Almost green

Today I did four loads of wash and almost have run out of Tide. Once the Tide is gone that is it for non green cleaners in the house. I have been slowly changing them out as I run out of something I move us to the green alternative. So far no one has complained about anything but my family isn't really aware of the switch. I have all the parts to make my own laundry soap so as soon as I have a little time I will start trying it out. It seems to be very economic so hopefully it will work well. Between all the garden plans and the homemade cleaners I hope to have this house fairly low cost for upkeep by the end of the end of the year.

Today I hope to finish my new purple cowl. It is about halfway I think. We are also getting ready to see some dinosaurs in Bozeman so the girls and I will really have to try and learn some names of those big guys. I also am a little behind on my decluttering since I have worked the last five days. Our house did get some good cleaning done on Sunday. While Brent and the kids played I got a fair bit of stuff cleaned up. As much as Brent is still frustrated with our life I am in love with it. I love all the time I get for our family. I love the real dinners we get to eat. I love all the things the girls and I are learning. I am not sure how to make it better but there is always room for improvement I suppose.

Today will be attempt two at sourdough bread. Attempt one didn't really fail but sure didn't rise much. It tasted great but was pretty heavy. We will see what today brings. First there'd is more time to rise and second we will try more humidity while rising. This week in school we will work on cats, C, 3, diamond, and dinosaurs. My school will be about gardening and storing food to help me decide what we will try planting this year. Tomatoes are definatley on the list. I am working through a book on heirloom seeds. A storm is expected today and tomorrow so we are mist likely homebound which at least provides us will the knowledge we will be stuck and therefore we can do some longer projects instead of hoping to get outside or go to town to break up our day. I think a tea party is called for especially if the snow really starts up.

Had a great weekend with friends and very little technology. Mostly just got to enjoy company while also enjoying winter. Got home and got started right away on unpacking, laundry, getting ready to start up with normal life tomorrow. I now find at 6:30pm I am pleasantly prepared for tomorrow. Which is good because a little cold is catching up with me and making me quite interested in my bed. This week the girls will work on C and 3 and dinosaurs in addition to whatever else we may decide to work on. In an effort to get valentines out my the holiday we may have to find some fun projects this week.

Working hard on simplifying. Yesterday's task was to pick five values to work on this year. Hmmm... I would say being happy with what I have, simplifying everything, enjoying family, taking care of myself, and loving God. Big tasks and maybe not all values but definately things I would like to work on. The first task is downsizing our garbage out which will save us with the garbage company then start working on decreasing garbage coming into our home. This will help simplify our lives a lot and hopefully save money. The girls are really getting on board with repurposing projects which definately helps not bring more stuff in our house.

Finished the book about Bees two days ago now working on finishing "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." Also following mysimplerlife.com for some decluttering and cleaning above and beyond normal. Melanie and I spent over an hour exploring and racing around the yard today. It was a beautiful day today. Since the girls were in school todaywe didn't do any work at home. Tomorrow we will head to the Children's Museum for some fun learning and continue our lessons about A, 1, and cows.

Day two of the new year had me working and the kids home with daddy. I got home to an almost ready dinner and a fairly clean house. So nice. After dinner a quick bath for the girls and some of our school work. Today we worked on recognizing the letter A for Kirsten. Melanie practiced writing A and a and spelling cow, her animal for the week. I am reading a fascinating book about bees and trying to finish a scarf for my sisterinlaw.

The plan for 2012

2012 will be a good learning year. The girls will have more fun but educational time at home and I will keep learning how to better keep my home. This morning my girls were amazingly interested in our school topic of cows. While they learned I cleaned out 13 kitchen drawers. I started reading a new book about bees this week and will make myself have some school time this afternoon. This year will be exciting for all of us.