doing something, for the last 8 years.

Almost no pictures. No recorded history.

I was almost heartbroken. He is My Honey, and you wouldn't know it from looking at my photos.

I decided at that point to dedicate this photobook to Royal, and the marriage we've built. He doesn't know yet. (Don't tell.) But what he does know is that I need a decent snapshot camera. And what he is about to find out is that we are not going to go anywhere as a family anymore without that camera! And we can even take it on dates! I WILL have a record of my marriage, a photo record at that.

I love you, Royal!

Unfortunately, we will be paying the retail cost of this photobook since I couldn't finish it yesterday!!!

It was worth it, since we had a lovely visit with Seth and Amanda. Their kids played perfectly with ours, and it was fun to get to know them a little bit.

Mae-Mae wants out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQMgVlMohQ

Mae's first attempt at self-feeding

Happy Mother's Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHBRBJ6dvs

Blowing Smoke about bad grades

Well, you all know I've been paranoid about flunking my class last semester. In fact, I was fairly convinced that even if I passed, it would be by a scant margin. If you want to know all the gritty details, just read the mournful former posts.

I finally emailed my teacher to find out how the scores settled. Here's the email I just back from my Prof.

Elizabeth:

Your average for Sign to Voice class was 92.7, which is an A of course.

Congratulations on achieving your Novice certification! You were one point shy of Apprentice (Level 2). I believe the score they show you is the lower of your two scores in ASL and PSE, so you probably did better in the other mode. And you’ve now had an introduction to the testing system – you’ll perform better next time based on that alone.

Take care.

Tom

Can you believe that???? Ha! Well, I passed! Ha!

Paradox in Parenting

I've been really struggling with my parenting lately. Read: I'm losing my temper multiple times every single day.

Last night, I wrote out the entire problem, including an example scenario so I can take it with me to see a counselor, which happens this Friday.

Then, I asked Royal to read my "Problem Description". To summarize for your sake, basically I ask the children to do something over and over, each time getting angrier. I think I should be making them happy, so I "try" to be polite and sweet on top of not happy. Then, I lose my temper and start yelling. Then I feel guilty and hate myself for awhile. Repeat cycle.

Finally, I'm ready to ask his opinion. So I say something like, "Okay, Dear. I want to stay calm with my kids. You know I believe my anger towards them is almost always irrational, and I do not know what to do differently. What do you think I could do that I'm not doing?"

He said, "Well, the first time they disobey, and you feel that first tiny inkling of irritation, send them to their room immediately. Let them be alone, and when you feel better, call them back out to try again."

So, that sounds obvious and simple. I determined to follow that advice.

I pictured screaming, whining children, furious at their merciless mother. I pictured children alone and in their rooms for hours at a time. I had some concerns.

But, I determined to follow his advice.

Today was day number one. Boy was I wrong. The children each only got sent (or put) in their rooms once or twice each. There was only one crying fit for about 5 minutes. I felt calm or even happy the ENTIRE DAY. (And Royal hasn't come back yet. Its 9pm.)

But, amazingly enough, the children were happier than usual by day's end. I just couldn't believe it. I thought they were going to hate me.

dec 2009 family photo

Merry Christmas to all!

This was 2 full years ago. Can't believe it. Now Mae-Mae is 9 months old! Jim was 9 months in this pic.

I'm going through and backing up family photos today.

We aren't snowed in, but we are pretending just for fun... Grace had the day off, and we have acquired a Kinect! You guys have to try this. (Especially you, Grandma Lori! I think if it can see you, you'll love it. It sometimes struggles to "see" tall people.)