The good, The bad, and The Ugly (and random pictures)

The Good.

Viking Mummy baby with her mismatched socks and faithful steed.

Remember last years goals? They kinda fell off to the side with the addition and then the pregnancy of our last child.

Not this year! The Elder did his crunching of numbers and he OK'ed me to finally join the CSA! Actually, I think he was afraid I would join it anyway. I normally stay away from household finances since he is the one with a BA in accounting. What I do know is, I have kept in budget with groceries and my last idea of freezer meals worked out like I told him. Actually, it worked out a lot better than planned.

Why yes, The Elder is wearing Minnie ears.

The instant he said yes, I was signing up for the CSA. Yes, there is a CSA that runs year round in Michigan. It just happens to be 40 minutes south of me and delivers to our Farmer's Market year round. I actually buy from Crisp Country Acres already. I bought a lot from them at the Farmer's Market this year. So we signed up for the rest of the winter session for produce. Eventually we will get to eating the better meat. We decided once we empty out our freezers more, we will purchase half a pig and some beef. Maybe we will ease into it and sign up for the chicken short session next time...

Karl (Tyke), Clara (Glow Stick) and Shirley

Remember I wanted to join the goat share? Guess who has an intolerance to cows milk? I will give you a hint, it is the pants-less child in the picture above. It's kinda funny how things work out. So every week I head out to Country Winds Farm. Goats milk is cheaper through a share (even with driving) than it is purchasing it from the store. We tried non dairy milks and either it did not agree with her belly or she flat out refused it. Yes, a 1 year old can and will refuse a drink for long periods of time if they don't like it. I will not force something like that on her if I can find something she does like. Now, veggies are another matter. That share is a little bit of a drive, but I am ok with that.

Is anyone else joining the 100 Days of Mini Pledges? I opted to. I think this may be what I was looking for but just didn't work out on my own. The goal is to take baby steps in eating better over 14 weeks. Each week has a goal. If something just isn't obtainable to you (local meat), then that is ok. You just do what you can. I know some weeks will be pretty easy and others will be a challenge.
 

I know you needed another cuteness fix

I know the first week challenge will be easy. Week 1 is Eat 2 Fruits and or Vegetables Per Meal.  I just need to add in one more fruit or veggie to breakfast and lunch. 

The Bad

This year has been warmer than normal. Remember how we had 9 free range chickens? Yes, we really did let them run wild all over our fenced in back yard.  We lost them all over a 2 night span. We smelled skunk outside. It stunk up the whole house. I knew it wasn't going to go well. My coop door wasn't shutting properly. I had someone who was going to come out, but they could not make it for several days. I did my best to block it off. Sadly, it wasn't good enough.

We did have a rooster named Stew. Sadly he became aggressive. So we were forced to eat him. The Elder was squeamish about eating a "pet". So I didn't tell him when we had Stew. Sandy (Colonel Sanders) was a little to excited about eating Stew. She very happily announced that we were eating Stew every time we had dinner. It was quite funny.

The Ugly
 

Postpartem Depression is never a pretty thing. I know what triggers mine. I know how I react. So we try to avoid those situations. 

Triggers: Lack of sleep, stress, and how messy my house is.

Reaction: Anxiety attacks, not wanting to see anyone, shutting down on all others and only focusing on the kids, and lack of motivation to do household chores (unless it is cooking).

2 weeks before having Shirley. Yes, I do really exist.

I am grateful that I have no desire to hurt myself or anyone else. I opt to see a counselor. Mine can be managed without the use of medication. For that I am grateful. Still, it's hard to go see someone when you are in a downward spiral.

Lack of sleep: I have 6 kids. One is autistic and doesn't know what sleep is. Another child is up at 4:30-5am every morning because she is 1 and likes to be up early. She can go to bed at 10pm and still be up at 5am. It's sad when the newborn is not the reason you need more sleep.

Stress: The Elder has Cerebral Palsy. This means household things are more on my shoulders. Did I mention they opened up over time? They did. So The Elder is working that too. Our eldest was mentioned above. Need I say more? Now Shirley has a heart condition. Ok, not to much I can do about that. Getting a sitter for any evening appts is pretty much all we can do. I should be released to go to the gym in about 4 more weeks. I know that will help with stress relief. Things could be worse. I know that.

No worries, it's just bath crayons.

House: 6 kids all on winter break. Can we say chaos? Although this time we wised up. Arrangements were made to have a family member and a friend come out once a week to help. I am grateful for their help. I really am. The only spiral I had had to do because of being overwhelmed the last 2 weeks before Christmas and Christmas week. I did make it to all appts though and to Christmas with everyone.

Good Times

All 6

And this is how we grocery shop! :-) Except I forgot to bring my Moby. :-/ Baby wearing makes my life easier. I happened to bribe them with a Lunchable since we ended up out all day between appts and some shopping. Normally there is no bribe. No baby was hurt at all or during this shopping trip. This was Christmas Eve. I had forgotten a few things (ok, like 30 things) because my shopping day was moved.

Don't worry, I went off the deep end years ago!