Food Storage Challenge update

I should have chosen a shorter month not to shop for food... like February. I never, ever thought I would crave salad. Last week, my neighbor, who knew about my challenge, was so sweet and brought over a head of lettuce and a tomato. I ate them w/o dressing! Tasted so yummy. That satisifed me for a few days.

Saturday we went to the temple and drove with our neighbors and the wife asked my husband, "So Troy, how are you liking Food Storage Month?" He didn't even know what she was talking about. I explained what I had been doing and he said he hadn't even noticed! Wa-ha-ha. Of course, he goes out to eat for lunch every day and honestly, he's not so good at noticing changes. Still love him though. :)

Then today I started CRAVING salad again. That and crunchy cucumbers, carrots (which we had just run out of) and what I wouldn't give for a fresh crisp gala apple... Guess it didn't help that I was watching Twilight. So I thought, "why am I doing this again?" I KNOW I have enough to survive but do I have to deprive myself? No. So I decided to jump into April early. Too bad I don't have an indoor garden. I bought some fruit trees and plan to start another square foot garden this summer. I think I'll try the challenge again in the middle of the summer. It was making me nervous having a fridge that was only 1/4 full. I learned I have a bit of OCD when it comes to having things stocked.

I love Costco... *sigh* So what food do you think you wouldn't be able to live without?

Good Goal

Recently our Relief Society Presidency gave out personalized letters that invited every sister to come closer to Christ by reading the Book of Mormon in just six short weeks. I've never read the Book of Mormon that fast before and I have to say that this first week has been a challenge. Things come up and I'm sure Satan is trying very hard to discourage us from finishing together. Don't worry - I won't let him do that to me, I'm too stubborn. LOL I know that only good can come from this.

I'm up for the challenge, are YOU? You can choose to read a certain number of pages or a certain number of chapters each day. There are many sites online that offer calculators and on http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/ you can get a little blog tracker for fun.

Only good can come from reading the Book of Mormon. You can do it! If you're hesitant, ask yourself "why?" Sure you might have to give up watching your favorite show every night. But what good is that TV show in your life... seriously. It's always good to evaluate your priorities every now and then. LMK if you're up for a good challenge and we can have a cyber party when we finish! :)

"Don't you wonder what would happen if we treated our Book of Mormon like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we spent an hour or more using it every day?
What if we used it to receive messages from the "text"?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
Oh, and a few more things- Unlike our cell phones, one Plan fits all.
Unlimited usage.
No roaming charges.
You always have reception.
No weak signals AND we dont ever have to worry about our Book of Mormon being disconnected, because our Savior already paid the bill!" --Author Unknown

72 hour kits

N's excited because it's that's time of year again! I love listening to General Conference. That weekend we break open our 72 hour kits and gobble them up. We also assemble our new ones. I've been doing this for several years now and found that I like to put in things that require NO cooking and NO preparation. My kids won't eat MREs and the lemon butter squares would get boring after one day. Here's what we plan on putting in our kits:

6 people in our family times 3 days = 18 of everything except 32 granola bars and 180 candy

Breakfasts we have a breakfast bar and OJ packet.
Lunches we have beef jerky, 2 granola bars and fruit punch packet.
Snacks we have fruit leather or fruit snacks.
Dinners we have a small V8, protein bar (don't worry, I know the Twisted bars in my picture were recalled. We won't eat them) and grape juice packet. You could do a hot cocoa but then you'd need hot water. We have buddy burners in our backpacks but prefer not to use them.
Treats we have hard candy and gum wrapped in foil so the minty fresh smell doesn't spread to all your food. AND it keeps your gum fresh and soft. We kept ours a year one time and it was still soft


When shopping remember to check expiration dates!!!! It only needs to last 6 months (till the next General Conference). It would be a good idea to put in a prepaid phone card as well as some quarters. This all fits in a gallon size freezer bag. Don't forget to include a meal plan paper in there so they know when to eat what.

Breakfast: Breakfast bar, orange juice packet
Lunch: Beef Jerky, fruit punch packet, 2 granola bars
Snacks: Fruit leather/snacks
Dinner: V8, protein bar, juice or hot cocoa packet
Treats: 3 hard candy and 1 stick of gum

Put any leftover food in your car. This is great if you're stuck in traffic or the kids say "But I'm starving Mom!" We also keep a 2 liter bottle of water in our car as well as TP and trash bags. Extra outfit, diapers and wipes are under our baby's seat. Just in case...

Future Craft Ideas

I'm just posting this so I remember what I want to do. And it's always fun to share...
Here are my crafts/projects that I would like to complete this year, in no particular order:

Quiet Books – 6x6 sheet protectors tied really well with double colorful ribbons thru the hole punches
-My Favorite Colors – use that background color then take pictures of them wearing/ surrounded by that color.
-Temples of the World – include at the end picture of our family in front of the temple saying FCBTF or lyrics to I Love to See the Temple.
-Follow the Prophet – pictures of each prophet and what their focus was during their time.
-My Gospel Standards – Mormon Ads on patterned colored paper with Primary Gospel Standards at the end.
-Articles of Faith – Print of each AoF on clear paper w/ picture of what it’s talking about framed in background.
Jewelry - Make green button bracelet, earrings and headband for E for St. Patrick’s Day.
Pillowcases for E – I'm missing July, School and Halloween. http://www.mormonchic.com/ has the pattern under their Crafty section.
Glass Etching my name on the bottoms of my glass casserole dishes.
Neating/Cleaning Apron with pockets and handtowel sewn on.
Vellum picture and quote on glass block. Saw these at Quilted Bear and LOVE them.
Flannel Rice Bags can be used for hot/cold packs. Year-round versatility. Need the quote that goes with it if gifting it.
B&W Memory Plates to hang in my scrapbook room
Capri Sun beach bags, purses, wallets, sunglass cases, etc. http://www.mormonchic.com/ has the pattern for the purse. This makes a great recycled gift and it's waterproof!
Rag Rug – braid strips of old cotton fabric rolled like double sided bias tape, then whipstitch together thru braids.
Twin Size Denim Quilts for my boys
Flannel Rag Quilt for E
Quilted comforter OR duvet cover & tall bedskirt to cover food storage for Master bed.
4th of July themed picnic quilt
Modge Podge fridge magnets and more for the growth chart. Get the big round magnets.
FHE vinyl board
Use the 15 3x4 cards from Greg Olsen's “Beautiful Savior” at Deseretbook to make "The Living Christ" paper with Savior Pictures on the matting.
Twin size basic tied quilts to donate to Humanitarian Services. Check out their Current Needs list on http://www.providentliving.org/
And...Finish the denim tiered skirt I started many months ago... lol

I'm seriously thinking of making one of those old-time quilt frames that you used to see at Quilting Bees. I found a pattern online and have a jigsaw so I think I can do it. Right now I have a small PVC type one and it's OK but I have to move it often.

What are some things YOU want to make this year?

Clarification

I meant "no shopping for food" in my last post. Not shopping at all might push me over the edge. LOL

Especially since I got Robert's 50% off coupons in my email box. Hooray!

I'm the crazy wheat lady in my ward

Wow! This Crystal is one amazing woman. She's even coming out with a book in March that's filled with wonderful recipes that use mainly food storage items. I'm now a huge fan of whole wheat cookies, blender wheat pancakes and cookie clay dough. Check out her website at http://www.everydayfoodstorage.net/ You gotta try these recipes! I taught part of a Wheat 101 Enrichment and it was a piece of cake thanks to this website.

I was so inspired that I've been working really hard these past 2 weeks and I can now say that we finally have our year supply. (This includes long-term and short-term food items as well as basic necessities like TP, soap, laundry & cleaning stuff, shampoo, etc. ) We could live off our food storage for 6 months and my kids wouldn't know the difference... I don't think they'd ask "Hey Mom, where's the salad?" Unfortunately some things only have a 6 month shelf life like fruit snacks and graham crackers. :(

My challenge this month of March is to NOT shop. Well, only once and that's because Macey's is having their annual sale starting Wednesday and it includes powdered eggs that are $6 off their normal price. So other than one #10 can, I'm not shopping. I challenge you to work on your food storage and see if you can go one week, then one month w/o shopping. This is a great way to see what you're missing in your food storage.

Fat-Free Fake Food

So a new thing in Primary that they just started doing is Second Sunday Sundaes. Any children with a birthday in that month get to go to the Primary President's house after church on the 2nd Sunday for icecream sundaes. I made up this fake sundae to display so the kids would remember to come. The icecream was a styrofoam egg covered in a mixture of modge podge and light cream paint. The white frosting was tricky. I found that a mixture of cheap shaving cream, modge podge, a little white flour to thicken it and more white paint look nice. I used a frosting tip for this but it didn't turn out as nice as I would've liked. The chocolate drizzle was harder since I didn't have the right brown color. I did modge podge, paint and then thickened it with white flour and stuck in in a ziploc bag and squeezed it out of a cut corner. The cherry is actually dried playdough covered in glitter red paint. The cherry stem is the only real thing and I poked that in before allowing the playdough to dry for 2 days. It was stuck on with a toothpick half in the icecream part and half into the cherry. Pretty fun, eh?

Terrific Time in Tucson

I'm warning you now, this is long and has lots of pictures. Ready? :)

I took the kids out of school (along with their homework) and we all went to Tucson for over a week. The kids did their reading in the car between field trips and they were good about practicing piano every day. J even learned how to play a new song from his cousins "Star Wars" music book.

We drove down all day Thursday and got in after midnight so we slept in for Z's birthday on Friday. We went and picked up our Tucson Attractions passports at Park Place (this saved us over $40) and played there for awhile then saw Inkheart since he's read all the books. I want to go read the books now, the movie was very interesting. Then we picked up his cake and icecream (I love Costco) then had a party with family and friends. It was fun visiting with everyone!

Saturday was my neice's baptism and what a special day it was. I should have taken more pictures but was too caught up in the moment. I made this exploding box and had some beaded crocheted white socks inside with a poem tag.

Sunday we got up early to drive to St. David for morning church then hung out with them and the rest of the Young side. We played a new game Wits and Wagers that was fun.

Monday we went with my brother's family to Kartchner Kaverns. This is hands down the best cave I've ever been too and very well protected. I only wish we could've taken pictures inside. Next time we'll do the other room that wasn't open. The Rotunda/Throne room was outstanding. After lunch we headed to St. David to help paint/re-model a bit then back to Tucson for FHE with Greg & Misty and their kids and my other brother Mark & his new wife Michelle and their new puppy Hank joined us.

Tuesday we went to the International Wildlife Museum, San Xavier Mission del Bac (picture below) and the Tucson Children's Museum. We'll definitely go to the Children's Museum again and we'll remember to bring quarters for parking. Took us 5 minutes to search the car for coins! :)


Wednesday we drove way over to tour the Biosphere 2. So cool! I've always wanted to go. We brought along our lunch every day and this saved us a lot of money as well. That afternoon we went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. The Butterfly Magic exhibit was the best. Definitely worth the extra $ and we got some cute pictures, learned about composting and saw a mutated saguaro.

Thursday we went to Sabino Canyon (they ONLY take cash and no, they don't have an ATM anywhere closeby) and rode the tram all the way up for the tourist info then stopped at shuttle stop 6 for a picnic lunch and played in the water. The boys found a little cavern they had fun playing in. Later we headed over to Reid Park Zoo and saw an albino (white) peacock with its feathers displayed. It took my breath away.

Friday I starting working in the kitchen since my SIL wants to remodel the house while my parents are on their mission in Chile. I hate wallpaper... That afternoon we drove to Safford for a Surprise Birthday Party for my 85 year old father-in-law. Boy were they surprised to see us again. They thought we drove home. All part of the surprise plan... Troy got this funny picture since everytime I tried to take a picture, my MIL had her eyes closed.


Saturday I spent the whole day stripping... wallpaper. :) I did take a break halfway for lunch. I grabbed my kids and 2 of my brother's kids and we got lunch at Eegee's (yummm) and ate over at Aqua Caliente Park.

Sunday I woke up at 5am, and after trying to go back to sleep I got up at 6am and we left by 8am to drove home. We got in about 8:30pm. I missed my pillow... and my showerhead... and my laundry detergent.

OK, I'm done. Now I need a vacation to relax from all this vacationing. :)

Today was a long day

(This picture is from one of our Primary Activity Days)

Shortly before church started I found out that I would be released as 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency and called to serve as 2nd counselor in the Relief Society. I regretfully left Primary and those sweet adorable children that I loved teaching and serving. There just wasn't enough time for me to give them all a hug goodbye so I asked them all to reach their arms out wide and then wrap their arms around their little bodies and told them it was a hug from me and that I would miss them all dearly and that they would have to sing really, really loud next week so I could still hear their angelic voices. After being set apart and grabbing a quick dinner we had our Great to Be Eight and Priesthood Preview Programs.

I know our bishop is inspired and I would not have accepted had the call not come from the Lord. I must have a lot more to learn. I'm very excited though to work with our new presidency; they are an amazing group of women. It's going to be hard to change how I teach though and I'll miss teaching my own children during Sharing Time.

Too bad I can't do both callings...

Goodbye Sam

E's hamster passed away in his sleep. I used to have a bunch of hamsters growing up and at one point I think we had over 100 with a family in the bathtub, another family in the shower and the rest in several large glass tanks. That's when my mom said we needed to get rid of some so we sold them to local pet shops. I never had a hamster live more than 18 months so I was really surprised when "Sam the Hamster" went past the 2 year mark. We got him full-grown and he ended up living over 2 years and 5 months! That has to be a record, don't you think?
Tonight it's cold and rainy and Sam and his cage disappeared to heaven during bedtime storytime. We'll miss you Sam!