October 2019

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#60. THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT by Agatha Christie
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My fourth Agatha Christie novel of the year! This one was about an independent young woman, eager for adventure, who investigates an accidental death that she witnesses. A page turner like the rest of Christie’s novels, but this one seemed to have a lot of names. I was often flipping back and forth through the book to keep it all straight. Not necessarily a bad thing – I just may be getting old, hah! Solid three stars. (This was also my 1924 pick for the 20th Century Reading Challenge.)

#61. WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON by Grace Lin
My Rating: ★★★★★

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was our school read aloud for September into October. We loved it!

#62. THE LIKENESS by Tana French
My Rating: ★★★★☆

This is the second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series and it didn’t disappoint! Lots of twists and turns and many that I didn’t predict. There were a few pieces to the puzzle that just didn’t add up if you think too much about it – like accents – but if you just read it at face value for the entertainment, it was great. I’m anxious to get the next one in the series.

#63. TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT by Maria Semple
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I read and enjoyed Where’d You Go, Bernadette a few years ago, so when I saw Today Will Be Different at the thrift store, I snatched it up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as good. I didn’t care for the protagonist, the story was all over the place, and the Catholic/religion jabs were a little overkill. Just okay for me.
Fun fact: I found a boarding ticket tucked into the pages, so I’m assuming Elizabeth from Richmond didn’t care for the book either, ha!

#64. MRS. MIKE by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

“You’ll see, you’ll come to understand. These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life. Your Sergeant coming home, a good dinner, your little Mary laughing, the smell of the woods – oh, so many things, you know them yourself.” (p.158)

I can add Mrs. Mike to my growing collection of frontier literature! This one is about a Mounty, his wife, and the challenges they face in the Canadian wilderness. I enjoyed it but wished there was more character development for the main characters. Solid three stars. (This was also my 1947 pick for the 20th Century Reading Challenge.)

#65. THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

How do I begin to describe The Book Thief? Even at over 500 pages, this very unique book about Nazi Germany seemed to be a fast read. There are parts that I know I’ll be thinking about for some time. I liked it.

#66. NEVER HAVE I EVER by Joshilyn Jackson
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

People say, I don’t know how she lives with herself, but every single one of them was living with their own worst thing, just fine. No one walks around holding their ugliest sin in the palm of their hand, staring at it. Our hurts are heavy, and we let them sink. Every day they drift lower, settling in murky places where the light can’t reach. All I had to do was wait. (24%)

Never Have I Ever is a suspense thriller about secrets and blackmail and it was nothing like I thought it was going to be. I flew through the book in days and there were a few twists that I never saw coming! However, there are enough sensitive/inappropriate pieces in it to make me wary of blindly recommending it to anyone. Just okay for me.

___________________

MY READING IN NUMBERS FOR 2019 Books Read: 66
Pages Read: 20,176 Fiction: 42 // Non-Fiction: 24 Kindle Books: 22 // Paper Books: 44

Original 2019 books “to-read” total on Goodreads: 424 // Current “to-read” total: 417

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WHAT WE LEARNED

+ In Around the World, we started our Australia unit and read the first half of Mirror. We also watched all of the Wild Kratt episodes on Australian animals we could find!

+ TJ has been asking for more math, so I picked up this workbook. He is so serious about his work and loooves putting the gold star sticker on his page when he’s done.

+ D (5th grade) is working on his Lincoln’s Last Days matchbook folder project and it’s turning out great!

+ Overheard from my seventh grader: “My two favorite subjects are Vocab Roots and Fallacy Detective…but not math.”

a gorgeous tree decked out in orange leaves by our driveway chilly mornings

putting away my flip flops and taking out my slippers

when the kids make dinner for me all on their own (a huge help!) a clean kitchen

dainty twinkle lights

steady sales on Poshmark a possible new opportunity for Mark new shoes for all of the kids (thanks Mom and Dad!)

Lucy

M: Mark and the big kids ate at an event, the little ones and I just had popcorn and PB&Js T: beef and cheese taquitos W: chicken caesar salads Th: Refrigerator Clean-Out Night

F: frozen pizzas

+ How much I spent on groceries: $282.47 A monthly project featuring ten photos (or more!) throughout the day that show a peek into our extraordinarily ordinary life. Trying something new this month with a video! Wednesday, October 23, 2019

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Happy Wednesday! Here are my five:

A QUOTE

Mike was right: the pattern of life isn’t a straight line; it crosses and recrosses, drawing in and tying together other lives, as I do when I gather in the ends of my thread to make a knot.
–Mrs. Mike, p.300

A BOOK

I’m about a quarter of the way into The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. From the reviews on Goodreads, this book looks to be one that you either love or hate. I’m anxious to see what camp I’ll fall into. So far, so good.

A BIT OF NATURE

Last weekend, I bought the ingredients for Easy Cheesy Pizza Pockets and had the kids take over dinner. Easy, adaptable and delicious – and I had a night off from the kitchen! Another reason I love having big kids.

A MOMENT OF HAPPINESS

I overlooked the bedroom disaster to find these two deep in imaginative play. So thankful for the little moments when siblings are also best friends.

Month #4! This month, I focused on looking critically at our possessions, dealing with the things we no longer need (creating the 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge!) and trying to take good care of everything else. I’m so happy to be tackling this during our children’s fall birthdays and before the Christmas season.

OCTOBER’S FRUGAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS My Goal: Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. And if you have to spend money, do it with intention.

+ I gave my son a haircut.

+ I borrowed and read a book from the library.

+ I reused an empty jam jar as a water pot when the kids painted with watercolors.

+ I bought the huge bag of dog food, even though the price makes me cringe. When I did the calculations, I actually save over a dollar per pound, making it the better deal.

+ With the kids in more activities this fall, we tried to save gas and do errands when we already have to be in town: meeting people to pass off things from Trash Nothing or Facebook Marketplace, popping in the grocery store for an ingredient, etc.

+ We moved our oldest into the basement bedroom and I was able to rearrange our furniture around to give him everything he needed, including a nightstand, dresser and even an old loveseat. The only thing I purchased was a new lamp. He’s got quite the man cave now!

+ I unclogged our troublesome master bathroom shower drain with a homemade solution I found on Pinterest. Definitely my favorite frugal accomplishment this month! Here’s the “recipe”:

Boil 9 cups of water. Reserve 1 cup and dump the rest down the drain. Sprinkle the baking soda down the drain and let it sit for a few minutes. Mix the 1 cup of reserved water with 1 cup vinegar and pour slowly down the drain. Let sit for 10 minutes while you boil 8 more cups of water. Pour boiling water down the drain.

+ I made more homemade chicken broth and finally got to use my new Souper Cubes (affiliate link).

+ Ebay had a 3-day promotion that waived the listing fees for 200 items. I listed 23 items, saving me over $8.

+ When our oven started taking forever to preheat and then not cooking evenly, we paid the $125 fee to have our home warranty send someone to look at it. There was a whole host of issues including a broken bottom coil and glitchy front panel, which would cost $1,200+ for parts and labor. I hate paying that home warranty bill each month when things are good, but sing its praises when appliances start breaking!

+ I learned a laundry trick to get grease stains out of clothes by using plain white chalk.

+ I turned off the A/C on October 4th and now we play my favorite game of the year: how long can we go before having to turn on the heat?

Your turn! What did you do to save a little money this month?

_________________________________ Previous Frugal Accomplishments: JULY // AUGUST // SEPTEMBER

Dinner: A Love Story (affiliate link) has a lot of sentimental value for me. It was the catalyst for recording my monthly dinner plans and learning to love the art of cooking. It’s simple and approachable. Her directions for roasting an entire chicken and then making broth from the remnants is my absolute favorite. I was really excited to dive into more of her recipes and they didn’t disappoint!

For my first recipe, I chose Pork Shoulder Ragú with Pappardelle (page 179). I doubled the amount of meat to four pounds (#bigfamilyproblems) but other than that, I stuck closely to the instructions. It was delicious! We had enough to eat it over pasta the first night and then in ciabatta rolls for the second.

Next up was Apple “Gazette” (page 263), an affectionately re-named term for galette made by the author’s daughter. We went apple picking the week before, so the timing was perfect for this one. The recipe calls for frozen pie crust, but I just whipped up my go-to homemade version. This recipe was extra fun because I got to bake it with my oldest. We each made a galette and his turned out way better than mine. We baked them at the same time and I think my pan tilted in the oven because all of the juicy goodness drained to the bottom. It was a little dry, but nothing a little powder sugar couldn’t fix!

The last recipe was Turkey Chili (page 100), made on the first fall-like evening of the season. For the most part, it was just your average chili recipe, but I think the spices are what kicked it up a notch. My first time adding a tiny bit of cinnamon! It was delicious and we didn’t even have any leftovers. I’ll be sure to double the recipe next time.

Final verdict: I love this cookbook. Definitely one to keep and try everything.

Playing catch-up with the past two weeks! This post contains affiliate links.

WHAT WE LEARNED

+ We took an unplanned mini Fall Break! I surprised them with no school on Friday (a birthday gift to myself) and then we took Monday off for Columbus Day. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was exactly what I needed. I came back to our schoolwork refreshed and ready to keep going.

+ New read aloud: The Borrowers!

+ In Around the World, we learned about India. We read and loved The Story of Little Babaji.

+ M (7th grade) is still plugging away at his Egyptian unit, but is struggling because he says it’s soooo boring. He’s currently reading The Golden Goblet. I have some research to do this weekend for ideas to make Ancient History a little more interesting.

+ We got D a book called Coding for Beginners with Python for his birthday and it has been amazing to watch how much he’s learned already! The book is informative without being overwhelming and shows what to do step-by-step. His enthusiasm makes me want to learn to code too!

a working oven having the A/C officially turned off for the year a new candle I’m obsessed with warm and cozy sweaters

Sophie’s joy at the arrival of the most rainbow unicorn-y pajama set I could find

hearing P call me “Mummy” (I was Dada or Coco for a solid two years) how excited the kids were for my birthday my parents, who came to hang out with the kids while Mark and I had a date two new bike-riders in the family (no training wheels!)

answered prayers

M: Mark and the big kids ate out between activities, the little two and I just had popcorn and sandwiches at home T: Taco Tuesday W: breakfast for dinner – eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls (from the bakery) Th: Mark took us out for an early birthday celebration for burgers and fries

F: My Birthday! Mark and the big kids ate out between activities, the rest of us had popcorn and cereal at home

M: breakfast for dinner – pancake dippers and fruit
T: D’s birthday! he went out to eat with Mark and then we all celebrated with cheesecake at home W: pasta and turkey meatballs with garlic bread

Th: harvest chicken skillet with rice

F: tomato basil parmesan soup and grilled cheese sandwiches + How much I spent on groceries for Week 08: $329.18
+ How much I spent on groceries for Week 09: $262.47 + love the idea of a “Share Table” at school
+ Morning daylight exposure tied to a good night’s sleep
+ Did you know that October is Fair Trade Month? One of my favorite shops, Mercy House Global, is offering 20% off your entire purchase with the code: FAIRTRADEMONTH. Get started on your Christmas shopping and support a great cause at the same time!
+ I bought these treats for Lucy and I think their mission is so cool: “Imagine a farmer’s leftover pumpkins after Halloween, apple pulp from a cider press, or lobster shells from a cannery. In the case of our treats, this unused food becomes an ingredient that is highly nutritious and ridiculously tasty.”

I officially started the 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge on September 15 and just finished the first full month yesterday! Here were my ground rules:

Only spend 10 minutes at one time and only in one specific area.
Monday through Wednesday, seek out items that we no longer need and make a pile. Then Thursday through Saturday, make a plan for how to deal with them. (This worked so well and avoided that dreaded box of “what should I do with these?” items.)
Possible places to find new homes for items: Ebay/Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Trash Nothing website or the local Buy Nothing Facebook group and as a last resort, Goodwill

I feel a responsibility for the things I have and want to be intentional with how I dispose of them. Questions I asked myself: If it’s here, what purpose does it serve? Can I use it up? Can I enjoy it vs. keeping it tucked away in drawers and boxes? And if not, can I let it go to someone who may need it more?

So…Month #1! I haven’t really looked critically at our belongings since we moved in two years ago and…it’s time. The kids are getting older, our tastes are changing, and it just feels like a big time of transition. Two big things I learned this month:

I was surprised to feel very emotional as I decided to let things go. This shocked me because I don’t consider myself to be an emotional person! However, through the years, I’ve held on to many things that have sentimental value, but actually get rarely used. So many memories from the early years of my marriage! It’s time to let someone else enjoy them, but whew! Some were hard to part with.
I have all that I need – and a whole lot more. Lately, I’ve been whining to myself about all the things I don’t have. Nothing like a good decluttering to see how much I’ve already got!

I’m really proud of the work I put in this month. Looking forward to continuing the process in month #2.

WHAT I DECLUTTERED THIS MONTH

44 books. I sold a set of 20 little religion books on ebay for (after fees) $31, as well as five books the boys read and no longer wanted. I also donated 11 saint books to our church’s CCD program. The rest went to Goodwill.
18 pieces of Sophia’s outgrown clothing from last year. My girl is growing like a weed and has grown out of all of her size 6 fall clothes already. I made a post on Trash Nothing and received an answer within 10 minutes! We have been the recipients of so many hand-me-downs over the years and I always love to give another mama that gift as well.
A Christmas dress and shrug. Sold on ebay for $17.
One winter coat.
Two Willow Tree figurines. This was a hard one because they were gifts, back when we were just beginning parenthood. They’ve been sitting in a closet collecting dust, so I decided to put them on ebay for someone else to enjoy. Sold almost overnight for (after fees) almost $13!
One board game.
A big diaper box full of P’s 2T clothing. All in all, I think there were 32 pieces with everything from shirts to pajamas to last year’s winter jacket. I found a mama on Trash Nothing and that makes it so much easier to part with them.
8 old magazines. Into the recycling bin.
One arrow quiver for archery.
Ten various pieces of clothing. Off to Goodwill. These were clothes in good condition, but didn’t have much resale value and weren’t substantial enough to warrant creating a post on Trash Nothing.
One pair of snow boots.
Four brand new pieces of Heather Ross fabric and a new bobbin of thread. Waaay back in the day, I used to really be into quilting, a skill my grandmother taught me. I purchased many beautiful fabrics, but life and lots of babies happened and most of that fabric has been sitting untouched in a box for years. Finally ready to let some of them go. I listed this group on ebay and they sold for $18.

Money made: $124.72

P.S. To “count,” the item had to physically leave my house. So while I have listed a handful of things online, those aren’t counted until they have sold. “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks

buy upholstery pins and finally finish the living room chair slipcover project
purchase slippers for the kids who need them
start collecting items to assemble Birthday Boxes for the food pantry
buy a fabric shaver and try to save some of my older sweaters
sew the button back on my wool coat
condition the leather on my booties
clean my indoor/outdoor rug
try to take a decent family photo in our yard for Christmas cards
make a soup
get our oven fixed
bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
give P a haircut
catch up on snail mail correspondence
hang curtains in the little boys’ room

PREVIOUS INTENTIONS

If you’re reading on your phone or in a reader, be sure to click over to see what I checked off the list!

~~continue the 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge (reach 100 items)~~
~~order daffodil bulbs~~ (my boys even planted them as my birthday present!)
~~figure out what we want to do for family photos~~
read a nature non-fiction book (I’ve started The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs)
~~finish buying birthday presents for D~~ and wrap
clean my indoor/outdoor rug

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I recently started reading a new-to-me blog called Through Clouded Glass and I loved the writing prompt she used called The Wednesday Five. It’s the perfect solution to my almost-mid-month writer’s block! Here are my five:

A QUOTE

Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.

– Story of a Soul by Saint Therese, p.14

A BOOK

I’m slowly making my way through The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs by Tristan Gooley and while I’m only about 50 pages in, I’m really enjoying it! So far, it’s been a good mix of common sense and things I’ve never considered before. I probably should start taking notes.

A BIT OF NATURE

Fall always takes its time to arrive here in Virginia and this year, I’ve had an unexpected treat: the wildflowers that we planted this spring are still blooming.

A RECOMMENDATION

I just made a batch of homemade chicken broth and froze it using my new Souper Cubes. I’m a fan! Each spot holds one cup, which makes cooking with the frozen “bricks” so easy. I think I might make a big pot of chicken soup to keep in the freezer (for sore throats and easy winter lunches) next.

A MOMENT OF HAPPINESS

One day last week, my oldest took our dog, Lucy, outside to play. After a little while, I peeked out but couldn’t find them. I immediately started thinking worst case scenarios (Lucy has had a couple of stressful “book it to the street like a crazy lady” moments) and ran outside in a panic. To my surprise, I found both my son and my dog sharing a rocking chair and shooting the breeze.

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WHAT WE LEARNED

+ D (5th grade) read Iron Thunder: The Battle Between the Monitor & the Merrimac as part of his Civil War studies. It was a quick read and he really liked it.

+ In Around the World, we went to Thailand! Our favorite book from this country was Hush: A Thai Lullaby. We also learned about the bumblebee bat, which only has a wingspan of five inches!

+ M’s (7th grade) Ancient History studies have been a little dry, so I tried to liven things up by having him “mummify” one of his brothers in toilet paper. It definitely wasn’t a very academic activity, but the amount of laughter was 100% worth it.

+ We were gifted a set of Polydrons and while there was a bit of a learning curve, the kids figured it out and now are hooked! They’ve been making 3D shapes galore all week.

small room changes that have a big impact my hard working football player a fixed lawn mower (finally!) when Lucy lays her head in my lap hot cups of peach tea crunchy leaves all over the driveway pink sunsets when P takes a nap a book I can’t put down

our home warranty policy

M: pasta and meat sauce with garlic bread and salad
T: breakfast for dinner – pancakes, bacon and Orange Julius
W: beans and rice kielbasa skillet Th: pepperoni pizza

F: Mark brought home burgers and fries

+ G is for Granola, so we were going to make our go-to recipe, but our oven broke! Always something.

+ How much I spent on groceries this week: $280.46 + Maybe this notepad will help me stay on top of the housework?

+ I’m considering doing this project for the cold weather months.

+ Have you heard of Rad Mail? Looks like a fun monthly subscription.

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It’s been two months since I posted my 100 Little Things for this year and I’ve had a strong start! Here’s what I’ve completed so far:

I bought this steamer to make my life easier when selling on Poshmark and I love it! It only takes a minute to warm up and after a few swipes across your outfit, you’re ready to go. #95. READ THE 15:17 TO PARIS. I had a screenshot of this book on my phone because I thought it would be interesting and something my oldest would like to read. I read it first and….meh. An inspiring story about American heroism, but it didn’t need to be a 200 page book. #8. CLEAN THE GROUT IN THE MASTER BATHROOM. This was such a satisfying project! I used Magic Grout Cleaner, which is definitely not a “green” product, but I had it on hand and decided to use it up. Along with an old rag, a toothbrush and a little elbow grease, it worked great! The difference is amazing. #15. FIND A SLIPCOVER FOR THE LIVING ROOM CHAIR. We’ve had the chair in our living room for almost nine years now and it was in sad shape. I did a few frugal improvements to perk it back up (I wrote about it in this post), added a $25 slipcover and it’s good as new! I still need to get some upholstery pins for the bottom so it looks more intentional/finished and a new throw pillow. Even so, I’m so happy that we were able to change our eyesore (but still totally functional) chair into something more beautiful. #82. DONATE TO THE LOCAL PREGNANCY CENTER. Our church sponsored a baby bottle campaign collecting change for a local pregnancy center. We have a gallon-size bag of change ready for this kind of occasion and the kids were so excited to fill the bottle to the brim. #51. GET MY SOURDOUGH STARTER GOING AGAIN. I made my first few loaves and am definitely out of practice, but excited to get back into the habit. Using this book again for direction and inspiration.

For the first week of school, we made an A is for Apple Pie using the recipe in one of our favorite books! I wasn’t paying attention and almost burnt it, but it was still delicious.

#13. GET A HANGING PLANT FOR THE MASTER BATHROOM. I’m becoming a plant lady! I couldn’t find the exact one I wanted locally, so I gambled with a California-based nursery on Amazon. And…it worked out great! I got this string of pearls succulent and it arrived well-packaged and healthy. The ceramic hanging planter is from an etsy shop called Stuck in the Mud Pottery. #50. MAKE ROOT BEER FLOATS.

We celebrated D’s first flag football game (and his first win!) with root beer floats! Super easy and special.

#2. FIND SOMETHING TO ORGANIZE THE POTATOES IN THE PANTRY. I tweaked this one after learning that I should be keeping my potatoes in the fridge instead! Cooler temperatures will keep them fresh for much longer. Our first Family Adventure Field Trip of the school year! We had so much fun and the apples were eaten way too fast. We hope to go again soon.

Partial Completions

#75. COMPLETE A FULL YEAR OF “EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY” POSTS.
Two out of twelve complete: August and September.

#80. SUPPORT THREE ETSY SHOPS. (2/3)
I bought another shampoo bar from Shady Nook Bee Farms and a soap saver from The Bearded Bee Homestead.

#88. PAY OFF THREE STUDENT LOANS. (1/3) After a year of chipping away, we can finally knock one off the list! This particular loan had a 12.875% interest rate (can you even believe that?!) so it was really important to me to throw all the money we could on this one first. The extra money I earned from selling on Poshmark this summer really helped.

#94. READ AT LEAST ONE PICTURE BOOK TO THE LITTLE ONES A DAY.

I’ve missed a few days, but am still considering this a win!