The Living Without Series
Coal Creek Farm on Facebook
|
You all haven’t asked how we’re doing on spending this month. I know you want to know how we can possibly survive the entire month without spending money on non-essential items. Well, you’re in luck because I feel the need to share. I know, I’m nice like that.
First I have to say that April is a bad month not to spend money because, ahem, it’s my birthday. Not just one day, but since I’m named after the month and all I think the whole month should be celebrated in my honor. Unfortunately, I’m the only person that feels this way.
We did buy Seth two gifts. A new baseball glove and a nifty fangle-dangle rifle thingy. And he loved them. We don’t buy our kids new toys very often, mostly just for Christmas and birthdays. And I hate having a bunch of toys around that my kids don’t play with. So….
 I sold all the children’s toys. After they cried for ten days straight I threw a couple cardboard boxes to them and wah-la hours of fun. I honestly don’t know why we own any toys because boxes and sticks are their favorite thing to play with. I was just kidding a little about selling all their toys…a little.
 These magic boxes are from my favorite yet disgusting grocery store, Aldi. Aldi and I have become best friends again. We meet up at least twice a week and then I run home after our play date and wash my hands for 30 minutes.
 And what was is that I made my family buy for my birthday? Nothing. I KNOW!!! All I wanted was a homemade carrot cake with coconut icing. One of my friend back in St. Louis (PRPC people know her, she wins the dessert contest nearly every year at the harvest party…tall, blond, not me, but tall.. wait.. not blond, brunette, I think, first name starts with a C, is that enough info?) anyhoo, she made this cake years ago when I went to her house and it took all my will power not to eat another piece or beg to take some home. I’ve longed to taste that cake again for over four years and I needed to put an end to it. So I made Clay find a recipe and he made it. I had to show him where all the ingredients were and teach him how to use the food processor, other than that, he did great! And then he spent the rest of the night cleaning the kitchen until I yelled at him to GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!
 This is what the cake looked like the next day. Um, I kind of had it for breakfast and maybe a tiny piece for lunch and then for a snack and maybe I snagged teensy bits every time I walked through the kitchen.
 Gulp, belch, mmmmmm. Delicious. I think I’ll ask for that cake next year too. But I also want a porch swing! I’m just sayin’.
Okay, did this post answer any questions of how we aren’t spending? No? Well, we just aren’t spending. It’s a powerful thing and so is that carrot cake.
The End.
 Last week as I was driving home from Ellen’s soccer practice I got a phone call from Seth. Looking back it cracks me up how he started the conversation, “Mom! I know you’re not going to believe me, but a tornado just hit the house!” I’m glad he’s aware that his history of over exaggerating has numbed my reactions.
Since I was driving down our road and could see the roof of our house I said, “But, Seth I’m right here I can see the house, there is no tornado. “
 He had taken his brothers to the basement where they were huddled in fear. As I drove down our lane I started to see that something had hit our place with great force. Our basketball goal was down, fascia was missing from the house and the shed….smashed.
 The shed was all over the cornfield. It looked like it had exploded. And the trees appeared to have puked all their extra limbs onto the ground.
 What a mess. Hey, did I tell you we have a pond? Yea, Seth dug it last fall and Preacher digs in it everyday. Now it’s full of wood and concrete and debris, but that doesn’t seem to keep Preacher from sloshing around in it.
 The big bad wind peeled back a section of our barn roof. My neighbor asked if we were going to call our insurance and at first I didn’t think we would, but then my father told me to call because we probably had more damage than we thought. So that’s the insurance dude on the barn roof.
 And this is the gaping hole in the roof. One of my friends (who is one of those folks that feels sorry for us living out here on this old place) said, “What’s your insurance going to do send you some scraps of metal and old wood?” But, then I thought well, uh, yeah. Aren’t most barns made out of metal and wood? And if it’s destroyed it’s a pretty big loss. I mean my chickens don’t have a home now, cuz it’s laying out in the cornfield!
The same friend also hates trees. She was surprised that none of our big old trees didn’t fall down and crush the house and maybe we should think about cutting them down. sigh
 What does your brother’s head have to do with your birthday? For one, it’s large, very large.
 And you…well, you are getting large. Very large and very old. But, I’m still larger and older than you, so there.
This year your cake, it was SOME LARGE. Your architect father….had to measure it, because that’s what he does when people ask how big something is? He grabs the tape measure and with a little hop in his step says, “Well let’s see how big this ___ is.” So, he measured your cake and then he compared it to what we set as the size standard in our house.
You and your brother’s heads. Because it can’t be called big, unless it’s bigger than those noggins. Your head…it’s bigger than mine, yes it’s true. And it’s been bigger than mine since you were about three years old. How big are you going to get?!
 You got the part of a hippopotamus in a play that was on your birthday. It was awesome. You thought it was terrible that you had to be in a play on your special day. I know this because you told me about three trillion times.
 And even though you acted like you couldn’t stand it, you were loving every minute of attention you were getting. Especially when the entire audience sang Happy Birthday to YOU!
 You got a ginormous cake this year. First you wanted chocolate pie, then pudding, then cheesecake, then angel food cake, yes angel food cake was definitely what you wanted. For good measure I asked once more what kind of cake you wanted and you said, “Oh, I don’t care, how about chocolate with strawberries on top dipped in chocolate or devil’s food cake would be good or one of those ice cream cakes, but whatever I don’t care.” Right.
 You are impossible. Impossibly dramatic. Impossibly funny. Impossibly in a world I can’t fathom entering. You start every conversation with me like this, “Mom…” even though I’m sitting right next to you. I usually say, “I’m right here, I haven’t moved since you asked me the last question, you know, the one that had nothing to do with what we are studying?”. You have this uncanny ability to pay attention to what I’m saying and then ask me a stupid question about Harry Potter. If I ask what I just said you’ll repeat what I said like you’re a tape recorder. It’s very annoying. We’ve had days that I had to tell you to stop quoting people/movies/books etc. and it’s actually difficult for you.
 You are not yet too cool to react to how much you love your birthday. You made me listen to the countdown to the day for, oh let’s see, FOUR MONTHS! Yeah, and then you forgot my birthday, which is a mere four days after yours. Uh-huh. We were never so glad that your birthday was OVER. But, the excitement you put in it made all of us more excited than we ever should have been.
 I tried to put as many flavors as possible in your cake. That way you didn’t regret not choosing one over the other. Your welcome. I love you. Please stop growing up so stinkin’ fast.
|
Gettin’ Outta Debt Stories 
I'm not a pig...anymore. Come Dance With Me 
Get your groove on. |
I sold all the children’s toys. After they cried for ten days straight I threw a couple cardboard boxes to them and wah-la hours of fun. I honestly don’t know why we own any toys because boxes and sticks are their favorite thing to play with. I was just kidding a little about selling all their toys…a little.
These magic boxes are from my favorite yet disgusting grocery store, Aldi. Aldi and I have become best friends again. We meet up at least twice a week and then I run home after our play date and wash my hands for 30 minutes.
And what was is that I made my family buy for my birthday? Nothing. I KNOW!!! All I wanted was a homemade carrot cake with coconut icing. One of my friend back in St. Louis (PRPC people know her, she wins the dessert contest nearly every year at the harvest party…tall, blond, not me, but tall.. wait.. not blond, brunette, I think, first name starts with a C, is that enough info?) anyhoo, she made this cake years ago when I went to her house and it took all my will power not to eat another piece or beg to take some home. I’ve longed to taste that cake again for over four years and I needed to put an end to it. So I made Clay find a recipe and he made it. I had to show him where all the ingredients were and teach him how to use the food processor, other than that, he did great! And then he spent the rest of the night cleaning the kitchen until I yelled at him to GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN! 
This is what the cake looked like the next day. Um, I kind of had it for breakfast and maybe a tiny piece for lunch and then for a snack and maybe I snagged teensy bits every time I walked through the kitchen.
Gulp, belch, mmmmmm. Delicious. I think I’ll ask for that cake next year too. But I also want a porch swing! I’m just sayin’.
Need a Chicken Doctor?
Contact 
