Haircuts at home

We cut hair at home. This is a pretty easy way to save a pretty sizable chunk of money every year. When I figured up some very conservative estimates for our family of 6 I came up with $330.00 that we would have to pay each year if we got our haircuts elsewhere. We would also have the cost of gas and it would take more time then doing it at home. We also wouldn't get the benefit of old hair in our compost pile or around our garden to keep animals away. I am not a professional hair cutter and so I do pretty simple haircuts (or sometimes, like pictured above, my extended family helps out.).

For all the boys we use the clippers (or "buzzer") These are not that expensive to buy and they last quite well and you can get them sharpened if they get dull. For my husband I use the 3/4 inch comb for the top of his head and the 1/2 inch comb for the sides and back.

For the boys I do 1/2 inch comb on the top and 1/4 inch on the sides and back and then I trim with a scissors above the ears, and I shave it around the bottom and on the neck.


For the girls I just have to trim their bangs regularly which works best to do with dry hair and start longer than you want and then work at evening it out. (this is a place where it is easy to get to short!) Every so often I will trim the back of the hair too, which I usually do with wet hair.




For mine we did something different. I figured that a layered cut is hair cut shorter on the layers of hair that are on top. If you have long hair and you hang your head upside down the hair from the top of your head goes the farthest down and the hair from the bottom is the shortest, etc. When my youngest sister was over the other day I had her cut my hair this way. I lay on the table with my head hanging down, as pictured, then she trimmed a couple of inches off of the end. The other pictures are the result. I think it worked pretty well. It is probably not the best haircut I have ever had but it certainly isn't the worst either. It is very fast and easy too.
If you would like more info on cutting hair here are some websites that have info:
http://www.hairfinder.com/howto/how_to_cut_hair.htm
http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/cutting-hair-scissor-cut.htm

More ways to use Zucchini!

We have still be getting a lot of zucchini from the garden and so I have been busy trying to fit it into our diets. My family doesn't prefer huge amounts at once so I try to stick little bits in often. Here are some of the things we have enjoyed lately:

• Zucchini Nut Muffins This is a new recipe and one we are really enjoying!
  3 cups flour (I use mostly whole wheat)
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  1 1/2 cups sugar
  4 eggs
  1/2 cup oil
  2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  1 cup raw sunflower seeds
  3/4 cup raisins
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs oil, zucchini and vanilla and beat. Fold in sunflower seeds and raisins. Put in greased or paper lined muffin tins. Bake 25 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.
• Yummy Zucchini and Carrot Patties.
  1/2 cup flour
  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/4 teaspoon pepper
  1 egg
  1/4 cup milk
  1 cup grated carrots
  1 cup grated zucchini
  2 tablespoons chopped onion
  Mix dry ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Place a skilled over medium heat and add a little oil. When oil is hot, spoon some batter in the pan making little patties. cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve warm either plain or with salsa and sour cream. We really like these and they reminded me of onion rings.
• On Pizza We tried chopping up the zucchini small and putting it on homemade pizza. It was quite good.
• In Quesidillas Again I chopped it small and then fried it with the onions, garlic and meat and then put that mixture and cheese in the tortilla and fried it. Nobody notice the squash.
• In Jello This is one from my mom and not actually one that I have tried. She put zucchini in the blender and made it into a liquid and then warmed it up and used it for the liquid in jello. She used orange Jello and I guess it turned it brown (and my 15 year old sister thought it wasn't very attractive) but it tasted fine.
• In Yeast Bread This is another one from my mom. She again liquefied it and then used it for the liquid in bread.

I hope these ideas are helpful to you!

Going camping!

In two weeks our family is going camping. We are very excited! We are going to the Jackpine Retreat, a rustic family camp that is one of the highlights of our year.

This camp is in Minnesota up near the Canadian border. I have gone since before I was one year old. I believe I have only missed two years in my life, the first time when I lived in Iowa (so about a 14 hour trip away) and 2 weeks away from delivering my first child and the 2nd time when I lived in Wichita, Kansas and was even farther away. Growing up this camp had no running water (it was hauled in), and no electricity. (So no showers and you used outhouses). We still use outhouses but there is electricity and water and one shower that everybody shares. But those are not the important things. What was and is important is the great Christian fellowship, the learning and singing around the campfire (either with bluegrass instruments or acappella), the beauty of nature that God created and just learning how tough you can be. It is a great place for kids to run and play and have fun balancing on a log or having races while manuvering an electric spool. The other day I was feeling very nostolgic about Jackpine Retreat and I found some pictures that I had and made them into a slideshow which is at the bottom of the page (I couldn't figure out how to put it in the post.)

Camping in general is a great family activity. It can be a very cheap way to vacation ( or I suppose you could buy expensive equipment, go to exotic locations and buy all pre-made food and make it expensive), as well as a great way to make your family grow closer together. Challenges faced together having a tendency to help you grow closer relationships and make memories, camping provides challanges that we don't face in day to day life (such as staying dry when it rains, or dealing with being wet if you don't stay dry, figuring out how to cook while camping, braving the cold nights, etc.

Camping is also good for homeschooling. It can really help to make kids understand what life was like a little better in the "olden days". What it is like to use and outhouse (or the woods) , having to carry your water, cooking over a fire, sleeping on the ground and many other things. One year when I was a teen we came up to the Jackpine campground in the summer (in addition to the September Jackpine Retreat) and had a old time survival camp. (There are some pictures in the slide show below) We worked at building our own shelter, starting a fire with flint and steel, foraging for food and stuff like that. It was a blast (even though we hadflies all day and mosquitoes all night and very hot weather). Camping is something that kids learn from and will remeber for their lifetime.

What do you like about camping? Do you have any good camping tips? Or any fun memories of Jackpine Retreat?

Two outfits and a blanket for Carrie who is a monitor at Bingo and one more outfit on the way

Here is the first set I did. It is from a site called Crotiques here is the link: http://www.geocities.com/Crotiques/bgs.htm it's called a 'Sleeper Set' this is the actual size which is 0-3 mos. I made one for a 6 mo old, 12 mo old and my god daughters' baby doll which is about 6 mos clothes. This is the first newborn one I've done and it is so tiny and cute. The booties I also got from this site called 'sockies' but I left off the cuff and added a flower on the front.
This set is called 'Blue Pinafore with Ruffles but as you can see it's not blue. i used Bernat Baby yarn which is a fingering yarn and I held one strand pink one strand purple but it all looks purple. The ruffles is two strands pink held together just like on the diaper cover as well. The booties are the same 'sockies' pattern. The link for this dress is here: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/baby-pinafore.html
Here is dress one next to the 7th Harry Potter book to show how tiny it is.
Here is the second dress next to the 7th book to show size as well.
This is a ripple I did a while ago and was going to give it t my friend in Cali for her baby girl but I'm making her a different blanket. Now the new baby girl thats coming in October can have this ripple. I am working on another outfit for the new baby which should be done soon. The monitors name is Carrie and this will be her first baby. So I can't wait until she gets this stuff, I wish I could be there to see her expression when she get's it.

The beauty of breastfeeding

I am in the process of weaning my last child. It is a little bittersweet. Weaning was going fairly well until I developed mastitis. I ended up going to the doctor today for an antibiotic. Anyway I have been thinking about breastfeeding and the neat things about it. I did a little research to and I thought I would share with you some of the benefits of breastfeeding.

• It is better for the babies health. Breast milk has just the right mix for the baby's development. It has antibodies in it to help protect infants from bacteria and viruses and it helps them to fight of infection. Babies that are breastfed tend to be leaner throughout their lifetime. Babies that are breastfed tend to visit the Doctor less. They have less cases of SIDS, diabetes, high cholesterol and asthma.
• Breast feeding is great for losing weight! Breastfeeding (without supplementing) can burn 600 calories everyday which is like 2 hours of aerobic exercise. I have loved not having to be concerned about weight at all for several years. I weigh less now than I did when I was in college.
• Breasting feeding is a great time for relaxing. I have enjoyed having time to do a lot of reading.
• No menstrual period for quite a while! Very nice!
• Nursing helps to lower your risk for ovarian and breast cancer.
• Breastfeeding is very cost efficient! I can't imagine how much money I have saved by breastfeeding 4 kids.
• Breastfeeding saves time. No having to mix up bottles, breast milk is ready all the time. I don't have to wash bottles either, or spend time buying formula.
• There is less trash with breastfeeding as we don't have formula cans or bags or anything like that to throw away.
• More sleep! When my babies wake up in the night I don't have to get up and make a bottle up and sit up holding the bottle in place, I just pull my baby in bed by me and feed her.

What do you like about breastfeeding?