Stay With Me....

Hey there! 

 Sorry I don't have my usual book review today.  I haven't linked up anywhere this week either.  I'm taking a quick moment to let you know I've been running around like a crazy lady working on projects that I am so excited to get done.  Some of them are fun, almost free things that I'm building for my Jr.s to play on this summer.  I can't wait to share them with you!  My brain is overflowing with stuff to share and I've actually remembered to take some photos along the way, so there will be some fun tutorials, too. 

Summer is here and there are a million fun things to make and do with your children without breaking the budget or buying junk from the local big box store.  I'll be back with some ideas and some encouragement. 

Remember~

 the thing your children want most is not a thing at all

~ it's Time. 

Flying Bean Bags ~ Tutorial

I promised I would share that latest favorite from the book I reviewed yesterday, so here it is.  With the sunshine and warm weather here in full force, it's time to start thinking about fun things to make and do outdoors.  Since we don't do much buying, we do a ton of making.  These little flying bean bags have seen quite a lot of use since we made them a few weeks ago.

Let's get started.

The Children's Year ~ Book Review

I love this book.

Using Laundry Water ~ Saving Money & Resources

One of the areas of savings I started to tackle last year was water.  We bought a high efficiency washing machine when we moved here 5 years ago, primarily to help prolong the life of our septic system.  With seven family members, we generate quite a lot of laundry.  I've always thought I would like to try out using grey water around our house, but had just not quite got there yet. 

Last year I decided to try out using some of our wash water.  I had a large plastic bucket next to the washer that I put the hose in to catch the water.  The problem with that was occasionally the hose would flip out of the bucket and I would end up with a flood in my laundry room.  I tried putting the bucket outside and leaving the door open a bit, so the hose could go through, but then we had too many flying bugs coming in the house.  I was determined to figure out a way to make this work, since I noticed that I had very little bug issues on the plants that I watered with my laundry water.  I'm thinking the small amount of soap residue helped keep the bugs away.

This year, I think I have figured out how to save my water without making any major plumbing changes.  I would love to have one of those nifty systems where my grey water can all be diverted if we want it to, but I don't think Joe and I are quite ready to attempt that yet.  For now, I found a way that is working great and I can't believe I didn't think of it last year.  For this to work, your laundry room has to be on an outside wall of your home.

Success, Failure & Frustration

I've heard it said that there is this new phenomena where people see enough blog/facebook/twitter posts of other peoples' lives that they start to get depressed.  It is said that the reason for this is that people start to compare their lives to what they see posted of other peoples' lives.  The problem is, very rarely do people post their mistakes, short comings, or other "funk" for the world to see.  It seems we are comparing our worst moments to someone else's best moment: leading to and increase in depression. 

I was about to contribute a little bit of my "perfect" with everyone today.  I was originally planning to post some fun pictures from around Our Acre, to "encourage" you.

Depletion and Abundance Review

I love to read and study from a variety of books.

For me, there is nothing like turning a page and finding new knowledge.  It makes me feel like I am sitting down with a new person, picking their brain about what they are most passionate about.  After all, I would guess one would have to be passionate about a subject to write a book about it. Each Wednesday, I will be sharing a book that either I am currently studying or one that I own.  Gradually, as time goes on, my blog will hopefully take some shape and you will know what to expect to see on any given day.

So, for now, mark Wednesday as "Book Shelf Wednesday" and plan to come back each week to see what I've been reading. 

Crocheted Rug~Update

A little bit ago, I shared with you our family's process of switching out our wardrobes.  I promised to update about our t-shirt rug that we are making.  I just love to recycle old items into something useful, so this has been tons of fun.

 We started with the above basket of t-shirts turned into yarn. I am not the family crochet queen, that is my Emma's area of expertise.  I thought it would take my Emma a long time to get through the basket of yarn, but I was wrong.  She quickly crocheted her way right through this basket of yarn and is eagerly waiting for more yarn.

Here is Emma with the beginnings of her crocheted rug.  This is how much rug she was able to make with the yarn from the basket.  She is using a single crochet stitch and increasing along the curves to keep her rug laying flat.  

I mentioned in an earlier post that sometimes the hardest part of committing to recycling and reusing is being patient and gathering the materials.  We have recently had excellent luck finding items to use for our recycling and repurposing on Freecycle. We recently asked for t-shirts and a nice lady had a bag that she gave to us.  Have you tried freecycle before?  If you haven't, I would encourage you to check it out.  I love that there is a network of people who have found a way out of the traditional "spend, spend, and spend some more" economy and embraced a "let's share and support each other" mentality. 

Check back next week, where my Emma will be hosting her first blog post, explaining the little details of her rug making. 

This post is linked up to Frugal Tuesday Tips @ Learning the Frugal Life.