Alive and Busy

Just a short update to keep the blog current, and to keep the few loyal readers informed. Wow! It has been really busy at our household. We are transitioning into the school routine and getting all three of the boys ready or motivated, depending on their age. It leaves me with about 2 hours of  "free time" to run errands, housework, clean,  projects, and other misc. tasks that pop up.

The Doctor, our three year old, is really blooming. His vocabulary and personality are really starting to shine. In the photo below, the parents didn't get up soon enough when the good Doctor wanted some morning milk. So, he helped himself to an ice cream treat. This is what happens when you catch a few more minutes of sleep at our house. It's hard to get mad when he is beaming a bright smile telling you that "I've got ice cream!" 

We have been trying to teach him to take turns watching TV with the other two, but the only thing that he knows is that every turn is "My TURN!".  Sounds like the chorus at a political rally.  Don't worry readers, we will teach him the old ways of respect, earning your way, being a light for the world, and doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Red Ant with Pincers, our soon to be 9 year old, earned another stripe in Cuong Nhu ("Kung New") and by the next testing will be a yellow belt. He is so proud of himself. He has worked really hard and will be ready to demonstrate the first full form at the next testing.  His school work has been good, but he needs to buckle down on spelling. He is a rock star in the other subjects, and has already learned his multiplication flash cards even before being required.

Row, our soon to be 12 year old, has transitioned into sixth grade and doing well. He has all Pre-AP classes, and adjusting to going to many different classes per day. He is definitely our rules kids. He is a rules follower, but I try to offer teachable moments when it's not okay to follow the rules. For Example: Please speed when you are taking someone to the hospital for a life threatening event or when government oversteps there authority. For those readers interested, read How Do You Kill 11 Million People? by Andy Andrews.

That just leaves the parents in this update. Sweetheart has been asked to work "voluntary" (read mandatory)  but recommended over time each week for the last year. The money is nice, but time has become a scarce commodity for her. She is still training for her marathons, and races while going to bootcamp most mornings.

We are teaching Financial Peace University, Dave Ramsey's program, at church again this semester. The leadership has decided to add another three classes to this course, so it extends it to 12 weeks instead of 9. We provide lunch to about 40-50 people, with the grateful help of another couple, every Sunday afternoon. This is the first semester that we have talked about stepping back from teaching. We love helping people get their finances in better shape, the achieved status in church, and subtly spreading the prepper mindset, but the weekends are crazy trying to get everything accomplished. I also tend to create some unnecessary stress in our marital bliss on Sunday mornings trying to get things ready for church. I'm trying to correct this behavior, but it's a work in progress.

We have officially paid for our Walt Disney World trip in January without going into debt. The majority, if not all, of our extra cash has been towards airfare, on-property hotel, and tickets. We only have food and souvenirs to save up for now.  It seems that everything runs about $400 per person no matter what the line item. Speaking of which, our two oldest boys will be at Disney on their real birthdays. What an awesome way to turn 12 and 9! Sweetheart was able to snag all of our reservations by getting up at 5:00am to register them online. Which means, our boys will have a huge birthday dinner at their chosen restaurants of Be Our Guest and Via Napoli.

I've got a few projects on the back burner, or currently working. For JUGM, at Haze Gray and Red Clay, I've got a block of cheddar cheese in the spare refrigerator as an on going experiment in cheese storage. I'll be picking a warm day to crayon wax them and then store them under the house. Our local cheesemaker, through a conversation, recommended keeping certain cheeses in the vegetable crisper to age. This was his optimal storage technique for the Arkansas climate.

For Sandy, at Oklahoma Transient, as promised, Ill be doing a tutorial post on learning to stitch wounds in a SHTF scenario.  I was the winner of her giveaway for the Voodoo tactical kit. Thanks again! Money has been tight, but I was finally able to order suture needle and thread from Amazon. This is a skill in which the viewer will have to practice this skill set. Watching a video or reading about it does not make you competent, just enough to be dangerous.

I bought a lot of sugar on sale ( 4 pounds for 99 cents) at Kroger, and will be doing a short post on how I think packaging it for long term storage in humid climates might work best. Another experiment in action.

Thanks for reading and Keep Right On Prepping- K and family