After more than a month of waiting, Little Red Riding Hood finally lost her second front tooth! The tooth had hung so long by one root that the gum was starting to grow over it, so we decided that it really needed to come out. It took lots of cajoling, ordering, and her brother's bribe of a roll of pennies to convince our little drama queen to let big brother pull it out. It came out with the lightest touch and more tears than a shot!
Timothy giving her a makeup hug after pulling it out. She calmed down pretty quickly, once she had a roll of pennies in her hand. She stopped mid-cry, in fact, and said, "Thank you, Tim."
Check out the new gap in her smile. Now she will have to learn the song, All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth!We celebrated the loss of her tooth with our traditional ice cream cone for the whole family. We tried out a new place which had many unique ice cream flavors. We tested the maple syrup and bacon, coconut swirl, and black cherry fudge, but settled on our old favorites. Everyone had either peanut butter or else cookie dough. 
Blessings, Dawn
This is week two of the $75 a week grocery challenge put on by Owlhaven. Wow! I am really amazed at how well we are doing without compromising our organic, gluten-free eating habits. So here is this week's purchases:Earthfare ~Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to go to Earthfare this month, BUT we got a coupon for 50% off free-range baby back ribs and three ears of corn for free. My dh has been wanting ribs for months, and I couldn't pass up the deal. It made for a very nice Labor Day meal. Babyback ribs (2LB) ~ $11 and 3 ears of corn ~ Free Amazing Savings (dent and scratch store) ~ 
2 bags organic latkes, bananas, 3 bags of chips, 1 dozen cage-free eggs, 3 boxes gluten-free waffles, 1/2 pound organic jellybeans, 2 containers Soy Dream, 2 boxes of gluten-free "cheerios," 5 pound bag of potatoes, bag of organic cheese, 1 loaf bread, soy ice cream, organic fruit roll-ups Total ~ $32.71Walmart ~ 
5 pounds of sugar, 5 pounds of flour (We are mostly gluten-free, but when it comes to homemade apple pie, one needs REAL wheat flour!!), bananas, 3 cukes, jar of dill pickles, 1 package of nitrate-free ham (for an Irish dish of cabbage, potatoes and ham), salt, 1 can baked beans, 1 jar peanut butter (all natural), cinnamon, popcorn, 1 pound grapes, 1 loaf of bread (half of this is going to a science activity), spaghetti sauce, ranch dressing, lettuce, 10 pound bag of ice, 2 pounds butter Total ~ $39.03Grand Total for this week ~ $78.74 Hooray! I think it is going well, even though we have been a bit over each week.I plan on making refrigerator applesauce and several apple pies to freeze in the next day or two. It is nice to be putting some things up for later.Blessings, Dawn
So here is a confession for you. I love graveyards. I love walking through them, looking at all the gravestone styles, thinking about the history and lives that have gone before me. I love doing little math problems in my head to see how long people lived. I love moving the leaves and weeds away from old graves to reveal their names to the world again. I love reading the old names that aren't heard much anymore: Prudence, Horace, Constance, Judd, Jedediah, etc. I love how time slows and ebbs in a graveyard.
My kids and husband think that I am a bit strange in this way, but they play along and go with me to graveyards. They even have learned to like them, too. Of course, I have found over the years how to make it more interesting to them. I have taught them how to tend graves, walk through a graveyard properly, and do grave rubbings.
Today we went to a new (to us) graveyard called St. John's in the Wilderness. What a nice church graveyard. We saw some new styles of gravestones, and the family plots were laid out with little rock walls around them. Everything was green with trees and moss. It was lovely.
There were a few graves like this one. All were circa 1880-1900. I think perhaps the enclosed area was a flower bed for the loved ones to tend. Does anyone know differently?
Timothy doing a rubbing of a grave
We loved this sign.This graveyard had a slave and freedmen graveyard, which led to a lively discussion on segregation even after death in olden times.
We also talked about the difference in extravagance of the slaves' stones versus that of the white people's stones.All and all, another great field trip of discovery.Blessings, Dawn
Mary at Owlhaven is challenging us to feed our families for $75 a week in the month of September. She has 10 kids and is taking the challenge!! (She does have a huge garden and promises that no one will go hungry!) So, here is the question ... Can a gluten-free, mostly dairy-free, organic meat, locally grown fruit and veggie family of six eat for $75 a week ... without Mom going crazy and dh or the teenager starving?? What am I thinking? The teenager is always starving anyway!So here is the plan ... After several discussions with the family, we have decided to go without juice for the month of September. That will save us $15 a week. We also are going to eat only 1/2 to 1 pound of meat with the dinner meal five times a week. We will eat more beans. I will search the "scratch and dent" store that sells local organic meat (these are not cut nicely or else are in smaller portions than most folks want) and often has some gluten-free products. Then I will rotate between the farmer's market bulk section, Walmart and Aldies for everything else. Once I have the best deals of the week, I will make a menu. I will avoid EarthFare (the chain health food store in our area). I will try to avoid those quick runs to the store for one item that always turns into 10 items. MORE INFO ~ The teenager will be using $25 of his own money to buy snacks to keep in his room for night-time snacking. Also, I have about 5 pounds of meat and 3 pounds of fish already in the freezer. I also have about 4 quarts each of frozen beans, strawberries, and onions in our freezer from our garden. I also have several pounds of gluten-free flours, 15 pounds of rice and 3 bags of beans. Otherwise, the cupboards are pretty bare, with just a few odds and ends.Week One ~
Amazing Savings ("scratch and dent" store) -- organic cheese, 3 containers of Soy Dream, 5 bananas, 3 plums, 1 pound organic ground turkey, 3/4 pound free-range organic ground beef, 3 bags of BBQ chips (all natural), locally made strawberry jam, 2 gluten-free pasta and sauce kits, 3 boxes of gluten-free cereal, 1 box of organic candy canes, party platter of shrimp, organic latkes, frozen peas, BBQ sauce, 1 loaf of wheat bread (for dh's lunch, he isn't gluten-free at work), seltzer water Total~$35.51
Walmart ~ cage-free eggs, Smart Balance (margarine), 4 cans of tuna, Oriental Stir-Fry, 2 pounds of grapes, 4 cucumbers (locally grown), broccoli, lettuce, 10 pound bag of ice, trash bags, SOS cleaning pads, Trident sugar-free gum (for dd with braces), Ajax dish detergent, white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide Total~ $33.15
Farmer's Market ~ One bushel of Gala apples Total ~ $14.00Well, the grand total for my first week of shopping is $82.66. That is $7.66 over my goal. Not bad for my first try and the apples will last a long time. So next week I only have $67.34 to spend. Yikes! (Of course, this is just a game so no one will go hungry!)Blessings, Dawn
